health, b3ve a good constitution, feed kindly and 
fat rapidly. This mellowness of skin is due to 
the proper condition of the'cellular tissue. The 
cells of this tissue are filled with fluid, and when 
pressed upon by the Angers, yield to the adjoiu- 
Sng cells, which immediately return it when the 
pressure is taken off; giving an elastic feel or 
touch to the skin. The cellular tissue is the 
receptacle for fat. The more abundantly it ex¬ 
ists, the better an animal will handle, and the 
more fat will be formed. Small ears, quick and 
sensible to every new sound, small bones, and 
thick, fine, soft hair, are all indications of apti¬ 
tude to fatten. Cattle of a general coarse appear¬ 
ance, exhibiting a want of cellular tissue, or those 
which arc had handlers, will he found to possess 
large ears, coarse, wiry hair, and large hones, and 
wilt prove slow feeders.” 
How to Fred Horses. 
Wk usually feed our horses too much; that 
iB, the food is disproportioned to the labor they 
perform. We speak more particularly of our best 
horses—fancy animals, that stand in warm sta¬ 
bles, blanketed, and taken out only occasionally 
for exhibition, rather than us8. To keep a horse 
or other animal healthy, the carbon taken into 
the system in food must bo proportioned to the 
oxygon taken In by respiration. Thus a man of 
sedentary habits, seated day after day in a warm 
room where there is little oxygen, can live on 
muBh and niilk, a little toast, or other light food; 
while the same man, in the Arctic regions, would 
swallow whale blubber with impunity. The ex¬ 
cess of oxygen in the Arctic atmosphere requires 
an excess of carbon, otherwise the oxygen would 
consume the lungs, and produce pulmonary 
disease. If the food (or carbon) exceeds its due 
proportion, or is disproportioned to the oxygen, it 
Is unconsumed, and ifl stored away in the form of 
fat, which induces acute diseases and premature 
death. Now, a fancy horse, that baH little exer¬ 
cise, standing in a warm stable, blanketed, with 
little circulation of air, and consequently little 
oxygen, gorging liimaelf at a fall crib from day 
to day, requires an excess of carbon; his muscles 
are overloaded with fat—he becomes stupid and 
sluggish, and very liable to acute diseases. So 
says the Ohio Farmer. 
house and barn, should be preserved carefally, 
and that other sufficient trees Bbould he reserved 
along roads and elsewhere around the farm. The 
comfort and value of such reservations can only 
be fully estimated by those who have seen the 
places, "few and far between,” where groves of 
the primitive forests were and are yet preserved 
around the homes of some of our Western Pio¬ 
neers, Without holding himself up pharisaically 
as any better than bis neighbors, the writer 
may at least say to others who are clearing land, 
“ go and do likewise.” Genesee. 
U. S. Agricultural Societt —/(* Animal Fair , fyc.— 
On this 17th of December we are in receipt of ‘'The 
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, published by the U, S. 
Agricultural Society," and hearing data « Washington, 
f). C., October, 1800.” Though if* date U not recent, the 
Journal Contain* some news relative to the last Annual 
Exhibition of the Society, which (ae some of our reader* 
may perhaps remember,) war held as long ago ns Septem¬ 
ber 16th. I860, at Cincinnati. Tor example, it gives the 
award of premtom*. (official, we presume.) and, consider¬ 
ing that*' large bodies move sloe," perhaps Ihree months 
was r eon I red to accomplish a ts*k similar to that usually 
performed by County and State societies in a few day*. 
We are confident many recipients of awards will be grati¬ 
fied. and have beard of some creditors of the Society who 
would be more than gratified were their jnst claims 
likely to he adjusted in twice or thrice three months. 
