Year: 1861

szzszsszazszzs
published paper on the Proper Offices of
Straw on Farm. by Henry Eycrshed.
from which | make short extract. He
says, / shall now t~rn to more common
state of things. which straw is now in ex-
cess of the ordinary requirements of the
farm first examining what appears to be
the most important, because the most in
! dlspensable Of the uses Of straw, viz: az
litter. All the larger animals require lit
ter of some sort. A warm dry and soft
bed, is quite indispensable for their COM
fort. As an expedient for saving straw, |
once put twelve three year old oxen on
boards to fatten, and found it very cruel
experiment The animals were always in
state of distress one Of them would not
lie down, and remained standing four days.
until the muscles of his thigh sweled with
the unnatural tention. 4 comfortable lay
er of straw soon set all right. In
fact the best of food and uureritting at
tention, will not compensate for the lack of
a comfortable bed. Asa g. Sheldon,
ESQ, of Mass, we'll known farmer, and
the owner and worker of great numbers of
oxen, within the past forty years, stated
at an evening discussion, Estate House,
Boston, } that he would rather his oxen
should travel twenty miles daily. and then
have good bed of litter or straw to sleep
upon, than travel but fifteen miles per DAY.
and at night be obliged to lie upon tbs
naked floor Of hovel. ,"


INDTC4 ATOMS OF A CO00 sfIIKFe


The question is often asked how to tell
by inspecting COW or calf whether it VIII
make good mixer, To the initiated it
is very easy he will scarcely be mistaken
one time out of twenty IN making his Sc
leetions. But to convey this knowledge to
another, by the pen alone, is impossible;
the most we can dois to give q few gener-
al rules. More information could be OBJ
tanned, orally, in one hour, from q good
Judge among a herd Of COWS and calves.
than from volume of written directions
1t is misfortune that farmers sons are
not taught these things, as well as many
others of great practical value relating to
their profession.


There are several points in COW or calf
which indicate great milking qualities Tho
most important and certain Of these,
especially in the calf, is the adder This
should be broad and full, extending well
forward along the belly, and we'll up be-
hind the skin rather soft and elastic,
neither thick nor thin and the hair around
of silky touch. The teats should be Of
good size, placed lather wide apart, and at
right angles to each other, the ends slight
ly pointing out IN an oblique direction. 1t
is favorable indication for the udder to
show a fifth or sixth teat, though these
should be much smaller than the others,
especially in the grown cow. In the calf
the relative difference may not be so great,


Another very important consideration is
| the milk ueins, which should be large and
quite jagged. These will be developed sew
eral months before the heifer drops her first
calf, and invariably show large ever after.
We never knew q cow with such veins that
did not give large quantity of milk
whatever the quality might be unless some
accident had Eapgened to her, or she had
been very improperly managed. We have
also known cows that were great mixers
which did not show large milk veins, but
these are mere exceptions to the general
rule.


In addition to these, there are other
points, which may be taken into considera-
ton in making up ones mind whether a
COW is good or poor mixer. If the
former, her eye is generally bright; her
head long and clean; her chest slightly
thin for the breed and body rather wedge
shaped from the hips forward, while she is
extra capacious behind, with thin thighs
) the skin rich cream color and very elastic.


In the lattor we have noticed that the eye
was not ordinarily prominent; the head
thicker the shoulders and thighs coarser
and more meaty, and the posterior develop
ments narrower


THE CINNAMON Crop IN CEYLoN The
cinnamon gardens in the neighborhood Of
Colombo, although for the most part gone
to decay, nevertheless impart to the whole
scene a sngularly cheerful, agreeable as
, pect- The bushes, from four to six feet
in height, with their smooth beautiful,
light green leaves, resemble those of the
bay tree, and their pale yellow stamens
shoot up doubly fresh and succuleut, from
the snow-white quartz soil in which they
best thrive. The Towering season Of the
cinnamon is in January, and the fruit ri
pens in April, when the sap is richest in
the shrub, In May the boughs are begun
to be ''barked,' which process continues
till October. The pruning and gathering
of the yearling shoots, which are about
the thickness of mans thumb, is very
: Iaborious and employs many hands. Each
laborer cuts off as many as be can conyen-
iently carry in bundle, then. with the
point of crooked knife, made for the ex-
press purpose, strips the entire rind from
the wood, carefully scrapes off the exterior
cuticle and iDnermost layer, and lays the
stripped off cinnamon rind, now reduced to
the thickness of parchment, in tho sun,
where it dries and cuIls together.


All around the hut, in which the peeliRc
of the rind is carried on, is diffused a most
exquisite aroma, caused by the breaking
of the leaves or twigs What is related,
however by travellers of the fragrance Of
the cinnamon forests, which they have
scented at great distance seaward would
seem to indicate that this delicious odor
emanates from various other aromatic
plants in which Ceylon is so rich, rather