- 
heifer is well fed and well cared for, she will 
make a better cow if she comes in at two years 
old than at three. 
Mr. Allen also favors in-and-in breeding, and 
says, “ the thing has been too long and too per¬ 
sistently tried by the best breeders the world 
ever knew, in domestic animals of every known 
variety, to need farther argument or elucidation, 
and the best and most popular cattle now in 
England or America, are the fruits of this prac¬ 
tice.” We have so great respect for Mr. Allen’s 
judgment on this point that we will only say 
that it must be done with great caution, and 
only the skillful breeder should undertake it. 
He also states “that our dairy herds, instead 
of yielding 350 lbs. or 400 lbs. of cheese, or but 
150 to 180 pounds of butter to the cow, on the 
average, as they now do, can, by properly 
breeding and care of the cow, be increased 
twenty-five to fifty per cent., beyond these 
figures. We agree fully in the main idea, that 
it is better, on the whole, to breed one’s own 
stock for the dairy. They may cost more, but 
they will be better and ffivr? serviceable than a 
herd picked up at raudotn. 
Mr. Paxson of Erie, said that in his section 
he found it difficult enough to get farmers to 
subscribe for agricultural papers already long 
established, and of the best standing. He be¬ 
lieved that if the proposed paper were estab¬ 
lished, not two out of five even of those now 
present would take it, and not five times as many 
in the whold country. The true way was to use 
the papers now published, and write for them 
ourselves, and force them to give us a hearing. 
Mr. Leland of N. Y., did not believe the pro¬ 
posed paper would be of real interest and benefit 
to dairymen, for they already had all the informa¬ 
tion they needed, reading them in every conceiv¬ 
able form. He thought it was likely that the 
real object of the paper was uot to benefit the 
Association, but to furnish place for some one 
interested. New York cheese-buyers had made 
no money this season. Cheese makers had re¬ 
ceived as high prices as the demand would 
warrant all through the season. A paper whose 
object should be to improve the manufacture, he 
could see the benefit of, but to talk of higher 
prices than those of last season, was going too 
far. (Applause.) 
Mr. I, EACH of Chenango, ofiered the following: 
Jtesolvcd, That the necessities of the dairy pub¬ 
lic demand a weekly paper devoted exclusively 
to Xheir interests. 
Alter considerable discussion this resolution 
was carried. 
On the subject of forming a Natioal Associa¬ 
tion the following was adopted. 
“ 1lesolved. That it is the sense of this Convention 
that the name of this organization be changed to 
that of The American Cheese Manufacturers’ 
Association.” 
The two next subjects were tabled and the fifth 
announced in order. 
Mr. Stone of Chicago, said the Southern trade 
would require a peculiar sort of cheese. The 
milk should be skimmed, that the cheese 
might be less oily. Western makers 6ent no 
cheese East. They found an abundant market at 
home. 
Mr. Bartlett of Ohio, thought there was an 
immense cheese market opening in the Southern 
States. Durihg the latter part of the last season, 
prices for Ohio makers were from two to three 
cent# better In Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, 
or New Orleans, than New York. This had 
helped much to keep up prices in the East. 
Cheese made partially from skimmed milk, about 
fifteen Inches in diameter, from four to five Inches 
thick, and about thirty days old, was best suited 
to the Southern market. Klcher and older cheese, 
which commanded the highest rates here or at 
the West, did not find a ready sale at the South. 
Chairman Williams (temporarily upon the 
floor) thought the home trade was of as great 
importance os there was ability to pay. The 
South, as soou as they had means, would take 
large quantities. Dealers In New York, if they 
could get cheese of the proper farmers, would 
prefer it to eklm cheese. A. flat cheese weighing 
not over three pounds would find a good market. 
