172 PLOWS FOR THE SOUTH.—MIL RING QUALITIES OF DURHAM COWS.—CULTIVATION OF COTTON.—NO. V. 
ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
PLOWS FOR THE SOUTH. 
Ithaca , N. Y., July 23 d, 1843. 
Dear Sir :—Please to say to your southern 
readers, that I am getting up patterns for a small 
one-horse plow, on the Barnaby and Mooer prin¬ 
ciple, on purpose to meet the wants of the south. 
I think my observations, in a tour of 2,000 miles 
through the heart of their country, will enable 
me to get them up a plow more generally useful 
than anything they have yet had, and at the same 
time come at a low price. Any of your friends 
ordering them through you, will be supplied at 
$5 each, cash, delivered m the city of New York. 
Extra points, 5 cents per pound, if cast; if wrought, 
they can be made on the plantation. 
E. Cornell. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
MILKING QUALITIES OF DURHAM COWS. 
Troy, July 11th, 1843. 
Dear Sir :—The following statement I am in¬ 
duced to communicate, to show the value of Dur¬ 
ham stock for dairy purposes. A gentleman in 
this vicinity is the owner of two cows only; one a 
full-blood Durham, seven or eight years old, and the 
other a four-year-old, seven eighths Durham heifer. 
He informs me he kept an accurate account of their 
produce in milk and butter for thirty days. The 
result was as follows: 108 lbs. of butter, besides 
supplying a family of five persons with new milk 
and cream for ordinary family use, and nine quarts 
of new milk daily for a calf. The average weight 
of milk per day, from the oldest cow, was 68 lbs., 
and from the heifer 60 lbs., during the thirty days. 
One of the cows the gentleman purchased from 
the writer of this article. This statement may be 
relied upon as substantially correct. The cows 
were kept on pasture only. 
This experiment was made at the suggestion 
of a brother of the owner of the cow, who resides 
at the east, when he was visiting at his house, as 
he had doubts as to the superiority of Durhams 
over the native stock for the dairy: the result 
satisfied him that he was mistaken. 
Geo. Vail. 
On this same subject, Mr. E. Cornell writes us 
from Ithaca, under date of July 23d. We wish, in 
all cases, that the breed of the animals could be 
given us as near as possible. 
There are some large stories going the rounds 
of the papers, on the subject of cows that give 
large quantities of milk. 
Judging from present indications, the premium 
offered by our society on the subject, will bring to 
light some valuable cows in this county. There 
are three that I have some accounts from already, 
as follow:— 
Judge Walbridge, of this village, has a cow that 
gave 395}f lbs. milk in 7 days, ending 24th June 
last; average 56| lbs. per day, or 28| quarts per day. 
Some days she has given 61 T 5 6 lbs. per day. Her 
milk weighs 2 lbs. per quart. She has made 2 T *g 
lbs. butter per day, with 2 quarts of her milk taken 
out for the use of the family. 
Rev. Wm. Wisner has a cow that made 47 lbs. 
butter in May, and supplied two families with 
new milk for daily use during the time. 
Geo. P. Frost, Esq,, has a cow that has made 
2y 7 g- lbs. butter per day, from 16 quarts of milk. 
She gives a small quantity of milk, as you will 
see; but it is extraordinary in richness. All the 
above cows were running on good common pas¬ 
ture, with occasionally some light slops. Mr. 
Frost, at my suggestion, has commenced feeding 
his cow a little extra, to see what she will do. I 
judge by appearance, that the three above cows 
are a cross between the Devon and native—native 
blood predominating. We have some fine cows 
with a sprinkle of the Durham blood, which I trust 
will be heard from in due season; and if they are 
not misrepresented, they will acquit themselves 
handsomely. 
E. Cornell. 
For the American Agriculturist 
CULTIVATION OF COTTON.—No. V. 
Log Hall, Miss., Aug. 2d, 1843. 
In No. IV. I gave the preparatory steps to gath¬ 
ering our snowy staple, much of which is too often 
neglected until absolute necessity forces prepara¬ 
tion. Having all things ready for picking cotton, I 
commence as usual early, as soon as the hands can 
gather even 20 lbs. each. This is advisable, not only 
in saving a portion of that from being destroyed, 
if rains should fall, which often do at this season 
(about the middle of August), but for another 
reason; passing through the cotton has a tendency 
to open out to sun and air the limbs that have in¬ 
terlocked across the rows, and hastens the early 
opening. On low grounds, especially, much loss is 
incurred in some seasons from the want of the sun 
to cause an expansion of the fibre within the bowl, 
so as to cause it to open. The bowl is composed 
of five divisions, in each of which there is a parcel 
of cotton wool surrounding each seed, there being 
several in each lock of cotton. When green, these 
fibres lie close to the seed, and as it ripens, the 
fibres become elastic, the bowl becoming hard and 
brownish. The Sea Island has only three divisions, 
as also the Egyptian, which is only the Sea Island 
of the best variety, with black seed, smooth, and 
a yellowish iuft of fibres on the small end; they 
are both from Pernambuco. Some of the cotton 
we plant has only four divisions, but I think five 
generally. 
There is a peculiar art in gathering the cotton 
from the bowl, which, like handling stock, can 
only be acquired by practice; many gather equally 
fast with either hand. The left hand seizes the 
stem near the open bowl, or the bowl between the 
two middle fingers, the palm of the hand up; the 
fingers of the right hand are inserted tolerably low 
down in the bowl, a finger on each lock of cotton; 
then, as the fingers grasp it, there is a slight twist¬ 
ing motion, and a quick pull, which, if done well, 
