THE CULTIVATOR* 
133 
HEREFORDS—SHORT HORNS—ELEGANT COT¬ 
TAGE RESIDENCE. 
Mr. Editor— A day or two after the annual meeting 
of the State Agricultural Society in Albany, in January, 
I accepted the polite invitation of the proprietors to go 
and view the beautiful herd of Hereford cattle belonging 
to Messrs. Corning and Sotham, at “ Hereford Hall,” 
about two miles out of Albany. I have visited this ex¬ 
traordinary herd several times before, and each succes¬ 
sive visit has been attended with renewed interest. There 
are, including old and young, about seventy head of cat¬ 
tle; and it is no disparagement to the most prominent and 
valuable herds in the State, (and I have seen many of the 
most distinguished of them,) to say that I have seen no¬ 
thing that can surpass this noble stock of Herefords, in 
appearance at least. Their rich and beautiful color—in 
most cases a deep mahogany red—their pure white faces, 
and remarkably bright and expressive eyes—the mild 
expression of their countenances—their handsomely 
curving horns—their elastic and sprightly step and ma¬ 
jestic bearing, must at once strike the beholder with 
pleasing interest and enthusiastic admiration; and the 
perfect symmetry of their form, embracing almost ev¬ 
ery point of a faultless animal—the deep, full bosom, 
the round, compact, barrel body, the broad hip and full 
loins, the short and sinewy arm, neatly tapering below 
the knee, the brisket boldly prominent, and dewlap well 
cut up under the throat, the graceful neck, even with the 
line of the back, and in some instances finely arching, 
with upright and delicately turned horns—and, in almost 
every respect, they furnish a perfect beau ideal of ani¬ 
mal beauty, such as it must do any man good to look at. 
There is “Matchless” and “Aston Beauty,” and “Gay”— 
all truly “Gay” and “Matchless” “Beauties” in their line. 
I ought, of course, to think well of “ Gay,” for she is 
the mother of my favorite Hereford bull, “ Don Quix- 
otte,” which I brought from Albany, with my little 
herd of improved animals, last fall. She is certainly a 
noble animal, possessing the purest of the “ royal blood” 
of the “ royal family” of Herefords, and cost, in Eng¬ 
land, as I am informed, some two or three years since, 
200 guineas, (or $1,000.) which, added to the expense 
of her importation, makes her stand high, at least in the 
estimation of her spirited importers, and is a pretty 
good evidence of her real worth. “ Major,” the grand- 
sire of “ Don Quixotte,” (and of which animal Mr. T. 
C. Peters, writing from London, said — “ There is no 
better in England; and it is no disparagement to our 
best breeders to say that he has not his superior in the 
Union”) was purchased in England in 1841, by Messrs. 
Corning and Sotham, for 400 guineas, (or $2,000,) but 
died on the passage to this country. They were fortu¬ 
nate, however, in securing one of his progeny—“ Tro¬ 
jan ,” a splendid and most perfect animal, which they 
now have in all his il prime and glory”—and I congra¬ 
tulate myself as equally fortunate in being able to possess 
myself of one of “ Trojan’s” “ most promising sons.” 
“ Sir George” is also a fine bull, and his progeny will 
run “ neck-and-neck” with that of “ Trojan” in point 
of excellence. But I must not forget to notice “ Eli¬ 
za,” a half Hereford and half short horn cow, which 
Messrs. C. and S. are feeding for the butcher; she is al¬ 
ready one of the finest specimens of a beef creature that 
I have ever seen walk on “ all-fours”—not excepting 
Rust’s celebrated fat ox. It would make an Englishman’s 
mouth water to look at her. 
But I must leave the further description of this noble 
herd of cattle to hands more competent to do it justice, 
with the single remark, that the Hon. Erastus Corning, 
to whose liberality and enterprise (aided by the personal 
exertions and practical experience of Mr. Sotham, a 
thorough-bred English herdsman,) this country is so 
much indebted for the importation of this valuable stock, 
is deserving the lasting gratitude, not only, but the still 
more tangible reward of the friends of agricultural im¬ 
provement throughout the country; and I doubt not they 
will ere long be awarded. 
