12 THE CULTIVATOR, 
ing such buildings, the requisite thickness of the walls, 
the cost per perch, and the comparative cost of cobble, 
with buildings of other materials. 
Saratoga Springs, 1840. J. H. B.” 
We hope the request of our correspondent, and we 
add ours to his, will receive from some builder, or from 
one acquainted with the cost, &c. of such structures, at¬ 
tention, and that such information, detailed and full, will 
be given as the subject requires. There are many parts 
of our country where the materials for cobble stone 
buildings are most abundant ,• and the houses or barns 
constructed of them promise to be very durable, as 
they certainly must be comfortable, and when a little 
care is taken very beautiful. It is a process by which, 
in many places, a positive nuisance may be converted 
into a decided good. 
Food for Milch Cows. 
“ Messrs. Editors —Which is the best feed for cows, 
cooked or uncooked—how much is sufficient for each cow 
per clay, and how much hay—that is to make them give 
good yields of milk ? I keep twenty cows, and am anx¬ 
ious to learn through your valuable paper the cheapest 
way to keep them, without feeding swill or still slop. 
I have no land to raise my own feed, and therefore a 
word from you or some of your correspondents would 
be thankfully received by one of your subscribers. 
Long-Island , 1840. T. D. W.” 
We have never known an instance in which food was 
cooked for milch cows ; although from the success Avhich 
has attended the practice of cooking food for other ani¬ 
mals, particularly horses and pigs, there can be no 
doubt it would be equally beneficial when applied to cows. 
As our correspondent does not raise his own feed, it 
would be obviously impossible to state the cheapest 
mode of keeping his cows, as the price of hay, grain, 
or roots varies much at different times, and changes 
must be made to correspond. Soiling has in England 
been proved to be the cheapest manner in which cattle 
of any kind can be kept, and is extensively practiced in 
providing milk for the large towns. In winter, hay and 
roots, or hay and meal, made of peas, barley, or oats, 
the hay cut, mixed with the meal and wet, or the meal 
made into a slop and fed in that form, is considered the 
food that produces the best milk ; brewers or distiller’s 
swill causes an abundant flow of milk for a time but it 
is of a very inferior quality. We will gladly give a 
place to any of our friends who have experience on the 
subjects indicated in our correspondent’s queries. 
Manures. 
“A. C. S.” of Shushan, N. Y. has transmitted us 
the following queries, which we are obliged by want of 
space to answer in a summary manner, merely adding 
that full information on most of these topics may be 
found in the previous volumes of the Cultivator. 
“1. Human urine, how is it used V’ 
By being combined with some substance, such as com¬ 
post, or common earth, which will retain the valuable 
salts with which it is charged ; such preparation when 
scientifically made is called urate, one of the most valu¬ 
able of manures. 
“ 2. Bone dust—where can it be had, and how is it 
used ?” 
Bone dust is the bones of animals, or human bones, 
ground in mills, and is of different qualities, according 
to the fineness. It is sometimes sown broad cast, but 
is usually sown in drills with seeds, that its effect may 
be at once felt. There are mills for grinding bones in 
the vicinity of Albany, Boston, and Troy, and perhaps 
in other places in the United States. 
“ 3. Salt—is it a good manure ?—if so, how much to 
the acre, to what crops and at what time should it be 
applied V’ 
Cuthbert W. Johnson, of England, one of the most 
distinguished agricultural writers in that kingdom, has 
published a work in which he strongly recommends salt 
as a manure, at the rate of from ten to twenty bushels 
per acre, to be sown some two or three weeks before 
the seed is put into the ground. The benefits he asserts 
are as follows :—“ 1. When used in small proportions it 
promotes putrefaction. 2. By destroying weeds, grubs, 
&c. 3. As a constituent or direct food. 4. As a stimu¬ 
lant to the absorbant vessels. 5. By preventing injury 
from sudden transitions of temperature. 6. By keep¬ 
ing the soil moist.” Here, salt has been little used, 
and its value remains to be tested. 
