194 
THE CULTIVATOR 
and possibly may think me somewhat officious in giving them. 
But should they be disposed thus to condemn me, I must beg 
them to recollect before they pass sentence, that all I have writ¬ 
ten on the subject has been communicated at the request of 
yourselves and one of your correspondents. It is true that this 
request was made to your contributors generally, and therefore 
it was not my special business to comply with it. Still I have 
ventured to make the attempt, and should it bring me into any 
scrape, I hereby give you and your North-Carolina friend fair 
notice that I shall call upon you both lustily for help. If either 
of you should want farther information in regard to horses, let 
me strongly recommend to you 11 The Horse Book,” for in ad¬ 
dition to all that I have said’, you will find a prescription for 
all their diseases, and directions for correcting every fault 
which can be corrected. 
I will now proceed with my comments on other articles in 
your October number; and the first I shall notice is the com¬ 
munication from your enterprising correspondent, G. W., of 
Richmond, Va. But it is only to beg that he will not fail to re¬ 
port to his brother farmers the final result of the highly inte¬ 
resting experiment which he is now making. If he succeeds, 
as I have no doubt he will, a manure of vast value, one too 
which is easily formed, will be added to those we already pos¬ 
sess. — 
In your extract from the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, re¬ 
lative to the Italian Spring Wheat, made by Mr. Erastus Skin¬ 
ner, it is said that “ he prepares his land for yielding 56 bushels 
of wheat to the acre, by growing ruta baga, at a net profit of 
$70.42 an acre.” This is inconceivable without some explana¬ 
tion, for all who ever cultivated the ruta baga, know well that 
it is an exhausting crop, if taken off the land, and of course, 
that the more culture of it therein must lessen instead of in¬ 
creasing its productiveness. 
In the article signed A. M., and headed 11 Protection against 
Drouth,” the author, (if I understand him,) maintains the opin¬ 
ion that frequent stirring the surface is rather a disadvantage ; 
but in this he presupposes what will not necessarily happen, 
and this is, an exposure of a new surface every time the earth 
is stirred. In such supposition he is certainly wrong, if, in¬ 
stead of the plow, a well made single coulter be used: for this 
will stir the earth deeper than any plow, and yet leave the sur¬ 
face very nearly, if not quite the same as it was before the coul- 
tering. How often stirring, he would call too frequent, does 
not clearly appear, but I will venture to say, that in every kind 
of soil which is apt to bake and become hard, it should be fre¬ 
quent enough to prevent such effect. 
Your anonymous correspondent’s notion about a National 
Agricultural School, 11 favoring the aristocratic few,” seems to 
be rather an “ ad captandum vulgus” bait, than a serious ob¬ 
jection. And as to his suggestion that a better application of 
the Smithsonian Legacy would be to purchase “the back num¬ 
bers of your Cultivator, or some equally valuable agricultural 
journal,” for gratuitous distribution, I must move him to re¬ 
consider it, until he determines in his own mind, whether five 
hundred thousand men, or even five hundred of those who have 
been heretofore so self-conceited, or so niggardly as not alrea¬ 
dy to have furnished themselves with any paper of the kind; 
would be prevailed upon to read one, even if it were offered 
to them as a present. — 
I agree entirely with your correspondent, Mr. S. Stewart, in 
regard to what he calls ‘‘crack articles,” about pet-calves of 
enormous size, or any other pets; and I verily think as he seems 
to do, that they occupy much more room in our agricultural pa¬ 
pers than they deserve. Much better would it be for the inte¬ 
rests of agriculture, if such writers would content themselves 
with making and communicating such accurate experiments as 
he has done, rather than so often to busy themselves in exciting 
the wonderment, and not unfrequently, the incredulity of your 
readers. 
As Mr. Stewart seems fond of brevity in style, I will beg leave 
to recommend to him a new word which in three syllables ex¬ 
presses the whole business of planting, cultivating, and secur¬ 
ing the potato crop. I picked it up some years ago in traveling 
through Connecticut, and was so struck with its multum in 
parvo character, that I forthwith added it to my vocabulary, 
and have used it ever since. This word is “ taturing.” I got 
it from a smart little fellow whom I was questioning about his 
education, as he drove me along in a carry-all. Upon asking 
him, if he went to school and when? he replied, “Yes, I go 
in winter time.” “Well,” said I, “what do you do during the 
rest of the year ?” “ Oh, sir,” said he, “ then I am out a tatur¬ 
ing.” 
