No. 1. 



Nantucket Sheep-shearing. — Feeding horses. 



23 



Nantucket Sheep-Shearing. 



This ancient festival has been duly ob- 

 served during the week, by our whole popu- 

 lation, as affording an occasion for much 

 simple, but hearty festivity and social happi- 

 ness. This usage, coeval with the early 

 times of our island, of devoting tliree or 

 four days in the month of June, to the shear- 

 ing of the sheep and to social pastimes, af- 

 fords the only holidays winch our people 

 enjoy. 



The " four days" began on Monday morn- 

 ing, with a clear sky and charming summer 

 breezes, and by early dawn, the sheep drivers 

 had begun their excursion to the distant part 

 of the island in search of the animals who 

 furnish business for the day. The circle 

 formed by the horsemen on the outskirts of 

 the island, is gradually narrowed by the ap- 

 proach of the drivers of the flock to the 

 centre, and by noon the sheep then gath- 

 ered, are driven into pens on the borders of 

 the washing pond, and are then selected by 

 their respective owners, washed and set at 

 liberty into an enclosure containing about 

 eleven hundred acres, whence, on the third 

 and fourth days, after the wool has become 

 sufficiently dry, they are taken and disrobed 

 of their fleecy treasures. They are then 

 set at large upon the common, and in a few 

 hours return with unfailing speed and accu- 

 racy, to the identical spots whence they 

 were driven. 



A walk over the grounds devoted to these 

 labours, brings to view many groups of well 

 dressed people, and happy youthful faces, 

 wearing the smile which on their blooming 

 cheeks, denotes the cheerful heart. 



On the roads to the scene of action, and 

 in the thoroughfares of the town, carriages 

 of every capacity and description, from the 

 one-horse Nantucket calash to the four-horse 

 omnibus of the city, close packed with pas- 

 sengers, and hurrying in hot haste to and 

 fro, enliven the usual dullness of our streets, 

 and by the show of life bn the exterior of 

 society, create new life within the individual 

 breast. 



On the ground, this year, a new feature 

 of interest was the spacious tent erected by 

 the Washington Total Abstinence Society, 

 for the accommodation of the cold water 

 army and others, who might need refresh- 

 ment within its spacious folds. This tent 

 was one hundred feet long by fifty wide, and 

 thirty high. It displayed the American ban- 

 ner during the " tour days," and was the 

 head-quarters of the army of youthful vota- 

 ries of total abstinence, who on Wednesday 

 afternoon, marched from the Town-hall, ac- 



cording to general orders previously given 

 out, to the shearing grounds. 



This procession was one of the most inte- 

 lesting sights of the season. About three 

 hundred children composed the troop, and 

 proceeded, accompanied by a band of music, 

 and displaying appropriate banners, through 

 some of the principal streets of the town. 

 Arrived at the Washingtonian tent, they join- 

 ed their silver voices in singing several "cold 

 water" songs; and having partaken of some 

 refreshments, and been addressed in some 

 suitable remarks, the procession was re- 

 formed, and returned to the town. The es- 

 cort duties of the day were performed by a 

 corps of citizens on horseback. 



And lastly, combining all that was plea- 

 sant to the eye and ear, was the Fair held 

 under the patronage of the Ladies' Howard 

 Society, in Washington-hall. This spacious 

 room was decorated with surpassing taste, 

 the tables were stocked with the most at- 

 tractive wares, and if the visiter was not 

 subdued by the charms of the articles for 

 sale, he was sure to be bewitched by charms 

 which could not be bought. Sparkling eyes, 

 rosy lips, smiling faces, damask cheeks, the 

 melody of sweet voices, &c., &c., made the 

 Ladies' Fair the most elegant and most cap- 

 tivatmg entertainment of the season. — Nan- 

 tucket Inquirer. 



Feeding Horses. 



Various opinions are entertained as to 

 the best and most economical mode of feed- 

 ing horses, and many experiments are on 

 record, that have been instituted to settle 

 the question. The result seems to be, that 

 at the ordinary prices of grain and hay, it is 

 cheaper to keep horses on grain, than on 

 hay, or on hay and grain. There is another 

 important matter to be considered, however, 

 and that is, is feeding entirely with grain, as 

 conducive to the health of the animal, as a 

 mixture of hay and grain 1 We do not be- 

 lieve it to be ; and the general result of the 

 experiments has been to show that it is not. 

 Our own experience too, would lead us to 

 speak decidedly upon this point. We have 

 tried feeding horses upon grain alone, and 

 upon grain and liay, and found the latter the 

 best for the animals. They were not so 

 shrunk up or gaunt, there was more muscle 

 and consequently more weight, and whatever 

 may be thought of this latter quality in a 

 race-horse, where nothing but sinews and 

 bones are required, every farmer knows that 

 the road or farm horse, is worth but little 

 without weight. Feeding horses on grain 

 alone, is like keeping a man on wheat bread 

 solely; he will live for a time, but will 



