20 



^l)C iTai'mcr'ri iBoutl)In bisitor. 



be selected first for the riini, Ivavin!,' the yoiiiif>er | 

 ones to be pliiceil witli liiiii iiboiit ten diiys later. 

 Sixty ewes are enoiif;li (or a yoiiiijr ram, and 150- 

 to 200 may be put to uri older one. It is best to 

 throw ont the ewes as fast as ihey are tupped. 

 The ram shoidd be ■Trained .<ome time previous 

 nnd during service. Early land)ing is mostly ivd- 

 vuntaiieniis where the rircmnsianees of the farm 

 will admit of it. In Vermoni, the month of May 

 is considered the best mon'li for the lambs to 

 drop. ICwes should have the wool well elipped 

 nway from llie udders previ^'US to the dro|)pin^ 

 of liie laiidis, and tln-y will rear their hnnhs bet- 

 ter to shear them as early in .hme as practicable, 

 aecoiilinf,' to the weather. Jt ba.i a tetjdeiicy to 

 dry lip the mill;, carryiiiil their fleeces into the 

 hot days. Ewes should not he allowed to ranf,'e 

 in loni; pastures while the landis . are youn? ; forty 

 at this season is as many as should he liept to- 

 gether, and if the flocl< is less, it would be belter 

 for various reasons. Ewes should be e.xamined 

 early in the luorninfr, and see that the lambs just 

 dropped are capal'le of sueliiufr, which is com- 

 monly readily <lecided by the distention of the 

 belly. When the laud) liecomes chilled, it may 

 be resuscitated by placiuff it in warm water, and 

 ne.\t, rub it with cloths till dry; give liiui no milk 

 until he calls lor it, and then he may have all that 

 nature retpures without injury; nulk from a far- 

 row cow is not suitable to feed youiii;' l.imbs. 

 Ewes may give too little milU, especially when 

 they drop their lambs early in the spring. In 

 such cases, it well pays to aid the lambs by inilk 

 fed from a bottle a lew days. Their milU may 

 be greatly increased by feeding them turneps, 

 potatoes or similar green food. Given to those 

 that drop tlieir lambs caily, the jtrow th of the 

 lambs is greatly promoted, which is of much fu- 

 ture importance, ihv when they are stunted at 

 this early period of their existence, they never 

 turn out so well afterward. Willi the root crops 

 may be i'ed pieserved afler-^rass or roweii ; oats, 

 corn or oil meal m.iy be made use of for the 

 winter food of bree<ling cues. Ked and white 

 clover are of much consequence as spring food 

 for breeding ewes; no sort of pinching sheep 

 Btock ansuers any food purpose; food in aliiin- 

 dance should always he provided, and i;ood water 

 shonhl constantly b" at hand. Those ewes that 

 first take the ram, it is profitable to mark off, that 

 they may be early selected and extra care taken 

 with the early lauibs. 



.Merino ewes in good order are apt to give a 

 plenty of milk, and will take care of their lambs, 

 in case she does not own her lambs, shut her 

 into a small [len, and make her stand to suckle 

 the lamb a few times, which uill generally bring 

 her to natural affection. Some recommend tying 

 lip the owe and let a dog bark at them, which 

 frightens them into obedience and afleetion for 

 tlieir offspring. 



It sometimes happens that ewes with an abun- 

 dauee of milk lose their lauibs. It niny be prof- 

 itable to provide her with another that does not 

 fare as well; to cfli'Ct this, place tlie skin from 

 the dead lamb over the body of the live one, and 

 the unfortunate inoiher will own it. The skin 

 need not remain on more than a day or two. 



As soon as a lamb liecomes smart, his tail 

 should be taken off; the best way is to turn the 

 Qiiim.al on his back and liolil his hind leg.s. The 

 operator takes hold of the tail with the left hand, 

 but is cautious not to pull it. Then place the 

 knife across tlii! tail about one inch from the body, 

 near the intersection of the two cords with the 

 tail; then nilli the edge of the knife shove up 

 the skin about one-third of an inch ; when the; 

 edge strikes between the joint, immediately cut 

 it off. liy this process, the skin will project be- 

 yond the bone, and of course heal iniieh sooner. 

 iJy cutting off the tail as the lamb sttmds on his 

 feet, the wool prevents the cutting readily, and by 

 pulling the tail as is usual, it leaves the bone to 

 project beyond the skin, and thus prevents the 

 healing some days. The ewe lambs should be 

 cut shorter than the wetLiers. 



In respect to the business of castrating or 

 gelding tlie huiilis, it should be performed early, 

 n.s there is less d.-inger of too iiiuirh inflammalion 

 taking place. The pouch should be taken off 

 pretty close to the boily, ami when the operation 

 is atti.'iided to, early, there is no need of any ap- 

 plic.'ition to the wdimd. 



