NEW FORM OF DRAINING TILES PROPOSED, ETC. 
127 
NEW FORM OF DRAINING TILES PROPOSED. 
A correspondent in a late number of the “ Ag¬ 
ricultural Gazette” proposes a new form of tiles for 
draining clay soils. He thinks that an oval, flat¬ 
tened at the bottom, the best shape, and superior 
to one that is circular, as requiring no wider 
room, conducting, in general, as much water, and 
standing firmer on its base. The upper parts of 
the drain he would have fit tightly with the sole, 
or bottom, and pressed firmly into the soil, so as to 
allow a free passage of the water, without being 
forced out of its place by filling in the earth. Ta¬ 
pering pipes, so constructed that one end fits into 
another, he conceives, are good for sandy soils, 
with the objection that the passage inside of the 
tube is interrupted by inequalities at the joints; 
but tapering tiles, lapping one over another, with 
soles like those denoted in Fig. 34, it is thought 
would obviate the difficulty, after they are once 
Fig. 34. Draining Tiles. 
firmly fixed, by preventing all movements. The 
ends of the soles are to be made of uniform thick¬ 
ness and in such a manner as to form a close joint 
when fitted together. The lower edges of the tiles 
must be so formed as to slide easily under the 
flanges of the soles, and when laid down, the lap, 
or joint, should invariably occur at the middle of 
each sole. 
HEREFORD vs. DEVON AND SHORTHORN 
CATTLE. 
Mr. Keary has written an article for the last 
number of the Journal of the “Royal Agricultural 
Society,” “ On The Management of Cattle,” which 
Mr. J. R. Smythies criticises in a late number of the 
Mark-Lane Express, as not only incorrect and in¬ 
complete, so far as Herefords are concerned, but, 
also, as partial to the shorthorns and Devons. 
He says that Mr. K. has omitted all notice of the 
grey Herefords, “which are considered the oldest 
breed of any, and by many people the best. From 
long experience, I am inclined to think they pos¬ 
sess more constitution and more quality than the 
white-faced ones, and generally more size than the 
mottled-faced ones. Old Mr. Westcor, of Creslow, 
near Aylesbury, once said to me, at Hereford, 
‘ This is the fiftieth October fair I have attended in 
this town, without missing one. I graze five hun¬ 
dred oxen every year, and the best beasts I have 
ever fed were bred by Mr. Tully, of Huntington, 
and Mr. Skegrue, of Stretton Court, both near 
Hereford. Mr. Tully’s were greys , and are still 
known as the Huntington breed.’ Another 
proof of the author’s superficial acquaintance with 
Hereford cattle is, that in his enumeration of the 
celebrated breeders of the present day, he makes no 
mention of Sir Francis Lawley, who has not only 
decidedly the best herd of Herefords in existence, 
but has, I believe, the best herd in England, of any 
breed. He has also omitted the name of Mr. 
Monkhouse, of Stowe, near Hay, and Mr. Roberts, 
of Ivington.” 
Mr. Smythies then speaks of the high prices at 
which he has sold Herefords, as an estimation of 
their value with the English public. He then 
goes on to say : “ I have seen Hereford cows milk 
well, and had one n^self which made eleven 
pounds of butter a week for three months j but it 
is not an object with a Hereford breeder to have 
good milkers ; they are always light-fleshed, gene¬ 
rally narrow in their chests and flat in their sides; 
whereas, it is the object of a Hereford breeder to 
get a good ox; having no manufacturing popu¬ 
lation, no water carriage, and no railroad, dairy 
produce will not pay in Herefordshire. The far¬ 
mers, therefore, prefer keeping such cows as have 
a tendency to turn their chyle to flesh; and as 
they generally calve in November and December, 
they have little chance of being good milkers.” 
He, then, like a true Englishman, offers to settle 
the respective values of the different breeds of cat¬ 
tle, with something like a wager. Having no 
favors to show to either party, we here clear the 
stage at once, and open a fair field to the bellicose 
gentlemen. Please to listen to Mr. Smythies: 
“ I will show one hundred Hereford beasts, which 
were the property of Sir Francis Lawley, on the 
1st of January, 1849, and the same number which 
were the property of Mr. Aston, of Lynch Court, 
on the same day, against an equal number, the 
property of any two breeders of shorthorns or 
Devons in any part of Great Britain, on the same 
day, for one hundred sovereigns. I am willing 
to leave the decision to the three judges at the 
last Smithfield show, two of whom are unknown 
to me, even by sight. I am also ready to place 
four Hereford calves on the 1st of May next, in 
the hands of any respectable grazier in the mid¬ 
land counties, against four shorthorns and four 
Devons ; no calf to be more than four months old 
on that day; the twelve calves to be turned to 
grass together, to have nothing but grass till the 
20th of October following, then to be put into 
stalls, and to be fed as the grazier thinks proper ; 
but the food to be weighed to each lot, till the fol¬ 
lowing May, when they shall be again turned' to 
grass, and have nothing but what they get there 
till the 1st of October; then to be again taken 
into the stalls, and the food weighed as before; 
the whole to be shown as extra stock at the Smith- 
field show, at the bazaar, and after the show to be 
slaughtered, the four beasts that pay the best to be 
the winners. As shorthorns are stated to come to 
more early maturity, I give Mr. Keary a great ad¬ 
vantage here, as I have fixed two years old for the 
beasts to be slaughtered at. I think it fair to tell 
Mr. Keary that the late Duke of Bedford tried 
this experiment, and the Herefords won it. I pro- 
ose that the grazier shall have eleven of the 
easts for his trouble, and one shall be the pro¬ 
perty of the winner. 
“ Now, sir, I hope that this challenge will be 
accepted, or that we shall hear fno more of the 
great superiority of shorthorns and Devons over 
Herefords. I think if Mr. Keary will refer to the 
accounts of the Smithfield club, he will find that 
the Herefords, in the last ten years, have gained 
more prizes, and at quite as early an age, as either 
the shorthorns or the Devons. What I complain 
of in the publishing of this essay in the journal 
is, that it will go forth all over Europe, and per^ 
