136 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Apiu.j, 
more than one in seven, if so many, that were 
really superior. For the past five years I 
have selected from other importations such as 
suited my fancy, and the old black cow “Ebony,” 
imported by Thaddeus Davids, is one. She, with 
“Lop-Horn” from the importations of the late 
Thos. Richardson, and a bull, “ Basliau,” im¬ 
ported by R. W. Cameron, are the source of my 
young stock. They improve in beauty, strength 
of fancy-marks, and color, hut not in quality.” 
--4 Mill -3 ITT -» - ■ ■ 
Walks and Talks on the Farm.—No. 52. 
Mr. Orange Judd, of the American Agricul¬ 
turist, has placed in the hands of the New 
York State Agricultural Society the sum of Three 
Hundred Dollars to be awarded as special prizes, 
of $100 each, for the best two barrels of White 
Winter Wheat, the best two barrels of Red 
Winter Wheat, and the best two barrels of 
Spring Wheat, exhibited at the next fair. I 
hope we shall get samples from every wheat¬ 
growing State in the Union, end also from 
Canada. We have never yet had a decent show 
of wheat in the country. Our pomological 
friends are far ahead of us in this matter. We 
have much valuable information in regard to 
the best varieties of fruits adapted to different 
sections, and at the meetings of the American 
Pomological Society have an opportunity of 
examining fruits raised in different States. But 
what do we know about wheat and other grains ? 
We hear of the splendid wheat grown in Oregon 
and California. Some few of us may have been 
favored with a sample sent in a letter by a 
friend. But let us have a barrel or two accom¬ 
panied by a bunch of the ears and straw, and 
at the same time let us have specimens from 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,and Maine, to com¬ 
pare with samples from Minnesota and Kansas. 
Let Southern Illinois and Western New York 
show us what effect climate has on the quality 
of wheat; Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, 
Wisconsin, and Iowa, should also contribute. 
Pennsylvania, too, raises good wheat, and Dela¬ 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, 
ought to be able to show us superb samples. 
And then, what a chance such an exhibition 
will afford us to get a change of seed, and of the 
choicest kinds! We could get a bushel from 
Canada, and a bushel from Southern Illinois, or 
from Virginia, and thus, if of the same variety, 
ascertain whether wheat brought from the 
North will ripen earlier or later than seed 
brought from the South—a question on which 
authorities hold different opinions. For one, I 
feel grateful to Mr. Judd for calling attention, 
by his liberal offer, to the importance of exhib¬ 
iting and comparing our best wheats from dif¬ 
ferent sections of the country. The prizes are 
worth competing for, but aside from that, wheat 
growers should do all they can to make a good 
display for the sake of eliciting useful informa¬ 
tion, and enabling us all to get a change of seed. 
I understand the intention is to give all the 
exhibitors an opportunity of selling their wheat 
at auction on the fair grounds without charge. 
The dairymen of Herkimer County are in a 
sad condition. Two or three years ago, they 
complained that the State Agricultural Society 
was wholly in the interest of the wheat growers, 
and did nothing for them. The Society has 
done something for us. It offered nearly as 
large a Premium for the Best Barrel of Wheat 
as for the Second Best Linen Diaper. But when 
it seemed that the midge would cause the entire 
abandonment of wheat growing in Western 
New York, we got no help from the State. We 
fought it alone, and conquered. The dairymen 
have suffered greatly from a disease among their 
cows, and I, for one, am very glad that the State, 
through the influence of the Society, has author¬ 
ized some of the ablest scientific men in the 
country to investigate the matter at the public 
expense. But the dairymen should not com¬ 
plain of being neglected. They have now an¬ 
other trouble. We had supposed that, as they 
have received double and treble prices for their 
cheese, and as it takes less labor to produce a 
dollar’s worth of cheese than a dollar’s worth of 
wheat, or of potatoes, or corn, they were mak¬ 
ing money. At a recent meeting of the Little 
Falls, (Herkimer Co.,) Farmers’ Club, this sub¬ 
ject was discusssed, and every one of the speak¬ 
ers presented statements of receipts and expen¬ 
ditures of dairy farms, showing an actual loss 
with cheese at 14 cents per pound. Before the 
war, with cheese at 7 cents per pound, they made 
money, so at least they now say; but at the 
present time, owing to high wages and taxes, 
there is no profit in making cheese at 14 cents. 
Here is one of the reported statements: 
“ Hon. Josiali Shull, of Mohawk, has a farm of 
8 FI 2 acres, which cost $130 per acre. He keeps 
20 cows. His estimate is as follows, making no 
account for the farm: 
RECEIPTS. 
Twenty cows yielding 8,337 pounds of cheese, 
whole sold for $14.22,8 per hundred.. $1,186.33 
Increase on cotter (critter ?) for beef. 40.00 
Calves. . 45.00 
Total receipts.$1,271.33 
EXPENSES. 
