106 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Messrs. Wiley & Putnam, booksellers, New-York, pub¬ 
lished in this number. Every man of taste should pos¬ 
sess copies of these books. Should any of our readers at 
a distance, desire our agency in procuring any one or 
more of them, it will afford us pleasure to attend to their 
orders. 
Great sale of Improved Cattle. —It will be seen by 
an advertisement in this paper, that the extensive and 
well known herd of Improved Short Horn Cattle, the pro¬ 
perty of E. P. Prentice, Esq., Mount Hope, near this 
city, are to be sold at auction in June next. This sale is 
well worth the attention of all who wish to procure pure 
bred animals of this breed, as the public may rely upon 
the assurance that the animals will all be offered, and 
struck off to the highest bidder, without reserve. The 
list embraces a large number of animals of both sexes 
and all ages, many of which have taken prizes at the ex¬ 
hibition of the N. Y. State Ag. Society. Gentlemen at a 
distance, who cannot attend the sale, may find it to their 
advantage to avail themselves of the offer of our associ¬ 
ate, Mr. Howard, an excellent judge of cattle, and upon 
whose judgment in selecting and purchasing such animals 
as they may wish to procure, they may safely rely. 
Norman Horses. —We would call attention to Mr. 
Harris’ advertisement in this number, for the sale of Nor¬ 
man horses. From what we can learn, we have no doubt 
that they are a valuable stock, and well worthy the at¬ 
tention of those wishing to purchase. 
Sweet, Sour and Coreless Apples. —We have con¬ 
densed the communications of several correspondents on 
these subjects, but they will still occupy too much room 
to admit of their publication during the present pressure 
on our pages. We may make room for them hereafter. 
Samples of Wool. —We have received from J. R. 
Speed, Esq. of Caroline, N. Y., several samples of wool. 
Mr. Speed has a flock of 45 merino sheep, which avera¬ 
ged 5 lbs. of wool per head, which sold for 50 cents per 
pound. The samples marked 2, 4, 8, 9, are of excellent 
quality. They must be a valuable flock. 
Seward’s Patent Seed-Sower. —We have been 
shown one of these machines, which we think from its 
simplicity, and the perfect manner in which it performs 
its work, is one of the best we have seen. The manu¬ 
facturers are M. andS. L. Seward, Guilford, New-Haven 
county, Conn. The machine will sow onions, turneps 
of all kinds, carrots, beets, peas, &c., at any desired dis¬ 
tance, from 3 to 16 inches. Two acres of onions may be 
readily sown in a day, by one man, in the best manner. 
Mr. Thorburn of this city, will shortly have the machines 
for sale. 
We are much pleased to see the awakening spirit 
of improvement in the South-west. We learn from the 
Shield, published at Eufalla, Ala., that our friend and 
correspondent, Alexander McDonald, is elected Pre 
sident of the Barbour county Agricultural Society. The 
efforts of this association, appear judicious and effective. 
Butter in Wells. —Our correspondent “Indicator,” 
thinks there must have been some mistake about the cir¬ 
cumstance mentioned in our last vol., page 70, of Mrs. 
Bement's butter having been kept two years in a well; 
and he doubts whether butter will sink in water at all. 
The case we mentioned is not a solitary one. As long 
ago as 1831, a correspondent of the Genessee Farmer 
gave an account of a roll of butter being taken from a 
well, which had been dropped in twenty-one years be¬ 
fore. The writer says a piece of it was presented him, 
which “ was as fine and sweet as the day it was churn¬ 
ed,” and for aught he knew, “ better, for it was the very 
cream of butter.” 
Large Calves. —The Elmira Republican says, a Dur¬ 
ham bull-calf owned by W. W. Ballard, of Southport, 
weighed at birth, 98 pounds; at the age of four months 
and twenty-nine days, 588 pounds: and at 11 months and 
24 days, 1,141 pounds. The same paper also states, that 
Mr. Brower, of Moreau, Saratoga county, has a bull- 
calf which weighed, at birth, 95 pounds ; and at six 
months ar.d one day old, 774 pounds. 
