AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
13 
Winner of first prize in class of Yearling 
Short Horn Heifers at the Exhibition of the 
New-York State Agricultural Society, 1854. 
Bred and owned by Samuel T. Taber, 
Chestnut Ridge, Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
ALTHEA.—Color Roan. 
Got by Backwoodsman, (see vol. ii, A. H. B.) 
1. Dam Aurora 2d, by East Windsor (56). 
2. Aurora by North American (6253). 
3. Atlanta by Enchanter (3729). 
4. Adeline by Young Comet (3437). 
5. Emma by Wellington (683). 
6. Annabella by Major (398). 
7. Ada by Denton (198). 
8. Aurora by Comet (155). 
9. -by Henry (301). 
10. -by Danby (190). 
CROSSING SHEEP. 
Samuel Armsby, in a communication to 
the Mark-Lane Express, discourses thus : 
For upwards of fifty years I have seen a 
great deal of crossing the different kinds of 
sheep—Leicesters with Leicesters, Leicest- 
ers with Cotswolds, Leicesters with South- 
Downs, and Leicesters with many other 
kinds of sheep. I have, always found the 
Bakewell or Leicester sheep to improve 
every kind they have been put to, by giving 
them the Bakewell barrel form, small bone, 
and to feed at early maturity. The first 
cross in most animals has been proved the 
best; the next cross generally produces size 
and weight, except you put a gigantic ani¬ 
mal to the first cross ; when I say gigantic, 
I do not mean an animal made a giant with 
fat flesh, with the head and ears of a dwarf 
upon him—I mean a giant in frame when in 
a lean state, with bone in proportion, aye, 
and a head and ears in proportion to his 
body—a long, thin head, and not a gigantic 
broad one. Giants do not produce dwarfs, 
neither do dwarfs produce giants, any more 
than bulldogs produce greyhounds. It has 
been proved that a gigantic ram has been 
produced from a dwarf ewe ; at the same 
time, it was proved that a giant ram lay in 
the adjoining field, which very easily ac¬ 
counted for the giant being produced from a 
dwarf. It has always been said that like pro¬ 
duces like, and a fine bone denotes a feeding 
propensity, and a long face and ears, with a 
Roman nose, denotes a large breed. The 
breeders of Lincolnshire sheep say that 
neither the Cotswold nor the Downs mix 
well with their heavy-wooled sheep, but a 
dip of the Leicester does wonders. So says 
the far-famed Mr. Kirkham of Hagnaby. Mr. 
Bakewell always said that extremes were 
bad, and that the middle-sized animals an¬ 
swer the best for profits. But, above all 
things, said Mr. B., let an animal’s make be 
in proportion—not very large in one point, 
and very deficient in another. Size has 
nothing to do with profit; it was not what an 
animal made, so much as what it cost mak¬ 
ing. The Lincolnshire farmers are second to 
no men in the improvement of waste lands ; 
the Wolds, Lincoln Heath, and the Fens, for 
instance; the lower parts are now drained 
by steam engines. And the breed of sheep 
which they have is the most profitable for 
their county. 
FEEDING CORN IN THE EAR. 
A very intelligent Irishman tells the fol¬ 
lowing incident of his first experience in 
America: 
I came to this country several years ago, 
and as soon as I arrived hired out to a gen¬ 
tleman who farmed a few acres. He showed 
me over the premises, the stables, cows and 
where the corn, hay, oats, &c., were kept, 
and then sent me in to get my supper. After 
supper he said to me: “James, you may 
feed the cow, and give her corn in the ear." 
I went out and walked about, thinking, 
“ what could he mean 1 Had I understood 
him ?” I scratched my head, then resolved 
I would inquire again ; so I went into the 
library, where master was writing very busi¬ 
ly and he answered without looking up— 
“ I thought I told you to give the cow some 
corn in the ear" 
I went out more puzzled than ever. What 
sort of animal must this Yankee cow be 1 I 
examined her mouth and ears. The teeth 
were good, and the ears like those of kine 
in the old country. Dripping with sweat I 
entered my master’s presence once more. 
“ Please, sir, you bid me give the cow some 
corn in the ear, but didn’t you mean in the 
mouth 
He looked at me a moment, and then burst 
into such a convulsion of laughter, I made for 
the stables as fast as my feet could take me, 
thinking I was in the service of a crazy man. 
Death Among Cattle.—A mortal disease, 
says an Exchange, has recently made its 
appearance among the cattle at Long Pond, 
on the mountain, about the conjunction of 
the County corners of Columbia, Sullivan 
and Luzerne. In one day they found 27 
dead cattle in the woods on the mountain! 
The disease by which so many have met 
their death, is supposed to have originated 
from some impurities drank from the stag¬ 
nant pools, without being accessible to any 
pure water. 
Acorns. —M. Duplat, a French chemist, has 
succeeded in utilizing the acorn, by extract¬ 
ing from it both oil and alcohol—half a pound 
of oil, and five pounds of alcohol, applicable 
to chemical purposes, having been produced 
from 100 lbs. of acorns. 
The Rockingham (Va.) Register boasts of 
tomatoes raised by Conrad H. Kite, Esq., on 
Shenadoah river, which weigh 3 pounds, 
and calls upon Mr. Anybody to beat that if 
he can. 
