June 
178 THE CULTIVATOR. 
certain substances, as nitrogenized salts, &c., conveyed 
to the soil in the dung and urine of animals, whose ac¬ 
tion is more favorable to fertility than the crude undi¬ 
gested vegetable matter. 
But to speak more particularly in regard to the third 
question proposed for consideration. We have no doubt 
that land may be improved by clover unaided by stock. 
We have shown that a portion of the organic matter of 
which the plant is composed may be drawn from the 
air. This matter, which ultimately becomes humus or 
vegetable mould, is, to a certain extent at least, essential 
to the fertility of soils. Prof. Johnston states that 
rich soils usually contain five percent, or more, of their 
weight of organic matter. To secure the full benefit of 
this, we should adopt that mode of management which 
will admit of the accumulation of the largest quantity, 
and apply it at the time and in the manner which will 
produce the most favorable operation. Now by al¬ 
lowing the crop to become fully grown, we shall, 
of course, obtain the most, and by allowing it to be¬ 
come partially ripe and dry, we shall avoid the objec¬ 
tions resulting from acetic fermentation. This, there¬ 
fore, is the state in which we think the greatest advan¬ 
tage would be derived from plowing in a crop of clo¬ 
ver. 
DISCUSSION IN RELATION NO CATTLE. 
The discussion at the weekly Agricultural meetings 
at Boston the past winter, have been reported in many 
of the papers published in that city. Judging from the 
reports, we should suppose the meetings had been gen¬ 
erally well attended, and that a considerable number of 
the farmers have taken part in most of the discussions. 
We give the following abstract from the reports of the 
discussion on neat cattle. 
Mr. Gleason, of Weyland, pays considerable atten¬ 
tion to rearing cows, and is careful to select calves that 
come from good milkers ; the bull should also be of 
good stock. Two calves are put with a farrow cow 
and turned to pasture. If the cow is unwilling to 
“ own” the calves, he shuts up the cow and puts the 
calves in a pen near by. She will generally own them 
in a few days, but if not, he puts a dog in the stable 
with the calves. The dog will bark and the cow bel¬ 
low, and in a short time she will own the calves. He 
lets the calves run four months with the cow. He keeps 
more or less of the no-horn or “ buffalo ” cows, and 
thinks they are good milkers. [The Boston Cultivator 
in reporting this discussion, calls these no-horned cat¬ 
tle “ Galloways,” and we have noticed some of the 
other Boston agricultural papers apply that name to 
them, but with what propriety we carinot discover. 
We have seen, in various parts of the country, many of 
these “ buffalos,” (a strange name truly, for cattle which 
have no horns,) but have never found more than three 
or four which exhibited any of the distinguishing marks 
of the Galloways.] In selecting cows, Mr. G. prefers those 
which have a bright full eye, light neck, thin shoul¬ 
ders, broad hips, small tail, fiat horn, and the udder of a 
yellow color. He would avoid a cow with black teats. 
He would avoid driving milch cows any considerable 
distance—even half a mile he thought too far to drive 
to pasture, and was satisfied it made the quantity of milk 
less. He was certain a cow wintered in the stable 
would give less milk than one which had the range of 
the yard. 
For oxen, Mr. G. prefers a full eye, long face, broad 
back, deep, broad brisket, rump rather sloping than 
rising. An ox with a very thick hide is not generally 
so spirited. He was careful not to buy an ox with 
crooked legs, as they were more likely to get lame. 
Commences breaking steers when they are two years 
old. 
In relation to breeds, he said he had reared Durhams 
—they were larger and handsomer than native cattle, 
and sold more readily—had seen fine milkers among the 
Ayrshiresand Durhams, but he thought the native cows, 
on the whole, were as good as any. 
Mr. Buckminster, editor of the Mass . Ploughman, 
admitted he was somewhat prejudiced against the Dur¬ 
ham breed of cattle. He said he had taken much pains 
to know what was their product in milk and butter. 
