OUTLINES OF THE FIRST COURSE
OF
Y A_ L E
YALE
AGRICULTURAL
LE CTUBqE S.; BY
HENRY  S. OLCOTT.
WITH AN INT'ODU CTION BY
JOHN A. PORTE:R,
PROFESSOR OF ORGANIC CIIEMTSTRY AT Y'ALE COTTLLEGE.
NEW YORK:
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER AND CO.,
No. 25 PARK ROW,
1860.
EDWARD 0. JENKINS, PRINTER, 26 FRANKFORT ST., NEW YORK.  _2
_       __'Sw __~7,~:~m~.~~z~Vo~~w~o~:~~"'V




a. gl~'&AA~ik-4                                        A.A...AAA
A  PacvrtiCl List of the AGRICULTURAL BOOKS published  by
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO.,
No. 25 PARK ROW, NEW YORK.
American Farmer's Encyclopedia,.,.... $1 00 ] Herbert's Hints to Horsekeepers,....... S1 [S
American Weeds and Useful Plants,.....  1 50  Hooper's Dog and Gun,...............    5
Allen's (R. L.) American Farm Book,... 1 00  Hunt's Patient's & Physician's Aid,..... 1 00
Allen's Diseases of Domestic Animals,..,   5  Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry,.....  1 a5
Allen's (L. F.) Rural Architecture,.....-  25  Langstroth on the Honey Bee.......... 1 5
Allen on the Culture of the Grape,.... 1 00  Leuchars' Hothouses,..................1     5
American Architect,.                     6 00  Liebig's Lectures on Chemistry,....         50
American Florist's Guide,.............     75  Linsley's (D. C.) Morgan Horses,.....   1  0
Barry's Fruit Garden,.................   1 25.Milburn on the Cow and Dairy,.........    50
Bment's (C. N.) Rabbit Fancier,.......    50  Miles on the Horse's Foot,.                50
Blake's Farmer at Home....              1 25  Miner's (T. B.) Bee-keeper's Manual,...    1 00
Blake's Every-day Book, for the Country, 2 25  Munn's (B.) Practical Land Drainer,....    5
Boussingrault's (J. B.) Rural Economy,..  1 25  Nash's (J. A.) Progressive Farmer,..      60
Browne's American Bird Fatcier........     50  Neil's Fruit, Flower and Kitchen G'dener, 1 00
Biowne's American Poultry Yard......  1 00  N forton's Scientific Agriculture,.........  60
B;owne's Field Book of Manures,.......  1 25  Olcott's Sorgho and Imphee,........... 1 00
B    eidgeman's Young Gardener's Assist't, 1 50  Our Farm of Four Acres..........   5
BrLidgeman's Kitchen Gardener's Inst'tor    60  Pardee on Strawberry Culture,.......   60
B:idgeman's Florist's Guide..       60  Pedder's Farmer's Land Measurer,.....    5)
Bi'idgeman's Fruit Cultivator's Manual,.    60  Quinby's Mysteries of Bee-keeping,       1 00
B:eck's (Joseph) Book of Flowers,......  1 00  Randall's Sheep Husbandry,....           1 25
B3:ist's Amtn. Flower Garden Directory,... 1 25  Reemelin's Vine-Dresser's Manual.......  5s
B list's Family Kitchen Gardener.......   75  Richardson on Dogs,..so................  50
Chorlton's Grape-Growers' Guide,......    60  River's (Wm.) Orchard House,.......    40
Cobbett's American Gardener,.........    50  Rose, Culturist............
Cottage and Farm Bee-Keeper........    50  Robin's Produce and Ready Reckoner,.    60
Cole's (S. W.) American Fruit Book,..    50  Saxton's Rural Hand-Books, 4 vols., each  1 25
Cole's American Veterinarian,..        50  Schenck's Gardener's Text-Book,.......   50
Dadd's (Geo. II.) Modern Horse Doctor.. 1 00  Shepherd's Own Book,................ 2 00
Dadd's (Geo. H.) American Cattle Doctor  1 00  Skilful Housewife,......                    50
Dald's Anatomy of the Horse,.. 2 00  Smith's Landscape Gardening,.......... 1 25
The Same,.      colored plates 4 00  Stephens' Book of the Farm,.....2 vols.  4 00
Dan:a's Muckl Manual, for Farmers..... 1 00  Stewart's (John) Stable Book,..........  1 00
Domestic and Ornamental Poultry,...... 1 00  Stray Leaves from the Book of Nature,. 1 00
The Same,.       colored plates  2 00  Talpa; the Chronicles of a Clay Farm,..    75
Downing's Landscape Gardening,....... 3 50  Thaer's (Albert D.) Agriculture,......:.  2 00
Eastwood on the Cranberry,.............   50  Thomas (John J.) Farm Implements,... 1 00
Elliott's Western Fruit Book,............  1 25  Thomas (J. J.) American Fruit Culturist, 1 25
Every Lady Her Own Flowerl-Gardener,.   50  Thompson on the Food of Animals,.....   75
Family Doctor,........................  2 00  Todd's (S. E.) Young Farmer's Manual,.. 1'5
Farm Record, for 25 years,............  3 00  Turner's Cotton Planter's Manual,......  1 00
Farmer's Practical Horse Farrier,.....   60 |'Walden's (J. H.) Soil Culture,........... 1 00
French's Farm Drainage,.............  1 00 / Warder's Hedges and Evergreens,..    1 00
Fessenden's Am. Kitchen Gardener,....     50  Waring's Elements of Agriculture,..        75
Fess3nden's Farmer & Gardener,......   1 25  Weeks' (John M.) Manual on Bees,..           50
Field's (Thomas W.) Pear Culture,......  1 00  Wheat Plant,......                 1 50
Fish Culture................            1 00  White's Gardening for the South,.......  1 25
Flint (Charles L.) on Grasses........... 1 25  Yale College Lectures,.....          50
Grant's (Dr. C. W.) Vine Culture,:...... 1 25  Youatt and Spooner on the Horse......  1 25
Guenon on Milch Cows,.............   60  Youatt and Martin on Cattle,...........  1 25
Gunn (John C.) Domestic Medicine.       3 00 /Youatt and Martin  on the Ho......... 75
Hall's (Miss) AmnricaLn Cookery,.......  1 00  Youatt on Sheep,...................... 75
RURAL HAND-BOOKS. —Paper Covers.-25 Cents Each.
Amnerican Bird Fancir. - American Kitchen Gardener.- American Horse Tamer.-Bee:
Culture.- Bee-Keeper's Chart.-Chemistry made Easy.-Chinese Sugar Cane and Sugar:
Making. —ulture of Flax. —- Bement's Rabbit Fancier. —              Cow; Dairy Husbandry and
Breeding.-Dogs; their Origin and Varieties. —Dog and Gun. —Domestic Fowls. -Elements of Agriculture.      Every Lady Her Own Gardener. -Essay on  Ilanures.-Familiar
Lectures on Chemistry.-  Hiogs. — Horse's Foot, and How to Keep it Sound.- Horse.
Hyde's Chinese Sugar Cane.  -Hive and Honey Boee. —-— anual on Baees —Pests of the
Farm. -    Perzos on the Vine. —-Preservation  of Food. -Rose.   -Skilful Housewife.
Vine Dresser's Mtanual. —Spooner on Grape q:ines and Wine-Making.-Vine Culture and
Wine-Making.   Our Farm of Four Acres. —Yale College Lectures.
gC- Fl t Caltalogzus of our Agricultural end Xiscellaanous Publications semmplied grai t..1 _T T T VV.U                                                      f I......t_...    




OUTLINES
OF THE
FIRST CO-URSE
OF
YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
BY
HENRY S. OLCOTT.
WITH AN IN TRODUCTION BY
JOHN A. PORTER,
PROFESSOR OF ORGANIO CHEMISTRY AT YALE COLLEGE
NEW YORK:
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO.,
25 PARK ROW.
1860.




Entered According to Act of Congress in the year 1860, by
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southen District of
New York.
EDWARD _. JENKINS,
j3ritter * ~terrotpper,
No. 26 FRA&i[FORT STREET.




PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.''HESE sketches of the lectures which were given during the
recent Convention at Yale College, were first printed in the
columns of the New York Tribune. Occurring as it did when
there was an unusual pressure upon the columns of the paper,
the Convention would never have been reported at all if the
editors had not regarded with great favor this attempt to improve the condition of our Agricultural science. Anxious to
lend the powerful aid of the Tribune to further the object in
view, they allotted a sufficient space daily for a succinct outline
of the lectures throughout the entire course.  So much valua-e
ble information was embraced in the several discourses, that
to the reporter it was a matter of great difficulty to select as
little as would fill the space at his disposal; and the readers of
this pamphlet will not, therefore, wonder if he has not done
full justice to either the topics or the lectures. When the
course was almost completed frequent inquiries were made as
to whether any complete report of it would be published; and
by many a desire was expressed that if nothing more detailed
and elaborate could be done, at least these Tribune sketches
should be collected in book form, for convenience of preservation. It being established beyond doubt that no full publication could, for various reasons, be made, the publishers of this
volume have made arrangements with Mr. Olcott to edit and
correct his notes. To render them as nearly perfect as their
brevity permits, they have been submitted for revision to the
lecturers themselves, and may, therefore, be considered as at
least fair summaries of the matter delivered by them from the
lecture-desk.




LECTURES
GIVEN DURING THE
AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION AT NEW HATEN,
FEBRUARIY, 1860.
FIRST WEEK.-AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY, &c.
AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY,...........................o. S. W. JOHNSON.
IscruRE 1. Composition of the Plant. The Organic Elements-Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Carbon.  Lsc. 2. Proximate Organic Principles of the Plant-Cellulose, Starch,
Dextrine, Sugar, Gluten, Albumen, Casein, Vegetable Oils, and Acids. Lao. 3. Atmospheric
Food of Plants-Water, Carbonic Acid, Ammonia, and Nitric Acid. Their sources and supply.
Lao. 4. The Ash of Plants-Potash, Soda, Lime, Magnesia, Oxyd of Iron, Oxyd of Manganese,
Chlorine, Sulphur, Phosphorus.
ENTOMOLOGY,.................................................DR. ASA FITCI.
lOTcuRE 1. Great losses sustained from depredating insects-their classification, structure,
metamorphoses, habits, and means of destruction. LEc. 2. Insects injurious to grain crops,
with a particular account of the wheat midge and Hessian fly. Lac. 8. Insects injurious to
fruit-trees, with a particular account of the Curculio and the Apple-Tree Borer.
VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY,............................DANIEL C. EATON, EsQ.
LxEornx. 1. The vegetable cell-its form, size, structure, contents, origin, and mode of
growth. LIc. 2. The seed, root, and stem. Nature and growth of seeds.  Structure of
roots. General structure and minute anatomy of stems. Lac. 3. Arrangement of leavestheir parts, forms, structure, and economy. Food of plants. Relations of the vegetable
kingdom. LIo. 4. Flowers and Fruits. Arrangement of Flowers-their parts and offices of
parts; development of fruit.
VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY,..................           CHAUNCEY E. GOODRICH.
SECOND WEEK.-POXOLOGY, &c.
PEAR CULTURE,........................HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER.
American Pomology-the best method of promoting it; with practical suggestions on the
cultivation of the pear.
GRAPES,.....................................................D. C. W. GRANT.
Laermsw   1. Preparation of the soil, and propagation of the vine.  IEa. 2. Culture of
native varieties, with an account of different varieties and their qualities. La. 3. Foreign
varieties; culture and treatment.
(4)




CONTENTS.
B       ERRIE                                S....................................................R. G. PARDEE, Fa.
LECRIru  1. Strawberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries —soil, cultivation, varieties. Ice.
2. Currants, Gooseberries, Cranberries, and Whortleberries —soil, cultivation, varieties.
FRUIT-TREES,...............................................P.  BARRY, E
IEcruRE 1. Propagation and treatment of Fruit-Trees in the Nursery. Lza. 2. Transplanting and management of Trees in the orchard and garden.
FRUITS,.......LEI...........S......... LEWIS  F. ALLEN, EsQ.
LECsURES 1 and 2. The Apple. IEc. 3. Uses of Fruits economically considered; profits as
farm crops; their consumption as food for man; as food for stock; value for exportation.
ARBORICULTURE,...................................     GEO. B. EMERSON, EsQ.
LZCOURE 1. Character of various Forest Trees, as found growing in the forests of Europe
and America. Value for various purposes. Forest culture. Lsa. 2. Shade and Ornamental
Trees; modes of cultivation.
THE HONEY-BEE.......................................      M, QUINBY.
AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY, continu..................PBOF. S. W. JOHNSON.
LzIruzi 6. The soil; its chemical and physical character. Lc. 6. The mechanical improvement of the soil by tillage, fallow, and amendments. Ise. 7. The Chemical and Mechanical improvement of the soil by manures. Lic. 8. The conversion of Vegetable into
Animal produce. The Chemistry and Physiology of Feeding.
THIRD WEE.-AGRICULTURE PROPER.
DRAINAGE..........HoN...................   HENRY F. FRENCH.
LI=cruz 1. The sources of moisture.  What lands require drainage.  Drainage more
necessary in America than in England. LEc. 2. Various methods of Drainage. Direction,
distance, depth, and arrangement of Drains. IEc. 3. Effects of Drainage. Drainage promotes pulverization, warmth, absorption of fertilizing substances from the air. ILoa. 4.
Ever-drainage; obstruction of drains; remedies; effects of drainage on streams and rivers.
GRASSES,.............................JOHN STANTON GOULD, Esq.
Lcrumz 1. Amount and value of the grass crop.  The great increase practicable; destruction of the Grasses; obstacles to profitable culture. Lc. 2. Classification and description of Grasses. Liza 3. On the principles of laying down and seeding meadows and pas.
tures. Lca. 4. On irrigation and drainage of meadows.
CEREALS...............................................JOSEPH HARRIS, E1s.
On the cultivation of Wheat and Indian Corn.
ROOT CROPS,.................. T. S. GOLD, ESQ.
The field Turnip, Ruta Baga, Beet, Carrot, Parsnip-varieties, soil, culture, composition,
uses. Root culture essential to high farming. Preservation and feeding of roots.
TOBACCO AND HOPS.....................POF. WM. H. BREWER.
LIermuz 1. Range of Cultivation; preparation of soil; care of plants; gathering and
curing; advantages and disadvantages of cultivation. Le. 2. Hops, ditto.




6                                 CONTENTS.
SANDY SOIS,.................................. -    LEVI BARTLETT, Esq.
On the cultivation of Winter Wheat, and the management of sandy and other light soils
ENGLISH AGRICULTURE,..........................LUTHER H. TUCKER, EsQ.
LECTURE 1. Causes of its preeminence. An outline of the chief improvements accomplished. Lec. 2. Examples of English Farming; High Farming; visits to great Dairy
establishments; remarkable results of Irrigation. LEo. 3. The Agricultural Shows of'59.
Improvement of Stock. Lessons. of English Agriculture.
PROFITS OF AMERICAN FARMING,................HoN. JOSIAH QUINCY, Ja.
FOURTH WEEKDO.-DOMESTIC ANIiAL.
CATL,.............................................. CASSIUS  M. CLAY, ESQ.
IEcTauE 1. On the five leading breeds, with notice of some other varieties. Ito 2. BreedIng as an Art.
STOCK BREEDING IN THE UNITED STATES,.....  LEWIS F. ALENT, EsQ.
xIREx 1. Cattle, Sheep, Pigs; their various breeds; adaptation to climate, soil, and puriiose. LEc. 2. Best methods of breeding, physiologically considered.  Present condition of
stock breeding and rearing in the United States, as compared with some portions of Europe.
IzC. 3. Poultry, economically and esthetically considered; varieties, as adapted to climate
and locality; utility and markets.
THE DAIRY,.....CHARLES L. FINT, EsQ.
LErCTuR 1. Breeds and Breeding of Stock with special reference to the Dairy. Lzo. 2.
The management and economy of the Dairy.
HORSES,......................................SANFORD HOWARD, EsQ.
Characteristics of Breeds, and Breeding for special purposes.
BREAKING AND TRAINING HORSES,............... DR. DANIEL F. GULLIVER.
On the methods of subduing and educating the Horse. The Baucher and Rarey systems.
Great enhancement of intrinsic and market value of Horses by these means.
SHEEP,........................ T. S. GOLD, EsQ.
LsEUREu 1. History and description of the various breeds; localities and uses to which
they are adapted. LEc. 2. Winter, Spring and Summer management of Sheep. Diseases.
Adaptation of our country to Sheep raising. Comparative advantages of Sheep husbandry.
Care and sale of wool.
AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS,......................SON C. WELD, EQ.
Organization and uses of Agricultural Societies and Farmers' Clubs.




INTRODUCTION.
BY PROFESSOR JOHN  A. PORTER.
THE views of Agricultural Education in which the Course
of Lectures originated-reports of which are here presented to
the public-were set forth in the Nezw Englander, for November, 1859. From that article we make a few quotations, as
introductory to a sketch of the course itself, and of the advantages which may be expected from a pursuance of this system
of agricultural education:' There is little question in the public mind as to the importance of new agencies for the diffusion of agricultural knowledge.  A more difficult question is, how the lack of them
shall be supplied. The Press does much, but by no means all
that is refuired. The contact of man with man, and of mind
with mind, is necessary to inspire the enthusiasm which is
essential to rapid progress.
"The introduction of books on elementary science into our
Common Schools, would be a great step in advance; but here
again there is the absence of that contact of the man of knowledge with the men who need it, which is essential to the
highest success.
"Shall we wait for the establishment by Government of
great agricultural institutions, similar to those of continental
Europe? Such institutions are among the most obvious and
essential wants of our time, but a public and general opinion of
their utility and necessity must be created before either our
(7)




8                     INTRODUCTION.
State or National Governments will seriously consider their
establishment. Shall we await the results of private enterprise
or beneficence in the creation of agricultural institutions, with
their model farms and costly apparatus of instruction, and their
corps of professors, exclusively devoted to the business of instruction? For these also we should have long to wait, not so
much because of the want of liberality among those who have
the means to endow such institutions, as for the lack of a clear
conviction as yet of their utility, and the really practical character of the information they would supply.
" It has seemed to us that this problem of a more perfect dif
fusion of knowledge on agricultural subjects, is capable of
another solution than that which consists in devising means for
obtaining governmental appropriations, or awaiting the munificence of individuals.
"In the attempts which have hitherto been made in this direction, too exclusive reliance has been imposed, as it seems to us,
on purely professional instruction; and it has been wrongly assumed that it is necessary to await the gradual production of
a class of men qualified to impart it. No necessity exists, as
we believe, to await the creation or production of anything
that does not now exist, for the accomplishment of this great
work. The material is at hand. We have undifftsed knowledge among us in every department of agriculture and horticulture, and of science applied to cultivation, as minute and
profound as exists, anywhere on the face of the earth.' In accordance with this view, the solution which we propose is the, enlistment of practical men, who are not professional
teachers, in the work of instruction, and their combination
in such numbers, that a small contribution of time and labor
from each shall make a sufficient aggregate to meet the object
in view. The special necessity for such a system, in the case
of the pursuit we are considering, grows out of the fact that
there is much in agriculture which has not, as yet, taken the
form of Science, and can only be acquired from practical men.




INTRODUCTION.                    9
"We are all familiar with the immense results accomplished
by combinations of capital in commercial enterprise, in banking, in railroad projects, in manufacturing. The combination
which is practicable in agriculture is of another kind-the
association of intelligence and knowledge in the work of instruction, for the indirect attainment of great results in this
most important of all fields of human labor.
"To realize such association of knowledge we would, then,
assemble from the farm, the garden, the nursery, the vineyard,
and from the ranks of science, gentlemen distinguished for
their skill in the various specialties of agriculture-practical
and theoretic,-and call on them to make each his contribution
to the work of instruction. And then we would summon the
intelligent and enterprising farmers of the country, young and
old, to gather and learn from the most highly qualified among
their own number, the secrets of their success. We would
propose that such aggregations of knowledge, as have been
suggested, should be made at as many different points in the
country as the available material would warrant, and that the
instruction they would furnish should be adapted as exactly as
possible, in time and extent, to the circumstances of our agricultural population.
" Such gatherings would partake of the character of the
agricultural convention, on the one hand, in which experienced
cultivators meet for their mutual enlightenment; and on the
other hand, of the agricultural college, within whose walls the
less experienced assemble to take advantage of the deliberations
of the former, and to listen also to their formal instruction."
The experiment proposed as above, in November last, has
since been made under the auspices of the Yale Scientific
School. Before proceeding with our sketch of it, a few words
may be appropriate with regard to the Institution which has
undertaken to carry out this scheme of Agricultural Education.




10                  INTRODUCTION.
The Yale Scientific School, is the Scientific Department of
Yale College, sustaining the same relation to the parent institution as the schools of Law, Medicine, and Divinity. Its
Faculty consists of seven Professors of the following branches,
viz.: —Civil Engineering, Industrial Physics and Mechanics,
Geology and Mineralogy, Metallurgy, General and Applied
Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Agricultural Chemistry.
Its course of study extends through two years. The Engineering Department has recently instituted a third year's course of
higher studies, and the new degree of Civil Engineer. Within
a few months the school will enter upon the occupancy of a
new and commodious building recently erected for its accommodation, at an expense of forty thousand dollars, by a friend
of the Institution. This building contains, beside its laboratories, recitation rooms and lecture halls, ample accommodations
for an extensive agricultural museum. A handsome fund for
this especial object is already accumulated, and will be largely
increased and in part expended during the present summer.
This movement, although subserving completely the objects of
the winter course on Agriculture, has by no means exclusive
reference to this course, but is to be regarded as a development
of the permanent Agricultural Department of the Institution
which remains in session during the whole year.
The new building not being completed as was anticipated,
the late course was given in a public hall in the city of New
Haven. The lectures were commenced on the first day of February, and on the twenty-fourth day of that month Were brought
to a close. Twenty-six gentlemen, distinguished in various
specialties of agriculture, participated directly in the work of
instruction, and not less than five hundred persons were attracted to the city of New Haven during its progress. Three or
four lectures were given each day, and the time not thus occupied was devoted to inquiries on the part of the audience, and
to discussions thus suggested. These discussions, in which
other gentlemen of experience besides the lecturers took an




INTRODUCTION.                     11
active part, proved'o be the most valuable part of the proceedings of this convention.
We proceed to a few remarks, suggested by the experience
of the late course, as to the kind and degree of benefit which
may be expected from similar conventions in the- future.
In the first place, it is obvious that their usefulness is to be
found by no means exclusively or even principally, in the novelties in agricultural science or practice which are likely to be
presented in the lectures. Every important discovery in agriculture finds its way, of necessity, into the agricultural journals,
and through the newspaper press becomes the property of the
country. In addition to this, every important subject on agriculture or horticulture is presented in books especially devoted
to the purpose, which the cultivator may study at his leisure
without the necessity of leaving his home. These facts might
seem at first view to do away with all necessity for such gatherings. They do not influence us, however, to hesitate in the
least in declaring them among the most efficient means in existence for promoting agricultural progress.
On the benefits to the experienced cultivator it is unnecessary to dwell. Agricultural, horticultural, and stock-breeding
conventions have come to be common and popular, and it is
already established by experience that they subserve many important purposes which are unattainable by other means. The
statement of numerous individual experiences in such a convention, will frequently show in an hour on which side the balance
of testimony lies, and so decide in a brief session questions
which have been the subject of a newspaper war of months,
A brisk fire of questions will often annihilate, in a few minutes,
the carefully guarded statement which has served as the protection of some cherished error, and so expose, by a single at:
tack, the fatally weak point of some plausible theory, which
might have been perpetuated in print for years.
Often, also, out of a chaos of seemingly i'rconsis.tent testimony
there will crystallize by the aggregation of individual esperi




12                   INTRODUCTION.
ences a really valuable result, which would never have been
attained but by the free interchange of opinions, which is only
possible when men meet face to face.
Of the advantage 9f such conventions to the comparatively
inexperienced cultivator, we shall speak with somewhat more
of detail.
In the first place, attendance upon them necessitates the absolute and undisturbed appropriation of a certain definite time
to the acquisition of agricultural knowledge. At home the
time would not have been found; at the convention it is secured.
The young farmer who is at the trouble and expense of going
abroad for a month for the purpose of study, feels that it is his
sole business for the session to learn, as it is on the farm to work.
This consideration is an argument of itself almost sufficient for
such gatherings. A convention of merest tyros in agriculture,
without teachers to instruct or guide them, would of itself be
a valuable institution, if only for the definite allotment of time
to the business of study. Assembled with such advantages,
of instruction the time secured for such an object ensures the
most important results.
A second advantage of such conventions is the infiuence of
the living teacher. This, in the case of persons who are without'the mental discipline furnished by a course of severe study,
is an advantage which cannot well be over-estimated. The
young man who will gape in the chimney-corner over an agricultural volume, will listen with intense interest to the very
same matter from the lips of an earnest speaker. And the enthusiasm of the teacher will infuse a permanent vitality into the
principles he communicates, which will make them living and
efficient agencies in the mind of the pupil, instead of mere dead
acts accumulated and laid away for a future use which is never
realized.
To illustrate by a particular case, we venture to say that the
four lectures on Drainage, given by Judge French, during the
recent course, did more to make an impression on the minds




INTRODUCTION.                     13
of the young farmers who heard them, and more to ensure attention to this important means of agricultural improvement,
than all the essays on the subject which they had ever perused.
And the same principle might be illustrated by many other
lectures of the course.
A third advantage of such conventions is to be found in the
illustration of the subjects presented by specimens and experiments, by drawings and models, and by living plants and animals. This is an incalculable advantage which the private
library and the home study cannot furnish, and which places
this mode of instruction for definiteness of information immeasurably above all others. Mr. Barry whittling at his pear-tree
before the audience, is worth a whole treatise on grafting and
pruning. Mr. Gold's discourse on sheep, interspersed with the
bleatings of his Cotswolds, and punctuated with the black noses
of his Southdowns, is worth a volume on mutton and wool.
Still another advantage of such gatherings is to be found in
the opportunity they afford to the pupil of eliciting from his
instructors knowledge especially adapted to his own particular case. Books are dumb to such inquiries, and even the elaborate treatise often leaves unnoticed the particular point which
is essential, in order to give the rest value for any particular
locality. It is for this reason, as before stated, that the inquiries,
replies, and discussions which are regarded as essential features of this method of education, are also its most efficient
agencies of instruction. These are by no means confined to
the lecture-room. During such a convention every hotel and
boarding-house is the locality of an agricultural club, which is
in session during the whole of the twenty-four hours not devoted to the public meetings and to sleep.
Finally, we remark, that the mere contact with men of great
experience and high success in agriculture, is stimulating and
inspiring to the young agriculturist as no mere shadow of their
personality in print can possibly be. They stand before him as
living illustrations of the great results of fortune and of reputa.




14                   INTRODUCTION.
tion which may be achieved by energy and enterprise in this
noble field of labor. They encourage him also by the impression
which their.personal presence will not fail to make, that these
results are not a consequence of great intellectual superiority,
of freedom from. doubts and difficulties, and of mysterious
insight into the processes of nature, but of quiet and persistent
labor, to which he also is equal, of science which he can attainand of enterprise which he himself can rival.
If any one has been disposed to inquire whether the newspaper reports of the proceedings of such a convention do not
furnish a large part of the advantage which would be derived
from attending its lectures and deliberations, the reply which
we are disposed to make to such an inquiry will already have
been inferred. While serving perfectly its purpose of giving
to the public a general idea of the proceedings of an Agricultural Convention, the newspaper can furnish at best, consistently
with its other offices, but a small fraction of the matter of the
mere lectures of such a course. Should it furnish all, it would
supply but the mere skeleton of their value to which the life and
blood of inquiry and discussion and special application, and
the electricity of personal influence and enthusiasm, would be
wanting. Detailed reports, which should record the total proceedings, including inquiries, replies, and discussions, are out
of the question, from the space they would occupy and the
expense they would involve. But if practicable, they would
be destitute of all the peculiar advantages which have been
rehearsed as belonging to the system. These are tt be found,
if we may be allowed here to recapitulate, in the appropriation of a definite period to the work of study, in the substitution of oral for written instruction, in the facilities afforded for
special inquiries, in the opportunities furnished of obtaining
valuable knowledge in private conversation, in the personal
influence of the instructor, in the intercourse with eminent cultivators, and in the complete illustration to the eye of every
subject which is presented to the mind.




INTRODUCTION.                    15
In relation to the present reports, although they are far from
needing any apology, it is but justice to the reporter to say
that they were made during the hurry of a convention, six to
eight hours of whose time were occupied every day with public
meetings, and under a pressure of material which compelled
him to make selection his object, rather than completeness.
In justice to the lecturers, it is proper to say they are not to
be held responsible for any inaccuracies of statement which
may possibly have crept into the reports, or for the occasional
inadequate presentation of their discourses. This was often
necessitated by the pressure of other matter on the columns of
the paper for which the reports were prepared. A few omissions which occurred, from the same cause, have been supplied
from other journals, at the suggestion of the writer of this
introduction. One of the gentlemen who took part in the
course, regarding it as entirely impracticable to give brief
reports any practical value, has requested that his lecture should
be omitted in this publication. His wishes have been respected
by the publishers.
Let the enterprising farmer, who would attach his sons to
the calling to which he has devoted his own life, and put them
on the road to success in their pursuit, beware of the false
economy which is disposed to reason that an agricultural paper
once a week, or a report of a convention once a year, is all that
is necessary to effect this important object. Let him give his
children the advantage of association with the men whose
example dignifies and elevates his calling, and demonstrates it
as noble a road to fortune and to happiness as any that nature
or art has opened. Let him insure for them, by contact with
such men, somewhat of the zeal and enthusiasm and knowledge
which has been the secret of their success, and the efficient
instrument of their advancement. Thus only can so important
an object be realized.
Let it not be imagined that in this attempt to set forth some
of the advantages of the system of Agricultural Education here




16                   INTRODUCTION.
presented, there is the least design to depreciate any one of
the manifold agencies in operation for the accomplishment of
the same great object of agricultural improvement. Of these,
perhaps the Press is the most important, and the one with
whose influence we could least afford to dispense in the promotion of this cause. But the Press scatters material a large
part of which is lost, for the want of leading principles in the
minds of its readers which such a system would best furnish,
and according to which its countless facts might be arranged.
The nucleus of knowledge and enthusiasm once created by
such a method of instruction, it would attach to itself these
floating fragments of experience and observation, and, like the
growing crystal, build them up into its own substance, and
make them part of its own life.
The Farmers' Club is a most efficient agency, tut it is often
a dead and cumbrous heap for want of the fire which might be
kindled from such a flame. The Agricultural Fair is a most
potent instrument of progress, but, without some system of
agricultural education behind it, is a mere confusing chaos of
illustrations, comparatively worthless, as the chemist's experiments would be without his explanations, for lack of the knowledge of the great principles to be illustrated. All of these
agencies have contributed to make possible the introduction
of such a system of agricultural education as is here discussed.
The system once in operation would react upon these earlier
agencies, and give them increased vigor and efficiency.
The Convention and course of lectures recently concluded,
was so far successful as to justify the announcement of its repetion in February, 1861. It is regarded, however, as important
chiefly as having furnished the means of determining how such
a course may be made most useful and attractive in the future.
While retaining, therefore, in the Course of'61, the fundamental idea of this system of Agricultural Education, viz., that of
the combined College and Convention, the second course will
be carried out with various modifications which have been




INTRODUCTION.                    17
suggested by the experience which has now been obtained.
It will be entered upon with vastly increased means of success,
in buildings, collections, and other apparatus of instruction, and
also in the wide spread interest which the past course has
awakened. Undertaken with such advantages, it will be of
especial interest as determining, once for all, the practicability
of sustaining such a course of instruction. To this end, an
amount of patronage at least two-fold, and probably threefold that which the late course obtained, is essential, even on
the basis of extremely moderate compensation to the lecturers.
Whether this can b1 secured our experiment of next winter
will determine.








THE
YALE AGRICULTURAL
ILECTT URES
FIRST DAY.-FEB. 1', 1860.
WHILE the friends of an improved agriculture have been for
many years advocating this or that reform, and to this day
are dolefully wailing over the torpid state of farm science, and
praying that something might be done to popularize it, Professor
Porter of Yale College, with admirable boldness, has conceived
and commenced this first course of Agricultural Lectures at
Yale College. He very wisely thought that the man of knowledge should be brought in direct contact with the men who
need it, the skilled farmer come face to face with the unskilled,
and that, by choosing a number of men, eminent in the several
branches of agriculture, to succeed each other in a course of
lectures, our farmers' sons, by sparing a fortnight or month in
winter, and coming to one central point, would get more information of value to themselves than if they pored over books
for a whole year. He plainly saw that if we were to wait for
such Governmental aid and comfort to Agricultural Colleges
as is given in Europe, he and we all might grow grey and die before our hopes were half realized; and no more feasible plan
suggesting itself, he bethought himself, to use his own language,
of " the enlistment of practical men, who are not professional
teachers, in the work of instruction, and their combination in
(19)




20          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
such numbers that a small contribution of time and labor from
each shall make a sufficient aggregate to meet the object in
view." You will understand, then, that mainly to Professor
Porter, and not to Yale College, the honor of originating this
plan is due. Yale has done something for scientific agriculture
since about the year 1848, when a Professorship was partially
endowed for the late Prof. John Pitkin Norton, who had labored some time with Johnston in England. Norton died in
1852, much regretted, after having done as much as he could
to make his department useful and popular, and was immediately succeeded by Prof. J. A. Porter, who was called from
Brown University. Porter's incumbency lasted five years,
when he accepted the Chair of Organic Chemistry, resigning
his own place to a rising young man, Samuel W. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson had studied two years in the Scientific School
here, and then went to Germany, where he worked in Leipsic
a year, in Erdmann's laboratory, and an equal time with the
great Liebig, at Munich, beside making visits to various laboratories and schools in Germany, England, and elsewhere.
Since he took his Chair at Yale, he has held the office of Chemist to the State Agricultural Society, and made some notable
analyses of muck and phosphates, the latter of which have occasioned much controversy.
He opened the course this morning with an elementary lecture on agriculture, confining his remarks to the organic elements of the plant, and explaining their nature and properties
by the usual experiments.
Three lectures are to be given daily (except Saturdays and
Mondays, when there will be but two,) until the 25th of this
month. The morning lecture is at 11; the afternoon, at 3, and
the evening one at 7 o'clock.
The 3 o'clock lecture to-day was by Mr. DANIEL C. EATON,
an amateur botanist of this city, who has, I am told, a very extensive herbarium, and has given many years of study to his
specialty. His lecture to-day treated of the vegetable cell



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.               21
its form, size, structure, contents, origin, and mode of growth.
The vegetable cell, he says, is a closed vessel like an egg, and
is composed of an outer solid membrane which contains a fluid,
and matter floating in the fluid, or attached to the sides. At
first the enclosing membrane is very delicate, and is called a
utricle; if this remains closed throughout its life, it is called
" a cell;" if the sides of several adjoining cells disappear, and
the series is arranged into a tube, it becomes "a vessel." Cells
are the base of all vegetation. The red snow-plant, and the
yeast-plant, are single cells.  Tri-snow-plant, so graphically
described by Kane and other Arctic explorers, is one cell, with
little particles floating within. These particles become cells
themselves, in time, and the outer coat bursting, lets them
escape to commence an individual existence themselves. Cells
vary in form in different plants, and even in the same plant
they, by overcrowding here and loosening there, get distorted
in shape. In the stems of water-lilies some of the cells are
star-shaped, while in the wood of trees they are long and pipelike. The diameter of cells averages from 1-1200th of an inch,
up to 1-250th; but the common puff-ball of our pastures, when
brokei spirts out a fine brown powder, each particle of which
is a cell, or spore as it is termed, of infinitesimal diameter.
The membranous wall of cells is of different toughness. In
the sea-weed, it is very soft; in ash, hickory, and mahogany,
very hard; and in vegetable ivory, harder still. Cell membrane
never dissolves in water, but swells. It is called " cellulose,"
and is composed of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, chemically
written thus: C. 12; 0. 10; H. 10. The spaces between the
cells of a plant are filled variously:-sometimes with air; in the
common red cedar, with minute grains of red aromatic rosin;
in sumac, with a thick milky sap; and in other plants, with
gums. The contents also of cells vary. The growing cells of
some plants, as asparagus, are more nutritious, because they
contain some nitrogen, which goes toward making muscle in
the animal body. A granular matter, a viscid fluid, sap (which




22           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
is almost water but contains sugar sometimes,) and the green
leaf-color, known as chlorophyll, are also contained in the cell.
Starch, too, is sometimes there, and each grain of it is organized, and so organized for each plant that the source of a
specimen of starch may often be revealed by microscopic examination. Potatoes store up starch in enormous quantities for
the.use of the next year's seed-ball; but we, thieves that we
are, carry off storehouse, contents and all for our own use.
In cells there are acids sometimes; malic is made by the apple, citric by the lemon, and other kinds by others. Starch is
insoluble in water, and cannot, therefore, circulate through the
plant; but sugar can, and dextrine, which is in its nature
somewhat intermediate between sugar and starch. There are
two grand divisions in the plant world-the flowering and
the flowerless. The former have elongated cells, as well as
short ones, but the simpler of the latter class have not. The
distinction is not now recognized as universal, although it has
been until recently.
I learn that a friend to Yale College is about to make it a
magnificent donation in the shape of a building for its Scientific School. The main building is about fifty feet squar, and
has two wings of equal dimensions, in one of which isto be
the Agricultural Museum, in the other a fine laboratory. The
first and second floors of the main building are assigned to the
Engineering School, the third to a lecture hall.
SECOND DAY.-FEB. 2, 1860.
Dr. ASA FITCH, of New York, gave last evening his lecture
on " Economical Entomology," or injurious insects. The Temple, where this convention sits, was about half filled, and the
lecturer was frequently applauded. Dr. Fitch labors in a field
of science vastly important to farmers, but very poorly understood. As he -very justly remarked last evening, the devasta



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             28
tions by insects are not noticed, because so insidiously made,
but if our eyes could but be opened to the activity of our little
foes, consternation would seize us. Go into our forests and we
see every portion of our trees attacked by some insect-trunk,
bark, leaves, and roots, all having their peculiar depredators.
The sweeping away of our forests compels the insects which
formerly fed upon them to turn to the orchards, which have
replaced the forests. Thus we have the apple-tree borer, which'
originally subsisted in the wild thorn-apple; and the Buprestis,
from the oak; and from present indications it is probable we
shall hereafter see the branches of our apple-trees lopped off
as are the limbs of the common red oak in particular years, and
by the same insect, the " oak-pruner." But in addition to these
native species, quite a number of foreign insects have been
imported in the thousand commodities, and in the numberless
trees and plants which we import, and these have proved the
most pernicious foes to our crops and trees. Our crops and
climate favoring their development, they multiply to a fiightful
extent, and do far greater damage here than they did in Europe.
The bark louse, for instance, on both sides of Lake Michigan,
has ruined nearly every orchard. For years after the settlement of this country wheat was an absolutely sure crop, but
the yield dwindled with successive years, and now, in large
districts, its culture is necessarily abandoned. Reasons have
been urged to account for this; that our soil has deteriorated,
and our climate changed, but they do not explain the difficulty.
With the best of manuring and tillage, we cannot get the crops
our ancestors did with shiftless farming; and even where new
woodland is cleared, and wheat is put into the virgin soil, the
crop is infinitesimally small. The true cause is to be found in
the attacks of insects, and nothing else. The wheat midge and
the Hessian fly are the only insects which have attracted much
notice, and it is hence currently supposed that these are the
only important depredators which we have in our wheat fields.
But, a few years since, on coming to. examine the growing




24           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
wheat, the learned lecturer had been surprised to find in every
field, multitudes of the Chlorops, Oscinis, and Thrips, insects
which have long been known in Europe as most pernicious to
the wheat crops there, but which have never been suspected as
occurring upon this side of the Atlantic. Some of these depredators are preying upon it at every stage of its growth, the
root, the tender blade, the stalk, the ear, and the ripening
grain in the ear all having particular enemies infesting them.
Now originally, when our country was covered by an unbroken
forest, there was no wheat here, nor other plant of the wheat
kind, on which such insects could subsist; consequently when
the lands were first cleared and sowed to wheat a bountiful
harvest was gathered. But the thrifty fields of this grain, with
which our country then abounded, invited these insects to
them. One after another arriving and finding here an ample
supply of its favorite food, would remain, ever afterwards laying the crop under contribution for its support. Thus, as these
enemies successively penetrated the country and became established in our wheat fields, their productiveness gradually diminished, till at length it was no longer possible to grow this grain
with profit, and in all the older sections of our country its
cultivation has long been abandoned. To form some idea of
the immense losses these pests are occasioning, look at the
wheat midge, which has been ravaging our fields for the past
twenty-five years. To appearance it is an insignificant little
yellow fly, only a fourth the size of a mosquito; but though it
seems so powerless and inert, it was able in New York State,
in 1854, to' destroy wheat to the value of over $15,000,000, or
nearly as much, probably, as the whole city of New Haven is
worth, with all its houses, buildings, and lots. If an invading
army had destroyed property to this value, how the whole
country would have been aroused! Multiply this tremendous
loss by that sustained in all the States, and what a result is
there for our contemplation! The wheat midge, however, Is,
sad to say, not our only insect enemy, for the name of the army




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              25
is legion. And what has rendered the situation of our farmers
and fruit-growers most vexatious, they have been obliged to
remain in ignorance, no definite information respecting the
names and habits of these creatures, from which they are sttaining such losses, being accessible to them. Only two works
on this subject have ever appeared, and neither of these has
been on sale in the bookstores. One of them is Dr. Harris's
Treatise, originally prepared as part of the Natural History
Survey of Massachusetts. The other is Dr. Fitch's own Report
on Noxious Insects, published each year in the New York
Agricultural Society's Transactions, and also issued separately,
two volumes being now completed.
The insect is divided into three principal parts, viz.: head,
thorax or fore-body, and abdomen or hind-body. The head in
insects is furnished with antennae or horns, which possess remarkable sensitiveness. Thus, an ichneumon fly, by touching
them against the outer surface of the bark of a tree in which a
worm is lying, detects not merely its presence, but its exact
position, although imbedded two or three inches in the solid
wood, so accurately that with its long ovipositor or sting it is
able to pierce the wood to where the worm lies, and puncture
its skin and insert an egg therein. And two bees or ants
meeting, by merely touching their horns together, know if they
belong to the same hive or hillock-for all the world as though
there was a system of Freemasonry among them, whereby they
know on this shaking hands as it were, whether they are
brothers or strangers to each other.
The most wonderful thing about insects is their metamorphoses, or transformations, the same individual appearing at different times under forms as different as for a serpent to change
into an eagle. There are four of these forms or stages in the
growth of insects:-first, the egg; second, the larva or growing
stage, when it is a worm or caterpillar; third, the pupa or
dormant stage, when it is often enclosed in a cocoon; fourth,
the perfect insect, when it is a fly, butterfly, beetle, bee, &c.
2




- 26         YALE AGRICULTURAL - LECTURES.
An insect may be known to be in its perfect or mature state
when it has wings; or if it be a winglea variety its maturity is
known by its depositing eggs. In grasshoppers, plant-bugs,
and leaf-hoppers, the changes are less complete, they never
having the form of a worm, the young resembling the mature
insect, only being smaller and without wings.
Insects, however much we may despise them, have a real use
in the domain of nature-destroying all that is dead, and checking the increase of all that is living in the vegetable world.
Without them the earth would immediately be overrun with
plant life. And hence those trees and plants which it is man's
object to cultivate, come to be attacked by those insects whose
-office it is to repress these kinds of vegetation. To be successful in his labors, therefore, man is obliged to combat those
insects which thus prey upon his crop. To do this he must
study their habits and transformations.
-Djr. Fitch closed'by stating, that the more he examined these
creatures, the more confimed he became in the opinion, that
there is no injurious insect but that, when we become acquainted with all the details of its history and habits, we shall
be able to detect some assailable point and devise some measure by which either the insect can be destroyed or the vegetation can be shielded from its attacks. We shall discover that,
although he may be invulnerable in every other part, no aegis
protects his heel, and if we strike Achilles there, we inflict a
death wound. A prolonged outburst of applause, on the close
of the lecture, attested how deeply Dr. Fitch had interested
the audience.
Subsequently, in confirmation of Dr. Fitch's statement, that
it was not a deterioration of the soil nor change of our climate
that prevented our growing such crops of wheat now as formerly, but was the insect enemies of this grain with which the
country has become overrun, a gentleman from Maine reported
that in a remote part of that State, where a district has recently
been newly cleared, distant from where wheat has ever been




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             27
grown, the finest crops of this grain are now produced. Another
gentleman stated, he was satisfied this was also the true solution of a fact that appeared quite singular al.4nacce-intable,
viz.: that here on some of the old lands of Connecticut, excellent crops of wheat have recently been grown. The cultivation
of this grain had been so long abandoned here, that all these
wheat insects have probably disappeared, and thus released
from them, these crops that have occasioned so much surprise,
have grown on the old lands here, without any special manuring or other management of the crop.
Dr. FITCH lectured again this afternoon, his subject this time
being "Insects injurious to Grain Crops, with a Particular Ac-.count of the Wheat Midge and Hessian Fly."
He said that our losses are immeasurably greater from insects
than those of European nations; as we have not only our own,
but many foreign ones introduced here, and these latter often
greatly surpass in their destructiveness, with us, anything
recorded of them in their native haunts. And yet, because of
not being so overcrowded in population, they were not felt so
much; for there the loss of one-eighth of a crop would be
regarded as a great national disaster, whilst here it would
scarcely be noticed.
The Hessian fly was undoubtedly introduced into this country, as at first supposed, in some straw used for package, by
the Hessian troops which landed at Flatbush, L. I., August,
1776. The few insects thus brought here multiplied so that
in 1779 the wheat fields in that town were destroyed. And
from thence it gradually spread in every direction, advancing
about twenty miles a year, penetrating to every part of our
country. It is a small, white, footless worm, which changes to
a pupa resembling a flax-seed, found at the crown of the root
in autumn and'winter, and at the next June another generation
nestles at the lower joints of the stalks. Within a year or two
of its first arrival in any given place, most of the surrounclin.




