THE CULTIVATOR. 
357 
CONTINUANCE OF MILK IN COWS. 
Messrs. Editors —It certainly would be a very great 
advantage to those who wish to keep a cow or cows, 
solely for their milk, if any feasible method could be 
adopted by which cows could be made permanent milk¬ 
ers, or their owners, particularly those who live in cities, 
be saved the trouble and inconvenience of their breeding. 
There are two ways in which this seems practicable. The 
first method is to keep the cow in milk, from the bull, by 
constantly stabling her, after her first and second calf, and 
in this state, milked regularly and well fed, she will con¬ 
tinue to give milk for two or more years. She usually 
ends, however, by becoming too fat for profit as a milker, 
her milk gradually failing, and she then goes to the 
butcher. The large dairies of London, have their cows 
treated in this manner, and in practice it is found far pre¬ 
ferable to the old one, of having them “ come in” annu¬ 
ally. 
There is another method of obtaining constant milkers 
which has been extensively practiced in France, and 
known to some extent in this country. This is by spay¬ 
ing the coid some four or six weeks after calving, an ; 
thus by preventing impregnation, securing the cow in 
milk for several years. In the London Veterinarian may 
be found a paper by M. Rogere of Bordeaux in France, 
who had for many years been engaged in a series of ex¬ 
periments on this subject, that had been eminently suc¬ 
cessful. The cows operated upon were of various ages, 
some quite old. The operation of spaying was followed 
with a restricted diet to prevent the tendency to inflam, 
mation. This had the effect of reducing the quantity of 
milk for a few days, but the flow soon returned, and con¬ 
tinued unaffected for a long time. No danger was incur¬ 
red by the operation when skilfully performed, and when 
from age or failure of milk, it became desirable to make 
beef of the animal, she was found altogether superior for 
that purpose to the unspayed ones. 
In one of the earlier volumes of Ruffin’s Farmer’s Re¬ 
gister may be found a paper on spaying cows or he fees, 
not only for milk, but for feeding. Mr. Tabb of Virgin¬ 
ia, under whose superintendence the operations were 
conducted, confirms the representations made of the val¬ 
ue of milch cows so operated upon, but thinks it not less 
essential or important where cows f>r heifers are to be 
fed. The following extract is from Mr. Tabb s paper. 
“ The operation is performed on heifers not intended for 
milk when they are about a year old, and with the single 
precaution of keeping them entirely from food or water 
during twenty-four or thirty-six hours previous—isrnot 
attended with the least risk—is performed in the same 
way, and may be done by any person in the habit of spay¬ 
ing pigs. They go to their food immediately after, and 
require no attention. We select the most indifferent hei- 
f'-rs to spay, which is one way to improve the stock. 
L)ii increase the size amazingly. They gradually be¬ 
come as large as ordinary oxen—are eas ly kept—nuke 
the finest beef—and asthcy are not in perfection until six 
or seven years old, we work them after three or four, to 
make them gentle, and for that purpose, consider them 
superior to the ox.” 
The practice of working milch cows is common in 
Germany, as appears from the accounts of various travel¬ 
lers in that country: and teams of spayed heifers have 
carried off prizes at the plowing matches of Agricultural 
Societies in England. The suggestion made above, by 
Mr. Tabb, as to the practice of spaying having a good ef¬ 
fect in the improvement of stock, is an important one. If* 
the breeders of stock could so far forego the hope of im¬ 
mediate profit, as to be willing to submit all inferior, or 
part blood bull calves to castration, and all inferior heif¬ 
ers to spaying, it is evident the chances of breeding infe¬ 
rior animals, would diminish rapidly. 
