IMPROVING THE BREED OF COWS. THE Encyclopedia Brittanica says: "The loss from breeding inferior cattle is far greater than those concerned seem to be aware of. It is impossible to estimate this loss accurately, but from careful observation and inquiry, we feel confident that it amounts to not less than $12 a head on one half of the fat cattle annually slaughtered in Great Britain. If this be s, it follows that without spending a farthing more than is done at present on food, housing, and attendance, the profit which would accrue from using only the best class bulls would be equivalent to an advance of three cents a pound on the price of beef, as regards half of the fat bullocks brought to market. This profit could be secured by a very moderate outlay, for if properly gone about, the best class of bulls might be employed without adding more than a dollar a head to the price of each calf reared. We may surely anticipate that such a palpable source of profit will not continue to be neglected by breeders of cattle." If these remarks are applicable to the farmers of Great Britain they are even more worthy of the attention of farmers of this country, where the proportion of inferior cattle is far greater than in England. The introduction of improved breeds of cattle has already added millions of dollars to the wealth of this country; but though much has been done in this direction, there is still abundant room for further improvement. The great majority of cattle sent to market are of a very inferior order. The following remarks, by the same writer, are particularly applicable to our native cattle. When crossed with a Short-horn, Devon, or Hereford bull, the result is highly encouraging, so far at least as beef producing qualities are concerned: It is MOWING MACHINES-FINALE. EDITORS GENESEE FARMER: It is now nearly two years since I undertook to show the impropriety, or rather that there was no necessity for the introduction of any kind of patent right machinery into the State of New York, or elsewhere, for the purpose of saving the time or money of the farmer. Since my first article on the subject, in answer to Mr. STREET, of Ohio, I have been induced to reply to several others in different parts of the country, until I begin to feel, in common with many of the readers of the Farmer, that about enough has been said upon the occasion, at least for the present, especially as Messrs. STREET and NICHOLS have become a little personal in their remarks. true that I had hoped to have been the means of doing a little more good toward all the gentlemen on the wrong side of the question, but it has turned out otherwise. In fact, I am afriad, like ЕPHRAIM, they are "joined to their idols"-iron_mowing machines, costing about $100 each — and we will have to let them go. The "good seed" sown by the way side in "days of old" was speedily devoured, and let us cast no more in any of the Streets of benighted Ohio. Mr. NICHOLS has now favored us with another instalment of his name-not a very pretty one, and too Frenchified, or something worse, for an old fashioned Yankee farmer to have much hopes of, and we can afford to let him go. So with all the rest, excepting, perhaps, the "Small Boy" longer, hoping to make something out of him one in Michigan, whom we will keep in hand a while of these days. But if we should fail with young hopeful also, to be candid, I think "the country will still be safe," and that the farmers of New York and Ohio will always have a way to cut their grass and grain at the proper time, and continue as ever to contribute their large share toward the prosperity and happiness of our common country. the protracted discussion now brought to a close. Long life and prosperity to all my adversaries in Oxford, Chenango county, N. Y. E. B. BUNDY. "It is doubtless important to have both parents good; but in the case of ruminants, the predomiSAVE YOUR HAY-SEED. - Many farmers never nating influence of the male, in determining the think of saving the offal from the cattle or horse qualities of the progeny, is so well ascertained that manger, but throw it away, or into the manure the selection of the bull is a matter of prime im- heap. In either case the seed is lost, and in the portance. We are able to state from ample per-last it becomes a great nuisance, if the manure be sonal experience, that by using a bull that is at once good himself, and of good descent, a level and applied to hoed crops. An old writer says he valuable lot of calves can be obtained from very indifferent cows. In Berwickshire it is the practice to employ chiefly married laborers who reside on the farm, and one part of whose wages is the keep of a cow. These laborers usually give the preference to small cows and-so that they are healthy and yield milk plentifully-care little about their breed or other qualities. A good judge of grazing CATTLE YARDS should be well littered with refuse cattle could not easily imagine a more unpromising straw. It absorbs the liquid, and prevents much breeding stock than is turnished by these cottagers' of this valuable part of the manure from running cows; and yet when they are coupled with a really good Short-horn bull, it is truly surprising to see what admirable cattle are produced from them." BROADCAST 08. DRILLING WHEAT.