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2 Raising Cows for the Da’ry, . Beyond the mere satisfaction of hav iug the name of having and making the finest, is the great satisfaction of obtaining the best prices and readiest I sales for your daily products, a thing which is utterly impossible without the best and thorough management throughout the long list of details which, together, conspire to assist the dairyman in producing “gilt edged” or prime butter. Ido not mean, now, to go into describing the minute details of dairy farming, for it would take far more space than is contained between tiie two covers of this journal, but < merely comment upon the proper I method of raising cows for dairy pur- i poses, irrespective of blood or'pedi- I glees. ( It requires both cn-o and judgment to properly rear heifers intended for a future dairy herd, and, unless it is be stowed from the commencement, and so continued, all after care if of little avail, for all dairymen well know that a stunted heifer is nsft tiling to worth less, at least for dairying; and, unless such heifer he from the very best milk ing and butter stock—and not then, in many cases will they consent to raise such an animal, for the chances are de cidedly against them. The food should he of such a quality and in such quan tities as will tend to a healthy and vigorous, ; though natural growth, at the same time aiming to foster ull/the good and desirable qualities. Never select the young from common or ordinary stock, but only from those in the herd which are of good size, arc healthy, and, above all, give the great est amount of rich, butter-producing milk. By mating such stock with thoroughbred bulls of acknowledged good points and excellence, the pro- duct is, invariably, an improvement on tfie mother; and as improvers only, of farm *tock should! the ojr country be con -08 JPek to produce for *»id ip of the I I j during ‘'"jHHHHP ' and with nhGidnnce of pure, fwm water are the nVessarios during the summer, to cnsin good cows tor the dairy. Never make apracticeof leaving the bull run with the herd of cows or youg heifers, for it is a pernicious prac tice, and justly condemned by all good breeders; but keep him stabled until wanted, when the heifer or heifers can be turned into his enclosure, for, unless this is done, the heifers will often take the bull sometime before they should, often before they are a year old, while we consider it much the best, both for us, financially speaking, and for the fu ture cow, to keep the hull away until the animal has attained the age of fif teen months, when you can, with safe ty and profit, mate her with the bull you desire as a sire. Do not stint in food, nor feed food so rich as to impair the general health of the animals, for they are much more susceptible before two years of age than when older; so do not do anything to undo your previous good and care ful management. High feeding, espe cially just before calving, has often de leterious effects upon the animal, for it sometimes induces inflammation in the udder, which naturally is somewhat in flamed about this time, which is apt to result in an impaired secretion of milk, owing to part of that organ being in jured or impaired. Here, again, if not carefully looked to, you may partially lose the good results brought up to this point by careful management, tor, nstead of a first class milker, you may soon find out that you have only a second or third rate one, or one far better fitted for the butcher than for the dairyman. But permit me here to remark, that far more cows are impaired in a milk-pro ducing way by under-feeding than by over-teeding; so it is only in special cases that such caution as the above is desirable. After the calf has arrived, teed the mother wet feed almost exclusively, if it be early spring or during the winter, in preference to dry feed, of a violent, heating nature, for the animal now re quires such, and do not stint her in the least in the matter of water. Wet food of good quality, and in sufficient quantity, stimulates the milk-producing BANNER OF THE SOUTH AND PLANTERS’JOURNAL. | capacity of a cow, and hence, should l>e mainly used. Leave the calf draw iae much milk from the mother as she ’ [ wishes, and, at the same time, to pre vent unnecessary inflammation, draw Jail the surplus milk from her at least twice a day, some recommending three times a day, which may In? a somewhat troublesome task at first, but if the belter has been petted and kindlv treat ed while in her heiferhood, she will soon be very willing for you to relieve her surplus load of lacteal fluid, and thereby allay, in a great measure, the inflamed and distended udder. After the tendency to feverishness lias passed off, the amount and quality of food can be increased, which should be such as produces a small amount of fat and a large supply of milk, for all tat pro dueing properties invariably shorten the supply or flow of milk. Although a first class milker is rarely fat or fleshy, that a poor cow will milk largely or well. It always pays to feed well; and, knowing this, all well-to-do