28           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
wheat fields were destroyed, and its ravages usually continued
for several years, or until its parasitic enemies had multiplied
sufficiently to subdue it. It has frequently reappeared here
and there, but for many years now, little has been heard of it.
This is probably the same insect that is mentioned by Duhamel
as having greatly injured the wheat in Switzerland in 1732, and
again in 1755; but during the half century of its worst ravages
here, it lurked undetected in Europe, till in 1833 it ravaged
a part of Germany, and in 1834 was found by Prof. Dana along
the Mediterranean in every wheat field he visited in Spain,
Italy, and on the Island of Minorca; and finally, in 1852, much
damage was caused by it upon the River Volga, where its
parasite was also found accompanying it. Such is, in brief, all
that is known of the European history of this insect, which,
introduced upon our side of the Atlantic, has caused a loss of
uncounted millions of dollars.
The wheat midge has long been known in England. It was
originally supposed to be a sort of mildew which thus blighted
the wheat, and was only ascertained to be an insect in 1771.
And in 1797, Mr. Kirby, searching for the Hessian fly, partially
traced out the habits of this insect. It was doubtless introduced into this country in some unthreshed wheat brought to
Canada, for it was first noticed upon the St. Lawrence, and
also in Northern Vermont, in the year 1830, though it did not
multiply and become so destructive as to attract public notice
until nine years later, when it also began to extend itself, and
has now overspread Canada and all the Northern States as far
west as into Indiana. Its larva is a minute footless worm, or
maggot, of a bright orange-yellow color, found in numbers upon
the young kernels in the wheat heads, causing them to be small
and shrivelled, to such an extent some years that many fields
are not harvested, every kernel being blighted. In England
the midge is preyed upon by a parasitic insect, a small kind of
ichneumon fly, which rapidly multiplies whenever the midge
becomes numerous, and thus quells and subdues it, just as the




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             29
Hessian fly with us is now kept in subjection by its parasite.
And Dr. Fitch thinks the reason why the midge is so vastly
more numerous and destructive here than it ever has been
in Europe is, because this parasitic destroyer, its inveterate
enemy, has never. reached our country. Thus we have received
the evil without the remedy. There are two ways by which
it is in our power to abate this evil; by destroying, 1st, the
fly itsel; and 2d, its larva. If, early in June, in the evening,
when the flies in a swarm are dancing about the wheat heads
to deposit their eggs therein, the field be swept over with a
suitable kind of net, the flies may be captured therein, and
destroyed in such multitudes that the few that are missed will
be able to do little injury to the crop. Of the larvae, a portion
remain in the wheat heads at harvest, and are taken into the
barn, and are finally gathered among the screenings of the fanning mill, which should be burned, or fed to poultry, and not
thrown out, as they usually are, among the litter of the barn
yard, where they mature and hatch another swarm of flies.
The other portion of these larva have at harvest descended to
the ground, where they repose slightly under the surface till
they hatch into flies the following May; and it has been thought
that by plowing the wheat stubble they would be buried so
deep as to smother them; but experiments are needed, to
demonstrate whether this idea is well founded-these larvae
being very tenacious of life. Water will not drown them. Dr.
Fitch has kept them submerged in vials of water three months,
and then on placing them on paper they begin to wriggle and
crawl away.
The audience being invited to ask questions on the subject
of the lecture, if so disposed, availed themselves of the permission. Dr. Fitch, in answer to sundry queries, said that neither
sowing lime on wheat when the dew was on, nor sowing salt,
nor using sulphur or salt in the granary, nor tobacco-water
sprinkled on the field, were specifics. Donald G. Mitchell
suggested, as it was uncertain whether deep plowing would




30           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
destroy the larvae, the European practice of paring and burning the surface might be resorted to, in the stubble of wheat
fields. Dr. Fitch presumed this would be effectual, as the
little rascals probably can't stand fire as they do water.
If New York loses fifteen millions of dollars a year from the
wheat midge, why wouldn't it be a good plan to send Dr.
Fitch to Europe to procure the great foe of the midge, the
ichneumon fly? This latter insect sweeps the other from the
very face of the earth; and a half-bushel of its eggs hatched
on Dr. Fitch's place would be worth its weight in diamonds
of purest ray serene."
THIRD DAY.-FEB. 3, 1860.
Mlr. EATON'S lecture on vegetable physiology last evening
comprised full descriptions of the seed, root, and stem of plants;
the nature and growth of seeds; structure of roots; and the general structure and minute anatomy of stems. He showed,
among other things, how the shape of trees is controlled.
When the bud at the end of the stem is strongest, the shape of
the tree is a pyramid, as in the case of the spruce and fir.
Where there is no one strongest terminal bud, there is no principal trunk in the upper part of the tree, so that the tree is
rounded at the top, as the elm.
The morning lecture to-day was by Dr. FITCH, and was
highly interesting. And here let me state, that, in my opinion,
the entomological lectures of Dr. Fitch are the most important of this course, for he shows the habits of, and suggests
remedies against, the insects which cause losses to our farmers
to a fabulous amount annually; and he stands almost alone in his
specialty. The Doctor's lecture to-day was on the insects injurious to fruit-trees. There are at present known to us, in the
United States, 60 different insects which prey upon the apple,




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             31
12 on the pear, 16 on the peach, 17 on the plum, 35 on the
cherr) and 30 on the grape. Prominent among these is the
plum weevil, or curculio, which Dr. Fitch stigmatized as the
worst insect of our country; for though the midge is at present causing a greater amount of pecuniary loss, he thought
its career would be like that of its predecessor, the Hessian fly,
and that it would eventually be mastered and subdued by its
parasite destroyers. Unlike the wheat midge, the curculio is a
native insect of this country, which has now been known upwards of a century, during all of which time it appears to
have gradually multiplied and increased its forces, without any
important cessations or intervals in its ravages-no parasite destroyer of it having ever been discovered till within a few
months past. It was first noticed by the botanists Collinson
and Bartram, in 1746, as totally destroying the nectarines
in and about Philadelphia, while the plums were but slightly
molested. Their turn came next, however, and each subsequent investigator found it ravaging a different section of
country. Notwithstanding the volumes written upon it, we
do not to this day know where the curculio lives, and what.it
is doing for three-quarters of the year. All that is currently
known of it is, that it is a small brown and white beetle,
which makes its appearance on plum-trees when the young fruit
is half grown; that it cuts a crescent-shaped slit upon the side
of the fruit and drops an egg into the wound, from which egg a
small white worm hatches, which burrows in the fruit, causing
it to wilt and fall from the tree, whereupon the worm crawls into the ground to repose for two or three weeks during its pupa
state; and that it comes out in the latter part of July a beetle, like
the parent which six weeks before stung the fruit. This, which
is currently supposed to be the main and essential part of its
history, Dr. Fitch judges to be quite the reverse; and he is
convinced that if there were no fruit for the curculio to eat, it
would still thrive to its entire satisfaction.
In New England and New York, the beetle may be found




32           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
abroad the last of March, if the weather is fine, though usually it is not till about the middle of May; and in a 4ek or
two after it becomes quite common. It is found standing or
slowly walking upon the trunk and limbs of the plum, cherry,
apple, the wild thorn-apple, the butternut, and other trees.
Those on the butternut are plumper than the others. From
this time onward, till cold weather returns, we continue to
meet with it, and late in autumn it is to be seen on the flowers
of the golden-rod as plentifully as at any time through the
season. When the young fruit appears, in June, it attacks it
with the skill of an epicure, selecting the choicest varieties
first. Its crescent-shaped incision is the signal of destruction, as was the crescent banner of the Moslem of old. The
slit made, one egg is deposited; and but one slit is made on a
fruit. The peach, plum, and apple, when stung, wilt and fall;
but the cherry and thorn-apple do not. This is because the
larger fruit contains a sufficient amount of nourishment to mature the worm; while the smaller ones must grow on to elaborate the quantity of food which the worm needs. It is a fact
not generally known, that apples are attacked by the plum curculio, yet so great are the losses of this particular fruit, that the
lecturer gave it as his opinion that the poorer yield of our orchards now, as compared with heretofore, is due to this insect.
The wilted fruit literally covers the ground, under many trees,
the fore part of July. Cut into this fruit and you will find the
same curculio worm therein as in the fallen plums.
From the fact that this insect comes forth three weeks before there is any fruit ready for it to eat, and remains after the
fruit is gone, Dr. Fitch thinks that it has other places of refuge
to cradle its young besides the young fruit. In fact, it is well
ascertained that it breeds in the black knot excrescences on
plum and cherry-trees, as eagerly as in young fruit. Hence it
has been thought to cause the excrescences. But having examined the black knots fully in every stage of their growth, Dr.
Fitch says decidedly they are not produced by this or any




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             338
other insect, nor are they a vegetable fungus, but are purely a
local disease of the limbs, in which the bark and wood are
swollen and changed to a spongy substance, but without any
of the juiciness which belongs to young fruit. This disease has
some analogy to the cancer in the human body, and its cure is
the same, namely, the knife, removing the diseased part totally,
a3 soon as discovered.
With Melsheimer, Dr. Fitch believes that the curculio breeds
in the bark as well as the fruit of trees, for on a specimen of
pear-wood sent him some years ago, his microscope revealed
crescent cuts in the bark, like those on young fruit, in which
little maggots were lying side by side, ready to eat their way
onward when the warmth of spring revived them.
Within six months D. W. Beadle, of St. Catharine's, C. W.,
has sent the Doctor a curculio parasite, which is furnished
with a bristle-like sting with which it pierces the black knot
to where the curculio larva lies, and deposits an egg in the
body of the latter, to hatch and gradually kill it. The late
David Thomas, of Union Springs, New York, first recommended knocking the plum-tree to remove weevils. The remedy is partial, but not infallible.  Mr. A. P. Cumings, of
New York, recommends to syringe the trees with a mixture
of four gallons lime-water, four gallons tobacco-water, one
pound whale-oil soap, and four ounces sulphur. The tobacco
and soap in solution Dr. Fitch thinks good, but doubts whether the other ingredients add anything to the value of the mixture. There is much testimony to substantiate the fact that
trees, whose limbs project over water, always bear fine crops of
plums, —the curculio being aware that its young will drown if
the fruit drops into the water.
Another important insect is the apple-tree borer,-a long
grub which resides under the bark and bores into the solid
wood, sometimes below, but usually slightly above the ground,
and is two or three years in getting its growth. A few years
since, an agent of one of our large nurseries canvassed Wash2*




34           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
ington county, N. Y., disposing of trees to the amount of
three thousand dollars. More than half of these trees have
since been destroyed by this borer-a direct loss of $5,000
from this insect in that single county, in addition to the labor
lost in planting and nursing these perished trees. This must
not be confounded with the borer in the roots of peach-trees,
which is the progeny of a moth, while this is the young of.a
brown, long-horned beetle, having two white stripes the whole
length of its back. Specimens of this, as of the other insects
spoken of by the lecturer, and of the wood as perforated by
it, were passed from hand to hand through the audience. The
common soft soap rubbed on the bark of the trees the latter
part of May, prevents the attack of this insect. If this be neglected, and the borers have mado a lodgement in the bark,
their presence is usually shown by particles like sawdust, which
they thrust out of their burrows, and when discovered they
should be cut out with a knife-or chisel without delay.
The regular lecturer of the afternoon' was Mr. Eaton, who
enlarged on the physiology of vegetables, giving many interesting illustrations of the varied forms and sizes of leaves, and
showing how the juices circulate from root to top, and the
food is taken and appropriated. He spoke of the essential
distinctions between the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and
of their relations to each other. Plants are continually purifying the air, rendering it fit for animals to breathe;; and plants
also, directly or indirectly, supply animals with all their food.
Plants live directly on the mineral kingdom, and assimilate to
themselves inorganic matter; while animals consume organized matter only.
Mr. Eaton is an enthusiastic botanist, and evidently familiar
with his subject.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            35
FOURTH DAY.-FEB. 4,1860.
A change has been made in our programme. Instead of
the third lecture being at seven in the evening, it is transferred
to half past three in the afternoon, the usual hour for the second
lecture, which, by this arrangement, will be changed to quarter
past two o'clock, the two lectures following one after the other.
This plan is to accommodate persons who, living out of town,
wish to hear all the three lectures, and return home before
evening.
Professor  JOHNSON gave a lecture last evening, on the "Atmospheric Food of Plants," reserving a consideration of their
inorganic food for this morning. The larger part of the substance of plants is, as every intelligent farmer knows nowadays, obtained from the air; a fact fully proved in the simple
experiment of burning wood in our stoves. A log of wood so
large as to require two men to roll it on to the fire, burns away
so that, after a time, nothing remains but a shovelful of ashes,
so light that a child can carry it out. Where has the log gone
to, and where have the myriad million tons of trees, plants,
and animal bodies gone to, which, in past ages, grew upon the
earth? They have each borrowed a little mineral matter from
the ground, and a vast quantity of gases from the atmosphere,
out of which all their roots, trunks, stems, leaves, and branches
have, with wonderful skill, been built. The animal feeding
upon the vegetable-it, too, has built up its structure from these
same original elements. In both plant and animal the season of
life was followed by a time of death, and the orgapige4 boQd
resolved into the gases and minerals, the use of wich it ha4
borrowed for a brief season. Professor Johnson explained the
gradual progress of knowledge of atmospheric constituents,
until one day none of its ingredients remained unknown; and by
means of the few well-known experjments he demonstrated the
nature and properties of each, When the woqrce of the car:
bon of plants was still a matter of dispute, B.oussingault, the




36           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
great French chemist, proved that only from carbonic acid was
it obtained, by the experiment of, supplying to a plant under a
bell-glass, a weighed quantity of the gas, and noting the proportion abstracted by the plant. The weight of carbon in the
soil being absolutely known, as well as that in the plant itself,
the increase. of quantity at an advanced stage of growth was
found to have been attained at the expense of the carbon in
the gas, and not of that in the soil.
Mr. Johnson stated it as the practice of some nurserymen to
place a piece of carbonate of ammonia, as large as a walnut,
upon the steam-pipes of the hothouse. The ammonia thus evaporated produces-in the leaves of all the plants with which it
comes in contact a splendid deep-green color, and greatly promotes the growth of the plants.
To-day he treated on the ashes of plants, and in the course
of his lecture uttered some doctrines which sadly conflict with
the received notions which are to be found floating through
our agricultural papers. For instance: he said that, chemically, magnesia is not injurious to crops when added in excess
to the field. The noxious effect of strong magnesian lime, if
any, was due simply to a mechanical action in the soil; this
particular lime acting in some wise as a cement when moistened. Again: he said that the stiffness of straw is most decidedly not owing to an abundance of silica on the outside, but
to "the denseness of cellular tissue in the stalk."  This he considered proved in the fact that we get from the leaves of the oat
and other plant~ a greater proportion of silica than from the
stalk, and yet all leaves are pliant and soft. And the addition
of wood-ashes, caustic-lime, and other alkalies with the view to
making soluble silicates for the use of the plants, is a piece of
useless folly, for " all water found in the soil contains silicates
and silica in excess beyond the wants of plants. The addition
of alkaline silicates to the soil would be unavailing, for the silicates would be decomposed and the silica rendered insoluble."
As an example, he stated that in marshy lands, where sedge




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.               37
and otheraquatic silici ous plants grow, the addition of lime,
which removes the excess of silica from the soil, favors the
growth of less silicious plants. The silica then on corn-stalks,
cereal crops, bamboo, rattan, and such-like, he deems an excretion. The "lodging" of crops he thinks may be owing to
a weakness of cellular tissue, which may arise from a lack of
some nutritive matter or another, or from excessive transpiration of water. It is known that a plant sucks, sponge-fashion,
its juices from the soil, through the extremities of its roots and
rootlets. In this water all sorts of mineral matter are dissolved,
and with them a certain proportion of carbonic acid and ammonia; well, the plant has a very wonderful power of selecting
from this soil-moisture just as much mineral matter as it nee'ds
for its growth, and of rejecting all the surplus. Water, however, oozes in, by the principle of endosmose, and is sucked upward from cell surface to cell surface, until it gets to the leaves,
where the blowing of wind and the shining of sun upon the
leaf surfaces evaporate the water through the little pores,
stomata, which communicate with the outside air. The plant
wants only just so much juice passing through it at once, and
if an excess is poured through throughout a warm, damp season, you see how likely it is that its constitution should be
weakened. Recent German experiments which have come to
Professor Johnson's observation suggest that the beneficial
effects of salt, plaster of Paris, and other mineral fertilizers, are
due to their preventing this excessive transpiration, or rushing
of an excess of water through the plant. Mr. John Johnston
sows five bushels of salt on his wheat-fields, "to give stiffness
to the straw and prevent rust."  The old farmer observed the
effect; our chemical friends think they have discovered the
cause.
Moreover, what Professor Mapes will scout as sheer heresy,
Johnson says that the mineral phosphate from Estramadura.
and elsewhere is as good for fertilizing crops, if it be properly divided mechanically, as bone phosphate-thus directly




38           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
combating the Professor's theory of "the progression of
primaries by their use in organic nature." Mr. Johnson is
a young man, and a bold man; and if he has enough facts to
base these several assertions upon, I don't blame him for having
the manliness to proclaim them. I must say I like this transpiration theory, for it explains a good many little matters for
which a reasonable solution has not heretofore been afforded.
As to the stalk-coating affair, and the mineral phosphate business, the case does not as yet seem to me fully proven.
FIFTH DAY. —FEB. 6, 1860.
The Rev. CHAUNCEY E. GOODRICH, in his lecture, on Saturday,
considered the potato-disease in all its several relations, a branch
of investigation on which many years of practice enable him
to speak understandingly.
The potato, in a state of nature, is found on the sides of the
Andes, and in the adjacent valleys. At the base of the mountains
are the tamarind, yam, and banana; the melon, corn, tomato,
and pepper come higher up; and above these is the belt where
the potato thrives most vigorously, the climate being equable,
and the root not exposed to the frosts. When the same varieties of potatoes, especially those which ripen at nearly the same
time, are cultivated together, they are variously subject to disease. Thus the old " Early Mountain June," "Early Pink-Eye"
or (Dyckman), of the early kinds; and the "Carter," and
"Western Red" of the late sorts, are peculiarly liable to disease.
If you plant alongside them, however, the imported "Rough
Purple Chili," the "Garnet Chili," the "Black Diamond,"
and the "Early Hartford," they show a much hardier constitution. And this difference, Mr. Goodrich thinks, is due to a
difference in vital energy, which may be owing to a course of
replanting, without recourse to the seed-ball, unreasonably protracted. Very wet, cold seasons, such as 1857; or hot, damp




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              89
ones, like 1850, 1851, and 1855, cause rot; so do sudden alternations of temperature-for instance, from dry, hot weather, to
wet, cold, and windy; and these changes destroy the cucumber, squash, melon, tomato, and egg-plant, as well as the potato.
The years 1847, 1848, 1854, and 1856, and especially 1852,
were favorable ones.
Soil as well as climate has much to do with the nature of
crops. Gravel or loamy soils are best, especially when they
contain a large proportion of vegetable matter. Sods'or straw
laid in the furrow over the seed are good, because they maintain an equal temperature beneath them. It is bad to apply
much stable manure or guano. Of exposures a northern is best;
a southern heats too much, and an eastern heats too rapidly
after a cold night. Early planting is best, as it gives the plant
a slow, hardy growth in the comparatively wet weather early
in the season, which fits it better to withstand the sudden
transitions of midsummer.
Early maturing sorts are the surest in bad seasons.'Potatoes
require deep plowing, and should be subsoiled4when a few
inches high. Plant six inches deep if your soil be dry, cultivate frequently until the plants are in flower, and never afterward. Plant free-growing sorts three by three feet, to give
full quantity of air and light. The pieces of seed should not
be less than three ounces in weight, each, and cut them lengthwise, never across the potato.
Usual Signs of Disease.-A  wilted leaf on the young
rosettes of the plant, which are the tenderest parts, and first
show disease. 2d. Steel-blue points on some of the older and
outer leaves, and yellow iron-rust stains on the inner leaves.
3d. Mildew, which quickly follows these signs, and which, if not
arrested, kills the whole plant. These are the signs of disease
produced by cold and wet weather changes.
The hot, muggy atmosphere causes an intense dark green
color in the leaf, with spotted blotches, which soon turn into
mildew, and kill the plant. In the case of cool weather,




40           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
the flowers fall without setting fruit, while in the hot and damp
climate seed-balls set freely, but, with the whole plant, fall a
prey to mildew.
The cause of disease Mr. Goodrich believes to be the facility
with which a weakened cellular structure will pass into fermentation, in presence of albuminous matter. For a remedy he
advises to mow off, or pull up the tops, when it is evident that
the weather will not speedily change for the better, but even
this will be unavailing in some cases; so that to my mind all
this goes to show that our only remedy is to cultivate as well
as we know how, choosing new and hardy sorts of potatoes,
planting early, and trust to chance for the rest.
The mowing of tops has been tried over and over again, with
sometimes success and sometimes the reverse; and so have a
thousand other remedies, each of which has in turn been proclaimed a specific. A prize-essay in the Royal Society's Journal for 1858, gives us to understand that deep planting is the
true and only remedy; and yet I have planted deep —and so
have thousands of others-and yet lost a crop. Mr. Goodrich
has spent years in close observation, and accumulated a fund
of information, but I venture to say that even he has not yet
explained this mysterious disease, its origin and antidotes, so
clearly that he who runs may read.
This morning Mr. EATON spoke briefly about flowers and
fruits, showing how the pollen, or yellow dust of the flowers,
acts on the ovules or rudimentary seeds; causing them to develop into seeds containing an embryo, and capable of growing up into new plants.
From this he went on to the subject of hybridization, and then
of grafting. Grafting has been practically known for many centuries-in fact since the world was young; but the theory was
left to botanists to discover. Between the bark and wood are
what are called cambium layers, or the growing part of the
tree, the one which possesses the most active vitality. Un



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             41
less these cambium layers of the tree and graft are brought
together, no union will result; nor will there be one from the
contact of very different trees, such as a pear-graft on an oak.
The reason for this is, that the cellular tissues of the two are
so very different that there is no probability of making a fit,
any more than one can fit a sphere to an octahedron. Pears
graft well on quince, thornbush, and shadberry. They can be
grafted on the apple, but not profitably. The peach goes on to
the nectarine, and the plum to the cherry. There are instances
of natural grafting, as with the ivy when two branches cross
and rub the bark off so as to expose the cambium layers. Of
different grafts, of course the best is that which provides for
the greatest contact of the layers.
Seeds are of varied vitality. Oily seeds do not keep well
because their oleaginous contents are liable to become rancid.
Thus the seeds of coffee, magnolia, clove, and such like, must
be soon planted or never. Seeds require warmth and moisture,
and if kept away from warmth, they often will keep for.years
and years. Cucumber seeds have been kept seventeen years;
corn, thirty; French beans, thirty-three; and from one bag of
seeds the Jardin des Plantes was supplied with sensitive plants
for sixty years.
To keep seeds well for the longest possible time, gather them
when fully ripe, and keep them cool and dry. How wonderful
the provisions of Nature for the dispersion of seeds! Some are
furnished with feathery wings or silken down, with which they
float along on every zephyr; others have barbed points, or
hooks, to catch and cling to passing animals; others have elastic capsules or seed-bags, which, when brushed against, burst
suddenly apart and scatter the contents abroad; and a thousand other methods might be named, alike curious and admirable.




42           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
SIXTH  DAY.-FEB. 7,1860.
Professor JOHNSON has boldly set himself in array against a
new theory of Liebig's, for one thing, and scouts the utility of
soil-analysis, for another. Those who have read Liebig's recent
pamphlet -on "Modern Agriculture," will remember his doctrine that mineral matters are not in a soluble state in the soil;
in support of which he quotes the experiment of passing
through a sample of fertile soil water holding in solution phosphoric acid and other plant foods, and thereby removing the
salts entirely. The formerly soluble mineral matters he supposes to have been made insoluble in the passage through, and
putting this and that together, he says that if this be the case,
why then, plants must actually have the power of taking in the
insoluble material which they need for their growth, and making it soluble after it gets within their spongioles. Johnson
thinks Liebig's theory would be very pretty if the little if
were removed. In other words, he says that Liebig's experiment was rudely performed, and that the mineral matter was
not and never can -be entirely removed from the water, and
hence Liebig's superstructural argument falls, like the Pemberton mills, for want of a sound basis. He says he knows of
beans and other plants having been grown and ripened in
naught but a watery solution of mineral and organic food —a
fact which goes far towards proving that soluble matter is
used to full advantage by plants when they can get it. Although I do obeisance to Liebig, I think Johnson is right in
this instance, and so I fancy do many others. As to soil-analysis, Johnson reasons thus: One foot deep of the soil in an
acre weighs 2,000,000 pounds; a'crop of wheat will remove
say 200 pounds; if that 200 pounds be not in an available state,
no crop will grow. To know if there be enough for the crop,
you take a little sample, say 100 or 1,000 grains, and analyse
it. Now, does any man living expect the chemist to tell, by




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             43
even the most miraculously sensitive balances or tests of the
infinitesimal sample, whether the 2,000,000 pounds contain
enough phosphoric acid, or ammonia, or other ingredients
to raise a crop? Take a barren soil, for instance, or one
called so, on which the application of 400 pounds of guano will
make all the difference of sterility or a crop. Now, can a
chemist tell in his laboratory, by testing 100 grains of that soil,
taken promiscuously from all parts of the field, whether the
guano had or had not been added? Verily not, says Professor
Johnson. And so our young agricultural chemist takes issue
on the question, and is prepared to do battle with our beautiful pet theory d l'outrance. He thinks that if one would take
50 pounds of soil, and wash it with an enormous quantity of
water, to dissolve out the soluble salts-a little job which
would take at least a fortnight, and might a month-he might,
by analysis, find whether there was a great excess or deficiency
of plant food in the field from which the sample came. But
the cost and trouble of the experiment are serious objections
to putting the scheme into practice.
The most fertile soils contain the finest particles; or, in other
words, soils are like linen, better for having fine texture.
Most soils are deficient mechanically rather than chemically.
There is great store of plant food, but not finely enough divided. A field, therefore, which, in a certain state of pulverization, will produce 15 bushels of wheat, would, or should, yield
30 if worked up twice as fine. Why? Because there is twice
the amount of surface of particles exposed to the action of
heat, and cold, and rain, and therefore twice as much plant
food set free. Take your multiplication table and figure up
this idea as far as you like, and then you will see the use of
sub-soil plows, and clod-crushers, and good harrows, and deep
plowing, and all these modern contrivances for breaking up
our fields into a good seed-bed.




44           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
Last evening the Temple was crowded to hear Mr. WILDER'S
excellent address on American Pomology-a topic on which
no one in America can speak more understandingly than the
President of the National Pomological Congress.
Mr. Wilder commenced by saying that he had accepted
the polite invitation of Professor Porter, at considerable inconvenience, for the purpose of bearing his testimony in favor of
the present course of lectures. Whatever might be thought
by profound scholars of the enterprise, he entertained no doubt
that the mass of our practical and intelligent citizens would
welcome it as the harbinger of a brighter day in the cause of
progressive and general education. The honor of inaugurating
this course belongs to gentlemen of Yale College —an institution second to no other in this land for large contributions to
the Republic of Letters, for discoveries in the natural sciences,
and for their application to the rural arts.
Few subjects exhibit so remarkably the progress of civilization as the increase of fine fruits. In the progress of pomology
two facts are worthy of special notice: First, the rapid mfiltiplication of varieties; secondly, the high character of our
criterion or standard of excellence. The lecturer here gave a
historical account of the progress of fruit-raising, both in
Europe and in our own country, mentioning that the first
Horticultural Societies in our own land were the Pennsylvanian, and Massachusetts, in 1829, and that of New Haven,
in 1830. Now there are more than 1,000 agricultural and
horticultural societies, all laboring together, and making pomology a prominent object of support. In 1817 there were no
nurseries of any note in New England; now there are many.
Then Western New York was just beginning to be settled;
now Rochester is the great pomologieal emporium of our
country, and contains the largest commercial nursery in the
world. It is estimated that the nurseries of Onondaga and
adjoining counties contain fifty millions of trees for sale. Fruit
was formerly a luxury; now it is numbered among the common




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             45
bounties of Providence, and the most humble cottage is rarely
without a fruit-tree or a grape-vine.
Our country has taken a leading part in this enterprise.
Native fruits are fast superseding foreign varieties. The trees
and plants of a country flourish better at home than elsewhere;
hence all our efforts are being, and should be, put forth, to get
new native sorts of first quality. Of the 36 kinds of apples
recommended by the American Pomological Society for general cultivation, 30 are natives; so are 10 out of the 14 plums,
half the pears, and all the strawberries. Formerly our only
native grapes were the Catawba and Isabella; now they are received in such quantities from the South and West, that a
Boston dealar buys two and a half tons at one time for his own
trade. A mania now exists for American sorts, some of which
will doubtless prove excellent.
A kindred subject is the manufacture of native wine. A Boston manufacturer produces annually, from the wild grapes
grown on the banks of Charles river, 20,000 gallons; Connecticut manufactures annually 200,000 gallons; Ohio, 800,000
gallons; and one vine-grower at Los Angelos, Cal., manufactures annually 2,000 barrels from his own vineyard. Missouri, in addition to her vineyards, has five millions of acres
suited to grape culture.
All the strawberries used to be brought from the fields, and
not a single American variety had been raised by hybridization; now a cultivator in Massachusetts produces 160 bushels,
valued at $1,300 per acre, and another in Connecticut more
yet, from new sorts produced from seed. Other parts of the
country have improved equally with the East. A Boston
apple dealer received last autumn 20,000 barrels of apples from
Niagara county, N. Y. In the fall and winter of 1858-9, Boston exported 120,000 barrels, mostly Baldwins. The progress
of fruit culture is well illustrated in the returns of the fruit
crop of Massachusetts. In 1845 it was valued at $744,000; in
1855 at $1,300,000, and in 1860 it will be $2,000,000, or over.




46           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
The soil and climate of the South, contrary to common-opinion,
are favorable to the culture of fruit. There is an orchard in
Georgia of 9,500 pear-trees, and another in Mississippi of
15,000. Many fruits nearly worthless at the North are rendered valuable under the warmer climate and genial sun of the
South. One gentleman at the South sends North every year
from seven to ten thousand dollars' worth of peaches, before
they are ripe in the middle States. We can approximate to
an estimate of the fruit crop of the United States from these
examples, but who can tell what will be its importance when
the numberless young trees planted in the Eastern and Middle
States-when the vast vineyards and orchards now flourishing.in the great Valley of the Mississippi, and in the Southern
States, shall have arrived at maturity?
Col. Wilder next passed to the inquiry, "What are the best
means of promoting this art and science?" First, Thorough
drainage and the proper preparation of the soil. The former
is the great distinguishing feature of the terra-culture of the
Nineteenth Century. It is to agriculture what the telegraph
and steam are to commerce, and to the progressive civilization
of the world. It is an indispensable condition of success in
pomology. A pear-tree standing in drained, deep, and thoroughly-worked soil, produced in a single year eight hundred
perfect specimens of its fruit, while similar trees, outside the
influence of such cultivation, would hardly yield one hundred
each, and these of inferior quality. Second, Appropriate soil
and location. No tree should be placed where one of the same
species had grown and decayed. A treatise which should
specify upon scientific principles the particular locality and
kind of soil adapted to each species and variety of fruit, would
be a desideratum which some one would do well to supply.
Third, Climate and meteorological agencies. Climate as well
as soil, controlled the quality of our fruit. In cold, wet seasons,
fruit was likely to be watery and insipid; in fact, this was so
marked as to entirely change the flavor of really luscious vari



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            47
eties of the pear, so that we would scarcely recognize them. as
the same as we had eaten in propitious seasons. Fourth, Manures and their application.. Analyze your soil and your crop,
and manure according to what you find the plant needs.
Mulching is an excellent practice. Manure should be applied
at or near the surface. An orchard should always be kept free
from grass or weeds, and no other crop should be raised except
when the trees are small, and even then only a few vegetables
midway between the rows. When the trees arrive at maturity, cultivation should not exceed a depth of more than three
or four inches; the roots should never be disturbed with the
plow or spade. Fifth, The producing from seed new and improved varieties suited to each locality. Dr. Van Mons discouraged hybridization. He believed it tended to degeneracy
and imperfection, but he must have overlooked the fact that
many of his choicest varieties may have been the result of
natural impregnation, the pollen being conveyed from one kind
to another by the breeze or by insects. Mr. Knight, late
President of the London Horticultural Society, was in favor of
it. The improvement of plants by this art is illustrated by improvement in the turnip crop of England, of whose importance
Daniel Webster remarked: "England would fail to pay the
interest of her national debt if turnips were excluded from her
culture."  But nature's theory is, that like produces like, and
the lecturer recommended the planting of the most mature and
perfect seed of the most hardy and vigorous sorts. Sixth, The
cultivation of the pear upon the quince stock. Some pomologists object to this, but some varieties succeed better on the
quince than upon the pear, but they should always be planted
upon a luxuriant soil, and be abundantly supplied with nutriment. They should be set deep enough to cover the place
where they were grafted three or four inches. In this way
the pear would frequently form independent roots, and would
combine the early fruiting of the quince with the longevity of




48           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
the pear.  They are well adapted for cities, where garden
room is scarce, and for persons advanced in life, who, were they
relying on the standard pear for fruit, would die without the
sight thereof. Some of the best cultivators practise this plan.
The failures in fruit-growing were mainly attributable to bad
selection of soil and varieties, injudicious treatment, or bad
cultivation. All soils are not suitable for fruit-orchards, nor
are all kinds of fruit adapted to every locality. An orchard
of half an acre, near Rochester, yielded forty barrels, which
sold for $16 per barrel, making $640 for half an acre. Seventh,
Pruning, which requires the exercise of the most careful judgment. The pruning-knife of the pomologist is like the amputating knife of the surgeon, to be used only in cases of extreme
necessity. As to pruning, it is to be remembered that different
varieties require different treatment, for they are not all alike
in constitutional vigor, or external form. Hence no general
rule could be given; each man must learn from experience.
Eighth, Preserving and ripening of fruit. Much progress has
been made of late.  Fall fruits have been kept till spring.
Summer fruits should be gathered before the ripening process
commences. The pear, if left to ripen on the tree, forms fibre
and farina, but when removed, and placed in a still atmosphere,
sugar and juice. Fruits should be kept in a cool, dry, and dark
place. About 400 Fahrenheit is the best temperature, but
different varieties require different treatment.
The lecturer concluded with a congratulation for those who
were entering upon the inviting field of pomological culture.
" The innate hope to regain a'Paradise Lost,' inspires
even the most humble to have a country home, and to embellish that home with fiuits and flowers. * * * The mission
of the pomologist is to multiply our varieties of good fruitto increase their abundance-to scatter them profusely along
the rugged path of life, and thus would he extend the sphere
of rational enjoyment, dignify labor, adorn our beloved land




YALE, AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             4;
with orchards, gardens, and vineyards, and fulfil one of the
great purposes of our being-to promote the health and happitess of our fellow-men."
Almost as large an audience assembled this morning to hear
LEwis F. ALLEN speak on fruits. The editor of the American
Short-Horn Herd Book showed a familiarity with apples almost
equal to that he has with animals, and he gave us his notions
in a hearty, good-natured way that enlisted the sympathies of
the audience.*
Mr. R. G. PAaDLE, of New York city, gave his first lecture
this afternoon on the Strawberry. He came, he said, to speak
of facts, not theories. He had tried to grow strawberries for
many years by high manuring, but without success. He determined to experiment till he should discover the cause of the
failure. He had done so. It was by overfeeding. He could
now grow them as cheaply as potatoes. The following, according to his experience, is the best method: Select a warm, moist,
but exposed situation; for early berries, let it. slope to the East
or South; for late ones to the North. The soil should be a fine,
gravelly loam. Avoid high, barren soils, and those which are wet.
To prepare the soil, make it clean; underdrain, leaving the drain
open at both ends to allow the circulation of air. Pulverize at
least two feet in depth, making 10 percent. of the soil, if possible,. as fine as superfine flour. For manurnes, apply 30 bushels
of unleached ashes and 12 bushels of lime, slacked with water
holding 3 bushels of salt in solution, to the acre. Transplanting
should be done with great care, and the rootlets of the plant
injured as little as possible. The best time to transplant is in
spring, though with care it may be done any time during the
summer. The lecturer said he would, in starting a. new bed,
place the plants three feet apart each way, and allow them
to spread till they were only twelve inches from each other.
* Mr. Allen objects to any outline of his lectures on fruit or cattle-breeding
being given in this work, as his engagements prevent his revising them.
3




50          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
Nearer than this they should never grow. The beds should be
mulched with tan-bark, straw, or some such material, to the
depth of half an inch-no more. This keeps down weeds, and
keeps all but the strongest runners from taking root. Water
may be added with great advantage in large quantities, except
during the flowering and ripening periods, provided always it
does not stand and become stagnant on the soil. After this
preparation little attention is needed. The hoe should never
be used about the plants, as it injures the roots. Field culture
differs little from garden culture. The productiveness of the
strawberry about New York does not average more than 40
bushels to the acre. There is no difficulty in raising 150 bushels under the cultivation he recommended. In the winter the
plants should be lightly covered.
The strawberry may be made ever-bearing by entirely preventing the growing of runners. This may be done by planting in soil composed of three-quarters river sand and one-quarter woods-mold. This dwarfs the plant and makes it everbearing. The staminate and pistillate plants need not be grown
within thirty or forty feet of each other. Seedlings are easily
raised. The analysis of the plant differs in different places.
The best six varieties are Wilson's Seedling, Hooker's Seedling, Longworth's Prolific, Hovey's Seedling, Burr's New Pine,
and McAvoy's Superior. There are many others nearly as
good. Wilson's Seedling is very prolific; 260 berries, many
of them large ones, have been grown on a single plant.
SEVENTH DAY. —EhB. 8, 1860.
When the good Dr. GRANT mounted the rostrum yesterday,
he was greeted with loud applause; andwell he might be, for
he has not only the thorough acquaintance with the vine which
long years of practice impart, but he bears upon his benevolent
face that stamp of integrity which begets confidence and re