-"In Scotland, at least," says the Encyclopædia Brittanica, "oftenrepeated trials have shown that larger crops of wheat are obtained by broadcasting than by drilling." "saved sufficient hay chaff one winter from feeding twenty-three head of animals, to stock down ten acres of meadow." Would it not be better, however, to cut the grass earlier and thus lessen the quantity of seed which shells out in feeding? to waste. It augments the quantity of the manure, and adds largely to the comfort of the stock. A dry, sheltered, well-littered barn-yard, is a pleasant place in winter-you will be inclined to spend considerable time there and we all know that cattle and sheep thrive much better for being looked at! It is not too late, any time this month, to plant spring-flowering bulbs, such as Crocuses, Hyacinths, Tulips, &c. Where these are planted, let the soil be enriched with well-rotted manure, and spaded deep, and of fine tilth. Crocuses and the smaller bulbs should be covered about two inches deep, and Hyacinths and Tulips about four inches. LILIES, which deserve a place in every garden, DEPARTMENT may now be planted; and on no account should it FALL WORK IN THE GARDEN. Ar this season, so much is to be done that a word in reference to some points of garden-culture may not be unprofitable. BLACKBERRIES and RASPBERRIES should have all their old canes cut away, close to the ground, and the young suckers removed, leaving only four or five of the stronger in each hill. All the superfluous plants may be made into a new plantation, if desired. A good top-dressing of manure applied now, to be finally spaded in, in the spring, will repay the labor with a generous increase of fruit. In the more Northern States and the Canadas, it is highly beneficial, if not necessary, to bend the canes down, so that the tops may lie on the ground, and be covered with a little earth. be deferred until spring, which would prevent them from blooming. Lilium Japonicum and L. longi florum are exceptions to this remark, and should be treated quite differently. They should be taken up in the fall, before they have been injured by frost, and preserved in dry sand during the winter, and planted in the spring, as early as the ground can be worked. CURRANT BUSHES may be pruned of all old or diseased wood, and the new shoots partially cut back, which will ensure a more vigorous growth the ensuing season. Black Currants should be pruned, with the purpose of obtaining a supply of new wood from the bottom every year, as it is from such wood only that fruit is obtained. A layer of coarse manure placed upon the Straw- ripe bunch of Catawba grapes grown in this vicinberry beds will serve the double purpose of enrich-ity the present season. Indeed, the Catawba seling the soil and preventing the plants from being thrown out of the ground by frost. If the plants stand too thick for fruiting well, they should now be thinned out. DWARF PEAR and DWARF APPLE TREES may have their young wood cut back one-half or two-thirds, attention being paid to the symmetry and the pecubar habits of each tree. Unless dwarf trees are thoroughly pruned, annually, thus promoting the growth of strong wood, their tendency to overbear will soon exhaust them of their vitality, and promote their early decay. During the latter part of this month, and through December, Grape vines may be pruned and securely fastened to their trellises, or, if tender, laid down and covered with straw or litter. ROSES, SPIREAS, DEUTZIAS, ALTHEAS, and all other shrubs that produce their flowers on the new wood, should be well shortened in. dom or never ripens perfectly here in the open air on the trellis. We have seen some this season growing against the wall of a house that were nearly ripe, especially those bunches which grew near the end of the vines, some thirty feet from the ground. The bunches and berries were very large, but not ripe. The President of our Horticultural Society informs us that he tasted some Catawba grapes grown this season at Niagara Falls on the trellis, that were perfectly ripe, and much larger than the Catawbas received here from Cincinnati. The climate along the Niagara river is undoubtedly influenced materially by the immense body of water passing over the Falls, and by Lakes Erie and Ontario. The finest grapes we have ever seen in this State were grown in Chautauque county, on a high ridge of sandy land. Whether this is to be attributed to soil and culture, or to the climate, we can not say-probably to all three. and with little variation in point of thickness, to the distance of forty feet from the tree. The tree, he says, "produces fruit in such abundance, that in some seasons a person may gather several bushels of nuts in a day." ABOVE we present a beautiful cut of the Greybarked Walnut or Butternut tree (Juglans cinerea). LOUDON, notwithstanding the great difference in the fruits, considers the Butternut only a variety of the Black Waluut (Juglans nigra). MICHAUX From the bark of the Butternut, an extract is observes that the two species, when young, resem-made, which, sweetened with honey, is sometimes ble each other in their foliage, and in the rapidity employed as a sure and mild purgative. BANCROFT of their growth; but that they are distinguishable at first sight when arrived at maturity. The trunk ramifies at a less height than the Black Walnut; the branches extend inore horizontally and spread widely, producing a large and flat tufted head. says that the husks of the shells may be employed in dyeing a fawn color, even without mordants. The Shakers at Lebanon dye a rich purple with the bark or nutshells. The bark of the trunk gives a black; that of the root a fawn