THE CULTIVATOR. 
149 
An Excursion to Syracuse. 
The ride from this place to Syracuse is much of it a pleasant 
one. A broad and almost unbroken valley stretches from Cort¬ 
land to the high land known by the somewhat paradoxical de¬ 
signation of “ Christian Hollow Hill,” and descending from its 
northern declivity, another valley less broad, and skirted with 
more precipitous hills, extends to the plain on which the villa¬ 
ges of Onondaga Hollow, Syracuse, &c. stand. Christian Hol¬ 
low Hill is not far from equidistant between Cortland and Sy¬ 
racuse, (the. whole distance being thirty-two miles,) and it is the 
dividing ridge between the waters flowing north and south 
through the two valleys, as well as the most apparent point of 
division between the limestone and slaty formations, and other 
accompanying geological distinctions, which so materially alter 
the agricultural character of the two regions. 
I have said the ride is an agreeable one, but, probably as a 
matter of course, my preferences go for home— for the valley of 
the Tioughnioga. I have been some little of a traveler, have 
seen many sections of country generally deemed beautiful: but 
after returning from any of them, when, as has often been the 
case, the eastern or western stage has brought me to the sum¬ 
mit of one of the ridges of hills which shut in our valley, 
and it lay stretched out beneath—it has never, in my mind, suf¬ 
fered by the comparison which I could not fail to institute. And 
yet there is nothing sti'iking in the scenery—no wild or pictu¬ 
resquely grouped heights, no broad expanses of water. But 
there is an air of quiet beauty, of tidiness, comfort, and suc¬ 
cessful industry, which brings more genuine satisfaction to a 
reflecting man, than the sight of nature in her more imposing, 
but less useful forms. Not that I would dispense with every 
thing like taste, and refer all to the commercial standard of pro¬ 
fit and loss. But every feature in the prospect, every tint in the 
Claude-like picture, the white-walled cottages, the vine-clad 
porches, the neatly-managed farms, and a thousand other name¬ 
less but not voiceless indicia—all tell of human comfort, of 
homes and firesides made happy by intelligence and taste—of 
advancing civilization—of a state of society beyond that where 
man labors merely, like the brute or wild beast, for food and 
shelter, his prey and his den. Is this not better than wild rocks 
and barren mountains? The valley of the Tioughnioga is a 
most beautiful farming country, and, as a general thing, most 
beautifully is it cultivated. And such villages as Homer and 
Cortland, where do you find them ? I will not say there are 
none such—for I know several in New-England, and a few in 
our own state, which bear the same stamp of neatness, comfort 
and taste; but you may travel hundreds of miles and not meet 
With one! 
It is true that on our slaty formations we cannot compett 
with the limestone regions in producing the great staple of oui 
country—wheat. But what of that ? In all other crops we car 
equal them, and in grasses surpass them : and the cattle whiel 
we raise in the place of wheat, instead of impoverishing, are 
constantly adding value to our lands. The grazing districts are 
steadily improving, while the wheat-growing ones are as stea¬ 
dily deteriorating; and the change on both sides is every yeai 
becoming more visible. Vicious weeds are choking up the once 
valuable_ farms of the more easterly portion of the wheat-grow¬ 
ing district; and the same course of husbandry is producing the 
same results in the less worn lands of the west. But the once 
overlooked southern counties are every day advancing in value, 
What is the inevitable result? It requires but a small know¬ 
ledge of mathematics to show, that two bodies advancing from 
opposite points in parallel lines, must ultimately reach the cen¬ 
ter of the distance which sepatates them, pass it, and reverse 
their original position. If the wheat country continues to de¬ 
generate, ours to improve, the consequences are obvious. Even 
now, I hesitate not to say, that taken year by year, the grazing 
yield as great .a profit on the capital expended as the wheat- 
growing districts. 
But what has all this to do with an “Excursion to Syracuse ?” 
The truth is, Messrs. Editors, if I mount one of my hobbies 1 
am sure to be run away with! Now, a word in relation to the 
valley of the Onondaga creek, known popularly as “ Christian 
Hollow.” Whether the first part of the appellation was origi¬ 
nally bestowed on it, on the lucus a non lucendo principle,* or 
from the sirname of a Dutch family residing in the hollow, I am 
unable to say. The land is evidently of a superior quality. 
