196 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
attributable wholly to the action of the marl. This soil 
is a ferruginous clay, abounding in lime rock, which, as 
you are aware, is the case witn most of the land in the 
valley of Virginia. Is it not a general opinion that on 
limestone land calcareous manures ai’C not beneficial? 
And has this opinion arisen from the supposition only, 
or from the fact that soils partake largely of the proper¬ 
ties of the rocks found in them? I believe that in Mr. 
Colman’s survey of Massachusetts, it was found that in 
Lanesboro, Berkshire co., which you know abounds in 
marble, the soil contains less lime than some other 
towns where limestone is not found. If, then, limestone 
land requires, in order to its greatest degree of produc¬ 
tiveness, more lime, it would be greatly to the public 
interest to show that the fact exists, and how most easily 
and surely where it exists. Are the properties of lime 
and ashes as a manure similar? And if so, why is it 
that here lime is not beneficial as a manure? for this is 
the opinion here, though it is well known that ashes 
are an important article with the farmer. I neglected 
to mention in its place that Major Stuart’s wheat on the 
marled portion of the field, was free from rust, and on 
the other portion badly rusted. A great desideratum 
among wheat growers is a kind of wheat that is at once 
hardy, prolific and of early maturity. It is difficult at 
present to shun both the fiy and rust. During the se¬ 
cond week in July last, wheat was badly injured by rust 
in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, and the early 
varieties came in fine. I calculate that if a variety of 
wheat'every way equal to what we now have, but ripen¬ 
ing two weeks earlier, could be substituted for the pre¬ 
sent varieties, it would add ten millions of bushels to 
the wheat crop of our country annually. 
Peregkinatok. 
Manhasset, L. I., Sept. 8, 1843. 
HEREFORD BULL “SIR GEORGE.”—(Fig. 101.) 
HEREFORD CATTLE. 
VISIT TO THE TIOGA FAIR. 
AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. 
Our respected friend, W. Jennison of Cambridge, 
Mass., has communicated several notices of agricultural 
matters, which we have in part condensed for the Culti¬ 
vator. 
“ Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— l^elow I give you an 
account taken from the Gentleman’s Magazine, of an ex¬ 
traordinary yield of wheat. It seems to me improbable, 
but is perhaps barely possible, and I should be glad to 
have your opinion thereon. 
A farmer in Sussex, as an experiment, planted 18 
grains of wheat at the distance of 6 inches from each oth¬ 
er. They all vegetated, but one-third was afterwards de¬ 
stroyed by worms, leaving 12 plants. These flourished, 
and were cut in August. The product was 213 fine ears, 
or about 18 ears of 39 grains each, to each seed sown. 
The weight of the wheat, was 12| oz. This wheat, it 
will be seen, occupied 3 superficial feet. The feet in an 
acre is 43,360, which divided by 3, gives 14,520. This 
multiplied by 12;} gives the number of ounces at 177,870, 
which again divided by 960, the number of ounces in a 
bushel of wheat of 60 lbs. weight, gives a product of 
185^ bushels per acre, from single grains set at the dis¬ 
tance of 6 inches, over the whole.” 
That a wheat crop of 185 bushels per acre was ever 
raised, no one pretends; but there is nothing impossible 
in the parts of the above statement in themselves consi¬ 
dered. That 12 seeds will grow on 3 square feet is clear; 
that a seed might produce 18 stalks or ears is also certain, 
and the rate of seeds per ear is not high. We have picked 
several ears of wheat from one field that had over 70 ker¬ 
nels in each, and in a head of Texan or Egyptian wheat 
received from the south, we had 203. We therefore con¬ 
sider such an acreable product as a thing that might be, 
but never was. 
“Fatting of Hogs. —Near Dugsburg in Westphalia, 
celebrated for its fine hams, the hogs are principally fat¬ 
tened on chestnuts and potatoes. The hogs are made 
nearly fat by running in the woods abounding in chest¬ 
nuts, and where they cannot run at large, the nuts are 
gathered and fed to them in pens. In the last stage of 
fattening, after their range in the woods is over, they are 
fed on potatoes, which are baked. Large ovens are used 
for this purpose, and it is found that thus prepared, the 
potatoe is the most fattening of all fowl, while the pecu¬ 
liar flavor of the hams is thought to be owing to this root 
thus prepared. In this district few horses are worked, 
farm labor being mostly done by oxen or cows, the lat¬ 
ter suffering no inconvenience from being lightly worked. 