color, but less powThe Butternut is a native of North America. It erfully. The wood of the Butternut is as tough, but is found in Upper and Lower Canada, and in the not so hard, as Black Walnut. It makes beautiful temperate regions of the Union; but not in the fronts of drawers; and light, tough, and durable lower parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, and East wooden bowls and shovels. It will long resist the Florida. MICHAUX says he found no trees else- effects of heat and moisture, and is not attacked by where so large, as in New Jersey, and on the banks worms. It is valued for posts and rails, and for of the Hudson. On cold, unproductive soils, inter-watering and feeding troughs. An inferior kind of spersed with large rocks, he has found them 50 ft. high, with trunks measuring 10 ft. to 12 ft. in circumference at five feet from the ground; the roots extending horizontally, close under the surface, sugar has been made from the sap. MICHAUX does not think it sufficiently valuable, either in the arts or for fuel, to warrant its introduction into Europe, but recommends it only for ornamental purposes. THE AMERICAN ELM. WE have the pleasure of presenting our readers, this month, a beautiful engraving of a fine specimen of the American Elm, growing on the grounds of W. F. COGGSWELL, Esq., of this city. It is one of is an object of veneration. In many quiet English villages, there are magnificent specimens of the Oak, "Jove's own tree, That holds the woods in awful sovereignty," the few trees of the original forest which escaped which challenge the admiration of all beholders. the axe of the pioneer settler, and is a standing monument of the folly of that indiscriminate slaughter which, though hardly to be wondered at, is much to be regretted. A full grown American Elm is, to us, one of the handsomest of deciduous trees. Its pendulous, graceful branches, surmounting a tall and massive trunk, present a combination of strength and beauty to be found in no other tree. Every tree has its awn peculiar attractions. An old English Oak, "Thy guardian Oaks, My country, are thy boast-a giant race, But nevertheless, taking it all in all, a good specimen of the American Elm is our favorite tree. The Elm has a wide range of habitat. HOOKER found it from Saskatchawan to York Factory, on Hudson's Bay. The younger MICHAUX traced it from Nova Scotia to Georgia. It grows on almost any soil, but succeeds best on rich moist land. The finest specimens we have ever seen are in Berkshire county, Mass The old Elm in Pittsfield is 13 ft. in circumference four feet from the ground, and towers up 114 ft., without a branch till near the top. The great Elm on Boston Common, when last measured, was 20 ft. in circumference at three feet from the ground. WM. BACON gives an account of a beautiful Elm at Natick. "Its pendent branches are spread equally in all directions, to the distance of 50 ft. from the trunk, thus giving a diameter to its shade of about one hundred feet." The name is derived from the fact that the heartwood is of a beautiful red color. The sap-wood is perfectly white. The wood is exceedingly strong and durable, and is most admirably adapted for subterranean water-pipe, when it can be obtained of sufficient size. That of the Southern States is the best; and, in connection with the Live Oak, is used in the upper frames of vessels. It makes the most durable of posts. It is also used for the manufacture of lead pencils, though the Bermuda Juniper is deemed preferable. The Red Cedar was introduced into England in 1664, and has been very extensively planted. LovDON says: "As an ornamental tree, or large shrub, it is highly valued, either for planting singly on lawns, or in groups along with other trees and shrubs. It is more especially adapted for grouping with other Cupressina, the pine and fir tribe, and the yew." One of the largest specimens is in Suffolk, 70 years planted, which is 60 feet high, and a trunk 2 feet in diameter. The usual growth from 10 to 12 feet in ten years.. RED CEDAR. THE Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) is too well known to need a minute description. It is indigenous to this country. According to the elder MICHAUX, Cedar Island, in Lake Champlain, nearly opposite Burlington, Vermont, is the northern boundary of the Red Cedar. Eastward, it is found in Maine, at the mouth of the Kennebeck; whence it spreads, without interruption, to Cape Florida, and thence round the Gulf of Mexico, to beyond St. Bernard's Bay, a distance of more than 3,000 miles. As it retires from the shores, it becomes less common and less vigorous. In Virginia and the more Southern States, it is rare at the point where the tide ceases to flow in the rivers; further inland, it is seen only in the form of a shrub, in open, dry, sandy places. In the Western States, it is mostly confined to spots where the limestone rock shows itself naked, or is so thinly covered with earth as to forbid the growth of other trees. THE DOUGLAS SPRUCE. WE present above an excellent engraving of the Douglas Spruce (Abies Douglassii). It is named after the celebrated traveler DOUGLAS, who introduced it from California in 1826. Those who desire a variety of Coniferous trees, can not omit this one. It is one of the handsomest of the species. We have as yet few large, or even good-sized specimens in this country. DOUGLAS describes them as from 2 to 10 feet in diameter in their native forests, and from 100 to 180 feet in height. |
