230 
A HALF DURHAM AND AYRSHIRE BULL.—SKETCHES OF THE WEST.—NO. V. 
minate so well, nor produce so thrifty a growing 
plant. When designed for this purpose, the berry 
should be glazed hard previous to cutting. 
In selections it is important to choose from the 
largest and best filled heads, growing on such a 
length of straw as is most desirable for the farm¬ 
er’s particular purpose. They pay particular at¬ 
tention to this matter in Great Britain, and if their 
climate were equal to ours for growing wheat, 
their flour would soon bear the palm in their mar¬ 
kets, We ought not, however, to trust too much 
Sheltxe.- 
to superior climate ; for by continued efforts, they 
may at length make such improvements as will 
place us in the background. 
A HALF DURHAM AND AYRSHIRE BULL. 
The above, Mr. Bement informs us, is not a 
fancy , but a faithful portrait of a half Durham 
and Ayrshire bull in his yard. We can readily 
believe him, for it shows the points of an animal 
of living flesh and blood. This is a cross highlv 
(Fig. 47.) 
The Property of C. N. Bement , Esq,, Albany, New York. 
esteemed both by breeders in this country and 
Great Britain, and some extraordinary animals 
have been produced by it. The Ayrshires, pure 
bred by themselves, are much liked in New Eng¬ 
land by Messrs. Cushing, Randall, and others; we 
also perceive that they are well spoken of in Vir¬ 
ginia by Mr. Botts of the Southern Planter. Being 
a hardy, medium-sized animal, they do well on 
short pastures, and are esteemed excellent milkers. 
SKETCHES OF THE WEST.—NO. Y. 
Plantation of Mr. Benjamin Warfield. —This 
we also found a very fine one, and under a good 
state of culti vation, and devoted principally to stock. 
There is the usual quantity of woodland pasture 
set off here, the residue of the land is devoted to a 
simple rotation of crops, being mostly corn and rye. 
The sod is broken up during the winter, or as early 
in the spring as possible, and planted with corn. 
Sometimes the ground is so rich that it will bear 
two or three crops in succession; but we believe 
Mr. Warfield generally allowed only one crop to 
be taken. This, as sopn as the corn is glazed, he 
cuts up close to the ground, shocks it, and then 
sows the field with rye. In October they com¬ 
mence husking, and so continue on during the win¬ 
ter as they have time. As the grass fails, the 
Busked corn-shocks are carted on to the field 
which it is designed shall be plowed the next year, 
spread evenly over it in patches, and a large herd 
of cattle fed upon them. By this method the field 
shortly becomes abundantly manured, and is then 
broken up for the following year’s com crop. It 
is thus the Kentucky planters are saved the dirty and 
laborious process of digging up and carting out 
large quantities of manure from the barnyard, a 
system of northern farming not at all to their fancy, 
and to which they usually express a decided dis¬ 
gust. We have often laughed at the wry faces 
they made up on speaking of it, and replied that it 
was less laborious and unpleasant than they sup¬ 
posed ; there wasnothinglike habit in these matters, 
and we Yankees took the drudgery as a matter of 
course. They are indebted in Kentucky to their 
superior mild climate for being able to manage 
these things more easily than we do. Their sys¬ 
tem of open feeding is a good one for them, and 
meets our hearty approval, except during heavy 
rain-storms, and the severest cold weather, when 
shelter there is quite as necessary as here. The 
rye gets so strong and rank a growth in the fall, 
that it can be pastured beneficially more or less all 
winter when the ground is frozen sufficiently hard 
to prevent poaching; and then again, when the 
land has become dry in the spring, till the middle 
of April. After this the stock is taken off till it 
becomes ripe, when hogs are turned on to harvest 
