eidered essential to the acquirement of know- 

 ledge ; but farmiu,?, the mo.^t necessary of all 

 trades, is to be left to chance, or rather mis- 

 chance. A system of uniformity is essential in 

 making a hat, coat, or shoes — there are estab- 

 lished educational rules for the church, the bar, 

 and the senate ; but agriculture, the greatest in- 

 terest of all, on which our very existence de- 

 pends, economically and politically, is to be like 

 a sliip without a compass, tossed about bj- the 

 ever-varying gale of individual opinion, without 

 a hope of reaching the port of Perfection. Were 

 a youth ever so much inclined to furaish his 

 mind with compari.sons and observations of the 

 various systems of culture in our o\^ n diffireut 

 counties, as well as in foreign climes, there is, 

 under the present school system, no opportunity 

 for his doing so ; and, no doubt, he would be 

 surprised if told that we are a century at least 

 behind the Chinese in agricultural practice. I 

 hope we shall soon see every school, and in fact, 

 every farmer's parlor, possessing a few sound 

 practical works on agriculture. I presume no 

 man will consider he knows everything in agri- 

 culture — if he does, it is unfortunate for him. 

 Little as I am acquainted with the subject, lam 

 daily convinced that it is full of interest, and of 

 such extent, that a lifetime of study and practice 

 would iind us on the wrong side of perfection. 

 [I. J. Mechi's Letters on Ag. Imp. 



Shed Feeding of Sheep. — Having observed 

 that sheep in wet w^eather on our downs always 

 select the most beaten roads for their bed, it oc- 

 curred to me that not only when under sheds 

 should they lie on boards, according to j'our 

 own experiment, but al.so that the courts to 

 which thej- have daily access whilst their hou.ses 

 are being cleaned, should be covered, not with 

 soft litter, but with hard chalk or sand, or other 

 materials to form a solid bottom. My little yards 

 attached to the sheds are floored with a sort of 

 a.sphalt, made of chalk beaten small, covered 

 with gas-tar and sand. In constructing sheds 

 for my sheep, I have kept in view the striete.st 

 economy ; and I venture to send these minute 

 details, \vliich I hope will serve to prove that 

 the protection of sheep from the inclemency of 

 the weather is within the reach of every tenant 

 farmer. Each of these sheds contains about .50 

 sheep. They are erected on a very simple plan 

 — a couple of fir poles. 12 feet long, are nailed 

 together at the top ; their extremities, at a dis- 

 tance of 15 feet, are driven into the ground ; an- 

 other couple, 10 feet distant, are united with 

 this, and hold firm by a ridge-pole nailed into 

 and lying between the tops of the fir poles. — 

 Side pieces are nailed par.illel to the ridge-pole, 

 and small hazel-wood is interlaced so as to sup- 

 port the thatch, which a laborer ties on with tar- 

 twine. The thatch in front and behind reaches 

 to about 3 feet from the ground ; behind, a bank 

 of turf is raised to meet the thatch ; the front is 

 guarded by a hurdle, movable at pleasure, to al- 

 low the sheep to go into the court, ^vhich is of 

 ) the same size as the shed. It is important that 

 I both ends of the shed should be protected with 

 f bavins only, v/hich will secure a free ventilation, 



I'' yet keep out rain. 

 My shed.s, about 50 feet long, (not charging 

 the straw,] cost about 41.?. each. These sheds 

 are covered with 1-inch boards, separated (each 

 ^ strip from the other) by J-inch intervals. The 

 cost of the timber and mode of preparing the 

 floor were as follows: — White pine timber was 



(509) tr 



used for its cheapness, being l.s. 3d. the cube 

 foot, which would therefore give eleven 1-inch 

 boards. On account of the particular width of 

 the logs which I bought, the board was sawed 

 into pieces 7 inches broad and 1 inch thick. — 

 These, for economy, are hand-sawn into three 

 parts, and are nailed upon joists at a di.stance of 

 finch. By this plan nearly one third of timber 

 is saved : so that each sheep, requiring 9 feet of 

 space, lies actually on 6 feet of 1-inch board. — 

 The cost of timber for joLsts, nails, and carpen- 

 ters' work, rai.ses the total expense of placing 

 the sheep on boards to Is. id. per head. In- 

 stead of slecper.s, I used small blocks, 6 inches 

 thick, to keep the rafters from direct contact 

 with the manure. The boards are put together 

 into frames about 10 feet by 4, so that they may 

 be easily taken up by one man. Beneath the 

 board.s, the floor, excavated 8 or 9 inches, is 

 puddled and made water-tight, and covered 

 with 6 inches of saw-dust, burnt clay, or good 

 dry mould. This receives and absorbs the ma- 

 nure which falls, or is swept belo^v twice a-day. 

 The boards, after sweeping, are watered with a 

 solution of 3 lbs. of sulphate of iron, which in- 

 stantaneously removes the odor not only of the 

 ammonia, but of the more olFensive sulphureted 

 hydrogen. The boards should be laid perfectly 

 flat, to prevent the sheep slipping about. The 

 sheep are fed under the sheds, not in the court* 

 The results of this arrangement have been most 

 successful, both in the health and v/ell-doing of 

 the sheep. It is true that I have lost four head, 

 which seem to have died from apoplexy ; but I 

 lost the same number in the flock which were 

 at large, and treated in the usual manner. — 

 Though I have had more than 300 South Downs 

 so shedded, some of them longer than 5 months, 

 yet I have never seen any instance of lameness, 

 even in the least degree. 



[Rev. A. Huxtable — Roy. Eng. Ag. Soc. Jour. 



Arrival of the Stock Imported by the 

 Mass. Society fob the Promotion of Agri- 

 culture. — During the last week, the ship Cha- 

 os arrived at this port, in 29 days from Liver- 

 pool, having on board the stock purchased for 

 the State Agricultural Society, by Mr. Alexan- 

 der Beckett, wdio was sent out to England and 

 Scotland, to make a selection of the best ani- 

 mals that could be obtained of the Korth Devon 

 and Ayr.shire breeds. 



They consist of four Ayrshire cows and one 

 bull, and four North Devon cows and one bull, 

 and a fine calf which was dropped by one of 

 the North Devon Cows on the passage. 



The following ample daily allowance was 

 provided for each animal for fifty days, viz. : 10 

 lbs. of hay, 10 lbs. of oil cake, 1 quart of bran, 

 1 quart of cru.shed oats, and 10 gallons of \\ ater. 

 The freight bill for the cattle, together with the 

 expense of fitting up the stable, and for water 

 casks, independent of the food, was 140 pound.s 

 sterling, or about $700. This, with the first cost 

 of the cattle, and expenses of Mr. Beckett, will 

 make the round sum of something like $3000 — 

 a very generous outlay by the Society for the 

 improvement of the stock of our State. 



The animals are very fine looking, and we 

 believe, gave perfect satisfaction to the Presi- 

 dent and other officers of the Soci»-ty, who were 

 present on the wharf to witness their landing. 



The North Devon covi's were purchased of 

 Lord Leicester, of Holkham, Norfolk county, 

 England j the bull, from Mr. Bloomfield, Wan- 