The lambs should be immeisi d in a decoction 

 of tobacco water, say five pounds of good to- 



bacco stee()ed in a sufficient tpiantity to dip one 

 hnnilred. This should be attended to about one 

 week .-liter tJie ewes are clipped, to destroy all 

 the ticks which liave by this liiiii; found shelter 

 in till! hiinb's fleece. 



Three months and tt half or four months is as 

 long as is profiiable tor the land) to draw milk 

 from the ewe. Turn tlietri into fresh tmd sweet 

 feed reserved for the purpose, either pasture or 

 mcidow, at a distance from the ewi^s, out of 

 hearing; if pos>ihle, there should bi^ no water in 

 ilie lot, as tliiy may over s;iliale_and injure them- 

 selves. In order lliat the young stock suffer no 

 check, they should have good feed anil a plenty 

 of it. The milk should be drawn bom the ewes 

 within four or five days after weanfng, to ]ire- 

 veiit any bad consequence by the udder swell- 

 ing. 



The best way to get a smart aiiii even lot of 

 lambs is to put out the buck only in the day time 

 with the ewes. I sometimes put out the bucks 

 two or three hours each day with the flock, sta- 

 bling them the remaining part of the time. 



The method of turning a number of rams into 

 one flock is highly exceptionable, as tending to 

 prevent the main object and injure both sexes. 



Sheep are very sympatlietic animals, and have 

 more to do in making their grogeiiy than any 

 other species. Therefore to insure the lamb to 

 be struck ofl" after the fjishioii of the sire, he 

 should be plai'cd with them in the day time 

 only. 



By placing ewes in fiill vigor with rams defi- 

 cient in coiistitutioii, yon will produce more fe- 

 males than males. To effect the contrary, let 

 your rams be of full age, and robust, placed with 

 old or young ewes that are not in full inaliirity, 

 and bucks will be multiplied more than ewes. 



Merino ewes should not be allowed to breiMl 

 until the third year. Their time of gestation is 

 about five months, and are able to (iroduce three 

 births within two years. Those that are back- 

 ward ill taking the ram, the best means to be 

 employed, are those of good stimulating keep. 



Covered sheep folds are often of very great 

 advantage in securing and protecting both ewes 

 and their l.auihs. Lambs should by no means be 

 winter stocked with the ewes; being weaker, 

 they cannot have an equal chance at the food. 



In order to guard against the injury of the 

 sheep fly.vvliicli is more troublesome to breeding 

 ewes, many breeders in this vicinity make use of 

 Scotch snuff, thrown up the nose by a common 

 syringe; a pound of snuff is mixed with eight 

 quarts of water; one-half gill is sufficient for 

 each nostril. It iiMpiires two hands to opperate 

 expedilionsly. The head of the sheep partly en- 

 ters a frame constructed for that purpose, and 

 secured fast to receive the injection. The time 

 selected for this operation, is the fidi season. 

 Those s'leep that are affected with the grub in 

 the head, occasioned by this ily, may be sought 

 out during the winter and spring months. They 

 exhibit a general stupidity and dullness; stand 

 rather drooping. 'J'lie viscid matter that flows 

 fi'oni the nose is somelimes of a bloody color. 

 Good keeping during the summer iiionlhs is the 

 greatest preventive fortliisaiul most diseases that 

 trouble the sheep family. 



Kes'iectfuHv yours, 



■ S. W. JEWET r. 

 ff'cyhridge, VI., Dec. 7, 1844. 



On Fining Maple Snsnr. 



