1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
31 
But this is far from the truth. To be a farmer, who 
shall be most profited by his farming operations, it is ne¬ 
cessary that he shall well understand his business. There 
is no calling that requires more the exercise of diseri- 
minat on, reasoning and calculation, the comparison of 
cause and effect, than does that of the farmer.” 
“ But he thinks it important the farmer should know 
how every kind of labor required on his farm should be 
performed. The advantage of this is obvious; for it 
will in many cases be difficult to have work properly 
executed, unless the farmer is capable of practically 
showing how it should be done. Dr. C. remarks—“ It 
is as necessary for the farmer to know how to hold the 
plow, to sow the seed, and how td do all the work on 
the farm, as it is for him to be scientifically acquainted 
with the condition of his soil. It therefore becomes the 
duty of the farmer to teaCli his sons to do all that will 
be required of the farmer as a laborer to do, and not 
only to do for the purpose of saying it is done, but to 
do it well, for by doing work well the greatest benefit 
will result from it.” 
Productive Small Farm. 
The Cooper farm, near Bushwick, Long Island, ac¬ 
cording to the committee of the New-York Farmers’ 
Club, consists of only 30 acres, the proprietors being 
young men, who came in possession only a few years 
ago, when the land was very barren. With the help 
of four men, and additional help in picking time, they 
have the past season supplied New-York with the fol¬ 
lowing articles:— 
342 bushels peas in pod, yielding .... $256 
1000 
“ potatoes, 
u 
.... 687 
1200 
“ tomatoes, 
“ 
600 
1200 
“ bush beans, 
u 
_ 528 
$2071 
In addition to the above, there remained unharvested 
at the time the report was made— 
500 bushels potatoes, by estimate, 
4000 poles thickly covered with Lima beans, 
4 acres corn, 
1| acres Blue-top turnip, 
I 2 acres cabbage, 5000 to the acre, 
Hay for all their stock, 
1-20 acre Cayenne pepper, estimated 25 bush., 
Also, 75 bushels wheat. 
Horses of Speed and Bottom. 
The National Intelligencer furnishes an account of 
the extraordinary performances of some Californian 
horses used by Col. Fremont in traversing a section 
of Upper California. It is stated that Col. F., with 
two attendants, performed a journey of eight hundred 
miles in eight days, including all stoppages and nearly 
two days’ detention. Each of the party had three hor¬ 
ses, nine in all, which took their turns under the saddle. 
The six loose horses ran ahead without bridle or hal¬ 
ter, and were kept to the track by the riders. When 
a horse was wanted for a change, he was caught with 
the lasso thrown by one of the men, the saddle and 
briddle transferred to him, and the other horse turned 
loose. This change was made at distances of about 
twenty miles. The usual gait was a sweeping gallop. 
The way was over a mountainous country, much of it 
uninhabited, and many defiles to pass. They travelled 
at the rate of one hundred to one hundred and twenty 
miles a day , until they reached a city, San Luis Obispo, 
about half way to their place of destination, which was 
Monterey, on the Pacific oceaq. At San Luis Obispo 
the nine horses were left, and eight others taken in their 
places. With the fresh horses the party pursued their 
journey to Monterey, and returned to San Luis Obispo. 
Two of the latter horses had been presented to Col. 
Fremont by a Californian, (Don Jesus Pico,) and 
were considered specimens of a famous breed called 
“ los canalos,” or the Cinnamons, from their being of 
a cinnamon color. These two horses were brothers, one 
a year younger than the other. To test their powers, 
they were, at the request of the Californian who had 
presented them to Col. F., put to a severe trial. On 
leaving Monterey, late in the afternoon, the elder horse 
was first put under the saddle, and ridden thirty miles, 
when the party stopped for the night. The next morn¬ 
ing the same horse was again taken by Col. Fi, •“ and 
for ninety miles he carried him without apparent fa¬ 
tigue.” It was still thirty miles to the place which 
was to be the end of' their day’s ride, and the Califor¬ 
nian insisted that the horse could easily accomplish it; 
but Col. F. would not put him to the trial. The sad¬ 
dle was therefore shifted to the younger horse, and the 
other allowed to run loose for the remaining thirty miles. 
“ He did so,” says the writer of the account, “ imme¬ 
diately taking the lead and keeping it all the way, and 
entering San Luis in a sweeping gallop, nostrils dis¬ 
tended, snuffing the air and neighing with exultation at 
his return to his native pastures, his younger brother 
all the while running at the head of the horses under 
the saddle, bearing on his bit, and held in by his rider.” 
The eight horses made a hundred and twenty miles a 
day till their return to San Luis Obispo, when the nine 
horses that had been first taken were again brought out, 
and the remainder of the journey performed with them 
at the rate of a hundred and twenty-five miles a day. 
It is stated that the grass along the road was the food 
for the horses during the journey. They are said to be 
trained with great care, and exhibit remarkable saga¬ 
city and spirit. Could not Col. Fremont procure a 
few of the best of these horses and send them into the 
States? If they are what the account to which we 
have referred represents, they would be the most valua¬ 
ble trophy which the conquest of California has yielded 
us. 
Influence of the Press on Ag. Improvement. 
Mr. Payson in his address before the Essex county 
(Mass.) Agricultural Society, says—“To enumerate 
all the improvements which have been made in agricul¬ 
ture for the last half/century, would take too much 
time. One , not only an improvement in itself, but the 
basis of all other improvements, must not be omitted, 
and that is the diffusion of agricultural knowledge by 
the newspaper press. Slowly, silently, almost by 
stealth, without the knowledge of the man himself, this 
mighty engine undermines old prejudices, and teaches 
the farmer that however independent he may be, he is 
not so as that the experience of others will not profit 
him. Most of us have become willing to seek direc¬ 
tions even though they may be contained in a book. 
We are becoming more like liberal, freeborn and aspir¬ 
ing men.” 
In relation to the same subject, Mr. I. S. Hitch¬ 
cock, in his address before the Oneida county, (N. Y.) 
society, observes—“A medium of communication be¬ 
tween farmers was found to be indispensible to the ad¬ 
vancement of their interests, and the periodical agri¬ 
cultural press was established. That agricultural 
journals are among the most decided, and least expen¬ 
sive means of promoting agriculture, no one who has 
been favored with their perusal for any length of time, 
will pretend to deny. While their influence has been 
highly beneficial, they have injured no one, and since 
their utility has been fairly tested by experience, that 
farmer is guilty of an unpardonable inattention to 
his true interests, who neglects to provide himself 
with a well conducted Journal of this kind. I am aware 
there is a prejudice against what some are pleased to 