I earnestly hope Mr. Webster will adopt this word in the next 
edition of his excellent Dictionary, for I am very sure that the 
last edition contains not one which expresses more with the 
same number of letters. Yours with regard, 
COMMENTATOR. 
Wellington and Gore Agricultural Societies. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —The advantages of agricultural 
societies have become so well understood and so generally ad¬ 
mitted, as to render it almost unnecessary to descant upon 
them; but I conceive that much of the interest which they have 
succeeded in awakening would again fall into a state of "slum¬ 
ber, and many of their advantages be lost, if their proceedings 
were not published and disseminated : entertaining this ideaj I 
shall feel much obliged if you will give insertion to the follow¬ 
ing account of the first exhibition of stock held by the agricultu¬ 
ral society of the newly formed district of Wellington, which 
took place in this town on the 13th ultimo. It being generally 
known, that during the last few years, many importations of 
stock of various descriptions had been made from England by 
some of the spirited farmers of this neighborhood, it was antici¬ 
pated that such an exhibition would take place as would not be 
easily equaled by any newly settled district in the Province, 
and I have much pleasure in stating that this anticipation was 
folly realized. The horses and mares were of much better 
quality than in my last communication to you I ventured to pre¬ 
dict. "The Short Horned cattle produced by Mr. Howitt were 
above all praise; rarely, indeed, have I, in any country, seen 
such a choice herd exhibited as the property of one man ; none 
of them escaped admiration, but one four years old heifer cre¬ 
ated astonishment. A Devon cow, the property of Mr. Jackson, 
was much admired. The show of grade and Canadian cattle 
and working oxen was good. The Leicester and South Down 
rams were fine specimens of those crack breeds, but the Leices¬ 
ter ewes exhibited by Mr. Jackson were of surpassing excel¬ 
lence. The g.rade Leicesters exhibited by Messrs. Thompson, 
Budd and Spiers afforded ample evidence of the great improve¬ 
ment that may be effected by using Leicester rams to the com¬ 
mon Canadian ewes. The show of hogs was strikingly good, 
but being myself deeply interested in the breed of those animals, 
it would, perhaps, be improper in me to make many comments ; 
I may, however, be excused for saying that a Berkshire sow, the 
property of Mr. King, met with deserved admiration, as also did 
a sow of hers, which was got by an improved Yorkshire boar. 
You will, however, perceive by the subjoined list, that the pre¬ 
miums for the best boar and sow were awarded to Wamba and 
Purity, the property of J'. and E. A. Harland. 
On the day following the celebration at Guelph, I had the plea¬ 
sure of attending anexhibition of stock by the agricultural so¬ 
ciety of the neighboring district of Gore, which was held at the 
flourishing village of Dundas; and I am happy in having an op¬ 
portunity of publicly acknowledging my sense of the kind treat¬ 
ment and gratifying attention which I and my colleagues (act¬ 
ing as judges) received at the hands of the highly intelligent of¬ 
fice-bearers of that society. The most prominent object in the 
show-yard was a Short Horned bull, (the property of John We- 
tenhall, Esq.) which appeared (to borrow the expression of an 
eminent breeder) to cover an acre of ground, and on examining 
him, his perfect symmetry was abundantly manifested, whilst a 
single grasp at his fine mellow hide, in which I could almost 
have folded myself, was sufficient to convince any one of his 
first rate feeding properties ! He is certainly a superb animal, 
and will undoubtedly do much good in the neighborhood; in¬ 
deed,_ from the large quantity of prime young stock which was 
exhibited, it was evident that the judicious breeders had not 
been slow to avail themselves of his services. Some fine Dur¬ 
ham cows (bred by the Hon. Adam Ferguson from his imported 
stock) commanded great attention; one of them was purchased 
at a high price by my spirited and worthy neighbor, Mr. Howitt, 
who neglects no opportunity of adding to his already splendid 
stock. Some pretty specimens of Ayrshire cattle were exhibit¬ 
ed and had their admirers. The show of sheep was rather 
small; a sprinkling of Leicesters was conspicuous amongst 
them—one ewe occupied much of my attention, her square form, 
beautiful fleece, prominent eyes, long thin ears, small muzzle, 
slender legs, ana other prime qualities almost convinced me 
that she was descended from the flock of Sir Tatton Sykes of 
Yorkshire. The show of hogs was large; but the blood of the 
Alligators evidently flowed in the veins of most of them ; I how¬ 
ever, saw two good young pigs of a cross breed, and two others 
which it was easily to perceive were Berkshires; they were 
very pretty, but like all the Berkshires which it has hitherto 
been my fortune to meet with, rather small. 