“ 4. Salt nitre—is it a good manure, and if so, how 
is it to be applied?” 
The London Farmer’s Magazine gives many proofs 
of the beneficial effects of nitre as a manure. In one 
instance a field of wheat was dressed with crude nitre 
at the rate of 1£ cwt. to the acre, with the exception 
of a part of an acre left as a test. At harvesting seven 
rods of each part was cut and kept separate. The ni¬ 
tre! part gave 24 sheaves, 11 gallons of wheat, and 54 
lbs. of straw. The part not dressed gave 16 sheaves, 
6i gallons of wheat, and 40 lbs. of straw. 
“5. Poudrette—is it human ordure manufactured? 
—if not, what is it ?—in what fashion can it be pro¬ 
cured, and where?” 
Poudrette is manufactured night soil, usually collect¬ 
ed in cities. When manufactured it is packed in bar¬ 
rels, is a dry dust with little odor, and is sown either 
broadcast or in drills. It may be obtained in any quan¬ 
tity as also TJrate at the manufactories near New-York. 
“ Flemish soil” is night soil, with slight preparation. 
In poudrette and urate, we have a nuisance converted 
into one of the most valuable of manures ; easy of appli¬ 
cation, and certain in its effects. 
Sheep for the Small Farmer. 
“ Messrs. Editors —Just established on a small 
farm, and wishing to obtain a small flock of sheep, eith¬ 
er by purchase, or by raising them, I am induced to ask 
your opinion as to the best breed for the small farmer, 
one that can expect to raise little if any more wool than 
will be required for domestic use. If there are none of 
the present breeds that possess the requisites of good 
constitution, hardihood and good wool, what selections 
in crossing would be most likely to give such animals as 
the wants of so large a class of our farmers demand. 
Oneida County , 1840. A Young Farmer.” 
We will reply to our friend in very few words ;—if 
wool is his principal object, in getting his flock, then 
the Merino selected from American flocks, of pure 
blood and good forms and wool, may be chosen ; if 
the flesh as well as the wool, and comparative hardi¬ 
hood, are taken into the account, then the South Downs 
are to be preferred ; and were we to attempt the pro¬ 
duction of a flock from any cross for the small farmer, 
it would be from the South Down ewe and the Merino 
ram. 
Such is the course we would deem advisable in a case 
like the one stated ; but as this is a subject upon which 
some inquiry has been excited, it may not be improper 
to give some reasons for the opinion we have advanc¬ 
ed. 
The sheep principally relied upon for wool suitable 
for the manufacture of cloths or domestic use, are the 
Saxon, Merino, and South Downs. For the small 
farmer, the Saxon, though producing the best wool, has 
a constitution too delicate, and requires too much atten¬ 
tion to be profitable. It is also rather light, and the 
qualities of form and flesh seem to have been in a great 
degree sacrificed to that of superior wool. It Avas at 
one time supposed that a breed of sheep might be pro¬ 
duced by skillful crossing and breeding, having the 
hardy constitution and form of the old English sheep, 
and the delicate, silky wool of the Saxons, but after the 
most persevering efforts it was abandoned ; and that 
nation is now content to purchase their fine wools, and 
rear their own sheep for inferior wool and for mutton. 
Next in the scale is the Spanish Merino, a heavier 
bodied, hardier sheep, with fine wool, not equal indeed 
to the Saxon, but still sufficiently good for the best do¬ 
mestic or superfine cloths. Of all the improved, or im¬ 
ported breeds, the Merino is the most extensively dif¬ 
fused in this country, and few flocks can be found in 
which more or less of the blood does not exist. A few 
flocks also of pure blooded Merinos can be found, and 
notwithstanding the varieties of new sheep, possessing 
more or less desirable properties, that have been intro¬ 
duced, the Merino is gaining ground in public estima¬ 
tion. For the small farmer who can keep but few sheep, 
and those for the wool, the Merino has proved a valu¬ 
able sheep. 