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              51
spect. I fear that the audience were but illy impressed with
his real knowledge, however, for present sickness has almost
deprived him of voice, and the lecture must have been unsatisfactory, because imperfectly heard.
In preface, he alluded to the wonderful growth of wild vines
in wet and poor soils, but showed that not only was excessive
growth of wood a poor recommendation to the vineyardist, but
the quality of wild grapes is poor, and their apparent great
yield deceptive. All of the European vines are believed to
have sprung from one species, and been introduced from Asia;
while in America, the wild vines of the several districts, although widely dissimilar, have not been positively proved distinct species. True, the Scuppernong, with its family of Muscadines, is so peculiar that from its foliage it would scarcely be regarded as a grape. The family of which the Herbemont is a type,
is quite distinct from all others, but he believes it to be traceable
to a European origin. Many of our native vines have been cultivated with care in the vineyard, but they have not thriven under
the treatment so as to recommend them above, or as equal to,
the nobler sorts. In vine culture as in other things, the greatest skill and care gives most favorable results. Not a quarter
century will pass before the Connecticut farmers, at least those
of the southern part of the State, will hail the grape harvest as
the most joyous part of the year. Wine-making is an art in
which the most complete success can only be attained through
much accurate observation, and with great pains-taking and
skill; but grape-growing for table fruit is so simple an affair as
to be within the reach of any one who will give it the slightest
attention. If any one thing in vine culture is more important
than another, it is good pruning. Shoots are the growth of
one year, and are so called from the time that the opening bud
in spring has developed its first leaves, until it has completed
its year's growth, and is ready for the pruning-knife. When
cut back to one bud, the stump is called a short spur; when
cut to three or four, a long spur; and when left with more




52           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTTUES.
than this number of buds, it is a cane, except when:peculiar
circumstances give it:a'special name.  When two shoots
spring from a stump near the ground, and are destined to have
bearing shoots grown from them, they are termed thighs; and:
such when laid horizontally are sometimes called arms. The
objects of pruning are: 1st. To restrain the roots and branches
within convenient limits for cultivation. 2d. To concentrate
the strength of the vine, and not suffer the production of useless wood and foliage. 3d. To get just enough wood to bear
full crops of good fruit, and plan its distribution with reference
to the health of the vine. There are three kinds of buds —the
primaries, which come at the axils of the leaves, or where the
footstalk joins the shoot, and whidh in bearing-vines are the
fruit-buds one season, and the next produce the shoots on which
fruit is borne; the secondaries, which come on the side shoots,
or laterals, and which are removed in summer pruning; and the
adventitious buds, which are unseen, until they burst through
the bark, of the former year's wood. They are called wood
shoots, as they produce no fruit except in a few varieties of
remarkable productiveness. A bunch is a productive tendril;
a tendril an abortive bunch. The points or ends of bunches
should be cut off, as this causes a complete ripening and sweetening of the upper grapes, and prevents the growing of shrivelied berries at the point, which is a sheer waste of substance.
If a vine is left to itself to grow, the tendency of vitality is upward, the fruit gets beyond our reach, has a coarse quality and
a woody flavor, while the buds near the ground soon perish,
and no after care can revitalize them. It is scarcely possible
to fix the duration of a well-set vineyard; it may as well last
one thousand as one hundred, or a score of years. The vine
needs moisture ever, wetness never. Nitrogenous manures are
good if well rotted and composted, for they attract moisture,
and a well-prepared grape border is never dry in even the hottest seasons.,
In the evening the Doctor was put upon the stand and sub



XALF4 AGRICULTURAL LECTURIF.             53
jected.to a cross-examination of the most rigid nature. Some
ot l Mr. Allen's questions created much good-natured merriment,
for he was evidently determined to make& our Iona friend,
and his sympathizers, give their reasons for the faith which was
within them. The information elicited in reply to questions
was: That table grapes of first quality could be grown more
abundantly and surely 1!~ above New York city, than elsewhere in the country. They will not reach so perfect a maturity, perhaps, as in some warmer sections, but they keep better
throughout winter, which is of all the most important point.
If ripened too early grapes lose flavor, and if the grape-grower
is so far north that he is forced to lay down his vines through
the winter, he is amply repaid for his trouble in increased flavor and quality of product. The, best of the wine-growing region in Germany is that where laying down in winter is requisite. A favorable exposure makes a difference of almost, if not
quite, one degree of latitude. The best methods of laying
down vary; a mere covering of boards is enough to guard
against slight frosts, but with the additional precaution of covering with sand one is perfectly safe in the worst places. But
a slight covering is necessary-.just enough to guard against
lhaving the sand wash or blow off and expose the vine, and two
or three inches of depth is enough. The whole vine should be
covered. If the vine is as large as a man's arm, it will still
readily lie down, if it has been so treated from the first. Milo
carried the bull because he commenced carrying it when a calf,
and continued the practice. A large vine is not so liable to
destruction by frost as a small one. At six cents per pound,
an acre of grapes, prepared in the best manner, will yield annually $400, at an expense of $100. For vineyard culture, we
can have only 75 per cent. of perpendicular vine area to 100 of
surface area of the ground. That is to say, 1f' our vines are set
6 feet apart, they must not be suffered to grow more than 4j
feet high. Sunshine is more necessary to a vine than actual
surofae-room; and if the vines grow more than the 75 per




54           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
cent. high, portions will be shaded by the adjacent vines, and
thus the crop be damaged.  It is a bad plan to bury the
bodies of dead animals near grape-vines; they should be composted with three times their bulk of muck, or like earth, the
year previous to application to the vineyard. Trenching is
good in warm latitudes, because it gives the vine roots a cool,
even temperature. Roots should be free to run downward, for
if near the surface they get baked to death. In Madeira, vines
have an average depth of 7 feet of soil, and grow only on hills.
At this point, Lewis F. Allen spoke of the wonderful growth,
hardiness, and productiveness of the wild vines of the woods,
and wanted to know why these new sorts, which need so much
care and outlay, were their superiors. A gentleman present suggested to him, that if he (Mr. Allen) was content with the quality of fox-grapes and their wine, was willing to go to the woods
and climb sky-high to get them, the better sorts were not better for his purposes. But, as the' world is foolish enough to
prefer the Chasselas, Hamburgh, Catawba, Delaware, and such
grapes, to the wild variety, and would pay for a bottle of Hockheimer, Clos Vougeot, or Johannisberg, more than would buy
an ocean of currant or fox-grape wine, these better grapes
were better for the cultivator. If we want these splendid
wines, we must raise the grapes from which they are made;
and, to do this, we must select better soil, give more labor and
care to cultivation, and spend more money.
Dr. Grant said, that although thQrough drainage was necessary where the soil was naturally wet, yet, if possible, such soil
should be avoided for one naturally drained-say a clay loam
or a gravel subsoil. Drains, in moderately wet soil, would be
likely to get choked with grape roots; but if water were constantly running through the drains, the roots would probably
die by immersion in it. He thought that by laying the draintiles in, and covering and surrounding them with very poor
soil or sand, the grape roots would not pass through it to the
drains. The skin of American grapes parts readily from the




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              55
flesh, and hence in a good table grape may be somewhat thicker than is admissible in Europe, where this free parting is not
found. The flesh should be sweet to the very centre, and the
seeds should be very small. For family use, where 25 feet
length of a wall can be had, the French "Thomery" system is
best, but for gardens the simple low  "thigh" is perfectly
suitable. As it is impossible to fairly describe these systems
without the aid of cuts, I refer inquirers to Dr. C. W. Grant,
Iona Island, near Peekskill, N. Y.
At 2j o'clock this afternoon Mr. PARDEE continued his lectures on the small fruits. The raspberry was spoken of first.
Few persons, he said, had ever seen a first-rate one. The gardeners about our cities do not succeed in growing them to
perfection. This fruit likes a moist, cool situation, such as the
north slope of a hill, or the north side of a fence. The soil
should be made very rich; you cannot overfeed the raspberry.
The strawberry has a multitude of fine fibrous roots, and as it
grows little woody fibre it requires little manure; the raspberry,
on the contrary, produces considerable wood, and as it has few
fibrous roots with which to take up nourishment, these should
be well supplied. The soil should be made very fine. Plant
about four feet apart, and cut the canes to within one foot of
the ground. At the time of planting, stake with strong stakes.
Those which will last forever may be made by the French
"Burnetizing" process, which is as follows: soak the stakes
six or seven days in a solution of blue vitriol and water, in the
proportion of one pound of vitriol to twenty quarts of water.
Berries raised on canes which have been carefully tied to stakes
are much finer than those which have been left to be blown
about by the wind. As soon as the raspberries have all ripened,
remove the wood on which they grew and allow the sap to
flow into the new canes, which will bear another year. Keep
the ground clean. In the winter lay the shoots on the ground,
and cover lightly with earth. Brinckle's Orange Seedling is
one of the very best varieties, and is wonderfully productive.




656          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
The Fastolff, Franconia, and Red Antwerp are very fine.. Most
of those sold as Red and Yellow Antwerps are spurious. The
best everbearing varieties are the Ohio Black Everbearing, the
Merveille de Four Seasons, and the Belle de Fontenay.
The blackberry may have the same cultivation as the raspberry, and it may also be shaded by trees without injury.
Capt. Beverly, of Needham, Mass., introduced the improved
high-bush blackberry. The proper way to gather Lawton or
New Rochelle berries for the family is, to jar the canes with a
hammer, and catch the berries which fall. The others-and
these are those sent to market —are not fit to eat. Never leave
more than three canes in a hill, and have no suckers growing
near the bush, if you want fruit. If you wish plants for sale,
do otherwise, of course. Cut back your canes as soon as they
have borne their crop, pinch off the ends of the shoots in September, and again in spring; by which plan you will throw
the strength of the vine into fruit-bearing on the laterals.
The cranberry, on bog lands to which a dressing of sand has
been added, should give fifty bushels per acre the first year
after planting, one hundred and fifty bushels the next, and so
on up to four hundred and fifty bushels, as a maximum.
The gooseberry is a fine fruit for family use. With me, said
Mr. Pardee, it has never mildewed. I know not why, unless
it is because I grow them in the tree form, give them clean
culture, and in the spring give them abundance of soapsuds.
The whortleberry is difficult to transplant, but with care it
may be made to produce abundantly.
The currant is one of our very best small fruits. Like the
raspberry, it cannot be manured too highly. Those who cultivate only the Red or White Dutch Currant, do not know what
a good currant is. The best kinds grow to the diameter of
five-eighths of an inch, and are as much finer in flavor as superior in size.: The following are, in my opinion, the best varieties: La Versailles, La HItive, Cherry, White Gonduoin, and
White Provence.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           57
EIGHTH DAY.-FEB. 9, 1860.
Surely no one is better able to give a valuable lecture upon
nursery management than the owner of the largest nursery in
the worlpd-no one more capable of discoursing upon horticulture than the ex-editor of The Hoqrticulturist. What wonder, then, if Mr. P. BARRY'S lecture this afternoon should have
drawn a large audience, and given satisfaction.,, It is this feature, I think, that gives Professor Porter's Yale discourses
great value, that his talkers are workers, his expounders of
theory eminent in practical experience. T.o have Fitch on Insects, Barry on Nurseries, Johnson on Chemistry, and Grant
on Grapes, is like having Mott on Surgery, Palmer on Sculpture, Church on Painting, and Greeley on Journalism, And
until you can convince me that Paul Potter's bull is of more
importance to. the nation than Samuel Thorne's Grand Duke,
Wedgewood's pottery than the rougher sort which old Mr.
JTohnston buries underground, I must think that our agricultural lights shine with more useful brilliancy than would those at
the supposed convention of savans and artists.
Mr. Barry commenced by saying that, although the subject
of nursery management might be deemed not generally interesting, since it was a calling by itself, yet every one who intended rearing an orchard, or even a few trees upon his farm,
should know enough of the mode of managing trees to rear
what few he might need to supply deficiencies which might
arise from death or other accidental causes, or at any rate to
give to his growing orchard or plantation such good care as
would make it most profitable. Twenty years ago, two or
three small nurseries in the neighborhood of each of our large
cities, occupying in all not more than five hundred acres, and
a few other small apple nurseries of an acre perhaps each, supplied the wants of the United States and the Canadas. Now
we have over,one thousand nurseries; and in Monroe county,
N. Y., alone, where he resides, there are three or four thousand
3




58           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
acres, producing annually $500,000 worth of trees. In the
whole Union, there are annually sold fifteen to twenty millions
trees, for say $5,000,000. His subject he would treat under the
several heads of locality; soil; arrangement; preparation of
the ground; propagation of stocks; grafting; treatment of trees
in the nursery; and digging up. A commercial nursery should
be located near a large city, town, or village, both for the facility of getting a supply of labor, manure in abundance, implbments, post-office, and railroad, or other transportation; and a
preference should always be given to a fertile and prosperous
agricultural region, for obvious reasons.
Surface.-The surface of a nursery-ground should be nearly
level; if sloping, the slope gentle and nearly uniform, not only
for the convenience of working and planting in straight lines,
but because hilly ground is so washed in rains as to do great
damage. Shelter. —There should be, if possible, some natural
shelter —high ground, woodland, or orchards, to break the force
of winds in winter and spring. If these natural shelters cannot be had, plant parallel belts of rapid-growing trees, such as
spruce or larch, in the form of hedge-rows, at a distance of two
hundred or three hundred feet apart, all over the grounds.
Soit-should be dry and deep, neither too light nor heavy.
Light sandy soils require heavy and frequent manuring, and
produce weak trees; and retentive clays give too little fibrous
root to trees, ripen them badly, make transplanting difficult,
and good removal almost impossible. Stony soils impede the
progress of tools, and are in every way objectionable. On dry
soils, naturally drained, trees mature their wood well, and are
therefore hardy when transplanted. The coarse-grained, rank,
watery trees grown on prairie soil, freeze to the ground in a
temperature that would not affect those grown on more favorable
ground; it being the fluid, and not the solid parts of a plant,
which are acted upon by frosts. A nursery needs much more
thorough drainage than ordinary farm fields. The drains should
be never more than two rods apart, and were better to be laid




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              59
at a depth of three and a half feet. In a stiff, retentive clay
bottom, they should be only twenty feet apart. Laying out
the Nurscry.-Divide and subdivide your land into plots and
compartments for the various articles which are to be grown;
assigning special places to seedlings, stocks to be worked, cuttings, layers, and specimen trees. This latter plot is very
essential to the proper management of the nursery, and the
comfort of visitors. In this specimen plot should be grown
one or two samples of every tree in cultivation in the nursery,
the better to test their genuineness, quality, and constitution.
A place should also be given to manures and composts; and
through the whole nursery broad roads should be made so as
to make every part accessible. Preparation of Ground.An old pasture, or clover field, is best for nursery ground, for
the inverted sod gives just the right food for young trees. A
broadcast, light dressing of well-rotted manure, or compost,
should be applied before plowing. Plow very deeply, and subsoil fifteen or eighteen inches, if possible. This roots your
trees well, lets surface water run down, and lower moisture
draw up, and in fact is every way requisite. Propagation.Our cultivated varieties of trees cannot be propagated by seeds.
The particular qualities which constitute their chief value are
the result of hybridization, or of cultivation-qualities which
are not transmissible in the seed. True, we may chance upon
better varieties by sowing the seed, but there are a thousand
chances against such good fortune; and hence we resort to
grafting, budding, cuttings, layers, and suckers. And this
brings us to the subject of stocks, which is a most important
one in the propagation of fruit-trees.
Without good stocks we cannot produce good trees, although
our soil, situation and cultivation may have been ever so favorable. Formerly, wild, self-sown seedlings from the woods and
orchards were thought good enough for the nurseryman's purposes, and even poor suckers from the roots of trees were used.
Experience has taught us better practice than this, and now the




80           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
production of good stocks is the first great aim of intelligent
cultivators. The apple, pear, plum, cherry, peach, apricot, and
nectarine stock, are grown from seed; but the Doucin and
Paradise for Dwarf Apple-trees, and the Quince for Dwarf
Pears are usually produced from layers. We have thus far
been able to grow cherry and common apple stock in sufficient
quantity for our use, but are compelled to import pear and
plum seedlings and stocks for the dwarf pear, apple and cherry.
The most important of all these is the pear, which we have to
import largely, because in this country the young seedling is
attacked by a fungus or blight which destroys it at a tender
age. Although no absolute remedy for this "leaf blight" is
likely to be hit upon, very thin sowing of seed on a deep, dry,
fresh soil never before occupied by trees, and unremitting care
and good cultivation during the early stages of growth,, act in
some wise as preventives against the malady. Our nurserymen now grow on one acre as many seedlings, especially the
apple, pear, and plum, as should rightfully be assigned to five,
and the result is, a growth of weak, spindling trees. Wellgrown pear and apple stocks should be always ready for the
nursery rows at one year old. If they are not, another year's
occupancy of the same place will not generally add much to
their value. Apple stocks may, perhaps, remain two years in a
place, but pears must be transplanted. The lecturer then described the stocks in common use for grafting, dwelling for a
moment to sketch the difficulties which attended the introduction of the quince stock for dwarf pears into this country. Experience has established the fact that the two French quinces,
the Angers, and Paris or Fontenay, are best for.pear grafting.
The former is most vigorous, and of rapid growth when young;
the latter more hardy. Some pears succeed best on one, some
on the other. Stocks are good when half to three-quarters of
an inch in diameter, and can be obtained from cuttings, layers,
or by the earthing-up practice. To obtain strong stocks, plant




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            61
out a certain number of stool or mother plants, in a deep, rich,
well-prepared soil; when they have stood one season, cut them
all off close to the ground. The next season they will produce
strong, smooth shoots, which the following year may be earthed up, half their length, as celery is earthed up, and in the
fall they will have rooted well enough to bear separation
from the parent plant. If left on during winter, the frost
will ruin them. Such stock as these may be set in nursery
row the next spring, and budded the same season.  Only
two crops of shoots can be taken fiom the same stool, and
a good dressing of manure is necessary to get even the second.
Pears propagated on small, weak quince stocks are worthless.
In budding or grafting quince stocks, it should always be done
near the ground, so that the whole of the quince may be set
under ground without being too deep. Root-grafting, although
still an open question among nurserymen, Mr. Barry believes
to be, if properly performed, as good a mode for propagating
the apple, and more especially all the strong growing sorts, as
any other in use. It has been sadly abused, and thus been
brought into disfavor with bunglers and their victims.
2lanagement of Young Trees.-Trees are too closely planted, as a general thing; three and a half feet between the rows,
and three or four inches between the plants, is too little space
to give either air, light, hardiness of constitution, spread of
root, or strength of top. For apples, pears, or other trees
which are to remain two years in the nursery row, the distance
from tree to tree should never be less than eighteen inches for
standards, and twenty-four inches for pyramids; and even at
such distance the pruning-knife is to be freely used. Country
people are too apt to value a nursery tree in proportion to its
height, rather than its strength and proportions-a too common
and fatal mistake. Cutting back should be freely practised,
and the leader or main stem should be pruned as well as the
side branches, else one will get a tall and ill-proportioned tree.
An enormous amount of money is annually lost to tree pur



62          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
chasers from rude and unskilful taking up. Trees are torn up
by the roots, as if the trunk and branches were the one thing
necessary, and the roots superfluous. The proper way is, to
open a trench on each side of the tree with a common spade,
keeping the edge toward the tree, so as not to cross a root.
These trenches should be far enough from the tree to avoid the
main roots, and deep enough to go below all, except a tap-root,
which may be cut off. Tais being done, the tree may be pulled up with its roots entire.
Mr. Barry, in conclusion, spoke of the wide field which was
still open to intelligent, industrious, and capable men, who
would embark in the nursery business, but cautioned them against
entering upon it for mere speculative purposes, or with dreams
of sudden wealth, to be got as one would draw a lucky number in a lottery.
The morning lecture was by Prof. Johnson, and the one
after Mr. Barry's was to have been by Dr. Grant, but as he
was too much indisposed to speak, he procured as a substitute
Mr. ANDREW S. FULLER, the Brooklyn nurseryman. Mr. Fuller
went into the history of the grape in Europe, noticing the
varieties which in successive ages were deemed the best. He
showed when and how these foreign varieties were introduced
into the United States.  In the Northern States they had, almost without exception, proved failures, but at the South they
had given rise to descendants, some of good quality. Even
with a choice grape, its quality and profit depended in a great
degree upon the cultivation and pruning given to it. In summer, during the season of active growth, the liquid portions'of
the sap are exhaled almost as fast as they can be absorbed by
the roots, and no great accumulation can take place in any one
portion of the vine. But the leaves once fallen, the roots continue' to absorb their appropriate food from the soil, and thus
the wood becomes quite filled with sap, which is kept in store
for early spring use. It is therefore plain, that we should
prune our vine as soon as the leaves drop of, that the sap which




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            68
is afterwards absorbed may all go toward the nutriment of the
buds which remain.
He recommends a medium depth of planting; that the surface or upper roots may be not less than four nor more than
eight inches from the surface of the ground. Many of our
strong-growing sorts, such as the Concord and Diana, can be
brought within control by root-pruning for the two or three
years after planting. Mr. Fuller thought that if we may judge
from our short experience, we are warranted in the belief that
America will produce, if it has not already, as fine grapes for
both table use and wine-making, as the most favored countries
of Europe, with all their centuries of experience, can boast.
NINTH DAY.-FEB. 10, 1860.
Whenever, in coming out of a lecture-room, you hear all
about you people saying "What a capital lecture!" " How well
he understands his subject!" "How many valuable hints he
gave us in the hour!" you may be certain that it was a valuable discourse; and such was the case this morning, after Mr.
BARRY'S second lecture on fruit-trees. Certainly I never listened
to a more complete epitome of information on any one topic
than he condensed into sixty-five minutes; and now that I sit
down to give your readers the gist of it, my trouble is to know
where to commence the process of exclusion.
The subject chosen was the " Transplanting and Management
of TreeS in the Orchard and Garden," embracing a variety of
operations which, if followed in detail, would require a week
instead of an hour to describe. The general remarks upon the
preparation of ground for nursery trees, which were contained
in my letter of yesterday, apply to all tree plantations. Our
readers should remember that the important points in land




64           YALE: AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
treatment can only be best done before the trees are set out;
so that before we send our orders to the nurseryman we should
have finished our draining, subsoiling, and trenching. As to
spring or fall planting, opinions vary, and vary chiefly because
of different nature and conditions of soil with various treeplanters. Mr. Barry's experience is, that in a good, dry, wellprepared soil, fruit-trees may be planted at any time after the
wood is ripe in the fall (a period indicated not by the fall of
the leaf, but by the perfect formation of the terminal leaf-buds,
and the changing tints of the foliage), until the freezing of the
ground; and, in spring, from the time when the frost is out
and the ground dry enough to work, until the buds have made
some considerable advancement toward opening. Generally
the more tender trees, such as the peach, apricot, and nectarine,
should at the North be planted in spring, as winter acts
severely upon them after transplanting.  This is the better
mode, but fall planting of even these tender, juicy-wooded
trees, is often successful, if precaution be used. The fall
planter must never forget to mulch the roots with several
inches' depth of leaf-mold, half-rotted manure, or some such
material as will modify the action of frost on the roots and treetrunk. A neglect of proper preparations for planting causes
great loss. The majority of trees from the nursery, by unskilful removal, have mutilated roots; if the tree were set without
proper pruning, most of these roots would rot, and those which
escaped would grow feebly for a long time. All these bruised
and broken roots must be pruned close up to the sound wood
with a sharp knife, the cut being made perfectly smooth and
almost straight across, so as to present as little surface as possible. Never cut the roots downward, or so as to have the
slope on the upper side of the wood, but upward; for in any
other case the water would get between the bark and wood
and rot off the root, while if rightly done new rootlets will be
put forth from the root end, and all go on well. All broken
branches must be removed, and then the whole top be reduced




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             65
by cutting back half, or more than half, but always keeping
the lower branches of dwarf pears and other pyramidal trees,
longer and stronger than the upper ones. The tree naturally
pushes its growth upward, and this tendency must be restrained
so that you will get the bulk of fruit near the ground, thus
avoiding top-heaviness, and liability to branch-breaking by high
winds. Keep a due proportion between root and branches, so
that there will always be enough root to furnish food, and no
waste of strength in superfluous wood and leaf-production.
We aim at getting fruit in large quantity, and of distributing
it equally over the tree, that no one part may be overtaxed, or
weakened. Almost ninety of every hundred tree purchasers
set such store by the nice, long, smooth branches of their trees,
as they come from the nursery, that they spare the knife, and
set them out just as received. Let them beware how they are
thus " penny wise and pound foolish," for their trees are checked
and stinted in growth, and are left far behind others which
have been boldly and judiciously pruned. i Many persons think
trees should be manured, like a hill of potatoes, at time of
planting. Such are likely to kill their trees by overmuch kindness. Good fresh surface-soil-if light and sandy, all the better.;-is what should be put around trees at time of planting. He
would say nothing about hole-digging, for the whole soil where
trees were to be planted should be so well prepared that a hole
needs only be large enough to admit the roots. The roots
should be set about four or five inches below the surface. In
light soils they may be set deeper than in heavy ones, because
heat more readily passes downward. The thorough cultivation
of the soil among fruit-trees can be neglected only at the
planter's peril.
In fields of grain the poor trees are smothered by their avaricious, or unwise, owners. When the rows are thirty or forty
feet apart, almost any farm. crop may be grown between, but at
least six feet of ground beyond the extremities of the roots
should be unplanted, and kept as clean and as mellow as it




66           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
would be about a hill of potatoes or corn. No weeds must
exercise Mr. Douglas's squatter sovereignty privilege, unless
one wishes to starve his trees to the extent of the food these
pestiferous plants consume. Remember this point, for it is of
the utmost importance; but in putting it into practice, remember also, that in your hand-hoeing, or horse-hoeing, the tree
roots must not be disturbed. A light annual dressing of compost should be spread upon the surface early in winter, and in
spring forked in. Road-scrapings, ditch-bottoms, and such
matter, are good for application to a light soil, and heavy leafmold, and decaying vegetables, with stable-manure for a heavy
soil, are good in compost. Occasional light dressings of lime,
ashes, and even salt, will be found beneficial. Mulching in
summer should be very light, just enough to keep down weeds,
and once a week, or once a month, as the case may be, must
be removed for as thorough a forking of the ground as can be
given without injury to the tree roots. The object sought in
pruning fruit-trees is to regulate their growth and bearing, so
as to secure at once a particular form with greatest vigor and
fruitfulness. The only instrument used in a good nursery is
the pruning-knife; and this- should be kept so sharp that any
ordinary branch may be lopped off at a single draw, leaving a
perfectly smooth surface. Shears should never be used. A
saw is only required when trees have been neglected. Branches
removed should be cut close to the trunk, so that the tree may
not be injured by the decay of a stump. Shorten shoots to a good
strong bud that will make a leader, not too close to nor too far
from the bud, and with a slope of cut of about forty-five degrees.
In shortening your leader, don't always cut on the same side,
for you would thus make the whole tree lean one way or the
other. Pruning, rightly done, is a blessing; wrongly, a curse.
To show practically how pruning should be done, Mr. Barry
performed the operation on several fruit-trees which he had
brought for the purpose, and I have no doubt but that the
large audience got thus a far better idea of the modus operan



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              67
di than long arguments would have conveyed. I am also glad
to learn that Mr. T. S. Gold intends to illustrate his lectures
on sheep-breeding, by placing before us a well-shaped and a
badly-shaped live sheep. Could anything be more admirable?
Standard apple-trees in orchards require very little pruning.
If the head is formed at a proper distance from the ground,
say four or five feet, and the main branches to form the framework of the head are started in the right direction,.as nearly
as possible equally distant, inclining upward and outward, the
subsequent pruning will consist in removing branches where
they are likely to become crowded or to cross each other.
The natural growth of varieties differing, our pruning should
be modified to suit each special case. Apple-trees not pruned
generally bear a heavy crop of fruit one season, and nonie the
next, and so heavy is the crop that a good part of it is worthless. Judicious pruning enables us to have a moderate crop
of fine fruit each year, besides promoting the general health
and prosperity of the trees. A few days of a man over an
apple orchard when the fruit is half or a third grown, will be
well spent in removing misshapen and wormy fruit, and thinning out clusters that are crowded together. Fools cut away
branches indiscriminately, until their trees are but skeletons,
with a few bearing branches at the extremities only. The force
of the tree is then expended in producing a' crop of rank, watery shoots in the interior, to be again cut away to make room
for a second- crop. Trees should never be suffered to bear
fruit until they have got strength and vigor. A pruner should
know the difference between fruit-buds and wood-buds, and at
least the rough outlines of the principles of tree growth. This
knowledge may be acquired by an intelligent man in a brief
time. There are many other points of equal interest in Mr.
Barry's lecture of which I should like to speak, but cannot.
Doctor GRANT lectured first this afternoon, speaking without
notes, and, like Mr. Barry, exemplifying the doctrines of pruning and vine-setting, on specimens brought for the purpose.




68           YALE. AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
The following directions he gave us for preparing a grape-border in the best manner-(our readers will remember that the
term "border" is applied to any plot of ground longer than
wide, which is to be devoted to grapes):
For a trellis of vines, more than twelve feet of width is unnecessary, and one-third less will answer very well; and it is
desirable, but not indispensable, that half of the twelve feet
should be prepared before planting. If only a width of three
feet is prepared, three feet more should be added the next season.. To prepare the border immediately, the unfertile soil
that lies beneath must be removed, and fertile soil put in its
place. To do this, a trench two feet wide is made to the depth
of the mold, or fertile soil, which we will suppose to be one
-foot; if more than that, so much the better. Now, to make
the border two feet deep, which is the least admissible, one
foot of the subsoil must be removed. If grounds are of considerable size, this may be spread over the surface of a portion,
so that it shall not be more than two inches in depth, and plowed or worked in without any immediate damage, but with ultimate benefit, particularly if manure is used at the same time.
Into the bottom of this trench the fertile soil of the adjoining
two feet is put, and, if it can readily be had, a compost of leaf:
mold, or muck, or any vegetable decay, and well-rotted stable
manure, thoroughly mixing the mass as it goes in. If sods
from a rich pasture can be had, they may be thrown in with
the compost to the depth of fourteen or sixteen inches for every
foot of subsoil removed, and then the fertile soil from the next
two feet put upon the top. Repeat this process until the border of required dimensions is made, and finish by putting into
the last trench the soil that was taken from the first. If sods
and compost are not used, other fertile soil must be obtained from
adjoining ground, or some other quarter, to replace the subsoil
that has been removed. At the completion of the operation,
the ground of the border will be found to be some inches higher
than the adjoining ground, but in two years it will settle to




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 
the level. This is the operation called trenching, and without:
it no garden is in condition for giving best results. For grodw
ing strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, it is equally
advantageous, but with this difference, that the fruits last
named are expectedc to continue perhaps only from six to twice
six years on the same ground, while vines properly planted and
managed have no limit to their duration, and the fruit for many
years will constantly improve in quality and earliness of maturity. If the trenching is performed one season in advance, the
subsoil may be put upon the top of the mold, and enriched by
having manure thoroughly incorporated by a second or third
spading, or by plowing, according to extent of ground. If
ground is prepared in early autumn; it will be ready for vines
in the spring; but if in spring, it will not be in the best condiL
tion for vines before fall, without a renewal of subsoil.
The subjects of pruning and planting were: also fully discuss'
ed, but my space is already exhausted, and I must leave them
undescribed.
In the evening, Mr. GEORGE B. EmERSON, of Boston, gave a
lecture upon "The character of the various forest trees of
Europe and America."  He alluded, in commencing, to the
differences observed in the tree of the plain and the forest:
the one tall and bare, the other full of limbs, and short. He
then went on to speak of the great uses of the forest in creating soils. Described the lava-covered sides of Vesuvius, where
the lichen first, the moss, the grass, the low shrub, small trees,
and finally larger ones, added to and made the soil upon which
grows the tree of 400 or 500 years. One office of the forest
is thus to prepare a soil for the use of man. As forests have
disappeared here, we have an unfavorable change of climate,
becoming colder in winter and hotter in summer, and -the
streams become dried up. Many places, in valleys once pro.
tected, are now open to the cold blasts, and nothing will grow
well. A row of trees planted across the valley would mitigate
the result in one generation. He considered the more exten.




70           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
sive means to protect by means of trees, in France, Germany,
and England; alluded to the advantages of forests as electrical
conductors and condensers thus of moisture; spoke of the vast
stores of the sun's light and heat they annually store up, to light
up the long evenings for man, and of the denudation or washing away of the soil when the roots of the sturdy trees were gone.
-Restore the forests to the tops of our hills, and the moisture
would be restored to our air and droughts prevented.
TENTH DAY.-FEB. 11, 1860.
The convention assembled at 9 o'clock, and listened to another lecture by Mr. EMERSON. The number of ladies in attendance was larger than at any previous session. The subject
was "The Individual Trees of the Forest."  In introducing it,
he remarked that the feeling was common that the farmer's
was not a high occupation. There is no occupation requiring
such large resources of knowledge. Man can only prepare
himself for the proper culture of forest trees by studying them
in their native woods. The cultivator of the forest tree must
have varied knowledge; —of physics, in their higher departments, treating of climate —for we can do a vast deal to change
it most favorably;- of the sun's light and heat and their
action,-a lesson seldom learned as it should be; of electricity and the kindred forces; of the winds and the waters;
of the chemistry of soils and the proper action of their
elements; of oxygen and hydrogen in water and the other
organic elements found in trees; of the laws of the atmosphere, in winds, rain, and dew; of the operation of
manures and their adaptations. The forester must know
what soils will furnish the necessary nutriment, and to this
end must know the composition of trees. Structural botany, one of the most curious sciences that the genius of man
has laid open, must be understood. So of endosmose and exos



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              71
mose, the strange forces by which food is taken into the plant;
of the composition of the products of plants, the formation of
wood, and the circumstances favorable to growth; how to
manage the ground in preparation for planting, to select the
place where they shall flourish, and the trees of the best form
for planting. He must be acquainted with the friends and foes
of each tree, both insects and birds, and with the various processes of layering, budding, grafting, &c. The observant faculties are all necessary, and ought to be educated; their neglect
is among the most serious omissions in a farmer's education
The objects of forest culture are to improve the land and to
furnish materials for use in the arts. Of sinale trees, those are
best which will furnish the shade we seek. The spray of some
of our native trees, as the birches, and willows, and especially
the maples, is most beautiful, and varies every season of the
year, ever being a source of beauty. The seeds of different
trees fall at different times, according to their size, so that they
may be covered up and germinate, and generally under the
shade of the mother tree. Seedling trees must be sheltered, a
purpose for which the Scotch or other fir is used to good advantage. The value of leaf mould for these seedlings is well
known. The ground for the seminary, or nursery, must be well
prepared, but need not be very deep. The best manures are
leaves and leaf-mold, with a little of barn-yard compost, well
rotted, and then all suffered to lie for a year exposed to the
air. The seeds ought to be sown immediately upon gathering,
those which animals would dig up for their food excepted. Many
seeds will not bear drying. In imported seeds, some few come up
the first year, some the second, and others the third, whereas
had they been immediately sown as they were taken from the
trees, they would all have sprung up at first. The depth of seed
planting varies according to size, and the young trees must be
protected for the first year or two, from the sun. By transplanting
we cut off the tap-root, and thus render it easy to remove again.
Each soil as we advance should be poorer, till it becomes




72           YALE AGRICULTURAL -LECTURES.
of the same character as that where the tree shall stand.
Trees for an artificial forest should grow  close together,
and single ones apart from each other. The oak, which has
been allowed to expand, is one of the most magnificent things
on the face of the earth. It is a singular fact, that some of our
finest trees are not to be seen growing in our own forests in
their native perfection. To see our scarlet oak in beauty, we
must see it on an English lawn. The nurseries should be kept
free of weeds by the hoe or rake. No small part of the sucdcess with trees depends upon the care with which they are
taken up, and also upon the shortness of time they are out of
the ground. The rootlets are killed:often, if dried by the sun
or wind, and the tree has to throw them out anew. They may
be planted on the lawn in rows, singly, or in groups. The
land should be trenched, and supplied often with bones and
ashes, the trees needing both phosphoric acid and potash. - A
singular fact made known by the united researches of chemistry and microscopy is, that only in a liquid containing sugar,
dextrine, and protein, can cells be formed. Only where carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and often sulphur and phosphorus exist, can the first act of plant life begin. Plants generally contain three per dent. of nitrogen. This must be added
if the soil does not contain it. Mulching with leaves, sedge,
grass, or rotten wood, is advantageous. Is it asked, What
trees are best for the lawn, or near a dwelling-house, for the
pasture, the public square, or the road-side?  Every tree is
more or less beautiful. Every tree is a-picture, varying in
color, shape, and all the accidents of vegetable life, in all the
hours from the beginning to the -end of the year. It may become an heir-loom, and ever fresh with the memory of parents
and grand-parents gone before. Each tree has its birds, and
insects, its epiphytes, parasites, and lichens.. The grandest tree
in our climate is the oak, and the longest lived. In the forests
of Massachusetts there are twelve species. The white oak, for
the forest and lawn, is susceptible of magnificent development.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             73
The old oaks of the forests and lawns of England are worth a
voyage across the Atlantic to see. No language can give an
idea of their beauty and grandeur. The English elm is best for
narrow ways, the American for broad. The former, though
not so graceful a tree, throws out its leaves earlier and holds
them later, being in foliage from three to six weeks longer.
The elm can speak for itself, for it is the only tree that everybody knows. The tulip-tree, a rapid grower, with fine flowers
and fruit; the sycamore; the Norway maple, standing the wind
better than any other tree; the red, white, and rock maples,
the last the best; the beech, with its showy blossoms and sweet
nuts, good for pasture, because never struck by lightning nor
browsed upon by cattle; the linden, and hickory, easy to transplant if the tendency to depend on the tap-root be corrected
in the nursery; the sassafras, hornbeam, hop hornbeam, the
locust, the horse-chestnut, and black-walnut, all have their advantages. Two or three black cherry-trees along the outside
of a cherry orchard, willUdraw the insects to themselves. The
plane, or buttonwood, makes a conspicuous figure in all grounds,
and was valued by the Greeks and Romans above all other
trees. Birches are admirable, too, for the beauty of their bar]k
leaves, and branches.
Professor JOHNSON gave us a capital lecture on the nutrition
of animals. The food of man in his best development, says the
Professor, is not exclusively vegetable; not but that from vegetables he could get all the substances which he needs for his
sustenance, but in the form of flesh they are much more condensed.
The animals which exhibit the most intense power of muscular and nervous force are carnivorous. For the sake of flesh
and milk as food, for wool as clothing, and for the useful labor
which the ox and horse furnish, the farmer seeks to convert
vegetable into animal produce. By the aid of cattle, not only
can man - convert the grains, fruits, and esculent roots into a
more concentrated and vigorous diet, but he can manufacture
4




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
food out of naturally growing grasses, and employ hundreds
of otherwise refuse matters for the same object. A diagram
exhibited by the lecturer showed the composition of a pig when
fat and lean, thus:
Fat-Per Cent. Lean-Per Cent.
Water.............................  45            60
Albuminoids.......................                15 1 7
Fat.                                37 21
Mineral matter, or ash..............  8           2
Total......................  100           100
The carbo-hydrates-starch, sugar, cellulose, gum, &cs,-are
changed by the animal into grape sugar, and are then ready to
be assimilated to build up its body. The grape sugar is changed into lactic and butyric acids, and thence into fat. The minerai; mtters found in the bones, blood, and other portions of
the body, are of course obtained from the plants, which in their
ttri Suck them from the soil. In some districts, such as that
about Leipsic, some of these necessary minerals are deficient in
the soil; and it has often been observed, that where phosphate
of lime is not in the farm soil in sufficient quantity, cows suffer
from bone disease, and will gnaw any old bone that they may
find lying on the ground. Animal force and heat, like steam,
are generated by the actual combustion of material; in the
former cases this being food, in the latter fuel. The "fireplace" in the animal is all over its body, wherever a pin-prick
will draw blood. As in the steam engine, the amount of muscular and nervous force in the animal is proportionate to the
amount of fuel or food consumed. First, material is stored up
in the tissues for use, and then every exertion of the muscles
or brain is accompanied by an oxydation, or burning of the
tissues. In this process, carbonic acid, water, and a srnall
quantity of ammonia, are given off-the remainder of the ammonia being transformed into urea, and voided from the body.
An engine is merely a mechanism for using an engendered
force, but the animal is itself consumed, and must be renewed




YALE AGRICUL     LECTURES.              75
constantly. Whenever the time arrives that the vital force is not
enough to supply the waste, decay, and then death, come upon
us. A degree of heat that would destroy animal tissue, when
separated from the animal, is necessary in the body to sustain
life itself. This heat is engendered by using the carbo-hydrates
and fats of food; but these contain no nitrogen, and hence
theywill not strengthen our bodies, although they do warm
them. When in a state of rest, the muscular and nervous tissues are but little wasted, but the fat is consumed in heating.
When, however, an ox or man labors, or a man thinks, the
muscular and nervous substance is consumed. A good warm
stable, or other means of giving external heat to our animals,
is:a much: cheaper way to maintain the requisite animal heat
than to overfeed with corn and oats. Oil is a necessary ingredient in food, and the addition of fatty matter, when not naturally present in sufficient quantity in it, helps digestion, and
thus jrorhotes the growth of the animal. A German farmer
proved this by feeding some stock on food that contained but
little oily matter, and comparing their daily weight with the
greater weight they afterward attained when fed upon a more
fatty diet. For man's food, cooking is a great assistant to digestion, for it commences chemical changes which would have
to be brought about in the stomach, and would thus abstract
from his store of vital force a considerable amount of what
he might have used in muscular exertion. The young growing
animal needs an easily digestible food,-food which contains
a large amount of bone material. Milk is by analysis found to
be of just this character, and hence we see the admirable pro.
vision of nature in this respect.
The afternoon lecture was by Mr. LUTHER H. TUCKER, Of
The Country Gentlenman, who, having devoted the whole of,
last summer to an investigation of British and French farming,
was, deemed the suitable person for giving us a 1eeture 4upon
this interesting topic. Mr. Tucker is another of our rising




