No. 1. 



Dogs and Sheep, — Broom Corn. 



19 



saved for future sowings, and the annual 

 protUict carefully preserved and propagated 

 until a crop is obtained ; because the pre- 

 sumption is, that as " like produces like," 

 the valuable property of the original seeds 

 will be retained, provided they be managed 

 properly, and thus a source of profit be ob- 

 tained by the farmer, and a real benefit 

 result to the agricultural interests gene- 

 rally. 



In this way, Mr. Isbel, a farmer of Caro- 

 line county, Virginia, more than forty years 

 since, from the heads of two stalks of wheat 

 which grew very large and ripened more 

 early than the rest of the fi«ld, introduced 

 the wheat which long bore his name, and 

 commanded a higher price than the other 

 varieties of wheat generally sown in that 

 section of country. I obtained several bush- 

 els of this wheat from the late Col. John 

 Taylor, of Caroline county, (Senator of the 

 United States,) and introduced it in the year 

 1807, into Upper Darby township, Delaware 

 county, and sold part of the first product to 

 the late Bernard M'Mahon, for seed. It 

 weighed 64 lbs. to the bushel, ripened before 

 any other wheat in the vicinit)^, yielded 20 

 bushels to the acre, and made beautiful white 

 flour. I think I have preserved in a note 

 book an account of the sale. 



In like manner a farmer of Falls town- 

 ship, Bucks county, (Pennsbury Manor) 

 Pa., about the date of Mr. Isbel's experi- 

 ment, picked oft' two very luxuriant heads 

 of wheat, which he perceived in his field, 

 sowed them the same year, and the product 

 for several successive years until he had 

 enough for a whole field. This wheat for 

 several j'ears was in great demand for seed, 

 and the flour made from it brought one dol- 

 lar per barrel more than any other in the 

 market. If I do not mistake, Mr. Ely — now 

 retired — was the commission merchant who 

 sold it. 



Lastly, the late excellent man, and well 

 known improver, the late Joseph Cooper, of 

 New Jersey, in a highly interesting paper 

 on this very subject, — the improvement and 

 naturalization of seeds — inserted in the first 

 volume of the Memoirs of our society, says, 

 that "For many years since he had renewed 

 the whole seed of his winter grain — wheat — 

 from a single plant which he had observed 

 to be more productive, and of a better quality 

 than the rest, a practice which he was satis- 

 fied, had been of great use:" he adds, "I am 

 fully of opinion, that all kinds of garden ve- 

 getables may be thus improved, care being 

 also taken, that different kinds of the same 

 species of vegetables are not in bloom at the 

 same time near together, as they thus mix 

 and degenerate." 



Dogs and Sheep. — We regret to learn 

 that a few nights ago, Mr. Edward Payne, 

 of Fayette county, had forty sheep killed and 

 twenty wounded, by domesticated wolves, 

 commonly called dogs. We understand that 

 fifty dogs in the neighbourhood were killed 

 in consequence. 



We understand that our neighbour, Gen. 

 Ambrose W. Dudley, has lost forty sheep 

 this season, by dogs, and that sundry other 

 farmers of Woodford and Franklm, have suf- 

 fered seriously in the same way. About forty 

 dogs have been caught and killed. About 

 two hundred thousand more dogs ought to 

 be killed in this State. The surplus dogs, 

 over and above those which are useful, de- 

 stroy enough to feed all the paupers sent 

 here from Europe to be fed by us. We be- 

 lieve such dogs in Kentucky cost the coun- 

 try more than the expenses of government. 

 We not only hear continually of the destruc- 

 tion of flocks of sheep by them, but of many 

 excellent farmers utterly abandoning sheep 

 husbandry because they cannot preserve 

 their flocks from destruction by dogs. There 

 never was a country better adapted for sheep 

 husbandry than Kentucky ; there never was 

 a time when that branch could be made 

 more profitable; there are hundreds of thou- 

 sands of waste acres in Kentucky, admira- 

 bly fit for sheep walks, but fit for little else, 

 that would produce millions of wealth an- 

 nually; but the extension of the business is 

 a dead failure almost, because of the rav- 

 ages of the dogs. When and how is this 

 enormous evil to be remedied ] — Franhforl 

 Commonwealth. 



Broom Corn. — The seed is excellent to 

 fatten sheep. Albert Hibbard, of North 

 Hadley, tells us he makes use of the seed 

 of his Broom corn to fatten sheep: that they 

 are very fond of it, and will fatten better on 

 this than on Indian corn. Broom corn is 

 raised in great quantities in the river towns, 

 where the brooms are made up and distri- 

 buted to all parts of the country. We have 

 often raised the corn for the sake of the 

 brush, but we have never made much ac- 

 count of the seed, though we think it has 

 seldom been converted to meal for hogs. 

 Mr. Hibbard thinks the Broom corn seed 

 more valuable for sheep, than oats, or any 

 grain, pound for pound. — Massachusetts 

 Ploughman. 



Milk. — This well-known fluid may be 

 said to combine in itself all the organic 

 principles and mineral substances which 

 enter into the constitution of organized 

 beings. 



