DURHAM CATTLE AND SOUTH-DOWN SHEEP. 
1 5 
borer having no interest in the country, and by na¬ 
ture more lethargic than the white man, does no 
more than he is compelled. He has no thrift, no 
economy, no invention, and consequently we lack 
that which is so conspicuous in the north and east, 
neatness and method. I have known on a lot of 
5 or 6 acres, 18 barrels (90 bushels), of com produ¬ 
ced to the acre, and wheat in proportion. 
Land here is cheap, the most highly improved 
with all the needful buildings, may be had from 
$50 to $60, and Unimproved, for $20 to $30 per 
acre. Markets are near and good, and conveyance 
of produce easy, and at low rates. The whole 
country healthy except on some of the rivers and 
creeks ; but generally, the good land in question is 
on a ridge midway between the waters above na¬ 
med. To the south of this district, lies a similar 
tract of land, of the same character, not yet im¬ 
proved, that could be purchased on lower terms. 
R. S. Stewart. 
Fvr the American Agriculturist. 
DURHAM CATTLE AND SOUTH-DOWN SHEEP. 
Kirkleavington, near Westchester , West- j 
Chester CoPa., 1th month, 1843. j 
Respected Friend: Although I have so long 
neglected, yet I have not forgotten my obligation 
to give thee some account of the stock which I 
brought from England in 1839. It is well known 
that first-rate animals are quite scarce in England, 
and that they are worth more there than in this 
country is obvious, for two reasons; first, because 
the market for meat is much higher, and second, 
there are too many more independent and spirited 
breeders who will not buy a middling animal to 
breed from, when they can get a first-rate one. 
Many people are disposed to scoff at the idea of 
pedigree, handling, <5fC. I have heard of the own¬ 
ers of large landed estates, who frequently offer 
considerable premiums to the person who would 
find a weed growing thereon ; now suppose some 
of us had our farms clear of all kinds of weeds and 
their seeds, and some one would sell us some kind 
of valuable seed, among which there was the seed 
of some pernicious weed, but which was so small 
that an inexperienced eye could not detect it; 
again, suppose we had a fine herd or flock of pure 
bred animals, in which it had been as rare to see 
much imperfection for many generations, as it is 
to see weeds on some farms, and some one was to 
offer to sell us an animal whose appearance pleas¬ 
ed us well, how could we know that there was no 
impure blood in it without referring to pedigree ? 
In the case of the seed there is an opportunity of 
seeing, and although our country people are so 
sharp-sighted, I have known them to be deceived, 
and to sow the most pernicious of seeds. Now 
what I have the most to lament over in these 
days, is the deceptions which I believe have been 
practised in the sale of inferior bred animals to our 
inexperienced breeders, who I fear too often, in or¬ 
der to supply the want of real excellence, as nearly 
as they can in their produce, endeavor to make it 
up with an extra portion of feed, so that in some 
instances it is like tilling a poor soil, the expense 
of culture costs more than the crop is worth. 
I have been highly gratified to learn by thy visit 
to Wiseton, that Earl Spencer has an aversion to 
showing his best animals at exhibitions, because 
he believes it to be injurious to stuff and fat them 
as is usual on these occasions, and he does not 
choose to exhibit them in usual condition to com¬ 
pete with those in such high condition; now if in 
England, where the art of breeding is best under¬ 
stood, and where animals are judged of by their 
real excellence, it will not do to show them in 
usual condition, well may some of us object to it 
in this country, where they are only judged of by 
the eye. 
Thee is aware, that Thomas Bates, of Kirkleav¬ 
ington, was the breeder of my bull Yorkshireman; 
he is by the same sire as Cleveland Lad—Short- 
Tail (2621). I have never shown him at any ex¬ 
hibition, for precisely the same reason that Earl 
Spencer objects to showing. He will be five years 
old this month, and is now in good condition. 
When I visited Kirkleavington, T. B. had three 
bulls near about the same age, under one year old. 
When I asked the price of one of them, he inquired 
which one I preferred, I told him, he said 100 
guineas was the price; and as I soon discovered 
he had but one price for them, I gave his asking. 
When I returned to Liverpool after the Oxford 
meeting, I met with J. Etches, who then resided 
there; he told me he had bought one of the other 
two at the same price, which he afterward called 
Locomotive, and which he since sold to E. Letton 
of Kentucky, for a handsome advance. My cow 
Donna Maria, was bred by W. F. Payley, of Gled- 
how, see 3d Vol. Herd-book, page 476. She is 
not of so good stock as Bates’, and I think likely 
there is but little in England equal to his Dutchess 
family. Donna Maria brought twin heifer calves 
last winter. 
As regards the Downs, I scarce know what to 
say of them, after seeing the admirable account 
which thee gave of those thee selected for F. Rotch 
and others. As soon as I saw the No. of the Cul¬ 
tivator that contained it, I forthwith sent it togeth¬ 
er with a letter to J. Ellman, of Glynde, of whom 
I had purchased one buck and two ewes, to know 
how it was that Webb had so far succeeded in 
carrying off so many prizes. To this he soon re¬ 
plied in a letter, stating that he had not shown, 
anything at the last Royal Agricultural Show, but 
that Mr. Webb was justly entitled to all the prizes 
which he took. 
I now have the buck and five of the ewes that I 
imported, and I fancy their produce is no discredit, 
to them; though I would of choice had fewer 
males and more females. I have now about 30 all 
pure bred, having some time since sold all my 
grades, among which there was one ewe now 
owned by John Worth, near Marshalton, Chester 
county, which I do not hesitate to say, for beauty 
and justness of form, surpasses any sheep of any 
breed that I have ever seen. My flock this year 
averaged within a fraction of 3 1-4 lbs. each, after 
having been well washed in the river Brandy- 
wine. 
I have been for some time in the practice of 
having the wool manufactured into cloth, and found 
that I passed quite well with it even in England, 
