1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



245 



side of the house, and sheltered from the north- 

 west winds, and on cold frosty nights in the 

 spring was covered with a sheet. The soil 

 and cultivation in this case was not different 

 from those necessary for the growth of ihe pear, 

 peach and other trees. The soil should be 

 deep and dry, without a wet subsoil. 



We give the illustration, and the brief sug- 

 gestions above, without expecting that our 

 friends will go into a general cultivation of 

 this fruit. But as it is not only a delicious 

 fruit, as well as an ornamental tree, especially 

 when in bloom, those having suitable situa- 

 tions and desiring variety in the embel- 

 lishments about the house, will be glad to 

 see the apricot figured, and know something of 

 the habits and method of cultivating the tree. 

 The fruit, to our taste, is not so juicy and rich 

 as that of a good peach, but a well formed 

 tree in the free air, or judiciously trained, is 

 one of the most beautiful objects to be found 

 in our gardens. 



IMPROVEMENT OP LAND BY SHEEP. 



Mr. H. G. Abbott, of North Vassalboro, 

 Me., concludes a communication in the Maine 

 Farmer on sheep raising with the following 

 statement, which was made in corroboration of 

 his opinion that there is as good encourage- 

 ment for farmers to increase their flocks ol 

 sheep as any other kind of farm stock ; and 

 that if farmers would keep their sheep on 

 their tillage land they would improve it to 

 almost the amount of the expense of keep- 

 ing the sheep the year round. 



I made an experiment in this direction 

 four years since, that satisfied me on this 

 point. I will state the same, hoping it may be 

 the means of inducing some to try it also. 



I had a grass field of about thirty acres, 

 smooth and free from stumps and stones, 

 sloping gently to the west, and of clay loam 

 soil. One end of the field was so completely 

 run out, that nothing but white and yellow- 

 weed was to be seen on the field. Not having 

 barn manure sufficient to dress what I had up 

 and this field in addition, I concluded to turu 

 out ten acres of the poor end to pasture and 

 after pasturing it two or three years to take it 

 up and dress it and put it into grass. Accord- 

 ingly I run a cheap board fence across the 

 field inclosing ten acres, and put on to the piece 

 fifty sheep, without lambs, and kept them there 

 two seasons. They fed it close to the ground, 

 not allowing a blade of anything to get over 

 an inch high. 



In the spring of the second season I per- 

 ceived a greenness on the field, looking differ- 



ent from what it had for a few years past, and 

 was led to examine the same, and, to my sur- 

 prise, I found that there was a sprinkling of 

 grass coming up over the field. I put fifty 

 sheep on the second year, and noticed through 

 the season, that the sprinkling of grass in- 

 creased ; so much so, that I called the atten- 

 tion of one of my neighbors to the fact. His 

 reply was that he had been noticing it for 

 some time. 



The next spring, at the usual time of turn- 

 ing out sheep to grass this piece looked so 

 well, that I concluded to let it come up and 

 mow it. Accordingly I took up the fence, and 

 when I came to put on my mowing machine 

 and hand scythes, to the surprise of myself 

 and my men, I had the heaviest piece of grass 

 on my farm — estimated by good judges v/ho 

 helped cut it, to be two tons to the acre, and 

 some parts two and one-half tons, and of the 

 very best quality, with hardly a stalk of white- 

 weed or yellow- weed to be seen. I cut the same 

 piece last season, with about the same results. 



I will state that I put upon the field about two 

 bushels of plaster to the acre and a very small 

 amount of grass seed. I also went over the 

 whole thirty acres in the same field, but found 

 no such results. I could see from the road 

 all the season, to an inch, where the fence 

 was taken up. I will not undertake here to 

 go into the figures showing the advantage of 

 this manner of treatment lor worn out land, 

 but I do believe that I cut as much hay the 

 two years past from the piece of ground from 

 the effect of sheep running on it, as I should 

 from a dressing of yard manure — and the ex- 

 pense of plowing and fitting, and the applica- 

 tion of the manure must have been quite an 

 item — whereas the dressing from the sheep 

 and the application of the same did not cost 

 anything ; for sheep are generally pabtured on 

 land that we cannot cultivate. 



One suggestion, more, and that is the im- 

 portance of going over our grass fields in the 

 spring of the year and scattering on a sprink- 

 ling of grass seed. Nothing of such light ex- 

 pense pays so well. 



Queer Hog Fattexer. — A singular dis- 

 covery has just been made at Cincinnati. It 

 seems that a man upset his kerosens lantern 

 into his meal bin, and he noticed afterward 

 that his hogs ate the damaged fodder with 

 avidity. This gave him an idea, and by expe- 

 riment he found that five week's feeding with 

 kerosene mixture made one of his hog - so fat 

 that it could scarcely stand. The animal was 

 then tried into lard with the following result : 

 When cool the lard did not congeal, but the 

 addition of a certain amount of potash resolved 

 the contents of the kettle into three distinct 

 substances — the first; a light, transparent oil, 

 better than kerosene or sperm oil ; the second, 

 ajell^^-like substance which turned to soap*, 

 and last, a small residuum of insoluble muscle. 



