food (azote being the old name for nitrogen) will allow it to grow and increase, while it may or may not produce either the reality or the appearance of fat.

Fat-producing food, then, is food producing animal heat. The fat serves as a reservoir of fuel with which to keep the body warm. This seems to be, par eminence, its service. All other uses yield to this. Hence its combustion in the system is essential, and hence, too, in cold weather, it is impossible, almost, to fatten any animal; all the elements of the fat are consumed, at once, to keep the animal warm. Thus, too, it is, that an animal in good condition will endure the cold better than one in "thin flesh," which means often, one having but a limited deposit of fat. In the latter, this fuel is less abundant, and the combustion necessary for the preservation of life is a tax upon the living tissue.

Lord Ducie performed some experiments highly illustrative of these principles, and which also indicated what might be expected from their application to the practice of grazing. 1st Experiment. Five sheep were fed in the open air between the 21st Nov. and the 1st Dec.; they consumed 90 lbs. of food per day, the temperature of the atmosphere being about 44 deg. At the end of this time they weighed 2 lbs. less than when first exposed. 2d Experiment. Five sheep were placed under a shed and allowed to run about, at a temperature of 49 degrees; they consumed, at first, 82 lbs. of food per day, then 70 lbs., and at the end of the time had increased in weight 23 lbs. 3d Experiment. Five sheep were placed in the same shed as in the last experiment, but not allowed to take any exercise; they ate at first 64 lbs. of food per day, then 58 lbs., and increased in weight 30 lbs. 4th Experiment. Five sheep were kept quiet and covered, and in the dark; they ate 35 lbs. a day, and were increased 8 lbs. These experiments prove very satisfactorily the influence of warmth and motion on the fattening of cattle.

Thus, also, when from sickness, or otherwise, we are unable to eat, life is sustained, first, by consuming the fat; then the muscles yield themselves up to this demand of nature, or rather of vitality, and they too waste away.

These principles being well established, it is not difficult for our readers to classify the various growths of the field and of the stall, for themselves and for their animals, if they will but turn to some analytic table which gives the elements of those growths. The more carbon food contains, the greater are its fattening qualities. The greater the supply of nitrogen, the better is it adapted to the growth of young animals, or to give increased muscular strength to the animal of maturer years, which is employed in labor.

This distinction should be observed with regard to all kinds of domestic animals. Thus, young chickens, which need to grow, should be fed with grains, in some form. Those which are already grown, and need to be fattened, should be fed with food rich in starch.

HOT-HOUSE.—Admit air freely during every mild day, but exclude gradually towards evening. Stir bark beds occasionally, and water and ventilate freely. Thin grapes, and keep up heat as required; give liquid manure and syringe; shade in very hot days. Attend to propagation by seeds, suckers, layers, aud offsets; fumigate with tobacco occasionally; mulch around the roots of vines, and stop the laterals; apply water in the morning early, and in greater quantities than in the preceding months.

AGRICULTURE IN VIRGINIA.

WE have elsewhere alluded to the excellent address of the newly elected President of the State Society, and have marked portions of it for our columns. He first makes a comparison as to the amount of labor, the value of agricultural implements, live stock, &c. He says: "At the head of these Southern States, in production, in extent of territory, in climate, in soil, and in population, stands the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is a nation of farmers. Eight tenths of her industry is expended upon the soil; but less than one third of her domain is in pasturage, or under the plough. Out of somewhat more than thirty-nine millions of acres, she tills but little over ten millions of acres, or about twenty-six and a quarter per cent., whilst NewYork has subdued about forty-one per cent., or twelve and a quarter out of her twenty-nine and a half millions of acres; and Massachusetts, with her sterile soil and inhospitable climate, has reclaimed from the forest, the quarry, and the marsh, about forty-two and a half per cent., or two and one eighth out of her little territory of five millions of acres. Yet, according to the census of 1840, only six tenths of the labor of New-York, and four tenths of that of Massachusetts, or relatively, one fifth and two fifths less than our own, is expended upon agriculture.

The agricultural implements and machinery of Virginia are worth but sixty-nine cents for every arable acre; in New-York they are worth one dollar and eighty cents; and in Massachusetts one dollar and forty-nine cents for every arable acre; but as, in those States, the breadth of mowing and pasture lands is much greater than with us, the difference in value of agricultural implements, to every acre tilled, is still greater against us.

