HEREFORD AND OTHER CATTLE, ETC. 
17* 
-would give three times the landing room that there 
now is, will not be considered half so wild a 
scheme, as did the idea to some of the ancient in- 
habitants of New Orleans, of building houses in 
the swamp where now stands the St. Charles 
Hotel, and half the business part of the second 
municipality. 
But let us leave speculation of what New 
Orleans is to be, for who knoweth, and proceed with 
facts. I have only given these notes just for the 
sake of trying to give some who have never seen 
the elephant, an idea of the immensity of the ani- 
mal. Solon Robinson. 
New Orleans, Dec. 28th, 1848. 
■* 
RAISING- CORN WITHOUT MANURE— INFLUENCE 
OF AGRICULTURAL JOURNALS. 
You inquire in the March number of the Agri- 
culturist, what course I adopted to raise 83 bushels 
of corn to the acre, without manure, while my 
neighbors grow only 35 bushels, to which I will 
cheerfully reply. 
I have always been of the opinion, that, in agri- 
cultural operations, as in those of other arts and 
sciences, there are certain " little particulars" to be 
attended to, which have a very important bearing 
on the result ; but these little particulars we are 
very apt to overlook. When I go into a " smithy," 
if Vulcan understands his art, he can tell me by 
the very spark how fares the iron. Look at the 
chemist — Why is he so very particular about the 
color that little fluid is taking ? He knows that it 
is the point at which those who are not observing 
in "small matters," fail. Why does the painter 
appear so particular in compounding and blending 
those delicate little patches of olive, blue, green, 
&c, when his model exhibits no such colors to 
the eye'? The dauber, he knows, will fail in these. 
In fact, it is the attending to these minute particu- 
lars that crowns most of our attempts with success. 
And why is it that the farmer is the last man on 
earth to observe those small matters which make 
success more certain 1 Why is it that not one in 
ten takes an agricultural paper, where the minute 
observations of thinking and acting men are regis- 
tered for his benefit 1 yes he does attend to 
small matters — Does he not begin to plant when 
the moon is in the zodiacal sign of the goat, and 
close, when she is in the sign of the crab ? I 
make these remarks, because I feel that I am' as 
much in the " mud," as my brother farmers are in 
the " mire," and as an excuse for furnishing the 
"little particulars" of my crop. 
My field was a Timothy sod, of about ten years' 
standing, which I had annually irrigated with water 
from a spring impregnated with lime. After letting 
the grass get a fair start in the spring of the year, 
I put on one of your Yankee plows and " astonish- 
ed the natives" by turning up a deep furrow slice, 
leaving the face of the sod directly towards the other 
side of the earth. I then carefully harrowed the field, 
still leaving the furrow slices flat. On the 25th to the 
27th of April, I planted my corn 3 3 by 3| feet apart, 
previously taking care to pour boiling water on the 
seed, for about half a minute ; and then, whilst the 
corn was hot, I stirred in about half a pint of pine 
tar to a bushel of seed, with which every kernel 
was corr^ letely coated, and afterwards rolled it in 
dry plaster of Paris. The corn came up very well, 
four or five spires to a hill. 
For the want of good cultivators, such as you 
have at the north, I constructed some little harrows, 
6 feet long by 18 inches wide, filling them with 
fine teeth, (tines,) by which I eradicated the young 
weeds, keeping, at the same time, the old sod below, 
undisturbed. When the corn had arrived at a 
height of four feet, I took one of our " shovel 
plows," a very clumsy implement, as you are al- 
ready aware, and rigged a wheel under the beam, 
by which I could regulate the depth, in plowing 
between the rows, so as to prevent my careless 
hands from moving the sod. This odd plow 
worked to my admiration, but much to the amuse- 
ment of my neighbors, who also wished to know 
what I was doing with " them 'ere little wheel- 
barrows in my corn." I stood their gibes better 
than some generals would a " hasty plate of soup," 
because my "hasty plate of hommony" was at stake. 
The result was, I raised 83 bushels of shelled corn 
to the acre, without any manure ; and I can prove 
that the other fields in the neighborhood did not 
average half that amount. H. M. Baker. 
Winchester, Va., April 9th, 1849. 
HEREFORD AND OTHER CATTLE. 
In a late number of the Mark-Lane Express, a 
writer claims a superiority for the Herefords over 
the shorthorns, on the ground of greater hardiness 
of constitution, which enables them to bear up 
under severities of climate, seasons of scarcity, 
epidemics, and exposure to diseases, which few 
other breeds can withstand. These are important 
considerations ; and if the breed can be found to 
prove up these characteristics, there will be no dif- 
ficulty in establishing this fame on an enduring 
basis; as other prominent and valuable qualities, 
such as capacity for working oxen, kindly feeders, 
quick maturers, carrying the greatest weights on the 
most valuable points, are already generally acknow- 
ledged. 
As a proof of the high estimation in which they 
are held, the writer cites the sale of Mr. Tomkins, 
in which 52 head of grown animals and calves, 
brought an average of $448 each. One bull, 
(PhcEnix,) sold for over #2,900. Those sold by Mr. 
Price, in 1841, consisting of 100 bulls, cows, and 
calves, averaged $260 each. A cow and calf sold 
for $1,150 at auction. Below we give some of his 
remarks, which are quite to the point : — 
I consider it absolutely requisite that a breeder, 
to arrive at eminence, should be very particular in 
his selection of materials to found a herd upon ; 
otherwise he will meet with disappointment at the 
onset, and may be deterred from prosecuting the 
pursuit with zeal and interest afterwards. This 
brings me to what should next receive his special 
attention — "pedigree;" which is of so much con- 
sequence that I cannot see how a breeder can pro- 
ceed in safety without it. To secure the excel- 
lencies I wish to perpetuate in animals, I have 
always found the surest method of doing it, to 
breed from those that have possessed them for gene- 
rations past : and I cannot discov er how any one 
can be influenced to use a male to any extent with 
well-bred cows, (however perfect in form, coat, and 
quality,) of mongrel descent. The chances are, that 
