THE CULTIVATOR. 
365 
LETTERS FROM MR. MITCHILL—No. I. 
Liverpool, England, Nov. 4, 1844. 
Luther Tucker, Esq. 
Dear Sir —A month ago, and T was in Albany, and 
rode with your hospitable friend Bement, to look up his 
Three Hills and line cattle, and then ran down your ri* 
( ver, looking either side, and seeing much. Now, here I 
am, and a moment ago, in the street, a woman (will you 
believe it ?) was gathering with her bare hands, into her 
apron, the fresh dung from the horses. What a change! 
Attend me a short walk into the country, and you shall 
see it more strikingly. First, the universal greenness, 
dazzles and tempts you, if subject to such impulses, to 
throw up your hands and exclaim, ‘'beautiful!” There 
are no crooked fences—there are no tottling walls; but 
beside the pleasantly winding and McAdamized road, are 
fences of hewn stone, laid in mortar, and finished with 
coping. Back of them run the various hedges to every 
point of compass, varying the brightness of the meadow, 
with hundreds of brown brushy lines. Nor should I for¬ 
get the trees, though bare, which belt around each large 
enclosure, and in the back ground interweave, seeming¬ 
ly, into a forest hedge, over which, however, peeps 
some tall gable end, or turret or chimney top. For these 
modest stone houses, with vine or ivy clambering over 
them by the roadside, do not contain the land owners. 
Even now, at our right, the hedges and shrubbery and 
trees arc thickening, and a black smoke is soaring above 
them, and a diamond window and a porch, and beds of 
flowers and laurel trees and gravel walks, and an elegant 
gateway, and now a “ fine old English gentleman’s” house 
is in plain sight, which means that a rich merchant of 
Liverpool bought the place in view, employed a man of 
taste to arrange matters, and from it he rides in the mor¬ 
ning, in a carriage somewhat like our old fashioned ba¬ 
rouche, only a deal heavier, and to it again at night. We 
are tempted to stroll through the unlatched gate, along 
the gravel way, and to the field beyond, where we see 
some beautiful Southdowns feeding; but the “Notice— 
trespassers on these grounds, will be apprehended”—de¬ 
ters us, and we pass on. 
Opposite, farther along, are the laborers harrowing, 
one leading the horses, geared tandem; the other swing¬ 
ing the harrow by cords, it being wholly of iron, and in 
three parts with hinges—perhaps 50 teeth. The seed is 
barley. The field is thrown into lands a rod wide, divi¬ 
ded by water furrows, straight as an arrow. The soil, a 
rich clay loam, which the plow and harrow do not fail to 
pulverize. The plow is of long beam, very long han¬ 
dles, coulter resting on nose, and share curved under in 
front, almost joining the land-side—this l suppose, to les¬ 
sen draught. Other plows I see of cast iron wholly. Ob¬ 
jects of interest thicken as I pass on—yonder in the field 
is a group of cattle, and a score or more of Southdowns, 
which the boy tells me belong to the butchers—and fur¬ 
ther, that most of the fields passed, are rented by them. 
1 cannot learn the rent, but jump the wall, and venture 
upon a look; the cattle are indifferently formed, parti-co¬ 
lored, and rough haired, but in good flesh, and good size. 
The sheep are the beauties; rampant as blood horses, 
and sleek as Berkshires; live weight, I should judge 
about 150 lbs. average. They were beauties. As we 
stroll back into the road, we see “ £10 reward,” for a 
red cow, offered by the Butcher’s Provident Society. At 
the great sign-post, pointing to Warnstred, to Woolton, 
and to Walton, over the wall, are being dug a fine crop 
of potatoes of 4 acres, planted in drills, and turning per¬ 
haps 400 bushels to the acre. Twenty-eight hands, (I 
counted them,) are at work, all with a tool resembling 
our dung fork, with shorter and broader tines. The tops 
are nearly green, and thrown in heaps for manure. 
