272 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



JVKE 



Perhaps there has been something more 

 than mere neglect to cause sheep to do so 

 badly the past season. Last summer there 

 was an unusual amount of rain, and in July a 

 rust struck the gras", destroying nearly half 

 the nutriment of the hay that was not cut 

 until very late in the season. If enough grain 

 to make up this deficiency in the nutriment of 

 hay had been given, possibly sheep wouM 

 have done as well as common ; but their stom- 

 achs may not have been capable of receiving 

 enough of this inferior hay and digesting it, to 

 sustain life and keep the functions of the body 

 in healthy action. 



About ten years ago I lost thirty-fi.e sheep 

 out of two hundred and fifty, most of them 

 dying after going out to grass. I was entirely 

 ignorant of the I'ause, until informed by Mr. 

 Henry Couch, of Salisbury, that it must be 

 the "rot," in which the blood turns into water. 

 For a cure he recommended ashes mixed with 

 salt and sulphur. I gave only five pailfuls, 

 one part sulphur, three of salt, and four of 

 ashes, well mixed. I think this cuied them, 

 for none died after using this mixture ten 

 days. The affected sheep did not appear to 

 suffer much, were not sick more than one day, 

 and were mostly in fair llesh. I cut the throat 

 of one, before dying, and got about half a 

 pint of light watery blood, that would not 

 coagulate on cooling. On cutting into the 

 throat immediately after death, no blood could 

 be found, only a frothy, slipp ry substance. 



If Mr. Nichols' sheep are in fair flesh, I 

 should think from his description it was the 

 rot that troubl d his flocks. It is the best 

 course to heep sheep well, — that is, gaining 

 in flesh, from the time they come to the barn 

 until they go to the pasture again. Give 

 them sulphur enough to kill all the ticks and 

 keep off disease. Those persons that do so, 

 reap twice the profit, and have a conscience 

 devoid of offence. G. F. Quimby. 



Warner, N. H., April, 1869. 



For the New Kngland Farmer, 

 YOLK IN MERINO ^WrOOL. 



Previous to 1861 and 1862, comparatively 

 little complaint was heard from manufacturers 

 or dealers in regard to the yolkiness of the 

 Merino wool. During the years immediately 

 following, there was great speculation and ex- 

 citement in relation to wool, and complaints 

 were heard from dealers in regard to the sud- 

 den and alarming increase of yolk in the fleeces 

 of Merino sheep, and the prejudice thus ex- 

 cited against this valuable breed still operates 

 to a considerable extent. 



It is the object of this paper to inquire 

 whether this sudden increase was artificial or 

 natural, and whether its injurious effects ought 

 still to continue. During the excitement caused 

 by the high prices for wool and sheep, which 

 prevailed during the war, many breeders 

 and speculators resorted to all known ex- 



pedients to temporarily increase the weight 

 of their fleeces, well knowing that a monster 

 fleece would help sell the animal for a mon- 

 st'T price. 



In order, then, to obtain a thirty-pound 

 fleece, it was necessary that fifty, sixty or even 

 seventy-five per cent, of it should be yolk, or 

 as some term it, "grease." In order to pre- 

 serve and increase this yolk, the sheep were 

 housed from rain summer and winter ; for wa- 

 ter is as fatal to "grease" as it is to "salt and 

 sugar," and the sheep were also fed the year 

 round with the richest of grain. Some jock- 

 eys, also, fearing that even with these appli- 

 ances they should not beat all creation, re- 

 sorted to outside applications in order to in- 

 crease the "contraband hue," and drew upon 

 the neighboring merchants for the oil which 

 their flteces lacked of the desired weights. 

 Sheep of this character, being widely dissemi- 

 nated, became in time to be taken as types of 

 the improved Merino. Their fleeces, also, in due 

 time fell into the hands of the manufacturers, 

 and shrinking, as they naturally would, vastly 

 more than Merino wool was ever known to 

 shrink before, created the prejudice against 

 Merino sheep, which In many localities still 

 exists. 



The great decrease In price of wool and 

 sheep has removed all temptation for summer 

 housing or pampering, because it cannot be 

 made to pay, and the Merino flocks of the 

 country to-day, except in rare Instances, are 

 bleached by the storms of summer, and are 

 simply well kept in the winter. The fleeces 

 of such flocks are no more oily than they were 

 ten years ago, while the staple has been 

 greatly improved In evenness and fineness as 

 well as In amount of pure wool. 



From this plain statement of what every in- 

 telligent wool- grower knows to be true, it will 

 be seen that the apparent increase of oily wool 

 during the war was a stimulated and forced 

 product, and not a natural secretion. Conse- 

 quently the Merino flocks of the country are 

 really more valuable than ever before, for the 

 reason that they ) leld more wool of a better 

 and more uniform quality than any sheep have 

 ever done before them. e. k. s. 



Windsor, VI., April, 1869. 



cuijTube of the quince. 



In a recent number of the Country Gentle- 

 man, Mr. N. Ohmer, of Dayton, Ohio, says 

 that about ten years ago he began to turn 

 his attention to the cultivation of fruit, and 

 the then neglected quince he made a specialty, 

 planting three-quarters of an acre at ten feet 

 apart each way. The fourth year after plant- 

 ing he sold quinces enough to pay for the 

 trees, and each year since, with but one fail- 

 ure, he has had good crops increasing in quan- 

 tity and quality. 



At the last Ohio State Fair his quinces took 

 all the premiums for this fruit. The Orange 



