210 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
& 
wooden mold-board and small wrought-iron nose, 
with the fresh dust of honorable toil upon them. 
That venerable implement was still in active 
service, turning up its three inches of soil, and 
preparing the way for a harvest of fifteen bushels 
of corn to the acre. It is, without doubt, the 
best plow its owner possesses, and he is very 
much afraid of turning up the yellow dirt upon 
his farm. He does not believe in those new¬ 
fangled cast-iron mold-boards. They are sure 
to break. He knows they can’t help it. 
Possibly some of our readers have the same 
prejudice against the sub-soil plow, and other 
improved, farming tools. Why should a man 
be content to stir his ground five inches deep, 
when he can stir it twenty, and add largely to 
his harvest by so doing ? Why should he use the 
scythe, and tax all his strength to cut an acre of 
grass in a morning, when with a mowing-ma¬ 
chine, he can cut ten acres in the same time ? 
Farmers should attend the fairs more, and travel 
more, to see what their brethren of the plow are 
doing. So rife is the spirit of improvement, 
that every year shows striking changes in farm 
life. The man who stays at home for two years, 
falls decidedly in the back ground. 
EXPORT OF BRITISH STOCK. 
WHAT THE ENGLISH SAY ABOUT IT. 
Three weeks since, we noticed the arrival of 
Dr. Watts, and that Mr. Waddle would fol¬ 
low him with the cattle, &c. In the Marl: L'ane 
Express, of May 15th, we find a description of 
these animals, which conveys some interesting in¬ 
formation. It is from the Liverpool correspond¬ 
ent of that journal: 
those now shipped were 8 lots purchased at Mr. 
Wilkinson’s sale at Lenton, many of them very 
superior specimens of the breed; three very 
promising animals from Mr. Fawks’ herd, atFarn- 
ley Hall; a fine young white bull, called “ Meda¬ 
list,” bred by Mr. Torr, of Aylesby, which at¬ 
tracted a good share of attention—this animal is 
closely allied to the blood of Mr. Booth, ofWar- 
laby; Mr. Torr also sold them a bull, cow, and 
heifer; there were four good specimens from 
the herd of Mr. Ambler, of Watkinson Hall, 
Halifax, besides others bred from the stock of 
Lord Feversham, Sir T. Cartwright, Messrs. 
Birchall, Clarke, Dudding, Mitchell, and Wood, 
all English breeders; three splendid bulls, pur¬ 
chased at the Royal Dublin Show, (two of them 
winners of the first prize in their classes,) which 
were bred by Messrs. Farral, Lee, Norman, and 
Topliam; there were also several promising 
yearling heifers from the herds of Messrs. 
Barnes and Chaloner, celebrated breeders of 
Short-horns in the Sister Isle. The Cotswold 
sheep were from the celebrated flock of Mr. 
Hewer, of Northleach, and the South-downs 
from that of Mr. Webbs, of Babraham. Messrs. 
Haukin & Co. also shipped a valuable lot the 
previous week; their cattle were mostly pur¬ 
chased in the North Riding of Yorkshire and 
the county of Durham; the sheep were from 
the same breeders as above. I regret I had not 
an opportunity of seeing this shipment, being 
absent from Liverpool at the time; but I learn, 
from a friend residing near here, interested in 
such matters, that they were a useful lot of 
stock, about the same quantity as those of 
Messrs. Watts and Waddle; they are also for a 
company in the western States of America, and 
for which good prices were paid. I hope these 
continuous exports of our best slock, may in¬ 
duce our farmers and breeders to pay greater 
attention to the rearing of the most improved 
breeds of cattle as such a demand holds out 
every encouragement for them to do so. 
- • O • - 
In accordance with my promise, I send you 
some further particulars of a valuable cargo of 
Short-horned cattle, Cotswold and South-down 
sheep, which left this port during the past week, 
in the “Bailey,” for Philadelphia. The stock 
in question were those purchased by Dr. Watts 
and Mr. Waddle, the gentlemen I named in 
my former report as having made great search 
throughout the United Kingdom, they having 
visited most of the principle herds of England, 
Ireland, and Scotland, as agents for a spirited 
company in Clarke county, Ohio, United States. 
When we mention that amongst the cattle, 
which consisted of 10 Short-horned bulls and 20 
cows and heifers, were animals that have cost 
200 guineas, ($1000,) several 150 guineas, 
($750,) and most of them averaging over 100 
guineas, ($500,) each, it maybe readily inferred 
that ample funds were placed at their disposal; 
coupling with this the heavy, personal expenses 
of those gentlemen, with freight, fittings, and 
food for the stock, each in itself an item of no 
small amount, some idea may be formed of the 
enterprise and spirit of our trans-atlantic breth¬ 
ren ; and we may heartily wish them the re¬ 
ward which such patriotic conduct so richly de¬ 
serves. Every facility was given us by those 
gentlemen for the inspection and particulars of 
the animals during their stay in Liverpool; sev¬ 
eral breeders also, some of them from a distance, 
came to view them; and we were happy to 
have their testimony in confirmation of our own. 
They were indeed a prime lot, and to collect 
such, a work of no little difficulty. Dr. Watts 
paid a visit of the kind in the year 1852, and 
we learn that he was one of the original share¬ 
holders in the first Ohio company which im¬ 
ported largely from this country in the years 
1834 and 1836, and that such stock have proved 
a great benefit to Kentucky, Ohio, and other 
western States, over the vast extent of which 
country we are told the produce of this valuable 
race of cattle (the “Short-horn”) are widely 
spread, and that many of them are such as 
would do credit to the parent country. Amongst 
MANURE DRAININGS. 
