NEW “ TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND.” SERIES. 
Vol. III. ALBANY, FEBRUARY, 1846. No. 2. 
THE CULTIVATOR 
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LETTERS FROM MR, HORSFORD.—No. VIII. 
We have received from our German correspondent, 
Mr. Horsford, a package of letters on various subjects, 
all of which we shall lay before our readers in due 
time. The following one, in reference to an institution 
for agricultural instruction, will be read with interest 
by all—especially those whose minds have been di¬ 
rected to the establishment of institutions for that pur¬ 
pose in this country. In our next we shall give Mr. 
Horsford’s description of the celebrated Fellenberg 
school, at Hofwyl, in Switzerland. 
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE OF WURTEMBURG. 
Giessen, Nov. 30, 1845. 
Mr. Tucker — I promised in my last to give some 
account of the Royal Agricultural Institute of Wurtem- 
burg, near Stutgart. 
The estate and castle bearing the name of Hohenheim, 
were appropriated to their present use in 1817. They 
had previously been in the possession of noted families, 
and at one time, that of the Grand Duke Charles. Roy¬ 
alty had planned and executed . with no small measure 
Of taste, the division of the grounds, and the Institution 
of Agriculture commenced. Few estates could have 
been selected combining so many advantages for the 
purposes to which this was destined. Seven hundred 
and eighty-eight English acres are spread irregularly 
over a broad mound, and through a valley upon one 
side, the whole length of which is traversed by a stream 
sufficiently large for milling purposes. Near the top 
of the mound stands the castle and connected buildings, 
which, with the court-yards, have a length of sixteen 
hundred, and a depth of five hundred and forty feet. 
The various apartments of this immense establish¬ 
ment furnish abundant room for the residence of the 
faculty, pupils and laborers; also rooms for instruction, 
for the *mineralogical, zoological, model, and other 
collections—the housing of stock and grains, fruit, and 
other farm produce—for the carrying forward the dif¬ 
ferent kinds of manufacture—wagons, plows, machines, 
&c., with the sugar, alcohol, starch, and vinegar produc¬ 
tion. Its distance from Stutgart is about six miles- 
sufficiently near to enjoy all the advantages of a ready 
market, and command at the same time a prompt supply 
of the wants of the institution. 
The whole farm is cut into several lesser divisions, 
each bearing another name. These are again subdivi¬ 
ded and numbered. There being no hedges, the limits 
are furrows between monuments at the opposite ex¬ 
tremes. The lots given to experiments, contain each 
precisely one fourth of an acre, (Wurtemburg;) and 
every fact relating to the development of each crop, es«- 
pecially the amount of seed, manure, and labor bestow¬ 
ed, and each return, are noted. Besides these fields, 
upon which almost every variety of crop is grown,—if 
not in the same year, in successive years,—nurseries of 
fruit and exotic trees, orchards, flower and kitchen gar¬ 
dens, pasture lands, pleasure grounds, and in general, 
all the usual, and even unusual features of the best farms 
to be met with. 
In the cultivation and improvements, the implements 
esteemed in the institution the best, are employed. The 
stock consists of sheep, about 1,100; cattle, mostly cows, 
nearly 100; breeding mares 10; besides a number of 
working cattle and horses. The sheep are Merino and 
Saxon—looking finely. They are under the control of 
one principal shepherd and several assistants, each of 
whom has one or two dogs. The flocks are pastured 
in summer, but housed regularly at night through the 
whole year. Each sheep is numbered by a system of 
ear-marking of great simplicity, and its fleece is every 
year weighed. The whole flock, at intervals of a few 
weeks, is weighed in a Fairbanks scales. 
The cows are of the Seminthal breed from Switzer¬ 
land. They are said to have certain excellencies; 
though their appearance in the stall was altogether in¬ 
different. They are stalled through the year. I have 
already mentioned, if I remember right, that the herd 
of cattle is considered as a manure manufactory, and 
in this light subserving as important, if not indeed a 
more important end, than in their daily supplies of 
milk. I find it difficult to appreciate this statement 
made to me, though it is obvious that every source of 
manure is gleaned with a care of which, in the gene¬ 
rally (as yet) rich lands of the new world, we know 
nothing. 
The cow stable is a hall of more than, a hundred feet 
in length, and at least twenty feet high. The cattle 
stand facing each other from opposite sides of a cut- 
stone platform, about two and a half feet in elevation. 
They are chained to a manger immediately attached to 
the platform. Their fodder is spread before them, and 
by no possibility comes to the floor of paved stone. 
Several cows, steers, and yearling heifers, were fed each 
apart from all the others, the fodder being weighed be¬ 
fore, and the excess gathered up after eating, also 
weighed. These cattle are severally weighed at cer¬ 
tain intervals, and in this manner the value of different 
kinds of fodder is ascertained. The amount of milk 
from each cow is measured once a month. Indeed the 
whole system is arranged with a great degree of scien¬ 
tific purpose. 
The breeding mares are good selections, I understand 
from the common stock and English crosses. The foals, 
through the generosity of the present king, are derived 
partly from thorough Arabian stallions, and partly from 
valuable native stock. The stalls for the dams, are 