My letter has already reached a greater length than I intend¬ 
ed that, it should have done, but I cannot conclude it without 
offering my congratulations to you and your fellow-laborers of 
the Agricultural Press, upon the gratifying effects which your 
efforts to promote a better taste for the cultivation of the soil 
and the breeding of stock have produced and are producing. It 
is evident that improvements in both branches are progressing 
not only steadily but rapidly, and it is highly refreshing to hear 
in every quarter the denunciations against smut, chess, thistles, 
alligators, &c., which some people have already discovered may 
be got rid of by attention and good management; and the space 
which those noxious weeds, and certainly not innoxious brutes, 
have hitherto occupied, filled with plants and animals of a pro¬ 
fitable description. With regard to book-read farmers, which it 
has long been the fashion to sneer at, I have to observe, that in 
the course of my experience, I do not remember having met with 
a good farmer that had an objection to add to his store of know¬ 
ledge by reading an agricultural book or paper; and I never 
knew a slovenly or bad farmer that I did not think ought to have 
perused such works. As a proof that the Cultivator has at least 
no injurious effects upon its readers, I wish to call attention to 
the fact, that two-thirds of the winners of premiums at the show 
of cattle at this place are upon your list of subscribers, and the 
remainder are at least occasional readers. 
I am, gent’n, your ob’t serv’t, J. HARLAND. 
Guelph, Canada, Nov. 1, 1841. 
List of Winners of Premiums at the Wellington District Agricul¬ 
tural Society’s Cattle Show. 
The best stallion for agricultural purposes—Mr. Park¬ 
inson’s Young Mazeppa,. £2 10s. 
The best and second best mare for do.—Mr. Jackson’s 
Imey,. 2 jo 
Mr. Quarry’s Darling,. 1 5 
The best filly foal—Mr. S. Owen’s, by Prince Albert, •• • 1 0 
The best imported bull—Mr. Howitt’s Comet, by Re¬ 
former, . 2 10 
The best imported cow—Mr. Howitt’s Strawberry,. 2 10 
Bull, not being thorough bred—Mr. Armstrong’s B'risk, 
by Adonis,. 2 0 
Cow, not being thorough bred—Mr. Parkinson’s Fill 
Pail,. 1 10 
Two years old heifer, not thorough bred—Mr. Ambrose’s 
Lovely, by Adonis,. 1 0 
One year old heifer, not thorough bred—Mr. Howitt’s 
Miss Dyson, . 1 0 
The best and second best yoke of oxen—Mr. Tolton’s, • 2 10 
Mr. Parker’s, . 1 5 
Leicester ram—Mr. Broadfoot’s, (bred by Mr. Jackson,) 2 0 
Pair of imported Leicester ewes—Mr. Jackson’s,.- 1 10 
Imported South Down ram—Mr. Howitt’s,. 2 0 
Pair of imported South Down ewes—Mr. Howitt’s, -- 1 jo 
Three ewes, not being thorough bred—Mr. Thompson’s, 1 0 
Imported boar—Messrs. J. & E. A. I-Iarland’s Wamba, • 2 0 
Imported sow—Messrs. J. & E. A. Harland’s Purity, • • • 1 10 
Sow, not being thorough bred—Mr. J. Horning’s Susan, 1 0 
Migration of the Swallow, 
Messrs. Gaylord Sc Tucker —In a communication from M. S. 
D. in the last Vol. of the Cultivator, under “ Popular Errors,” 
he says: “Another common error relates to the migration or 
hybernation of birds, particularly the barn swallow, or chimney 
swallow. It is supposed by many that these birds descend 
to the bottom of ponds, lakes, &c., in the mud of which they lie 
torpid during the winter, as it is well known the toad, frog and 
lizzard do, and as the bat does in caves or other dark recesses. 
These birds migrate, as their presence in the equatorial regions, 
during their absence from ours, conclusively proves; and the 
idea of their being torpid has been countenanced by the fact, 
that the flight of most migratory birds takes place during the 
night.” 
