THE CULTIVATOR. 
341 
MR. COLMAN’S EUROPEAN AG. TOUR— Part IV. 
Although some might be disposed to argue as an objec¬ 
tion to this, as well as to former portions of this work, 
that it is not sufficiently confined to the details of agri¬ 
culture, we must be allowed to say that we have been 
deeply interested in its perusal, and we doubt not this 
would be the response of much the lai’ger portion of its 
readers. The state of our columns when this part of the 
work was received, precludes our giving a very extend¬ 
ed notice of its contents. It is divided into sixteen gene¬ 
ral chapters, the first of which consist of General Con¬ 
siderations; the others as follows: 
Agriculture as a Commercial Pursuit: Markets—Cattle 
Markets; Falkirk Tryst; The Ballinasloe Fair; The Gal¬ 
way Fair; Smithfield, London; Grain Markets; Grain Mar¬ 
kets out of London; The Corn Exchange in Mark-Lane, 
London; Corn Duties; Mode of Adjusting Labor and Wa¬ 
ges; The Dead Markets; Vegetable and Fruit Markets; 
Market Gardens; Covent Garden Markets; General Mar¬ 
kets. 
Mr. Colman thinks—“ The English farmers have great 
advantages in their markets and exchanges; and in this 
matter, to a certain extent, we ought to follow them.” * 
* * “ Our farmers sell as they can to agents or purcha¬ 
sers travelling through the country, and buy as they can, 
and where, by chance, after taking, in many cases, long 
and expensive journeys, they may find the stock which they 
need. A wool fair or market is not within my knowl¬ 
edge held in the country, nor a corn or grain market.” 
* * * « These evils might be remedied and a change 
affected to the great advantage of buyers and sellers, by 
the adoption of the system of weekly or periodical mar¬ 
kets, which prevail throughout England and Scotland. 
Here are wool fairs, for the sale of wool, of which sam¬ 
ples are exhibited; and corn and grain markets, where 
wheat, barley, oats, rye, beans, and peas, samples of 
which are exhibited and sold; and markets for the sale 
of fat cattle, and markets for the sale of lean cattle, and 
markets for the sale of horses, and markets for the sale 
of sheep, and markets for the sale of cheese and butter; 
these markets sometimes uniting several objects, or other¬ 
wise limited to some single object.” 
The immense number of people antj animals which 
are collected at these fairs is astonishing. At the Falkirk 
Tryst, in Scotland, for instance, Mr. C. says:—“It was 
estimated, when I was there, that the number of cattle 
then on the ground exceeded fifty thousand head, and of 
sheep seventy thousand; and the banker informed me 
that the money employed in the negotiations would ex¬ 
ceed £300,000, or one million and a half of dollars.” 
Character of Live Stock. —Mr. Colman thinks 
“ there is no agricultural improvement in England so 
great and striking as that which has been affected in their 
live stock.” “ I refer,” he contiuues, “ particularly to its 
size, aptitude to fatten, early maturity, symmetry, and 
beauty. Of the milking and dairy properties of their 
stock, I shall speak hereafter. A person has only to go 
into Smithfield Market to remark the perfection to which 
the art of breeding has been carried, and the distinctness 
of the lines by which the different breeds are separated 
from each other. Three great points seem to have 
been gained. The first is, great size and weight have 
been attained; the second is, the tendency to fatten, and 
to keep in fat condition has been greatly cultivated; the 
third is, that the animal arrives early at maturity. All these 
are most important points; the last certainly not least; 
for if an animal can be brought to the same size, with¬ 
out doubling the expense, at eighteen months old, that he 
could formerly be made to reach not sooner than at three 
years of age, the quick returns, so essential in commercial 
transactions, are secured, and the expenses are lessened 
the profits are greatly increased. Nothing strikes one 
with more surprise than to see what, in the improvement 
of stock, intelligence, skill, and perseverance can effect.”* 
The dressed weight of the cattle in the Smithfield 
Market, at from two to three years old, is stated to be 
from 656 to 800 pounds, the four quarters. The average 
dressed weight of sheep is given at 90 pounds. In regard 
to the quality of the meat, Mr Colman says:—“ The fat¬ 
ness of the beef and mutton is remarkable. I have seen 
single beasts in the United States as fat as any I have seen 
here; but these are comparatively rare exceptions; and 
here the general character of the beasts and sheep is, in 
this respect, most striking.” He thinks, however, that 
our meats have a sweetness and flavor not possessed by 
those of England, which he attributes to the greater age 
of our animals, (they not being usually killed until five 
to seven years old.) and the superior excellence of our In¬ 
dian corn as a fattening food. 
