" !■ Ml I II I III I I I 11 I I II 1— Jr= -^JW.-. T i M- . --m— n^ ^ I I. umm : - ■ ■ -- ' ■" ^ ' >••• ^— 



S!)c Jiavmcr's i!loutl)ljj bisitor. 



19 



(Ireil and four ijiilcs in llie coiirso of a yciir, t(i 

 use his iicinlilior's i^iind.-loiii", when t\vi> ihiys.' 

 liilior would |iiiiclKise one tliat uuiilil last ti:ii 

 years. 



1 liMVP sci'M a IliniuM-'s wifi; lliat would iii-cler 

 soiii- <-rL'ain and a "visit," lo swuot (Muain and 

 homv. 



Plougiiino i.v Clover. — .^iiiong other qiies- 

 tioii.s which oii^'lit to he (and may he) (h'cideil, is 

 tli:;t of the relative advaiitaL'e of |iloii;;hiii,:; in or 

 liastnriiig clover. It si'erns to lie taken for i;raiit- 

 cil hy luaiiy, thai |iloNL'liiM^' Iji the clover erop is 

 ilioie heiieiicial lo llie land, and a more iirofilahle 

 conrse, than ((■edin;; it o(i' hy animals. Hut ue 

 do not think this |ioirit hyany means cstahlished. 

 In a conversation with Air. Nohio, of l\lassillon, 

 Ohio, he ohs('rveil that, from his own exnerience 

 he had heen led to the conclusion that a much 

 greater protit cnnhl ho dcrivi-d from [lastm-in;.' 

 cloverwilh sheep, ihan from ploufjhiii^ it in. !le 

 h«<1 lijuiul the wlie.it crop as good or heltcr where 

 the clover was pretty closely fed down hy the 

 sheep, as where that crop had been ploughed un- 

 der; the land in holh eases 'heinu similar. If 

 this woidd he the j,'eneral reVnlt, tlie additional 

 ))roliis of sheep would decide the case much in 

 tiivor of paslura<;e. 



In a late iininher of the New Genesee Farmer, 

 we fuid iMr. Win. (Jarhutt (a very judicious filmi- 

 er) entertains similar ideas to those ahove ex- 

 pressed. iMr, G. considers pasturiiiir clover two 

 years with slieep more profitahle to the fanner, 

 more enriching' to the soil, and more heiieiicial to 

 the wheat crop than ploughing it under. 



We would su^uest to ajiriculnnal societies the 

 proprieU of oSeriuf; premiums for experiments 

 to test this inaller. 



An ExTf:.NSivE Sheep Grower. — It is cur- 

 rently reported on the authority of the Journal 

 of Commerce that a Mr. Sheridan residinfi in 

 Riienos Ayies, is the owner of 100,000 sheep. 

 Me comnienced the husiness some years ago with 

 oiilv CO — we helieve in 1826, and now ein|)loys 

 20 sheijherds.— Jt/e. Cull. 



started and pushed on, till at the present time a 

 degree of perfection has iieeli riNichcd in some 

 of the liest coiislrncted ploughs, to which, it 

 seems almost iinpracticalile to make any furlher 

 additions. 



As iVIassachusetls took the lead in the institution 

 of plonghing-matches, and the oHl'iing ol' pre- 

 miums for the hest ploughs, a hrief sketch of the 

 progn^ss of impiMvement in that State, will he 

 read with interest. 



At some of ihi; first trials of ploughs tuider 

 the {lirection of the State Agrieultural Society, 

 I'.riglilon, those nmdi! hy Jesse Warren, of Ded- 



li.Mui, Charles Howard, <d' llingliam, and 



Hall, of Sution, attracted particular attention. 

 'I'he first pymiuui at tlic^ fust tii.d, ( 1817,) was 

 awaiilial to .Mr. Howard and his partiu'r. At llii 



Krom the Albany Cultivator, 

 Improved Ploughs. 



The iinprciveiiients in agrieultural implements 

 of various kinds, within the last twenty or thirty 

 years, has heen very great. In the jilongh, par- 

 ticularly, there has heen almost an entire revo- 

 lution, holh in the kind of material used, and in 

 the g(meral form and conslriietion. A single ex- 

 ample of the manner in which, within the mem- 

 ory of the writer, (thirty years.) the operation of 

 ploughing was iierformed in a New England 

 neigiihorhood, not hy any means behind the age 

 in agricultural advanceinenl, will serve to show 

 in a striking light, the improvement which has 

 heen efTected in this most important implement 

 of husliandry. In ploughing "green-swanl,'" the 

 force commonly employed was three yoke of 

 oxen, with a horse lo lead, or two yoke of oxen 

 and a pair of horses, with two drivers, one man 

 at the |/lougli-liandles, another at the beam to 

 "bear Oh" in hard places, and, if the ground was 

 at all rough, a man to lijllow the plough with a 

 stout hoe to mend "baulks" and turn over fur- 

 rows. An ncre was considered a good day's 

 work. Now mark the contrast. On the same 

 farms, the same fields, with a tougher sward, are 

 tiow ploughed with one yoke of oxen, (sometimes 

 with the addition of a horse,) and often with only 

 one man, who is both ploughman and driver. An 

 acre ami a half is ploughed in a day, in a style 

 infinitely superior to the former mode. Besides, 

 notwithstanding the superior exceljeuce and dura- 

 bility of the new implement, it,^ cost is at least 

 one-fourth less than that of the old one. 



