170 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



tberoforc, be punctual in putting every valuable 

 thought which they may find in books and papers 

 on the various branches of agriculture and the 

 kindred arts, into immediate use, and our word 



string, it may be considered a very justly propor- 

 tioned animal. 



But the most important part, and that which 

 has caused the greatest variety of opinion, is the 

 fleece. When 1 first commenced in the business, 



for it, they will have the satisfiiction at last of some twenty-five years since, the strife was for 

 witnessing a decided improvement on tlieir own I the finest wool without much regard to any thing 

 premises and around them." ^^^'"- '^^^^ ^^^^ question asked was "How much 



did you get?" But the tallies are turned ; people 



~~ ~ have taken the other extreme. The great question 



SHEEP BREEDING— FINENESS VS. SIZE, now is, "How much will they shear." But 



Whoever, therefore, would obtain a large andl)^'^*!^^"* designing to tread on the toes of others, 



vi-orous race, [of merino sheep] should keep his'^. '"^^ S'^*t '^ description of such as would suit my 



ewes from the rams till they are three years old 

 Rams are not usually allowed to leap till three 

 years of age. — Thaa-''s Principles of Agriculture, 

 ■p. 539. 



That the size of sheep would be enlarged by the 

 above course there can be no doubt, but, allow 

 us to ask, what are the advantages to be derived 

 from increase in size. Most assuredly the amount 

 ofivool Avould be diminished in its proportion to 

 the size and consequently to the amount of food 

 consumed. The principal advantage that I can 

 perceive to be derived from the above course is in 

 the increased longevity of the animal. For, from 

 my experience in the matter, I am satisfied that 

 sheep, male or female, will attain a greater age 

 by not being allowed to ))reed until three years 

 old. If kept in moderate condition, getting neither 

 too fleshy nor too poor, they will frequently last 

 and be profitable till they are twelve or fifteen 

 years old. I have now one twelve years old, that 

 raised her first lamb at three years, and now has 

 as good teeth as any in my flock, and is apparently 

 in her prime except that her fleece has become 

 coarser and somewhat lighter. 



But among the advantages of pursuing the 

 above course, to the wool-grower, whose flocks 

 must be limited to a certain number, is the small 

 number of breeding ewes he will be enabled to 

 keep in consequence of having so many younger 

 sheep. The successful wool-grower will endeavor 

 to raise sheep, as well as wool, for sale. If young 

 sheep are kept so as to get twelve months growth 

 in a year (wliich is frequently not the case) there 

 is no difficulty in breeding from them at two 

 years old, and raising a flock tliat will be suffi- 

 ciently largo and hardy for mutton and wool- 

 growing purposes, and that will last and be val- 

 uable until eight or ten years old. Such a flock 

 will produce finer wool and more of it in propor- 

 tion to the amount of food, than one forced to an 

 unnatural size. I have used bucks at different 

 ages, from six months to five years, and have had 

 as good success, and raised as good lambs from 

 those that were one and a half years, as at any 

 other age. 



In breeding sheep for avooI, wc should also pay 

 some attention to form, which is of much more 

 importance than size, so far as its adaptation and 

 value for mutton is concerned. If merino sheep 

 measures from the withers to the root of the tail, 

 and from the withers to the nose, and likewise 

 from the withers down the fore leg to the hoof, 

 alike ; and the three lengths put together or three 

 times the length from the withers to the root of 

 the tail, being put around the sheep lengthways, 

 passing the string under the neck and around the 

 thighs, and the sheep is broad enough to fill the 



fancy, and such as I believe will eventually be 

 sought for. The sheep should be of medium size, 

 the ewe weighing when full grown, from 80 to 90 

 lbs., the skin loose but not rolling in folds, the 

 fleece thick, particularly on the belly, and ex- 

 tending well down on the legs and face ; the sta- 

 ple uniformly of one length — from two and a 

 half to three when of a year's growth — the curves 

 plain and uniform as possible, from one end to 

 the otiier, and not less than twenty-four to the 

 inch — if more the better — the fleece sufficiently 

 oily to render it soft to the touch, and the surface 

 a little dark. If the fleece be entirely destitute 

 of oil. the wool becomes harsh and wiry ; on the 

 other hand, if there is an excess, it must be at 

 the e> pense of the fleece, as well as carcass ; 

 being made from the same materials, and causing 

 the fiece to be thin and light after being cleansed, 

 and thj sheep hard to keep. Both extremes, 

 particul irly the latter, should be avoided. — Wool- 

 Groxccr 



ECONOMY IN THE EIGHT PLACE. 



Men who have made fortunes tell us that it is 

 much easier to acquire property than to keep it. 

 Whether this be true or not, we have not had 

 very ample means to determine, but are convinced 

 that it is much more difficult to expend money ju- 

 diciously, than to earn it. Wc know this, from 

 experiments in a small way, ourselves, as well as 

 from observations on the rest of mankind. Al- 

 most every man who will make up his mind to 

 have money, and devote his time and energies 

 early and late to this object, will succeed in his un- 

 dertaking. But there are various difficulties in 

 the way of spending it to the best advantage, 

 arising partly from the fact, that every man in- 

 tends, when he gets enough, to change his mode 

 of life, and adopt one more agreeable. One man 

 leaves his country for half a generation, and hav- 

 ing made his fortune, returns to find his youth- 

 ful friends all dead, or forgetful of him, and the 

 whole world so moved away from its former po- 

 sition, that he cannot find the place in it which 

 he formerly occupied. His money cannot buy 

 for him the smiles and sunshine of which for 

 years he had been dreaming, under a foreign sky. 



The city merchant looks anxiously forward to- 

 wards the day when he sliall close his counting- 

 room, and turn his back upon the perplexities of 

 his business, return to his native village in the 

 country, and re-purchase the old homestead, and 



