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_g^l)c jTarmcr'g jHontljlij Visitor. 



75 



sevpred licTuie llie sliepji are put into the water. 

 Where there is .-i running sirc.ini of pure wa- 

 ter, wiih a finivelly or clony hntloui, no better 

 uiDilc- rati l.'e ailopled I'or wool cleansing, and 

 none otiier is so ceonoinical. 



For a nnudier oCyears p.-u^t the writer has used 

 a vat, nia(h; of two inch pine plank, and held to- 

 p-lhcr l.y three inch oak f;ripes. It is about nine 

 feel lon^', four and n hall" wide, an<l three and a 

 half in <leptli. Ft is placed at the bollorn of a 

 ^'cijlle fill, npcni the top of which is jdaced the 

 troii;.'lis that condncl the water inio the vat, the 

 elevaiion of iheiii being; aliont ei;;hteen inches 

 above the level ofilii' lop of the vat. The di- 

 mensions id' this is much larger than is necessa- 

 ry lor the (iu-Mier with a small number of sheep, 

 as it admits of the use ol' two sets of troo'dis, 

 and iherefon; calculated for the Hasliing of Two 

 sheep sinudlani!0{isly. All cireurnalances beiuf; 

 right, five to si.v ijutjilred can be well washed in 

 it per da3'. 



On one side of the vat is a |>ernianent [ilalforni 

 iiiadi; of stone and floored with plank, the sur- 

 face b.tving a gentle iiiclinalion lowajils the vat, 

 on which the sheep is held a miinite oriiiore,af- 

 !er l)cing washed, that the water may drain from 

 the fleece. IJeside the vat (not in it) and upon 

 the platliirm stand one of the washers, and .1 

 tempor.ary slaginjr on the opposite side accom- 

 modates .another. One man is (Mnploved to bring 

 the sheep from a small pound close at hand, and 

 put them into the val, in which two are held at a 

 time hy another at the lower end, l()r two or three 

 nnnnie.s, with a view to soften their dirt. The 

 washers then take Ihem, and each holds one 1111- 

 fler the troughs or spouts, liu'iiing them in every 

 position to receive the full benefit fiom the fall 

 ol ll (; waler, which proceeds with sueli foj-ce as 

 10 dislodge Ihe dirt rapidly, and in a much iirief- 

 er tmie than it can he (hme by .squeezing. When 

 the supply of water is lidl, no srpieezing wdl be 

 required, except, [lerh.'.ps, the belly ,aml thigh 

 wool. As soon as the sheep held hy the man fer 

 soaking pass liom his hands to Ihe "washer, be is 

 immediately supplied with others: iind thus 

 while two are .soaking, two others are being wash- 

 ed under the sjiout.s. One end of the vat being 

 set a lillle below a level, tlie dirt passes freely off, 

 and consequenlly the waier is comiiaralively 

 pm-e. the good effects of wdiicdi will be .seen in 

 Ihe idmost eollou whiteness of the inner portion 

 of the fleece. As lo eradicating all the dirt from 

 the e.xleriial surface of the wotd when upon the 

 sheejj, it is not expecled, lor it is impossible to 

 ncconiplish it; and iherefi)re it must nece-ssarily 

 l)e left to the eleansinfr process of the manufac- 

 inrer. 15ut that much more e.in lie extrai'ted 

 than is usual, cannot admit of a doubt; and if a 

 jreneral trial will only be made, those who under- 

 take it will he sure to sncceeil, and rewarded not 

 only with the graieful thanks of maniifactmers, 

 liut a handsome advance n[)oii the price of their 

 vv<io|. 



fn conlirmnlion of this, :Mr. Samuel Ltiwreuce, 

 of Lowell, Mass, an eminent woolen mannfac- 

 tt-irer stales the lidlowing— "These cheating prac- 

 tices are shnit-sigbted inasmuch as Ihe 'cleanim'' 

 hringsa price proporlionale. Wc always fix life 

 price per lb. by ihe cpiautitv of scoured wool it 

 will yield. In our pnrehases we fi-equeutiv make 

 a ditterence of five cents per lb. hi preciselv siin- 

 dar qualities." This advance will ao.plvcoiu- 

 peiLsate (or the longer lime renuired in washimr 

 our sheep well, an<l if acted upon, with many o^l' 

 ti.s, our character.s for honesty will be considera- 

 bly amended. 



Bucks, especially of the Merino breed, reqinre 

 an extra time to wash them, .and if a little soft 

 soa|i should be ii.sed, their fleeces will not lose 

 nny thing in value in the eslimation of the muu- 

 ulaclnrer. 