farm ers make it a point to keep just enough stock to consume the products of the farm—those intended for their use— and no more, knowing full well that it ts true economy to do so. I have not touched on several im portant points which come directly un der the heading of this article for want ot sufficient space to do so, so those “points" will have to form the founda tions for some future articles. Cecil Fruit, Truck ami Stock Farm. Brains in Farming. Though we may justly claim to have made a bale progress in agricultural science and art, during the past fifteen oi twenty years, it. is yet surprising how much muscular labor is wasted every year, which might he saved or belter directed ; and how little many of our professed farmers really know of their own calling. For Instance, flow tanners toil on, year jjfter year, with scanty and imperfect implement* ofj fins) imdry. They secjSyo care nothing/ cheaper and care little for improved varieties of seeds, plants, trees or domestic animals. Under draining, subsoiling, compost ing—these are labor lost; and the pro per rotation of crops, with speciali manuring for the particular crop of grain, roots, etc., to be produced— 1 this, of course, is all “book-fanning" and nonsense! Why do not all farmers study their profession; acquire a knowledge of the leading principles of agriculture, the properties of different manures and their adaptation to certain crops, and other matters of vital importance, and having acquired this knowledge, reduce it to daily practice? Why do they not diligently seek out the very best way, and undeviatingly adhere to it ? Why do so many of this class freely ad I mit that they know far better and more > thorough modes ot farming than they put into practice '! Life is too short tor; such misapplication of knowledge and time; and if we would have ease in our old age, comfort for our families, peace, quietness, freedom from debt and money embarrassments—in short the greatest possible earthly happiness, we must (both in the moral and ma terial world), make all things within our control work for good. There is always a right and a wrong way to do tilings. Let us search tor and find and do the right way. Better cultivate a few acres well and thorough- 1 ly, than to skim over a large plantation, j Labor and muscle are now very dear j and hard to control. Let us work with our brains as well as our hands—the ! labor of the head will lighten toil, and invest all we do with a charm, an inter est and a dignity, unknown to the mere unthinking, mechanical drudge, who plods on in the beaten track, never striking out any newer or pleasanter paths for himself. Agriculture, intelligently pursued, and practiced con amore, is the highest calling upon earth. It brings its vo taries into direct communication with nat only the simplest and most delight ful forms of external nature, but it opens up for him the widest fields of study and research into the most pro found sciences and arts. Is is broader, deeper, farther reaching in all its rela tions than any other calling. It is ■ the -most useful’ and therefore the j “most honorable" pursuit of mankind, j Iti its perfection and lull development j progress, the elevation and the happiness of mankind. It supports,, upholds and sustains all peoples, all | nations, all professions, trades and ! j avocations. It deserves and should receive the full and entire strength 1 ; [lower and capacity of the wisest and i ablest men, and must always maintain the rank accorded to if by Divine wis dom—as the foremost and favored work of mankind.— Our 11,me Jour- 1 nal. j; Tire Cattle Lords or Texas.— The »t Louis Journal of C,m%merce says: Daring the late war the Texas cattle regions were but slightly devastated by the ravages of war, which, on the contrary, greatly enhanced the pros [lerity by increasing the price of Texas wutlo. In the coast regions of Texas 1 are found those lands whose animated treasures surpass, j„ number and value ! oven the flocks and beards of the great men of New York. The Santa Cabru us ranche, on the Santa Cabrutus Diver, owned by Colonel Richard Ding, embraces 84,182 acres of land, stocked with 65,000 cattle, 10,000 horses ' > ooo sbeep, and 8,000 goats. For the management of these immense herds, <SOO Mexican herdsmen and 1,000 sad die horses are held in constant requsi i'onnoC ° loßcl Kin g each year brands lAOOO calves, and sells 10,000 fat eat tie, constantly investing the surplus proceeds in stock, rat tic, O’ConnoiH ranche, twenty ndles below Golaid, on the San Antouioitiver, in 1862, con tamed over 40,®0 cattle; during that I f ear O" this estaf* 12,000 calves were i branded, and *8%)0 realized by the sale of cattle. enterprise was inaugurated teiiMp previous with i ,o.W cattle. ranches, be i tween the |; io < 4r . uil|l . owned I^Mk,>uc!v. i! 7i om mcm ,iu; '"'hums h.