52 PROTECTION OF CROWS, BLACKBIRDS, FOXES, TOADS, &C,-HEREFORD CATTLE* 
fertility of the soil in this region, and the liberal 
crops annually harvested by its enterprising pro¬ 
prietors, I need scarcely add that very great atten¬ 
tion is paid to manures of every description. Lime 
is used in profuse abundance — from one hundred to 
a hundred and fifty bushels per acre frequently ap¬ 
plied, and everywhere, as I am informed, with the 
best results. Ashes and plaster are regarded as 
next in importance; and wherever charcoal can be 
procured at a reasonable rate, it is given to the soil 
sometimes as a top dressing, but more generally 
with the crop when put into the ground. The ut¬ 
most care is bestowed upon the farm yard manures 
—not a particle either liquid or solid being allowed 
to escape—and compost heaps very generally be¬ 
ing charged with the task of absorbing and retain¬ 
ing for future use, these indispensable elements of 
fertility. The extensive pastures which every¬ 
where prevail in this region, furnish the Washing¬ 
ton and Baltimore markets with the finest beeves ; 
and vast droves of cattle are constantly passing in 
that direction nearly every day in the year. 
In this county, as well as in Fairfax, the nor¬ 
thern immigration is in rapid progress; and some 
of the best farms have already been taken up by 
our enterprising Yankee farmers, at prices varying 
from $20 to $40 per acre. The land, as you wall 
easily infer from what has been said, is much more 
valuable than the exhausted soils of Fairfax; but 
then, on the other hand it is farther from market, 
and considerably more expensive. There is a very 
prosperous and interesting Quaker settlement some 
ten miles north of Leesburg, of which I shall speak 
in my next. A New-Yorker. 
PROTECTION OF CROWS, BLACKBIRDS, 
FOXES, TOADS, &c. 
Farmers are in the habit of complaining of the 
crows and blackbirds, for pulling up their corn. 
These birds prefer to seek their food in their usual 
haunts. When their food is not found there, they visit 
the cultivated fields of the farmer. Would it not 
be good policy for the farmer to scatter some corn 
in the field, and fulfil the injunction of “ feeding the 
hungry,” and thereby save the corn fields from in¬ 
jury ? Or would the crows call their fellows and 
invite too many to partake of the bounty, and when 
that was eaten, attack the corn plants ? So with 
the pigeons, when they find plenty of beech nuts, 
acorns, &c., of spontaneous production to satisfy 
their hunger, they stay at home, in the forests. It 
is only when famine at home compels them to roam 
for food, that they visit the cultivated country in, 
search of it. I have known them to pull up the 
corn plants of whole fields, ten fold worse than the 
crows. 
Foxes and skunks, also, feed on mice, bugs, crick¬ 
ets, frogs, &c. But when they are pinched hard 
for food to feed their young, they are ravenous, and 
roam at night over great extent of country, enter 
the enclosures of the farmer, rob^his henroost, take 
off his chickens, geese, ducks, young pigs, and 
anything to appease their hunger. It is not their 
choice to plunder the farmer, and do not, till 
their usual supply fails. Would not the farmer do 
so when famine deprived him of food? He says, 
“ necessity has no law” to restrain him. 
The innocent toad is not only harmless, as he 
meddles not with anything valuable, but benefits' 
the farmer by feeding on insects and worms. He 
sits perfectly still within eight or ten inches of 
a flock of ants, and throws out his tongue like a 
flash of lightning, and takes in one certainly, at 
each throw, without the least movement of his 
body. The toad is useful to the gardener and 
farmer in feeding on insects. Let the farmer then 
withdraw his wrath from these animals for imitat¬ 
ing us when in want. 
What a wise provision it is in nature, that rats 
and mice are only about five to ten per cent, fe¬ 
males. We suffer much from them now. If these 
were of equal numbers of male and female, would 
they not consume the chief of the produce of the 
labor of man % David Tomlinsoll / 
Schenectady , Oct. 1847. 
HEREFORD CATTLE. 
I see by your last paper that you are expecting 
something from me on Herefords. Nothing can 
alter my opinion of that valuable breed, nor do I 
think they can be equalled for all purposes, by any 
other. The more I know of them, the more I am 
convinced of their superiority as milkers of the 
richest kind ; and I am positive that good handlers 
will invariably give rich milk. I never had a 
single Hereford that gave milk of an inferior 
quality, and I will leave it to those who have pur¬ 
chased from me, to say whether I ever sold a cow 
or heifer that would disprove this fact. The Short 
Horn men, the principal opposers of the Herefords, 
cannot do less than admit their superiority for the 
yoke and shambles. I shall soon be able to test 
them fairly against some of the best common stock 
of the country, half bred Devons, and half bred 
Short Horns, and compare them with my esteemed 
neighbor, Mr. Lewis F. Allen’s best breed of Short 
Horns; and your readers all know that the bull 
Wellington, which he has been using the past two 
years was imported by that spirited breeder, Mr. 
Vail, oFTroy, and is one of that fine handling, high 
bred stock, from Mr. Bates of Kirkleavington, Eng¬ 
land, whose produce will be a fair contest. He can 
show by ocular demonstration the proof of the 
Hereford, and I can that of the Short Horns. I 
must say he has some calves and yearlings that 
look like quality ; and such are the ones I wish to 
contend against. These results shall be accurately 
made known to you. 
If my health should hold good, my friends prove 
true, and my enemies treat me fairly, I will en¬ 
deavor in a few years to show by practical know¬ 
ledge, the various crosses from the different breeds 
of cows in this country, and a Hereford bull. Such 
experiments will enable me to prove the good that 
can be devised by judicious breeding. 
There are but few who know the value of a full 
blood sire, and I do firmly contend that no other 
should ever be used, whatever may be the favorite 
breed resorted to. And I think a breeder of tho¬ 
rough bred sires of more importance to the public, 
than individuals are willing to admit; but he must 
not be a “fireside breeder ,” but one that can be 
thoroughly depended upon ; such a one as would 
never let a mongrel cross leave his premises, and 
if his pure bloods did not prove all that he repre¬ 
sented, they should be exchanged and made good 