Mr. Colman remarks that mutton is the prevailing and 
favorite dish on all English tables. We add, that it would 
undoubtedly be so in this country, if there was plenty of 
the same kind that is used there. “It is,” says Mr. C., 
“ a remarkable fact that mutton is the prevalent dish at 
the public schools and colleges. At the Blue Coat School 
jin London, for example, it is the sole meat for the eight 
hundred boys, four or five days out of seven. The same 
is the case, I am told, at Eton; and this not, as I had sup¬ 
posed, from its comparative cheapness, but from experi¬ 
ence, and the opinion of medical men, that it is the most 
wholesome diet, and least likely to interfere with intel¬ 
lectual application and health. The South Down and 
Leicester sheep are generally preferred, though the small 
Welsh mutton, for ils exquisite flavor, is most esteemed; 
and the beef and mutton, and lamb, is every where most 
striking. Indeed, in the English market, lean meat is 
hardly to be seen.” 
Kinds of Bread.— In regard to the project of intro¬ 
ducing Indian corn into Great Britain, which some seem 
to have entertained, Mr. Colman thinks it impracticable. 
The idea of feeding the poor on it is in his opinion out 
of the question. “ They will not eat it. If the rich 
were to adopt it as a luxury, their example or estimation 
of it might have its usual effects; but to commend it to 
the exclusive use of the poorer classes as a kind of cheap 
bread, acknowledged inferior, thotfgh it uere as sweet as 
the ancient manna, would be met with that pride of re¬ 
sentment, which anything short of absolute starvation 
would scarcely be able to overcome.” The advantages 
in a commercial view which would accrue to this coun¬ 
try from the admission of Indian corn into Great Britain, 
Mr. Colman thinks would not be great, as “there is rea¬ 
son to believe if its admission were free, the supplies of 
this article from the shores of the Mediterranean would 
nearly preclude the competition of the United States.” 
English Apples and other Fruit.— American ap¬ 
ples are acknowledged superior to any brought into the 
English markets. The English apples are said to be in¬ 
ferior except for cooking purposes. “ The superiority 
of our Newtown pippin,” says Mr. C., “ is every where 
admitted and proclaimed. Of other of our fine apples — 
such as the Golden russet, the Baldwin, the Blue pear- 
main, and many others—I have seen none, though it is 
not to be confidently inferred from that circumstance that 
none are imported. Large quantities of apples are sent 
from the United States to England and sold to advantage.” 
Pears are considerably cultivated, but Mr. Colman thinks 
he has seen none equal to the Seckel and the Bartlett 
produced in this country. Filberts are cultivated in some 
parts of England for the market. A gravelly soil is 
chosen for them, “ where they are raised on small bushes 
or trees, with one stem, and suffered to grow not more 
than five or six feet high. They grow together on the 
same ground with hi os, and pear or apple-trees; and the 
proportionate numb* of each to an acre, is stated at 800 
hills of hops, 200 1 iberts, and 40 apple or pear-trees. 
The hops are said to last twelve years, the filberts thirty, 
and after that the apples and pears require the whole 
ground.” 
Potatoes.— Mr. Colman considers the potatoes grown 
in England of superior quality, though he thinks them 
inferior to those grown in Nova. Scotia. He complains 
that he did not find a potatoe in Ireland that he could eat, 
they being always only partly cooked—the Irish prefer¬ 
ring to have them “ with the bone in the middle.” He. 
was told that tne advantage of this was that the potatoes 
were longer in digestion, and hunger did not return so 
quick. He found this, however, to be the mode of cook¬ 
ing, not only among the poor, but among rich and higher 
classes in Ireland. In the south of England Mr. C. state! 
[that land is rented at 20 pounds, or a hundred dollars a: 
