14 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Jan. 
Duke of Gloucester; calved in March last, for which he 
paid 400 guineas. This is a splendid specimen of the 
Durham. We may form some idea of the spirit and 
enterprise of this gentleman, from the fact that his 
purchases at the Toftwo’rth sale alone exceeded 2,000 
guineas. From his herd have been exported of late 
into the United States/several fine specimens. These 
have gone to Col. Morris, Mr. Becar and Mr. Thorns, 
of New- York; Mr. Alexander and other gentlemen 
in Kentucky and Ohio ; Messrs. Kelly and Remming- 
ton, of Philadelphia; and to Mr. Levi A. Dowly, of 
Boston. Besides these of the Duchess family of short¬ 
horns, there were several other fine animals of the Ox¬ 
ford tribe, Lady Barrington and others, combining 
more or less the breed of the late Mr. Bates, Mr. Tan- 
queray having the last few years used no les3 than five 
bulls from that celebrated stock, and among them 
Balco, now owned by Messrs. Morris and Becar, lately 
on the show ground at Saratoga, though not entered for 
competition. This bull left some very promising stock 
at Hendon ; and by the Fifth Duke of York (also a 
Kirkleavington bull), are to be seen some of the finest 
calves, such as any breeder might wish to possess. For 
some of these Mr. T. has been offered tempting prices. 
He likewise possesses several animals of another favor¬ 
ite sort of cattle, descended from the Nell Gwinne, or 
Princes tribe, and with such materials, or combinations 
of the most celebrated blood, it may be supposed that 
he will take a high position as a breeder of neat cattle 
The stock appeared in good breeding condition, but not 
liable, as has been seen in some quarters, to the charge 
of excessive obesity. I may speak in another place of 
Mr. Tanqueray’s general farming, as worthy of imita¬ 
tion, and explain wherein he excels. At present, I 
have only space to say, that in the neat and picturesque 
appearance he has given to his lands, and in the ar¬ 
rangements, perfect neatness and beautiful economy of 
his farm buildings, he deserves high praise. His ani¬ 
mals, down to the pigs, of which there were many, 
breath sweet air; and the veritable ladies whose titles 
his animals hear, might visit these premises without 
boots, and without carrying off any thing to remind 
them where they had been, although the nature of the 
soil and the position of the stalls and yards are such 
that in the hands of some farmers, they would be intol¬ 
erably filthy. From these buildings nothing of a fer¬ 
tilizing nature is lost, which is more than can be said 
of many barn3 that have fallen under my observation. 
I will add, that although the improvement of neat 
cattle may have reached its maximum, so far as respects 
select animals, and although its diffusion has been going 
on till it has doubled the average weight of animals in 
the English markets, and shortened the time of rearing 
them, yet this diffusion is now advancing more rapidly 
than ever. Respectfully yours, J. A. Nash. 
Agriculture. —Agriculture is the primeval, and the 
most noble employment of mankind. Without a know¬ 
ledge of the principles of the science of this art, man 
would become an uncivilised barbarian, subsisting like 
the brute creation on s, scanty supply of fruits and 
roots. 
Varieties and Culture of the Basket Willow. 
“ The willow manufacture, in the eity of ISew-York, 
is already immense, and destined constantly to increase. 
The amount of imported willow ware is annually more 
than three millions of dollars! while tho quantity of 
unmanufactured willow imported amounts to a. much 
larger sum. And this amount of imported ware must 
also increase largely, unless the manufacture of the 
ware, and the cultivation of the willow, should be pro¬ 
secuted extensively in the United States, in pursuit of 
that national independence which is desirable in peace, 
and indispensable in war. 
The -late John Reed, of Staten Island, amassed a 
little fortune by cultivating less than three acres of 
apparently worthless swamp, in rearing the Osier wil¬ 
low. Others have failed in the attempt, through igno¬ 
rance of the proper species for this region of the earth, 
and the proper mode of cultivation. Some persons 
have settled down in the conviction that, perhaps Eng¬ 
lishmen, Germans and Frenchmen may succeed in this 
branch of agriculture, hut that a Yankee must neces¬ 
sarily fail. 
Dr. C. W. Grant, of Newburgh, about five years 
ago, came to the conclusion that, among his varied ob¬ 
jects of enterprise, he would include the cultivation of 
the willow, for which purpose he purchased a marsh In 
tho Hudson, not far below West Point, connected with 
an extensive upland farm, which marshy ground he 
supposed would make a good Osier field. On trial, it 
was found that only a small portion of the ground was 
adapted for that purpose. Partial failure served only 
to stimulate him to fresh exertions, and the loss of some 
capital was followed by the resolve to recover it. He 
therefore engaged in extensive investigation of tho 
whole subject, and availed himself of all attainable 
knowledge respecting the culture of the Osier in Eng¬ 
land, Scotland, Continental Europe and America. 
Nearly one hundred kinds of willow were imported, and 
experiments were carefully instituted on different soils, 
with very satisfactory results. Willow of his produc¬ 
tion was tested last fall, by different basket manufactu¬ 
rers, and found equal in quality to the very best Euro¬ 
pean. Osier, and far superior to the largest portion of 
that which is imported. In the course of Dr. Grant’s 
investigations, a new species was found in the county 
of Suffolk, England, which proves.to bo a great acqui¬ 
sition not only in the arts, but as an ornamental tree. 
To those who have undertaken, or are about to un¬ 
dertake, the cultivation of willcw, it will undoubtedly 
prove very largely remunerative, if conducted with tho 
requisite care and knowledge. Nature never yields 
choice favors to ignorance or negligence. No crop will 
better pay for proper tillage and proper soil—even 
yielding a profitable return the first year. But in the 
hands of unskillfulness and neglect it will of course 
prove an entire failure. In Rockland county, a small 
field of it was planted in the spring, and in the autumn 
of the same year yielded shoots of the finest quality, 
averaging at least six feet in length, and some of the 
tallest more than ten feet. The gross worth of the crop 
