AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
2 
7 > ~ 
DIANA. —(Property of B. J. Clay, Kentucky.) 
In Clover. —The Camden West Jersey- 
man speaks of an unusually heavy hay crop 
thus : Our farmers hereabouts are as busy 
as nailers, getting the balance of the old 
crop to market and cutting the new hay. 
They may not be said to be “ up to their 
eyes in clover,” for that is rather short, but 
it takes a tall man to look over the timothy 
and the green grass, and taken together the 
crop will be found greatly to exceed the 
most sanguine expectations of the early part 
of the season. 
Western Crops. —The Vincennes (la.) 
Gazette of the 3d inst. says : “ Millers and 
farmers are closing contracts for new wheat 
at $1 per bushel, deliverable in from 10 to 
15 days. We may expect flour at about $6 
50 per barrel in the month of August, and 
before the 1st of January it will doubtless 
sell for $4 50 or $5.” 
Sun Stroke. —W'ear a sponge, a piece of 
cotton, or any other similar substance, satu¬ 
rated with water, on the top of the head, 
covered by the hat. This is a simple pre¬ 
ventive, and all who are exposed, to the sun 
should at once adopt it. 
Correspondence of the American Agriculturist. 
LETTERS FROM ME. PAGE-No. V. 
April 10, 1855. 
The view of Cincinnati from Covington, 
on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio River, a 
little later in the season, when the vineyards 
and hills have donned their green coats, 
must be grand. Even now it is very pleas¬ 
ant. The river, the steamboats and other 
craft forming the foreground ; then the land¬ 
ing, crowded with drays, omnibuses, bales, 
barrels, boxes, passengers, runners, boat¬ 
men, coachmen, and all the other matters 
which appertain to a great commercial city, 
give life to the picture; while behind the 
brick and mortar, and high above the loftiest 
spires, is Prospect Hill. Down stream the 
view of the river is cut off by a great hill on 
the south shore, to the right of which you 
get glimpses of the water, and can trace its 
course between the hills far away into the 
dim distance. 
The view, it is true, is somewhat obscured 
by the smoke poured forth by numerous 
steamboats and iron founderies, yet this has 
its good points, as it surges and eddies in the 
wind, casting deep shadows on house and 
hill. I visited the “ Western Gallery of Fine 
Arts ”—saw splendid paintings of views on 
the “ Rhine ” and the “ Blue Moselle,” but 
none of the Ohio. 
I did not visit the great slaughtering and 
pork-packing houses—they are not in sea¬ 
son ; but, in traversing the streets, one is 
reminded by his nasal organs that he is in a 
city that does a great business in grease and 
bituminous coal. Habit may perhaps teach 
the city man to like the mingled odor of 
bitumen, fish, gas and gutter-mud—but give 
me the breeze that is laden with the breath 
of the field, the wild flowers and the for¬ 
ests. 
The Railroad from Covington to Paris, 
Ky., must have been a costly job. Near the 
former city are several long tunnels, and 
until near Cynthiana the road-bed is cut 
from the precipitous lime-rock banks of the 
Licking, about midway between the river 
and the summit. This portion of Kentucky 
is very rough and unpromising ; in fact, bears 
the same proportion in appearance of value 
to the interior of the State, as does the shell 
to the oyster within. 
Near Paris live many good breeders of 
Short Horns. I did not call on all, for lack 
of time. The Kentuckians are very hospit¬ 
able—which, by the way, is the case with 
all breeders of good cattle, find them where 
you will—and they do not expect a cattle¬ 
man to stop with them less than a day. 
At Paris I took a saddle-horse and rode 
out on the Winchester Pike to the residence 
of B. J. Clay, situated a half mile from the 
pike, and reached by turning in through his 
neighbors’ fields. 
There are but few roads in Kentucky, save 
from one county town to another. Every 
landholder puts up gates, and you pass thro’ 
from one field to another. As much of their 
land is in grass, one path is traveled until 
worn out, when another is selected, the old 
one growing up to grass again. This meth¬ 
od, with their heavy, rich soil, manner of 
farming, and custom of traveling much on 
horseback, is far more convenient and eco¬ 
nomical, than cutting up the country with 
roads. 
Mr. Clay is said to have the best estate in 
Bourbon County, and judging from what I 
saw, I doubt whether the ‘ man in the moon,’ 
with all his opportunities for observation, 
sees a better county. This farm, like all I 
saw about here, is laid out in large fields, 
with strong, high fences. The stock in this 
State is never stabled, save the mules and 
teams. Mr. C. has bred Short Horns for 
many years—is deep in the blood of the im¬ 
portation of’17, about which there is a sharp 
discussion going on in the western agricul¬ 
tural papers, touching the purity of their 
blood. The females of the Kentucky import¬ 
ation of 1817 were, the Durham cow, the 
Teeswater cow, and Mrs. Motte. Of the 
first, I saw no descendants ; many from the 
second-mentioned, and a large number from 
Mrs. Motte. With this same importation 
came three Long Horns or Bakewell heifers. 
The same fate has befallen them as in Eng¬ 
land—they have had to give place to their 
rivals, the Short Horns. I saw two Bake- 
wells on the farm of Mr. Clay, which he had 
bought of a neighbor, and about the last of 
their race. They are said to be fair speci¬ 
mens of the breed ; if so, I do not wonder 
that they have given way before a better 
breed. Mrs. Motte must have been well bred, 
from the strong family resemblance which 
her descendants show. The practiced eye 
will readily select in a herd, nine times out 
of ten, the cows tracing to her, although 
eight or ten generations off; and this, too, 
notwithstanding much care is taken, by im¬ 
porting fresh crosses, to avoid close breed¬ 
ing. I here describe a Mrs. Motte cow, and 
will venture that, should it meet the eye of 
any who knew the original cow, they will 
recognise her likeness: 
Commonly red in color, with some white 
on the face, flank and legs ; head rather 
long and lean ; flesh of nose and ring around 
the eye dark orange ; eye bright and full; 
well chisseled out between the eye and nose ; 
horns short, fine, drooping, and of a waxy 
color; neck very fine, short, swelling to the 
shoulder and brisket; shoulders well placed 
and moderately heavy; crops full; broad 
loin ; hips wide and prominent; rumps wide 
and level, remarkably well filled with flesh, 
but sometimes a little short; straight back, 
brisket deep, wide and prominent; chest 
good, round rib, body large, and with age 
often paunchy, and looking like respectable 
milkers. The bulls have full, masculine 
necks, with fine heads and horns , with a 
great plenty of flesh in the thighs. It is 
rare that a Kentucky-bred bull is vicious. 
Mr. Clay’s Diana, four years old, in color 
roan, is a fine specimen of the family above 
mentioned. 
Lady Stanhope, roan, imported, is a very 
large, showy cow. She received the first 
