42 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Feb. 
neighborhood. Their chief excellencies were for beef 
and work, and in these qualities they are said to have- 
been much superior to any other cattle which have been 
known- there. Their strength was great, and their 
quickness and speed as travellers remarkable. As to 
dairy qualities, Mr. B. states, that though the cows did 
not yield as large a quantity of milk as some, it was of 
so rich a quality, that in quantity of butter they were 
seldom exceeded. Mr. Cook, of Northampton, who 
.has been in the practice of stall-feeding cattle for many 
years, frequently fatted the half-blood Hereford?; and 
after several trials with them, was so convinced of their 
superiority, both in the rapidity with which they ac¬ 
quired' fat, and in the quality of their beef,, that he would 
pay several dollars more for lean animals of this blood, 
than for others of the same size. Mr. Sargeant, of 
Springfield, and others, also spoke of the beef of this 
stock as being of better quality and flavor than any 
other they had ever seen. Mr. Bates has now two 
fine cows and a heifer, descendants of “ Sir Isaac,” 
which show strong marks of Hereford blood. But as 
Mr. B. has devoted his farm chiefly to sheep, he has 
discontinued the breeding of cattle, and keeps only 
cows enough to supply milk for domestic use. 
From all we can learn, we are confident that the in¬ 
troduction of this Hereford bull was of great advantage 
to the section where he was kept; and we have no doubt 
that similar advantages would be derived there and in 
other good grazing districts of Massachusetts, by the 
use of prime bulls of the same breed. 
Mr. Horatio Sargeant, cf Springfield, has a herd 
of good stock. Among them We noticed a full-blood 
Durham bull, of fine points, and several full-blood cows 
which appear to be superior milkers. Also, some very 
handsome young steers and heifers. 
Before closing this part of our subject, we wish to 
offer a friendly remark. Some of our brother farmers 
of Massachusetts should be more particular in regard 
to the blood of their stock. They are too inattentive to 
the real qualities of their animals, and in reference to 
their improvement, do not take hold of the matter as 
if they intended to understand it. In several instances 
bulls were shown to us as “ Durhams ” which evidently 
had not more than one-third or one-eighth of that blood , 
and Were very miserable hard-fleshed animals besides. 
And we presume that the unfavorable opinions which we 
found prevailing in many places in regard to the Dur¬ 
ham breed of cattle, is in a great degree attributable to 
the bad selections of bulls which have been made. 
Farms, Dairies, &c. —The farm of Elias Phin- 
Nev, Esq,., in Lexington, is noted for the good manage¬ 
ment it evinces, and for its general productiveness. He 
has a very fine and productive orchard, and has done much 
in reclaiming and rendering profitable, wet and marshy 
lands. But we were, unfortunately, so limited as to 
time, that we could but just glance at the arrangements, 
and must defer more particular remarks till we are fa¬ 
vored with an opportunity (which we hope to enjoy,) 
of making a second visit. 
Mr. John Hammond, of Worcester, has a farm of 
122 acres, which for neatness, productiveness, and good 
management, is not exceeded by any we have met with 
in any part of the country. About fifteen acres of the 
farm are in wood. He keeps about, forty head of cat¬ 
tle, and besides affording pasturage for them, he cuts 
from 80 to 100 tons of hay per year. He usually has 
about twenty-five cows, and has sold seventeen hun¬ 
dred dollars worth of milk in a year, at five cents per 
quart. [Wc may as well remark here, that milk is 
sold in Massachusetts by beer measure , which is one-fifth 
more than wine measure.] Besides this, he has sold 
from bis farm five hundred dollars worth of other pro¬ 
duce in a year. His buildings and fences are in com¬ 
plete order. His barn is one of the best and most con¬ 
venient we have seen. It is 90 feet long, 42 feet wide, 
and posts 18 feet high. The width is divided into three 
parts—a floor-way.of twelve feet through the centre, 
and a bay and cattle stable of fifteen feet each, on the 
sides. It has a cellar under the whole, into which the 
manure and urine descends, and where loam and other 
materials are frequently spread on the heap. 
We shall probably have occasion, hereafter, to speak 
more particularly of the advantages of barns constructed 
on plans similar to this ; but cannot omit to mention 
here, an improvement which has been adopted by Mr. 
Abiel Jaques, who has a beautiful farm, with good 
barn and other buildings, in Worcester. Where barns 
have cellars under them, considerable inconvenience is 
often experienced in getting the cattle from the cellar 
and yard into the stalls above. This inconvenience is 
in a great measure obviated by the contrivance allu¬ 
ded to. An inclined way is constructed at a low 
angle in tlie back part of the cellar, connecting at the 
upper end with the apartment in which the cattle are 
tied. A door at the connection of this way with the 
floor, prevents the cattle from ascending into the barn 
except when it is opened. The way is simply solid 
earth, supported and kept in place by stone-work at its 
sides and upper end. 
In Barre and New Braintree there are some capital 
farms. The face of the country is rough and hilly, arrd 
the soil in many instances very rocky; yet it is made 
highly productive, especially for grass. The farmers 
are generally in very independent circumstances, and 
have no occasion to sigh for other climes. By well- 
directed and persevering industry, the u rough places” 
have been “ made smooth,” and the rugged features of 
the landscape have been even wrought into ornaments 
of beauty. The rocks and stones which originally oc¬ 
cupied so much of the soil, have been removed, and 
formed into massive stone-walls, by which the farms are 
divided into beautiful fields. 
In Barre, we called at three farms, lying contigu¬ 
ously, which, for the completeness of the buildings 
and other fixtures, and general “ good looks,” are 
hardly surpassed by any other three farms similarly- 
situated within our knowledge. They belong respec¬ 
tively to Mr. David Kendall, David Lee. Esq., and 
Mr. Harrison Bacon. 
We first called on Mr. Lee, who kindly accompanied 
us to other farms in the vicinity, and afforded us other 
facilities, for which he has our thanks. His farm now 
consists of about 200 acres, though it was formerly much 
larger. He has made great improvements by clearing 
the land of stones, with which it naturally so abounded 
that it was almost impossible to plow it. A good por¬ 
tion of the farm has been divided into lots of ten to fif¬ 
teen acres each. In many of them, the stones have 
been thoroughly taken out, so that the plow will run 
with as little interruption as on the western prairies;: 
but to get the stones out'of the way, the walls into 
which they have been put, are in several instances so 
wide that a carriage might be driven on the top of 
them! These lands now produce an average of two and 
a half tons of hay per acre ; and fifty bushels of corn to 
the acVe is quite common. Of oats, Mr. L. has ob¬ 
tained over eighty bushels per acre. 
Mr. L’s barn is said to be the largest in the state,, 
with the exception of the “ Boylston barn,” in Prince¬ 
ton. It is 108 feet long, 44 feet wide, with posts 20 
feet high. It has two floors, and the hay, &c., is car¬ 
ried in°on the upper floor. It has a cellar under the 
whole.' And we will here observe that all farmers with, 
wliorfi we conversed, who have had any experience with 
barn-cellars, state that the manure which is kept in 
them, is worth from fifty to a hundred per cent, more 
than that which is exposed in the ordinary way. 
This section of country is quite noted for its cheese 
