A AiAJU 
DENT COEN-SEED, CULTURE, &c, 
A Great Sheep Fair,— The next Annual Exhibi¬ 
tion of the N. Y. State Sheep Breeders’ and Wool 
Growers’ Association — to he held on the Fair 
Grounds of the Monroe Co. Ag'l Society, near this 
city. May 8th. 9th and 10th — should he largely 
attended by those interested. The indications are 
favorable for a fine show and large attendance. The 
sheep breeders and wool growers of Western New 
York should exhibit the best, representatives of their 
flocke, and compare animals and notes with their 
brethren from other sections and States, Canada, &c. 
Read Dr. Randall’* article, entitled “The Coming 
Fair in Rochester,” in onr last No., page 118; also the 
Programme of the Fair, in Riirai. of March 24, (in¬ 
cluding Classification, Prizes, list of Viewing Com¬ 
mittees, Regulations, Ac.,) and then make arrange¬ 
ments to attend. The State Fairs held In Rochester 
have always proved eminently successful, and we 
presume the State Sheep Show will result favorably. 
Ayrshire and Jersey Cows. 
Mr. Sanford Howard, Secretary of the 
Michigan State Board of Agriculture, and well 
posted on the merit* of cattle, writes to the 
Massachusetts Ploughman as follows; 
A few years since, Mr. Teller of Ayrshire, Scot- 
lafid, kept a dairy of twenty-five or thirty cows 
for production of butter. They were kept wholly 
on the soiling system, and were always sheltered, 
except when in the yard for exercise and change 
of air. The herd was mainly Ayrshire*, bred in 
the neighborhood. Trials were, however, made 
with the Channel Island cows, under which 
name those from Guernsey, Alderney and Jer¬ 
sey are known in Britain. The chief object in 
their introduction was to impart more richness 
to the milk and higher color and flavor to the 
butter, and these objects were attained to a cer¬ 
tain extent. While the trials with the full 
bloods from the Islands were going on, crosses 
were made betw een them and the Ayrshire breed, 
and the females of this cross were reared, and at 
proper age took their places in the dairy. I saw 
the herd several times, in different seasons, 
after the trials with the full-bloods and crosses 
had been carried on some years. The proprie¬ 
tor told me he should not] continue the trials, 
but should discard the Channel Island cows and 
their progeny, for the reason that they had not 
so much constitution us the Ayrshire?, would 
not last as long, and required more food in pro¬ 
portion to their returns in milk and butter. 
The conclusion of Professor Low and others, 
that the modern Ayrshire breed owes its pecu¬ 
liar characteristics in part to an admixture with 
the “ dairy breed of Alderney,” may be correct; 
but experiments seem to have shown that a 
further infusion of Jersey and similar blood, 
does not render the Ayrshire more valuable un¬ 
der the circumstances in Scotland. It does not 
necessarily follow that the same result would 
ensue in all cases, especially where less hardi¬ 
ness of constitution is required. 
N. Y. State Fair—Trial of Implements.—A t a 
recent meeting of the Executive Committee of the 
State Agricultural Society, the next State Fair was 
appointed to be held at Saratoga Springs, condition¬ 
ally upon the execution of the n«nal papers at the 
next meeting of the Board, when the date of holding 
the Fair will be definitely fixed. Propositions for 
the Trial of Implements were also motived from 
citizens of Auburn and Utica, and duly considered. 
Instead of deciding at once, the Board appointed 
a Committee to visit the grounds at each place, and 
examine and report in regard to the facilities offered. 
