44 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
MR. PRENTICE’S BARN. 
Explanation . 
A. Barn 30 by 40 feet, with 
threshing floor. 
B. Shed with hay loft, 21 by 
40 feet. 
C. Gateway with hay loft over 
it. 
D. Passage 120 feet long, with 
29 cattle stalls on the right, each 
stall with a post and sliding ring 
for fastening the halters. 
E. Passage with stalls & rooms 
for calves, &c. 
F. Shed for sheep. 
G. G. Sheep yards with high 
close board fence. 
H. Entrance gate, thro’ picket 
fence 12 feet high for confining 
hens. 
I. Pump. 
®d mostly by Mr. Prentice, direct from England, viz: 
Appolonia* and Splendor, imported in 1838, 9—Princess, 
Miss Scotson, Flora, Aurora, and Snydus, in 1840-—and 
Moss Rose, Yiolanta, Esterville and Catharine, in 1841. 
These were selected from the noted herds of the Earl of 
Derby, Samuel Scotson, Esq. of Toxteth Park, Messrs. 
Whitaker, and R. C. Lowndes. The animals above na¬ 
med, are all registered in the Herd Book, and they, with 
the r progeny, constitute the present Short Horn stock at 
Mount Hope. 
Ai the first Cattle Show of the N. Y. State Ag. Society 
at Syracuse in 1841, Mr. Prentice received the second 
premiums on bulls, cows, two year old heifers, and the 
first premiums for yearling heifers and bull calves. At 
the Show of the same Society at Albany, in 1842, the 
first premiums for the best bull, two year old bull, bull 
calf, and heifer calf, and second premiums for cows, 
yearling heifers, and heifer calves, were also awarded to 
Mr. P. At the last State Show, holden at Poughkeep¬ 
sie, Mr. Prentice only exhibited from his herd three hei¬ 
fers, for two of which he received the highest premi¬ 
ums in the class. Of one of these heifers, “ Esterville,” 
we present our readers with a very accurate portrait at 
page 56 of this number. 
This herd of cattle cannot be large consumers_after 
making due allowances for the fertility and production 
of the land, the quantity of stock kept is certainly re¬ 
markable. Though no particular trials have been made 
with any of the cows to ascertain the quantity of butter 
they would yield, it is known that several of them are 
extraordinary as milkers. Appolonia is one of the best 
dairy cows we have ever seen. She, and several others 
have each given from twenty-five to thirty quarts of 
milk per day, for several weeks in succession, with only 
grass feed. 
In 1842, Mr. Colman gave the following account of 
Mr. Prentice's stock, in the New Genesee Farmer, of I 
which paper he was at that time editor: 
animal frame, it is worth a journey from Rochester to 
Albany on foot to see this stock. It is worth almost as 
much to see Mr. Prentice’s stable arrangements and the 
tidy manner in which every thing is kept. Some few 
farmers among my acquaintance, in going there, would 
hardly know that they were not in their own parlors.” 
Besides the Short Horn stock above mentioned, Mr. 
Prentice has a few very superior Ayrshires. These are 
a cow imported in 1842, and a heifer which she dropped 
on the passage, with one or two others produced since. 
They are beautiful animals, and have evidently superior 
qualities for the dairy. 
The community is also indebted to Mr. Prentice for 
the importation of choice flocks of South Down and 
Cotswold sheep. These were imported in 1837. The 
South Downs were selected from the flocks of Messrs. 
Riga and Putland, Sussex, and the Cotswolds from the 
flock of Mr. Riga, Cross-hands, Wiltshire. Finding the 
breeding of sheep in connexion with caflle, rather incon¬ 
venient, Mr. P. disposed of the former to Mr. J. McD. 
McIntyre, in 1841. 
IMPROVED PLOWS. 
“ If any man, however, chooses to see this stock in 
perfection, let him go to the farm of E. P. Prentice of 
Albany; and if he has any prejudices of any kind against 
the stock, and is not then prepared to yield every one of 
them, I can only say he is differently constituted from 
what I am. Mr. Prentice has about forty animals of the 
Improved Durham Short Horn, of pure blood and of the 
highest pedigree. He has one cow with seven heifers 
of her own progeny along side of her, six of which were 
*n milk. A stock of larger size, of more symmetrical form, 
of equal beauty, of finer feel, of more thrift, of great¬ 
er productiveness, I never have seen nor never expect to 
see; nor do I expect to see a herd better kept, nor better 
arrangements for their keeping. To an amateur, to an 
inquisitive farmer, who desires to see what skill, intelli¬ 
gence and care can effect in moulding and improving the 
* With Appolonia, there was shipped a beautiful and celebrated cow, 
•ailed Wood-Nymph, which unfortunately died on the passage. 
The improvements in agricultural implements of vari¬ 
ous kinds, within the last twenty or thirty years, hasbeen 
very great. In the plow, particularly, there has been 
almost an entire revolution, both in the kind of material 
used, and in the general form and construction. A single 
example of the manner in which, within the memory of 
the writer, (thirty years,) the operation of plowing was 
performed in a New-England neighborhood, not by any 
meam behind the age in agricultural advancement, will 
serve to show in a striking light, the improvement which 
has been effected in this most important implement of 
husbandry. In plowing “ green-sward,” the force com • 
monly employed w'as three yoke of oxen, with a horse 
to lead, or two yoke of oxen and a pair of horses, with 
two drivers, one man at the plow-handles, another at the 
beam to “ bear on” in hard places, and, if the ground was 
at all rough, a man to follow the plow with a stout hoe 
to mend “ baulks,” and turn over furrows. An acre was 
considered a good day’s work. Now mark the contrast. 
On the same farms, the same fields, with a tougher 
sward, are now plowed with one yoke of oxen, (some¬ 
times with the addition of a horse,) and often with only 
one man, who is both plowman and driver. An acre 
and a half is plowed in a day, in a style infinitely supe¬ 
rior to the former mode. Besides, notwithstanding the 
superior excellence and durability of the new implement, 
its cost is at least one-fourth less than that of the old one. 
This modern improvement in plows, it may be safely 
averred, originated in the encouragement offered by agri¬ 
cultural societies. The Massachusetts Society for the 
Promotion of Agriculture, early manifested a deep inte- 
ii rest in this matter. The institution of plowing matches 
