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VOLUME VII. CIIERAYV. SOUTH-CAROLINA TUESDAY, MAY 10, 18T.\ NUMBER SB
. By M. MA LEAX. j
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& am. rc? wiz V ^ i
Fromtbe Farmer's Cabinet.
M AONUSIAN LIMK.
At page 276 of vol. v. of the Farmers' i
Cabinet, in a short ex'ract from the'Gen j
eraJ Report of Scotland," it is stated that I
44 it had been long known to farmers in ,
the neighborhood of Doncaster, England,
that line made from a certain stone, and
applied to land, often injured the crops!
A . considerably. Mr. Tfcnnant, in making |
a set of experiments upon this peculiar
calcareous substance, foqnd that it contained
magnesia, and on mixing some
calcined magnesia with soil, in which the
gowed different seeds, he found that they
either died or vegetated in a very imperfect
manner, and the plants were never
healthy; and with great justice and ingenuity
he referred the had effects of this
peculiar limestone to the magnesian earth
it contained. Yet it is advantageously
employed in sm.ill quantities, seldom more
than 25 or 20 bushels per acre."
Mr, T 'onant's account of his experi- i
ments first appeared, we believe, in the
Philosophical Transactions of England,
and we know not that it ever appeared
in any other form, ft is certainly not in
very general circulation We cannot f
say, therefore, how extensive, varied and ;
accurate ^he experiments may have been.
But it is from such vague, !<>ose and indefinite
accounts as the above, that we artcalled
upon to swallow the whole doctrine
and all its consequences-? head, horns j
and\#JJ, without making a wry face, and ;
that too in opposition to a host of proofs 1
of its utter fallacy, derived from one of
the most extensive and decisive experiments
ever made in agriculture.
But leaving Mr. Tenant's account of
the matter out of view for the present, let
us examine that which the advocates of
the doctrine it was intended to support
have vouchsafed to give us. They tell j
us that he mixed sorre calcined magne- J
si a with the soil, [but they do not tell us
Knw mtirh.l and found that seeds sown ;
" '/ . I
in it either did not come up at all, or if
thev did, did not grew vigorously. WHI,
we grant that they did not. What then? ;
Does it necessarily follow that magnesia j
f is destructive to vegetation? Suppose he ,
had mixed pure lime, or even pounded i
chalk, with his earth, every body knows, j
or may easily ascertain, that if an undue |
proportion of either were used, his plants 1
would have withered and died, the same j
as they did in the magnesian mixture.
Would it not then he just as philosophical
to assert that lime was in the latter case '
injurious to vegetation, as that magnesia
was in the former?
Here then appears hut a single unvaried
experiment, with an attempt to build a
very important theory on the narrowest
possible foundation of fact. And never
has a hastily formed or unsound theory ;
been more signally overthrown by subsequent
experience. Instead, therefore, of j
saying that it was just and ingenuous to j
refer the injurious ellects of the lime in
question to magnesia, we should rather <
ay that it was a hasty and unjust conclu- j
ion, and would never have been put forth
by one acting under correct views of the
requirements of the inductive philosophy. |
But it i9 not against the possibility of
the injurious nature of the Doncastcr
limestone, or of the correctness of Mr.
Tenant's experiments, for we care not a
straw whether they are correct or otherwise;
but it is against the broad docfrinc
of the deleterious nature of magnesia n
liine in all its forms, attempted to he deduced
from them, that we conjend. It
is against the senseless repetii ion of this
.doctrine, unsupported as it is by any sub- !
sequent experiments, by every unfledged
agricultural essayist, or e?ny cmMusmo tic
builder of plausible theoris, that we
enter our protest. Agricultural publications
nreextending in circulation every
day, and are beginning to be looked up to j
as sources of correct information. It is I
of importance, therefore, that theories
1^ diametrically opposed to every day's ex- I
perience should not be reiterated in them
again and again, without attempts being
made to show their utter fallacy. Lime,
in some partsofour country is a very
costly article for n^nure, owing to the I
expense of carriage. A a young farmei !