Seven miles from the hill brings you to the borders of the Onon¬ 
daga Reservation, occupied by the Onondaga Indians. The land 
lays, I believe, in a rectangular form, and is four miles by three 
in diameter. The state last winter appropriated $5,000 for the 
improvement of the road through it, before which it was nearly 
impassable in wet weather. The work is going on, and appears 
to be well done in the finished sections. I was mightily amused 
at the appearance of some Indian bucks, with gaudy belts, 
soap locks,” low floating hat bands, and that certain jaunty 
cock of the hat and indescribable air which always characte¬ 
rizes the dandy genus, whatever the color of their skin. Hu¬ 
man nature is the same in Broadway or in an Onondaga forest! 
It is seven miles from the Reservation to Syracuse, through 
some of the finest land in the county. Onondaga Hollow, four 
miles from that place, once so thriving a village, has been ruin¬ 
ed by the advantages of its more fortunate competitor. 
Syracuse exhibits more business, more bustle and activity, 
t-han any other place “ of its inches” I was ever in. One would 
think the Syracuse House the focus of one-half the traveling 
world, such is the constant influx and efflux of travelers. But 
mine host finds time also to be a farmer. He is the owner 
of a small farm, one of the most beautiful about Syracuse, 
which is tilled like a garden. I accompanied Mr. Rust over this 
establishment, and to say nothing of his farming operations, I 
saw some cattle and hogs, such as are not often met with. A 
yoke oi fattening cattle, beautifully symmetrical in their pro¬ 
portions, and weighing about 3,000 lbs. a piece, are not seen 
every day ! Mr. Rust is a capital feeder. Last year he slaugh¬ 
tered a five year old ox, the hide, quarters and tallow of which 
weighed 2,0S9 lbs. The quarters weighed 1,688 lbs. He kills 
about 100 hogs annually, and gives a decided preference to the 
Leicester breed. This variety was imported into Wayne coun¬ 
ty a few years since. They grow very large, well-fatted ones 
£lten reaching from 600 to 800 lbs. They are thin-skinned and 
are easily kept, considering their size. Mr. Rust's store hogs 
this season are a cross between these and the Berkshires, bv a 
boar purchased of Mr. Lossing. They are a beautiful lot of 
swine, but are smaller than the Liecesters, and Mr. R. thinks 
not so profitable. I am a Berkshire man most decidedly, but 
my motto is in these matters, “hear both sides,” and I am will¬ 
ing to confess that Mr. R. showed me Liecesters which I have 
rarely seen equaled by their more successful rivals. One sow 
in an especial manner, only lacks a high sounding name, and 
tne application of a certain process termed C( puffing .to be as 
well worth her hundreds as some others. At all events, she has 
given her owner, in two litters of pigs, both of which were 
killed before the oldest were fourteen months old, 6,000 lbs of 
pork! Here is a fact worth more than puffs or pictures ' 
I accompanied Maj. Burnett, the late popular and gentleman¬ 
ly representative of Onondaga county, to see some youn°- grade 
cattle which he has bred. They were of a nice quality I am 
more and more convinced daily, that let our professional breed¬ 
ers turn up their noses as much as they may at grade animals, 
a I , lc i° us cross with our native stock (one cross and after¬ 
wards bred towards the Durham,) will one day be troublesome 
competitors When the “ time has come, and the man h™ 
Wp m a’-D W ? s ii a11 see- Let it" be borne in mind that even the 
Herd Book Durham is the result of fortunate crosses. The 
* Freely translated—“called light because it is dark.”— Eds. 
same is true of Berkshire hogs, the blood horse; in fact, nearly 
all the most valuable varieties of animals. I have a word more 
to drop on this subject, at some future day. 
In the cool of the day, I had a delightful ride with Mr. Noxon, 
the celebrated advocate, to “ Green Point,” a farm of his, ly¬ 
ing two or three miles out of town. It slopes up from the banks of 
the Onondaga lake, and from the farm house, a neat and substan¬ 
tial stone building, you have a fine view of the adjacent coun¬ 
try. Another legal gentleman is constructing an elegant man¬ 
sion on an adjoining farm. Mr. N. is but a beginner in breeding 
improved cattle, but has a fine young bull from the herd of Mr. 
Prentice, of Albany. He told me that 100 acres of the farm was 
cleared in a single season, fenced, and put into wheat. The 
crop repaid every item of the whole expenditure, interest, &e., 
as well as expense of harvesting, thrashing and marketing, anc 
a nett profit over and above all these, of five dollars per acre! 
