108 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
TALK ABOUT FARMING. 
It is well known that the Massachusetts Legislature is 
a numerous body of some 400 individuals; that a large 
proportion of these are practical farmers; and it is much 
to their credit that they have adopted the practice of 
holding weekly meetings at which the most important 
principles of farming are discussed, and mainly with re¬ 
ference to their practical application. In the Boston ag¬ 
ricultural papers we find reports of these meetings, and 
from them, principally from the New-England Farmer 
and Plowman, we have condensed such of the proceed¬ 
ings as would be of most interest to our readers. 
TREATMENT OF CALVES. 
Col. Jaques, well known as an excellent breeder and 
close observer of animals, contended for the practice of 
letting calves suck the cows the first summer. He finds 
they are better than when reared on porridge, or in any 
other way he has yet tried. “ Col. Jaques breeds cattle 
that have large rumps and small shins, because he finds 
the rump pieces bring four times as much in the market 
as the shins.”* He attributed the degeneracy of our neat 
stock to feeding calves on slops, and then wintering them 
as recommended by some, on coarse hay. Sheep and 
calves require open and large yards. Stables are useless, 
except in severe weather. Milch cows should be kept 
warm, as it will increase the milk. 
Mr. Graves thought it best to take calves from the 
cows at once, and let them know nothing about sucking. 
He gives the calf new milk to drink for three weeks, 
then meal, rye meal is best, then porridge or skimmed 
milk. 
Mr. Allen loved to follow nature in rearing calves. 
He preferred having the calf run with the cow and suck 
at pleasure. In this way it would learn of its mother to 
eat grass and to drink water early. At three months he 
would separate the calf from the cow and put it in the 
pasture with the fat cattle. 
SECURING BULLS. 
Col. Jaques said many lives have been lost by these 
animals, and none should be allowed to run at large un¬ 
less properly secured. Rings should always be put in 
their noses, as they could then be led or handled without 
difficulty. Turned to pasture, they should be blinded. 
“ This he had done by tieing on a board two feet long 
and three inches wide, in front of the horns, and then 
fastening a leather apron to the board, cutting it three 
cornered, and bringing it to a point at the nose. Such an 
apron would be no injury to the animal, and he would 
never attempt to fight or gore any one with this hood 
on.” (We may hereafter give a figure of this apron, as 
it appears to us to be well adapted for the end Intended.) 
DISEASED ANIMALS. 
It seemed to be the general impression of the speakers 
that animals attacked by disease should be attended to at 
once; separated from the others; and the proper reme¬ 
dies applied. Col. Jaques said he had a cow that gave 
him 12 quarts of milk per day as late as November, when 
she suddenly fell off to 2 quarts. Her horns were warm; 
he split her tail and rubbed turpentine between her horns. 
He then gave her half a pound of brimstone, mixed with 
half an ounce of saltpetre, put a piece of garget or poke 
root in the lower part of the dewlap, gave her a w^arm 
mash, and she was soon well. As an illustration of the 
bad effect of giving cows cold water immediately after 
calving, he said that Col. Wainright applied to him to 
•*£now what the matter was with his cow. He at once 
suspected she had drunk too much water. To be certain, 
he charged the Irishman who had the care of her, with 
neglecting to give her drink enough. “ Oh yer honor,” 
said the man, “ but she dthrinked three buckets at one 
time.” 
MILCH COWS. 