76           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
young men, and already gives promise of doing much toward
bringing about the needed reform in our farm practice.
Mr. Tucker commenced with some remarks upon the English
climate and soil. The former is such that while, on the one hand,
Indian corn will seldom ripen, and the pear, the peach, the tomato,
the melon, and cucumber, and similar fruits, require artificial heat
to effect their perfect development; on the other, there is not
a month in the year when the plowman and his teams are not
actively at work. Of the soil, it had been said that while comparatively little is really very good, one-thirteenth part resists
all attempts at cultivation, and two-thirds of the remainder is
so stubborn and ungrateful that it tries the skill and ingenuity
of the cultivator. He then spoke of the progress which Great
Britain has made during the last half century, in population and
wealth. A recent report of the Registrar-General showed that
the natural increase of the former now averages over one
thousand souls every twenty-four hours, while the growth of
the latter may be estimated from the computation published a
year or two since in London, that the grand aggregate profits
of English industry amount each year to two hundred and fifty
millions of dollars ($250,000,000). There is a national predilection among all classes of the people for country life-a kind
of taste which it might be hoped that we should prove to have
inherited, when the fever of our younger life should make way
for more of the discrimination of cooler manhood-a taste there
manifested not only by the attention with which men of wealth
regard horticultural embellishments, and the interest taken by
Parliament and the whole country in equestrian improvement,
including the races, and in sporting-but also in the more practical direction of actually increasing the productive power of
the land. So important did this taste appear to Lavergne, the
French author, that he did not hesitate to pronounce it "the
chief cause of her [England's] agricultural wealth." Prince
Albert's farming was referred to as an example in point, as




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             77
well as the expenditures often made in the cause of agriculture
by wealthy gentlemen and commoners.
In a general view of " English agriculture," then, if there
were not practical lessons afforded for immediate imitation, a
pervading influence could not but be felt throughout, calculated
to lead our farmers to a more intelligent appreciation of their
calling and its duties. The first cause of its advancement was
undoubtedly the abundance of wealth and the compact population of the island. Next came the national taste to turn this
wealth into rural channels, and thirdly, a necessity for enlarged
production, which had directed both wealth and taste to practical objects. Up to a period within forty years, the object
in view by English agriculturists had been to reclaim waste
lands. A Committee of the House of Commons, in 1797, after
protracted investigations, calculated the area thus brought under inclosure during the eighteenth century at about 4,000,000
acres; and under the impulse of war prices from 1800 to 1820,
there are statistics to show that 3,000,000 acres more were
added to the dominion of the plow., Then came a falling off;comparatively little has since been done in this direction, and,
since 1840 particularly, the aim of English agriculture has been,
not to enlarge the productive average of the island, but to increase its acreable production.
Some of the agencies by which this had been partially, and
was constantly being more fully accomplished, he hoped to
illustrate before concluding. Previously he alluded briefly, in
the fourth place, to the three classes engaged more or less
directly in English agriculture-the proprietors, the tenatry,
and the laborers. " England and Scotland," wrote Philip
Pusey, so long the editor of the Royal Agricultural Society's
Journal, "are the only countries with a class of cultivators
possessing sufficient capital to stock farms of a good size at
their own risk, paying a certain yearly sum to the proprietor."
In fact, the farming capital, other than the ownership of the
land, is almost wholly in the hands of the tenants, and, in many




78           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
instances, even the park-grazing about the mansion of the landlord is let out, as well as the arable land. The tenants are often
men of such wealth that they would probably live upon their
resources in this country, except so far as they might be engaged in looking after their investments. The average interest
obtained by landlords upon the cash value of their land, high
as the rents appear to us, perhaps rarely exceeds three per cent.
Farmers expect to invest their money in agriculture so as to
make it pay them ten per cent. if possible;-the average profit
they realize may vary from eight to ten per cent. Really, it is
only a very rich man who can afford to own. land in England,
and several instances were given to show how property there
gravitates toward the country, including a farmer mentioned
by Mr. Colman, who was paying an annual rent of $85,000!
Taxes and tithes are to be added to the rents the farmers
pay, these rents varying from a dollar or two per acre, under
the least favorable: circumstances, to ten, twelve, and fifteen
dollars for choice locations in good farming districts, and reaching for the whole island an average of six dollars. Some of
the Scotch moors are rented according to the number of sheep
they will carry per acre, at so much per head for the sheep.
During the eighty years preceding Mr. Caird's investigations
in 1850-51, it was found that the rents of twenty-six counties
had increased a little more than one hundred per cent., while
the wages of laborers showed a  advance of thirty-four per
cent.; the price of bread was about the same; meat had appreciated seventy per cent., butter one hundred per cent., and
wool still more. The production of wheat only showed an
advance from the average of twenty-three bushels per acre
reported by Arthur Young, to that of twenty-six and a half
reported by Mr. Caird-an explanation of which is found in the
fact that only the very best fields were then put into wheat,
while now the area on which it is grown is immensely increased,
and the whole, bad and good, made to yield fifteen per cent.
more than the selected parts did previously.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             79
A brief recapitulation of the measures to which English agriculture probably owes its progress was then given, —including
among earlier improvements, root crops, rotation, the sowing
of grasses and clovers, and the imperfect drainage of the land
by open ditches or otherwise, as the most prominent; among
later ones, the increased use of machinery and better implements, purchased fertilizers, and food for stock; the deeper
drainage of the land by tile and pipe; and, perhaps most prom-.inent of all, the improvement effected in the different races of
domestic animals, and the increased attention given to feeding
them for the sake of their manure.
A brief account followed of a visit upon a Hertfordshire farm
where one of Fowler's steam-plows was in operation. The
Norfolk or four-course system was there practised, extended
sometimes over a fifth year by retaining the clover-crop a second
season, or, if the land was in good order, by adding a grain
crop, generally oats. The remainder of the hour was devoted
to a narrative of some of Mr. Mechi's modes of farming —an
account of his method of feeding, stabling, and managing his
manures, and a statement of the crops he has obtained at Tiptree Hall.
Mr. Mechi went on to this farm fifteen or twenty years ago,
when he gives the place rather a hard character. "Almost
surrounded by barren heath," he found the land so retentive
of water that a large part of it was constantly in a state varying in consistency " between putty and bird-lime, according to
the season." He sold half of it, determined to get as much as
possible out of the remainder, and went on to make such expenditures as really frightened sober and practical men; he
underlaid his fields with pipes, conveying manure in a liquid
form by means of hydrants to every part of the farm; and
now, not only all the stable manure, but also guano is distributed by steam pumps through this channel,-and even the
carcasses of dead horses and cattle are put into the same tanks,
macerated by degrees, and sprinkled out through the hose.




80           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
His average crops of wheat are now forty-six to forty-eight
bushels per acre; of oats, not far short of ninety; of barley,
not more than fifty. His cattle are fed on sparred floors, with.
out bedding of any kind —all their food cut and cooked. He
says that he don't use straw more generally in feeding because
it is not naturally in condition to be very nutritive; but when
cooked, he states that every hundred pounds of straw is shown
to contain the equivalent of eighteen and a half pounds of oil.
Straw for manure is worth to him only two dollars thirty-three
cents per ton, while for fodder it is worth five dollars; and, as
he raises about two tons of straw per acre, this difference is
of enough consequence to him almost to turn the scale between
loss and profit upon each acre under a grain crop.
Mr. M.'s cooking apparatus consists of " a number of cast-iron
pans, or coppers, each capable of containing 250 gallons," set in
brick-work, so as to stand level with the floor, and heated by
waste steam, from the engine, admitted into a four-inch space
about them. The fodder is cut to quarter-inch length, at a cost
of from 50 cents a ton for cutting hay by steam to $1 per ton
for straw. In feeding roots, they are first cut by machine, and
then "mixed in the manger with the warm steamed chaff."
As to rotation of crops, Mr. Mechi, in common with most of
the " high farmers" whom the speaker had met, apparently regarded this as altogether a secondary consideration after a farm
once attains a certain pitch of productiveness.
The difficulty which high-farming is most puzzled to overcome is, the, "laying" or lodging of the crop. The moment
the condition of the land reaches a certain point, its yield can
be no farther increased, because the amount of soluble silica
to glaze the straw appears to fail, and the risk from this cause,
together with the difficulty of keeping the ground clean, presents an obstacle nearly or quite insurpassable.
An extra lecture was given in the evening, by Mr. Quinby,
on Bee-Keeping. In the first place he proceeded to answer the
Yankee's characteristic question, "Will it pay?"  By a very




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           81
conclusive array of facts and figures he demonstrated that with
intelligent management no investment is more remunerative.
The best season for moving bees is from the first of October
to the first of April. They should not be moved during the
summer, as the bees will, many of them, leave the hive, and the
combs being soft are liable to injury. In preparing for moving,
the apparatus should be covered with muslin, and the hive' inverted to prevent the combs from becoming detached.
In purchasing, see that the hive contains sufficient honey to
carry the bees through the winter, perhaps thirty pounds, and
also that you have a large number of bees, which is indicative
of health.
He warns those not experienced in bee-keeping against complicated patent hives. The management of the old-fashioned
box hive is simple and understood by all. There is much hope
however, that the patent of Mr. Underhill, of New York, will
be so perfected as to be a real improvement. - Mr. Harbison's
hive has many advantages, which were given in detail.
The hive should be so constructed as to be protected from
the cold north and west winds. It should not be near a body
of water, as bees which are heavily laden are thus often drowned.
The hive need not be more than a few inches from the ground.
For hiving bees, he described an easily-constructed contrivance, which dispenses with the necessity of climbing to fearful heights where the bees may have alighted.
The methods of obtaining the honey without destroying the
bees and injuring the honey, are quite simple and desirable.
ELEVENTH DAY. —FEB. 13TH, 1860.
To-day Mr, TUCKER gave his second lecture on English Agriculture, to an audience larger than usual.
Mr. Tucker's lecture was a continuation of his subject of yesterday, and was interesting and practical.
4*




82           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
He remarked that, deferring until another opportunity a
summary of the ground already covered, he would endeavor to
describe briefly one or two extensive farms against the management of which it was less likely that a charge could be
brought of any "higher farming" than was consistent with
profit, or within the reach of others similarly situated. Undoubtedly there was bad farming in England, as well as in this
country; there was, also, a small class of those whose operations were bolstered up on unusual capital, of whom Mr.:Mechi
would answer as an example, and who could not therefore be
regarded exactly as fair specimens of the practical man in the
present condition of English husbandry. He had enjoyed the opportunity; however, of visiting several who might justly rank as
such, and could only regret that the necessities of the case then
compelled the entire omission of much in which an interest would
be felt by practical farmers in this country, and the very imperfect survey of the instances to which time allowed an allusion.
"Butley Abbey," and one or two other farms, altogether
including 3,000 acres in the county of Suffolk, occupied by Mr.
Thomas Crisp, together with the operations upon it, were first
considered. A description was given of the sheep-walks, and
the system of sheep-husbandry practised. The "four-course"
system is generalry adhered to, but a "stolen crop" of turnips
is sometimes obtained-the seed drilled upon the wheat stubbles, and the roots fed off in the late autumn and succeeding
spring, and the next crop in the course being mangolds. The
quantity of mangolds grown is increasing, compared with turnips, so far as his observations extended in Great Britain.
The sheep of that part of England are prolific mothers and
good milkers, and are consequently in demand. Mr. C. had a
flock of about 2,000 breeding ewes, with which he puts a
Leicester or Southdown " tup."  The lambs it is his practice to
sell, the autumn after they are one year old, or indeed any time
during that season according to circumstances; and the price
received for thern varies -with age and quality, from $7.50 all




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             83
the way up to $15 per head. The lambs are dropped about
March, and when they are ready to wean after harvest, are put
out upon the stubbles to eat the " seeds" that were sown in the
spring, and at night perhaps folded upon a turnip field as soon
as the latter is ready. But Mr. C. keeps a great many sheep
out a-boarding, as we might express it; that is, there are many
smaller farmers, who do not have the means of keeping a large
flock the year round, and.who are glad to take in those of their
neighbors both upon their stubbles and to eat their turnips.
For the lambs thus sent out upon stubbles on other farms,
about 3 cents a head per week is paid. The price paid for turnip land is in the neighborhood of 6 cents a week for each head,
though it varies with the character of the crop, &c.; when it
does not exceed this price, Mr. C. considers that there is room
for profit to the owner of the sheep. Sometimes he has flocks at
a distance of 50 miles or even more, and a great advantage of
this method to the small farmer, arises from the fact, that while
the few sheep he would want to keep might be all winter
in eating his turnips off, if 500 or 600 come upon his fields
at once, they are all cleared by Christmas and ready for plowing.
In a train on the way into Lincolnshire Mr. Tucker met a
farmer of that county who had sheared, the preceding spring,
1,200 sheep, a large number for a farm of eight hundred and
fifty acres. He had mentioned also the practice which some
of us have advocated and others decried so strongly-that of
spreading the manure upon the wheat-lands some time before
plowing up the stubble of the clover crop, and-permitting it to remain in exposure; a method of which he was strongly in favor,
and which has been long and successfully practised by John
Johnston and others in this country.
The next visit spoken of was at Aylesby, also in Lincolnshire,
the residence of Mr. Torr, a noted Shorthorn breeder, and extensive farmer. He cultivates about 2,100 acres, mostly of
"fen" land, although not of that lower kind requiring drainage




84           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
by steam or wind power. He was an ardent believer in deep
drainage, and had spent during the year before not less than
$10,000 for oil-cake, guano, and artificial manures. He had
500 acres in wheat, 250 in barley, 100 in oats, 415 in mangolds
and turnips, 335 in artificial, and the remainder in permanent
grass. He annually shears about 2,000 sheep, and has an
annual show and "letting" of breeding " tups."  His average
crop of wheat is nearly 40 bushels per acre (say 36 to 38), bad
years with good, and he thought that the whole county would
be from 30 to 32.
Some remarks followed upon the expense incurred by English farmers to remove quack, couch, or twitch grass, as it is
variously called, and the presence of which is considered inimical to any crop. A description of the mode of plowing advocated by Mr. Melvin, an intelligent gentlemen and farmer in
Mid-Lothian, then succeeded. The important points in- the
construction of the plow were such a medium length in the
mold-board as not to break up the furrow-slice too6much, as
it will if it is too short, and, on the other hand, not to polish
off its exposed surface too smoothly, instead of leaving it so
rent and torn that the elements will act properly in the disintegration of its particles. Above all, however, a plow should
turn a clean furrow, for if the earth anywhere adheres to the
mold-board, the friction wastes power, the furrow is imperfectly turned, weeds are not covered in, and the old surface is not
well turned under.
On the Tay, opposite the noted Carse of Gowrie, he had
found a seven-year course of rotation in vogue, viz.: 1, wheat;
2, barley; 3, grass; 4, oats; 5, potatoes, or beans; 6, wheat; and
lastly, turnips. The soil is so stiff that a very good drain is
made by simply digging a channel of several inches' depth with
a shoulder on each side of it, in the bottom of the drain, and
covering it (the channel so formed) with flat stones; this being
nothing else than the " shoulder drain " already described by
Judge French. Grain appeared to be more generally sown




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              85
broadcast than drilled in Scotland. The women were at that
time at work reaping; five women with sickles, to one man
binding, and the whole gang paid 12 shillings sterling, say $3
per acre.
One of the last visits before leaving England had been made
in quite an opposite direction, namely, among the hop-gardens
of Kent. As there was one lecture in the course devoted to
that plant, he gave a few facts in regard to the general system
of farming pursued. The farm he had seen was one of two
hundred and seventy acres, and a vineyard rotation was practised. For example: 1, turnips; 2, barley, or oats; 3, wurtzel;
4, wheat; 5, red clover; 6, wheat; 7; barley, or oats; 8, beans,
or peas; and 9, wheat-thus securing five white crops, three
of them wheat, to four green crops. To take this rotation from
the beginning, the turnip crop will have been preceded by
wheat; after that was harvested, a kind of plow or cultivator,
called a broadshare, was passed over the land, a flat point
eighteen inches wide being' carried about three inches below
the surface, not turning over the ground at all, but cutting off
the roots, and killing the weeds. By this operation and the
subsequent harrowing, the ground is so stirred that the seeds
of noxious plants, as well as those self-sown by the last crop,
will vegetate. Immediately after the broadshare, the harrow
is twice used to free the ground from the stubble, which is
gathered in rows every fifteen or twenty rods, according to
quantity, and if thought worth the labor, or in default of straw
enough, this is carried to the yards, to be trodden into manure;
otherwise it is burnt. A second plowing takes place, if possible, before the middle of October, say eight inches deep, burying any vegetation that has started, and throwing the soil into
furrows as rough as possible, in order that the frost may act
upon it; for the rougher and the larger lumps in which it lies,
the better will a spontaneous disintegration be effected during
winter. The next process is a plowing the last of March or the
first of April, after which the land is harrowed twice, and roll



86           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
ed. The second spring plowing is done with the broadshare,
and after another harrowing and rolling, the manure is carted
out and spread, and plowed in six or seven inches deep. Then
there is another harrowing and rolling, and the land lies about
a fortnight, when, if the weather is dry, the broadshare may be
once more employed. Swede turnips are sown about the first
week in July, and white turnips about the third week-about
half and half of each being grown. If mangolds was the crop,
the preparation of the land for it would be similar, except that
one plowing would be omitted, as the seed is sown the second
week in May.
The lecture was concluded with an extended and detailed
statement of the notes gathered at Burley Hall, the residence
of Thomas Horsfall, Esq., whose experiments in stock-feeding
and in dairy management have attracted so wide attention. A
minute account was given of his fields, meadows, and pasture,
of his farm buildings, his dairy room, &c. Upon not quite
sixty acres of land he was keeping the following stock:
Heifers and Bullocks.. 21 1 Old Sheep.............   64
Milch Cows................... 20 Lambs......... 106
Likewise, 4 pigs, 2 horses and a pony.
Being a total, small cattle and large, of 218 head.
The interest of this farm is chiefly in its stock and in its grass
fields. The sheep (ewes) Mr. Horsfall generally purchases in
October, to the number of say fifty; paying about $11 25
apiece. Fifty-nine, a cross of the Cheviot male on Leicester
ewes, procured in the autumn of 1858, had brought him the one
hundred and six'lambs he had to sell in 1859. These were sold
before the end of July, the purchaser taking any before if he
chose, at about $6 each. The ewes are fattened and sold in
the fall, fetching about $12 25 each, being $1 advanc' on the
purchase money, she having brought him during his possession of her a lamb and a fleece besides. The bullocks fattened
on the farm are bought in April or May, grazed through the
summer, stall-fed in the early autumn, and sold in November,




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             87
Cows are generally bought just after the second calving,
though a good cow is bought at three or four years old and at
any season. They are milked from three to four years; though
only the longer period when their good qualities seem to warrant it. They go dry from two to three months in the year,
and by skill in selection they average twenty quarts per day,
when fresh. The breed preferred is a cross, half Shorthorn
and half Highland, a sort plenty in that vicinity. He generally
pays about $75 per head. The cows are kept in good order,
Mr. Horsfall maintaining that his success depends on this, and
that at, the end of a cow's sixth year, when her milking qualities begin to fail, he has an animal ready, by a little "finishing," for the butcher, thus getting both the milk-man's and the
stall-feeder's profit out of the same animal. But it is the management of the pasture and meadow-lands which claims our
special attention. Fourteen acres of meadow can pasture
twenty cows and twenty-four sheep, with a little assistance,
till the middle of October. Another lot of twenty acres, every
foot of which the cattle will eat, has usually supported one
bullock and a sheep and a half to each acre. To these pastures
the stock is not admitted until the grass is well up, this being
a security against drouth. Previous to this they graze in the
mowing lands, which are cut down close by them, but which
produce at the end of June two tons and a half to the acre,
besides a second crop, or after-math.
The best pasture is a deep alluvial loam, but the meadow,
an irrigated one, is a thin soil, and a stony clay. The irrigating water is the sewerage of the village of Burley flowing into
a small brook which is turned on to the meadow at the highest
point, and conducted in channels to all parts of it. It runs on
during the winter; is turned off in the spring to allow of grazing; turned on again to start the grass, then off to harvest it,
and on again to start the second crop. The " little assistance"
which the pastures have in supporting these animals, is a small
quantity of cooked food, when the feed begins to fail in Au



88           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
gust, given to the cows. They are stabled at night, and receive
a " foddering " of grass often cut from the pasture itself, where
the droppings of the animals have caused a growth too rank to
be eaten in the field. In the hot season the animals are stabled
during the day, and let out to graze in the night. Of grasses,
Mr. Horsfall prefers the poas and festucas —what is there called meadow grass, being the best known variety of the former
genus. All his lands are drained; the lines of tile running
eight yards apart and three to four feet deep; the latter depth
being preferred.
A description was given of one of the stables for feeding, including the measurements made upon the spot. The roof is of
slate, with a thatch underneath. The stalls are about three
feet nine inches wide, and the cattle fastened by sliding rings
and stanchions about a foot back from the manger. At the
upper part of the stall lies a cocoanut mat, about three feet
square, with straw underneath, the whole fastened securely
down. Behind this mat, the only bedding the animal has is a
grate, allowing the passageof the manure into a tank underneath, which tank is accessible from the outside of the building.
The manure removed from this tank is mixed with the scrapings of the road and the cleanings of the ditches, and applied
to the meadows at the rate of a dozen loads to the acre, just
previous to a shower. There being no straw or coarse material, it is immediately washed in. The time of manuring the
meadows is as soon after mowing as the weather is suitable,
and for the pastures the winter season. Liquid manure is also
applied to the spots of the pasture where the grass is coarse or
wiry, and also to spots comparatively bare. Three or four
doses are given during the winter, but if there is an excess of
liquid manure, it is poured into the stream which irrigates the
meadows. The manure from an animal, if properly cared for,
is estimated on this farm at $25 per year, In regard to the
use of liquid manure, Mr. Horsfall disagrees with Dr. Voelcker's
theory, published in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal,




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             89
that "soils containing a fair proportion of clay, especially stiff
clay soils," are not benefited by its application. The experience of Mr. H. is to the contrary. Dr.:V. also advocates diluting liquid manures; Mr. H. objects, and thinks the former
draws his conclusions too exclusively from the Flemish farmers of Belgium.
The food for winter feeding is steamed, the rations for each
cow being —rape-cake, 5 pounds; bran, 1 pounds; malt
combs, 3} pounds; Indian meal, 1 pound; with straw, cut to -
inch in length, 10 to 12 pounds. This mixture is dampened,
care being taken in this particular, as the laxative qualities depend on the amount of moisture it contains, and then steamed
one hour. The materials are changed according to the price.
The weekly cost of this cooking is four cents per head,-one
man, with a little help in milking, having the charge of twenty
cows. The price at which the milk is sold is four cents per
quart, and as the demand does not always come up to the supply, the remainder is used for butter-making.
Everything he had seen of Mr. Horsfall's practice, in fine,
could not be regarded as less instructive than his essays have
been, and the two consulted together, furnish facts of universal value, and hints as well capable of being turned to good
account here as in England.
At 7+ in the evening, Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jr., of Boston,
gave a very fine lecture upon "The Profits of Farming and the
Position of the Farmer." To 20,000'lawyers, and 100,000 merchants in our country in 1840, there were 2,400,000 farmers,
and the number would not fall short of 3,000,000 now. The
first question always asked about farming is, Will it pay? Will
the returns for all my labor be remunerative? He then proceeded to consider the gentlemen farmers who work for amusement, as not coming properly within the category. And there
the contrast was strikingly drawn between the English or Continental farmer, whose rents and taxes are enormous, and who
farm at the worst advantage, and the free noble American cul



90           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
tivator of the soil. The first error in New England is in keeping the accounts too loosely. Not one farmer in ten knows
what it costs to raise a cow or a crop of corn. In England an
exact account is kept with every field. Another error is the
want of economy in modes of farming. Two things are required for successful farming-intelligence and capital. "Experiment," says Liebig, "is a question put to nature, and the
result is her answer." Two things, labor and manure, are also
necessary for a large return. It has been said that the requisites for success are three: First, manure; second, manure; and
third, MANURE.. The real profits of the farm arise from the circulating capital. An English f~rmer who had just leased a
farm for $8,000, spent $50,000 for stock, tools, seeds, &c. A
farmer can't afford to own bank stock, for he wants the monfey
in his business. All the manure that is requisite should be the
product of the farm. Dr. Dana, of Lowell, ascertained that
each cow gives, when housed, seven cords of manure annually,
and when mixed with two cords swamp muck or peat to one of
manure, would give 21 cords of dressing equal to that of the
barn-yard. It is worth from $5 to $8 per cord. The milk the
same cow would give would be worth at the outside $65.76,
while the manure would be worth from $105 to $168, and this
is usually lost. Mr. Quincy then drew a parallel between the
wealthy merchant and the successful farmer, making the average life. of the latter double that of the former, and he also
carrying out more fiully the designs of the Creator, and finding
health and happiness the truer recompense. He closed with
an eloquent tribute to the worth of the American Farmer, and
his value now, as in Revolutionary days, to our common republic.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             91
TWELFTH DAY.-FEB. 14, 1860.
Judge HENRY F. FRENCH, of New Hampshire, told us, on
being first introduced to the Convention, that he was not an
orator; but his audiences of yesterday and to-day are, if I may
judge from their expressions at the close of the two discourses,
convinced that he is possessed of the eloquence of facts, more
useful to us than the other glittering qualification. He commenced this morning by saying a good thing boldly, viz.: that
open ditches obstruct good husbandry, a fact which the opponents to covered drains would do well to remember. Open
ditches occupy much land needlessly; they cause constant turning at headlands; their influence on the area of soil is not uniform, as the parts nearest them are dried while the rest is left
as wet as ever; in heavy rains' not only is much soil washed
into them, but, along with it, manure that at labor and expense
has been applied; their banks washing away, the bottoms soon
get filled up, and require frequent cleaning out; and their
sides and boundary strips afford a refuge to weeds, and a home
to rats, mice, and other vermin. Sometimes, as "headers" to
cut off the inflow of water to'a field, they may be of use.; and
again, on very level land, a great canal-like ditch may be employed, in lieu of a natural water-course, to receive the drainage of a farm; but these are the exceptions to a general rule.
The various kinds of drains were in turn described, the lecturer
observing that there might be circumstances where tiles could
not be had, and thence these several substitutes could be tolelated as makeshifts. In brush drains, the durability of the
material depends not so much upon its keeping nature as on the
physical and other character of the soil. Thus, he had known
an instance of white-birch, which one would think would decay
in a year, having remained in a brush drain for six years almost
as fresh as when cut.
The reason for its preservation was, that it had been sub



92           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
merged in water continually. Into brush-drains soil very easily
falls, and soon here and there the superincumbent mass caves
in, sometimes to such an extent that a wagon-load of dirt is
required to fill the sinks; mice and moles work into them, too,
and at best they are poor concerns. The mole-plowing now
practised on Western prairies is, for a new country where land
is so cheap, and where a sticky clay sub-soil underlies whole
districts, a tolerably good plan. It has been known and practised in England since almost the time of Methuseleh. Major
Dickinson of Steuben county, New York, has gotten up one
of these ancient mole-plows, and dubbed it "the Shanghae."
Drains are made in some "wooden countries," by laying two
stout poles at bottom and one on them. In Scotland they have
in some benighted sections a "shoulder" drain, which consists
in digging down, say 18 inches wide, to a certain depth, and
then cutting the rest of the way down only one-third as wide;
thus making a narrow box drain in the ground on the shoulders
of which inverted stiff sods are laid as a covering, and the soil
filled up to the surface upon them. Stone drains he esteems
next in utility to tiles, but there is great choice in their construction. The best way of all is to set up one course of slab
stones perpendicularly against the right bank, and then leaning
other stones against them, making a drain shaped like a singlepitch shed-roof. If the stones are delivered to a farmer at the
edge of his ditches, they are still dearer for his use than tile
drains, even when he has to pay $10 or $12 per 1,000 for tile.
The mere cost of excavating and hauling bowlders for drains is
very large, and after all, their function is unsatisfactory. The
reason why all these kinds of drains have been stoutly upheld
by their users is, that any drain, however poor, is far better
than none; crops are increased, tillage facilitated, and the
pleased experimenter, perhaps not willing to look for a better
method than the one he has employed, thinks there is nothing
in the world so good. Tile drains, then, we are told, are the
best. Of the several kinds of tile, the pipe kind is to be pre



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              938
ferred. No tiles are burned, without warping and shrinking;
now the ends should be well fitted together, and no kind but
pipe-tile can be turned over to make good fits, one with another, and still be right side up. This is the objection to the
sole-tile, made at Albany and elsewhere, and largely employed.
They must be set sole down, and if the lot purchased be much
warped, a straight water-course cannot be insured, and the drain
is correspondingly unreliable. The objection to "horseshoe"
tile is, that in a soft bottom its narrow sides sink so as to render
the drain sometimes useless; besides which, they, having a
heavy weight to bear upon an unarched bottom, are liable to
split lengthwise through the back; and, further, the stream of
water spread over a fiat surface cannot run so rapidly, and is
less able to sweep away obstructions, as when the same volume
is condensed into tubular form, narrowed at the bottom.
Thinking that water could not get into the close-fitted and
close-textured tiles, many in Scotland, in former times, put a
foot or so of small stones over their tile, and soil upon that-a
foolish and expensive process this, for there is no trouble to
get water into your insignificant-looking drains-it takes care
of that itself; the trouble has been to account for its wonderful inpouring through such small orifices. Parkes, the great
English drainer, states, after experiments, that only 0, of
the water gets through the pores of the tile; the balance is
admitted through the joints. English farmers make their
ditches a foot wide at top, four inches at the bottom, and with
an appropriate tool, scoop out a little round trough in which to
lay their pipes. The soil is then packed upon them, without further trouble or anxiety as to the result. Drains well laid last
more than fifty years. A half century is the time counted
upon by the English land drainage companies, at the end of
which the whole amount of their loans to the farmer is to be
paid in. Water enters tile-drains at bottom, not at top; for
the same reason that if you pour water into a cask of sand,
with holes made in the sides at several heights, the lowest hole




94          YTALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
will discharge first, and the top one last. The capacity of pipetile is in proportion to the squares of their diameter: Thus, if
an inch tile will carry one inch of water, a two-inch will carry
four inches, a three-inch nine, and so on. Inch tiles, therefore,
although perhaps large enough to hold all the water that we
would discharge from our fields, are practically not large
enough, for they become filled at say half way down the slope,
and of course all the ground they pass through after that might
as well have no tiles beneath it. A two-inch bore is the
smallest Judge French would recommend for general use, and
although previously a friend to smaller sizes, I feel convinced
of the justness of his arguments, and shall hereafter recommend
and use accordingly. Laterals should be jointed into the
mains, pointing down stream, and enter the mains near the
top; by this plan a good fall and unimpeded discharge are
insured. In respect to the minimum of fall consistent with
good function of tile drains, the lecturer stated that one inch
fall in each rod of length was ample; three inches to the 100
feet was a fair proporltion, but then the tiles should be larger;
and so on to the end of the calculation.
Before the morning lecture, a discussion was held at the
Temple, as usual, in which any person present was at liberty to
participate.
Mr. QUINcy alluded to the advantages of the soiling system
-his pet subject —in doing away with interior fences on a farm.
These, said he, are a great nuisance, besides taking up valuable
space; they hinder plowing, raking, tedding, and other operations of farming by horse-power. Tedding by horse power is
something new in this country, though practised in England
extensively. The tedder is a cylinder, revolving on an axle
supported by two wheels, like a Delano horse-rake. This
cylinder revolves with rapidity, and is furnished with teeth,
which pick up the grass and flirt it off in a shower behind the
machine. It will do the work of ten or twelve of those Irish
gentlemen who pick up and turn over every lick of hay as




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              95
though they were fearful of breaking it. The horse-fork is
also a labor-saving instrument; it also avoids the very disagreeable work of unloading hay in a hot day and in a close
barn.
But the great advantage of the soiling system is, it saves
manure. It economizes food, it is true, and keeps cattle in
better condition, but its chief excellence consists in the amount
of manure it will make. The solid manure from each animal,
kept up the year round, will average three and a half cords a
year; this, with the liquid manure composted, as it ought to
be, with muck, will make twenty cords, of a value equal to
that usually carted out from a farmer's barn-yard. Four or
five hundred cords of muck are annually dug out on his farm,
and left exposed to the weather in winter. This is used, when
dry, to put behind the cattle in a trench made for the purpose.
After it is saturated, it is removed to a cellar below, where it
would be worked over by the pigs were it not too miry for
them to work in. This makes, in the course of a year, a vast
pile of manure; so much, indeed, as to remind one of the
Augean stables of antiquity, and to seem to require the services of a second Hercules for its removal. The soiling system
is almost universally adopted in Europe; it may not be practicable here, except on a large scale, though almost every farmer
can use it to help him through the drouths of our summers.
In case the drouth does not come, his crops, which he has
planted for soiling, can be cut and made into fodder for
winter use. The supply of milk, under the soiling system, is
much more regular, because the cows are regularly fed, regularly attended, and fed always with the same kind of food.
For soiling, sow winter rye, to be cut early in the spring, and
in the spring sow oats or barley every ten days, so as to have
a regular supply in just the right season,-that is, when the
plant is in its milk. Indian corn is also a good crop for later
use.
Mr. Quincy here spoke of seeding down land to grass. He




96          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
had found it a good plan to break up a meadow after haying:
manure well on the turned soil, and sow grass seed only. The
next season he had cut from two to two and a half tons to the
acre, where the previous season he had cut almost nothing.
Question-Do you buy any manure?-No; but I buy cotton seed cake to feed my cows. This is, at present prices, the
most valuable feed to be had,-a ton of it being worth, at the
chemist's estimate, three tons of hay. It is now worth $27 per
ton in Boston. Linseed cake is also valuable, and English
farmers wonder how American farmers will let it be exported
in such vast quantities as it is.
Judge FRENCH asked Mr. Quincy if he fed roots.-No;
Linseed cake and hay is the sole food —three pounds of the
former per day, with cut hay.
Mr. BARTLETT asked what Mr. Quincy'sadvice would be to
young farmers here, in regard to going west-alluding to Mr.
Q.'s travels there.
Answer-If a young man will be content with the same living here that he will be obliged to put up with there, he can
make money here as well as there. They have no idea of
what decent living is there. Then, too, there is no society at
the west-no schools, fit to be called such -no aristocracy.
There is a perfect equality there; your Irish gentleman who
curries your horse feels himself to be your equal, and not unfrequently your superior. Civilization is in an embryo state,
society not yet having advanced to that perfection which we
see at the east.
Question-How does soiling affect breeding?
Answer-I do not think it prejudical. I am not a stock
raiser myself, but farm merely for the profit. I buy my cows
in Vermont and New Hampshire, though sometimes I raise a
likely heifer calf. There are cows in my stable whose maternal
ancestors have been there for eight or ten generations past.
Mr. TUCKER asked if ventilation was attended to.-Yes, and
with great care.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            97
Question-Is lucerne grown on your farm? —It is difficult to
make it yield a good crop, and I don't consider it profitable.
Mr. Quincy was here obliged to leave the Convention, and
the subject of root crops was introduced by Judge FRmrcH,
and an animated debate held on this topic until the lecture
hour arrived.
THIRTEENTH  DAY. —TFB. 15, 1860.
Prof. BREWER opened his Tobacco lecture yesterday with a:
rapid sketch of the history of the imperial weed, and referred
to the pains and penalties which attended its use under successive sovereigns. The chemical composition of the plant is very
remarkable, and worthy of serious study by present and pros-,
pective growers. Nicotine, the deadly principle to which all
the ill effects of tobacco are due, is, as every one knows, a
deadly poison. Besides this, the plant contains a number of
acids, resins, and volatile oils. The strength of tobacco is
determined by the quantity of nicotine; the flavor by the oils
and resins. The ash is of all the most important to the farmer,
for this is made up from his available plant food-in other
words, from his farm capital. The oils, resins, and acids come
from the air, and hence cost us nothing. Take a given quantity
of tobacco and burn it to ashes, and we find that the proportion
is enormous. The roots give two to fourteen per cent. of ash,
the stems dried sixteen, and the leaves seventeen to twentyfour per cent. As the leaves are the great bulk of the crop,
the robbery of the soil is correspondingly great. One thousand
pounds of tobacco takes an average of two hundred pounds of
ash; and two thousand pounds, which may be regarded. as a
large crop, four hundred pounds of ash. Now, a crop of wheat
of thirty bushels to the acre takes but thirty-six pounds of ash
5




98:      YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
from our farm. In other words, it would require eleven crops
of wheat to do as much injury as a single crop of tobacco. The
composition of the ash is variable, in some districts one of the
leading ingredients being replaced by some other.  In an
average of samples tested by Prof. Brewer, potash salts formed
a third part of their weight, and seventy-five to eighty per
cent. of the soluble portion. Soda exists in but a small quantity.
Sometimes the potash is replaced by lime. Thus in France,
along the river Garonne, the tobacco has this peculiarity, and
is noted for its mildness. In American tobacco, the potash
salts predominate, and most so in the stronger kinds, which
grow on new soil. A study of the census will show us, that in
any tobacco district, the production starting at nothing, mounts
rapidly to a maximum, turns the corner, and never regains its
higher figures. The reason is, that land can only bear maximum crops of tobacco for a short time, and once the decline
comes on, no power on earth can restore its fruitfulness. By
high manuring, we can, with other crops, actually improve the
fertility of our farms, or at any rate, guard against impoverishment. With tobacco, if we manure highly, we may for a time
avert the dies irce, so far as bulk of crop is concerned, but only
at a sacrifice of quality so great as to destroy our profits. New
crops have coarse quality of structure, and rankness of flavor;
While, per contra, the tobacco of finer brands is gotten from
lands long cultivated. A thin leaf, with small pliant veins, is
most esteemed, and of this character is the tobacco of Holland
and Connecticut. The season of growth is ordinarily crowded
into forty days, and the larger portion of the soluble salts must
be at this headlong speed, supplied to the spongioles. The
crop is so tender, that of all those we cultivate, it is the most
subject to destruction by hail. In Germany there are "Hail
Insurance" companies on the mutual plan. It is a notorious
fact that hail-storms extend over very limited areas at a time,
and hence the farmers of a whole country uniting in small
annual payments toward a mutual fund, it will be seen that




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              99
even. the most disastrous hail-ravages could easily be recompensed, without fear of extinguishing the grand capital In
considering the advantages and disadvantages of tobaccoculture, Prof. Brewer thus stated the case. The sole advan.
tage is, that an individual may grow rich from raising it. On
the other hand, a nation never will; for the one man's gain is
obtained at the cost of his son and son's son; in getting his
fortune he has taken from his children the means of future
gain, like the owner of the goose that laid the golden eggs.
The crop terribly exhausts the soil; it is very precarious because of weather and insect enemies; the laborers who cultivate it suffer in health; and the land, which must always be of
the best quality, could be employed in raising breadstuffs to
more general profit.
Mr. TUCKIaR'S third discourse touched more generally upon
the lessons which Americans may learn from the well-informed
farmers of Great Britain.
Although the lectures of the succeeding week were to be de-vot.
ed particularly to the subject of domestic animals, one could not
pretend to speak of "English agriculture" and omit all notice
of the improvements effected in English breeding, without
placing himself in the position of the theatrical company which
proposed to "' play Hamlet," with the part of that distinguished
character himself left out. The subject might be viewed in
two different ways —with the eye of the farmer, or with that
of the breeder-a distinction of more importance than might
be at first supposed.
After a review of the breeds of cattle of Great Britain, it was
remarked that in speaking of the most meat, in the best shape,
in the least time, as constituting the highest type of excellence
for the butcher, it should not be forgotten that no one breed
could be fixed upon as universally superior to all others —even
though there might be a " best breed," and undoubtedly there
is, where every condition is of the most favorable kind: for




100          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
comparative development. Such conditions, however, are not
within either the reach, or the inclination of all, and that may,
therefore, be safely defined as the best breed, either of cattle
or of any other race of animals, whose services or flesh are useful to us-which attains the greatest excellence compatible
with the position it is to occupy and the treatment it is to receive. Thus, the requirements of East and West, North and
South may vary widely as to details, while all might precisely
coincide in the general desire to produce the heaviest flesh
upon each carcase most compactly and quickly.
The importance of this point becomes apparent when we see
a farmer induced to try some improved breed, and meeting
with the failure due to his ill-treatment or simple neglect-a
failure which he is sure to charge upon the " humbug bookfarming notions" of the day. There need be no hesitation in
saying that the most highly imrproved of foreign breeds sar'enot
adapted for the use of the majority of our farmers, and that we
shall naturalize among ourselves breeds that may justly be regarded as "the best," only as we learn to appreciate and treat
them better.
The question then arises, What is the true course for our
farmers to take? a question which was answered by references
to the observations made by the speaker abroad, and by a
quotation from "Morton's Cyclopedia" —the advice derived
from both being to the end that every farmer should carefully
select the females from which he is to breed, no matter what
their mixture of native or foreign blood, and that he should
never employ a parent of the other sex which did not possess
well concentrated merits that would be quite certainly imparted to his progeny. " It is here that pedigree becomes of actual
money's worth to the farmer."' Concentrated qualities in the
bull are those-whatever the degree in which the particular individual possesses them-that are hereditary in the stock from
which he springs. In selecting a bull by the eye alone, personal
merits may be chosen, but the character of the progeny will




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             101
very likely revert to the inferiority of its remoter parentage.
It need only be suggested, whether the improved bull obtained
be Devon or Shorthorn, or Hereford or Alderney —that his
descent be unquestionably pure, and that a line of action once
marked out be perseveringly followed —a course that could not
but effect far greater results in a period comparatively short,
than those who have not made the experiment will perhaps at
first be ready to admit.
" Division of labor" has been strenuously insisted upon by the
best English stock authorities in the business of raising breeding stock. Those who have the wealth, the leisure, and the
taste necessary for this pursuit should be allowed to carry it on,
while the farmer will find it his best policy to. pay a fair price
for a good article, rather than to run the risks of endeavoring
to maintain for himself a herd of some pure and distinct breed.
In the hope of obtaining some trait of superiority he does not
already possess, the breeder may well pay such prices for an
animal likely to beget it in his offspring, as it would be the
merest folly for any farmer to expend for the worst beef that
was ever contained in one skin.
The English custom of letting the services of bulls as well as
rams was then described, and a brief account given of the
ram-letting last summer of Jonas.Webb and Mr. Sanday.
The estimates of live stock for Great Britain now show that
she supports for her whole area the enormous number of one
sheep to every two acres and a half, and one head of cattle to
every nine acres and a quarter. According to the N. Y. State
census of 1855, there was then one sheep to every eight eighttenths acres (nearly), and one head of cattle to 13 and a quarter acres (not quite); but the greater weight of the English
cattle and sheep over ours is probably enough considerably to
increase the disproportion. It was remarked by Lavergne, and
cannot fail to have been observed in the examples given of
English husbandry, that it " is the English farmer's first object
to keep as many sheep as possible."




