THE CULTIVATOR. 
203 
establishment, conducted on liberal and honorable prin¬ 
ciples, and deserving the notice and patronage of the 
public. At Albany, Mr. W. Thorburn, (not of Chinese 
tree corn memory) has added the disposal of agricultu¬ 
ral implements to his former business as a seedsman, 
and is doing much to bring within the reach of farmers 
in that vicinity, the best implements required by the 
cultivator of the soil. Several minor establishments 
have also been opened in the state, the business of which 
is rapidly increasing, and the benefits of which are every 
year more clearly felt and acknowledged. Among the 
seed stores of the state, the Rochester one holds a dis¬ 
tinguished place for extent and usefulness, and the new 
arrangements of Mr. Bateham will doubtless give it 
greater efficiency and activity, and consequently diffuse 
its benefits more extensively through the district. 
We always hail the establishment of nurseries of fruit 
or forest trees, warehouses for the sale of agricultural 
implements, and seed stores for the dissemination of 
seeds of good quality, and many varieties, as an omen 
of good to the country ; as a proof that the spirit of in¬ 
quiry and observation is awake, and that our farmers 
are beginning to appreciate the difference that exist be¬ 
tween implements of the same name, and seeds of the 
same variety. Good tools, and good seeds, are indis¬ 
pensable to good farming, and this should be understood 
and practised upon by the farmer. A choice of seed 
will not unfrequently make a difference of one-third, or 
even more, in a crop of wheat or corn, and in nothing 
do farmers err more frequently than in sowing an im¬ 
pure, heterogenous mass called grass seeds, but in 
reality made up of all manner of foul stuff for grass 
seed, thus propagating and perpetuating various nui¬ 
sances on their farms. We say, let warehouses and 
seed stores be well patronized so long as they furnish 
good tools and pure seeds. The country reaps the bene¬ 
fit .—Genesee Farmer. 
Care of Farming Tools. 
We believe it may safely be asserted, that the farmer 
in a course of years sustains as much loss, or is put to 
as much expense in procuring tools, by their decay in 
consequence of needless exposure, as from their actual 
wear on the farm. How many are the instances in 
which the farming implements, the ploughs, harrows, 
roller, &c. instead of being carefully housed when their 
use for the year is over, are left in the fields, or perad- 
venture drawn up in battle array in front of the house, 
occupying a goodly portion of the road, and when co¬ 
vered with snow, forming most convenient places for 
breaking horses legs, tearing off shoes, &c. &c. Per¬ 
haps, in addition to these, are sundry wagons, carts, 
hay-racks, and other necessary tilings, like the former, 
exposed to the decay which must result from exposure 
to the rains, the freezings, thaws and snows of winter. 
Now, one such season of exposure does more to weaken 
the wood of these implements, promote decay, and ren¬ 
der new purchases needful, than their ordinary wear on 
the farm, with careful usage and protection from the 
weather. As a general rule, it may be remarked that 
no implement, tool or carriage of any kind should be ex¬ 
posed when not in use. Those not wanted in the win¬ 
ter should be secured from the weather during that time ; 
and so with those not required during the summer sea¬ 
son, as sleighs, sleds, &c. The skillful, thrifty farmer 
is known by his attention to the minor points of agricul¬ 
ture, by his care to save, as well as to acquire; and he 
who neglects the lesser things cannot fail to find the 
drawback on his profits large and constant.— lb. 
Women Milking. 
