212 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
We have taken the extreme as to time, for 
few farmers would feed them perhaps so long, 
and we cannot help also observing that when a 
stone of beef, or nearly so, at 7s. 9d. per stone 
of 14 lbs., can be laid on per week, there is a 
very ample profit. There is a profit, however, 
if a considerably less weight than this is added, 
which is perhaps more frequently the case in 
cattle feeding; but even if the whole of the ex¬ 
pense of feeding were not reimbursed in the 
fattening of the animals, it doubtless would be 
in the addition of valuable manure to the land. 
Another hint at cattle feeding may be had 
from Mr. Hutton’s plans. While you invariably 
find all the animals quietly laid down until their 
known times of feeding, you find them almost 
scrupulously clean. Not a single spot of dirt 
can be found on the whole, from one end to the 
other; and this is partly occasioned by the uni¬ 
form consistency of their dung with this mode 
of feeding, which occurs perhaps in no other ; 
but also by the great care in removing every 
particle, and keeping them all well and uni¬ 
formly littered. Their comfort and quietness 
also contribute in no small degree to their clean¬ 
liness ; and though they are not curried as a 
rule, the skin is kept in healthy action by the 
friction of a whisp of straw occasionally ap¬ 
plied. Mr. II. has adopted this plan, if we 
rightly remember, for some six or eight years.— 
Mark Lane Express. 
- - • « 6 - 
CORN HOEING AND TOP-DRESSING. 
In looking over the mode of cultivation prac¬ 
tised by those most successful in growing the 
corn crop, and especially the statements of those 
who have taken premiums for large products of 
this cereal, we almost invariably find that clean 
culture and top-dressing were practiced. The 
corn was hoed at an early stage in its growth, 
after first going through it several times with 
the cultivator, so as to mellow the soil as far as 
possible; and then to each hill some stimulant 
was given, such as plaster, ashes, (leached or 
unleached,) or a mixture of the two. In a few 
weeks the cultivator and hoe were used again, 
and the stalks thinned to four in the hill; nor 
did this suffice, for if time allowed, before the 
corn became too large to admit of the passage 
of the horse, the cultivator was again employed, 
and another dressing with the hoe given. At 
this stage in its growth, the ground becomes so 
shaded by the luxuriant leaves of the grain that 
little further attention is needed. 
Experience confirms what reason teaches, that 
large crops of corn can only be grown on rich 
and well-cultivated soils. The structure and 
size, and the rapid growth of the plant, show 
that it requires to be well supplied with the 
necessary food for its growth and perfection. It 
possesses the power of elaborating healthy ali¬ 
ment from coarser food than almost any other 
cultivated plant, hence its great value as a pre¬ 
paratory crop when such manures are used. It 
draws largely upon the air, and hence needs 
that its large leaves be kept healthy and fresh, 
not parched and rolled by drouth, or discolored 
by the presence of stagnant water in the soil. 
Plow deep, manure freely, plant early, hoe 
and top-dress with ashes or plaster, keep the 
soil mellow and flat, and allow no weeds to grow, 
and your corn crop will repay well all your care 
and attention. Neglect it, and “nubbins” will 
be your reward .—Rural New- Yorher. 
WHEAT AND WOOL, 
These two farm products can be well grown 
together. Probably the best rotation would be 
to sow all wheat land with clover and timothy 
seed mixed, and let that remain in sheep pas¬ 
ture three years, and then break up and sow 
again with a light dressing of lime and a re¬ 
newal of grass seed. If the clover has predom¬ 
inated over the timothy while in pasture, there 
will be no need of a second sowing of clover 
seed, as there will be enough in the ground. 
No two staple crops can be better grown 
together than wheat and wool, and no one need 
fear going into the business of either for fear it 
will not pay. All the grower needs to insure 
him good prices is capital enough so as not to 
be obliged to sell except at such prices as he 
feels will pay, for both wool and wheat can be 
kept over without loss. 
The great West is to be the sheep-walk of 
America, as wool can be produced upon the 
cheap lands there at a greater profit than at the 
East, and probably at greater profit than any 
other crop. 
There is no danger of overstocking the wool 
market, or producing it in such quantities that 
the business will prove ruinous to those who 
may be induced to engage in it.— Sciota (0.) 
Gazette. 
- « * • - 
THE CARRIER PIGEON. 
TnE English carriers and horsemen pigeons 
are so inseparably connected, that in describing 
one I must also describe the other. Indeed, I 
believe the horsemen to be the primitive stock, 
and that the English carrier is the effect of the 
high cultivation of the former, those points of 
excellence which the fancier most highly prizes 
being more highly developed in the carrier. As 
I consider the horsemen as the original, I will 
first draw attention to them. They appear to 
have come originally from Persia, and also to 
have been bred extensively in Turkey and 
Egypt, where they have been long used as medi¬ 
ums of communication. They are fine, noble 
birds, being considerably larger than the gener¬ 
ality of pigeons. Their beak is long and stout, 
and covered at its base with a great quantity of 
wattle, wrinkled, whitish-looking skin, or, in 
other words, an extreme development of the 
nose; the eyes are also surrounded with a broad 
circle of the same appearance, called the sere. 