A writer in the New-England Farmer , makes 
the following correct reference to a subject of 
prime importance: “ Millions of dollars are lost 
every year by want of care and skill in properly 
collecting and using the drainings from manure 
heaps. Much, very much has been written on 
this subject during the last ten years, and yet 
not one farmer in one hundred has taken any 
particular pains to save his liquid manure. 
Instead of aiming to preserve the barn-yard 
wash, we hesitate not to say, three farmers 
out of four, have taken particular pains to get 
rid of or waste it, by placing their yards upon 
sloping ground, or by ditching them so as to 
convey the wash into the road or into a brook, 
or some low spot where it is not at all needed.” 
The Germantown Telegraph found the above 
“correct” remarks in the N. E. Farmer. 
Where did the W. E. Farmer find them? We 
do not know, but this we do know, that in our 
paper for Nov. 16, precisely the same words 
formed the first sentences of a column under 
the heading Manure Drainings. 
- O Q 0 - 
A TRIP TO THE COUNTRY. 
We find in the Independent the following 
sketch from the pen of our fair contributor, Min¬ 
nie Myrtle. It describes a visit to the farm 
residence of another of our esteemed corres¬ 
pondents, Anne Hope, one of whose interesting 
articles may be found in another column. It 
may please our lady readers to be informed that 
Anne Hope writes from experience, for she is 
herself daily surrounded with the cares of a 
farm-house. But we hope on another occasion 
to refer again to her farm labors. In a former 
number we had the pleasure of presenting our 
readers with a sketch from the pen of Lucy 
Glendon, and we hope to hear from her again. 
FOR MY LITTLE READERS. 
How I wish I could take with me some of 
those little boys and girls who have been pent up 
in the dusty city all winter, and have no hope of 
taking a trip to the country during all the long 
summer. But as this is impossible, I will tell 
them about my trip, as well as I can. 
It is no matter what I saw by the way, for 1 
came in the cars, and so fast that I could sec 
nothing ; but they set me down on the borders 
of the beautiful Passaic, where, by a narrow 
path-way through a pleasant grove, I wound my 
way to a little gothic cottage, already embow¬ 
ered in roses and running vines. Every little 
while on my way I stopped to exclaim, How 
beautiful, oh! how beautiful! for it seemed to 
me like fairy-land, and I felt as if I were just 
set free, after being for six months a prisoner. 
The little hills sloping gently down to the 
river had already put on their summer robes, 
the birds were singing in all the tree-tops, and 
the woodman’s axe and the plowman’s song 
were echoing through the valley. 
As we came near the cottage there ran a big 
black dog, wagging his tail, to welcome us. His 
name was Bern ; I wonder if any of you can tell 
for whom he was named. He looked almost 
frightful; but his good-natured bark assured us 
that he was only a “ terror to evil-doers.” 
When we were a little nearer, a little bit of a 
dog, whose name was Tantip—what a funny 
name !—came tripping along, and with him two 
or three little children, Johnny, and Mary, and 
Eddy, all looking so healthy and rosy, and all so 
happy to see their mamma, who had been gone 
all day, and had now come home with a friend. 
It was a sight to do one good to see their cheeks, 
so brown and so hard you might almost crack a 
nut on them, because they had never breathed 
any but fresh country air, and had plenty of 
good fresh milk to eat. 
How fresh and warm, too, were their hearts! 
Real country boys and girls the}' were, in coats, 
and jackets, and frocks that would not be 
harmed by playing on the green-sward or in the 
sand-bank, and yet as truly polite and gentle in 
their manners as any little boys and girls I ever 
saw in a city drawing-room. 
Oh! how different were the sounds which 
awoke me in the morning, from the rattle and 
clang upon the city pavements. It was a long 
time since I had been awakened by the voices 
of birds, and children, and the lowing kine; 
and many hours before “ the great city had 
waked up,” I was rambling over the fields and 
by the river-side, with merry little ones prat¬ 
tling around me, and music in abundance ; far 
better than that for which I had paid many 
dollars in the grand hall of the Metropolitan. 
“ Oh! come and see my rabbits,” says Eddy, 
and leads me through a little gate, where there 
is a pretty sight indeed—eight little rabbits in a 
pen—some of them brown, and some of them 
white, with long ears, and pink eyes, and robes 
of down. But before I have scarcely counted 
them, Johnny is calling me to see his chickens, 
and I am taken into another department, ar¬ 
ranged with great regard to the comfort of Ma¬ 
dam Hen, and her wonderful progeny. Sus¬ 
pended from the roof, and all around the walls, 
are clean-looking- straw nests, with white fresh 
eggs in each, and in some of them the mother 
is patiently waiting for the “ peep, peep,” which 
shall announce that her little ones have opened 
their eyes to the light, and are ready for their 
breakfast. 
I remember well when it was my delight to 
feed the chickens with the dough I had stirred, 
of meal and water, and fill their pans with drink, 
and how I loved to watch their little bills as 
they dipped them in and then held up their 
heads that it might run down their little throats; 
and now I enjoyed it all over again with these 
little boys, who were full of enthusiasm for all 
the objects of their care, and were laying 
up a store of practical knowledge which would 
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