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Revotcd to Agriculture, llorticnltnrej Mechanics and the Useful Arts.
ID. P. Hollow*-** Wm. T.   J
lisu.e, R. T. IUcd—Editors, j
RICHMOND, February 1,1856.   \^S^t<^7PMUU"-
No.  3.
COMMUNICATIONS.
m
Durham* v». Milk aud Butter.
Eds. Indiana Farmer:—I wish to inquire
"trough the columns of your valuable paper,
irhether it is or is not correct that our com-
on native cattle, in spite of all that has
•een said in favor of Durhams and Devons,
till maintain their superiority as milkers,
ver all other breeds, which, at the expense
[of great pains and high prices, our enterprising farmers^ and dairymen have become possessed of. I suppose the man can hardly be
found who will, at the present day, venture
tho assertion that the Durhams are not decidedly preferable to all others, when milk
and butter are left out of the account, but
these we must have; and if our imported
breeds fail to furnish them in quantities at
least equal to native stock, the former will
never be allowed to supplant the latter. On
enquiring of a lady, a short time since, who
came to market with a huge pile of butter,
how she managed to make so much in such
cold> weather. She replied, '-by not keeping
Durhams." Her father has long been known
as a breeder of Durham stock. I know a
wealthy fanner who has been at great expense to procure the best breed of stock;
Durhamsespecially, from Kentucky and other places, who, nevertheless declare that he
must keep scrub stock for milkers. I know
another farmer who scrutinizes the fine points
of a Short horn with as much pleasure as
any one, and yet maintains, emphatically,
the same position. I might add other instances of a like character. In fact, so far
as I know, the opinion is generally held, even
by those who have given the Durhams a fair
trial.
I believe that the celebrated "Oak Cow,"
of Yankeedom, and others of a like character, whose wonderful milk-giving and butter-making qualities have been long familiar
to dairymen, were native cattle. Is there
anything in the history of Durhams which
exceeds some of these stories? The general impression seems to be that fat and milk
are produced by the same materials, and
consequently a cow that easily and readily
takes on the former, will secrete but little of
the latter.
If the editors ofthe Farmer will give their
opinion on this subject through its columns,
they will oblige
A Reader.
From this Indiana Farmer,
Messrs. Editors: I noticed "a long article in the Ohio Parmer, on the growth of
oats, and the different kinds, and thi} great
profit resulting from the same. Now I have
grown oats in Indiana, and saw it grown in
Ohio, and I am confident that I can grow as
many bushels of barley per acre as of oats
—the one 48 lbs. and the other 32 lbs.—tbe
barley straw worth 50 per cent, moro than
oats. I want some careful farmer to test the
intrinsic value of a bushel of barley, and
compare it with the value of one bushel of
oats.
There has come within my own knowledge
here this season, one fanner who raised a
field of barley, thrashed it, and sold it for-
$1 25 per bushel; his cattle and horses leave
corn stalks and hay for the barley straw.—
He purchased 300 bushels of good sound
corn for 33^e. per bush. From tliis you can
see the need there is of some of our farmers
reading.
Some years back I sowed oats and barley;
I got more bushels of barley than of
oats per acre, and in both cases sowed the
f round with wheat that I had . oats on. I
id not manure the barley ground, and had
as good or better wheat on the barley ground
than on the oats ground. The oats ground
was hard, and broke np in lumps, tbe barley-
ground mello-tv. There is very little land,
if it was underdrained, that could not be
sown with Spring barley. It is important
in all cases that Spring barley be sown early
—deep plowing, indeed sub-soiling, is essential, and pulverize the ground.
Last spring when I came here, seeing
those poor hills soutn of Dayton, it looked
discouraging to grow trees, berries, and vegetables, but mark the result. "When we
commenced plowing—the surface soil plow
run 9 or 9 J inches, and after it the subsoil plow 7 to 8 inches. Many wondered
what we were doing, but mark the result!
At the county fair, sweet potatos weighing
3£ lbs., dry and good, grown on as poor hills
as can be found, where briars, elders and a
few weeds grew—pie-plant far ahead of any
grown on the bottom lands, Stowell green
corn, the same. I exhibited peach trees six
feet in height, and one inch in diameter. It
is a matter of astonishment to the neighborhood and those who pass, but whether it is
owing to the remarkably fine season, or the
mode of cultivation, time will determine.
Some of my friends are very much alarmed
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