MR. S. P. CHAPMAN’S PREMIUM SHORT-HORN RULE “HALTON.” 
Jtjjnrtnrnrt. 
PROGUESS AIVO IMPROVEMENT. 
-“#■- - - —' 
Above we give a very accurate portrait of 
Mr. Chapman’s Short-horn Bull “Halton,” 
one of tho most perfect animals wo ever 
saw. “ Halton” was awarded tho first prize 
by tho Now York State Agricultural Society, 
at Rochester, in 1851, in class of “Foreign 
Stock,”—being then owned and exhibited by 
the Hon. Adam Ferguson, of Woodhill, Wa- 
terdown, C. W. Ho was very favorably 
mentioned, as many of our readers may re¬ 
collect, by a correspondent (formerly an ex- 
tensivo stock grower and improver,) in No. 
42, vol. 2, of this journal. His pedigree is 
embraced in tho subjoined letter from Mr. 
Chapman. Wo may add that tho artistic 
finish of tho portrat, reflects credit upon 
our Rochester engravers, Messrs. Miller & 
Mix,—although it does no more than justice 
to tho original. 
D. D. T. Moore — pear Sir: In present¬ 
ing you and your readers with a portrat of 
.“Halton,” allow mo to give also, in connec¬ 
tion, his pedigree. 
His color is a beautiful rod roan. Ho was 
bred by Geo. Vail, Esq., of Troy, N. Y.: 
calved 20th August, 1847; got by Meteor, 
104*—dam [Lady Barrington III.+] by Cleve¬ 
land Lad (8.407)—grand dam [Lady Bar- 
rington II.] by Bolvidere (1.706)—gr. g. d. 
[Lady Barrington] by a son of Mr. Mason’s 
Herdman (304)—gr. gr. g. d. [Young Alicia] 
by Wonderful (700)—gr. gr. gr. g. d. [Old i 
Alicia] by Alfred (23)—gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d. 1 
by Young Favorite, son of Favorito (252.) 
Meteor, tho sire of Halton, was by Duke | 
of Wellington, 55,(3.654;) dam [Duchess] 
by Mr. Bates’ celebrated Duchess prize bull, I 
Duke of Northumberland (1.940,) &c., &c. | 
Lady Barrington III., Duchess, and Duke ; 
of Wellington, were bred by the late Tiios. ! 
Bates, Esq., of Kirklovington, Yorkshire, I 
England, and imported by Mr. Vail. It 
will bo seen therefore, that Halton is de- j ' 
scended directly from the justly celebrated 1 ' 
Bates stock. 
Speaking of tho Barrington family, Mr. j 
Robt. Bell, the friend and tenant of the late j 
Tiros. Bates, Esq., in a letter to Mr. Vail, |, 
of July 31st, remarks — “I have no hesita- I j 
tion in saying that there is not a better tribe 1 x 
of cattle in England than the Barringtons. ! 
I have had sovoral applications for tho old 
cow, [Lady Barrington,] lately, although she 
is 16 or 17 years old; but I would not sell 
her, intending to keep liei' as long as sho 
will breed. * * * I have 'now a heifer, 
from a daughter of your Lady Barrington 
III., by 4th Duke of York, [tho siro-jof Mr. 
Vail’s imported heifor, “Yarm Lass.”—S. 
P. C.] not yot a year old, for which I would 
not tako less than 100 guineas, ($500.) The 
reason why I think so much of tho Barring¬ 
tons is, they have plenty of hair, are good 
handlers, and most excellent, milkers, quali¬ 
ties that many Short-horns do not possess.” 
Mr. Vail, in a letter to me, of the 19th 
August, 1851, follows this extract by saying: 
“ I have now four cows and heifers of this 
tribe. My three which give milk, are all 
good milkers," which corresponds with what 
Mr. Bell says about this family of Short¬ 
horns. Very respectfully yours, 
S. P. Chapman. 
Mt. Pleasant Farm, Clockville, Mad. Co., N. Y., 1852. 
