s 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 131 
superiority of any one herd over another, in 
a matched competition of Short Horns, has 
yet to be settled ! The pride of three States 
was enlisted in this, and no one achieved a 
victory over the other. Each competitor 
had a right to feel proud of his herd, and 
gratified that if he had not the best, no one, 
in the opinion of the public, had a better 
than his own. Upon a report of the com¬ 
mittee to the Society, that they could not 
agree, they were discharged from further 
duty. 
In the class of Fat Cattle, there were per¬ 
haps twenty exhibited, some of which were 
remarkably fine, particularly some high 
bred Short Horns, from Kentucky, both 
heifers and bullocks. There were a pair of 
enormous oxen, of the old “ Patton stock,” 
now almost obsolete, but, many years ago, a 
celebrated variety of cattle in Kentucky. 
They were black, with white faces, had 
been worked some years, now seven years 
old, and weighed 5,200 pounds the pair. 
Another Patton, and Short Horn ox, was 
shown by Mr. Stedman, of Clevand, enor¬ 
mously large in frame, weighing 2,900 lbs. 
There was a remarkable milk cow, belong¬ 
ing to J. W. Brock, of Highland County, 
Ohio, about whose marvelous lacteal achieve¬ 
ments we shall discourse hereafter. We 
examined this cow particularly, and if the 
statements of her owner be verified, the far- 
famed “ Oaks cow, of Danvers, Massachu¬ 
setts,” must pale her hitherto refulgent rep¬ 
utation in perpetual gloom. 
There may have been other cattle worthy 
of note, which, in the multitude of our ob¬ 
servations, may have been overlooked, and 
in a general account like this, may be omit¬ 
ted ; and, could we have appropriated three 
weeks instead of three days to the examina¬ 
tion, we should have amassed none too much 
knowledge of the subjects before us. 
On Friday afternoon, at 2 o’clock, the re¬ 
ports of the several committees on prizes, 
the grand procession of the prize cattle, and 
the concluding duties of awarding the prizes 
by the Society, were made ; and during the 
afternoon the people mostly withdrew from 
the grounds, some of the cattle were taken 
away, and the gates closed upon a concluded 
exhibition—certainly, in Short Horn cattle, 
the most numerous in high bred excellence 
ever made in the United States. 
Had we the time we might have made 
some observations on the comparative mer¬ 
its of the newly-imported animals witli those 
bred in our own country, the descendants of 
those introduced many years ago ; for here 
they were shown side by side, and the op¬ 
portunity for comparison was favorable— 
but such remarks must be postponed to a 
future occasion. Suffice it now to say, that 
this exhibition closed under circumstances 
the most agreeable to those who attended it, 
and highly favorable to the improvement of 
our Western herds. Our only regret to be 
mingled with the pleasure we received was, 
that owing to the lateness of the season, and 
the number of Agricultural Shows that had 
been ieviously held, the number of visitors 
was less than was anticipated, leaving the 
good citizens of Springfield, we fear, to foot 
a bill of some three or four thousand dollars 
in expenses, over the receipts on the occa¬ 
sion. 
In relation to this, although after sugges¬ 
tions are of little account, we can not but 
think, that had the local committee added 
horses, mules, asses, sheep, and swine, all 
of which are great agricultural staples there¬ 
about, to their Exhibition, in their several 
classes, and made the premiums something 
less in individual amount, an increased in 
terest would have been given to the show, 
and three times the number of people would 
have been brought together. But it was 
suggested that the National Show, at Spring- 
field, Mass., last year, was of horses alone, 
and that this had better only include cattle. 
They should have recollected that this was 
eight hundred miles from the other, and that 
by scarcely a possibility could there be a du¬ 
plicate of an article in each. We trust that 
in all future National Exhibitions of the kind 
—if they ever take place, and we trust they 
may—every dumb animal that draws breath, 
and is deemed worthy of cultivation, may be 
represented, and prizes awarded for superior 
excellence. So far as the testimon}^ that wm 
have to offer in relation to shows of this 
kind, where rival States may come in com¬ 
petition, we give it our decided approbation. 
In conclusion, we have great pleasure in 
remarking upon the general good order that 
prevailed throughout the whole week of the 
Show, both on the grounds and off. The 
marshals of the ground were prompt and 
efficient in all their duties. The executive 
committee were obliging and liberal in every 
thing. Among them we should perhaps 
hardly particularize, when all were perfect 
in their several departments; but we cannot 
omit to name Mr. Robbins, and the four bro¬ 
thers Warder, as models of urbanity, active, 
and executive talent, such as is rarely met 
with on such occasions. 
