THE CULTIVATOR. 
143 
weighed 1 8] lbs. I sold a lamb to IVli. Haviland of* 
Long Island, who had it shorn at one year old ; the fleece 
weighed 12£ lbs. clean wool. I saw some of this breed of 
sheep slaughtered in Gloucester, England, which weighed 
75 pounds per quarter; a noted breeder there informed me 
that they often exceeded that weight. 
Some may say that the South Down and Cotswold lambs 
cannot weigh 60 pounds at the age stated. If any doubt 
it, if they will call on Bagg & Wait, of Montgomery, N. 
Y., they can see lambs of five months old much heavier. 
Yours, respectfully, JAMES BAGG. 
Montgomery, July 21, 1840. 
Gents. —I wrote to you a few days ago respecting dif¬ 
ferent breeds of sheep which I have kepi.; since that time 
I have weighed some of my South Down, also some of my 
Cotswold lambs. I find their gross weight to be from 94 
to 98 pounds; those lambs are not five months old. I think 
this is enough to convince any one of the advantage of 
keeping good breeds of sheep. I have also weighed some 
of the largest Merino flock, and I cannot find one that 
would weigh one-half of the above weight. 
Yours, respectfully, JAMES BAGG. 
Montgomery, Orange Co., N. Y.July 27, 18 0. 
LATE SOWN WHEAT. 
Messrs. Editors— In answer to the call for informa¬ 
tion concerning late sown wheat, (current vol. page 106) 
I would say, I sowed a piece the last day of December 
and first day of January, 1838, and had a good crop— 
better than the average I have generally obtained from 
fallow ground. The land, which is dry, and formerly 
covered with oak and chestnut timber, had been well 
manured, the sward broken and planted to corn the 
spring previous. After taking olf the corn, the plowing was 
begun, but before it was finished, winter set in. At the 
time above mentioned, there was a dry warm spell of 
weather, and the plowing was finished, and the wheat 
sown and covered. When harvested, it was stored with 
other wheat, and no account kept of the quantity. 
I think it will not do for farmers in a good wheat 
growing country to depend on opportunities for this 
kind of late sowing, lest they fail of being able to sow 
at all; but where spring wheat only is now raised, the 
land might be put in preparation for sowing the fall be¬ 
forehand, and then if an opportunity should oiler fol¬ 
iate sowing of winter wheat, it might be improved; if 
not, no labor or advantage would be lost, as the ground 
would be in readiness for the spring crop at the first 
opening of the season. L. D. 
Otisco , August 1th, 1840. 
Remark. —We may add in reference to this subject of 
sowing winter wheat late, that last year we let a field to 
a neighbor, on which, with other crops, he grew an acre 
of ruta baga. When the other crops came oil', the 
ground was plowed and sown with winter wheat, not 
early, but in good season. A pressure of work pre¬ 
vented his removing the turneps as long as it was safe 
for them to stand, and it was not until the 13th of No¬ 
vember, that this acre was sown. Rain prevented more 
than a partial harrowing, snow followed, and in that 
condition it was left for the winter. The wheat has 
been cut within a few days, and though not a heavy 
crop on any part of the field, the acre of late sown is 
at least equal to any of it. On the whole, we are in¬ 
clined to the belief that late sown winter wheat may 
succeed in those districts where autumn sown wheat is 
liable to freeze out. The subject is an important one to 
many farmers of this state and others, and we should 
be pleased to have communicated to us the results of 
experiments having a bearing on the policy or impolicy 
of this method of sowing wheat. 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 
Messrs. Eds. — I have read much in your valuable 
paper concerning an agricultural college in this state. 
I hail the day when that happy period shall arrive. We 
want such an institution in our land, and I have no doubt 
that thousands would embrace the opportunity, by send¬ 
ing their sons, provided such an institution were in 
operation by an intellectual and scientific agricultural 
society. As our country is advancing in almost every 
other art, so the art of farming, which is of the most 
importance, and which has heretofore been the most 
neglected, is destined ere long to become an art above 
all others. 
Observation has taught us that men, sons of farmers, 
well educated, and possessing fine talents, are frequent¬ 
ly inclined to think their father’s occupation degrading,, 
and have therefore entered into other business, expect¬ 
ing to make money faster, and be more respectable in 
society ; but after flourishing awhile, have been reduced 
to want and ruin, regretting the time they left follow¬ 
ing the plow, to seek a fortune in a city where business 
Avasalready overdone;but too late perhaps are regrets— 
land is gone, money is spent, and no redress ; their only 
alternative seems to be, to linger out the remainder of 
their days in poverty and misgivings for past folly. 
These hints are given to encourage an agricultural 
school, which would very much raise the farming com¬ 
munity from the degraded state in which they have here¬ 
tofore been considered by some of the professions. I 
would not wish to discourage other professions ; far 
from it; it is necessary to have young men study divini¬ 
ty, law, medicine, and the different branches of trade, 
and practice them accordingly; and as agriculture flou¬ 
rishes, so in proportion do they all flourish. But I do 
say, that if many young men had been educated in an 
agricultural school, they would thereby have preserved 
their moral habits, and made first rate citizens, who 
now have turned out worse than useless. 
