198 
THE BAMBOO. 
Stock.— The stock on this farm is merely such 
as is required for labor, and a dozen cows or so for 
family purposes, and a small dairy. These are 
principally a cross of the Durhams on the native. 
We observed one fine cow of the Holland or Dutch 
breed, from the stock imported direct from Holland 
by the late Mr. Leroy of this city. She is a noble 
cow of good points, and a good milker; her color 
approaches a purple black, mixed with patches of 
white. In form, these animals much resemble the 
best.specimens of grade Durhams. A few cows 
of this breed may be found on the farms of Messrs. 
Le Roy and Newbold, Livingston county. These 
gentlemen have crossed them with the Durhams, 
and think highly of the produce. 
The Dairy. —This we found a cool, neat, and 
convenient structure, and well aired; a point 
which is too often neglected in the dairy, but 
which is very essential in its products, and espe¬ 
cially so in keeping the cheese in good order— 
close, foul air being pernicious in the extreme. A 
small stove is introduced here in the winter to bring 
the temperature up to a moderate warmth, and 
it has the effect of giving both the cream and the 
butter the rich yellow appearance which they as¬ 
sume in the summer. 
A ^ • ir of Industrious Dogs. —The churning is 
dogs, turning a wheel constructed in the 
. aual form of those attached to machines of this 
kind. The animals we saw here are a noble pair 
of large shaggy fellows, that looked like a cross 
of the Newfoundland upon the water spaniel. 
They are the faithful guards of the farm by night, 
and the workers here when required by day, and 
such is their spirit of industry, that they occasion¬ 
ally have a battle so see which shall do the churn¬ 
ing. We have heard of bipeds quarreling to evade 
useful work, but never knew of their doing so to 
be allowed to enact the opposite principle. 
Five-Toed Capons. —We here saw a flock of 
capons which had just arrived from China. They 
are large birds, of a golden red color, and yel¬ 
low legs. Four of them had extra toes, exactly 
like the Dorkings. We should like to ascertain 
whether these “ children of the moon” were an 
accidental or an established variety of the gallina¬ 
ceous species. We suspect that there are more 
good things in China than we have ever dreamed 
of, and probably we may yet learn that on 
many points we are the barbarians the inhabitants 
of the celestial empire style us. Novv that this 
singular country has become partially open to 
travellers, we hope soon to see some accurate ac¬ 
count of its numerous productions. 
The gardens and grounds of this fine estate of 
Mr. Howland are ample, and well stocked with 
flowers, shrubbery, and ornamental trees. We 
should like to take the reader to the top of a pret¬ 
ty tower that crowns the hill of a recent planta¬ 
tion, and give him a view of the beautiful and va¬ 
ried scenery around; the East river, the Sound, 
the charming country and towns on their borders, 
with the heights of the palisadoes beyond; but 
such things are not in the province of this paper, 
and we forbear. From an eminent and successful 
shipping merchant, Mr. Howland has transferred 
himself to an equally eminent farmer, and judging 
from appearances, we presume that he takes more 
pride and pleasure in the latter occupation, than 
he^ever did in the former. 
THE BAMBOO.— (Fig. 48.) 
Although the bamboo is a native of America, 
we have never heard of its attaining the same 
luxuriance of growth here that it does in Asia. 
Why is this, want of cultivation? We can not 
think either our soil or climate in fault. Mr. Lou¬ 
don, in his Botanical Dictionary, describes it as 
rising from 50 to 80 feet the first year, and the 
second perfecting its timber in hardness and elas¬ 
ticity. It grows in stools, which are cut every two 
years. The quantity of timber furnished by an 
acre of bamboos is immense. Its uses are almost 
without end. In building it forms almost entire 
