•234 



NEW EI^GLAND FARMER. 



[Feb. 17 



Sow your seed in rows, and be n.,t s^y.nu^ ot vvh.ch many .heei, are not loUie.l, hey are ieli 

 the Jed. Let the row. l.e al.ont four !eet apart, to nibble over the frozen |.a'U,r., t.U they lo»e 

 In China Mr Staunton says Ihev are twelve feel,: the desh of hall a snmmet's keeprng, and wmcn 

 but in that case they sow rice between the row«. \ lakes halt a winle. to re-am. It .s a g.eat er- 

 Fonr feet I have ibou-ht about n-ht. You will I ror which is persisted in w.lh an idea to save 

 make stra.ghl line,, as you would .lo for sowin-; i lodder. But settu,- a-.de the injury done pas- 



^ -- " ■ .... (m-gs l,v close leedm^ at IIh< season ot Ibe year, I IS o( coiisideralilf 



garden seeds. Your seed mu-il he 'owed in tin' 



side of the box; then by pourino: in a little wa- 

 ter, and rocking them, the dirt will directly 

 wash through the bi>ttom of the box. They 

 should then he cut tine with a sharp shovel, and 

 they are til for feeding out. Browse in the win- 

 ter occasionally tor sheep is very palatatde, and 

 n«e in preserving their appe- 



the sheep which slr.iv aw.iv and are lost and the liies; and as a change ot tood, but care should 



spring. It will come up in a few weeks, if your i t.._ . _ . ; n i , , , , . .; ■ ■ . i j ^M 



seed be .^ood It will be very small and teniler, time spent m hunting Ihem, which are not idle he t,,ken to select the right kind. There are 

 and must'be carefullv wed out; it must be kept considerations, the farmer would more than gel | man-, kinds ol hard wood ol which the haik and 

 as free from weeds, as possible, not only the tirst repaid for his extra lod.ler and a tew weeks al- 

 year, but Ihe second, and indeed ever alter. 



If vour bushes are thritly, the leaves may be 

 plucked the second yeai, so that you may feed a 

 few tvorni-. Tlie third or lourlh year the bush- 

 es will be so tall thai you will cut lliem with a 

 sickle. The method of leeding the worms, and 

 the apparatus I will endeavour to give you in a 

 future comniunicalion. 



Willi much respect, yours, &.c. 



JOSEPH CLARKE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THK NEW ENGLAND FARMEH.. 



DRY FEET. 



Ma Eessf.xden, — Whilst I am passing dry shod, 

 and hearing so many complain of wet leet, and 

 violent colds in consequence, I am induced to 

 request you to repeat the receipt which was 

 ))ublished some time sini.e in the N. E. Farmer, 

 which was to saturate new or old boots and 

 shoes with a preparation ol tar and tallow ^ or 

 i tar, simmered together and applied warm to 

 the inside ami outside of the leather. Boots and 

 shoes prepared in this way will withstand fresh 

 or salt water for sis hours at least. 



Yours respectfiil!v, 



Dorchester, Feb. \i. J. MEARS. 



tenlion in yarding his sheep sooner by preserv 

 iuK their health and condition. \Vli»n ihey are 

 put to winter i|uarlers they require as much va- 

 riety as possible, not that they want so much 

 room but they need a number of different apart- 

 menls. Two yards and one shed will do very 

 well for one flock, or what will answer the 

 same purpose, if a large number of sheep are 

 to be kept near each olhei, have the yanls in a 

 row, and one more yard than tlocks of sheejt. 

 Then by shilling one tlock to ihe spare yard il 



buds are very injurious.* The bark of ihe 

 black cherry eaten by ewes wilh lamb is almost 

 suie to produce abortion. Generally, winter 

 green is to be prelerred to any o'her biowse. 

 White and yellow pine are the best. 



Regularity in feeding sheep is of prime im- 

 port. mce in cold dry weather. It is not neces- 

 sary to feed them ollener than Iliiee times a 

 day, if discretion is used in the quantity of lod- 

 der given in warm weather, and especially if it 

 is mud 'y. They should have little at a lime, 

 lid be led four or live limes a day. Daubenlou 



leaves anolher vacant, and so on. Thus may I „,] others calculate that two pounds of hay are 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FAR.MER. 



ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 

 WcsUninster, (Ft.) Feu. 1826. 



Perhaps there is no domestic animal that re- 

 quires more nice and constant attention than the 

 sheep, and no oilier that will more richly pay 

 for generous keeping. Though he may not be 

 more liable to disease, nor require a better qual- 

 ity of Ibod than ne.it stock, still that manage- 

 ment which will keep ca'ttle in good case will 

 not answer for sheep. His habiis and mode of 

 living are entirely different. For instance, in 

 the winter season, a cow may be kept tied to 

 llie stall twenty-two hours out of the twenty- 

 lour, and, if well ted ihree limes a day, keep 

 her flesh and get sufficient exercise for her 

 healih. Serve a sheep in the same m.inner, 

 and it would not probably live a month It is 

 natural for them to move about and change sit- 

 uation. Turn a flock of hungry sheep into a 

 pasture they will run to the end of il, before 

 they begin to eat ; feed them in troughs they 

 Will run over all till they come to the lasl, when 

 they have it in their (lower. They are almo«l 

 coniinu.illv shifting situation from hill lo d.ile, 

 from one kind of food lo another, and it is a fact 

 thai sheep will thrive better on two or three 

 dilTerent kinds of ordinary fodder than they will 

 li) be conlined to one kind lh.it is of a superior 

 qnaliiy. The pnqier time to yard sheep in the 

 tall IS while they are yet in good order tVom 

 fii'«h I'eed, and before the frost takes the nonr- 

 isliiiig qualities from the grass. But a time ia 



all be changed, vvhich should be done at every 

 time of feeding. As last as the yards are emply 

 the food should be put in lhem..ind never while 

 the sheep are there. One hoiuhed sheep are 

 enough to be kept together. Cleanliness is of 

 Ihe ulmost import.mce. Their yards should be 

 littered with straw, or something of the kind, 

 constantly, or they will be in danger of losing 

 in a deg'ee a relish lor their fr)od. 



