62 
editor’s table. 
Bettor’s &nblz. 
The Boston Traveller is informed that an edito¬ 
rial appeared in one of its July or August papers, with 
the following sentence : “Yet we do not hold to the 
idea which was sometime ago advanced by Mr. Allen, 
of New York, that any person can at will breed Ayr- 
shires by a cross of the Durham Short-Horn with our 
own native stock.” As we published a full explana¬ 
tion of our views in the June No. for 1842, page 97, 
of the Cultivator, showing that we had been misun¬ 
derstood, we thought the Traveller had done ns injus¬ 
tice in not taking the remarks at that time for our 
opinions on this subject. The Traveller now says, in 
its paper of 6th of January :— 
“ We know Mr. Allen has been charged with de¬ 
claring that we can make as many Ayrshires in this 
country as we please, by crossing the Durham with 
our best native cows. We regarded this as rather too 
literal a construction of Mr. Allen, and our under¬ 
standing of the matter was, that he-intended to convey 
the idea that Ayrshires were the result of a cross of 
the native cattle of Scotland with the Durhams, and 
that we could obtain a similar result by a cross of our 
natives with the Durhams.” 
This is satisfactory, and we are obliged to the Trav¬ 
eller for the explanation, for we deemed the first sen¬ 
tence quoted rather a misstatement , but more especially 
this, which immediately followed it: “He admits, how¬ 
ever, if a native cow of the Ayrshire stock fifty years 
ago could now be found, a near approximation might 
be obtained by this cross.” We have not the slightest 
recollection of ever making any such admission as this 
quotation contains, and believe that the Traveller is 
entirely in error in attributing it to us. 
Transactions of the Worcester County Agri¬ 
cultural Society for the year 1843.—This is an 
octavo pamphlet of 68 pages, the first 20 of which are 
devoted to Mr. Hudson’s address at its late annual 
meeting, and the residue consists of the reports of the 
various committees upon the occasion. We have pe¬ 
rused these Transactions with no less pleasure than 
profit, and are glad to see them printed in such a form 
as to be preserved, and easily referred to hereafter. 
Comfrey Root , or Symphytum .—We learn by the 
Portsmouth Journal, that Mr. Robinson is of opinion, 
from an imperfect experiment made by him on a small 
patch of ground, that he will be able next year to 
gather, at two cuttings, eight tons of leaves of the 
Comfrey root to the acre, which he says is excellent 
food for stock. The root is considered very nutritious 
for man or beast, and Mr. Rich, of Troy, N. H., asserts, 
that it can be harvested every two or three years, and 
will yield over 2,000 bushel's per acre. We should 
think it advisable to try the experiment of a rod or two 
square of growing comfrey in this vicinity. It is cul¬ 
tivated by transplanting the roots, which grow wild in 
the fields, to any ground deep plowed and well pulver¬ 
ized. 
Cane-Cutter. —We see by the Baton Rouge Gazette, 
that a Mr. Bryan has invented a cane-cutter which 
works by horse power, and cuts as much cane in 17 
minutes as 19 hands can do in an hour. If this be so, 
it is the greatest labor-saving agricultural machine in¬ 
vented since Whitney’s cotton gin. 
Castor Oil .—It is not generally known, but it is a 
fact, that every planter might raise as much castor oil 
in one year as would be required on his plantation 
during several years. The plant from which it is 
made (the recinus communis ) is cultivated largely in 
many of the middle and western states, but we believe 
it grows to greater perfection in Louisiana. We have 
one in our garden which is ten or twelve feet high, and 
full of beans. The process of procuring the oil is 
perfectly simple : boil the beans, bruised, in a bag, 
and as the oil rises, skim it off. It will be found as 
clear as olive oil.— Planters’ Ban. §-Ag. 
Large Potatoes and a Great Yield. —We cut the fol¬ 
lowing paragraph from the Planters’ Banner, and shall 
be obliged if the editor will inform us how many bush¬ 
els make the barrel at the south. Two bushels and 
three pecks is the northern measure, which would 
make, if the French arpent be the same as an English 
acre, at the rate of 660 bushels per acre—an almost 
incredible yield for sweet potatoes :— 
“The editor of the Creole says that A. B. Dauterive, 
of St. Martin, has shown him a sweet potato weighing 
5J pounds. Mr. D. obtained two hundred and seventy 
barrels of sweet potatoes from one and an eighth ar- 
pents of land.” 
Cuba Tobacco.— The Louisville Journal says: We 
are glad to learn that a number of our agricultural 
friends to whom we gave Cuba tobacco-seed have been 
very successful m the cultivation of the plants. Our 
friend Lewis Sherley has a small and beautiful crop of 
this fine tobacco. The leaves are very large, and the 
plants remarkably thrifty ; one of them we measured 
with a foot rule, and found it to be eight feet six inch¬ 
es high, and it is not done growing yet. There is no 
exaggeration in this statement, and yet it seems so in¬ 
credible that we feel very much as an honest Irishman 
did on a certain occasion. Pat wished to induce some 
friends whom he had left behind in the Emerald Isle* 
to emigrate to this land, where, according to Frank¬ 
lin, roasted pigs run about crying “Come and eat me !” 
and in writing to his friends, he stated that a man 
could get meat three times a week. He showed his 
letter to his employer, who reproved him, and told him 
he got meat three times a day. “ That’s all very 
thrue, plase yer aner, but if I was to be afther tellin’ 
thim so, they wouldn’t believe me at all at all!” 
The Journal need not have added the comical story 
of the Irishman to fortify its statement, for in the cold¬ 
er climate and poorer soil of this vicinity, we saw a 
Cuba tobacco-stalk last season over six feet high; and 
surely it is no great matter in a country like Ken¬ 
tucky, where hemp grows as large as a good-sized tree , 
to beat us in the small matter of a couple of feet in a 
tobacco-stalk. 
To Correspondents. —J. M. S. We have not been 
able to ascertain yet the lowest price at which guano 
manure may be obtained, probably $4,50 per cwt. 
Prof. C. It is much better to procure young Cedars, 
and indeed to transplant all evergreens, instead of sow¬ 
ing the seed. The islands in Lake Erie are full of 
them, and other parts of the west. The White Cedar 
makes a beautiful hedge. See Vol. 2d, page 177. 
Agricola shall be furnished the required information 
soon respecting Pot-Ashes. 
W. H. S. Let us have the results of the dairy, and 
the article on Cotswolds, at your earliest convenience. 
T. C. P. Send plan of the piggery. 
S. W. We shall take up the subject of China, and 
other breeds of pigs soon. We have latterly been 
called upon in various quarters for information on these 
points, and are in hopes of getting something new to 
communicate before writing. 
Examiner, T. C. Peters, B. Hodge, T. D. X., C. T. 
Botts, S. S., M. W. Philips, T. R. R., Dendy Sharwood, 
A. R. D. a if possible in our next. 