The South Down is one of the old English varieties 
of the sheep, produces the finest wool of any of their 
native breeds, is a hardy, strong constitutioned animal, 
adapted to hill lands, or close pastures, and by the skill 
and care of the Ellmans and others has acquired a per¬ 
fection of form unknown to the earlier specimens of 
the South Downs. By the connoisseurs of mutton, the 
flesh of the South Down ranks among the best, and that 
of the Saxon the worst. There are many fine specimens 
of the South Down in this country, and we are inclined 
to consider it one of the most valuable animals yet in¬ 
troduced. Its wool is indeed inferior to the Merino or 
Saxon, but it has the advantage of them in weight, 
constitution, and ease of keeping, qualities Avhich give 
it a strong claim on the farmer. 
The above Avill show Avhy Ave Avould, of the three, 
avooI alone considered, prefer the Merino for the small 
farmer ; and Avill also in part disclose the reasons why 
we should select the Merino and the South Down to pro¬ 
duce a flock from Avhich avooI and flesh both Avere to be 
objects of greater or less importance. 
In rearing a flock by crossing, various opinions haA^e 
been entertained as to the best method of proceeding ; 
whether the ram or the eAve had the greatest influence 
on the offspring ; Avhether a South Down buck and Me¬ 
rino eAves ; (supposing these varieties selected for the 
cross) Avere to be preferred, or South Down eAves and 
Merino buck should be chosen. Once Ave might not 
hatre considered a decision on this point very essential, 
but we are inclined notv to vietv it in a very different 
light, and Avere we to undertake the production of a flock 
for ourselves would much rather choose the Merino 
buck and the South Dotvn etves, than the Merino ewes, 
and South DoAvn ram. In the former case we think we 
should be much more certain of a Merino fleece, and a 
South DoAvn constitution and carcase, than in the latter, 
and that result Ave take to be the real object of the 
cross. 
Without adopting, or endorsing, all the speculations 
of late writers on the subject of breeding, Ave think it 
is a fact that the male leaA r es his character stamped ex¬ 
ternally on the offspring more frequently than the fe¬ 
male. The horse more frequently gh r es his color to the 
colt, the bull his to the calf, and the ram color and 
fleece to the lamb, than the female parents. It is not in¬ 
variably the case, but so much more frequently, that 
the failures must be considered only exceptions to a 
general rule. This is perfectly consistent not only wilh 
those modern theories of breeding that seem entitled to 
the most consideration, such as Cline’s and Walker’s, but 
also Avith facts and the results of observation. Berry, 
Lawrence, Cline, and Youatt, all recommended that in 
selecting a female for breeding, particular attention be 
given to her vital and nutritive powers, and Walker, 
although he assigns a different reason from others, is 
not less decided on this point, Avhile all agree that in 
most cases, the form and external character is general¬ 
ly derived from the male. Thus, says Youatt, British 
Husbandry, vol 2, page 457 :—“ The flock master, at¬ 
tending in the first instance to these general rules, ought 
therefore to consider Avhat are the defects among his 
ewes, either as to shape, quality of mutton, or wool, 
which he wishes to remove, and to select the tups Avhich 
he uses who possess in an eminent degree the merits in 
which his eAves are deficient.” The opinions of Walker, 
as shoAvn in a late number of the Cultivator, need not 
be repeated here ; and Ave think they all justify us in 
supposing that to breed from South DoAvn eAves and a 
Merino ram, Avdien the improvements sought are consi¬ 
dered, is clearly to be preferred. 
The man, hoAvever, who crosses the South Doavk Avith 
either the Saxon or Merino, must not expect the silky, 
soft avooI of the two latter. He Avill find a good avooI, 
sufficiently fine for all ordinary purposes, and will have 
sheep of good forms and improved firmness of consti¬ 
tution, as the South DoAvn eAves Avill in all probability 
convey more or less of their superior vital stamina, and 
nutritive poAvers. 
