FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 381 



EVENING SESSION. 



K. G. Baii'd, Secretary of the State Board of A.ojriculture, gave a lecture on 

 the *' Conditions of Successful Agriculture." (See Lectures given at more 

 than one Institute.) 



Mr. C. 0. Morton read the following essav on 



D 



SHEEP. 



The history of sheep liusbandry dates back to almost as remote a period as 

 that of man, and from that time to the present, has justly occupied a promi- 

 nent position in the commerce of all civilized nations of the world, being a 

 source of luxury, ornament and profit, and when John Randolph, of Roanoke, 

 publicly proclaimed that he would at any time go a mile out of his way to kick 

 a sheep, he virtually asserted that it would be a luxury to abuse his best friend. 

 I do not propose in this brief essay to give the origin or history of the various 

 families or kinds of sheep, but will view the subject as it exists in our country 

 at the present time, as a branch of mixed liusbandry. 



That a flock of sheep is a necessity on the farm, I unhesitatingly assert. As 

 laborers in the field they are industrious and thorougli, feeding upon briars and 

 many other species of vegetable vermin, consuming much of all kinds of forage, 

 both in summer and winter, tliat is rejected by other stock, and converting it 

 into, and distributing over the field a more valuable fertilizer than it would be 

 in a crude state. As this is emphatically an age of dollars and cents, the 

 question naturally arises, what kind of sheep is best adapted to our cir- 

 cumstances? 



We have several varieties from which to select, and it is all important that 

 we select that which has the appearance of being the most remunerative. 



If we keep the larger or coarser wooled kind, with a view of supplying the 

 market at home or abroad, with mutton, we must provide broad acres of pas- 

 turage in summer, and an abundant supply of the most succulent and nutritious 

 food for -winter consumption, and then limit the number to a comparatively 

 small flock, provide ample housing, and be satisfied with a light annual yield 

 of fleece. 



If we select the merino, or a high grade of that kind, we may safely increase 

 the number from thirty-three to fifty per cent., thus furnishing more laborers 

 in the field to produce fertilizers, thereby paying thir own way. I think the 

 merino may be successfully wintered without the usual ration of hay, by judi- 

 ciously alternating corn stalks and straw, and from one-half to one bushel 

 shelled corn per 100 head per day; or, what is still better, from two to three 

 bushels of field turnips, in place of the corn. 



Riglit here excuse a slight divergence from my subject, and allow me to state 

 that the flat turnip is a crop which may be produced at a trifling expense. The 

 modus ojyerandi is to plow over a plat of wheat stubble, harrow smooth, and 

 sow from July 20th to 30th, about one-fourth pound of seed per acre, and har- 

 row in, which is all the labor necessary, until the time arrives to harvest, when 

 the roots may be stored in a cellar, or buried in pits of twenty-five or thirty 

 bushels each. For convenience they should be stored near the yard, and may 

 be fed once or twice a day. The juice of the turnip, Avith the saccharine and 

 assimilative properties it contains, gives it great value as winter forage for 

 most kinds of stock. 



Feeding should be done at regular intervals, in a quiet manner, always 



