THE CULTIVATOR, 107 
DICTIONARY OF TERMS 
USED IN 
Agriculture and its Kindred Sciences. 
CALVES. The young of the cow, Bos of Lin. The 
value of the future ox or cow is greatly depending on 
the treatment the calf receives; and hence much atten¬ 
tion has been paid to the rearing of the young animal, 
in districts where the breeding of cattle forms an im¬ 
portant object to the farmer. Where circumstances 
will permit, allowing the calf to run with the cow and 
draw his food directly from her, is probably the best me¬ 
thod, since it is that of nature; but as the milk for dairy 
purposes is valuable, breeders have substituted many modes 
of feeding the calf, in which milk is partly dispensed with, 
some other nutritive substance taking its place. As a ge¬ 
neral rule, the calf should be allowed to suck the cow till 
the milk is good. Some allow them to suck a week or 
fortnight, according to their strength ; but we have found 
that where calves were to be taken off, the earlier it was 
done, the better for both cow and calf it was, both making 
less ado at the separation. According to Marshall, a ce¬ 
lebrated English breeder, the best method after the calf is 
taken from the cow is this :—“ new milk in the pail a few 
meals ; next, new milk and skim milk mixed, a few meals 
more ; then, skim milk alone, or porridge made of milk, 
water, oatmeal, and sometimes oil cake, till cheese making 
commences ; after which, whey porridge, or sweet whey in 
the field.” When fed from the pail, calves require about 
two gallons daily; but care must be taken not to give it 
them too cold, as it will cause the calf to purge. When 
this is the case, one or two spoonfuls of rennet in the milk 
will be a good remedy. Great regularity should be used in 
feeding calves ; and they should always have sweet grass, 
or good clover hay to nibble upon in the intervals of feed¬ 
ing with milk. Calves should always be housed in the 
winter, have good hay, water, and occasional]}'- salt. They 
are easily taught to eat carrots or turneps, and we never 
knew a lot of calves that had each a good “ nubbin” of 
corn daily from the hand of the master, and plenty of good 
hay, that did not go through the first winter well. 
CAMBIUM. When the sap from the roots of trees has 
ascended to the branches, and undergone that peculiar 
elaboration which fits it for the formation of the various 
parts of the plant, fruit, wood, bark, &c., it descends to¬ 
wards the roots, depositing in its progress the materials 
destined to the several parts. Of these, the principal is the 
substance of the future alburnum and liber. These mate¬ 
rials are first deposited in the form of a layer of glutinous 
or gummy substance, termed the Cambium; which appears 
to consist of the solid portion of the sap, deprived of the 
greater part of the water. This becomes more and more 
consolidated, and becomes an integrant part of the plant, 
constituting two layers ; the first, the outer circle of wood, 
called the alburnum ; and the other, the inner layer of the 
bark, being the liber. 
CARBON. The base of coal. It is found pure only in 
the diamond. Though this fact was suspected by Newton, 
it was not established till Lavoiser effected the combustion 
of the diamond enclosed in iron. As the diamond disap¬ 
peared, and the iron was converted into steel, (a well 
known result of the combination of carbon and iron,) the 
inference was clear that the precious stone was pure car¬ 
bon, and further experiments have demonstrated its truth. 
Carbon forms the base of all wood, and consequently of all 
trees and plants ; and is, therefore, one of the most impor¬ 
tant principles in nature. Plants, however, never take up 
ithe minutest quantity of carbon while in that state, how¬ 
ever fine it may be reduced. By a wise provision of Pro- 
jvidence, an inexhaustible reservoir of carbonic gas (carbon 
i converted into air) is found in the atmosphere, which rea¬ 
dily combines with water, and in that state is taken up by 
the roots for the support of the plant. The leaves of trees 
also perform a species of respiration by which carbonic gas 
sis taken into the plant during one-half of the day, to be 
decomposed by the solar rays, and while the carbon is re¬ 
gained. The oxygen is set free and thrown off by the plant 
jto renovate and purify the air. Carbonic gas is composed 
of 27.4 parts of carbon, and 72.6 parts of oxygen. Carbo¬ 
nic gas is fatal to animal life, and to this gas, the delete- 
irious effects of the Grotto del Cano, the Valley of the Upas, 
the craters of volcanoes in some cases, what is called the 
choke damp in mines and wells, &c., are owing. No part 
(of a plant has the power of decomposing this gas, except 
those that are green ; hence plants prematurely stripped of 
their leaves, are at once deprived of their greatest means of 
I procuring carbon, and must suffer accordingly. 
