120 



lars. A machine with a four-sided box tunnel-shaped, like the 

 hopper of a mill, and placed over a cylinder made to revolve 

 by a crank, and with four thin knives placed lengthwise and 

 obliquely upon it, may be made at a small expense, and will 

 be found useful and effectual. The English farmers are sup- 

 posed to have great advantage over us in their climate allowing 

 them to feed their turnips in the field without drawing them. 

 In this case the field is divided into different compartments by 

 moveable fences, and the sheep placed successively in the 

 different enclosures. The turnips are eaten where they grew, 

 and the manure deposited upon the field. But many even of 

 the English farmers, in spite of the supposed advantages of this 

 method of feedine, deem it better to draw and house the tur- 

 nips, so as to feed them out at pleasure in well-littered enclo- 

 sures, where the sheep may be carefully looked after ; the straw 

 of the farm converted into most valuable manure ; the manure 

 applied when and where it is most needed ,• and the great waste 

 avoided which must be suffered in the other case from the tur- 

 nips being scooped out by the sheep, and much of them being 

 trodden under foot, or left to waste. 



The introduction of the South-Down sheep, to which I have 

 already referred, into the county, would be a signal advantage, 

 as they seem extremely well suited to this locality, on account 

 of their compactness and hardiness, the ease with which they 

 are kept, and their returns in wool and mutton. 



6. Yield of Wool. — The largest average yield of wool 

 that I have ascertained in the county is from the sheep of Poly- 

 carpus Cushman, in Bernardston, one among the best farmers 

 in the State. A flock of 200 sheep, of three-quarters Merino 

 and Saxony blood, averaged 3 lbs. 3 oz. each, well-washed 

 wool. Mr. Cushman was anxious to ascertain if any loss was 

 occasioned in the weight of wool by keeping, a matter on which 

 opinions have been various. A large parcel of wool, closely 

 stowed away in a tight building, was found at the end of the 

 year to have lost in weight 13-16ths to one hundred pounds ; 

 a little more than 3-4ths per cent.* 



* See Appendix, A and B. 



