mits of many exceptions. It is of great importance, in taking a farm, to calculate the extent of the arable land, so that it can be properly cultivated by a certain number of pairs of horses or oxen. It is an old measure of land to divide it into so many plows, that is, so many portions which can be tilled with one plow each. When there are several of these, it is useful to have an odd horse over the usual number required for two or three plows, to relieve the others occasionally. The work is thus done more regularly and with greater ease. Where there are two plows with two horses each, a fifth horse should be kept, and so in proportion for a greater number. The odd horse will always be found extremely useful, if not indispensable, and the expense of his keep will be amply repaid by the regularity and ease with which the whole work of the farm will be done, and the relief which occasional rest will give to the other horses. The other part of the live-stock kept on a farm must depend on various circumstances. Where there is good grazing land, the profit on the improvement of the live-stock, or their produce, is evident and easily ascertained. But where animals are kept upon artificial food or fatted in stalls, it is often a difficult question to answer, whether there is a profit on their keep or not. In most cases the manure which their dung and litter afford is the chief object for which they are kept. If manure could be obtained in sufficient quantities to recruit the land, at a reasonable price, it might often be more advantageous to sell off all the hay and straw of a farm, and to keep only the cattle necessary to till the ground or supply the farmer's family. But this can only be the case in the immediate neighborhood of large towns. In the country at a greater distance no manure can be purchased; it must consequently be produced on the farm; and for this purpose live-stock must be kept, even at a loss. The management and feeding of live-stock is therefore an important part of husbandry. The object of the farmer is principally to obtain manure for his land, and if he can do this, and at the same time gain something on the stock by which it is obtained, he greatly increases his profits. Hence much more skill has been displayed in the selection of profitable stock than in the improvement of tillage. Some men have made great profits by improving the breed of cattle and sheep, by selecting the animals which will fatten most readily, and by feeding them economically. It requires much experience and nice calculations to ascertain what stock is most profitable on different kinds of land and in various situations. Unless very minute accounts be kept, the result can never be exactly known. It is not always the beast which brings most money in the market that has been most profitable; and many an animal which has been praised and admired has caused a heavy loss to the feeder. Unless a man breeds the animals which are to be fatted, he must frequently buy and sell; and an accurate knowledge of the qualities of live-stock and their value, both lean and fat, is indispensable. However honest may be the salesman he may employ, he cannot expect him to feel the same interest in a purchase or sale, for which he is paid his commission, as the person whose profit or loss depends on a judicious selection and a good bargain. Every farmer therefore should endeavor to acquire a thorough knowl edge of stock, and carefully attend all markets within his reach to watch the fluctuation in the prices. It will generally be found that the principal profit in feeding stock is the manure, and to this the greatest attention should be directed. A little management will often greatly increase both the quantity and quality of this indispensable substance, and make all the difference between a loss and a profit in the keeping of stock. THE "CREAM-POT" BREED OF CATTLE.-This is a valuable dairy-breed and promises to exceed all other breeds in this country, in the quantity and richness of the milk it furnishes, and the extraordinary amount of butter which it yields. This breed originated in New England, and was produced by Col. Jaques, of Ten Hills Farm, Somerville, Mass., by crossing the improved short-horns with the most valuable native breed. Col. Jaques thus speaks of the origin of this breed :-"Hearing of cows that produce seventeen pounds of butter each per week, the inquiry arose, why not produce a breed of such cows that may be depended on? This I attempted, and have accomplished. I have made from one of my Cream-Pot cows nine pounds of butter in three days on grass feed only. "The bull Cœlebs, an imported thorough-bred Durham, and Flora, a heifer of the same breed, and imported, and a native cow, whose pedigree is entirely unknown, comprise the elements of the Cream-Pot breed of cattle. The native cow was bought in consequence of her superior quality as a milker, giving eighteen quarts a day, and averaging about fifteen. In the month of April, the cream of two days' milk produced two and three-fourths pounds of butter, made of two and one-sixteenth quarts of cream, and required but two minutes' churning. Thus much for the mother of the Cream-Pots. "I have bred my Cream-Pots with red or mahogany-colored hair and teats, and gold-dust in the ears, yellow noses and skin, the latter silky and elastic to the touch, being like a fourteen-dollar cloth. My CreamPots are full in the body, chops deep in the flank, not quite as straight in the belly, nor as full in the twist, nor quite as thick in the thigh as the Durhams; but in other respects like them. They excel in affording a great quantity of rich cream, capable of being converted into butter in a short time, with little labor, and with a very small proportion of buttermilk, the cream producing more than eighty per cent. of butter. I have changed the cream to butter not unfrequently in one minute, and it has been done in forty seconds." Henry Colman thus refers to Col. Jaques's stock:-" Mr. Jaques is entitled to great credit for his care and judicious selection in continuing and improving his stock. I have repeatedly seen the cream from his cows, and its yellowness and consistency are remarkable, and in company with several gentlemen of the Legislature, I saw a portion of it converted to butter with a spoon in one minute. The color of Mr. Jaques's stock is a deep red, a favorite color in New England; they are well formed and thrifty on common feed; and if they continue to display the extraordinary properties by which they are now so distinguished, they promise to prove the most valuable race of animals ever known among us for dairy purposes, and equal to any of which we have any information." TO ESTIMATE THE LIVE WEIGHT OF CATTLE, etc.-Drovers and butchers by long experience become very expert in estimating, by simple inspection, the weight of live cattle; and in making purchases, they thus have a decided advantage over the less experienced seller. Hence, the importance to the latter of some means by which he can know, and not guess at the weight of his live animals. The following rules, the result of careful experiments, and which we take from The Valley Farmer, will enable any one to ascertain the weight of live animals with a close approach to accuracy:-take a string, put it around the breast, stand square just behind the shoulderblade, measure on a rule the feet and inches the animal is in circumference; this is called the girth; then, with the string, measure from the bone of the tail which plumbs the line with the hinder part of the buttock; direct the line along the back to the fore part of the shoulderblade; take the dimensions on the foot-rule as before, which is the length; and work the figures in the following manner:-girth of the animal, say six feet four inches, length five feet three inches, which multiplied together, makes thirty-one square superficial feet, and that multiplied by twenty-three, the number of pounds allowed to each superficial foot of cattle measuring less than seven and more than five feet in girth, makes seven hundred and thirteen pounds. When the animal measures less then nine and more than seven feet in girth, thirty-one is the number of pounds to each superficial foot. Again, suppose a pig or any small beast should measure two feet in girth and two along the back, which multiplied together makes four square feet, that multiplied by eleven, the number of pounds allowed to each square foot of cattle measuring less than three feet in girth, makes forty-four pounds. Again, suppose a calf, a sheep, etc, should measure four feet six inches in girth, and three feet nine inches in length, which multiplied together make fifteen and a quarter square feet; that multiplied by sixteen, the number of pounds allowed to cattle measuring less than five feet and more than three in girth, makes two hundred and sixty-five pounds. The dimensions of girth and length of horned cattle, sheep, calves, and hogs, may be exactly taken in this way, as it is all that is necessary for any computation, or any valuation of stock, and will answer exactly to the four quarters, sinking offal. 11 |