AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
103 
soils may be manufactured, and lands trans¬ 
muted ; that under the influence of new fer¬ 
tilizing agents, and an improved mode of 
cultivation, neglected sand plains and bar¬ 
ren hills are brought into successful compe¬ 
tition with the richest alluvial lands ; and 
wheat and corn, vegetables and fruits are 
made to flourish, where neither grass nor 
grain ever grew before. 
IMPORTANT FIGURES, 
According to the census for 1850, there are 
118,457,622 acres of improved land, and 184,- 
621,248 acres of unimproved land in the 
farms of the United States. The statement 
under the head of improved lands is meant 
only to designate such land as produce crops, 
or in some manner adds to the productions 
of the farm. By unimproved lands we are 
to understand those connected with, or be¬ 
longing to those farms from* which produc¬ 
tions are returned. The aggregate cash 
value of farms is estimated at $3,270,733,093, 
and the value of agricultural implements at 
$151,569,675. These figures show the vast 
preponderance of the Agricultural interests 
of the country over all others. 
But we can go further. The estimated 
Value of the live stock of the country, by the 
same census, is $543,969,420. While the 
products of agriculture amount to more than 
one thousand sixhundred millions of dollars. 
The heaviest crop grown is Indian corn. 
The amount raised of this article in 1850, 
exceeded five hundred millions of bushels ; 
more than three hundred millions of pounds 
of butter were made that year, and upwards 
of one hundred millions pounds of cheese. 
The product of wheat is stated at one hun¬ 
dred millions bushels, and of oats one hun¬ 
dred and forty-six millions. Cotton yielded 
987,449,600 pounds that year, and potatoes 
about one hundred millions bushels. There 
were two hundred millions pounds of tobac¬ 
co raised, and about fourteen millions tuns 
of hay. Thirty-four millions pounds of 
maple sugar were made, nearly two hundred 
and fifty millions pounds of cane sugar, and 
thirteen millions gallons of molasses. The 
value of home made manufactures was $27,- 
481,399, and of slaughtered animals $109,- 
485,757. 
What an enormous and overwhelming in¬ 
terest the agriculture of this mighty country 
represent! And yet we venture the asser¬ 
tion, that notwithstanding all the light which 
has been thrown upon the practice of hus¬ 
bandry, all the labors of enlightened men of 
science, there is no subject that is so imper¬ 
fectly understood, none about which so little 
pains are taken to inform ourselves con¬ 
cerning it.—Tit for Tat. 
To Shake off Trouble. —Set about doing 
good for somebody; put on your hat and 
visit the poor ; inquire into their wants, and 
administerunto them ; seek out the desolate 
and oppressed, and tell them of the consola¬ 
tions of religion. When you see a person 
who in any way needs your help or encour¬ 
agement freely offer it to him. I have tried 
this and found it to be the best medicine for 
heavy heart. 
EXPERIMENTS IN FATTENING CATTLE. 
John Sears, President of the Medina Co. 
Agricultural Society, has a good deal of 
experience in feeding cattle. He writes us 
from Litchfield, December 9tli, as follows : 
“ I found in attending our State Agricul¬ 
tural Convention, at Columbus, this week, 
there was a general inquiry among farmers 
and feeders of cattle, to learn the best and 
cheapest mode of feeding. In 1853, I half 
fed sixty head of two and three year old 
Durham steers. The average weight on the 
first of December, when I commenced feed¬ 
ing, was 1,050 lbs. I fed them hay and corn 
in the ear without husking. The average 
amount fed to each steer daily was one half 
bushel of corn, and fifteen pounds of hay. 
The corn was fed in the morning, and the 
hay at noon. They were turned to grass on 
the 15th of April, and were sold the 15th of 
June, when the average weight was 1,300 
pounds. 
I also fed in 1854, the same number of 
steers, and of the same gfade. The average 
weight at the time I commenced feeding was 
1,025 lbs. I began feeding them in the sta¬ 
ble the 20th of November. The manner of 
fastening them was with a rope, tying the 
master steer first, and so on until the stable 
was full. I fed 3^ quarts of corn meal to 
each steer in the morning, then turned them 
out to water which was in the yard, for an 
hour. After tying them up again, I fed ten 
pounds of hay to each, and the same amount 
again at night. They were turned out to 
grass on the 15th of April, and sold on the 
15th of June, when their average weight was 
1,400 lbs. My opinion is that cattle that 
have been nicely stabled through the winter, 
will take on flesh much faster when turned 
to grass than those that have been fed out of 
doors.”—Ohio Farmer. 