The location will be decided at next meeting. Judges 
for the Trial were appointed, however, and no failure 
is anticipated. 
superstition, akin to that of “planting in the 
moon," I most begin by saying, that a maximum 
crop of Indian corn is by no means to be attained 
by either “ drugs, charms, conjuration, or by 
mighty magic.” Not eveu seed grown in the 
Southwest will answer on a manureless, cold, 
wet soil; the crop can only be made large and 
free from soft ears by the aid of a well under¬ 
drained and highly manured soil, early planted, 
and well tended with the hoe and cultivator, to 
the exclusion of every incipient weed. Plant 
8X feet by 8 In hills, four or five plants to the 
hill. lie has sometimes planted os late as 25th 
of May and got a sound, ripe crop in September; 
but he says it is safer to plant two or three weeks 
earlier, as the plants, however small they may 
be in cool weather, will have larger roots, by 
means of which they will stand a severe drouth 
much better than later and apparently faster 
plants. He is not particular about, the seed if 
it is only from large, full grown care of the Dent 
kind, grown where such eorn is indigenous. He 
sometimes gets It from Southern Ohio—last year 
from Illinois; this Spring he will get it from 
Southern Michigan. When grown In the State 
of New York the Dent variety degenerates year 
after year, until the Dent rune out and it becomes 
a hard flint corn, with a larger cob and collar, 
and a round, hard kernel, like the Dutton. 
But the secret of Mr. Wright’s success will 
appear no marvel, when it is known that besides 
feeding all the hoy, oats, and corn he grows, to 
hia stock, he also buyB a hundred tuns of straw 
and a large quantity of bay from other farmers 
—cuts all fine, together with bis large stalks, by 
horse power, and feeds it with meal, except a 
a stack or two of straw which Is fed In cold 
weather to help support the warmth of the ani¬ 
mal. Thus he makes manure enough to top 
dress bis meadows, and for all his other crops, 
leaving a large surplus to make hiB wdl-draiued 
com fields a porous, absorptive mass of well- 
mixed vegetable and mineral matter, capable of 
boldiug so much water by absorption that his 
com grows apace in the hottest, dryest weather, 
without the curl of a leaf. He has proved by 
experiment that neither the Dutton nor the long- 
eared eight-rowed Yellow, will yield as much by 
at least one-fourth as the many-rowed Dent com 
on the Bame rich soil. 8. w. 
Waterloo, N. Y., April, 1866. 
AVA.'fBUSiflOCi..''*' " 
MIL RAPLEE’S IMPORTED RAM 
hill’s statement of above facts, and E. Ham¬ 
mond’s certificate of its accuracy. The ram s 
present weight (Oct., 1805,) is 102 lbs. His 
weight Immediately after shearing was 148 lbs. 
He was shorn 22d of May, 18(15, and produced 
28 lbs. 1 oz. of wool. He was shorn the pre¬ 
ceding year about the 10th of June; hence the 
fleece was much less than a year's growth.” 
M. G. Raplee, Himrod’s, Yates county, N. 
Y., writes to us: — “I bought the ram ‘ Bona¬ 
parte’ of Henry Robbins and 8. C. Parkhill 
of Vt., May 11th, 1865. Robbinb bought his 
dam of Henry Hammond of Middlebury, in 
Dec., 1859. She was then in lamb by E. Ham 
mond’s ‘Sweepstakes,’ and the produce was 
1 Bonaparte.’ 1 enclose you Bobbins and P^rk- 
The “ M aj.tey House,’' Baltimore.— Onr Southern 
Corresponding Editor. Hon. T. C. Peters, who knows 
whereof ho affirms, writes as follows In regard to 
this HouseI see that you advertise the 1 Mftltby 
Houee,’ Baltimore. I have sojourned there more or 
levs for the last four months, and can assure you that 
it is a model house. Mr. Miller, the present host, 
is attentive, active and energetic. The servants are 
well trained and civil and prompt. The beds are 
clean and good, the rooms arc well kept, and the 
table first-class, comparing favorably with the best 
hotels in town. Any of onr friends ceming this way 
will find no better place to stop.” 
THE RINDERPAST IN ENGLAND, 
It appears by the latest accounts from Eng¬ 
land that the cattle plague there is slightly on 
the decline. The number of new cases for the 
week ending March 10th, was 6,518. The num¬ 
ber attacked, since the commencement of mak¬ 
ing retump, 195,822. Of these there were killed 
32,267; died 119,746; recovered 27,426; not ac¬ 
counted for 15,889. Some 250 inspectors of dis¬ 
tricts failed to make returns, consequently the 
statistics of the disease are incomplete. At an 
average of 830 per head the loss of the English 
farmers, to the date, mentioned, would be about 
four and a half millions of dollars. It is fair to 
conclude, from the data given, that the aggre¬ 
gate loss, from commencement of the plague, 
is not less than six millions of dollars. 
