42 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Februabt, 
they would cost a good deal more than wood— 
fully as much as well laid stone or brick, and 
not be nearly so comfortable. This is, we be¬ 
lieve, the experience of those wishing to employ 
this material, who consult builders about it. The 
few who persevere, and because they can not 
get regular mechanics to do the work at reason¬ 
able prices, do it themselves, often meet at first 
witli the accidents and mishaps to which all in¬ 
experienced persons are liable when tlioy un¬ 
dertake to do work at which a regular appren¬ 
ticeship ought to be served. The walls being 
carried up too rapidly, crush with tlieir own 
weight; sufHcieut care not being taken in re¬ 
gard to a dry foundation, water freezes in the 
wall and makes trouble; and so careless work 
produces its legitimate effects in other respects. 
The writer’s knowledge of this mode of building 
is f()unded upon the testimony of friends and ac¬ 
quaintances who have used it, and now occupy 
concrete houses. We advise no one to under¬ 
take to build a concrete house who can 
not superintend it himself, and in fact do 
a good part of the work, and no one who is in 
a great hurry should even think of it. The work 
should be done in fine weather, and in stormy 
weather the walls should be well covered. The 
lime used should be uniform in quality and 
fresh; the sand and gravel clean, and trials 
should be made beforehand, to know the most 
desiralde proportions of lime, sand and gravel. 
The quality of lime varies very much, but when 
the best quality of building lime is employed, 
(wliich is not advisable, because too expensive,) 
one part (say a bushel) of uuslacked lime is said 
to make 25 parts (bushels) or more of concrete. 
A friend of large experience, whom we have 
consulted, says; “ By all means advise whoever 
wishes to build a gravel wall house to put up 
some small building or an L first, so as to learn 
all those little matters of manipulation which 
can not be well described; and fairly get his 
hand in before he undertakes to put up a house 
of considerable size,” and we entirely believe in 
the wisdom of the suggestion. The subject can 
not well be treated in the limits of a single arti¬ 
cle in our crowded columns. Another month 
we may discuss some of the methods of putting 
up the walls, materials, etc.; adding here that 
we have rcpeatedlj^ seen properly built houses 
of this kind where the objections specified 
above were without foundation. Mr. W. B. 
Waldo, one among many witnesses we could cite, 
writes: “I have had some experience with con¬ 
crete or gravel wall, having built a small house 
for a tenant, and a fence around my barn yard. 
I am no mechanic, but I did the work with the 
help of a young German (who had never laid a 
stone except to repair an old fence), who has since 
occupied the house five years. We did the whole, 
wood work and all. Any common, neat work¬ 
man can build a very good-looking and desirable 
house for himself, buying only a little lime, 
some joists and planks, floor boards and nails. 
The best large barn, and the best two-story 
dwelling house in our town are built of this ma¬ 
terial. I think you cannot better serve your 
readers than by instructing them in the art of 
gravel building. It is far easier than to lay a 
commonly good stone fence, which neither the 
German nor I could have done.” 
Embargo on Hay. —The Maine Farmer re¬ 
ports that the War Department has issued 
special orders prohibiting the exportation of 
hav from that State, except for Government 
ac ount. The immense supplies of hay re¬ 
quired for forage in the army makes this step 
necessary. The Government will purchase all 
hay not needed for consumption in the State, 
paying therefor a fixed rate per ton. Several 
large lots in process of shipment for Europe 
were recently taken possession of and immedi¬ 
ately forwarded to the army. The price paid is 
$26 per ton, for common pressed hay, and $32 
for Beater-pressed, the latter being prefeiTed for 
transportation. See last volume, page 236. 
Milk—Beef—Labor—II. 
Adaptation to the Land. —For whatever 
purpose cattle are raised, regard should be had 
to the character of the soil, the climate, and 
the topography of the country. Although the 
various breeds of cattle will maintain their pe¬ 
culiar characteristics for several generations, 
whether they be kept on the rich plains or 
rough and sparsely grassed mountains, yet as 
we all seek the greatest profit, we must know 
the adaptation of each breed to our own local¬ 
ity, and be guided accordingly in their selection. 
The adjective lordly has been well applied to 
the Short-horns—the breed which may be con¬ 
sidered as showing the greatest effects of culture. 
They are of the largest size, well boned, but not 
coarse, with small heads, large carcasses, straight 
backs, wide in the pelvis, deep in the flank, ma¬ 
turing very early, laying on flesh and fat with 
great rapiditj', and when slaughtered, remarka¬ 
ble for the smallness of the offal. In order to 
exhibit these qu.alities in any thing like perfec¬ 
tion, they need good feed and plenty of it, all the 
time, shelter in cold weather—in fact, good sta¬ 
bling—and the better care they have, the more 
rapidly will they grow and fatten. There is no 
reason why the breed should not be perpetu¬ 
ated in perfection on the blue-grass pastures of 
the West, or in the clover and red-top of the 
rich intervals of the Middle States, and in 
other such choice spots as occur in the valley of 
the Connecticut, and elsewhere in New-Eng- 
land. As it is, within the past 50 years the. 
