1839] 



FARMERS' REGrSTER. 



221 



should be given (o them in such a manner that 

 they may receive the lull benefit of the (bod given. 

 Daubenton and some other writers havecalcufated 

 that two pounds ol' hay a day is sufficient Ibr a 

 eheep ; but this is oreatly depending on the man- 

 ner in which they are fed. Sheep more than most 

 animals require feeding ol'ien, and in small quan- 

 tities. They should never be fed less than three 

 times in a day, and if the same quantity of food 

 is divided into still smaller portions, by more fre- 

 quent feeding, it will be the better for the flock. 

 Every farmer should remember that sheep are 

 very unequal feeders, in cold daj's eating nearly 

 double the quantity they will consume in a warm 

 damp one, and the feeding should be regulated ac- 

 cordingly. If" indeed on such a day, their food is, as 

 is frequently the case, all given to them at a time, 

 their breathing upon it, and trampling upon it, 

 will render it nearly useless to them. But we do 

 not imagine that two pounds of hay per day will 

 keep a sheep in good condition for four or five 

 months, or that a ton of hay will keep nine or ten 

 sheep through the winter of our climate. They 

 require something more ; they long to get at the 

 earth, and since that is impracticable, green food 

 of some kind should be given them with their hay. 

 A i'ew cut turnips, potatoes, or carrots, salted oc- 

 casionally, distributed daily among the flock, will 

 greatly assist in keeping them in good flesh and 

 heart. Farmers would escape much of the dis- 

 ease, as shedding of wool, loss of lambs, and gen- 

 eral injury of their flocks consequent on poor 

 keeping, by giving that attention to this truly val- 

 uable animal, which none better repays. 



From the Franlclin Farmer. 

 PREPARING WOODLAND FOR SOWING GRASS 

 SKEDS. 



Richland, Ky., March 18, 1839. 



In the winter of 1836, (say February,) I had 

 some GO or 70 acres of woodland previously bel- 

 ted, and in the proper stage for seeding in grass, 

 but owing to the wet season in the fall, I could 

 not burn the leaves sufficiently to let the seed reach 

 the ground ; alter trying a large harrow and a large 

 brush, which proved inefl'ectual, I adopted the 

 scraper, made by taking a slab or puncheon five 

 feet long and two feet wide, inserting therein 

 a common split ox tongue and attaching one 

 yoke of oxen and a horse thereto. It an- 

 swered the purpose beyond my expectation. It 

 threw the leaves in piles and left the ground per- 

 fectly clean and smooth, ready for the reception 

 of the seed ; the ground had been fenced in the 

 fall, the brush pick up and grubbed, the logs re- 

 maining, and the stock kept off, so that the freez- 

 ing had rendered it quite light. 



I put one hand to drive, one to manage the 

 scraper, and one to sow the seed; they went over 

 from seven to eight acres per day, jumping the 

 logs with ease. I sowed two gallons of clean 

 timothy seed and half bushel of blue grass seed 

 (cut) per acre, and I believe it has as good a set 

 as any meadow, save where the logs and leaves 

 remain. I believe it to be the surest and best 

 way that woodland can be seeded, having tried 

 burning the leaves and other modes : but it takes 



the ground nearly or quite as long again to become 

 as well seeded as the plan above. If the infor- 

 mation is worth inserting in your valuable paper 

 you can do so. Yours resp'ly, 



Stephen C. Brown. 



From the Farmer and Gardener. 

 ADVANTAGE OF HIGHLY CALCAREOUS SOILS 

 FOR MULBERRY TREES AND GRAPE-VINES. 



Hempstead C. H., Ark. March 1, 1839. 



E. P. Roberts, Esq.— Z>e«r Sir: — The silk in- 

 terest, which absorbs so much public attention 

 in the older and more enlightened portions ol" the 

 union, has not yet elicited much attention among 

 us. The Chinese mulberry, so far as I can learn, 

 is not yet to be found in this state, except in ray 

 little nursery. There it thrives admirably. The 

 young buds, in sheltered situations, are at this 

 time expanding sufficiently to feed young worms; 

 and last fall. ihrAigh we had an early frost, fresh 

 leaves were to be found as late as the 10th of" No- 

 vember — thus giving more than eight months 

 vegetation for the precious insect. The three ori- 

 ginal trees that I have, of three seasons growth, are 

 twelve feet high, and eight mches in circumfe- 

 rence at the root; those of two years are nearly 

 equal, and the sprouts of last year's growth, from 

 two year old roots, are from six to ten feet high, 

 and f"rom six to twelve sprouts from each root. I 

 find, also, from trial, that a highly calcareous soil, 

 like our prairie, is best adapted to the culture of 

 this tree. Observing that the native moras rubra 

 delighted in the skirts of the prairie, where the soil 

 contains 50 per cent, of carbonate ol" lime, I plant- 

 ed last spring a few of the morus multicaulis in 

 this kind of soil : they far surpassed in every re- 

 spect those planted in the adjacent sandy loam, 

 though well manured. The wood is more firm, 

 shorter jointed, more branches, and the leaves 

 thicker and darker colored; resembling in this 

 respect, the diflference between the cotton plant 

 growing in the sandy land and that in the prairie 

 — the former growing taller, but the latter a thick- 

 er slalk, and producing a greater number of limbs 

 and bolls. With my present planting, which I 

 have finished, I shall have this year something 

 like 20,000 of these precious trees growing. Hav- 

 ing the fullest confidence in the final success of 

 the enterprise, I am encouraged to go on, though 

 alone, in preparing for the introduction of the silk- 

 culture, nor shall I be detained by scofls or sneers. 



The grape-vine, also succeeds well with me, 

 though for the three first years, the first was most- 

 ly lost by the mildew, yet last year, those vines 

 when 1 had made the soil artificially calcareous 

 in a high degree, perfected their fruit, without this 

 disaster. Those vines, when marl was not used, 

 mildewed, and cast four-fifths of their fruit as 

 usual. This experiment, which I was induced 

 to make from a hint once thrown out by Mr. 

 Hebermont, appears to have fully succeeded. The 

 soil was originally a stitt red clay, and had been 

 an old cow-pen ; I gave it a dressinfj of an inch 

 thick of marl f"rom the prairie, containing 75 per 

 cent, of carbonate of lime (rotten lime-stone.) 

 These, however, were European vines, of four 

 different varieties, all alike subject to mildew. 

 The native vines of our own forests which I had 



