nure.

By this means the manure will lose its odor and preserve its valuable gases, and the whole mass will be converted into the most valuable kind of food for plants. Try it.

STOCK REGISTER.

Wants an Opinion on Cooked Food for Cattle.

ED. FARMER:-Will you, as early as convenient, give us in a future No. of the FARMER, the benefit of your investigation, as regards the best and most economical method of fattening beef cattle for market?

While on a recent visit to Ohio, I conversed with an intelligent and thrifty farmer who informed me that he never fed corn to cattle without boiling; assuring me that one bushel thus prepared was better than two bushels fed without cooking. This farmer not only fed his

beef cattle with boiled corn, but also fed his horses, and other cattle, both young and old, in the same manner. As corn is not as cheaply grown in Wisconsin as in Ohio, if therefore the quantity grown can be practically doubled in the cheap manner indicated above, it will be worthy of attention of our farmers. MAUSTON, Juneau Co., Wis., March 13, '62.

Rules for Breeding.

H. DAWES.

The Editor of the American Stock Journal gives his readers, in the August number of that periodical, a valuable paper upon breeding. He first asserts that every breeder, whether for the market or for use, should breed for a definite purpose. This he adds does not prohibit judicious crossing of the stock you possess with that which possesses the qualities you desire to transmit. His third rule is, "always cross with pure blood on one side." On this head he says:

"The great error committed by the thoughtless and unskillful, breeder is, that seeing that a first cross is often an improvement, he fancies that a second cross, or breeding by cross breeds must also give the same result. It is a mathematical view of the subject, at least, to infer that if the first cross gives a half-blood, the progeny of two half-bloods should be half

A

happens that the progeny of half-breeds is deThis is particularly observable in swine. void of all uniformity, and entirely unreliable. cross of pure Suffolk with any mixed breed, will usually give an even litter of half-breeds, but a further cross with half-breeds often gives a miscellaneous lot of animals of little value. The pure blood seems to improve the first generation, but to loose somewhat of its impressive power for the future. There is in all cross-breeds a propensity to take back to some pure stock, and it is not unlikely in the cases we have mentioned, the progeny is only a reproduction of some breed whose characteristics have lain dormant for years. To keep down these old qualities. and perpetuate those that are valuable, we should use always pure blood on one side. In this way the progeny becomes purer and purer, until, in a few generations, no trace of the cross is observable. We understand that the same is true of the human races, to some extent at least. The child of a negro and white is a mulatto, and so long as one parent is of either race pure, the progeny is healthy and strong, but the children of mulattoes are usually feeble and various in complexion, taking back more or less toward a pure race, and in a few generations of such crosses the race becomes extinct through barinstance in which a gentleman who had taken renness or disease. We have in mind one much pains to introduce the North Devons into his neighborhood, reared a bull from a pure other quarter being Short Horn blood. The Devon bull and a three-quarter Devon cow, the calf had every mark of a full-blood Devon of the true mahogany color, but his progeny were almost invariably marked with white, and disappointed their owners who at that time considered no Devons of pure blood unless of a uniform dark red. A pure blood Devon bull of that color, usually gives his color to his progeny, by any cow of mixed breed.

AMERICAN PORK ABROAD.-Advices from Stockholm, under date of July 18th, state that American pork is in great demand, and preferred to Russian. It is admitted into Sweden duty free. Common sides and shoulders from Indiana and Illinois sell freely at ten cents; smoked hams at twenty cents. There is ready sale also for rosin and leaf tobacco. The former pays a duty of 11 cents per pound. The grain crop is short. Wheat, good quality, brings $1,85; rye $1,40, and oats 37 cents. All kinds of grain are admitted duty free.

A Devon Cow belonging to Mr. John Corp, of Freetown, made 12 pounds of butter in seven days-sixteen quarts of milk making I lbs. 3 oz. of butter.

Value of Cows.

The American Farmer lays down this method for arriving at the cash value of cows offered in market as milkers:

"If two cows were put up at public sale! one of which would give six quarts of milk daily for ten months, and the other twelve on the same food, the former would find, probably many more purchasers at $20 than the latter at $50. Let us see whether such an estimate of value is correct. Suppose the cost of feeding to be 15 cents per day for 365 days, the cost of keeping each cow would be $54.75. Estimate the milk at 4 cents a quart for 300 days, and we have from the six quarts over $72 in value, from the other $144-from the former $17.25 above cost of feeding, from the latter $89.25. Now, if one of our boy readers will cipher out the following sum, he will find the answer readily!

