250 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Aug. 
ing roads rough and uneven, after they have been, as is 
in some cases falsely called, repaired. Loads of earth 
unspread, and large lumps of hard clay, are left on the 
traveled part of the road, where there is no way of 
avoiding them, rendering carriages liable to be broken, 
with all the care that can be used in driving. The hol¬ 
lows hold water, which softens the earth and the 
w T heels work out the mud, leaving deep holes. Why 
not finish the road as far as begun.—or rather begin no 
more than can be finished,—leaving the rest without 
making it worse than it was before? Another defect,— 
which, however / w r e noticed in but few instances,— 
was plowing the sides and ridging the centre of roads 
on the tops of hills and sharp knolls. How much 
easier to have improved the road by scraping the tops 
of the knolls into the hollows ! Eds. 
Farm Improvements, 
The improvement of the soil is one great object to 
be attained by the good farmer. All the fertilising sub- 
Stances within his reach w T ill be devoted to this purpose, 
ran order to increase the present quantity of his crops, 
and to insure a greater fertility of soil for the future. 
Annually removing the productions of the soil proves 
exhausting, and in time would render the soil barren, 
but science teaches us, that all the substances that make 
a soil fertile, can be restored, and its original richness 
be retained. It is then the duty of all that cultivate 
the earth, so to direct their labors that all the fertilising 
elements which they take from the earth, shall be re¬ 
turned to it again, that the soil be neither “ barren nor 
unfruitful.” That there are many who take an oppo¬ 
site course is not to be denied. The precept “ keep 
what you have and get what you can,” is as effectually 
obeyed in directing the labors of their farms, as in their 
traffic with their fellow men. And yet even such men 
will acknowledge the importance of improving the soil. 
But though the improvement of the soil is reckoned 
of the first importance, the improvement of the farm in 
other respects, should certainly not be neglected. The 
judicious and enterprising farmer will see where im¬ 
provements should be made, and he will see that they 
are made. It is not supposed that farmers as a class, 
have the means to make radical alterations in their 
buildings, or in the plan of their farms. They need 
not. A few hours’ labor here, or a few dollars expend¬ 
ed there, may make a greater improvement proportion¬ 
ally, than hundreds of dollars laid out in alterations. 
Look at those bars, which have to be let down or taken 
away, on an average, once or twice a day throughout 
the year, for the purpose of passing through. Just put 
a gate there, which can be done at a trifling expense, 
and there is an improvement from which benefit will be 
derived every day. A gate not only facilitates passing 
in and out, but it looks better. Their superiority needs 
no demonstration,—it is a “ fixed fact.” And yet there 
are thousands of farms scattered all over the land, that 
are. entirely without any such labor-saving articles, 
and farmers are living as contentedly as if they could 
not be obtained. 
Again • how often are we reminded of the observation 
of Solomon, “ I went by the field of the slothful, and 
lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles cov¬ 
ered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was 
broken down,” when a few hours’ work would destroy 
the “ thorns,” eradicate the “ nettles,” and repair the 
“ stone wall,” while the satisfaction of contemplating 
the improvement, wuuld amply compensate for the la¬ 
bor bestowed. I know the women and children are 
eloquent pleaders in behalf of the raspberry and black¬ 
berry bushes, but they had better be cultivated in the 
garden, than monopolize the corners and sides of fields 
appropriated to grass and grain. 
Again; another method of improvment is by building 
substantial fences. These will differ in different locali¬ 
ties according to the kind and cheapness of material. 
In New England, and especially in the Granite State, 
the majority of farms have the material for stone wall 
scattered all over their surface. This can be made avail¬ 
able by digging and occasionally blasting, and when 
once laid into wall will last forever. This method, by 
removing the stones from the field, and by making a 
durable fence, has a double advantage. In building 
wall where the ground is soft, and indeed in all cases, 
it is better to dig a trench, say about eighteen inches 
wide, down to the subsoil, and fill nearly full with small 
stones, on winch to lay the foundation • then the wall 
will not be thrown out of place by frost, nor settle into 
the ground. Stone wall is certainly expensive in com¬ 
parison with some other fences, but its durability and 
security renders it cheaper in the end. 
These are some of the methods in which' farms may 
be improved. But the farmer, who in his system com¬ 
bines beauty with utility, will need no suggestions in 
regard to the improvement of his farm. When his 
crops do not reqnire his attention, he will find something 
to do, either in beautifying or benefiting his premises. 
Many acknowledge the necessity of improvements, but 
they never begin to make them. Bushes grow' around 
their fields and meadows, rocks and stones encumber 
their tillage lands, their fences grow every year more 
unsightly, and their fruit trees remain unpruned and 
ungrafted; but they plead they “don’t have time to 
remedy the evils.” 
“ They know the right and they approve it too, 
They know the wrong, but still the wrong pursue.” 
W. L. Eaton. East Weave. 
Imported Cattle. 
Eds. Cultivator —On my return from England last 
spring I brought w r ith me, for account of Col. Sherw'ood, 
of Auburn, New r -York, and myself, a short horn bull 
and three short horn heifers; and one short horn bull 
calf for J. F. Sheafe, Esq., of Dutches Co., N. Y.—• 
Col. Sherwood and myself have had so many inquiries 
as to these cattle, that I ask a notice of them through 
your columns. 
The bull is 3d Duke of Cambridge ; his portrait and 
pedigree may be seen in the 4th vol. of the English 
Herd Book, page-, No. (5941). He was bred by 
that distinguished breeder, Thomas Bates, Esq., of 
Kirkleavington, Yarm, England, wffio is so widely and 
w'ell know'll both in England and America. 
The heifers and bull calf were bred by John Stephen¬ 
son, Esq., of the county of Durham, England, well 
known as the possessor of the superior and famous 
Princess Tribe of short horns. 
In the execution of the commissions of Mr. Sheafe 
and Col. Sherw 7 ood, I was left to my own discretion; 
they trusting to my judgment. I made a thorough ex¬ 
amination of the various herds of short horns in Eng¬ 
land, and from among them selected such animals as l 
thought w'ould meet the view's of my associates, and at 
the same time satisfy the critical scrutiny of American 
breeders. 
These cattle have now been in America five 
months, and have been seen by hundreds of persons, in¬ 
cluding many of our best judges and breeders. It gives 
me great pleasure to say they have met the approbation 
of all wffio have seen them. The universal testimony 
is that in every respect they are the best short horns 
ever imported into America. 
The vessel on which they w r ere imported, encounter¬ 
ed weather of extraordinary severity, and the voyage 
was both long and tempestuous; indeed for tw'enty days 
there was a continued hurricane. In consequence of 
this, the cattle were reduced and worn out. They are 