Pretty good farming that, for a lawyer! But one has but to 
talk half an hour with such a man as Mr. N., or he could 
tell even by hearing him try a cause, that the native shrewd 
ness, the deep substratum of good common sense which per¬ 
vades the whole man, would lead to success in any thing. In 
these particulars, he reminds me strongly of our Vice President, 
******* ' ' 
I was told that Harvey Baldwin, esq., has some improved 
cattle, but as he was absent from home, I did not see them. He 
formerly owned several valuable animals. He has recently 
purchased some imported stock, which, from the description I 
received of it, I conjectured to belong to the Holstein variety, 
sometimes called Dutch short horns. They are one of the pa¬ 
rent stems of the improved short horns of England, but are 
coarser, and possess less aptitude to fatten; and in the place of 
being red and white, they are black and white, with black muz¬ 
zles, &c. They were introduced into the United States a num¬ 
ber of years since by Consul Jarvis, and I have been acquainted 
with individuals of the family crossed with the Holderness, 
(which is about the same thing,) and also with the Durham. 
They are a valuable variety of cattle, but not so valuable as 
the improved short horn. 
Onondaga is suffering fearfully from the drouth, and unless 
rain comes soon the effects will be terrible. Vines exposed to 
the sun are dying, and I saw fields of corn the leaves of which 
are beginning to wither, as if nipt by frost. Roots of all kinds 
have ceased to grow, wells and water courses are drying up, 
and even fruit trees of some varieties begin to exhibit indica¬ 
tions of perishing. I think a fortnight more of this weather 
would not make Cortland dryer than Onondaga is now. Not 
quite so much rain has probably fallen in Onondaga; but here 
is another advantage of our kinds of soil—they will bear drouth 
far better than the clay and limestone soils of the wheat re¬ 
gion. 
How we worked yesterday, (for you were there, Mess. Editors,) 
need not here be recorded, and as the sun was sinking in the 
western sky I turned my horse’s head homeward. A delightful 
moonlight, or rather starlight drive, (for there was no moon,) 
brought me to a little story and a half farm house, where a 
troop of 
“ -expectant wee-things [would] toddlin stacher thro’ 
To meet their dad, wi’ fliehterin’ noise and glee,” 
had it not been midnight, and every soul of them abed more 
than three hours. Cortlandville, Aug. 19, 1841. H. S. R. 
Berkshires Imported by S. Hawes, Esq., in 5.032. 
Messrs. Editors— In the last number of the Cultivator, we 
observed what is said to be the “ History of the first Imported 
Berkshires,” over the signature of C. N. Bement, of Albany. 
However contrary it may be to our custom or inclination 
to encroach on the columns of your invaluable periodical, as 
breeders of Berkshires, we feel it a’ duty we owe our numerous 
patrons to inform you, that the distinguished proprietor of the 
“Three Hills Farm,” in his “History of the first imported 
Berkshires,” is altogether in an error as regards their number. 
After giving a long and minute account of the three pigs, Mr. 
Hawes took with him to Albany, at the time of taking pos¬ 
session of his farm in 1832, and his two subsequent importa¬ 
tions, &c., he goes on to say, “ the foregoing comprises what 
is termed 'Hawes' Importation,’ and came into my possession 
in 1835, from which most of the Berkshires in this country 
originated.” 
Now, Messrs. Editors, the true state of the case is this. That 
Siday Hawes, Esq. did not only import three, but six Berkshire 
pigs in 1832,—two sows and a boar of this importation he kindly 
presented to us, besides two boar pigs bred by himself while at 
his residence in the vicinity of Albany, and from which our Berk¬ 
shire pigs were descended, until our new importation, which 
Mr. Hawes sent us out in the fall of 1839. 
Should the author of the “History of the first imported Berk¬ 
shires” feel in the least doubtful respecting this statement, we 
would beg leave to refer him to Mr. Hawes, who is at this time 
a subscriber to the Cultivator, and will in all probability read 
‘ the History, &c.,” in the last number in about twenty days 
from the time of its leaving the press. 
Canterbury, Orange co., N. Y. A. & G. BRENTNALL. 
