166 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



by givinuf protection to those who manufacture the 

 raxo products of our agriculture. When this pe- 

 riod shall arrive, our J\leriiiO flocks, as well as 

 those ofolher races will be Ibuncl to be ol immense 

 value and of great importance to the general in- 

 lerests oC the coumry. Wool to the amount ol 

 ivvo hundred millions ol'pounds would be produced, 

 (if due cncouraL^ement shall be atlorded,) before 

 our population shall iuive reached thiity millions, 

 wiiicli will happen within the next twenty years, 

 and in ten years thereatier it will probably have 

 reached forty millions.'"* What vast results, ihen, 

 are to spring from a proper attention to sheep hus- 

 bandry! How immensely will the wealth and 

 comfort ol' our citizens be promoted and the fer- 

 tility of the soil increased by rearing and feeding 

 66,000,000 of sheep ! But the direct advantages 

 resulting from sheep husbandry will not be all. 

 Other agricultural pursuits will be greatly pro- 

 moled, first, by diveriing a portion of agricultur- 

 al industry irom those branches which have been 

 pushed to too great an excess ; and secondly, by 

 the new market that will be furnished ibr agri- 

 cultural products, by ihe numerous class of indi- 

 viduals who will be employed in manufacturing 

 the immense quantity of wool, which the United 

 Slates are capable ol growing. Too much atten- 

 tion cannot be given to this important subject. 

 Fine wool, as well as that ol a medium quality, 

 (such as wili be produced by Southdowns and .a 

 Merino cross upon thai valuable stock,) and the 

 product of our native stock will all beobji^cts ol 

 much importance. And when (he maiiufjcture 

 of worsted etuH goods shall be extensively in'ro- 

 duced, combing wool will also be in great de- 

 mand. 



Sheep husbandry is important Ibr three pirr- 

 poses, 1 wool ; 2 mutton and tallow ; 3 as a means ol 

 manuring and lt>,riilizing our soil. 1 have suffi- 

 ciently treated of the two first ; the third is too 

 important to be passed over in silence. 1 have 

 heretofore suggested that much manure may be 

 saved by Ibldi^ng sheep of nights. It is doubtful, 

 however, whether the injury to the health of 

 sheep will not be too serious tojustily that prac- 

 tice, in warm weather ; but in cool frosty weather 

 foldiuii sheep of nights may be salely resorted 

 to. But whenever the practice of folding, Ibr a 

 length of lime, in the same place, is pursued, the 

 pen should he kept well littered with straw, [or 

 leaves,] as well Ibr the comlbrl of the sheep as 

 with a view of increasing the quantity of ma- 

 nure. 



It will be most convenient to have the sheep 

 fold adjoining a shelter under which the racks 

 and troughs are placed. The shelter should be 

 entirely open on one side, with a south or south- 



*" The Albany Cultivator estimates the number of 

 sheep in the wool growing states of the north at 

 15,000,000." 



This estimate I consider greatly too low. The single 

 county of Washington, Pennsylvania, has 1,000,000. 



The balance of this note is a table showing the in- 

 crease of our population from 1790 to be 33 1-3 per cent, 

 for every ten years. This table I deem it unnecessary 

 now to copy. The census that has been taken since 

 our author wrote proves the correctness of his calcula- 

 tion. 



The population of the United States is now 

 17,068,180. 



The population of Kentucky 16 776,923. S.D. M. 



enstern exposure, and enclosed on Ihe opposite 

 side ; with a suitable building at each end, one (or 

 hay and the other forroots for winter and early 

 spring (ceding until the pastures are suflicienlly 

 advanced.* It would he most convenient to have 

 the sheepfold and house adjoining a meadow, on 

 which the sheep should besuffeied to range dur- 

 ing the day. 'I'his will be beneficial to the health 

 of the sheep, and their manure will be saved, and 

 distributed without the expense of hauling. 

 With a view of the like saving of manure during 

 the part of the year in which the sheep are not 

 folded of nights, they should be suffered to range, 

 as far as circumstances will admit, upon grounds 

 intended for future cultivation. 



In England it is a common practice to feed off 

 their turnip crop to sheep, upon the ground upon 

 which it grew. This is clone by enclosing a small 

 space with hurdles, into which the sheep arc put 

 and continued until they consume all the tur- 

 nips growing within the enclosure ; another space 

 is then enclosed and fed off and so on in succes- 

 sion until all are consumed. This is (bund to be 

 a very convenient practice in England, as it saves 

 labor, both in feeding and distributing the ma- 

 nure, and miyht be adopted here with great ad- 

 vantage, if, upon experiment, it shall be found 

 that the ruta bagat will succeed well in our soil 

 and climate and is sufficiently hardy to stand our 

 winters. 



A species of cabbage, that is sufficiently hardy 

 to stand the winter in Enoland, is Irequenily fed 

 ott' In sheep, uf)on the ground upon which it grew, 

 in the same manner as turnips, and it would be 

 worthy of inquiry and exfieriment whether cab- 

 bRgps snitabh^ to our climate and soil could not 

 be raised to advantage for feeding sheep, during 

 the short period we cannot furnish them with 

 grass or while the grass is covered with snow. 



It is probable that the sugar beet will be found 

 to be a more valuable crop in our dry soils than, 

 any description of turnips. J 



* If the blue grass pastures have been permitted < 

 grow the latter part of the season, they will aff'o d 

 green food nil the winter, and upon this and pasture of 

 green rye, the sheep will do better and be more hea ihy 

 than fed in any other way. These pastures are good 

 all the winter. The sheep should be turned of. them 

 the 1st of Maich to give them an opportunity of pro- 

 ducing a good crop of grass. The lye fields, will now 

 support them until the 25th of April, when they can 

 be turned again upon the blue grass pastures. M. 



t The rula baga succeeds but poorly upon my farm. 

 I have raised many crops, and although I have drilled 

 them very early as well as late, and worked them well, 

 I have never raised a crop that were at all to compare 

 with the accounts I have seen of this root. 



I thought for a few years that the fault might be in 

 my seed, and procured seed from a great variety of 

 seed stores, yet the result was the same. The ruta ba- 

 ga grows mostly above ground, and will not stand our 

 winters without protection. We have a large turnip 

 that grows mostly under ground that will stand our 

 winters well. Early sown in May has done best with 

 the ruta baga. 



J The sugar beet is much more productive than the 

 ruta baga, and until last year was a very certain crop. 

 Mine were injured the season before last, but were en- 

 tirely destroj'ed last year by a dark-striped blistering 

 fly (Cantharis vitata) generally called the potato fly. 

 Those flies or rather bugs destroyed my potatoes, car- 

 : rots, parsnips, beets, and cabbage. If these bugs should 



