A VETERAN HORSE.-THE ALPACA.-FARM OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. 
&c., is chiefly owing, however, to those delicacies 
being composed of the refuse of starch-works, 
mixed with plaster of Paris, pipe-clay, or chalk, and 
having, indeed, as little sugar as will suffice Jo give 
them a palatable sweetness, and they are often color¬ 
ed with gamboge, and sometimes with red-lead, ver¬ 
digris, and other mineral poisons. 
“ Everywhere, the beasts of the field, the birds of 
the air, the reptiles, fish, and insects, are found to 
have a great liking for sugar and honey. Mr. Mar¬ 
tin says he has tamed the most savage and vicious 
horses with sugar, and has seen the most ferocious 
animals domesticated by being partly fed upon it. 
The tamers of lions and tigers owe their power over 
them chiefly to a judicious use of sugar and other 
sorts of sweets, and also of lavender-water, and 
various other perfumes, of which feline animals are 
remarkably fond. In the sugar season, in the West 
Indies, the horses, mules, and cattle soon acquire 
plumpness and strength, by partaking of the leavings 
of the sugar-canes, after the manufacturer has done 
with them. In Cochin China, the elephants, buffa¬ 
loes, and horses are fattened with sugar. We learn, 
from the Memoirs of Dr. Edward Cartwright (1843), 
that that ingenious man used to fatten sheep on su¬ 
gar. To birds this diet proves so nourishing, that the 
suppliers of the European poultry-markets find that 
sugar, along with hemp-seed and boiled wheat, will 
greatly fatten ruffs and reeves in the space of a fort¬ 
night.” 
Sugar is now successfully cultivated on the high¬ 
lands in Louisiana, and the quality is said to be supe¬ 
rior to that grown on the richer river bottoms. The 
grain is larger, and it is much less liable to drip. 
Recent improvements have lately been made at the 
South in boiling and refining sugar, the particulars of 
which we wish some of our friends in that quarter 
would furnish us for publication. We notice that 
several of the West India planters are boiling up their 
skimmings and refuse molasses with other food, and 
feeding it with much success and profit to their stock, 
thus saving them the necessity of turning it into that 
liquid fire, ycleped Rum. All animals, they find, 
thrive well on such food, which is reasonable enough, 
as all sweets abound in carbon. The mixture would 
fat poultry, swine, sheep, and cattle equally well, giv¬ 
ing a delicacy and sweetness to the meat which no¬ 
thing else will. No planter now can have an excuse 
for making rum—he can hereafter dispose of his in¬ 
ferior molasses to a greater profit and more useful 
A VETERAN HORSE. 
The most extraordinary horse for his age which 
we have seen, is the veteran Charles, owned by O. 
Mauran, Esq., of this city. He w T as foaled in 1802, 
and reared by Mr. Brundage, of Horse Neck, Fair- 
field county, Connecticut. He was brought to New 
York, in 1810, and sold to Mr. Jesse Sackett. From 
Mr. S., he passed into the hands of Mr. Isaac Tuck¬ 
er, who kept a livery stable in John street. Mr. Oli¬ 
ver H. Hicks was his next owner, and from him 
Charles passed to others, all personally known to Mr. 
Mauran, who finally became his owner, on the 20th 
August, 1826. Since this, Mr. M. informs us, that 
he has been in almost constant use with him. He 
has not been sick or out of condition a single day 
10 ? 
during this whole time, nor ever had a sheet or a 
blanket on him. 
Charles is fifteen hands high, of fine form and action, 
and evidently very well bred. He has a tanned muzzle, 
and is of deep brown color, interspersed now with 
grey hairs, particularly around the head. His teeth 
are still sound and good. He racks and gallops de¬ 
lightfully under the saddle, but has a fine square trot 
in harness. He is very playful and ambitious, and 
can still trot his mile within four minutes. We have 
had the pleasure of mounting him, and under our heavy 
weight (197 lbs ), he moves off as gaily and as easily 
as a colt. From the above record it will be seen that 
Charles is forty-three years old this spring. May he 
live and continue to bear his present kind master, till 
the United States has as many million inhabitants as 
he has years, and then as many more in addition. 
The oldest horse ever known in England, we be¬ 
lieve, was fifty-two. 
THE ALPACA. 
The person who would successfully introduce this 
beautiful and useful animal into the United States, 
would be doing his country a great service. They 
will live upon the same food as sheep, but are more 
hardy, eating coarser grass, and enduring the winters 
better. They have so much improved in weight of 
fleece in England, as to yield from twelve to eighteen 
lbs. per head ; in their native country, Peru, the yield 
is not over seven to ten lbs. per head. The wool is 
in great demand, and makes a very fine and some¬ 
what peculiar kind of cloth, which is highly prized, 
especially by the ladies. The alpaca is very gentle, 
and one of the most graceful of animals. We 
should much prefer them to deer as an ornament to 
the park. Their color is pure white, brown, black, or 
spotted. We prefer the white or jet black. They 
can be had of Earl Derby, in the vicinity of Liver¬ 
pool, for £40 (say $200) per pair. We wish some 
of our wealthy citizens would import a few. The 
money expended in doing so would be a mere trifle 
to them, and the substantial benefit ultimately con¬ 
ferred upon the United States incalculable. Our 
agricultural products are so low that the attention of 
our farmers should be turned to the introduction of 
everything new and useful, especially when as pro¬ 
mising as the raising of the alpaca. We took parti¬ 
cular note of these animals when abroad, and brought 
home samples of their wool for distribution among 
our friends. Upwards of 3,500,000 lbs. of alpaca 
wool were imported into Great Britain the past year, 
and it is extensively manufactured there, especially 
in Manchester and its vicinity. Keeping alpacas on 
the mountain ranges of the Southern States would 
yield the planters large profits, and compensate them 
for the low prices of cotton on the seaboard. 
Farm of General Washington at Mount Ver- 
NOiN.—This contained about 10,000 acres in one body, 
rather more than fifteen square miles. In 1787 th-ere 
were five hundred acres of this land in grass, 600 in 
oats, 700 in wheat, and as much more in corn, bar¬ 
ley, beans, peas, and potatoes, besides 150 acres in 
turnips. The stock consisted of 140 horses, 112 
cows, 335 working oxen, heifers and steers, and 500 
sheep. Two hundred and fifty hands were constant¬ 
ly employed on the estate, and 24 plows kept in ope- 
