1SG9.] 
295 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
usually, to designate the animals by numbers, 
which may be used as proper names, or names 
may be given in addition; or, as is very com¬ 
mon, the name denotes the family, while the 
number marks the individual, and so both name 
and number become the proper name of the 
animal. The old cow “ Bessie” may have had 
nine heifer calves named “Bessie 2d,” “Bessie 
3d,” to “Bessie 10th;” and so, too, other more 
remote descendants are also numbered, as in the 
case of the Dutchess family of Short-horns. In 
recording a calf, it is desirable to refer to the 
pedigree of both sire and dam; hence, in pri¬ 
vate herd records, it will be found very conven¬ 
ient to use the number of the page of the book 
in which the pedigree of each is recorded in 
full, in connection with the name of the sire 
and dam, so as to avoid indexes or other num¬ 
bers for reference. In small herds, where but 
one or two bulls are usually kept, the use of 
the number is not necessary with names of 
bulls. Their pedigrees will be recorded by them¬ 
selves, and it would be many years before the 
list would be found long, even for a stranger 
to look through for the record of an} 7 animal. 
Cows are numerous, and there is something to 
be recorded every year of each one, even if she 
go farrow, for this ought always to be stated. 
The records of pedigrees of purchased animals 
are often on letter files, slips of paper, or in vo¬ 
luminous correspondence; and even some of our 
best breeders have no other records than these, 
except the date that each cow goes to bull each 
year, and, possibly, the name of the calf when 
dropped. This causes a great many mistakes, 
makes uncertainty, and frequently permanently 
injures the value of excellent stock, or of the 
whole herd. All these errors are obviated 
by a well-kept account in a memorandum book. 
The pedigrees of all animals ought to be 
written out in full in what should be called the 
herd-book. Of these we will give specimens, 
but first describe the “ calf memorandum,” 
which is of vital importance. It would be well 
to rule off a blauk book as follows, so as to bring 
the cows’ names first and the calves’ last: 
The interpretation of this is simple. The 
cow Topsy, whose pedigree is recorded on 
page 25, went to Uticas on the 30th of March, 
18G8; her time was up January 5th; the calf 
dropped January 8th was a dark brown heifer, 
named Tippet, whose pedigree is recorded on 
page 40. In this list all the cows are recorded 
as fast as they are served. If one misses, a line 
is drawn through the space after the fourth 
column ; and she is recorded again. 
Now, on turning to page 25 of the herd-book 
we find Topsy’s pedigree, which we will sup¬ 
pose runs as follows:— 
Topsy .—French gray, with white shoulders 
and belly, calved May 3d, 1862. Sire, Stirrup. 
Dam, Tossup, (10)by Stirrup; granddam Tabby, 
(3) by Jersey 1st.; Gr.-granddam Tiny, import¬ 
ed in cow Beauty, from Island of Jersey, by 
John A. Taintor. Tabby was bought of X. Y. 
Zadoc. See Certificate C. 6., and Bill of Sale 
S. 1. Here follows a list of her calves, with the 
dates of calving, and of prizes taken, or inter¬ 
esting performances. The pedigrees of the 
bulls will be found in their proper place. That 
of Stirrup may run as follows: Stirrup .—Dark 
gray, calved June 5th, 1859; bred by A. B. C. 
Dugan. Sire, imported Lord of the Channel. 
Dam, imported Sappho. Bought of E. F. G. 
Hawley, of Fishkill Landing, N. Y. See Letter 
and Certificate B. 1., and Bill of Sale S. 3. 
These references, C. 0., B. 1., are to letter 
files, containing correspondence and evidence in 
regard to purchased cows or bulls, and S. 
refers to a file of bills of sale. The evidence in 
the case of every animal not calved upon the 
farm should be full, tracing every progenitor 
to the home of the breed, or to animals recorded 
in English herd-books, if Short-horns or Devons. 
We have had a good deal to say about the 
value of pedigrees of late. They are value¬ 
less unless they are accurate, and it is only by 
keeping memorandums, similar to the example 
given, that pedigrees of certain value can be 
had. No man’s memory can be trusted im¬ 
plicitly, and it is all wrong for a breeder to de¬ 
pend upon it for facts he can just as well put 
down in black and white when they happen. 
■ ■ ^ « ■»« « O «B» -- 
Draining by Means of Wells. 
A correspondent asks our opinion of the plan 
of draining land by the use of wells, bored down 
to porous strata, by which the surplus water of 
the surface soil may be carried away,—stating 
that, by the aid of the well-boring apparatus, 
such outlets may be made at far less cost than 
the regular system of underdraining entails. 
The objections to this plan are numerous and 
cogent:—1. It would be difficult to devise a plan 
by which the soalfage water of the soil could be 
admitted to the vertical outlets without carry¬ 
ing with it loose particles of earth, which would 
soon fill them up.—2. If these wells were left 
unlined, they would soon become obstructed by 
the caving in of their sides; while, if so lined 
as to be permanently secure, they would be very 
costly.—3. In a large majority of cases no stra¬ 
tum would be found that would carry away the 
water.—4. Not infrequently a water-bearing 
stratum would be tapped and water would flow 
over on the surface of the ground.—5. The 
presence of stones, larger or smaller, would 
often interrupt the boring and 
make it very expensive, while rock 
would be impenetrable at any 
cost within the reach of farmers. 