Again, a man having knowledge, is prepared to act 
with more discretion than one who is ignorant, be he a 
farmer or professional man. An ignorant farmer may 
get along, but his mind is by no means so much en¬ 
lightened ; and if his desire be moneymaking, he takes 
great care to watch his more intelligent neighbor, and 
follows him in his improvements, notwithstanding the 
lurking prejudice against book farming. One remark 
further—give people education, teach them good morals, 
and they will make better citizens, better rulers, and of 
course a better government may be expected. A. B. 
New-Utrecht, L. I. June, 1840. 
FREAK OF NATURE.—[Fig. 82.] 
Messrs. Editors —Inclosed I send you a pencil sketch 
of a pig. He is about three months old—in perfect health 
—weighing about 100 pounds—he is all white—in shape 
and beauty he is equal to any Berkshire pig in the coun¬ 
try. Tlie body and legs of the additional pig (with the ex¬ 
ception of the head and a part' of the back) are on the chest 
and breast of the main pig; the four extra legs, from their 
situation, hang useless, but are about the size of the other 
legs. Perhaps not the least curiosity is, that the main pig 
is a boar with two penises and four testicles, the one penis 
and testicles in their natural place, the other penis and tes¬ 
ticles arc near the chest, the penis pointing backwards to¬ 
wards the other about one inch apart; water is discharged 
from both, but the largest discharge is from the natural one; 
and in the appending pig there is plainly, and in the natu¬ 
ral situation, a distinct female organ of generation. 
Should the above appear to your mind, as it docs to 
mine, as one of the most extraordinary of nature’s freaks, 
and worthy your attention, the same is at your disposal for 
insertion in your highly valuable paper. 
Very respectfully, yours, JOHN C. DEWEY. 
Leeds, Greene Co., N. Y., August 6, 1840. 
The Pench Tree Grub destroyed by Rrine. 
Messrs- Gaylord &. Tucker —I have been looking 
over the back volumes of the Cultivator, to see what 
receipts I could find for killing the wire worms and grubs 
that infest peach trees. For tiie last seven or eight years 
we have not been able to raise peaches at all. When 
the trees would get to be two or three years old, they 
would die; every effort to cure them of the grubs hav¬ 
ing proved unsuccessful. Last spring, (a year ago,) I 
found that all our peach trees were going, as they had 
done before—the leaves began to curl up, and upon 
examination I found them full of wire worms and grubs 
just below the surface of the ground. I cleared away 
the dirt two or three inches around the body of the 
trees, and applied to each tree about a pint of good brine 
or pickle from a pork barrel, and in a moment I could 
see the wire worms (as I call them,) coming out of the 
ground “post haste,” as though something “was up” 
with them. They would curl up and die on the top of 
the around by dozens. From that time the trees have 
flourished wonderfully, by applying the brine twice dur¬ 
ing the summer afterward. This spring I applied it 
again to the same trees, and also to some other trees 
we had ; and every one to which it has been applied, is 
doing well, and most of them have peaches mnv on 
them. 
I have no doubt that the application of brine to other 
fruit trees, would prove beneficial, and I intend to try 
it this summer on some. JOSEPH H. JACKSON. 
Rockaway, N. J. July 20, 1840. 
INFORMATION WANTED ON DRAINING. 
Messrs. Editors —Though farming has been, for the 
most part of my life, my constant employment, (and I 
have just passed my fiftieth year.) yet I have now under¬ 
taken a branch of it which is new to me, and about which 
I desire the best information I can obtain. I have been a 
subscriber and attentive reader of the Cultivator, commen¬ 
cing with the third volume ; and shall now, for the first 
time, claim your indulgence, by requesting you, or any of 
your numerous correspondents, who have made any expe¬ 
riments in reclaiming swamps, to publish the results, 
whether profitable or not. Most men are ready and wil¬ 
ling to publish to the world, the result of their experiments 
which prove successful and profitable ; but few men have 
the humility to publish those which are unsuccessful, lest 
t heir imperfections or ignorance, (of which none are wholly 
exempt,) become more apparent; but as I believe in my 
case, more benefit would accrue to me from the latter, than 
the former, I will set the example, though on another sub¬ 
ject ; and if, by exposing my ignorance, others should be¬ 
come enlightened, I shall be amply rewarded for the sacri¬ 
fice. Last spring I bought half a barrel of Rohan pota¬ 
toes, and as one means of obtaining sixty pounds for one, 
as many had done, I put about one gill of good house ashes 
on the potatoes in each hill, after dressing, a thing which 
I had often done on common potatoes, with good effect; 
but my Rohans were cut in such small pieces, that the lye 
struck clear through them, and there did not one in twenty 
come up, and those which did, from that cause, or some 
other, looked rather feeble. 
