!82fi.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



293 



From the J^ew Yurk Slalesman. 



SHEEP— OHIO AGAINST THE UNION. 



tain's that grafts decay with the parent tree, but 

 that the seedlings from the fruit of old trees al- 

 so partake of the diseases and age of the parent _ L ,■ ,, • • 

 tree Id his treatise on the culture of apple and We are happy to insert the (ollowing inter- 

 pear trees he distinctly advances this pari of | esting challenge from one of the most extensive 

 his hypothesis. In spe.iking of new tree.s from i wool growers in Ohio. It will, we hope, be the 

 the seed of old api.le trees, he says " some were I means of excitjng a noble and useful competi- 

 inuch diseased, and others apparently healthy." I tion. Such an exhibition as Mr Dickinson pro- 

 Thus it seems, that whether we propagate IVom I poses, could not fail of benefitting the agricultu- 

 graits,or the seed of old and decaying varieties, f ral interest and advancing among us the manu- 

 L3 new life is produced, but only the conlinua 



tion of the life of the old parent stock. If this 

 be true, all our varieties of the apple and pear 

 trees should long since have become extinct. — 

 The derivatives from the original tree planted 

 in the garden of Eden, whether propagated by 

 "rafting or seed, should all have died when the 

 original tree died. This must have been the 



facture of fine woolen cloths 



Steubenville, (Ohio,) March 20, 1826. 

 To the. Editors of the Statesman. 



Gentlemen — I observe in your paper of the 

 21st ult. the following : 



" Fine Wool. — We are informed that some of 

 the principal manufacturers and wool growers 

 assembled at Washington during the present ses- 



case, for it must be remembered that Mr Knight 



had not then invented his grand restorative, the ;. ,.,.., r i /• 



' "l i! J f I ^„ I ,u,„^„ aI,.;„ sion, exhibited specimens of wool from various 



crossing the breed of plants, and thence deriv-' ' f^ 



ing new leases of existence. 



We have not yet given quite all of Mr Knight's 

 hypothesis, in the introductory remarks rela- 

 tive to the objects which the llorlicultural 

 Society have in view, he says, " no new life is 



quences, and 1 mentioned the subject to J. Skin- 

 ner, Esq. editor of the American FarmT, who 

 takes the deepest interest in all such matters, 

 and to whom the country owes much for the ac- 

 tive practical zeal which he biVS manifested. He 

 seemed to ibink well of it, and appeared dispos- 

 ed to encoura'je it. It woulil certainly excite 

 a very lauilable emulation. 



We presume that a fund might be made up 

 bv the parties, and that a Silver Cup might be 

 awarded to the owner of the finest wooled ram, 

 — and one to the owner of the finest formed. 



There is an opinion inculcated, that the Me- 

 rino Sheep have not good forms. The preju- 

 dice, (and such it is) would soon be done away, 

 for I certainly have in my flock, ewes and rams 

 as perfectly formed, in all points, as cau be 

 found in any other de'criplion of sheep. 



I ana respectfully ; your ob"t serv't, 



A R. DICKINSON. 



From Ifie Furmer^s Journal. 



ANECDOTE OF TOM SHERIDAN. 



Some time in January a member of Congress { stead, and one day proceeded on a shooting ex- 

 from New York, a gentleman of the first stand- j cursion, with " only his dog and gun," on loot, 



parts of the United States, and that a sample 

 sent by Judge Pendleton, of Dutchess county. 



was pronounced to be the finest exhibited. It 'l^om Sheridan (who to kindness ot heart and 

 was of the Saxon breed." sweetness of disposition atlded social talents, 



I was the only wool manufacturer and wool , which, if not of the high and commanding order 

 here generated, and the graft, ^hs <o;/er, ami apQjyer, who attended at the late exhibition at ! of his father's, were infinitely more agreeable to 

 cutting appear to possess the youth and vigour, j ("i^^ ^■^^^, ^^• Washington, and I state with entire [those who knew him) used to tell the following 

 or age and debility of the plant of which fhey j ^.^j^jj^^g^j^.^ ^^^^ (here were no sam|des of fine; story /or and against bimsflt. 

 have formed a part." It is only necessary to! ^^.j^^^j ^^^^1 ,j,g„ p^gjiented for exhibition. | He was staying at Lord Craven's at Hamp- 



state this proposition for its own refutation, tor . ,. „ 



molberries,currants and gooseberries have been 

 propagated in France, England and the Uniteii 

 States^ by this method ; and yet, whoever was 

 able to show, that such has been the result, as 

 rhe hypothesis requires. Nay, these plants, as 

 well as the apple and pear, have been propa- 

 gated by cuttings and gradings ever since the 

 time of the Romans ; yet whoever observed that 

 they suddenly every where decayed? Currants 

 and gooseberries are not long lived plants, and 

 yet we go on propagating Ihcm from cuttings 

 to all appearance ad injlnitum. 