in one of these has a poor exhausted farm j
He sees in the Cabinet and oth r puhlica. |
tions lime highly recommended as a ma- i
rnre, but he also sees essays professedly
written by practical men, wherein it is
repeatedly set forth that all niagnosian 1
lime is deleterious to vegetation, and that
each/ ne whose liming has not answered
his expectation, re fort his disappointment
I _
to this cause. He fakes up the reports
of (he different geological surveys lately
made in this country, and learns from
them, as well as the pages of the Cabinet,
that a very large proportion of the limestones
of our country are magnesian. and
i many of them highly so. Would not
j such a person probably reason thus:?I
! am very poor as well as my land. This
! lime is n very expens?/o thing. I shall
- ? i r
per acre, nan uei-u a icuu-u ?.... ...w
most beneficial results; but there the limestone?
a pure black marble?contained,
bv analysis, 9S per cent. of carbonate,
with not a trace of magnesia. If the readers
of the Cabinet, having the 3d volume
would turn to these pages, I think they
would be much interested with a perusal
of their contents.
At page 27") of the 4th volume of the
Cabinet is a letter on this subject from
Mr. Mnhlon Kirkbride, of Morrisville,
Bucks Co., which shows conclusively?
it least to me, whu saw and examined
&
; probably got ot this Dad Kind, as i am no
judge of the article. I shall lay out my
last dollar, and probably my land be even
worse than it now is. Would he be likely
tolim : uTider such views? Would he not
more probably toil on from year to year
as poor as he began?still afraid to
apply the great renoyator to his soil? To
such, however, we would repent, what
we have already said, that nil the benefit
which has been derived from lime as a
manure, to Pennsylvania and to a great
nari nfVnw Jnrspv and Del iware, has
i'"" ' j
been derived from magnesian lime. Thi9
is fact and experience; the other is but
theory based on a narrow foundation.
Then let not this btig-bearof magnesian
O ?
lime, set up by those who seem to be profoundly
ignorant of what is passing around
thein, deter you from following
the bright example set you by the enlightened
farmers of south eastern Pennsylvania.
Put on your magnesian lime in
such quantities as their experience may
have pointed out. Shut your ears against
this senseless clamor, and after you have
faithfully done your part, trust the rest
to the silent unseen, mysterious operation
of those laws which govern the material
world, with the full nsstirance that you
will reap a rich reward. S. -Lewis.
Dec. 23, 1341.
MXGNliSIAN LIME.
From the same.
Mr, EJUor,?On rcperusing the pages
oftho back numbers of the Cabinet, a
custom to which I confess I am much addicted,
I find an article at - page 339 of
the 5th volume, on " Magnesian lime,"
which I would wi-h to notice, for the purpose
of drawing from the writer farther j
information on a topic which still agitates
the minds of some ofour practical friends,
although to him this must appear strange
after what he has said to sctile the question
by a verdict which would seem to admil
of no appeal: hut as facts arc stubborn
things, and ^ye-test mony goes a
" itMfh n n I;?tin of" ur>r?nns who 3PH
o'"'v .T r~ - - accustomed
to judge pretty much bv the
light afforded by that mode of reasoning,
I have wrought myself up to tho point of
encountering from your correspondent
a withcring^jlance that may possible render
rne incapable from ever looking into
the subject again ; and yet that would be
a pity, for how could such as I come to
a knowledge of the truth, if we were to
give up one of our seven senses, and
consent to he led by the doctors; seeing,
as we do, that none are inure apt to differ
than they?
That the presence of magnesia in lime
was once believed to be injurious to vegetation,
cannot hedenied. That it is now
by .many considered rather "advantag mus
than otherwise that it should contain a
certain portion of magnpsia, would also
appear to he a fact; while others there on
who look upon iis presence as neither
beneficial or hurtful, farther than robbing
the lime of just so much carbonate.?to
which state it returns on exposure to the
atmosphere?as it is found to contain on
analysis. Now which way lies the truth?
And after Mr. Kinser, has answered this
question, [ would ask why is it that lime,
when quite pure from magnesia, can be
!. .1 r, .< ! niianllflf Irt I ? ,1 ft in
nppilCU III any ^xninuj w muu
almost any state, whether of poverty or
fertility, without injury to the crop, while
that which contains magnesia, to the amount
of about 40 per cent., cannot be
used on the same soils and under the
same circumstances to a greater extent
than, say from .30 to 00 bushels per acre
without manifest injury? VVe are told
that in England liine is given with impunity,
even to the amount of 500 bushels
per acre?what would be the result if
such excess were indulged in here with
liine containing 40 per cent, of magnesia?
It may be said the diflu.-rencc is in
thccjimates of the two countries, hut I
must he permitted a difference of opinion.
