THE CULTIVATOR. 103 
made, I am very confident that in nearly every instance 
where one state is found to produce more than another, 
in proportion to its cultivated surface, it will be disco¬ 
vered by those who will take the trouble to ascertain the 
true causes of such difference, to be attributable to the 
superior scientific knowledge, practical skill, industry, 
and economy of the owners and cultivators of the soil, 
who have either never abused the bounty of Providence 
in giving them good lands, or have corrected the abuses 
committed by their predecessors. In some of those states, 
it is notorious that agriculture is still in a very lamenta¬ 
ble condition, and little or no attention is paid to it as a 
science. The inevitable consequence of this is, in all 
those states, that the practice thereof as an art, must ne¬ 
cessarily fall very far short of what it ought to be; for there 
are certain fundamental principles upon which all arts 
depend, without a knowledge of which in their practition¬ 
ers, it is just as impossible that they should ever reach 
perfection, as it is for mere chance to make a world. If 
the opinion be general, that neither mechanics, ge¬ 
ology, mineralogy, chemistry, nor botany, has any thing 
to do with our profession, it is very certain that neither 
will ever be studied by those who entertain this opinion: 
and it is equally certain, that unless they acquire some 
knowledge of the intimate connection which exists be¬ 
tween agriculture and all those sciences, they never can 
gain a just title to the character of good farmers. They 
may indeed, often make good crops, and even make mo¬ 
ney, if they are economical. But this they can do only 
by following implicitly the example of others, without 
understanding any thing of the principles upon which they 
act, or knowing how to make the slightest change in their 
modes of proceeding, should a change of circumstances 
make it necessary. Another great evil arising from this 
state of things, is, that our profession does not rank near 
as high in public estimation as it should do; for the ma¬ 
jority of its followers being comparatively ignorant and 
illiterate, the members of other trades, professions, and 
callings, especially of what are called, par excellence, 
t'ne learned professions, will certainly be very apt to in¬ 
fer that tlieir vocation itself, is one which requires nei¬ 
ther talents nor learning to render it successful, since so 
large a proportion of those who follow it are found very 
deficient in both. None indeed, will more frequently 
entertain this most pernicious opinion, than that very nu¬ 
merous body of our own brethren who are so destitute 
of education as scarcely to be able to read or write. This 
is an evil of great extent, and interposes, wherever it 
exists, an effectual barrier to any great improvement in 
American husbandry; for it is always accompanied and 
fortified by a combination of self-conceit and obstinacy, 
which is nearly as impregnable to all force of argument, 
as the rock of Gibraltar has heretofore proved to all the 
power of artillery. Illustrative of this fact, I have some¬ 
where seen an amusing anecdote of King Alfred the Great, 
and an old priest, who, in one of the latin prayers then al¬ 
ways used in the church, had ignorantly substituted the 
word “mumpsimus,” for “ sumpsimus.” The king, (as 
the story goes,) labored hard to convince him that he was 
wrong, but could get no other answer for his pains than 
this, “ your majesty may be right, but I can’t give up my old 
mumpsimus for your new sumpsimus.” And if similar 
traits of character be any proof of consanguinity, the old 
priest has not a few near relations, even in these our 
days of much vaunted enlightenment. Still, as their libe¬ 
ration from such mental degradation is a most desirable 
thing, and not altogether hopeless, every true friend to 
his country should labor incessantly to accomplish it; 
for next to the victory obtained over our own ignorance 
and prejudices, there is none whatever so truly glorious, 
so full of soul-cheering thoughts, as that which we gain 
over the ignorance and prejudices of others: it ennobles 
both the conquerors and the conquered. But unfortu¬ 
nately for mankind, it seems not to be the common opin¬ 
ion. Such victories procure no applause, no man-wor¬ 
ship, from the multitude; and this being the thing which 
most men covet above all others, it is no wonder that the 
mental and moral improvement of our race should be a 
pursuit in which we find so very few voluntary laborers 
in proportion to the magnitude and vital importance of 
the work to be done. That portion of it which the pro¬ 
fessional and intellectual wants of our own brethren re¬ 
quire to be performed, constitutes but a small part of the 
vast whole; but it is that part especially, in regard to 
which it most behooves us who are members of the Ag¬ 
ricultural Society of the United States, to exert all the 
means in our power to accomplish. This, I presume, 
was one of the chief purposes for which we associated 
ourselves together; and most earnestly do I hope, that 
at least a majority of our members are of the same opin¬ 
ion. If they are not, if they contemplate no such end, 
if they believe that our meetings are to be held without 
effecting any good to our agricultural community at all, 
commensurate to the large scale upon which our society 
has been organized,— then indeed, I have no hesitation in 
saying, that when we adjourn on the present occasion, it 
should be to meet no more as an agricultural society; 
for we should justly deserve the derision, instead of the 
praise and approval of our brethren throughout the Union. 
