66 
THF. CULTIVATOR. 
ENGLISH CART HORSE. 
THE DRAFT HORSE. 
The above cut represents a Stallion of the improved 
draft breed, for which the first prize of fifty sovereigns 
was awarded to the owner, at the meeting of the High¬ 
land Agricultural Society, at Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1810. 
The general characteristics are evidently those of the 
improved English Cart Horse, which, on the authority 
of British writers, may be summed up as follows: 
This breed are generally small headed for their size, 
short necked, with thick shoulders, standing rather up¬ 
right to the collar, short in the back, very wide in the' 
breast, deep and round in the body, with broad backs and! 
Joins; the quarters thick, the thighs and fore arms very 
strong, the legs short, with large round hoofs. They! 
possess great strength, and though somewhat slow, they 
are not deficient in bottom, and from their great weight, 
as well as muscular power, they go through draft work 
that could be performed by no other animal.* 
From what we have seen of this class of horses, we 
are inclined to the opinion that they possess properties 
that are well calculated to improve the stock of this 
country for farming purposes. Several years ago a grey 
horse called Columbus , was sent into Massachusetts by 
Gen. John Coffin of the British army—a gentleman, who 
with his brother. Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin,f expended 
much money in the purchase of the best cattle and hor¬ 
ses in England, which were sent as 'presents to the Ag. 
Soc. of Massachusetts, their native state. Columbus was 
kept several years in the different counties of Massachu¬ 
setts, and his progeny were esteemed as the most pow¬ 
erful draft horses that could be had. 
Messrs. Corning & Sotharn of this city, have an im¬ 
ported English Cart Horse, which we think worthy the 
notice of those who wish to rear horses for farming pur¬ 
poses, or for heavy draft. The form and size of this 
horse indicate prodigious strength, and though a person 
who was unacquainted with the breed might suppose his 
motions were sluggish, we are satisfied from having seen 
him in harness, that his natural walk is faster than that 
of horses in general, and that he is sufficiently active for 
the plow or wagon. Though not yet five years old, and 
not within f wo years of his full weight and power, he 
* Complete Grazier, and Low’s Illustrations of British Ani¬ 
mals. 
f Admiral Coffin presented the Mass. Ag. Soc. at different 
times, a bull and cow of the Durham breed— {Admiral and An- 
mabelld)—a. bull and cow of the Hereford breed—(St'r Isaac and 
-) two stallions and a mare of the Cleveland Bay breed, 
o stallions of the racing breed—( Barefoot and Serab,) 
Barefoot was afterwards reshipped to England to run a great 
aace. 
will move off with a load that would astonish the driver 
of a common horse. He is hardy, and is kept fat with 
only moderate feeding. 
The best of the heavy Dutch horses of Pennsylvania, 
bear a considerable resemblance to the horses above de¬ 
scribed, and some of them are excellent for draft. 
SURFACE AND DRILL MANURING. 
Messrs. Gaylord &, Tucker —Doubtless when ma¬ 
terials and facilities are had, the best general manner of 
enriching the soil, is that of incorporating or diffusing 
the manure therein, so as to have it mixed throughout. 
But then, in given circumstances, it may be acknowledged 
that surface and drill manuring have their peculiar ad¬ 
vantages. As to my own experience at least, I have found 
striking benefits in the latter practice. I have doubled 
my crops of wheat and other small grain, in some cases, 
L by a covering of an inch or so of pine straw or leaves; 
either applied immediately after sowing, or, as to wheat 
and rye, in the winter, at my leisure; and then in the 
spring sowed my clover seed; the growth of which, pro¬ 
tected by the shade of the surface covering, (even in light 
sandy soil,) stood a drouth that otherwise would have 
proved destructive. And if not sowing clover, I find the 
surface covering (partly decomposed,) after shading the 
Ismail grain, plowed under with the stubble, a great ad¬ 
vantage to a succeeding crop. My practice in planting 
corn, is to drill 7 feet, and plant a row of southern field 
peas between each row of corn. I plow deep, and then 
putting the manure in the furrow, (into which the old 
cornstalks are previously thrown,) I run a furrow each 
side so that the manure is covered, with a hollow left 
directly over it, in which the seed is put at proper dis¬ 
tances; and the manure, through which the perpendicu¬ 
lar roots run, is never disturbed by after culture. And 
therefore, as in some other ways of applying the manure, 
no danger of firing or injury thereby through dry weath¬ 
er. As to the ruta baga, or other turneps, or cotton crop, 
or other tap rooted plants, the aforesaid plan of drill ma¬ 
nuring does finely. On ordinary land, by this plan, I 
have raised at rates of 600 bushels of ruta bagas to the 
acre. And by putting a shovel full or so of manure, put 
in deeply and covered at distances of 6 or 7 feet, and 
pumpkins planted thereon, I have raised fine crops in old 
worn out fields. By plowing and harrowing for after 
crops, succeeding those of surface or drill manuring, the 
soil is gradually renovated or brought to a desirable state 
of fertility. But more of this another opportunity, in th® 
meantime yours, &c. with all due respect. 
Brinkleyville , N. C. Jan. 1844. Sidney Weller, 
