<JI)C iTavmci's iHcintl)Iij bisitor. 



■SB 



87 



jied or touched with nny ihinp; that is oftensive, 

 ns its scent, when very yuutif:, is llie |irinci|);il 

 source oriccoiTiiitioii l)y the mother. A dean 

 hIanUet or woollen ololli will be best, if swad- 

 dling should be ("ouml ncccssnry. 



It is proverbial that the Merino and Saxon va- 

 rieties are not as f.'ooil nurses as the I'.nglish 

 lirecds, and nature thereforo rarely overtasks, by 

 siipplyin:; llietn with twins. When this occurs, 

 however, if tlie ewe is in her prime, condition 

 pood, udder larj;e, an<l her keep fjood, it will be 

 proper to let both tlie land)s rnii with the niotli- 

 or ; but ifllic reverse of this, let one of them be 

 liroupht up by hand, or, as is the Spanish cus- 

 tom, be destroyed. A ditrerent course will prob- 

 al)ly cause runts of both, and is one of the means 

 |py which many flocks, in process of lime, arc 

 ► adly deteriorated. 



When tlie ewe loses hei' ofT^pring, it is follow- 

 ed by a disli'iision, and fre piently an inllamation 

 of the ndder. F5nt such cases will be found by 

 the reader fully Inated of in the clm|)ler of dis- 

 ea.«i's, under the head of f:;nrf;el. 



During the period of lauibinf;, continninpf as it 

 does for a fortiiii;ht or more, the pasture for the 

 ewes, if they are in fair flesh, should not be luxu- 

 riant ; but when it is passed, then they may be 

 removed lo better keep ; and in all cases the sit- 

 ii.ition should be dry, and free liom too jireat ex- 

 posure. If the season has lieen unprnpitious for 

 early grass, and consequently the keep during 

 parturalion too low, the flock should have the 

 run oftwo lol.o, which should adjoin, and the 

 cointminicaiion between them at all times kept 

 open. The adoption of this course prevents the 

 confusion incident to changing the whole flock 

 at onee. 



The miniber of ewes herding together at this 

 important period should not exceed one hundred, 

 and a still less nnml)er will result advantageous- 

 ly to both the flock and the master. Ho should 

 at all seasons keep betbre him the fact that a few 

 shfrp kepi together will he better than many, which 

 will be more particularly eidbrced herealier. 



The affection of the ewe fur her offspring is 

 often exceedingly ftroiig, as the following exam- 

 ple will testify', ahhoiigb rather an extraordinary 

 instance, related by the Eltrick Shepherd. 



"One of the two years while I remained on 

 the fintn at Willenslee a .«evere blast of snow 

 came OH by night, about the latter end of April, 

 which deslroyeil several scores of our larid)s, and 

 as we had not enough of twins and odd lambs 

 for the mothers that had Inst theirs, of course we 

 selected the best ewes and put lambs to them. 

 As we were making the distribution I reipiested 

 of the master to s[iare me a lamb lor n ewe 

 which he knew, and which was standing over 

 a dea<l lamb, about lour miles fiom the house. 

 lie would not let me do it, but bid me to let her 

 stand over it for a day or two, and perliaps a twin 

 wmdd be forlhcoining. I did so, and faithfully 

 did she stand to her charge. I visited her every 

 tnoriiiug and evening for the first eight days, 

 and never found her above two or three yards 

 from tlie lamb: and often as I «ent my rounds, 

 she eyeil me long ere I came near her, and kept 

 stamping with her foot to frighten away the dog. 

 The weather grew fine and warm, and the dead 

 landi soon decayed ; but still this afTectionate 

 and (hsolale creature kept hanging over the re- 

 mains with an attachment that seemed to be 

 nourished by bnpelessness. It often drew tears 

 fro/n my eyes to itvr. her hanging with suidi fond- 

 ness over a few bones, nuxed with a small por- 

 tion of wool. For the first fortnight she never 

 quitted the spot ; and for another week she vis- 

 ited it every morning and evening, uttering a few 

 kindly and heart-piercing bleats; till at length 

 every remnant of her offspring vanished, mixing 

 with the soil, or wafted away by the winds." 



The plan proposed in the above natned work, 

 seems to be an entirely diflierelit one, being noth- 

 ing more or less than taking up the young tree, 

 cutting ofl" the top root, although any other root 

 having healthy fibres on it will answer — but the 

 top rout is best. Thi.s done the tree may be 

 packed away in some place where its roots may 

 be kept moist and free from frost, down in a 

 eool cellar for instance, with its roots in sand, 

 riie roots, says the F.ditor, being washed, are 

 cut in lour or five inch pieces, and the scions 

 prepareil as t'ov ordinary grafting. 



