104 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
|lgritdiurisi 
New-York, Wednesday, Oct. 25. 
WHAT IS THOROUGH BRED? 
Castine, Darke Co.. Ohio, Sept. 26, 1854. 1 
As I am a new hand inbreeding stock, I am 
interrogated often what constitutes thorough 
bred stock. 1 know that thorough bred 
means through and through. As to the num¬ 
ber of crossings that constitute it, ,1 am not 
positive—some say seven crosses make it. 
Now, as you are residing in a county where 
the breeders should be well posted, I wish 
you would give me information on the sub¬ 
ject, being an old hand at breeding stock. 
H. T. WOLLARD. 
We should define animals as thorough 
bred which breed true—that is, invariably 
produce offspring possessing the same dis¬ 
tinguishing characteristics as themselves. 
This is the case with the race horse, which 
is claimed to be of pure desert A rabian blood, 
on sire and dam’s side, imported into Eng¬ 
land, and bred there, the history of which 
may be found in the English Stud Book. 
Southdown, Long Wool, and Merino sheep 
are what we should call thorough bred; for 
they invariably produce young with the same 
distinguishing characteristics as the parents, 
and have done so for ages. 
There are certain breeds of cattle which 
appear to be thorough bred, like the Devon, 
the black Galloway, the wild cattle of Chil- 
lingworth Park, and other races, in Europe, 
Asia, &c. 
We presume our correspondent more par¬ 
ticularly refers to Short Horn or Durham 
cattle, which are not what we should call 
thorough bred, a few tribes, perhaps, ex. 
cepted. These we do not like to name now, 
because many breeders would feel as if the 
exceptions were invidious; and such is the 
want of proper knowledge^ both in England 
and America upon this subject, we doub 
whether our doing so would result in any¬ 
thing better than stirring up a hornet’s nest 
about our ears. 
When the first meetings w r ere called 
among the breeders of Short Horns in Eng¬ 
land, for the purpose of getting up a Herd 
Book, it was proposed and agreed to by the 
most distinguished breeders, that such cattle 
only should go into this Herd Book, as were 
known to have long possessed Short Horn 
characteristics in an eminent degree ; and 
that their progeny alone should be consid¬ 
ered thorough bred. But this was after¬ 
wards overruled by other parties who pos¬ 
sessed inferior blood; and the result was. 
that all sorts of grade Short Horns have 
continued to be inserted in every volume ol 
the Herd Book ; so that it is of little value 
as a guide, except to those who know whai 
these choice tribes were, and how they have 
since been bred. An animal may have a 
pedigree a page long in the Herd Book, and 
still, owing to some of the strains in it 
being bad blood, it may not be near so good 
as one with scarce any Herd Book pedigree 
at all. This long experienced breeders 
jtnow to their cost, to be a serious fact. 
Seven crosses are pot thorough bred, nor 
ipny times seven: though the first may 
pass for tolerably well bred in certain kinds 
of animals. This may sound like over re¬ 
finement to some ; but let us respectfully 
ask, if they should cross a Devon bull on a 
black, hornless cow, and this progeny again 
with a pure Devon, and so on, how many 
generations think y ou would it take to wipe 
out the stain of the black blood ? Let him 
answer this who can. 
SELECTING, PACKING, AND SHIPPING APPLES 
TO EUROPE. 
A friend in Plymouth, Mass., addresses a 
series of questions to us on this subject, 
which we answer to the best of our ability 
below. We shall be obliged by further in¬ 
formation on this subject from any of our 
more experienced readers. 
KINDS OK APPLES PREFERRED IN ENGLAND. 
The Newtown Pippin is preferred above 
all others, because it is the highest flavored, 
most juicy, and has been found by long expe¬ 
rience to keep best. It is the only apple we 
know whose flavor improves by crossing the 
Atlantic. An American friend informs us, 
that in passing through Marseilles, in the 
south of France, as late as the month of 
March, one year, he noticed some Newtown 
Pippins for sale, which had found their way 
there from New-York via Liverpool. He 
had the curiosity to purchase some, for 
which he paid fifteen cents each. They were 
perfectly sound, and more delicious than any 
he had ever tasted this side of the water. 
He is quite an amateur in fruit. 
