188 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
J5£3!£» 
ed in bringing out the best plows, and other farming 
utensils j the finest growing regions of the earth have 
been explored to procure the best grapes and plants, all 
of which have contributed largely to the improvement 
of the several departments of agricultural labor. But 
the manufacture of butter, an article that enters so di¬ 
rectly into the composition of a good breakfast, is per¬ 
mitted to drag along the old fashioned way, with hardly 
an attempt at improvement. This is rendered some¬ 
what inexplicable, when we reflect how simple the rules 
are for making perfect butter. It is in fact 
“ A liberal art that costs no pains 
Of study, industry or brains.” 
The cream should be kept in a dry, cool place where 
no bad air nor bad odor is permitted to enter. After the 
process of churning, all the milk and superfluous matter 
should be pressed out; then, with half the usual quantity 
of salt applied, pack it down solid in heart-ash tubs or 
firkins for commercial uses, or stone jars for more im¬ 
mediate uses. A British critic has remarked ‘‘ that it 
was his belief that if a premium' of a thousand dol- 
ifars was offered for the best translation of the Greek 
Bible, it would be taken by a Yankee, who, till the 
offer was made, had never seen a word of Greek, in 
his life ; that he would commence learning the language 
immediately, to qualify himself for the undertaking, and 
would finish the whole work quicker than any other 
person, and bear off the premium.” We take the spi¬ 
rit of the above to be true, as applying to our national 
character; and we hold it to be true, that the art of 
manufacturing good butter is as easily acquired, as that 
of translating Greek ; and as there is no premium of¬ 
fered for the latter performance, it behoves the fair 
wives and daughters of Washington and Bensselaer to 
secrue the premiums offered for the former. 
We are gratified to learn that the State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety has determined to reward the butter makers if the 
result of their labors should merit it, and we entreat all 
those who engage in that pursuit in these counties, to 
strive for supremacy in that art. If they but make the 
effort, we feel assured they will succeed. There is no 
lack of verdant pastures in these counties, and none of 
stock, and shall we say there is a lack of enterprise? 
Never! It wants but the proper attention towards that 
pursuit. If there were no other inducement, certainty 
of better prices for a good article, is sufficient to excite 
a little extra effort in the. manufacture of the article. 
Let it be no longer said that Orange and Dutchess bear 
away the palm in quality and prices. They possess 
nothing in soil or climate, in stock nor enterprise, that 
is not possesed in Washington and Rensselaer. 
Reasons lor engaging in the Silk Culture. 
Wk give another paper, from the same source, set¬ 
ting forth eighteen reasons why the people of the United 
States, especially the farmers, should engage in the bu- 
siness of silk growing : 
1. Because silk forms the heaviest item in the cata¬ 
logue of our importations. 
2. Because we possess the means of doing it to bet¬ 
ter advantage than any other nation. 
3. Because the necessary skill is easily acquired, and 
no nation ever possessed better talents to acquire it. 
4. Because the nation is under heavy embarrassments 
on account of excessive importations, and no other 
means are so sure of success in providing the necessary 
relief. 
5. Because it can be effectually engaged in by all 
classes of people, requiring little or no capital. 
6. Because we have more spare land than any other 
nation, and much well suited to the growth of the mul¬ 
berry, which is worn out for other purposes. 
7. Because we are already well stocked with the mul¬ 
berry trees, which will be lost to the nation if not used 
for that purpose. 
8. Because a stock of silk worms may be obtained 
the first year, equal to what could be reared of any oth¬ 
er live stock in a great portion of a lifetime. 
9. Becuase raw silk or cocoons are always surer of 
sale than almost any other commodity. 
10. Because it is a very certain crop. 
11. Because a pound of silk worth six dollars can be 
grown in less time than a pound of wool worth 50 cts. 
12. Because it will cost no more to transport a pound 
of silk to market worth six dollars, than a pound of 
bread-stuff or pork worth six or eight cents. 
13. Because the labor of growing a crop of silk re¬ 
quires only six or seven weeks, while that of almost 
any farming crop requires more than as many months. 