Thirty years ago it would have been almost as diffi¬ 
cult to find a man milking as to find a woman mowing, 
excepting in cases of very large dairies. In this respect 
matters are greatly changed; and any hope, for aught 
we see, of getting back to the old practice, would be 
vain. Half of the young girls now-a-days hardly know, 
at least they would pretend that it would be immodest 
and not at all lady-like to be presumed to know, whe¬ 
ther the milk comes from the udder or the horns. “ The 
rosy milk-maid,” the title of a song which we remem- 
be/to have often heard when a boy, is an animal not 
known in modern natural history; and as to a young 
lady with thick shoes, a checquered apron, her sleeves 
turned up, and a handkerchief tied over her head, though 
the apron should be clean and the handkerchief as 
white as snow, and never so pretty a pair of black eyes 
and ruddy cheeks peeping out from under it, it would 
be an idea too shocking for one of your modern exqui¬ 
sites even to dream of; and if presented to her abrupt¬ 
ly, while looking in the glass her mousseline de laines, 
with her satin shoes, her gilt hair-comb, her paste ear¬ 
rings and her insect waist, as crooked as the limb of a 
scrub-oak, she would .probably not recover from the 
fright for a week. 
We say we have no hope of recovering the good old 
habits of former days. Revolutions never go back.— 
Yet in this respect we have lost a great deal. Men are 
seldom neat enough in their habits to be trusted with 
milking. They have not the patience to wash their 
hands or to wash the udder before milking. They are 
not gentle, and often abuse the animal by their kicks 
and thumps. They are in a hurry in the morning to get 
through a business which they dislike; and they come 
home tired at night; the cows are necessarily milked 
at an unseasonable hour, and the business is very often 
very badly performed. Women, on the other hand, are 
more patient more gentle, more faithful, more neat, 
and we were about to say—they ought to do the milk¬ 
ing. The morning air would be bracing to their mus¬ 
cles, (if the modern girls have any muscles, for there 
begins to be a reasonable doubt in this matter,) and the 
odor of the cow has been long known to be, and is often 
recommended by physicians as medical. But we will 
not say what we were disposed to say, because it would 
be useless. It is utterly vain to attempt a contest with 
fashion ; for according to Franklin’s proverb, “ he that 
spits against the wind, spits in his own face.” We must, 
however, be just; and in riding through Dedham last 
week at the close of the day, it was quite refreshing to 
see in at least four cow yards, woman in her appropri¬ 
ate sphere; and by her pleasant looks and her gentle 
conduct as she sat at the side of the bountiful cow, 
evincing her gratitude to Providence for this richest ol 
all the benefactors which Heaven has given to man in 
the form of a quadruped.— New-England Farmer. 
Bringing Cattle to the Barn. 
The 20th of November is universally understood 
throughout New-England as the close of the season of 
pasturage, and the time for bringing our cattle and live 
stock to the barn. Sheep may be left out as long as the 
ground remains bare; but it is believed to be bad ma¬ 
nagement to leave cattle out after severe frosts come; 
and especially in storms of sleet and snow. Fat cattle 
in the fatting districts are tied up to be fed and turned 
into the yards at night. In this case the yards are well 
littered and a dry place is always furnished for the cat¬ 
tle to rest upon. For young cattle, well protected yards 
and open sheds with a southern aspect, are to be pre¬ 
ferred to close and warm barns. For milch cows, how¬ 
ever, stables which are dry, warm, but well ventilated 
and well littered, and kept thoroughly clean, should be 
provided, and these animals should never be exposed to 
cold rains or storms, or winds, vjl^ich make them shiver 
and become restless; and of course cannot fail to dimi¬ 
nish their milk. They should be well fed, and careful¬ 
ly curried, and treated always with gentleness and un¬ 
varying kindness. It is impossible to reconcile the care¬ 
less, slovenly, neglectful, and we may add, inhuman 
manner with which these useful and beneficent animals 
are commonly treated, with any just regard to the far¬ 
mer’s own interest or even with the principles of com¬ 
mon justice.— New-England Farmer. 
Foreign Agricultural Extracts, 
[From the London Farmer's Magazine .] 
On Farm Manure. 
To the Editor of the Farmer's Magazine. 
