AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
85 
he left for the road, and the general work of an 
American farmer. 
A few words now on the subject of stock im¬ 
portations. For three years past our country¬ 
men have taken it up with great spirit, and to a 
certain extent it was required ; but like pitching 
into railroads, banks, land, and other specula¬ 
tions, we fear they are now carrying the thing 
to an extreme ; and that at the present demand 
and high price of money, there will a reaction 
and considerable losses on the later importations. 
Would it not be better to pause a while now, 
and see whether what has already been done in 
this way returns a fair profit? We can buy the 
choicest improved cattle, horses, sheep, swine, 
&c., bred here, equal to most of the best im¬ 
ported, at from one one-tenth to one-half of the 
cost of importing. Why not use the American 
bred then ? Their pedigree, their quality, and 
their forms, are equal to the imported. By 
American bred we now mean Stud or Herd- 
Book animals only, and not what is usually 
called native. 
The above is our candid view of stock impor¬ 
tations ; but if we are in error, we shall be happy 
to be corrected; and would gladly and heartily 
welcome to our shores any thing from the con¬ 
tinent of Europe, which was in reality an im¬ 
provement. We-stand clear of all stock cliques, 
and only express a free and independent opinion; 
yet it is not a hasty and ill-considered opinion ; 
but one made up after careful thought and long 
study, and more than twenty years experience 
in these matters. 
A COMPOST HEAP. 
Mi:. A. Recuel, of Tarboro’, N. C., gives us 
the following description of one of his methods 
of making a compost heap: First, a layer of 
fence scrapings, some six inches deep. Over 
this a load of stable manure, and then another 
layer of the fence scrapings. Next spread on 
a bushel of powdered charcoal, covered with a 
third layer of the scrapings. Over this put half 
a peck or so of salt—refuse salt from fish or meat 
barrels, if this is at hand—and add a fourth cov¬ 
ering of earth, making in all about forty-five 
loads, the greater portion being the fence scrap- 
ings. The heap is then covered over with five 
or six loads of loose muck from the woods, con¬ 
sisting of decayed leaves and vegetable mold. 
The heap should lie six to twelve weeks, and 
then be thoroughly worked over with the fork 
and shovel. 
This would be a very good compost if the 
fence scrapings are rich in vegetable matter, but 
otherwise we should recommend a less quantity 
of the earth. 
-too- 
HOW SHALL SHORT-HORNS BE IMPROVED] 
We extract the following from a private letter 
enclosing a subscription, and take the liberty to 
insert it. 
I notice in your article headed as above, that 
you request those who have animals they con¬ 
sider superior in the fore-rib, girth round the 
heart, full in the crops, and with fine shoulders, 
to inform you of the fact. I have the Short¬ 
horn bull Grand Duke, calved the 24th Feb¬ 
ruary, 1850, got by Duke of Wellington (3654) 
E. H. B.; imported by Mr. George Vail; dam, 
Victoria 1st, bred by Mr. Vail. This animal 
possesses in a high degree the valuable qualities 
of the Short-horn cattle, a brilliant and beauti¬ 
ful eye, and in my judgement, as good shoulders 
and as full crops as any Devon in the country. 
Coming in direct line from Mr. Bates’ celebrated 
premium Oxford cow, of the Duchess tribe, 
and from the Princess tribe bull, Belvidere, he 
has inherited many of the characteristics of 
each tribe, and has been greatly benefited by 
the cross. J. Wyman Jones. 
Utica, N. Y, Feb. 22, 1854. 
When we learn the existence of a sufficient 
number of Short-horns with superior shoulders, 
&c., to render it an object, we shall then make 
our proposition known to their owners. In the 
meanwhile, we would recommend if other points 
arc good, to give them the preference in breed¬ 
ing. It will also be an object to get a more ob¬ 
lique shoulder-—like the thorough-bred horse— 
that of the Short-horn being rather too perpen¬ 
dicular for the fineness desired. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A WORD ON “IMPROVED SUPER-PHOSPHATE.” 
Can New-England fanners profitably pur¬ 
chase “ Improved Super-phosphate of Lime,” and 
other manures of this genus, at $45 to $50 per 
ton? 
I hear a perfect aeclammation of responsive 
yeas from all sorts of farmers. 1 am very much 
obliged for the prompt reply. But, Mr. Editor, 
I should be very much gratified if, through the 
columns of your paper, next winter we could get 
an accurate report of a well-planned and thor¬ 
oughly executed experiment from every pur¬ 
chaser of any of the varieties of manufactured 
manures, going to test the character of the in¬ 
vestment, so that every reader could make up 
his mind beyond a cavil as to the propriety of 
making a purchase next spring. A manufac¬ 
turer of a respectable article could well afford to 
make a discount of 25 per cent, to every purcha¬ 
ser who would make a proper report, and the 
public would be greatly instructed as to the rela¬ 
tive value of the wares in market. Advertising is 
an art, and the successful trials of any of the 
land medicines are industriously circulated, and 
our good friends whose patrimonial acres have 
been thoroughly exhausted by continuous outgo 
and rare income, are made to rejoice in the belief 
that the expenditure of some forty shillings in a 
wonderful preparation, that can be applied with 
a great spoon by a little boy, with no expense, 
will resuscitate one of these worn acres and 
make it yield with the wondrous profusion of a 
virgin soil. Nobody is interested to chronicle 
the failures. Now, Mr. Editor, I hold the 
opinion that there is a kind of obligation upon 
farmers, in the present blind state of agricul¬ 
tural science, to do individually what they can, 
to add to the fund of agricultural knowledge, 
and to protect one the other from harm and loss, 
and io put each the other in the way of benefit. 
