THE CULTIVATOR. 
15 
the manure I can collect, and if the corn be planted early, and well 
tended, it may be cut and drawn off in season for wheat, and the 
ground put in a good state to receive it by one ploughing. If how¬ 
ever the farmer have sufficient ground for wheat without it, the bet¬ 
ter method is to put on barley or peas next season, and as soon as 
the crop is taken offi give the ground a thorough harrowing, which 
will cause the seeds that may have dropped, to vegetate, in which 
state it should be left till near the time of seeding, when one good 
ploughing will be better than more. Then run a light harrow over 
it, which puts the ground in a better state to receive the wheat. 
Then harrow twice and follow with lhe roller, when every good far¬ 
mer will strike water furrows. By this mode of management, all 
the vegetable matter which may have sprung up will be completely 
buried, in the soil, and there remain to enrich it. 
Few farmers occupy as many acres with corn, potatoes and ruta 
baga, as they wish to sow with wheat. If the system of clovering 
is pursued, (which I recommend to every farmer,) I deem naked 
fallows unnecessary. A good sward turned in, after plastering—if 
a heavy soil, in the fall, if light in the spring—rolled, and then har¬ 
rowed, will put the ground in a fine state for peas, barley or oats.— 
Immediately after the crops are taken off, proceed as above direct¬ 
ed, and if the land be in good heart, we may safely calculate on a 
good crop of wheat. If the land be rich, I have frequently taken a 
second crop of wheat before seeding with grass, equally heavy with 
the first. 
This mode cannot be profitably pursued unless the land is rich; 
and if not so, green crops ploughed in will make it so. I have this 
year turned in a heavy crop of buckwheat in blossom, in a field ex¬ 
hausted by the previous occupant. I then sowed wheat, and shall 
give it at least ten pounds of clover seed per acre early in the spring, 
and then plaster. 
Some of the best farmers of Pennsylvania assert, that calcareous 
land may be made to produce heavy crops of wheat for several suc¬ 
cessive years by means of clover and plaster sown every year; and 
where the farmer raises his own clover seed, he may sow it in the 
chaff, and find the method profitable, not only as it relates to crops, 
but what is equally important, his land is continually growing richer. 
I have not given this method a trial, but intend to do it. If found 
to succeed, it will go to establish a fact not yet settled, that clover 
restores to the land the principles yielding starch and gluten, with¬ 
out which wheat cannot perfect itself. This fact once established, 
the farmers of our western country will raise of other crops no 
more than may be necessary for their own consumption. 
I saw the last of five successive crops of wheat growing in the 
calcareous soil on the east bank of Cayuga Lake, which was esti¬ 
mated to yield 25 bushels per acre. If then this soil, managed as in 
Pennsylvania, actually furnishes the pabulum of wheat, may we not 
draw the conclusion, that such soils only as are primitive, or are 
destitute of lime, require a regular rotation of crops ?—Genesee 
Farmer. 
Cattle Husbandry. 
Under this head we purpose lo give wliai we deem most likely to benefit the 
cattle farmer, in the selecting, breeding, rearing and improving his farm 
stock. We shall particularly describe the improved short horn and Devon 
cattle, and give such criteria of a good animal of those and other breeds, as 
will assist the breeder or buyer in estimating their genuineness and re¬ 
lative value, and tend to prevent imposition. We shall endeavor to point 
out the relative value of the several kinds for breeding, grazing, the dairy 
and the plough. 
Within the last century the cattle of Great Britain have been made nearly to 
double their average weight. This has in. a measure resulted from the im¬ 
proved condition of husbandry generally, but principally from a judicious 
system of breeding. Mo t of the improved breeds of animals which our 
farmers are desirous of propagating, have been derived recently from Great 
Britain, where the art of breeding is carried to higher perfection than in any 
other country. Hence it is in British practice, and British publications, 
which are the ree ad of that p.actice, that we must seek for the best guides 
for our improvement. And in fulfilling our task, we intend to consult sou e 
of the most approved and recent authorities. 