Short-horns have been gradually disseminated 
more or less all over the United States and 
Canada, producing a great improvement up¬ 
on the common stock of the country. The 
“grades,” that is, half-bloods, quarter-bloods, 
etc., being the product of crossing the bulls 
upon common or half-blood cows, possess the 
external characters and feeding qualities of their 
sires to a great extent. 
Very different are the characteristics of the 
Devons (sometimes called North Devons, though 
the South Devons as such are not known in this 
country nor bred distinct in England.) They 
are much smaller, much more active, tougher, 
able to get a good living where a Short-horn 
would almost starve, not so early in coming to 
maturity, but being serviceable proportionately 
longer. The cows give richer milk than the 
Short-horns, and a good supply; they require 
less care, and with flxir treatment remain pro¬ 
ductive and healthy to a great age. This breed 
adapts itself peculiarly to the rough parts of 
New England, and many portions of the Middle 
and Northwestern States—especially where the 
steers are used in the yoke or find a ready sale 
as working oxen. Their qualities in the yoke 
will be discussed in a subsequent article. When 
put to feed, they fatten rapidly, and many con¬ 
noisseurs think they furnish the most delicious 
beef which we ever have in our markets. 
The Ayrshires, Alderneys and Dutch cattle are 
peculiarly milk breeds, having been bred chiefly 
for Dairy purposes for many generations. The 
Dutch cattle are large, great milkers, slow and 
logy in thei? motions, good feeders, and are 
adapted for similar situations to the Short-horns 
The Ayrshires are much more active, smaller, 
not above medium size, thrive in good pastur¬ 
age, but sustain themselves very well on “ short 
commons.” They give large quantities of milk, 
but not rich in quality. The Alderneys are even 
more active than the Ayrshires, but are great 
eaters; they need therefore good and abundant 
pasturage, not of the juicy succulent sort, but 
sweet and fine. They are not adapted to general 
dairy use, but particularly for families keeping 
one, two, or three cows fbr their own use, or for 
dairies where very choice butter, a “ fancy ar¬ 
ticle,” is made. The oxen of these breeds are not 
esteemed, because too small for heavy work. 
The Herefords are adapted to a wider range of 
pasturage than the Short-horns, not so active 
as the Devons, but are large, excellent for beef, 
of not much account for the dairy, but good 
workers. They mature early, and of course like 
the Short-horns are most profitable on fat past¬ 
ures. On good fair farming land, any of tlie 
breeds will do well, but as we depart from this 
toward either extreme—toward the rich prairies 
and intervals, or sparse pasturage—we must ex¬ 
ercise judgment in selecting a proper class of 
cows, and suitable bulls for their improvement. 
Profits of Sheep—Dog-laws. 
Sheep raisers have found the business very 
profitable for the past few seasons. Fine wool 
sheep have been in great demand, and immense 
numbers have gone westward from New-York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Vermont. There has 
been a very nearly equal demand for mutton 
breeds. The markets for wool and mutton 
have been good and the seasons favorable on 
the whole. A correspondent in Susquehanna 
Co., Pa., writes to the American Agriculturist: 
“I know a farmer in the township of G, in 
this County, who had a flock of twenty-four 
sheep at the setting in of the winter of 1863-4 
They all lived through and had a common in¬ 
crease in the spring. Immediately after shear¬ 
ing, a part of the wool was sold at what proved 
to be a low figure, but brought $37.60, and 28 
lbs. was used in the family, which at the former 
price was worth $19.60. During the summer 
sheep and lambs were sold out of the flock to 
the amount of $35.00. All the above amounts to 
$92.20, and the flock now numbers 26. What is 
there that pays better than sheep? Yet the 
damage done and liable to be done by dogs de¬ 
ters many farmers from entering extensively in¬ 
to sheep raising. There has been a law passed 
within a few years past for this and several oth¬ 
er counties in this State, levying a tax on dogs; 
but the tax is so low that it has reduced the 
number of the dogs very little. The fund so 
raised goes to pay in whole or in part for sheep 
killed by dogs, any surplus going to the school 
fund. Now if every man who reads the Agri¬ 
culturist would interest himself in this matter 
and circulate petitions to the Legislatures of 
the several States for laws levying a tax so 
heavy that it would materially reduce the num¬ 
ber of dogs it would be far better for our country.” 
Our correspondent subjoins a form of petition 
which may be used in bringing the subject be¬ 
fore the law-makers of any of the States. 
There has not as yet been a single State through 
out which a good dog-law has been well en¬ 
forced. That the thing is not impracticable has 
been proved by the enforcement of dog-laws in 
certain counties, to the great advantage of the 
agricultural interest. The half-way work of 