Sir —It cannot be expected, while men differ upon 
every subject in religion, morals, and politics that there 
should be a perfect uniformity of judgment in the lead¬ 
ing divisions of agriculture. The constitution of our 
moral powers leads to differences of opinion—this diffe¬ 
rence arises from education, prejudice, habit, and indo¬ 
lence; the dropping of water, however, at last wears a 
stone; and seeing how many impediments stand in the 
way of improvement, we must not be discouraged by 
the slow advances which have, as yet, been made in ag¬ 
riculture. It must be admitted also that many farmers 
are so limited in their capital as to be, in a great degree, 
unable to try costly experiments or to undertake consi¬ 
derable improvement; but all of them are interested in 
the collection and distribution of their manure, and all 
of them have the means of attending to these important 
duties. 
We have abundant proof of the vast benefits which 
a persevering desire of improvement has already be¬ 
stowed ; look at the various breeds of sheep! examine 
our celebrated specimens of stock ! inspect the beauti¬ 
ful prize animal presented as the frontispiece to your 
last number ! behold also the rich verdure and abundant 
crops which cover the valleys and mountains, fructified 
and improved by various modes of management and by 
various systems of cropping! Many deserts have been 
made to blossom and smile; many fields are now wav¬ 
ing with golden-eared wheat which, but few years back, 
were worthless sheep-walks. It would confer a great 
obligation on the writer if some one of your correspon¬ 
dents would tell us the number of the millions of sough¬ 
ing tiles, buried under the surface of our lands, in order 
to drain and improve them. Nor ought we to overlook 
the various modes of artificial management now direct¬ 
ed to general improvement by bones, rape-dust, salt, gyp. 
sum, &c. The agency of chemistry has, moreover, been 
solicited, and she is now giving to us the aid of her se¬ 
cret labratory. Within the memory of man scarcely a 
single acre of wheat was grown in Scotland; “oats full 
of thistles was the standard crop.” Nor can any con¬ 
trast be more striking than the well cultivated fields, at 
present beheld in our country, as compared with the 
cold, wet, and barren sterility which pervaded it former¬ 
ly. Now the great agent in preparing this abundance is 
manure. It is therefore, well worthy of the farmer’s 
inquiry, how far the influence of this great agent can be 
extended? How the quantity can be increased, and how 
that quantity may be rendered more effective as to pro¬ 
duction 1 
These remarks must be understood as applying to 
those lands which are under plough. It is hardly worth 
while to stop to inquire into the secrets of the causes of 
the exhaustion which land, in common with animal exis¬ 
tence, sustains by continued exertion—it is a law of na¬ 
ture. I admit, however, that if the discovery of the 
cause could lead us- either to prevent or to retrieve the 
diminution of strength, the inquiry might confer upon 
us a benefit; it is, moreover, an undoubted fact, that the 
rotation of crops has a tendency to lessen the inconveni¬ 
ence now referred to. There is some plausability in the 
doctrine of M. de Candolle, who maintains that the 
roots of plants eject certain excrementary matter which 
cannot be elaborated into the support and nourishment 
of the plant itself. This fact seems in conformity with 
the regular process of animal existence, in the elabora¬ 
tion of food necessary for support; and the wisdom of 
the Creator appears more than abundantly proved in 
the provision thus happily made for universal reproduc¬ 
tion. It is, ho wever, left to our own judgment and skill 
to make this law as beneficial as possible, and it is work¬ 
ing along with an established law of nature, when we 
regulate and apply most efficiently the means of growth 
and fructification bestowed upon us by this excremental 
process, directed and distinguished by wisdom and good¬ 
ness ; it is, therefore, in analogy with an established 
system, when we conclude that the matter ejected lrom 
the roots of one crop may provide a stimulant for its 
successor. The mysterious cycle of decay and reproduc¬ 
tion being in ceaseless movement through the whole 
range of creation. 
In considering the subject of farm manure, there are 
two matters which prominently belong to it, and to 
which I trust your readers will direct their attention. 
First, as to quality. 
Secondly, as to quantity. 