'I'his modern improvement in ploughs, it may 

 1)0 safely averred, originated in the encourage- 

 ment offered by agricultural societies. The 

 Massacbiiseits Society for the Promotion of Ag- 

 riculture, early manifested a deep interest in this 

 matter. The institution of ploughing matches 

 in this country, the credit of which belongs to 

 this Society, it is believed gave the first decided 

 impulse to improvement in this direction. Their 

 first ploughing tnatcli took place at Brighton in 

 October, 1817. The offer of premiums for the 

 best plough, by tlii.s, and other associations, soon 

 followed; and hy the coinpetitioii which was thus 

 in various ways created, improvements were 



trial, the once famous l''-uglish Beverstonc plough 

 was brought into eompelition with those of 



.\merica .inufactiire, hy the late John Prince, 



F,s(|., of Roxbury. For several years the ploughs 

 used at these trials were made of wood, iroiu'd 

 in the old mode. A cast-iron mold-board, the 

 share and other [larts being maile as before, was 

 after a while adopted hy Mr. Howard, and about 

 the .same! time some ploughs wholly of cast-iron 

 were introduced. The latter were Tice's and 

 Wood',"-. Some cast-iron ploughs were also irn- 

 porled from Scotland. 15ut the iron ploughs 

 were slow in coming into use. Those of the 

 Tice and Wood patterns were frequently used at 

 the Prighton trials. They were admitted to ruti 

 with less resistance llian most of those made of 

 wood, hut from their extreme shortness, and llie 

 abrupt position of the 'mold-board, they did not 

 turn a sod-furrow so well and handsomely as was 

 desired, ;md on this account were not very suc- 

 cessfnl in obtaining prizes. The castings were 

 also bad — the ploughs broke a great deal, which 

 creatcMl a prejudice against cast-iron ploughs, not 

 very easy to tie overi'ome — and various circum- 

 stances combined to throw the Wooil and Tice 

 ploughs into disuse. 



In the me.iu time the mechanical principles on 

 which the plough should be constructed, engaged 

 the attention of men <if the strongest minds. 

 'I'he late Hon. Timothy Pickering, who, after his 

 retirement from an important political |iost, the 

 Seeretarysiiip of Slate, to which he had been ap- 

 pointed by Washingloii, engaged in agricultiind 

 pursuits with great zeal, laid down the following 

 rule liir the construction of the mokl-hoard: — 



"Having fixed a straight line, hy one cut of a 

 saw licim the upper coiner of the mold-hoard 

 behind, lo its point forward, cut away the wood 

 iihove and below that line in such a manner that 

 when fiuisheil, if you carry a straight rule from 

 the fore to the hind part, keeping it all the way 

 at right angles with the straight line, it shall toueli 

 the t;u-e of the mtjld-hoard, in its whole breadth, 

 in straight lines, through its entire winding, so 

 that its upper corner behind shall overhang the 

 lower sufficiently to effect a complete turning of 

 the finrow slice." 



The above rule is in accordance with the prin- 

 ciples .advanced by Mr. Jefferson in his letter to 

 Sir John Sinclair, ami whieli have been and are 

 still adhered to, in all modern impriivcmeiits ol' 

 the plough. 



As the trials of ploughs by the Massachusetts 

 Society, annually brought the various competi- 

 tors together, a progressive improvement was 

 every year observable. Mr. Warren, by study 

 and priiclice, gretilly improv'ed the construction 

 of bis plough. It made beautiful work— many 

 premiums were awarded to it at the Brighton 

 ploughing-matcbes, where for several year.s it 

 was much esteemed. Mr. Warren finally got otit 

 patterns for iron ploughs, on the general princi- 

 ple of his wooden one. Some of these we have 

 held with (Uir own hands. They were good 

 ploughs, though destined soon to be eclipsed by 

 liettcr ones. 



Mr. Howard continued to add imiirovoments 

 to his plough, and was very successful in obtain- 

 ing prizes. About the year 1835, Messrs. Prouly 

 & Mears, with various patterns of the " Hitch- 

 cock" plough, became conspiciiotis among the 

 successful competitors. The Hitchcock plough 

 may be considered the basis on which has heen 

 engrafteil the various improvements that in these 

 days have rendered the ploughsof Messrs. P. and 

 iM. famous over the whole country. 



