THE CULTIVATOR. 
175 
to quality, and in that respect are either before or immediately next 
to the long horns; but weight of butter for inches, they are far su¬ 
perior to all. The Norman cattle make fat quick, and their beef is 
of the first class, fine grained, high colour and savoury.— Lawrence. 
We saw, in 1835, three fine Alderney cows, just imported, in the 
neighborhood of Boston. 
The Tree-fold is recommended the in New Farmers’ Calendar. It 
is a circular enclosure of thickly planted trees, suppose of eight acres 
extent, the central acre remaining unplanted, as a sheltered fold for 
cattle, with sheds or out houses ; the access to be made by a ser¬ 
pentine road, for the purpose of preventing a current of wind upon the 
fold. The beech and white oak, or an intermixture of evergreens, 
are preferable, an account of their retaining their foliage during win¬ 
ter. This suggestion merits consideration, particularly of large sheep 
farmers, and upon new farms a suitable reservation may be made of 
the younger growth of forest timber. In the prairie districts of the 
far west, where the winter blasts sweep over a vast expanse of level, 
and often naked country, the tree fold will be particularly beneficial; 
and where they cannot be preserved, they should be planted, with¬ 
out delay, by the new settler. 
Dairy statistics .—In Cheshire, stock is esteemed only as it profits 
the dairy, cheese being the great staple—and cows for the dairy be¬ 
ing the prime object. Their favorite points, “ large, thin-skinned 
udder, and full milk-veins ; hide not material, shallow and light fore 
quarters, capacious behind, wide loin, thin thigh, white horns, long 
thin head, brisk, lively eye, clean chops and throat, general symme¬ 
try and beauty no object. Cows held to be in their prime from four 
to ten. Calves run with the cows three weeks, and are then fed on 
whey, with a little meal or lintseed. One quart of meal, mixed with 
forty quarts of whey, is the daily allowance for ten calves. Hay the 
first winter, straw the next. Cows housed at night in the winter, 
and turned to grass in good condition. Hours of milking, in summer, 
six, morning and evening. The farmer attends milking, to see that 
the work is effectually done, as “ each succeeding drop, which a cow 
.gives at a milking, excels the preceding one in richness.” A north¬ 
ern aspect perferred for the milk-house, sheltered by buildings or 
trees, where a uniform temperature of air can be preserved, with the 
aid of a stove in winter. The product of a cow is 300 to 500 pounds 
and upwards of cheese. One gallon of milk makes one pound of 
cheese ; and the dairy-men are better satisfied with one that gives 
eight quarts per day, through the season, than with one that gives 
more, as in the latter case the milk is generally thinner, and the cow 
becomes sooner dry. The best winter food for cows is good hay, as¬ 
sisted by root crops. The hay being mixed with straw, will, in ex¬ 
act proportion to the quantity of straw, deteriorate the produce of the 
cow. They find here, as elsewl ere, that great milking and great 
proof in beef are incompatable.— Law. Well saved corn-stocks, if 
cut and moistened, are thought equal to hay. 
MINERAL POISONS 
Are sometimes taken with our food, by reason of the decompo¬ 
sition of the lead and copper, of which many kitchen utensils are 
either composed, or constituted in part, without our apprehending 
the cause of the maladies they produce. Although the deleterious 
effects of these minerals are often slow and imperceptible, yet medi¬ 
cal science has pronounced them almost certain, and the decision 
has been confirmed by experience. In whatever form lead may be 
introduced into the human body,—whether its vapors are inhaled 
through the lungs, absorbed through the pores of the skin, or whe¬ 
ther it be introduced with our food or drink,—it is equally injurious 
and fatal. Copper, or the verdigris which it affords on decompo¬ 
sition, although not so deleterious, is nevertheless poisonous. Lead 
produces a spasmodic cholic, or dry belly-ache ; and copper produces 
vomiting. The antidotes recommended for the first are antimonial 
emetics, and afterwards liver of sulphur and vegetable oils. And for 
the latter poison, Cooper prescribes liver of sulphur, (sulphuret of 
potash.) These metals are decomposed by the acids, sometimes by 
saline compounds, and by exposure to air and moisture. 
Lead is used, though less now than formerly, and less here than in 
Europe, for cisterns, pumps, water-pipes, milk pans, and as a com¬ 
ponent in the glazing of red and cream colored earthen-ware, which 
last are used for milk, pickles, preserved fruits, jellies, &c. Water, 
in a pure running state, has no sensible action upon these metals, 
but it may, from adventitious causes, acquire this power, as from ve¬ 
getable matters mingling with it, which afford carbonic acid; and, 
when at rest, and accessible to air, water corrodes or oxydizes them. 
