67 
1848._ __ THE CULTIVATOR . 
MONTHS*Y MOTSCE§—TO €©KKESF©I©MTS, &c. 
Communications have been received since our last, 
from Agricola, L., Joseph M. Nesbit, L. J. Platt, J. 
H. Young, H. A. Parsons, F. Holbrook, A. Coffin, 
Oneida, J. A. Chamberlain, John Williams, J. A. Pin¬ 
to, N. Whitney, Thomas Guest, Chas. Beasley, S. S. 
Morehouse, S. D. Martin, J. B. Burnett, Geo. Jaques, 
Wm. Bacon, A. S- Copeman, H. Junius, H., A. C., 
E. V. Dox, Alfred Young, Jos. Watson, C. L. Tay¬ 
lor, A. D., P. S. Alrieks, T. 
Books, Pamphlets, &c., have been received as fol¬ 
lows : 
A Discourse delivered at the Plymouth Church, 
Brooklyn, on Thanksgiving-day, by Henry W. Beech¬ 
er.———Transactions of the Worcester County Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, from its organization to 1847, by 
Geo. Jaques.——The Architect, a series of origi¬ 
nal designs for Domestic, and Ornamental Cottages, by 
Wm. H. Ranlett, Architect, Nos. 1 to 9 inclusive. 
- ——Annual Report of the St. John (N. B.) Ag. and 
Hort. Society, from the President, R. Jardine, Esq. 
- ——Estimates of appropriations for 1848, by the 
Secretary of the Treasury, from D. Gold, Esq.-—— 
Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Western 
Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio.-— -Copeman’s Veter¬ 
inary Tablet, by A. S. Copeman, Veterinary Surgeon, 
Utica.— —Transactions of the Essex, (Mass) Ag. 
Society, for 1847, from J. W. Proctor, Esq., Presi¬ 
dent of the Society.— Dombey and Son, Nos. 13, 
14 and 15, of Lea & Blanchard’s illustrated edition, 
from the publishers, Philadelphia.-— —Transactions 
of the New-Haven Co. Hort. Society, for 1847.— 
A Text Book on Agriculture, by N. S. Davis, M. 
D. Published by S. S. & W. Wood, New-York.— 
Address of S. A. Law, Esq., before the Delaware 
Co. Ag. Society.—Congressional Directory, from D. 
Gold, Esq. 
J. G. C.—The official character of the paper to 
which you reply, induced its publication j and as we 
prefer not to open our pages to the discussion of ques¬ 
tions which are claimed as party questions, your favor 
is respectfully declined, as its insertion would probably 
lead to a discussion, inappropriate to our work. 
R. P. Jr. Malta, O.—We can send you any of the 
vols. of the work you want. 
Rat-Proof Granary. —A correspondent at Balti¬ 
more, Md., wishes to obtain a plan for a 11 corn-house 
and granary,” that will be rat-proof, and capable of 
holding from 200 to 300 barrels of corn. We should 
be pleased to receive the suggestions of farmers in re¬ 
lation to the matter. 
The Winter.- —The weather up to the first week in 
January was remarkably mild, as will be inferred from 
the fact that the steamboats made several trips be¬ 
tween Albany and New-York, from the second to the 
fifth of the month. The ground was not frozen. Mr. 
L. V. V. Schuyler, of Watervliet, states that he 
plowed several acres on the first, third and fourth of 
January, and found no obstruction from frost. 
Cisterns above-ground.—A correspondent wishes 
information through the Cultivator , in regard to con¬ 
structing cisterns above-ground, which he has heard 
are common in some parts of the country, and are bet¬ 
ter than those built under-ground. 
Preservation of Grapes.- —We lately saw some ve¬ 
ry fine Catawba grapes, raised by Mr. E. Dorr, of this 
city, and preserved by Mr. D. K.Vanderlip, in ground 
cork. The fruit has nearly the freshness of appear¬ 
ance and sprightliness of flavor, that it had when first 
picked from the vines—being decidedly the best we 
ever saw at this season of the year. The cork is 
thought to be the best material for this purpose that 
has been tried. We should think it might be well pre¬ 
pared in one of Pitt’s corn and cob cutters. 
^We have received from Mr. Vance, of Grove- 
land, Livingston county, specimens of an apple of 
which he gives the following history: The original tree 
was found in the woods, in the town above-mentioned, 
by Mr. L. Dunn, was taken up by him and removed 
to his place in the year 1796 or ’97, where it is now 
standing. The fruit is the same that was forwarded us 
by Mr. Johnson a year or two ago, which we pronoun¬ 
ced the Herefordshire or Winter Pearmain, and it cer« 
tainly has nearly all the characteristics of this variety. 
This is not our own opinion only, but that of several 
good judges who examined and tasted the specimens 
with us. Still it may be a seedling—it may be a re¬ 
production of the Pearmain from seed. We also re¬ 
ceived from Mr. V. samples of two other kinds of ap¬ 
ples—one of which he received from a nurseryman as 
a Pearmain; it is not, however, any Pearmain that we 
are acquainted with. The other variety sent, we do 
not know. 
Large Corn Crop —In our notice of the farm of 
Mr. John Johnston, near Geneva, in the September 
number of the Cultivator for last year, we spoke of a 
field of corn which had been planted with* Emery’s 
Seed-Planter. It was the latter part of June that we 
saw the corn, and though it was then very promising, 
it was impossible to calculate the yield which might 
be obtained. Mr. J. informs us, in a late letter, that 
it turned out a heavy crop. There was nineteen acres 
in the field, but from what was taken up by an open 
ditch, and what was occupied by trees, he thinks there 
could not have been more than eighteen acres in the 
field. Mr. J. says:—“ I had 56 tons, 25 pounds of 
ears of corn. I regretted I could not spare time to 
weigh the stalks, when dry. On the whole it was the 
best crop I ever saw.” A part of the field had beelx 
under-drained with tile. Mr. J. states that this pro¬ 
duced far the best corn, though before it was drained 
it would neither bear grain nor good grass. 
Remarkable Pig. —At the time of the Pittsfield 
(Mass.) cattle show and fair last fall, we saw a very 
fine pig, belonging to Mr. F. A. Willis, of that town j 
and learning from him that he was keeping an account 
of the food it consumed, we solicited the result for pub¬ 
lication. It appears from his statement, that the pig 
was slaughtered the 20th December last, and that her 
dressed weight was 460j lbs. Deducting from this 
amount four pounds, which it was supposed the pig 
would weigh when she was dropped, leaves a gain of 
about one pound seven ounces per day, during her life. 
Her food was thin skimmed milk from one cow, with 
oat and rye meal mixed. Mr. Willis owned her 217 
days; and when he bought her she weighed 20 lbs.— 
her gain in that time was therefore 435 lbs. The 
grain or meal was all purchased, and the actual cost 
of everything consumed, excepting the waste slops of 
the family, was a fraction less than $20, or about four 
and a quarter cents per pound. 
Large Yield of Butter.— Mr. John Lossing, of 
this city has furnished us with the following account 
of the butter produced in seven days by a Short Horn 
cow owned by him. She calved the fore part of De¬ 
cember; her calf was taken off at about a week old, 
and in the seven days succeeding, her milk afforded 