In the third volume of the Cabinet, pp.
14, 17, there is recorded a series of experiments,
the correctness of which I
was informed by the then editor of the
Cabinet might be implicitly relied upon,
as they had been copied from a diary or
journal that had been kept by the writer
while in the management of certain e
states in Wales, upon which they had
been most carefully conducted, for the
purpose of ascertaining the value <f lime
in agriculture, and where persons had
offered to prove that its application even
to the extent of more than 500 bushels
1 1 I . U'ltll llm
the land upon which the lime hnd been
used in the way that he states, and found
it comparatively barren, the year after
the time when he wrote?that the injury
had been caused by the lime, which, it it
admitted, contained magncsiaj.n its composition.
lie says, " my father bad a Bold
of 25 acres of as good wheat soil as could
be found?a deep loam. Its produce for
years stood almost unrivalled; he, wishing
to make it still better, applied to a part
50 bushels of lime to the acre, to the balance
(excepting half an acre) about 95
or 70 bushels to the acre; the result was
' ? ? ? ? - ' ? ^ ...LaaI niiAtk mifph
MS lUIIOWSi m lOOli wiirm tiup iiui j
inure than the seed; 1833, corn, about 10
bushels per acre on the heaviest limed
parts, on the other 20 bushel*; 1839, oats
i good where there whs the least lime, on
| the other part 15 to 20 bushels per acre,
j The half-acre above alluded to receiv d
50 bushels, and the result was, of wheat I
not a handfulof corn, some stalks thr- e
feet hi<zh and two bushels of nubbins; of
oats a growth of straw 16 i iches high,
which refused to show any symptoms of
ripening, and was cut to gei it out of the
way." It must he added, the spot on
which the lime had been deposited wl en
tak^n from the canal boat, and from
v/hence it bad all been removed with the
most scrupulous care, had not, three
years after produced a single trace of
herbage, not even a weed?would Mr.
Kirkbride lie pleased to inform us of the
present state of that portion of his land?
At page 55 of the 5th volume of the Cabmet,
notice is taken of Mr. Kirkbride's
commanication by a writer who has had
(Trtainvrmripnco in ihr> use of lime, and it
is to be regretted that he did not give us
the analysis of that which he applied so
unsparingly and profitably.
Now I am sure I have no private inter
ests to serve, and no prejudices to support,
but I would just ask Mr. Kinser, at the
risk of h tving applied to me the old adage,
'a fool can ask more questions in an
hour then a wise man could answer in a
month," 1st, How is it that when the
lime from Messrs. Pott* and Pager's quarrv,
containing 6ti per cent, of carbonate
and not a particle of magnesia, is exposed
in a heap and has become perfectly sluk
cd, that white-clover and the finest grasses
will be found to penetrate through the
lime at (he margin of the heap from the
depth of perhaps an inch or two, and
spread over its surface; and on the removal
of the hemp, that the herbage will grow
on the bald spot and become a rich turf
in a short time? 2d, How is it, that the
lime burnt from the stone quarried from
the south side of the valley at
Downingstown shows exactly the
same results; while that produced
from the stone quarried from the north ,
side of the same valley, perhaps not a
ouarter of a mile distant, is totally differ
| IO VUI V.-J ? .f j#*' '?'
subjecrrhay be investigated to its better
understanding, without tear for the result, i
And I know of. o one who has it in his '
power to do us more service than your
correspondent*?will ho, therefore, take
the above remarks into his consideration,
and favor us will) bis conclusions? I am,
I must confess, by no means inclined to
blink *!ic question, lest it should " arrest
ent in its effect*, destroyingall revelation,
and leaving n galled spot for years where
ft had bjen deposited for si iking? for this
fact, and a true analysisof these two varieties
of limestone, I would appeal to
Dr. Sharpless and his brother, who reside
on the spot, as also to Mr. Lindley in the
immediate neighborhood, asking of the
latter gentleman if he has not known
oats, sown on a limed soil, to penetrate
through a lump of litne several inches in
thickness, and grow to the height of about
O O
five feet with the greatest luxuriance, that
liine having been procured from (he south
side of the valley. Trie difference between
the two stones being peculiar likewise,
that from the north side being hear,
iest, but producing the lightest lime?the
sione from the south side being lighter,
- a I
hut producing the largest quantity ot
pure lime: showing that more foreign
ma tcr had been thrown ofTand dissipa
ted during the process of calcination
from the stone obtained from the north
side of the.valley, and proving conclusively,
the greater purity of that from the
south side. And 3d, I would ask, was it
ever known, that herbage woild spring
up on the margin of a slaked heap of lime
containing 40 per cent, of magnesia, even
penetrating through it from the depth of
an inch or two, and spreading over it.