After the washing is completed, the fsheep 

 s lould be turned upon a thick-covered sward 

 that no dirt may collect on the fleeces b-fore 

 they are shorn. Driving them along a du..*ly 

 roail imist be avoided, if possible, when retiirn"- 

 ing from the washing. 



Tlie Sp.inisb custom is to cleanse the fleece 

 vvilh soap, after it is shorn, the grease or yolk 

 abounding to such a degree, will, its concomi- 

 tant dirt, as to preclude the po..sibiliiy of cleans- 

 ing It properly in the ordinary way. 



In England, the hreeds having less of gum than 

 others, washing is comparatively easy, and where 

 pracDcable, is done by swimming the sheep to 



and fro in a pond or strenin and gently squeezing 

 the wool wiih the liand.s. 



The washing of Saxony sheep in (Jermnny 

 and other parts of ihe Conlineni, conforms lo the 

 heller modes adopte.l in ijiis cnmtiy, but is per- 

 t'lrmed wiih fiir greater nici.'iy and care. 



On the anlhority of the manufactuier above 

 named, Spanish wools, alier being wa.shed with 

 so.ap as already menlicmed, lose 10 jier cent, bv 

 Ihe manufiiclurer's process of cleansing : Gei"- 

 mati or Saxony wool 'M per cent., hut if acroin- 

 module,/, that is, the skirls and head taken oft- 

 only IG per cent.; Ihe Australian or New Honib 

 Wales wools about 30 percent.; American Sax- 

 ony aver.iges 30 per cent.; and American pure 

 hloo, Meriiu), 42i jier cent.* 'J'be waste from 

 South .American wools is enormon.s, being fiom 

 70 10 80 per cent.; but it is exporled "in the din," 

 which will explain it. The above statement 

 proves conclusively the iiidiffereiit maimer with 

 which wools grown in the Unileil Slates are 

 washed by the growers, and calls loudly for re- 

 ionu.—Morrell's Am. Shepherd. 



'J'he first week in June is early enough to shear 

 sheep 111 tliis section, ami in the norlhern [.art of 

 New l-'.nglanil it is heller to delay shearing till 

 the .second week. It is common to have C(dd 

 storms Ihe first of June, in which sheep iliat are 

 ilepnved of their fleeces siifler severely,— Bos- 

 ton Cultivator. 



*,,'," '','"'"''■ '" ■■""'>' "'^' "I' manufaclurcrs do not iipree 

 wiui .,Ir. I„nvrpnc« in o[Miiinii, i,i;iny of lliem esliinjtins il'e 

 waste of Anienain, Saion, and llerino to be a little less than 

 above stated. 



There is no part of the world belter adapted 

 for the pasturing and rearing of sheejt, tli.in the 

 highest hills— we wmdd not go upon the White 

 mountains above vegetation— of New Ilamo- 

 shire. From most of these mouiiiainj! beasts of 

 prey are exj.elled, so that sheep are ns safe as 

 upon the plains near the settled farms and villa- 

 ges. These mounlaiu pastures not only turn out 

 the best fat cattle, the best butter and cheese in 

 the greatest quantity, but upon them all kinds of 

 sheep, from the delicate Saxony and Merino to 

 the coarse and hardy Native or Leicester, enjoy 

 sure health and come off in the best condijon in 

 the fall. 



If the farmers of New Hamfishire will follow 

 Ihe example of our fl-iend .<ihley of Hopkinlon, 

 and each make his pasture upon the high hills, 

 they will there find the best and the cheapest of 

 sheep pasturage. Near the very top of old Kear- 

 sarge, last November, (being llie first lime the 

 editor of the Visitor had sliengih during the 

 se.ason for the expedition,) he rambled over the 

 high pastures, then dollied among its rocky 

 clifis with " living green." He was surprised lo 

 find how small a number of acres of this rocky 

 pasture were required for the summer stisteuauce 

 of two hundred sheep: as many acres of com- 

 mon plains pasture would scarcely keep one 

 foiulh of the number. The large granite boul- 

 ders in tliese pastures, either laying out of the 

 ground entire, or cropping out from the higher 

 poinl.s, warmed by the day sun, were the com- 

 flirtable resting place of the flocks in the pierc- 

 ing air after nightfall. The genial warmth from 

 the same source, also serves to bring forward the 

 earlier feed, the fresh honey-suckle and perenni- 

 al grasse.s. It is wonderful, upon these mountain 

 pastures of highest elevation, how late in the 

 season the frost, iiijiping every thing below, has 

 its effect in the final check to vegetation. 



