148 



XEW ENGLAND FAMIER. 



March 



sheep, only produced the paltry quantity of 

 400,000 pounds. In England there were about 

 44,000,000 sheep ; while in the United States, 

 where cheap land and other facilities were superi- 

 or, we had only 15,000,000. The fact appealed to 

 our patriotism. Gentlemen here wore broad- 

 cloth coats and pants, and not a thread of them 

 were grown within three thousand miles of 

 where they were. Mr. Fay concluded by appeal- 

 ing to the gentlemen of the Legislature to furnish 

 farmers such protection as would protect their 

 interests, and, as he had endeavored to show, 

 those of the common country. 



Mr. Marsh, of Danvers, spoke experimentally 

 of the improvement mude by sheep-grazing on 

 lands that were not otherwise capable of being 

 well treated, and recommended that farmers 

 ghould give at least some attention to sheep- 

 keeping, if the dogs would let them. Li fifteen 

 months he had sixty head nearly destroyed by 

 dogs. He concurred in what had been said by 

 the president on this subject, and also regarded 

 the superiority of sheep-droppings over all other 

 kinds of manure — even although they were fed 

 on the coarsest of hay. In answer to a question 

 put, Mr. Marsh said that in winter, sheep re- 

 quired more water, according to iheir bulk, than 

 neat stock. A disease had appeared among his 

 flock which had induced him to change them en- 

 tirely, and it had not since made its appearance, 

 and this step he would recommend. He said that 

 emulation was rapidly inducing farmers in his 

 neighborhood to procure sheep ; and if facilities 

 were favorable, their culture would be much more 

 general. 



Mr. John D. G. Williams, of Bristol coun- 

 ty, said that he had experience of the value of 

 sheep in improving land ; and held them to be a 

 profitable article to keep. From 12 sheep he 

 had in value in lambs, wool and premiums 

 $116,80. He had received for a cross of the 

 South Down $6 a head for three months' lambs, 

 which he held to be a fair price. Dogs were a great 

 nuisance, and it was time that the Legislature 

 should put about as much value on sheep as they 

 did on dogs. One of his neighbors had lost his 

 whole flock, thirteen, in one night, and instances 

 were numerous of similar depredation. This 

 evil must be cured. 



The President here read a humorous account 

 of what the author called the Disease of Dogs, 

 as it afflicted sheep — which recommended as a 

 cure good wholesome laws, strictly and properly 

 executed. 



Mr. John W. Proctor, of Danvers, spoke 

 next. His observations were confined to sheep 

 as improvers of wild pasture land, and described 

 an experiment by Mr. Marsh, who had previously 

 spoken, on land which, ten years ago, would not 



support one cow, whereas, five years after being 

 fed by sheep, it could support five cows, and re- 

 ceived the best premium the Essex county could 

 give. Several other gentlemen had tried the 

 same description of experiment, and all had been 

 similarly successful. 



Mr. Sanford Howard, of the Cultivator, 

 agreed in the opinion that sheep formed a most 

 important feature of our agricultural prosperity. 

 j As to dogs, they were kept as numerously in Eu- 

 jrope, in sheep countries, as they were here ; but 

 probably the greater safety of the "wooly people" 

 I was owing to farmers keeping dogs whose nature 

 Iwas to protect, not to destroy sheep. Mr. How- 

 ard coincided with the several speakers with re- 

 gard to the fertilizing qualities of sheep, and 

 their value as stock, on poor lands. He then 

 briefly alluded to the question of what kinds of 

 sheep should be kept in the difl"erent sections of 

 the country. In the neighborhood of cities, 

 where mutton was high priced, the kind easiest 

 fed would of course be chosen ; where the object 

 was to improve hilly pasture, the production of 

 wool would be an important consideration. The 



! character of the soil, and circumstances, would 



. . . 



regulate choice; but, if he should give an opin- 

 ion in the matter of sheep for mountainous dis- 

 trict, he should speak in favor of the black-faced 

 I mountain sheep of Holland and Wales. 



Mr. Howard continued to make some valuable 

 practical observations on stall-feeding sheep — 

 1 urging, however, the importance of proper feed- 

 ing, even although they were capable of being 

 sustained on the coarsest kinds of food. He al- 

 I so spoke of the property sheep had of improving 

 the grasses of meadows on which they were fed 

 in course of a rotation system of husbandry. 



Mr. Wetherell made some very pointed re- 

 marks on the great evils arising to sheep culture 

 from dogs, and urged a determined eff'ort to pro- 

 cure a law that would operate as a sufficient pro- 

 itection. Mr. W. referred to an instance within 

 ' his knowledge, wherein a few sheep had caused 

 a great improvement on a farm. 

 1 Mr. Marsh also joined in the demand for a 

 :more stringent law against dogs ; for it was no- 

 torious, that, when a dog once tasted the blood of 

 a sheep, there was no limit to the extent of his 

 depredations. It was of little use to hunt after 

 these depredators ; the better way would be to 

 find means to prevent their existence, which a 

 heavy tax would be most likely to do, were it 

 made imperative on all dog-keepers. 



The President spoke of the fertilizing prop- 

 erties of sheep manure in the matter of grasses, 

 which showed a large per centage over other ma-- 

 nures. He also said that the profit of sheep, 

 per annum, as represented to him by a compe- 

 tent authority, was equivalent to the annual value 



