THE CULTIVATOR. 
11 
OUR PLATE 
IMPROVED SHORT HORNED COW, «•' RED LADY.” 
Red Lady, the property of James Lenox, Esq., of 
New-York, received the prize offered by the New-York 
State Agricultural Society for the best cow exhibited at 
their show at Poughkeepsie, Sept. 1844. She also re¬ 
ceived the first prize at the Dutchess County Society’s 
Show in 1843. Red Lady was calved in 1834, and bred 
by J. Whitaker, Esq., of Burleigh, Yorkshire, England, 
and imported by Mr. Lenox in 1840. Her pedigree is 
as follows: 
“ Red Lady, by Hubback, 2142. Dam by Don Juan, 
1923. Grand Dam and G. D. Dam, by Mr. Woodhouse’s 
bulls. The two latter names are not registered, but the 
stock has been good upwards of sixty years, and from 
this herd, Red Lady’s ancestors have descended.” See 
Herd Book, vol. 5, p. 841. 
Mr. Lenox has at his beautiful place Nether wood, 
Dutchess county, a small but splendid herd of improved 
Short Horned Cattle, consisting of imported animals and 
their progeny. In 1840, he imported two cows, Red La¬ 
dy and Daffodil, the latter in calf by the celebrated Sir 
Thomas Fairfax (5196)—in 1841, the splendid white bull 
King Charles 2d, (4154) exhibited at the late State Fair, 
and of which we shall hereafter give a portrait. In 1843 
Mr. L. imported another cow “ Gayly,” in calf by Lord 
Henry Fairfax, (6145.) In the produce of these importa¬ 
tions, Mr. L. has a beautiful lot of young animals of 
great excellence. For pedigree of Daffodil, see Herd 
Book, vol. 5, p. 23 i—for that of Gayly, p. 425, do. 
TO OUR PATRONS. 
In presenting you the first number of a new vol¬ 
ume, we have great pleasure in tendering you the com¬ 
pliments of the season, and at the same time invi¬ 
ting your attention to the efforts we have made to pre¬ 
sent you with a paper worthy of the occasion. By the 
continued liberality of our correspondents, to whom we 
and the public are so much indebted for the interest and 
spirit imparted to our pages, and whose labors have given 
it so strong a hold on the public mind, we are enabled this 
month to present our readers with communications of 
unusual interest to every section of our extended country, 
from the extreme north to the “ sunny south.” In the 
way of embellishment also, we are enabled to presentour 
readers with something new and beautiful, in the portrait 
of Mr. Lenox’s very superior cow, “ Red Lady,” engrav¬ 
ed on steel in a style altogether superior to anything of 
the kind heretofore issued in this country, and equalling 
the beautiful plates of the London Farmer’s Magazine. 
Though this plate is issued at an expense of over $200, 
it is our intention, should our circulation the present year 
warrant it, to follow it with others of a similar charac¬ 
ter. Indeed no efforts or expense will be spared on onr 
part, to sustain and increase the interest of our pages 
each succeeding year. In return for these exertions to 
please, is it too much to ask of our friends, and the friends 
of agricultural improvement generally, that they will aid 
us by their efforts and influence, in extending the cir¬ 
culation of « The Cultivator?” The invitation to act 
as Agents, is extended to every one of our readers who 
may deem our journal worthy of this mark of his favor. 
It will be seen that by clubbing together, the cost of the 
paper, postage and all, will be less than one dollar a year, 
and we would suggest to such gentlemen as may be dis¬ 
posed to aid us in this way, the example afforded by several 
of our friends last year, who adopted the course mention¬ 
ed in the following extract of a letter: 
“ In order to obviate any objection to the price of the subscription, I 
divided the $10 for fifteen copies, into fifteen parts, and received of 
each subscriber his proportion of the $10; and in this way I soon ob¬ 
tained the fifteen subscribers, tor which I send you herewith $10. If 
the friends of agricultural improvement generally, would adopt this 
course, I think your subscription might easily be doubled or trebled, 
as there are few neighborhoods where a club of seven or fifteen sub¬ 
scribers might not be obtained, with but little trouble, as in this way 
the paper and postage would cost less than a dollar.” 
