126 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
April 
told him to have it suckered. I inquired if he found 
any difference; he informed me the rows manured on 
top had four or five times as many suckers, which was 
the first thing that gave me the idea of top-dressing 
land. I regret I did not gather and measure; but I 
forgot to give the order. 
I shall continue to plow from two to four inches, and 
I think if I have as good luck as I have had, that I 
shall not change, though I shall give some efforts in 
good land a little deeper. One thing I will mention : 
if you will take a deep, rich black mold, and take off 
one or two inches from a few lands, and put it in 
another place, you may put what you please in land, 
and nothing will grow equally good as in the rows 
which are in their natural state; but do you continue 
the manure, and after some years exposure they will 
come to produce well. So in this case, I draw the in¬ 
ference that sun and light are first g.11 important. I 
like to go down with such implements as will not take 
down the top or bring up the bottom, and for this rea¬ 
son, in excessive hot weather the roots of plants de¬ 
sire to protect themselves from the heat, and in very 
wet weather I like the water to have a chance to settle 
quick. 
Interesting Experiments. 
Adam Clark, of Milo, Yates county, N. Y., in a 
communication to the Gen. Farmer, gives the result of 
an experiment, which is worthy the attention of all 
wheat raisers. Four pieces of ground, each 2 feet 
square, of finely prepared ground, were planted with 
wheat, a grain each at the intersection of straight lines 
drawn across each plat. The experiment and results 
we have condensed in the following table: 
No. i.; 
No. 2 
No 3. 
No. 4. 
Distances of seed asunder........ 
i n- 
. 3 in. 
4 in. 
4 4-5in 
Number of grains planted,. 
289 
81 
49 
36 
Number of grains that grew,. 
203 
60 
40 
30 
Number of heads,. 
286 
136 
112 
104 
Average number of grains,per head,.. 
26 
35 
39 
42 
Whole number of grains,. 
7458 
4765 
4452 
4399 
Yield per acre in bushels,. 
108 
69 
64 
63 
Seed per acre, in bushels and pounds, j 
4 bu. 
12 Jbs. 
1 bu. 
10 lbs 
42f lbs 
31^lbs 
Fat Animals. 
The Centre market at Albany presented a display of 
very fine beef, mutton and pork, on the 22d of Feb¬ 
ruary. 
At the stall of Mr. Kirkpatrick was the beef of a 
heifer, in relation to which, as she was considered a 
very superior animal, we have thought proper to col¬ 
lect some particulars. Mr. Wm. J. McKown, of Wa- 
terville, Oneida county, who fattened her, states that 
she was raised by Mr. Wm. Hays, of Sangerfield, in 
the county before mentioned, and was calved the 27th 
of March, 1844. That she was got by a full blood 
Durham bull from Mr. Weddle’s stock which was sent 
by Barnabas Allen of Wayne county, to Stephen Leo¬ 
nard of Sangerfield. That her dam was got by a three- : 
fourths bred Durham bull, from Mr. Weddle’s stock, ; 
bred by Mr. Spear of Palmyra; her grand-dam a “na¬ 
tive mouse-colored ”, cow, said to be of an excellent 
family. The heifer never bred. Her dam has produ¬ 
ced several other calves, all of which have keen killed 
for veal, and were remarkable for their fatness and 
symmetry. The sire of the heifer was chiefly noted 
for the value of his progeny for dairy purposes—his 
owner, Mr. Leonard, having raised several cows by 
him, that were superior milkers. 
The heifer was raised in the ordinary way, (not al¬ 
lowed to suck,) and had milk but for a few weeks. 
She attracted no particular attention till the fall after 
she was two years old, when she had become so fat on 
grass, that it was determined to sell her for beef. Mr. 