102          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
Mr. Tucker conceived that the first and most prominent
lesson we could learn from the farming of Great Britain was
this, that by the increased growth of meat our first step must
be taken toward an increased production of grain; or, to quote
the proverbial English form in which this lesson is compressed
into four words-" No cattle, no dung; no dung, no corn." In
fact, whether money is apparently made or lost by feeding in
England the farmers there appeared to coincide in the opinion
that without it no money could be made out of anything else.
A second most important lesson is, the proper and complete
drainage of the soil, with reference to which an account was
given of the draining and irrigating operations at Teddesley in
Staffordshire, the seat of Lord Hatherton. A third lesson for
us to learn consists in paying more attention to thorough tillage, including the complete clearness of the soil from weeds;
and a fourth, the judicious employment under certain circumstances of artificial fertilizers and purchased food-including
under these two heads those crops grown expressly for their
improving effect upon the land, or for use in feeding animals,
and thus indirectly in promoting the fertility of the soil. Under the head of thorough tillage, the implements of Great
Britaintdmnand our particular notice. Descriptions were given
of Fowler's and of Smith's systems of steam cultivation. Mr.
Bright, Lord Hatherton's very intelligent and successful manager, was employing the latter, and had said to the speaker,
that he would not be without it if he were only a tenant farmer
with 300 acres to cultivate. The prices of these and other
implements were given, and drills, rollers, and portable engines
were particularly referred to. That island, including England
and Scotland, had just been compared by Mr. Morton to one
immense farm, the culture of which was originally entirely
done by hand; tillage of the ground, carriage of manures, sowing the seed, and three-fourths the hoeing of the crops were
now done by horse-power, threshing of grain and cutting of
straw by steam, while reaping, also, is now rapidly coming




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            103
under the domain of the horse and plowing under that of
steam.
Upon the subject of manures, Dr. Voelcker was quoted as
supporting by science the lesson of practice, that "farm-yard
manure is a perfect and universal manure," and that no one can
base a system of improved cultivation solely upon the purchase
of artificials. The fifth and last lesson of' English agriculture
at present noticed was the importance of more earnest and
better organized effort in obtaining well-conducted experiments
in carrying on scientific investigations, and in deciding that
most difficult of questions, how and in what the education of
farmer's sons is to be advantageously modified and advanced.
Prominent among the agents of progress in English agriculture had been the Agricultural Societies; and in referring to
the show last summer of the Royal Society of England, three
points were alluded to as particularly striking: 1st, the extraordinary, turn-out of implements, comprising 4,700 entries for
some 235 exhibitors; 2d, the uniformity of excellence among
the animals, as more remarkable than the number that were
exhibited on the one hand, or any especial instances of wonderful merit on the other; and 3d, the character of the attendance,
the amount paid for admission, and the fact that so large numbers were ready to pay it. The exertions put forth by the distinct societies were also noticed, and details given of the different exhibitions held by that of East Lothian in the course of
the year, including the prizes respectively offered according to
the season.
In conclusion, he could only be sensible how very small the
beginning was that had been made-however long his notes
might have appeared to his audience-upon the grand stores
of agricultural information looked up in the practice of English
farmers. He was inclined to consider it well worth some selfdenial to the young American farmer to visit Great Britain before " settling down" for life-if his visit could be made in the
right spirit, and judiciously arranged. In returning, he thought




104         YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
that the observant traveller could but bring back a better
appreciation of the advantages possessed in his own land, and,
however far behind our English brethren we must now be
compelled in due candor to rank ourselves, if we were only
certain that we were in the right path, perhaps we might still
hope to overtake and outstrip them. He was inclined to believe-although there might be no statistics in support of such
a statement-that a thorough English farmer, knowing our
climate, and understanding all the circumstances of farming
here as well as he does at home, could make agriculture here a
still more profitable pursuit than he made it there,-of course
supposing that he employed the same capital, and used equal,
but no greater personal exertions.
To-day Prof. BREWER lectured on Hops, which he said was
a crop of growing importance. In 1840 we raised 1,238,000
pounds; in 1850, 4,497,000. He traced the history of the plant,
and showed that its general use can be dated only three hundred years back. England uses forty million pounds, paying
to the government a duty of over a million dollars. If only
the hop flowers are taken from the farm, the crop is not of so
exhaustive a nature as tobacco; but still it is very much so,
after all. From a ton of hops we may get 170 pounds of ash,
of which potash, lime, and ammonia form principal ingredients.
Liberal applications of manure are needed, and they do not
affect the quality of the product, as is the case with tobacco.
Beside farm-yard dung, wool, hair, bones, plaster, lime, and
ashes, are all useful fertilizers. In England, the Kent and
Sussex hop-growers calculate upon spending about fifty dollars
per acre for special manures, in addition to what of the ordinary kind they make on the farm. With such care, they have
hop plantations three hundred years old. The ground must
be trenched and worked deeply. About 1,200 hills is the
proper number per acre, and for each two hundred hills there
should be one hill of male plants. It is better to plant in tri



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             105
angular form rather than square. That is to say, the hills of
adjoining rows should alternate, and not be set opposite each
other. When picked, the hops should be at once dried, and
this is better done by passing a current of hot air over them
than in placing them in a room where they get only the radiated heat from a stove. Liebig recommends exposing hops to
the fumes of sulphur, as thus the lupuline, or active principle,
may be preserved from one season to another. The practice
is opposed by some, but adopted by many of the best Munich
brewers. The hop crop varies from year to year to such an:extent that the price is very fluctuating, and even in a single
season a month may make a difference of one hundred per
cent.  In conclusion, the lecturer detailed the casualties to
which the hop is subject, such as insects, weather, &c., and gave
practical directions for its cultivation.
Judge FRENCH gave his third lecture on Draining, taking up
this time the subjects of the Arrangement and the Cost of
Drains. He spoke of the necessity of system, and of accurate
plans. He described and illustrated on the black-board the
methods of laying out drains with reference to the shape of the
field, preferring a direction up and down to a direction across,
or diagonally. He spoke also of the importance of securing
outlets against frogs and moles by means of gratings, and of
making the outlets few and permanent. Backwater usually
does no harm in drains, because it occurs only when the earth,
as well as the streams, are full, and so there is a strong current
through the pipes which will prevent any obstruction, as water
cannot back up into pipes already full. The cost of this in this
country is twice as great as it should be; two-inch tiles are
sold at ten dollars or more a thousand, which is twice the cost
iof bricks. In England tiles cost and are sold at less than the
price of bricks, and will be sold at five dollars per thousand
here as soon as tile-making is understood, and there is a fair
competition.
5*




106           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
The items of the cost of drainrage are, 1st. Engineering.
Employ a competent engineer to get the levels, and locate the
drains and make a plan, so that the drains may be readily found.
2d. Excavation, which is less for this than any other drains.
3d. The cost of tiles and freight. At thirty-three feet apart,
1,320 pipe will lay an acre, reckoning a foot to each pipe.
4th. Collars, if used. 5th. Outlets, a small but necessary item.
6th. Laying the pipes, a small cost, as a man can easily lay one
hundred and sixty rods in ten hours.
The total cost of draining four feet deep, with tiles at ten
dollars per thousand, was estimated at fifty cents a rod. If the
excavation is but three feet deep, it will reduce the cost to
thirty-three and a third cents, as it costs twice as much to excavate a ditch four feet as three feet.
The comparative cost of stone and tile drains was given;
the cost of tile drains as above that of stone drains at more
than twice as much, the, excavation being twenty-one inches
wide, and two loads of stones at twenty-five cents each, making
the cost of these two items at one dollar a rod. Then add
twenty-five cents per rod for laying the stones, and we have
one dollar twenty-five cents per rod for stone drains, against
fifty cents for tiles. Judge F. concluded with an exhortation
to farmers to drain with stones if tiles cannot be procured; but
not to be satisfied with their operations until they have tried
tiles at four feet depth.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            107
FOURTEENTH  DAY.-FEB. 16, 1860.
Two new lecturers were introduced to us to-day, viz., Mr.
JOHN STANTON GOULD, of Hudson, N. Y., and Mr. JOSEPH
HARRIS, of the Genessee Farmer. Mr. Gould's name was
made familiar to the farming public at the time when he was
chairman of the famous national reaper trial of the United
States Agricultural Society. His lecture was not only replete
with interesting facts and practical suggestions, but adorned
with those graces of scholarship he knows so well how to
employ.
After an allusion to the esthetic character of the grasses,
their economical relations were adverted to. Providence has
attested their importance by the provision it has made for
their diffusion and preservation. While other plants, such as
the fig, orange, and grape, can only be successfully cultivated
within narrow belts of latitude, the grasses extend over the
whole globe. Very curious and various provisions are made
for the diffusion of the seeds; many of them are furnished
with creeping roots. They are not,.like other plants, injured
by the laceration of their herbage. One-sixth of all the plants
on the globe belong to this family-230 genera, including 3,000
species, are already known, and new species are constantly
presenting themselves. Six-tenths of the cultivated area of
New York is devoted to the growth of grass, and the annual
value of the crop is $60,000,000. In the six New England
States its annual value is $6,000,000. In the United States,
$300,000,000. If we succeed in making two blades of grass
grow where but one grew before, we increase our annual income $300,000,000.
It was argued that we might easily double our production
of grass, if we would set vigorously at work to accomplish it.
The average production of New York is 96 tons of hay to the
100 acres; but th, average production of King's county is
160 tons to the 100 acres. This result is wholly due to the




108          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
skill of the farmers, as its natural soil is far below the average
of the State in richness. If the same skill were exerted in
other counties, the same result will follow. Another cause of
the diminution of grass is the prevalence of weeds; at present
nearly one-third- of the plants in our meadows are weeds.
Much ignorance exists among farmers; very few know the
names of the grasses growing on their farms, nor can they
distinguish one from another. They know little or nothing of
the comparative nutritive values of the different species, nor of
the soils best adapted to them; nor of the special purposes to
which they are applicable. It was alleged that chemistry
can never, by itself, furnish a safe and reliable guide to the
nutritive values of the grasses, because there were frequent
obstacles to the assimilation by the animal of the nourishment
contained in the grasses; thus, Phragmites communis (common reed grass) had a coating of silica so thick that it
would'cut the stomachs of animals; other species had sharp
spines, which deterred animals from eating it; others combined
unwholesome elements in their nutriment; —hence, whatever
nourishment might be contained in these was quite useless to
the farmer.
Much of observation and experiment is necessary before we
pretend to understand the grasses. The making of artificial
meadows is an art yet in its infancy. We never hear of them
in England prior to A. D. 1681, nor in this country until about
A. D. 1720. The attention of observers and experimentalists
should be directed to the following points:
I. The special use of each of the 3,000 species of grass..
II. The absolute and comparative values of each species
should be ascertained by chemical analysis and practical tests.
III. The adaptation of each species to different soils, climate,
and circumstances.
IV. The period of its growth when it contains the greatest
amount of those properties on which its value chiefly de.
pends.




YALE -AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            109
V. The kind of culture and the manures best adapted to
stimulate its growth and to increase its valuable properties.
VI. The time of flowering of each species, and the time when
it ripens its seed.
VII. The species of insects which prey upon it, and the best
modes of preventing their ravages.
VIII. The best and most economical means of curing and
preserving each species of grass.
To enable farmers to make these observations, they were advised to study botany; —and the rpmainder of the lecture was
occupied in describing the parts of the grass which are mainly
resorted to in order to establish the distinctions of species.
Some of these descriptions are peculiarly valuable, because not
given in any work on botany which I can now recall. The
leaves consist of the following parts:-(a) The Sheath, which
represents the petiole or leaf-stalk of other plants; (b) the Ligule, or tongue; (c) the Lamina, blade or flat.[art of the
leaf, that which in popular language is called the leaf. (a)
The sheath is the foot-stalk of the leaf. The whole length of
it, which is variable, is folded around the stalk (culm), from
which it can be loosened by unwinding, without fracture,-a
circumstance which serves to distinguish the grasses from the
sedges. (b) The ligule, or tongue. At the point where the
sheath ends and the blade begins, occurs a thin and usually
white semi-transparent membrane, termed the ligule. As the
botanical works barely describe this, and still perplex us with
constant allusions to this and other parts of which we have
about as little knowledge as of the Choctaw alphabet, it is well
to remark that this ligule is said to be entire when it has no
segments; bifid when it is divided at the apex into two parts;
lacerated when it appears as if torn on the margin; ciliated
when the margin is set with short, projecting hairs; truncated
when the upper part terminates in a transverse line; acute when
it has a short, sharp point; and accuminated when it has a long,
projecting point. It has great value in enabling us frequently




110          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
to distinguish between two grasses otherwise very similar in
appearance, but of widely different nutritive value. Speaking
of the area under the grasses in European countries, Mr. Gould
made a forcible illustration of his subject by comparing the aggregate products in forage and cereal crops in France and
England. France has fifty-three per cent. of her cultivated
area under cereals, while England has but twenty-five per cent.
But, on the other hand,;England produces five and one-ninth
bushels of grain for every individual of her population annually,
while France produces only five and a half bushels. Thus,
with less than half of the proportionate area under cultivation,
England produces within seven-eighteenths of a bushel per head
of what France does. This she accomplishes solely by means
of the manure furnished by her grass lands. Every acre of
English grain-land receives the manure from three acres of
grass-land, while in France the manure for each acre of grassland is spiad over two and a half acres of grain-land! This
tells the whole story; shall we profit by the lesson?
Judge FRENCH, of New Hampshire, gave his last lecture on
drainage this afternoon, much to the regret of the audience, if
I may judge by the triple rounds of applause by which he was
honored on taking his leave of us with a kindly expression of
good-will. He commenced by reading an extract from a letter
of Governor Hammond, of South Carolina, to Levi Bartlett,
recently received. The testimony of the distinguished Senator
is so directly in support of thorough drainage that I must give
it to you. He says:"Of my agricultural affairs, I can only say a few words.
The last years have been, in.my immediate neighborhood,
average crop years, the last more than average. Yet with me,
owing to my absence, as far as my corn was concerned they
were not near as productive as 1857. My corn is mainly grown
on the 1,500 acres of inland swamp I have reclaimed, which
averaged me, in 1857, about fifty bushels per acre, in 1858,
about thirty bushels, and in 1859 about twenty. This looked




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            1ll
like exhaustion; but I know it was not so. I was satisfied, from
former experience, that in my absence the ditches had not been
thoroughly cleared and kept clean. Before I left home, in
December, I had the matter fully tested, and found that my
six-feet ditches were three to four feet deep, and all others in
proportion.  Such was the carelessness and malfeasance of
those I left in charge. I inaugurated new officers, and if next
year is as favorable as the last, will expect to average seventy
bushels per acre on these lands."
This very 1,500-acre corn-field I went through in 1857, and
can fully corroborate what the Governor says about his large
yield, and the depth of his drains. In fact, his great outside
drains looked more like canals than anything else, and were, at
the time of my visit, abundantly filled with water. Two acres,
if I recollect aright, of this corn-field measured ninety-eight
bushels each, and the plantation crop amounted, in the aggregate, to about 56,000 bushels. This was raised on a swamp,
just like many thousand other acres in South Carolina, but
rendered thus fertile by open ditching. Governor Hammond's
experience goes to corroborate what yesterday Judge French
said against open ditches. In one season only, because of neglect to clean them out, the ditches filled up, so that on the
1,500 acres the crop was shortened 30,000 bushels, and in one
year more a further loss of 15,000 bushels was experienced.
Let things go on at this ratio, and in 1863 Mr. Hammond
might as well save his seed, for he would get no crop at all.
Judge French adverted to the fact that plant roots cannot
descend into soil filled with stagnant water, for it has the same
deleterious effect upon them as does holy water upon a certain
unmentionable gentleman of a sable hue. All plants need
loosely-packed soil, and some of them a great depth of it. The
downward travel of roots he proved by the observations of
Mechi, Cobbett, Downing, and others. Jethro Tull's ancient
doctrine, that by extreme comminution of the soil we will furnish abundant food to plants without needing to care much for




112          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
manures, although obsolete for many years, is of late tcom
ing into vogue again; and we certainly cannot work up our
heavy soils as we should, unless we draw off at the bottom the
excess water, which renders them sticky and tenacious. Evaporating it at the top will certainly not avail, for from a wet
soil the more we have evaporated, the colder we get it, and
hence the less fertile; for plants like warmth and plenty of air,
as well as moisture. The several advantages which follow
thorough drainage were severally adduced, and very clearly
and agreeably explained by the Judge, who has a pleasant conversational way with him that interests one vastly. In England it has been found that, draining makes twenty-five per
cent. difference in the amount of work which animals can perform on a farm in a given time. That is to say, three horses
will do as much plowing on a drained farm, as can four on one
undrained, for their strength is correspondingly less taxed.
The lecture by Mr. JOSEPH HARRIS, of the Genessee Farmer,
was not only replete with practical hints for the cultivation of
the cereals, but contained, also, a full exposition of the chemical laws to which the farmer must pay attention if he would
secure maximum crops. The original newspaper report of the
lecture was necessarily very meagre, and I substitute, in its
place, some extracts taken from the MS. itself, which has been
kindly placed at my disposal for this purpose by Professor
Porter.
The great aim of the wheat-grower in nearly all sections is
to get wheat early. In western New York, if we could get
wheat into bloom ten days earlier, we could escape that terrible insect-pest, the midge. It is this insect, and not, as has
been often stated, the exhaustion of the soil of phosphates, that
has caused the deterioration of our wheat product. The injury
from rust, or mildew, another great drawback to profitable
wheat culture, would also be greatly mitigated by earlier
maturity. Now, there is no one thing that will do so much to
accomplish this as underdraining. Stagnant water is not only




YALE AGRICULTURAL -LECTURES.            113
injurous to the growth of wheat, but it renders the soil cold
and retards the ripening of the grain. It has been found, by
actual experiment, that a soil which needs draining is from 10"
to 15" colder than the same soil after it has been uDderdrained.
In our late, cold springs this would be an immense advantage.
Having the soil underdrained, the next thing is to prepare and
enrich it for the crop.
The introduction of turnip culture and drill husbandry into
England banished summer-fallows from all but the heaviest
clay soils. There Was good reason for this: The turnips required and received extra cultivation. As soon as the wheat
crop is harvested, the land is scarified and plowed in the
autumn, and two or three times in the spring, and rolled, and
harrowed, and scarified till it is as free from weeds and as mellow as an ash-heap; then the turnips are sown in drills from
2 feet to 21 feet apart. The plants are singled out by handhoes in the rows, from 12 to 15 inches apart, and the horsehoe is kept constantly going between the rows, and the handhoe whenever necessary. In this way the land is as effectually
cleared and mellowed as if it had bben summer-fallowed.
Hence turnips have been appropriately.termed a " fallow crop."
But we have as yet no such fallow crop in America. I am
aware that Indian corn is sometimes called a "fallow crop,"
because, like turnips, it admits the use of the horse-hoe; but it
is not, strictly speaking, a fallow or renovating crop, because
it impoverishes the soil of the same plant food as the wheat
crop requires. So much has been said in England against summer-fallows, and these opinions have been reiterated so often
by the agricultural press of thk country, for the last 30 years,
that there is a very general opinion that summer-fallows is unnecessary. This impression, while it may have done some
good, has also done considerable harm. Farmers have neglected their summer fallows. In Western New York it has
not been uncommon for some years to prepare land for wheat
by simply turning under a crop of clover when in bloom, say




114          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
in June, and then keeping the surface of the land clean by the
use of the cultivator and harrow till the seed is sown, without
any more plowing in the fall. On light soils this may be a good
practice, but on heavy soils I think a real old-fashioned summerfallow would be better; though I have seen excellent crops
produced on heavy land by plowing in a crop of clover-the
clover, besides enriching the soil, serving also to render it
light. Still, I do not like the practice of plowing in clover for
wheat. I believe in many cases a good summer-fallow would
be much better.
Passing food through the body of an animal does not increase its ultimate fertilizing power; it adds nothing to it, but
the droppings of animals are a more appropriate food for plants
-at least for wheat —than the food which the animals consumed. It is contrary to the economy of nature to use plants
which are capable of sustaining animal life for the purpose
merely of furnishing food for other plants. For this reason,
while I would earnestly recommend the extensive cultivation
of clover on all wheat soils-while I would say to every farmer,
"Raise your own cldver seed, and sow it with an unsparing
hand "-while I believe there is no crop which furnishes so much
ammonia at so cheap a rate-no crop so well adapted to our climate and circumstances-no crop which -has done and is now
doing so much to increase the fertility of our farms, still I
think it is contrary to sound theory and good practice to plow
under such a large amount of matter capable of sustaining
animal life, for the simple purpose of furnishing food for the following wheat crop. Fertilizing matter furnished by decayed
clover is not as appropriate food for wheat as the droppings of
animals living onclover. It contains too much carbonaceous
matter-the very matter which animals need to keep up the
heat of their bodies, and to form fat; and which, when the
clover is fed to animals, is burnt out while the nitrogen remains in the form of ammonia-or in compounds which readily
decompose and form ammonia. This ammonia is what we




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            115
most need. It not only increases the crop, but up to a certain
point, accelerates early maturity. (If we get too much ammonia and a moist, cloudy summer, it has an opposite effectbut there is not much danger of our getting too much ammonia.)  On the other hand, the carbonaceous matter, forming
four-fifths of the clover, is of little fertilizing value, and, certainly, on the majority of soils, is not needed by the wheat
crop, while it has a tendency to produce too much straw, and
to retard the ripening processes.
These remarks will apply, also, in some degree, to poor,
strawy, leached, weathered manure. There is not enough
ammonia in a ton of such steff as many farmers call manure
to make hartshorn enough for a lady's smelling-bottle!!
Instead of plowing in so much clover for wheat, then, let us
convert it into wool and mutton, and if we can give our sheep
peas, or beans, or oilcake in addition, it will tell wonderfully on
the manure, and on the crops to which it is applied.
In preparing heavy land for wheat, it is still necessary, in
many cases, to resort to summer-fallows. On the light soils
we might take a crop of beans, planted in rows and thoroughly
horse-hoed, and sow wheat afterwards. On heavier soils I
have seen an excellent crop of wheat follow a crop of peas,
which had been sown instead of fallowing. The great drawback to the peas is, that they are affected by the bug. But if
fed out early to hogs, the bugs do not injure them materially,
while they are very fattening and make rich manure. You
can commence feeding them to hogs on the land, while the peas
are still green. In England wheat is generally sown on a one
or two-year old clover sod, the land being plowed immediately
before sowing. As a general rule, this practice does not succeed here, because, for one reason, we sow a month earlier than
they do in England, and a clover field plowed here the last of
August is generally so dry that the seed wheat does not germinate evenly; and it is found, too, that the wheat is overrun
with weeds and grass the next season, I think, however, if




116          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
our land were cleared the way it should be before it is seeded
to clover, and eaten down by sheep during the summer,
wheat might be raised here with one plowing, as in England,
especially if we used a little Peruvian guano at the time of
sowing. In western New York manure is seldom applied
directly to wheat; some say it is injurious. But I apprehend
that, on most farms, the wheat would be very grateful for a
little good, well-rotted manure, either plowed in or spread on
the surface just before sowing. Wheat needs something to
give it a good start in the fall, and a little well-rotted manure,
not plowed in deep, would be very acceptable. A dressing of
Peruvian guano, say 150 lbs. to 300 lbs. to the acre, would
perhaps be better still. It will pay if we get $1 50 per bushel
for wheat. At $1 per bushel the profits from the use of guano
will be very slight, and may be on the wrong side of the
ledger.
Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, seldom does any good on
wheat in western New York, although it has a very good effect
on clover, and sometimes on peas. Some good farmers sow a
bushel of plaster (gypsum) on the wheat in the spring, but it
is done, not to benefit the wheat, but for its effect on the clover
sown with the wheat.
In regard to the time of sowing wheat, we have to steer
between the Hessian fly and the midge-the Scylla and
Charybdis of the wheat-grower. If we sow too early, there is
increased danger from the Hessian fly, which deposits its eggs
in the young plants in the fall; and if we sow late, the probability is that the midge, which deposits its eggs' in the grain
when in bloom, will destroy it. In western New York, fiom
1st to the 10th of September is now considered the safest
time. As we go south, the wheat is sown later, but ripens
earlier, and I believe we should find it to our advantage to get
seed wheat from a southern rather than a northern latitude;
but there is some difference of opinion on this point. It seems
probable, tosay the least, that the wheat would, for a year or




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            117
two, retain a tendency to ripen at the same time it did at the
south. The importance of this question will be seen when Lit
is understood that if we could get wheat in bloom 10 days
earlier it would receive little injury from the midge, and if it
could be sown later, as at the south, the Hessian fly could do
it no harm.
We have an early wheat-the Mediterranean-which generally. escapes the midge, but it is of comparatively poor quality,:
though it improves much in this respect by cultivation. In
regard to the quantity of seed per acre, I am in favor of rather
thick sowing, say two bushels and a peck per acre if sown
broadcast, or two bushels if sown with the drill. If the land
is in fine tilth and high condition, less seed will be required. I
know the quantity I have recommended is unusually large. for
this country; I know that a much less quantity is amply sufficient to seed an acre if the seed all germinates and the plants
are not winter-killed; but we must sow enough to guard
against these and other casualties, and I think I am warranted
in saying, that thick seeding has a tendency to produce early
wheat. This at least is certain: where wheat is thin from having been partially killed by snow-drifts or by what is known
as " winter kill," the crop is always late, and generally suffers
from midge and mildew. It is true that this late ripening may
be owing to the same causes which produced the destruction
of the plants. I know of no decisive experiment bearing on
the point, but it is the opinion of several intelligent wheatgrowers in western New York that thin seeding gives late
crops. An experienced English writer contends that there is
no advantage in drilling wheat unless it is hoed afterwards in
the spring. This may be true of England, where the soil at
the time of seeding is always moist enough to insure germination, but in this country, where we sow earlier and the soil
is dry, there is this advantage in drilling: the seed can be
deposited evenly, and at sufficient depth to insure germination.
For this' idea I am indebted to John Johnston; it cost me




118          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
nothing, and I give it freely; but I believe he obtained it at a
cost of five or six hundred bushels of wheat in one year.
On the cultivation of Indian corn my remarks shall be very
brief. Corn will grow on all soils, from the lightest sand to
the heaviest clay, among granite rocks and on the richest
bottoms. It does not need so compact and calcareous a soil
as wheat. It delights in a loose, friable, warm, porous, deep
soil, abounding in organic matter. It does well on all good
wheat soils, yet it often does better on soils too light and
mucky for wheat. It is a gross feeder. We can easily make
land too rich for wheat, but I have never yet seen any too
rich for the production of Indian corn. Like all spring crops,
corn requires an active soil. Its growth is very rapid. The
atmosphere should have free access; fine tilth is essential; the
soil should be made as fine as possible before planting, and
after the plants are up the hoe and cultivator cannot be used
too much during the first month. Throughout the vast corngrowing region of the west, if we can remove stagnant water,
prepare the land properly, plant in good season, and use the
horse-hoe freely, the soil is, in the majority of cases, rich enough
to produce fair and remunerative crops. I have been in a two
hundred acre field in Ohio, that has produced annually a good
crop of corn for over fifty years without manure; but it was
thoroughly cultivated. Not a weed or blade of grass was to
be seen. In passing over the magnificent prairies in Illinois,
I was much struck by the decided difference of the corn crops.
Wherever the soil was dry, and proper care had been exercised
in preparing the land, and keeping it well cultivated, the crops
presented a most luxuriant appearance; but where careless
preparation, and negligent, slovenly culture were rendered
visible to the observant eye by the growth of weeds, the crop
was as yellow and sickly as though it had got the ague. It
was literally starved in the midst of plenty. Whether grown at
the east or the west, on rich land or poor land, corn must have
good culture, and I would here say that taking everything into




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            119
consideration, as much energy and skill are necessary to produce profitable crops of corn at the west, as at the east. At
all events, the difference is not as great as is generally supposed. Levi Bartlett states, that of thirty-five crops of Indian
corn offered for premiums in Massachusetts, the average profit
over all expense exceeded $51 per acre.
Corn will succeed on land that is too low and mucky for wheat,
but though this is true, it is vain to hope for good crops if the
land is surcharged with stagnant water. All the sunshine of our
hottest summers cannot make such land warm. The heat is
expended in evaporating the water instead of warming the
soil. In passing along the various railroads of the country, I
have been often saddened at the sight of thousands and tens
of thousands of acres planted to corn, which by a little underdraining would have produced magnificent crops of this king
of cereals, but which presented a miserable spectacle of yellow,
sickly, stunted, half-starved plants, struggling for very life.
Until the land is freed from stagnant water, all our efforts to
produce good crops of corn will prove ineffectual. When this
is accomplished, good cultivation will be most abundantly rewarded.
I have made some experiments with manures for Indian corn,
on a field which had been under a scourging system of cropping
with the cereals, and had never been manured for twenty
years.
Unleached wood ashes had no effect on the corn, in this
field; and 300 pounds of super-phosphate of lime per acre,
though it gave the plants an early start, produced at harvest
no larger a crop than 100 pounds of gypsum. But whenever
ammonia was used, the crop was materially increased-more
than doubled in one instance. The only deduction I would
draw from this is, that the majority of our soils, relatively to
ammonia, are not deficient in potash, soda, and phosphoric acid,
so far as the growth of corn is concerned.
It is quite probable that there are soils where ashes and




120          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
phosphates may be needed for corn; but where such is the case,
it is certain that they are much more needed for the growth of
clover and other leguminous crops, and turnips, and that we
cannot obtain from natural sources sufficient ammonia for the
corn without growing these crops, or others which, like them,
by their growth and consumption on the farm, furnish an increased quantity of ammonia for the use of the cereals.
FIFTEENTH DAY.-FEB. 17, 1860.
rMr. JOHN STANTON GOULD'S lecture to-day was devoted to a
classification and description of the grasses, with practical hints
at the best varieties for farm use. After making some statements respecting the classification of the grasses, Mr. Gould
proceeded to speak of the several. species, describing their botanical and chemical characters, and the soils and localities to
which they were severally adapted. With the grasses before
him, he pointed out the marks by which timothy was identified
and distinguished from others which resembled it. The largest
stalk that he had ever seen was six feet six inches long, with a
spike measuring eleven inches. The heaviest crop that he had
ever heard of was on the farm of John Fisher, Carroll county,
Md., who cut from an acre five tons, 1,622 pounds of dry hay.
The heaviest crop of pure timothy that he had himself seen was
on the farm of the Hon. Geo. Geddes, of Syracuse, which gave
three tons to the acre. According to the analysis of Mr. Way,
timothy yields more dry hay from a given amount of grass, and
more of albuminous, fatty, and calorifacient matters from a
given amount of dry hay, than any of the grasses upon which
he experimented. But it must be remembered, that Mr. Way
did not analyze either Poa compressa or Poa serotina.
The great drawbacks to its utility as a permanent meadowgrass are,-the very little after-math it produces; its liability
to run out after two or three years; and the injury it receives




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             121
from insects, with which it is infected, and which seem to be
on the increase. The proper time for mowing timothy is just
when the first dry spot appears above the first joint. If mowed
before, the plant is injured. If left to a later period, the starch
and sugar are converted into indigestible woody fibre, and the
nitrogenous compounds, on which its value chiefly depends, are
transferred from the leaves and culms to the seed, which mostly
drop out before they reach the margin. Timothy is not well
adapted to hot sands, gravels, and chalks, nor for hard, sterile
clays; but thrives on peaty, damp soils, and especially on most
calcareous loams, where it exhibits its fullest perfection.
_Meadow Foxtails.-There are five varieties of the genus
(Alopecurus), viz.: A. pratensis, A. agrostis, A. geniculatus, and
A. aristulatus. The A. pratensis may be distinguished from its
allied species by the equality of length in the glumes and paleee,
and by a twisted awn twice the length of the blossom. It rarely
exceeds three feet in length, and does not usually yield over
one ton to the acre. It is very watery in its composition; —100
pounds of the green grass gives only 19j pounds of dry hay,
while an equal quantity of timothy gives 425 pounds. If one
ton of green timothy be worth $5, the foxtail will be worth
$2 07, if Mr. Way's analysis can be relied on. It is foufnd
abundantly ill some of our best pasture; is one of the earliest
to start in the spring, and the first to mature its seeds; its aftermath is exceedingly abundant, starting up immediately after
mowing, and if the weather be showery will, in a week or ten
days, give a fair bite to the cattle. It is not well adapted to
alternate husbandry as it requires three or four years to bring a
meadow to full perfection. It is very difficult to procure good
seeds, as many heads are entirely destroyed by the insects. It
is better adapted to pasture than to meadow, flourishes most
luxuriantly on rich, moist, strong soil, the production from a
clayey loam being three-fourths greater than from silicious soil.
Setaria glauca-Is good for nothing in meadows and pas.
tures; it should be exterminated as soon as possible, which
6




122          YALE AGRTCULTURAL LECTURES.
may be done by a thin coat of horse-manure applied in the
fall.
Dcactylis glomerata, or orchard-grass, sometimes grows five
feet high, and has produced five tons, 1,859 lbs., an acre. One
hundred pounds of it produces thirty pounds of dry hay; it
contains nearly as much of fat and flesh-forming matters as
timothy, but contains much less of heat-forming matters. If
the latter is worth $5 a ton, orchard-grass will be worth $3 59.
It flourishes well in shady places, and receives its trivial name
from its adaptation to orchards. It affords a very large amount
of after-math,-starts very early in the spring, and continues to
send out leaves until late in the autumn. It shoots up very
rapidly after mowing. Its disposition to grow in tussocks may
be prevented by harrowing and rolling in the spring. It flourishes well on almost all soils and climates; but a sandy loam
seems best adapted to bring out all its good qualities. On
whatever soil it may be grown, the cattle will eat it in preference to any other, and will adhere to it as long as any of it is
left.
Poa pratensis, a Kentucky blue-grass, in this section does
not grow higher than 21 feet, and cannot be relied upon to
yield more than a ton and a half to the acre. One hundred
pounds of the grass yields thirty-two pounds of dry hay to the
acre, and is worth -$S 20 per ton when timothy is worth $5.
Butter made from this grass will keep sweet longer than that
made from any other species. Its after-math is very.luxuriant,
and it stands the cold better than any other, but is liable to
burn up in hot, dry weather. Its favorite locality is a limestone soil.
Poa compressa,-Wire, or blue-grass, has never been analyzed, but is believed to be the most nutritive of our grasses;
it is certainly the heaviest, and grows about twenty inches high,
standing thinly on the ground. It causes an abundant flow of
very rich milk, and horses fed upon it alone will do as much
work and keep in as good order as when fed upon timothy and




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            123
oats combined. Sheep fatten astonishingly upon it, and all
grazing animals eat it with avidity.
Agrestis vulgaris-Red-top, grows about 2j feet long, and
yields about 1- tons to the acre. It is not a first-rate grass,
but seems to be better relished by working oxen than by any
other stock. It grows in very moist land.
Agrestes alba, or white-top, seems better adapted to sandy
soils than the preceding, but resembles it very nearly in its
botanical character.
Mr. Gould described many other varieties with much minuteness, illustrating their peculiarities from specimens in his hands.
The morning lecture by Mr. THEODORE S. GOLD of this State
was on Root Crops-the field turnip, ruta-baga, beet, carrot,
and parsnip-the soil they severally required, their culture,
composition, and uses.
Root culture, says Mr. Gold, is the basis of successful English farming. As a means of supporting an increased stock, of
supplying an abundance of enriching manure, and in thorough
culture thus preparing for other crops, its value there proves
inestimable; and there is no doubt that its more extended introduction here must be one of the means of securing that high
degree of productiveness which constitutes the most successful
agriculture. The estimated value of the root crop of Britain
amounts to ~20,000,000, or upward of $100,000,000, while its
subsequent advantages, as preparatory for other crops, vastly
exceed this sum. It was a remark of Daniel Webster that,
"Take away turnip culture, and England would become bankrupt."
The turnip belongs to the same botanical genus as the cabbage, which also embraces in its varieties the cauliflower and
broccoli. Two or three species are made by some botanists
of the turnips, which exhibit such great variations in form
and color, while others embrace them all in one. No class of
plants exhibit greater adaptation to the various conditions to




124          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
which it is subjected by culture, and though they have been
long known, it is but recently that they have acquired any
importance as farm crops. Hence we may anticipate a high
degree of improvement in the future. While the average of
the turnip crop of the State of New York is shown by Mr.
Randall to be only 88 bushels per acre, this is far below the
capacity of the soil as is proved by the reported premium crops,
reaching, in one instance, as high as 2,102 bushels per acre.
The details of management in the case of this crop were given,
in the language of the cultivator, J. T. Andrew, of West
Cornwall, Conn., to show what results may be attained by
skilful culture. New land produces the best turnips for all
purposes, especially for table use. Sow white turnips in drills,\
or broadcast, the latter part of July; ruta-bagas the last of
June, in drills, twenty-five to thirty inches apart. Quantity of
seed, one pound per acre. The most thorough preparation of
the soil by deep and careful plowing, and early and repeated
tillage by the horse- and hand-hoes, are necessary in the highest
degree in this and all the other root-crops. The ruta-baga is a
gross feeder, and requires an abundance of manure either in a
raw state or fermented. This may be applied broadcast, or
under the drills. Bones and super-phosphates are considered
essentials to turnip culture in England. My experiments with
them  have proved quite undecisive as to their value here.
Early thinning to a distance of twelve inches in the row is required for the largest produce. If sown late, for table use,
they may stand much closer.
The beet in the form of the sugar beet in France and Germany, and the mangold wurtzel in Great Britain, is taking a
position of more importance than even the turnip. It requires
much the same culture as the ruta-baga, while the greater
yield of the mangold, its freedom from disease and the attacks
of insects, and its superior keeping qualities, render it a general favorite, while its fitness for enduring heat and drouth
especially adapt it to our wants. The quantity of seed varies




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              125
from two to four pounds, according to the manner of sowing.
The drill sows it very unequally, from the rough surface and
varying size of the seed capsules. It is better Sown by dibbling with some instrument, at regular distances of twelve
inches in the drill. Sow in May or June, about the time of
planting corn, and harvest before severe frost. It keeps admirably, even till the new crop grows again. It is not considered
fit for use in England till after Christmas. It is excellent for
sneep, cattle, and swine. The latter prefer it to potatoes or
carrots. Twenty pounds is not a very large size for this root.
The lecturer here exhibited one of his own raising, weighing
20 lbs. The amount per acre of 1,200 or 1,500 bushels is here
considered a very good crop, while in France and Germany
reports are given of crops almost exceeding belief. Mons.
Auguste de Gasparin, in the Journal d'Agriculture Pratique,
reports having raised on one-fourth of an acre 127 tons of
2,000 pounds each, or 5,080 bushels of beets, at 50 pounds per
bushel. He also states that MIons. Koechlin, in Alsatia, raised
at the rate of 156 tons per acre, or 6,240 bushels. The roots
averaged 37j lbs. each, and as this allows five square feet for
each plant, it is quite within the limits of possibility.
The carrot is the most esteemed of all the roots for its feeding qualities. When analyzed it gives but little more solid
matter than the other roots, 85 per cent. being water; but its
influence in the stomach upon the other articles of food is most
favorable, conducing to their most perfect digestion and assimilation. This result, long known to practical men, is explained
by chemists as resulting from the presence of a substance
called pectine, which operates to coagulate or gelatinize vegetable solutions, and favors this digestion. Horses are especially
benefited by the use of carrots. In that true " high farming"
which is most eminently profitable, the culture of roots holds
an important place. It requires labor and requires capital;
bat th6 foolish system of labor-saving, by abstaining from its
use, lies at the foundation of very much of the wretched farm



126         YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
ing with which we are so justly charged. In that happy condition of Connecticut agriculture in which every acre in this
State shall either support its cow or produce its equivalent in
value for animal or human food, successful root culture must
exercise an important part.
SIXTEENTH DAY.-FEB. 18, 1860.
Hear what old Mr. LEvI BARTLE=T, of New Hampshire, said
yesterday in opening his farmer-like lecture on the cultivation
of winter wheat in New England: "It may be asked why one
so conscious of oratorical defects, should attempt speakiig at
all, especially in such a convocation as this. I can only answer
in the words of the wily old Roman, that I am a plain, blunt
man, who loves the cause; and therefore am I come to speak,
but most of all to hear, in this assembly. And if forty years
of study of the principles of agriculture,.and full twenty devoted
to practice, with an enthusiasm which time has not abated,
give me any claim on your attention, then I trust to your generosity to excuse the manner for the sake of the matter."  Considering that the matter was of an eminently practical character, and that friend Bartlett's quaint jokes kept the convention
in a roar, his apology was scarcely needed.
Mr. Bartlett said that from his earliest recollection down to
1852, spring wheat was the only kind raised in New Hampshire. In fact, he never saw a field of winter wheat until he
was fifty years of age. Spring wheat had, in general, been
pretty successfully grown on all land that would produce corn,
until the appearance of the midge, some quarter of a century
ago. The ravages of this pernicious insect were so great, especially on valley farms, that the culture of wheat was in great
part abandoned, so that a large part of our farmers, as well as
those of all other professions, depended upon Western and
Southern flour for their wheaten bread; and as there wls