The writer of this letter, by adopting this course, pro- 
cured over fifty subscribers to our last vol. in a place 
where we had never before had a dozen. Several other 
agents who adopted this plan, were equally successful. 
To any person disposed to act as Agent, we shall with 
pleasure send such number of extra copies as they may 
order, that they may have copies on hand to deliver to 
those who become subscribers. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
Merino Sheep or Col. Randall and Hon. Wm. 
Jarvis. —We have a letter from Col. Randall, in rela¬ 
tion to the pedigrees of such of his sheep as have de¬ 
scended from the flock of Hon. Wm. Jarvis. In the 
communication of Col. R. in our last No. he gave no de¬ 
tailed statement in relation to this portion of his flock, 
supposing it would be generally conceded that Mr. Jar¬ 
vis had preserved a portion of the merinoes originally 
imported by him, free from all alien admixture. “ Find¬ 
ing myself mistaken in this supposition,” says Col. R. 
“ I addressed the following inquiry to Mr. Jarvis:—Have 
you a flock of merinos, which you know to be the pure 
blooded descendants of your early importations?” In 
reply to this question, Mr. Jarvis details minutely the 
course he has pursued in the management and care of his 
flocks. We make but a brief extract—all, certainly, 
that can be necessary to establish the fact that he has kept 
a portion of his flock as free from all foreign admixture 
as at the time of their importation. Mr. Jarvis says:— 
“ In May, 1826, I purchased 52 or 53 at the sale in 
Brighton, Mass., of the large importation of Saxony 
sheep by Messrs. Searle of Boston; and the following 
autumn I selected and separated one hundred Merino ewes 
from my flock, and the rest I crossed with Saxony bucks. 
Those hundred merinos and their descendants I have al¬ 
ways been careful to keep by themselves, both summer 
and winter, and have been very particular in the choice 
of pure blood Merino bucks to put to them for breed¬ 
ing.” Col. Jarvis farther says :—■“ My flock consists of 
about a thousand sheep of all kinds, of which there are 
one hundred and sixty merinos, the pure blooded descen¬ 
dants of those I purchased in Spain in 1809 and ’10, and 
exported from Lisbon; about one hundred full blood Sax¬ 
ons ; and the remainder are crossed between Saxony and 
Merino. The fleeces of the latter, from the attention I 
have paid to the selection of bucks, (as before mention¬ 
ed) are much heavier than in 1832. The average of the 
three kinds, taken together, is now 3 lbs. 2 oz. to 3 lbs. 
4 oz. per head.” 
Irrigation, &c. —We make the following extract from 
a letter of P. A. Reading, Esq. of Philadelphia:—“ The 
application of manure and the best rotation of crops,I deem 
to be at this time a question of great importance to our 
farming interest. Next in order of importance, is the 
subject of Irrigation, as practicable to the system of 
farming in the United States, under the system of rota¬ 
tion in crops, when each field becomes the meadow in 
turn, and when the locality is such as to render a small 
stream or spring available for such purposes. The time 
when, and how long a period should the water be turned 
on, in order that the coming crop of grass may receive 
the most benefit. All these things, and many more, I 
should be glad to see discussed in the Cultivator. ” 
Farmers’ Troubles. —We have received a commu¬ 
nication treating of the peculiar evils to which the farm¬ 
er in this country is subjected, and pointing out for some 
of them a remedy, signed “ A Farmer of Western 
New-York.” The writer thinks there is “no class in 
the community which are so poorly paid for their labor, 
as farmers; many of whom,” he says, “ like the water¬ 
man who is rowing against the current, instead of ma¬ 
king headway, are actually beating down stream.”— 
Among the evils and hardships with which the farmer 
has to contend, he enumerates the smut, rust and fly, in 
grain—weeds—the rot in the potatoe—low prices of pro¬ 
duce—high price of labor in proportion to the price of 
produce—emigration to the west—indebtedness—high 
rates of taxes, &c. &c. He thinks farmers “ run in debt 
at the stores for many things they might do without”— 
that they “ have too much aped the fashions of the proud 
and vain—have gone beyond their means for fine carria 
ges, elegant dwellings, costly furniture and apparel.” 
This, he says, they “ were drawn into in times when 
speculation ran high, and produce brought enormous pri- 