If a cow giving $17.15 net profit be worth $20.00, what will one giving $89.25 be worth? $17.25 : $20.00 :: $89.25 $103.47, making the twelve quart cow worth $103.47. Or if she be considered worth but $50.00, then the other would be worth but $9.66, as appears from the following proportion:

$89.25 $50.00 :: $17.25-$9.66. In other words, while the twelve quart cow gives only twice the quantity of milk, she is worth five times as much money, estimating with reference solely to milk. The presumption, however, is that the cow giving the smaller quantity would be worth much more for beef at the end of ten months, and this is to be considered in the estimate of money value. It may be, too, that the smaller quantity of milk will yield a larger proportion of butter, and if so, this, too, where butter is an object, is to be considered. But, after all, it will be found in nine cases out of ten, we place too low an estimate on the good cow as compared with the

poorer one."

Big Men and Good Horses.

The traveling Editer of the Dubuque Times, among other things mentioned about Charles City, Floyd county, says:

"Mr. Geo. S. Ruble, keeps at the City Hotel, one of the best stallions in the State. We hope to see it and its proprietor at the State Fair. The Ruble boys should all come and be seen. There are four of them, all exactly six feet and two and a half inches tall, and no one of them weghs less than two hundred and fifty pounds."

We have no doubt the "Ruble boys" will be there, not only with their fine horses, but with their fine Shorthorns, swine and sheep. We want our Iowa farmers to see some of their Southdowns, If the sight don't make them feel decidedly sheepish, they need, indulge no

fears thereafter of ever having the wool pulled over their eyes.

The "Ruble boys" have a small farm near Beloit, Wis., of about nine hundred acres of land, on which stands a small barn, between one and two hundred feet in length, and otherwise duly proportioned and finished. They have stock and implements to match their farm. The "Ruble boys" will be there and no mistake.-Iowa Homestead.

Eminently sound. The Messrs. Ruble are thorough-going enterprising Badgers, and it affords us great pleasure to see that they are appreciated abroad as well as in their own State.-[ED. Farmer.

A Horse with the Heaves.

I tried all sorts of heave powders on my patient, with no effect whatever. It is said that in a limestone country, the disease is unknown, and lime water was prescribed with no apparent advantage. Some one told me to give the horse ginger, and strange to tell, I found that a tablespoonful given to the "General" with his oats, would cure him for the day, in half an hour after he had eaten it; but on giving it daily the effect soon ceased. It is a jockey's remedy, and will last long enough to swap upon. Finally, I was advised to cut my horse's fodder and give it always wet. I pursued this course carefully, keeping the "General" tied with so short a halter that he could not eat his bedding, giving him chopped hay three times a day, and never more than a bucket of water

at a time.

He improved rapidly. I have kept him five years, making him a factotum-carriage horse, saddle horse, plow and cart horse-and he bids fair to remain useful for five years to come.Kept in this way, his disease does not lessen his value for speed or labor, a single dollar. When the boys grow careless, and give him dry hay, he informs me of it in a few days by the peculiar cough I have mentioned; but sometimes, for six months together, no indications of disease are visible, and he would pass for a sound horse with the most knowing in such matters. There is no doubt that clover hay, probably because of its dust, often induces the heaves. Stable keepers with us, refuse it altogether for this reason.

Many suppose that the wind of the horse is affected by the heaves, so that fast driving at any time will, as we express it, put him out of breath. With my horse, it is not so.

When the "General" was at the worst, rapid driving, when just from the stable, would increase his difficulty, but a mile or two of moderate exercise would dissipate the symptoms entirely. We have, occasionally, what are called wind-broken horses, which are nearly worthless for want of wind. They can never

be driven rapidly without great distress, and frequenty give out entirely by a few miles' driving. This is thought to be a different disease. The "General's" case is, I suppese, a fair example of the heaves.