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           127
but little else eaten, it has been a mystery among our most
acute financiers how the people paid for all this "boughten
flour." But within the past six or eight- years, matters in
this respect have greatly mended, in consequence of many of
our New Hampshire farmers having turned-their attention to
the culture of winter wheat, in which most of them have been
very successful.
In the summer of 1852, the son of his (Mr. Bartlett's) neighbor was in western New York, and was so pleased with the
fields of winter wheat, that he took home with him fourteen quarts of the " bald " variety of white wheat grown there.
This was sown on about one-third of an acre of dry, loamy
land. From a combination of favorable circumstances, it yielded sixteen bushels of prime wheat, at the rate of forty-eight
bushels per acre. Nearly all of the sixteen bushels was readily sold for seed at $3 per bushel, and as was to be expected,
under the -excitement and the entire ignorance of its proper
culture by the farmers, some succeeded well, while others
made a partial or total failure. In 1853, he sowed one bushel
on light, pine land, from which a crop of beans had been removed at the time of sowing the wheat, he applying to the land
one hundred and fifty pounds of Peruvian guano. The wheat
was sown 20th of September, at least twenty-five days too late.
The yield was about nine bushels. For the five past years, he
has been experimenting with winter wheat on a variety of
soils, and with different manures. He has grown it on intervale lands, on hills, on light, dry soils, and stiff, heavy ones.
These last, however, have always been ridged up, turnpike
like, and the dead-furrows well cleaned out to drain off the
water. Sometimes the wheat has been sown on a newly inverted timothy sod; at other times on a clover ley, and upon
wheat and oat stubble. In every instance the land has been
pretty liberally manured with farmyard manure, or guano.
During the six or seven years he has grown it, it has suffered
but very little from winter-killing, nor has it been injured to




,128         YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
any great amount' by the midge, although his own spring
wheat, and that of his neighbors, has been nearly ruined by that
insect. As an illustration of this, he stated that, in 1857 he
harvested twenty-eight bushels of prime winter wheat from
seven pecks sowing of the previous autumn. From a bushel
of spring wheat, sown in May, 1857, he harvested but seven
pecks, and of a very poor quality at that. His crops have
averaged about fifteen bushels to the bushel of seed sown;
many of the farmers in his vicinity have raised twenty bushels,
and over, from the bushel of seed sown; and one farmer raised
on "hill-land" last season, twenty-two bushels from a bushel of
seed, while another, on a low-lying farm, grew ninety-one bushels
from four and a half bushels of seed. These "out west " might
not be considered very great. crops, but they are more than
twice as large as those of spring wheat, in his section of New
Hampshire, have averaged of late years.
He has been experimenting for several years with a great
variety of Patent Office wheats. Out of the number only four
varieties have been found adapted to his place. Of these the
" early Japan," the original of which was brought from Japan
by the late Commodore Perry, is a red wheat, some ten
days earlier than any other variety he has grown, its earliness
putting it beyond injury from the midge. The " Tuscan wheat,"
from Michigan, which was distributed by the Patent Office,
was accompanied by a certificate from several Michigan farmers,
which showed that it had been grown there for seven years,
and had never been known to rust. It is a large-grained,
flinty variety, yielding fifty pounds A No. 1 flour to the bushel.
The " Early Nob," the original seed of which was procured
from France, has the merit of early maturity, as it was said to
be ten days earlier than any other grown in the dominions of
Napoleon. With Mr. B. it has not proved earlier than his
other varieties. It has a good-sized kernel, and very stiff,
white straw, and promises to be a variety worthy of general
cultivation. General Harmon's "improved white flint," from




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            129
the Patent Office, is a niost beautiful wheat; hardy, productive, and: making the finest quality of flour and bread. Also,
another variety of white wheat, yielding fifty-seven pounds of
fine flour to the bushel.
Samples of all the above varieties, both in the straw, and the
grain in bottles, were exhibited during his lecture, which fully
sustained his positions in regard to the adaptation of our New
England soil and climate to the profitable production of winter
wheat. He usually carries four bushels of his wheat to mill,
to make a barrel of flour, and pays for the grinding some thirty
cents; and he finds a material difference between this, and
handing over a ten dollar bill, or giving his note for that amount
ifor a barrel of Milwaukie or Chicago flour.
To insure success in raising winter wheat in New Hampshire, the land must be dry, in good heart, and well-worked.
The seed should be sown from the 20th of August to the 5th
of September. It should be thus early sown to have it get
well-rooted before winter, and to hasten its maturity, so as to
escape the midge. A difference of five or ten days in the
blossoming of a field of wheat frequently makes the difference
between a very good, and a very poor crop. This is owing to
the midge. He has, by sowing early, escaped loss from the
midge and rust, while some of his neighbors, who have delayed
sowing till after their corn was harvested, have suffered by
winter-kill, midge, and rust.
Learning that Col. Cate, of Northfield, N. H., had been very
successful in growing winter wheat for a number of years,
Mr. B. wrote to him upon the subject in December last. He
read an extract from the Col's letter, which is as follows:
"I commenced the cultivation of winter wheat in the year
1850, and have continued it without interruption up to the
present time. The first year I sowed one bushel of the'whitebald winter wheat,' on the 6th day of September of that year,
on land which had grown a crop of corn the same season. The
land had been tolerably well manured in the spring; but
6*




180'YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
from some cause, I hardly know what, did not produce a large
crop of corn. The wheat came up well, and tillered finely
during the autumn following. When winter set in, it stood
all over the piece ankle-deep, and quite thick. In the spring
following, and before the warm weather set in, it seemed to
retain all its freshness of color and vitality. It did not suffer
in the least from the winter cold, nor the spring frosts. It
was harvested in July, and by my record of crops I find it was
threshed August 7, 1851. It measured up, of clean wheat,
twenty-four bushels, and weighed sixty-five and a half pounds
per hushel. As already said, I have continued to raise winter
wheat ever since, and am perfectly satisfied that it is safer, by
far, and surer than summer wheat, for most soils in our State.
" My method of culture has been briefly as follows: In the
first place, I have cultivated on ground which had been hoed,
and on the inverted sod, breaking at or about the time of sowing. Out of the time I think I have sowed four years on the
recently broken up land, and I do not see but that I have succeeded in one case as well as in the other. I hardly need say
that the land in either case should be thoroughly plowed and
harrowed. I have invariably soaked my seed in a strong solution of salt and water, and most of the time have used' Glauber's salts' with the common coarse salt-not, however, soaking the seed more than two hours. After draining it, I have
generally rolled it in ashes, and then sowed immediately. If
my land has been cultivated and manured the spring before, I
use no other manure or stimulant at the time of sowing. If
not, as in the case of newly broken up land, I have used, and
am so well satisfied with the results that I shall continue to use,
from ten to fifteen bushels of ashes, with from one to two bushels of salt, per acre, sown broadcast over the field at the time
of sowing the seed. The result has always been a larger crop
than under the most favorable seasons I could get from spring
wheat sown on the same kind of soil, and side by side."
Col. Cate, as well as Mr. B., thinks that winter wheat can be




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             131
grown with as much certainty in New England, as it is by
western farmers, but, not as cheaply-for here we must use
manure to obtain good crops.
Mr. GOULD'S third lecture, to-day, was devoted to a description of the grasses and clovers, in continuation of his lecture
yesterday. He denied the distinctions of the genus Festuca, as
laid down in botanical works, asserting that F. ovina and F. rubra were merely variations of F. duriuscula, and that F. loliacea
and F. pratense were varieties of F. elatior. It is sufficient for all
the purposes of the farmer to divide the genus into two classes:
1. Those having more or less hairs on the leaves; and
2. Those having smooth leaves.
This genus affords us some species that are of great value in
an agricultural point of view, each of which, under certain
circumstances, -is of great value, and very permanent in its
forms and qualities. Thus: F. ovina is essentially a grass of
the thin soils resting upon rocky uplands, as on the mountain
limestone and most mountain ranges.
F duriuscula.-In the valleys between such hills, and in the
more sheltered pastures of the upland districts.
PI rubra.-In the more sandy loams of the lowland meadow,
and by the sea-shore.
F. loliacea.-Rich meadows on river banks, or under irrigation.
F. pratensis. —Best lowland meadows, not liable to floods.
F elatior.-On sandy clays, or other stiff and strong lands,
especially on the sea-shore.
The festucas are invariably present in our best pastures, and
especially present in those of the most famous cheese districts.
The F. pratensis is worth $3 33, where timothy is worth $5,
per ton. It follows next after meadow fox-tail as an early grass,
and affords a bite earlier than orchard-grass.
He gave the Bromus family a very bad name, adducing a
number of experiments to show that it was neither agreeable




132          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
nor nutritious to cattle. Bromus erectus was said to be the
only perennial species in the genus. Early mowing was recommended as a means of extirpating this family. Pheasants are
exceedingly fond of the seeds, and frequently pick off the
spikelets before the seeds are ripe, that they may enjoy the
much coveted luxury.
Loliumperrenne, or Rye-grass, is still the favorite grass of
England. It occupies there the same place that timothy does
with us, and is probably better adapted to a wet climate like
England than to a dry one like ours. Sixty varieties are cultivated in England of this one species. One of the most remarkable of these is the viviparous Rye-grass, which grows there
with great luxuriance. After midsummer it is strictly viviparous, never producing either flowers or seeds, but young plants
from the glumes, which, when the original plant is supported,
will produce new plants from two to three inches in length.
Lolium  Italicum, Italian Rye-grass, is worth $2 69 when
timothy is worth $5. One hundred pounds of it give twentyfour and a half pounds of dry hay. It is best adapted to limestone and light soils, and is one of the most desirable varieties
for irrigated meadows.
Triticum repens, known as "quack," "twitch," or "dog"
grass, is very easily recognized by its spikelet of eight- or tenawned flowers placed flatwise toward the sachis. It is a terrible pest in alternate husbandry, growing in all sorts of soils,
and robbing the cultivated plants of the richest portion of their
food. In very dry seasons it may be killed by plowing it very
thoroughly in July, and sowing the ground with buckwheat.
Its culms (stalks) sometimes attain an altitude of three feet,
but it ordinarily stands two feet high. It forms a tolerably
good hay, and is much relished by the stock as a pasture grass.
It operates as an emetic on dogs; and is very useful in binding
the sloping banks of railroads.
A.nthoxanthum odoratum, Sweet-scented vernal grass, is not
very valuable for hay or for pasture, as one hundred pounds of




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              133
it give only nineteen and three-quarters pounds of dry hay.
An acre only yields three-quarters of a ton of dry hay. It
starts very early in the spring, and continues to throw out leaves
during the sumlmer. Its after-math is more valuable than the
first growth, and is supposed to communicate the peculiar flavor which characterizes the Philadelphia butter.
Glyceria nervata grows in wet places. Its culms (stalks)
are extremely succulent; it is the hardiest grass in existence,
and always grows more vigorously after a severe winter than
after a mild one.
Poa serotina, or Fowl-meadow, is one of the earliest grasses
cultivated in this country, and is still among the best. It does
not injure by standing, as do other grasses; but may be cut at
almost any time. Hares and rabbits are extremely fond of it.
It is easily made into hay, and never seems hard or harsh, and
produces sound seeds in great abundance.
Trisetum subspicatum is a mean, stingy grass, growing on
stiff, clayey hill-sides which have a northern aspect. It is only
fit to be grown on soils that will bear nothing else.
Zizania aquatica.-Mr. Gould spoke of this grass as growing in places that were wholly covered with water. It is very
sweet and nutritious, and cows fed upon it have a copious flow
of milk. In favorable situations it produces five or six tons to
the acre, growing to the height of nine feet. Many birds, especially the rail, fatten on it in autumn. The Indians collected
its seeds, which resemble rice, and stored them for winter use.
Mr. Gould spoke at great length of the clovers, detailing
many interesting facts in relation to them, and giving much
practical advice respecting their cultivation. He especially recommended the increased culture of lucerne (medicago sativa).
The best soil for it is a sandy one, resting on a porous calcareous subsoil. Its roots penetrate fourteen feet in (depth, and
hence a hard subsoil is fatal to successful growth. It arrives at
its greatest perfection after three years. In one recorded case,
eleven acres sufficed to keep eleven horses two hundred and




134           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
ninety-nine days. In another, a field of eight acres kept eight
horses three hundred and fifteen days. In both cases a large
number of sheep were fed on the ground after the last cutting
for the horses. Chancellor Livingston, in Columbia county,
N. Y., cut twenty-five tons from an acre in five mowings. It
is ready for cutting about the first of May, and may be cut over
every thirty days thereafter. It is remarkably adapted for
milch cows, where the milk is sold in the market, but butter
made from it is not so sweet as from other grasses. It is greatly
relished by both horses and cattle; one hundred pounds of it
will make twenty-five pounds of dry hay, and its nutritive
powers bear such a relation to those of timothy, that it is worth
$3 13 per ton, when that grass is worth $5.
The only difficulty with lucerne is, to get it started. It must
be sown in drills, and carefully hoed until it is large enough to
cover the ground. If this precaution is taken, and a drouth
does not occur just as the young plants are starting, it will be
pretty sure to succeed, and will last for twentywfve or thirty
years. If, however, it is overrun with weeds in the beginning,
or a severe drouth occurs, it grows feebly and soon dries out.
The seed is covered with a very hard and compact coat, which,
if the weather be dry, will greatly retard vegetation. It is,
therefore, generally the practice to steep it in warm water,
to soften the coat, for six or eight hours before sowing. From
fourteen to eighteen pounds of seeds are usually sown on an
acre; but, as many of the seeds are imperfect, and as fine and
succulent plants are more desirable than coarse and rank ones,
it is better economy to sow twenty-five pounds.
The following table gives the comparative value of lucerne
and common pasture.  After being kept on lucerne for about
ten days, the milk of three cows was separately measured, and
the produce in Scotch pints was, on the 28th of May, as follows:
No. 1.-Calved in March, gave...................... 13 pints.
No. 2.-Calved in January, gave..................... 10X    "
No. 3.-Calved in May, gave....................... 10   "




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             185
They were then put alternately in pasture and lucerne during
the following periods, when the produce was found to be:
Pasture.     Lucerne.      Pasture.       Lucerne.
To June 8    To June 13.    To July 13.    To July 19.
No. 1.-121 pints.   123 pints.    10 pints.     11 pints.
No. 2.- 94  "       10  "          9  "         10   "
No. 3.-10i "        10  "          9  "          84  "
Mr. Gould spoke at length of sainfoin, tares, and succory,
and after the conclusion of the lecture he exhibited the various grasses of which he had spoken, to the more zealous students, and gave them particular instruction in the botanical
analysis of the different genera and species. He urged them
very earnestly to make themselves experts in the botany of the
grasses, assuring them that this was essential to the acquisition of a correct knowledge respecting them. And I am happy
to know that a large number of the students expressed themselves determined to enter vigorously on the study of the
grasses, and forage plants of our country.
SEVENTEENTH DAY.-FEB. 20, 1860.
This, the fourth and last week of the course, is especially devoted to the subject of stock-breeding; but Professor B. SILLIMAN, Jr., gave us this morning a lecture on Meteorology,
devoting the hour to a very simple and elementary discussion
of the phenomena of the atmosphere as respects the fall of rain
and the distribution of temperature, describing the thermometer, hygrometer, and rain-gauge.
He spoke briefly of climates, and seasons, and the influence
of the sun, not only in causing the differences of seasons, but
on the mean daily temperature. The mean daily temperature
at Philadelphia had been found to be one degree above the
temperature at 9 A. M. The average annual temperature of
the atmosphere diminishes from the equator towards the poles.




136            YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
But the temperature is not the same for places in the same lat.
itude in the two hemispheres, as is seen in the following table:
PLACES.       LAT.    TEMP.    PLACES.         LAT.    TEMP.
Falkland Isles,   51~ S    47' 23  London,      51~ 31' N  50~'72
Buenos Ayres,   340 36' S 62~ 6   Savannah,     32~ 05' N  64~'58
Rio Janeiro,   22~ 56' S 73~ 96  Calcutta,      220 35' N  78~ *44
This variation is owing to a variety of local causes, such as
the elevation and form of the land, proximity to large bodies
of water, the general direction of winds, etc.
The temperature of the air diminishes with the altitude. As
a general rule, it may be stated that there is a diminution in
temperature of 1~ F. for every 343 feet of elevation.  On rising from near the level of the sea, the rate of decrease is more
rapid; after a certain height is reached it proceeds more
slowly; but in very elevated regions it again increases.
It follows from this that in every latitude, at a certain elevation, there must be a point where moisture once frozen must
ever remain congealed. The lowest point at which this is attained is called the limit of perpetual snow, or the snow-line.
This point is highest near the equator, and sinks towards either
pole, as is shown in the table.
PLACES.             LATITUDE.       SNOW LINES.
Straits of Magellan,    540 S           3,760 feet.
Chili,                  410 S           6,009  "
Quito,                  06o            15,807  "
Mexico,                 19~ N          14,763  "
AEtna,                  37~ 30' N       9,531  "
Kamtschatka,            566 40' N       5,248  "
Isothermal lines were very briefly illustrated from a map of
the United States, on which were traced from the map in the
Patent Office Report for 1856-7, the lines of summer and winter temperature in various latitudes. The great value and
importance of such researches to agriculture were insisted on
by the lecturer as giving the only rational explanation to
anomalies of climate, etc., otherwise inexplicable. The great
contrast between the latitudes and isothermes of wheat and




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.               137
other grains, of the limits of the vine, of maize, etc., was pointed
out on a chart, and in this connection the summer climate of
British Columbia was alluded'to. He also called attention to
the marked difference in the winter climates of the two oceanic
borders of the continent, as compared with the corresponding
latitudes in the interior.
The Aqueous Phenomena of the atmosphere were next considered. The presence of moisture in the air at all times was
explained, its amount depending on the temperature.
That the capacity for moisture is greater as the temperature
increases was shown by the following table.
A body of air can absorb:
At 32~ F. the 160th part of its own weight of watery vapor.
"9 590    "  80th    i"      "       " 
i'  86~0 L"    "    40th  -it                it
"113~ "  "  20th      "      "       " "
It will be noticed that for every 27~ of temperature above
32~, the capacity of air for moisture is doubled. From this it
follows, that while the temperature of the air advances in an
arithmetical series, its capacity for moisture is accelerated in a
geometrical series.
The lecturer here exhibited various forms of hygrometers,
and illustrated their use experimentally: —-Saussure's hair hygrometer, various hygroscopes, Daniells' condensation hygrometer, and August's hygrometer of evaporation. He also exhibited a simple substitute for the costly condensation hygrometer,
being nothing but a bright silver goblet or tumbler containing
water and lumps of ice. The first condensation of dew on the
polished metallic surface is watched for, and the instant it appears the difference between the thermometer in the iced
water and the air is noted. This gives the dew point, or temperature at which fog would be produced.
The mode of measuring the rain fall was also described.
One of the simplest rain-gauges was a cylindrical vessel of tin,
or copper, furnished with a float: the rain falling into the ves



138          Y;ALE AGRICULTURAL LECTUBES.
eel, the float rises. The stem is graduated so that a depth of
water of one one-hundredth of an inch is easily measured.
The unequal distribution of rain over the surface of the earth
was touched upon, and the influence of mountain ranges was
pointed out in causing precipitation of rain. As a general rule
the amount of rain was in proportion to the average temperature; or, what is the same thing, to the amount of evaporation:
local causes, however, very greatly modify this general rule.
The number of rainy days bears no proportion (or an inverse
one) to the amount of rain which falls in particular latitudes.
Thus while the yearly fall of rain in the tropics is ninety-five
inches, there are not over seventy rainy days; while here, with
an annual rain fall of about forty inches, we have one hundred and thirty or more rainy days.  The following table
shows that the ordinary rains of the tropical regions are more
powerful than those of the temperate regions.
M. LATITUDE.     MEAN ANNUAL NUMBER OF RAINY DAYS.
From 12~ to 430                78.
" 430~ " 46~                103.
" 46~ " 50~                 134.
" 50~ " 60Q                 161.
In the northern part of the United States there are, on the
average, about 134 rainy days in the year; in the southern
part, about 103.
The greatest annual depth of rain occurs at San Luis, Maranham, 280 inches; the next in order are Vera Cruz, 278; Grenada, 126; Cape Frangois, 120; Calcutta, 81; Rome, 39;
London, 25; Uttenberg, 12'5. In our country the average
annual fall is 39'23 inches; at Hanover, N. H., 38; New York
state, 36; Ohio, 42; Missouri, 38'265.
Prof. Silliman illustrated these general principles by an analysis of the average results observed by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, at
Marietta, Ohio, Lat. 390 25' N, and Long. 40 28' W of Washington city, for 31 years, from 1828 to 1859. It appeared from
these tables that the rain fall at Marietta varied from 61,84




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           189
inches in 1858 (the wettest year in 40, and one in which there
were only 170 fair days) to 32'46 inches in 1856; the average
of the whole period being 42 inches.
The time permitted only a cursory allusion to the other
aqueous phenomena of dew, frost, and hail.  The lecturer
pointed out the defects of common thermometers, and the
mode of selecting a good one. He remarked that between
320 and 212~ Fahrenheit it was easy to select an instrument
which would indicate the temperature within one or two degrees of accuracy. He exhibited, however, four instruments
taken that day from the stock of a dealer, from which he read
as follows: 64~; 620; 65~; and 66~.  Below 32~ common
thermometers were generally very unreliable; the difference
amounting near zero often to more than 100. He stated that
in old thermometers the point of freezing (32~) was found
almost uniformly too high, and that the readings of old thermometers were as a rule too high. This was owing to a permanent displacement of the zero point, partly arising from
atmospheric pressure on the surface of the ball, and partly
from the slow contraction of the glass subsequent to the heating to which it was subject in filling.
He gave practical rules for the exposure and observation of
thermometers. A thermometer should never be hung against
the wall of a house, for the radiated heat makes the mercury
rise often as much as 40. It should be placed on a post in the
yard. It has been proved that in our country the temperature
at 9 A. M. will be just 10 less than the average of the whole
day. If our thermometer marks 50Q at that hour, we may
know that the day will average just 510. The coldest hour of
the day is 7 A. M., and the warmest 2 P. M.
He concluded by commending to farmers the study of meteorology, as an important element of the practical education
on which success in agriculture must depend.
Mr. SANDFORD HOWARD, of Tlhe Boston Cultivator, gave a




140          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
-lecture on horses, at 3 o'clock. He referred to the great diversity of appearances between the heavy Flemish or English
dray-horse, which will weigh a ton, and the little ponies that
scamper over the hills of Shetland. The heavy horse will always be found in plain countries, and good and fertile districts.
Horses may be divided into three classes: —first, gallopers, or
runners; second, trotters; third, walkers.  The lordly Arab
steed of the desert is the type of the former class, as also is
the so-called thoroughbred racer; the trim-built Morgan, of the
second; and the heavy Conestoga and Clydesdale, of the
third. The horse is not a native of America, but has been
introduced at various points from various sources. The wild
horses of Mexico and some South American countries have
sprung from the animals brought over by the Spaniards. The
German settlers of Pennsylvania introduced the heavy draughthorse of their. fatherland. The French settlers of Canada
brought another breed-the ancestors of the Canadian horse
of to-day. The modern Norman, or Percheron horse, has been
introduced into New Jersey. The English and Scotch of
Canada West have brought over their Clydesdales and other
draught horses. The race-horse has found a home in many
parts of our country; and so all sections have derived their
horse stock from the Old World.
For long distances, with a heavy weight on the back, at a
galloping pace, the true Arab is the best model. For short
distances, at headlong speed, and with light weights to carry,
the English racer, or " thoroughbred," is required. Of trotters,
for quick driving in light vehicles, the "roadster" best meets the
requirements,-the best American horses of this description
being probably superior to any in the world-certainly superior to the English.  For city coach-horses, less speed and
hardiness being needed, an animal of more size is called for;
a purpose for which the Cleveland Bay, or a mixture of the
race-horse with some large-sized stock answers well. For omnibuses and horse-railroad cars, a more muscular horse, able




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             141
to endure hardship, is preferable; and the French "Percheron"'
is well adapted to this work. Of horses, the uses of which
only require a walk, and where heavy burdens are to be drawn,
a conformation more adapted to strength and less for speed is
necessary. For heavy draught, some of the English and Scottish breeds are best. For farming work, where horses are
wholly used, and for drays, carts, &c., of cities, the Suffolk and
Clydesdale breeds would be preferable to the horses now
generally used for these purposes in this country.
In general, and especially for racers, roadsters, and draughthorses, it is better to keep the varieties distinct, breeding each
in reference to a standard or ideal. If experiments in-crossing
are made, they should be conducted with caution, and in such
a manner as not to hazard a loss of the valuable properties already possessed by an established breed.
EIGHTEENTH DAY.-FEB. 21, 1860.
Mr. CHARLES L. FLINT, Secretary of the Massachusetts
State Board of Agriculture, and author of standard works on
"Grasses and Forage Plants," and "Milch Cows and Dairy
Farming," gave, to-day, in his first discourse, a number of valuable hints to dairymen, and much information of general interest. His lecture was listened to with great attention.
Mr. Flint called attention to the fact that the dairy qualities
of our stock are artificial, and mainly the result of care and
breeding. The cow, in her wild state, gives only enough milk
to nourish her offspring for a short period, and then goes dry
the rest of the year. The prime object of the farmer is to develop and improve her milking qualities, and hence he should
select his cows with reference to the amount of food he has
for them. Large animals require rich and luxuriant pastures,
or they lose their fair proportions and deteriorate on a stinted
nourishment. The objects of the dairyman should be kept in




142          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
view in selecting his cows. The animal most profitable for a
milk dairy may be very unprofitable for a butter or cheese
dairy. The first cattle imported into New England arrived at
Plymouth in 1624, and they are described as of a variety of
colors. These, with the importations of Capt. John Mason,
from Denmark into New Hampshire, in 1631-4, laid the foundation of the native stock of New England; and this stock
must be regarded as an exceedingly valuable foundation for
improvement, which may be effected either by careful and judicious selections, or by crossing with foreign and already
highly improved breeds.
Grades are often more valuable for practical purposes on the
farm than pure breeds. In breeding it is important to have a
specific object in view, as for beef, milk, or labor-the complete
union of these qualities being, to a considerable extent, impracticable. Great milkers are rarely very handsome animals.
They seldom have the well-rounded forms of fattening animals,
but are often coarser looking and more angular. In breeding
to produce large milkers, it is.especially important to select
males that come from great milking cows-since the dairy
qualities are transmitted more surely through the male offspring.
The most celebrated dairy breeds are the Swiss, the Dutch, the
Jersey, and the Ayrshire. The Jerseys give the richest milk,
and the Ayrshires the largest quantity, in proportion to the
food consumed and their size, and are very valuable as a means
of improving our common or grade stock. But, whatever
breed is selected, success will mainly depend on the care and
management, and especially on the food. VERY LITTLE MILK
COMES OUT OF THE BAG THAT IS NOT FIRST PUT INTO THE THROAT.
It is poor economy to overstock the farm, as is too often the
case: the cows come out of the stall in spring in no condition for
the profitable production of milk. The cow should be regarded
as an instrument of transformation; a machine for the manufac.
ture of milk. The food is the raw material, milk the product
-salable, and always in demand. The machine is the capital




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           143
invested, costing nearly as much when not running as when running on full steam. How absurd, therefore, how unbusiness-like,
for the farmer to slacken up the supply of raw material, or by
neglect, exposure, or otherwise, to suffer the machine to get out
of order, or to yield a product far below its natural capacity.
Regularity of feeding is next in importance to a full supply
of nutritious food, and cows thrive better on a good and regular system, than on a larger amount fed at irregular intervals.
Cows in milk ought not to be exposed to cold in winter.
They require less food and give more milk if kept housed.
They ought not to be even turned out to water in extreme cold
days, and they will be sure to fall off in milk if they are. The
loss from a neglect of this precaution is often far greater than
farmers are aware of. The cow should be kept in a sound and
healthy condition by judicious feeding and exercise, but exposure in extreme cold weather is never advisable. Moist and
succulent food increases the quantity of milk; dry food, as hay,
alone, makes a thicker quality.  Food rich in starch, gum,
sugar, &c., increases the butter in milk.
Quietness also promotes the secretion of fat, and increases
the richness of milk. Green grass is more nutritious and more
digestible than hay, which, like all other coarse and dry food,
is made more nutritious by cutting and moistening, or steaming.
All ruminating animals require more or less bulky food, the
bulk contributing to the healthy activity of the digestive organs. The most valuable additions to this branch of farming
have been made by the elaborate and successful experiments of
Mr. Horsfall, who found that he could make as much and as rich
butter in winter as in summer. His whole course of management has been republished in this country in the appendix to
the lecturer's Treatise on Milch Cows and Dairy Farming.
Particular attention was called to the management of young
heifers, and the time when they should be allowed to come in,
as well as to the care which should be taken to prevent any
faulty habit or constitutional defect to become fixed upon them.




144          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
Suppose, for instance, a heifer should come in in winter, or in
very cold weather, which would prevent the distension of the
tissues of the skin, and she should be fed on dr yfood, which had
little tendency to develop the milk vessels, or the organs of
secretion. These organs will adapt themselves to supply a small
yield of milk, and thus a habit may be fixed upon the animal
for life, or which it might be difficult to overcome entirely
afterward. Hence, some of the external signs of a good milking cow are found on animals whose product does not justify
expectations.
A young cow with her first and second calf should be made,
by judicious feeding, to give a large quantity, and to hold out
well, and by gentle treatment, to be docile and obedient.
A certain shepherd-lecturer at a farm-school in Saxony, illustrates his lectures on breeding by presenting before his class
sheep of various breeds and diverse qualities. So far as my
information extends, it has never been attempted in this country before to-day,-when Mr. THEODORE S. GOLD placed on the
stage a Cotswold, a Merino, and a Southdown. The latter
arrived a little after the lecturer had concluded, but was seen
by many then present.  It is a new, and a most capital
idea; and hereafter, he who will lecture on sheep without the
living illustrations ready for reference, will be behind the age.
The sheep, as Mr. G. justly remarked, has been associated with
man from the time of Abel, and in some countries is now the
chief national wealth. In Saxony, not larger than Connecticut
and Rhode Island, there are 3,500,000 sheep; England and
Wales produce 26,000,000; while in the whole territory of the
United States we raise only 21,000,000. It must be remembered
that in the great sheep countries of Europe, farming has perhaps
arrived at its greatest perfection of development-a circumstance which shoulcweigh well with our farmers, whose poorhilly
lands will barely keep them and their families above starvation,
under the present cropping with Indian corn and the cereals.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             145
The " felting" property of wool is due to the peculiarly rough
or barbed character of its outside, which causes it to adhere
together in mass, and a woollen garment to shrink and become
thicker when washed., "Fulling" is another name for the same
quality; "fulled cloth" being the name given to the article
made by subjecting woollen cloth to the action of water, and
pressure in a machine. By aid of the microscope, we see that
the fibre of wool is covered with a multitude- of leaf-like serrations (saw-tooth projections), pointing upward like the leaves
on a shoot. The curved form of the wool fibre favors its felting, but it is to these million invisible hooks that we must look
for an explanation of the property. Now, in the finer grades
of wool there is the greatest number of these tentatious hooks
in a given length, and hence their superiority for close textured
and fine goods. This little explanation will give our farmer
friends an insight into the subject of breeding sheep for various
purposes.  The Merino is, above all, the wool-maker of fine
quality. Leicester wool is famous in England for combing, or
worsted making, but is much coarser than Merino. " Yolk,"
or " gum," is the name of a glutinous secretion from the skin of
the sheep, which coats and adheres to the wool. It is a true
potash soap, and if it were not for the presence of free animal
oil with which it is mixed, wool might be washed without the
use of soap. It is most abundant in fine-woolled sheep, and is
more largely secreted in the fat sheep than in a lean one.
It is very desirable to grow sheep that will have an equal
degree of fineness of wool over a large portion of the body, and
success in this respect marks the good breeder. "Trueness"
is a term used to indicate the evenness of fibre in size throughout its whole length. When the sheep, from disease or want
of food, becomes poor, the wool fibre is rendered weak and almost ceases to grow. When it starts again, it breaks easily at
this weak point, being what is termed " breachy," and the wool
is called "unsound."  Its value is greatly depreciated by this
circumstance.  Let those who starve their sheep take the
7




1.46        YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
hint. The best health is obtained by neither over-feeding nor
starving.
The lecturer gave sketches of the various outlandish breeds
of sheep found in various parts of the world, among which
were the "fat-tailed" family, the "fat-rumped" sheep of Asia,
the many-horned sheep of Cyprus and Iceland, the Siberian,
Tartarian, Russian, and others. It is not known if the Merino
is a native of Spain. Beside that breed, there is in Spain another-a coarse-woolled, large variety, to improve which a number of Cotswold bucks were imported in the fifteenth century.
Royal ordinances in time were passed favoring the improvement of the Merino, and great progress has been made in that
direction. The number of Merinos in Spain is estimated from
four millions upward. The native sheep of France were coarse,
ill-formed animals, but in 1786 the Government purchased 376
sheep, selected from the best flocks of Spain, and placed them
at Rambouillet, in the neighborhood of Paris, where there was
an establishment devoted to breeding of animals. George III,
in 1791, introduced the Merino into England; but although
found to improve in size of carcass and in other particulars,
they had given place to the true English breeds, because found
less profitable. The " middle wools," embracing the Southdown,
Norfolk, Dorset, Ryland, Cheviot, and others, are famous for
their mutton. The Cheviots are the most hardy sheep of
Great Britain, among the improved breeds, and any one who
would try them in New England would be a public benefactor.
They thrive on bleak hill-sides and poor pastures, and their
meat is excellent. The Southdown is a native of the chalky
hills of Southern England, on which grows a short, nutritious
grass, well suited to mutton-making. By skilful breeding
they have been brought well-nigh to perfection as regards
shape, and their meat is most prizd, combining as it does fatness with tender, lean meat, and having a flavor equal to the
Highland mutton.
One hundred years ago, Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley, England,




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             147
undertook the improvement of the Leicesters, and created a
magnificent family known as the Bakewell, or Dishley sheep.
It was his aim by careful selection and breeding to combine,
if possible, fineness of bone, beauty, symmetry of form, and
tendency to fatten, with weight of carcass and a good yield of
wool. His success is shown in the fact, that while he let his
first ram for 17s. 6d. in 1760, he got in 1789, for one single
ram, 1,000 guineas, and cleared $30,000 in that year by letting
his rams.
Beside the sheep, Mr. Gold had samples of wool of all breeds,
which he exhibited to us, and a number of engravings of famous sheep, taken from various works.
NINETEENTH DAY.-FEB. 22, 1860.
We have had to-day a very interesting session, the several
lectures being replete with good points, and some of them especially worthy of consideration. The lecturers were, severally, Mr. FLINT, on the Dairy Business; Mr. GOLD, on Sheep,
and Professor SILLIMAN, Jr.
Milk, said Mr. Flint, as the first product of the cow, is composed of an oily substance, which gives it its richness; of a caseous, or cheesy substance, which gives it its strength; and of a
serous, or watery substance, which makes it refreshing as a
beverage; with a small percentage of sugar of milk, to which it
owes its sweetness, and a slight proportion of alkaline substances,
to which are due its medicinal properties. Under the microscope, it appears to be filled with myriads of little round globules, which float in the watery substance, and which rise to the
surface in the form of cream, the largest particles rising first,
and being the richest in butter. These globules are the butter
particles, surrounded with a cheesy film, and the object of
churning is to break this film, or coating, and to disengage the




148          YALE AGRTCULTURAL LECTURES.
butter particles. The different constituents of milk separate on
account of a difference in specific gravity. Milk will ordinarily
produce from ten to fifteen per cent. of cream, though it is
sometimes much richer than this, and twenty-five per cent. is
sometimes, though rarely, obtained. The product in cream is
more regular in several different lots of milk than the butter
product which can be obtained from that cream. Caseine most
resembles animal matter in composition and in nutritive qualities. The richest and most delicate butter is made from cream
which has not stood long on the milk,-the cream that rises
first making a far sweeter and better quality of butter than
that which has stood a long time. If the milk is set in a favorable position, on shelves some feet from the bottom of the milkroom, around which a circulation of pure air can be had, from
twelve to eighteen hours, in summer, is sufficient to raise all
the best of the cream; and all that rises, under ordinary circumstances, after twenty-four hours, will deteriorate the quality
to a greater extent than it increases the quantity. This is an
important practical point, and ought to lead to the most careful experiments on the part of dairymen, who have been accustomed to let their milk stand for thirty-six and even forty-eight
hours. An ordinary house-cellar is very rarely a suitable place
to set milk, and it should never be set on the bottom of a cellar, if it is to raise cream. The bad gases (carbonic acid, and
others, perhaps,) in the room, are near the bottom, and are apt
to make the cream acrid. It will produce an inferior butter.
The square box-churn is one of the best and most economical
forms. To prepare new butter-boxes as quickly as possible, so
as to. make them fit to use to send butter in to market, or to the
exhibition, dissolve common, or bicarbonate of, soda in boil.
ing water, as much as the water will dissolve, taking water
enough to fill the boxes, and at the rate of about a pound of
soda for a thirty-two pound butter-box. Pour the water in
upon it, and let it stand over night,-and the box may be used
the next day without fear of its tainting the butter. A delicate




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             149
butter may be made by burying the cream in a cloth a foot
deep in the ground, and leaving it for twelve hours or more.
Cheese has been used from a remote antiquity. Its varieties
are almost infinite. This most important branch of American
industry, the management of the dairy, involves the investment
of a vast amount of capital, the aggregate profits of which depend largely upon individual judgment and skill; and any addition, however small, to the value per pound of the butter and
cheese, would add vastly to the material wealth of the dairyman, and of the country at large. These articles are generally
the last of either the luxuries or the necessaries of life, in which
city customers are disposed to economize. They must and will
have a good article, and are ready to pay for it in proportion
to its goodness.
The great nicety and patience required to produce a firstrate quality of butter and cheese, and the gradually-increasing
aversion of our farmers' wives and daughters to manual labor,
have caused, in some districts, the butter and cheese dairies to
give place to mere milk production; and sometimes low prices
and cost of transportation to market have prevented the farmer
from realizing a profit. Poor butter is at all times a drug in
the market, and as the best can only be got by the most careful painstaking, Mr. Flint suggested that by imitating the
"Dairy Associations," or "fruitieres" of the Swiss Cantons,
New England farmers might largely increase their profits at
small risk. In the Western Reserve, there already exist cheese
manufactories, or establishments, conducted by private individuals, for which all the milk of a large district is curdled and
supplied at a stipulated price. The plan is said to have proved
successful, and is found to be a public convenience. That part
of the Swiss plan which Mr. Flint thinks best worthy of adop.
tion in New England, is, to establish at a central point, in a vil.
lage or neighborhood, a dairy establishment, under the charge
of a thoroughly skilful overseer and trained assistants, supplied
with all manner of improved presses, vats, churns, and other




150          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
paraphernalia,-the completeness of the outfit being regulated
by the amount of business to be done. This might be made
by a joint stock association, or private individuals; the former
being preferable, for a single proprietor would aim to get his
curd at the lowest possible price, whereas under the joint stock
plan the cost of manufacture is lessened and the common profit
increased. The dairy furnishes to all subscribers rennet of the
best quality, and requires them to follow a certain dairy management on the farm. At regular intervals the wagons go
about to collect the curds, and the farmer gets his pay either
for them, or for the cheese sold. In like manner, the cream
could be sent for conversion into butter. Or if skim-milk
cheese and butter were both made, both cream and curds
would be sent to the central dairy. Allowing the practicability of this plan, and I can see no great reasons to the contrary, its manifest superiority is, I think, apparent. The dairy
would become so famous for superior butter and cheese, that
an extra price could always be obtained for them in market.
In the Canton de Vaud, the butter made in these dairy establishments actually commands in market from one-fifth to onesixth more per pound than that made at the small farms about;
and in our country, where private wealth is more evenly distributed, the difference would undoubtedly be greater. Mr.
Thomas Mottley, Jr., the West Roxbury breeder, gets fifty
cents per pound for his Alderney butter in Boston, a fact
which sufficiently shows that there are plenty of persons ready
and willing to pay an enormous price for a superior article.
The care of sheep formed the subject of the lecture of Mr.
GOLD. It should always be the object of the flock-master to
keep his sheep in a thriving condition. The quality of the
wool, as well as its quantity, and the general productiveness
of the flock, demand this system.
Z4Shelter is the first necessity in providing for wintering sheep
successfully. The Southdowns will bear exposure better than




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.              151
any other class of sheep. The open fleece of the long-woolled
parts on the back when wet, and admits the water, which completely drenches the animal, so that his abundant fleece is no
longer a protection from cold.
Economy infeeding demands shelter for all sheep, as not
only less food is required, but also, it is better preserved from
waste. Water-soaked hay, or that which is in any way soiled, is
always rejected. The improvement in the quality of the manure forms another argument in favor of shelter. That this is
not only healthful, but grateful to the sheep at all seasons of
the year, we see in the fact that even in summer they will
seek their winter sheds at the approach of a storm, if they are
within their reach.
Ventilation is of paramount importance, as connected with
shelter; and to insure this, sheds, open to the south, are to be
preferred. A stable with an open window will answer for a
very small number, but the crowding of a large flock in such
a place affects the organs of respiration, and may result in serious disease, and should never be tolerated.
The best form of rack has posts three feet high in the cor.
ners, a bottom of boards, the sides and ends of two boards
each, the lower one the widest, with narrow perpendicular
strips nailed on, to keep the stronger sheep from crowding the
weaker. The spaces are larger in their perpendicular than their
horizontal opening. The size of these, as well as the width of
the rack, must be in proportion to the size of the sheep. Not
more than one hundred of the fine-woolled sheep should be confined in the same yard, while the long-woolled will not thrive
with more than twenty-five. A hospital, snug and comfortable,
should receive any sheep that may be weak from age or disease,
till, by careful feeding and nursing, they can be returned to the
flock.
It is the worst possible practice to allow the sheep to fall
away in flesh as the grass fails in autumn. The increasing
wool conceals the shrinking carcass, much to the disappoint.
5*




152          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
ment of the careless flockmasters. Better confine them in the
yard than allow them to ramble about in search of some field
of winter grain, which furnishes a little green food, but too
light to be of any real value.
rWinter fodder should embrace, in addition to the dry food,
a due proportion of that which is green and succulent. Fine
early cut clover hay, well cured, or that from old meadows,
consisting of a variety of grasses, forms the best dry fodder.
Economy demands that its quality should be good, else much
waste ensues; yet the sheep is very fond of variety, and almost
all of the so-called weeds become choice morsels. The botanist knows full well that a sheep-range will be most barren of
the objects of his search. The immortal Linnaeus tested the
plants indigenous to Sweden by offering them, fresh gathered,
to the various domesticated animals.
Horses ate 262 species, and rejected 212; cattle ate 276 species, and refused 218, while sheep took readily 387, and refused
only 141 species. For fattening, add to the hay, roots, and
grain, linseed or cotten-seed meal. The English system of winter
feeding on turnips in the field is here prevented by excessive
cold. Use them in the yards in moderate weather. Sudden
changes from green to dry food, and the reverse should be
avoided. Regularity in the hours of feeding is very important.
The amount of fodder varies with the kind of sheep, though
it is not directly proportioned to the live weight. Ten small
fine-woolled sheep will eat as much as a cow, the larger ones
requiring more. 2 to 21 or even 3* per cent. of the live weight
in hay value, is estimated by different authors as daily required.
No other animals except calves should lie in the yards with
sheep. The losses from the horns of steers and the heels of
colts more than balance any supposed gain. As the breathing
of the sheep on the hay does not of itself render it distasteful
to cattle, it may be gathered from the racks and fed in another
enclosure.




