1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKJUER. 



495 



titled to the premium, but the man who makes 

 the best show from his acre at the least cost. 

 We have made several other reflections on 

 looking over the reports referred to, but we 

 have said quite enough for once. 



ANOIiO-MERINO SHEEP. 



This is the name applied to a breed of sheep 

 introduced some years since mto England, and 

 which is represented as the product of a cross 

 of the merino with the English long-wooled 

 sheep. This latter has been brought to a condi- 

 tion of great excellence by the exertions of Lord 

 Western, and is represented by those who 

 have seen it, and examined specimens of the 

 wool, as being in every respect a line animal. 

 At the Smithfield Cattle Show, samples of this 

 cross excited great admiration, and were for a 

 long time the subject of comment and eulogy 

 in the various agricultural and other journals. 



In a number of the Farmer's (London) 

 Magazine, Lord Western published a letter, 

 accompanied by documentary statistics and 

 proofs, going to demonstrate the high value of 

 this breed, both in reference to carcass, and 

 the superiority of the wool. The weight of 

 some of his wethers, was, after being dressed, 

 one hundred and fifty pounds. Of this weight, 

 from twenty to twenty-five pounds was fat 

 from the intestines. The wool averaged, in 

 the cross breed, more than five and a half 

 pounds per head, in a flock of two hundred 

 and one sheep. 



The c.ief object of Lord Western in insti- 

 tuting his interesting series of experiments, 

 appears to have been the desire to ascertain, 

 practically, the feasibility of engrafting the 

 Merino wool on the Leicester carcass. In his 

 letter he remarks that his sheep may not fat- 

 ten so early or equal to the weight of the 

 Leicester, yet they give a handsome carcass, 

 and carry a heavy fleece, equal in quality to 

 the Merino ; and that they are, upon the whole, 

 an improvement in hardiness, upon the Meri- 

 nos. 



The sheep is a valuable animal, and one 

 which is, perhaps, more readily susceptible of 

 improvement through the instrumentality of 

 good keeping and judicious crossings, than 

 any other domestic animals kept upon the 

 farm. 



In this country, a variety of influences have 

 long tended to divert attention from this impor- 



tant subject, but for severaL years past, there 

 have been unmistakable indications of an awak- 

 ening interest, and many of our farmers are 

 moving forward in the work of improvement 

 with great zeal. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



Amebican Fish Culture, embracing all the details 

 of Ariiticial Breeding and Rearing of Trout: the 

 Culture of SalmoQ, dhad and other Fiehes. By 

 'I haddeus Norijs, author of "The American Angler'd 

 Book." Illustrated. Pniladelphia: Porter & Ooates ; 

 Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1868. 



Fish Culture means simply the rearing of fish 

 by artificial means, which protect them from many 

 of the dangers to which they are exposed in their 

 natural haunts, and, by feeding and otherwise, im- 

 proving on nature. Within a few years past Dr. 

 Fletcher, of New England, Dr. Daniell, of Geor- 

 gia, S. H. Ainsworth, R. B. Roosevelt and S. 

 Green, of New York, as well as the author of this 

 work of Pennsylvania, and others, have interested 

 themselves in this subject, and have done much 

 towards stocking our inland waters with desirable 

 varieties of fish. 



Fish culture is an old art, in which the Chinese 

 have, long been proficients, and with whom the 

 fecundated spawn is still an article of traffic. We 

 are told that the value of fish kept in the ponds of 

 Lucullus, an eld Roman citizen, who lived on the 

 shores of the Gulf of Naples, amounted to a sum 

 which in our money would be equal to two hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand dollars. And why, in 

 modern times, should not "the waters bring forth 

 abundantly the moving creature that hath life," as 

 well as the land ? 



The author informs us that the publishers of 

 several agricultural papers have offered to pay him 

 liberally for short articles on fish culture, but that 

 he has invariably refused for the good reason 

 that the subject could not be properly treated in 

 the space usually allowed to such articles. He 

 has, therefore, reserved his teachings for the more 

 ample accommodations which a three-hundred 

 page volume affords. 



TBAININQ ANIMALS FOR WOBK. 



There is a great advantage in having all 

 brood animals well and thoroughly, trained. 

 The oflfapring of such are more tractable, and 

 have less natural fear of man. All animals, 

 male or female, used for breeding, should be 

 thoroughly domesticated and taught to handle 

 well, and have no fear of man. By this 

 means, their value for labor may be greatly 

 increased, and their care rendered much more 

 pleasant and satisfactory. 



In training animals it is necessary to under- 

 stand their nature and habits. 



Habit is with brutes, as with men, an iron- 



