46 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



omy, and have observed the results of others in the 

 same branch, I Avill make a few remarks on the sub- 

 ject, with the results of my experience, Avhich was 

 in England. 



Some few years since, in my fanning operations, I 

 purchased twenty ewes of tlic Dorset or Somerset 

 breed, about the first of October, which cost about 

 $12 per head. I fed them on rowcn ; and about 

 one month after, the lambs began to come. They 

 were allowed to run with the dams about two days, 

 and then I provided a pen for them in an outhouse. 

 The pen for the lambs, from this number of ewes, was 

 ten feet by six or eight, raised about one foot above 

 the ground. The floor was made of strips, one and 

 one half inches wide, with spaces between just wide 

 enough to allow the urine to escape, and not allow 

 the lambs' feet to pass through. A little straw was 

 spread over the floor, and changed daily. As the 

 hunbs were dropped, they were confined to the pen, 

 as soon as they were strong enough. The dams 

 were allowed to come and nurse them at seven 

 o'clock in the morning, at noon, and again at even- 

 ing ; and so on, in rotation, as fast as the lambs came. 

 In a few days the ewes will get habituated to this 

 course, and usuallj' feed tUl sucking time, and then 

 come when called. A small lump of chalk should 

 be put into the pen, and a little wheat or rye flour, 

 in troughs, for them to lick, which they will do with 

 avidity. The chalk serves to correct acidity in the 

 stomach, and it is very good to give to young calves. 

 The benefit arising from it is very great. 



I have sold lambs, at seven or eight weeks old, 

 whose weight per quarter was from seven to eight 

 pounds, — an average of from twenty-eight to thii'ty 

 pounds, — at one shilling and sixpence sterling per 

 pound, which was ten to twelve dollars for each 

 lamb. If I recollect, I sold the produce of nineteen 

 of these ewes before the fii-st of April. I think it 

 was twenty-nine lambs, as more than half of the 

 sheep had twins. And the net amount received was 

 nearly equal to the fifty pounds sterling paid for the 

 sheep. As the season advances, though the lambs 

 may be made heavier, the price recedes. Some allow 

 the ewes to associate with the buck again in two or 

 three weeks from yeaning, a propensity for which 

 this breed is proverbial, — and thus obtain a second 

 produce the same year. But this practice is not an 

 economical one, as it reduces the value of the dams ; 

 for they will not recover, so as to fatten during the 

 coming season. The practice usually pursued is to 

 fit the ewes, which the lambs leave so early, for the 

 market soon after shearing. The only breed of 

 sheep adapted to this mode is the Dorset or Somer- 

 set. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DITCHING. 



Mil. Editor : — One year has passed away since 

 I made my last communication on ditching. Vol. I., 

 p. 2. Since that time, I have had an opportunity of 

 witnessing the effects of my effort to improve fresh 

 meadow through draining. Before I commenced, 

 many parts of the meadow were so wet and swim- 

 ming that all of the hay was removed by hand labor, 

 with poles ; and the quality of fodder was bad, by 

 being constantly wet. Since I made the drains or 

 ditches, the swimming or floating has ceased, and 

 the meadow has become fine and dry ; so that in 

 most cases, I was able to go on witli a cart with 

 wide-rimmed wheels, drawn by oxen, and to carry 

 from fifteen hundred to a ton of hay at a time ; 

 which was never done before. The quality of fod- 

 der is much better, equal to interval fodder. The 

 quantity is not so great, but a new kind of grass is 

 coming m, which I think, in a short time, will make 



the fodder worth twice as much as it was before 

 draining. So far, the experiment has more than 

 answered my expectation. 



Before I drained the meadows, it was impossible 

 to travel on them, without going into the wet ancle 

 deep ; but since draining, I can walk any where 

 with shoes on, without the least danger of v.-ctting 

 my feet; and in summer and autumn, they are per- 

 fectly drj'. Cranberries, also, arc better than they 

 were before, and less liable to be injured by frost. 



I have no doubt that most of my meadows, in a 

 short time, will be suitable to cultivate, as the mud 

 proves to be only from two to four feet deep, and of 

 the best kind of peat. If so, I shall have fi-om thirty 

 to forty acres of the best interval land for grass and 

 vegetables, which will be worth six times as much 

 as the high land that has been cultivated for the last 

 century, and needs a larger quantity of manure to 

 obtain decent crops. You shall hear from me in 

 1851, if we are in this mundane sphere then. 

 Yours respectfullv, 



S. A. SHURTLEFF. 



Spring Grove, Jan., 1850. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PROFIT OF HENS. 



!Mr. Editor: — The interesting communication of 

 Mr. C. B. Ayer of Preston, Conn., contains a very 

 important query, and one which I would wish to see 

 satisfactorily solved ; but the premises are defective, 

 in so far as no statement is given concerning what 

 breed of fowds ]Mr. Ayer possesses. It is well known 

 that some varieties have a quality of protracted lay- 

 ing much beyond others, which compels a general, 

 instead of a special answer to his query; besides, 

 some kinds arrive much earlier at maturity than 

 others. I refer to the inquiry — "How should I 

 manage with my hens, in order to have them continue 

 to lay through the cold season ? " 



The most practicable mode, that occurs to me, 

 would bo to coop up the earliest pullets of the sea- 

 son, after thej^ are two months old, and keep them 

 in durance until the middle of September, when they 

 may be allowed full liberty. A week afterwards, 

 they should be confined in a spacious enclosure, in 

 companj' with the males from the former year's 

 broods, and thus kept for a couple of weeks. They 

 wiU shortly after begin to lay, and continue so to do 

 — not every day, however — until the spring of next 

 season. 



The most fitting place to keep laying hens over 

 winter is in the stable, or cattle-barn. The heat 

 engendered by the cattle is sufficient to meet their 

 wants. 



Care should be taken that no access to the hay- 

 rack be provided, as poultry do much damage to that 

 article. When the weather is fine, and no snow on 

 the ground, the stock may be allowed to go without 

 doors an hour or two before or after meridian. 



If so kept, there is no danger of mixing the laying 

 stock with those fowls in the yard which may be bar- 

 ren ; as the former, when about to be cooped up, will 

 take to the barn in which they lay, and the others to 

 roost ill their usual places. 



Grain, boiled and raw, for choice, and boiled pota- 

 toes, will furnish sufficient food. A box of sand, 

 mixed with powdered oyster-shells, or lime, should 

 be provided, and fresh water, in a shallow dish, 

 which should be wattled across the top to prevent 

 the hens wading or washing in it. The sand should 

 be sufficiently plentiful to allow the hens to dust 

 themselves in it. A box about eighteen inches deep, 

 and two feet wide, filled about a foot high with sand, 

 will serve the purpose. An old tea-chest is a good 

 substitute. 