14. Because most of the labor will be performed by 
women, children or invalids—who, though willing, are 
unable to perform other profitable labor. 
15. Because there are hundreds if not thousands of 
skillful silk manufacturers in the country who are un¬ 
able to find regular employment for want of raw silk. 
16. Because the growing and manufacture of silk 
has never failed to be a source of wealth to any nation 
which embarked in it. 
17. Because the Legislature of our State, having ob- 
served and duly weighed all the foregoing reasons, 
have wisely offered a liberal bounty for its encourage¬ 
ment. 
18. Because the American Institute with a liberality 
which speaks volumes to its everlasting credit, has of¬ 
fered, for the encouragement of literature as well as 
this, most eminent branch of industry, a premium of 
fifty dollars and a gold medal for the best treatise there¬ 
on, and a like medal for the best silk reel. 
1 The person who would not be stimulated to exertion 
by such reasons and liberal offers of reward must be 
sordid indeed. A. of the North. 
Inquiry—Ayrshire Cows. 
Messrs. Editors —I have paid some attention to the 
subject of improvement of cattle ; as shown in the dis¬ 
cussions which have been carried on in your journal, and 
some of the papers of the country, and I had supposed 
that the Ayrshire cows, so celebrated for their milking 
qualities, were like the Short Horns and Devons, a dis¬ 
tinct race ; and it was with some surprise I noticed the 
following sentence in Mr. Allen’s last letter in your 
paper :— “ Jhjrshires we can make here by the thousand, 
by crossing Durham bulls on our best native cows.” You 
would oblige me, and perhaps others, by stating wheth¬ 
er this opinion of Mr. Allen’s is sustained by the best 
English authorities on cattle. A Novice.” 
The best authorities on the origin of the English 
breeds of cattle are Low and Youatt. On this sub¬ 
ject the first has the following remarks—“ This breed, 
deriving its name from Ayrshire, extends to the ad¬ 
joining counties Lanark, Dumfries, Renfrew, Dumbar¬ 
ton and elsewhere. It manifests certain points of re¬ 
semblance to varieties of the Short Horn breed ; but all 
its essential characters of form connect it with the Al- 
derney. The resemblance is so great that a Jersey cow 
might sometimes be mistaken for an Ayrshire one. The 
cows of the district of Dunlop, are said to have been 
the first celebrated for yielding milk ; and tradition as¬ 
serts that the cows of that district were crossed by Al¬ 
derney bulls. This then may be inferred to be the true 
origin of the dairy breed of Ayrshire ; but it is pro¬ 
bable that males of the Holderness, or other Short Horn 
varieties have also been introduced, and given certain 
characters to the native stock, though at what time 
such intermixtures took place, or how far they affected 
the character of the existing stock, is unknown.” 
Mr. Youatt says, 1 ‘ These cattle, from which, by cross¬ 
es with the native breed, the present improved Ayr- 
shires arose, were first introduced on Lord Marchmont’s 
estates in Berwickshire and he quotes Mr. Robertson 
in iiis Rural Recollections, as saying, “ from what par¬ 
ticular part of the country they came, there appears no 
evidence. My own conjecture is, that they are either of 
the Holderness breed, or derived from it ; judging from 
the varied color, or, from somewhat better evidence, 
the small head, and slender neck, in which they bear a 
striking resemblance to them.” 
Rawlin, in his “ Complete Cow-doctor,” of 1794, 
says,—“ They have another breed called the Dunlop 
cows, which are allowed to be the best race for yielding 
milk in great Britain or Ireland, not only for large 
quantities, but also for richness of quality. It is said to 
be a mixture, by bulls from the Island of Alderney, 
with their own cows.” 
Mr. Youatt says,—It requires but one moment’s 
inspection of the animals, to convince us that this sup¬ 
position [the origin from the Alderney cross] is alto¬ 
gether erroneous.” 
It will thus be seen that Low and Rawlin derive their 
origin from the Alderney cross ; Robertson from the 
Holderness ; and Youatt inclines to the last supposition. 