PARSNIPS AS A FIELD CROP. 
* Meteor was awarded the first prize, at the Fair of tho 
American Institute, in 1843, as the best bull of any age. _ 
In 1814, he was awarded the first prize hs the Now York 
State Agricultural Society, as the best bull of any breed; 
and also the first prize as the best Durham bull. He also 
won at the Rensselaer County Fair. 
f I.ady Barrington III., won the first prize at the show 
of the New York State Agricultural Society, held at Au¬ 
burn, in 1846, and the first prize at the Rensselaer County 
Fair, same year. 
Parsnips aro sometimes cultivated as a 
field crop, and have been judged noarly 
oqual to tho carrot as food for stock. They 
are of much intrinsic value, whether con¬ 
sidered in this light or as one of our most 
delicious table vegetables. The product, 
when grown on a genial and properly pre¬ 
pared soil, is as great as that of any other 
root, and its fattening qualities aro thought 
! superior to any other. 
On the islands of Jersey and Guernsey 
j the parsnip is extensively cultivated, and it 
j is said that all tho pork on the latter island 
; is fattened with this root, and is noted for 
; its delicacy and flavor. It is fed to swine 
j both raw and cookod, and is eaten by them 
i in either stato with groat avidity. In the 
I fattening of cattle, it is found in Jersey “to 
j bo equal if not superior to the carrot, per- 
j forming the business with as much expedi- 
I tion, and affording meat of exquisite flavor, 
J and a highly juicy quality.” The animals 
aro very fond of it. A lean ox may be per¬ 
fectly fattened in three months by fedding 
him ono hundred pounds a day of sliced 
parsnips and a littlo hay. As early spring 
food for milch cows it proves profitable— 
when fed in connection with cut straw and 
hay, and a littlo meal or bran, tho flow of 
milk is increased, and tho color and flavor 
of tho butter is improved. For horses, as 
an alterative lood it is equally grateful with 
the carrot. “ A peck cut fine and mixed 
with equal quantities of cut straw and two 
quarts of oats, with a handful of salt, makes,” 
says tho American Farmer, “ a most invigo¬ 
rating moal for a horse; a few such feeds a 
week, opens his hide, softens his hair, and 
koops his system in a healthful condition.” 
1 But as a general food, tho parsnip is thought 
3 too fattening, and to possess a tendency to 
l reduco, rather than improve tho strength of 
3 the florae. In fitting poultry for market, 
, this root is mentioned in tho Book of the 
i Farm, as having been used with success. 
The soil which best suits tho parsnip is a 
deep and fertile sandy loam. But they 
grow well on heavier soils than carrots or tur- 
1 J nips, and will flourish on almost any soil, if 
it is rich, well-pulverized and dry. If tho 
soil bo not naturally rich, it must be made 
so by abundant supplies of well rotted ma¬ 
nure. The land should bo plowed very 
deeply, and the product will be much in¬ 
creased if it is also subsoiled, that tho roots 
may go down as far as they choose. 
Tho seed, which should be planted as ear¬ 
ly as tho ground can be prepared, may be 
drilled in, in rows about twenty inches apart. 
From two to threo pounds per acre is re¬ 
quired, and it should be of the last season’s 
growth, as if kept longer it is very apt to 
fail of vegetating. Some recommend tho 
soaking of the seed for twenty-four hours, 
and then drying in plaster and ashes. Sand 
is frequently mixed with the seed in sowing, 
in ordor to facilitate proper thinness in its 
distribution. The “ Isle of Jersey” is rec- 
i ominendod as the best variety. 
