22 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



were fattening. The horse -chesnuts were well 

 crushed ; something in the way, so I understood, 

 that apples are, previous to cider being made. 

 They are crushed or cut up in a machine kept 

 solely in Switzerland for that purpose ; then 

 about .two pounds' weight is given to each sheep 

 morning and evening. It must be portioned out 

 to eheeiJ, as too much would disagree with them, 

 being of a very heating nature. The butcher 

 told me that it gave an excellent rich flavor to the 

 meat. The Geneva mutton is noted for being as 

 highly flavored as any in England or Wales. — E. 

 D., in Agricultural Gazette. 



WINTER MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 



In wet weather it is of great advantage to be 

 able to fodder under-shelter. I have abandoned 

 the practice of salting my hay, except when com- 

 pelled, by stress of weather, to house it before it 

 is thoroughly cured. My sheep are salted about 

 once a week the year round, and instead of giving 

 them tar, as recommended by some persons, I oc 

 casionally strew the yard with pine boughs, of 

 which they are fond. 



I regard the fall management of lambs one of 

 the most important branches of sheep husbandry. 

 Having paid for my experience on this point as 

 well as that of winter shelter, I can speak with 

 confidence. They should be separated from their 

 dams about the first of September, and with a few 

 old sheep, that require nursing, turned to the best 

 pasture. Care should be taken that they are not 

 stinted till removed to winter quarters, when they 

 should have a small allowance of grain or oil-meal 

 in addition to a plentiful supply of good hay. 

 As soon as the pasture begins to fail, the ration of 

 grain should be supplied. By neglecting to piro- 

 vide suitable pasture for a lot of upwards of 100 

 very superior lambs one season, I lost the greater 

 part of them the ensuing winter. My utmost ef- 

 forts, after I discovered the error, were of no 

 avail. I gave them a comfortable shed, plenty of 

 litter, good hay, a regular allowance of meal, and 

 free access to water ; but tliey never recovered, 

 and the greater part died before spring. 



My bucks and ewes are put together about the 

 first of December. The flock which I keep at my 

 home l)arn, under my own eye, and from which 1 

 raise bucks for the supply of my own, and many 

 of my neighbors' flock, is managed in this way. 

 The ewes, in lots of 20 to 35, are placed in separate 

 pens, and a select buck is turned into each pen, 

 where they are kept together 15 or 20 days. 

 The ewes in each pen are marked with a letter in 

 tar and lampblack, to indicate what buck they 

 were served Ijy. At shearing time, the best buck 

 Iambs are selected, and receive a mark to denote 

 their origin. 



In my juiigiaent, water is as essential to sheep 

 as it is tti ;u;y i;ther animal. They will go through 

 the winrer on snow instead of ^\ater, ana so would 

 a man or hoit-e, if compelled by necessity to do 

 so ; but cither would prefer to have it thawed be- 

 fore using it, rather than perform that office in 

 his bowels. 



When my sheep run in large flocks without 

 shelter, they were occasionally affected with the 

 scab, but since I have provided comfortable sheds 

 for them, they have been troubled with no serious 

 disease. This climate is well suited to sheep. — 

 E. KiRBY, Jtff. Co., N. Y., in MorrelFs Shepherd. 



For the JSeiv England Farmer. 



TALK ABOUT GUANO. 



BY HENRY F. FRENCH. 



.At the annual meeting for the election of ofE- 

 cers of the Rockingham Fair, last week, part of 

 the day was devoted to a discussion of the use of 

 Guano. and Super-phosphate of Lime. Many 

 farmers in this county have made experiments with 

 both in various ways, and 1 have been intending, 

 if that leisure time, of which we sometimes fond- 

 ly dream, ever should arrive, to collect the experi- 

 ence of our farmers and publish it for the good 

 of the community. Enough facts might be 

 brought together from what has been done with 

 these fertilizers in this county alone, to afford 

 pretty satisfactory means of conclusion as to the 

 advantages of their use. Before proceeding far- 

 ther, it may as well be suggested, that 1 shall not 

 undertake just now to be very decided in the ex- 

 pression of any opinion on the subject, for fear 

 I may not agree with the principal editor. One 

 gentleman, who did not seem to have a realizing 

 sense of the Protean character of editors, said in 

 our meeting, that he heard Professor Brown say 

 at the State Fair in New Hampshire, that he had 

 no doubt that the guano used in Mass., the past 

 season, had done the farmers much more hurt 

 than good. 



This statement was received with manifest sur- 

 prise, and inquiries were at once made as to what 

 sort of a Professor this could be. Some one 

 suggested that it must be Professor Brown, of 

 Dartmouth College. "No," said our friend, "it 

 was the gentleman who delivered the address at 

 the State Fair." The Editor of the N. E. Far- 

 mer,^' added another. "The Lieutenant Govern- 

 or elect, who delivered our annual address last 

 year," remarked a third, and then followed the 

 usual shout of laughter, which puts every body 

 in good humor, whon-the subject of Massachusetts 

 politics is named, since the last election. Now, 

 it may readily be conceived, that a man may be 

 a Know Nothing in politics, and yet know some- 

 thing in agricultural affairs ! Possibly, it may 

 bo true, thut guano has injured crops in some 

 localities, more than it has benefited them.* 



If so, it must be, because it was improi^erly 

 applied. The man who put half a pint of salt in 

 each hill for potatoes, concluded that salt, as a 

 fertilizer, is a humbug, and a farmer who should 

 give his colt a peck of corn at once, would prob- 

 ably infer froai that single experiment, that corn 

 is poison to colts. Every one who has used gua- 

 no, has doubtless been informed that it is so pow- 



* What we said at the meeting at Keene, was, that great 

 losses liad occurred iu Massachusetts the present year in the 

 use of guano, but not tliat those losses were greater in the ag- 

 gregate than the benefits derived from its use, — for of that we 

 had no moans of judging ; and this loss, we represented us spruig- 

 ing from the want of a proper knowledge of its application to 

 the various soils and crops. 