Boy six months and board. $180.00 
Man, including board. 360.00 
Fertilizers—plaster, &c. 18.00 
Taxes. 78.00 
Horse-shoeing and other repairs of form imple¬ 
ments . 50.00 
Wear and tear of implements. 65.00 
Average repairs of fences and buildings. 175.00 
Average depreciation and interest on stock. 180.00 
Insurance. 4.00 
Incidentals. 50.00 
Carting milk and manufacturing cheese. 215.00 
Total expenses...$1,305.00 
Loss.$34.33. 
In this estimate, it will be remarked that noth¬ 
ing is charged for farm, for female labor, or for su¬ 
perintendence and work by Mr. Shull and family. 
All the grain raised upon the farm is consumed 
by them and stock. It will be seen that the 
cheese costs more than $14.25 per hundred. The 
statement was considered by the Club a very fail- 
estimate.” 
If this is a “ very fair estimate,” Mr. Shull 
either paid too much for his land, or he does not 
farm it to the best advantage. Perhaps, how¬ 
ever, the house and buildings are expensive 
ones. He paid $10,595 for the farm. If the 
house is worth $10,000, the land cost him $595. 
This is more than it is worth, according to the 
above statement. An amateur drover took a lot 
of cattle to New York,..and lost money by the 
operation. “But then,” said he, in relating his 
experience to a friend, “ I had the pleasure of 
their company down.” Mr. S. has the pleasure 
of looking at his 20 cows and the “ beef critter ” 
at a yearly expense of $34.33. The cost is far 
less than a box at the opera. But, seriously, 
taking the statement as it appears, there is 
something radically wrong. The difficulty does 
not lie wholly in the increase of wages and 
taxes. The Club admits that formerly they made 
money with cheese at 7 cents per pound. At 
this figure, the receipts would stand thus: 
20 cows, yielding 8,337 pounds of cheese, 7 cts.. $5S3.59 
Increase on animals for beef. 40.00 
Calves.. 45.00 
$668.59 
If labor and taxes formerly cost nothing, the 
receipts would not afford a princely ineome; 
they would not pay interest on cost of the farm. 
Probably the real explanation of the matter is 
this. The land cost but little, and the farmer and 
his family did pretty much all the work; they 
lived economically, had no rent to pay, and 
supplied the table from the farm, and conse¬ 
quently were able to lay up money even with 
receipts less than $709 per annum. They can 
do so now by adopting the same system. The 
receipts are double, and the expenses are not 
more than double, and consequently the profits 
must be double what they were formerly.—The 
labor items are as follows: 
Boy, six months and board. .$1S0.00 
Man, including board. . 3G0.00 
Carting milk and manufacturing cheese. 215.00 
$755.00 
The following line, which is taken from the 
statement, is interesting by way of contrast: 
Fertilizers, plaster, &c.$18.00 
Seven hundred and fifty-five dollars for extra 
labor, and eighteen dollars for extra manure! 
Reverse the figures for a few years, and cheese¬ 
making at 14 cents a pound will pay. And by 
that time, Patrick and Dutch John, as well 
as Bridget, will be willing to share profits 
with the farmer, instead of demanding the 
whole. Instead of keeping 20 cows on a ten 
thousand dollar farm, and raising nothing be¬ 
sides, it could soon be made to keep fifty ; and 
instead of the “depreciation and interest on 
stock” being a charge to the farm of $9.00 a 
head, it would improve $9.00 a head. And in¬ 
stead of getting 400 pounds of cheese from a 
cow, 500 pounds would be obtained. The re¬ 
ceipts would then stand : 
50 cows, 500 pounds of cheese each, 14 cts.$3,500 
Increase in value of stock, beef sold, &c . 500 
Calves... . 90 
$4,090 
With such receipts, a farmer can afford to 
pay a liberal sum for hired help. Our only 
chance of being able to pay high wages and high 
taxes is by high farming. Low farming neces¬ 
sitates doing your own work, having low- 
priced land, and adopting an economical style 
of living. The fact that all the statements made 
at the meeting showed that there was no profit 
in cheese-making, looks a little as though the 
object was to discourage others from engaging 
in the business. I am inclined to think the prof¬ 
its have been overestimatad, and it will be well 
for outsiders to wait a while before investing 
largely in cows and cheese factory shares. 
An old friend of mine, now a Methodist min¬ 
ister in Canada, writes: “ I once in a while get 
a chance of a Walk and Talk with you through 
the Agriculturist , and am glad to find you still 
battling for the right in Agriculture. If you do 
succeed in getting farmers to farm just right, 
what will you do with all the crops? It is slow 
work to convince farmers that they ought to 
bury their talents in the earth in the shape of 
underdrains, but I believe what is wrong in 
theology is right in farming. I was trying to 
convince a friend of mine that it would paj r him 
to borrow money at 8 per cent, to invest in un¬ 
derdraining his farm. Two years since, the 
fall was so wet he could not put in his winter 
wheat, or do any fall plowing. In the spring, 
the land was still very wet, and not having any 
of the laud plowed, the crops could not be got 
in till very late. Then came the drouth, and 
the crops were not worth harvesting. He did 
not make enough from a farm of 125 acres to 
pay his single hired hand. One would think 
such facts would convince him of the advantage 
of draining, but I have no idea of his doing it. 
Yet he says his dish is always upside down 
when it rains porridge.” All the poor man wants 