Tho cultivation is much the same as that 
recommended for carrots. When tho plants 
j are two or three inches high tiioy should be 
; carfully hoed, and thinned out to about six 
inches apart in the rows. They should bo 
hood as often as tho weeds render it neces¬ 
sary, and their growth is improved by keep- , 
the soil light and open by frequent stirring. : 
Upon ground where no water will stand, 
they may romain all winter without inju- : 
ry, and even with manifest improvement. | 
Those required for winter use should be J 
dug as late in tho fall as the season will \ 
permit; and in the spring, as soon as the 
frost leaves the earth tho farmer can com- 1 
mence feeding from them. When dug to 
store away they should not bo closely trim¬ 
med either in top or root, and must be 
storod away in a cool place and covered 
carefully with earth, as exposure to air or ’ 
heat wilts and injures them. 
Wo have condensed the abovo from vari- j 
ous sources, failing to find in any one place i 
or in proper shape for our columns, the in- i 
formation desired. Our only experience j 
with the parsnip is in tho garden and on 
the table, and thore we have found them all 
right. There is no more delicious vegeta¬ 
ble in oarly spring than a well-boiled, well- 
buttered parsnip,—and wo bolievo that tho 
farm stock will appreciate them with plainer 
cooking, arid their cultivation as a field crop ■ 
prove worthy of adoption by the agricul¬ 
turist. 
t SILICA IN’ VEGETABLES. 
(3 - . 
„ BY FROF. DEWEY. 
Rock Crystals of Little Falls—Formation—Water 
U n solvent of silica—Difficulty removed as igno¬ 
rance is removed—Silica in land plants —So¬ 
lution. 
1 The diamonds of Littlo Falls, those beau- 
i tifnl crystals of silex or silica; who has not 
seen them, and perhaps bought of tho hoys 
1 as tho cars rested for a few minutes. They 
! are found abundantly a few miles north of 
that romantic village. They occur in a 
quartz or flinty rock.—as my informant, a 
very pleasant and intelligent companion in 
tho cars, who lives on the line of that rock, 
’ stated to me,—or are dug up from tho earth 
which that rock, by disintegration, has form¬ 
ed. They are indeed a common mineral, 
! sometimes of largo size, often small, but al¬ 
ways beautiful and attractive, found over 
the world in very different associations from 
this, as in grodos in limestone, magnesian 
limestone, greenstone, granite, &c. Splen- 
1 did grodes of them, many inches in diame¬ 
ter. are often brought from tho regions ne; r 
Lake Superior, and have doubtless been 
loosened from tho rocks in tho cavities of 
which they had been formed, as wo often 
see quartz, cornelian, chalcedony, as agates, 
in tho cavities of greenstone. 
As my intelligent companion gave-the ac¬ 
count of these crystals, I thought over the' 
difficulties which naturalists had found in 
accounting for their crystallization, and tho 
explanation given by chemists of the process. 
To crystallize, or assume a regular form, 
; matter must bo in a state for its particles to 
[ move so easily that attraction may lead 
them to take the form, that is, tho matter 
j must be in solution. The solution is effect- 
i ed by heat, or by some solvent. 
j Pulverized limestone, molted under great 
i pressure, becomes, on cooling slowly, regu- 
i Inr crystals, and is also crystalized from its 
| solution in water and carbonic acid. In 
these two ways the crystals of lime aro ac- 
I counted for. 
Silica is melted at a very high heat, and 
, under great pressure many of the crystals 
I of it may have been formed. Tho diamonds 
■ ot Little Falls may have been thus formed, 
I for the rock lies near tho great masses of 
I guoiss which appears to have suffered great 
| heat. 
But there are crystals of silica, or quartz 
crystals, which seem not to bo formed from 
melted matter. Though it was formerly 
held that silica is insoluble in water, and re¬ 
quired potash and water for its solution, it 
is now fully proved by chomists that silex is 
soluble in water alone. With ovon a small 
quantity in solution, and tho influence of 
pressure and time, all the grodes of quartz 
crystals may easily have been produced, 
wiiuuut tuu presence oi any otner solvent. 