The time is past and the doctrine also, in which it 
was maintained, that upon ordinary lands, a crop of 
wheat might be grown continuously without manure.— 
The process of fermentation and putrefaction is always 
at work in order to provide the food of plants, on which 
depends the support of all terrene animals, and as just 
noticed above, the wise provision made, for the benefi¬ 
cial action of decomposed matter in the work of repro¬ 
duction, proclaims the wisdom of the process. 
Let us, therefore, inquire, first, how the quality of ma¬ 
nure maybe improved and made most efficacious? 1 he 
foundation of the farmer’s management must primarily 
consist of the straw consumed in his fold yard, and which 
in the first place supplies winter food for his stock — 
The more of this food therefore which undergoes the 
process of digestion, the better it is for his manure ; the 
prominent duty of the farmer is, therefore, to keep a 
quantity of stock in proportion to his quantity of food. 
By this means he secures not only the profit upon his 
improving stock, but the profit also upon his improved 
manure; this mode conduces to the most profitable em¬ 
ployment of the farmer’s capital, and should, therefore, 
as far as practicable, be put into use ; but without ne¬ 
glecting the subsidiary aid occasionally derived from 
the mere treading down of straw in the yard where it 
is exceedingly plentiful. 
The next agent in the improvement under considera¬ 
tion will be found in the use of every other attainable 
variety of food in the farm-yard, such as turnips, oil¬ 
cake, beet-root, rape-dust, linseed, &c. &c. the better the 
food the better the manure heap ; the more food taken 
to the fold yard to be consumed there, in addition to the 
straw, the more valuable will be the manure. It is 
now an ascertained fact that animals thrive much more 
rapidly when sheltered from the winter’s blast. Mr. 
Handley, M. P. read a paper of Mr. Childers on the 
“ Shed feeding of Sheep” at the late Oxford meeting, in 
which it was stated that an experiment had been made 
by the author which produced the following results. A 
score of hogs were fed equally upon turnips, linseed, 
&c. in a shed, with a score of the same weight which 
were fed oo the same food in the field. From the 1st of 
January to the 1st of April, those which were fed at 
home, gained 19 stone 12 lbs. over those which were led 
in the field, which is about a stone each per head. Those 
persons, however, who are in the habit of growing a 
pretty good quantity of Swede turnips, will always be 
in the possession of an exceedingly cheap, nutritious, 
and profitable food for the fold yard. No plant yields 
so abundant a supply either in the field or in the farm¬ 
yard as the Swede turnip. 
The third regulation I recommend for the improving 
of the quality of manure, consists in the mixing of all the 
produce of the farm-yard together, the pig-stye, the sta¬ 
ble, the dove-cote, and the feeding-shed must all contri¬ 
bute their respective quota of manure. The several pro¬ 
ducts ought to be thoroughly mixed together, and if led 
out previously to the heap being applied to the crop, let 
such other supplies of night soil, rape-dust, ashes, &.c. 
as are within the farmer’s reach, be added thereto and 
mixed therewith, and then finally let a four inch coat of 
fresh soil be placed thereon as a covering to prevent 
evaporation till it is called into use. 
The next matter to be attended to is the collecting in 
cisterns all the urine from the stables and feeding-sheds. 
About every ten days this should be pumped up and 
carefully dispersed all over the heap by means of a coarse 
watering pan. The ammonia ( hartshorn ) which is a 
constituent principle of urine, supplies a powerful sti¬ 
mulant in the process of vegetable growth, it ought to 
be carefully collected and dilligently applied, so as that 
it may percolate through the whole mass while accumu¬ 
lating in the yard. 
Fifthly, the heap ought to be kept entirely free from 
any weeds whatever, the seeds thereof being almost in¬ 
destructible. There ought to be channels, also, for the 
conveying away of all the rain water falling from the 
roofs of the surrounding buildings. The urine of the 
stock, together with the rain which falls upon the sur¬ 
face!, will supply sufficient moisture ; an additional sup- 