It may be naturally' inferred that the question of their 
origin is a matter of obscurity ; and as the Holderness 
is the name of one of the unimproved varieties of the 
Short Horns, (although according to Youatt one of the 
worst,) it is not impossible, if we admit this remote 
Short Horn origin of the Ayrsliires, that Mr. Allen’s 
method of producing them would not succeed admirably. 
On the contrary, if the Ayrshires have an Alderney ori¬ 
gin, Mr. Allen’s cross would fail. Perhaps, however, Mr. 
Allen did not intend to assert that the cross proposed 
by him would give positive Ayrshires, but only a 
breed possessing all their essential and most valuable 
qualities. We have ourselves little doubt, since the 
evidence meets us at every turn wherever the Improved 
Short Horns have been introduced, that the cross pro¬ 
posed by Mr. Allen of Short Horn bulls, with the best 
native cows, would give a breed possessing in a great 
degree the qualities of good milkers, hardihood in keep¬ 
ing, and aptitude to fatten, although it might be im¬ 
proper to term them Ayrshires. 
Wheat Statistics. 
The Rochester Evening Post, a paper that may be 
pronounced one of the best authorities in the western 
part of the State, in matters relating to the products, 
&c. of that section, in some late remarks on the falling 
off of the wheat crop of 1341, makes the following 
statement: 
“ The Rochester and Batavia railroad transported to 
Rochester in 1840, up to Nov. 1st, no less than 378,000 
bushels of wheat; up to the same date in 1841, only 
78,000 ; leaving the serious deficit this year of 300,000 
bushels. By the same road there was received at Ro¬ 
chester, in 1840, 32,800 barrels of flour, which at five 
bushels to the barrel amounts to 164,000 bushels of 
wheat ; the present year only 14,0 ,0 barrels, equal to 
70,000 bushels of wheat; showing a deficit of flour 
equal to 94.000 bushels of wheat; which added to the 
deficit of wheat first mentioned, shows an aggregate 
deficit equal to 394,000 bushels of wheat from that 
quarter alone!” 
This is a most extraordinary falling off (even admit- 
ting, as is probable, that more of the Genesee and Liv¬ 
ingston wheat and flour found its way to the Genesee 
Valley Canal than it did last year,) in the marketing 
of a single product on a road of only thirty miles in 
length ; and we agree with the editor of the E. P. that 
the deficit of wheat marketed in this case, may be con¬ 
sidered only a sample of the falling off in the wheat 
sold in Western New-York generally. 
Crushed Bones—>3KXode of Action. 
The cause of the fertilizing effects of crushed bones or 
bone dust, does not seem to be satisfactorily ascertained, 
and while in practice all agree as to their efficacy, the 
“ why and wherefore” is still a matter of uncertainty. 
Johnston iq his agricultural lectures gives the following 
as the constituents of bones and the relative propor¬ 
tion : 
“Dry bones contain about two-thirds of their weight of earthy 
matter, the other third consisting chiefly of animal matter, re¬ 
sembling glue. Of the earthy 'matter, five-sixths consist of 
phosphates of lime and magnesia; and the rest chiefly carbo¬ 
nate of lime. Thus a ton of bone dust will contain— 
Animal matter, or gelatine,. 746 lbs. 
Phosphate of lime,.- 1,245 “ 
Carbonate of lime,. 249 “ 
2,240 lbs. 
Sprengel, a German writer and chemist of the high- 
est authority, maintains that the phosphates are the 
principal fertilizing ingredients in bones, and in this 
opinion Cliaptal in the main concurs. To this fact 
Sprengel attributes their not being as efficient in the 
north of Germany, as in Britain, the soil of the former 
country containing naturally a." greater supply of the 
phosphates than the latter. Mr. Johnston, however, 
without positively deciding that the efficiency is owing 
to the animal matter, gives the following facts derived 
from practice, as in accordance with that opinion : 
“1. In the Doncaster Report, bone dust is said to be most effi¬ 
cacious on calcareous soils,—for in the presence of lime, all 
organic matter more rapidly decomposes. 
“2. That horn shavings are a more powerful manure than 
bones,—since horn contains only one or two per cent of earthy 
matter, (the remainder being animal matter or gelatine.) 