Supposing the action of potash on tho silex, 
the facility ol the crystalization of silex is 
only increased. In this case the. potash 
must be removed for new operations. Such 
crystals have been formed by the chemist. 
Ignorance has led to many absurdities 
and induced many difficulties in the active- 
minded. It has long been known that silica 
as well as potash are contained in land veg¬ 
etables. The advantage of ashes as a ma¬ 
nure has been seen from the remotest ages. 
The ashes yielded potash to the plants 
which ascended by tho roots into tho plant. 
Ashes often contain gypsum, and hence an¬ 
other reason for their fertilizing power as 
long as gypsum and silex were hold to bo 
insoluble in water,—there was no way to ac¬ 
count for their ascent into plants. But, as 
soon as the ignorance was removed—as soon 
as it was learned that both are soluble in 
water, the ascent of even silica into vegeta¬ 
bles had no difficulty. So phosphato of 
limo, so essential to animal life, was once 
held insoluble in water, while it is found in 
every kernel of perfect wheat and, in tho 
loaves and culms of all grassos. Indeed 
some plants, as tho ratan, contain more si¬ 
lica than the potash in them can make soiu- 
blo in water; so that it is not necessary to 
suppose tho existence of any othor solvent 
of silica than water to account for its exist¬ 
ence in plants or as crystals. 
The probability is that much of tho crys¬ 
talization of silica, and the silica of vege¬ 
tables, depend on ono great fact, its solu¬ 
bility in water. c. D. 
MANAGEMENT OF BEES - AGAIN. 
People frequently remark that thoy have 
lost their bees by the bee moths, yot I never 
had a heathy swarm destroyed by them.— 
They sometimes become very numerous in 
swarms which have ceased to multiply—as 
the bees decreased the moths incroasod—sof 
that for some weeks before the swarms have 
been overpowered by robber becs,*the comb 
in tho hack and top of tho hive has been a 
complete mat of tho webs and cells in which 
tho moth passes it change to tho chry¬ 
salis stato. Mice often make their winter 
quarters in a hive—some have thought their 
bees destroyed by them—but they always 
select a hive well filled with comb, with but 
few bees, as they can then build their nests 
without being attacked by them. It is a 
species of doer mice that feeds on honey 
and dead bees, hut they never, I think, 
trouble the living. It is well known that 
bees often rob each other, especially in bad 
seasons for making honoy, but perfect, 
healthy swarms, even when small aro soldom 
injured in this way. 
iheso causes of failure aro thought more 
prevalent in domestic than in wild bees, or, 
it has been remarked, wo should more fre¬ 
quently find trees, which had formerly been 
occupied by bees. I have found such trees, 
and once fell a sugar maple which seemed 
to havo been occupied by a largo swarm, as 
the cavity was thickly coated with wax, but 
I found no bees and but littlo appearance of 
comb. I have often heard of the discovery 
of such trees by others. 
About fifteen years ago it was thought a 
great improvement in bee managemnt to 
build a small house for them, or finish off a 
room in the garret of the dwelling or other 
building, as it avoided the troublo of hiving 
the swarms, and what honey thoy could 
spare, could easily bo taken away in tho 
winter without disturbing tho bees. I care¬ 
fully examined these plans; some did well 
one season, others two, and others more, but 
scarcoly ono Apiarian who adopted this 
method, kept his beos for five years—and 
in almost every case, the moth was thought 
the causo of their destruction. Whore sev¬ 
eral hives aro set in the apartment in such 
a manner that tho bees all mingle togother 
in warm weather, when they went into win¬ 
ter quarters the whole number would often 
concentrate in one or more hives—and in 
the samo proportion that tho hivos were 
abandoned, tho number of quoons and of 
tho increase was reduced, and when they 
VOLUME III. m . 22 . 
ROCHESTER, A. Y.—THURSDAY, MAY 
27, 185 2. 
WHOLE JY0. 126. 
