CARE OF STOCK.-AGRICULTURAL MATTERS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 
361 * 
any other grain. This might be, if taken in right 
dry; but I can see little to be gained, and a certain 
loss in the shape of depredations by rats and mice. 
The straw, too, would be worth little or nothing for 
fodder, if taken in so dry. 
The manufacture of this grain seems to be very 
capricious, and success is not always attained at will. 
Some of our little “thunder shower” mills have a 
reputation for grinding this grain which their four 
story neighbors upon the larger streams strive in vain 
to acquire. Why it is I know not; but the remark 
is often made, and surprise expressed that it should 
be so, when these latter generally have superior 
machinery, scouring apparatus, &c. About 175 lbs. 
of grain is required for 100 lbs. of flour, and different 
mills will produce very different qualities with the 
same quantity of grain. The essentials of good 
buckwheat flour are whiteness, absence of all grit, 
and a clean, soft handling. 
The bread, or rather cakes, made of this grain, in 
some sections, is considered essential to a cold 
weather meal. In its season it is used almost exclu¬ 
sively by the poorer classes, both on the score of 
economy and convenience. Medical men have pro¬ 
nounced them unhealthy ; and no wonder they should 
do so, if their judgment is made upon the heavy 
leaden things that so often come upon the table. As 
in other things, there is sleight in the baking. Our 
country women are far ahead of your city cooks in 
this matter, and that, too, without any of those 
chemical recipes paraded before the public of late 
years. Analyses made of this grain have shown 
it to be nutritious. It is said by Prof. Johnston to 
contain gluten, starch, and sugar, nearly equal to 
some varieties of wheat. But a hard-working Ger¬ 
man once in our employ, said it would do very well 
for supper, to sleep on, but not for breakfast or din¬ 
ner, to sustain him at his labor. And probably he 
knew quite as much about it as the Scotch chemist. 
The analysis made by the German was a real practi¬ 
cal one. Give me experience yet. Most kinds of 
stock are fond of this grain, when ground ; and it is 
the best of “ slop ” for fresh cows, producing an extra 
flow of milk, and of superior quality. 
The market for this article is not very free or 
extensive, and farmers do not appear to be very much 
acquainted with it. Probably three-fourths of the 
crop is consumed where it is raised, and retailed in 
the country towns and villages. Except in some 
sections, the city market is seldom resorted to. For 
New York, it is put up in kegs or bags of 100, 50, 
or 25 lbs. each. It is generally sold in lots to whole¬ 
sale flour dealers, from whom the grocers obtain and 
retail it. It is sometimes seen in bags as small as 14; 
lbs. each. There is some little export of this flour 
from Philadelphia to Southern cities. Three years 
ago it was sold in Charleston, &. C., as high as $4 
per 100 lbs., in quarter kegs. It is now bringing 
(Nov. 1st) about $2 per 100 lbs., in bags or barrels, 
in the city of New York, according to the newspa¬ 
pers. It is seldom noticed in the price current or 
market reports of the daily papers, and I never saw 
it mentioned but once in the tables of the Agricultu¬ 
rist. I hope, Mr. Editor, in future you will give it 
more attention. Ihe matter is of considerable import¬ 
ance to some of us. A, R. D. 
Hackettstown , Warren Cc., N. J., Nev. 1, 1845. 
CARE OF STOCK. 
I cannot let the season pass without saying a few 
words upon the subject of caring for cattle at the 
approach of winter. I know men who style them¬ 
selves farmers, settled upon large tracts of land, with 
large herds and flocks coursing over them in pursuit 
of food, without gathering sufficient to keep them 
from falling off in condition ; losing more flesh in two 
or three weeks than can be gained in a whole winter 
after having been thus treated. All this grows out of 
the fact of an over-reaching spirit, in attempting to 
do too much in too short a period. While the 
grounds are being seeded the stock is increasing. 
The hay crop is short, and every lock which is fed 
to the cattle while the ground is bare is considered a 
total loss; and there would be no necessity for it if 
the grounds were seeded as they ought to be, in 
which case ten acres would produce more feed than 
one hundred managed the usual way. Land intended 
for pasture requires a great deal of seed ; the farmers 
in England sometimes sow as high as 47 lbs. of the 
different grasses to the acre, where the soil is strong, 
and this, too, upon land well prepared—where 
every seed will catch if good. The consequence of 
this abundant seeding is, a thick sward at once ; 
whereas many of the American farmers don’t half 
prepare their land, and the reason is obvious, because 
the land is new, some of it just cleared of its timber, 
and it is impossible to place the seed in a position to 
take root. Hence the spears of grass are so scatter¬ 
ing that a grasshopper cannot hop from one speai to 
another after having trimmed off the leaves without 
falling to the ground. And now, farmers, let me say 
to you in conclusion, when you seed your land, let it 
be well covered with sod, and well coated with grass, 
before you suffer a foot to tread upon it, and then you 
may let your cattle run out until the snow falls, and 
even after, especially horses and sheep, without loss 
of flesh to the animals. 
AGRICULTURAL MATTERS IN NORTH 
CAROLINA. 
Sorry am I to see and know the little interest fell 
and the abominable neglect of agriculture with most 
of the planters in this section of country. I do not 
know a single improving and scientific farmer in this 
or the adjoining counties. The old system of clear¬ 
ing and wearing out land continues, and not as much 
grain, &c., is produced from ten acres as might be 
obtained from one. I felt so anxious that your paper 
should be patronized and read in Hyde county, which 
contains more excellent land than any county in 
the State, and the people solely employed in agri¬ 
culture, I loaned one of my numbers to an acquaint¬ 
ance, who promised me that he would get subscribers; 
but I have not yet got my paper, and I fear they have 
not yet come to the knowledge of the great benefits to 
be derived from your useful publication. I com¬ 
menced with Ruffin’s Register, which has cost me $40 
or $50, and I have never regretted it. I succeeded ia 
getting two or three subscribers to that work, and not 
a man continued it through its days of publication. 
There is so little disposition among us to improve 
stock, it is impossible to sell a calf of the finest form 
or best blood for $20. I have one of the Devon, a 
beautiful mahogany red, and a roan of the Durham 
breed, and I could not get $15 for either of them. 
The farmers would sooner let their cows go \§ritfa a 