I have thought proper to state such facts as I have at hand 
respecting the migration of swallows. The barn swallow, I 
presume, seeks a warm clime in the fall, but the black martin 
and house swallow, at least a portion of them, would place me 
according to M. S. D. among the “ popular errors ” of the day. 
The following accounts, which I take from Samuel Williams’ 
History of Vermont, transpired, a part of them, in towns ad¬ 
joining mine. He says : “ The black martin (the swallow that 
builds their nests under the eaves of barns and houses) arrive 
the latest, and disappear the soonest of any of the swallows; 
but they do not seem to be properly birds of passage. At Dauby 
the inhabitants report that some of them were taken out of a 
pond in that town some years ago; among the mud and roots 
of the pond-lily a man threw out several swallows enclosed in 
the mud, alive, but in a tprpid state.” He says, “ that it has 
been doubted by some able naturalists whether it is possible for 
the swallow to live in such a situation; but I saw an instance 
which puts the possibility of the fact beyond a doubt. About the 
year 1760, two men were digging in the salt marsh at Cam¬ 
bridge, in Massachusetts on the banks of Charles river; about 
two feet below the surface of the ground, they dug tip a swal¬ 
low, wholly surrounded and covered with mud. The swallow 
was in a torpid state, but being held in fheir hands it revived in 
about half an hour. The.place where this swallow was dug up 
was every day covered with salt water, at every high tide was 
four or five feet deep. This swallow was found in the month of 
February. 
“ The species called the chimney or house swallow has been 
found during the winter in hollow trees. At Middlebury there 
was a large hollow elm, called by the inhabitants the swallow- 
tree. From a man who lived for several years within twenty 
rods of it, I procured this information. He always thought the 
swallows tarried in the tree through the winter, and avoided 
cutting it down on that account. About the first of May the 
swallows came out in large numbers about the middle of the 
day and soon returned. As the weather grew warmer they 
came out in the morning with a loud noise and soon dispersed. 
About half an hour before sun-down they returned in millions, 
circulating two or three times round the tree, and then descend¬ 
ing like a stream into a hole about sixty feet from the ground. 
In November, 1791, the top of this tree was blown down twenty 
feet below where the swallows entered. There has been no ap¬ 
pearance of the swallows since. 
“Another of these swallow-trees was at Bridport. The swal¬ 
lows were first observed to come out of the tree in the spring 
about the time the leaves first began to appear on the trees, and 
about the middle of September they were seen entering the tree 
for the last time. 
“The following account from Nathan Rumsey, Esq. of Hub- 
bardton, is more conclusive : ‘ Sometime in the month of March, 
A. D. 1786, when the snow was deep on the ground, I was mak¬ 
ing sugar in the town of Hubbardton with the assistance of 
some boys, who informed me that they had discovered a large 
number of birds flying out from a tree ; I went to the tree and 
found that the birds were swallows of the chimney kind. For 
several days I observed the swallows going out and into a hol¬ 
low of this large elm fifty or sixty feet from the ground. I chop¬ 
ped a hole in the tree, from whence I could see through to their 
place of entrance, and found that they extended from this hole, 
from fifty or sixty feet, near down to the ground, and appeared 
to be sticking to the tree as thick as they could be placed ; a 
considerable part of them appeared to be in a torpid state.’ ” 
In this town, (Weybridge,) about one and a half miles from my 
residence, a very large elm stood on a farm belonging to Samuel 
James,* Esq., which has been visited by the house swallow for 
many years. A little before sun-down I have seen immense 
numbers of them through the summer months directing their 
course towards this tree; they would form several circular 
motions, and then descend into the hole of this hollow tree, 
which was about the size of a barrel where the tree was broke 
off, about sixty-five feet from the ground, and bowed over to the 
east a few feet of the top. Mr. James says that he had frequent¬ 
ly seen swallows about this tree going out and in about noon¬ 
day in warm weather in the spring, but did not offer to go any 
great distance from the tree. And as Warm weather advanced, 
they were seen by millions to rush out of this-tree about half 
an hour before sun-rise, and after taking a circuitous motion, 
they would disperse in all directions. Through their breeding 
season they did not appear so plenty as they did in the spring 
and fall. About seven years since, some racoons bad taken re¬ 
fuge in this tree about the first of September, and it was cut 
down. 
Mr. James says he has no doubt but the swallows remained 
in this tree through the winter. He was present at the time it 
was cut, and states that the cavity, which was four feet diame¬ 
ter at the butt, was completely filled to the height of ten feet 
with dung, bones and feathers. 