and for the earth to show no sign of its
pernicious effects in the shape of a galled
[ spot, after its removal?
i The subject is of vast importance, and
is the cause of my troubling you with
this communication, iny object being to
keep the hall in motion," and to elicit
t r t ? i _
the truth. And to this end, 1 would iskc
the liberty to ask your subscribers, Mr.
It. T. Potts, Mr. Dagor, and their neighbor,
Mr. Henderson, who has, I understand,
erected a kiln for the purpose of
calcining the cuttings of his pure white
marble, whether they have it not in their
power to throw some light upon the matter,
not doubting that the white marble of
Mr. H. contains at least as great a proportion
of carbonate of lime as the beautifully
mottlcJ variety of Potts and Dager,
namely, 06 per cent.
That inagnesian lime has proved of
very great service when applied to the ;
soil, no one can deny, for the evidence I
hofVvrA ?nr ovpc hut I hnnp that the I
the march of improvement, and throw ,
cold w iter on the spirit for liming" which i
is ahrra 1 in the land, hut [ do wish that !
y >uf c >rrespondent would inform us of the [
cause of the very great difference which :
is seen in the effects between lime eoo*taining
96 per cent, of carbonate and no
magnesia, and that containing about 50
per cent, of earbonate and'40 per cent of
magnesia. It may be that magnesia
operates in a different manner from lime j
?nfcy, it m.ght perhaps be found to be
more valuable than it for the purposes of
ngriculture?and to this I have not the
slightest objection ; that is of no consequence,
and need not frighten any one
whose sole object is to become acquainted
with the true mode of its operation.
3iucu writing the the
Nr. of the Cabinet for February ha*
reached m^. and I find that your corres.
pondent, Mr, Lewis, of Pottsville, has
embraced the opinion that the presence
of magnesia in lime is not injurious for
agricultural purposes, nav, that it is diametrically
opposed to it;" and to tiiis decision
lie has been brought, not by a "two
pern y experiment made in a garden-pot,
or the corner of a field," but by its cxten
ded use over hundreds of thousands of
acres through a long period of years, in
opposition to the would-be oracles of
the day." or tho theory that has been
M babbled," on the subject. Now, by
such men as your correspondents, Messrs.
Kinser and Lewis, I presume we shall be
sure that the subject will be properly
treated, and the truth elucidated, hut I
would meekly ask why do these gentleman
asesuch strong language to express themselves,
if they are not in some way interested
in the matter? purely it does not
require such terms of contempt and reproach
to silence the workers in a gardenspot
or the corner of a field, or these very
?ery small oracles or hagglers who presume
to arise in their path? S.
Luzerne county, February 23, 1543.
From the Farmer'3 Register.
REMARKS ON THE OPPOSITE OPINIONS OF
MAONESIAN LIME.
In the Farmers' Cabinet mere has been re.
cently revived, and is wannly contested, the
o d controversy as to the alleged deleterious
action of magnesia in lime. Two of the articles
are inserted above, which pet forth the
opposing views. This still doubtful question
is one ot the many subjects of opprobrium 10
agricultural science?or rather of chemical
science pretended to he applied to agriculture.
Dhemica! writer* have heen content to repeat,
and merely theoretical fanners to believe, the
opinion of Tenant, announced half a contury
ago; which opinion, however interesting and
important to agriculture, and however true
might be the particular experiment on which
it rested, was certainly not established genor- !
ally and fully. Other and varied experiment* ;
ought to have been made, both by chemists,
and by practical farmers who had it in their
power to try and compare the effects of lime
from both pure and magnesian limestones.
But while ihe various printed articles of argument,
or loose discussion, would have filled
a volume, there has not been carried through
a single series of judiciously planned- and ac.
curatelv conducted experiments, which, if performed,
would have decided all doubts, and
removed every obstacle to this all.important
branch of improvement in a very large agricultural
region.