MILKING-BUTTER MAKING 
Bitting Colts in Breaking. 
Rarey is universally acknowledged as a 
master of the art of horse-training, and sugges¬ 
tions from his experience arc worth considering. 
Speaking of the common method of “bitting 
colts,” lie says: — Farmers and horse-breakers 
often put a bitting harness on a eolt the first 
thing they do to him, buckling up the bitting as 
tight as they can draw it, make him carry his 
head high, and then turn him out. in a lot to run 
half a day at a time. This is one of the worst 
punishments they could Inflict on a colt, and 
very Injurious to a youug horse that has been 
running In pasture with his head down. A horse 
should be well accustomed to the bit before the 
bitting harness is put on ; and when he is first 
bitted he should only be reined up to where he 
holds Ms head, let It be high or low; he will 
learn that, he cannot lower his head, and that 
raising it a little will loosen the bit in his mouth. 
This will give him the Idea of raising his head 
to loosen ills bit, and then you can draw the bit 
a litte tighter every time you put it ou, and lie 
will raise his head to loosen It. By this means 
you can gradually get his head and neck iu the 
position you wish him to carry it, and give him 
a graceful carriage without hurting him, making 
him angry or causing his mouth to be sore. 
“The Vermont Puritan.”— The story thus enti¬ 
tled, given in the Rural of March 17, was copied 
from a New England paper, where it was published 
without other title or credit than we accorded. We 
have since learned that it was originally published in 
the New Y'ork Observer, on the 4th of January last, 
as a Prize Story, and under a somewhat different title. 
Though not ourselves at fault, we cheerfully make 
this explanation for the benefit of the Observer, 
which Is one of our most valued exchanges. Our 
rule is to give proper credit in every instance where 
it can be ascertained. 
and an early drying up in autumn. While the 
calves are permitted to feed freely from the 
udder, there is little trouble in extracting all the 
milk from it, but when the weaning t ime comes, 
many eows arc viciously retentive, greatly to the 
annoyance of the milker, and to the detriment 
of the dairy products. In these eases it is poor 
policy to get into a passion involving club 
law; ou the contrary, mildness should be used 
and a friendly relation established between the 
animal and the milker, aa soon as inny be. This 
once done, no more trouble need bo apprehended 
on this score. 
In milking, clean linew should bo a prime con¬ 
sideration. TMb Involves proper personal ablu¬ 
tion, as well as a suitable preparation of the 
udder of the cow for the milking process. We 
have known persons to milk cows in a condition 
so filthy as to render the contents of the raiik- 
pail scarcely fit to throw before swine. Such 
persons have no conception of tbfe luxury of 
pure milk. A good milker will not be in such a 
hurry to fluish as to lose the better and most 
productive portion. It Is estimated that the last 
pint taken from a cow, well stripped, is equal 
to at least five of the first ones. Clean or close 
milking has another advantage: it protracts the 
period during which milk may be obtained. 
Some make a practice of milking cows three 
times during the day—claiming an increased 
product from the practice. This may be so 
where cows are kept under shelter all the time,, 
but when suffered to run at large, involving a 
driving up of the herd at mid-day, the effect 
cannot be otherwise than deleterious. Milking 
twice a day—early in the morning and in the 
cool of the evening—will be found the better 
plan ; certuinly the cosier one, and probably, on 
the whole, quite as productive. 
Woodeu vessels should be used for putting 
down butter, with hoops of the same material, 
as iron ones corrode—the rust striking through 
the staves aud affecting the outer portion of the 
butter. Before being put down, the milk should 
be thoroughly worked out, else the butter will 
soon spoil, or be so far affected as to be rendered 
unmarketable. This should bo done by a free 
use of the butter ladle instead of the hand; for, 
if no better, tbe use of the ladle has a more 
cleanly look. The tub, to be used in packing 
down, should be well cleaned by a free use of 
scalding water. When properly prepared in! 
this respect, the iusidc should be thoroughly 
rubbed over with fine salt and tbe bottom cov¬ 
ered over with, a thin coating of melted butter. 
