1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



193 



CAPS FOB COVERING HAY AND GRAIN. 



"See that big black cloud, in the west— how 

 steadily and majestically it approaches us ! There 

 is something besides thunder and lightning in it, 

 too. See, how it attracts the smaller clouds, in- 

 creasing its own volume as it moves oa ; by the 

 time it comes over our fields we shall have a 

 drencher ; well, boys, the corn-fields need it, and 

 it wont hurt our hay, as it is all under the caps!'^ 



Farmer Jones was right — that "drencher," 

 wind and all, did not hurt Ms hay, and he got it 

 all in the next day, while the hundred cocks of 

 his neighbor Anticap had to be spread and 

 cocked again ! The verdict of an honest jury 

 would be, "sarved him right, he was able to pro- 

 cure caps and wouldn't — didn't believe in 'em." 



No man who investigates the matter, can fail 

 to come to the conclusion that the.use of caps for 

 covering grain and fodder, is a matter of strict 

 economy; and we believe no man who has used 

 them one season has been known to lay them 

 aside. Some object to using them, saying they 

 cannot stop to put them on when a shower is com- 

 ing on ; the objection is not valid, because they 

 have had no experience in the matter. Mr. E. 

 Emerson, of Hollis, says : — As to the work of 

 putting them on, I will go into the field with any 

 man of my ability to work, and ind up hay and 

 cap it, as fast as he can put it up so that it will 

 do without a cap, as it takes twice the work to 

 ti'im a cock without a cap that it does with one. 

 Cocks of hay, or shocks of grain or stalks, put 

 together only tolerably well, and covered with a 

 piece of twilled cotton, will keep the cocks or 

 shocks dry through any storms that we usually 

 have in the harvesting season. A set of caps 

 properly taken care of will last a life-time. 



Some enterprising young men, Messrs. Chases 

 & Fay, Boston, are now preparing cloth to pre- 

 vent its mildewing, and will furnish well-made 

 caps at moderate prices and of any desired size. 

 See their advertisement in another column. 



pounds. I am certain it will improve the stock 

 of hogs in New England to introduce this breed 

 among them. For beauty and symmetry of form 

 they cannot be surpassed. Mine have been ex- 

 amined by good, practical farmers in this vicinity 

 and pronounced very superior animals. In all 

 points they excel the Berkshire or Suffolk. 



Mr. Wood holds himself in readiness to ship 

 pairs, not akin, to any part of the Union at mod- 

 erate prices. His stock is of undoubted purity, 

 and I would cheerfully recommend it to all my 

 brother farmers who wish to make a judicious 

 improvement in their breed of hogs. 



William A. White. 



Lancaster, JV. II., Feb. 15, 18o8. 



I'br the New England Fanner. 



CHESTER COUNTY HOGS. 



Having learned from various sources that a 

 Dreed of swine called the "Chester county Whites" 

 was superior to most or all of the foreign breeds, 

 for their early maturity, good form and quiet 

 disposition, I procured a pair of them from 

 TuoMas Wood, Esq., of Penningtonville, Ches- 

 ter county, Pa., a celebrated breeder of these 

 hogs. I am exceedingly well pleased with them. 

 They are pure white, long bodV) with small, fine 

 bone and square liuilt. Mr. AVood informs me 

 that the genuine Chester will make more meat 

 to the offal, and to the amount of food consumed, 

 than any other breed. They will fatten well at 

 any age, and often weigh from 350 pounds to 400 

 pounds net, under a year old. When well fed 

 to twenty months they will weigh 700 to 800 



A NEW BREED OP SHEEP. 

 D. J. Browne, Esq., the head of the Agricul- 

 tural Bureau of the Patent Office, has received 

 a very interesting letter from R. L. Pell, of Mas- 

 sachusetts, concerning a new breed of sheep which 

 has been lately imported from China. Three 

 years since, a Mr. Theodore Smith imported three 

 ewes from Nankin, from which he obtained, in 

 twenty months — three, four and five at a birth — 

 and they commenced breeding at four and a half 

 months old. This breed are perfectly hardy, 

 having endured the past severe winter without 

 any shelter, producing lambs constantly, which 

 bore the cold as well as the old sheep, and ma- 

 tured rapidly. They will not jump fences, either 

 stone or wood. The flock was separated last sea- 

 son from a rye-field by a cobble-stone wall two 

 and a half feet high, over which they never at- 

 tempted to pass, nor can they be driven over any 

 description of fence. The fibre of their wool fs 

 exceedingly strong and the fleece heavy. The 

 mutton cannot possibly be surpassed, as it is en- 

 tirely free from the strong flavor usual to sheep, 

 and is tender, juicy and delicious. The tails are 

 broad, and when properly prepared much resem- 

 ble marrow, and form a delightful morsel for the 

 epicure. 



Remarks. — We have received several inquiries 

 aliout the breed of sheep spoken of above. We 

 know nothing of it, and never have heard of such 

 a man as "R. L. Pell, of Massachusetts." Mr. 

 D. J. Browne, of the Patent Office, is the person 

 to inquire of in relation to the sheep. — Farmer. 



jNIorton's New Farmers' Almanack for 

 1858. — This is an English work, by JoHN C. 

 ^lORTON, a gentleman of some agricultural ce- 

 lebrity. 36 of its pages are occupied by an agri- 

 cultural history of 1857 : 20 by a calendar of op- 

 erations for the farm and garden : 20 by an ac- 

 count of the treatment of live stock under dis- 

 ease: and 12 by a calendar for each month. It 

 is filled with a thousand matters of interest, not 

 the least among which is the table of the duties 

 which are levied on pretty much every thing but 

 the air the people breathe. A man cannot build 

 a house, hire a servant, or look out of the window, 

 without paying a duty for it. For sale by A. Wil- 

 liams & Co., 100 Washington Street, Boston. 