The live stock of Virginia are worth only three dollars and thirty-one cents for every arable acre; but in New-York they are worth six dollars and seven cents, and in Massachusetts four dollars and fifty-two cents.

The proportion of hay to the same quantity of land is, for Virginia, eightyone pounds; for New-York, six hundred and seventy-nine pounds; for Massachusetts, six hundred and eighty-four pounds."

He then speaks thus of manures. We wish that every farmer in the United States would hear him. But while there is a difference in different States, in the amount of manure applied to the soil, as there is with individuals of the same State, no State and but few individuals are at all just to their own interest in this respect. But hear the orator:

"Judging from the history of agriculture in all other countries, we may safely say, that farming can never attain to continued perfection where manure is not put on with an unsparing hand. By far the larger part of this can only be made by stock, which should at the same time be made the source of profit, at least sufficient to pay the cost of their keep; so that, other things being equal, it is a safe rule to estimate the condition of a farming district by the amount of live stock it may possess, and the provision made for their sustenance. Applied in this instance, we see that the New-York farmer has invested in live stock two dollars and seventy-six cents, and the Massachusetts farmer one dollar and twenty-one cents per acre more than the Virginian farmer. In pasturage we cannot tell the difference. But in hay, New-York has five hundred and ninety-eight pounds, and Massachusetts six hundred and three pounds more per acre than we have. And we shall appreciate still more highly the skill of the Northern farmer, if we reflect that a

readier market for every, the most trivial product of his farm, operates as a consistent temptation to break up his rotation and diminish his stock."

The following is a most powerful statement of what is essentially true of many portions both of the South and the North:

"Two courses are before you-either to neglect the new duties which claim performance at your hands, thereby to sink below the depths of party spirit into the foul abyss of partisanship, and see yourselves degraded to a nation of tools and dupes; to surrender the whole direction of public affairs to those who make a trade of politics and pander to the worst passions of the people whom they corrupt and abuse and betray-either this, or to take that control which rightly belongs to you, the natural rulers of the State and representatives of its conservatism, to foster public spirit and private enterpise, to instruct, enlighten, defend, and provide for the people, to give a right direction to the public mind, and to protect it from that bondage which the demagogue would impose, and which is riveted by an uninformed and selfish and narrow spirit. These are the alternatives: choose ye between the two! You must conquer by action, or submit by inaction! Why not conquer? It is not difficult. Men instinctively worship law and order, because it is necessary to self-preservation. The true strength and excellence of government never did lie, God forbid it ever shall lie, in mere numbers. Moral influences control its operations, as certainly as gravity controls our steps. But unlike gravity, these influences are inert and require to be put in motion. It were invidious to particularize, but we may point in general terms to States north and west of us, in which, as one or the other of these alternatives predominates, we see steadiness, loyalty and virtue, or the germs of restlessness, anarchy, grossness, and debasement.

But how shall this provision be made? By agricultural improvement, in the first place; by so developing the resources of the State as to keep all our citizens at work. By this means, we have every confidence that in a few years we shall regain the ground we have lost, and go as far ahead of other States as they are now ahead of us. This is no idle boast. In spite of the comparative bad management which we have proved to prevail in Virginia, it appears from the census of 1810 that the total value of agricultural produce, including, of course, what was consumed on the farm and otherwise applied to agricultural uses, was in round numbers, in Virginia, New-York, and Massachusetts, fifty-eight, one hundred and eight, and nine and a half millions of dollars respectively; being to each person employed in agriculture in these States, $186.60, $240, and $108; showing an excess in favor of Virginia over Massachusets of forty-two and a half per cent., and of New-York over Virginia of twenty-two and a half per cent.