Apples with a deep blush, or entirely red, 
or red-streaked, find most favor with the 
English eye ; and would unquestionably be 
preferred to the Newtown Pippin, if as high¬ 
ly flavored after crossing the Atlantic, and 
they kept, as well. The Baldwin, Esopus 
Spitzenburg, Tompkins County King, Lady 
Apple, Detroit, and Canada Red, are highly 
esteemed ; and, if carefully picked and ship¬ 
ped, keep well. The Rhode-Island Green¬ 
ing, Roxbury Russet, and Swaar, though 
great favorites at home, have not usually 
paid well for shipping. We recollect taking 
a few of these three kinds to sea with us 
twice, for our own personal eating on board 
ship. In a fortnight they had lost all their 
agreeable taste, and a few days after rotted 
so badly we had to throw them overboard. 
We deem it fair to say, however, that others 
inform us they have been more fortunate 
with these three varieties ; still we consider 
them rather uncertain for shipping. 
PICKING. 
This should be done in cool, dry weather, 
and very carefully by hand, placing those 
of nearly an equal size in barrels, as* 
fast as picked; then carefully head and trans¬ 
port to ship, either on a sled or spring-cart, 
so as to avoid the possibility of their being 
bruised. The barrels must not be rolled on 
my account. 
Mr. Pill transports them in baskets on a 
sled, from the orchard to the second floor of 
a cool, well ventilated house, built on pur¬ 
pose for the business. Here they are care¬ 
fully placed in heaps, where they sweat a 
few days, and are then wiped and packed. 
Others contend that this previous sweating 
is unnecessary, and that after being packed 
they will sweat over again, just as much as 
if taken fresh from the trees and packed; 
and that the latter bear transportation across 
the Atlantic, and keep just as well in Europe 
as the former. If so, it has the advantage 
-of saving a good deal of labor. Pack those 
only of good size, and smooth fair skin. 
BEST TIME FOR SHIPPING, EXPENSES, ETC. 
From the 1st to the 15th of November, in 
40° of North latitude, is the best time; South 
or North of this, later or earlier, according 
to the latitude. On deck is of course the 
best place to stow them. Under deck they 
do not keep well. The more the barrels are 
exposed to the atmosphere, and the dashing 
of the salt water over them on the voynge, 
the better ; but to bear this, the barrels must 
be nearly as tight and good as those in which 
flour is packed. Bore three or four quarter- 
inch holes in each barrel-head, for air and 
escape of moisture. 
Steamers are better than sail ships for 
transportation, on account of their being 
quicker and more certain in their voyages. 
On board the former, be careful to stow them 
in such a manner as not to be heated by the 
smoke-pipes or steam. 
Sail vessels usually charge from 30 to 50 
cents per barrel for freight, steamers four 
times as much. Shippers of choice apples 
prefer paying the difference in freight and 
send by steamer. Commission on sales and 
other charges in England, are about $1 per 
barrel. They sell from $3 to $15; the av¬ 
erage price of choice, arrived in the best 
condition, is from $8 to $12 the barrel; so 
it will be seen that it is important to ship 
the choicest fruit only, and in such a manner 
as to insure its arriving in fine order. 
HOUSES TO WHOM TO SHIP. 
Several European Express companies can 
be recommended. But any good, honestcom- 
mission house would undoubtedly do the 
shipper full justice. If the captain of the 
ship be a competent man, and is willing to 
attend to it, he would be the best person to 
take the consignment, as he would then sell 
directly to the hucksters, and save to the 
shippers most of the intermediate charges of 
the commission merchant. The captains of 
steamers and packet ships, however, have no 
time while in port to attend to such matters. 
They usually have something of more con¬ 
sequence to look after then, than selling ap¬ 
ples. The fruit-trade requires considerable 
experience and judgment in managing; 
any one who takes it up at hap-hazard, as a 
mere speculation, would be likely to lose 
money by it. 
As fruit is a perishable article, it is usual 
’ to demand freight in advance, at least by 
sail packets. 
A SouthDown Statuette. —Messrs. Mor¬ 
ris and Becar, have sent us a plaster cast of 
the statue of their famous Southdown buck 
Young York, which they imported last year 
from Mr. Webb. Having often seen the 
original, we can assure our readers that he is 
one of the best Southdowns that ever stood 
on four legs. His owners have a fine lot of 
lambs from him out of Webb ewes, also im¬ 
ported by them, 
