£30 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
announcements of premiums for this year, we 
notice premiums ranging from $25 to $100 are 
offered for the best thorough-bred horses and bulls, 
while the best plow is only to receive a silver 
medal. In one instance $1000 is offered for the 
best blooded horse, and only $100 for the best 
Steam Plow, the successful introduction of 
which, will require an outlay of means and talent 
sufficient to import a score of the choicest horses, 
and which, when once made to work well, will 
add more to the agricultural progress and wealth 
of the country, than all the horses that ever ran 
their owners to ruin upon a race-track. 
' Neither should the giving of premiums be re¬ 
stricted to mere productions. We now need 
more than almost anything else, well conducted 
trials of different modes and processes of culture. 
If a judicious scale of prizes were instituted as 
an encouragement to careful experiments, the 
effect would be good. In this way many an error 
might soon be exploded and many a truth discov¬ 
ered. Let our Agricultural Societies consider 
this matter. Columbia Countv. 
--»<-->-«.- 
New-York City Meat Markets—How Sup¬ 
plied, etc.No- II. 
A Correction. —In our first article, last month, 
page 196, an error occurred in copying our table 
of the derivation of cattle, the receipts being giv¬ 
en for the first six months of 1858, instead of the 
whole year. The error was discovered after a 
portion of the edition was worked off, and a new 
page plate cast. We repeat the table here in a 
correct form. 
1858 
From the State of Illinois.58,712 bullocks. 
From the State of Ohio.36,589 
From the State of New-York.30,980 
From the State of Indiana..11,131 
From the State of Kentucky. 9,409 
From the State of Iowa .. 2,727 
From the State of Pennsylvania. 1,664 
From the State of Michigan. 1,372 
From the State of Texas. 1,312 
From the State of Virginia. 895 
From the State of Nevv-Jersey. 532 
From the State of Connecticut. 478 
VEAL CALVES. 
The trade in veal calves is very large, as most 
of the cows in the vicinity of the city are kept for 
the sale of milk, which is more profitable than 
raising calves. During 1858 there were brought 
to the regular live stock markets alone, 32,709 
live veal calves, besides a large number brought 
in weekly, especially during the Spring months, 
by wagons and by river barges, and sold to butch¬ 
ers, without going into the regular yards. Many 
are slaughtered in the country, and their carcasses 
brought direct to the meat markets. So also, 
many city dealers and butchers go into the sur¬ 
rounding country and buy their veals from the 
farmers, bringing them home in wagon's. From 
all these sources, there are probably full 50,000 
veal calves received here annually, or about 1,000 
per week. Nine-tenths or more of these calves 
come from New-York State, and the rest chiefly 
from New-Jersey. Veal calves do not bear long 
transportation. Those from New-York State are 
mostly from the rural districts along the Hudson 
River, Harlem, and Erie Railroads. 
There are four regular yards where calves are 
chiefly sold, viz. Allerton’s on Forty-fourth-st. ; 
Browning’s and O’Brien’s on Sixth-street, and 
Chamberlin’s on Robinson-st. Much the largest 
number are sold at Allerton’s 44th-street, at the 
terminus of the Harlem Railroad which brings 
them down from Westchester, Dutchess, Colum¬ 
bia and Putnam Counties. 
At the several yards there are brokers or sales¬ 
men who receive the calves from the cars, keep 
them yarded in pens, and sell them out to butch¬ 
ers. The brokers sometimes merely receive the 
calves and sell them, charging about 25 cents 
per head for selling and collecting—the owner 
paying all expense for transportation, yards, and 
feed. Some receive them, pay all expenses, and 
charge a certain commission. It usually costs 
about 50 cents per head to get the calves deliv¬ 
ered in the city and sold. Good calves are usu¬ 
ally sold by actual live weight at the pens, ascer¬ 
tained by the scales. They vary in price from 4c. 
to 7c. per lb. live weight, depending upon their 
fatness and the supply in market. At some sea¬ 
sons of the year, particularly in early Spring 
when veal is rather scarce, and milk is in demand, 
many young calves, called “ bobs ” or “ kittens ” 
are sent to market and sold for veal. Some of 
these are only a few days old and bring but $1® 
$2 each, but this is considered more economical 
than keeping them on milk for several weeks, or 
“ deaconing” them as it is termed, that is, knock¬ 
ing them on the head. Such calves are killed, and 
the meat sold “ on the sly,” as they come under 
the list of proscribed meats, and the person offer¬ 
ing the carcasses for sale in this city is liable not 
only to have his meat seized and condemned, but 
is himself in danger of punishment. Notwith¬ 
standing the law, there is much of this unwhole¬ 
some, cheap meat sold in the city, usually from 
peddlers’ carts. A stigma attaches to persons 
dealing in such “small stock.” 