Mr. Winn, keeper of an extensive hotel at Natchez, 
communicated to Judge Peters, of Pa., the result of ex¬ 
periments made by him in spaying cows for the purpose 
of securing permanent milkers. It appears from the pa¬ 
per as given in the Transactions of the Penn. Ag. Soc. 
that he had two cows, which after being spayed, gave 
milk constantly for three years each. He preferred cows 
that had produced two or three calves, as the bags of 
such would be more capacious, than if spayed after the 
first calf. I hope some of our breeders or farmers will 
try this experiment, since if successful, there can be no 
doubt such cows would command greatly advanced prices 
in places where cows are kept for their milk alone. 
Ontario , Oct. 1844. A Farmer 
IRRIGATION, &c. 
Mr. Tucker —As far as my information has extended, 
very few attempts to adopt a systematic course of irriga¬ 
tion, even on a moderate scale, have been made by the 
farmers in Massachusetts, at least in this vicinity. Some 
years since, Gen. Wm. Hull, residing at Newton, at¬ 
tempted to carry on a course of irrigation, by bringing a 
stream of water which took its rise in his estate, into his 
garden and grass lands; by constructing a bank of sods 
on each side of it, to sustain the stream, and by merely 
letting down one or two sods from it, whenever he want¬ 
ed to bring the water on to his land. 
According to the information which he gave me, his 
gras- lands were rendered much more lucrative and val¬ 
uable by means of the irrigation. Land, which previous 
to it, produced a worthless grass of little or no use, was 
made to yield one and two tons of good grass to the acre. 
I was informed that he was obliged to abandon the 
scheme from the great injury which it caused to one of 
his neighbors. 
Extent of Irrigation near Roussillon. —It is said 
that there is an extent of land, 10 leagues in length by 6 
leagues in breadth, all of which can be regularly irriga¬ 
ted by means of small canals and water courses, which 
are cut in every direction. The distribution of the water 
is regulafed by law. The habitations are still, for the 
most part, congregated in small towns and villages, but 
here and there a detached house is to be seen. The plain 
is covered with trees, which border the water courses in 
ievery direction. Among these, the Lombardy poplar is 
I conspicuous. 
i Cult ivat ion near Seville. —The principal exports 
[from Seville are bitter and sweet oranges and lemons. 
!The sweet oranges are more cultivated than the bitier. 
The orange groves are estimated of great value. The 
trees are planted at the distance of !21 or 22 feet cacli 
I way, and in good years, will yield from 1 000 to 1.200, 
land even 1,500 oranges each. They are irrigated every 
|ten days, and the soil is disposed in small trenches to :il 
low the water to spread. Wm. Jennison. 
Cambridge , Mass., Oct. 12, I"-!4. 
KILLING BUSHES — e< OLD OF THE MOON IN 
AUGUST.” 
On page 42 of the February number, you give Mr. A 
H. Hallock’s method of cutting briers, Ci in the old of the 
moon in August, and the sign in the heart.” Now, while 
it is true that agriculturists have to do with the earth and 
its productions, rather than with the moon and its chan¬ 
ges, yet it is a fact, that the time specified, (I know noth 
ing about the location of the sign,) is the very best time 
in the year to kill not only briers, but all kinds of bush¬ 
es. I have tried it frequently, and they will sprout less, 
and the sickly feeble shoots are easier killed if cut “ in 
the old of the moon, (or between the last quarter and the 
new moon) in August,” than at any other time in the 
year. The reason probably is that the sap moves slug 
gishly, and is then mostly above ground, leaving the 
roots with less of the reproductive power than at any oth¬ 
er season. Of course they are more apt to die. It is 
well known that bushes cut at some seasons, throw up a 
very thrifty second growth. This will be the case when 
the most sap is in the roots, or at least when the sap is in 
most rapid circulation. 
Now whether this be the true explanation or not, it is 
yet a fact tested by much experience, that the very best 
time to kill bushes, briers, &e., is “ in the old of the 
moon in August.” And wise men, with no disposition to 
be carried away with “moon struck theories,” will ne¬ 
vertheless govern themselves accordingly. H 
Okio 3 Oct. 1844. 
