articles of necessity or "virtu," how few for a moment consider the various changes and processes passed through, by which their purification have been attained. These bones, we are informed, are shipped from time to time, by the boat load, east, and the farmers of Oneida and Herkimer make no effort to secure them for enriching their lands. Another animal "charnel house," as extensive as this, we were told, was located a short distance below, where the bones were formerly ground and crushed for manures; but sales were not readily made, and the business was abandoned. This is all wrong. These bones should be returned again to the soil, and dairy farmers, in this vicinity, should not allow such vast quantities of valuable manure to be shipped away to distant localities. There is not a dairy farm in Oneida or Herkimer but would be greatly benefited by an application of bone dust, and the time is rapidly approaching when such manures will be an imperative necessity on our dairy lands, and must be transported from a distance at heavy cost, or dairying abandoned. It would be well if the matter be attended to now, when they can be cheaply secured, for, farmers may rely upon it, such manuring will pay.

TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF THE TOWN.

Frankfort is a broken and hilly town. The hills slope to the river, but are cut by streams running in a northerly direction, forming deep gorges. and valleys. Ferguson's creek rises in the center of the town, and flows in a northwesterly direction, emptying into the Mohawk in the extreme northwestern part of the town, while Moyer creek and its tributaries, rising in the hills of Litchfield, cut through the southeastern portion of the town, and meet the waters of the Mohawk at Frankfort village. Numerous other streams of smaller size, rising in the hills, flow in different directions to these main creeks, breaking up the hills and forming valleys that run in a different direction from the great valley of the Mohawk. On the western slope of hills the shales crop out. They are of a flaky, crumbling nature, easily washed by streams and freshets, and hence frequent and deep gorges are worn out by the action of water. In the vicinity of Moyer creek there are limestone ledges, and the lime obtained from the stone is said to be of superior quality. Down this valley also there is limestone, made by the deposition of calcareous petrifying rivulets. It is porous, cellular, soft, and of a dirty gray color. It is rough and irregular, and contains particles of petrified wood, leaves, and other substances. Mr. Wetmore informs us that many curious petrified specimens are found in this valley, and that one of his neighbors had obtained a petrified owl from some of the caves. A small stream, called Petrifying creek, pours over the banks, making a fall of forty feet, and empties into the valley. Alum rock, so named from the bitter, astringent waters trickling from its sides, is also in this section. The rocks of the county, except the primary, dip into the earth with a southern inclination. On the north side of the Mohawk, the dip of the rocks corresponds to the inclination of the surface, but as you rise from the valley on the south side of the river, the different layers are more exposed. The Frankfort slate, a rock that rests upon the Utica slate, and resembles it in quality and appearance, except that its layers alternate with layers 39

[AG.]

of sandstone, makes a conspicuous out crop south of the village of Frankfort.

THE PROSPECT.

As you rise the hills from the West on the Burlington and Utica road, the soil is thin and poor, compared with the deep rich bottom lands in the valley. To reach the table lands there is a continual ascent for four miles, but it pays well to rest your horse from time to time and turn about to take a look at the lovely valley you leave behind. The central city with its spires and domes and busy streets lies spread out like a map. It looks wonderfully still and quiet as if in a deep sleep, but its cupolas and vanes make lightning flashes in the noon-day sun. The valley is clothed in green and dotted with buildings, and far beyond loom up the hills and forests growing fainter and fainter until the sight is lost in an ocean of mist and blue. Down in the city the streets are dusty, and the sun like a ball of fire burns and scorches you in every thoroughfare, but up on the hills here it is delightfully cool and refreshing. These hills and groves and valleys owe none of their attractions to art. At every step vegetation waves luxuriant, and in its varied forms is a constant source of pleasure to the eye. The trees, crowned with leaves, overshadow the hills and glens; the birds rejoice in their existence; they sing their pleasure, and every note pours forth a rapturous joy. Down in the city, pride, temptation, and sordid cares enslave and render callous the heart, but in the pure atmosphere of the country man ought to be wiser and better.

WETMORE FACTORY.

