1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



147 



FIFTH LEQISIiATIVa AGRICULTURAIj 

 MEETING. 



[Reported by John C. Moore, for the N. E. Faemer.J 



The meeting on Monday night was very re- 

 spectable in point of number, and included many 

 of our most enterprising farmers throughout the 

 State. The subject for discussion was, "Sheep 

 and Sheep Husbandry.'" 



Hon. RiCHAKD S. Fay, of Boston, occupied 

 the Chair. He apologized, because of ill health 

 and engrossing avocations, for want of prepara- 

 tion in introuucing the subject. Sheep husbandry 

 was a most important item in the husbandry of 

 the State. Referring to the system of stock 

 keeping, and the proposition laid down at a for- 

 mer meeting — that no farm could be properly 

 managed unless it kept a stock capable of con- 

 suming its produce — he took up the question of 

 what was the best kind of stock to keep, espe- 

 cially with reference to the progressive improve- 

 ment of the farm. The prominent question is 

 — What shall we do to renovate our worn-out 

 pastures ? Cattle had been tried, and the conse- 

 quence had been failure ; for in connection with 

 cattle culture, the true American system was to 

 take all out of the farm and return nothing to it. 

 In the mind of the speaker, sheep husbandry 

 was the best means of renovating the soil. Top 

 dressing was out of the question ; for the pas- 

 tures would have to be brought to a reasonable 

 state of fertility before this could be done with 

 effect. The proneness of cultivated grass lands 

 to go back to a natural state was also a consider- 

 tion to be thought of, and the means of keeping 

 them in good condition another. Sheep grazing 

 would do this more effectually than any other, 

 as the excrement of sheep, in its nature, and in 

 the manner it was distributed over the soil, re- 

 stored to pastures what they had lost from feed- 

 ing, kept down the natural and coarser grasses, 

 and retained the fertility of the lands in a great- 

 er measure than by the use of any other descrip- 

 tion of grazing stock. Mr. Fay said he possessed 

 200 acres, which, ten years ago, would have 

 starved ten cows to death. It was a matter of 

 too much expense to cultivate it — in fact, it was 

 no more in his estimation than a piece of waste 

 land. It was of no use, only as it was liable to 

 call for a tax. On 100 acres he put 150 sheep, 

 four years ago, and now, on the same pasture, 

 there are fifteen to twenty cattle grazed six 

 months in every year. This was through pastur- 

 ing with sheep. The land was rocky, and could 

 not be brought into cultivation through any other 

 means. 



As to winter-keep of sheep, it was an advan- 

 tage to the farmer, although it was thought to 

 be different. They required less care, did not 

 demand housing so much as other stock — they 



requiring only a yard, hay-rack, and a shed dur- 

 ing storms ; they were less liable to disease than 

 any other stock ; in fact, all they demanded was 

 the simple attention of feeding, and they im- 

 prove in condition in the same ratio as cattle 

 feeding for the shambles. Sheep consume two 

 pounds of hay, per day, or its equivalent. Eight 

 pounds of roots would be an equivalent. As 

 compared with cattle, sheep produce much more 

 fertilizing manure than any other kind of stock. 

 Spengel, a German chemist, said that 1000 sheep 

 would produce as much manure in twenty-four 

 hours as would put an acre of land in the best 

 condition. This looked rather strange to Mr. Fay 

 when he first saw it, and he determined to look 

 into it. This would give fifteen well-manured 

 acres out of as many tons of hay — a rather start- 

 ling statement. Professor Johnston, in an arti- 

 cle on the comparative value of manures, rati- 

 fied it by stating that sheep droppings were as 

 12 to 7 in fertilizing qualities, compared with 

 the excrements of cows — nearly one-h;df more. 

 In conjunction with other stocks, and not at all 

 to displace them, all farmers ought to keep 

 sheep. Their droppings are as good as guano, 

 and few farms were independent of the use of 

 such manures — for few were without spots where 

 it could be top-dressed by the use of sheep, 

 when any other means would not prove half so 

 effectual. Sheep, also, had always a ready mar- 

 ket, which was another advantage they had over 

 hay, grain or other produce. 



As to the objection against sheep on account 

 of dogs — their number in this State had dwin- 

 dled from 550,000 to 120,000! It was a matter 

 of shame to think that dogs were so allowed to 

 mar such a useful branch of rural economy. In 

 old times, a premium was offered for the heads 

 of wolves, for the reason that they destroyed the 

 domestic cattle and sheep ; and now when dogs 

 were so much worse, and the fact was made plain 

 to the Legislature, it was as good as laughed at — 

 for the law passed last session was of no conse- 

 quence. Had it passed as originally presented, 

 the bill would have added to the value of the 

 sheep stock, in a few years, $1,000,000. Every- 

 body was protected in their rights but the far- 

 mer. If a man established a nuisance alongside 

 his neighbor's property, he was liable to punish- 

 ment ; but a man who was not worth a cent, but 

 who owned an untaxed dog, was suffered to keep 

 his sheep-killing nuisance with impunity. The 

 option of cities and towns to adopt the existing 

 laws was fatal to any idea of its ever being use- 

 ful. Mr. Fay hoped that means would soon be 

 taken to cure this evil. 



As to wool, New England manufactured 

 40,000,000 of pounds, when Massachusetts, with 

 lands adapted to the support of half a million of 



