1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



41 



50,000 pounds of Canadian wool in New York, 

 which had been brought in under the recipro- 

 city treaty, and for which eighty-five cents 

 had been offered and refused. It was pui'- 

 c-habcd for sixty-seven and a half cents per 

 pound last March. 



I hope I have succeeded in making myself 

 understood on this point ; that although (he 

 importer of the Canada wool ostensibly pays 

 the duty, yet really the Canadian pays it, be- 

 cause he sells his wool for less. Our own far- 

 mers will receive no loss so long as the pro- 

 duction of both Canada and the States keeps 

 below the consumption. 



There is a lamb and mutton question involved 

 in this matter, upon which subject I intend 

 some day to say more. Mextok. 



Boston, Nov. IG, 18G8. 



For the JVew England Farmer, 

 SUMMEK CARE OF SHEEP. 



In your issue of Nov. 13, I notice an article 

 by "Zen" of Milton, J\Te., entitled "Roving 

 habits of coarse and fme wool sheep," in which 

 I think he does the fine wools, if he means the 

 Merinos, a great injustice. 



My experience has been quite the reverse 

 of his, for I have invariably found the Meri- 

 no a very quiet breed, and it is very rare for 

 one of my flock to leave my pasture. 



My custom is to have the fence around my 

 pasture in' good condition before the sheep are 

 turned into it in the spring, and kept so through 

 the season. My sheep are visited, called to- 

 gether, counted, and furnished with a little 

 salt by myself or some trusty person twice 

 each Aveek till they are sheared, and after that 

 time once a week, through the season. 



In this way they are kept domesticated, and 

 will come a considerable distance to meet the 

 shepherd at the sound of his voice, when he 

 calls them. 



It is natural, I believe, for all sheep to 

 ramble over their whole enclosure nearly eve- 

 ry day ; and if they are turned to pasture 

 with dilapidated fences, they would be very 

 likely to mistake another pasture or field for 

 their own ; and then if the bovs and dogs were 

 set after them they would be likely to run for 

 their lives, and if compelled to jump they 

 would do so, and in that way would soon 

 learn the art, and would most likely practice 

 it voluntarily and become a nuisance to the 

 whole neighborhood. 



I have not had any experience in keeping 

 coarse wool sheep, and there are but few kept 

 in town ; but these few have been an annoyance 

 to myself and many other farmers. Their rov- 

 ing habits are such that they have rambled over 

 several farms ; and it is the opinion of many 

 that they have done more damage during the 

 season than they were worth in the spring. 



They do not confine themselves to each oth- 

 er's company, like the Merino, but scatter 

 about in small squads, or perhaps one sheep 



and her lamb will ramble off together, and be 

 found a long distance from the pasture where 

 she was put. If their owner was made to pay 

 promptly for all the damage they have done, 

 1 think he v/ould not be likely to invest in a 

 similar flock again. 



These sheep may not be a fair sample of the 

 long wools, and I certainly hope they are not ; 

 and I have reported them only as an ofT-set to 

 the troublesome Merinos of "Zen." " 



I have no doubt that most breeds of sheep 

 may be so domesticated by kind treatment as to 

 be easily kept within their proper enclosure, 

 but in order to do so let no one attempt to 

 keep more than he has plenty of feed for with 

 good fences and no dogs. 



L. D. Corliss. 



Or ford, N. E., Nov. 10, 18G8. 



CABT WE GROW WHEAT? 



That it is possible to raise wheat, and still 

 not destroy the ability of the soil to produce it 

 for the next generation ; that it is practicable 

 to go on improving it in fertility, while we bi- 

 ennially take from it a crop of this most de- 

 sired cereal, no one who has read the progress 

 of improved agriculture in England, will think 

 to doubt. The truth is, we have settled down 

 into the idea that it is best to crop our land 

 with wheat till it fiiils to return the seed we 

 sow, and then to follow the setting sun to the 

 land of the Indian and buffalo. By tilling the 

 soil, we mean killing the soil ; and when the 

 wreck is accomplished, we heartlessly- seek out 

 another spot which shall share the fate of our 

 last victim. 



Is agriculture as applied to wheat-raising, a 

 lost art, or is it that our American farmers 

 have not yet found it out? We believe the 

 latter. We are inclined to think if no virgin 

 plains had laid west of the Alleghanies, that 

 wheat would still be raised between them and 

 the sea. Good fiirming comes of necessity. 

 Agriculture, like any other art, must be stu- 

 died, written about, and talked over. We 

 must bring all the appliances of science to our 

 aid, and put ourselves in the way to profit by 

 the. experience of those who have achieved a 

 success in the branch we have been attending 

 to. 



Now few of these things have been done in 

 this country in respect to wheat. Wo. have had 

 conventions of sorghum growers, fruit grow- 

 ers, wool growers, grape growers, and of poul- 

 try fanciers ; but when have we had a conven- 

 tion of wheat growers on American soil ? 

 Nearly every other department of agriculture, 

 as well as horticulture, has an organ devoted 

 to its interest ; but with the exception of a 

 stray article which occasionally appears in the 

 statistical pages of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, or a chance column in some of our farm- 

 ing papers, nothing is written on the culture 

 of the grain that forms "the staff of life." 

 JVlore printer's ink is wasted on some black cap 