Some six miles west of Frankfort village, and six miles south of Utica, J. H. and J. W. Wetmore have a factory, which takes the milk of 350 cows. Farms here average about 100 acres, and the largest dairy, delivering milk at the factory, numbers about 25 cows, and it has about that number of patrons. The brothers are making eight 100-pound cheeses from the daily receipts of 7,700 pounds of milk, and the charge for manufacturing is 14c. per pound. Sales have been made at 14c., 14ĝc. and 14 c. per pound, and those on hand were of very nice quality. We looked this dairy over carefully, and tested a number of cheese with the tryer. They uniformly bored with a firm, solid texture, nice color, and clean, sweet flavor, and we place the dairy among the best first class dairies that we have seen. The process of manufacture is similar to that heretofore described by us as coarse curds," the only difference being in the division of the curds, which are made finer than is practiced by some manufacturers.

THE FARM, &C.

The Wetmore farm consists of 180 acres, about 90 of which are improved. It carries this year eighteen cows, and has from eight to ten acres under the plow. About half the farm has a gravelly and sandy soil, and the other half lies within a strip of hemlock land that runs through this part of the town, one-half mile wide, and two and one-half long. This soil is thin and poor, with a considerable admixture of clay and swampy spots, containing large deposits of muck. It is timbered with hemlock, spruce, beech and maple.

On these high hills the water is pure and cold, and gurgles out of the earth in numerous springs. There are three or four springs near the factory where the quantity of water discharged is large and almost as cold as ice. Water rams have been set here, and pipes laid for conducting it to the house.

Oats are grown successfully on the farm, and yield from sixty to seventy bushels per acre, but the table lands are generally too high and cold for corn, though on some of the farms fair crops are raised. Meadows yield about a ton to the acre, and in old pastures there is a spontaneous growth of white clover. Pastures and meadows were looking tolerably well on the hills, but of course much inferior to those in the valleys, where the land is of better character.

A few sheep are kept on the farms in this part of the town, in flocks of from six to twelve animals. Recently farmers have been troubled considerably in having their cows abort. Last year the Wetmore brothers had this trouble in their herds, but this year no cases had occurred. Some of the animals aborting had been milked up, falling off only about one-third in the quantity of milk. The cows were mostly raised on the place, and a part of those diseased had been kept over. They were doing well this year. Farms of one hundred acres on these lands usually carry about sixteen cows and a span of horses, raising all the coarse grain needed for stock. Fruit in this section, so far as we observed, was not very promising. Old orchards are in bad condition, and the trees are dying out. The Wetmores have some thrifty young apple nurseries, numbering two or three thousand trees, many of them quite large and in bearing. Young trees on this farm were receiving a good deal of care, and were doing well.

GRÆFENBERG.

From the Wetmore's, passing over light gravelly lands, where meadows were thin and filled with white daisy, we reach New Græfenberg, in the extreme southwestern corner of the town. It is a hydropathic establishment, erected by Dr. Holland in 1847, and in years past was regarded with considerable favor by persons believing in the water cure treatment. It is located four and a half miles from the city of Utica, on the road leading through Litchfield and Columbia to Richfield Springs, and has a wide and extended prospect from its spacious piazza. The scenery here is varied and beautiful, and the pure, bracing atmosphere of the hills must render it an attractive resort for patients who are inclined "to take a pack," or wash out disease from the system by means of pure water baths. The grounds embrace about twenty-two acres, and attached to the house are a gymnasium and bowling alley, where the sick may amuse themselves and draw inspiration and perspiration by the use of the "balls and pins." We looked through the establishment, and should judge it to be a pleasant and cosy resort in summer, with its nice bath rooms and many conveniences for the sick. It will accommodate about one hundred patients, but is not now in runuing order, and will not be opened for the public until another season. Dr. Holland is an intelligent and agreeable gentleman, with whom we passed a pleasant hour in going over the buildings and discoursing upon the peculiar mode of treatment adopted for patients at this establishment.

THE HARVEY FACTORY.

A short distance beyond Græfenberg, L. N. & G. A. Harvey have a small factory, receiving the milk from 275 cows. The delivery of milk on the day of our visit was 6,200 pounds. Dairies in this part of the town are small, running from eight to ten and twelve cows. The number of patrons here is small, and sales have been made up to May 31st. Hay cheese sold at 13c., and last shipment at 14gc.

THE CLUB'S DISCUSSION ON ABORTIVE STOCK.

The Dairymen of Herkimer in Council on Abortive Stock-Is it best to dis pose of the diseased Cows or keep them over?—New suggestion as to the cause of the Disease-Resolution asking aid from the New York State Agricultural Society, &c.

