1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
381 
Lucerne. — I would also state, that lucerne has en¬ 
tirely failed in all the experiments I have heard of 
hereabouts. The only grass that I have found to stand 
our climate, is the orchard grass, and from limited but 
repeated experiments, I am pleased with the spurry, 
(Spergula arvensis ,) for winter and early spring fod¬ 
der, or grazing, but it will not grow at all in the 
summer. 
Mutton. — I do not agree at all with you, that Cots- 
wold or Leicester would improve the quality of mutton 
and wool, unless the mutton be raised for sale. For 
eating, no mutton, in my humble opinion, (and I have 
eaten some mutton in my travels,) will compare for 
fineness of grain, and flavor and juiciness, with Merino, 
or grade Merino, and I have no doubt that as much Me¬ 
rino mutton or wool can be raised upon the same quantity 
of pasture or feed, as of any other breed whatever, and 
the wool does not require any praise at my hand. Be¬ 
sides, your Maine correspondent, I. MeG., is in the im¬ 
mediate neighborhood of the best flocks of that breed. 
Grasses for the South. —The Muskeet grass 
that was introduced into this state a few years since, 
proved, I believe, to be the Holcus lanatus, well known 
in Europe. As far as my experiments—and they have 
not been few—have gone, the best and only grasses 
that it is worth our while cultivating in the south, are 
rice, corn, oats, wheat, rye, and barley, and if all the 
time, money, and labor, that have been wasted in try¬ 
ing other grasses, had been spent upon the 2d, 3d, and 
5th of the above list, our horses, hogs, &c., would have 
fared better, and our pockets would now be rather bet¬ 
ter filled. I am certain that mine would be. Rob’t 
Chisolm. South Carolina. 1847. 
Rotation. —Mr. J. D. Burditt, of Norwalk, Hu¬ 
ron county, Ohio, sends us the following plan for a ro¬ 
tation of crops. He says -— 11 Most of my soil is what 
would be termed a clay loam, a small part of it a te¬ 
nacious clay. I wish to ask whether the following ro¬ 
tation would be a good one ? 
First year, corn, on sod, manured and plowed in thq 
spring, about five inches deep. In the fall, after the 
crop comes off, ,cross-plow some two or three inches 
deeper than plowed in the spring, that the action of 
the frost may pulverize a portion of the subsoil. 
Second year, oats or barley, or both, with three 
parts of clover seed to one of timothy. 
Third and fourth years, mow and pasture. 
Fifth year, green fallow with peas or beans, fol¬ 
lowed by wheat with timothy and cloyer, half and half, 
—to remain in grass three years; then commence ano¬ 
ther round with mauure and corn, as before. 
Although my land is pretty good for wheat, I pre¬ 
fer a mixed plan of farming, to any particular branch 
exclusively.” . 
Morgan Horses. —The following extract from a 
letter lately received from Mr. Benjamin Thurston, 
of Lowell, Mass., is deserving attention. Mr. T. has 
had great opportunities for observation in regard to 
horses. 
“ Twenty-two years since, I bought several of the 
old (first) Morgan’s colts. They were raised by Mr. 
Goss, of Vermont, who was at one time the owner of 
the old horse. I found they showed traces of better 
blood—their action was finer, they moved more easily 
and gracefully, and could endure more than most of 
those I have had since. They had a bony head, with 
sharp ears, and were close, but pointed horses. The 
difference between the former and many of the present 
Morgans, I attribute to the French blood in some of 
our mares, from which the latter have come. I have 
noticed that Black Haivk’s progeny, when there has 
been French blood in the dam, have not quite that sim¬ 
plicity of action which those have whose dams have 
better blood. Some of those partaking of the French 
or Canadian blood, have, as I think, a little too much 
action—or rather a labored motion, which is apt to 
make them leg-weary in a long day’s drive.” 
Breeding Animals.—Joshua R. Lawton, Esq., in 
his late address before the Berkshire County Ag. Soci¬ 
ety, observes :—“ What a wonderful triumph of human 
reason and power, that the animals given and subjected 
to man by the great Author of Agriculture, can be 
moulded and fashioned to his liking, as the clay is fash¬ 
ioned by the potter ! Form and figure, size and power 
of bone and muscle; adaptedness to the peculiar service 
required; kindness and docility of disposition, and even 
agreeable countenance and expression, by patient and 
skilful breeding, can be successfully attained.” 
In relation to the same subject, Mr. S. B. Colby, in 
his address pub.ished by the Washington County ( Vt.) 
Society, says:—“ It has been, and perhaps still is, the 
belief of many, that care and keeping, are the true 
sources of improvement in stock. That the qualities 
of the animal are determined more by the food that 
supplies the stomach, than the blood that flows in the 
veins. That keeping, care, and climate, influence the 
individual is true, and in the course of centuries, char¬ 
acterize the species; but it would be weak policy to 
decline the use of standard specimens of animals, 'which 
by selecting the good and rejecting the bad, for a long 
time, are now offered to your service, already finished to 
a high degree of perfection. Who can hope to trans¬ 
form our native cattle into Durham, Devon, Ayrshire, 
with their perfection of form, deep chest, straight limb, 
and majestic proportion, with the mere instrumentality 
of turneps and clover ? And who expects to create the 
peculiar compact shape, comeliness'and strength of the 
Morgan Horse, by even the most bountiful allowance of 
hay and grain ? As well by diet and education may the 
1 Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots.’ ” 
Influence of Railroads. —Hon. J. M. Niles in 
his late address before the New Haven County Agri¬ 
cultural Society, makes the following judicious remarks 
in relation to the influence of railroads : 
“ It has been supposed by many, that the system of 
railroads and canals, by bringing the products of the 
West into competition with those of the Atlantic States, 
would operate injuriously to the agricultural interests 
of the latter, and reduce the value of land. But on a 
full development of that system, the result will be oth¬ 
erwise. Were agriculture and commerce the only great 
interests of our country, this consequence might have 
followed. But manufactures, the other great interest, 
supply local markets for the farmer ; and the railroad 
system is already exerting a powerful influence in es¬ 
tablishing manufactures in the interior, at points re¬ 
mote from tide water; and thus creating local markets 
for those products of the farm which would not justify 
transportation to our commercial cities on the seaboard. 
Whilst railroads bring the great staples of the West 
into competition with those of the Atlantic States, they 
enable the latter to send to market at a good profit, a 
great variety of products, which could not otherwise be 
done, and which will not bear transporting from the 
western states. And this system, by its influence in 
evolving the various resources of the country, and in¬ 
creasing its wealth, exerts a favorable influence on ag¬ 
riculture generally, and more especially on sections 
contiguous to our commercial towns and manufacturing 
districts. Whilst it brings the flour and provisions of 
the West into the market on the seaboard, it enables 
the farmers in the Atlantic States to avail themselves 
of the markets, where local ones do not exist, for hay, 
milk, vegetables, fruit, and various articles, which, 
were it not for those facilities, would bear transporta¬ 
tion a few miles only.” • 
