No. 12. 



American Ploughs in England. — Soil for Sheep. 



381 



into tlie kennel, except in rainy weather. 

 Whenever the dog barked, the goose would 

 cackle and run at the person she supposed 

 the dog barked at, and try to bite him by the 

 heels. JSonietinies t^hc would attempt to teed 

 with the dog; but this the dog, who treated 

 his faithful companion rather with indiffer- 

 ence, would not permit. This bird would 

 not go to roost with the others at night, un- 

 less driven by main force; and when in the 

 morning she was turned into the field, she 

 would never stir from the yard gate, but sit 

 there the whole day in sight of the dog. At 

 last orders were given that she should be no 

 longer molested, but suffered to accompany 

 it as she liked. Being thus left to herseltj 

 she ran about the yard with him all the 

 night; and what is particularly extraordi- 

 nary, and can be attested by the whole pa- 

 rish, whenever the dog went out of the yard 

 and ran into the village, the goose always 

 accompanied him, contriving to keep up with 

 him by the assistance of her wings; and in 

 this way of running and flying, followed him 

 all over the parish. This extraordinary af- 

 fection of the goose towards the dog, which 

 continued to his death, two years after it 

 was first observed, is supposed to have origi- 

 nated from his having accidentally saved her 

 from a fox in the very moment of distress. 

 While the dog was ill, the goose never quit 

 him day or night, not even to feed; and it 

 was apprehended she would have been 

 starved to death had not orders been given 

 for a pan of corn to be set every day close 

 to the kennel. At this time the goo.'^e gen- 

 erally sat in the kennel, and would not suf- 

 fer any one to approach, except the person 

 who brought the dog's or her own food. The 

 end of tins faithful bird was melancholy; for 

 when the dog died, she would still keep po: 

 session of the kennel; and a new house dog 

 being introduced, which in size and colour 

 resembled the one lately lost, the poor goose 

 was unhappily deceived, and going into the 

 kennel as usual, the new inhabitant seized 

 her by the throat and killed her." 



American Ploughs in England. 



In a late Number of the Mark Lane Ex 

 press, we find the following: 



"After maturely trying Mr. Slocum's 

 plough against the best of ours, their per- 

 formances were as follows: First, his ploughs 

 tried against Adams' Northampton plough 

 and Howard's Champion plough, on a clay 

 soil, not very strong clay. Howard's plough 

 at five inches deep by eleven wide, draught 

 31 stone: Adams' plough at the same width 

 and depth, 30 stone; whilst the American 

 at five inches by fourteen inches wide, drew 



only 26 stone. In justice to the American 

 [)loughs, I mu.-t say that they cut and turned 

 their furrow quite as well as the others, at 

 the same time breaking the land to pieces, 

 making a capital prepar;ition for either drill- 

 ing or dibblmg; indeed they are the most 

 simple, light, strong, and efScient ploughs 

 that it is possible to conceive. Yesterday, a 

 gentleman farmer and myself put one of 

 them on trial with one of Comtam and Ilal- 

 let'sdynamoiuetersagainst tlie lightest draw- 

 ing plough of my own upon a field, one of 

 which is a very strong clay, and the other a 

 clayey lea mold, which very few ploughs 

 will clear themselves in ; the middle a mix- 

 ture of the two, with a little gravel in it. 

 We first tried them at five inches deep, my 

 own at 11 inches wide, which was as much 

 as it would cut up and turn properly, in the 

 strong clay, and it drew 44 stone; in the 

 mixture, 48 stone; and in the lea mold 46 

 stone. We then tried it at 8 inches in depth 

 by 11 in width, when we found on the strong 

 clay 46 .stone; on the mixture 44 stone, and 

 in the lea mold 48 stone. We then tried 

 the American plough at 5 inches deep and 

 14 wide, and found the draught — in the 

 strong clay, 38 stone; mixture 40 stone; in 

 the lea mold, 32 stone; the same width, and 

 8 inches deep in the clay, 42 stone; in the 

 mixture 43 stone; and in the lea mold 36 

 stone." 



Soil for Sheep. 



The soil most suitable for the sheep is a 

 dry one. It is emphatically an upland ani- 

 mal, and loves the short and varied herbage 

 of hill and mountain slopes, provided the soil 

 is not poachy from an excess of moisture. 

 To no other domestic quadruped is water 

 more repugnant, unless when necessary to 

 lave its thirst, as will be seen in its aversion 

 to crossing streams, and always selecting the 

 driest points for feeding and rest. Whether 

 it is thus, because it is endowed with the in- 

 stinctive knowledge, that the presence of too 

 much moisture in a soil engenders diseases 

 too fatal to it, cannot conclusively be deter- 

 mined. But there is strong presumptive 

 evidence that it is so, from the fact that this 

 intelligent principle abounds in all the brute 

 creation to that degree, when free from the 

 restraints of man, which induces the forma- 

 tion of such habits only as conduce for the 

 most part to their welfare and safety. 



The chalky districts of England, on which 

 so large a portion of the Down sheep are fed, 

 cause:! a liarsh and inelastic feeling of their 

 wool. Blacklock says — "Soil, also, has much 

 influence oil the pliability of the wool. Chalky 

 lands, which are so notorious for injuring the 