Our synopsis of proceedings will bo continued. 
disease did not reappear, by a single application ol 
this same remedy. It was in both cases on the verge 
of winter. The disease in one instance was among 
lambs, and was not in a virulent stage. In the other, 
the sharp were in the second year of the malady, and 
though some of them Were quite lame, we think there 
were no instance* of that advanced stage of ulceration 
where the foot la a black, spongy, disorganized mo 
of corruption. In the last-named condition, we think 
The Commi?sionner of Agriculture. — W e ob¬ 
serve that our agricultural and other exchange* 
continue “after" Mr. commi?sioner-of-Agriculture 
Newton, aud that a number of State Agricultural. 
Pomological and other Societies, are also “down" 
upon Sir Isaac. The Indiana State Board of Ag- 
ricnltu re recently voted hint - notoriously incompetent 
to fill the position he now hold*," and that, “his fur¬ 
ther continuance in his present position is detrimen¬ 
tal to the interest* for which the Bureau was 
established." And the Ohio Pomological Society 
“adds insult to injury" by gravely resolving “that 
we earnestly entreat the President of the United 
Anthony, V'estbury. N. Y„ writes that he has wild 
prairie land in Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa, which be 
wishes to pasture with sheep, and he asks what kind 
of sheep he should purchase, where purchase them, 
and bow get them there. Were the land an old, cul¬ 
tivated, rich farm, we should be strongly inclined to 
advise Mr. Anthony to try the iong-vroolwl aheap— 
so great and Increasing is the demand for long, comb¬ 
ing wools. But the Leicester, Cotswold, Lincoln, 
etc., are illy adapted to any situation where there is 
not abundant herbage all the year round and good 
protection in twintcr. We therefore advise blm to 
pick up the best “common sheep" be can — i. e., the 
strongest and thriftiest—fleece being but a secondary 
consideration —and breed them up Into heavy fleeced 
sheep, by tho use of Merino ram*. ’I ho nearer he 
can buy them to Iowa the better; and driving on foot, 
even though It consume weeks. 1* cheaper and better 
than rail transportation is, if the flock Is a large one. 
YOLK AND FATTENING PROPERTIES. 
A>' intelligent friend calls our attention to 
a statement made by a correspondent of the 
Country Genllemau, that Joitn Johnston of 
Geneva, preferred Merinos for fattening, but 
declined to have anythiug to do with the “ greasy 
fellows”—that “he wanted the grease mixed 
up with the meat, not with the woo); ” and our 
friend asks, “if we regard this as correctly 
stated, and as sound doctrine.” The Country 
Gentleman’s correspondent “X. A. W.,” we 
may take the liberty to say, is Mr. Willard of 
Little Falls, than whom no man would attempt 
to state a conversation more correctly. Aud 
taking Mr. .Johnston as he undoubtedly meant 
to he understood — not as objecting to all yolk 
or “ grease ” in the wool, hut to an excess of it— 
we believe fully in the soundness of hla doctrine. 
Excessively yolky fleeced sheep are notoriously 
hard keepers. Wc are not prepared to explain 
the physiological fact Wc have sometimes con¬ 
jectured that the excessive secretion of yolk was 
produced by an abnormal condition of the skin 
and subjacent tissues —or an abnormal action 
of the secretory glands — Indicating some do 
ficiency in the constitution. Be this as it 
may, these sheep are less hardy generally, and 
especially so in resisting intense cold. Other 
persons may have seen broad, round, deep- 
barreled, thoroughly hardy sheep of this stamp, 
but in more than thirty years of constant obser¬ 
vation and experience among Merinos, we never 
happened to see one. It is true we have noticed 
carefully tended animals which passed for such, 
hut exposed to hardships, or eveu to usual winter 
-vicissitudes to which limners’ flocks arc in gen¬ 
eral exposed, they are always out of condition. 
Rams of this description which have been worked 
hard in the ewe season, require the nicest care, 
or they stand an even chance to die the first 
winter. 
Filling Ice-Houses with Snow. 