The liatof awards lea curiosity in its line—showing either 
that a very few men had many superior animals and 
articles, or that the competitors were “ few and far be¬ 
tween.” For example, one gentleman (S. ITowxRn Mc- 
riENRT, of Md ,} is the fortunate winner of fourteen 
prize* on Cattle alone—hie name being repeated eight 
litnen in succession, in one class, and taking all the prizes 
on Native Aiderneys. Other competitors are equally or 
more fortunate, a few Ohio and Kentucky stock breeders 
being awarded scores of premiums. Even one New 
York stock firm—that of Rooms, Cami'Sell A Co, of 
Jefferson Co.,—was awarded ten prices. The miscellane¬ 
ous department* of the Fair seem to have been mostly 
filled and monopolised by the wares of local manufac¬ 
turers and dealers, and if they obtain all tbe bronze 
medals, diplomas, etc, awarded them, some Cincinnati 
firms will piwcw a large stock ofuselea* (duplicate) hard¬ 
ware and stationery! Tbe Journal announces that its 
publication has been delayed to give the awards—that 
“ Hopes wer« entertained that the committees would 
furnish written reports, giving the reasons which gov¬ 
erned their decisions; hut, after waiting six [ 12 ?] weeks, 
only thren reports have been received," The unsuccessful 
competitors were apparently so rare that we think other 
reasons for the decisions given would be snpettlnous! 
The Journal thus speaks of the financial result of the 
Exhibition:The receipts at Cincinnati for gate-tickets, 
annual memberships, and admission to reierved seats, 
were $13 664 00; for entries, $1,631; and for licenses, 
$3 968—making the total receipts$18,083 60. Tbe greater 
portion of tills was required for the psyment of cash 
premiums and the purchase of medals and diplomas. 
What remained was so nearly sufficient to defray the 
expenses of conducting the Exhibition, that no demand 
was made on those citizens of Cincinnati who had signed 
the guarantee fund." 
— Now, we dislike exceedingly to spoil a story so plau¬ 
sible, but proper regard for truth, and our duty to the 
creditors of the Society and the agricultural public, con¬ 
strains us to say that the last sentence quoted must be 
incorrect in fad, however innocent may have been the 
writer’s intention. We are not a creditor of the Society, 
and have no pecuniary interest in any bills against it, but 
are credibly informed that one party in this city has a 
just claim of over five hundred dollar* for services 
rendered and material used at the. recent Cincinnati 
JCrhihilion, which has been treated with contempt by 
the officer who made the contract, and his associates. 
Furthermore, since the first paragraph of this article was 
written, we have been shown a letter from a Cincinnati 
gentleman (written some time ago) stating that an effort 
was being made “to collect 40 per cent, from those 
gentlemen who guaranteed $20,000 to the U. 8 , A. S. to 
Indemnify them against loss,” and that “if it is possible, 
tbe money will bo raised, cither by moral suasion or by 
law.” Commeut is unnecessary; but we beg to ask the 
managers of tho Society why one who furnished an 
iudispensable requisite to the success of ita show, baa 
been thus ur/justly treated?— especially if “ what remain¬ 
ed [of the receipt*] wu.i so nearly sufficient to defray tho 
expenses of conducting the Exhibition,’’ It strikes us 
tbe affairs of the U. 8 . A. 8 require a little ventilation. 
careless and slovenly manner, snd huve allowed 
its juice to become soured in the stalk, by leav¬ 
ing it out in open freezing weather, thinking that 
a little crusting and boiling would produce an 
article of luxuriant sweetness. To work up the 
Sorghum requires not only good management, 
but special care in preparing it for the sugar 
mill. If people nrc getting “short of encourag¬ 
ing facts and experience,” it iB became the cry 
of humbug lias been sounded in the ears of tbe 
multicaulis and silk-worm adventurers, who sacri¬ 
ficed a few hundred thousands in trying tbe ex¬ 
periment of silk making, but found “great cry 
arid liltk wool-" So far ns experience gocB in 
raining and manufacturing Sorghum into a gen¬ 
uine article of syrup and molasses, it has thus far 
proved highly satisfactory to those engaged in it 
in this section of country, and I doubt not but it 
can bo made profitable by its general cultivation 
among tbe farmers of Michigan, and in the 
Western States in tbe same parallel of latitude. 
