1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



331 



most beautiful and valuable sheep I ever owned. 

 Several weeks since, she was taken with the stretch- 

 es and died, leaving a lamb two or three weeks old. 

 As a remedy, I gave her castor oil once in twelve 

 hours, but to no purpose ; on examination of the 

 internal organs, I found an involution of one part 

 of the intestine within another, extending at least 

 six inches, and when withdrawn, was so rotten as 

 to break in two. I have heretofore never believed 

 that stretches were caused by an involution, but 

 since I have seen I must believe. I suppose they 

 are also sometimes caused by costiveness, and may 

 be removed by physic or by setting the dog after 

 the sheep, and making her run violently. Stretches 

 are very much the nature of piles, only they are in 

 ternal, and piles external. In the case of an invo- 

 lution, the remedies, to stand any chance of success, 

 must be applied in its first stages; they consist in 

 filling the small intestines with air, by applying a 

 pair of bellows to the rectum, and then taking the 

 sheep by the hind legs, and raising her so as to 

 cause her to stand upon the fore legs, and jerking 

 suddenly a few times; it may effect a cure. 



The great objection to engaging in breeding coarse 

 sheep, is the fii'st cost of them, which, I am aware, is 

 high, and constantly rising higher. One-third of 

 my this year's lambs are already engaged at ten 

 dollars for bucks, and fifteen for ewes. But I main- 

 tain that this is the very reason why it is so safe to 

 invest in breeding them, because, if they were so 

 common as to be worth but five dollars per head, 

 it would liardly be worth the while for any one to 

 engage in the business with the expectation of 

 making large profits. As it is, the investment is 

 perfectly sale, from the fact that there are but few 

 of them in the country, and the demand for fat 

 sheep is such that they will be sold as fast as they 

 can be raised. The demand is constantly increas- 

 ing on the supply, so that they cannot, by any pos- 

 sible means, be lowered in price for years to come. 

 This demand has arisen from the fact, in part, that 

 the raising of wool was once an object with the 

 farmer, and the market was supplied with lambs 

 raised from fine sheep ; but since the business of 

 raising wool is but a secondary object, the fine 

 sheep by which the market was once supplied have 

 gone from the country, and this leaves a vacuum 

 which cannot be filled for a long time. On the 14th 

 of February, I sold three two-year old wethers in 

 Hartford market, which at nine cents per lb., live 

 weight, brought me $47,97. The heaviest weighed 

 at home 221 lbs. There is no difficulty in getting 

 the lambs to weigh from 1 10 to 125 lbs. by the 

 first of January, at which time they will sell for 9 

 or 10 cts. per lb., live weight. In 1853 I sold the 

 incom-e of four sheep as follows : 



1 pr. lambs, 16 months old $50,00 



1 pr. twins, one 7 months, one 16 months $25,00 



2 single lambs, §25 each..'. $50,00 



4 fleeces of wool $6,00 



$141,00 



Making an income of $35,25 each sheep. 



I have a two-year old buck, for which I have refused 

 a hundred dollars. Three of his lambs (one a twin,) 

 weighed at ten months old, as follows : 146, 157, 

 (twins) 157. I will give one hundred dollars for a 

 better than the best of these three. My buck is 

 compact and tight, almost as a Suffolk pig, and 

 aside from the glue, is as well protected from rains 

 as a merino sheep. His legs are so short, and his 

 bo.'.y so compact, that I believe he would sooner 



starve than jump over a perpendicular stone wall 

 three feet high. 



I commenced the winter with fifty-two sheep, two 

 of which I have lost. From twenty-six ewes 1 shall 

 raise thirty-two lambs this year, and I will venture 

 to prophesy that my fifty sheep will this year bring 

 me an income of five hundred dollars, and keep my 

 flock good. At the end of the year, I will give the 

 result of my operations. The best time to purchase 

 is in the months of September and October, as 

 soon as the weather is cool enough to send them 

 safely by railroad. If then they are subjected to a 

 little harsh treatment on the road, it will not seri- 

 ously injure them. T. L. Hart. 



West Cornwall, CL, May, 1857. 



"MORE NICE THAN WISE." 



Although we have much respect for old sayings, 

 we do believe that a farmer may keep his premises 

 and his fields tolerably nice without proving him- 

 self to be extremely foolish. It has, however, oc- 

 curred to us, that our allusion lately to a me- 

 chanic-farmer of Vermont may have reminded ma- 

 ny of our readers of some such old saw as that 

 which heads this article. And as we said nothing 

 of the profit cf his nice farming, others may have 

 concluded that we had nothing to say on that point 

 — the very point, mince matters as we may, on 

 which information is demanded, in respect to dif- 

 ferent modes of practice upon the farm. Others, 

 still, may be curious to know our friend's experi- 

 ence of the comparative profit of mechanical and 

 agricultural pursuits ; for we stated that he left the 

 shop for the farm on account of failing health. 



As we do not give his name or residence, we hope it 

 will not be considered a misuse of a confidential state- 

 ment, to say that our friend made money as a me- 

 chanic, and that he makes money as a farmer. His 

 wife, when a girl, worked at a trade, and at their 

 marriage their united savings gave them a good 

 start in the world. He continued about three years 

 at his trade after marriage, and laid aside during 

 that time some five hundred dollars more. Eigh- 

 teen years ago, he bought his farm. Its buildings 

 were of but little value then. They are now very 

 good, handsome and convenient. There are about 

 150 acres of land. The farm is now worth over 

 $4000. Our friend is out of debt, and has other 

 property beside the farm, equal, at least, to the sum 

 of his property when he commenced farming. So 

 that, besides regaining his health, he has made 

 money faster by returning to the farm than he did 

 by following his trade. 



If it is said that but few farmers do as well as 

 he has done as a farmer, it may be replied, that but 

 few mechanics do as well as he did as a mechanic. 

 The truth is, the elements of success were within 

 him ; and whether in a shop or on a farm, whether 

 in New England or at the West, they would "make 

 a man of him." 



