1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



583 



Sheep that have received the benefit of this 

 practice, and are driven into other counties not re- 

 markable for soft wools, still preserve the distin- 

 guishing softness of their fleece. Thus also we 

 learn the reason why ointments, when casually 

 employed to cure some disease of the animal, 

 have also generally been found beneficial to the 

 wool. 



If these facts and inferences be admitted, we 

 may also infer, that an improved method of greas- 

 ing fine-woolled sheep should be adopted in every 

 pari of the kingdom, and that it would greatly im- 

 prove the quality of the wool, and annually save 

 many thousand sheep from perishing by the se- 

 verity of the weather.* 



It has been recommended to besmear the roots 

 of the wool, immediately after the sheep are shorn, 

 with an ointment composed of butter and sulphur, 

 which is to remain on the sheep for three or four 

 days; at the end of which time Ihey are to be 

 washed in salt and water. The advantages 

 stated to result from this practice are — a conside- 

 rable improvement in the softness and fineness of 

 the quality and also an increase in the quantity 

 of wool produced; besides which the unguent 

 operates as a coat to the animals, and thus 

 prevents them from taking cold immediately 

 after shearing; and also destroys the insects with 

 which they are sometimes infested: a simple wash- 

 ing over with tobacco water will, however, answ r er 

 the latter purpose. 



Too free a use of greasy substances occasions 

 the fleece to imbibe dirt; and although ihey may 

 not. injure the quality of the wool, yet the difficulty 

 of cleansing it materially lessens its price. The 

 opinion that it is of advantage to the growth of 

 the wool may not be incorrect; but it is deteriora- 

 ted, in a greater proportion than its increased 

 weight, in the eye of the wool-stapler, in conse- 

 quence of (he additional waste and trouble thus 

 occasioned in preparing it for the manufacturer.! 

 Were these objections removed by a proper 

 system of thorough cleansing, and by the use of 

 substances less noxious than fish-oil, tar, and tur- 

 pentine, it is, however, not improbable that much 

 benefit might be obtained by carefully greasing 

 the pelt after shearing both in immediate protec- 

 tion from the fly, and in the ultimate improvement 

 of the fleece. 



From British Husbandry. 

 ON PUTRESCENT MANURES. 



[Continued from p. 564, Vol. III.] 



Yards and Sheds. 



We have already said nearly all that appears to 

 us to be necessary on the management of yards, 

 and the construction rf sheds for the preservation 

 of manure, in our remarks upon farm buildings, J 



* Bakewell on wool, p. 63. 



f See the evidence of Mr. Thomas Cook, of Dews- 

 bury, before the Committee of the House of Lords on 

 the wool trade, in 1823, and the table of comparative 

 prices exhibited by him; from which it appears that 

 Highland laid, or tarred wool, is twenty per cent, less 

 in value than when it is left in its native state. 



% See pp. 95, 169, and 200. 



though it may be observed that the former are 

 often so full of large holes as to leave them in ma- 

 ny parts saturated with water, or their bottoms 

 are either so porous, or else situated on such de- 

 clivities as to drain off the entire moisture; in ei- 

 ther of which cases the loss cannot but be very 

 considerable to the farmer, although he may be 

 ignorant of what he is daily losing, because it does 

 not go out of his pocket in the shape of hard cash. 

 Whenever a yard is circumstanced in either of" 

 the ways just mentioned, all the inequalities should 

 he levelled, the bottom should be rendered sound 

 and water-tight, and if either any declivity in the 

 yard, or the situation of the buildings, occasions 

 the stock confined in it to give a preference to one 

 part over another, the litter should, in that case, 

 be occasionally removed, in order that it may be 

 equally spread over every part, and the position of 

 the feeding-cribs should be altered; for although 

 our opinion inclines to that form which prefers a 

 gentle slope to the centre of the yard, and the dung 

 should be kept moist, it yet should not be suffered 

 to become drenched with rain. If this be not at- 

 tended to, the excess of wet will prevent the bot- 

 tom of the heap from rotting; and if it be not reg- 

 ularly spread to a nearly equal depth, the fermen- 

 tation will be carried on imperfectly, which will 

 occasion those parts where it may have been too 

 much raised to contract an excess of heat, from 

 which they become what is termed fire-fanged. 

 This especially applies to stable-dung, which, if 

 allowed to accumulate in heaps without being pro- 

 perly mixed, acquires a mouldy smell, and loses 

 so considerable a portion of the best part of its 

 substance, that its diminution in value has been 

 estimated by a very experienced agriculturist at 

 not less than from 50 to 75 per cent.* 



Acting upon the principle of preserving dung, 

 and rendering it immediately available, it has been 

 recommended to construct cattle-sheds, sufficient- 

 ly capacious to allow a space rather broader than 

 the platform upon which the beasts lie, but sunk 

 somewhat lower, and to which the dung may be 

 swept up. When thus covered, its decomposi- 

 tion is effected by the aid of its natural humidity, 

 and if left for three or four weeks, its fermentation 

 will be completed. The time at which it is sub- 

 ject to the greatest evaporation of its volatile par- 

 ticles will then be past, and it may be immediate- 

 ly carried upon the land. Its quantity will be 

 certainly less decreased, and its quality better pre- 

 served, by being left under the cover of a shed, 

 and there will also be a saving of labor in its remo- 

 val; but not alone should the neatness and order 

 of stalls be taken into consideration, but also the 

 cost. Theoretic people, when advocating new 

 schemes in husbandry, rarely give themselves the 

 trouble of calculating any thing beyond their ef- 

 fects upon crops, without due regard to the ex- 

 pense of their cultivation; and if in this case the 

 additional charges of the erection of the building, 

 together with the repairs, rendered necessary by 

 the steam arising from the dung, were to be reck- 

 oned, they would probably be found to exceed the 

 value of the proposed advantages of the plan. 

 While the opinions of practical men on this and 

 other modes of management, are so unsettled and 

 discordant, those cannot be deemed imprudent who 

 adopt that side of the question which is the most 



* Blaikie on Farm yard Manure, edit. 1S2S, p. 5. 



