THE CULTIVATOR, 
249 
OUR PLATE—MR. DONALDSON’S FARM. 
We have the satisfaction of herewith presenting our 
readers with a fine steel engraving of the Durham bull 
i( Prince Albert,” bred by Mr, Whitaker, of Burley, 
Yorkshire, England, imported and now owned by Rob¬ 
ert Donaldson, Esq., Blithe wood, Dutchess county, N. 
York. In the estimation of good judges, few, if any of 
the fine bulls which have been either imported or bred 
in this country, can be considered as surpassing, or even 
equalling this. He is a bull of great substance, with re¬ 
markable symmetry and fineness of bone. The portrait 
fails to do him full justice in one or two particulars. The 
head, from the eyes downward, is not sufficiently fine, 
and does not show the characteristic lineaments of the 
animal; and there is hardly sufficient breadth and ex¬ 
pansion shown to the chest and brisket. In other re¬ 
spects the delineation may be pronounced good. 
Mr. Donaldson imported this bull about three years 
since. His principal object is to rear good milch 
cows. For this purpose he selected the best common 
cows to be had, and by crossing with this bull has ob¬ 
tained a small herd of young half-blood Durhams. The 
oldest stock he has of the cross, are two-year-olds. 
There are several heifers of fine promise as milkers, 
and they exhibit a great improvement in symmetry over 
their dams. 
Many will doubtless recollect a native cow of Mr. 
Donaldson's, called “ Kaatskill,” which received the first 
premium in her class at the last show of the N. Y. State 
Ag. Society. She is a remarkable animal; but we shall not 
now speak particularly of this cow, as we have an excel¬ 
lent plate of her, done in the same style as that of Prince 
Albert, which we shall give, together with an account of 
her productions, in a future number. Mr. D. has also a 
very superior Ayrshire cow, six years old, which has an 
excellent heifer calf by this bull. We think well-bred 
Ayrshires even or a cross between them and the Durhams, 
would prove highly useful on this farm—an opinion 
which is certainly supported by the appearance of this 
Ayrshire cow and her calf. 
Few places that we have ever seen exhibit such marked 
evidence of refined taste,and correct appreciations of rural 
beauty, as Blithewood. The spot itself is one posses¬ 
sing great natural attractions, and these have been height¬ 
ened and improved to the greatest possible advantage. 
It is a promontory on the east bank of the Hudson, em¬ 
bracing the greatest variety of magnificent landscape 
scenery of any spot of the same extent within our 
knowledge. The river is here of unusual width, and 
there are several pretty islands nearly opposite, by which 
the force of the current is so broken that the water has 
the placid quietness of a sheltered lake, and reflects with 
mirror-like vividness, every object on its banks, or float¬ 
ing on its surface. On the west side of the river, a little 
to the north-west, the Kaatskill group of mountains ap¬ 
pear in all their majestic beauty, forming a grand, but 
varied and picturesque outline to the view for a con¬ 
siderable extent in that direction. 
The mansion of Mr. Donaldson, constitutes the fron¬ 
tispiece to Mr. Downing’s elegant work on Landscape 
Gardening and Rural Architecture. Representations of 
several of the other buildings, as well as various sketches 
of the scenery at Blithewood are also given in Mr. 
Downing’s work, to which we would refer for a 
more particular description. The scenery in the back¬ 
ground of our engraving, is copied from nature—the 
building on the right being the gate-lodge, and the one 
on the left the gardener’s cottage—the farm-yard build¬ 
ings with a grove in the rear, showing between. 
The credit of introducing to this country the Rural 
Gothic, or pointed style of architecture, belongs to Mr. 
Donaldson. The first specimen of this style was the 
gardener's cottage above-mentioned, which, for its taste 
and smiplicity, excels anything of the kind we have ever 
seen.* Mr. Donaldson was also, we believe, the first to 
introduce what is called the Bracketted style, several 
pretty specimens of which are shown among his numer¬ 
ous buildings. 