Now, if any one experimenting on swamps, muck, or 
muck ashes, has got any bought wit, (which is said to be 
the best, if not bought too dear,) if he will give it to the 
public, together with such as has netted him ten fold, I 
shall consider him a public benefactor. The swamp in 
which I have undertaken, contains about one hundred 
acres; about eleven of which, I have bought to experiment 
upon. The streams flowing in, are mostly small, receiving 
the waters for about one mile distant, on the north, west, 
and south ; rather high hills north and west, gradually slo¬ 
ping from the south, and descending to the east. The hills 
mostly hard w r ood land. Muck in general, deep enough, 
and at a boiling spring only eighteen rods from the shore, it 
is eighteen feet deep. About thirty years ago, seventy 
acres of it was cleared, having had from the present ap¬ 
pearance, quite a growth of timber, and much expense in 
ditching, but to no purpose, as the present appearance of 
the swamp indicates, being three-fourths of it grown over 
with bushes, and are gaining every year. 
I have agreed to open a wide ditch at the outlet, so as to 
be four feet below the surface in the meadow, which is 
nearly level, and I think, was once a pond. Queries.—Is 
4 feet in that case, deep enough ? Can one part of the 
swamp be drained to anycfi'ect, by ditching round it, while 
the water stands on the surface in another, as we can 
neither drain or ditch to the bottom of the muck, which is 
forty feet deep, for aught I know ? After draining and 
turfing, how much sand or gravel should be put on an acre, 
so that with the help of turf ashes, potatoes or grass will 
grow luxuriantly? 
Could not turf and muck be burned in something like a 
lime kiln, with a grate at the bottom, and would not the 
heat expel the acid, and more and better ashes be obtained, 
than if burned in pits on the ground ? 
Has no machine been invented, better than a bogging 
hoc, to cut swamp turf? I shall try to make one, and 
should like to know what has been done for that purpose. 
Yours, &c. Z. GOODELL. 
Orange, Franklin Co., Mass., August 10/A, 1840. 
PRESERVATION OF PEACHES. 
Messrs. Gaylord &, Tucker —When a boy, I received 
a hint which I have never had an opportunity to practice 
upon, but which I have no doubt, will be of great practical 
utility to the lovers of the delicious peach. My brother, 
N. Dille, Esq. of Euclid, near Cleveland, in this state, had 
a clingstone peach tree growing in a large hollow tree in 
the center of a field, which for several successive years, he 
cultivated in corn. The soil was rich, though a very 
loose and friable sand, and the field inclined to the north, 
at a general angle of some four or five degrees, so that in 
times of heavy rains, the sand was washed down in 
quantities, while the ground was in cultivation, and arrested 
when it reached any obstacle. The fruit of this tree, ri¬ 
pened about the last of September, and I remember well, 
was sound, sweet, and luscious. As peaches were very 
plenty that year, a large portion of its fruit was permitted 
to fall off, and lie upon the ground, which was soon after 
completely covered by the sand, brought down by the heavy 
rains which succeeded. Yet, from my best recollection, I 
do not think it was any where covered more than 12 and 
generally about 6 inches in depth. It lay under this cover¬ 
ing all winter, and the next spring, when the frost came 
out, and the rains returned to cut sluices in the friable soil, 
it disclosed many of the peaches in a perfect state of pre¬ 
servation ; and so well were they preserved, that they lost 
but little of their rich and delicious quality. I have never 
heard of any attempt to preserve peaches in sand, and 
living in a country not very favorable to the production of 
the peach, I have not been able to try the experiment. 
But 1 believe from this fact, that the clingstone peach may 
be preserved by packing them in moist sand, so that they 
will not touch each other, and pressing the sand hard upon 
them, so as to exclude the air for a long time. I send you 
this fact, that if you think it worthy a place in the Culti¬ 
vator, others may practice upon this suggestion, and should 
they succeed, I shall be amply paid for this little trouble. 
1 design when leisure affords opportunity, to give you 
my views at large, on the culture of the strawberry. By 
my practice, I believe I very much increase the quantity 
of fruit produced, as well as the duration of the bed or 
plantation. I have a bed now eight years, which this year 
produced its usual quantity. Yours truly, 
Newark, O. July 20, 1840. J. DILLE. 
A SHORT HORN HEIFER. 
Messrs. Editors— I send you the following description 
of a Durham Short Horned heifer, bred and owned by me, 
three years old last spring, and expected to calve in August. 
Girth back of shoulders. 6 feei 5 inches. 
Width across the hips,. 2 “ 
Length from nose to root of tail, 8 “10 “ 
Weight,. 1360 lbs. 
Her keeping has been hay in winter, and grass in sum¬ 
mer, with the addition of a few roots the second winter. 
She is a small boned, compact animal; thin hide, soft hair 
and is descended from a very extraordinary family of milk¬ 
ers ; her dam having given nearly fifty lbs. of milk per day, 
and made 14 lbs. of butter per week, in the month of Janul 
ary, without much feed but hay. 
SAMUEL W. BARTLETT. 
East Windsor, (Scantic,) Conn. July HA, 1840, 