Splice a tongue, is the most convenient meth- 

 od. Woolen yarn, cut to ten or twelve inches 

 in length, is wound around it closely at the point 

 of junction. Let the grafting ivax be kept in a 

 melted stale, by being ptit in a pan over a few 

 coali*. 



Holding the work over the pan, with a spoon 

 pour a portioii of the liquid all over the yarn ; it 

 hardens iminedi.itcly, anil the whole may be set 

 in rows in a box and covered above the point of 

 union with moist sand, and kept in a cellar till it 

 is time to turn them out in the spring. 



This seems to be a kind of winter occupation. 

 A thing that may he done during the long even- 

 ings, or in stormy days. It may also be done in 

 the spring, and it would seem that when young 

 trees are to be removed, some saving, or rather 

 multiplication of stocks might be attained by 

 using a portion of the roots to engraft in. — 

 Maine Farmer. 



Root Graftikg. We find in the Western 

 Farmer and Gardener, an excellent woik publish- 

 ed at liidianaiiolis, imder the the Editorial 

 cliarge of Uev. II. W. IJeecher, of that town, and 

 E. J. Hooper, of Cincinnati, a process for propa- 

 gating fruit Iree.i, by what is called root grafting. 

 We biive heretofore known, and even practiced 

 a kind of root grafting, by digging down and 

 lifting np a small root, into which a graft was 

 put ; then by drawing earth around it, and let- 

 ting it (the root) remain nnlil next season, it 

 could be cut ofTaiid set out a.s an independent 

 tree. 



Swamps. Much valuable land is yet to be re- 

 claimed in the great West, and drained so as to 

 make it fruitful and healthy. We hear in the 

 fall of the year of dreadfid sickness from agues 

 and congestive fevers, which is by no tneans sur- 

 prising when circumstances and conditions are 

 taken into consideration. It is curious to know 

 the fact that in the State of Missouri there are 

 2,lfi0 square miles of low swampy lands in six 

 counties, portions of which are covered with 

 water. During the summer monlhs, the vegeta- 

 tion being rank and abundant on this fruitful 

 soil, its decomposition renders the atmosphere 

 impure ; and as the swamps are dried up, this 

 balefid influence is extended to adjoining sec- 

 tions, and disease and de.ath pervades the country. 

 The swamps are not inhabited, except by trappers 

 and brmlers on the islands, at particular periods 

 of the year. — Between Missouri and Arkansas 

 there is a striji of rich land ten iniles wide, and 

 and three himdred and fifty miles in length, 

 beautiful, fertile, and well inhabited, but entirely 

 cut off from the two States, by these swamps. 

 We have read of the Pontine tnarshes near 

 Rome, of the overflowing Nile and the alluvial 

 from receding waters, of the marshes in Bohe- 

 mia, but these are all pigmies to the great dis- 

 rual swamps of Missouri. The White Water of 

 Little River is in Missouri, 108 miles in length, 

 and ten miles in width. This swamp is made 

 by the overflow of the Mississippi River. The 

 St. John .Swamp, which commences below the 

 town of Commerce, and empties near New Mad- 

 rid, is forty miles long, and six miles wide, and 

 submerges three counties. The Jame.s' swamps 

 are thirty iniles long, and ten miles wide. The 

 St. Francis swamp is 75 iniles long, and 12 

 miles wide in Missouri, and 75 miles wide in Ar- 

 kansas, and the whole quantity of land thus sub- 

 merged, amounts to millions of acres. It is pro- 

 posed to reclaim most of this land, and the esti- 

 mates for Levees and Canals amounts to .? 1,169,- 

 000, and it is proposed that the general Govern- 

 ment should cede its lauds in the swamps to the 

 State of Missouri, and tlie State will undertake 

 the task of reclaiming them. This is quite rea- 

 sonable. The lands are worth nothing to the 

 United States, and may be made very valuable to 

 the State. At present, it is not safe lo invite em- 

 igrants to locate in the neighliorbood of these 

 swamps. The Memphis Convention recom- 

 mends the Government to surrender their lands 

 to those sections of country, it being of no value 

 at iiresent. 



From the London Gardner's Chronicle. 

 Salt as Food. 

 It is to be regretted that there are so many op- 

 posite opinions entertained by parties on agricul- 

 tural subjects. It is in consequence of such a 

 difference of opinion existing on the use of salt 

 in the feeding of stock that I am induced to 



trouble you at present. In No. 2 of the ." Jour- 

 nal of Agriculture" for Scotland, page 1,16, Mr. 