* For a larger cut of this cottage, see the review of Mr. Down¬ 
ing «3 work in the Cultivator for March last, 
Mr. D.’s garden has been but lately laid out—the pre¬ 
sent being the first season that the principal portion of it 
has been appropriated to plants. To secure a favorable 
site, he has been under the necessity of terracing the 
eastern declivity of a hill, and forming a soil some¬ 
what artificially. The terraces are formed in a beau¬ 
tiful manner, supported by the most substantial stone 
walls. An extensive conservatory and grape-house has 
just been erected, in the most tasteful style. A rich pro¬ 
fusion of flowers and shrubbery adorn the garden, and 
various labyrinthine walks and shady bowers. 
The soil of Mr. Donaldson’s farm has been much im¬ 
proved, and its productiveness vastly increased, since he 
came into possession of it, about nine years ago. His 
outside fences are mostly stone walls, laid in the most 
systematic and durable manner. His wet grounds, of 
which there is a considerable portion, have been mostly 
under-drained, and latterly he has commenced subsoiling, 
which promises to be of great benefit, particularly to the 
tenacious soil. A piece of oats on some of the under¬ 
drained land, is about the best we have seen this season. 
His barn is constructed on a convenient plan; his barn¬ 
yard is well protected by sheds, and is well contrived for 
making and saving manure. His young cattle are not 
pastured but soiled. They are fed in the sheds and yard, 
mostly with mowed grass, and are allowed the run of a 
small shady lot. They are in good order, and appear 
healthy and thrifty. 
We saw here a superior machine for cleaning walks, 
invented by Mr. Donaldson. Its general form, is that of 
the frame of a wheel-barrow. Two bars of iron, repre¬ 
senting the legs, reach down to the ground, and attached 
to the bottom of them is a transverse bar of steel, about 
two and a half inches wide, one edge of which is made 
sharp. Three or four inches of the lower end of the 
upright bars are also made sharp, in order to cut the 
sides of the walk. The handles are held by a man, and 
the machine is drawn by a horse. A space three-and-a- 
half feet wide is shaved at once, the man at the handles 
regulating the working of the implement so as effectually 
to cut up the weeds and grass. It is to be recommended 
for its simplicity and efficiency.* 
NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL FAIR. 
At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the State 
Agricultural Society was .held at Bagg's Hotel, Utica, on 
the 10th July—present: 
B. P. JOHNSON, President. 
H. W. Doolittle, Herkimer; E. P. Prentice, Al¬ 
bany; H. S. Randall, Cortland, Vice Presidents. L. 
Tucker, Rec. Secretary, D. Lee, Cor. Secretary. George 
Yail, Troy; T. S. Faxton, Utica; Maj. Kirby, Brown- 
ville; J. M. Sherwood, Auburn; George Geddes, On¬ 
ondaga, Managers. 
The President of the Oneida County Agricultural 
Society, E. Comstock, and a number of the officers and 
members of that Society were present at the meeting. 
Letters were read from Hon. Henry Clay, of Ken¬ 
tucky; Gov. Lincoln, of Massachusetts; and Messrs. 
Alex. Walsh, of Lansingburgh; Thos. Hillhouse, 
Albany; F. Knight, Publisher of Washington’s Letters 
on Agriculture; and A. L. Fish, of Herkimer. 
The following gentlemen were appointed a Committee 
of Arrangements for the Fair: 
B. P. Johnson, Rome; Alex. Walsh, Lansingburgh; 
J. M. Sherwood, Auburn; George Geddes, Tyler, 
Onondaga co.; Luther Tucker, Albany; E. Comstock, 
Rome; T. S. Faxton, Utica; Spencer Kellogg, Utica. 
The following gentlemen were appointed a Committee 
to confer with the railroad and boat companies, in re¬ 
lation to the transportation of stock and articles designed 
for exhibition: 
J. M. Sherwood, Auburn; Horatio Seymour, Utica; 
M. D. Burnet, Syracuse; L. B. Langworthy, Roch¬ 
ester; Lewis F. Allen, Buffalo; George Yail, Troy; 
Thos. Hillhouse, Albany. 
The following gentlemen were appointed a Committee 
on Finance: 
* For a correct drawing of this machine, see Appendix to Down¬ 
ing’s Landscape Gradening and Rural Architecture. 
