1846. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



187 



Gaull's Patent Churn. 



This implement has been in use for several 

 years, and many persons consider it the most 

 approved and convenient Churn now used. The 

 particular advantages claimed for it over other 

 patent churns, are — "the facility with which it 

 can be worked, from its quick and powerful mo- 

 tion ; the ease with which it can be cleaned ; and 

 that it is not liable to get out of order." 



The Churn is manufactured and sold by Mr. 

 E. Taylor, No, 6 Hill st., or 17 Exchange st., 

 in this city. It may also be obtained at the seed 

 store of Rapalje & Briggs, Front st. m. 



A Chapter on Wool Growing. 



Mr. Editor : — Mr. Reed Burritt of Bur- 

 dette, states, in your last, that his ram "Major" 

 sheared 15 lbs. of wool, and he says "we think 

 about three-fourths as much as if he had been 

 shorn each season." I infer from this that the 

 fleece was of more than one (probably of two^ 

 years growth. If so, does Mr. B. mean to be 

 understood that a two years fleece would not 

 weigh more tlian three-fourths as much as a sin- 

 gle one % I presume lie means that had the ram 

 been sheared each year, the aggregate of the two 

 fleeces would have exceeded the weight of his 

 double fleece by one fourth, giving ten pounds as 

 his anr j^ l clip, instead of 7i pounds. 



Mr. B. F-eems to carry the idea that there are 

 artificial methods of increasing the weight of 

 wool, and he alludes to smearing and late shear- 

 ing. I doubt the efficacy of any of these means, 

 though if a method could be discovered whereby 

 we could stimulate the growth of our wool by 

 external applications, feed, or otherwise, as we 

 stimulate the growth of our corn, turnips, &;c., 

 it would be one of the greatest blessings ever 

 conferred on the farmer. 



At our last County Fair, I heard the President 

 of our County Society, a distinguished sheep 



breeder, state to a number of gentlemen that two 

 or three years since, at the strong solicitation of 

 the individual who took charge of his sheep, 

 (who had seen the experiment before tried,) he 

 was induced to smear a portion of his lambs, 

 when they were a week or two old, with refuse 

 lard and other grease. This was done to test 

 the eflect in increasing the growth of wool, and 

 in rendering it softer. He said careful compar- 

 isons by the steelyards satisfied him that it had 

 no perceptible effect on the growth of the wool, 

 and he could see no improvement whatever in 

 its quality. On the other hand, it caused dirt to 

 adhere to the extremity of the wool along on the 

 back where it was applied, giving the sheep a 

 dirty, striped, unsightly appeai-ance. 



He further stated that he had made experiments 

 in feeding sheep oil meal, turnips, corn, oats, 

 die, with a view to increase the growth of the 

 wool, but he had failed to discover any important 

 difference, and none further than each particular 

 feed tended to faten the sheep — that sheep in good 

 condition carried heavier fleeces than poor ones, 

 irrespective of the feed — but that a medium must 

 be observed, or the ewes would raise fewer lambs. 

 He said that from the alleged experience of va- 

 rious farmers in Madison county, he had formed 

 high expectations of the value of oil meal in in- 

 creasing the growth of wool, but that thus far his 

 experience was not in accordance with his ex- 

 pectations — that he should give it one more fair 

 trial, and then, unless he found himself mistaken 

 in his previous calculations, abandon it. I have 

 made inquiry of him since the last shearing, and 

 he is now satisfied that it is no better than any 

 other feed which will keep sheep in the same 

 condition — thinks it rather goes to form fat than 

 wool, muscle, or bone — and on the whole, thinks 

 oats (about a gill a head a day,) as good and as 

 safe a feed as any which can be given to sheep 

 in winter, besides their hay. He thought per- 

 haps oil meal rendered the wool oilier prior to 

 washing, but this was no advantage — it was wash- 

 ed away in thorough washing, and all fine wooled 

 sheep had enough oil naturally for the growth of 

 the wool 



What influence late shearing can have in in- 

 creasing the growth of wool, I cannot perceive. 

 If allowed to grow beyond a year, it would only 

 be robbing the next fleece, or the shearing would 

 have to be put off' still later the next year, and 

 thus it would soon reach winter ! The most cel- 

 ebrated flocks of this county have been invaria- 

 bly sheared within three or four days, or a week, 

 of each other, and generally from about the 15th 

 to the 20th of June. Observer. 



Cortlandvillc, 1846. 



The Potato Crop. — We regret to hear that 

 the present crop of this most useful vegetable is 

 in many sections, affected by the disease so prev- 

 alent during the past two years. 



