THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



buted more to the permaueut wealth of the country than any 

 other individual. Mr. Charles Ledf^er ia an Eughsh nuTchaiit, 

 established for many years in Tacua, in Peru, the trade in 

 alpaca wool forming a portion of his business; and about six 

 years since he commenced carrying into effect the long-cherished 

 idea of introducing into Australia tliis valuable breed of wool- 

 beariiig animals. The dilllcultiea with which he had to con- 

 tend in carrying out this idea were of the most remarkable 

 character; but after six years of indomitable perseverance, and 

 after undergoing au amount of danger and difficulty to which 

 it has been the lot of few travellers to be s\ibjected, he has 

 succeeded in liis object, and the last Australian mail announces 

 the pleasing intelhs;ence of the arrival at Sydney of 280 of 

 these valuable animals. The flock includes sheep of the llama, 

 alpaca, and vicuna breeds, together with some varieties that 

 have been obtained by cross-breeding. The animals were, on 

 the departure of the mail, quietly grazing near the city, appa- 

 rently well contented with the change of climate and scene 

 which they have experienced. The safe arrival at Sydney of 

 the flock of alpacas ia a great triumph to Mr. Ledger, and 

 gives an example of intrepidity and prudence whicli deserves a 

 public acknowledgment. To collect a flock in defiance of a 

 Government — to divide it, like Jacob of old, for its better se- 

 curity — to conduct it over mountainous regions, exposed to 

 all the vicissitudes of climate, change of feer), the ravages of 

 beasts, and the jealousy and vindictiveness of men, then to 

 embark that flock and convey it over the most distant seas, 

 and finally to conduct it to a new world— to do all this com- 

 bines a number of feats which, in a more poetic age, would 

 have been the theme of song as well as of history. — Australian 

 and Neiv Zealand Gazette. 



TRIMMING AND SHAPING WITH SHEARS 



SHEEP TO IMITATE THE BAKEWELL 



MODEL, FORM, OR CAST. 



Sir,— In the Mark Lane cf 13th -Dec. last, it was justly 



and duly stated as follows upon the London Cattle Show : 



• Why do exhibitors persist in clipping, so as to present a 



straight flat back to the eye, and rumps, flanks, plaits, and 



bosoms apparently full and expanded, when the hand instantly 



detects the falsity of the outward show, and reveals the 



abominable attempt to thus gloss over a defective form ? A 



sheep unfairly shorn and a pig unduly old ought alike to be 



disqualified by the authorities." 



To back the above statement, for several years I have heard 

 similar remarks and complaints by the spectators in the said 

 London show-yard about trimming and squaring of sheep. Two 

 years back I heard a fine old English Lincolnshire gentleman 

 ask the owner of a pen of ahort-woolled cut-out sheep how it 

 was that wool should grow so overmuch longer everywhere 

 than it does upon the Ijacks and loins of your sheep. " In 

 my opinion," said tiie keen, well-informed ^rey-headed gentle- 

 man, " the prize ought to have been given to the trimmer and 

 not to the owner of the sheep." The breeders of the short- 

 wools are paying the breeders of the Leicesters a fine compli- 

 ment by cutting their sheep into the Bakewell cast or frame ; 

 nay, and after Mr. Bakewell's death, 63 years, which plainly 

 shows that Mr. B. lived nearly a century before his day. " We, 

 the breeders of the Lincolns," said the gentleman, " have ever 

 since the days of Mr. B. been aiming to breed our sheep in 

 his cast, with a Lincolnshire coat of wool on their backs ; 

 wool and mutton combined, we consider the Lincolns second 

 to none for profit. We shear our sheep close to the skin, and 

 once a year, so that we have no sham hips, rumps, fore-flanks, 

 and bosoms ; of course, no wool to be found upon them two 

 years old to make up for mutton where it is wanted." The 

 Mark Lane E.rpress being at all times ready and willing to 

 correct and reform all grievances practised in agriculture, I 

 liope it will reform the squaring of sheep. The great 

 luminary of agriculture, Mr. Bakewell. of Dishley, died 1st 

 October, 1795— too soon for his country's good. 