The idea that most birds migrate by night I very much doubt. 
The barn and chimney swallow, I know, cannot see as well as 
common barn fowls in the night. Birds, without collecting in 
flocks, may migrate through the day time without being noticed 
by the common observer. The crows for instance, may be seen 
about sun-down all going one direction through the season to 
roost, where they congregate in large numbers in some retired 
swamp, or thicket of evergreens, and early in the morning they 
disperse in all directions; and I dare say that many readers of 
this article have never noticed the fact, which they might do by 
slight observation. 
As various opinions have been formed respecting the migra¬ 
tion of birds, and especially the swallow, which, as has been 
stated, exist in a torpid state through the winter, the absurdity 
of which has been refuted by able naturalists; I hope, therefore, 
if wrong to be righted; and if other of your numerous readers 
can support me in the above facts, I shall hope to hear from 
them. S. W. JEWETT. 
Salmagundi—-Mo. 2. 
I avail myself of an inclement day, Messrs. Editors, and have 
prepared a chapter corresponding with my caption. Permit me, 
although with some regret to myself, to refer again to 
TamB’s Tail?. 
Not a very interesting subject truly, but made a little important 
by Mr. Bliss of Connecticut, in the October number. On a for¬ 
mer occasion I remarked, in passing, as follows : “After this the 
tails are docked, and if you wish to- save yourselves the trouble 
of tagging often during the year, cut them off as short as pos¬ 
sible.” My own experience has sanctioned this on the score of 
necessity and humanity: and I did not dream that any farmer 
having the character of tidiness, could attempt to controvert 
it. But Mr. Bliss, it seems, is eccentric enough—for that is the 
mildest term I can use—to advocate natural tails for sheep, and 
introduces flowing horse tails, and “ handsome curled” pig ’3 
tails, by way of illustration and argument. A moment’s reflec¬ 
tion, I think, would have satisfied the gentleman that his com¬ 
parisons are not apposite. The horse for instance, when well, 
never discharges excrement when in a lying posture ; whereas 
the sheep will, whether ill or well; and hence, if the tail is 
left long, the excrement adheres, and if the weather is warm, 
it attracts the maggot fly; the rest must not be told. Is it not, 
therefore, an act of humanity to divest the animal of an appen¬ 
dage which is often the means of destroying its life ? I could 
enforce this by the citation of abundance of facts, if I deemed 
it of sufficient importance. As to the question of taste, between 
long and short tails, in reference to sheep, Mr. Bliss would find 
himself in a lean minority were he to put the question to the 
great mass of farmers. Off with their tails—so much for nui¬ 
sances—will, at all events, continue to be my motto. 
IS lack lock’s Treatise 011 Sheep. 
I anticipated your good advice, Messrs. Editors, and supplied 
myself some months since with a copy of this valuable work. 
1 have read the whole of it with considerable attention, and 
most cheerfully accord with you in all that you have said in its 
praise. Youatt’s History of Sheep is as correct a guide, and 
abounds with more minute and varied information. Both, how¬ 
ever, should have a place in the library of every wool-grower. 
It is my present intention, in the next volume of the Cultivator, 
to draw largely from these standard works—in addition to my 
own experience in sheep husbandry, for the benefit of that nu¬ 
merous class of your subscribers, rvho either will not or cannot 
purchase either. I did not now intend to advert them, but to the 
queries propounded in the last number of the Cultivator, by Mr. 
J. N. Smith, on the subject of “South Downs,” induced me 
to turn to these works and answer most of them in a general 
way. Blackloek says, “ the South Down, like the Ryland, are 
from the delicacy of their constitutions, unadapted for bleak 
situations, but sufficiently hardy and active for a low country; 
their average weight is from 15 lbs. to 18 lbs. a quarter; that 
of the fleece, which is very short and fine, being from 2J to 3 
lbs.” Youatt says, “The average weight of tlie fleece of a. 
South Down bill sheep was stated by Mr. Labheck, in 1800, to be 
2 lbs.; it isnow increased to'3 lbs. The fleece of the low land 
sheep, that used to be 3 lbs. is now 3), or even 4 lbs. This is 
the natural consequence of the different mode of feeding, and 
the larger size of the animal. The fibre is the six hundredth 
part of an inch in diameter; the Merino about seven hundred 
* Brother to Dr. John and Edwin James, who formerly resided 
at Albany. 