The laborious aud expensive way of securing 
a sufficient, supply of Ice for the summer season 
might now be done away with, and a new method 
adopted with equal advantages, if wc might be¬ 
lieve the following from a correspondent of 
the Country Gentleman. He says:—I beg leave 
to give you the experience of one of our “Clif¬ 
ton Farmer's Club,” of Clifton, O. His ice¬ 
house is situated on the side of a gravel hill, 
covering a pit ten feet deep, and twelve feet 
square, and i# a simple frame structure over 
the pit about four or five feet in height; the 
sides of the pit are boarded up, and the drain¬ 
age is through the gravel. Finding it expensive 
to haul ice from the neighboring ponds and 
rivers, he last winter filled hi# house with snow', 
after the custom prevailing In Switzerland and 
California (for my friend Is a traveler,) simply 
rolling it up tn masses, and with a wheelbarrow- 
conveying it to the house—first lining the sides 
of the pit with straw, and after it was filled cov¬ 
ering the snow with the same material, thus fill* 
iqg his house without cost, and securing an 
abundant supply of good Ice for his large family 
during the whole summer. The snow settled 
down into a compact mass when the spring and 
summer heats affected it, and a portion still 
remains at the bottom of the pit as solid as a 
glacier of the Alps. 
To Advertisers.— A?!. Explanation.— As fi'e find it 
difficult, if not impossible, to comply with their 
requests, an explanation is due and tendered to our 
advertising friends. For weeks, and months, wo have 
been unable to Insert all the advertisements offered, 
and hence have each week been constrained to give, 
of tho*i* which came first, such a* were most appro¬ 
priate. Last week we rtf v*ed a three column adver 
tisement (mostly paid for in advance, for the reason 
that we could not consistently give it the position 
desired—and we are this week obliged to defer a col¬ 
umn one for the same reason. Many advertisements 
(which would pay as well as any.) are declined 
because we do not believe they are reliable or 
pro motive of the public weal, and others for the reason 
that we have not space for their publication. But we 
beg to assure all honorable advertisers, whose, an¬ 
nouncements are appropriate for the pages of the 
Rural, that It Is our aim to accommodate them, so 
fur as consistent—yet, a* we must not Infringe upon 
reading departments, those whose favors are deferred 
or declined, will understand that we cannot always 
flivor them, even though it would prove greatly to our 
advantage pecuniarily. 
Lovo Wool Sheet.—S, Tillso.v. Onowa. Monona 
Co., Iowa. If Judge Cicaffee neglected to answer 
your letter, in regard to Shropshire sheep, it was un¬ 
doubtedly because he did uot receive it. Hts address 
is Hon. N. L. Chaffee, Jefferson, Aahtabnla Co., 
Ohio. Wm. Beebe, Esq., of Northport, Buffolk Co., 
N. y„ was on the point of importing some improved 
Lincolns, when the recent resolution of Congress, 
(stopping the Importation of cattle,) prevented tt. 
We hope, however, that the circumstances which 
caused this interdict will pass away tn a few months. 
The Lincolns, we understand, particularly excel in 
that luster wool you inquire for. There are good 
Leicester and Cotswold flocks in this country and 
Canada, which we should be glad to call attention to, 
on receiving the proper information from their pro¬ 
prietor*. We are glad that you propose a trial of the 
long wools id Iowa, and regard your reasoning on the 
subject as sound. 
Inflammation of the Lungs. —E. Shattuck, Jr., 
Cherry Creek, N. Y. Your ram doubtless died of in¬ 
flammation of the lungs, and we are inclined to 
believe the disease was induced by the accidental 
lodgement of the head of timothy you forward, in the 
substance ol' the lung. 
Doings of Agricultural Societies, &c.— We 
continue our synopsis of proceedings of Rural Socie¬ 
ties at their annual meetings: 
United Stotts Agricultural Society. —The annual 
meeting of this Soclty was held at its rooms in the 
Capitol at Washington, on the 10th inst., Hon. B. B. 