He had invited the owners of such cattle to show the 
yield of their dairies, and though he had found instan¬ 
ces of very good cows of that breed, he was bound to 
say, generally, they were not equal to the native cattle 
of the country. He said we have cows in New Eng¬ 
land that have made their 14, 36, and 18 pounds of but¬ 
ter per week, and he thought it would be easier to find 
a dozen such cows, than a dozen Durhams that would 
yield as much in proportion to their size. We want 
the greatest yield in proportion to the size of the ani¬ 
mal and the nourishment she requires. He called atten¬ 
tion to the fact that the State Agricultural Society, in 
its efforts to improve the stock of the country, had late¬ 
ly imported Ayrshires and Devons, but no Durhams. 
He thought the milk of cows which gave a very large 
quantity, was not so good. He had a cow which made 
fifteen and a quarter pounds of butter per week in June 
last, and the greatest quantity of milk she gave was 18 
quarts a day. 
Mr. Sheldon of Wilmington, had paid considerable 
attention to the rearing of cattle—had owned at one 
time about 100 yoke of oxen. He thought benefit had 
been derived from imported cattle by crossing with the 
native. The mixed breed have better feet than the na¬ 
tives. An ox should be broad between the eyes, should 
have straight, oroad, and rather short hoofs, round ribs,, 
straight back, hips falling off about an inch. Nine out 
of ten oxen which give out, fail in the fore feet. The 
legs should be straight, and they should toe straight for¬ 
ward. He thought it a bad practice to drive oxen 
with a goad, (a stick with a brad in one end of it,) as 
they did in Maine—it irritates the cattle and makes 
them either crowd or haul apart. The best feed for 
working oxen, he thinks, is chopped hay and Indian 
meal. 
Mr. G. thought sufficient care was not taken with our 
native cattle, to improve the breed. A good milker 
usually has a pet calf, and it is too apt to be given to 
the butcher. He said, our native cattle sell better at 
Brighton, than the Durhams. [For what purpose ? 
Are real Durhams sold there ?— Ed.] He bought one 
cow at Brighton that had such excellent qualities that 
all her descendants (?) proved superior. She had the 
right blood. He thought cows should be stabled and 
kept warm in winter, to afford most profit—would give 
them chopped food. If the fodder was chopped and 
wet they would need but little water. He preferred 
shorts and carrots to Indian meal for cows. He thought 
it very injurious for cows to drink ice-water—would 
make the water for them to drink, as warm as that of 
brooks in summer. If cattle were swelled (hoven) he 
gave them half a pound of ground mustard seed mixed 
with lard. 
Mr. Brooks, of Princeton, said he raised from 100 to 
150 heifers annually. He buys the best he can find, be¬ 
fore they are weaned and weans them on porridge. 
They were mostly of the native breed. He generally 
gets about four good cows in every ten reared. He 
thought the Durhams did not stand the winter well, and 
he believed the Mass. State Society had acted wisely in 
not importing Durhams, as the Ayrshires and Devons 
were preferable. The Ayrshires, he thought, winter as 
well as the natives, but he preferred the Devons. He 
spoke of the Devons imported fifty years since by Chris¬ 
topher Gore. [Upon what authority does Mr. Brooks 
speak of Devons having been imported by Gov. Gore ? 
We are in possession of proof that the bull which ob¬ 
tained such celebrity as the “Gore bull,” and whose 
numerous descendants, to the latest generation, are com¬ 
monly called the “Gore breed,” was presented by the 
late Charles Vaughan, Esq., of Hallowell, Maine, to 
Gov. Gore, in the year 1792. The year previous, 179], 
Mr. V. imported two bulls and two cows. While on 
the passage, one of the cows produced the calf given to 
Gov. Gore. The cows were selected from a milk-farm 
in the vicinity of London, arid instead of being Devons, 
were probably Yorkshire Short-Horns.. —Ed.] 
Mr. Brooks mentioned a disease with which milch 