ERRORS IN COMPOSTING MANURE. 
The farmer's manure heap is usually the 
receptacle for every substance that has 
served its original purpose ; but it is a mis¬ 
taken idea that everything thrown in there 
will serve a useful purpose. We may how¬ 
ever, just say here that this error has con¬ 
siderably influenced farm practice. Belief 
in the alchemy rather than the chemistry of 
the farm yard, has led persons to cart soil 
into the manure yard and carry it backagain 
with dung to the very field from whence it 
was taken ; adding materially to the bulk and 
expense of manuring. They presumed that 
they added to its value. But the effect upon 
the farm yard manure would be merely to 
retard decomposition and thus might be a 
loss or a gain according to circumstaces of 
soil and crop. 
Animal substances, offal, and fish of every 
description are also unprofitable when ap¬ 
plied to farm-yard manure. The natural 
tendency of animal substances to enter into 
the putrefactive fermentation is well known 
to be greater than that of vegetable sub¬ 
stances. By placing them in the manure 
heap, we in a further degree facilitate the 
quality in which they naturally excel, one of 
the tendencies of which’is to rob them of their 
most valuable elements, nitrogen. Judicious 
practice should avoid this error, by adopting, 
if possible, a system having an opposite 
effect. 
Lime is one of the substances which it is 
also an error to use with compost in which 
we have farm-yard manure. It is equally an 
error to mix lime with any compound rich 
in ammonia. The tendency of lime in all 
composts, is to promote decomposition and to 
waste nitrogen, which escapes, by union 
with hydrogen, under the form of ammonia, 
which is the very treasure of the dung heap, 
and of most other manuring substances. 
CURB ON CHECK REINS ON HORSES. 
There is no abuse of this valuable animal 
so wanton and utterly useless as that of 
leaving the check rein taught, when stand¬ 
ing. It is perfect torture to them, and we 
never permit ourselves—and we use horses 
constantly—to practice so cruel a habit. 
An article in the Ohio Cultivator, written 
by the worthy and humane Editor, is so 
much to the point on this flagrant abuse, 
that we present it at once to our readers ; 
and we will further say, that every news¬ 
paper and other periodical in the country, 
should print it for the sake of humanity, if 
nothing more : 
“ We have a serious intention of erecting 
ourselves into a permanent institution for the 
relief of distressed animals. In a late num¬ 
ber we glanced briefly at the unhorseman¬ 
like practice of sitting upon horseback while 
the horse was at rest. We come now to a 
more prevalent evil practice, in the abuse of 
the curb and check rein. In the Cultivator 
for 1854, p. 291, is an article on this subject 
from an English paper, which ought to be 
repeated, or something like it, every year. 
“ As we go upon our daily beat from the 
cottage on 3d-st. to the Cultivator office, our 
sense of horsemardiy is almost daily out¬ 
raged by what we see at the rails and posts 
along the curb-stone. Country people come 
in with their generally well kept horses, and 
hitch them up while they do their shopping 
or other errands, which sometimes takes 
half a day or more. Now these people have 
not the slightest intention to abuse their 
horses; on the contrary, many of them 
would fight for their steeds as soon as they 
would for their wives or children ; but this 
i£ the way they do it: Most of those who 
come on horseback ride a Spanish saddle 
with high pomel, and with a short bridle rein. 
They dismount, and to keep the bridle rein 
from getting over the horse’s head, they 
hitch it back over the pomel, by which it is 
drawn tight, and the horse’s head slightly 
curbed. If the horse was in motion, this 
slight curb would cause very little uneasiness, 
but while all the muscles are at rest, this 
tension soon becomes exceedingly painful, 
especially as many of these country horses 
are not tft any other time subjected to the 
curb. The horse bears it very well for a 
little while, but soon begins to step out and 
champ the bit, and if it had the gift once 
vouchsafed to Balaam’s ass, would reprove 
its owner with all the modern improvements 
of the language. But as the poor brute has 