1 do not ray that the season is always sufficiently 
long to perfect its grow th, neither is it necessary 
to produce the best quality of molasses; but for 
granulation, it needs to be seeded and thoroughly 
ripe. I have seen a better article of syrup from 
green cane than can be purchased at any import¬ 
ing establishment in the Stato of New York. 
A few practical hints in the cultivation and 
preparation of this article, and I am done. First, 
plant your cane on warm, sandy soil, lightly ma¬ 
nured. Plaster, and hoe it out as soon as up, 
leaving the suckers to grow with the main stalk. 
Keep It free from weeds during the summer, and 
alter the first ligbtfrost in the fall, strip, eat it up, 
and immediately put it under cover, in bundles of 
about fifty pounds euck. Gut the top off below 
where the frost has affected it, and take it to 
some experienced manufacturer, and yon will 
obtain an article of syrup equal, If not better, to 
any made either by Mauler or Servant, (as your 
correspondent expresses it,) in any of the regions 
of the sunny south. We do not offer any opinion 
as to Its effect upon the political economy of our 
country, but do firmly believe that its production 
will put a million and a half dollars annually in 
the pockets of Western farmers, for the educa¬ 
tion of their children, and the promotion of 
tbe institutions of tbe country. w. m. c. 
Adrian, Mich., 1860. 
way to make them profitable. I know H. T. B. 
thinks it might affect trade and commerce 
if farmers should feed so much grain to their 
stock; yet my candid advice to farmers is to try 
it. If they tin it ruinous they can discard the 
practice. But to begin with lean stock, they 
inuBt feed them well for two years before they 
see the fall effect of the change, and it may even 
take longer than that with poor, starved animals; 
but begin and continue one year and you will 
never give it up, I am confident. 
Near Geneva, N. Y., Dec., 1866. Jons Joh.nBTOX. 
RECLAIMING WORN-OTJT MEADOWS 
CUTTING STRAW FOR STOCK 
Eds. Rural Nkw-Yorkkr: — In a late issue of 
your journal I noticed an article from a corres¬ 
pondent of the American Agriculturist, on re¬ 
claiming “Worn Out Meadows,” and as the grass 
in our meadows in this western world is very 
liable to run out, so as to be hardly worth har¬ 
vesting, we have been casting about to see wbat 
could be done. Let me give an item of my ex¬ 
perience in farming, ex'actly corroborating the 
correspondent above referred to. 1 had a piece 
of meadow so reduced as hardly to cut a half a 
tun to the acre, and after manuring highly, bar¬ 
rowing, seeding, Ac., to no purpose, 1 concluded 
to plow it over. Accordingly I plowed it, smooth 
and nice, in August, 1859,—sowed wheat and timo¬ 
thy seed, and harrowed it in. I bad a moderate 
crop of wheat, and the grass now lookB remark¬ 
ably healthy, and procaines a fine crop another 
Be&son. Borne eastern farmers recommend turning 
over immediately alter buying, sowing grasH seed 
without any grain, and mowing the next season. 
Can any of your correspondents give u* any light 
on that subject? We wonld also like information 
on the best method of applying swamp muck to 
grass grounds. M. 
Chagrin Kalis, O., 1860. 
A correspondent of the Country Gentleman, 
in along and very well written article, endeuvora 
to convince us that our time can be better em¬ 
ployed than in cutting straw for feeding. It is 
true that cutting straw by hand power for even a 
small stock, is not quite as pleasant as sitting in 
a cozy corner with our favorite publications, 
fresh from the prcBs, and with the consciousness 
that our horses, cattle and sheep are quite as well 
Berved with long-fodder. Bull go In for the com¬ 
forts all round, and I am so great a believer In 
the economy and utility of cutting all our coarse 
fodder, not only lor feeding but for bedding in 
tbe yard and in the stable, that 1 have urged 
some of our geniuses to attach to the tail of a 
threshing mftohine a contrivance to cut every 
particle of straw into half, ibree-fourths, or inch 
pieces, as fast as it passes from the machine. It 
is presumed by many with whom 1 have conversed, 
that a ten horse power would scarcely receive a 
check from this additional work. 
