1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
81 
®l)c Tanner’s Note-Book. 
Mr. Yam Rensselaer’s Devon Bull (i Major.” 
(See Portrait on preceding page.) 
This animal is at present the property of R. H. 
Van Rensselaer, Esq., of Butternuts, Otsego 
county, N. Y. Ho was bred by R. C. Gapper, 
Esq., of Thornhill, near Toronto, Canada West, 
and was exhibited by him at the show of the N. Y. 
State Ag. Society at Syracuse, where he took the 
Srst premium in the foreign class of Devons. 
‘'Major,” (calved in 1842,) was by “Billy,” 
dam “ Beauty,” both imported by Mr. Gapper, 
from the stock of Mr. Darcy, of North Moulton, 
Devonshire, England. 
“ Major” is in every respect, one of the best bulls 
we have ever seen. His portrait, though generally 
true to the original, and highly creditable to the skill 
of the gentleman who made the drawing, as well as 
to the engraver, is in no way flattered. He is, in 
fact, just one of thoso animals, which, though rare, 
are sometimes seen, whose points of excellence can¬ 
not be fully shown on paper or canvass. He has 
great bulk, justness of proportion, and compactness 
of body, short-jointed, clean, and strong limbs; giv¬ 
ing a general form which confers constitution and 
endurance, with the greatest power of draft. It is 
a form, also, which is fitted to carry the greatest 
weight of valuable flesh in proportion to the bono 
and offal. He is a good handler; the skin is not 
thin and papery, nor rigid and unyielding, but with 
sufficient substance to denote hardiness, has the mel¬ 
lowness and elasticity indicating thrift. The color 
is cherry-red, with the orange-colored ring round 
the eye and muzzle, characteristic of the true North 
Devon. 
The distinguishing traits of the Devon breed of 
cattle, were given at some length in our last vol¬ 
ume, pp. 120, 121, 122. 
Crops of 1849«»«Dramage. 
Eds. Cultivator —Our hay crop was never bet¬ 
ter since I lived here, (28 years.) The rains in the 
end of May and beginning of June, made both mea¬ 
dows and pastures where not over stocked, excellent. 
Taking this county, (Seneca) as a whole, I think 
there was an average crop of wheat. In the north 
half of the county, there was considerable loss by 
the weevil or midge; but the south half of the coun¬ 
ty was clear, or nearly so, of that insect. I had 
59£ acres of land in wheat, from which I obtained 
an average of a fraction over 25 bushels per acre, 
which is a tolerable crop in these times, but much 
short of what I expected when it was sown. The 
wire-worm cut off a 20 acre field very much in the 
fall, so much so that T intended to have plowed it 
up in spring; however, it recovered wonderfully, 
and gave at least from one-half to two-thirds of a 
crop. From the severe drouth, our corn crop was a 
short one, although after the light showers early in 
August, it recovered greatly, and all those farmers 
who worked their corn early, and continued work¬ 
ing it, got much more corn than they at one time 
expected; but those who let the grass, weeds, and 
Canada thistles master the corn, got nothing worth 
husking. Some say they could not see what was the 
reason their corn was so poor, as they manured the 
land well before planting. I suppose they are not 
aware that on our stiff soil, barn-yard manure does 
no good for the corn, if put on immediately before 
planting; indeed, in a dry season, it does harm. 
Ever since I manured my corn ground in the fall, I 
have never failed of a fair crop. This season I made 
80 bushels of ears to the acre, from 28 acres, being- 
all I planted. Being disappointed of drain-tiles in 
the spring, I was prevented from planting as much 
as I intended. 
As I sowed neither barley nor oats, I can say lit¬ 
tle about them. I find corn a more profitable crop 
than either. I am feeding cattle as usual. I have 
40 steers now. The feeding of cattle is becoming 
quite a business hereabouts. Three years ago, when 
I commenced cattle-feeding with 43 head, I could 
not have found as many in ten miles around me. 
Now I can count 200. I think this mode of farm¬ 
ing will ultimately improve our grain crops very 
much, and where rightly conducted, will pay much 
better for the corn, or even barley, than selling to 
distillers and brewers, to be manufactured into a 
poison to kill themselves or neighbors. 
A word or two about draining. I notice what 
Mr. Cheever says* about draining. He thinks it 
rather startling that I should lay out 25 dollars per 
acre on draining; but if I had Mr. Cheever with 
me on my farm for six months, I would convince him 
that it was the most profitable business a farmer 
can go at, in this part of the United States. He 
says, Mr. Johnston is a Scotchman; and that he 
(Mr. Cheever,) “agrees with Professor Emmons, to 
some extent, that the system of draining practiced 
in England and Scotland, should not be models 
for us.” It is true I am a Scotchman, and I 
will tell Mr. C. and Prof. E., that I have never 
seen, either in Scotland or the United States, a re¬ 
munerating crop of wheat, grown upon land that 
was wet, or even very damp; and never saw such 
land thoroughly drained in either country, (if a 
wheat soil,) but it produced the very best crops; 
and I have seldom seen wet or damp land produce a 
good crop of summer grain, even in this dry climate. 
Wet or damp land, when under tillage, is much more 
affected by drouth than dry land, and dry land, 
when in pasture, will put on much more beef or mut¬ 
ton (say fat) than wet or damp land. 
I should like much to have Mr. C. and Prof. E. 
here, if it were only for one day, in May or June 
next. I have a field of 23 acres now in wheat; the 
wettest I drained last spring. The want of tiles 
prevented me from draining all that was wet. Those 
gentlemen would just see the difference in the piece 
that was formerly so wet that it would not raise over 
half a crop, and that which is only a little wet, but 
enough so to make a thin crop of wheat. As to 
what Mr. C. says about the drains filling up on some 
soils, I do not agree with him. I have drained on 
different kinds of soil, and I have never had a stop¬ 
page where the work was properly done. I am of¬ 
ten asked—“ won’t the tiles sink, or will they not 
fill up, in a few years?” 
I took up about 20 rods of a drain last June, that 
had been laid for ten years, in order to put in larger 
tiles, as I was going to connect several other drains 
with it; and I sent for my friend and neighbor, Mr. 
Delafield, to see them taken up, as he had some mis¬ 
givings about sinking or filling up. He can now 
say, that they were neither sunk, nor filled the least 
particle; indeed no man could have told that they 
had been a day under ground, from the appearance 
of the tiles. I have taken up sometimes tiles that 
had been longer laid, and with the same result. On¬ 
ly let the tiles be large enough, (or put more of 
them into the main drain,) and there will seldom bo 
* Reports of agricultural discussions at Albany, Transactions N. Y. 
State Ag. Society, 1848, page 6G4. 