 James Ol. Fennell, writes unequivocally in favor 

 of the use of salt in feeding, and quotes from a 

 host of authors in support of his statement, of 

 which those that are most to the point, I beg to 

 ofTer to your notice, viz: Matthew Apbonin, a 

 Russian naturalist, remarks that " Oxen fiitten 

 very quickly upon tlie sea coasts where Arrow- 

 grass (Triglochin maritiiiiuni,) their favorite food 

 abounds ;" " and if this be so," adds Mr. Fennell, 

 "it is probably ascribable to the gidine nature of 

 the plant, and to the sea breezes containing par- 

 ticles of salt, which appear necessary to stimu- 

 late their digestive organs, and therefore condu- 

 cive to health." Dickson, in his " Husbandry of 

 the Ancients," tells us they were accustomed to 

 (irepare the straw for feeding stock, by keeping 

 it for a considerable time steeped in brine; that 

 it was then dried, rolled up in bundles, and giv- 

 en too.xen instead of hay. Dr. Brownrigg, in hia 

 " Art of Making common Salt" (1748,) remarks 

 that "Black cattle and sheep take a pleasure in 

 licking it (salt,) and by it are preserved from ma- 

 ny diseases ; they also thrive lo admiration up- 

 on it." Sir John Sii>clair tells us that a Mr. 

 Bracebridge, "drenched some rotten sheep night 

 and morning with strong brine, after which he 

 did not loose one ; they became fat, and the 

 meat fine and good, as if the animals had never 

 been affected." Mr. Fennell also states that, 

 "the fattening property of our own salt marshes 

 is well known to graziers and farmers." As I 

 think I have now shown that there is a tiotion 

 that the use of salt is favorable to fattening, I 

 proceed now to inform you that it is also said 

 that " in fattening, salt must be avoided." In No. 

 .5, page 473, of the Journal already named, we 

 find an admirable article on " Animal Life," by 

 that talented advocate of "Shelter," Mr. Donald 

 Bain, of Edinburg. The following quotation ho 

 gives from Liebig's "Animal Chemistry: — The 

 presence office muriatic acid in the stomach, 

 and that of soda in the blood, prove, beyond all 

 doubt, the necessity of common salt for the or- 

 ganic processes ; but the quantities of soda re- 

 quired by animals of differenl classes to support 

 the vital processes are singularly unequal. Again, 

 it cannot be accidental that the life, the develop- 

 ment of a plant, is dependent on the presence 

 of the alkalies which it extracts from the soil. 

 This plant serves as food to an extensive class of 

 animals, and in these animals the vital proce.'^s 

 again is most closely connected with the pres- 

 ence of these alkalies. We find the alkalies in 

 the bile, and their presence in the animal body is 

 the indispensable condition for producing the 

 first food of the young animals ; for without an 

 abundant supply of (lotash, the production of 

 milk becomes imjiossible." "Alkalies," adds 

 Mr. Bain, " are useful to general health therefore, 

 and indispen.sable to giving milk. But in fatten- 

 ing, salt must be avoided ;" " for it is worthy of 

 observation," says Professor Liebig, " in refer- 

 ence to the proiluction of fat, that the absence of 

 common salt (a compound of sodium which fur- 

 nishes soda to the animal organism,) is favorable 

 to the formation of fat ; and that the fattening of 

 an animal is rendered impossible, when we add 

 to its food an excess of salt, although short of 

 the quantity required to produce a purgative ef- 

 fect. Mr. Bain now goes on to state that "it is 

 possible that this may account for the fact that 

 Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and the 

 British Islands generally, being loaded with 

 spray from the sea, their cows are excellent 

 milkers, while the beef of all their cattle is, I be- 

 lieve, indifferent. Our Scottish feeders have at 

 once found out that Grass too much impregnat- 

 ed with salt does not feed, and they have reject- 

 ed it accordingly. May it not, however, be use- 

 ftil in producing milk?" I trust I have laid the 

 matter jiroperly before you, and now wait the 

 result; but before leaving the subject, 1 might 

 Inquire, seeing that all agree that salt is favora- 

 ble to health, is fattening n healthy process? 



Young Scotland. 

 We believe Lie:big in one of his works, con- 

 tends that/o< is not a healthy jiroduction. — En 



From the Maine Farmer. 

 Beans with Indian Corn. 

 During the last year I wrote a short commu- 

 nication for your paper, in which I stated the ad- 

 vantages which would probably result from 



