

THE GENESEE PARMER. 





additi m to Bize, power, and Form, high courage, and 



■• speed, are indispensable. If the farmer 



therefore, designs to rear a colt lor market, he must 



ebrate 1 himself, or, in the 



line of his immediate ancestry, for tine notion, and 



great speed as roadsters ; in the hope that lie will 



impart thes pro his stock. If for the plow, 



he will look lor a sire possessing a kind, docile, gen- 



tle temper; of good size, large bone, and greal 



muscular powers. As the stock will be, in a good 



measure, characterised by the siro, ho will look for 



auch qualities in the sire, as are especially adapted 



to tin- uses and purposes he lias in view. If these 



lints should influence the farmer to- reflect on 



this subject, and be the means of inducing correct 



as, my purpose will have been answered. 



Rochester, .V. F., June, 1849. L. 



HEAVY FLEECES, AND HOW OBTAINED. 



Eds. Genesee Farmer: — I have just sheared my 

 sheep this year, twelve in number. The twelve shear- 

 ed eighty-Jive pounds and four ounces. The weight 

 of the sheep after shorn, together with the weight 

 of their fleeces, I send you. 



LIME AS A MANURE. 



The whole weight of the sheep was 1,030 lbs. ; 

 which would be an average of one pound of wool, to 

 every twelve and a half pounds live weight of the 

 sheep. The wool was not cleaned of course, but was 

 well washed on the sheep before being shorn. The 

 average weight of their fleeces would be 7 lbs. 1 1 oz. 

 C. was a yearling buck, and L. a two year buck. 

 Those marked *, yearling ewes, each of which has 

 raised her lamb. The remainder were ewes, each of 

 which raised her lamb this season. All hut the year- 

 lings were sheared last year. Thus lrom twelve 

 sheep, I have 85 lbs. of good marketable wool, and 

 ten good lambs. Seven of the above were Paular 

 Merinoea, including the two bucks, and the remain- 

 der about half bloods. The sire of most of the above 

 sheep was from Col. Randalls' flock of Cortland Co., 

 owned by R. D. Palmer, Esq., of this place. 



If any one wishes to know how I raised my sheep to 

 such heavy fleeces, I would say: in the first place, I keep 

 but few, and keep them well ; and secondly, I select 

 those that shear the heaviest fleeces every year, for 

 myself. When I commenced, my flock would not 

 average four pounds. But by the use of the before 

 mentioned sire, and the purchase of a few ewes, 

 (which would not shear five pounds each,) and al- 

 ways selecting the heaveist shearers for my own use, 

 they now average over 7 lbs. I believe I can get 

 much heavier fleeces yet. You will see my yearlings 

 shear heavier in proportion than the older ones. One 

 yearling ewe 7 lbs. 5 oz., which is the heaviest I 

 have ever had, and another 7 lbs. These sheep had 

 good pasture last summer, and in the winter good 

 hay and two quarts of oats per day. S. P. Chap- 

 man. — Clockville, Madison Co., June, 1849. 



The Mountains of Segar, in Arabia, produce 

 frankincense: and those of Safra the balm of Mecca, 

 from the amyris opo-balsamum, which in the early 

 ages sold for its weight in gold. 



The following remarks on the action of Lime, and 

 its application to tin; soil, are worthy the atti 

 of practical farmers. They are extracted from an 

 Address before the Yates Co. Agricultural Society, 

 by John I)ki.afiki,i>, Esq.: — 



" Lime exists in plants in various proportions, viz: 

 32 per cent of the ashes of oakwood is lime; 27 pet 

 cent of the ashes of poplar is lime ; 14 per cent, of 

 the ashes of peas is lime : and 4 per cent, of 

 the ashes of our wheat plant is lime. Lime is an 

 essential constituent of wheat. It must, therefore, 

 be in our soils, or-our wheat never can be matured. 

 Lime, therefore, is a direct food for wheat, and so 

 also for other plants. This important element of our 

 soil possesses several qualities most essentially and 

 highly beneficial to the farmer. For instance, where 

 applied to heavy clay soils, it renders them more open 

 and easily worked, admitting the action of the at- 

 mosphere. 



In all soils containing the sulphate of iron, lime will 

 decompose the sulphate of iron, and thereby form 

 plaster of paris, a material well known. When we 

 apply lime in its fresh or caustic state it acts as a sol- 

 vent, destroys the texture of matter in contact with 

 it, or changes its nature. But when by exposure to 

 tne air this power is lost and it becomes slacked, then 

 it is food direct for plants. 



Now as to the best method of using lime, farmers 

 are not agreed ; and with some hesitation, I will state 

 my practice and give my reasons. We see and know 

 that twenty bushels of wheat, if produced from a 

 single acre, will take from that acre about seven 

 pounds of lime ; then, as a bushel of lime weighs 

 about seventy-two pounds in a caustic state, it will 

 weigh, when slacked, about 100 pounds by the ab- 

 sorption of water ; therefore, one bushel oi lime is 

 sufficient for fourteen acres of wheat or thereabouts ; 

 but as this supply is for one crop only, and as weeds 

 and other vegetation will rob the wheat of its duo 

 share, I would apply ten bushels to the acre, and feel 

 that it is sufficient for four or five years. 



It is true that farmers in this country have applied 

 from 60 to 200 bushels per acre, and there may occa- 

 sionally be a farm where such a dose may do good, 

 but more likely to do harm ; at any rate, for the rea- 

 sons above stated, it seems a wasteful and expensive 

 system. For light soils, I would recommend a mix- 

 ture of lime and muck — say one bushel of lime to H 

 cubic yard of muck— applying 20 to 25 bushels of 

 this mixture to an acre. But never mix lime with 

 your manure heaps ; this is a ruinous practice, bc- 

 . cause it expels from your manure its chief power ; it. 

 destroys the ammonia, a salt which it is our aim to 

 preserve." 



Hens eating their Eggs.— In addition to the di- 

 rections given on this subject in the April number of 

 the Farmer, allow me to add, "Give them animal 

 food." They require animal food as well as lime. 

 Give them scraps, offal, fish (not salted,) fee They 

 will eat no more than they need. It would be well 

 if hens that are confined in a pen, or small yard, 

 could be let out each day an hour or two before sun- 

 set, that they may pick up bugs, worms, grass-hop- 

 pers, &c. Dig up the soil in their yard and let them 

 scratch in i t. H * 



Ifdustry. — " There is more pleasure in swea 

 an hour than in yawning a century." 



