1858 . 
TIIE CULTIVATOR 
227 
vegetable matter.” Wo would merely ask of what 
benefit is undecayed vegetable matter, as food for 
plants'? Can any crop be grown and removed except 
at the expense of the soil ? 
Ag. Survey of Onondaga— Mr. Geddes’ Theory 
and Practice. —At a meeting of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee of the N. Y. State Ag. Society, held at Syracuse 
last week, an arrangement was entered into with Hon. 
Geo. Geddes, by which that gentleman undertakes an 
agricultural survey of Onondaga county for publication 
in the Transactions, similar to those already completed 
and published of other counties. The thorough and 
practical knowledge he already possesses of the field 
to be occupied, as well as of the ends to be met in such 
an undertaking, justify us in anticipating a result not 
only creditable to its author, but highly serviceable to 
the farmers of this and other portions of the State. 
It may be added that the writer had the opportunity 
of spending an hour on the productive farm of Mr. G., 
at the time of the session of the Committee, and hopes 
at some future day to extend the observations then 
commenced sufficiently to be able to communicate them 
through these columns. The evidences of thorough 
and systematic cultivation it everywhere presented, 
were amply sufficient to justify the high reputation its 
owner has long maintained as a practical and actual 
Country Gentleman—an enlightened tiller of the soil. 
Those who have heard him claim for the geological 
formation on which he lives, exhaustless fertility, even 
if unmanured, will be pleased to learn that he renders 
its fertility exhaustless, not only by turning in an 
abundant clover crop once in five years, and freely plas¬ 
tering this and other crops, (neither of which processes 
does he call manuring .) but also by careful economy 
of his stable and yard manures—adding to them all 
his straw, for which there is no better market within 
reach, and applying the pile drawn out in spring and 
well rotted by fall, at the latter season, to those fields 
or upon those spots which need it most. Acting con¬ 
stantly and we might add conscientiously on this sys¬ 
tem, it is perhaps allowable for him to hold any creed 
he chooses as to the inexhaustibility of his fields, and 
such a theory, if productive uniformly of such a prac¬ 
tice, we might be glad to see studied and carried into 
effect on every kind of soil and formation from Maine 
to Oregon. Will Mr. Geddes let us hear from..those 
wheat and grass crops after harvest'? 
The Heaviest Bullocks. —There have been many 
reports of fat oxen whose weights were said to be from 
3,500 to 4,500 lbs, but the New-York Tribune insists 
that the largest bullock ever raised in America, if not 
in the world, was the ox known as the “ George Wash¬ 
ington,” whose stuffed skin may be seen in life-like 
proportions in the rooms of the Butcher’s Hide and Fat 
Association of New-York. Washington was five years 
nine months and fourteen days old, and was slaughter¬ 
ed in 1840. 
His live weight was.... 3,204 lbs. 
Weight of one fore quarter,. 612 “ 
Weight of the other fore quarter,. 598 “ 
Weight of one hind quarter,. 487 “ 
Weight of the other hind quarter,. 477 “ 
2,174 lbs. of beef—70 lb. per cwt. of live weight. 
The Saratoga Co. Press, however, says that J. M. 
Cole of Saratoga Springs, slaughtered an ox in 1847, 
whose live weight was 3,520 lbs.—dressed 2,567. 
The Heaviest Bullocks. —In a late no of the Co. 
Gent., (p.336,) we gave from the New-York Tribune the 
live and dressed weight of the famous ox “ George 
Washington,” which was slaughtered in 1840. He was 
five years nine months and fourteen days old, and 
weighed alive 3,204 lbs. This the Tribune claimed to 
be the largest bullock ever slaughtered in America. A 
correspondent has since called our attention to the large 
ox fed by the late P. N. Rust of Syracuse, and which 
was exhibited at the State Fair in this city in Sept., 
1842. A portrait of this ox was published in Tite 
Cultivator for Dec. 1842, where it says—“ This ox is 
now eight years old. His live weight, Feb 19, 1841, 
was 2,360 lbs. On the 16th Jan., 1842, it was 3,400 
lbs. When exhibited at the State Fair in Albany, 
Sept. 28, 1842, he was said to weigh 4,200 lbs , which 
would be a gain of about 3 lbs. per day for nineteen 
months. He yet retains his activity and appetite, and 
continues to take on flesh about as fast as ever.” We 
can find no farther notice of this ox, and we shall be 
greatly obliged if any of our friends at Syracuse can 
inform us when he was slaughtered, his live weight at 
the time, and weight of the quarters, &c. 
Rotating Harrow. —The engraving and description 
of this Harrow, copied into another page of this paper, 
is from the Ohio Farmer , and should have been cred¬ 
ited to that journal. It is a very ingenious contri¬ 
vance, and if it equals the anticipations of its inven¬ 
tors, will be a great improvement. 
Share’s Horse Hoe. —This implement, which can 
now be procured of Pease & Eggleston in this city, 
is very highly recommended as superior to the plow or 
cultivator for cultivating corn and potatoes, by many 
good farmers who have used it. 
A Reader’s Index. —-I ’have frequently been sur¬ 
prised at the careless manner in which many readers 
must peruse your pages, as is proved by the same ques¬ 
tion being sometimes asked within a week or two after 
it has been answered, and was glad a correspondent 
suggested the use of an index to refer to, a sample of 
which was published in a late number. I have kept 
one for some time, which I think an improvement, and 
will endeavor to explain it. As the items are gather¬ 
ed from various sources, and at long intervals, it 
would be impossible to arrange them alphabetically 
under the different letters ; I therefore divide each let¬ 
ter into six different parts by the vowels, as Aa, Ae, 
Ai, Ao, Au, Ay—by so doing, and arranging the items 
under the first vowel, following the first letter of the 
word or name to be referred to, it is evident that as the 
index becomes full, much labor will be avoided in 
searching for any particular item. Any farmer or me¬ 
chanic could make a common blank book do. j. i. c. 
Large Sale of Short-Horn Cattle in England 
—The entire herd of Short-Horns, consisting of 46 
head, belonging to Mr. Cartwright of Aynhoe, were 
sold by Mr. Strafford on the 5th of May. There was 
a large company present, the bidding was spirited, and 
good prices obtained. Thirty-five cows and heifers 
were sold at an average price (estimating the pound at 
$5) of $326. The eleven bulls sold averaged $291 
making an average for the 46 head of nearly $318. 
t^gr* Sanford Howard, one of the editors of the 
Boston Cultivator , sailed on the first inst. for Europe, 
where he is to spend some months in the examination 
of British and Continental Agriculture. He goes out 
under the authority of the trustees of the Massachu¬ 
setts Society for Promoting Agriculture, for whom and 