To preserve the butter, simple rock salt is 
usually relied upon, but a composition made of 
pulverized sugar one part, saltpetre one part, 
aud rock salt two parts—the whole beaten into 
a fine powder—will preserve the butter quite as 
well as pure rock salt, besides giving it a better 
flavor. 
If a richer tinge than is natural be desired, it 
can be supplied, without iujury, by the use of 
carrot juice. Take clean carrots, fresh from the 
garden, if iu season, grate them fine and press 
out the juice through a coarse linen cloth aud 
mix with tbe cream before churning. This im¬ 
proves the appearance of the butter without 
injuriously affecting the taste of it. When a 
tub has been filled, it should be sealed over with 
melted butter, well sprinkled with fine salt aud 
the cover be tightly placed over it that the air 
may be, as far as possible, excluded from the 
mass within. Thus carefully made and packed, 
butler may be relied upon to keep fresh and 
palatable during many months. 
Then and Now.—In a paper, read before the Club 
of the Buffalo Historical Society, on the 12th of 
March, and published in the Patriot & Journal, we 
find the following statement:—“So small was the 
lake commerce tn down freight, that all the flour, 
wheat and corn received at this port, and shipped on 
the canal In 1835 for an eastern market, was equiva¬ 
lent to only 643,815 bushels of grain. Since then, 
there has been received and sent forward through 
the same channel and by railroad more than sixty 
millions of bushels of grain in a single eeason." 
TO PREVENT CALVES FROM SUCKING. 
A correspondent informs us that he turned 
his calves with the cows when they were three 
months old and kept them from sucking by the 
following means: — “I took a piece of elm 
board half an inch thick, five Inches long and 
three wide, and cut a notch in one side, widen¬ 
ing it into the board, so that when adjusted to 
the nostril It would hang there like a riug, Then 
I split away part of the board so that 1 could 
put it on the calf, and afterward refastened the 
split piece with screws. This instrument, which 
is light and causes no pain, will prevent the calf 
from sucking, but will not hinder it from eating 
grass.” ___ 
Fattening Cattle.— It is the common practice at 
the West,and probably elsewhere, to feed wholecorn 
to cattle when np for fattening. Where there 16 a 
superabundance of corn this method of feeding may 
not be of much consequence, though the practice is a 
wasteful one. Corn meal is much preferable, as it 
eaves the labor of the animal in grinding Its own 
food. An ox will fatten a quarter faster on meal than 
on whole corn, while a less amount will be used In 
the procees. 
Sti’mi- Puller. —Tbe North-Western Farmer, Indi¬ 
anapolis, gives an Illustration and description of a new 
stump puller. It is a lever Jan; and beam, by the use 
of which a man can exert a power of from thirty to 
forty thousand pounds. A chain is passed around a 
principal root of the stump and over the beam and 
fastened. The lever is then operated by hand, and 
the stump turned out of in bed as iu the case of a 
tree being turned out of root by The wind. 
HOPS IN FLORIDA-MERINO SHEEP 
Eds. Rural New-Yokker ; — In a recent 
number of your paper inquiries are made as to 
the best method of raising hops, and allusion is 
made to the frequent failures hi New York and 
New England. In connection with this subject, 
let me mention that we have a variety of the 
hop herewith habits of growth quite different 
from the northern variety. The Florida hop in 
all respects resembles the northern one, except 
that it produces a continuous crop — say from 
the first ripening, In July or August, till frost, 
about Christmas. YVe gather as we do cotton, 
by successive pickings—the plant blooming aud 
hearing until fro6t. The hop has not , been 
grown here as a crop. It grows incidentally 
around gardens, running on garden fences as on 
trees, bearing abundantly, with strobiles of large 
size growing in clusters. 
