88 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



Feb. 



grettis. It is evident that steps have to be 

 taken, for the benefit of our wool growers, to 

 produce the most desirable and valuable wool 

 whicli our woolen industry needs. 



The importation of Silesian and Saxony 

 rams, either for account ol" the growers, or 

 for account of a company of manufacturers, 

 for distributing them at cost, adding a moder- 

 ate commission, appears to be the most expe- 

 dient measure for about three years, as that 

 length of time is recjuired before a good sized 

 stock farm of the best breeds of these coun- 

 tries is in a position to furnish the needed 

 rams to a certain number. There will be 

 Cither breeders here who will join for the pro- 

 \ision, by-and-by, of the demand and wants 

 for Silesian or Saxony breed. 



Allow me to say that nothing would speak 

 plainer for the growers, and be of more ad- 

 vantage to them, than a material proof of the 

 establishment of a stock farm by our largest 

 manufacturers. Such could be accomplished 

 with a capital of about $100,000, on a farm of 

 about 400 or 500 acres, properly located in a 

 healthy neighborhood near New York city. It 

 would do to commence with a flock of about 

 200 ewes and eight or ten bucks of Silesian 

 and Saxony full blood breed ; but I would ad- 

 vocate under present circumstances, to begin 

 with double that number, because the first year 

 there would probably be only 350 lambs, of 

 which one-half that number are males, and 

 from them we have to deduct for mortality, 

 &c., leaving only about 140 rams for sale 

 when two and a half years old ; consequently 

 the income for the sale of rams would com- 

 mence the third year, after which the yearly 

 number would increase, and with it the entire 

 value of the farm. Taking a moderate aver- 

 age value at $100 each, the first income for 

 140 rams would be equal to $14,000. As the 

 expenses of a stock farm are heavier than of 

 other farms, I will remark that all the pro- 

 duce, including the wool, might be taken for 

 the expenses, leaving the revenue of rams as 

 net profit, and increasing every year, would be 

 a handsome return for the investment. 



It is with this as with every business ; its 

 success depends upon a good selection of the 

 best and healthiest breed, the proper lands 

 and locality, good management, reliable help, 

 etc. After inspecting a number of farms, 

 some of them seem to be well adapted and 

 reasonable in price, and to secure the success 

 more fully of an enterprise of this nature, I 

 would recommend the appointment of an able, 

 reliable person, and trust to him rather than 

 commit it to the care of shareholders who are 

 unaccjuainted with it, or who might perhaps in- 

 terfere to the detriment of other interested 

 parties. A few large subscribers are prefer- 

 able to many small ones. — H. D. Tellkampf, 

 New York, Nov. 6. 



The Buenos Ayres wool clip of last year 

 amounted to 100,000,000 pounds. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 A. NEW YEAR SONG. 



BY ANNE G. HALE. 



A happy new year 1 A bappy new year I 



A happy new year to all I 

 "We've naught to dread, we've naught to fear, 



Whatever ill befall. 

 Ill — why should we call it thus ? 



Or Good ? How dare we say 

 That aught is better, or worse, for us 



While here below we stay ? 



O Earth, thy mysteries stand 



Unsolved while the ages roll, 

 Mocking the wisest brain and hand, 



And spurning all control I 

 And thus the years pass on. 



Bringing the same to all, — 

 At times Life's bread, at times a stone— 



The birth robe, and the pall. 



The past with its pleading prayers 



Unanswered flits away. 

 And out of its crumbling altar-stairs 



We build our cross to-day : 

 Who knows but that it yet may rise 



To a column of grace and strength, 

 Uprearing under smiling skies 



A palace of joy at length ? 



We know Our Father's eye 



Looks through earth's thickest clonds ; 

 He sendeth peace from His throne on high, 



Where wildest woe enshrouds; 

 And from the deepest grave, 



And to lips the dumbest long. 

 His hand hath power to raise and save, 



And give the sweetest song. 



Then — up I up I every heart I 



And — up ! all voices here I 

 Sorrow and sighing shall depart 



Before the glad new year. 

 A happy, happy new year I 



A happy new year to all I 

 We've naught to dread, we've naught to fear, 



Whatever may befall. 



CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO THE "WHEAT 

 CROP. 



We have just harvested and threshed our 

 summer wheat, and find the yield to be a little 

 rising thirty bushels to the acre. The berry is 

 plump and full, and in color is not affected by 

 the season. As we look upon our bins filled 

 with the noble grain we ask ourselves, *'^\T]y 

 is the cultivation of this cereal so generally 

 neglected in New England ?" Farmers have 

 the impression that their lands have lost some 

 element or elements essential to its growth, and 

 therefore it must uniformly fail. This is true 

 in part. Analysis of the wheat plant, both of 

 the straw and berry, shows that it is peculiarly 

 rich in lime, and also in the phosphatic and ni- 

 trogenous elements. These cannot be found 

 in sufficient quantity in our worn-out soils, and 

 therefore the wheat plant languishes. But we 



