1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
291 
census of 1835, 30 millions. The amount received at 
tide water on the Hudson, has increased from 1834 to 
1846, from six million to thirty-five million. From 1840 
to 1846, the amount exported has increased from 700,- 
000 to 8,600,000 lbs. 
Reclaiming worn-out lands. —A correspondent at 
Manchester, Ct., whose signature is J. P. F., states 
that he bought a tract of land which had been consider¬ 
ed nearly worthless. He expended in hauling peat on 
it, and for one thousand bushels of ashes, about five 
hundred dollars, and he states that the fall feed, last 
season, was worth the interest of the outlay, and that 
the prospect the present season is more favorable, af¬ 
fording good encouragement for the improvement of 
Connecticut worn-out lands. 
South-Down Sheep. —At the late letting of Mr. 
Jonas Webb’s South Down rams, Cambridgeshire, Eng. 
67 were let at an average price of £23 10s. ($117.50) 
per head, for the season. One lot for £79 (395,) and 
three yearlings at an average of £60 ($300) each, for 
the season. 
Mr. Colman. —The occasion mentioned in the above 
paragraph drew together an assemblage of more than 
two hundred agriculturists and gentlemen from various 
parts of Britain. Our countryman, Mr. Colman, who 
had just returned from a long agricultural tour on the 
Continent, was present, as was also another American 
gentleman, Mr. Bassett. In reply to a complimenta¬ 
ry toast by the chairman of the meeting, Lord Hard- 
wicke, Mr. Colman made an eloquent speech which 
was received with cheering applause. He alluded to 
his continental tour, and said the best agricultural d : s- 
trict he had passed through was Flanders. The great 
success of the system there pursued, he thought was at¬ 
tributable to the saving and application of urine. He 
spoke of the beet culture which he had seen in France; 
he thought it very profitable. The refuse, after the 
root had passed through the process for sugar making, 
was very valuable for feeding stock. He saw in June 
last, a large lot of cattle and sheep which were fatten¬ 
ing from the refuse of the crop that had been used for 
sugar the previous fall, and the animals were in fine 
condition. As to improvement in live stock, however, 
Mr. C. thought it was ‘‘clear as the light of day,” that 
the farmers of England “were not only a whole head, 
but a whole length, before all other countries!” He 
closed by some happy allusions to the peaceful relations 
existing between England and the United States. 
Challenge. —Mr. THos.BELL,of Morrisiana,West¬ 
chester county, N. Y., offers to show his Durham bull, 
Marius , at the State fair at Buffalo, against any Dur¬ 
ham bull that has been previously awarded the first 
premium of the New-York State Agricultural Society, 
for $50 to $100 a side. The judges to be named on the 
ground, and to be not less than three in number. This 
bull was bred in England by the late Earl Spencer. He 
will be offered for sale at the Fair, under the direction 
of the officers of the New-York State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety. Mr. Bell had limited the time of the accep¬ 
tance of this challenge to the 20th of August, but we 
hope he will conclude to leave it open till the first day 
of the State Fair—September 5th. 
Normandy Cattle. —The editor of the Maine Far¬ 
mer inquires of the editor of the Massachusetts Plow¬ 
man in regard to a bull and two cows, supposed to have 
been imported from Normandy by the Massachusetts 
Society for Promoting Agriculture, about the years 
1817 or’18. The Plowman calls for “information” 
in regard to the stock. As an “ outsider ,” we would 
inquire in the first place whether the Society ever im¬ 
ported any such animals? The Journal of the Society 
for 1817, states that two cows and a bull had been or¬ 
dered, but we never heard of their arrival. Hon. John| 
Hubbard, imported a Norman or Alderney bull, which 
he presented to the Society alluded to. In 1823 the 
writer saw this bull at the society’s show at Brin-hton. 
He was then two years and a few months oldT He 
was offered for sale at auction, but as a satisfactory 
price could not be had for him, he was bid in by one of 
the officers of the Society. He was kept for several 
years by the late John Prince, Esq., of Roxbury. He 
was of a light chestnut color, of slender and rather 
loose make, indicating a feeble constitution. Mr 
Prince and other gentlemen imported cows of the 
same breed, about the same time. We several times 
saw these cows,—or some of them—their progeny, and 
also some of the half-blood progeny of the bull. They 
seemed generally deficient in constitution. The cows 
however, produced some good stock by bulls of other 
breeds. We recollect particularly, seeing at Mr, 
Prince’s some fine calves and young stock, some of 
which were a cross from the Norman cows by the im¬ 
ported bull Holderness or Fortunatus, and some a cross 
from the Hereford bull, Sir Isaac, sent out by Admiral 
Coffin. 
Wire Worm. —A successful farmer of this vicinity, 
Mr. D. D. T. Moore, states that he has tried various 
substances for preventing the ravages of the wire 
worm, none of which, excepting sulphur, proved of any 
use. An Irishman told him that sulphur had been used 
with advantage in Ireland. Before planting his corn 
Mr. M. wet it and rolled it in flour sulphur, and after¬ 
wards coated it in plaster to prevent the sulphur from 
wasting. He saved a crop by this means where he had 
failed for three years before. We see no reason why 
the sulphur might not be equally effective for any other 
grain. 
Subsoil Plowing.— Clark Beardsley, of Avon, Mich, 
states in the Michigan Farmer, that he harvested 
wheat on ten acres of good wheat land in 1844, which 
had been much run for 17 years, and the product was 
only eighty-five bushels. The soil was clay and was 
full of “ foul stuff'.” The next year he subsoiled it with 
a span of horses and two yoke of oxen, by once plow¬ 
ing, and thoroughly subdued the foul stuff, and obtained 
in 1846, from the same ten acres of land, over three 
hundred bushels of wheat. And yet we know a farm¬ 
er of large and ample means, who admits that the sub- 
soil is more fertile for wdieat than the upper soil, who 
says he “ cannot afford” to use the subsoil plow! 
Tall Corn.—Dr. Lee writes to his associate of the 
Gen. Farmer that the corn on the Savannah bottoms was 
“ from 12 to 18 feet high.” His friend inserts a note 
stating that he suspects there is “ some mistake in the 
figures,” but he “ follows copy.” We have seen corn 
in Western Virginia, and in Ohio, which was taller than 
the Doctor mentions, and once measured a stalk taken 
from a field belonging to Seth Bailey, a few miles 
below Marietta, on the Ohio river, which w T as nineteen 
feet two inches in length, cut even with the surface of 
the ground. We presume such evidence of this fact 
could be had as would be received in a “ court of jus¬ 
tice.” 
“Do Toads Sing?”— Our friends of the Prairie 
Farmer, in answer to this question, proposed by a cor¬ 
respondent, say, they “ never heard a toad sing, or of 
one’s singing j” but they think “ frogs do little else.” 
There may be some doubts as to what should be called 
singing. People have different musical tastes, as was 
illustrated by the old story about the “heavenly music ” 
made by a pack of hounds. Now' frogs and toads, (we 
don’t mean tree- toads, everybody knows their trills ,) 
both make a noise —probably from the same impulse— 
and we are not aware of any rules that would recog¬ 
nise the one as singing and reject the other. If our 
friends will secure some well-grown toads at the “pair. 