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            153
It is estimated that 300 pounds of good hay will winter a
small sheep, while larger ones may take three times the amount.
Water is absolutely necessary to the thrift of sheep in the
winter. It is best brought into the yards, as the steep banks
of streams prove dangerous to the sheep.
Salt may be provided in winter by a moderate salting of
the hay two to four quarts a ton; but excessive salting must
be avoided, as on such neither sheep nor cattle will thrive.
As the lambing season approaches, snug quarters must be
provided for the breeding ewes, where they can be clean, warm,
and dry. They will seek the necessary seclusion in the open field.
The increase from a flock of Merino or Saxony ewes, which
rarely twin, may be fiom 80 to 100 per cent., while in the Southdown or Cotswold, 150 per cent., or even more may be raised.
Little can be hoped from legislative action as a protection
from dogs. Bells attached to the necks of a few sheep in each
flock deter the cowardly curs, or give warning of their attacks.
Sheep washing, shearing, and rolling the wool demand careful attention. Diseases come mostly from carelessness, and
prevention must be our resource. The age of the sheep is determined by the teeth, but such irregularities arise in these as
well as in other animals, that the Connecticut State Agricultural
Society have decided to receive satisfactory testimony as to the
age of any animal, rather than to depend on the indications
of the teeth.
Of the three breeds on the stage, for the food consumed,
the Merinos yield the most wool, the Cotswolds the most mutton, and the Southdowns mutton of the best quality.
The celebrated experiment of Lawes and Gilbert in England
on 50 sheep, of each of the most celebrated British breeds, proves
the Cotswold as giving for the food the most wool and mutton;
the Southdown the least; yet, sold in Smithfield, the Southdown brought three cents per pound the most, so that the results as to profit were equal.
The Southdown is eminently fitted for the light lands of New
7*




154          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
England; and when sheep husbandry shall have attained its
proper place, it will be found as a chief instrument in that result,
and their flocks will cover a thousand hills.
Prof. B. SILLIMAN, JR.'S second lecture on Meteorology was
devoted to a description of the barometer, in its various forms,
and the practical rules derived from its observation, applicable
to the business of agriculture.
He first illustrated experimentally the discovery of the barometer, by Torricelli, in 1643. By means of an air-pump and
two barometers, one in and the other out of the vacuum, he
illustrated the influence of the atmospheric presence at the
height of the mercurial column.
The model of the mercury barometer, made by Green, of New
York, after the directions of Prof. Guyot, of the Smithsonian
Institution, was exhibited, as well as other forms of this instrument.
He alluded to the practical objections to the mercurial barometer as an instrument for general use —its cost, if well made,
and its unavoidable delicacy and fragility,-which must always
act as a bar to its general use by the farmer.
Fortunately we had, in the " aneroid " barometer, an instrument free from these objections. Sufficiently cheap, not liable
to be disordered easily, and withal sensitive and accurate
enough for the use which is made of the barometer as a
"weather prophet."  He proceeded to give a popular description of the essential features of the aneroid barometer (or barometer "without a fluid," as the term implies). This instrument
was invented by Mr. Vidi, of Paris; it is without mercury, and
consists of a flat and circular metallic box, the cover of which
is very thin and corrugated, or in ridges and furrows, concentric
with the walls. The air is exhausted from this box, which is
then hermetically sealed. The result is, that the elastic cover
rises and falls with every change in atmospheric pressure. By
means of a combination of levers and springs, these move



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             155
ments are communicated from the centre of the cover to a
pointer which moves over the graduated face of a card, on
which inches and hundredths are inscribed. The whole apparatus
is encased in a brass box, about four inches in diameter and
two inches deep, covered with a front glass, and resembling in
general appearance a chronometer case.
These instruments are now made by Mr. E. Kendall, of New
Lebanon Spa, N. Y., well known everywhere for his mercurial
thermometers. His instruments compare well with the French,
and with the movements of the mercurial barometer, and sell
for the moderate price of ten dollars, or one-third the cost of a
Smithsonian barometer. Although for purposes of scientific
accuracy nothing can replace the old form of mercurial barometer, Prof. Silliman did not hesitate to recommend the
aneroid as the best barometer for the use of the farmer.
Numerous testimonials, from farmers who had used them,
showed their utility in enabling the farmer to choose the time
of cutting and curing his hay, planting, &c.
Prof. Silliman explained why the words "fair," "changeable," "foul," " tempest," &c., &c., written on the scale of the
cheap forms of mercury barometers were entirely unreliable.
It was only at the sea level that the barometer stood at an
average height of thirty inches, and hence a mere change of
place, rising a few hundred feet, would make the barometer
fall permanently below "fair weather," whatever the faee of
the sky might say to the contrary. That the use of the barometer might be better understood, he enumerated the following general rules, which embody the results of long and various
experience in different places:
1. When the mercury is very low, high winds and storms
are likely to prevail.
2. Generally the rising of the mercury indicates the approach
of fair weather; the falling of it shows the approach of foul
weather.
3. In sultry weather the falling of the mercury indicates




156          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
coming thunder. In winter, the rise of mercury indicates
frost. In frosty weather, its fall indicates thaw, and its rise
indicates snow.
4. Whatever change of weather suddenly follows a change
in the barometer, may be expected to last but a short time.
5. When the barometer alters slowly, a long succession of
foul weather will succeed if the column falls, or of fair weather
if the column rises.
6. A fluctuating and unsettled state in the mercurial column
indicates changeable weather.
In these rules, the "index of the aneroid" may take the
place of " the mercury column."
Prof. Silliman called to witness the experience of Mr. Jos.
Lesley, Jr., of Phila., one of the class who had, as a topographical engineer, made great use of the aneroid as a levelling
instrument. This gentleman stated that he had used this
instrument during the whole season in determining contour
lines over hundreds of miles of broken country, and had found,
on calculating his lines at the end of the season, the differences
quite inconsiderable. He was disposed to rank the aneroid, as
an instrument for scientific uses, higher than Prof. Silliman had
placed it, but stated it was important to apply always a correction for temperature-a sort of" personal equation," varying
for each instrument.
Prof. Silliman concluded by quoting still farther some of the
general conclusions of Prof. Henry, Prof. Coffin, Mr. Espy,
and others, as embodied in the Agricultural Reports of the
Patent Office and of the Smithsonian Institution. He strongly
advised the class to study the articles on meteorology, contained in the documents for the years 1856 to 1860, as being far
the most reliable of anything hitherto within the reach of the
general reader.
In the evening there was delivered a lecture by CAssIUs M.
CLAY, on stock and stock-breeding.
Mr. Clay's first lecture was given in the Baptist church,




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            157
to an audience of several hundred persons. He commenced
by stating that he had come here as a progressive farmer, to
lend his aid and influence to a movement which he deemed of
great importance, and the necessity for which he had for
years appreciated. We hear it said on every hand, and
especially by politicians, that farming is a respectable business;
but he thought that no amount of honeyed phrases or plausible
talk would make any calling respectable. Agriculturists were
ahead of most others in moral and physical developments. If
farmers would be really respected, they must refine and cultivate themselves into respectability, and not wait for it to be
done by others. They must carry their capital into the
country, and use it judiciously in advancing their farm practice.
Taste should be cultivated; and rural architecture, landscape
gardening, and other things which render a country attractive,
should especially be fostered. To further this great object
this Convention had been called, thanks to the sagacity and
enterprise of Prof. Porter; and although it would have been
perhaps more convenient to him (Mr. Clay) if it had held its
session in Kentucky, yet, it being in Connecticut, he was willing to come hither, for what tended to promote the advancement of New England farming was as dear to his heart as if
it were especially pointed at Kentucky interests. It is the
sheerest madness for farmers to drain the heart of their farms
and invest their funds ini stocks and bonds, for the application of
capital to farm improvements would give as large comparative
profit as it would in any other business. The introduction of
better classes of farm stock, Mr. Allen had told us, would add
from forty to sixty millions of dollars annually to our wealth. If
we took this sum for a few years and applied it to farm improvement, what magnificent results would be attained! Through
the interior of Kentucky the farmers were so sensible of the
profit derivable from improved stock, that they would no
longer purchase common scrubs at any price, nor even give
them standing room on their farms. For they had found, and




158          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
others would find, that to purchase them at any price was in
the long run poor economy.
He would not attempt to describe all the multifarious breeds
of cattle in the civilized world, but would confine his remarks
to the five leading British breeds —the Alderney or Jersey,
the Ayrshire, the Devon, the Hereford, and the Shorthorn.
In size and weight the Alderney is the smallest; it is supposed
to have come from Normandy, but has been improved in the
Channel Islands, and is greatly superior to what it formerly
was. It is a picturesque-looking animal in appearance, rather
than a strictly beautiful one. Those which he had seen were
mostly ewe-necked, sway-backed, high in the withers, full
bellied, and narrow in the girth. But he understood that by
skilful breeding there had been many individuals of the breed
made up to a symmetry and development quite creditable.
The Alderney, he conceded, gives the richest of all milks, but
little in quantity. Taken to the country, it was an active
animal, capable of getting a living on scanty pastures. It will
thrive in some degree almost anywhere with us, but undoubtedly does best in districts which are the same isothermally as
its native land.
The Devons are supposed to have been brought to England
with the Celts, and are, perhaps, rightly regarded as the oldest
breed of the British Isles. They are mostly a dark red, with
close, fine curly hair. They are a degree larger than the
Alderney, are heavy in the head and horn, do not carry out
the rump well, but are a very good animal withal. They give
rather more milk than the Alderney, and of almost as rich a
quality. They are not very heavy in the brisket, and, being
narrow between the shoulders, are enabled to move briskly,
and are thus adapted to working under the yoke, although
rather light for heavy draft-and hence they have been improved by a cross of the Shorthorn for oxen. The Longhorns
have been tried in Kentucky, but abandoned, for they did not
prove either famous milkers or feeders. The Devon is too




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           159
small for Kentucky, and for other districts like it where there
is abundance of heavy, rich pasturage. They do not aim at
getting single famous milkers in his State, for they keep many
animals, and a little milk from several is fully adequate to their
purpose, beef being the great end.
The Hereford he does not deem an original breed, for they
were formerly of a dun and dark color, and are now white-faced
and throated; a peculiarity which he thought owing to a cross
with the Glamorgans, and not the Somersets. Their greatest
inferiority was that they were miserable milkers; a very bad
fault, for there are doubtless a thousand persons who wish a
milking animal to one who wants to make beef. The Hereford,
as compared with the Shorthorn, is coarser in the shoulder and
thicker in the hide, beside wanting that general symmetry
which characterizes their great rivals. A good handling quality of hide is highly prized by the butcher, for a mellow, spongy
skin indicates a good quality of beef, and that well " marbled."
In this important feature he had found the Hereford deficient.
He was aware that this breed is a favorite with butchers, but
thought it greatly due to the fact that it lays on its fat in
patches on the inside of the carcass, and thus goes in the " fifth
quarter" as the butcher's perquisite.
The Shorthorn he deems an original, and not, as popularly
supposed, a created breed. They vary much, it is true, in
color, but these variations are well defined, and evermore repeated. He had never, seen a real Shorthorn without some
patch of white on it. The physiognomy of the race is the same
as in olden times; a fact which he thought demonstrated in their
resemblance at this day to the outline of an old Shorthorn
cow sculptured centuries ago upon a marble slab in an old
church at Durham. The Shorthorn has not only perfection
of form, but size, fattening properties, and milking qualities
as well. In England, Scotland, and this country, any dairy
which is famous will generally be composed of Shorthorns,
either thoroughbred or grades. We may breed out the milk



160          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
ing quality, but we may on the other hand develop it to a great
extent by careful breeding from milking families.  He has had
an animal give thirty-two quarts of milk daily;-the Shakers
of Kentucky report one giving forty quarts a day-and he believed the breed will make more butter and cheese than any
other. In early maturity they are unrivalled. At two years
old they have been sent from Kentucky to the New York market
in prime condition, though three and upwards is the usual age.
He was not of those who admitted that the improved Shorthorn-family had been created by Charles and Robert Colling,
for Colling himself admitted that he had bought fine animals
wherever he could find them before he began to breed for himself, and Phoenix and Lady Maynard were as fine animals as he
ever bred. He had bred judiciously, and improved the breed
in extent, but its origin must be sought prior to the days of
Charles Colling's Hubback. Perhaps it may not be advisable
to use them in New England to the exclusion of other cattle;
but throughout the whole interior of this country, where the
climate is fair and the pasturage good, they would, as they had
in Kentucky already, run out any other of the leading breeds
which might be placed in competition with them.
The Ayrshire is essentially a modern breed. At least there
was no such breed -famous in Ayr a hundred years ago; and he
was of the impression that it had originated in a cross of the
Shorthorn with the West Highlanders. It has many of the
characteristics of the Shorthorn; is, neaxt to it, the heaviest
feeder; and its.great milking properties he thinks due to that
part of its parentage.. Carried to poorer pastures in England
and elsewhere, the Ayrshire does not thrive as well as on its
native fields. Some public-spirited farmers in Kentucky have
recently imported. some of the breed, and will give it another
fair trial; but Mr. Clay believes the same unfavorable result
will follow as has heretofore.
Mr. Clay claimed that his favorite breed possessed all the
essential points of true beauty. Beauty, he thought, was com



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             161
posed of five elements. 1st, Propriety: that is, the adaptation
of means to an end. The full impression of beautyis never conveyed to the cultivated mind if the eye is shocked at seeing an
unsuitableness of form to the purpose in view. 2d, The elliptical line, or the oval.  We make our picture-fi'ames oval because that is the most beautiful shape, and so do we our plats
of grass and the leading features of a landscape garden, while
the female face is never absolutely faultless unless it presents
the oval form when viewed in front. The Greeks made the
face oval in the Venus, but fuller in the forehead in the Minerva and Jupiter. 3d, Color. The brightest gems are the best,
and the greatest luxuriance of tints is lavished by nature,
where she makes her loveliest handiwork. 4th, Smoothness of
surface. The angular form is not admissible in a connection
with the beautiful; and roughness is merely angularity infinitely multiplied. 5th, Proportion, or the harmonious arrangement of parts. All these qualities he thought combined in the
perfected Shorthorn of our time; and we are bound to respect
the beautiful, for we spend at least ten times as much for it as
we do for the purely utilitarian.
Mr. Clay illustrated his remarks with the aid of a large painted sketch of one of his Shorthorn cows, which was suspended
aft the back of the platform. He was loudly applauded on
resuming his seat, as also was the announcement by Prof. Porter that the second lecture would be given to-morrow morning.
Mr. Clay being limited to one hour and a quarter, by agreement with other lecturers, did nof go as fully into the description of the several breeds as he had desired.




162          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
TWENTIETH DAY.-FEBi. 23, 1860.
To-day two lectures on stock-breeding were given, one by
Mr. ALLEN, the other by CAssIus M. CLAY. There was no
great diversity of opinion between the two breeders as to the
broad, fundamental laws of the art; so that while I am debarred
from giving sketches of both lectures, their substance can be
as well condensed into one.
Mr. Allen read a letter from Mr. John T. Norton, the famous
Jersey breeder, of Farmington, Ct., which embodies so much
valuable information, that I cannot refrain from publishing it
in this connection. Mr. Norton says:
"The pure Alderney cattle come mostly from the Island of
Jersey, in the British Channel, where they have been kept free
from mixture for a hundred years, —no other breeds being ailowed on the island. Similar cattle are found on the other
Channel Islands; but all more or less mixed with other breeds.
About two thousand head of cows and heifers are annually
sold from the island, the area of which is not much greater
than that of one of our largest New England towns, at an average of ~5 sterling each, making ~100,000 sterling, or $500,000,
from this source alone.
"The Alderney cows are small and thin, with delicate deer.
like limbs-generally light yellow or fawn color-always poor
in flesh when in milk, but taking fat readily when dry. They
are remarkable for gentleness and docility —easily kept, and
usually give milk nearly up to the time of calving.
"The important question in relation to these cows is their
value compared with other breeds. It will be conceded at once
that for fattening, for labor, and for furnishing milk for sale,
they are inferior to almost all other breeds.
"In Great Britain they are kept mostly by the wealthy, to
supply their own tables with milk, cream, and butter. Colman
says:'Every nobleman and large land-owner keeps one or more
tethered on his lawn, for family use.' They are also kept by




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           163
many London dairymen in the proportion of one Alderney to
ten other cows, to color the milk for market.
"My ownsexperience, after many years, has led me to the
conclusion that for butter-making they are superior to any
others, yielding more in quantity and of better quality.
"In all other breeds, and also among grades, superior milkers
and butter-makers may be found, equalling in quality of butter, and giving more milk, and producing more butter, than
most Alderneys. But there is no other breed known here that
can always be relied on. I have never known an Alderney
cow whose milk and butter had not the characteristics of the
breed. They differ, as do others, in quantity, and somewhat
in quality; but the peculiar color and quality are manifest in
all.
"The daily yield of milk of each cow, during their best milking
period, varies from six to twelve quarts. This milk will make
about one pound of butter to six quarts of milk. One pound
from twelve quarts is not far from the average yield from other
breeds.
"'The average product of butter from my cows in 1859, was
a fraction over two hundred pounds each. The average product of the dairies of the State of New York, I think,- is about
one hundred and twenty pounds to each cow.
"The premiums by the New York State Society for the
greatest product, have been given to dairies producing about
one hundred and eighty poinds each cow.
"My cows have had no extra feed. In summer they are
kept on grass only. In winter they have one feed daily of cut
corn-stalks, straw, or coarse hay, with a slight sprinkling of
bran, or cotton-seed meal, and two feeds of dry hay.
"The average price for which my butter sold in 1859, was
thirty-five cents. The price now is forty cents. In March
and April, it is to be forty-three cents, by contract, in Boston.
"In relation to any improvement in the stock, I am of the
opinion that none can be made by crossing with any known




164          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
breed. Increase in size, or an increased disposition to fatten,
will be gained only at the expense of a loss in cream and butter.
"An analysis of numerous specimens of milk made in 1858 by
Dr. S. R. Percy, under the direction of the New York Academy of Medicine, resulted as follows, viz.: The milk from six
of my Alderneys, taken indiscriminately, exhibited butter compared with the best other milk, as seventy-two to forty-seven,
and compared with mixed country milk, as seventy-two to
forty.
"I am yours, very respectfully,
"JOHN T. NORTON."
Mr. CLAY commenced his second lecture on Cattle Breeding by pointing out, on the large sketch of a cow, the several
good and bad points of the improved Shorthorn. There should
be no surplus meat about the head, for it is all waste, or nearly
so, and it consumes a quantity of food in being created which
might be more profitably employed. A large dewlap, being
poor for meat, and the skin inferior for leather, and a useless
deformity, should be avoided. A straight spine indicates a state
of health, as well as fine beef. Whenever an animal is too closely
bred, or suffers in health, the spine droops, and the animal is called "sway-backed." The girth should be as large as possible, for
just under and behind the shoulders are located the vital parts
-the heart, lungs, &c., and ample space should be given to
them for full development. Without this there can never be
the perfection of vigorous growth and hardiness of constitution. The ribs should be joined to the spine at, or near, a
right angle, should spring well outward, and drop well down
toward the belly, —that there may be capaciousness of carcass
to hold the viscera and food. The rump should be long to
hold fine meat, and a long stretch from hip-bone to hock is necessary to give powerful leverage to working-oxen. A large
brisket, projecting forward, and dropping below the line of the
belly, he does not like, but rather aims at getting one of medi



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            166
um size, which indicates a strong constitution. A too large
one is a deformity, a too small one a sign of weakness; it is
but a wall for the chest. When too large, it forces the animal
to turn slowly, like a long ship, and makes rapid motion difficult. Breadth of chest is to be sought after, for manifest reasons. The flank should drop well down, not so much for the
profit it gives as to preserve a general symmetry of form. The
beast should be well ribbed back. That is to say, there should
be little space between the last of the short ribs and the hipbone. If an animal is too long in body, it is apt to sway, or
sink in the back, on the same principle as a long rope stretched
from two points sinks at the centre. The feet and legs should
be small, though not weak.  The shin-bones make fine soup.
In Kentucky, they esteem as peculiarly delicious a part which
we throw away, viz., the feet. They first parboil them until
well cooked, when the hoofs come off. They are cooled, and
then reboiled, and before being served up, cream is added, with
chopped onions, and some pepper and salt. Mr. Clay said he
would travel further to get a dish of feet than a bowl of green
turtle soup. I think we had better get our wives to try it.
The loin should be broad and full-here is the prime beef.
The tail set on a level with the back, and large-falling from
well back, and tapering to the joint. The perfection of girth,
therefore, in an animal is the perfect circle, filling up the crops
well.
Twenty-eight years ago Mr. Clay began breeding Shorthorns,
and imported the first thoroughbred into Madison county, Kentucky. He was a candidate for the Legislature at the time,
and thinks he lost many hundred votes because he dared to
pay $100 for a blooded bull. His neighbors thought it better
to send him to a lunatic asylum than to the Legislature. Things
are changed now. These very men come to him and pay sometimes $300 for a single animal. In former and more prosperous
times he has had 500 or more animals feeding on his farm at
once, and has handled as many as a thousand head in a year.




166         YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
His herd is now small, but choice; for he has sold -the poorer
animals and kept none but the best. He breeds from the stock
of 1817, and later brought, and holds his own with the owners
of recently imported animals.
Breeding as an Art.-In breeding, we cannot be too strongly
impressed with the fact that LIKE PRODUCES LIKE. Does a man
gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? We should
regard purity of blood, choosing our breeding-animals from a
family in which there has been a succession of animals of the
same type. If we use a grade bull we are never sure but that
the calf will take on the type of some one of the worst of his
ancestors. Climate, soil, and food, have a great effect on the
physical development of both men and animals. A genial climate and abundance of food make beautiful and healthy ani.
mals, and the magnificent Shorthorn doubtless owes it supremacy to the fact that it had both of these aids in the valley of
the Tees.
We should strive to breed so that the defects of one parent
may be counterbalanced by the points of the other. If the
dam is inferior in girth, the sire should be fine there; if the one
be too long in body, the other should be rather short. We
should never cross animals of very great dissimilarity of development, however, lest the defect be thereby unreached, nor
should such diverse breeds as the Alderney and Shorthorn
be mingled. Mr. Clay is a decided opponent to the practice
of " in-and-in" breeding, basing his objections on what he deems
adequate experience and observation. In his opinion it is as
wrong to breed closely with animals, as for cousins and other
near relatives to intermarry. Bakewell, of Dishley, England,
proved that fully. He gathered the best specimens of sheep
and Longhorns, and bred them up to good specimens-making
the Leicester into the improved Dishleys, and very superior
Longhorns. But by " in-and-in," or close breeding, the stock
ran down. The Bakewells, or Dishleys, had to invigorate
with new crosses, and the Longhorns, being at best a poor




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            167
breed, have gone to nothing I He referred his audience to a
full discussion of the subject of "in-and-in" breeding, between
himself and others, in the American Agriculturist for 1859.
As a general rule the female should be comparatively larger
than the male. Mr. C. had found it very hard for scrub cows
to be delivered of the fcetus by a large Shorthorn bull. A
large coarse bull is especially to be avoided.
The whole art of'eeding might be summed up in the remark,
that the animal should never recede in flesh till mature, but be
kept in good growing order always; never too fat nor too lean.
That is the way to have perfection of form-other things being
equal. When animals are grown it is not so important to keep
them always in good flesh; although he has known show animals, once too fat, ruined in health by getting too poor! Too
much fat will destroy the breeding power in male and female
frequently. In Kentucky they are fast rivalling, if not excelling, England. Because, by the system of open stables and
out-door exercise, the laws of health are better observed.
The animals in England kept too much in stables and fed on
heating food like oil-cake, have to be rowelled, bled, and
purged! Of course we who follow nature's law, need none of
that; and will ultimately beat them in perfection of form, &c.
With us, in Kentucky, there is none of that degeneration of
animals imported, which is so often talked of in the North;
because we keep up the favorable surroundings and means of
progress.
The Shorthorns will conceive at under four months. But
Mr. Clay prefers to have them 2 years old before they are impregnated. If they calve younger they should be fed highly,for, if they are not, the foetus takes up so much of the nutriment, that the mother is stinted in food for necessary assimilation, and becomes stunted and ill-formed. Possibly early breeding may rather more favor the milking quality; but his experience is not sufficient to accede without further proofs to this
general idea.




168          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
All breeds for permanent breeders should be thoroughbred.
The Shorthorn brings up the native cattle wonderfully,-but
they should be bred all the time to a thoroughbred bull, and
the grades should not be bred, if it can be avoided, to any
other bull. This way will bring a herd up wonderfully by the
simple outlay for a good bull.
With regard to color: within the bounds which mark a
breed, he knows no utilitarian color. The Shorthorns combine
red and white in all proportions; but no other color, except
yellow, is admissible.  Red is just now the favorite color.
Roan was once, and may be again. White winters and fattens
as well in Kentucky as any other color. Some of the finest
bullocks ever sent to the New York market were grazed by
him, and were whites. The finest and best fatted heifer he
ever saw was descended, from the 1817 stock of Shorthorns,
and was white-weighing over two thousand pounds!
Mr. Clay did not believe the doctrine that the features of the
first sire were impressed to some extent upon all succeeding
fcetuses. He thought that idea had been originated by the
women! Mr. Clay thought we were in the infancy of the art
of breeding-full of uncertainty now; yet the laws of breeding were as fixed as the laws of Physics. All we wanted was
knowledge. We knew no way at present of influencing.the
sex —though he thought the most vigorous animal influenced
the sex. He thought, if an old bull went to many cows, the
calves would be heifers mostly; —but if a young bull went to a
few and rather old cows, the result would be males. We
needed more intelligence and more close observation. The
course of higher progress was in such efforts as those now here
making. Let our motto be-Excelsior!




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.           169
TWENTY-FIRST DAY.-FEB. 24, 1860.
According to the pre-arranged schedule, we should have had
a lecture from Mr. DONALD G. MITCHELL (Ik Marvel), on
Rural Economy, and two from AMBROSE STEVENS, on Horses;
but Mr. Mitchell excused himself on the ground that his subject had, in great degree, been anticipated in preceding lectures, and owing to some fault in the mails, or otherwise, Prof.
Porter's letters and telegraphic dispatches failed to reach Mr.
Stevens. We have been in both cases disappointed; for there
is no such graceful pen as Ik Marvel's enlisted in the cause of
agriculture, and Mr. Stevens is regarded as one of the bestinformed and scholarly of our horse and cattle breeders.
Mr. MAsoN C. WELD, a pupil of Liebig's, and now one of the
editors of The Jlornestead, gave us last evening a sensible lecture on Agricultural Associations.
After remarking upon the general benefits of association
among farmers-the proposition being maintained that in proportion to the degree of enlightenment attained, is the readiness of individuals to communicate their knowledge and experience for the benefit of others-Mr. Weld took up, separately,
the various kinds of organizations sustained for mutual benefit
among farmers. Cattle insurance companies, on the mutual
plan, were passed with simply calling attention to them as
having a very beneficial effect in necessitating accurate veterinary knowledge and practice, and the humane treatment of
poor, ailing beasts, instead of the barbarities now too often
practised. Agricultural associations were treated under thG
following titles: Temporary Farmers' Clubs, Permanent Farmers' Clubs, Town Clubs; County, State, and National Agricultural Societies.
The Temporary Farmers' Clubs are simply meetings of farmers-e. g., those attending a fair, or members of a State Legislature —who assemble, appoint a chairman, and talk agricul:
8




170           YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
ture. The requisites to success are-1st, short speeches; 2d,
an active, prompt chairman.
The Farmers' Club proper, is an organization-the simpler
the better —of the farmers of a neighborhood. It was advised
to have, in general, no regular constitution, but a few simple
rules instead; to elect a presiding officer at every meeting, but
to have a permanent secretary, with extraordinary powers,
appointed annually. The primary object of the farmers' clubs
is, to promote, in every feasible way, the improvement of the
agriculture of the district. This is accomplished by making
common stock of the knowledge possessed by each member;
collecting statistics; keeping a record of extraordinary events;
distributing seeds and grafts; testing implements; aiding each
other by counsel; maintaining regular meetings; a library, &c.
A plan for breaking up the boys' debating-society system,
which such clubs are apt to fall into, to the disgust of good
farmers, and the ultimate discontinuance of the clubs, was prefaced as follows: Suppose the clubs to represent fairly the best
farmers of their districts, and to meet all of them (that is, all
of the State or county) upon the same day, about the first of
each month. A set of questions for each month in the year
being set forth by the central State association, each farmer
may answer each question as concerns his own farm; and as
the questions should be carefully prepared with a view to develop the most important facts and statistics, a summary of the
answers of all will give a view of the position of the town,
prospectively and retrospectively, as regards its products seeking a market; sales and purchases; crop prospects and results
of harvests; increase of stock; diseases among domestic animals;
prevalence of disease among crops; insect ravages, &c. The
plan is, that these monthly statistics should be placed on file;
a summary sent to the secretary of the county, or State society, as soon as possible, in order that the more important facts,
affecting the market, may be made public, while all should be
kept on file at one place or the other, for reference and inves



YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             171
tigation. The object to be gained is the personal interest of
members in the club, and especially of all good farmers, and
the full accomplishment of the legitimate ends of the association. The Farmers' Clab was held to be the most important
means of educating a class of energetic and intelligent farmers,
to whom may be intrusted the affairs of the State and County
Agricultural Societies.
The County Society should be made up of the Farmers'
Clubs, and the two classes of organizations should work harmoniously together, each doing its own work. A more definite
organization is needed-officers elected for one year at least,
a vice-president, or director, being chosen from each town by
the Farmers' Club of the town. The fairs were shown to be
a chief means of carrying forward the objects of these societies,
and also the great desirableness of; and the great difficulty of
securing the services of fair, honorable, intelligent, reasonable
men to act as Awarding Committees. The cure for the state of
things now commonly existing lies in first offering fewer premiums, and increasing their value; second, allowing no discretionary premiums, or gratuities, to be given in classes in which
regular prizes are offered; third, insisting that the award shall
represent the accurate estimation of the committee of the
worthiness of the animal, or article, without regard to the encouragement or reward of the owner for making the exhibition;
fourth, throwing the whole of the responsibility of making a correct judgment upon the committee, and securing the fairest and
best men. Offering prizes for articles of no agricultural use
or importance, as well as making balloon shows, ladies' ridingmatches, &c., were condemned as undignified and unworthy of
an Agricultural Association.
State Societies should-as most do —depend upon the county
organizations, as these in turn do upon the clubs; and their
management is much the same-only upon a larger scale. Museums of all things of an agricultural bearing, implements,
grasses and grains, seeds, models, &c., and libraries of home




172          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
and foreign journals and books of reference, were advocated,
as well as the practical use of interchanges of seeds, grafts, &c.,
through the medium of this mutual dependence of the societies
and clubs one upon another.
In conclusion, the lecturer advocated strongly the establishment at once of an experimental farm, in connection with a
thoroughly furnished laboratory, referring to the debt the world
owes Lawes and Gilbert for their experiments at Rothampstead,
and to the most weighty results developed by the investigations in France and Germany, which latter country has now in
operation more than forty experiment stations under the management of competent men of science in connection with practical farmers.
The convention assembled at 9 o'clock this morning, and
listened to a lecture upon the methods in use for " Breaking
and training horses," by Dr. DANIEL F. GULLIVER, of Norwich.
The introductory part of his lecture was spent mainly in describing the characteristics of horses as distinct from other
breeds of animals. Their high spirit, great intelligence, and
susceptibility to fear as well as kindness, render them a proper
companion for man. Upon these principles in his nature do the
principles of training depend. The systems of Baucher and
Rarey only will be discussed. The former is easy and extremely simple, even almost stupid when considered in its several
parts, yet as a whole it is eminently successful. It was first introduced into this country in 1851, at Philadelphia. It is very
popular in France, so much so that in the eight years from'41
to'49, nine editions were sold of that work. It should be owned
by every man that owns a horse. This system is designed
principally to finish the horse for the saddle; but its principles
are applicable to all classes of horses, excepting those intended
for heavy draught. Mr. Seth Craige, of Philadelphia, who has
used this method even from the proof sheets, whence he learned it, says a horse fitted for the saddle makes the best harness
horse, and this is the system for developing speed and harmony




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.             173
of action. The animal is well balanced, and so trots better because all its movements are regular. Everything is graceful,
and all the forces of the system assist each other. Herbert
says a horse has greater docility, as well as better style and action, if it be thoroughly trained in the saddle before being put
into the harness. The improvement is proportioned to the extent and degree of supplying more or less. To break properly, we
should seek out sources of resistance to graceful motion, whether
from the physical nature, or from a previous imperfect motion.
All the resistances we should overcome by a progressive system of suppling, applied successively to the principal muscles
from the head to the haunches. The work is generally badly
begun, and bad habits are produced. The termforce, as we use it,
is muscular power in action. The forces of the horse are subjected to control by giving to the body a new balance, where all the
instinctive forces are changed to transmitted.  Forces are
termed instinctive, when the horse determines the use of them;
transmitted, when the man determines the use of them. Any
man who has a modicum of " horse" in his disposition, may go
through the supplings with his beast and break him well, but
it is a gradual process. The forces should be first conquered,
and finally studied so as properly to direct them. The animal
should be taught the exercise of the forces of balance and motion. The focus of these forces is the centre of gravity of the
animal, while at rest or in motion. The various technical steps
in this process were gone through with in detailed description
by Dr. G., commencing from the head and passing along backward. The muscles controlling the action of the animal are to be
subdued individually. Direct and indirect flexion of the jaw
and of those muscles which join' the head to the neck, is calculated to aid his intelligence, and thus secures, more satisfactorily, what the bitting harness is designed to accomplish.
The very use of training is to supple the horse to the hand;
hence, what need of machinery? The neck and head are the
two props upon which the horse relies to resist efforts to breab




174          YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
him. The whip should seldom be used as a punishment, but
when it is, let it be done energetically and suddenly, to frighten
the horse and intimidate him, rather than by being passionate
and furious, to make him angry. There is great advantage in
removing the support before shifting the weight. And an animal must be taught to lift his foot before throwing the weight
in the direction he wishes to move. Whatever is possible with
a horse, Baucher's system makes attainable, and this by the
easiest means. The action of wild horses is perfect, but when
domesticated, chained to a stable, holding sharp bits, (of which
folty kinds were lately on exhibition in Philadelphia,) the native
grace is lost; but all the high capabilities remain, and are seen
in the common horse, when developed by the supplings of
Baucher.  "What is gracefully done is easily done," is a
maxim as applicable here as elsewhere. The horse of the present day wears out too soon because its education is forgotten,
and it is treated like a machine. Proper breaking and training
would add 30, 60, and in special cases even 100 per cent. to
the value of horses. Not one in a hundred, Herbert tells us, or
even in a thousand in the United States, was ever properly
broken, and not one in fifty has the proper rudiments of an education. In ten years the demand for saddle horses will be increased in a twelve-fbld ratio. The foolish desire of the community is for speed. If a horse is not fast, he is good for nothing. The high prices these fast horses bring would be a fortune to some of the farmers. But they forget how many intermediate hands these prices pay. Most farmers try to breed
something FAST (tempted by the fabulous price, or because
their neighbors do); thus the whole community is involved,
and the market glutted with a class of horses, which if they
fail in speed are fit for nothing else. This process is the best
to develop the animal, but it must be progressively and carefully applied. Such is Baucher's effectual means to annul and
equalize all resistances. Rarey's method is applicable to all
horses, of all ages, but to those especially who have never been




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            175
handled at all, or have been badly handled. It consists in laying the horse flat upon the ground, by simple and easy means,
though in extreme cases the terrible process of choking is
resorted to. In 1858, the New York Tribune gave a compendium of it. The nigh fore leg is to be bent at the knee, and
the hoof strapped to the leg. A long strap is fastened low on
the off fore leg. Thus we have the horse on three legs and
under control. After two or three throws he becomes entirely
submissive, and no act of kindness is thereafter lost upon him.
Affection to his master, personally, is the great result of the
Rarey method. -This throwing need not injure the animal,
since it may be done with some soft material under foot, or the
knees be protected by pads; moreover, the posture is one the
horse assumes voluntarily whenever he wishes to lie down. In
a herd of native horses, social position is determined by the
varying degree of muscular force, and if so overcome by man,
he will be convinced he is his superior and yield. If you go so
far, you have now a pupil which will learn anything. But be
patient, even-tempered, not hasty, and never angry. Rarey
says anger and fear should not be known to trainers. Ask
nothing that you do not want, and then always have it performed.
At the close of the lecture, Wm. Whittlesey, of New
Britain, was called to the chair, and several questions bearing
on different points, were asked the lecturer, all of which he
answered satisfactorily.
THE COURSE CLOSED.
NEW HAVEN, Feb. 25, 1860.
After Mr. Mason C. Weld's lecture, as I yesterday stated,
there followed an address by Professor PORTER, and a sort of
Aiscussion upon the success of this plan of agricultural education. Professor Porter has modestly refrained from speechmaking from the very commencement, and has stooped to none




176          YYALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
of those tricks to make popularity which the engineers of less
important enterprises often employ. He deemed it incumbent
upon him, at the close of his course, to give a sketch of its
inception, and show what reasons he had to believe its permanence secured.
I shall make no report of his remarks, for in his preface to
this volume he has stated his views at sufficient length, and
much better than I could.
The Professor having concluded his remarks, Mr. H. A.
Dyer, Treasurer of the Connecticut Agricultural Society, was,
on motion, elected Chairman of the meeting, and Mr. H. A.
Pitkin, of Louisville, Ky., Secretary; and an organization
being thus effected,
Dr. WM. A. TOWNSEND, of Lockport, N. Y., offered the fol
lowing preamble and resolutions:
Whereas, The Faculty of the Scientific School of Yale College have
instituted a course of lectures, given by scientific and practical men, in
relation to all the various departments of agriculture, combined with a
system of discussion, questions and answers, statements and illustrations,
we who have participated in these interesting exercises feel a desire to
express to the agricultural community at large our views and opinions
in regard to the same: therefore,
Resolved, That we cordially and fully approve of this method of diffusing and disseminating agricultural information, and regard it as the
opening of a new era, and presenting new facilities to all classes of agriculturists in our country for obtaining correct and reliable information
and knowledge, in relation to the cultivation of the soil, and therefore
recommend this method to the candid consideration of all farmers and
cultivators, of whatever age, position, and locality.
Resolved, That in view of the success of this Convention, the gratitude
of the agricultural community is due to Prof. JOHN A. PORTER and his
associates for the design so happily conceived, and his untiring efforts
in carrying it out.
Resolved, That we entertain the hope and express our earnest desire
that this may prove the germ of a permanent institution, endowed with
all needful facilities for illustration, which, as a department of the Yale




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.                177
Scientific School, shall greatly promote the cause of Agriculture, and
elevate the farmer to his true social and intellectual position.
Resolved, That we hereby tender our warmest thanks to the citizens
of New Haven, who have extended to us so many acts of kindness and
hospitality during our sojourn here, and we beg them to be assured that
the evidences of their generosity and goodness are duly appreciated and
will long be remembered.
These were unanimously adopted.
Mr. M. L. HOLBROOK, of the Ohio Farmer, then offered an
additional one, as follows:
Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention'be tendered to the
lecturers, for the promptness of their response to the call, and for the
-very able and faithful manner in which they have conveyed both scientific and practical instruction.
Mr. LEWIs F. ALLEN said that he had had no doubts of the
success of this plan from the very first, and he had come 500
miles or more to show his disposition to aid the movement as
much as lay in his power. The names of the lecturers were
of themselves a guaranty of the value of the course, if Yale
College had not lent its influence toward it. In his opinion,
Yale College, with all her great achievements, had never done
anything so great or important as in establishing this Agricultural Lecture system.
Mr. S. B. PARSONS, of Long Island, thought that an experimental farm would grow  naturally from  this movement, and
if it did, and it were properly conducted, who could prophesy
the national benefits which would result?
Mr. JUDD, of the Agriculturist, gave his unqualified approval
Of the matter, and promised the aid of his paper to the fullest
extent possible.
Prof. B. SILLIMAN, Jr., said that when he saw all this enthusi.
asm and good feeling he could not help recalling the by-gone
days of 1846,'47 and'48, when the late John Pitkin Norton
and himself had, after much trouble, obtained the recognition
of an Agricultural Department from  the Collpge officials.
8*




1.78         YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.
How tremblingly they two had started on their work, with
their little collection of apparatus! Their first class of pupils
was very small in number, but all its members had achieved
honorable reputations. Their beginning, small as it was, was
still due to the enlightened views and generous enthusiasm of
Mr. John T. Norton, of Farmington, who contributed $5,000
toward a fund to endow a Professorship of Agricultural
Chemistry, and, since his son's untimely death, had allowed
the income from that sum to remain for appropriations to the
same end.
The CHAIRMAN spoke feelingly to the memory of Norton,
and foresaw for this department a flattering future.
Other gentlemen expressed similar views, and, after a pleasant evening's discussion, the meeting adjourned, without day.
It is not worth our while to indulge in lengthy comments
upon the mode of conducting this course of lectures, nor upon
the success which has crowned the labors of its managers; but
that the readers of this volume may know how truly national
an interest had been excited in it, and for the sake of the
future historian of American agricultural education, I will state
that there have been registered on the book about 350 names.
Of these persons, 172 only are from Connecticut, 23 from
Massachusetts, 35 from New York, and the remainder is divided between Indiana, Kentucky, Vermont, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maine, Illinois, Florida,
Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and the Canadas, East and West.
Considering that in the Undergraduate Department of Yale
there are only 502 students, the regular attendance of
nearly or quite 350 at the agricultural lectures should be
well weighed in the minds of the Faculty, and prompt
them to not only give a tacit recognition,' but, so far as
consistent with professional duties, take an active interest in
the establishment of this department of agriculture. They
may rest assured that, by so doing, they will make the name
of Yale more respected in her old age than it ever has been




YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES.            I79
in her palmiest days. When, some time ago, I wanted to take
a course of agricultural instruction, I was forced to cross the
ocean, because there was no suitable place at home. Thanks
to Prof. Porter, his associates, and the generous friends who
have contributed their money to aid them, others will not be
put to the same straits. Within a few years from this time,
Yale College will have, probably, as spacious apartments, as
complete a museum, library and reading-room, and as well appointed a laboratory as any student, however diligent, may
require. And with this pleasing prospect in view, congratulating Profs. Porter and Johnson upon the success of their experiment, I close my note-book, and write among the things
of the Past this first course of the YALE AGRICULTURAL
LECTURES.