“ What shonld we do with so much cut straw?” 
First decide that it is practicable and profitable, 
and we shall soon find wuys and means to take 
care of it. Elevators may be arranged to deposit 
it almost anywhere about tbe premises. A mon¬ 
strous box may be constructed, well roofed over, 
to occupy tbe position your straw-stack now 
occupies, if it be decided that is the place for it 
Around this great box, or house, if you please, 
feeding boxes may be constructed with a gate or 
valve over each, to let out the fodder in just such 
quantity as may be desired. A lean-to roof, with 
stanchions all around, serving for both shed and 
stable, might also be added. But admitting our 
cattle are none the better served with cut fodder, 
it is clear that less will be wasted. It isalso clear 
that the waste fodder will not corao up next 
Bpring with “ long pull and a strong pull ” out of 
the manure heap. It is furthermore clear that to 
plow under or ubc as a top dressing, the manure 
from such a barn yard wonld he vastly more valu¬ 
able than long straw and corn-stalks not half 
rotted. 
The groom or hostler will at once See the con¬ 
venience and ccon my of cut straw for bedding, 
a3 only that portion in the immediate vicinity of 
the droppings, need bo removed with the manure; 
whereas tho long straw would nearly all require 
to be replaced with new every day. A great 
many advantages of a system of wholesale straw 
cutting will appear after its adoption, which wo 
cannot at first call to mind. 
Now is a good time to talk up this matter, both 
emong farmers and editors, uud if the thing is 
practicable, let us try it on as soon as next 
harvest. It the expense is not more than one 
cent on each bushel of grain threshed,—say $10 
for cutting the Btraw of 1,000 bushels of grain,—it 
will afford us time to read and study at a cheap 
rate. I. \V. Brioos. 
Macedon, N. Y., December, 1860. 
The above is seasonable; and though we think 
snch cutting boxes as Gordon’s, Cumming’s, and 
Yale's do great execution, we shall be glad to aid 
in bringing out a still greater labor-saving and 
fodder-saving apparatus than has yet been in¬ 
vented or introduced.—E d. 
Sugar Beds for Cnlvea. 
Wb find the following in the Spirit of the 
Times :—'“The beBt calves I ever raisod,” saida 
farmer lately, “I did in this way: Just as soon as 
they would eat, and that was very early, for the 
young ones learned of the older ones, I gave them 
as many sugar beets as they would eat. I cut 
them up in thin slices, with a slicing machine, 
and they ate them with a voraciouB appetite, and 
grew fat and Bleek as moles. I have no doubt 
other beets wonld be nearly rb good, and so would 
carrots, parsnips, and even turnips, for eaily 
spring feeding, before grass comes.” This fact is 
mentioned now, that, farmers may save some of 
their roots, If they have them, to feed the calves 
with In the spring. 
Durability of Chestnut Shingles. 
A correspondent of the Boston Cultivator 
says, that in June, 1834, he assisted the owner in 
shingling the east roof of a barn, 60 feet long and 
about 40 feet wide, with sawed chestnut shingles, 
and that roof is still good, and with a little patch¬ 
ing will last several years'' fi/nger. The roof of a 
wood-house, which he helped shingle with split 
and shaved chestnut shingles in 1830, bid fair, 
tbe last time I saw it. to last till 1875. The roof 
is very steep, and the shingles on au average 
were quite narrow. They wero well laid, four and 
a half inches to tho weather and two nails jn a 
Bhingle. Borne object to this, and say but one 
nail should be driven into chestnut shingles, 
owing to their shrinking and expanding so much 
under the influence of the sun and rain. 
Watering Cnitlo In Winter. 
