1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



499 



THE CAMPBELL APPLE. 



There are many Ohio apples sold 

 in the Boston Market and eaten by 

 New England people. The above il- 

 lustration of one of the choice seed- 

 lings of that State is copied from the 

 Rural New Yorker. It was an acci- 

 dental seedling that sprung up about , 

 fifteen years ago close to the wall of / 

 a brick house occupied by George 

 W. Campbell, Esq., of Dclawart', 

 Ohio. The tree is a vigorous, strong J^ 

 grower ; habit open, spreading ; limbs W 

 not crowded; shoots stout, rather \; 

 blunt ; foliage abundant, leaves rather 

 large. It has borne a good crop reg- 

 ularly every year since it commenced 

 bearing. Fruit quite uniform ; size 

 from medium to large, and hangs! 

 very finely to the tree. It is evi- 

 dently a late keeper, but heretofore they have 

 been "too good to keep" later than January. 



BREEDING SHEEP FOR MUTTON. 



The fine wool growers of France are labor- 

 ing under even greater difficulty in respect to 

 the low price of their product than are those 

 of this country. The inspector-general of ag- 

 riculture at the late exhinition of the Nancy 

 Agricultural Society, reviewed the situation 

 in his address, and ventured some advice that 

 may not be inappropriate in many localities in 

 this country, M. Lembezat said : — 



"You know perfectly well, gentlemen, that 

 for a long time past the principal profit which 

 cultivators have sought in breeding sheep has 

 been the fleece. At one period, when the use 

 of cotton was little known — first in conse- 

 quence of its deainess, secondly because cot- 

 ton stuffs were considered less healthy, and 

 thirdly because the custom of wearing woolen 

 clothes was an old one — the production of 

 wool was a very adva"tageous operation. At 

 the time of the continent blockade, consider- 

 able fortunes were made in the Beauce, in the 

 Brie, the Piiardy, and in the Ch .tdlonnais ; 

 and for a long time afterwards cultivators 

 made money with their sheep, either from their 

 wool or by the sale of reproducers. But a 

 very prosperous industry which supplied Eu- 

 rope first and subsequently several parts of 

 the new world, has spread in profusion the 

 Merino breed, which, originating in Spain, 

 had been improved in France, in a remarkaole 

 manner from the double point of view of 

 weight of fleece and quality of woul. There 

 is a limit to everything, gentlemen, and France, 

 after having obtained considerable profits from 

 the Merino breed, whicb it sold at very high 

 prices, could not entertain the hope of keeping 

 indefinitely a monopoly of wool and reprodu- 



cers. This is just what has happened. New 

 economic conditions have introdu ed certain 

 changes into international relations at the 

 same time that the mode and processes of 

 manufacture have changed. All these cir- 

 cumstances combined have produced the pres- 

 ent state of things. The present trituation 

 had been foreseen. Twenty years since M. 

 Yoart, now in retirement, but then Inspector- 

 General of the sheep folds and veterinary 

 schools of the State, said to sheep-breeders : 

 'Change your sheep breeds into butchers' ani- 

 mals ; become producers of meat, for wool 

 will fall to prices which you do not suspect or 

 anticipate.' There was no question at this 

 time, gentlemen, as to a treaty of commerce ; 

 but, nevertheless, M. Yoart, wiih his great 

 experience, was perfectly right, and exactly 

 pre tictied what has happened. The advice 

 which was given years ago, we repeat, and 

 we urge, wita all our strengih, intelligent 

 cultivators to enter upon the path indicated by 

 M. Yoart. We may add that it is more eco- 

 nomical to produce meat than wool, and it is 

 easy to give a proof of this fact. All those 

 who have reared sheep know that with a spe- 

 cial and suitable system of feeding, we can 

 according to the breeds dealt with obtain in a 

 year, animals weighing 130 pounds to 180 

 pounds, and often even more. What, under 

 these circumstances, is the ratio of the fleece 

 to the total weight? In no case can this ratio 

 be more than 10 per cent., and you will see 

 that wool must be worth ten times as much as 

 meat to render it as economi -al to produce 

 meat as to produce wool. I would say to you, 

 gentlemen of the east of France, who have 

 many districts in which sheep prosper, address 

 yourselves frankly to the object which I indi- 

 cate to you, and you will find that the mainte- 

 nance of a flock of sheep may be an essenti- 

 ally profitable operation." 