“3. That before the introduction of crushed bones, the ashes 
of burned bones had been long employed to a small extent in ag¬ 
riculture, but have since fallen almost entirely into disuse. 
“4. That old sheepskins cut up and laid ini urnep drills have 
been found to raise as good a crop of roots, and after crop of 
corn, as the remainder of the field that was manured with bones. 
1 ■ 5. That according to Liebig, “40 lbs. of bone dust are suffi¬ 
cient to supply three crops of wheat, clover, potatoes, turneps, 
&.c. with phosphates,” while a ton and a half of bones, contain¬ 
ing from 1200 to 1SOO lbs. of phosphates is the quantity usually 
applied to an acre.” 
Bone dust or crushed bones has not been used to any 
considerable extent hitherto in the United States, but 
their use as a fertilizer is on the increase, and the great 
quantities that might be provided of this manure should 
it prove as valuable here as abroad, renders it desirable 
that those who have experimented with it should lay 
the results before the public. If the piles of bones 
that accumulate in cities until they become nuisances, 
can be converted by the simple process of crushing in¬ 
to the most powerful of fertilizers, it is proper that 
the attention of farmers should be directed to their 
saving, preparation, and use. 
Large Vegetables. 
Mammoth vegetables may, in general, he considered 
rather the result of accident than otherwise, and such 
is the light in which they have hitherto been viewed. 
When, however, as in the last and present year, they 
are common, it is not unreasonable to attribute them to 
improved varieties, and more care and skill in cultiva¬ 
tion. To show what has been done this year, we make 
a few extracts from papers now before us : 
“ Mr. Joel Townsend of Lorrnin county, had in exhibition yes¬ 
terday a Persian squash that weighed 165 pounds, and measur¬ 
ed six feet and nine inches in circumference.”— Cleveland Mer¬ 
cury. 
“ The largest sweet potato we have seen this season was pre¬ 
sented to us on Wednesday last, by Mr. B. C. Rlincoe—it weighs 
four and a half ponuds, is twelve and a half inches in circum¬ 
ference, and eleven and a half inches in length.”— Kentucky 
Gazette. 
“ On the farm of the Rev. J. Van Tassel, in Maumee, Ohio, a 
watermelon vine, sprung from a single seed during the past 
summer, bore twenty-eight melons that averaged eighteen lbs. 
each. Five hundred and four pounds of melons from a single 
seed. Fact and no mistake.”—Dost. Cour. 
“ We received a present of peaches a few days since from the 
farm of W. II. Davis, Esq. one of which measured ten and a half 
inches in circumference, and three and a half inches from the 
stem through, with the peeling off. They are preserved in 
brandy, and we hope to enjoy them at our leisure on some fu¬ 
ture day.”— Elizabeth City (N. C.) Star. 
“Mr. D. White of Perquimans county, gathered this season 
from his patch ten watermelons which weighed respectively 
26 1-4, 26 1-2, 27 1-4, 27 1-2, 28 1-4 , 29 1-2, 30, “32, 33, and 87 1-2 
pounds—making an aggregate of 297 1-2 pounds. The largest 
measured three feet one and a half inches.”— Elizabeth City 
(V. C.) Star. 
We have noticed also many instances in the papers 
of the day of beets, squashes, &c. The squashes have 
ranged from 100 pounds to 207 pounds, which we 
think is the largest. 
We also take pleasure in this place in acknowledging 
the receipt from Mr. L. Hotchkiss of Amber, Ononda¬ 
ga county, of a splendid beet, measuring 15| inches in 
length, 231 inches in circumference, and -weighing 14 
pounds closely trimmed. It is a very smooth handsome 
root for one of such great size. 
The reports of the various agricultural societies prove 
most conclusively, that the past season has been most 
propitious for all plants and crops not liable to be in¬ 
jured by drouth ; and in many districts the want of wa¬ 
ter has not been felt at all. The high temperature has 
been most favorable to all plants of the squash and me¬ 
lon tribes, and to fruit in general, but the potato and 
ruta baga have suffered from it. 