I shall plaut out some roots this week and 
try to learn more of their product per acre, 
time and number of pickings, and will endeavor 
to send you samples of them. I think the crop 
will be more remunerative than at the north, 
where there is but one picking, and that as late 
as possible and escape a frost. Tbe plan of Mr. 
H. C. Collins, of growing them low, will not 
suit these repeated pickings. Is this variety of 
hops new, or is it common in other southern 
regions ¥ 
1 will shortly give you a few lines on Merino 
sheep in Florida. I brought a flock (some 
seventy) from New York here last fall, which I 
Raise Heifer Calves. — In ordinary stock 
growing, what has been more profitable recently 
than raising cows, if not for use ou the farm, 
then for sale to the dairymen ¥ And, compared 
with other branches of stock growing, this rela¬ 
tive profit is likely to continue for some years 
to come. The first year the cost of keeping the 
calf is small, and after the second, the cow will 
pay her own way and give a profit besides, if not 
sold. Farmers in fruit and grain growing sec¬ 
tions, desirous of raising a lew cattle yearly for 
sale, will find the heifer calves the most profit¬ 
able. 
own use, and bclorc putting on the tires x mica 
the felloes with linseed oil; and the tires have 
worn out and were never loose. I Honed a 
buggy for my own use several years ago, and the 
tires are now as tight as when put on. My 
method of filling the felloes with oil is as fol¬ 
lows : I use a long cast-iron heater, made for 
the purpose. The oil is brought to a boiling 
heat, the wheel is placed on a stick, so ns to 
hang in the oil each felloe, an hour for a com¬ 
mon-sized felloe. The timber should be dry, as 
green timber will not take oiL Care should be 
taken that the oil be no hotter than a boiling 
heat, in order that the timber he not burnt. 
Timber filled with oil is not susceptible to 
water, and the timber is much more durable. I 
was amused some years ago, when I told the 
blacksmith how to keep the tire tight on wheels, 
by bis telling me that it was a profitable busi¬ 
ness to tighteft tires, aud the wagon maker will 
say that it fa profitable to him to make and re¬ 
pair wheels; hut what will the farmer who 
supports the whcelright and smith 6ay ? ”— Ex. 
Inquiries for Machines —We have two inquiries 
which wc arc unable to answer from the fact that the 
information sought is not to be found in our adver¬ 
tising columns, where, from ils nature, our readers 
would reasonably expect it to be. One inquiry is for 
a “New Corn Harvester,” and the other for a Reap¬ 
ing Machine which curries Its binders on u platform. 
The makers of these machines should “take notice.” 
Fattening Calves. —On this timely topic the 
Mass. Ploughman 6ays:—A sensible, practical 
farmer told us the other day that lie had often 
noticed that calve6 would thrive better on milk 
that was not rich in butter, tbau on what was 
commonly called very rich milk. That is a fact 
In accordance with what we recently stated, that 
the nutritive elements of milk reside chiefly in 
the casein. If you have a cow that gives par¬ 
ticularly rich milk, and one that gives a quality 
poorer in butter, it is better, in every way, to 
feed the calf ou the milk of the latter. The calf 
will thrive better and you’ll get more butter 
from the milk of the first cow. 
Corn Sirup.— A company has been organized In 
Lafayette. Ind., for the manufacture of corn sirup. 
Experiments, so far, show that a bushel of corn will 
produce three gallons of molasses—an article about 
one-fourth inferior in value to that produced from the 
cane. 
A Sheep Shearing Festival fa to be held on the 
farm of Mr. Isaac J. Whitney, Clarkson, (four miles 
north of East Clarkson, ou the 2d of May ensuing. 
Wool growers generally arc Invited to attend. A 
good time is anticipated. 
Effect of Bad Seed. 
How slight a thing will sometimes have a 
serious effect. For iustance, the farmer pre¬ 
pares a large field of corn, plants it with bad 
6eed, as is so often done, and the labor fa all for 
nothing. He has to plant over and then he will 
have a late crop; the drouth will affect it and 
sometimes the frost. If third planting fa neces¬ 
sary, as is sometimes the case, the mutter fa still 
worse. With wheat and the other grains, the 
crop fa generally a failure. Planted at the right 
time, a re-sowing must be too late, and thus de¬ 
feats the whole crop. Now r , with a little care 
good seed may he had—and then all this evil will 
be avoided. Is it not sheer carelessness ¥ We 
cannot be too careful iu getting ripe, sound, 
healthy seed.— Rural World. 
