AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
320 
BALCO. 
DRILLING BARLEY. 
Balco (9918), red and white j 
calved February 23, 1849; sire, 4th 
Duke of York (1016?); dam (Wild 
Eyes 15th), by 4th Duke of North¬ 
umberland (3649); g. d. (Wild Eyes 
8th), by Duke of Northumberland 
(1940); gr. g. d. (Wild Eyes 2d), by 
Belvidere (1706); (Wild Eyes) by 
Emperor (1975); by Wonderful (700); 
by Cleveland(145); by Butterfly(104); 
by Mr. Hollon’s Bull (313 ; by Mr. 
Movvbrays’s Bull (2342); by Mr. Mas- 
terman’s Bull (422); descended from 
Mr. Michael Dobson's stock. 
Balco (9918), winner of the first 
prize in his class at the New-York 
State Agricultural Society Show in 
1854, is the property of L. G. Morris 
and N. J. Becar, and was bred by 
the celebrated breeder, Thos. Bates, 
of England. He was sold at his 
great sale in 1850, at 14 months old, 
to the Earl of Burlington, and brought 
double the price of any bull of his 
age. He was used by the Earl of 
Burlington one year, when the skill¬ 
ful and enterprizing breeder, Mr. J. 
S. Tanqueray, saw his value, and 
purchased him ; and fromwhich gen¬ 
tleman we purchased him, in 1852, 
to be delivered the next year, with the prom¬ 
ise on our part to take him out of the coun¬ 
try. We imported him in 1853, and at the 
Show of the New-York State Agricultural 
Society of that year, where Balco was on 
exhibition only, the committee on Short Horn 
breeds recommended, for “ special notice, 
the imported bull Balco, belonging to Messrs. 
Morris and Becar, an animal destined to 
prove a valuable addition to the Short Horns 
of the United States, and place that valuable 
breed upon an equal footing with any which 
the world can produce.” 
Balco is now for sale, as the celebrated 
Duke of Glo'ster, belonging to us, has arrived 
here safely, and possesses much the same 
strain of blood. L. G. Morris. 
For advertisement of the above superior 
bull, see page 334 of this number of our pa¬ 
per. We hope some large breeder will pur¬ 
chase him, as he would be a great acquisi¬ 
tion to his stock.— Eds. Am. Ag. 
Davy’s Devon Herd Book — Vol. Second .— 
By the politeness of Col. L. G. Morris, of 
Mount Fordham, we are favored with a copy 
of the above work. It contains 113 pages, 
and records animals bred both in England 
and America, from Nos. 133 to 1140. It is 
well got up, and does Mr. Davy much credit. 
These valumes add greatly to the conve¬ 
nience and safety of Devon breeders, and 
every one who now values his herd should 
see that his animals are properly recorded^ 
in the third volume, which will probably ap¬ 
pear in a couple of years or so. We now 
ought to have an Alderny Herd Book, which 
we hope Col. Le Couteur, or some one else, 
in the Isle of Jersey will take into considera¬ 
tion. 
A correspondent from North Carolinathus 
writes us : 
A friend suggests that barley should be 
drilled here, and the drills wide enough apart 
to admit the hoe in cultivation, (a) As bar¬ 
ley is a new article in this country, I am anx¬ 
ious to give it a fair trial, and therefore sus¬ 
pend operations until I can hear from you. 
By first mail, therefore, you will please in¬ 
form me if barley should be drilled, or sowed 
broadcast ? We have not a wheat drill in 
this county. I must therefore use the plow 
or harrow and hand, hence we would like to 
know the distances between the drills. 
Is plaster as serviceable to barley as to 
the other small grains and clover 1(b) Is 
guano beneficial 1(c) W T hen should guano be 
applied 1(d) My land is in good heart mak¬ 
ing 50 bushels of corn to the acre. 
(a) All kinds of small grain grow better 
and give a larger yield when sown in drills 
0 to 9 inches apart, other things being equal. 
The reason of this is, that the sun acts 
more powerfully, and the air circulates better 
among it. The straw also grows stronger, 
and resists the wind better ; it is therefore 
not so liable to lodge, neither is it near so 
liable to rust or mildew. Grain can not be 
well drilled without a horse drill, costing 
about $100. A guano, lime, plaster, and ashes 
spreader attached to it costs $30 additional. 
To plow in the grain makes it come up in 
rows as far apart as the width of the plow¬ 
share, and almost as regularly as if drilled. 
We use a three share gang plow here gene¬ 
rally for this purpose. The shares are set 
about six inches apart from each other, and 
of course would make three furrows at a 
time. If grain be merely harrowed in, it 
should be sown after .plowing, then harrow 
crosswise, and most will fall into the open 
space of the furrow, and have something the 
appearance of having been drilled when it 
comes up. It is always best to sow it on the 
rough plowed ground before harrowing it to 
make it smoother, then harrow in. 
Hoeing the grain when in drills adds to its 
yield. But in order to make this profitable, 
a horse-hoe should be used ; hand hoeing 
would be too expensive in thus country at 
the present price of labor. We have seen 
no good horse-hoes for drilled grain, except 
in England. The price for them there we 
believe is about £3 to £5. 
(b) Plaster is much more beneficial to a 
clover crop than to any grain crop. 
(c) Guano is highly beneficial not only to 
barley, but to every kind of crop. 
( d ) The best way to apply it is to sow 
broadcast on the land and then plow it in. It 
may be covered from three to twelve inches 
deep with the plow. The deeper—especial¬ 
ly in a hot climate—the better. Apply from 
50jto 500 lbs. per acre, according to the qual¬ 
ity of the land and the crop required. Land 
that will yield 50 bushels of corn per acre, 
would produce good barley without guano or 
other manure. We would not advise an ap¬ 
plication of over 100 lbs. of guano per acre, 
in any event, to such land. 
Wheat Fly. —It is asserted by those who 
have tried it, that one bushel of unslacked 
lime, ground to a fine powder, like gypsum, 
to the acre, sowed in the spring, just after 
the frost has disappeared, will effectually 
prevent the ravages of the fly. The experi¬ 
ment is worth trying. 
W T e would call the attention of our readers 
to the advertisement of the Illinois Central 
R ailroad Company, on page 334. 
