Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1858-07-02

whose peculiar genius in this respect was
made known by Young. lie chose the ami
mails of the form and temperament which
showed signs Of producing most fat and mus
Gle. declaring that in an OK all was useless
that was not beef; and that he sought. by
| pairing the best specimens, to make the shout
| ders comparatively little, the hind quarters
! large to produce ga body truly circular. with
as short legs as possible, upon the plain prin-
cipe that the value lies in the barrel and not
in the legs and to secure a small head, small
neck and small bones. As few things escaped
his quick eve. he remarked that quick iatten-
ing depended much upon amiability Of dispo-
sition, and he brought his bulls by gentleness
to be as docil as dogs Mr.. Bakcwel's views
met with a good deal Of opposition. inasmuch
as large boncd animals were popularity reek-
oned the best There were some, however,
sagacious enough to appreciate his ideas, and
the result has been the establishment OF the
superior breeds of cattle Of the present day.
The new system Of fattoning sheep, by
feeding them with sliced turnips and oil cake,
was not introduced till 1924, when it was
found that they could be attoned for market
by this means in twelve months less than the
usual time At first it was looked upon as
an extravagant and ruinous experiment but
raj tendency of the improved breeds to carly
maturity has multiplied to an enormous ex-
tent the amount of mutton produced. Twenty
years ago the majority of the sheen brought
to Smithfeld market were three and four
years old. Now a three wear old sheep IS
scarcely 90 be met with. and fat sheen only o
twelve-month old are plentiful. Results Of
like nature have followed extra feeding Of
other animals for the butcher.
The later improvements bearing en- Eng
ush agriculture have been the introduction Of
a remarkable system of drainage. the employ
rnept of artificial mauures. the mmoyement
of indictments. and. hy mo means last. the in
stimton of agricultural societies.
Tn to The wear 1913 but little had been
done in The way of drainage. although at
tennis had boon made from the earliest fines
The most that had been done was the tanning
of sprinr.. or cndeavorinn to convey away
the rain which fell on the surface hy drains
SO shallow that the plow often spoiled them.
Bv the wear 1913. a Mr.. Sparkcs. who dcvot-
ed much attention to tho subioct had donon-
stratod. after several wears of experiment.
that four feet should be the minimum deptb
for drains in wet or claycv lands. lie found
that a deem drain hogan 10 RIM after wet
weather. NOT fran tbe wator abovo hut Gom
tho water arising from the subtcrraucan nc
cumulations below. and that. bv drawing away
the sta-nant moisture from the three or four
feet of earth next the surface. it was rendered
more friuble. easier to work. more penetrable
by the rain, which then carried down air and
manure. and much warmer and moro suitable
for the nourishment of the roots of the orops
The discovery was rendered available by the
invention of CLAW mines for the drains and it
is asserted has more than doubled the value
f of retentive soils in England Some idea oil
the immense extent to which drainage is there
carried may be inferred from the fact that.
since 1915. two parliamentary loans. each of
four millions sterling. having been granted to
landholders to enable them to drain their es.
Z tates. while it is estimated that eirht millions
in addition have been loaned by private eapi-
talists for the same purpose.
The English farmers have also. of late
years. EMPLOYED large quantities of spocial
manures, embracing lime. chalk. gypsum.
mari, SCOT. salt saltpetre. rapecake. bones
nitrate of soda. guano. and other substances.
The first cargo Of puano was introduced some.
where about 1885. and since 1899 twelve mil.
lions sterlin, have hoen maid for Ms ort;cl,