Many stablemen commit the great error of 
leaving water in troughs after watering their cat¬ 
tle, and thus permitting it to become too cold for 
their subsequent use. In very cold weather, water 
should not be brought up from the wells or cis¬ 
terns (where in winter it is always warmer than 
when exposed above the surface of the ground) 
until tbe moment it is required l'or watering ani¬ 
mals, and any portion that may be left in the 
trough should [be permitted to run away. The 
use of very cold water is injurious to the animal, 
besides rendering it necessary for him to consume 
a larger amount of food to replace the heat so 
lost. We have sometimes seen those who con¬ 
sidered themselves very good farmers, breaking 
holes through ice in horse troughs, to permit 
their horses to drink; these are the “practical 
farmers,” who scorn book-learning, work hard, 
“like honest men,” and insure to their children 
the same privilege. 
Rich ^oil and Good Stock. 
We clip the following from a communication 
in the Homestead, as worth a few minutes thought 
from the reading farmer: 
In distributing manure, it is economical to give 
a liberal dressing as far as we go. We must go 
through with the labor of cultivation, and it costs 
no more to plant or hoe a field of potatoes that 
will yield heavily, than one which will give poor 
returns; the only additional expense is the extra 
cost of harvesting. The same is true in the 
culture of any crop. We are recommended to 
bay more stock for our farms as fast as we can 
find roeanB for sustaining it; but what class of 
stock it is best to buy is less often discussed. In 
this, too, it may be safely asserted that the proper 
coarse is to buy good stock. It costs no more to 
raise and keep good cattle than poor; and men 
who buy in the market always make a very great 
distinction between good uud poor animals. The 
same rule applies in dairjing and wood growing; 
good cows and sheep are profitable; poor milkers 
and light fleeced sheep eat up their products 
many times over, and are ever in debt to the 
farmer. 
‘ l Handling” In C'lioico of Cattle. 
Speaking of purchasing cattle for beef, work 
or milk, a New England farmer, well posted on all 
points of cattle husbandry,says, “ that they should 
be what is called good handlers, is a point never 
to be overlooked.” This is defined as equivalent 
to the possession of “a moderately thick, mellow, 
elastic skin.” The writer adds: 
“A good handler will invariably be in good 
Inqmrks anti ^litutBera. 
THE WEST-WISCONSIN PRODUCTS. 
A Singular Phk.vomknox. —While engaged in slaafil¬ 
tering a two year old steer a few day* itinco, a grating 
noise attracted our attention as one end of the tripe, or 
Btomneli, touched the floor. Upon examination, the first 
stomach was found to contain nearly twenty flat elate 
stone, varying in size from n cent to a silver dollar. The 
stones wera aa smooth ae polished steel. The question 
in, how came tbe animal to swallow them ? We affirm 
that w« never fed him on such kind of provender. The 
steer was in good condition, and appeared perfectly 
healthy.—G. G. IloitTON, Manchester, Fl , 1860. 
The only <juewtion in regard to the above, in settling 
the nature of the stones, would be as to their composi¬ 
tion. if really stale, then the beast must have swallowed 
them, but the probability is that they are what is called 
betoart, a specio* of calculi frequeutly found in the 
stomach and in tea tines of horses aud cattle. Those 
found in cattle are a little different from those produced 
In the horse. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— Surprising as the 
statement may be to those who are ignorant of 
the facts, the Rural is not unknown in the 
remote region called the Badger Btute. On the 
contrary, its sterling character and unimpeacha¬ 
ble authority in the department to which it 
belongs, appear to be familiar to many in this, 
till lately’, "Far West,” Whether taken by sub¬ 
scribers, or sent hither by Eastern friends, your 
paper has found Its way out here, and may fre¬ 
quently he met with by the traveler who sojourns 
among the best farmers of the interior of Wiscon¬ 
sin. Vast is the audience to which the press 
speaks. Addiessingsiniultautouslyhundred»and 
thousands of readers, dispersed in widely sepa¬ 
rated localities, no voice haa its power, and no 
orator can cope with it in effect. 
