300 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct. 
where troughs built of brick, for their drink and food, 
with a pump so placed that the water, let in the troughs, 
could be drained off at the opposite end. Gutters were 
provided behind the cows, to receive the solid and liquid 
excrements, which by their own gravity, and finally by 
sweeping and cleaning, were conveyed to a cistern, 
where a compost was formed by admixture of mud out 
of the bottom of ditches, which in Holland divide the 
meadows and take the place of fences. This compost 
was carried out and scattered over the meadows in the 
spring, as soon as the water, of which I shall have oc¬ 
casion to speak directly, is drawn off. 
Meadows and pastures in Holland, are situated on 
what is called (C Polders a polder is a surface of le¬ 
vel land, measuring from 20 to 4 miles square, and not 
unfrequently 20 or 30 feet below the adjoining river, 
which glides in rapid motion along the embankments 
that protect the land forcibly against the intrusion of 
its boisterous waters. These embankments called 
“ dykes,” are kept in good repair by the joint contribu¬ 
tions of the different owners of the polder. Rain-wa¬ 
ter is worked out by stationary windmills, also the joint 
property of the owners, (called “Ingelanders;”) in fall 
and winter the rain-water is suffered to accumulate and 
innundate the lands, which then frequently present the 
appearance of a large lake. This is done in order to 
kill noxious weeds, and give the soil the benefit of irri¬ 
gation. In March or February the water is pumped 
off, and the manure put on as before described. In 
this manner land is made to produce an abundance of 
fresh herbage, consisting principally of white clover, 
from April till September, or the same is cut twice, 
and made into excellent hay for winter forage, without 
even breaking the sod or using a plow. 
The Dutch dairyman never produces grain, not even 
for his own consumption; his whole attention is undivi- 
dedly applied to making, in the best possible style, the 
article for which he is so justly celebrated. 
If my countrymen could be made to believe that 
America had such an extensive command of cheap land, 
adapted for the dairy business, joined to an unlimited 
home market for the article, they certainly would es¬ 
cape from the feudal vexations under which they now 
suffer, and, like me, seek refuge in the land where Li¬ 
berty holds the sceptre, and where everyone can enjoy 
the reward of his honest labor, without being compel¬ 
led, as they are, to give up one half of their hard earnings 
to a reckless, profligate and squandering government. 
I would add, that the land on which I am located is 
well adapted for dairy-farming, the clover and grass 
springing up spontaneously, after clearing; the climatB 
is, by the elevation, (1,000 feet above the Tennessee 
river,) temperate; my thermometer last summer never 
rose above 94 Q in the sun, while that instrument gene¬ 
rally ranged between 60o and 70o in the shade. The 
facilities by which butter can be sent fresh to the sou¬ 
thern markets, Charleston, Savannah, Augusta, &e., 
secure a ready sale to any body who wants to under¬ 
take the making of it in this region. 
Land can be bought here for $ 1.25 an acre. I bought 
mine from Nicholas Haight of New-York, who, I sup¬ 
pose would give all necessarj information about the 
same. Alb. C. Richard. 
Walden’s Ridge, Hamilton Co., Tenn., June 26. 
PMINCIF&FS OF BREEDING. 
It is generally admitted that there are two modes or 
systems of improving domestic animals; viz., 1, cros¬ 
sing different varieties and afterwards breeding from the 
produce; and 2, selecting animals for propagation en 
tirely from one breed. But within a few years, consi¬ 
derable controversy has arisen in regard to these two 
modes of breeding, and, as often happens where discus¬ 
sions are carried on with warmth, the parties have in 
many instances urged their arguments to extremes. 
On the one hand it has been held that crossing is the 
only safe course of breeding, while on the other it has 
been denied that any real improvement is ever effected 
in that way. 
We do not advocate, exclusively, either mode, being 
convinced that each has its peculiar advantages under 
different circumstances, and if judiciously pursued will 
be productive of improvement. The most essential 
point is the same in both systems—that is, a proper se¬ 
lection of breeders. As was remarked by Prof. Sim- 
monds, in his lecture before the Royal Agricultural So¬ 
ciety, (noticed in our September number,)—“ Every 
improvement of breed requires the application of the 
same means to retain it which produced it; the chief of 
these is care in the selection of stock, so as to avoid a 
tendency to hereditary disease [or defects.] Crossing 
is founded on a principle just as secure as Bakewell’s 
system of care in selection, added to the in-and-in sys¬ 
tem.” 
The great breeder above referred to, (Bakewell,) 
evidently combined the system of crossing with that of 
breeding from one stock ; for his breeding animals were 
in the first place selected from different breeds, but af 
ter the cross had been carried to the desired point, he 
confined his selections to his own herds or flocks. He 
formed in his mind a standard of perfection for each 
kind of animals, and to this he constantly endeavored 
to bring them. That he was eminently successful in 
the attainment of his object, cannot be denied. 
But it has been said that “ it cost Bakewell the la¬ 
bor or a lifetime and a large fortune to establish a sin¬ 
gle breed of sheep.” If this were true, it might be re¬ 
plied—if bis improvements could only be obtained at 
such “ cost,” it was time and money well spent. But 
is the assertion correct ? The language implies that 
he accomplished nothing else in his “ lifetime ” but the 
improvement of “a single breed of sheep,” and that in 
effecting this he spent “ a large fortune”—both which 
statements we think are erroneous. His improvements 
in animals vrere not confined to sheep, but extended to 
horses, cattle and swine; in all which he produced 
stock superior to any of his time, and for their several 
purposes it is probable they have never been surpassed. 
“ He was allowed,” says his biographer, “ to be the 
first breeder of horses of the age in which he flourish¬ 
ed. * * * The different nations of Europe supplied 
him with materiel, and Nature herself might have won¬ 
dered at the skill he displayed in bringing her works to 
a greater degree of perfection.”* In practical agricul¬ 
ture, his improvements were scarcely less remarkable, 
and it has been said, that “no man, perhaps, during 
the last century, did so much towards increasing the 
agricultural interests of the country, as Bakewell.” 
“ He was in advance of the age, and we may say full 
half a^century before any of his neighbors.*** Dishley, 
[the name of his farm,] was in fact a school of prac - 
tical agricultural reform .”f 
The expenditure of his “ large fortune,” does not 
* Farmer’s Magazine , second series, vol. vi, p. 82. 
t Ibid p. 84. 