French, President, in the chair. The officers of last 
year were re-eleetcd, and a resolution adopted ap¬ 
pointing a general meeting on the second Wednesday 
of January. 1407. A resolution was adopted bearing 
testimony to the estimable virtues and eminent busi¬ 
ness qualities of the late President of the Society, 
Hon. Wm. Blackstone Hubbard of Columbus, Ohio, 
whose death bad receutly been announced. 
A Subscriber, (Rural Valley. Pa.)—The symptoms 
you describe are not, so far as we know, characteristic 
of any particular disease. They might appear in the 
last stages of several cutaneous, and possibly other 
diseases, though they are very unusual. 
Fanning Tools. 
There is a plow out in the snow, and the 
horse-rake is up in the middle of the field. 
Neglect left them there when lie went off fish¬ 
ing instead of finishing his work. Neglect will 
always be a shiftless, thriftless fellow. Bring 
them in and see il’ they want repairing. Yes, a 
tooth is goue, aud a handle of the plow is split. 
Well, look about, examine all the tools, aud 
place those that want repairing in the shop. 
The first stormy day that comes they must be 
repaired, and so of all other tools that need 
mending; devote the stormy days to them till 
all are in order and ready for use. Every farmer 
should have such tools as are necessary to do 
the ordinary repairs of his farming tools. If he 
has not got such, let him get them forthwith. 
It will be money in his pocket .—Mirror and 
Farmer. 
Scab.—A, Adam?, Portland, Whiteside Co., Illinois. 
Tho disease you describe in your llock, is the scab. 
For the proper remedies consult back numbers of this 
paper, or any work on practical sheep husbandry. 
Condensed Correspondence, Items, 
Winter Feed, &c.-Ww, C, Norton, Sprlngwater, 
N. Y,, wishes to know—1. Whether tegs and breed¬ 
ing n we# require grain in addition to good clover 
hay l 2. If bo, what grain is cheapest? 3. Whether 
“oats will injure lambs or breeding ewes in any way, 
present or future V' L Whether (as an “old gentle¬ 
man has Informed him”) clover hay fed to breeding 
ewes will produce abortion? We answer the first 
question In the negative, provided the sheep go into 
the winter tn good condition, have good shelters and 
are properly cared for. We prefer, however, even 
then to give teg* a little grain to increase their growth. 
There it nu Important fact in this Connection, Sheep 
acquire habits ol' living which exercise an important 
influence. If breeding ewes have been used to having 
grain In the winter, they are apt to fall off in condi¬ 
tion and strength without it. (Seenext article.) The 
cheapness of tho proper grain for feeding varies. 
These are, in fact, in this region, limited to oats and 
corn. Some good farmers feed buckwheat, but we 
have never tried it with breeding ewes, and feel a 
little afraid Of it. Corn, unless fed in limited quan¬ 
tities, is thought by Eastern farmers more likely to 
cloy tegs, and to be more beating both to them and 
breeding ewes than oats. In the West, where the 
sheep “ are brought up on corn,” no such fears of it 
are entertained. Wc consider oafs the beat feed of 
the two. They promote the growth of muscle. Corn 
promotes the secretion of fat. The one that costa 
least by thr. pound is cheapest. The Idea (and we have 
heard it advanced before) that oats arc au injurious 
feed to sheep of any age. Is, in our judgment, a per¬ 
fectly farcical one. But it is not more farcical than 
the idea that good clover hay will produce abortion! 
A BUTTER WORKER 
Vermont Stole Agricultural Society. — The annual 
meeting of this Society was held at Rutland, Jan. 3, 
Hon. J. W. Colburn. President, in tho chair. The 
Treasurer’s report showed the handsome balance of 
$5,732.73 on hand. Resolutions were adopted, com¬ 
mittee# appointed, etc., to secure the attention and 
action of Congress in the matter of properly protect¬ 
ing the wool producers of Vermont. It was voted 
that the title of the Society be so amended as to read 
“ The Vermont State Ag.’l Society and Wool Growers’ 
Association.” The following Board of officers was 
then elected for 1906: 
FresiiJi tit-Jlon. Jos ei-h W. Colburn, Springfield. 