There were about fifty dairymen, besides members, at the farmers' club rooms, at Little Falls, on Friday, the 9th inst., and the talk was mainly about abortive cows.

We have, from time to time, referred to this bad habit among the dairies of Herkimer and the adjoining counties, and dairymen are becoming more and more desirous of discovering some means of averting its progress. The difficulty is a very serious one for the farmers of Herkimer. Great losses have already been sustained during the present winter, and fresh cases are every day occurring.

The disease is becoming a terrible scourge, justly to be feared by every dairy farmer in the county, since it is constantly spreading and making its appearance in new localities or upon isolated farms in the center of neighborhoods that have previously been free from the trouble.

It was not expected that much would be done at this meeting, further than making some provision for obtaining facts and statistics to be brought up and discussed at a future meeting. There was a desire on the part of those having the disease for the first time in their herds, to take council as to whether it was advisable to dispose of the aborting stock, or keep it over with the hope and probability that the trouble was not liable to occur again.

This question, it will be seen, is an important one to have satisfactorily settled, since deep milkers and the most valuable animals of the herd are most liable to the trouble. Cows of this kind are difficult to be obtained, and when obtained are very expensive. Stock now is extraordinarily high, and in view of its scarcity, it is a question whether some risks ought not to be taken in keeping stock over, rather than sending it to the butcher, especially stock of deep milking habit.

We were not present at the opening of the meeting, and therefore can not give the statements made by several as to their experience. But we were told that no satisfactory conclusion was arrived at as to the causes of the habit, nor any remedies given as to its prevention. Some new facts, however, were elicited, and the discussion was of interest. The subject is to be brought up again at the meeting of the club on Friday, February 23d, when it is expected a larger meeting will be had, and further developments made of great practical advantage to dairymen.

It is from discussions of this character that we may hope to reach important results. Since the experience of one differing from that of another, must modify and enlarge the views of each, and render both more capable of grappling with the difficulty before them, we hope the next meeting of the club will be generally attended, and every phase of this disease, which is threatening to break up the dairies of Central New York, thoroughly discussed.

We give below that portion of the discussion at which we were present: Mr. A. L. Fish, of Winfield, a gentleman well known to the agriculturists of the State, said: In contemplating the subject of abortion in cows, I can not speak from experience, as I have never had any of it in my dairy, nor has it been frequent enough in my neighborhood to cause alarm or incite investigation, until the present season. It now seems to be spreading its baneful influences among us to an extent that behooves to join hands with those who are pressing inquiries in relation to the dreadful malady, to ascertain the cause. So far as my observations have reached, the disease shows itself most virulent in crowded, ill-ventilated stables; and it seems to be a reasonable conjecture, that crowding cows together in such stables, each occupying a space of three feet only, subjecting them to a constant irritation from being hooked by master cows, perhaps, with sharp horns, and over-heated to a clammy sweat by their over-crowded position, and compelled to breathe not only the excrement of their own bodies, but that of others, for twenty or more hours, and then turned out to meet the chilJing blast of winter, and drink too much water, from excessive thirst, for want of frequent access to it, if not a primary cause, might contribute an influence to finish the work of abortion.

The fact here narrated, that one side of a double stable, with feeding alley in the center, being universally affected, and the opposite side not affected, is strong proof to me that the influences that I have referred to, may be a fruitful cause of an abnormal condition of the generative organs. In answer to the question, why should one side of a stable be entirely swept off by the scourge, and the other not affected, I will say, that the age, feed, habits, and apparent condition of both being equal, it would be a strong case, in point, to prove its contagious influence by close contact in stables, and the baneful influence of vitiated and heated atmosphere, and the reason of the partial effects in the same stable may be found by examination, to be from such ventilation or no ventilation, that the pressure of weightier air from without, would press back the heated, vitiated air from the disaffected side to the other, and thus keep it involved in over-heated bad air. I do not accept the fact, that a deficiency of bony structure in the aborted embrio calf, as proof positive that "the soil upon which the cow is grazed, or the hay grown upon which she is wintered, is deficient in phosphates. Although a virus may be imbibed into the system by eating forage of imperfect organism, such a condition of plants may be from climatary influences, or from ravages of insects, which cripple the growth and cause the plant to be inadequate to a healthy animal organism, or it may be by actual lodgment of poisonous insects in the plant. It is well known that the sap of forest trees that are attacked by insects, and the