«■' Oil from the Poppy. —In a large par tof Flanders the 
principal articles of cultivation are tobacco, the haricot 
or French bean, and the poppy. A large part of the 
Olive trees in the south of France, were destroyed by the 
severe winter of 1807, and the culture of the poppy for 
the sake of the seed, was introduced as a substitute. The 
oil made from this seed is very fine, and in taste and co¬ 
lor is much like the best olive. It is extracted by iron 
cylinders which crush the seed, and these are worked by 
windmills, of which there are more than 200 in the vi¬ 
cinity of Lisle alone. The pulp, or residuum, is made 
into oilcake for cattle, and its fattening qualities are ve¬ 
ry great; while the stems are used by the bakers for 
heating their ovens.” 
The queries of Mr. Jennison, respecting the U. S. cen¬ 
sus of Agriculture, we are unable to answer. Of its im¬ 
perfections we have always been sensible; but the adop¬ 
tion of the system we consider as a great point gained, 
and one which in its results will be of vast importance to 
the nation. Faults of detail experience will enable us to 
correct, and in the future enumerations of our products, 
we may expect great if not entire completeness. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— In giving my ideas of 
the true points a Hereford should possess to arrive at per¬ 
fection, I shall endeavor to do it as briefly as my limited 
ability will allow; therefore I take the responsibility of 
amending the errors at some future period, whenever my 
opponents think fit to advance them and prove them so. 
I commence with a white or brockle muzzle, (1.) (see fig. 
101,) a small kind chop, (2.) flat broad forehead, (3.) 
white or brockle face, (4.) bright clear eye, (5.) with an 
expression of mildness, encircled with pure transparent 
white, (which in my opinion is a true indication ofgood 
handling and a superior quality of flesh; I fully believe 
that the eye shows the high breeding better than any other 
part of the animal;) small cheek, (6,) with light offal 
under the throat and gullet; (7.) the whole of the head 
small, Avith small long taper horns of a light color, neck 
thin and narrow, (8.) and light dulap, (9.) heavy wide 
prominent brisket, (10.) well projecting before the 
knees, (which I consider the second point to be looked 
at in good breeding,) shoulder blades (11.) and crop (12.) 
level Avith the chine, (13.) which should be broad, 
straight and fleshy, and perfectly level between the ribs 
(14.) and shoulders, the lower part of the shoulders (15.) 
light Avith little offal, arm (16.) short and sinewy, bone 
betAveen knee and hoofs (17.) small and short, supported 
by strong sinews (18.) and muscle, belly or bottom (l9.) 
straight with light paunch, (20.) ribs (21.) round and well 
filled up toward the hip, loin (22.) Avide and flat and 
straight with the chine, hips (23.) broad, large, round 
and fleshy, long betAveen hip and rump, (24,) the latter 
lined with mellow flesh, the ketch (25 ) prominent, the 
tail set on level with the back, of a moderate size, flank 
(26.) heavy, the udder should not be large and bulky, but 
free from flesh, loose and supple; quarters of an equal 
size, teats Avell spread and of medium length and size, 
twist (27.) heavy and fleshy, hock (28.) strong, thigh 
(29.) not too large. Coat soft, thick and silky, hide 
thick, and mellow handling, the whole appearance of the 
animal grand and showy, with every symptom of activi¬ 
ty. I want the bull to have all the above points except 
the sexual distinction, a heai’^y animal in small compass. 
Hereford Hall, Oct. 15, 1843. W. H. Sotham. 
EXPERIMENT IN WHEAT. 
Messrs. Editors —The following novel and inter¬ 
esting experiment which I find in the London Times of 
the 9th September, 1843, ha\dng lately been successfully 
made at Cheam, in Surrey, deserves a place in your valu¬ 
able journal. A. Walsh. 
Lansingburgh, Nov. 18, 1843. 
In July, 1842, Mr. A. Palmer put one grain of wheat 
in a common garden pot. In August the same Avas divi¬ 
ded into 4 plants, which in three weeks were again di¬ 
vided into 12 plants. In September these 12 plants were 
divided into 32, which in November were divided into 
50 plants, and then placed in open ground. In July, 
1843, 12 of the plants failed, but the remainder 38 were 
healthy. On the 19th of August they were cut down, 
and counted 1,972 stems, with an average of 50 grains to 
a stem, giving an increase of 98,600! 