Bermuda Grasses.— Mr. Redfield of New-York, in¬ 
forms us that the botanical names affixed to the specimens 
of Bermuda grass, noticed in our Dec. number of last 
vol., were furnished by Prof. Torrey of that city. 
The Medal of the N. Y. State Ag, Society_ 
The dies for the new medal of this Society, cut by Mr. 
Taylor, of Birmingham, England, have been received, 
together with some specimens of the medals. For 
the emblamatic design of this chaste and beautiful arti¬ 
cle, the society is indebted to the good taste and judg¬ 
ment of our countryman, F. Rotch, Esq., now in Eng¬ 
land. On the face of the medal is an elegant figure of 
Ceres, the head adorned with a garland, on the left arm 
a cornucopia, in the right hand a wreath; in the back 
ground, sheaves of wheat. On the reverse, a circular 
wreath, embracing fruits and heads of grains, on the outer 
margin of which are the words “ New- York State Agri¬ 
cultural Society,” the space in the centre being designed 
for the names, &c., of . the individual to whom it may be 
awarded. The medal is in every respect creditable to 
the society and to the individuals by whom it has been 
executed. 
Largest of all Pigs —We are informed that Sam'l 
Robbins, of Salisbury, Conn., lately slaughtered two 
pigs, in part of the Byfield breed, nine months and 
seventeen days old, one of which weighed 388, and the 
other 432 pound. 
Howell’s Patent Tanning Machine —The New 
York Farmer & Mechanic highly recommends this ma¬ 
chine. It is said to effect a great saving of time, labor, 
and expense. Calf-skir.s tanned in a week; upper leather 
in a week, and sole-leather in from fifteen to thirty days. 
The editor says he has examined various specimens of 
the leather tanned by this machine in the above space 
of time, and he pronounces them excellent. 
Balls of wool in lamb’s stomachs —-Lambs which 
are dropped in the winter^, frequently exhibit a habit of 
chewing and swallowing locks of wool which they pull 
from their mothers and other sheep. From this wool, balls 
are sometimes formed in the lambs’ stomachs, which it is 
supposed occasions their death. In the Maine Farmer, 
Maj. E. Wood mentions a case of this kind having hap¬ 
pened in the flock of his son, Mr. T. Wood. This un¬ 
natural habit of lambs seems to be caused by a desire to 
fill the stomach with some bulky substance on which it 
may ruminate, or chew the cud; and not finding its natu¬ 
ral food for this purpose, it is induced to swallow the in¬ 
digestible wool. The trouble would no doubt be pre¬ 
vented by giving the lambs suitable hay with turneps or 
potatoes, and feeding the ewe with those substances 
which would prevent the milk from having a costive 
tendency. We have frequently reared lambs in winter, 
but have been careful in providing suitable and abundant 
food, and never had them troubled with wool in the sto¬ 
mach. 
Scotch Cattle. —In the report of the commissioner 
of patents, we notice a letter from Stephenson Scott, 
on the subject of provisions for exportation, by which 
we discover that that gentleman is the author of a valu¬ 
able series of letters on agricultural subjects, published 
twenty-five years since in the American Farmer, with 
the signature of “ Albion.” We read those letters at the 
time of their publication with great interest, but have 
never been able till now to learn their authorship. Mr. 
Scott appears to be well acquainted with the peculiar 
properties of various breeds of cattle, and though he 
thinks very highly of the Herefords and Durhams, he 
observes that he is inclined to think that some of the 
Scotch cattle are better adapted to a large portion of our 
country than any of the English breeds. The polled 
Galloways, particularly, he thinks would be very useful, 
and observes that—“ They, like their countrymen, are 
hardy and thrive almost everywhere, and are large 
enough for all purposes and pastures. ” 
Puppies suckled by a sheep. —The Prairie Farmer 
says that Mr. S. S. Crocker has a pair of puppies, a cross 
of the bull and shepherd’s dog, which are suckled by a 
sheep. The ewe, it is said, manifests great kindness for 
them. 
