52 
GREAT RUTTER COW.-IMPERIAL OATS. 
S 
whether a mixture of carbonate of lime and leached 
ashes would not be equally salutary ? As a manure, 
I should think it preferable; but, as a food for the 
plant, or what is properly turned alimentary manure, 
it may not be equal to the plaster (a) The slovenly 
practice of manuring in the hill, ought never to be 
resorted to by any farmer who has a regard for his 
estate and reputation ; it seems to me too much of 
the miser and usurer. (6) 
Lye, Urine, Ashes, Plaster. —Wood ashes, when 
protected from rain, and wet occasionally with urine 
from chamber vessels, is of immense value. I made 
an experiment on a piece of ground under some 
apple trees, which was covered with moss, produced 
no doubt by the sterility of the soil, and a redundancy 
of acid. Equal parts of lye from wood ashes and 
chamber lye were added together, diluted with water 
(about two gallons of water to one of this mixture), 
and applied by a watering pot to the soil, say six 
gallons to a rod square. In two or three days the 
moss was destroyed, and a very luxuriant crop of 
white clover and blue grass succeeded it. On ano¬ 
ther grass plot in my yard, an application of wood 
ashes not saturated with chamber lye was made ; by 
the side of this an equal quantity of plaster of Paris 
was put on an equal sized plot; the piece manured 
with ashes was decidedly the best. This trial, and 
some others with lime, have depreciated plaster in my 
estimation; my settled conviction is, that the same 
sum expended in lime or ashes is more efficient than 
in plaster, (c) 
Lime. —I have been purchasing lime, and hauling 
it about 27 miles. It has amply compensated me for 
the cost, say 15 cents per bushel, and the price of 
hail ing. Being now in the decline of life, and hav¬ 
ing spent most of my time in other vocations, I feel 
that I must be permitted to indulge in some hobby ; 
I find none so innocent and attractive as my new 
profession of agriculture. I may be led into error 
and extravagance in some of my experiments; but 
if they have the effect of promoting the cause of agri¬ 
culture, 1 shall be compensated for my labor and ex¬ 
pense. A. M. Burton. 
Beaty's Ford, Bee. 15, 1844. 
{a) Whether lime or plaster would be most 
beneficial, must depend on the nature of the soil, and 
the crop to be raised from it. 
(b) Spreading the manure broad cast should be gen¬ 
erally followed ; in addition to this, it is considered 
good practice to manure lightly in the hill, to give the 
crop a start; and again on the hill around the plant, 
just before it commences fruiting. One must be 
guided by circumstances somewhat in these matters. 
(c) We think our correspondent should make other 
trials before condemning plaster, as local causes may 
have caused its inefficiency. If sown in dry wea¬ 
ther, its effects will not become apparent for some 
time ; if in wet weather, almost immediately. Plas¬ 
ter is a part of the food of turnips, clover, sainfoin, 
lucerne, and some other plants. It is found that an 
ordinary crop of these grasses usually contains from 
n to 2 cwt. of this salt per acre. To such crops 
the application of plaster must be beneficial. To 
other crops, such as peas, beans, wheat, oats, and 
barley, it is of little service; because, upon analysis, 
scarce a trace of plaster can be found in them. Per¬ 
haps the soil where Mr. Burton applied the plaster 
to the grass was exhausted of its potash; if so, it 
would be of no material benefit to the grass. See 
this explained page 225 of our last volume. 
GREAT BUTTER COW. 
You have, in the September number of your excel¬ 
lent paper, noticed an account given by me of a half- 
blood native and Devon cow, as published in the 
Massachusetts Ploughman, and ask me to inform you 
how she was fed during the seven days in which 
there was made from her milk 16 lbs. 10 oz. butter. 
The pasture in which she is kept is upon the sum¬ 
mit of one of our hills, from which you have a view 
of the valley of the Connecticut for 20 miles, and of 
the Green Mountain range for nearly 40. I do not 
know that the view affects the quantity or the quality 
of the milk ; but high and warm ground produces 
sweet feed. As Senator Benton would say, the barn 
yard and pasture are “ conterminous,” and after an 
early milking in the afternoon, she is turned into the 
pasture to spend the night, where, during the cool of 
the evening and morning, she can feed without an¬ 
noyance from heat or insects. This was the only 
peculiarity in the treatment of the animal. The 
grass is principally white clover and spear grass 
(poa pratensis), which never gets long. The pas¬ 
ture contains 8 or 10 acres, and has been long used, 
and was at this time supporting two cows, a mare 
and her foal. The cow ate nothing but what she 
obtained from the pasture, and I feel certain that no¬ 
thing could be fed which would yield a larger quanti¬ 
ty of milk or butter. The shorter the feed the better, 
if the animal can fill herself. This little cow that 
would not make 550 lbs. of beef, grass fed, produced 
this quantity of butter, while a Durham of the largest 
class would scarcely live. This cow, in 9 days in 
the last half of October, besides furnishing cream for 
tea and coffee for 3 persons, made 16| lbs of butter—■ 
fed with three pumpkins each day, besides the fall 
feed. I am raising a bull from her, got by a Durham, 
from the stock owned by Wm. Watson, Esq. of East 
Windsor, Ct., and I hope at some future day to give 
a good account of the cross. 
Wm. Bellows 
Walpole, N. H., Bee. 29, 1844. 
IMPERIAL OATS. 
Among the numerous varieties of oats at presen? 
cultivated in this country, the Imperial variety de¬ 
serves particular attention, not only on account of the 
ease with which it is cultivated, the produce per acre, 
and its superior weight, but also to gratify the laudable 
ambition that every farmer should possess, to raise the 
best of everything on his farm. 
Some 7 or 8 years since, a quantity of these oats 
was sent out from London to Mr. Alexander Smith, 
seedsman of this city, who has cultivated them since 
that time. When he first received them they weighed 
42 lbs. per bushel. By cultivation in this country 
they have improved in weight, until they now weigh 
from 40 to 47 lbs., according to the soil, season, and 
care in cleaning . 
Several years ago, Mr. S. sold some of the seed to 
a gentleman on Long Island, who supplied Mrs. P 
Ludlow with them. I saw, a few days since, a 
sample of Mrs. Ludlow’s oats, which she has culti¬ 
vated for 5 years, weighed at Mr. Smith’s. They 