The Sweet obtained from the maple tree is 

 imdoiibtcdiy the purest known; but tiom inis- 

 niaiiaginiieiit in the mannfiictme of it, it fi'cipicnl- 

 ly becomes very impure. Its value is lessened, 

 while the expense of making it increases. I am 

 sensible that the method which I shall recom- 

 mend is not altogether a new one, and that it is 

 more by allending to some apparently inimilc 

 and trivial circumstauces in the opera ion, than 

 to any new plan, that my sugar is so good. Much 

 has been written u|ioii,and many useful impr<ive- 

 meiils Ikk'Ii made, in that part of the process 

 which relaies to lapping the trees, ami gathering 

 and evaporaiiug the sap, i!vc,, but still if the final 

 operation is not imderslood, tlnre will bi- a di li- 

 cienc" in the quality of lhi;siigar, I shall confine 

 III- self to that part of the operation which relates 

 to reducing the syrup to sugar, as it is of the first 

 itiiporlance. My process is this: — When the 

 syrup is reduced to the consistence of West India 

 molasses, I set it away till it is perfectly cold, and 



then mix with it the clarifying matter, which i.s 

 milk or egg.s, I prefer eggs to milk, because, 

 when heated, the whole of it curdles; whereas 

 milk produces only a small portion of ciiids. The 

 eggs should be thoroughly beaten, and effectually 

 inived with the syru|i while cold. 'J'he ^yrtlp 

 shciidd then be heated till just before it would 

 boil, when the curd rises, bringing with it every 

 impurity, even the coloring matter, or a great 

 portion ■ i' il, whiidi it had received from the 

 smoke, kettles, buckets or reservoirs. The boil- 

 ing should be checked, and the scum carefully 

 removed, when the .«yru[i should be slowly turned 

 iiit) a thick woolen slrainer, and left to run ihroiigb 

 at its leisure, I would remark, that a great pro- 

 portion of the sugar that is made in our country 

 is not strained after cleansing. This is an error. 

 If examined in a wine-glas.s, innumerable, mi- 

 unle and almost imperceptible particles of curd, 

 will he seen floating in it, which if not removed, 

 render it liable to burn, and otherwise injure the 

 taste and color of it, 



A flaniiid slrainer does this much belter than a 

 linini one. It is indeed indiaprnsahle. As to the 

 quantity of eggs necessary, one pint to a pailful 

 of syrup is amply sufficient, and half as iniich 

 will do very well, I now put my .syrtip into an- 

 other kettle, which has been made perfectly clean 

 aiul 6n'g/i/, when it is placed over a quick but 

 soliil fire, and soon rises, but is kept from over- 

 flowing by being laded with a long dipper. When 

 it is sufficiently reduced, (I ascertain this by drop- 

 ping it from the point of a knil"e, while hot, into 

 one inch of' cold water — if done, it «ill not im- 

 mediately mix with the water, hut lies at the bot- 

 tom in a round fl it drop,) it is taken fioiii the 

 fire, and the foaming allowed tosiib>idc, A thick 

 while scum, which is useable, is reuioved, ami 

 llie sugar turneil into a cask, placed on an in- 

 clined platform, and left midisturbed for six weeks 

 or longer, when il should be tappeil in the bottom, 

 and the molasses drawn off. It will drain per- 

 fectly dry in a few days. 



The sugar iii.ade in this nianiier is very nearly 

 as white as lump sugar, and beautifully grained. 

 We have always sold ours at the hisihest price of 

 Muscovadoes; and even when these sugars have 

 sold at eighteen cents, ours ibuud a ready market 

 at twenty. Two hands will sugar ofl' 2.30 lb.«. in 

 a dav. From the scum taken ofl' in cleansing, I 

 nsiiallv M.ake, by diluting and le-cleansing, one 

 sixth as much as I had at first, and of an equal 

 quality. 



It is not of tnueb consequence as regards the 

 quality of the sugar, whether care be taken to 

 kee() the sap clean or not. The points in vvliieh 

 the greatest error is committed, are neglecting to 

 use li flannel strainer, or strain after cleansing — 

 to have the sugaring kettle properly cleaned — 

 and to remove the white scum from the sugar. — 

 E. II'. Clark, of Oswego, .V. 1'. 



Capabilities of the Soil. 



'i'he Committee of the New Yoik State Agri- 

 cultural Society awarded its premium for two 

 hundred and fifteen bushels of wheat on (bur 

 acres and twelve poles of ground, or nearly fifty- 

 two and a half bushels to the acre, to IMatlhew 

 Watson of Canandaigna, Ontario county ; and 

 the second preniiuni on corn to J. V. Osborn of 

 I'ort Byron, Cayiga county, bis crop being two 

 hundred and thirteen bushels nnd three-eighths 

 of a biisliid on two ai;res of laml. A Mr. Enos 

 of Madison <'oiinty, entitled on proof to the first 

 premium on corn, reported the extraordinary 

 crop of one bundled and forty-seven bushels 

 upon an acre! Three premiums on barley were 

 repeclively awarded to Stephen E. Uudlcy of 

 East lilooinfield, Ontario county, for sixiy-nino 

 bushels and nincly lumdredths per acre on two 

 „i;,es— to William Wright of Vernon, Oneida 

 county, for fifty bushels and forty-seven pounds 

 per acre on two acres — and to Nathaniel Wright 

 of the .same town, for forty-seven bushels and 

 twenty-five pounds per acre on two acres of 

 ground. On oats, two premiums were respec- 

 tively granted, llie first to Selli Lawtou of Wash- 

 ington, Dutchess county, his crop being mie liiili- 

 dred and twenty-one and one quarter bushels 

 per acre; and the second premium to J. V. Os- 

 born of Port Byron, Cay nga comity, his crop 

 being one hundred and limr bushels per acre on 

 a lot of two acres and nine rods. Of rula baga, 

 premiums were awarded fiir 1 UiO, 820, and 724 

 bushels to the acre respectively : for carrots. lO.V.) 