The neat cattle of England have been classed under the heads of 
1. Long horns, including the improved stock of Bakewell; 
2. Middle horns, including Devon and Hereford cattle; 
3. Short hums, comprising Teeswater, Holderness, Durham, and 
Improved Short Horns; 
4. Hornless, or polled, or Galloway breed ; and, 
5. Crumpled horns, or Alderney, derived from France. 
From these general classes all of our native cattle have been de¬ 
rived ; and in Great Britain, as here, they have become intermingled 
in every possible way. Yet while every thing here has been left too 
much to chance, there a systematic course has been successfully pur. 
sued, by many distinguished breeders, to improve the original breeds. 
Before we proceed, however, to describe the manner and extent of 
the improvement which has taken place, or the form of the improved 
animals, we will quote what we find laid down, and we think cor- 
rectly, as the 
PROPER FORM AND SHAPE OF CATTLE. 
“ Whatever be the breed, there are certain conformations which 
are indispensable to the thriving and value of the ox or ccw. When 
we have a clear idea of these, we shall be able more easily to form 
an accurate judgment of the breeds of the different counties as they 
pass before us. If there is one part of the frame, the form of which, 
more than that of any other, renders the animal valuable, it is the 
chest. There must be room enough for the heart lo beat, and the 
lungs to play, or sufficient blood lor the purposes of nutriment and 
of strength will not be circulated; nor will it thoroughly undergo 
that vital change which is essential to the proper discharge of every 
(unction. We look therefore, first of all, to the wide and deep girth 
about the heart and lungs. We must have both ; the proportion in 
' which the one or the other may preponderate, will depend on the 
service we require from the animal; we can excuse a slight, degree 
of flatness of the sides, for he will be lighter in the forehand, and 
more active ; but the grazier must have width as well as depth.— 
And not only about the heart and lungs, but over the whole ribs, 
must we have length and roundness ; the hooped, as well as the deep 
barrel, is essential; there must be room for the capacious paunch, 
room for the materials from which the blood is to be provided. The 
beast should also be ribbed home ; there should be a littie space be¬ 
tween the ribs and the hips. This seems to be indispensable in the 
ox, as it regards a good healthy constitu'ion, and a propensity to fat¬ 
ten ; but a largeness and dropping of the belly is excusable in the 
cow, or rattier, notwithstanding it diminishes the beauty of the ani¬ 
mal, it leaves room for the udder; and if it is also accompanied 
by swelling milk-veins, it generally indicates her value in tho 
dairy. 
“ lhe roundness and depth of the barrel, however, is most ad¬ 
vantageous in proportion as it is found behind the point of the el¬ 
bow, more than between the shoulders and legs ; or low down be¬ 
tween the legs, rather than upwards towards the withers; for it di¬ 
minishes the heaviness before, and the comparative bulk of the 
coarse parts of the animal, which is always a very great considera¬ 
tion. 
“The loins should be wide : of this there can be no doubt, for 
they are the prime parts ; they should seem to extend far along the 
back ; and although the belly should not hang down, the flanks should 
be round and deep. Of the hips it is superfluous to say that, with¬ 
out being ragged, they should be large ; round rather than wide, 
and presenting, when handled, plenty of muscle and fat. The thighs 
should be round and long, close together when viewed from behind, 
and the farther down ihey continue to be so the better. The legs 
short, varying like other parts, according to the destination of the 
animal; but decidedly short, for there is an almost inseparable con¬ 
nection between length of leg and lightness of carcases, and short¬ 
ness ol leg and propensity to fatten. The bones of the legs, and 
they only being taken as a sample of the bony st"ucture of the frame 
generally, should be small, but not too small—small enough for the 
well known accompaniment,—a propensity to fatten—small enough 
to please the consumer ; but. not so small as to indicate delicacy of 
constitution, and iiabiliiy to disease. 
“ Last of all the hide—the most important part of all—thin, but 
not so thin as to indicate that the animal can endure no hardship ; 
moveable, mellow, but not too loose, and particularly well covered 
with fine soft hair.” 
Ill-natured Jests .—If it is dangerous to speak of ourselves, it is 
much more so to take freedoms with other people. A jest may tic- 
kle many ; but, if it hurts one, the resentment that follows it may 
do you more injury than the reputation service. 