„.„ , Samuel Arnsey. 



MMfield, Petcrboroufjh. 



SHEEP-FEEDING FOR MANURE. 



Sir,— I observed in the Farmer's Magazine for this mouth 

 a paper on eheep-feeJing by Mr. Charles W. Hamilton, and 

 although readily agreeing as to the value of the important 

 information contained in it, yet think it right to point out a 

 mistake of great practical importance, and which I am sure 

 no one more than the writer will be glad to see rec- 

 tified. Mr. Hamilton compares the analysis of two 

 samples of urine voided by a wether and ewe of the 

 same age, and fed on a given amount of oil-cake 

 per diem. He states, "The analysis of the urine was as 

 follows : ' Urine of the ewe sp. grav. 1.009 when acidulated 

 with muriatic acid, and evaporated to dryness, the residuum 

 weighed 2. GOO per cent, of the weight of the urine, which 

 when burnt with soda lime was found to yield 0.542 per cent, 

 of ammonia. Urine of wether sp. grav. 1.057, heated inthe 

 same way, gave a much larger residuum, consisting of 25.43 

 per cent, of urine ; and this when burnt with soda lime gave 

 9.165 per cent, of ammonia. The comparison gives- 

 Urine of ewe, «p. grav. .. 1.009 Ammonia 0.542 

 Urine of wether, sp. grav. 1.057 Ammonia 9.165." 



He further states : " We then arrive at this conclusion — 

 that the urine of the wether yields very nearly seventeen times 

 as much ammonia as that of the ewe, and that using the am- 

 monia as a measure the value of the urine of the wether is to 

 that of the best Teruvian guano in the ratio of 9 to 17." 

 Now, this must be most remarkable urine ; although contain- 

 ing 74.6 of water, it is more than half the value of the best 

 Peruvian guano, and of nearly twice the value for manuring 

 purposes as the oil-cake on *hich the animal was fed. Where 

 could this large amount of nitrogen be derived? If, however, we 

 look a little closer into^the subject, the reason of this apparently 

 startling fact is at once clear, since it is very evident that Mr. 

 Hamilton has taken the per centage of ammonia in the solid 

 matter of the urine of the wether, and has considered it to be 

 the per centage of the whole bulk. Reducing, therefore, 

 9.165, the per centage of ammonia in the solid matter to the 

 per centage in the whole bulk of the urine, we obtain a result 

 of 2.323. Instead, therefore, of the urine of the wether con- 

 taiiiiag seventeen times as much ammonia as that of the ewe, 

 it contains merely rather more than four times as much, and 

 instead of standing to Peruvian guano in the ratio of 9 to 17t 

 it stands in the ratio of 2.3 to 17. 



We find, moreover, that these numbers correspond to a cer- 

 tain extent with the next experiment brought forward by Mr. 

 Hamilton. The urine of a wether fed on oil-cake and oats was 

 analyzed, and contained per lb. avoirdupois 252.80 grs. of am- 

 monia, which reduced to per centage, equals 3.27 per centage, 

 which is certainly much nearer 2.323 than 9.165 per centage, 

 as stated in the former experiment. 



Mr. Hamilton seems also to have lost sight of the fact that 

 one of the chief rtaaona that artificial feeding is rendered pro- 

 fitable, is that the value of the dry material existing iu the 

 animal is much greater than as contained in the oil-cake; lib. 

 of mutton costing 8d., whilst lib. of oil-cake costs rather more 

 Id. It would by no means pay to apply oil-cake as a manure 

 for the laud at its present price, since for the same amount of 

 cash more than double the amount of ammonia could be ap- 

 plied as existing in guano than m cake. 



These remarks do not interfere with the question at issue 

 between Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Tuite; nor do they but to a 

 very small extent detract from the value of Mr. Hamilton's 

 remarks, to whom is due the credit of being the first to publish 

 any detailed experiments on the subject. Yours troly, 

 i7iH^,/-ti. 15,1859. W. SrooNER, Jun. 