The fact that magnesian lime in large quantities
is injurious or even destructive to vegetation
and to productiveness of soil, hawevor
certain, is by do means a proof that the application
of magnesia (cither in its calcined
and pure state, or when carbonated and mild.)
is hurtful. There are other manures (indeed
most other manures (indeed most others)
highly beneficial in proper quantities, which
are injurious in excessive quantities, rure
lime itself is adducced by the witnesses on
one side toshjw that it may he applied in any
quantity without damage to vegetation, and
that benefit is found by increasing the dose to
500 or even 1000 bushels, in the caustic state,
at one application. Vet, without undertaking
tudenyth-se particular facts, (as we knownothing
of the precise conditions of the tria s,)
it is certain that our liming farmers in lower
Virginia find 150 bushels dangerous, a d 100
bushels or even less often unsafe. Yet no
farmers in our region have been made more
profitable improvements, except the mailers,
than those who have used lime. The kind
most genera I jr used by them, and from which
all their facts of injury by excess have been
derived, is oyster-shell lime, which is pure
lime, contending no magnesia or other foreign
matter.
Of shell marl, or merely calcareous tnar!
the principal and almost sole fertii zing ingredient
is mild lime or carbonate of lime; and
when we first commenced its use, we had no
idea that any quantity of it could injure land
by its excess. Vet a few year's experience
showed great injury from applications containing
not more than 200 and soinptimes less
than 150 bushels of the proportion of this mild
lime. The richer the marl of course the
e ? /l?r>cuinn I
manure, after it had Income carbonated and
mild, wh cannot believe to bo otherwise than '
an aid to fertility Toe bottom lands of the
Red river, in Louitna .a have two or three
percent, of carbonate of magnesia, [according
to the analysis ot a specimen which we examined,)
and other celebrated fertile soils
also have this earth as an ingredient.
ED. F. R.
CARB OF BHDEDI.NO STOCK. ^
Swine kept for breeders should never
I. _ Cm . ?? rv/vn t a r\f i r? ? uVtnrl f i inn Kn
UO KUIIII'U I r??II| |n:i| \\J |/< l? U nuvi I tinny 1?V" i
fore littering. They must not be distur- I
bed nor be kept in small pens. When ;
they are allowed to roam at^ large they
generally seek retired places in the
woods, in such cases they are seldom
known to destroy their young by des gn
or by accident. Let them ha*e room
and their accustomed residence at such
times.
A little poor wash may be given to the
mother in the stiaw, but she must by no
means have rich fool until the-second
day. She will be cloged and suffer for it
for many weeks. 8he hasannatural .'ong.
ings at such times and wid satisfy her
own offspringi Some good farmers ill o /
them a piece of >alt pork at the time of
littering.?Mass Plowman.
We commend the following hints to the
notice of such of our readers as have the
mnrwff(.mf?nt of oxen. Who lias not1
# -
often hecn pained to witness the unmer- J
ciful blows which many teamsters inflict ;
on their oxen ? And who does not knowthat
kind nnd humane treatment1 is far
l>etter ; better for the owner, better for the
animal, and better for the cause of humanity.
We have often thought, when
witnessing the savage treatment to which
the ox is subjected, that if tne offending
teamster could be ticd4up and receive a
good sound old-fashioned legal chastisement?"forty
stripes save one,"?he j
would he hkely ever after to entertain a
fellow feeling for his cattle, and prove by
his own conduct the truth of the maxim,
?"A merciful man is merciful to his
beast." Conn. Far. (Jaz.
WORKING OXKN.
The patient ox sliQtild always he treated
with much kindness, and hard blows
urc seldom necessary. By kindness we '
uo not mean familiarity while he is in '
the yoke. Familiarity is followed by i
contempt, and drivers should nevar be allowed
to loll on their tenms when in the
yoke. Oxen must stand in fear of the j
-l_: ' ' ^ ~ n-liiit ?i nrt ftti? ttnflll
ijrjvur, nnu iiitn uiv n nij/ ? *.% ~ 0
may be spared.
Oven ought to bo made to go two
miles per hour when the Held is not rocky.
We have had voting cattle that would
travel three miles per hour when on the
road ; but we have seen oxen habituated
to suci*sloth that it was difficult to urge
them faster than one mile per hour.?
When it is necessary to quicken their
pace by means of the whip, let it be used
by snapping it at their legs rather than
by raising blisters on the body.
It is a most cruel practice to beat cattle
with a club of the butt end of a whipstaff.