-MHA,,. plank tfls | °ther stock. Other magnificent cattle j herds might be enumerated. The net i increase of cattle in this region lias been estimated ;ls high as 25 per cent, per annum. ‘ Turning his animals loose to graze at will over a range of country often fifty miles square, covered with nu tritious grasses, in a genial climate, in which shelter is unnecessary, the 1 exas stock raiser confines hts care to the identification and marketing of animals. For the former purpose the stockmen of the neighboring ranchese assemble, semiannually in considerable force, to scour the country for the pur pose of brandingthe calves, the owner ship ot .which is determined by the brand ot cows they follow or suck. I his stock of businsss, which lias thus grown from small beginnings, now amounts to a magnificent industry, the product of which reaches our most distant marketer’ F i.owf.us.—— \\ ho know the value of a garden of flowers ? I.ike music, they possess magic power. The one adds to our happiness by beauty and fragrance, the Other by melody and harmony, by which the sentiments are refined, and the virtues of the heart stimulated and strengthened. All surrounding objects exert ail influence upon the.mind, and a correspondence alway exists between outward objects and the inner feelings of the heart. Where flowers are cultivated the dis positions become sweet and the affec tions purified. Homes are constituted paradises when made so attractive that both parents and children find them the centres of earthly bliss. The cost of making homes beautiful is so very small, when compared with its advan tages, that it is really strange that so little attention is given to this matter. Did the husband consider that liis own happiness, and that also of his family, depended so much upon a small outlay in making his yards beautiful, he would not grudge the expenses ; and did the wife realize how much she can do to constitute a virtuous household by making things attractive, she would not be wanting in this matter. Home is a sweet word. But to make a sweet home all must act in concert, to give to it both an external and internal beauty (From Farmer & Gardener. ] about nut grass. ( >r.e of your correspondents wishes ito know how to destroy nut grass. ' I laving passed eighteen years of my 1 [early planting life on a nut grass plant ation, in the lower part of South Caro lina, I can speak from experience. This is, I suppose, the worst enemy in the shape of a •‘troublesome weed*’ ] tliai the farmer has to contend with anywhere. The worst annual weeds or grasses can be eradicated by destroying the crop one year, and thus cutting off, the supply of seed. But this is ape-i renmal—never dying out—recruiting and multiplying and extending in ail 1 directions year by year. The tuber of one season is the parent of a dozen j ,n ‘ >re for the next, and so it goes on "and infinitum. Hogs are fond of the ! ,,ut Uvhen they can get nothing better), | 11IK Wl ‘; hod occupation for several months in a nut grass field, rooting and ! turning up the whole surface, meTlow i'lig the ground, and leaving , utß enough always to make a fine crop the | " ext spring- I have seen fields thrown out of cultivation on account of this j grass, and allowed to grow up thickly | m pines, so as to produce* a dense shade; and, after ten or fifteen year* I cleared and brought into cultivation again. At first the tubers come up j s l mnn gly and feeble, but the warm sun ami mellow ground soon give them mart; and at the close of the season, the ground is pretty well infested again. > ariotis plans have been suggested | am * tned for destroying nut grass. Dl- The application of salt over the : surface heavy enough to impregnate I rim* soil; but this besides killing the j grass, kills the land, too. This plan may do when there is only a small I patch, and salt can be got cheaply. • -'',l. Plowing deeply and thoroughly! in infer, so as to expose the tubers to freezing If ( ] o ne repeatedly many are killed, but there are always enough i *oft to furnish a good supply. 3d. Hoeing over the surface six] V rimough tiie glowing i ! every dfty the nuts are hot all exhaust ed in one season, as I know from trial. | 4th. Spading the ground any [lick ing outcarefully the nuts, nay be done on a small patch, and by/repeat ing this constantly as often as vne grass shows itself, may at length ly effectual, but it is a costly process. sth. The most effectin'./plan I have seen tried for large fields, is a rotation of oats and cow peas continued for several years. The oats should he sown early, so that by Spring the ground is well covered and shaded. The grass is thus kept down in a pretty feeble condition. As soon as the oats are cut, say in June, plow up at once and plant peas. These grow off rapid! v and shade the ground before the grass has had time to recover. If this is repeated for several years, it comes nearer to destroying nut grass than any other mode I have seen or heard of. The nut grass shoots up a flower stem like afl similar grasses, and bears flowers of a dark chestnut color, but I have never been able to find perfect seed, though I have repeatedly exam ined them. This is only analogous with other plants which propagate by the roots. The sweet potatoes, and many others which are reproduced by tubers or tuberous roots, rarely mature perfect seed. The leaves shoot up in early Spring from the nuts of the previous year, soon attaining full size. There is no further growtli until the appearauce of the flower stem later in the season.