McKown bought her the last of September, 1846, in¬ 
tending to slaughter her in a few weeks; but on feed¬ 
ing her for a short time with pumpkins, she gained so 
rapidly and showed such a strong propensity to fatten, 
that it was resolved to keep her a longer time. From 
the first of January, 1847, she had two quarts of meal 
per day, till the first of October; being fed in other re¬ 
spects like the dairy cows, with which she ran. From 
October till she was slaughtered, she was full fed with 
pumpkins, carrots, and corn and cob meal. She was 
killed on the 19th of February, 1848, at which time 
her weight was as follows: Live weight—1492 lbs. 
Dressed weight—quarters, 984, tallow 157, hide 67 = 
1208 lbs.* 
At the stall of Mr. James McQuade, was the beef 
of a fine pair of twin cattle, fattened by Mr. Sherman 
Bassett, of Nor,th-East, Dutchess county. They were 
four years old, (coming five this spring,) were said to 
have been raised in Connecticut. They were called of 
“ native ” breed. Their color was a handsome brindle; 
but their shape and general character, strongly deno¬ 
ted a strain of Devon blood. They had been fed about 
a year, but the particulars of feeding we did not learn. 
Their dressed weights were as follows: Near ox, quar¬ 
ters, 1062, tallow 188, hide 80 = 1330 lbs. Off ox, 
quarters 1072, tallow 180, hide 84—1336 lbs. 
Mr. D. Mahoney had the beef of four very good 
oxen, fattened by Mr. C. Leach, of Madison county. 
We only obtained the weights of .the quarters of these 
cattle, those of one pair of which weighed 2746 lbs., 
and of the other 2304 lbs. 
Mr. J. Featherly had the carcass of an extraordi¬ 
nary calf, fattened by Mr. Woolford, of Albany. It 
was a few days less than three months old, and its 
dressed weight was 302 lbs. It was a mixture of 
Durham and Devon blood. 
A very large and well shaped hog was shown at the 
stall of Mr. Geo. Schwartz; it was said to be but 
eighteen months old, but it weighed, dressed, 728 lbs. 
Mr. Kirkpatrick had the carcasses of seven Lei¬ 
cester sheep, fattened by Harry Felt, of Madison 
county, the dressed weights of which were from 88 to 
115 lbs. The saddles of most of these were sold to go 
to Virginia, and brought about twelve cents per pound. 
Mr. McQuade had also some very fine mutton, but we 
did not learn the weight. 
Agricultural Discussions. 
In our last, we gave a brief sketch of the discussions 
which have taken place at the weekly meetings held at 
the Capitol in this city. The subject of the culture of 
fruits was taken up at the fifth meeting, and occupied 
two evenings. The meetings were fully attended, and 
the discussion elicited remarks from many cultivators 
and amateurs. We shall endeavor to find room for a 
more extended notice of this discussion in a future 
number. The following resolution was unanimously 
adopted: 
Resolved , That we deem it most for the interests of far¬ 
mers, mainly to cultivate approved varieties of fruit of 
our own country; and that we approve of the varieties re- 
* There is a table which was published several years since in 
England, for ascertaining the dressed weight of catUe by external 
measurement: The girth of the beast is taken at the smallest part, 
immediately behind the fore legs, and the lehgth from the point of 
the shoulder to the end of the rump. From these measurements, 
the table purports to show the weight of the beef, or four quarters. 
We are not a\vare that the table is much used in this country. Its 
correctness appears to be doubted. Some contend thaL it gives too 
much, and others that it gives too little dressed weight in propor¬ 
tion to the dimensions. The heifer was tried by this rule. Her 
length from shoulder to end of rump was 5 ft. 2 in. and her girth 7 
ft. 4 in. According to the table, her quarters would have weighed 
946 lbs. Their actual weight was 984 lbs. But as this animal was 
of uncommon fatness, and her flesh of unusual thickness,, she can 
hardly be deemed to form a fair test of the correctness of the table, 
which for cattle in general, it is by no means improbable, is suf¬ 
ficiently accurate. 