Now, if the users of these made manures, pur¬ 
chased in New-York and elsewhere, will each 
furnish your columns with a single well-executed 
experiment, offering a fair test of the article 
used as compared with Peruvian guano and its 
effect in the absence of all manure, there will be 
much less , or much more , money spent in the 
spring of 1855, for “ Improved Super-phosphate 
of Lime” and its brethren. D. 
Brooklyn, Ct. 
We approve of the above suggestions, and 
shall be glad to receive any such communica¬ 
tions. We will add that all reports of experi¬ 
ments should particularly describe the kind of 
soil, and its former treatment. What is valuable 
on one kind of soil may be worthless upon 
another. 
-» O » - - 
Guano Discovery. —The Charleston Standard 
says—“A friend from Florida assures us that 
he has discovered a small guano island upon 
the western coast of Florida.” 
Guano in Baltimore. —The Baltimore Pa¬ 
triot says the amount of guano which will be 
imported into that city the present year, will 
probably reach 60,000 tons, costing three mill¬ 
ions of dollars. 
-• 9 »-- 
For the American Agriculturist. 
CUT FEED. 
The course which I pursue in cutting and 
preparing feed is as follows: rye straw, hay, 
and corn stalks are the only feed that I ever cut. 
It is necessary to have some ground feed to put 
with these; rye, corn, and oats, in equal parts 
and ground, make good meal for a cut mess. I 
then cut my straw, stalks, &c., three-fourths of 
an inch long, and mix in a tight box, and then 
cover with a lid to keep in all steam, for the 
mess must be wet up with boiling water. It 
should be mixed six to twelve hours before fed, 
because rye straw is stiff and pricks the mouth 
if not moistened and softened with boiling wa¬ 
ter. If the steam is confined to it for a while, it 
becomes soft and palatable. For working oxen 
and all laboring teams, grain should be ground, 
that they may get the whole nutriment. The 
meal should be mixed with something coarse to 
make it digestible. A. L. Smith. 
Nicholas, Tioga Co., N. Y. 
SHOEING HORSES. 
Mr. Charli s Percival, veterinary surgeon of 
the Royal artillery, furnishes the following com¬ 
munication to one of the Dublin papers: 
I have lately been devoting much attention to 
shoeing, and flatter myself that the horses un¬ 
der my care are as well shod as any in her Ma¬ 
jesty’s service. 
The shoe I found in use here was made con¬ 
cave next to the foot, and on the ground sur¬ 
face, than which, in my opinion, nothing could 
be worse. This shoe I have had reversed, mak¬ 
ing the latter as concave as the foot will possi¬ 
bly admit of, leaving only sufficient room be¬ 
tween the shoe and the foot, for the picker to 
pass freely round, to remove dirt, &c. To the 
heels of the shoe I have given an inclined plane 
outwards on the foot surface, with three nails 
on the inside and four on the outside. The 
heels, instead of being cut off straight, are well 
sloped, and about the same thickness as the toe. 
The shoe, one-third as thick as the heel as re¬ 
commended by the late professor, the majority 
of our horses could not travel in. There are 
many pernicious practices which smiths in gen¬ 
eral, if left to themselves, fall into, viz : 
1. Mutilating the frogs by improper cutting. 
I have at length got my farriers to understand 
that the only part of the frog which ever re¬ 
quires cutting, unless ragged, is the point, to 
prevent the sensible frog being bruised between 
it and the coffin bone. 
2. Inflicting serious injury to the crust by 
an improper me of the rasp, but especially the 
coarse side < f it. 
3. In fitting the shoe, by cutting too much 
out of the crust at the toe to admit the clip. 
The shoe is consequently set too far back, in¬ 
stead of being fitted full to the crust, afterwards 
rasping away the crust, making the foot, in 
fact, to tit the shoe instead of the shoe to fit the 
foot. This is a faulty practice, and very serious¬ 
ly so, which smiths in general are apt to fall 
into; one, too, which, renders the crust shelly, 
for that part into which the nails are driven 
from time to time is in this way rendered weak. 
4. In turning the shoes, smiths do not in 
general attend sufficiently to beveling or Hoping 
the edge of the shoe from the foot to the ground 
surface, which I consider of great importance, 
if horses are given to cut or interfere in their 
action. 
5. Cutting the heels of the shoe off straight. 
This is also a very bad practice. If well sloped, 
like a shoe for hunting, to which there cannot 
be any objection, they are less liable to be pull¬ 
ed off by the hind shoe catching in them, and 