Now sir, if this be a practicable measure of planting 
wheat, it follows that most of the grain nOAV used for 
seed, may be saved, and will infinitely more than cover 
the extra expense of sowing, as the wheat plants can be 
raised by the laborer in his garden, his wife and chil¬ 
dren being employed in dividing and transplanting them. 
I have enclosed one of the stems as a sample. You 
will find it rather above six feet long, and stout in pro¬ 
portion. Henry Pownall. 
Spring-grove, Sept. 9, 1843. 
There are great varieties in our persons, but the vari- 
ties are greater in our characters. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —At an early hour on 
the morning of the 3d of October, I sat out from Ithaca, 
accompanied with a friend, to attend the Agricultural 
Fair of Tioga co. held at Owego. The weather was 
raw, with indications of rain, which, together with a 
militia “ general training,”—which by the way is the 
greatest humbug of the day—in the vicinity, prevented 
as large a gathering at the Fair as that of last year. 
However, the number was respectably large, and on our 
arrival at head quarters, Ave found the President of the 
Society and Executive Committee actively at work re¬ 
modeling the viewing committees,owing to delinquences, 
and arranging articles presented for the in-door exhibi¬ 
tion. For my OAvn part, I had not formed large expec¬ 
tations of pleasure from any exhibitions of stock which 
might be made—the herd of Mr. Geo. J. Pumpelly, ex¬ 
cepted, which I had heard commended—but I am bound 
to say that I Avas agreeably disappointed. Tioga has 
long been celebrated as a “lumber county,” and not 
famed for any special advances in agricultural improve¬ 
ment; hence it Avas that the display of so much good 
stock took me by surprise, Avhich is doubly honorable 
to the enterprise of her farmers, considering the disad¬ 
vantages they have contended with compared with their 
brethren in older and more favored counties. The coav 
belonging to the president, as well as several others, the 
owner’s names of which I regret having forgotten, were 
quite attractive and would have been Avorthy of remark 
any where. There were several pairs of steers too of 
great beauty, indicating Devon blood. The paucity of 
Avorking oxen was regretted, as there are probablj'’ few 
counties in the state that could make a larger display of 
good ones, inasmueh as so many are necessarily em¬ 
ployed in that important branch of business of the coun¬ 
ty, lumbering. I beg leave to suggest that the Socioty 
Avill do well to enlarge their premiums on working oxen, 
being in so much request, indeed so indispensable in all 
lumber districts. The specimens of “long Avooled 
sheep,” of which the exhibition was numerous, were in 
general, good; and of South Downs there were several 
“ real beauties.” The truth is, for mutton, the latter are 
unrivaled, and considering their easy keep compared 
with the Leicester, will eventually take a front rank 
in this country, where they already stand in England. 
Two capital Merinos were shoAvn, and some grades, but 
not a Saxon! Well, this is not altogether strange, for 
Tioga is not yet quite out of the looods, and her hardy 
farmers have not probably learned the fact that the Sax¬ 
ons have this year eclipsed all other varieties in profit, 
and will continue to do so until they are far more nume¬ 
rous than at present. Those who have gone back to 
heavy gummy fleeces will live to learn their error. Let 
this be noted. 
But decidedlj"' the most attractive part of the exhibi¬ 
tion was the numerous herd of half blood Short Horns, 
belonging to Geo. J. Pumpelly of Owego. If any man 
ever doubted that our native cattle were susceptible of 
improvement by crossing with the English breeds, or 
that improvement Avas soonest effected by means of the 
Durham, in preference to any other improved breed for 
dairy purposes, his doubts Avould be dispelled could he 
see this fine herd, accompanied with other proofs which 
Mr. Pumpelly has to offer of his success. Crossing Avith 
the best native cows, both as to form, and especially 
milk, has been and now is the favorite object with Mr. 
P.; indeed, for dairy purposes, he thinks the pasture of 
the valley of the Susquehanna too luxuriant for the full 
blood Short Horn coav, being fully of the belief, draAvn 
from the experience of several distinguished breeders in 
the state, that she would run too much to flesh, and in 
this ratio her milking qualities would deteriorate. In 
this conclusion I am well satisfied he is correct. But 
this intelligent gentleman will probably make known in 
the columns of the Cultivator, the result of his experi- 
