68 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Feb. 
fourteen pounds of butter, besides the milk and cream 
used in a family of five persons. The food consumed 
by the cow in the seven days was as follows: “ four¬ 
teen small bundles of top-stalks, three bushels brew¬ 
er’s grains, half a bushel ruta-baga turneps, four quarts 
of shorts.” The milk used in the family is considered 
equivalent to one pound of butter. 
Mount Airy Agricultural Institute. —By refer¬ 
ence to our advertising department, it will be seen that 
Mr. J. Wilkinson has removed his agrictltural school 
from Dutchess county, N. Y. to Mount Airy, the well 
known country seat of James Gowen, Esq., near Phi¬ 
ladelphia. It will be seen that the new Institution is 
to be ready for the reception of pupils on the 20 th of 
March. It has our sincere wishes for its success. 
Sample of Wheat. —We have received from Mr. 
Jos. M. Nesbit, of Lewisburg, Pa., asampleof wheat 
of a variety lately introduced into that section. It is 
a red bearded wheat, the grain tolerably plump. We 
are told it ripens late, but it has not been cultivated in 
the neighborhood from which it was sent a sufficient 
length of time to ascertain its value. We do not know 
the variety. 
Multicole Rye. —Several of our correspondents 
have requested us to send them small parcels of this 
rye by mail, which we hoped to have done; but we have 
not been able to obtain a spoonful of it since these re¬ 
quests were made. 
Catalogues of Nurseries. —We have frequent 
calls for these catalogues, and nurserymen might pro¬ 
mote their interests by sending us a few copies, free of 
expense, for distribution to applicants. 
Holbrook’s School Apparatus. —Mr. Josiah Hol¬ 
brook desires us to say that he is in no way responsi¬ 
ble for “ Holbrook’s Apparatus,” purporting to be made 
by Holbrook & Co., of Ohio. He considers it essen¬ 
tially and mischievously defective and erroneous. 
u Render,” &c.—The article on “ Curing Meat,” 
credited by the Mass. Ploughman to the Philadelphia 
Sahcrday Post, and attributed by other papers to vari¬ 
ous sources, originated in the Cultivator —December 
number, 1844. 
Winter Squash. —Mr. Samuel 0. Tabor of Slaters- 
ville, R. I., gives us the result of the product of a 
piece of ground, 40 by 50 feet in extent, devoted to 
winter squashes. The yield was 700 pounds, of which 
670 pounds were sold for $10. The product was at 
the rate of 15,900 lbs per acre, and at the price for which 
the above portion was sold, would be worth $237.31. 
The soil is described as 11 yellow loam”—the manure 
from the hog-yard. The squashes were of the striped 
crook-necked variety, and were planted in hills six feet 
apart. 
Large Beets. —Mr. E. S,. Salisbury, of Ellisburgh, 
Jefferson county, N. Y., informs us that he raised three 
beets of the scarcity variety, which weighed as follows: 
14^, 15!, 17 pounds. Several others in the lot weigh¬ 
ed from eight to ten pounds each. 
Scientific Liberality. —The Massachusetts Agri¬ 
cultural Society has ordered from Paris, at a cost of 
about $800, the figure of a horse of full size, so con¬ 
structed as to admit of all the pieces being taken apart. 
These pieces represent the muscles, blood vessels, heart, 
lungs, and other organs, of their natural size and ap¬ 
pearance. Such objects would be admirably adapted 
to agricultural schools, and would afford the pupils ac¬ 
curate and useful information, scarcely to be obtained in 
any other way. 
Improving Grain. —B. P. Johnson says, in speaking 
of English Agriculture, in his Greene County Address, 
<l Great care is taken in the selection of seed grains. 
In many instances, so much nicety is observed, that 
the earliest and most luxuriant heads are taken out 
by the hand, and carefully drilled in until the product 
is sufficient for use; and in this way some of the best 
varieties of wheat now grown in England have been 
secured.” 
Occupations of the People. —It is stated that the 
men of the United States are engaged nearly as fol¬ 
lows : 
Internal Navigation,. 33,000 
Ocean Navigation,. 56,000 
Learned professions, . 65,000 
Commerce,..... 120,000 
Manufactures,. 792,000 
Agriculture,. 3,720,000 
Thus, farming occupies about three and a-half 
times all the rest; why then should not agricultural 
periodicals be taken in like ratio, in comparison with 
others, that men may become properly informed in the 
business which occcpies nearly all their time ? 
“ Quarter” of Grain. —In England, a ton is 
2,240 lbs., a quarter of that 560 lbs , which is the 
weight of a British, or Imperial quarter of wheat, or 
8 English bushels, the bushel being 70 lbs., thus 8 !*< 
70=560. The U. S. bushel being 60 lbs., 9! of our 
bushels constitute a quarter. 
Exports of Corn. —From 1701 to 1819, they were 
often a million, sometimes two millions. From 1819 
to 1845, they did not in any one year amount to a 
million. In 1846, they exceeded two millions, and in 
1847, they exceeded nineteen millions. —But this, enor¬ 
mous as it is, is only a thirtieth of the whole crop of 
the country. 
Green Crops. —The American Agriculturist says 
that a few years ago, he renovated “ a miserably poor 
field,” by allowing the spontaneous growth of weeds, 
and then plowing them in as often as the principal ones 
were going out of bloom. 
Irrigation. —There is one fact connected with irri¬ 
gation which should be borne in mind by those who 
practice it—that the beneficial effect is not produced 
when the water is allowed to stagnate and sink down 
in the soil, but it must be kept in motion in a current 
ovor the surface. 
To exterminate Briars. —To eradicate briars 
which grow along fences, plow deep, and sow oats. 
When cut, plow deep as the briars appear, and they 
will soon become smothered out. No plant can live 
long, unless it can breathe through its leaves. 
Potato Rot. —A writer in the Gen. Farmer says: 
11 The Mercer seems most affected by the rot, the Pink 
Eyes next, the Merinos next, and the June potatoes 
least, or not at all”—probably ripening fully before the 
advent of the disease. 
Profits of English Farming. —An European cor¬ 
respondent of the Genesee Farmer states, that although 
the farmers in England have to pay large rents, he 
thinks their nett profits are greater than those of Ame¬ 
rican farmers, who own the lands they occupy. He 
thinks the principal reason is, that there is a good home 
market for nearly all kinds of agricultural productions; 
and that the same advantages can be reaped in America 
only by an extensive encouragement of manufactures; 
and that a distant foreign market for grain, with heavy 
drawbacks forfrieght, cannot be depended on; and much 
less so for the smaller and less substantial products. 
Profitable Dairy. —A farmer in Lancashire, Eng¬ 
land, lately realized a sum of money equal to $200, by 
the sale of 13! cwt. of cheese, the product of 13 cows, 
in 38 days—more than 50 cts. per day from each cow. 
The secret—the'best cows, first-rate feed, and the best 
management in cleanliness, regularity, and in all other 
respects. 
Onions. —J. W. Proctor, Esq., President of the 
Essex county (Mass.) Ag. Society, states that, from 
inquiries made, it appears that the average yield of 
onions in the town of Danvers the past year, (where 
