1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
155 
not grow well in each others company, I think they 
do, remarkably ; but orchard grass is fit to cut fully 
three weeks earlier than timothy. We sow them 
together because red-top does not grow well upon 
that particular spot—it is too open and dry and 
we look to the field remaining for some years as a 
pasture after mowing it for two years. June-grass 
and white clover will assert themselves as the red 
clover and timothy disappear, while the orchard- 
grass will be for a good while the stand-by. 
Plow-beams. 
Why is it that our agricultural establishments 
can not or will not furnish good plow-beams ? My 
neighbor Baker was in “ a state-of-mind ” the other 
day—he was breaking up a tough piece of rooty, 
rocky land with a German plowman, and a pah' of 
spirited horses. Now no boughten plow-beam can 
stand that sort of thing—of course it went to bits— 
“ pulled right in two.” We have learned to keep 
in one corner of the barn or lumber-room, a num¬ 
ber of good, straight, white-oak staddles, cut in 
December, and we rather rejoice when the fancy, 
soft, ash plow-beam cracks and goes apart, for we 
are forced to put on one that we can trust. It 
comes awkward at the time, we lose half a day’s 
work of the team perhaps—but that don’t trouble 
the manufacturer. Well—friend B. sent his plow 
to the country blacksmith and wheelwright, got a 
new ash beam, and a good one—had the job well 
done, and deducted the cost from the bill, which 
he had not paid. This was business. If we could 
all do so, how it would change the quality of manu¬ 
factures generally, and of plows in particular ! 
One advantage of home-made plow-beams ought 
not to be overlooked—when they break we don’t 
'grumble. I have sometimes put on a manufactur¬ 
ed beam intended for a much heavier plow, cutting 
it off to fit—for it is really a nuisance to be obliged 
to hew out a beam when a so much nicer looking 
one, than one is able to make, can be bought for a 
few shillings at an agricultural store. 
Tlic use of Grades*—Pigs* 
What I said about the use of grades in my letter 
in the October number, bore unexpected fruit. A 
gentleman, who is a large farmer, and a breeder of 
thoroughbred stock, called to learn where he could 
get a good lot of grade pigs to use for stocking a 
southern plantation. He wished to obtain a few 
extra good grades and then to breed them together. 
It seems he never thought that as soon as grades 
are bred together they cease to be grades. In regard 
to the pigs, when a sow of large common stock, 
which is also a good milker is crossed with a male 
of any of the improved breeds, especially if he be 
of medium or small size, the progeny will almost 
surely be fine in quality, of large size, quick growth 
and early fattening properties ; combining thus the 
excellencies of both parent stocks. Such grades 
are i-bloods, and if they be bred to a sire of the 
same breed, the progeny will be 2-bloods—the next 
generation f-bloods, and so on in gradation; each 
generation being nearer in form and style to the 
well-bred breed of the sires. But when half-bloods, 
of pigs, (or other animals) or any other grade, are 
bred together, it is wonderful how soon they dete¬ 
riorate and go back to something less good than 
grades, though superior probably to the low-bred 
originals. 
Cress-lireds 
follow, so far as I can see, a very similar law. They 
are exceedingly good at first; but it requires the 
most careful and systematic breeding to maintain 
their excellent points after they are bred by them¬ 
selves, and without frequent recurrence to the 
blood of one of the original breeds. I should not 
be surprised to learn, (to speak at a venture), that 
“Tlie Magic Breed,” so-called, 
was a case in point. When first brought out it was 
a comparatively fresh cross of a strong coarse pig 
with the Berkshire. Like grade 6tock, or like a 
good cross-breed, the pigs were excellent; fine in 
bone, small in offal, great growers, and quick feed¬ 
ers. 1 have several times gone a good deal out of 
my way to see these pigs, and can see in them 
nothing but grades, or cross-bred pigs, gradually 
deteriorating, and which need a fresh cross of Berk¬ 
shire now and then to keep them up and make 
them uniformly good. I would really like to hear 
from some “ Poland-China,” (I believe that is the 
approved name,) breeder, especially if he has ever 
bred Berkshires, if I am not right in my surmises. 
The Pig for the South. 
Black or slate-colored pigs are freest from skin 
diseases in hot climates. The choice is practically 
between the Essex and Berkshires for males with 
which to improve the native stock of hardy grub¬ 
bers of the root-or-die variety. Those who have 
tried the former have been delighted at first, but 
after a few years begin to recall with longing the 
lean hams and thin but solid and flavorous bacon of 
the old race-horse breed. The trouble with the 
Essex pigs for the South is that they are not active 
enough. They are of the eat-and-sleep, and sleep- 
and-wake-to-eat kind, and their grades are of course 
like them. The side fat is superb, and so is the 
leaf-lard, and so far the breed is all that could be 
desired ; but the hams and shoulders are too fat for 
profit, and the ham is not marbled with fat like the 
Berkshires. These (the Berks) are much more en¬ 
terprising, more wide awake, less easily controlled, 
but good foragers. Their grades are a wonderful 
improvement upon the original stock, may be made 
very fat, and yet the proportion between fat and 
lean in the hams, shoulders, and side-pork or ba¬ 
con is such as to develop and preserve the excel¬ 
lencies of the meat. The hams are large and rich, 
and juicey with diffused fat. Berkshires are not 
quite so easily fattened when penned and syste¬ 
matically fed as the Essex and Essex grades, but 
they will take much better care of themselves in 
the woods, and when penned for fattening may 
be finished off with half the feed the original 
“ land-pikes ” would require. 
With many Northern and Western breeders the 
Essex is a more profitable pig than the Berkshire, 
because his nature leads him to take little exercise, 
so that all he eats goes to flesh and fat. Respira¬ 
tion, which, if rapid, reduces fat greatly, is with 
him never accelerated by moving about, and, with 
plenty of feed, the sole burden of life being to di¬ 
gest it. This breed is pre-eminent among the black 
breeds, and excelled by none as fat producers. 