— But this rest and inaction above is an earnest of what is going on below.— Small thread-like fibres push out for several inches in all directions, and at the end are formed the tubers which mature in the course of the season. These fibres run down to a foot or eighteen inches in soft mellow earth. \V hen the tuber is mature they die out; so that it is impossible to draw them out by the fibres. Along our seaboard region, on the old settled plantations, this grass is a terrible scourge. When it lias taken possession of a field, it is impossible to eradicate it at anything like a reason able cost. It would take more than the laud is worth. It is scattered and propagated in many ways, so that those who wish to keep their fields clean I m ‘ lst y( fy vigilant. The tubers are j a favorite food of the wood rat, and are i collected and earned off for their Win ter stores. I have seen a quart or more ] dug up near an old stnmp or log. Cat tle and hogs convey the nuts by their noofs from one field to another.* Ploughing the ground invariably ] spreads it all over the field, as the tu i hers are can-led by their long fibres and di opped by the plow. Such a terror is it that those planters who had none of it on their lands, would never use seed potatoes grown in a nut grass field. ! Nt raw berry plants, cabbage plants, shrubs and flowers—everythinggrowino- J on nut grass, was tabooed as dangerous I 1 he experience of planters in the low j Country was, that whilst seriously im rae, V : ,l, .* e oflarl,]s for cotton, it dnl but little injury to corn, except that it required a little more work. Tt was even held by some that the additional quantrty of vegetable matter returned ... the soil from the grass, tubers and fibrous roots paid for the extra labor for cotton, however, it seemed to he poisonous. It was difficult to get a , good stand, and the continuer! deep forking necessary to keep down the grass, injured the young plant and pre- I vente ?. lts growth- I “ the Kali of the ,J ear, the cotton on every nut grass patch could be distinguished bv its smaller size and less branched habit this w a reminiscence of the state of .loans before the war. Now, that la bor is not so easily obtained and under less control, the difficulties of contend mg with it are probably greater H. W. R. ~ r Vr K l i' N Kaws.—'The discussion of j the .Merchants and Factors’Lien Law s, before the Monroe Agricultural Society i at ' ts last ‘Meeting, developed the fact ; that many of our most intelligent plant ers have become aroused to an under standing of the dangerous tendencies ot these laws. It is plain that the kiw is a ruinous one, and it cannot be argured. now, that there is any neces sity tor its longer continuance. In 1865 and probably in 1860, when the country was impoverished by the war, it was ditferent—the planters had some ex- HMfcjajßitkiiififci .f- " vi jot them ding to. But mismanagement of our farmers is the only reason that can be assigned now. It may be ar gued, also, the merchant takes advan ] tage of the necessities of the plauter, and forces him to accept the law; but j it should be remembered that the latter has it in his power to relieve himself ; from necessity. He can and should try ito do so. Let him raise his own sup ! plies, and then, and not till then, will | be be independent ot dealers, and the provisions of the objectional Lien Laws. Monroe Advertiser. A Simple Antidote fob Poison.— W e see that Dr. James Edwards, a prominent London physician, has pub lished a simple, safe, and accessible prescription for the whole range of acid and corrosive poisons, which, if prompt ly tried well, it is said, almost invaria bly save life. It may prove of great value. The prescription is: Mix two ounces of powdered chalk or magnesia, or one ounce of washing soda, with a pint of milk, and swallowing at one draught, then tickle the back of the. throat with a feather or the finger, so as to produce vomiting. Afterwards drink frequently of hot milk and water, and repeat the vomiting, so as to thor oughly wash out the stomach. Any quantity of chalk or magnesia may be taken with safety; but soda in large quantities is injurious. It is added, that the narcotics being excepted, milk alone is an antidote for almost all poi sons, and especially if followed bv vom iting. How to Cook Beets.— Beets are very nice cooked in the following man ner : Slice cooked beets quite thin, put in a sauce pan with some vinegar, water and a piece of butter, with sugar enough to make palatable. Any rale is impossible. Taste it and if any ingredients is lacking, add more of it; salt a very little, and pepper ; thicken the whole slightly ; serve hot. Beets may be skinned much easier by rub bing over with a cloth immediately on taking them from the water in which they are cooked, than by using a knife and fork. The attention of all interested in buildine is called to Bicknell & Co.’s advertisement in another column.