The farmers of AVisconsin had, this year, until 
within the last month, nothing of which to com¬ 
plain. Tbe soil yielded more abundant crops 
than had hitherto been obtained; the harvests 
were successful; the prices of produce were 
remunerative; tho prospect of returning pros¬ 
perity cheered the huBbaudman, as well as every 
other class, with high hopes for the future of the 
State. 
The wheat crop of Wisconsin this year was 
estimated, by a Committee appointed by the State 
Agricultural Society, who carefully canvassed the 
grain districts, at twenty-two trillions of bush eh, 
from 1,002,000 acres, being one-third greater area 
than was harvested in 1859* It was also estimated 
that the necessities of home consumption would 
require six millions of bushels, leaving a sur¬ 
plus for export of sixteen millions. As I shall 
show in another letter, the figures of shipments 
and wheat in store, show tho estimate not wide 
of the mark. 
The agricullnial products of the State for the 
year fall little short of $50,000,000. The com¬ 
mercial “break up” lias left large quantities of 
grain in the hands of buyers here, who, of course, 
in consequence, have suffered severely. Not a 
cubic foot of room is left to store another bushel 
in the city of Milwaukee: the warehouses are now 
literally bursting with the over-pressure of their 
contents. The receipts of grain are now merely 
trifling, and the market is at a stand still. Some 
interest is manifested in the grain growing dis¬ 
tricts respecting the renewal asked by Mr. 
McCormick for his reaper patent; and it must 
be confessed that, the popular feeling is against 
any extension. More anon. Club. 
Milwaukee, Wis,, Dec , 1S60. 
?Aqvicultural iilisccllmuj 
The Ohio State Board or Agriculturh held its 
Annual Meeting, at Columbus, on the 5th lust. Sixty- 
nine counties were represented. A committee to whom 
had been referred the proposition of Mr. Secretary 
Klippart, for a system of monthly Reports of Crops, 
reported favorably, and recommended that the Board 
instruct the Secretary to prepare suitable blanks to be 
forwarded to the Secretaries of County Societies, to be 
filled and returned. The information solicikd is—1. The 
condition of all the growing crops; 2. The condition of 
live stock; 3, The amount or former crops on hand in 
the county; 4. The condition and prospect of the fruit 
crop; 5. The prices of grain, stock, hogs and cattle, in 
their several counties. AVe regard this ae an excellent 
move—similar, for a State, to the suggestion of Lieut. 
Maukt, in the Rural New-Yorker, relative to Crop 
Statistics for tbe whole Union. The Board discussed 
the Management of Fairs at some length—talking of 
amusement*, the sale of intoxicating liquors, side shows 
and others devices — and finally adopted a resolution 
recommending County Societies to “exclude from their 
grounds all obscene and immoral side shows," [Is such 
f. resolution really necessary in the moral and enlight¬ 
ened State of Ohio?] A resolution averring “ that the 
State should pass a law rendering the owners of horses, 
hogs, sheep and cattle running at large, liable for all 
damages they may do on the lands of others, without 
regard to the character of the fences inclosing such 
lands,” was warmly discussed and finally adopted by a 
vote of SO to 17. The following are the principal officers 
elected : President— Darwin 15. Gardner. Rec. Secre¬ 
tary— AVm. Dewitt. Treasurer— C. W. Pot win. Cor. 
Secretary— J. H. Kutpart, Columbus. 
Bartlett's Ditching Plow a Success.— In July last 
we gave a cut and brief description of a Ditching Plow 
invented by Mr. BahtlUtt, of Romulus, N. Y. Since 
then we have heard several favorable reports in regard 
to its operation. Among others, Mr, Wm. A, Green, of 
Chicago—who is improving and planting an extensive 
fruit farmat St. Joseph, Mich , and obtained the plow at 
our suggestion—informed us, during a recent interview, 
of his success in its use. During the season he has cut 
about six miles of ditch for tile draining with Bartlett's 
Plow, and thinks he has saved $300 in the operation. 