It is certain that Mr Knight produces no ex- 

 amples from these l.itler sources. He contents 

 himself with building his hypothesis solely upon 



the foundation of two or three varieties of the 



apple, principally upon the gnlden pippin and 

 .sly re. To make his hypothesis satisfactory, he 

 should have produced instances from the goose- 

 berry, currant, and mulberry, as a part ot his 



" thousand instances," and then there would 



have been some plausibility in his notions.—- 



But, if his observation fails to conform to his 



hvpolhesis, in ojie instance, it cannot be true.— ■ 



What then are we to think of a hypothesis 



founded upon two or three instances, the golden 



pippin, the sty re, and the foxwhelp, all three of 



which we have found to be untrue generally, 



and one of which, the golden pippin, is contra- 

 dicted hy Henry Phillips, F. H. S. author of the 



Pimarium Britannicnm, in his elegant work; 



and even Mr Knight himself, in his very book 



where he advances his hypothesis has shovvo 



that the same fruit tree, the golden pippin, 



when placed in a good soil and southern aspect, 



protected by a wall, flourished in perfect vigor. 

 Thus far respecting the hypothesis of Mr. 



Knight. In our next we will brin? forward such 



proofs as shall to an unprejudiced mind, totally 



destroy all credit in so strange a notion as Mr. 



Knight has advanced. 



and unattended tiy companion or keeper ; the 

 sport waa bad — the birds few and shy — and he 

 ivalked and walked in search of game until un- 

 consciously he entered the domain of seme 

 neighbouring 'Squire. 



A very short time after, be perceived advanc- 

 ing towards him, with great speed, a jolly, com- 

 fortable-looking gentleman, followed by his ser- 

 vant, armed as it appeared for conflict. — Tom 

 took up a position, and waited the approach of 

 the enemy. 



'•Halloo! you sir," said the Squire, when 

 within half-ear shot, " what are you doing here 

 Sir, eh ?" 



" I'm shooting. Sir," said Tom. 



" Do you know where you are, Sir ?" said the 

 Squire. 



" I'm here, Sir," said Tom. 



" Here ! Sir," said the Squire, growing an- 

 gry ; " and do you know where here is, Sir ? — 

 these. Sir, are rny manors ; what d'ye think of 

 that, Sir, eh ?" 



" Why, Sir, as to your manners,''^ said Tom, 

 " I can't say they seem over agreeable." 



" 1 don't want any jokes, Sir," said the Squire, 

 " I hate jokes. Who are you. Sir — what are you ? 



"■ Why, Sir," said Tom, "• my name is Shi ri- 

 (lan — 1 am staying at Lord Craven's — I hive 

 come out for some sport — I have not had any, 

 and I am not aware that I am trespassing." 



" Sheridan !" said the Squire, cooling a little, 

 "O, from Lord Craven's, eh ? well, Sir, I could 

 not know that, Sir — I — " 



" No, Sir," said Tom, " but you need not 

 have been in a passion." 



" Not in a passion ! Mr Sheridan," said the 



Squire, "you don't know. Sir, what these pre- 



conse- iserves have cost me, and the pains and trouble 



I have been at with them; ii's all very well lor 



* Reference we presume is made to Gen. Van Rens- 1 ^^^ jq oik, but i! you were in my place 1 should 

 selaer. 



ing in the country,* wrote to several of his 

 friends, at my particular desire, and produced 

 from them specimens of their finest wool. They 

 were given to me, without permitting me to 

 know from whence or from whom they came, 

 with a request that I would examine them care- 

 fully, and give an opinion of each. 1 did so, 

 and I take great pleasure in stating that they 

 were indeed, all beautiful samples of fine meri- 

 no wool, and the one which I preferred to the 

 others, came, as I was afterwards told, from the 

 flock of Judge Pendleton. Those samples were 

 however, exclusively from the state of New 

 York ; and this statement is not made with a 

 view to disparage the flock of any gentleman, 

 but simply to state the facts which occurred. 



I entertain the belief that there are pure me- 

 rino sheep in Jefferson county, in the stale of 

 Ohio, as fine wooled, as can be found in the stale 

 of New York, or indeed any other state in the 

 Union; and in order to test the soundness of 

 this opinion, I will exhibit in June or July next, 

 at Philadelphia, or Ballimore, filly or one hun- 

 dred fleeces, (washed or unwashed) from my 

 own flock, to be compared wilh a correspond- 

 ing number of fleeces from the flock of any oth- 

 er'gentleman in the United States, under the di- 

 rection of an impartial committee, (from the 

 Franklin Institute if in Philadelphia) whose duty 

 It shall be to call in wool assorters, master 

 workmen, to determine on the relative value 

 and fine quality of the wool. The details how- 

 ever, can readily be settled hereafter. I invite 

 the owners of Saxony sheep particularly to this no- 

 tice. 



I have often thought that an exhibition of Me- 

 rino Bucks, periodically, at some central point, 

 in the United States, (near Baltimore for in- 

 stance,) would be attended with good 



