276 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[March 24, 



From the Hampshire Gazelle. 



SHEEP AND PASTURES. 



A large portion of New England consists of 

 rough, hilly, stony land, which can never be 

 broken up with the plough, but must always re- 

 main in pasture, or be given up to desolation — 

 to moss, brakes, briars and bushes. There is 

 much land of this description on the granite 

 hills in the Western part of Massachusetts ; and 

 there are also large tracts of mere level land, 

 vrith a lean, silicious soil, which cannot be me- 

 liorated by the plough — the little treasure they 

 contain is commonly dissipated by ploughing. — 

 It is well known that when such lands as we 

 have been describing have been grazed by cat- 

 tle or horses for a number of years, they have 

 almost universally deteriorated — some have al- 

 ready become nearly worthless, and their form- 

 er possessors have emigrated to the more fer- 

 tile regions of the west. Is there any remedy 

 for this evil — any method of preventing these 

 pastures from becoming deserts? Will substitut- 

 ing sheep for cattle do it ? Some sheep-farmers 

 inform us that the pastures, in which their 

 sheep have been kept for several years in sue- ! 

 session, have improved, and now yield more 

 Jinu bcfttf."" ''eed than they did some years ago ; 

 others state that their pasture; T.T.Vt V"' ^I'owr, 

 worse. From the limited information we pos- 

 sess upon this subject, we cannot assert that sim- 

 ilar benefits have been, or will be, generally 

 produced by the sheep husbandry. We deem 

 the inquiry of some im[)ortance to the interests 

 of the farmer, and should be glad to know the 

 opinions of those who have kept large flocks of 

 sh.'-ep for many years ; for if the old course of 

 management continues to be pursued, it is al- 

 most certain that thousands and tens of thousands 

 of acres of land in New Fng-land will be abati- 

 <1oncJ dt 110 very distant period, and wilt exhib- 

 it for ages nothing but dreary solitudes. 



Sheep have very much increased within a 

 few years in the grain towns. Farmers have 

 found out that these animals can get a good liv- 

 ing, not only from their rich loams, but from 

 their sandy soils, and that pasturing their lands 

 with sheep is an excellent preparation for a 

 crop of grain. We have known sheep to thrive 

 upon the weeds and trash that grow upon the 

 pine plains, where but little grass was to be 

 seen, and where a cow would have starved. — 

 An English agriculturist says, "upon thin soils of 

 every description sheep are a safer stock than 

 black cattle." 



It has lately been noticed in some of the pa- 

 pers as something remarkable, that Washington 

 county ill Pennsylvania has two and a hall' sheep 

 to each inhabitant ; and a Dutchess county, N. 

 Y. paper boasts that that county has four sheep 

 to each inhabitant. "How is it with Now Eng- 

 land ? Cannot some ot our counties put down 

 this lioa^iling of the New Yorkers and Peniisyl- 

 vaoians? The number of sheep in this section 

 of the country is not probably so great in pro- 

 poiiion to tlie inhabitants, as in some other 

 parts ol' New Engl.nid, yet ii would be interest- 

 ing and useful to the public to know what the 

 number is. Correct infoniiation on this suliject, 

 or in respect to olhi;r animals, grain, butler, 

 ciiocsp, m.uiufaclures, Sic from any or all of the 

 lowus in winch our pnper circulates, will be 

 I)uli|ished with ploaiure. 



A friend in South Hadley, after carefully 



reckoning up the sheep of each farmer, fixes 

 the number in that town at 3600. About half 

 of these are owned by six or eight individuals; 

 Joseph Strong, Esq. has much the largest flock, 

 and one that is exceeded by few in the county. 

 The other half is distributed among the farm- 

 ers, from 10. to 50 or 60 each. The increase 

 has been rapid for some years past ; we are 

 told that there were not 1000 sheep in the town 

 ten years ago. South Hadley contains only 12 

 or 13,000 acres, and is rather a graht than a 

 grazing town. 



To preserve Plum Trees. — Cut off all the limbs, 

 twigs, and protuberances that have been caused 

 by being stung, collect them carefully together 

 and burn them ; then give the wounded parts a 

 good covering of flour of brimstone and linseed 

 oil, mixed together. The writer of this pur- 

 sued the above method last spring; his trees 

 now appear to have received no injury since by 

 the insect. Rahviay, {JV. J.) od mo. 7, 1826. 



To stop the bleeding of Vines, Mr Ivnight takes 

 four parts of scraped cheese, and one of cal- 

 cined oyster shell*, or chalk burnt to lime [or 

 quick lime.] This is pressed into the pores of 

 the wood. In this way the longest branches 

 !T>av be taken off at any season with saiety. — 

 Cat Hort. .Mem vol. 2,/). ','61. Lioie, mixed with 

 water to a thick consistence, and applied in 

 summer to the amputated limb or stump of fruit 

 trees, prevents the extravasation of sap. 