In common soil one spaa of horses is sufficient to operate 
the machine, bat Mr. G's was hard, dry day—new land, 
never broken—and in order to cat roots and perforate 
the day he was obliged to use more team. He thinks it 
a tip-top machine, aud says if any one purchases it on 
his recommendation, aud itdooB not answer the purpose, 
he will pay the bill. [Mr. G. made hia ditches from 3 to 
4 feet deep ] This is strong testimony, but we give it 
for the benefit of all interested, and without the knowl¬ 
edge of Mr. Bartlett. 
THE RURAL-SORGHUM IN MICHIGAN. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— It was not my for¬ 
tune to he educated in the principles and philoso¬ 
phy of practical agriculture, — nor do I now 
profess much experience in the cultivation of the 
soil,—but am, at this late day of life, endeavoring 
to treasure tip from the knowledge and experi¬ 
ence of others, some things which may prove of 
inestimable worth while passing along, and be a 
comfort of reflection in the dull aud monotonous 
hours of deerepid old age. For this pnrpose I 
subscribed for j onr valuable paper, hopingtolearn 
somethings out of the ordinary mode and rules of 
old fashioned husbandry,—something commend¬ 
atory to the progressive age in which we live,— 
and I find the Rural to be nn entire encyclope¬ 
dia of human thought and human suggestions on 
the various subjects which interest nn enterpris¬ 
ing and Industrious people. 
There appears to he a radical difference in the 
While some 
The Farmer's Po&iviux. —The men of press and pulpit 
—of law, letters, and lotions—are beginning to realize 
that the Farmer and Horticulturist may acquire aud 
maintain a “ distinguished” position. N. F Willis, of 
the Home Journal, though a poet and fanciful writer, 
recently said what a good many shrewd people are think¬ 
ing, as follows:—“The farmer is on the rise. To be a 
‘distinguished man,' now-a-days, there is no saTerormore 
substantial way than to be an‘eminent agriculturist,’ 
‘successful horticulturist,’ or the like—a Longworth, a 
Wilder, a Grant, a Johnson, It iB the way of the world 
that the crowns of distinction should thus change heads. 
Poets, hanged in one age as vagrants, in another age are 
honored with monuments in Westminster Abbey. Peli- 
Ticlans, once statesmen, are now—we will not 6 ay wbat; 
but see the amount of private character it takes to stand 
the doubtful honor of being a 1 public man!’ Authors 
aud authoresses are so multiplying that to be introduced 
to a stranger as 1 the popular writer’ is to have prejudice 
to overcome. No 1 there is no way for a man to be 
‘looked up to,' for the Dext half century, like being an 
A Quaker Cow. —It is printed that John C. Lester, of 
Quikerlown, Pa., has a red grade Durham among his 
dairy herd that weighs 1,370 pounds. Fed on eight 
quarts o! corn meal and oats, with what hay she needed, 
she gave, in seven consecutive days, oue week after 
calving, 339M pounds of milk, which produced 15 pounds 
of butter. Five months later, having milked extraordi¬ 
narily all summer, she made nearly 13 pounds of butter 
per week. The old Quaker says he has owned a great 
many cows, hut “ nary such auitfier" There is pleasure 
and profit in a good cow, and little but disappointment 
and loss in a poor one. 