Other competitors also appeared in tlie field. 

 Prominent among these, Me.»srs. Rnggles, Nour.se 



& Mason, who were not long in securing a share 



of the honors to be ga ined in the contest. For si; v- 

 eral years past, it may be said that the competition 

 in Mas.-iaciiusetts, has lieen between the ploughs 

 iof the three la..<t natned firms — that is, between 

 those of Howard, I'routy i*t Mi'ars, and llilggles, 

 Nourse &. Mason. 



Each of these concerns m.inufacture n large 

 number of ploughs of various patterns, and there 

 are large ware-houses in Boston, where all of 

 them, as well as other implemenis, are exten.'sively 

 sold. We have before spoken of the establish- 

 ment ol' Messrs. Breck & Co., (where Howard's 

 ploughs are sold,) and that of Messrs. Kuggles, 

 Nonrse &. Mason. In our visit to Massachusetts 

 in October last, we visited the warehouse and 

 mannfaelory of Messrs. U. Prouty & Co., sno- 

 cessors to Prouty &. Mears. Their store is in 

 Boston, and their manufactory in South Boston. 

 The latter is a very large eslahlishuirnt. The 

 buihlinir is I'iO feet long, .'i(> fef;t wide, and 

 four stories high. They manufacture ploughsof 

 various patterns, though they are mostly on what 



"■' '"■"■" I""" > ^ J .' 



IS called tht! "centre-draft" principle — tli.-it is, the 

 beam is placed over the centre of the weight of 

 the plough. These ploughs li.ave iicqiiired an 

 extensive reputation, and orders are constantly 

 received for them fioiu all parts of the Union. 



Messrs. P. & Co. also m.ike many subsoil 

 ploughs of different kinds — also harrows of very 

 superior construction — sowing, or pkinting ma- 

 chines — straw-cutters, and most other liirming 

 implemenis. Every tool is made of the hest ma- 

 terial, and in the most finished style of work- 

 manship. All their operations seem to he con- 

 ducted with much system, and great regularity 

 and neatness are observed throughout., 



From tlie .Mljany CuJMvator. 

 Management of Breeding Eiyes and I^ambs. ^ 



Ma. Tucker: — Your private request that I 

 should give yon my experience in the nianage- 

 nieiit of breeding ewes, has been some time de- 

 layed. A (ill! aecount would require too long a 

 chapter for your paper. The accompanying notes 

 are hastily and briefly given. » 



The nature and combinations of the various 

 points and parts of the ram, should of cour.se 

 he well considered, and impressed on the mind 

 of the breeder, in order that he tnay always rear 

 and pri^serve those animals to the greatest ad- 

 vantage, paying the strictest attention to build 

 and coiistilntion. and to the preservation of the 

 quantity and quality of the fleece. 



It is very hard to find .'utd retain all of the fol- 

 lowing qualities in one ram, or a stock of sheep, 

 viz: Round build, wiih; eliesi, large belly, round 

 and full behind, wide tail near l\n: body, large 

 but short legs, long body, short h.iek, large hut 

 short neck ; wool fine, very thick, and very long 

 and oily; wool thick on the hilly; the inner part 

 of the legs mostly covered, and run c|uiie even 

 from the shoulder to the ham, free from jarr or 

 long coarse hairs, of good length and thickness 

 on the outer part of the fore and hind legs down 

 to the knees andgainbrcl join:s; short head, but 

 wide between the eyes, whi(;li should he liilland 

 bright. In my judgment, a stock getter of this 

 descri|ition is worth his weight in silver to any 

 breeder that keeps one hundred ewes. 



There is a great difterence in the disfiosition 

 of the merino race. Some of them are natural- 

 ly more tame and docile than others. It is ipiito 

 iin|iorlant to ohtiun a stock getter of a gentle and 

 quiet disposition. An improved disjiosition indi- 

 cates an aptitude to convert their food into liesli 

 or fiit. A good disposition is very meritorious in 

 the breeding of ewes as well as wethers; tlioso 

 most gentle are in tli.i best state at lambing time. 

 There are several circumstances whicli are sup- 

 posed to form or contribute to this goodness of 

 disposition in these animals. They must be well 

 bred, or come from such as have good properties ; 

 breeding in-and-in, or in the same line, greatly 

 contributes to form disposition. Ewes should bo 

 carefully s(dected before put to breeding, Choo.se 

 such as tire the most perfect, and that possess in 

 the highest degree those properties or qualities 

 which are wanted. If the ewes produce wool of 

 short staple, breed from u buck of b different 

 character. A judicious selection ns regards 

 build, should also he attended to at the time tliey 

 are turned to the ram, if it has not been <lone be' 

 fore. 



Ewes of good age, and the best milkers, should 



