ten cows. The sheep vvouM feed hitcr in the full 

 iinil Biirliei- in the spring, thiiii cows. 



Ml-. Bucluninster thought that fielilsthus erop- 

 peil hy sheep (hiring the cold senson, would noi 

 pmduce so much griiss the next summer. Iftho 

 sheep are shut up, five would eat as much as a 

 cow. 



Mr. Morton replied that he should il,iid< that 

 eight sheep of the small kind, when shut up, 

 would not eat more than a cow. 



Mr. Leonard allowed seven sheep to one cow 

 in e.-tiinating the tpianlitv of food consumed. 



i he next meeting will he the last of the sea- 

 son, at which all, having ficis, oro|unions, to oi- 

 ler, having a hearing upon the science of aori- 

 cu lure, are at liheriy to express their views." It 

 IS hoped that the last meeting will he a full one. 

 — Mercantile Journal. 



^\)c iTttnncr's iHontl)!]! bmtov. 



59 



For llio Fanner's Monthly Visitor. 



Ramboiiillet Meriuo Sheep. 



Some of the readers of the Visitor have doubt- 

 less heard olihe importation of D. C. Collins, 

 Ksq. ol [lartford, Cf., of a small lot of these just- 

 ly celtd.rate.l sheep-SO ewes an.l a l,ucl<s_in 

 1840, from the Royal flocU at Kamhouillet in 

 !• ranee. 1 he original floeU was made up of se- 

 lections from seven different flocks or eavanas in 

 bpain, by a special commission from the Kiu" 

 of trance, on leave from the King of Spain and 

 "ere driven out of Spain and placed upon' the 

 Koyal estate at Kan.bouillet in l/Sd In the ter- 

 rible Kevolniion, consequent upon this period 

 these sheep were taken under the care ami iiat-' 

 ronage ol the Convention and the siibsenuent 

 governmeni.-, and ever since have been bred wiih 

 he greatest care. For many years past no pains 

 have been spared to perfect the flock, ami all 

 compeient writers and travellers now agree that 

 It IS probably the best flock in Ktirope ami in the 

 wo Id. 1 be present flocks of Spain are almost 

 inhmtely below them as to every quality desirable 

 ..] a perlect sheep. In the civil «'ars which have 

 di.stracted fe,,ain lor many years past, their once 

 celebrated eavanas of sheep have gone to waste 

 and neglect, and it is probable that the merino 

 flocks ol the United States now far surpass those 

 ol t'pain ho say modern travellers who have 

 examined both. Not so will, the Rambouillets 

 1 liey are head and shoulders above anytbinir tb-it 

 has ever been produced in the United Stiiu- 1 

 bixty years now they liave been in a course of im- 

 provement, an.l let any one examine these sheei. 

 and be will see that ibe im|,rovement has carried' 

 tliem beyond any other pure merinos. A «peciil 

 scientihc Commission of the French government 

 of men best qualified for the duty, make a partic- 

 ular examination each and exery sjn-iug, and re- 

 port what improvement in their opinio^! can be 

 made in this flock, and the course to be pursued 

 to attain it. This the French shepherds re-ard 

 aslbeir rule ol conduct for the year ensuiiT<r_ 

 and endeavor to carry it out lo the very leltei 



ence we have in the Rambouillet merinos an 

 oninalle.l race of sheep, as the result of a Ion- 

 ami steady course of improvement. They are 

 ot larger size, of stronger constitutions, finer, soft- 

 er, more c.mipact, more even, and more wei.rhtv 

 and valuable fleeces, than any other race of pure 

 inerinos. 1 beir like cannot be fi.und out of 

 1 ranee J bey are not like the merinos of Siiain 

 -..ot like the merinos of the United Sla.es-not' 

 bke the feaxons ot Germany_b<it far above them 



The flock now in the possession of Rev. L. G. 

 Bingham ..f Williston, Vt., must be regarded as 

 a great acquisition to this ,,art of the ,-o„nti yl 

 mul as a source from which may be derive.l stick 

 si eep that shal gieatly improve the justly cele- 

 brated flocks of Vermont and New Hampshire 

 .oth Saxon and Merino. I, is generally sii po ed 

 that they will shear over ,5 Ib.s.^per head ''cle" 

 washed vvool, of one year's growth. Tbey i, e 

 entirely free lion, gum.and the staple is infu; ly 

 tmlividuals m the flock, as fine as the finest Sav 

 ony. Manufacturers have said that in their iud- 

 men these sheep will cleanse a quarler niore 

 wool on the average, and that it will sell a quar- 

 ter higher than American merino wool, that has 

 rome wiibiu the boundsof their knowledge Be- 

 ing of very long staple-very thick and fine, run- 

 ning eyei. over a large carcas.s they nmst t'uake 

 a noble cross on our fine Saxon flocks-lhereby 

 inc.easing the size of the sheep, the weight of 

 flppce, an.l strength of constitution, and not di- 



minishing the fineness of the fibre, I know of 

 some instances where a cross of this kind lias 

 been made to the very best advantage. 