I have no doubt that regular feeding with chopped and wet fodder, and exclusion of dust from hay fed to other animals in the same stable, would render many horses now deemed almost worthless, and which manifestly endure great suffering, equally valuable for most purposes, with those that are sound.-Indiana Farmer.

WELL VENTILATED AND ROOMY STABLES.Professor Simonds, the distinguished Veterinarian, in a report to the Royal Agricultural Society, opposes the crowding of cattle and other domestic animals into small tight stables. The Professor is right. There is nothing more prolific of disease than the bad air which must come of a close barn crammed with cattle, horses or sheep.

Not so open as to freeze, nor so close as to suffocate and poison. That is the plain simple

rule.

Wool Growing.

The Secretary of the Vermont State Agricultural Society, Daniel Needham, in his annual report, has the following remarks upon the important subject of wool growing:

years,

"The price of wool for the next few reasoning from analogy, must be high. The cotton crop will not be planted extensively at the South, as it has been in years past; and if the blockade is not raised by the first of April next, in many States it will not be planted at Should the rebellion not be suppressed within another year, as very likely it may not be, very little of the cotton crop of 1861 will find its way to market for the next eighteen months; and when we consider that the people

all.

must be clothed; that the use of woolen fabrics

during the present high price of cotton goods,

is much more economical; that the million of men in the field wear and destroy, in weight, a third more of clothing than in the peaceful avocations of life; that at the South all the carpets have been cut up into blankets, and that very little of the worn out stock will be supplied until peace is restored-from the fact that the South has not even the raw material to replenish with-the whole seceding States not producing as much wool as the State of Ohio alone; it can be seen, that not only during the war, but at its close, when the million of men in the army return to their former em

ployments, discard their military clothing, and dress as they were wont in broadcloth and doeskins, the price of wool must continue above the average price for the last five years. In time of war, the quality of wool is a matter of no small consequence. Vermont has limited herself to the production of the finest wools. But the wool most in demand now, and bringing the highest prices, is a coarser grade. The query may well be made, whether it will not be equally profitable for us to turn our attention to the production of a somewhat coarser staple, and at the same time furnish richer and higher priced mutton for the market."

SCARCITY OF PURE ARABIAN MARES.-The

Arabs' love for their mares, and the jealous care with which such animals are treasured in the East, have formed the subjects of many an interesting story. There is no difficulty in obtaining any number of Arab stallions, for example, of the very purest blood; but it is next to impossible to procure an Arabian mare of very high reputation. A modern writer on the subject tells us that it is even considered & crime to sell one under any circumstances; and in proof of the resolute opposition to the practice, a case is related as having lately occurred in Calcutta, where some Arabian dealers had sold their horses, and in consequence of a heavy bribe, one was induced to part with his mare. Some weeks afterward, when the dealers had gone homeward, the senior of his party was observed to have returned to the city, a distance of several hundred miles; he lured about for some days; subsequently, it was discovered that he had inquired for the stables where the mare was kept she was found poisoned, and he had disappeared.

COST OF FANCY STOCK.-The expenses of Wombwell's menagerie are stated at £25 per A fine eleday; or above £12,000 a year. phant bought by Mr. Wombwell cost him 1,000 guineas; tigers have been sold at £300 each; a panther is worth £100, hyænas from £30 to £40, zebras from £150 to £200, an ostrich ed £1,000; three giraffes cost the Zoological £200. A rhinoceros (one-horned) once fetchSociety, Regent's Park, £700, exclusive of exclusive of expences. Wombwell gave £75 for a pair of boa-constrictors.

A pound sterling (£) is about equal to $5 American coin.

CLOVER HAY FOR Cows.-The N. E. Farmer states that Mr. John Day, of Boxford, Mass., who cuts large quanties of clover, feeds it out principally to his milch cows, and he finds that when the clover is exhausted and he feeds timothy and red top, "twenty cows immediately shrink two cans of milk per day!"

THE POULTERER.

Fattening Poultry.

