52 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



of £20, and Silver Medal, as breeder, together with 

 Gold Medal, for the best pen of long wooled sheep, 

 in any of the classes, was awarded to George 

 Walmsley, of Rudstoo, Bridlington, York. They 

 \^'ere very Eiiperior animals, possessing beautifvil 

 forms, very full in almost every point, with admirable 

 looks; their rumps rather short, but hips and loins 

 wide, thighs and legs good, chines broad, plaits re- 

 markably heavy, girth great, necks good and full, with 

 very ample chest, and deep through from chine, stand 

 wide and well; large frames on fine legs; wool tine, 

 and well matched; loins not deeply covered. 



The first pri^.e of £20, and a Silver Medal, as 

 breeder, and Gold Medal for the best pen of one year 

 old, (under 23 months.) short wooled sheep, was 

 awarded to tlie Duke of Richmond. 



The Mark Lane Express remarks: "The pen is a 

 very superior one. The form of the sheep is neai'ly 

 perfect, but in some respects they have been slightly 

 improved in appearance by judicious management; 

 their frames are deep and well formed, full, and broad 

 throughout, but they are not very large; they denote 

 g'ood condition, and great inclination to fatten; they 

 have full, broad backs, and loins well covered; their 

 rumps are rather short; but have wide hips, and deep, 

 full thighs and flanks, capital pints, chines and chest; 

 necks full and short — this is a decided improvement 

 in his Grace's flock; their looks are very handsome, 

 wool heavy, and of excellent quality, offal fine. They 

 surpass those of former years, from his Grace's well- 

 known flock. 



"The Lord Walsingham takes second prize, and we 

 think for a pen of equally good, and probably more 

 prolitable, sheep, being larger in frame; they are ex- 

 ceedingly good, and prove well under careful exami- 

 nation; they are longer in frame than their competi- 

 tors, stand rather higher, have wider and as good 

 backs, rumps longer and better, and are heavier ani- 

 mals, with equal quality of mutton; their wool is 

 finer, their necks somewhat too long, and rather thin, 

 looks very handsome and good; frames, as a w dole, 

 perhaps not compact enough; otfal fine." 



Nearly all the pigs shown were of the small breeds. 

 The first prize of £10, and a Silver Medal, as breader, 

 and Gold Medal for the best pen of pigs in any of 

 tlie classes, above 10 and under 18 months old, was 

 awarded to J. Coate, of Hammoon, for a pen of 

 "Improved Dorset." 



The Mark Lane Express says, " Mr. Crisp exhib- 

 ited a very fine sow of the small breed, weighing 

 alive 8 cwt. 2 qrs. 8i lbs. [848J lbs.] He was 

 offered, in our hearing, £19 10s. [^93.50,J for her by 

 a butcher." 



EXPESIMENTS ON SOWIJ^G A MIXTURE OF DIFFER- 

 ENT VARIETIES OF WHEAT. 



The Journal d! Agriculture Practique contains the 

 results of some exceedingly interesting experiments 

 made by M. Lucien Roussean, of Angerville, France, 

 with a view to ascertain which of several good sorts 

 of wheat was best adopted to the soil and climate of 

 his district. Fifteen of the best varieties of wheat 

 were chosen for the experiment — grain tender and 

 light and the straw soft and light colored. It is of 

 little interest to us to known which of these fifteen 

 kinds gave the best results, but one principle of great 

 practical importance was illicited, which is as appli- 

 cable in this country, as in France. On one plot a 



mixture of all the fifteen varieties of wheat was sown, 

 and this plot, produced much the lest crop. 



The following remarks of M. Rousseau, in relatiSii 

 to this result will be read with interest: 



" Now, liow came it that mixed wlieat was tEe 

 finest? All the varieties do not e*r at the same time; 

 and is not this an advantage to the earing of those kinds 

 wliicli, stifled if they are alone and too thick, cannoi 

 get up or consequently ripen? The mere fact that ttfe 

 ears do not appear at once necessarily prolongs th'e 

 time of flowering, and no doubt increases the chances 

 of good impregiiatioi); for if the first flower which, lias 

 lost its pollen has not been fertilized, owing to thB 

 badness of the weather, it may still be capable of being 

 impregnated by the pollen from a later ear. Another 

 advantage seems to result from this want of simultane>- 

 ous eaj'iug and unequal length of stem in mixed 

 wheat; and that is that the ears l)eing less crowded get 

 more light and air, and their flowers can consequently 

 more easily expand, and are thereby alone rendered 

 more fit for impregnatiou. This accords with what we 

 find in practice, for wheat which is a little thin is gen»- 

 erally better fertilized than that which is too thick. 



" This hypothesis of more easy impregnation natr> 

 rally leads to the supposition of better maturity, and 

 the examples furnished by meslins of wheat and ryrj, 

 of barley and spring wheat, seem to confirm the 

 notion. We find in these mixtures that each grain is 

 generally muclx finer than the grain of the same kind 

 of wheat gro-^vn nniuixcd. Is not this owing to tliB 

 fact that the ears, uot being all on one level, are moce 

 free, afford more protection to each other, and derive 

 more advantage from light, and so escape that early 

 ripeness which we call scorching ? Scorchiug, whicll 

 is so common with very full wheat, ai-ises from tliB 

 formation by the ears of a compact mass not traversa- 

 ble by the sun's rays, which are reflected from the sue^ 

 face, and thus ripen the ear without penetrating to or 

 ripening the root, as is indispensalvle to perfect culti- 

 vation. In mixtures again, may not crosses be obtained, 

 which, under favorable circumstances, may lead to new 

 and valuable varieties ? 



" In a practical jwint of view, one of the greatest 

 advantages in sowing mixtures, is the removal of all 

 uncertainty as to the particular kind it will be best & 

 select. For even if in a roixture of 15 sorts, three or 

 four are not adapted to the soil and climate, the spaces 

 which will be left by them will be readily filled by the 

 other sorts, and even if some of these skould be bad, 

 coarse, and not fruitful, they will still be useful as a 

 protection to the weaker and later kinds." 



These experiments are confirmed by results ob- 

 tained in England, with what is knovvu as the " Fea- 

 ton White Wheat," a variety originating as follows: 

 About eleven years ago, a plant of wheat bearing 

 three ears on a remarkable stiff and short straw was 

 pulled by Mr. Geokge Hope, of Fentcn Earns, E. 

 Lothian, Scotland, out of a qaany in his farm, onths 

 debris of which it had accidentally gi-own. The grains 

 which these ears contained on being sown for a few 

 successive years produced enough to seed a field; ami 

 as the wheat retained during that time the characters 

 which distinguished it at first, Mr. Hoi'e sent it into 

 the market as a new variety, and it is now known in 

 every part of Great Britain. Tt is characterized by 

 a moderately large ear of even shape on a straw not 

 only remarkably short, but remarkably various in 

 length. The consetjuence of this latter peculiarity is 

 that its yield of grain generally exceeds the expecta^ 

 tion formed of it by those who see it before harvest 

 for the first time. This abundant yield is no doubt 

 the retult of the distribution of the ears through 