Already we have been sneered at, and that too, in an 
agricultural paper, as something that would prove at 
least “ harmless;” and harmless, I trust, will be the pre¬ 
diction. But attempts have been made to excite against 
us something more than ridicule; attempts, which, if 
successful, will do us material injury. It has been said 
that we shall kill all the local societies; and although not 
a shadow of reason has been offered in support of this 
preposterous assertion, yet, like every other which con¬ 
cerns the interests of many, it appears to have made pro¬ 
selytes enough to require that it should be noticed. So 
far am I from being able to discern the most remote pro¬ 
bability of other societies being injured by ours, that it 
seems to me certain they must reciprocally benefit each 
other: since the various information which they can, and 
I hope will impart to us, relative to all the different 
branches of husbandry, we can diffuse more generally 
and rapidly than they can, over our whole country. 
Moreover, it is such information as they can always best 
obtain, in consequence of their greater intimacy, and 
nearer connection with our agricultural brethren in the 
different states and territories. Instead of seeking over 
the whole country for the facts we may want, which we 
should be obliged to do if there were no local societies, 
we should always be able to find the greater part of these 
facts in their possession; and hence we should have eve¬ 
ry inducement to co-operate most cordially together. Al¬ 
though distinct in organization, and independent in action, 
they may always be to each other, what the states and the 
general government may and should be, that is, cordial 
co-laborers in the one grand, ail-glorious cause—National 
Happiness. 
I have heard of a few other objections to our society, 
although they are really so frivolous, so manifestly the 
offspring of a total misconception of our objects, that it 
would be an utter waste of time to notice them. I shall 
not therefore make the slightest attempt to disturb the 
self-complacency of those who entertain them. 
To insure complete success to our association, there 
seems to me but one thing necessary in addition to an 
Agricultural paper, and that by no means difficult to ac¬ 
complish. If the men who occupy the high places of 
our country would constantly and zealously aid it, not 
only by their purses, but by giving their countenance to 
all its proceedings—by contributing their good words to 
all its objects—and by communicating to it, for publica¬ 
tion, the useful results of all their own agricultural ex¬ 
perience : then indeed, might we reasonably hope soon 
to render to the cause of American husbandry all the good 
which such a society, pi’operly conducted, is certainly 
capable of imparting. Funds would soon accumulate 
sufficient to have an annual Show and Fair, on a scale co¬ 
extensive with the magnitude and importance of the ends 
to be attained. At these exhibitions, we might bring into 
highly useful competition, the inventors of all the most 
approved agricultural machines and implements, so as to 
make it far more generally known than it can be by any 
other mode, which are best. Another great advantage 
of these Shows would be, that being on a much larger 
scale than any State Show, they would afford better op¬ 
portunities for putting an end to the apparently endless 
controversies in regard to the comparative merits of the 
numerous varieties of foreign cattle, hogs, and sheep, 
which for several years past, have been imported into 
our country. The praises of all these far-famed animals 
have been so incessantly sounded forth, and by trumpet¬ 
ers of such equal wind and speed, that our simple, untra¬ 
veled brethren have found it utterly impossible to do more 
than to choose by guess, if they purchased at all. They 
have been thus placed in the sail predicament of the luck¬ 
less Ass, between two equal bundles of hay. But should 
they ever make a purchase under such circumstances, 
there are twenty chances to one, that they are forthwith 
converted into the bigoted partizans of the particular 
breed of stock of which they have become the owners; 
for their pride and vanity will both be excited to main¬ 
tain the judiciousness of their choice; and when these 
besetting sins once get possession of our minds, o ur judg¬ 
ment can very rarely exercise its proper influence. Our 
own property, whatever it may be, assumes a merit and 
value in our own eyes, far greater than the reality, merely 
because it is our own; or, to borrow an old adage ex¬ 
pressive of the same thing, “our geese all become swans.” 
I fear, my friends, that in the preceding effort to advo¬ 
cate our cause, I have tresspassed on your time longer 
than I should have done. But if I have committed this 
fault, I trust you will pardon me in consideration of the 
very deep interest I take in the subject, and of my tho¬ 
rough conviction that unless our husbandry is honored 
and otherwise encouraged far more than it ever yet has 
been, our country never can reach that high state of ag¬ 
ricultural, commercial, and manufacturing prosperity 
which it is so pre-eminently susceptible of attaining. 
^Domestic (Exanomji. 
BUTTER—POUND CAKE. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Butter is so extensive¬ 
ly made in the state of New-York, that it may be consi¬ 
dered one of its staples. 
It is a surprising fact that this most important article 
of northern production is made poor from negligence in 
attending to the common and obvious qualities of the 
milk. The pure milk itself possesses all the qualities re¬ 
quisite for making good butter, and if properly manu¬ 
factured, there would be no variation in the quality of 
the butter, except that arising from the different qualities 
of cows or their pasturage. 
Mark the above expression— made poor. This is the 
great difficulty. The milk in all its stages of progress to 
butter is subject to the influence of foreign matter, and 
thence becomes tainted at its commencement, verifying 
the old adage, “ as the twig is bent,” &e., thus it is easy 
to see that impure milk must inevitably make impure 
butter. 
A cellar of about ten feet is most fitting for a milk 
room; be careful to have no sink or hen roost near the 
room, nor any plants of strong odor, such as catnip, on¬ 
ions, tomatoes, growing near the windows, to taint the 
air of the room, which ought to be kept at a tempera¬ 
ture of from 50 to 66 degrees, and to accomplish this de¬ 
sirable object a thermometer is recommended. 
