152 AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
DUKE OF GLO’STER 
New-York, Wedsaesday, Nov. 15 . 
A WORD TO CARELESS CORRESPONDENTS. 
-♦- 
We publish the following letter received, 
that the writer may know that we have his 
money, and that his paper will be sent when 
he tells us to which one of the seventeen 
Milfords, in the United States, it shall be 
mailed—and also to call attention to the ne¬ 
cessity of avoiding a very common thought¬ 
less habit: 
Milford, Nov. 2, 1854. 
Messrs. Allen & Co.: 
Gentlemen : Please send me the Agricul¬ 
turist to this office for one year. I inclose 
two dollars to pay for the same. 
Respectfully yours, G. E. D-. 
It is annoying to receive, as we frequently 
do, letters to which we can not reply ; and 
probably correspondents frequently complain 
of our inattention, when the fault is all their 
own. If the Post-master’s stamp on letters, 
when this is readable, did not give us a clue 
to the State, as well as the town, our corre¬ 
spondents’ favors would still more frequently 
receive no reply. We keep an alphabetical 
index of the names of Post-offices where 
subscribers reside, but not of the individual 
names, as this would be an endless task. 
OSAGE ORANGE SEED. 
PREPARATION FOR PLANTING. 
We have had frequent inquiries of late as 
to the preparation of Osage orange seed be¬ 
fore planting ; and we republish some of the 
methods which have proved most success¬ 
ful: 
The seed of the Osage orange is so closely 
bound up in the fibrous substance of the 
fruit, that it takes a long time for it to re¬ 
ceive from the soil enough moisture to in¬ 
duce sprouting. To effect this, the process 
recommended by H. P. Byram, of Louisville, 
Ky.j is a good one, viz : Put the seed to soak 
two weeks before planting, in vessels con¬ 
taining not more than two quarts each, and let 
it stand for three days. The water is then 
turned off, and the seed, covered with a 
cloth, is set in a warm room, taking care to 
keep it moist. If the weather prove favor¬ 
able the process may be hastened by placing 
the vessel in a hot-house ; in either case, 
the seed is planted as soon as it begins to 
germinate. 
It has also been recommended to soak the 
seed in warm water, until it begins to swell; 
or, after having soaked twenty-four hours, 
that it be tied up in a bag and buried in moist 
earth, examining it weekly to see when the 
sprouting begins. There is also another 
method—of soaking the seed two weeks be¬ 
fore planting. 
Our method has been, to steep the seed in 
a mixture of warm water and soot, and after 
letting it stand eight days under the stove, 
to sow it in ground carefully prepared, and 
in drills eighteen inches apart, after the man¬ 
ner of peas. In about six weeks, it comes 
up, and after being weeded and’properly at¬ 
tended to, grows vigorously. 
Above we have the pleasure of presenting 
our readers with a cut of the Short Horn 
bull Duke of Glo’ster, (11,382), one of the 
very choicest animals that was ever imported 
into this country. He was calved Sept. 14th, 
1850 ; got by Grand Duke (10,284), out of 
Duchess 59th, by 2d Duke of Oxford (9,046) ; 
Duchess 56th, by 2d Duke of Northumber¬ 
land (3,646) ; Duchess 51st, by Cleveland 
Lad (3,407) ; Duchess 41st, by Belvidere 
(1,706) ; Duchess 32d, by 2d Hubback 
(1,423); Duchess 19th, by Hubback (1,423); 
Duchess 12th, by the Earl (646) ; Duchess 
4th, by Ketton 2d (710); Duchess 1st, by 
Comet (155) ; by Favorite (252) ; by Daisy 
Bull (186); by Favorite (252) ; by Hubback 
(319) ; by J. Brown’s Red Bull (97). 
The Duke of Glo’ster was purchased at 
the late Earl Ducie’s sale, in August, 1853, 
for 650 guineas ($3,250), by Messrs. Becar 
and Morris, of New-York. These gentlemen 
had instructed their agent to bid as high as 
1,200 guineas ($6,000), rather thannot obtain 
him. He was left after his purchase with 
Mr. Tanqueray, of England, till last month, 
when he was shipped to his owners in New- 
York, where he arrived in excellent health, 
and was immediately sent to the farm of Mr. 
Morris, at Mount Fordham, Westchester. 
We are informed that if his owners would 
have left him in England, they could have 
taken 1,000 guineas ($5,000) for him, so 
highly is he esteemed there. 
The Duke of Glo’ster, though in excellent 
health when we called, to examine him, 
active and in good working order, was not 
in what may be termed tip-top show condition; 
having suffered somewhat, as all large ani¬ 
mals inevitably must on a long voyage 
across the Atlantic. We intend to speak of 
him critically hereafter, when he has got 
completely over the effects of his voyage; 
and therefore content ourselves at present 
by saying, his color is nearly all red, mingled 
with a little white ; and that he has the char¬ 
acteristics in an eminent degree of the fam¬ 
ous Duchess tribe of Short Horns, as bred 
in such high perfection by the late Thomas 
Bates, of Yorkshire. The engraving of the 
Duke of Glo’ster, above, is a good likeness, 
and our readers can judge from that as well 
as ourselves, whether this high bred and 
famous animal is worthy of their considera¬ 
tion. 
After examining the bull we walked out to 
an adjoining meadow to take a look at 
Duchess 66th, also purchased at Earl Ducie’s 
sale, at the same time as the Duke of Glo’s¬ 
ter. For her, Messrs. Becar and Morris paid 
700 guineas ($3,500), the highest price ever 
yet given for a Short Horn cow in England. 
If her present owners would have left her 
there, they could also have taken a large ad¬ 
vance over what was paid for her ; but as 
they are quite as able to hold such animals 
as John Bull himself, and moreover take no 
little pride and pleasure in breeding choice 
stock, and are ambitious to stand as high as 
any other gentlemen in this department, 
they wisely, as we think, declined all offers, 
and brought her to this country as a mate 
to the Duke. Her'color is rich roan. She 
is of great size and constitution, a deep 
milker, fine in all her points, and one of the 
most noble and imposing cows we ever 
looked at. She will be a wonder among the 
public when brought to the show yard, that 
is certain. 
Duchess 66lh was calved October 25th, 
1850 ; got by 4th Duke of York (10,167), out 
of Duchess 55th, by the 4th Duke of Nor¬ 
thumberland (3,649) ; Duchess 38th, by Nor¬ 
folk (2,377) ; Duchess 33d, by Belvidere 
(1,706) ; Duchess 19th, by second Hubback 
(1,423) ; &c., as in the pedigree of the Duke 
of Glo’ster above. 
We congratulate Messrs. Becar and Mor¬ 
ris, and the public, upon the acquisition of 
such valuable stock ; and all we have left to 
desire is, that it will breed long and well 
here, and be duly appreciated by our coun¬ 
trymen. 
Have no very intimate friends, 
0 