Down Kearsarge, on several of its sides, and 

 between its tnany spurs, come many brooks and 

 rivuleis, some of which, not half way to the 

 plain below, are of sufficient power to carry ma- 

 chinery and mills during the greater part of the 

 year. The mountain, except in a season of long- 

 continued drought, seems alive with gushing 

 springs and streiuns of [lure water, snpiilying 

 abundance for each considerable enclosure. On 



one of the smaller streams we met with a natur- 

 »l washing sheep yard, belter of itself simply 

 with the expense of a slight enclosure, as a pen 

 for Ihe nuimaks, than llie ingenious ineihod point- 

 ed out by the author of the American Shepherd. 

 The rivulet run down the side hill in a foam of 

 water as pure and cleanly as the mountain flow- 

 ers growing in an unlaiiiled atmosphere. Here 

 with a slight trough from the pealing of some 

 giant hemlock, Ihe water poured on the sheep, 

 saturating ami completely cleansing the aiiimal 

 ill a few moments. In such a place, wiih the 

 slightest iiiterruptioii, sheep might lie made lo 

 come and ask lo be cleansed of a warm summer 

 day, being let in and let out with no ado. We 

 should think in the mountain regions of New 

 Hampshire, the middle of June will be early 

 enough to wash and shear sheep. 



Foreign Advices. 



This day (Alay 22) we have before ns the Brit- 

 ish Liverpool Times of May 5, bronglit by the 

 steamer Britannia, which arrived at Boston on 

 the 2Ist. From ihat paper we select the lollow- 

 ing items as interesting to the farmeis of A- 

 merica : — 



From VViliner & Smilii's European Tirae-s May 5. 

 , Large qiiautiiies of Amerii-an Provisions find 

 their way 10 this counlry liy almost every turival 

 Wiih an anlicipaicd scarcity of bread stuffs, the 

 records of t)ie barrels of flour and of beef which 

 cross Ihe Allantic at the present time are duly 

 paraded in the columns of the daily press. They 

 point a moral of a gratifying character ; fbrwhen 

 the restrictions which have hilhtrlo impeded 

 that branch of commerce are remoyed— as re- 



moved they will he 



-It IS impossll'le to guage 



the extent lo which the Provision trade between 

 England and America will be carried. At pres- 

 ent, ihere are upwards of 400,000 barrels of 

 flour under lock in Liverpool, all of which will 

 be removed at the low duty when the Corn Bill 

 beconies law. 



The Corn irade remains in a very unsatisfacto- 

 ry stale. Operalions are suspended. The trade 

 merely supply llieir iminediale uaiit.=, and this 

 lelliargy will conlinue until the fale of ihe Com 

 Bill is decided by the House of Lords. The 

 best-informed t>ublic men are sanguine that the 

 Peers will pass the bill; and a personal friend of 

 our own, a |)opiilar meniher of ihe People's 

 House, wriiing last night, says— "The opinion 

 slill gains ground that Peel's measures will pass 

 through Iheir remaining stages without the coun- 

 try being put to the agony of a dissolution. We 

 hear a dissolution spoken of at the cinlis, hut it 

 inoceeds from those who are inimical lo Ihe 

 Fiee-trade principle. Every revolving day cou- 

 yinces me that the consumm'ation of our triumph 

 is at baud. You may safely announce this to 

 your American readi'i-s as -a fact." The writer 



s the entree of the best political society in 

 London, and we rely with llie greater confidence 

 on Ibis statement, as «e have been previously in- 

 debleil lo valuable iufbrmuliou anil siiL-gestions 

 from the same high and uiiexcepiionabje source. 

 The Government Gazelle aimoimces, ns we 

 have noticed elsewhere, that sugar, the produce 

 of New Grenada, and also ihe sugar of Siam, is 

 hereafter to be admitted as \'rw, labor produce. 

 But some means must still be taken for gelling a 

 iiiore ample supply of sugar from other quarters. 

 The accounts which came to hand by the last 

 West India steamer, show that the drought in the 

 islands this year will seriously reduce the pro- 

 duce, and enhance the price of the article. As 

 it is, sugar is now twenty-five per cent, dearer 

 than it was last spiing,aiiil molasses is more than 

 sixty per cent, higher. The refiners of these 

 articles have been memorialising Sir Robert Peel, 

 Willi a view to a more ample supply. The only 

 mode of meeting the evil is to equalise lli« dif- 

 ferential ilniies between slave and Uve labor su- 

 gar. Not only has the exclusion of slave sugar 

 ileprived the English people fiom procuring a 

 great necessary of life at a cheap rate, bur it has 

 infticted incalculable injury on the commerce of 

 the counlry. Onr relations with Brazil are fiain- 

 f'ully restricted, and one of our best customers is 