Mr. Bingham's sheep are calli;.l fbr as fast as 

 lie has them to spare, to go west an.l s.uitli. A 

 ewe has never been sold out of the whole flock 

 .since their arrival in the country, an.l cannot be' 

 bought on any terms. Bucks sell for .f 100 and 

 nf.wards. The fbllowiug, fro,,, i|,e American 

 Agricnhurist, whose editor is go.).l auihoriiy in 

 these niatter.s, will be read with inter.'sl. i\Ir" \\ 

 len IS one of those singular men, Ibr these Jays 

 who speak their niinds without fi;ar or fiivur— 

 resolutely determineil to mete out exact justice 

 let It cut where it will. On this account his., pin- 

 ion when given in favor of any thing, is the more 

 to ue prizbil. 



Rambouillet Sueep.— We spoke in a little 

 note in our last number, of having sold the en- 

 tire flock of these sheep belonging to Mr. Collins, 

 ol Connecticut, to Mr. L. G. Bingham, of Ver- 

 ' inont, ami that we iiiten.led to notice them when 

 they passed through this city, as we thought they 

 might deserve Two years ago last June, we in- 

 spected these Rambouillets, and fbuiiil them su- 

 perior to any thing we had befbre seen in the 

 United States. Since this we have looked over 

 agood iiiany other Merino flocks, embraciiK. 

 some of the finest native bred animals in the coun- 

 try : and with these fresh in our min.ls, we aver 

 upon this second examination of Mr. Collins' im- 

 portation, that we know no oiber sheep equal to 

 tliem l»i-hneness, softness, felting qualities, even- 

 ness, closeness, and weight of fleece, coupled 

 wilh great size of carcase, style, and an imlefina- 

 ble air ol high breeding. They are also thriliy 

 hardy, and ot excellent conslitntion. VVe should 

 .piflge them generally to be fioni one-tenth to one- 

 hlib larger m size than the average of good Me- 

 rino sheep. Some of their fleeces are almost as 

 fine as the finest Saxon, and none are of an in- 

 ferior quality; tbey are also reinarkably/ree rrnm 

 gtim; and yet the fibres of the fleece are so fine 

 «iid close together, as to render it almost imper- 

 vious to the severest storms. Instead of the very 

 objectionable, gum, their wool is well supidie.l 

 with 7/ott, equally .iiffuse.l, and imparling to the 

 fieece on opening it, a rich, bright, golden color. 

 Ibis, when washed in tepid water, unlike gum 

 IS easily cleansed out (being nothing but a pure 

 animal soap,) leaving the wool soft, and of a most 

 beautiful clear white. 



These sheep will make an excellent cross on 

 the Merino flocks of Vermont, and we recom- 

 mend them lo the attention of breeders in that 

 quarler. Tbey are a most valuable importation 

 mid Sir. Colhns deserveslbe thanks of the coun- 

 try for his spirit and liberality in inakimr it. They 

 are pure Merinos, bred in tl/e Royal flock at Ram- 

 bouillet, one of the best probably iu Europe - 

 Ibe ongmals of these superb animals, by per- 

 inission oj^ the king, were chosen liom tlie best 

 ffocks 111 topam, about (iO years aoo, ami have ' 

 since been bred by the French government wilb 

 the greatest care. 



r,J! d' "'^ '^?"' '".''''''"■ '^^° "'• ""-ee inferences 

 fiomtbennnd^erof hogsin the several States, 



' ~"'' '"'"'""■'' "''' I'-oduclion with that of 

 xjui ope. 



In the first pla.-e, hogs are fiitie.l and nearly 

 snppor,ed.,nlml,aiicorn. They exist, tberelbre! 

 in tie several Slates, just iu propmtion to the 

 .ro.luct,on of In.lian corn. Nclw, Tennessee lis 

 lie most, an.l the three Slates of Tennes.'ee! 

 Ohio an.l Kentucky, /hr more than any olhe.' 

 three .'5tates, of both Indian corn an.l ho/- 



ibe twenty-six millions of 1,.,.^ iu the United 

 hlutes, can scar.rely consume less than two hun- 

 dre.l million bushels of corn. Tbey are, there- 

 lore, the greatest m.-irketfor that article. 



If we suppose these hogs to iiverage 180 lbs 

 each, an.l to be worth— as they are-,$3,50 per 

 cwi., tlien this animal alone is, iu the U. States 

 wort!) 07ie hundred and shhj-slx mUtions of dollars 

 or three times the entire c.lion crop for the year 

 IMS. Ihe value of swine iu the State of Ohio 

 al.me, exceeds twelve millions of dollars. 