Wens arc made by this usage and
many good oxen have been spoiled.?
Fractious boys should be taught to govcj;n
their own tempers before they have
the full control of oxen; and fractious
men should remember that be who con- I
trols bis own spirit is mightier than
many who govern whole cities.
o
Qxon may easily l?o taught to back a
cart that is loaded. They should first be
tried on an empty one, and that may be
on a side hill where the cart will almost
move alone. Never strike them on their
noses, even with a lash, lest they should
hold down their heads and bring the bows
t? hear against their throats. But com
rnand them to hack, and use the lash
gently on the front of the fore legs. They
will then hold up their heads and the
yoke will press on the upper side of the
neck and horns where it ought. After a
little practice down hill, the cattle moving
exactly parnlel with the spear, they
will back a cart up hill without a blow
from the whip.?Mass. Plowman.
THE IMPROVEMENT OF IIOMK-BRED STOCK.
As it will be the object of the American
Agriculturist to confer the greatest
benefits on the greatest numbers, to save
expense to its readers, as well as enable
thein to make the most out of their capital,
to help the poor man and moderate
farmer, equally with those of larger prop,
erty, we shall in this number, point out
some of the means which farmers possess
lor this object, leaving the fuller discussion
of the subject to some future time.
We assert lhat for the achievement of
this most desirable object, every mm ba?,
lo a certain extent, the means in his own l
hands. We would not be understood to
say, that every farmer in the country,
can, at his option and without expense,'
procure the best roadsters or draught
horses ; or at once secure a herd of short
horns, or J)ovqiis,'?>r Hereford*, or Avr,
shires; that he can will his old (lock of
long logged, thin wooled. miserable carcassed
sheep jnto fine merinos, massive
Southdnwns, or Cotswolds; or razorbacked,
bristlv tribe into fhorough hred
Berkshire*?but, that in the exercise of n
keen discernment und sound judgm* 11%
greater ine injury rrom ? hci>?t
Yet what farmer of common sense woulil
therefore denounce the use of marl as injurious,
or would prefer th* poor to the rich, because
500 bushels of the poor produced great and
continued increased product, while 5(K) ?f the
rich wou'd produce disease and great injury
to the grain crops, for unny years.'
Theorists have extended tin sound objections
to caubtic magnesia being applied loo
heavily as manure in newly burnt lime, to the
existence of carbonate of in tgnesia natural y
in soils, or in manures; and have inferred that,
even in this mild or natural form. i? was the
cause of sterility. We have no practical
knowledge of magnesian soil-; but cannot believe
that a substance so similar to lime in s
1 nna litips r.an be so different in its
"1?
operation as manure. Soils may irnlo'tl be
barren from an excess of magnesia in their
natural cofnposition (if there he any such (as
other? certainly are because of excess of lime;
and others by excess of the fcihceeu* and others
of the clayey ingredient But any quantity of
magnesia that could jvu&oibly be applied as,
* S- ^
enlightened by tbrt experience he will ftni
abound ng in judirious and practical
works on agriculture, and which it will
be the great purpose of our wo k to g'vo
and illustrate, ho can proceed with greaif
or or less speed, in the accomplishment of
an object so desirable to every mm. Wo
must except one c|a?s, if gqy such I hero
be, from this remark, of otherwj.segeneral
explication ; ana none are to oe excepted,
but such as have breeds already bevond
the possibility of further improvement.
- Great caution oil their part,
however, is necessary, lest some mistt* p
in their course, j--sties th'eiti from the
pinnacle, and subjects thein again to the 41
labor and delay of regaining it. Such
must recollect that, * facilis descensus
averni," &c., which rendered for our 2
purpose simply is?it ia ensfr*?***h *>
go down lull, but hard work to get baric
again.
1'eginning with what is now in the
farmers1 hands, we say, the first thing for
the permanr.n' improvement of the-constitution
and character.of stock is, to feed:
liberally and look well to it, especially
while young. W - give no countenance
to the stuffing sjstem, but on the cogtrn-,
ry," we helicve theu:nitnral forcing wf ^
any animal destined for breeding. tl??
most pernicious nnd destructive to lis
constitution that can be practised ; and if
the only alternative were perpetual starva- m
lion, or perpetual surfeit,' we would unhesitatingly
prefer the former; aad it ha*
another decided advantage in its economy.