Animal Portraiture. 
Some remarks of ours in September last, regard¬ 
ing the prevailing style of animal portraiture, have 
met with some criticism on the part of one or two 
of those journals which make most frequent use of 
the peculiar sort of illustration to which we have 
objected. These critics insist that photographs of 
animals do not properly represent them, and that 
the artist’s drawings are not intended as portraits, 
but as representations of typical animals only. In 
regard to the first objection, we can refer to the 
portrait of the Russian stallion “ Pravnouk,” 
which appeared on our first page in September last, 
as a clear refutation of that statement. The en¬ 
graving was made from a photograph on the wood 
of a photograph on paper, which was taken from 
life in Russia. Certainly no unprejudiced person 
can object to this engraving as a portrait of the 
animal which it unquestionably is, or as a work of 
art. To depend upon the eye and the hand for 
the exact delineation of a living animal, requires a 
more competent artist than usually engages in such 
work ; while to draw a “typical ” animal is merely 
the work of a draughtsman, and it is by this sort 
of work that the pictures we object to are pro¬ 
duced. The demand for these “typical” illustra¬ 
tions has given employment to a class of draughts¬ 
men that produce two or more different animals 
from the same “ type ” or model, or set of lines. 
We have before us at this moment, so-called “por¬ 
traits ” of an Essex sow and an imported Suffolk 
sow, which were recently published in a journal 
devoted to stock, in which precisely the 6ame lines 
are used, and when one picture is placed over the 
other and held up to the light, there is seen pre¬ 
cisely the same outline in both; even the curl of tail, 
prick of cars, and form and position of feet are 
identical in these animals of two distant breeds. 
In the same journal ore so-called “ portraits ” of 
two horses, which have the same peculiarities, 
while in reality one horse is taller than the other, 
has a clearly different figure and a habit of cann¬ 
ing his ears backward and not pricked forwards. 
Again there is to be seen a so-called portrait in the 
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia of the conr 
which sold for (or was said to have been sold for), 
$40,609, along with another cow of the same lot, 
at the New York Mills sale. As a picture the pro¬ 
duction is certainly not without merit, and is very 
pleasing, but a person who was well acquainted, 
with the cow, could not possibly recognize tins 
picture as her portrait, until he saw it so stated aa 
bold letters in the inscription beneath. 
Our remarks are called “malicious.” We arc 
quite at loss to see how anything like “ malice"' 
can enter into the criticism of a picture. But 
moreover they are actuated by the “ densest igne- 
rance.” Calling names is only resorted to by thoss 
who are lacking in argument; and if our well- 
meant and, we believe, perfectly truthful strictures, 
cause a resort to weapons of this style, the infer¬ 
ence will be that some one is badly hurt. Ctat 
critic thinks we are opposed to the Short-horns as 
a breed. A sufficient reply to this is found in tlrs 
many fine pictures we have given, and the high 
praise that is already a matter of record in cm 
pages. We wish that there could be a good Short¬ 
horn bull in every neighborhood, which there nevss 
will be so long as the present system of speculation 
—as pernicious in its way as any stock-gambling m 
Wall street—gives these animals fictitious value% 
far above what they are worth for breeding or any 
other purpose, except speculation. No, we are as 
much in favor of Short-horns, that we wish to set 
them free from everything that looks like misrepre¬ 
sentation, either in portraiture or in print, knowing 
that their own merits do not require any eurft 
doubtful aids. That these noble animals are ridi¬ 
culously misrepresented by the “typical portraits ® 
of them, is well known to those who know both the 
animals and their so-called pictures. As to mis¬ 
representations of statement, we need only to call 
attention to the fact that upon the picture (above 
referred to) exhibited at Philadelphia is a conspicu¬ 
ous label, which states that the cow there repre¬ 
sented “was sold for $40,600.” Any person at aK 
familiar with Short-horn matters, knows that this 
statement is untrue; that this price was only bii! 
for the cow by an unauthorized person for an Eng¬ 
lish gentleman who utterly repudiated the trans¬ 
action. He will remember also the curious revela¬ 
tions made by Mr. Carr in reference to the -salF, 
at which this fictitious price was bid for this cow. 
Now will any unprejudiced person explain why this 
statement is attached to this picture if it is not iw 
the purpose of making the thousands of farmer} 
who, from all parts of the country, passed in on* 
grand procession through the Agricultural Build¬ 
ing, think that this cow did really sell for the price 
named ! Reading farmers know that no such safe 
was made, and seeing this label, they will wonder If 
the Sliort-liorn business is all conducted on Hit 
same principle. We hold the breeding of Short¬ 
horns to be one of the most important branches v:£ 
our agriculture, and hope before long to see fie 
day when a farmer of moderate means may £taj» 
think it possible that he may improve his stock ~isj 
the infusion of this noble blood. To hasten this 
day, and in the interest of the Sliort-horn breca 
and, especially, in the interest ©f the Americas 
farmer, we shall endeavor to free this important 
branch of agriculture from everything that savora 
of humbug and appears like fraud, in picture or its 
print, and no accusations of “ignorance,” densq 
or “densest,” will deter us from speaking what wt 
conceive to be truth in the matter. 
Exportation of Donkeys from England.—A 
second exportation of donkeys was recently mads 
from a port of England to Brieux, France. There 
were 45 animals in this shipment, and the pricet 
paid for them were from $5 to $7.50 per head. 
Considering the value of these useful beasts <tl 
burden, the many purposes to which they might be 
put here, and the very low price at which they muf 
be purchased, it seems probable that their 
portation to this country would be profitable. 
