1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
315 
forms the frontispiece to the work on sheep by W. 
C. L. Martin? 
1X7“ We understand that L. G. Morris, Esq. has 
purchased in England, of Jonag, Webb, a lot of 
South Down sheep, and that he also purchased at 
the show of the Royal Society at Exeter, several 
fine Devon cattle, all destined for his farm at Mor- 
risania, Westchester county, N. Y. 
K7* We are indebted to B. B. Kirtland Esq., 
of the Catonment Farm, Greenbush, for beautiful 
specimens of the Red Astrachan apple and Smith’s 
Orleans plum. 
The Yellow-Bird.-— We think our New Hamp¬ 
shire correspondent is mistaken in regard to the ob¬ 
ject of the yellow-bird, which he has seen on his 
fields of winter wheat. We think the bird was 
seeking the insect called weevil, or wheat midge. 
It is not singular that the bird should be seen more 
frequently on bald than on bearded wheat, as it 
could more readily come at the worm in the former. 
We have never heard the bird charged with doing 
injury to wheat, except in districts where the insect 
prevailed ; yet if its object was to feed on the wheat 
we cannot see why it should not attack the crops 
of all sections, and also attack spring wheat as well 
as winter wheat. But the reason why the bird has 
been seen on the winter wheat more than on spring 
wheat, in the New England states, is that the form¬ 
er has usually been more subject to the midge—the 
spring wheat coming in after the period of the at¬ 
tack of the insect had more or less passed. 
Seed of the Cane.—( Arundo ragmites ?) — 
An article has been going the rounds, stating 
that a remarkable phenomenon had been exhibited 
the present season by the “ cane-brake” of the 
south-western States. It was said to have produced 
seed resembling wheat, and the circumstance was 
represented as being unaccountable, by any known 
laws relating to the plant. The seed alluded to was 
undoubtedly the natural seed of the cane, and that 
it should resemble wheat need not excite wonder, 
when it is known that both plants belong to the same 
natural order— graminacae. The following descrip¬ 
tion of the cane, from Flint’s Geography and His¬ 
tory of the Mississippi Valley , will sufficiently ex¬ 
plain what to some may have appeared a mystery. 
“ This beautiful vegetable is generally asserted 
to have a life of five years, at the end of which 
period, if it has grown undisturbed, it produces an 
abundant crop of seed, with heads very much like 
those of broom-corn. The seeds are farinaceous, 
and said not to be much inferior to wheat, for which 
the Indians, and occasionally the first settlers, have 
substituted it. No prospect so impressively shows 
the exuberant prodigality of nature, as a thick cane- 
break. Nothing affords such a rich and perennial 
range for cattle, sheep and horses. The butter 
that is made from the cane pastures of this region, 
is of the finest kind. The seed easily vegetates 
in any rich soil. It rises from the ground like the 
richest asparagus, with a large succulent stem, and 
it grows six feet high, before this succulency and 
tenderness hardens into wood. No other vegetable 
furnishes a fodder so rich and abundant; nor, in our 
view, does any other agricultural project so strongly 
call for a trial, as the annual sowing of cane in re¬ 
gions too far north for it to survive the winter. We 
suppose this would be latitude 39°.” 
Great product of Raspberries. —It is stated 
that Nathaniel Hallock, of Milton, Ulster coun¬ 
ty, N. Y., has sent to New York, the present sea¬ 
son, ten thousand baskets of Antwerp Raspberries, 
each basket holding one pint. He gathered seven 
thousand baskets from one acre, and three thou¬ 
sand from a lot of two acres, which had just began 
to bear. The prices obtained were from eighteen 
and three-fourths cents to twenty-five cents a bas¬ 
ket. 
Cheese Manufacture. —We have given frequent 
notices of the “ cheese factories” so called in the 
northern part of Ohio. Mr. Geo. Hezlep, of 
Gustavus, Trumbull county, is one of the pioneers 
in this business, and pursues it on a large scale. 
We understand he is this season using the curd from 
the milk of one thousand cows. He takes the curd 
from the doors of the dairymen in the neighborhood, 
every day, and pays from 3| to 3^ cts. per lb. for it. 
He makes from 100 to 120 cheeses daily. Mr. H.’s 
cheese has a high reputation for quality. He has 
sometimes sent specimens to our State Shows, which 
have been much commended. We understand that 
he intends to send his cheese to California, thisyear. 
Hay Caps. —We have frequently spoken of the 
advantages of hay caps for protecting hay against 
rain during the process of curing. E. Emerson 
states in the Mass. Plowman that he has used them 
several years, and has found them of much use in 
case of storms. He has had hay stand, covered by 
these caps, four or five days, during which there 
was a heavy rain, and on opening it, found it sweet 
and not more colored than it would have been from 
a heavy dew. He estimated that each cock of hay 
was enough better to pay the cost of the cap. He 
makes his cap of sheeting, a yard and a quarter or 
a yard and a half wide, tears it into squares, and 
with a tape needle puts a loop in each corner, and 
they are done. He applies these caps as follows : 
“ Make four sticks about 18 inches long for each cap, 
let two hands at opposite corners draw the cap down 
tight over the cock—pass the stick through the loop 
and up (not down) into the cock of hay, and it will 
stand both wind and rain a month if you wish.” 
Proposed School of Agriculture. —We learn 
from a circular received through Mr. B. H. Street¬ 
er, of Clyde, N. Y., that Joseph Watson, Esq., 
President of the Wayne County Agricultural So¬ 
ciety, offers his farm, for which he has received the 
first premium of that society, for the purpose of 
establishing an institution for education. The course 
of instruction to be pursued, is to “ embrace all the 
branches of education usually pursued in acade¬ 
mies and higher seminaries of learning, with Prac¬ 
tical and Scientific Agriculture and Domestic Econ¬ 
omy as the leading features of the Institution.” 
The conditions of Mr. Watson’s proposition are, 
that there shall be erected on the farm “ suitable 
buildings and fixtures of the value of $5000, with 
proper arrangements for the future support of the 
school, and that the Association shall pay to him or 
his assigns, during the natural lives of himself and 
wife, the sum of $300 annually, and after the death 
of either, the sum of $150, and upon the death of 
both, the premises to become the property of the 
Association.” 
The farm consists of about fifty acres and is esti¬ 
mated to be worth $100 per acre. It is proposed 
to raise the sum of $5000 in shares of $100 each. 
We hope these praiseworthy exertions for the pro¬ 
motion of sound education, may be successful. 
The Wheat Midge. —The Rural New-Yorker 
observes that li there can hardly be a doubt that 
this destructive plague has overrun Vermont and 
the eastern part of this State.” The writer ob¬ 
serves that he had “ indulged the hope that there was 
some incompatability in our climate and the nature 
and habits of this great plague, as its prevalence in 