On my way home from Albany I stopped over a day 
at Auburn, and, in company with my friend W., I visited 
our agricultural friend, J. M. Sherwood, Esq., at his 
beautiful cottage residence, in the suburbs of that lovely 
village; and before proceeding to a notice of his fine 
stock of Shorthorns, I must speak of his charming cot¬ 
tage, which was finished the last autumn. It is in the 
rural gothic order—a style which, above all others, I 
most admire for a rural residence. I may, perhaps, 
have regarded this with the more interest from the fact 
that I had commenced building on my farm, just before 
I left home, my “ Rural home cottage,” which is very 
similar in style, though somewhat of an improvement, 
as I think, upon his, in some of its outlines as well as de- 
ails, and yet less expensive in the main. There is some¬ 
thing in this style of architecture so appropriate in form 
and so picturesque in expression, when blended with ru¬ 
ral scenery, that its effects must always be exceed ng y 
pleasing to the eye of every person of taste. The jut¬ 
ting gables, Avith their ornamented tracery and pointed 
finials—the expressive dormer windows, breaking out of 
the roof, with their gothic-arch finish—the tall cluster 
chimney-tops, neatly ornamented—the pleasant veranda, 
and the pretty bay-window—all blend most harmonious¬ 
ly with the varied forms of the various kinds of trees 
and shrubbery that are indispensable in completing the 
beauty and comforts of a rural residence. And when 
these latler appendages shall have more fully developed 
themselves about the cottage and grounds of Col. Sher¬ 
wood, his residence will present almost a perfect beau 
ideal of rural beauty and domestic comfort. 
But what shall I say of the Colonel’s noble herd of 
Durhams ? They have so often been extolled, and have 
carried off so many prizes at our State shows, that any 
thing I can say about them may seem superfluous, and 
yet I cannot well avoid giving them a passing notice. 
The noble “ Archer” stands at the head of the herd— 
still unrivalled in beauty of form and majestic bearing 
by any of his progeny; he carried off the first prize at 
the State fair at Syracuse, and I have always looked upon 
him as almost a perfect model of symmetry and beauty; 
and when I have alternately compared him with Mr. 
Vail’s “ Wellington” and “Meteor,” and Mr. Prentice’s 
“ Fairfax”—so equally are they balanced in all the per¬ 
fections that constitute a faultless animal, that I could 
only make up my mind that the one I looked at last ap¬ 
peared the best. The Colonel has also some most beau 
tiful cows—there is “ Stella,” and “ Daisy,” and “ Pan- 
sey,” each vieing with the other in claiming the distinc¬ 
tion of “reigning belle” of the herd. There are a large 
number of other fine animals—some very superior calves 
and young stock among the rest. Col. S. has likewise 
some handsome Southdown sheep, and some very fine 
Merinos, from the flock of Mr. Blakeslee, of Connecti¬ 
cut; they are handsomely formed animals, and their wool 
is of a very superior quality and fineness. All of the 
fences, buildings, fixtures &c., about the Colonel’s pre¬ 
mises show him to be a systemrtic and thorough farmer. 
Would that we had many more such in the State. 
T. H. H. 
*• Rural Home Farm,” Rochester, Feb. 20, 1845. 
CULTURE OF WATER MELONS. 
Mr. Tucker —Last season I raised a fine lot of wa 
ter mellons, having (with others about here) failed for 
many years. Having removed the soil sufficiently to 
receive about half a bushel of horse stable manure and 
leached ashes, which were thrown in for the hill and 
levelled; about the same quantity of road side gravel, 
lodged at the foot of the hill by water, was also thrown 
in, and some of the soil thrown back, in which the seeds 
were planted; then over the hill a small quantity of bro¬ 
ken charcoal was scattered. The plants were occasion¬ 
ally watered with wash water, or from the sink. The 
melons were fine and many of them weighed ten or 
twelve pounds. J. A. Rhodes. 
Bridgewater, March 10, 1845. 
“ By rubbing an unripe apple upon a grater, and wash 
ing the portion which is rasped off, in cold water, starch 
will also be collected, which starch, had the apple been 
suffered to remain dead ripe, would have been converted 
into sugar, forming the sweet juice of the fruit.” 