Guano. —A letter has been received at the 
Admiralty, from Commander De Horsey, of 
Her Majesty’s ship “Devastation,” dated 
August 1, 1854, reporting that he found three 
vessels under American colors at the unin¬ 
habited island of Aves, in lat. 15 deg. 40. min. 
40 sec. north, long., 63 deg. 36 min. west, 
and one day’s sail from St. Croix, shipping 
guano, of which he reports there is about 
200,000 tons on the island, and but slightly 
inferior to the Peruvian. 
TWENTY TONS OF HAY PER ACRE. 
It will be recollected that at the late agri¬ 
cultural dinner at Mr. Mechi’s, in England, 
which he annually gives to a numerous com¬ 
pany of gentlemen, whom he invites to look 
at his crops at Tiptree Hall, Mr. Caird stated 
that twenty tons of hay had been grown on 
a single acre, in one season, in Scotland, 
from the Italian rye grass. The following 
is the grower’s account of this great crop. 
It is a big story ; but our readers must bear 
in mind that the Italian grass mentioned 
here is coarse and rank, and very much like 
the stalks of American rye ; that it grows up 
rapidly immediately after cutting ; that in the 
mild, humid climate of Scotland it starts early 
in February, and grows well to the last of De¬ 
cember ; and furthermore, rich liquid manure 
in large quantities was applied to the land 
after every cutting. We doubt whether the 
hay was as dry cured as it would be in our 
hotter climate; and we may safely add, 
that no such quantity of hay could be made 
from an American acre. 
Some persons have thought the grass for 
20 tons of hay was grown in one crop, and 
have asked that question. It is not so. 
The grass may be cut from seven to ten 
times in 12 months; during the summer 
months, when the temperature of the atmo¬ 
sphere is high, a yard of grass in height may 
be grown in 21 days. In 1844, my first crop 
was cut early in March ; the second, April 
13th; the third, May 4th; the fourth, May 
24th; the fifth, June 14th; the sixth, July 
22d, with a crop of seed ; here the liquid was 
used up and discontinued; three slight crops 
were cut afterward, but not dated. To this 
the public attention was called ; the fact 
could not be denied, but everyone accounted 
for it by some extraordinary advantage I 
had, they did not possess—to the vast quan¬ 
tity of liquid manure I had, they had not. 
No one said it was the fine land ; all admitted 
the land to be very bad. Knowing that 
every one could do so who really tried, I 
foolishly appropriated a field of twenty 
acres to grow the grass to make into hay 
without the liquid, to convince the public 
that they could do so. I made the year’s grass 
into hay upon the field before the public ; 13 
stacks, containing from 12 to 15 loads each, 
were erected. I was silly enough to make 
one crop in November (which was of course 
stacked at much cost)—a heap of manure ; 
when the weather is not hot and fine, it 
takes longer to make the hay than to grow 
the grass, so that one is done at the expense 
of the other. ; If I had removed the grass from 
the field directly it was cut, and made it 
elsewhere, that year’s growth would have 
been little less than Mr. Talfer’s statement. 
This did not convince agriculturists at large ; 
anger was the result in many cases ; but 
there were some who took the hint, and 
adopted the system of Mr. Kennedy, Mr. 
Telfer, and Mr. Harvey, and Mr. M‘Culloch, 
all Scotchmen, 300 to 400 miles off, while 
only one of my neighbors did so. Mr. 
M‘Culloch was brought from Scotland by 
Colonel M'Douall to see a wonderful crop of 
grass grown upon a new' system ; therefore 
he was prepared to be surprised. Being 
taken into a field of grass of 14 acres, early 
in April, he expressed his surprise most 
heartily, saying it was a great sight, wrnrth 
coming from the furthest part of Scotland to 
see ; he had never seen anything in agricul¬ 
ture so wonderful. I asked him what he 
would say, then, if he were told it was the 
second crop this year; he said that he would 
not believe any man that swore it. Being 
taken down the field to the far end, he saw a 
wall of grass that convinced him at once of 
the fact that it was the second crop ; he then 
said he would never disbelieve anything 
again. 
I am now stating things in the presence of 
men living, to be contradicted if untrue. 1 
grew as an experiment in my garden a patch 
of grass 5 feet 10 inches high, examined and 
measured by a committee of the House of 
Commons, with whom was Mr. Shaw Lefe- 
vre. I will not say what this crop weighed, 
although I know, lest I should damage the 
other facts I have stated; but I will state 
them when 7 to 10 crops are grown that 
weigh 8 to 18 tons per acre (English) ac¬ 
cording to the skill of the cultivator; that it 
shrinks only in the proportion from five to 
two in the open air in 12 days, it may be 
conceived how 20 tons of hay per acre 