CARROT. ( Daucus carota.) Few plants exhibit the 
improving effects of cultivation more strongly than the 
carrot. In its native state, it is small, dry, fibrous, white 
land strong flavored ; as cultivated, it becomes large, suc¬ 
culent., and rich in color and nutritive properties. Car¬ 
rots contain about ten per cent of nutritive matter, of 
iwhieh nine is sugar and the remainder starch. Many at¬ 
tempts have been made to make sugar from carrots, but 
they have failed ; while by distillation large quantities of 
spirits are produced. Twenty tons have yielded 240 gal¬ 
lons. Carrots require a rich deep soil, and on any others 
jtheir growth should not be attempted. They succeed best 
fin rows, eighteen inches apart, and eight inches in the 
rows. In a shallow soil, or one rich only on the surface, 
the roots will be scragged, and of an inferior quality. 
Five hundred bushels may be considered the average yield 
per acre on a good soil, though instances have occurred of 
(yields of eleven or twelve hundred bushels on that quantity 
:of ground. Few roots are of equal value to the carrot for 
(feeding animals. Almost all are fond of them, and their 
excellence cannot be disputed. They make the finest co¬ 
lored and best flavored butter or beef; horses thrive rapid¬ 
ly on them, and hogs can be fattened on them with ease. 
The carrot crop is not quite as certain a one as the potato 
or turnep crop, is rather more difficult in the choice of 
soils, and more care and labor in the production is requir¬ 
ed ; but still it is one of great value, and where circum¬ 
stances do not forbid, should always find a place among 
the roots grown, and rotation adopted by the farmer. 
CART. Fifty years since, the use of the wagon for 
farming purposes was almost unknown. The reliance was 
on the cart and oxen, instead of the wagon and horses. 
As the latter increased, the former gave way; and now, 
the use of the cart is mostly confined to farms on which 
cattle alone are used, and to some particular sections of 
country. It is a question, however, which deserves serious 
consideration by farmers, whether more has not on the 
whole been lost, than has been gained by the change. On 
grain growing farms, where much plowing is to be per¬ 
formed, horses are indispensable, and the wagon of course 
may well be preferred ; but there are tens of thousands of 
small farmers in our country, that, we think, would great¬ 
ly consult their convenience and profit, by discarding their 
wagon and its attendant span or two of lean horses, and 
substituting in their place, for labor, the old fashioned and 
less costly cart, and a yoke or two of clean built, light tra¬ 
veling Devons, or other good working cattle. 
CATARRH. Adisease of horses known under the names 
of influenza, cold, horse distemper, &c., and is one of the 
most common and disagreeable to which this useful animal 
is subject. It is not usually fatal, or long continued, unless 
the animal is injudiciously treated, improperly worked 
while under the influence of the disease, or dosed with in¬ 
jurious remedies. It makes its attack usually in the spring 
or fall, commencing with fever, followed by discharges of 
matter from the nose, swelling of the glands of the throat, 
difficulty of eating or drinking, and of course much emacia¬ 
tion and weakness. Bleeding is admissible only during the 
fever stage; setons in the glands, or blisters when much 
swelled; promoting discharges from the nose, and keep, 
ing the bowels open, have been found the most effectual 
methods of arresting the disease. The distemper is clear¬ 
ly contagious, and infected animals should be kept from 
those that are sound as far as practicable. 
CASTRATION. The emasculation of animals, such as 
calves, pigs, lambs, &c., should be performed as early as 
the strength of the animal, and other circumstances, will 
admit. Usually, the only care necessary is to prevent ex¬ 
posure to the cold. Where this is not attended to, serious 
consequences may result; and we have known flocks of 
lambs decimated by exposure to a cold rain, immediately 
after this operation. 