Numerous cases are cited by Accum, of sickness and death, caused 
by the use of lead and copper vessels. The best and only security 
against the deleterious effects of lead, is wholly to abandon the use 
of all culinary utensils, made in whole or in part, of that metal; and 
to carefully avoid using, for pickles, preserves, meats, liquors, or 
other substances containing acids or saline matters, glazed earthen 
ware, in which lead forms a component part. 
There are many utensils in use, fabricated of copper, though the 
precaution is adopted of coating their insides with tin, to preventthe 
contact of acids with the copper. It is contended by Willich, that 
the tinning of copper vessels is not sufficient to defend them from 
the action of the air, moisture and saline substances; even when 
strongly coated they are liable to rust. So dangerous were copper 
utensils considered in Sweden, for culinary uses, that in 1756 the 
Senate prohibited their use in the arm)'- and navy. At best, the tin 
will get off; by accident or wear; and then they should not be fur¬ 
ther used till they are again tinned. Nor is this all—the most scru¬ 
pulous attention should be paid to cleanliness, when copper vessels 
are used—to leave no liquid in them longer than is necessary for the 
purpose of cooking—for the metal is more readily decomposed by 
liquids, when cold, than in a heated state. 
Accum cautions parents against purchasing toys, in the coloring 
of which verdigris and lead are often employed, and which children 
are apt to put into their mouths. 
LABOR BENEFICIAL TO STUDY. 
We find in one of our exchange papers, an extract from Weld’s 
report on manual labor—a report which we have not seen, but which 
we should be pleased to possess—going to show, conclusively, that 
labor does not retard , but promotes, the intellectual progress of stu¬ 
dents, when they alternate it with their studies. We consider the 
general recognition of this principle so important to physical health, 
so consonant to republican habits, and so salutary in its influence 
upon agricultural and mechanical labor, that we cannot refrain from 
presenting, in a condensed form, the opinions, in this matter, of some 
of the most eminent scholars and teachers of our land. The ques¬ 
tion seems to have been put to these gentlemen, whether three hours 
labor in a day would retard or promote the intellectual improvement 
of young men engaged in acquiring a literary education. The an¬ 
swers of the undernamed, are indicated as follows : 
Rev. Dr. Greene , Philadelphia. —It would promote the acquisition 
of knowledge in a very important degree. 
Prof. Keith, Alexandria. —It will not retard progress in study. 
Prof. Ripley, Newton. —It will greatly promote progress in study. 
Rev. Dr. Ware, Cambridge. —It would promote the intellectual 
progress of students more than sufficient to compensate for the loss 
of time. 
Pres. Griffin, Williamslown. —It would accelerate their progress 
in learning. " 
Pres. Chapin, Washington. —It would rather accelerate than re¬ 
tard progress in study. 
Pres. Fisk, Middletown.— It would not retard progress in study. 
Pres. Humphreys, Annapolis. —The remaining time will acquire 
an increased value, enough to make up for the loss. 
Hon. T. S. Grimke, Charleston .—Three hours exercise and nine 
hours of study, will accomplish far mpre in a series of years, than 
fourteen hours study and no exercise. 
Pres. Cassell, Ky. —I have never witnessed such rapid progress 
in study as that which has b°en made by the manual labor students 
of this college. 
Prof. Woods, of Andover —expresses a like opinion, in regard to 
the beneficial effects of labor upon literary students at Andover. 
If one-fourth of a literary student’s time cam be usefully appropri¬ 
ated to labor, to promote health, and impart new vigor to the mind, 
how much greater would be the advantages to students intended for 
agriculture and the mechanic arts, if, in the time allotted to study, 
they could acquire a practical knowledge in their future business. 
Now, if we vary the proportions, and give to students who are des¬ 
tined to live by agriculture or the mechanic arts, an equal portion of 
time for study and for labor, their progress in their studies would 
not be likely to be seriously retarded, while they will have made 
good progress in acquiring a profession. 
A new locomotive power is on trial in New-Jersey, invented by Mr. 
Emmons, designed to be employed on rail-ways. The propelling 
power consists of springs, of which 500 are attached to the machine. 
The speed is alleged to be from 80 to 100 miles an hour! 