Filtering Cisterns. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— As good wells cannot be had in 
many parts of our country, permit me to recommend the con¬ 
struction of filtering cisterns. Where they were first made or 
by whom, I cannot tell, but having drank water from them 
several years ago in Dutchess co., N. Y., I can speak in 
positive terms as to their excellence. They may be construct¬ 
ed as follows:—In the first place make a large cistern in the 
ordinary manner,' of stone or cement—then build a partition 
wall in the center, resting on a low arch, or having holes left 
underneath for the water to pass freely from one side to the 
other; carry this wall to the top of the cistern. On each side of 
the center wall, at the distance of a foot or eighteen inches 
therefrom, construct parallel walls four feet in height These 
walls may be made of brick 4 inches thick, and well coated 
with cement on both sides, so that the water will in no place 
come m contact with the brick. The spaces between the 4 feet 
walls and center wall are to be filled as follows First, gravel 
to the depth of 4 inches ; secondly, charcoal sufficiently pound¬ 
ed to lay compact, then clean white sand, and then charcoal,— 
and so alternating till the spaces are filled, the top layer being 
gravel to keep the charcoal from rising. The modus operandi 
is as follows :—The water from the roof is conducted to one 
apartment of the cistern, and when it has risen to the height 
of the 4 feet wall it begins to filter through the sand and char- 
coal till it reaches the bottom, then passing under the partition 
wall it rises through a similar filtering bed and floors into the 
other apartment of the cistern, from whence it is drawn for 
use, clear and sparkling as from the purest spring. If the cis¬ 
tern is made of sufficient depth the water becomes as cold as 
that in common wells, and as much better as can well be 
imagined. Bowling Green, Wood co., Ohio, June 3d. P. 
!Dr. 11Xartin ? s Fig- Beaten. 
. Messrs. Editors— I observed in the July number of the Cul¬ 
tivator a statement of an experiment made in feeding Berkshire 
and Woburn Pigs, which has induced me to send you the weight 
of my pig taken to-day, in the presence of some eight or ten 
respectable citizens. ‘ Suze’ is 4 months old to-day. Her dam 
is a middle size white English sow, and her sire a pure blood 
Berkshire, from the stock of John Lossing, of Albany, and she 
weighs alive 142 lbs. She was weaned at seven weeks old, at 
which time I received her, and would not have weighed 25 lbs. 
My cow, which is half Devonshire, dropped her calf three days 
previous to this. My pig lived on the overplus milk. After the 
calf was supplied for four weeks, I ga<ve the whole of the milk 
to the pig, which is about six gallons per day, (save a little for 
family use.) I purchased this pig of Mr. Little, jr., near this 
place, who has taken considerable pains to procure the pure 
blood Berkshires from Mr. Lossing. Farmers in this vicinity 
desirous of improving their stock of hogs, would do well to call 
on Mr. Little. JAMES JONES. 
N. B.'—You will understand the above is buttermilk. 
Hackettstown, Warren co., N. J., Aug. 9, 1841. 
Epidemic among- Cattle. 
For the last five or six weeks a terrible distemper or epidemic 
has been raging among the cattle in and near the city of Troy. 
Since it first broke out, between thirty and forty cows have 
been attacked and most of them have fallen victims. 
Being there a few days since on a visit, I was called to see a 
cow in the last stages of the disease. She belonged to a labor¬ 
ing man, and was the second one of his which had been attack¬ 
ed. The first intimation he had of her illness was the great de¬ 
crease of her milk in the morning, as on the evening previous 
she had given her usual allowance, and nothing was observed 
unusual in her appearance. 
It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, of the day she was 
taken, that I saw her—she was lying down, unable or unwilling 
to move. She did not appear to have any fever, the dew stood 
freely on her nose, her breath was not unusually hot, her ears 
and the roots of her horns seemed to have their natural tem¬ 
perature ; no heaving at her flanks, and no appearance of pain, 
though occasionally she would turn her head to her side. Her 
coat was rough and staring, her eyes dull and weeping; a 
bloody foffid discharge at her nose, excrement thin, black, and 
very offensive, and her strength rapidly diminishing, and when I 
lei t, which was about an hour after I first saw her, she was 
unable to raise her head, her eye glassy, and I was informed 
she died from 15 to 20 minutes after. 
On questioning the owner I learned that for a week or ten 
days previous to the present attack that he had discovered a 
slight cough, but did not consider it of any consequence or 
alarming. Other cases have occurred which have proved 
equally fatal, when no cough or other symptoms have been ob¬ 
served, until a few hours before their death. 