From an elaborate and excellent article in the Scottish Journal of Agriculture, we extract the following:

This

There may be said to be three principal modes of fattening, one of which is natural, allowing the fowls a greater or less degree of liberty, and supplying as much nourishing food as may satisfy their appetite. This method is generally preferred among us, and many experienced poulterers affirm that they can obtain as good fowls in this way, as by any description of forced feeding. In France, the prevailing impression is different. The two other methods are artificial; one of them consisting of the forced intromission, at certain hours, of paste composed of farinaceous substances; the third, by causing the fowls to swallow, by means of a funnel inserted into the mouth, farinaceous substances in a liquid state. latter method named entonnage, is so simple and rapid that it is thought likely to be generally adopted in preference to any other. The filler or funnel, made of white iron, should be of sufficient size to hold one meal, having a ring below the rim externally, for receiving the forefinger and thumb, and the orifice at the lower extremity cut aslant, the edges surrounded with a thin coating of India rubber, to prevent injury to the walls of the throat. The beverage which by this means is to be introduced, consists of barley meal, (not bruised barley,) mixed up without knots in equal parts of milk and water. When all is ready, the fowl is seized by the wings near the shoulder, the head held forward between the knees, and grasped by the left hand, while the right holds the funnel, opens the beak, introduces the instrument into the gullet, and the proper quantity of the mixture is poured in. The quantity of the latter should be about the eighth part of a litre, but only half that quantity is given during the first three days. This dose must be given regularly three times in the twenty-four hours, at intervals of eight hours. The boxes or frames containing the fowls should be placed in a stable or other temperate place, protected from currents of air, and they should be littered with straw, the litter frequently renewed, and every impurity removed. The duration of this treatment is from fifteen to twenty days; if it fails to be successful within that time, the subjects should be withdrawn and otherwise disposed of.

"There is one important purpose which appears to us attainable more readily by forced feeding than in any other way, and which has not received the attention which it seems to merit. The great defect of the flesh of poultry as food, is its comparative want of flavor-it is somewhat insipid and tasteless. This deficiency we at once acknowledge, and endeavor to sup

ply by eating along with it ham, or tongue. Much, therefore, would be gained if we could impart to the flesh, otherwise so tender, and nutritious, a greater degree of raciness and taste. Artificial feeding seems to present us with the means of accomplishing this; not only, indeed, of giving it savor, but even the very degree and kind of flavor which may happen to be preferred. We might thus make game of our chickens, not in the ludicrous, but literal sense of the expression. We might give them the game flavor; we might impart to them the piquancy of flesh found in various kinds of wild birds; and even possibly render it so odorous and fragrant as to surpass them

all. The effect that the nature of the food has

on the qualities of the flesh of animals, is well known. That of the caper-caille has the scent of the fir-shoots on which the bird feeds; hares, inhabiting low, wooded regions, have less fla

vor than such as live on mountains. Domestic

rabbits are always insipid when compared with

witd ones.

Birds feeding on certain berriesthose for example, of the juniper-acquire the Such inperfume of their principal food. stances might easily be multiplied. They are sufficient to countenance the idea, that, by mingling aromatic substances with the farina

ceous aliments which form the basis of their

food, we could vary at will the flavor of our poultry, when subjected to forced feeding.— Substances for this purpose might be derived either from the mineral or vegetable kingdom; from the former cautiously. Flavored berries, such as the juniper, the aromatic buds of trees, the tops of labiate plants, such as thyme, lavender, odoriferous barks, &c., would form materials to work with. They would not require to be used but towards the close of the period of fattening, as a short treatment would be sufficient to perfume, at our wish, the whole flesh of the animal. In this way, the value of our common fowls might be greatly increased, and they might be brought to equal, and even surpass many kinds of game."

HOW TO SELECT POULTRY.-A young turkey has a smooth, dark leg, feet supple and moist, and the end of the breastbone pliable like gristle. If the head is on, the eyes are full and bright if fresh killed. Fowls, when young, have smooth combs and legs. In other respects they are like young turkeys. Young geese have yellow bills and feet, and a pin head may be forced through the skin of the breast. (It requires considerable pressure to thrust a pin through the breast of an old, tough goose.) If fresh, the feet are pliable. The same rules apply to the selection of ducks. As a general rule, all old birds have bony claws, that are not easily straightened. Young birds have pliant and easily yielding claws. The spurs of old turkeys and roosters are hard, long, and sharp. Of young ones but the first development is seen.