By liberal feeding, we mean a Jii.'l
sun|dy of such wholesome and nutriloos.
o - 1 ? . t i
toou, as wnnoui cioving nnu n?uotug a-u .
animal with fat. will sustnin^t in a
constant and sufficiently rapid growth,
and afford an early though not premature;'
develop vent <>f aM its desirable qmdifieM^
To illustrate our n e tiling, we wtfl'Sfttf
that the young of all animals are b. ?' pr-?,
vidcd f -r in the early stages "of the r o*is?>
tence, by the bountiful provision of nature, i ^
afforded in the well filled udders of tm ijr^
healthy and well fed dams. And tf i'r in
any cause, this supply is diminished or ;v ^
withheld, the deficiency must be made M
up by other and equally nutntou* and *
digestible food. This, with a range, if
the season permit, in a fresh pasture, is' '^1
sufficient till weaned. For colts and
calves, we would recommend -the addition
of a little oat or barley meal, for a s'ioi? '
time, to prevent any falling off, which 4k*i
may be continued with the colt, if tile,
farmer can afford it, in a idition to all flm s
good hay it will eat, till the great will
afford a plentiful bite in the follwi.ig
?pring. The calf a ?d lamhm*v be sup, -SfRj
plied with a few roofs, besides their hay
through i he winter, or in place of the*> x * *
small allowance of oatmeal, bran, dee,.
After this, abundant and sweet pasturage. <B?
for summcr^ind good hay for winter, will;
suffice to keep the animals advancingsteadily
towards maturity, though if more. rapid
growth and larger size be roqiuted;
the liberal feeder may add occasionajlyroots
or light grain in any moderate,
quantity, till the animal has acquired; ija.
growth. . Tito pig being an omnivorous,
animal, may be al owed a fiecr range an<f . |
larger liberty* in the variety of hi*
viands, and if restricted in the use of too.
hearty or solid food, he will be found; t<x
thrive apace on even a moderate supply. ^
During nil this time, however, they
should he protected from cold and storms,,
by a warm and effectual shelter, and dry, jjj*f
comfortable beds, and if there he leisure,
to apply the brush and card, so much iho.
better. No disease should he allowed to.
fasten nn them, to check their growth tuM: I
impair their organs. These ire briefly, i
the general rules to be observed in tU#.
rearing and care of the stock, till they a*o
sufficiently advanced to become pr?>duv ^
cers themselves.
We have then another and not less important
duty to perform in the selection of
those designed for breeders. * To guide u.?
" ------ ^ - O - ' W ,
in (his choice, we have the important a\iom.
observed by all judicious and expert,
enced breeders, riz. "that like beget*
like a rule, which, though not uni\efsul
in its results, is yet the only one that can
be pursued with safety. If we want to .
procure a good draught horse, we mu^il
select parents as near our ideas of what is
right as possible. They must be coiopact^
an I heavily made ; broad in the cheat,
somewhat projecting over the forts legs ;
round barrel, well ribbed home; a goad
size bone ; plenty of firm muscle; a rlcao*
well coaled skin; a good feeder and
tractable in his disposition. If a roadster
is wanted, we sho.dd look for more symmetry
and fineness; more grace and de?
- ? ?'I J "-".n -iniril IT 1 ' * >
jjance ; irioru >|iccu miu nm?c ?|iiin. > ?
saddle* horse be required, we can Lordly
tell you what to do; for thue is not nop
in a thousand that is even a tolerably p?ni;; |
hut if von can find one of the true Arab
* '
mould, gentle though gay, apiritrd 'hough
subdued, with a rapid yet easy and deli- 1
cious gait, half rack and ha)i tunblo. and
all canter, when asked, and IkuIvmi
i enough to sustain bis pace ; liocd not hi*
j color or form, his size or his pedigree;
i hut use it as the only means of atfVditig
j you a chance for a luxury, we are n? t
! often indulged with in this ulUutfc. If
1 - ? m At ui i n fiikir
Sticn a.'J one ov not wiimy juih iVn i,
! ponlent yourself wilh any in yWir
| (HVPtteMiofi thai may bo adapted loolinr
i purpose*; your li<i<k ?<r horso of nil wo* k; 1
or any tiling that v?i{! not stumhlo or 4
; sheer, frt* we hold fl^re i? no ift 'l"i u
between a reiy gooJ ifu<i v-.r>' mu.lj io;i{
i V * '' '*4