Thus we find that in 1840 Massachusetts produced upwards of five millions of bushels of potatoes, or sixty bushels to each integer of her agricultural industry, whilst we made less than three millions of bushels, or 8.30. But of wheat and corn we made upwards of thirty-five millions of bushels, and Massachusetts a fraction under two millions. On the other hand we find, when compared with New-York, that we made of wheat $31.50, of corn $54

$85.50 per hand; and she of wheat $27, of corn $15-$42, or more than one hundred per cent. deficit. But in value of live stock and dairy products and hay, we made $102, $4, $8.30, respectively-$114.30; and she $121, $23, $61.70 $205.70; or nearly one hundred per cent. excess. The excess of value of her oat and orchard crop, about offsets the value of our tobacco crop, nd leaves the difference in favor of New-York mainly dependent on wool. The last question we shall discuss, is that of the finances necessary to start

and sustain such a Society. We must have money. It has been decided to introduce a bill into the General Assembly asking for an appropriation of State money, conditioned on an equal individual contribution, and the enactment of such provisions as shall secure to the State Society the certain collection and full fruition of their funds. To those who object to the tax thus proposed to be laid, we beg leave simply to say, that there are 76,704 farms in Virginia, and that, should the whole tax amount to $10,000, a sum we cannot hope to realize, it would make just thirteen cents for each farm it they quarrel with that amount, we reduce it forty per cent. for the independent appropriation of $4,000 already made, for the employment of an Agricul tural Commissioner and Chemist, which leaves 7.8 cents. If this does not quiet their fears, we can tell them that about one half of it will be contributed by others than farmers."

MENSTRUATION IN MARES.

A LATE number of the American Veterinary Journal contains the following, written by C. H. Cleaveland, M.D., of Waterbury, Vt. We publish it in the hope not only of doing a good service by circulating valuable information, but also to save many noble animals from abuse:

"Probably all know that all mares of the proper age, and at certain seasons of the year, menstruate, or, in other words, have uneasy turns, get 'foolish,' as they say in Illinois; and that, at such times, they seem unwilling to perform their usual task, either as travellers or as draught horses; that they seem fretful and often ill-tempered, vicious, spiteful, and frequently get a most thorough whipping, because their masters also get 'foolish.

Now, the simple fact is, that the mare knows more than her master in regard to her then condition, and she is trying to drive into his foolish noddle that, on such days, she should be left quiet, and be subject to no labor beyond the most gentle exercise.

If the reason why this course should be pursued, in preference to the hard work and the whipping which your mare has had bestowed upon her at such times, is not now plain and satisfactory to you, most sapient reader, just inquire of any old matron within the circle of your acquaintance, and she will tell you that I am correct, but perhaps without a why or wherefore.'

The reproductive organs, in all animals, are intimately connected with the nervous system, and of course exert a vast influence over not only the nerves, but also the entire body, mind, and disposition; and when those organs are deranged or diseased, the entire animal economy must suffer, and be rendered in a greater or less degree unfitted to perform its usual labors. In the female these organs exercise a still more powerful influence upon the other parts of the system than in the male; and as they are liable to periodical derangements or excitements, it becomes obviously necessary to be strictly cautious not to tax the animal's powers of endurance at those periods.

Mares that have been ridder under the saddle, or driven in harness, during their periods of heat, and have performed no more than their usual amount of labor, are frequently discovered to be covered with perspiration across the loins, while all other parts of the surface are cool and dry; and the hostlers will say that they have been unable to rub those moist spots dry, even after the lapse of many hours; and the next day the mare is observed to drag her hind legs after her, almost as though her back were broken. Indeed, her

back is lame, weak, and painful. She urinates with difficulty, and there is evident inflammation of the kidneys, the ovaries, and the uterus.

From slight injuries of this class mares will readily recover; but if they are of too frequent repetition, or the injury be of too grave a character, the chances are, that the animal will be unable ever after to perform well, and will soon become nervous, irritable, and weak, and will be passed from jockey to jockey until she dies-a martyr not to her own 'foolishness,' for her waywardnesses at those times are wise admonitions to her master, but to the folly of those who will not learn to understand nature, because they know all about their horses,' and do not wish to be instructed by any book doctor."

THE CHEESE TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE Cincinnati Price Current gives a brief review of the cheese trade for the season of 1851-52, from which we derive the following statements. The monthly average price for good merchantable Western Reserve cheese in the months of each year, from 1848 to 1852, was as follows:

The amount of cheese produced by each State during the year ending

June 30, 1850, was as follows:

Thus, it is seen, the States containing a population of about twelve millions produce over seventy-seven million pounds of cheese annually, while the Western and Southern States, with a free population of eight millions, produce only twenty-five million pounds. Of the former, New-York produces forty-nine million, and of the latter, Ohio produces twenty-one million. The Southern States produce a very small quantity in proportion to their population.