The neck is long and rather bent, the feathers 
often opening a little in front of the head, ex¬ 
posing a small streak of red skin. The chest is 
very broad and full, the shoulders wide; the 
bend of the wings stands rather out from the 
sides, the legs and feet very stout; the tail and 
pinion feathers are rather short for the size of 
the bird, the former being carried somewhat 
elevated. 
The English carrier differs from this in the 
greater development of the fancy points on 
which fanciers lay great stress, and according to 
their merits in this respect are they of propor¬ 
tionate value. The beak must be long, thick, 
and straight; the wattle large, high, and lean¬ 
ing slightly forward. The old fanciers admired 
it most when of a blackish tint; the sere round 
the eyes should be broad, even, and round, 
which is termed a rose eye; if uneven it is called 
pinch-eyed, which is a great defect. The head 
is long, narrow, and fiat on the top; the color 
of the iris is of a bright gravelly red. The neck 
must be long, thin, and without bend; they 
should be broad across the back but small in 
the waist. The pinion-feathers of the wings, 
as also the tail, should be very long and not 
carried up, consequently, they are much more 
elegant-looking birds than the horsemen; in 
color they are mostly black or dun—the duns 
generally have the best heads. 
The horsemen are of various colors, black, 
white, blue, and pieds predominating. 
Having described the two extremes, it will 
show their differences; but pigeons are to be 
met with of all the various intermediate grades. 
If kept in health by exercise and j udicious feed¬ 
ing, they are good breeders; if not, they become 
idle and inferior nurses. If kept for flying, they 
must be trained young, and kept in constant 
practice, or the best will prove but indifferent 
homing birds, though, from their great value as 
fancy birds, they are but little flown, and, con¬ 
sequently, soon become fat, heavy, and unfit to 
fly- 
I have had the large white horsemen, or as 
they are called in France, the swan-necked 
Egyptians, that could scarcely rise eight feet 
from the ground; but the young ones, while in 
training, flew with astonishing rapidity and 
went an end well. They would also outstrip 
my Antwerps in homing eight or ten miles, 
though they appeared to have great difficulty 
in first starting off, seeming almost unable to 
rise, till they got in good swing, when they 
went along in fine style, having much the ap¬ 
pearance of wild ducks while flying in the air. 
The dragoon pigeon may be considered as an 
inferior variety of carrier or horseman, from 
which they were most probably a cross. They 
have the same properties as the carrier, but not 
so fully developed; they are smaller, more ac¬ 
tive, and swifter for short journeys. They are 
of various colors, but the blues are most es¬ 
teemed. They are wild birds, but excellent 
breeders and nurses; so much are they es¬ 
teemed on this account, that they are frequently 
kept as nurses for the larger sorts of fancy pig¬ 
eons, and as they are large and fleshy, their 
young are excellent for the table. Shear dra¬ 
goon is the name for those of this variety that 
have long straight beaks and heads, without 
much wattle. 
Dragoons were the variety mostly used for 
flying before the introduction of the Antwerp; 
many persons still prefer them, and we have 
many extraordinary accounts on record of their 
performances. All these varieties have large, 
soft beaks while young; the wattle grows, and 
continues to increase for a year or two. 
Pouting horsemen are a cross between the 
pouter pigeon and the horseman or dragoon. 
They are fine, large birds, very active and 
merry, good flyers, and excellent breeders, be¬ 
ing well adapted for general purposes, and not 
so shy as the dragoon; they would be good 
farm stock. 
Skinnums arc a cross between the common 
tumblers and dragoons. They are good flyers, 
and much used in London, but in other respects 
no better than the common pigeons, which they 
much resemble.— B. F. B., in Poultry Chroni¬ 
cle. 
- -—? o » - - 
FUTURE PRICES. 
A “Practical Farmer” in the last Mark 
Lane Express , closes a lengthy article on the 
above subject as follows: 
Farmers may for once, depend upon having 
the corn trade for the next year very much in 
their own hands. There never was a time when 
the world's stock of grain was so nearly ex¬ 
hausted ; and one great source of supply—Rus¬ 
sia—is shut from us by the war. Why, then, 
should farmers hurry their next harvest stock 
to market? Prices must inevitably be good, if 
they will only be reasonable and cautious; there 
can be no just cause of alarm. Let every farmer 
take time. Let the aim be to keep up a fair, 
steady, regular supply, and he may then rest 
assured he will receive a fair price throughout 
the year. 
-- ■ — «-» ♦-- 
BROOM CORN. 
Seeing an inquiry in your valuable “ News¬ 
paper” of the 2d inst., as to the best mode of 
cultivating broom corn, I will give you my ex¬ 
perience on the subject. In the first place, I 
select a piece of light rich soil and plow and 
harrow it well. About the last of May, or first 
of June, I drill in rows three feet apart. When 
it has attained the height of two or three inches, 
I thin it out, if it need it, and run the scratch 
harrow through it. This is followed by a good 
hoeing, and, in the course of a couple of weeks, 
I pulverize the soil with a cultivator, and then, 
as soon as it needs it, I plow it well, and am 
done for the season, excepting bending down 
the head before it has filled with seed, so as to 
prevent it from spreading out and growing 
crooked. 
Another method which is practised to some 
extent in our part of the country, is to replant 
Indian corn with broom corn, that is, after it 
has become too late to replant with Indian corn, 
there being then time for broom corn to come 
to perfection.— J. K IF., in Dollar Newspaper. 