Flat stone or clay make the most suitable bottom for 
a milk cellar. 
Let there be a total abstinence from water in the ma¬ 
king of butter, as it washes away much of its volatile 
sweetness, which gives it the rich peculiar flavor; this is 
fairly illustrated by the fact, that ice placed on a plate of 
good butter renders it flat and tasteless. 
Cream will rise sufficient in thirty-six hours; it must 
be sweet when taken off and sweet when churned. The 
butter in coming from the churn must be well worked 
with a wooden ladle; after a short time strew on tha 
salt and continue working until the buttermilk disap¬ 
pears; then put the butter in a cool place for twenty 
hours; at the end of this time the salt being dissolved, 
the ladle may be again used to advantage. If the same 
care and patience were bestowed in working the milk 
from the butter, that is usually bestowed in mixing 
pound ccdce, there would be but few complaints of poor 
butter. The ingredients of the pound cake in general, 
must be admirably proportioned, but how deplorable do 
we often find the proportion of salt and butter! An ounce 
and a half of the former is generally applied to a pound 
of the latter, and from the manner in which butter is 
usually worked, the article would be intolerably rancid 
with a less quantity of salt; but if thoroughly worked, 
three quarters of an ounce of washedand well pulverized 
rock or Turk’s island salt is sufficient to preserve a pound 
of butter two years. 
Butter firkins should be of heart ash or white oak, to 
be soaked twenty hours before using. In putting down 
the butter, use no salt between the layers. In packing, 
great care is required to exclude the external air, expo¬ 
sure to which is highly injurious; firkins, therefore, are 
preferable to open tubs or pots, as they can be securely 
headed. Tubs with tight slip on covers, to hold 12 to 
15 lbs. of butter, are much in use, and are neat and con¬ 
venient for a small quantity of butter for immediate use. 
Butter cloths are sometimes necessary, and these cloths 
should be used for butter only. 
Butter is frequently conveyed to market and to exhi¬ 
bition for premium, in very improper vessels and un¬ 
sightly cloths, which prevent a quick sale and good price, 
and frequently the loss of a premium when otherwise en¬ 
titled to reward. Magnolia. 
MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker—I have been requested 
to give you and your readers, some account of my suc¬ 
cess in the management of domestic fowls. My experi¬ 
ments, having been continued for many years, have 
wrought in me the full conviction, that there is as great 
a difference and as much ground of preference among 
the breeds or varieties, as there is among cattle. Hav¬ 
ing tried a great number of different kinds, I ha-ve adopt¬ 
ed as my favorite, the Poland breed, or the black top- 
knots, as they are familiarly called. These, when pure 
or thorough-bred, are of a glossy- coal black, with a 
large tuft of long white feathers on the top of the head, 
and are the most beautiful domestic fowl probably, that 
can be found in this country. Their excellence consists 
mainly in their disinclination to set till they are three or 
four years old, and when well fed, continuing to lay eggs 
the whole y r ear, except during moulting time. This 
generally commences in the month of October or No¬ 
vember, and occupies about six weeks, during which 
they never 1ay eggs. 
Last y-ear I kept of the black top-knots, two cocks and 
fourteen hens. Early in December, 1840, they began 
to lay and continued laying, with occasional intervals of 
from three to six days, all winter and summer, till about 
the middle of October, 1841. The whole number of 
eggs produced, I did not ascertain; but of the eggs of 
three hens, that laid by themselves the year round, I 
kept an account, and found that they averaged 260 eggs 
each. Only two of the fourteen hens showed the least 
disposition to set during the year. The food they con¬ 
sumed during one year, consisted, first of twelve bushels 
of damaged wheat which I purchased at twenty-five cents 
per bushel, and af erwards twelve bushels of oats, also 
at twenty-five cents per bushel, amounting to six dollars. 
This, with a supply of fresh water every day, kept them 
in good condition, and caused them to produce large 
eggs; for all fowls lay- larger and heavier eggs when 
well fed, than when they are poor. My fowls"!: ave al¬ 
so laid the whole of this last winter. I have never suc¬ 
ceeded so well with any other breed. 
Buffon says, a common hen, well fed and attended, 
will produce upwards of 150 eggs in a year, besides two 
broods of chickens. But the common hens I formerly 
kept, always fell much short of this number. 
Were I to describe as the result of my experience, 
what I think the best food for fowls, I should say a plenty 
of grain, not much matter what kind, either boiled or 
soaked in water, and in winter mixed with boiled pota¬ 
toes, fed warm, twice a day. It is also of great impor¬ 
tance that they have a warm sunny' place to stay in du¬ 
ring winter, for if left without care to find their roost 
here and there in an open barn or shed, they will pro¬ 
duce no eggs. If they could, in winter, be roosted in a 
tight room ten feet square, where by their contiguity 
they could mutually impart warmth, their improvement 
would be manifest to the most incredulous. 
The only disease of consequence that I have observed 
among my fowls, has been the pip, which is a kind of 
horny scale growing on the tip of the tongue, and by 
