282 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Aug. 
Prices of Poultry and Pheasants in Eng- 
land.—’A letter lately received from Messrs. Ba¬ 
ker, of London, gives the following as the prices of 
birds from their celebrated “ pheasantry.” 
Malay cocks, $6.25 to $8.75 each; hens, $2.50 to 
$3.75 each. 
Cochin-China cocks, $10; hens, $5 to $7.50. 
Speckled Dorking cocks, $5; hens, $1.75 to $2. 
Spanish cocks, $6.25 to $7.50; hens, $2.50 to $3. 
Sussex cocks, $5; hens, $1.75. 
Pheasants —'Golden, $17,50 per pair. 
“ Silver, $17.50 “ 
“ English, $6.70 “ 
Messrs. Baker are large breeders of ornamental 
poultry and water-fowl of every description. It 
may be interesting to some of our fanciers to know 
where they can obtain choice birds. 
Cattle for Nova Scotia.—-James Irons, Esq., 
as agent for the Provincial Agricultural Society of 
Nova Scotia, purchased, in June last, several fine 
animals in this vicinity, viz, Ayrshires , purchased 
of E. P. Prentice, Esq., one two-year-old heifer, 
two yearling do., one yearling bull calf; of Here- 
fords, purchased of E. Corning, Esq., one year¬ 
ling bull and one yearling heifer. All these were 
very fine animals, and will, we trust, well reward 
the praiseworthy enterprise of our brother farmers 
of Nova Scotia. 
Sale of Mr. Sheafe’s Stock.— Our readers, who 
wish to purchase short horn cattle or South Down sheep, 
will bear in mind that the sale of Mr. Sheafe’s stock, 
is to come off at New-Hamburgh on the 29th inst. See 
advertisement on last page of this paper. 
Live-Stock at Auction. —We invite attention to 
the advertisement of Mr. Stickney, in this number. 
He has taken great pains in procuring* the best Devon 
cattle, South Down sheep, Suffolk and other breeds of 
pigs, and has excellent specimens of all these stocks. 
His swine are much esteemed for their fattening ten¬ 
dency, and when slaughtered, bring an extra price in 
market, on account of the superior quailty of the pork 
and the great weight in proportion to offal. A better 
opportunity for obtaining stock of these kinds, can 
hardly be expected to occur. 
Country Seats. —The Rensselaer Count}' Ag. 
Society has offered a premium for the best designed 
“country seat.” Competitors are requested to send 
drawings and descriptions, showing the plans of 
their dwellings, gardens and grounds; and the 
name, of the successful competitor is to be reported 
to the State Society. 
Wheat and Chess. — P. Gregory, a correspon¬ 
dent of the Canadian Agriculturist , states that se¬ 
veral years ago he found wheat and chess on the 
same stalk; and supposing at the time that both 
had grown from the same seed or germ, he drew 
the inference “that wheat must produce chess, or 
chess wheat.” He therefore set himself to experi¬ 
menting on wheat and chess; but after all his ex¬ 
periments, he says-—“like produces like, in spite of 
all the ill treatment I can give them.” He asks for 
an explanation of the mystery. The editor of the 
paper referred to very sensibly observes that “oats 
as well as chess, have been found adhering to a head 
of wheat,” but their growth from the same stem 
was only “apparent”—the oats or chess was only 
entangled with the wheat. 
Western Butter.— Cobb & Co., of Buffalo, in a 
letter to the Ohio Cultivator, state that the receipts 
of butter at that port for 1849, amounted to 9,714,170 
lbs., more than two thirds of which was from Ohio. A 
very small proportion only of this ranked as prime— 
far the greater portion having been received as grease 
butter. It is stated that the great bulk of Ohio butter 
did not net the shipper more than six to seven cents 
per pound. The bad quality of the butter is charged 
to several causes; as impure salt which it is said con¬ 
verts the butter into a “ discoloured pasty substance 
resembling soap”— the salt imperfectly incorporated 
with the butter, the butter-milk imperfectly separated, 
exposure of the butter to the air, both before and after 
it is packed, &c. The improvements suggested, are 
the use of solar evaporated sea salt, greater care in 
packing—“ smooth, clean, well made, oak kegs, 
capable of holding about 100 lbs,” being recommended, 
and the kegs to be protected as much as possible from 
the air. Placing the kegs of butter in larger casks and 
filling the space with oats, is thought to be a good 
mode of sending to market. The oats, it is said, “ will 
pay cost and transportation.” 
Long-wooled Sheep.— A writer in the American 
Farmer states that he was present at the shearing of 
several long-wooled sheep owned by James N. Golds- 
borough, of Talbot county, and the following is given 
as the weights of the carcasses and fleeces: 
A three year old Oxfordshire ram weighed.. 2351bs 
His fleece, washed wool, weighed....7 jibs 
A yearling grade Lincoln ram, weighed.... 171® lbs 
His fleece washed wool weighed ............ 8®lbs 
A three year old New Leicester ewe.212 }lbs 
Her fleece washed ... 7 }lbs 
A three year old New Leicester Ewe.194-1-lbs 
Her fleece washed. ...7*lbs 
Use of Carbon in the Soil. —It has been ascer¬ 
tained by experiment that carbonic acid is essential to 
the growth of plants; but it has been a question whether 
the plant could obtain through its leaves a sufficiency 
of this food from the atmosphere, or whether it is ne¬ 
cessary that it should be present in the soil. Liebig 
and his followers have held tlrht it was not necessary 
in the soil—the only use of vegetable or organic matter 
being, as they argued, to impart the requisite “ physi¬ 
cal texture” to the soil. A paper lately published in 
France on the food of plants, gives the results of some 
experiments on this subject, which are important. The 
experimenter took two boxes, in one of which was placed 
a quantity of soil which had been burned so as to de¬ 
stroy all organic matter; in the other a like quantity 
of the same kind of soil in its natural state was de¬ 
posited. Peas were planted in both boxes, and the 
growth of the plants in the box carefully compared. 
Those in the natural soil flourished much the best, and 
no reason could be assigned for the difference, except 
the greater quantity of carbon in the natural soil. 
The Wool Clip of 1850.—The shipments of wool 
this season to the 1st July, from Cincinnati, amount to 
1784 bales and 14,366 lbs., against 913 bales and 569 
lbs. to same date last season. One steamer from St. 
Louis, a few days since, discharged 101 bales (13,432 
lbs.) of wool, shipped from Booneville. At Pontiac, 
Michigan, to the 20th ult. over 200,000 lbs. had been 
purchased of the clip of 1850. The fleeces have been 
unusually heavy this spring—one merino buck in Mon¬ 
roe county, New York, yielded, it is said, 18 lbs.! It 
is estimated that 65,000,000 lbs. will be wanted the 
present year for domestic consumption. In Macomb, 
Michigan, about 10,000 lbs. of wool have been already 
purchased this season, which is double the product of 
that county in any previous year. Providence Journal. 
Cheap ice. —Mr. Nahum Hardy, in a communi¬ 
cation to the Mass. Plowman, recommends that every 
neighborhood should have an ice-house, which should 
be of sufficient capacity for holding all the ice that may 
be wanted in the vicinity. The house should be near 
