146 
PREMIUM BEEF, ETC. 
ing a nine-foot sturgeon, transferred from the 
river to his domains. He has properly adjusted 
straps, so fitted as not to interfere with his fins, to 
which a ring and trace is attached with a light 
cork buoy, so as always to be within reach. When 
disposed for a sail, he gets into his canoe, and quietly 
affixes a tow line to the buoy ; and as soon as the 
sturgeon feels a jirk, off he darts with railway 
speed, and whirls him round and round the pond 
till exhausted, when he rolls over on his back and 
halts. He is then disengaged from the canoe, and 
after recovering from his sweat, bounds into the 
air six or eight feet, and off he darts for the quiet 
depths of the pond. Some honest Dutchmen, in 
his neighborhood, thinking this too good fun to be 
monopolized, tried the experiment with an untam- 
ed sturgeon in the Hudson ; when, after a short 
time, he plunged downwards, drawing under the 
boat, men and all, who came nearly being drowned. 
They cursed their neighbor and his craft, and have 
never been known to attempt the experiment since. 
PREMIUM BEEF. 
The following statement of the weights of Mr. 
Hadfield's cow and Messrs. Albergers' oxen, which 
received first premiums at the State Fair, held at 
Buffalo, in September last, have been furnished 
as by B. P. Johnson, Secretary of the Society : — 
Albergers 1 Oxen. — Live weight, . 5,920 lbs. 
Slaughtered weight, . . . 4,850 ,, 
" Empire State," | shorthorn ; " Queen 
City," 4 shorthorn. 
Live weight of Empire State, . . 3,040 ,, 
Slaughtered weight, Quarters, . . 2,006 ,, 
Tallow, . . 326 „ 
Hide, . . 168 „ 
Total slaughtered weight, 
2,500 „ 
Shrinkage, 18 per cent. 
Live weight of Queen City, 
. 2,880 „ 
Slaughtered weight — Quarters, . 
. 1 ; 940 „ 
Tallow, . 
. 252 „ 
Hide, 
. 158 „ 
Total slaughtered weight, 2,350 „ 
Shrinkage, less than 19 per cent. 
Hadfield's Cow, Pink. — Live weight, . 1,696 „ 
Slaughtered weight, .... 1,359 „ 
I shorthorn, § Yorkshire. 
Live weight, . . . . . 1,696 „ 
Slaughtered weight — Quarters, . . 1,102 „ 
Tallow, . . 169 „ 
Hide, . . 88 „ 
Total slaughtered weight, 
Shrinkage, 20 per cent. 
1,359 „ 
Application of Plaster and Ashes to Mea- 
dows. — If a meadow be manured only with plas- 
ter of Paris, the crops of grass will be at first 
greatly increased, but will afterwards diminish ; for 
the silicate of potash which the soil contained, 
is soon exhausted by the rapid growth of the 
grass, and its further increase is checked. But if 
the meadow be strewed from time to time with 
wood ashes, which contain potash, the grass will 
thrive as luxuriantly as before. 
SOUTHERN PLANTING- COW PEA -COTTON SEED 
ETC. 
In your last number, Mr. Robinson, I perceive, 
notices the fatal effects, in Mississippi, of turning 
stock into pea fields. I have myself been a suf- 
ferer, in the loss of many valuable cattle, from the 
same cause. The usual hazard of feeding peas, 
however, may be much lessened by proper precau- 
tions. In the first place, I would recommend the 
red winter pea as least injurious ; and planting 
on the same ridge with corn, to induce the vine to 
grow on the corn stalk, to prevent as much as pos- 
sible the pods from coming in contact with the 
ground, which, in wet seasons, occasions them to 
rot very early, in which state they are poison. 
Before stock of any kind are turned into pea fields, 
they should be liberally fed with corn, lest they 
gorge themselves by too heavy a meal. They 
should have access to water at all times ; and if 
the fields contain none, they should be driven to it 
thrice a- day. Salt freely twice a week, and rigidly 
exclude horses and cattle from pea fields in wet 
weather. Better that they are kept on short com- 
mons than feast on food" so dangerous. If they 
swell, and are not speedily relieved by moderate 
exercise, they should be punctured with a sharp 
knife, between the hip and back rib, sufficiently 
deep to reach the cavity, which, nine cases in ten, 
will afford instant relief. 
Hogs *nould never have access to pea fields, ex- 
cepting those intended to fatten for slaughter. To 
stofi hogs, they are almost as injurious as cotton 
seed, on both of which they will thrive for a time ; 
but half that are thus fed, will die as warm wea- 
ther approaches. In no country that I have ever 
seen, do hogs thrive so well as in the valley of the 
Mississippi ; and nowhere that I know, can they 
be raised cheaper. The woods abound in mast, 
and the whole surface of the earth is filled with 
worms ; so that only a sufficiency of corn, with a 
little attention to keep them gentle, is all that is 
required. I feed mine in the evening when they 
are penned, and turn them out in wood pastures in 
the day. I would prefer open, enclosed pastures, 
but for the burs. These, when they commence 
vegetating in the spring, hogs eat voraciously, and 
their rough outer covering forms an indigestible 
mass in the stomach, which destroys most of the 
young ones. 
My crop of corn, last season, in Mississippi, 
nearly equalled that of the preceding year, whilst 
the cotton crop fell short about one fourth. Not- 
withstanding the fertility of the soil there, I shall, 
for the ensuing crop, manure every hill of corn, 
and if the result at all equals my expectations, I 
will give you the product. I have just closed the 
operation of hauling out manure on my fields 
here. Of cotton-seed, cow-pen, and stable manure, 
and ashes, I have taken out 570 four-horse wagon 
loads, and 2,840 cart loads. The latter are rail- 
road carts, with bodies five feet long, four wide, 
and one foot deep. The ashes were obtained by 
setting fire to rafts deposited in my river low 
grounds, formed by the drift wood brought down 
by freshets. The supply is unlimited ; and an ex- 
periment made last year with ashes, induces me to 
expect great results this season. W. Hampton. 
Millwood, S. C, March 10th, 1849. 