Vice Presidents— Henry Keyes. Newbury; .John Greg¬ 
ory, Northfldd ; Henry G. Root. Bennington ; Henry 
s. Morse, shclbnmc. Treasurer — J. W. Colburn, 
Springfield Cot . Secretary — Henry Boynton. Wood- 
stock. Secreton— Henry Clark. Poultney. Board qf 
interim— Hon. Edwin lnuunioud. Middlebnry; E. B. 
Chare, Lyndon • Elijah Cleavdaud, Coventry; Geo. 
Campbell. Westminster: Henry Hayward,Clarendon; 
Wm u. Sandfoid, Orwell; Wm. Q Brown, Fairbaven; 
b B SaflbnJ, Hartford: Victor Wright, Middlcbury; 
Henry B. Kent, Dorset; Crosby Miller, Pom fret; L 
Brainerd. Jr., St. Albans: It. Bradley, Bruttleboro. 
Monroe Co. Ay. Society.— The annual meeting of 
this Society, held in this city on Wednesday week, 
was not as well attended as it should have been by 
the farmers of the County. Treasurer Lay reported 
the Society free from debt, with a balance of $719.73. 
Officers for 1806: Pnmhnt—V. D. 8. Brown, Wheat- 
laud. Vice President*— B. M. Baker. Rochester; It. P. 
Hubbard, Riga; M. A. Culver, Brighton. Secretary- 
Henry Talbot, Rochester. Treasurer—L. D. Mitchell, 
Pittsford. Directors —N a than Palmer, Benj. Birdsall, 
J. A. Stull, D. D. T. Moore, C. 8. Wright, J. P. Ross. 
Herewith we present to the readers of the 
Dairy Department an engraving, showing two 
forms of a very useful aud labor-saving machine, 
namely: a butter worker. In small dairies aud 
farmers’ families, where the working of butter is 
generally performed with the old-fashioned bowl 
and ladle, the adoption of this machine would 
effect a great saving In time and labor. Any 
housewife can testify to the severe work of 
handling large masses of hard, firm butter by 
the common method, and wc now advise them, 
during the leisure time of winter, to give the 
“lords of creation” no rest until they furnish 
a working model of one of these machines. 
CONVENTION OF CHEESE MAKERS, 
The Cheese Makers held their Third Annual 
Convention in Utica last week. Six hundred 
dairymen were present, and six States and the 
Canadas were represented. Wo condense from 
the report of the Utica Morning Herald: 
The Convention, on being called to order, 
was addressed by the Hon. George Williams, 
President, and after the usual Committees were 
appointed, the following subjects were presented 
for discussion: 
1. Au arrangement for a weekly organ devoted 
to the dairyman’s interest. 
■J. Forming a National Association. 
3. The advantage and profits of connecting 
butter with cheese manufacture. 
4. The policy of sending an agent to England 
to investigate and report upon the style of cheese 
demanded by the t rade, and the method of man- 
ufrtcture. 
5. The importance, new features, and require¬ 
ments of the h*>me trade. 
0. The policy of establishing a dal ryman’6 sales¬ 
room and depot in New York. 
7. Best grasses and stock for dairy purposes. 
8. Best heaters. 
On motion, the report was adopted, and the 
Committee discharged. 
The discussion of question No. 1, was then 
taken up. The Chair 6aid that he was unwilling 
to open the discussion, but thought the topic 
was the most important one that would come 
before the Convention, He believed an organ 
circulating among the members of the Associa¬ 
tion was indispensable to them. A journal not 
wholly devoted to their interests, was insuffi¬ 
cient. Other associations had an organ wholly 
their own. One of the great advantages of such 
an organ would he the publishing of statistics 
interesting to cheese makers. 