APPEND IX.
AN AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT.
NEAR the close of the Yale Agricultural Convention for
1860, Professor Porter promised to issue a scheme for some
simple and easily-conducted experiments, with the results of
which the Convention might contribute new material to the
practice and theory of rational agriculture. The business of
preparing a plan of trials having been confided to the undersigned, he has deemed it best to select some fertilizer as the
subject of experiment, and indeed, that substance which in
our country is everywhere accessible and cheap, its use being
unhampered by the burdensome imposts which still render it
expensive in nearly all other countries. This substance is salt;
one which, furnishing indispensable ingredients to the digestive
fluids, performs most important offices in the economy of the
animal kingdom, and is, unquestionably, most naturally and
healthfully derived from the food itself.
SAMUEL W. JOHNSON.
Yale Scientific School, New RHaven, Ct., March, 1860.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE USE OF SALT AS A FERTILIZER.
THE action of salt as a fertilizer, has long been a-gatter of
uncertainty and dispute among agriculturists. In many cases
it has been reported to be extremely useful, in many more to
be entirely valueless, and in some positively disastrous.
(181)




182                    APPENDIX.
We have no reason to disbelieve the testimony that has been
offered at various times, and from a wide range of experimenters, although it is so contradictory in its character.
If the various statements concerning the use of salt as a fertilizer are true, the important question arises, How are we to
know when it will be useful, and when otherwise?
This question can only be answered by the repetition of experiments, which must be made under a great variety of circumstances, and under conditions that are accurately known
and defined.
In conducting such an inquiry, it is of the first importance to
gather from the existing stock of experience, all the facts which
throw any light either upon the question itself, or upon the
methods of investigating it.
Under the conviction that a multitude of careful trials may
be instituted among our farmers, with the prospect of explaining the contradictions of former experience, or at least of revealing the valuable fact that salt is capable of doing the agriculturist great service in many localities where it has not yet been
tried, and also of contributing to the education of the public
in the objects and methods of experimental agriculture, we
have drawn up from various sources the facts, assertions and
probabilities which may serve as guides in attempting the solution of this problem.
1st. We know that the constituents of common salt (chlorine and sodium) are unfailing ingredients of all agricultural
plants, although they exist in vegetation in very variable, usually quite small amount.
2d. We know that in many instances (perhaps in all where
this subject has been accurately studied) the use of salt as a
manure has increased (often doubled) the amount of salt in the
crop.
3d. We know that crops having large foliage contain (and
require?) more salt than those of the small-leaved and fewleaved kinds.




APPENDIX.                      183
4th. It is said that tobacco is largely increased in quantity,
but injured in quality, by applying salt as a manure. The same
is said of sugar-plants.
5th. It is probable that the white beet, mangel-wurzel, and
carrot, among field-crops, (as is certain of asparagus in the garden,) being originally marine plants, will be more strikingly
benefited by salt than other crops, and will admit of larger
applications, other things being equal.
6th. We know that many soils near saline springs, (or reclaimed from salt marshes,) naturally contain as much or more
salt than is needful for the growth of agricultural plants.
7th. We know that in many regions (those exposed to prevailing and especially stormy winds from the ocean) the soil
annually receives from spray and rain more salt than is annually removed by crops.
8th. We know that salt is most often injurious in dry seasons,
or on dry soils.
9th. It is probable that the positively injurious effects of salt
are chiefly due to its being applied in too large quantity; for
loth. We know that a strong solution of salt hinders the
germination of seeds, and destroys the life of the growing
plant (marine plants of course excepted).
11th. We know (from the recent experiments of Sachs and
Knop in Saxony) that a weak solution of salt hinders (by one
half or more) the transpiration of water through the plant;
therefore,
12th. It is probable that a little salt has the effect to keep
the soil more humid, and thus tends to counteract drought;
and,
13th. It is probable that a little salt, by hindering excessive
transpiration, (and too rapid growth?) causes the cellular tissue
of the plant to develop in a firmer, healthier manner than it
might otherwise do; and thus may be explained,
14th. The assertion that a bushel or two of salt per acre on
grain crops prevents falling (laying or lodging) of the straw.




184                     APPENDIX.
15th. It is, however, the experience of Girardin, Fauchet,
and Dubreuil, that large doses (more than 370 lbs. per acre)
increase the straw rather than the grain, and make the crop
lodge on soil that has been dunged.
16th. It is said that the small applications of salt make the
straw of the grains brighter, and prevent rust.
17th. It is said that large applications delay the ripening of
the grain.
18th. It is said that salt prevents potato rot (by delaying the
sprouting and blossoming of the plant, so that the critical period of its life is brought after the hot fogs and, rains of late
summer?).
19th. We know, from many trials, (those of Kuhlmann, and
recent ones of Liebig,) that salt often remarkably heightens the
effect of other powerful manures.
20th. We know  (from the studies of Way and Eichhorn)
that salt is able to displace potash, ammonia, and lime from in.
soluble combinations of these bodies,-combinations such as,
in all probability, exist in the soil. Therefore, and because
21st. We know that salt increases the power of water to
dissolve the phosphates of lime, magnesia, &c.,
22d. It is probable that its use may, on certain soils, be
equivalent to an application of these bodies, by rendering the
stores of them already existing in the soil available to crops.
23d. It is probable that salt is sometimes advantageous, not
so much as a fertilizer, as by destroying worms and the larva
of insects.
24th. It is certain that fields well manured with stable or
yard manure, made from cattle that are supplied with all the
salt they desire, thus receive more salt than is removed from
them in ordinary culture.
25th. It is probable that thorough-drained fields will be more
benefited by (and require more?) salt, than undrained fields
of similar soil.
26th. It is a matter of experience, that while 500 to 600, or




APPENDIX.                    185
even 800 lbs. of salt may be applied per acre before the seed,
without injury (in moist climate or wet season), not more than
200 lbs. per acre should be put directly on the growing crop.
Any one may easily select for himself from the foregoing
some one or more, points that it is desirable to test in his own
locality, and will also readily gather the most important cir.
cumstances that need to be regarded in carrying out an exper.
iment to a good result.
We add, however, the following suggestions as to the manner of making the experiment:
I. Every experiment should furnish means of comparison
with some standard. If, for example, it is sought to ascertain
whether salt increases a crop on a given soil, not only should a
portion of the crop and soil have salt applied to it, but another
portion should be left without the application. If the question
is, Is the straw strengthened, or the grain made heavier? then,
obviously, opportunity must be given to observe how strong
the straw is, or how heavy the grain is where no salt has been
used.
II. The plots of ground should not usually consist in a strip
a few feet wide, or in a few rows of the crop, but in a nearly
square surface, so as to have as little edge to the piece as possible, for the roots of plants often extend several feet beyond
ordinary dividing lines, if the soil be grateful to them.
III. The experimental ground should be as uniform as possible in quality of soil, in tillage, dunging, and exposure, and
should all have had the same treatment as regards cropping
and manuring for several years previous to the trial.
IV. The plots should be of good size, at least one-eighth,
preferably one-fourth of an acre.
V. "Everything should be done by weight and measure;"
guesswork is worse than useless. Let the plots be accurately
measured, not " paced off."  Let the materials added, and the
crop removed, be carefully weighed, and not " estimated by,the eye."




186                     APPENDIX.
VI. Every care should be used to observe and record, with
fulness and accuracy, the character, exposure, present condition
and previous management of the soil. The climate and weather,
the development of the crop in all its parts, and in all stages
of its growth, and generally, all facts bearing on the experiment, should be taken into the account.
SCHEME OF EXPERIMENTS.
A. General Iiffects of Salt,-as increase of product, improvement of quality of crop, prevention of disease, &c.
Two plots of any soil in any crop,-both may receive other
manures or not; but their treatment should differ only in this
fact, that one is salted, the other not. Use the salt at the rate
of 350 lbs. per acre, (see 26th observation).
B. Effect on particular crops, or classes of crops, as potatoes
compared with carrots, grasses vs. root-crops, root-crops vs.
grains.
Two plots for each crop as under A.
C. Effects of different doses:
Soil and crop alike,-one plot unsalted, one with 75 lbs, one
with 150 lbs., one with 300 lbs., one with 450 lbs., or other
different quantities, less or more in number, as convenient.
D. Effects on different soils:
Soils different,-tillage, manure, and crop the same. Dose
of salt the same. Of each soil a salted and an unsalted plot
should be observed.




All the Books on this Cataloguer sent bp, Mail, to any part of the UIns,
free of postage, upon receipt of Price.
CATALOGUE OF BOOKS
ON
AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE,
FUBLISHED BY
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO.,
No. 23 PARK ROW, NEW YORK.
SUITABLE FOR
SCHOOL, TOWN, AGRICULTURAL, & PRIVATE LIBRARIE.
AMERICAN FARMER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA, - -.. 8$4 00
AS A BOOK OF REFERENCE FOR THE FARMER OR GARDENER, THIS
Work is superior to any other. It contains Reliable Information for the Cultivation of
every variety of Field and Garden Crops, the use of all kinds of Manures, descriptions
and figures of American insects; and is, indeed, an Agricultural Library in itself, containing twelve hundred pges, octaveo, and is illustrated by numerous engravings of
Grasses, Grains, Animals, Implements, Insects, &c., &c. By GOUVERNEUR EMERSON O0
PEFNNSYLVANIA.
AMERTCAN WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS,                      -  -         -  1 50
AN  ILLUSTRATED  EDITION OF AGRICULTURAL BOTANY; An Enumeration and Description of Weeds and Useful Plants which merit the notice or
require the attention of American Agriculturists. By We. DARLINGTON, M. D. Revised, with Additions, by GEORGE THURBER, Prof. of Mat. Med. and Botany in the New
York College of Pharmacy. Illustrated with nearly 300 Figures, drawn expressly for
this work.
ALLEN'S (R. L.) AMERICAN  FARM BOOK,  -                          -     1 00
OR A COMPEND OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE; being a Practical
Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain Roots, Fruits, Cotton,
Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Rice, and every Staple Product of the United States; with the
best methods of Planting, Cultivating and Preparation for Market. Illustrated with more
than 100 engravings.
ALLEN'S (R. L.) DISEASES OF DOMESTIC  ANIMALS,                    -        75
BEING A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE HORSE, MULE, CATTLE,
Sheep, Swine, Poultry and Farm Dogs, with Directions for their Management, Breeding,
Crossing, Rearing, Feeding, and Preparation for a Profitable Market; also, their
Diseases and Remedies, together with full Directions for the Management of the Dairy,
and the comparative Economy and Advantages of Working Animals,-the Horse, Mule,
Oxen, &c.
ALEN'8S (L. F.) RURAL ARCHITECTURE, -..                             1 25
BEING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF FARM HOUSES, COTTAGES AND
Out Buildings comprising Wood Houses, Workshors, Tool IIouses, Carriage and Wagon
Houses, Stables, Smoke and Ash Houses, Ice Houses, Apiaries or Bee Houses, Poultry
Houses, Rabbitry, Dovecote, Piggery, Barns and Sheds for Cattle, &c., &c:; together
with Lawns, Pleasure Grounds and Parks; the Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Garden;
also, the best method of conducting water into Cattle Yards and Houses. Beautifully
illustrated.
ALLEN  (I. FISK) ON THE CULTURE  OF THE GRAPE,   -   -   1 00
A  PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND TREATMENT OF THE
Grape Vine, embracing its History, with Directions for its Treatment in the United
States of America, in the Open Air and under Glass Structures, with and without
ArWclal Heat
Mailed pot paid   on reeit f price.




82        Books published by C. M. SAXToN,  BARKER &  CO.
LI[ERICOAN ARC.ITE.CT,                --                                  6   00
COMPRISING ORIGINAL DESIGNS OF CHEAP COUNTRY AND VILLAGE
Residences, with Details, Specifications, Plans and Directions, and an Estimate of the Cost
of each Design. By Jown W. RrrcEr, Architect. First and Second Series, 4to, bound in
1 vol.
AMERICAN FLORIST'S GUIDE, -       75
COMPRISING  THE -AMERICAN ROSE CULTURIST, AND  EVERY  LADY
her own Flower Gardener.
ARRY'S FRUIT GARDEN,                                                     1.   1 25
A  TREATISE, INTENDED TO EXPLAIN AND ILLUSTIRATE THE PHYSIology of Fruit Trees, the Theory and Practice of all Operations connected with the
Propagation, Transplanting, Pruning and Training of Orchard and Garden Trees, as
Standards. Dwarfs, Pyramids, Espalier, &c. The Laying out and Arranging different
kinds of Orchards and Gardens, the selection of suitable varieties for different purposes
and localities, Gathering and Preserving Fruits, Treatment of Diseases, Destruction of
Insects, Description and Uses of Implements, &c.  Illustrated with upwards of 160
Figures. By P. BARRY, of the Mount Hope Nurseries, Rochester, N. Y.
flUETM'S (C. N.) RABBIT FANCIER, A   -   -   -   -   -                     50
A  TREATISE ON THE BREEDING, REARING, FEEDING AND GENERAL
Management of Rabbits, with Remarks upon their Diseases and Remedies, to which are
added Full Directions for the Construction of Hutches, Rabbitries, &c., together with
Recipes for Cooking and Dressing for the Table. Beautifully illustrated.
BTLAE'S (REV. JOHN L.) FARMER AT HOME,  -  -  -  -  1 25
A   FAMILY TEXT BOOK  FOR THE  COUNTRY; being a Cyclopedia
of Agricultural Implements and Productions, and of the more important topics in
Domestic Economy, Science and Literature, adapted to Rural Life. By Rev. Joms L.
BLAKAE, D D.
BOUSSINGAULT'S (I. B.) RURAL ECONOMY,                                     1 25
OR, CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE; PRESENTING DISTINCTLY
and in a Simple Manner the Principles of Farm Management, the Preservation and Use of
Manures, the Nutrition and Food of Animals, and the General Economy of Agriculture.
The work is the fruit of a long life of study and experiment, and its perusal will aid the
farmer greatly in obtaining a practical and scientific knowledge of his profession.
BROWNE'S AMRIRTCAN BIRD FANCIER, -                                          26
THE  BREEDING, REARING, FEEDING, MANAGEMENT  AND  PECULIarities of Cage and House Birds. Illustrated with engravings.
BROWIE'S AMERICAN POULTRY YARD, -                         -           1  00
COMPRISING  THE  ORIGIN, HISTORY  AND  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE
Different Breeds of Domestic Poultry, with Complete Directions for their Breeding,
Crossing, Rearing, Fattening and Preparation for Market; including specific directions
for Caponizing Fowls, and for the Treatment of the Principal Diseases to which they are
subject, drawn from authentic sources and personal observation. Illustrated with
numerous engravings.
RROWNE'S (D. JAY) FIELD BOOK OF MANURES,  -   -   -   -   1 25
OR, AMERICAN  MUCK BOOK; Treating of the Nature, Properties,
Sources, History and Operations of all the Principal Fertilizers and Manures in Common
Use, with specific directions for their Preservation and Application to the Soil and to
Crops; drawn from authentic sources, actual experience and personal observation, as
combined with the Leading Principles of Practical and Scientific Agriculture.
BRIDGEMA'S (THOS.) YOUNG GARDENERS ASSISTANT,  -   -   1 50
IN THREE PARTS; Containing Catalogues of Garden and Flower
Seed, with Practical Directions under each head for the Cultivation of Cu nary Vege.
tables, Flowers, Fruit Trees, the Grape Vine, &c.; to which is added a Calendar to each
part, showing the work necessary to be done in the various departments each month
of the year. One volume octavo.
IuZDGEX'S gKITCHEN GARDENER'S INSTRUCTOR,  M3 Cloth, 60
Sd           -t             "( "(                           Cloth,   60
Maied post paid uvon receip of price.




Books published by 0. M. SAXTON, BARKER &   0o.
BRIDGEMAR S FLORIST'S GUIDE,...:  Cloth,  j50
*4 4( s,...            Cloth;   60
BRIDGEMAIS FRUIT CULTIVATOR'S XANIJAL, -    3 Cloth, 60
~4          ss                                  _. "  -   -  Cloth,   80
BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWES,  -   -   1 00
IN  WHICH ARE DESCRIBED  ALL THE VARIOUS HARDY HERBACEOUS
-Perennials, Annuals, Shrubs, Plants and Evergreen Trees, with Directions for their
Cultivation.
BUIST'S (ROBERT) A           CAN FLOWR GARDEN DIRECTORY,  1 2
CONTAINING PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTURE OF PLANTS,
in the Flower Garden, Hothouse, Greenhouse, Rooms or Parlor Windows, for every
month in the Year; with a Description of the Plants most desirable in each, the nature
of the Soil and situation best adapted to their Growth, the Proper Season for Transplanting, &c.; with Instructions for erecting a Hothouse, Greenhonse, and Laying out
a Flower Garden; the whole adapted to either Large or Small Gardens, with Instruc.
tions for Preparing the Soil, Propagating, Planting, Pruning, Training and Fruiting the
Grape Vine.
BUIST'S (ROBERT) FAILY  KITCHEN  GADE NE,   -.   -                        7?
CONTAINING  PLAIN  AND  ACCURATE  DESCRIPTIONS  OF  ALL  THE
Different Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables, with their Botanical, English,
French and German names, alphabetically arranged, with the Best Mode of Cultivat.
ing them in the Garden or under Glass; also Descriptions and Character of the most,
Select Fruits, their Management, Propagation, &c.  By ROBERT BUms, author of the
"American Flower Garden Directory," &c.
CIIE SUGAR CANE AND SUGA]-MAKING,   -. 25
ITS HISTORY, CULTURE AND ADAPTATION  TO THE  SOIL, CLIMATE
and Economy of the United States, with an Account of Various Processes of Manu
facturing Sugar. Drawn from authentic sources, by Cawa   F. STAmsBuRY, A. M., late
Commissioner at the Exhibition of all Nations at London.
CHORLTON' S GRAPEGROWER'S GUIDE,                                            60
INTENDED  ESPECIALLY  FOR  THE AMERICAN' (CLIATE.   Beig  a
Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine in each department of othouse, Cold Grapery, Retarding House and Out-door Culture. With Plans for the construction of the Requisite Buildings, and giving the best methods for Heating the same.
Every department being fully illustrated. By WILLMx CaORLTON.
COBBETT'S AMERICAN GARDENER,.  60
A  TREATISE ON THE SITUATION, SOIL AND LAYING-OUT OF GARDENS,
and the Making and Managing of Hotbeds and Greenhouses, and on the Propagation
and Cultivation of the several sorts of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits and Flowers.
COTTAGE AND FARM BEE-KEEPE,...   60
A  PRACTICAL WORK, by a Country Curate.
COLE'S AMERICAN  FRUIT BOOK,  5..0...     60
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR RAISING, PROPAGATING AND MANAGing Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Plants; with a Description of the Best Varieties of Fruit,
including New and Valuable Kinds.
COLE'S AMERICAN VE-jf INARIAN, -..   60
CONTAINING DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS, THEIR CAUSES, SYMPtoms and Remedies; with Rules for Restoring and Preserving Health by good management; also for Training and Breeding.
DADD'S AMERICAN  CATTLE DOCTOR,..... 1 00
CONTAINING THE NECESSARY INFORMATION FOR PRESERVING THE
Health and Curing the Diseases of Oxen, Cows, Sheep and Swine, with a Great Variety
of Original Recipes and Valuable Information in reference to Farm and Dairy Management, whereby every Man can be his own Cattle Doctor. The principles taught in this
work are, that all Medication shall be subservient to Nature-that all Medicines must be
sanative in their operation, and administered with a view of aiding the vital powers,
instead of depressing, as heretofore, with the lancet or by poison. By G. H. DaDD, M D
Veterinary practitioner.
Mliled port paid upon receipt of price.




4         BAok. pubished by C. M. SAXTON, BiAm  & Co.
DADD'S MODERN HORSE DOCTOR,.'..,                                     1 00
AN AMERICAN BOOK FOR AMERICAN PARMERS; Containing Practi.
cal Observations on the Causes, Nature and Treatment of Disease and Lameness of
Horses, embracing the Most Recent and Approved Methods, according to an enlightened
system of Veterinary Practice, for the Preservation and Restoration of Health. With
illustrations.
DADD'S ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE, Plain,. 2 00
St  it             its          9         6'" Colored Plates, 4 00
WITH ANATOMICAL AND QUESTIONAL ILLUSTR TIONS; Containing,
also, a Series of Examinations on Equine Anatomy and Philosophy, with Instructions in
reference to Dissection and the mode of making Anatomical Preparations to which is
added a Glossary of Veterinary Technicalities, Toxicological Chart, and Dictionary of
Veterinary Science.
DANA'S MUCK MANUAL, FOR THE USE OF FARMERS, - - 100
A  TREATISE ON THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS
and Chemistry of Manures; including, also, the subject of Composts Artificial Manures
and Irrigation. A new edition, with a Chapter on Bones and Superphosphates.
DANA'S PRIZE ESSAY ON MANURES,.   25
SUBMITTED TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR
Promoting Agriculture, for their Premium. By SAMTEL H. DANA.
DOMESTIC AND  ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, Plain Plates,.   1 00
tIs                tr             is      Colored Plates,       -  2 00
A  TREATISE ON THE HISTORY AND MANAGEMENT OF ORNAMENTAL
and Domestic Poultry. By Rev. EDMUND SAUL DixoN, A. M., with large additions by
J. J. KERR, M. D. Illustrated with sixty-five Original Portraits, engraved expressly for
this work. Fourth edition, revised.
DOWNING'S (A. J.) LANDSCAPE GARDENING,.            50
REVISED, ENLARGED AND NEWLY ILLUSTRATED, BY HENRY WINthrop Sargent'. This Great Work, which has accomplished so much in elevating the
American Taste for Rural Improvements, is now rendered doubly interesting and
valuable by the experience of all the Prominent Cultivators of Ornamental Trees in the
United States, and by the descriptions of American Places, Private Residences, Central
Park, New York, Llewellyn Park, New Jersey, and a full account of the Newer Deciduous and Evergreen Trees and Shrubs. The illustrations of this edition consist of seett
superb ste plat enratnns, by SMILLSE, HINHELWOOD, DuTmi and others; besides one
hundred engraings on wood and sone, of the best American Residences and Parks, with
Portraits of many New or Remarkable Trees and Shrubs.
DOWNING'8 (A. J.) RURAL ESSAYS,.  3.                                    S 00
ON HORTICULTURE, LANDSCAPE GARDENING, RURAL ARCHITECTURE,
Trees, Agriculture, Fruit, with his Letters from England. Edited, with a Memoir of the
Author, by GEORGE WM. CuaRTs, and a Letter to his Friends, by FREDEomuA BREMER, and
an elegant Steel Portrait of the Author.
EASTWOOD (B.) ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE CRANBERRY,    50
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE BEST VARIETIES. BY B. EASTWOOD,
"Septimus," of the New York Tribune. Illustrated.
ELLIOTT'S WESTERN FRUIT BOOK, -.                                           1 25
A  NEW  EDITION  OF THIS WORK, THOROUGHLY  REVISED.   Embracing all the New and Valuable Fruits, with the Latest Improvements in their Cultiva.
tion, up to January, 1859. especially adapted to the wants of Western Fruit Growers;
full of excellent illustrations. By F. R. ELoTTr, Pomologist, late of Cleveland: Ohio, now
of St. Louis.
EVERY LADY HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER,.     650
ADDRESSED TO THE INDUSTRIOUS AND ECONOMICAL )NLY; containing
simple and practical Directions for Cultivating Plants and Flowers, also, Hints for the
Management of Flowers in Rooms. with brief Botanical Descriptions of Plants and
Flowers. The whole in plain and simple language. By Lou=s JOHNSON.
Mailed post raid upon'eceipt of price.




Books ptubhed by 0. M. SAxTO, Bem   & Co.
FARM DRANAGIE,..I.-.. 1 00
THE  PRINCIPLES, PROCESSES AND EFFECTS OF DRAINING  LAND,
with Stones, Wood, Drain-plows, Open Ditches, and especially with Tiles; including
Tables of Rainfall, Evaporation Filtration, Excavation, capacity of Pipes, cost and number to the acre. With more than 100 illustrations. By the Hon. HENRY F. FRENCH, of
New Hampshire.
FESSENDEN'S (T. G.) AMERICAN  KITCHEN  GARDENER,  -   -                      0
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES AND
Garden Fruits. Cloth.
fESENDEN'S COM:PILETE FARMER AND AERIA GARDENE, 1 2
RURASS   ECONOMIST AND  NEW  AMERICAN  GARDENER; Containing
a Compendious Epitome of the most Important Branches of Agriculture and Rural
Economy; with Practical Directions on the Cultivation of Fruits and Vegetables, including Landscape and Ornamental Gardening. By THoxMs G. FsSmwmN.   2 vols. in 1.
IED'S PEAR CULTURE, -1. -....                                               1 00
THE PEAR GARDEN; or, a Treatise on the Propagation and
Cultivation of the Pear Tree, with Instructions for its Management from the Seedling to
the Bearing Tree. By Thaom  W. Flew.
FISH CULTURE, -I -  - - -  1 00
A  TREATISE ON THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF FISH, AND THE
Construction of Ponds, with the Description and Habits of such kinds of Fish as are most
suitable for Pisciculture. By TmonDATus GARLcK, M. D., Vice-President of the Cleveland
Academy of Nat. Science.
FLINT ON  GRASSES,   1 2
A  PRACTICAL TREATISE ON GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS; Comprising their Natural History, Comparative Nutritive Value, Methods of Cultivation Cutting, Curing and the Management of Grass Lands. By CFALYm  L. FLINT, A. M.. Secre.
tary of the Mass. State Board of Agriculture.
GUENON ON XILCH COWS, -   60
A  TREATISE ON MILCH COWS, whereby the Quality and Quantity of
Milk which anyf4ow will give may be accurately determined by observing Natural
Marks or External Indications alone; the length of time she will continue to give Milk,
&c., &c. By M. FRasCis GUENOS, of Libourne, France. Translated by NICHOLAs P.
Tart, Eaq.; with Introduction, Remarks and Observations on the Cow and the Dairy,
by Jonm S. SoiBR.  Illustrated with numerous Engravings. Neatly done up in paper
covers, 37 cts.
ERFERT'S HINTS TO HOBERSKEEPER,   -    1 25
COMPLETE MANUAL FOR HORSEMEN; Embracing:
How TO BREED A HORSE.          How TO PHsia A HORSE.
How TO BUY A HORSE.              (ALLOPATHY AND HOMxCIopATY
How To Byaz   A HORss.         How To GROOM A HoRsE.
How TO USE A HoRsE.            How TO DRIVE A HORSE.
How TO FEED A HORSu.           How TO RIDE A HORSE.
And Chapters on Mules and Ponies. By the late HENRY WILLIAM  HERBERT (FRAnE
FoRRSTu R); with additions, including RAREr's METHOD OF HORSE TAMING, and BsAucEm'S
SYSTEM OF HORsEMANsHnI; also, giving directions for the Selection and Care of Carriages
and Harness of every description, from the City " Turn Out" to the Farmer's "' Gear,"
and a Biography of the eccentric Author. Ilustrsban throughoWt.
ROOPER'S ]O  AND GUN,                         a......0
A FEW LOOSE CHAPTERS ON SHOOTING, among which will be
found some Anecdotes and Incidents; also Instructions for Dog Breaking, and interest.
ing letters from Sportsmen. By A BAD SHOT.
EYDE'S CHINESE SUGAR CANE, -  - - -  21.
CONTAINING ITS  HISTORY, MODE OF CULTURE, MANUFACTURE  OF
the Sugar, &c.; with Reports of its success in different parts of the United States.
Mailed post paid upon receipt of price.




6          BoobS published by 0. M., SAXTON, BARKER &  CO.
JOHNSTON'S (JAMES   F. W.) AGRICULTURAL CHBMISTRI,,'   I au
LECTUREV  ON THE APPLICATION OF CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY TO
Agriculture. New Edition, with an Appendix, containing the Author's Experiments in
Practical Agriculture.
1JOHNST0 O  (J, F. W.) ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY,  100
WITH A COMPLETE ANALYTICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX, and an
American Preface. By Hon. SIMON BROWN, Editor of the " New England Farmer."
OHNSTON'S (J. F. W.) CATECHISM  OF AGRICULTURAL CHEM-'ISTRY AND GEOLOGY,  --                                         2
BY JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON, Honorary Member of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, and author of "Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry
and Geology." With an Introduction by JOHN Prrmu NORTON? M. A., late Professor or'
Scientific Agriculture in Yale College. With Notes and Additions by the Author, prepared expressly for this edition, and an Appendix compiled by the Superintendent of
Education in Nova Scotia. Adapted to the use of Schools.
L&NSTROTH (aREV. L L.) oNTH   HIVE AND HONEY BEE, -   1 2
A  PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE HIVE  AND  HONEY BEE, Third
edition, enlarged and illustrated uvith numerous engravings. This Work is, withouti.a
doubt, the best work on the Bee published in any language, whether we consider its
scientific accuracy, the practical instructions it contains, or the beauty and completeness
of its illustrations.
LECOHAIS' HOW  TO BUI;D AND VENTILAE HOTOU SES,  -   1 28
A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE  CONSTRUCTION, HEATING  AND
Ventilation of Hothouses, including Conservatories, Greenhouses, Graperies and other
kinds of Horticultural Structures; with Practical Directions for their Management, in
regard to Light, Heat and Air. Illustrated with numerous engravings. BY P. B.
LEucHAIS, Garden Architect.
RLEBIG'S (JUSTUS) FA       IAR LE URES ON C MISTRY,               -      0
AND  ITS RELATION TO COMMERCE, PHYSIOLOGY, and AGRICULTURE.
Edited by JOHN GARDENER, M. D.,
TLISLEY'S-  ORGAN HORSES,.  -  -   - 100
A  PREMIUM ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND CHARACTERISTICS
of this remarkable American Breed of Horses; tracing the Pedigree from the original
Justin Morgan, through the most noted of his progeny, down to the present time.
With numerous portraits. To which are added Hints for Breeding, Breaking and General Use and Management of Horses, with practical Directions for Training them for
Exhibition At Agricultural Fairs. By D  1.- Lni, Editor of the American Stock
Journal.
}KOORE RURAL HAND BOOKS, -                     -     -    a           1 28
FIRST SERIES, containing. Treatises on11Er HOlsml                      THE PEWS OF THE FARM,
TIE HOGO                         DorSTrC FOWLS, and
THE HoNY BEE,                    THE Cow.
SECOND SERIES, containing-.                 17 25
EVERY LADY mm OWN FLOWPE GARDEER, EssAY   MAON,U
ELEMENT OF AGRICULTURE,             AMERICAN KITCHEN GARDENm,
BIRD FANCIER,                        AMnUCA  RosE CuxuT r.
THIRD SERIES, containing —.25
Mzs oX TE HORSn's FOOT,         VINE-DRzssER'S MAuNAL,
Tu RBBrr FACIER,                BEE-KEEPER'S CHART,
WeEs oX BEES,                   CHEMISTRY MADE EAS.
FOURTH SFRIES, containing-         -         -    -              1 26
PsoEZ ON THE VINE,              Hoornm's DOG AND Gut,
-ltG's FAMILIAR LEtTERS,        SKILLFUL HOUSEWIFE,
Baows's MXzxons oF INDNe CoBR.
Maied pot paid upon receipt of price.




A PA RTIAL L IST OF THE
M [SCELLANEiOTS BOOKS
PUBISHED BY
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO.,
No. 25 PARK ROW, NEW YORK.
Popular Biography.                      X Mrs. Mary J. Holmes' Works.
Iife and Speeches of Henry Clay....... $2 00  The Homestead on the Hillside,...... $1 00
I)an'l Webster, & his Master-pieces, 2 v.. 2 50'Lena Rivers.........................  1 00
Dan'l Boone & the Hunters of Kentuclcy, 1 00  Meadow Brook; or, Rosa Lee,.........  1 00
Iouis Kossuth, Governor of Hungary,.  1 00  Dora Deane and Maggie Stiller...  1 00
I,. Napoleon and the Bonaparte Family,.  1 00  Cousin Maude and Rosamond,.......... 1 00
Impress Josephine, by Headley....... 1 00
Mary Queen of Scots, by Headley,... 1 00                  M iscellaneous.
Iives of the Three MIrs. Judson-Ann,
Sarah and Emily.                  1 00  Fern -Leaves from Fanny's Portfolio,...  1 00
George Washington, by Jared Sparks,.. 1 25  Recollect'nsofaLifetime,   G'drich,2v. 3 00
J lln Quincy Adams,-by. H. Scward,  1 00  The Great American Battle,............  1 00
Andrew Jackson, by John S. Jenkins,..  1 00  Tales of the South-Western Border,..... 1 00
Win. Henry Harrison, by MIontgomery,.   1 00'The Maiden Aunt and the Use of Sunshine  1 00
Geiis. Zachary Taylor, by Montgomery,.  1 00  1Household Scenes for the Home Circlec.    75
General the Marquis de Lafayette...... 1 00  The Odd-Fellows' Amulet..............  1 00
Benjamin Franklin, by Himself,.........  1 00  The White Slaves of England, by Cobdeni, 1 00
Henry Clay, by Sargeant and Greeley,.  1-25  Fresh Leaves from Western Woods,....   75
0  ~       Shakespeare's Complete Works,......... 2 25
-Napoleon Bonaparte, by J. G. Lockhart, 1 00  Shakespeare's Complete  orks
IIenry  VIII. & his 6 WVives, by Herbert,. 1 25  Byron's Poetical WVorks,...............  1 75
Oliver Cromwell, Engl'd's Gr't Protector, 1 00  Gift Book for Young MIen, by Dr. Alcott,   75
I,ife and Reign of Catharine II........ 00  Gift Book for Young Ladies,...75
Lady Jane Grey, by D. W. Bartlett             Young Woman's Book of Health,.....
Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans,.......      Youn an's Book, by W. Hosier,...
Mlary and Martha Washington,.            75  Young L-tdy's Book, by Wm. Hosmer,.,5
Rev. Adoliram Judson' -by J. Clement.   75  Golden Steps for the Young, by Austin,...    5,ives of Eminent MIetlodist Minisnters,    1 00  Little Ferns for Fanny's Little Friends,.    75
life & WVritimis of Loreuzo Dow....... 1 50  Life of Benj. Franklin and His Essays,.    50
Marrv Jemison.............1 0........     0  Life of Patrick Henry, by S. G. Arnold,.   50
Life of Sir Walter Raleigh, by Thomson,.   50
History, Travels, &  Adventures.   The Swiss Family Robinson, cuin   1 00'ndisr.s nThe Same,.    and Conclusion  1,
Indian SWars and Captivities,............ 2 2   Minnie Hermon, the landlord's D'ghter, 1 00
History of the War with Mico.....
History of the SWar with Mex,.    1  00   Temp. Tales and Hearthstone Reveries,  1 00
Border Wars of the Whest............    1. 1 75  Dick Wilson, the Rumseller's Victim,... 100
History of Ancient Greece, by J. Gillies,. 1 50  Parke  adison, the Senator's Son,.... 
The Roman Republic, by J. Mlichelet,.... 1 00Silver Cup           of Sprkling rops,..
Indiin Wars of the United States,.     1             Cup of Sparkling Drops,. 75
disto ars of the Moruonos............... 1 00  Complete Works ofJas. Arminius, 3 v.. 5 00
Hiistory of the BMormons, byRev.C.Hines,.... 1 00,Life of Christ & His Apostles, by Fl'tw'd,  I 00
history of Oregon, by Rev. G. Hines... 1 00  John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.-       1 00
History of California, by John Frost,....   1 00  The Women of the Bible, by Headley,    1 00
History of Australia, by Samnuel Sidney, 1 00  The PoetsandPoetryofthe Bible,..          75
Memorable Scenes in French History,...' 1-00  The  ethodistPreacher...........        1 25
Arctic Explorations of the 19th Century, 1 00  The  Powe r of Grace........      00
Fremont's Exploring Expeditions in Oreg renont's axplorniag Es1editions in Ore-  The Christian Virtues, by Rev.D.D. Buck. 1 00
gon and California,................. 1 00 
Life on the Prains, by A. Delano,........  1 00           School and Law.
Paris with Pen and Pencil, by Bartlett,.. 1 00
What I saw in London, by Bartlett,.....    1 00  Putnam's Elocution and Oratory,..     1 00
Pictorial Family Encyclopedia,.......   1 75  Norton's Elements of Agriculture,..0...    60
Greeley's Overland J'rney to California, 1 00  Waring's Elements of Agriculture,...       5
Ind'n Captivities, or Life in the Wigwlam, 1 00  Nash's Progressive Farmer,............    60
Noble Deeds of American Women,...... 1 00  The American Orator's Own Book,...   CO0
Daring Deeds of American Heroes...... 1 00  Young's Science of Government,....... 100
Wild Scenes of a Hunter's Life,..I..    10   The N. York Civil and Criminal Justice,.  5 00
*  The Australian Captive,r........'.1 00'The New Clerk's Assistant, or Every Man
Thrilling Adventures by Lamd and Sea,. 1 00        His Own Lawyer, by J. 3. Jenkins, 2 50
Il:''uall tcialogues of our Aliscellaneees and Ag, icultural Pu7t1icatin   suppled ip'atis.
T-..'




0.c M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO., l
|  5 PARnE  1oW, NEW YORK,                                        I
HAVE JUST PUBLISIIED TlE                                   i
A WELL PRINTED AND RULED BLANK VrOLUTME, 
Of 150 quarto pages, with an explanatory introduction and a selies of carefully prepared
headings, arranged for entering every date and event usefol for refelrence upon the farmthe result of each particular crop, and of each field, and every itein uscful for record and
reference concerning domestic animals, etc., etc.
This Book is ruled and arranged for entering the results of twenty-five years
from 1860 to 1884 inclusive,
and will supply every want, as to the means of arriving at a direct and intelligent Iluderstanding of the profit and loss of the various departments of husbandry.
Prepared by Dr. B. F. HOUGH, of Albany,
SUPERINTENIDENT OF TIIE NEW YORK STATE CEitSUS. 
-A MORE USEFUL BOOK FOR TIlE FARMER HAS NEVER BEEN MADE.
Price, THREE DOLLARS.
C' TI E
PATIENTS' & PHYSICIANS' AID.
A new and valuable wolk, which tells how to Preserve Health; What to do in Sudden
Attacks of Disease, and how best to profit by the directions of the Physician. It is writen
by an experienced Practitioner, and gives just the information needed in every famIily.
12mo. Price ONE DOLLARI.   T
THE ORCHARD HOUSE.
BY THOMAS RIVERS.
A practical work, giving full directions for the successful cultivation of all kinds of
hardy and tropical fruits under glass, -witli numerous illustrations of Plans of Building,
with estimates of cost, etc. Also, Directions for Growing Trees and Vines in Orchard
I-louses.  By WILLIAM SAUNvDEs,  Landscape Gardener, Geimantown, Pa. Paper, 8vo.
Price, 40 cents.                       -                                             l
OUR FARM OF FOUR ACRES,
AND THE AIONEY WE OIADE BY IT.
With an Introduction by PETER B. MEAD, Editor of the Horticulturist. 12mno. Paper
25 cents; Cloth 0O cents.
THE YOUNG FARMER'S  IANUAL.
Detailing the manipulations of the Farm in a plain and intelligible manner, with Practical Directions for laying out a Farm, and erecting Buildings, Fences, and Farm  Gates.
The book will also embrace
THE YOUNG FARMER'S WORKSHOP,
Giving full directions for the selection of good Farm and Shop Tools, their manufacture
and use, with numerous original illustrations of Fences, Gates, Tools, and the manner of
performing nearly every branch of farming operations.
BY S. EDWARDS TODD.
The Work is a large 12mo volume of about 450 pages, and  contains nearly 200
Illustrations. Price, $1 25.
A full supply of works on Agriculture, Horticulture, Architecture. Rural Art, andi
Domestic Economy, constantly on hand. Books sent by mail on receipt of price. Full:
descriptive Catalogues furnished gratis. ~
C. M. SAX'TON, BARKER & CO., 25 PARE Row, New YORK.
- Agricultural Book  Publishers, and.Proprietors  of the Hcrticutlturist.
-