July, 
248 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
pratense) will probably grow well. If sown by it¬ 
self, one bushel of seed will be required. Try red- 
top ( Agrostis ) with white clover ( Trifolium re¬ 
pens) a bushel of the former with three quarts of 
the latter. Red-top will also do well to mix with 
clover for hay. Sow the medium or southern clover, 
ten pounds to the acre, with half a bushel of red- 
top seed. Timothy, as you say, is inclined to die 
out on very dry land, and none of the grasses will 
last as long here as in soil that is more moist. For 
shady or wood-land pastures, sow Kentucky blue- 
grass, and orchard-grass (Dactylis glomerata.) If 
mixed together, use half a bushel of the former with 
a bushel of the latter. 
Satis ani ©pinions. 
(Condensed from Books and Papers.) 
Subsoil Plowing. — A correspondent of the 
Agricultural Gazette says he formerly made a 
point of plowing at least ten inches deep when 
preparing for turneps; but be is more successful in 
growing them by keeping the manured soil near 
the surface, and loosening the substratum with the 
subsoil plow, going about seven inches deep with 
the first plow. 
Four Calves at a Birth. —B. Gates, of Mere- 
wether county, Georgia, writes to the Columbus In¬ 
quirer, that on the 9th of February a cow of his 
brought forth four female calves, all alive and well. 
Two calves at a birth are not uncommon, three are 
very rare, but four are so far out of the usual 
course, that the occurrence deserves to be recorded. 
A Valuable Cow.—Henry Jennison, of West 
Newton, Mass., gives the Plowman an account of 
the product of his cow for one year, or from April 
2d, 1848, to the same period in 1849. First, he 
sold her calf at four weeks old for six dollars, then 
thirty gallons of milk at ten cents per gallon; made 
three hundred and sixty-eight pounds of butter, 
which sold on an average at twenty-four and a-half 
cents per pound; during winter sold twenty-four 
gallons of milk at fourteen cents per gallon. No es¬ 
timate was made of milk used in a family of three 
persons. The cow had one acre of pasturage, and 
was fed with one quart of meal per day for two 
months, with green corn in the driest of the season ; 
and after haying, was turned into “ full feed.’ 5 
The income may be stated thus: 
Calf, ... $6 00 
30 gallons milk, . 3 00 
368 lbs. butter, . 90 06 
24 gallons milk, . 3 36 
$102 42 
New Jersey Marls. —It is well known that cer¬ 
tain sections of New Jersey have been greatly im¬ 
proved in regard to the productiveness of the soil, 
by the application of marl. In Monmouth county, 
according to Professor Mapes, in the Working 
Farmer, “lands which ten years ago were worth 
but ten dollars per acre, are now producing large 
crops, simply by coating them with a few bushels of 
marl, taken from within a few feet of the surface.” 
This marl we understand to be what is called green 
sand. Professor M. states that some of it contains 
13 per cent of potash, and that the quantity requir¬ 
ed to fertilize an acre, does not exceed one hundred 
bushels. Some of the marls, however, are said to 
contain an excess of sulphate of iron, and when 
they are applied in large quantities, injure vegeta¬ 
tion. Professor M. observes “ that the continued 
use of marl, while it supplies many of the inorganic 
constituents of plants, must eventually cause the 
disappearance from the soil of all its inorganic 
matter, and hence the necessity of its renewal from 
time to time by the additions of decomposed peat, 
turf, river mud, and other organic matters.” 
Sound Advice. —Rev. Morrill Allen, in re¬ 
signing his post as president of the Plymouth, Mass., 
Agricultural Society, says—“My strong desire that 
your future labors may be attended with distinguish¬ 
ed success, prompts a caution against concentrating 
efforts in a few specific and favorite objects; let 
every branch of the farmer’s interest attract atten¬ 
tion, and in the just measure be taken under your 
patronage. Endeavor to walk in the light of sci¬ 
ence, but prize cheaply theories not reducible to 
practice. In the numerous speculations on various 
agricultural topics, which abound at the present 
time, we are in danger, without great caution, of 
being led into errors. Speculative minds in the ar¬ 
dor of inquiry, often forget that in practical life 
facts should always take precedence of theories. 
Use with vigilant care the varied means of scienti¬ 
fic improvement now enjoyed, and practical im¬ 
provement will be proportionably accelerated.” 
First County Agricultural Society in the 
State of New York.— -By the following paragraph 
from a “Historical sketch of the Village of Water- 
town,” given in the Business Directory for ^hat 
place, published by N. L. Burdick, it appears that 
Jefferson county w 7 as the first in the State to estab¬ 
lish an Agricultural Society. It has been kept up 
with great spirit, and has been an important instru¬ 
ment in advancing the prosperity of that enterpri¬ 
sing county:—“ The agricultural interest of Jeffer¬ 
son embarked early in measures to elevate the im¬ 
portant labors of that branch of industry to a high¬ 
er scale of efficiency and usefulness. In 1818, in 
Watertown, in a building on the site of the Ameri¬ 
can, was organised the first County Agricultural 
Society ever established in this State. James De 
Le Ray Chaumont delivered the address. That 
distinguished stastesman and patron of learning, 
public improvement, and agriculture, De Witt 
Clinton, was also present, and spoke in support of 
the views and objects of the Society. Guided and 
sustained by the sagacity and public spirit of the 
farmers of this county, the society has continued to 
flourish, and its annual fairs will not suffer by com¬ 
parison with similar exhibitions throughout the 
State.” 
Explosion of Air-tight Stoves. —Prof. Hors- 
ford, in a paper lately read before the “American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences,” thus explained 
the phenomenon of tffe explosion of the so-called 
air-tight stoves. It is proper to remark that these 
accidents are latterly of rare occurrence, and with 
the self-regulating valve, which is now attached to 
the best of these stoves, it is believed such accidents 
would never happen. “After the wood has been 
fired, and the supply of air for some time shut off, 
on re-opening the draft, and sometimes without, oc¬ 
casional explosions of great violence have occurred, 
attended with the blowing out of the stove door, 
and in some instances producing still greater injury 
tothestove. The probable explanation is this. Af¬ 
ter firing the wood and shutting off the draft, de¬ 
structive distillation commences. Inflammable 
gases issue from the wood, which, mingling with 
air derived from the pipe or remaining still un¬ 
consumed, furnish an explosive mixture, which the 
first jet of flame, or perhaps the incandescent coal, 
causes to explode.” 
