QQ BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Wilder presented the following on 



Fish Offal as Food for Sheep. 



From careful observations, close calculation, and long experience 

 in sheep raising, I have come to the conclusion that Fish Ofial 

 used as food for sheep, is not only cheaper, but much superior to 

 any other kind of provender I have ever used. 



I keep about one hundred sheep ; have fed fish offal to them for 

 the last ten years ; and I have wintered my sheep for the last 

 three winters on thrashed straw, with one half pound per day to 

 each sheep of dried fish pumice, or one pound of green (as it 

 shrinks one half in drying), and they came out in the spring in 

 much better condition than when fed on good English hay with 

 corn. I consider the dry pumice worth as much as corn, pound 

 for pound. When I have had enough to give them one half pound 

 per day, I have found that the weight of the fleece was increased 

 one quarter, and not only that, but also the carcass in a like pro- 

 portion ; the weight of the fleece per head averaging from five to 

 seven pounds. I shear my sheep the last of March or the first of 

 April. 



I prefer early shearing to late, for several reasons. They got rid 

 of the tick and suffer much less from the heat of May, and by 

 housing them nights and through the cold storms they become 

 gradually hardened, and suffer less from the inclement weather 

 than when sheared later in the season. 



The fish offal which I use is made from herrings, caught in weirs, 

 seined, and dipped into boats, then taken to the press house, where 

 they are salted the same as for smoking ; after which they are 

 cooked and the oil pressed out, leaving a pumice for which sheep 

 are more eager than for grain. 



Mr. Thing presented the following paper on 



Swine upon the Farm. 



I do not know whether the Committee on Topics really thought 

 there was any peculiar fitness in assigning to me the subject which 

 they have, but I feel that they have been fortunate in their selec- 

 tion, for I have ever had the good fortune, or the faculty of making 

 myself perfectly at home among hogs. 



Allow me to remark at the outset, that the animal of which I 

 intend to speak at this time is the sleek, smooth, long-bodied, 