Weptcott’s Adjustable Dash Churn.— We arc 
pleased to observe that our opinion of this invention, 
as expressed In the Rural of the 10th ult., is fully 
endorsed by many papers, societies, etc. Among the 
ninny favorable notices wc have recently seen, Is the 
following from the N. Y. Journal of Commerce, rela¬ 
tive to the exhibition of the Churn at a meeting of 
the American Institute Farmers’ Club: 
“A churn patented by If. F. Weetcott, Seneca Falls, 
N. Y., W'as exhibited. It is a dash churn, worked by 
a lever attached to a support on one side of Ufa chain 
The handle of the lever extends beyond the opposite 
side, so that the churn fa not in the way of the man 
Churning. A spring raises the dash, so that all the 
labor Is exerted iu the downward stroke. But the 
chief peculiarity fain having two dashers, the upper 
one adjustable ou a ecrew. This is adjusted to the 
amount of cream, and no matter how great the 
amount a short stroke, briugs the upper dash above 
the cream, to carry’ air down, while the lower one 
keeps the cream at the bottom in motion. Butler 
can he brought with it in three minutes, though a 
longer time give* a belter article. The Club were 
agreed that the churn promises well, all admitting that 
a dash cbnrn makes better butter than a rotary one. 
This one is not more complicated than an ordinary 
rotary chum, and is more eaeliy cleaned.” 
Horses and Oxen,— An Anglesey farmer made use 
of twenty oxen and twelve horses on his farm. Aa 
accurate account of the expenditures for and earn¬ 
ings ol each, showed that he gained by the former 
$1,159 in three years. 
Clover Seed Tarasher and Duller.— (I. I., Wis.) 
Birdsall’s combined Thrasher and Huller, manufac¬ 
tured by J C. Buldsall, South Bend, Ind., is not 
excelled by any machine we know of. 
Ground Squirrels and Gophers.— In the 
Iowa Homestead of recent date, fa a recipe for 
the distruction of these pests of the corn field. 
A small quantity of strychnine is dissolved in 
vinegar—say a teaeupful. Pour the solution in¬ 
to a vessel holding about a gallon. Put a quart 
or two of corn into It and stir up well. Pour 
ou tepid water enough to cover the corn and 6tir 
it well till the corn absorbs the water. Stir in a 
little eorn meal to dry the mass, aud it fa ready 
for nse. Fill a box or cup with it and drop a 
few kernels in and around the squirrel or gopher 
holes, and among the corn hills, and the pests 
will soon disappear. If a new colony arrives, 
repeat the dose till the crop is safe from depre¬ 
dation from this source. 
Old-Fashioned Blue-Stem Wheat.—I would like 
to inquire through The Rural who has the old-faeb- 
ioned blue-stem wheat. TMb variety was considered 
the best in every reepect 30 or 40 years ago, and I be¬ 
lieve St would he a good kiud for n; tu try again, i 
should like to correspond with somo one of whom t 
can obtain a little by mail. By sowing very early this 
snrUic I think I could get seed from it for next year. 
* i Ul 1 f.-j. t /A *>>•»» /'«1 P/» 
Hogs in Clover. —The Rural World, (Mo.,) 
6ays that to raise hogs successfully a field of 
clover should be set apart for them. If a stream 
of water runs through the field all the better for 
the hogs. As to breed, the Chester White bus 
the preference. Customarily the hog is left to 
shirk for himself and he is not backward in doing 
it, yet proper attention to his wants and com¬ 
fort will be amply repaid. 
Plan fob a Fence Wanted. —Will you or some 
of your numerous readers inform me through the 
Rural how I can make a fence that will stand across 
a creek and bottom ? I have tried posts and boards; 
this spring the water and ice have washed all away — 
A Rural Reader. 
