390 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dec 
were a few good South Downs, ready to enter the lists 
with their hardy rivals of the mountain, and claiming 
something on the score of earlier maturity. There also 
was to be found the little Saxon and its various Merino 
crosses, wrapped in their light but beautiful coats of ex¬ 
quisite wool 5 a dress somewhat more aristocratic, I must 
allow, than the frieze jackets of their Highland and Eng¬ 
lish neighbors j but winter, sharp biting winter, will de¬ 
cide their relative value. Two French Merino lambs 
were also on the ground, from the flock of Mr. F. Mc¬ 
Intosh, of Otsego co., which created much speculation 
and no small inquiry, this being quite a sheep district. 
The display of working oxen told its own story, for 
with the exception of a few yoke, they were ill-matched, 
ill-trained, and ill-conditioned, and evidently of small ac¬ 
count with the Scotch farmer, who undoubtedly finds 
his team of small active horses much more suited to his 
hill-lands, than the slow, heavy movement of oxen. 
The cows exhibited, were, I doubt not, remarkable for 
the dairy properties for which they were shown, and this 
is as it should be. They were, (as all deep milkers must 
be,) light in condition, and not moving masses of flesh, 
hardly yielding milk enough to cover the bottom of a 
pail, but making beef instead of butter • and yet I have 
seen such immensely fat animals take premiums as “cows” 
over those that did make butter, and consequently could 
not cover themselves up in fat. 
Dairying, which admits the active labor and co-operation 
of a whole family, (from the “chiel” who drives the cows 
to the byre, up to the bonnie lassie who helps her mother 
milk) is well suited to the industrious habits of this people, 
and is pursued by them to a great extent, and with such 
attention, care and economy, as secures a profitable and 
ready market for its products. 
Tenacious as the Scotch may be of habits acquired in 
their father-land, (and better habits no people need bring 
with them,) I nevertheless find that the wooden milk dish 
has for the most part given way to the neat tin pan of 
the Yankee, saving the u glide wife” much time and 
trouble in washing, airing and drying; and something too 
has been conceded on the absolute necessity of every 
pan standing on an earthen floor, a creed strongly insisted 
upon in Ayrshire. 
Before leaving this portion of my subject, I will again 
repeat what I suggested on the spot—that the dairy 
farmers should form amongst themselves a company for 
the importation of “Ayrshires.” Let them be yearling 
heifers, or “queys,” as they are called, from the “Moor- 
edge,” selected by one of themselves—not from the 
11 improved 1 ' families at high prices, but bought in fairs at 
the now moderate cost of five to seven pounds a head; 
and ship them, direct from Glasgow in a vessel belonging 
to that port, which will take them at a very moderate 
freight; the shippers providing all necessary fodder and 
water —the ship furnishing casks by agreement. 
Having a brother whose estates lie in Ayrshire, I made 
myself well acquainted with the breed of cattle, and con¬ 
sider them, in their own pastures, a most valuable dairy 
stock—how they would transplant is the experiment to 
be tried; and I know no community nor any district to 
whom its success would be so important; or who, proving 
t successful, would derive more advantage, or more de¬ 
cidedly establish the value, in this country, of the Ayr¬ 
shire breed as a dairy stock. 
In the county of Delaware, where oxen are neither fed 
nor worked to any extent, and the cow is only valuable 
for her dairy properties, everything should give way to 
this excellence, and therefore size is undesirable, early 
maturity is not of much importance, and the feeding pro¬ 
perty quite a secondary consideration, if either the one 
or the other is found to interfere with the milking quali¬ 
ties. 
The plowing was of course most excellent. It is the 
very pride of a Scotch farmer to do this part of his work 
well; he considers it the foundation of all good farming. 
In the Butternuts we are especially indebted to our 
Scotch neighbors of Burlington, for a vast improvement 
in this particular, and now our young American farmers 
press close on the heels of their instructors. 
But very few swine were on the ground. In a dairy 
country I had expected a larger show of this most use¬ 
ful animal, as but few calves, comparatively, are now 
raised in Delaware. Nevertheless, two fine sows, with 
their litters, showed a thorough knowledge of this de¬ 
scription of stock. Of horses, I have still less to say— 
though I doubt not they were well suited to the country 
and its work,—small and active, they travel this hilly 
country with touch more ease than a heavier and larger 
horse. 
Possibly, some might have felt disappointed at not 
finding here stall-fed oxen, monsters in obesity—fine, 
large, high-headed and high fed steers in the yoke—Short¬ 
horns, imposing in size and beauty, or sheep of the long- 
wooled families, heavy but indolent; I was, however, 
better pleased by observing the close attention which had 
been paid to that important principle in all good breed¬ 
ing, of “ suiting the animal to the soil ”—a point too 
frequently over-looked by purchasers of fine stock, who 
at the moment may be more attracted by the individual 
excellence of an animal, than mindful of the suitability 
of the position to which they contemplate transferring it. 
R. Morris, Otsego co., N. Y., Oct. 11, 1851. 
Characteristics of the Season, 1851. 
The spring, in the Northern States, was cold and back¬ 
ward, and even through the summer months, the amount 
of really warm weather was less than usual. May, June, 
and August were characterized by an unseasonably low 
temperature. July and the fore part of September were 
warm,—the season presenting in this respect singular con¬ 
trasts. A marked contrast has also been afforded between 
the present and last year, in regard to the amount of rain 
which fell during summer and autumn, as will be seen 
by the following comparison 
1S5Q. 1851. 
Inches. Inches. 
May. 6.01 2.61 
June',. 5.72 4.57 
July,... S.57 3.48 
August,. 2.50 2.17 
September. 6.56 1.27 
October...'.. 4.31 2.93* 
33.67 17.03 
There has been no season within the recollection of the 
“ oldest inhabitant,” perhaps, when so large a portion of 
* Of lhe_ amount in this month, 1.42 inches fell on the 29th and 
30.1 h. 