Col. Jaques said he had seen cows that were ruined for 
* If by “ large rumps” is to be understood those heavy, clod- 
4y-buttocked animals of the Yorkshire breed sometimes found, 
we must dissent from the Col’s, opinion or practice; if, on the 
contrary, and as we suspect from the Col’s, good judgment, he 
only means those animals that make heavy hind quarters, or 
take on flesh where it will be worth the most, as the Short 
Horns and. their crosses, he is right.—E ps Cult. 
milk, by eating too much Indian meal. One cow was 
fed with half a peck of meal per day, and in a short time 
her great yield of milk was nearly dried up. The cele¬ 
brated Oaks cow (of whom President Quincy afterwards 
remarked, “ that he was brought up on her milk, and 
that she was like Melchisedek, without father or mother, 
so far as he knew,”) which made, after the month of 
May in one season, 484 lbs. of butter, fell off in conse¬ 
quence of eating too much meal, and gave but very little 
milk. After she came into Col. Jaques’ possession, he 
turned her out to pasture one whole season, without 
meal, but he could never bring her back again; she was 
spoiled for milk. 
MORGAN HORSE. 
The celebrated breed of horses of this name, Col. J 
attributed to a cross of the Normandy or French horse 
He thought this the best breed for all work in the coun¬ 
try. High spirited, yet fit for all farm purposes. In 
training horses, we should be particular to say what we 
mean, and never call out iv/ioa, unless we intended the 
horse should stop; and the same word should be uni 
formly used for the same purpose. 
SOILING ANIMALS. 
Mr. Newhall said he had experimented in soiling cat¬ 
tle. Last summer he fed his cows with rye, green from 
the field. He had 17 cows, and he fed them 30 days on 
one acre of rye at the first cutting, and 5 days from the 
rye of the second cutting. He next used clover, begin¬ 
ning with the early southern, and from that to the later 
northern. After the clover, he fed them on corn, sown 
in drills for this purpose. His barn is 110 feet long and 
44 wide, with a cellar under the whole. His corn was 
sowed at the rate of 3 bushels per acre; it came up so 
thick that no ears appeared; and he found on trying one 
square rod, that he had 32 tons of green fodder per acre. 
He considered rye and corn the best articles he could sow 
for feeding; the rye being early, and lasting until the 
corn would do to begin on. His cow stable is cleared 
of manure twice a day, and this is immediately covered 
with about five times as much peat muck; and he finds a 
load of this compost better than a load of clear manure. 
Mr. Newhall sowed southern corn. 
Mr. Dodge preferred northern corn for soiling. He 
had weighed the green corn on a small piece, and found 
he had at the rate of 39 or 40 tons per acre. 
Mr. French had raised corn for soiling, but preferred 
the southern. It would not be tough if sown thick. He 
thought well of the practice of soiling cattle, and had 
long practiced it. By using green fodder in July and 
August when pastures fail, you increase the quantity of 
milk, you keep your animals in better condition, and 
greatly increase the manure saved. 
President Quincy said he believed he was the first to 
introduce soiling into the country; that he hail kept the 
whole stock of cows, which formerly required 90 acres 
of pasture when they ran at large, on 15 acres only, when 
shut up and fed with green fodder. He thought the soil¬ 
ing plan would ultimately prevail on all lands suitable 
for that purpose, near cities. He alluded to the saving 
of fence in soiling. On the farm, when his grandfather 
owned it, there was 7 miles of interior fence, now there 
is none; animals being allowed to run on no part of it. 
Mr. Q. said his father’s plan was to grow such a success¬ 
ion of crops, that the cows should be supplied with green 
food the whole season. His neighbors used to remark 
that the old gentleman could farm well as long as Ire 
could draw on the banks, but doubted as to this being the 
best mode of farming. Yet the accounts always balanced 
well at the end of the year. 
FATTENING CATTLE. 
Mr. Monson said he had been in the practice of fatten 
ing cattle for a long time. He believed that cattle would 
fatten better, confined to one lot, than when frequently 
removed to new pastures. He had tried the plan to his 
satisfaction, and he was convinced that it was not a good 
plan to shift cattle from pasture to pasture. He found 
that they gained more fat and tallow when kept through 
the summer in one pasture, than when shifted. 
Mr. Buckminster of the Plowman, said this was agree 
able to his experience. That if he could have his lots so 
divided that his cows eould be turned into a new one 