CATTLE. A general name comprehending all the ani¬ 
mals in the genus Bos of Linnaeus. There are of course 
a number of species, such as Bos taurvs, the common ox; 
Bos caffer, the wild ox of Africa ; Bos urus, the wild bull 
of Asia; Bos americana, the buffalo or bison of the Mis¬ 
souri ; and the true buffalo of India, and the musk ox of 
the Arctic regions. Much labor has been expended in 
tracing the origin of our domestic races of cattle to the 
Urus, but we think with little success. At the earliest 
mention made in history of the ox, he was, like the sheep, 
a domesticated animal, and such he probably descended 
from the ark upon the plains of Mesopotamia. Domestic 
cattle become wild with readiness, as the immense herds 
that roam the pampas of South America at the present 
time fully prove. Very great improvements have been 
made in the European breeds of cattle within a few years, 
principally in England, and that by a few spirited indivi¬ 
duals, of whom Bakewell, Collings and Berry, rank 
among the first. Within fifty years, the average weight of 
English cattle, as determined at the Smithfield market, has 
risen one-third ; and present appearances do not indicate 
that this increase has reached its maximum. The great 
improvements already effected, have been made by judi¬ 
cious crosses, and breeding with reference to certain desi¬ 
rable qualities of form, size, milk, aptitude to fatten, &c., 
and these objects have been attained in some of the best 
modern breeds of cattle to an extent that would once have 
been deemed impossible. It is evident that care must be 
taken, or there will exist a tendency to retrograde to the 
original standard ; a tendency which will become less and 
less, as the type and constitution of the improved breeds 
recede farther from the point of their origin, and of course 
become more fixed and stable. The breeds of cattle at 
present most in repute, and beyond all competition in any 
other varieties, are the Short Horns, the Herefords, and the 
Devons. Indeed, it is scarcely possible to conceive of more 
perfect models of form and beauty among animals, than 
are to be found among these three kinds of cattle, particu¬ 
larly the high bred varieties of the first named. Great 
pains have within a few years been taken to introduce into 
the United States the very best breeds of Europe, and finer 
herds of cattle are no where to be found than now exist in 
Kentucky and Ohio, which states have taken the lead in 
this laudable enterprise. As to the general treatment of 
cattle, our plan does not embrace it, any further than to 
remark, that cattle require kind treatment, plenty of good 
food at all times, and protection from the severity of our 
winters. On these things, next to skilful breeding, the ex¬ 
cellence of cattle is mainly depending. 
CELLAR. An important appendage to every dwelling 
is the cellar, and great care should be taken to have this so 
arranged that the full benefit desired from it may be obtain¬ 
ed. The cellar should be well walled with stone or brick, 
laid in cement; if inclining to be wet, it should be drained 
so as to present a hard, smooth surface earth, and this will 
be better if covered with clean gravel. Cellars should 
wholly exclude frost without being too warm, as fruit and 
vegetables kept in a warm cellar will not be as good as in 
one of an equally dry but lower temperature. Since the 
commencement of the cultivation of roots in this country 
to a considerable extent, and especially since the making 
of pork from steamed apples and potatoes has succeeded so 
well, cellars attached to barns or piggeries have become ne¬ 
cessary, and are already constructed in many cases. Cel¬ 
lars of this kind for the reception of roots, should be made 
so that cart or wagon loads of fruit or roots can be thrown 
into them at once, without the labor of repeated handling. 
CHALK. Compact limestone, or carbonate of lime, 
passes into chalk, when the particles that compose the 
mass are so loosely connected as to render it friable or capa¬ 
ble of easy division; in its essential qualities it does 
not differ materially from unburnt lime. Chalk is ex¬ 
tensively used instead of lime for agricultural purposes in 
many parts of England where it abounds. In the United 
States there is no chalk, properly so called. The immense 
beds of white marl, found in some parts of Western New- 
York, are a near approach to it, and the value of such beds 
as a resource for easy liming soils, will be better apprecia¬ 
ted hereafter than it now seems to be. 
CHAFF-CUTTER. In European works on agriculture, 
straw or hay when cut fine for cattle or horses, and the 
practice is extensively followed, is called chaff", and the im¬ 
plements by which the cutting is effected is termed a chaff- 
cutter. In this country, the same implement would be a 
“ straw-cutter," which see. 