Mr. Barti.ett of Ohio, remarked that in Ohio 
they professed to be ignorant of dairying and 
cheese manufacture, but they were anxious to 
learn. Of late the inquiry had there been made 
for a newspaper wholly in the cheese makers’ 
interests. They had heard that the Utica Herald 
devoted a large share of its columns to the 
dairymen, but it was also a political and literary 
paper. The speaker believed that dairymen 
needed a paper exclusively their own. 
Mr. Comstock of Oneida, iu view of the 
importance of the subject, could not, he said, 
keep quiet. He was in favor of a newspaper 
that would give reliably all the sales of cheese, 
to whom sold, aud the price received. It might 
he best, as hud been suggested, to have a circular 
the first year, giving the amount of cheese sold 
and the price received. 
Mr. Farrington of Canada West, suggested 
that another valuable feature of the proposed 
paper would be reports of the disease among 
eow& which is now prevalent. 
Growth of Timber. 
It is a singular fact that what were vast 
treeless prairies iu Illinois, twelve years ago, 
are now covered with a dense growth of thrifty 
young forest trees, comprising various species 
of oak, hickory, coiton-wood, ash, etc. So 
rapid has been the change in many localities, 
that where some of the earlier settlers located, 
twenty-five years ago, without a tree around 
them, thej r can now cut aud hew good building 
timber a foot square. Prairie land, when kept 
from the aunual fail burning formerly practiced 
by the Indians, rapidly produces a growth of 
trees. Some of the old citizens, who greedily 
located the timber land when they came to this 
country, aud were careless about acquiring 
prairie, now find the latter of more value than 
the former, their timber having grown faster 
than they used it— Ex. 
r One kind of butter worker is somewhat sim¬ 
ple, and less expensive than the other. It can 
be made entirely of wood, and light to handle 
and move about. The engraving is sufficiently 
clear to explain it. 
Habits or Sheep.— Sheep, as remarked above, form 
habits which it is difficult and not always safe to forqg 
them to change. We have already cited the case of 
feeding grain to breeding ewes in winter. Those 
only accustomed to good hay will thrive on it. Those 
fed grain year after ye ir will languish without it. 
Sheep taught to cat sir w. even ripe wheat straw, 
from the time they are l.unl s, will continue to eat a 
portion of it nr choice, < very day, though plentifully 
supplied with bay. And wc have seen thrifty flocks 
of breeding ewes wfiltered on wheat straw and say 
114 gills of corn each per day, until 1st of March. 
Sheep “brought up" on hay exclusively can scarcely 
be starved to eat ripe wheat straw freely, aud will 
drop off in condition aud strength rapidly if couflned 
to it with the above named allowance of coni. A 
.highly fed and summer-housed sheep, if compelled to 
“ rongh it,” in the common farmer's way, will soon 
pine away and perish. A sheep that has always 
“ roughed tt” if suddenly pampered, will also gener¬ 
ally find iho change fatal. A multitude of similar 
examples might be given aud they all go to prove two 
things: 1. That violent changes In the established 
habit# ol sheep should be avoided, and—2. That in 
judging what is best for sheep, we must not attempt 
to judge all things by thenarrow groove in which our 
own individual experience may have run. 
Genesee Co. A<j. Society. — This Society held its 
annual meeting lust week. It Is in a very prosperous | 
condition—entirely free from debt, and has nearly i 
, Officer# for 1866: President— I 
Vice Presidents —Addison Foster I 
Treasurer —Carlos A. Hull, Sec'y I 
Directors —Chester Uanmim and I 
Catching Rabbits. 