Sheep-Killing Dogs. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
In many parts of the country, one of the most 
serious and vexatious obstacles to raising sheep 
successfully is the prevalence of dogs with sheep¬ 
killing propensities. Having had some experience 
in dealing with these rascally animals, I send a 
few suggestions for the benefit of those who may 
be suffering from the same cause. First, let me 
say, every one owning a dog, should take care that 
there is no guilt at his own door. 
Dogs are sometimes known to leave their mas¬ 
ter’s flock unmolested, and are seen returning 
from apparently distant excursions, with an air 
that would seem to say “ Ask me no questions.” 
A suspected dog may sometimes be detected by 
examining his mouth on such an occasion. If he 
has not picked his teeth clean, small bits of wool 
may be found between them, and he may safely 
be pronounced guilty. If such a dog be tied to a 
stake in an enclosure, and a vicious, well shorn 
ram turned in, he will soon give the dog a striking 
lesson on sheep-killing, which he will not easily 
forget. One lesson of this kind will cause a dog 
to ever after give a wide berth to any flock of 
sheep. 
If a strange dog can be caught in the act, it is 
perfectly safe to bring a well aimed rifle to bear 
upon him without waiting to inquire to whom he 
belongs; this may be ascertained afterwards, 
and his owner held responsible. 
When dogs have made a foray upon a flock, 
they usually return to the scene of operations 
within a few nights. A pretty sure trap for them 
can be made by building a pen of rails, five or six 
feet high, around a recently killed carcass, bring¬ 
ing each layer of rails nearer the center as it is 
put up, so that the sides of the pen will slope in¬ 
ward. The dog can enter from the top quite eas¬ 
ily, but can not well get out, having no room to 
run for a clear leap over. A little strychnine scat¬ 
tered over the fresh carcass, will prevent the dog 
that may eat it from any further mischief; 
he will seldom get far away before lying down to 
rest. 
The curs which trouble flocks, are usually great 
cowards, especially when out on such an errand, 
and are easily frightened away by any unusual 
noise. If a small bell be hung on every fifth sheep 
there will be little danger of an attack. I know 
several farmers living in districts which have 
suffered severely from the ravages of dogs, who 
have adopted this simple expedient, and have nev¬ 
er lost a sheep. Some put a sleigh-bell upon 
every sheep. A Sufferer. 
-c®-,-^-- 
Simple Contrivances for Weighing Bee- 
Hives, 
It is often desirable both as a matter of scien¬ 
tific interest, as well as of practical utTTity to note 
the daily or weekly increase in the-weight of a 
swarm of bees, especially during the honey gath¬ 
ering season. To do this readily, an “ Indicator 
Bee Stand,” was invented several years since. 
This consists essentially of a stand, the top of 
which rests upon a spiral spring coiled within the 
upright pillar, with an index working up and 
down in an opening upon the side. A corres¬ 
pondent of the Agricultural Gazette (England), 
suggests a much simpler mode, which is, to attach 
cords upon the four upper corners of the hive and 
by means of these, suspend the hive upon the 
hook of a common spring balance which can be 
bought for a few shillings. The change of weight 
will be noted on the spring. It will of course be 
necessary to protect the hive or surround it with 
boards to prevent its being violently swayed by 
winds. Bee keepers will, by means of this sim¬ 
ple contrivance be able to make any desired ob¬ 
servations upon the weight of the hives. 
Fertilization of Queen Bees. 
In the July Agriculturist, page 219, Mr. Camp¬ 
bell asked : “How queen bees befcome fertilized 
in Spring, if the drones are all destroyed in Au¬ 
tumn 1” Several replies have been received, 
from which we extract the following three ; they 
embrace the substance of the others. 
Mr. Quinby says : “ ... .This question might be 
answered by asking another, viz.: how is the 
female of the humble-bee, hornet, wasp, and of 
many other tribes of insects impregnated in 
Spring, as no males ever survive the Winter 1 
The idea at once suggests itself, that it is done 
the season previous, before the destruction of 
the males. But with the queen bee, it is still 
different; she is not only impregnated in the 
Summer, for the following Spring, but for her 
life-time, whether it be one or six years. We 
have proof that one impregnation is sufficient, in 
the fact that a fertile queen never leaves the hive 
except when leading out a swarm. Young queens, 
when but a few days old, can often be seen leav¬ 
ing the hive to meet the drones in the air, and 
evidence of success can often be seen on their 
return. This making one operation serve a life¬ 
time, is an arrangement well adapted to secure 
the prosperity of the hive. After she commences 
depositing eggs, she is much heavier for flying, 
and it would interfere with her duties ; and the 
risk of her being lost in these excursions would 
be much increased. All this is not more wonder¬ 
ful than a peculiarity belonging to the Aphis. It 
is said that one impregnation will last through 
several generations—those first hatched in the 
Spring give birth to others in succession, till near 
the close of the season, when males are produced, 
and these serve all purposes till another year. 
B. Pickett, Hendricks Co., suggests that only 
the surplus of drones are destroyed in Autumn, 