CHARCOAL. The woody part of trees or vegetables, 
when burned without flame, becomes a black substance, 
which has received this name. The base of this substance 
is carbon, which is formed from the decomposition of car¬ 
bonic gas by the roots or leaves of the plant. To produce 
charcoal, the wood is usually burned in pits, or the wood 
is first closely piled, and then covered with earth, which 
causes the wood, when the fire is applied, to burn slowly, 
and expel the water and oils of the plant, without flame, 
which, if suffered, would reduce the pile to ashes. Char¬ 
coal is invaluable in the arts, and is of essential service to 
the cause of agriculture. It is found that a bed of finely 
powdered charcoal will ripen melons, &c., if they are pla¬ 
ced upon it, when it would otherwise be impossible to bring 
them to maturity. This property is owing to its rapid ab¬ 
sorption of heat from the sun, and the facility with which 
it parts with it to such substances as are in contact with it. 
CHEESE. When the cream has been separated from 
milk, there remain two of the principles of which it is 
composed, the caseous and the watery parts. It is from 
the first of these that curd is produced, and when the wa¬ 
tery part or whey is separated from this, and the curd is 
properly prepared and formed, it constitutes cheese. Heat¬ 
ing, or the addition of acids of any kind, will convert milk 
into curd, but the substance used in the dairy, and which 
is preferred to all others, is a decoction of the stomach of 
the calf, called rennet. This stomach is prepared by dry¬ 
ing with spices and aromatic herbs, and when wanted, is 
steeped in water or whey, until sufficiently strong to co¬ 
agulate the milk with readiness. Great care is necessary 
in preparing and preserving the rennet, as on the quality 
of this, its sweetness, purity and flavor, much of the good¬ 
ness of the cheese is depending. There are many varieties 
of cheese, some of which have obtained a great celebrity, 
such as the Parmesan, Stilton, Gloucester, Cheshire, &c., 
in Europe, and the Goshen, Orange, &c., in the United 
States. The different qualities of the several kinds of 
cheese is depending on the milk, and the different proces¬ 
ses adopted in making the cheese, and fitting it for the mar¬ 
ket. The best clfeeses always retain the cream in the curd; 
those made from milk deprived of the cream, are called 
skim milk cheese. This kind is of course less rich than 
the other, but may be kept longer. Cheeses made of goat’s 
milk are richer than those made of cow’s milk, but it is 
with difficulty they are kept for any time. They are, 
therefore, made small, and eaten as soon as they have at¬ 
tained perfection. The celebrated French cheese called 
Rochefort cheese, is made of a mixture of goat’s milk and 
cow’s milk, and its peculiar excellence is supposed, in part, 
to be owing to the temperature of the rooms in which it is 
prepared, which being excavated in rock, are always of 
the temperature of 36° to 40°. Formerly those dairies 
that made the rich or cream cheeses, such as the double 
Gloucester, Stilton, &c., were obliged to make them small, 
and the dairies of this country that imitated such cheese 
were compelled to do the same, as their rich and tender 
mass would fall to pieces of itself if made of large sizes. 
Now the richest cream, or double cheeses, are made with¬ 
out difficulty, and of any desirable size, as the curd is pres¬ 
sed and kept in bandages made of thin cotton until ri¬ 
pened and used. The dairy business, when well con¬ 
ducted, is a source of great profit, and the American dairies 
in some parts of the states are exceeded by few in the world 
for the quantity and quality of their products; a decided 
improvement having taken place within a few years. 
LARGE YEARLING. 
Mr. Winant Younghans, of Sand-Lake, Rensselaer co., 
informs us, that agreeably to the request of Mr. Johnston, 
(see current volume, page 20,) he had his improved Dur¬ 
ham bull calf weighed on the day that he was one year 
old, by Mr. F. Myers. His weight was 1,026 pounds. It 
is believed by those who have seen this calf, that it can 
scarcely be equaled or surpassed by few for size and beau¬ 
ty. Mr. Y. requests Mr. Johnston to comply with his pro¬ 
mise to furnish us with the weight of his calf, at one year 
old. 