Composition for Palings, Fences, 4-c. — Take 1 

 gallon tar from the pyroligneous manufacture, I 

 oz. tallow, 2 oz. pulverised rosin, melt together, 

 and put on warm. — Parkes'' Chem. Ess. vol. ii. p. 

 277. 



Varnish for Palings, ^-c. — One gallon wood 

 tar, 1-2 pint rectified spirit* of wine ; intiiriutely 

 mixed by a gentle heat. — Ibid. 270. 



To promote the puberty nf apple and pear trees, 

 John Williams planted in pots, in Nov. 1809; 

 transplanted after midsummer the following 

 year into the open ground ; transplanted again 

 iu the Autumn of 1811, six feel apart — pruned 

 away every winter the trifling lateral shoots, 

 leaving the large lateral at full length to the 

 bottom of the plants, and gave a good exposure 

 to the sun. At the height of six feet the branch- 

 es ceased to produce thorns. 



One yielded fruit at four years old, and seve- 

 ral at five and six years. — Rep. of .irts, lSl9,p. 

 17d. 



Cure for the Tooth-Achc.^-Th\s is one of the 



, most vexatious of ilie ills that flesh (or rather 



' nerves) is heir to. The Ibllowing simple prc- 



jscriplion can do no injury, and from actual ex- 



' perinient, we know it to be highly eflicacious, 



imo:e so than any spccilic the dread of cold iron 



ever induced the suflerer to resort to. Cut a 



quill at each end and partly till it with lint ; sol 



however, too tight — place the quill upon the 



lube of a common pipe, so as the lint in the 



quill may come in coiiiact with Ihc end of the 



tube. Let the pipe be smoked by any person, 



drawing the smoke through the (piill, tor some 



tiiiii'— tlieii apply a piece of the lint nearest the 



tube of the pipe to the part of the tootb alTect- 



ed, and retain it for a considerable time, taking 

 particular care not to swallow the saliva, which 

 in all but confirmed tobacco consumers will be 

 likely to produce sickness of the stomach. Im- 

 mediate relief will be afforded to the most pun- 

 gent tooth ache, which will not readily return, 

 and should it do so, the same process will again 

 afford relief. — Prov. Jour. 



Chimneys that Smoke. — The following method, 

 it is said in a late English Publication, affords 

 an effectual remedy for the worst chimney that 

 ever smoked. Contract the vent as soon as pos- 

 sible after getting above the mantle jiiece then 

 gradually widen it four or live feet, then again 

 contract it to the usual dimensions, carrying it 

 up to the top. It is said that experience io Edin- 

 burgh has tested it satisfactorily. — Kv. Post. 



Horse Radish. — One drachm of the fresh scrap- 

 ed root of this plant, infused with four ounces 

 of water, in a close vessel, for two hours, and 

 made into syrup xvith double its weight of vine- 

 gar, is an approved recipe for hoarseness. A 

 tea-s[)oonful of this has often proved suddenly 

 effectual. — Salem Gazelle. 



An .tgricultural Country. — The exports from 

 Ireland to London and Liverpool only, during 

 the last year, in beef, pork, gram, fcc. amounted 

 to nearly gl 8,000,000. 



AD3>H£SS, 



Delivered before the Worcester .HgrlcuUxiral Societi; 

 Oct. 12, 1825, by George A. Tufts, Esip 



(Concliided from page 259.) 



\'|ion a subject SO various and extensive in 

 its character, neither Ihc occasion or time will 

 permit me to express any particular views, or 

 to give, even a brief sketch, of any favourite 

 system of my own. 1 may be permitted to re- 

 mark, however, that in New-England, whose 

 stubborn and iron-bound soil yields with reluc- 

 tance to the dear-bought labor of the plougit, a 

 veneration for tillage may be carried too far. — 

 The yellow harvest, which waves so richly over 

 our plough-field?, may be the fruit of too much 

 labor and expense. Allhoiigli there are portions 

 of New-England, where the culture ol' grain 

 and almost every kind of vegetable maybe ren- 

 dered profitable ; yet, its most distinguishing 

 features mark it for a country better adapted, 

 in getieral, to grazing than tillage. We cao 

 never expect lo rival the more western and 

 southern States in the production ofgrain. But 

 we have no reason to repine at our lot ; with 

 judicious management our profits may equal 

 theirs. '"To feed well, (it was said by old Cato 

 the Roman.) is the first and most profitable thing 

 in the management of a private estate ; to teed 

 to crably well ihe second ; to feed ill, the third." 

 To plough, he ranked only in the fourth piacc 

 of profit and advantage. — The cultivation of 

 grass is truly one of the most essential parts of 

 aliiost every system of good husbandry; and, 

 wien Ihe soil is favorable, no branch of the art 

 yifjds a greater bounty to the industry of the 

 farmer, or so well repays the labor bestowed. 

 Inttteotii^u, however, to those moisl or humid 

 soils, which need not the continued application 

 of Ihe plough, is no uncommon error among 

 New-Englrtcd larmer?. It is no unusual specta- 



