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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



The hay, generally, is obtained from the natural 

 meadows, and comparatively little pains is taken to 

 secure a good sound crop. A coarse kind of hay is 

 collected for litter J it is known as tekk, and is com- 

 posed principally of heath and rushes cut from the 

 common. It is to be regretted that the example set by 

 some enterprising farmers in growing the artificial 

 grasses is not more generally followed. As elsewhere, 

 so here, this kind of cropping would bi"ing other 

 improvements in its train. 



Manure is generally composed of farm-yard dung, 

 sea-weed — of which large quantities are used — ashes, 

 and mould. 



On making acquaintance with Shetland stock, 

 especially in the early part of summer, the first thought 

 of the stranger must be that of wonder and surprise 

 that animals in such a miserable state of attenuation 

 can be worth anything, or jn'oduce anything. They 

 are, however, despite their forbidding, "gaunt, un- 

 gainly" looks, more valuable than one would suppose. 

 The " native black cattle is the best adapted to the 

 climate and food. No animal, in proportion to its 

 size of bone, has ever been known to carry a greater 

 weight of fat." It is much to be regretted that so 

 little attention is paid to selecting good stock, and so 

 little care given to the breeding and rearing. " The 

 cow is small," says the new statistical account to which 

 we have, with other sources, been indebted for much 

 matter supplementary to, and corroborative of our own 

 observations, the fore-quarters seldom weighing more 

 than two cwt. The quality of her milk is excellent, and 

 its quantity, in relation to her size, abundant j some- 

 times reacliing sixteen imperial quarts a day. The ox 

 is active, gentle, and docile ; and for draught, is better 

 suited to the present state of Shetland than the horse. 

 Both ox and cow are often fourteen and sixteen years 

 old before they are fattened for the knife, and yet the 

 beef is observed to be tender, fine-grained, and highly 

 flavoured. Owing to the scantiness of their winter 

 feeding, they are usually very lean when put to sum- 

 mer grazing ; thus much of the beef is what is termed 

 * new. ' Their food is natural pasture, containing 

 many aromatic plants." 



It is difficult to describe the peculiarly odd appear- 

 ance presented by a Shetland sheep as it starts up before 

 you in your first wanderings among the moors, with 

 scraggy necks " long drawn out " to stare at you ; 

 tangled wool hanging festoon-fashion from its misera- 

 bly thin body. It in few points resembles the south- 

 country sheep ; yet its flesh is fine flavoured, and its 

 wool — as al! our lady friends know — is of the finest and 



most delicate texture. The damper the moor on which 

 it pastures, the finer the wool. The Shetlanders well 

 know its value, and work it into all manner of things, 

 pretty as well as useful. It is difficult to get out of a 

 Shetland hut without being almost forced — at least, 

 most perseveringly persuaded to purchase some article 

 of home-knit wool work, such as shawls, scarfs, mils, 

 or hose. Some of these articles are exceedingly beau- 

 tiful. The sheep is a source of considerable profit to 

 the Shetland proprietors. Losses, however, often 

 occur through their falling into the sea from the craggy 

 precipices, on which they seek their food. On some of 

 the small islands, where the pasturage is richer and 

 more luxuriant than on the commons of the larger 

 islands, the Leicester breed is found to thrive as well as 

 any other. 



T/ie Pony. — The Shetland pony, known to everyone, 

 next claims our passing notice. Strong for their dimi- 

 nutive size, they are much prized in the coal mines of 

 the North of England, where they are employed in 

 drawing the waggons through the low narrow galleries. 

 The demand for this work has greatly raised their 

 value. Some years ago you might have purchased a 

 stout shaggy-maned fellow for 35s. or 40s. ; now you 

 are asked from £G to ^10, and for special animals as 

 high as £\b. They are very hardy in their habits, or, 

 at least, by the Shetlanders are presumed to be so, 

 as little or no care is taken to feed and house them. It 

 is only when a severe snowstorm arises, completely 

 precluding all possibility of their picking up anything 

 to eat outside, that they flock toward the house, when 

 the proprietor doles out a scanty meal of hay or tekk. 

 " He does not arrive at perfection till eight or nine 

 years of age ; seldom stands higher than 44 inches, 

 for the most part about 38 inches. The general colour 

 is a dark mouse -gtey, and he is covered with long- 

 woolly hair till three or four years old. He is singu- 

 larly free from vice, but is not so docile or sagacious as 

 high-bred horses." 



Hogs arc universally kept, and many of them 

 allowed the free use of the Shetlander's hut, on the 

 hearths of which we have seen them taking a comfort- 

 able snooze. They are, like the cattle, of a peculiar 

 breed. " Small boned, erect ears, woolly next the 

 skin, active, hardy, and easily fed ; and the pork is of 

 very delicate flavour." 



Geese are kept in considerable numbers, but the flocks 

 might be increased with much advantage to the in- 

 terests, and with little addition to the labour, of the 

 Shetlanders. The same remark applies to poultry, 

 which are aso kept. 



SUPPLYING PLANT FOOD AT THE SURFACE. 



In the reported diacussiona that took place during the 

 evenings of the late New York State Fair, much diversity of 

 opinion, as to whether manures should be applied at or below 

 the surface, appears to have been entertained — some farmers 

 even contending that the nature of the soil, for what reason 

 it is difficult to imagine, should determine the question. 

 Certainly, as long as our manures remain what they are, in 

 their properties and proportions, I think it quite doubtful 

 whether any natural reason or fact consistent with nature can 

 he adduced that will justify the practice and cost of burying 

 tnmmre, thus placing its organic parts beyond the reach of the 

 crop, and the hulk of it where it will not improve by the dis- 

 integrating processes that are so much dependent upon the 

 free access of stmoapheric elements. 



It is a mistake to suppose that we are to oppose nature, 

 especially as connected with all processes of growth, by art ; 

 on the contrary, it is the highest art bo to remove obstructions, 



and place the elements, or such of them as we can manipulate 

 in the best known position to give nature the fullest and moat 

 effective scope of action. Hence, when any doubt presents 

 itself, the test that will solve it, and decide it generally, is the 

 course we propose, contrary to, or in accordance with the 

 course of nature. If the latter, it is right in principle, however 

 defective in arrangement, at all events. 



If we look about us a little, we find the natural plant food 

 that produces our gigantic swamp timber, and the immense 

 annual growth of the natural grasses on low lands, composed 

 of humus arising from the decay of the annual growth of 

 these, invariably applied or deposited on the surface; and that 

 we get larger crops and growth of natural grass, and self- 

 manured swamp timber the result of natural surface manuring, 

 than art has yet been able to produce. Growth is always by 

 similar processes ; hence the intervention of art can never 

 change the manner in which plants absorb and grow. There 