Culture of Indian Corn—Large Crop. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I read the Cultivator 
till I was satisfied that I could raise 100 bushels of corn 
to the acre. I accordingly Avent to Avork, and the result 
of my operation was 112 bushels to the acre ; the kind 
of corn used was the common small eight roAved yel¬ 
low. I think the crop Avas matured two Aveeks sooner 
by the process of hoeing or not hoeing, for I hoed no¬ 
thing but the weeds, being careful not to make any hill 
around the corn, keeping the surface of the ground as 
nearly level as possible. My corn was from one to tAvo 
weeks earlier than any of my neighbors. Some of them 
used to ask me what I did to my corn to make it grow 
so fast ; my answer Avas, that “ I read the Cultivator .” 
This crop of corn was obtained on a hill farm ; the 
hills not being considered as good for corn as the farms 
on the creek. Now upon this same hill, with a hard 
pan bottom, though not near enough to the surface to 
make it Avet, or because it has the advantage of being 
tipped up sideAvise a little, I have turned over three 
acres of stiff sward, that has been moAvn eight or ten 
years. I Avant to plant all or part of it with corn ; and 
being young and inexperienced in the business of farm¬ 
ing, I want a little ad\ r ice. Shall I ploAV it again to in¬ 
corporate the manure Avith the earth ? or will a tho¬ 
rough dragging do it? or can I put sufficient upon it by 
putting it in the hill ? I Avish to put 30 or 40 loads of 
long manure to the acre. 
One thing more—will the BroAvn corn ripen before 
the frost 0 A r ertakes it in latitude 42°, on the hills in Ot¬ 
sego county ? As Ave have been hoaxed several times 
Avith neiv varieties, and thereby lost our corn, I wish to 
knoAV the certainty of it. 
The Rohan potato does not succeed here according to 
our expectations, but Ave will not condemn it yet. 
A Subscriber. 
New-Lisbon, N. Y. November 27, 1840. 
NOTE BY THE EDITORS. 
Experience seems to haA r e shown, that for the corn 
crop it is better to incorporate the manure with the soil, 
than to use it in the hill. The latter may be admissi¬ 
ble where the quantity of manure is small, or Avhen it 
is fermented or decomposed, but we have known instan¬ 
ces in which fresh manures in large quantities deposited 
in the hill, produced so much heat in fermentation as 
to destroy or much injure the corn. The plan pursued 
by Mr. BroAvn in growing his great corn crops, is to put 
a covering of manure on his grass land in the fall be¬ 
fore inverting the SAvard, and then in the spring incor¬ 
porating another dressing of manure Avith the surface 
soil either by harroAving or ploAving as the condition of 
the sward may be. We have found the manure from 
the pig pen, far the best for dunging in the hill ; and 
have never knoAvn corn suffer from its use, in whateA'er 
way applied. It is probable “A Subscriber” can in¬ 
corporate his manure sufficiently, without another plow- 
ing ; and if the first Avas well done, he Avill have a more 
level surface to plant on than if another plowing should 
be given. A gentleman in Kentucky has reported 158 
bushels of corn from an acre, by planting on a level sur¬ 
face ; and only “ hoeing the weeds,” as Aims done by 
our correspondent. Such facts should induce farmers 
to consider whether the old mode of hilling may not in 
many cases be adAmntageously departed from. 
As to the Brown corn, Ave, and several of our friends, 
planted it last year under such circumstances, and so 
late in the season, that Ave considered its ripening as 
very doubtful. It however proved a fine crop, and is a 
beautiful productive corn. The fact of its rarely or 
never failing to ripen among the hills and in the north¬ 
ern latitude of NeAV-Hampshire, we imagine to be proof 
that it will ripen any where Avhere the Dutton corn will; 
our acquaintance with it would induce us to suppose 
the BroAvn corn to be as early as any of the kinds usu¬ 
ally grown for crops r farther cropping may be neces¬ 
sary to test its comparative productiveness Avith us in 
NeAV-York. 