W.; shall proceed to show the number of ho^s 

 raised ;;ro^or/,-o„«i/^ iu Europe and America.- 

 We have before us McGregor's statistics which 

 c.Milaiu a table of the agriculture and live-stock 

 o Emop.., for IS'iS. Since then the population 

 of Ji,urope has increased more than ten per cent 

 and If we ad.l ten per cent, to the live stock, we 

 shall have the full amount; fortius species of 

 stock does not increase iu densely populated coun- 

 tries equally with that of other productions. 



SWINE OF EUROPE 



Russia, 



Austria, 



Great Britain, 



France, 



Italian States, 



Bavaria, 



Netherlands, 



Prussia, 



Swe.len, 



Spain, 



Portugal, 



All other Slates, 



16,380,000 

 5,050,000 

 5,77.5,000 

 4,9.50,000 

 2,750,000 

 1,650,000 

 1,540,000 

 1,645,160 

 1.890.000 

 1,100,000 

 770,000 

 2,348,000 



Hogs iu the United States. 



The immense |irodiiciiou of hogs in the United 

 States, iind ibe heavy trade in them at Cincii.uati 

 .lemand something more than a mere superficial 

 view of the transactions, at one point, iu or.ler to 

 understand the magnitude and relatiou.s of the 

 tra. e. VVe can furnish the commercial rea.ler 

 uith some statistical faci,<, v\ hich will s.'rve a^ 

 lan.lnmrks in taking a broad view of Ihe subject 



In Ihe year 1S3!), there were iu the United 

 States, in all, 2(!,301,2<)3 hogs. Of this number 

 more than one-half of the whole Here in ei.'hl 

 blales, viz : " 



Tennessee had 2926607 



Kf.'iiucky, 2;^10;.533 



Oh I", 2,099.746 



'"'''«""- 1.623,608 



IHinois, 

 Missouri, 

 Mississippi, 

 Alabama, 



1,494,254 

 1,271,101 

 1,001,20) 

 1,423,873 



Total, 14,1,50,983 



The States of Virginia, New York and North 



Carolina, each have more bogs than Illinois and 



Missouri; but we have taken the States of the 



west and the south-west together to show the re- 



Total, 46,278,160 



To one who is unacquainted with the number 

 ol swine, and the facility fbr raising them in the 

 U. Stales, this table m»sl seem extraordinary It 

 shows that Rn.ssia, Austria atid Great BiitaiuY 

 haying a popiilalion of o«e hundred and twenty 

 mdhons of people, have only as many swine as 

 the Unite.l States with twenty millions! Ei"ht 

 western States, with a popnia'tion of six millions, 

 have as many swine as Great Britain, France 

 Urussia, and B.-ivaria, with seventy-fve millions ! 

 Ihe Emopeanblates have not enough Indian 

 corn to feed them upon. 



Ru.«sia beluga thinly populated country, and 

 liaymg tie most mast, (nuts oftrees,) has the mo«t 

 I swme ; I iit for Hie converse r.;ason, the southern 

 blalesol Europe have the least. The United 

 .Nates have six times as many in proportion, as 

 Ivussia. ' 



The f-ame disiuopnrtion extends, but in less 

 l.rop<j,non, to other animals. If ti,e people of 

 t>uiope were a meat-eating people, they coul.l 

 iiotfm.l a supply in their country. These ani- 

 mals wonhl be killed off in half a dozen years 

 Mut lh(_-y are not a meal-eating people. They live 

 on eveiy species of vegetable, much as the ani- 

 mals do. 



In lielaud, they depend upon potatoes. In 

 Scotland, in no small .legree, upon oatmeal — 

 biranne as it may seem, tbou.sands of people in 

 hpain and France, live, in a great degree.on chest- 

 nms Jn some countries they eat rye, and in Rus- 

 sia they mix all the bran of graiu, tnaking a very 

 cnar-e, rough bread. ^ 



The pork of the wes'ern country is chiefly in 

 demand at the Atlantic sea-ports," for our t'om- 

 mer.-ial marin.-, now rapi.lly approaching the 

 largest in the world. The a.lventuroiis whale- 

 man, the banly fisher fbr cod and mackerel, the 

 thousand coasters, who sail in every bay and in- 

 let from the Penobscot to the Ri.i Grande, all 

 more or le.s.s, eat pork. It serves both as fi'utter 

 and meat, with the fish and potatoes which ihey 

 have constantly on lianil. 



The deiiiaud for American pork is, on the 

 whole, likely lo increase, and there is no other 

 country to supply the demand.— Cwonjin/i Chron- 

 icle. 



