356 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



cine. The bitter principles, especially, escape by the 

 evaporation of the liquid, and the residue is more 



nauscatin^i;. 



It should be gathered while in flower, whether 

 needed lor medicine or to eradicate from your fields. 

 — Mui/te Farmer. 



PROFITS OF FINE WOOL. 



Mu. Editou : It seems to be the opinion of some, 

 that fine wool cannot be as profitably grown, in this 

 section of country, as the coarser or medium grades. 

 Now, I think this a decided mistake. I have taken 

 some pains, for the last few years, to ascertain what 

 kind of wool was the most profitable, and for that 

 purpose have used both Merino and Saxon, and the 

 two crossed. The result has been rather in favor of 

 the fine grades. The average weight of fleeces of 

 the diff'erent grades of my flock this season, together 

 with the prices they sold for last, was as follows : — 



Pounds. Ounces. ''''? P" Val"e per 

 Found. Fleece. 



Extra, 3 



Prime, 4 



No. 1, 4 



No. 2, 4 



No. 3, de Laine, 4 



The finest grade extra were all ewes, with the ex- 

 ception of one yearling buck : the coarsest, Nos. 2 

 and 3, were heavier in proportion to the rest, in con- 

 sequence of my having selected principally from those 

 grades for sale. 



The two highest grades, I believe, are what would 

 be called Saxon wool, ranging from twenty-one to 

 twenty-six curves to the inch, although taken in part 

 from Merino sheep ; Nos. 1 and 2 Merino, number- 

 ing from seventeen to twenty ; No. 3, although not 

 coarser than some Merinos in this section, I consider 

 too coarse for profit. My sheep were not weighed 

 this year as usual, but will probably not vary much 

 from the last three years, the average weight of 

 which has been about sixty-eight pounds. The av- 

 erage weight of fleece this season was about four 

 pounds and five ounces. My aim is to so improve 

 my flock as to produce both a heavy and fine fleece ; 

 or, in other words, a Merino fleece of Saxon wool. 

 How near I shall come to the accomplishment of my 

 object, will be, of course, for time to determine. 



W. D. DICKINSON. 



APPLES AS FOOD. 



The late Payne Wingate, of Hallowell, Me., made 

 some experiments in feeding pigs with apples, com- 

 pared with potatoes. Both the apples and potatoes 

 were boiled, or rather stewed, separately, and about 

 four quarts of oat and pea meal mixed with each 

 bushel, at the time the cooking was finished — the 

 mtal being intimately incorporated with the potatoes 

 and apples while they were hot, and the mass left to 

 ferment slightly before it was fed to the pigs. 



Two pigs of the same litter, and, as near as prac- 

 ticable, of the same weight, were taken ; one was 

 fed for a week on a given quantity of the cooked 

 potatoes per day, and the other on the same quantity 

 of apples. At the end of each week the pigs were 

 weighed, and the food was reversed : the pig to 

 which potatoes had been given was fed on apples, 

 and the one which had received apples was fed for 

 the next week on potatoes. This course was contin- 

 ued through several weeks, the food of each pig 

 being changed every week. The result was, that 

 the apples proved to be fully equal, or somewhat 

 superior, to the potatoes. In this instance, the apples 



were mostly sweet, and they, as well as the potatoes, 

 were nearly in a ripe state. 



On another occasion, Mr. Wingate experimented 

 with sweet, compared with sour apples, in various 

 ways. He found that when they Avcre fed raw to 

 swine, the sweet apples were preferable ; the ani- 

 mals ate them better, as the sour apples seemed to 

 make their teeth sore ; but when both were cooked 

 and mixed with meal in the way above described, 

 there was no diff"erence in the gain produced by an 

 equal quantity of each. It should be stated, how- 

 ever, that all the apples used were of palatable 

 kinds, nearly ripe ; and that unripe and ill-flavored 

 apples are known to be less relished by stock, as well 

 as less nutritive. It is probable, also, that when sour 

 apples are eaten raw, and in considerable quantities, 

 the animal may take into the stomach too large an 

 amount of acid, which may tend to derange the 

 digestive organs. This objection would be chiefly 

 obviated by cooking, and the saccharine fermenta- 

 tion, by which the pulp loses much of its acid, and 

 becomes nearly sweet. It does not appear, from 

 analysis, that the amount of actual nourishment is 

 much greater in sweet than in sour apples. (See 

 comparison of the analysis of the Koxbury Russet 

 and Talman Sweeting.) 



Mr. Wingate practised fattening swine, for several 

 years, on food composed principally of apples. The 

 animals attained good weights, and the pork was 

 solid, and of excellent quality. In other instances, 

 we have known apples fed raw to horses, cows, and 

 other stock through the winter, with much advan- 

 tage. For using in this way, sweet apples would 

 probably be best, and they should be such as will 

 keep till spring. They may be stored in a cellar 

 under the barn, or in the bottom of the hay-mow — 

 a proper place having been left for that purpose when 

 the hay was put in. They will be more likely to 

 be injured by heating than freezing. They will sel- 

 dom freeze in such a situation as is mentioned ; and 

 if they should be touched by frost, their nutritive 

 properties will not be much lessened, if they remain 

 in a dark place where they will thaw slowly. 



A peck of apples a day, fed to a cow, has been 

 found to add more than a quart to the daily quantity 

 of milk, besides greatly increasing its richness, as 

 well as improving the condition of the cow. The 

 effect of apples is equally favorable to other stock. 

 Horses fatten on them, and their coats assume the 

 brilliancy which hardly any other food will give 

 them. For all stock they answer a similar purpose 

 as vegetables, in preventing costiveness, which is 

 likely to ensue from the exclusive use of dry food ; 

 and in this way, and by the nutriment they contain, 

 they contribute much to the animal's thrift. 



An impression prevails that apples will dry up the 

 milk of a cow. This idea has been imbibed either 

 from the effect produced on a cow by eating a very 

 large quantity of apples at once, by which surfeit 

 and fever were brought on, or from the trial not 

 being properly conducted till the animal had become 

 habituated to the food. The ill effects attributed to 

 apples would have occurred with any other rich 

 food, as any kind of grain, potatoes, or other vege- 

 tables. 



A fair average product of an acre of orcharding, 

 in good bearing condition, may be estimated at two 

 hundred to three hundred bushels a year; and at 

 this rate we doubt whether so great an amount of 

 animal nourishment can be obtained from the same 

 extent of land, in proportion to the expense, by any 

 other crop. We should not hesitate, therefore, to 

 recommend the cultivation of apples as food for 

 stock. — Albatty Cultivator. 



Nothing is more frightful than active ignorance. 