Monstrous heaps of compost arrest the attention in almost 
every field, of marl, ashes, street dung, &c. A stranger 
is very much struck with the black appearance of the 
trees—scarcely recognizing an individual specimen—but 
remembering the clouds of smoke are deluging the air 
from the great city behind, the wonder vanishes; I as yet 
recognize only the poplar, the elm, the maple, (English) 
the oak and Scotch fir. In choice collections I see the 
American laurel, (a beautiful shrub,) and tbe variegated 
laurel. Never can I cease admiring the tortuous course 
of the road; ever bringing up unlooked for objects of 
attention. In the distance, for instance, I see a field of 
dark blue green, and wonder what it may be; presently 
a new turn brings it to my side, and peeping through the 
matted hedge, I see as fine a lot of ruta bagas, and as 
fresh as were your Albany ones in September. These 
in rows, and of the size of pint bowls. Ahead, around a 
bit of a stone cottage, I count 15 stacks of hay, of (say) 
10 tons each, all nicely thatched. The mode is in 
brief this: straw is laid upon outer edges; these bound 
by tar strings running round, fastened to forked sticks dri¬ 
ven into the hay; after this, another layer bound over 
the jointure in same way. They are perfectly tight, ea¬ 
sily thatched, and neat in appearance. Objects fail not, 
which are a feast to American eyes, the whole circuit 
home, which I reach at half past two; tired, but gratifi¬ 
ed. There are walks in reserve, and markets, and sights 
of farm implements and farm houses, and barns and hor¬ 
ses and cattle, &c. &c., of which I may possibly give you 
future hints. Meantime, I remain yours truly. 
D. G. Mitchell. 
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. 
By the arrival of the steamer Hibernia at Boston, we 
have our usual files of foreign papers to the 4th of No¬ 
vember, from which we compile the following: 
AMERICAN PROVISIONS IN ENGLAND. 
From a letter “ on the present state the American 
provision trade,” published in the Mark Lane Express, 
from J. and C. Kirkpatrick, dated Liverpool, Oct. 1844, 
we condense the following. 
The strong prejudice which at first existed against 
American provisions, and for which there was good rea¬ 
son, in the inferior quality of the earliest arrivals, h&sbeen 
gradually removed, as shippers have learned to conform 
their brands to the wants of the English market. 
Beef. —Great difficulty has been experienced in secu¬ 
ring a footing in the British markets for this article, ow¬ 
ing to the prejudice which the inferior character of the 
first shipments naturally produced; but the imports have 
been latterly of better quality. The Americans may have 
the exclusive supply of this article, if they will avoid the 
faults in cutting and packing which have formerly at¬ 
tached even to their best brands. Complaint is made that 
some of the late parcels were very dark in color, sup¬ 
posed to have been caused by a bad qualify of salt, or 
badly seasoned casks. The casks have generally been 
made too large, allowing the meat to roll about ; they 
should be made of such size as to admit the required 
quantity with tight packing, leaving room for a good 
heaving of salt. The meat too has often been most ir¬ 
regularly messed, the pieces being of very unequal sizes, 
1 whereas they should be cut as nearly as possible 8 lbs., 
and should be cut square and compact. 
Pork has had less difficulty in finding its way into the 
English market, and less care has consequently been ta¬ 
ken by curers in properly packing it. The position of 
the trade is therefore about the same that it has been for 
two years past; but it is capable of great extension if 
due care is only taken to suit the market. Prime mess 
pork should consist of 50 pieces of 4 lbs. each, from 
hogs weighing 160 to to 200 lbs., every part being packed 
except the bead and legs. It is important that the meat 
be firm and well fed, and free from the oily character 
1 which American pork generally possesses. It should 
remain 36 hours after being killed, in order that it may 
become quite cold and firm, before it is packed. 
Cheese. —The import of this article to Liverpool du- 
ring the past twelve months was somewhat over 1,40Q 
tons; while the steady and progressive increase in the 
trade gives promise of a much extended import in com¬ 
ing years. The general quality of American cheese 
shows that the soil of the United States is well suited foj 
its production, and which makes it the more to be re¬ 
gretted that the very obvious defects of make, which have 
so much operated against its more extensive introduction 
into England, should not be remedied. This might ea¬ 
sily be accomplished by the circulation of proper instruc¬ 
tions on the subject among the farmers in the eheese-ma- 
