1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
177 
The Baldhead Pigeon. 
The portrait given herewith is one of a “Bald- 
head,” which was bred in 1872, from a blue cock 
and a silver hen, and is an extremely good specimen 
of this beautiful class of pigeons. This bird has 
won many first prizes in 
England, amongst which 
were those at the Crystal 
Palace and Birmingham ex¬ 
hibitions. Baldheads are of 
Various colors, blue, black, 
red, yellow, and the breed¬ 
ing of this variety is a favor¬ 
ite amusement with many 
pigeon fanciers, both here 
and in England. By care in 
selecting for breeding, they 
are now produced in great 
perfection and beauty. They 
are strong flyers, and their 
absurd antics on the wing 
as they tumble about in the 
air, whirling over and over, 
are very ludicrous. A cor¬ 
respondent of “ The Coun¬ 
try,” from which the por¬ 
trait is selected, states that 
they are very good breeders, 
excellent nurses for their 
young, easy to keep, and 
very hardy, living in perfect 
health until ten to twelve 
years old. These birds are 
becoming more popular 
than they have hitherto 
been, and the entries of Baldheads in the pigeon 
shows, gradually increase year by year. That they 
possess a certain elegance and beauty of feather, 
sufficient to make them attractive to fanciers, is 
readily seen by reference to the illustration. 
Southdown, Shropshire, and Oxfordshire rams. All 
this stock has passed through last winter, not only 
with safety, but with the greatest ease and com¬ 
fort, and is now in the best condition. Five hun¬ 
dred head of Cherokee cattle wintered in the open 
prairie, with the loss of only five yearlings, and 
there have been only ten days, upon which the 
A Western Stock Farm.—Horses. 
A few years ago the idea of establishing a large 
stock farm upon the plains in the western part of 
Kansas, where thor¬ 
ough-bred stock of 
the finest character 
should be kept,would 
have seemed too ab¬ 
surd for serious con¬ 
sideration. But the 
experience of the 
past few years has 
greatly added to our 
knowledge of the 
climate and capabili¬ 
ties of those vast 
areas of laud, which 
are covered with a 
perennial growth of 
grass of the most 
nutritious character. 
Two years ago a large 
tract of land in Ellis 
Co., Kansas, was pur¬ 
chased by Mr. George 
Grant, and stocked 
with a number of 
sheep and cattle, as 
an experiment. The 
first winter’s experi¬ 
ence proved that 
there was no reason 
why the enterprise 
should not be suc¬ 
cessful, and the next 
season a large addi¬ 
tion was made to 
the stock. Some fine 
Short-horn and poll¬ 
ed Angus bulls were 
added to the herd, and the flocks were increased to 
7,000 head of native ewes, and a sufficient number 
of thorough-bred Lincoln, Leicester, Cotswold, 
THE BALDHEAD PIGEON. 
thorough-bred cattle have not pastured in the open 
fields ; these were the only days upon which the 
less hardy cattle needed shelter. The sheep have 
improved remarkably in health, and there has been 
no appearance of disease of any kind. The half- 
bred lambs yield a greatly improved fleece; the 
fleece of the half-bred Leicester being of the 
best quality, although not of the greatest length. 
The samples of wool which we have inspected, are 
of good quality, and rare evenness. The Lincoln 
cross produces a long, coarse, combing-wool; the 
ported stallion for use upon the farm. This is 
Flodden, a bay horse, 7 years old, sired by the cele¬ 
brated Thormanby, whose death recently occurred 
in England. A portrait of Flodden accompanies 
this article. Flodden’s pedigree includes Bay Mid¬ 
dleton, winner of the Derby in 1836 ; Trumpater, 
who was the sire of seventy winners, King Herod, 
who produced 497 winners, 
whose prizes amounted to 
over a million of dollars, 
and some other famous 
horses. The introduction 
of this stock, and the suc¬ 
cessful settlement of the ex¬ 
tensive tract of land owned 
by Mr. Grant, are of great 
benefit to the State, and to 
all the territory adjacent, 
which is subject to the same 
conditions of climate. The 
crops grown are chiefly rye, 
oats, and lucern; of the 
last 300 acres will be sown 
the present season. A con¬ 
siderable town, named Vic¬ 
toria, has grown up in the 
center of Mr. Grant’s tract, 
and some fine residences of 
sandstone, which is plenti- 
i 1 ) ful in the neighborhood, 
li have been built. The lo¬ 
cality is watered by the 
Victoria river, and abund¬ 
ant water is procured from 
wells at a depth of 16 to 40 
feet. These plains, which 
have fed countless buffaloes 
for centuries, and are covered with the buffalo- 
grass, afford fine pasturage for stock, but are not 
suited for general cultivation, or ordinary farming. 
“ FLODDEN.”—OWNED BY GEORGE GRANT. 
wool of the Cotswold cross is finer, and that of the 
Leicester cross is finest. In addition to this stock, 
Mr. Grant has procured a fine thorough-bred im¬ 
Thinning Corn.— Prof. Roberts, of the Cornell 
University made some experiments in growing com 
upon the College farm last season, the results of 
which are valuable. He planted three plots of 
three-sixteenths of an acre each with corn, and 
thinned the hills in one lot to three stalks, another to 
four stalks to a hill; 
the third was not 
thinned. The first 
plot yielded at the 
rate of 160 bushels, 
the second 125 bush¬ 
els, and the thirl 
106 bushels (of ears) 
to the acre. Mr. 
Roberts states, as the 
result of many ex¬ 
periments prior to 
these, at the Iowa 
Agricultural College, 
that the heaviest 
crops of com were 
made by growing 
three stalks to a hill, 
and that two stalks 
to a hill will produce 
more com than five 
stalks. If every stalk 
produces an ear, and 
com is planted three 
feet apart each way, 
there will be nearly 
100 bushels of shelled 
grain per acre. To 
grow maximum crops 
of com then, it is 
only necessary to 
grow one ear upon a 
stalk, and ears of 
such a size that a 
hundred of them will 
make a bushel of 
grain. In view of this 
it is strange that with so prolific a grain as com, a 
yield of 100 bushels per acre should be considered 
as something almost impossible to be obtained. 