I destroy rabbits with the old box trap, 
baited with a piece of an ear of corn; they 
destroyed about one thousand nursery trees one 
winter for me. Strychnine mixed with coni 
meal is a certain method. Greasing trees often 
kills them if the grease he soft. I do not prune 
my nursery trees except to keep a leader, aud 
the rabbits will eat the little laterals before 
attacking the bark on the main stem. I find it 
pays to keep cats, as mice, rats and rabbits arc 
destroyed by them. Give your cats plenty to 
eat, aud furnish them quarters among the other 
animals, but keep them out of the house, unless 
you have use for them.— WU. Cor. Ger. Tel. 
$300 in the Treasury, 
Sanford Wilder. 
and Henry Dixon. 
—Hiram K. Buell. 
Eli Taylor. 
Annual Meetings. Ac., (o be Held .—Tho N. Y. Stab 
Ag. Society’s annual meeting is to be held at the Cap¬ 
itol, Albany. Feb. 14.-The Ohio State Cheese Man¬ 
ufacturers' Association’s annual meeting at Cleveland, 
Jan. 24-25. Address by X. A. Willard. -The Wis¬ 
consin Sorgo Growers are to hold a Convention at 
Madison, Jan. 23-24,-The Annual Winter Meeting 
of the Fruit Growers’ Society of Western New York 
is to be held in the Court House, Rochester, Jan. 24. 
See notice in Rural of Jan, 6th. 
The other is more showy, and in some respects 
better. It is placed on a table, in the drawers 
of which salt may be kept; and if desired other 
dairy implements. The table and worker should 
be made of hard wood. The roller is linked to 
a standard on the table, so as to turn easily in 
both directions, and readily unfastens to be 
removed wheu not iu use. 
Farmers' Clubs.— The Syracuse Journal perti- I 
nently says“ There ought to he a Farmers' Club I 
in every town iu Centra) New York. Discussions I 
on the chief points of agriculture, on the crops, j 
different breed# of stock, comparative profits, statis- I 
ties of different States and nations, are delightfully I 
instructive. The Club may be the nucleus of a I 
Library, or of a Reading Room, or of a course of Sci- fl 
entitle Lectures. In all the towns of Central Ne" ) 
York, there is great need of these organizations L 
which died out with the war and need renewing in I 
these halcyon day# of peace.” 
_For "CentralNew York,” in the above, please I 
read “every rural district or town in the United I 
State#, where Farmers’ Clubs have been or should he I 
organized"—and take action accordingly. 
Manure Pits.—P rof. Voeleket- recommends 
that the- 6ides aud bottoms of manure pits should 
he rendered impermeable to water, either by clay 
pudding or hydraulic cement; that the bottom 
of the manure pit should be in a slightly inclined 
position, so as to carry the liquid manure and 
drainings into a manure tank, which should he 
close by. The tank should be provided with a 
pump, so as to return the liquid matter to the 
heap in dry weather. The heap should likewise 
he well trodden. 
Take care of the plows. While they are idle 
see that they are well cleaned, and covered with 
a coating of lard and resin. 
BREEDING OF DAIRY COWS, 
Hoof-Rot.— J. R, Gaston, El Paso. Woodford C’o., 
HI., writes to us that having 126 shec-p lame of hoof- 
rot in a flock of 969, he has pared their feet—the 
sound as well as the diseased—and dipped them in a 
hot solution of blue vitriol (Nor. 20th); aud he wishes 
to know if this will suffice to cure them. This de¬ 
pends upon circumstance#—but il, as hinted, the dis¬ 
ease had been previously neglected, and was in an 
advanced stage in a portion of the case#, it ie not 
probable that a single application will effect a cure. 
We have twice cured a flock completely, so that the 
In the last Report of the New York State 
Agricultural Society, recently published, we find 
that Hon. Lewis F. Allen, who, by the way, is 
very high authority on these matters, having 
Lad a larger experience and a wide observation, 
concludes that dairymen should raise their own 
cows, as the most economical and sure way to 
obtain a prime herd, ne believes, also, that if a 
