1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
168 
them, we believe, were bred bj Mr. Patterson - , of 
Baltimore. Mr. Cowles has now purchased the De- 
tun bull Rover, formerly owned by L. F. Allen, Esq., 
of Black Rock. He is a fine animal, and has taken 
prizes at various shows. 
Durham Cattle. “We would refer those wishing 
to obtain this description of stock to the advertisement 
of George Vail, Esq., in this number. Mr. V. has 
left us a memorandum of the weights of two of his 
calves, as follows: Bull calf of the cow Hilpa, dropped 
August 4, 1847, weighed April 11, 1848, 572 pounds; 
bull calf of the cow Lady Barrington , dropped August 
29, 1847, weighed April 11, 1848, 582 pounds. Nei¬ 
ther of these animals were in more than fair condition 
as to flesh. 
Culture of Sumac. —-A correspondent wishes to 
know how.soon after the seed of this article is sown, a 
crop can be obtained, and the probable amount it would 
yield per acre. We should be pleased if some person 
■will furnish the information. 
Cattle for the Dairy.-— -A writer in the Eng¬ 
lish Agricultural Gazette, describing the management 
of a dairy farm, says —“ our meadows are poor and 
cold, and we require a hardy good milker ; to procure 
which we have crossed Alderney cows with a well-bred 
Hereford bull, and have many excellent productions 
from these.” Most of the cross-bred stock, he says, 
prove good milkers, and those which are not, pay well 
for fattening. 
Plowing by Steam. —-We believe one reason why 
plowing by steam has not succeeded better, is in con¬ 
sequence of commencing on a wrong basis. The com¬ 
mon way of plowing by successive furrows has been 
adopted, requiring too much locomotion. The engine 
should be stationary or nearly so, and should work a 
strip of ground at least 2 rods wide, only moving from 
the work so fast as it accomplishes a strip of this 
width. This we believe is the proper principle to be¬ 
gin with; the particular mode of operating must be 
left to inventors. Its great superiority consists in this, 
that the force required to move the engine is diminished 
as much as the proposed width exceeds that of a com¬ 
mon furrow. 
Maple Sugar. —-H. French, of Loudon Centre, N. 
IX., states in the Boston Cultivator that he makes from 
12 to 1500 lbs. of maple sugar annually, which sells 
from 10 to 12j cents per pound. The labor employed 
in making this amount of sugar, is that of himself, a 
hired man and a boy, u with an occasional day’s work” 
in collecting sap when there is a large run.” These 
men, however, it is said, take care of a large stock of 
cattle, and cut up a year’s stock of wood during the 
“ time of sapping.” He taps the trees by boring into 
them to the depth of three or four inches with a three- 
quarters auger. Instead of using wooden spouts driven 
into the holes as commonly used, he takes pieces of 
sheet-iron, four to six inches long and two inches wide, 
bends them the narrowest way in the form of a half 
circle, sharpens the edges, and drives them into the 
bark of the tree under the auger hole. These form the 
spouts, and catch every drop of the sap. The 
wooden spouts obstructed the flow of sap, and being 
frequently cracked or split, permitted some of it to 
waste. 
Cf^S. A. Law, Esq., in his address, states that the 
county of Delaware contains 31,000 cows, from which 
there are made, yearly, 1,560 tons of butter—being 
800 tons more than the average quantity made by the 
counties of the State. 
Coffee. —-The French are noted for making good 
coffee. The mode of preparing it is to roast the berries 
(not burn them) over a slow fire, so that the aroma or 
essential oil is concentrated. By greater heat and more 
rapid scorching, as is too commonly practiced here, the 
qualities which impart flavor are mostly destroyed. 
The French only allow their coffee to boil up once, and 
then leave it to simmer in a close vessel till wanted. 
If it requires fining, ( u settling ,” in common parlance,) 
a little pounded isinglass is said to be the best. It is 
best to roast the berries but a short time before using 
them, and when they are sufficiently cooked, they should 
be kept till used in air-tight vessels. 
Notices ©S New Publications. 
An Universal History of the most remarkable Events of all Na¬ 
tions, from the earliest period to the present time : forming a 
complete History -of the world. W. II. Graham, New York. 
We are informed that “ the intentions of the author of 
this work have been, not only to enlarge the mental 
faculties, and to elevate the ideas of his readers, but to 
present the world in a new form, a Universal History, 
without prejudice and without partiality; being instruc¬ 
tive for readers in general, and at the same time wor¬ 
thy of the attention of Philosophers, of Statesmen, of 
Lawgivers, and of warriors.” We have received the 
first two numbers of the work, and from the attention 
we have been able to give, should think it well calcu¬ 
lated to interest the reader. The style is easy and 
perspicuous, and the typographical execution of the 
work is neat and plain. 
Transactions of the Agricultural Societies of Massachu¬ 
setts, FOR THE YEAR 1847. 
This is a work of 277 pages, comprising a digest of 
the returns made to the State Department from the 
various agricultural societies in Massachusetts, and 
published under the supervision of Hon. W. B. Cal¬ 
houn, Secretary of State. This is the third volume 
which has been published on this plan—a plan which 
we highly approve, as it furnishes in a convenient form 
the most important results relating to agriculture 
which are from year to year brought out in various 
parts of the State. 
The Family Kitchen Gardener —Containing plain and accu¬ 
rate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of Cu¬ 
linary Vegetables ; with their botanical, English, French and 
German names, alphabetically arranged, and the best mode of 
cultivating them in the garden or under glass ; with a descrip¬ 
tion of Implements and Medicinal Herbs in general use : also, 
descriptions and characters of the most select Fruits, their man¬ 
agement, propagation and culture : illustrated with twenty-five 
engravings. By Robert Buish. 
Ihe above is a manual of 216 pages, 12mo. The 
author is a practical gardener, of thirty years expe¬ 
rience, and we think his directions for the culture of 
culinary vegetables, are generally better than those we 
find in most treatises. 
Letters on Agriculture from his Excellency George Wash¬ 
ington, President of the United States, to Arthur Young, Esq., 
F. R- S., and Sir John Sinclair, Bart., M. P. ; with Statistical 
Tables and remarks, by Thomas Jefferson, Richard Peters, 
and other gentlemen, on the Economy and Management of 
Farms in the United States : edited by Franklin Knight. 
The work before us contains not only the fac-simile 
letters of Gen. Washington to Sir John Sinclair, 
which have been given to the public in a previous vo¬ 
lume, but the entire agricultural correspondence of 
Gen. W., so far as it could be collected'—making a 
beautiful quarto of 198 pages. It is a work which 
should be read by every man, and especially by every 
farmer, in the United States. It presents the charac¬ 
ter of Washington in an aspect new to many of our 
countrymen, ajid one which it is delightful to contem¬ 
plate. It has been too common, we think to view him 
exclusively or chiefly as a warrior; though it is evident 
that it was the agricultural, rather than the martial 