The distemper appears to be confined to the low flat meadows, 
on the side of the river, south of the city, and confined to two 
xarms adjoining each other, where a large number of city cow? 
are pastured, as well as where the proprietors keep cows for 
supplying the citizens with milk. One having lost five and the 
other six cows. It appears to have no regard for age or condi¬ 
tion, the young and old, the lean as well as those in good con¬ 
dition, all are equally subject to it, and it is equally fatal to 
Many conjectures are afloat as to the probable cause of the 
disease ; some attributing it to a poisonous weed or herb which 
they are induced to eat, in consequence of the scarcity of grass, 
which has been killed by the drouth, while others contend that 
it is a miasma floating in the air. Be the cause what it may, it 
is certainly very alarming and requires investigation; and 
should any more cases occur I would advise the owner to call on 
Dr. Wright, a veterinary surgeon of great skill, who may be found 
m Hamilton, between Green and Pearl streets, Albany. 
On post mortem examinations no traces of the disease have 
been discovered, but they were not made by competent and ex- 
perienced persons, of course, no reliance can be placed on them. 
Three Hills Farm, Aug., 1841. C. N. BEMENT. 
Editors Cultivator —The following recipe is left, with a drum 
of dried fruit in all respects resembling figs, at the patent of¬ 
fice. The fruit tastes remarkably well, and I have no doubt 
that the information will be gratifying to your numerous read¬ 
ers. I send you also a jar of the “ tomato figs.” 
Washington City, Aug. 18, 1841. H. L. ELLSWORTH. 
Tomato Figs. 
Prepared by a Lady in Washington City, D. C. 
Process —Take 6 lbs. of sugar to 16 lbs. or one peck of the 
fruit. Scald and remove the skin in the usual way. Cook them 
over a fire, their own juice being sufficient without the addition 
of water, until the sugar penetrates, and they are clarified. They 
are then spread on dishes, flattened and dried in the sun. A 
small quantity of the syrup should be occasionally sprinkled 
over them while drying; after which, pack them down in boxes, 
treating each layer with powdered sugar. The syrup is after¬ 
wards concentrated and bottled for use. They keep well from 
year to year, and retain their flavor surprisingly, which is near¬ 
ly that of the best quality of dried figs. The pear-shaped, or 
single tomato, answers the purpose best. 
Ordinary brown sugar may be used, the larger proportion of 
which is retained by the syrup. 
By a letter received a few days since from Mr. A. B. Allen 
now in England, I learn that he has made two shipments of se¬ 
lect Berkshire swine to New-York, where they will probably ar¬ 
rive before your September paper goes to press. He has tra¬ 
veled all over the great pork counties of England, and finds the 
Berkshires to excel every thing of the swine family in that 
country. But those of extraordinary size and perfection of 
form are scarce and high. A number such, however, he has 
found, and regardless of expense, he has secured them for ex¬ 
portation to America. He has a boar, “ Windsor Castle,” bred 
near that place, which will weigh in good flesh 800 lbs., now 2 
years old. Another, “ Hagbourn,” 14 months old, will weigh 
500 lbs. The last, he says, is the same figure as his famous sow 
‘Raven Hair;” and although he does not say “these are the 
finest swine in all England,” yet they are the finest that he has 
. He was going down to Sussex to find the largest hogs in 
the kingdom, and if their apparent qualities warranted, would 
probably select a few to gratify the cormorant propensities of 
some of our western gentlemen, which nothing but inordinate 
size can gratify. 
The most extensive and scientific swine breeder he had vet 
found, was the Rt. Hon. Shaw Lefevre, speaker of the House of 
Commons, who has an extensive estate in Berkshire; and noble 
dukes, earls, and right honorables, go into active competition 
with the humblest citizens of the empire, in the improvement of 
their farming stock, with as much zeal as they enter into a plan 
to double the produce of their acres, or increase the profits of 
their mines. When mind, in our country, is thus applied to the 
development of matter in agriculture, as unhappily for our 
true interests it is not, then shall we witness equal success and 
improvement, and then will the landholder take his true posi¬ 
tion in wealth and influence wfith the other professions of our 
country. 
Mr A. had made a few selections of Southdown sheep, and 
was shortly to visit the three days’ fair of the Royal Agricultu¬ 
ral Society in Liverpool, and after that, to go into the cattle re¬ 
gions of Yorkshire and the north of England, from which he 
would return through the middle counties, to Bristol, and take 
passage for home on the 1st September by the Great Western 
where he will probably arrive by the 20th of the same month. • 
Very truly, yours, L. F. A 
Black-Rock, N. YAug. 14, 1841. 