experience of practical farmers, 
are content to pursue the old, worn-out, beaten 
path,—doing np things after the manner of their 
fathers, — others are laboring to improve upon 
the experience of olden time, making that expe¬ 
rience the only stepping stone to a higher and 
more elevated position in the rank and file of 
agricultural pursuits. Men of varied miuds dis- 
ogree in the well known theories of the present 
age concerning farming pursuits. Their practices 
are at variance with one another, and with the 
established laws of nature in her efforts to yield 
an ample supply for man and beast, and it would 
be passing strange to hear of universal prosper¬ 
ity, when men differ so widely on the feasibility, 
mode und manner of raising the various produc¬ 
tions of a northern latitude. I was somewhat 
surprised in reading an article in a late issue of 
yonr paper, entitled “Sorghum and Fairs.” The 
author undoubtedly felt himself trampling upon 
a fallen foe, and had it not been for the struggling 
elements of life in the constitution, he would 
have choked the poor thing to death, or drove it 
hack to its native land. “It may he owiug to a 
deficiency in reading the statistical journals of 
the day,” but really, I can see no reason for judg¬ 
ing so prematurely upon an article of production 
that has had no real test of its merits. A few 
here and there have tried the experiment in a 
■WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE 
Indiscriminate destruction of trees and shrub¬ 
bery has generally characterized the clearings of 
onr Woodland rioneers. Many “old settlers,” 
who once classed wolves and trees in the same 
category of extermination, have lived to mourn 
their unwise course, aud to endeavor to atone 
for their early folly by planting trees snd shrub¬ 
bery, to supply future generations with the shade 
and ornament which might have been already 
long enjoyed by themselves, if some of the origi¬ 
nal trees aud shrubbery had been preserved while 
clearing around the house and farm. 
The comfort and value of a homestead and 
farm embellished with trees and shrubbery, con¬ 
trasted with the desolate appearance of premises 
without such embellishments, furnish lessons 
that should not be neglected while clearing land. 
In the mere dollar-and-cent aspect of the case, 
few things will “pay” better than attention to 
this matter. 
The writer of this article, contracting lately 
for certain clearings, required that claslers of 
trees and shrubs, amounting to at least two acres 
out of the ten acres enclosed first around the log- 
Which is the Best Fertilizer for Wheat?— The 
following relative to experiments made in fertilizing 
wheat the past season, by Geo. H. Crash, of Cayuga 
county, may aid in answering this often-asked question: 
“ Two birrels of salt were applied to one acre, two two- 
horse loads of ashes to another, and a hundred bushels 
of lime to a third. The salt proved least useful, the 
ashes more so, and the lime most of all. Tho result has 
not yet been measured, but tbe effect was very visible 
when growing The land was a clayey loam, underlaid 
by limestone rock.” 
The Weather of the past two weeks has been fine 
for the season, with fair sleighing most of the time. The 
snow is only a few Inches deep la this section, yet there 
1b sufficient for business purposes, and it is being employed 
to good advantage by farmers and others engaged in out¬ 
door employ ments, visiting, etc. 
Those Bronze Turrets —In reference to the bronze 
turkeys mentioned in a lato Rural— stating that C. W. 
C 01 .K 9 , of Conn , had one five months old that weighed 
18 lbs., which now weighs 3d, his flock avernging 15 lbs., 
&c„—Mr. A Kldredoe, Jr., of No. White Creek, writes 
us thus:— “Now, as to the average, there is nothing 
remarkable about that. Miue average more; I have oue 
that weighed 20 lbs. at five monthB old, and now Z4. But 
what I wish to know is the process of making a turkey 
gain twelve poundB in four or five weeks.” Perhaps Mr. 
C. can enlighten Mr. 15., but we reckon the process must 
be difficult or expensive, if not both. 
Large Tubers.— Recently Mr. C. F. Weaver, of Pen- 
field, presented us a Ruta Baga which weighed, after 
being washed clean. 20 lbB., with the top on, and 17 '4 
lbs. after topping. It was one of a crop of 1,400 bushels 
barvested from three rods less than two acres of ground. 
And Mr. A. J. Rcissey, of Bethany, writes na that a 
neighbors of bis, when harvesting his beets this fall, 
selected and weighed four of the largest with the follow¬ 
ing result:—No. 1-22 lbs.; 2-19M lbs ; 3-18 lbs.; 4- 
Yi% lbs. It is asked “ who can beat these beets?” 
To Corresi'Ovdk.'ts.—W e are always glad to hear 
from practical farmers and horticulturists on subjects 
with which they' lire familiar,—hut all articles sent us 
for publication Ehould be accompanied by the real name 
of the writer, even though omitted in printing. 
