FATTENING CATTLE. 
149 
The majority of mules are the very meanest to 
be found in the United States. The advantages 
offered to any farmer desirous of locating a cot¬ 
ton plantation are probably greater than in any 
other state east of the Mississippi. Improved 
lands can be bought from $5 to $10 an acre— 
less than the present value of a single crop. In 
fact, the greatest misfortune to the country is, 
that lands are too cheap—men will waste them 
when of so little value. This is the true 
cause of so much waste and worn-out land 
throughout all the cotton states. It is more prof¬ 
itable to destroy than to save. I have some¬ 
thing further to say of Florida in my next. 
Solon Robinson. 
We wish to add a word to the above on the 
subject of plows and plowing. It is not our 
fault that small, cheap plows are taken in pref¬ 
erence to those of a larger size. We have 
shown the advantages to the south of deep plow¬ 
ing over and over again in the Agriculturist; 
and every summer, when the planters do us the 
favor of making their annual calls at our estab¬ 
lishment, we verbally bring the subject up be¬ 
fore them. Frank and intelligent gentlemen 
as they are, they at once acknowledge the 
truth of what we say; but then, they add, “ it 
is not quite time yet for us to change our sys¬ 
tem; deep plowing, we reckon, will come by 
and by;” and down goes the order again for 
small plows, and off their rich soil continues to 
travel into deep gullies and rivers! Time, 
however, will ultimately work a change for the 
better, yet not much of one, we fear, in our gen¬ 
eration. Our successors will probably reap the 
harvest from the seed we are now sowing. 
FATTENING CATTLE. 
I am now experimenting with a pair of iarge 
oxen in the way of fattening in the stable. It 
has been about two months since they were 
tied in their stalls, and have not been out since. 
Water is always before them, and they are eat¬ 
ing about 18 quarts, each, of corn meal and oats 
ground together. They are growing finely. 
But some of my Gld experienced neighbors say 
they will sicken; some say they will not fatten 
much, while others add that they look well, but 
would do better if I would let them out. I ask, 
have you ever tried the experiment? No. Why 
do you think so then ? “ O, ’taint natur.” Well, 
“ natur don’t make coal stoves, nor build warm 
houses for you, nor clothe you with wool and 
fur and leather; yet, you look about as well as 
you would if you took your winter meals in the 
door yard, and slept on a snow drift. “ Well, 
if the oxen was mine I’d let ’em out, they would 
be more healthy.” “ Yes, but a perfectly healthy 
animal is never excessively fat as I wish these 
to be.” “ Well, do as you like.” I have not 
found a man who approves of the plan nor has 
tried the experiment. W. W. B. 
Fishkill , Jan. 29th , 1851. 
Notwithstanding the amusing colloquy given 
above, between our correspondent and his 
neighbors, and the inference he seems disposed 
to draw in favor of his own practice, we must 
confess, that, according to the best experience 
they are right; and it is better that all animals 
should have moderate exercise when fattening. 
Perhaps they may not make so many pounds 
of flesh per day, as if confined, but this flesh is 
enough better to pay for it. Take the flesh of 
the deer, the elk, or other wild animals; of 
the turkey, goose, duck, pheasant, grouse, par¬ 
tridge, &c., and how much superior it is when 
killed in good condition, and at the‘proper sea¬ 
son, to that of the best fed domestic animals. 
This is unquestionably owing in a great meas¬ 
ure to the exercise they get, and the pure ah 
they breathe. However clean stables and 
yards may be kept, still the air in and around 
them is not so pure as in the forest or green 
field. 
Box or stall feeding, as it is called in England, 
has recently been much practised there; still 
the judgement of the best graziers and feeders 
is decidedly against the system. To be sure, 
they get more weight of fat and flesh, and 
make more manure for the food consumed ; but 
they say, after a given time, the animals do not 
thrive so well, that they often get sick, and 
that the butchers will not give so much for the 
meat; it is flabby and tasteless,compared with 
the beef of those animals which have plenty of 
good air, exercise, and fresh water. 
FOWL BREEDING. 
I am not so absorbed in fowl breeding as to 
have it the one idea of my life, but having taken 
the “fever” the natural way, in my childhood, 
I have cherished it for twenty years, with an 
occasional “ cross;” so that at the present time, 
I scarcely fail to read all communications on 
this subject which I find in the different agri¬ 
cultural publications that come into my hands. 
I have just finished reading the one over the 
signature of T, B. Miner, in the March number 
of the Agriculturist, in which he seems very 
positive that the average number of eggs ob¬ 
tained by one hen cannot be over 80 per annum, 