—These objections are very gen¬ 
eral, but not universal. For ex¬ 
ample, Long Island, N. Y., containing more 
than a million of acres, is mainly under¬ 
laid by porous sand and gravel. This often 
comes to the surface, forming sandy tracts, while 
in other parts there is an upper layer of com¬ 
mon and very good soil, varying from a few 
feet to a hundred or more feet in depth. In 
Flushing, and in other towns, it is a very com¬ 
mon practice, where surface drainage is not easy, 
from the lay of the land, to dig wells or “ cess¬ 
pools” from 10 to 50 feet deep, as needed, ex¬ 
tending them 5 to 8 ft. into the underlying laud. 
These cess-pools, stoned to the surface, carry off 
an immense amount of clear water drained into 
them. Where impure or muddy water flows 
in, it is necessary to clean out the bottom occa¬ 
sionally. There are such plots in other parts of 
the country, though not very common; and in 
these cases, this drainage system is of course 
cheap, and, temporarily at least, effective. 
Another correspondent suggests the same 
method for draining small swamps, of a basin¬ 
like character, by cutting or boring wells 
through the clay bottom of the basin. If such 
a swamp is underlaid within a reasonable depth 
by a porous stratum, gravel, for instance ,—which 
has an outlet at a lower point —a large well as an 
outlet for regularly laid underdrains may be 
dug. A well of this character is much more 
easily kept open than frequent bore-holes would 
be, and the drains, laid in accordance with a 
well-considered plan, would be more effective, 
especially to remove the water from surrounding 
hills, than any system of small wells could be. 
A “Dispensation of Providence.” 
I found Neighbor Simpson one March morn¬ 
ing in his barn skinning a ten-months’calf. I 
noticed that the throat was not cut, and con¬ 
cluded it was not a case of slaughter for the 
shambles. The flesh did not look inviting, and 
the bones were a little too conspicuous for “ the 
fatted calf.” Simpson said he had tried hard to 
raise the heifer, but could not make it out. 
“ She kind o’ hung round the barn, didn’t eat 
much, and last night she died. It is a hard 
case, a very mysterious dispensation. Ye see, 
I shall lose ten months’ keepin’ on this critter, 
and git nothin’ but the hide.” By pumping 
Simpson cautiously, I found it another case 
of death by bo'** hay and cold. The animal 
was kept in a poor pasture through the sum¬ 
mer, and came to the foddering season in thin 
flesh. Mouldy huts and bog hay had been the 
bill of fare, and these were fed out upon the 
snow at the stack, with no shelter but chestnut 
rails. There are two ways of looking at this 
dispensation, as he was pleased to call it. Ho 
thought he was not at all responsible for the 
treatment the poor brute had received, and laid 
the blame upon Providence. It is just possible 
that Providence has ordained the conditions of 
animal life with which he trifled, and that his 
loss was designed as a punishment for cruelty. 
The mysterious thing about it was that Simpson 
did not see it in this light. Connecticut. 
-- —o——-—► -- 
“ Thorough Cultivation.” 
[The following is the substance of a paper 
read before the Alton Hort. Society, by our cor¬ 
respondent, Mr. O. L. Barler.] 
If there is one fact in horticulture more than 
another, that is being impressed upon my mind, 
it is the necessity of the thorough cultivation of 
the soil—a term often used, but not, perhaps, 
with sufficient definiteness, as what one man 
calls thorough culture, another does not. When 
first commencing to stir the soil, I thought I 
could easily cultivate a certain number of acres 
with a given amount of working force. The 
second year saw an increase in the working 
capital, and a decrease in the number of acres; 
and every year since we have felt the necessity 
of hiring more labor, without increasing the 
area under cultivation. It is estimated that, in 
gardening operations, ten men will work ten 
acres as it ought to be done. This demand is, 
perhaps, more than we may feel able to meet at 
present; still we must come to this if we ex¬ 
pect the best results. To thoroughly cultivate— 
that is, to thoroughly fertilize , for that is the 
meaning of the term—necessitates a frequent 
stirring of the soil, not simply to plow when 
the weeds appear. Thorough culture has a 
broader mission than this of weed killing. To 
cultivate is to make productive—to manure; 
and to this manuring of the soil we are in¬ 
debted for the best results on the farm and in 
the garden. When, and how often, then, ought 
we to stir the ground ? Always after every 
rain, and as soon after as the ground will work 
well. The frequency of the plowing will de¬ 
pend, in part, on circumstances, on the nature 
CALF MEMORANDUM. 
Cow. 
Bull. 
Date ’68. 
2S3 days. 
Calved. 
<u" 
Color , Sex, Name. & 
Topsy 
Bonnie 
(25) 
(16) 
Uncas 
Uncas 
Mar. 30. 
April 1. 
Jan. o. 
Jan. 7. 
Jan. 8. 
Jan. 8. 
D’k Brown Heifer, Tippet.JO 
Squirrel Gray Bull, Bill. i0J 