The next thing necessary is to have proper 

 places for your sheep to eat hay in, which are 

 ihe common board mangers and may make part- 

 ings lo the yards. T.ike six joisls, say three 

 inches square, and tour leet Ions; h.ive the 

 boaids of a length, then nail two of them lo ihe 

 joists set up perpendicularly in such a manner 

 that one joist will be in the middle of each board, 

 and the other two at ihe ends, and that the lop 

 edge of the bo.irds will be one loot trom the 

 ground ; then nail short boanls on Ihe ends (vvo 

 leet and a half long, the widlli ol liie manger; 

 the next board on ihe sides to be placed eight 

 inches from the lower boards, then ooard il 

 tight to the top of the joisls and the manger is 

 linished. A manger eighteen feet long, of this 

 desciiption, will accommodate thirty sheep. — 

 Single mangers maybe made along the outside 

 fence of the yard, which do not re(iuire lo be 

 so wide. The great superiorily of these man- 

 gers over racks is, tirsl, the facility of putting 

 hay into them willioul dropping it on the 

 ground ; secondly, it obviates the d.inger oi hay 

 seed falling on the wool of Ihe rheep ; and lliird- 

 ly. It (irevents ^iny waste of fodiler. The next 

 thing after mangers for hay, should be a place 

 appropriated lor leediiig out roots, which every 

 t.ii uier sboiild raise to a certain cxlcnt. .Altho' 

 we cannot turn them to so gooil an account as 

 the English feeders do, owing to the severity ol 

 our wjuteis: still a [irnporlion of them as f.jod 

 for our stock is of great importance. In onler 

 iliat the farmer may make Ihe most of his roots 

 he should have a cellar lixe<l to receive them iu 

 ihe fall, without too much labor, and accessible 

 at any time in the winter, without endangering 

 them to the frost. The cellar should be placed 

 as near the yard as practicable, with a watering 

 place at hand. \ good way of washing roots is 

 to have an oblong box that will bold two or 

 three bushels, with Ihe bottom perforated with 

 anger holes and rockeis placed on the under 



dicient for the support of one sheep a day, 

 (which by ihe way in our climate is nrl enough) 

 calculations of ll.is kind it made wilh the uioiost 

 accuracy an one or any number ol sheep at one 

 time will not apjily to the same sheep at a.nolh- 

 ■.>r ; because so much depends upon circumstan- 

 ces. A sheep ihatwill eat three pounds of hay 

 in a cold day, will not perhaps eat more than 

 iwo in a vvarm day lolloping; and siill less in 

 .1 damp one. Not that Ihey reqiii.'e so much 

 more food in cold weather than in warm, but 

 I hat sudden changes aflect their ajqietites Hi;d 

 vviihont injuring their healih. Ag.iin, a sheep 

 of proper I'oini and inclination to fallen will not 

 need so much nulritiient lo preserve its flesh as 

 one of the same weight of a coarse, raw boned 

 uneasy make. And one kind of hay may have 

 double the subslantiil qualities of another. — 

 Therefore no certain rule can be given as to 

 ihe quantity necessary for their support. Tho' 

 experimenis of this kind arc not without their 

 use ; for, as remarked in one of the N. E. Far- 

 mers they afford •' a line ojq)ortunily of gnes-sing 

 at the proper quantity of Ibod necessary lo keep 

 a stock any given time." I'liere exists a great 

 divrrsi'y of opinion in regard to ihe proper 

 time of year for lambs lo come. A New York 

 wrilei- thinks that rams should not be taken 

 from the ewes at all. Thtit lambs should come 

 early iu li.e winter which is tho nainra! lime. 

 This I ihink erroneous; the nalural time is the 

 mosl convenient time, and the pro(jrlelor should 

 be governed wholly by his means, There are 

 advanlagos in having lambs come early, .ind il;s- 

 advantages and in-c versa., the same in having 

 them come !a!e. If a man has conveniences lo 

 guard against the cold and plenty of succulent 

 food for his ewes, February or .March is decid- 

 edly tho bo't time lor them to come. It is true 

 they require more attention at ihis season than 

 in warm weather, but lime is not worth so mucli 

 and the lambs learn to eat hay tiefore ihey arc 

 turned to pasture ; consequently ihey do mucl 

 better the following winter. 'I'hey get out o 

 the way of foxes, and are able to lake caie o' 

 Ihemselvesat washing and shearing time, wbi.J 

 is of considerable consequence. On the conlia 

 ry if Ihe farmer is deticiesl in proper Ibod, ; 



* I he woo<1 disease so uuich complaiiifcil ol in 1' ranc 

 is wholly owing to sheep's eating tiesh buJs. 



