AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
FOR THE 
Farm, Grarden, and Honseliold. 
“AGRICULTURE 18 THE MOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, AS1I MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN.h —"Washington. 
oranoe > ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 1 YnIS 
P <rflicT :E n ~t mSoTlJW SlY. ji Published also in German at $1.50 a Year. ^ (4Copiesfor $5 ; 10 for $12; 20 or more, $ leach. 
Entered according to Act of Congress in April, 1SG0, by Oranqe Judo & Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York. 
VOLUME XXVIII.—No. 5. 
NEW YORK, MAY, 1869. 
■NEW! SERIES—No. 268. 
Rosa Bonheur ranks among the most emi¬ 
nent of living painters of animals, if she be not, 
indeed, the most celebrated of all. A number 
of her pictures are in this country, and those 
who have had the privilege of seeing them will 
recollect what marvels of color and drawing 
they are. Her portraits of single animals are 
marked by wonderful individuality, while her 
compositions show a vigor and action which 
hut few artists are capable of imparting to their 
work. The pictures of this artist do not, as is 
often the case, depend upon color for their at¬ 
tractiveness; for when her compositions are 
rendered in the black and white of an en¬ 
graving, her power as an artist is still manifest. 
The engraving we present here is known by 
the English name of “ The Chalk Wagoner.” 
It is highly probable that the artist intended to 
represent a teamster with a load of bags of pre¬ 
pared plaster of Paris. The character of the 
load and the accepted title of the picture are of 
but little consequence, as the interest centers 
in the animals. The scene is an essentially 
foreign one, and one which recalls the rural dis¬ 
tricts of Prance. We have here the common 
type of the ponderous Normandy horse. 
The leader travels at his ease down the 
hill, and is evidently looking out for any thing 
new and curious that may occur; but the solid 
shaft-horse shows by his whole expression that 
he feels the responsibility of bringing a heavily 
loaded cart down hill, over a rough road. Those 
familiar with Rosa Bonlieur’s paintings, can im¬ 
agine the brilliant effect of the three scailet tas¬ 
sels upon the heads, the pieces of deep blue sheep¬ 
skin topping the high collars, and the bright- 
colored (red and yellow) saddle-cloths upon 
the gray or iron-gray horses, all kept well 
brushed and clear of the dust of the plaster kiln. 
