342 



Sheep-Shearing. — Tabular Estimate of Craps. Vol. VIII. 



Delaware Sheep-Shearing. 



The following notice of a truly patriarchal sheep- 

 ehearinir, we take from the Delaware Republican, of 

 the 24th ult., published at WilniinKton. We have not 

 had the sratitication of seeing Philip Reybold's flock, 

 but we have understood it is one of the finest in the 

 State. His mutton, which has several times been ex- 

 hibited in our market, has been equal to any that we 

 have seen. Our readers will recollect that twenty-one 

 of his two-year old wethers were slaughtered here in 

 the early part of the Third mo., 1842. The four quar- 

 ters dreseed of one of them, weighed H7 lbs. Portraits 

 of two of those sl)eep, may be found in our si.xth vul- 

 ujne.— Ed. 



Last week, we learn that Major Reybold, 

 of this county, commenced sheering iiis 

 large and valuable flock of fine Leicester 

 sheep. On Friday, he invited several of 

 his agricultural friends to witness his ope- 

 rations and partake of a "fatted lamb," of 

 that famous breed. One hundred of the run 

 of his flock were sheered under the inspec- 

 tion of Isaac Reeves, Capt. Maxwell, Dr. J. 

 W. Thomson and C. P. Holcomb, Esq., and 

 averaged about seven and a half pounds per 

 fleece; some weighing nearly nine pounds; 

 few under six, and generally from seven to 

 eight pounds. A most extraordinary yield, 

 two samples of which have been kindly pre- 

 sented to us by one of the gentlemen present. 

 Major Reybold's home flock consists, we are 

 informed, of about 600, and as many more 

 divided about among his diflferent farms. 

 We are informed that out of ten shearers, 

 six were grown up sons of the Major, all 

 married men except the youngest, who cer- 

 tainly deserves to be. Our friend describes 

 the whole scene as one of the most patriar- 

 chal and interesting he ever witnessed; and 

 Major Reybold's whole farm, dairy and agri- 

 cultural arrangements, as in the highest 

 good taste and prosperity. The fine mutton 

 of Mr. R. has been long celebrated. His 

 great clip of long wool, we should think, 

 under the present tariff', will bring him hand- 

 some prices, and be admirably calculated for 

 the manufacture of mouslin de lains and 

 cambric purposes. Success to him and the 

 agricultural spirit now pervading Delaware. 



Stoop a little. — The following story 

 related by Dr. Franklin in a letter to Dr. 

 Mather, has been often told, and is well 

 worth telling again : 



" The last time I saw your father," says 

 Dr. Franklin, " was in 1724. In taking rny 

 leave, he showed me a short way out of the 

 house, through a narrow passage, which was 

 crossed by a beam over head. We were 

 still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying 

 me behind, and I turning towards him, he 

 said hastily, ' Stooj) / stoop /' I did not un- 



derstand him till I felt my head hit against 

 the beam. He was a man who never missed 

 an occasion of giving instruction, and upon 

 this he said to me, 'You are youn?, and 

 have the world before you : stoop a little as 

 you go through it, and you will avoid many 

 hard thumps.' This advice, thus beat into 

 my head, has frequently been of use to me ; 

 and I often think of it when I see pride mor- 

 tified, and misfortunes brought upon people 

 by carrying their heads too high." 



Tabular Estimate of Crops for 1843. 



Among the many highly interesting statements 

 brought together in his recent Report, by the good 

 judgment and industry of the Commissioner of Patents, 

 we find the following tables which give at one view, 

 the population of the respective States, and their pro- 

 ducliveness in the necessaries, and some of the luxu- 

 ries of life. Every farmer is conversant with his own 

 grain fields, his meadows, and his granaries;— it is a 

 gratification to be able to estimate also, the products 

 of his particular neighbourhood, or county, or State; 

 and a still more extended inquiry which embraces the 

 whole Union, is often presented to the reflecting mind 

 of the agriculturist, which we have thought it would 

 be convenient for him to be able to recur to in the 

 Cabinet, 



These estimates have been made with great care, 

 and rely for their correctness upon numerous sources 

 of information, which the Commissioner has sought 

 out, and made subservient to his purpose. It will be 

 observed, that while our own State is second in popu- 

 lation, she is obliged to yield to Ohio and New York, 

 in the quantity of wheat produced : and in Indian corn, 

 the great staple crop of the country, she stands twelfth 

 on the list, in an aggregate of nearly five hundred mil- 

 lions of bushels. It is not a little singular, that New 

 York is second only to Louisiana, in the production of 

 sugar, and that Vermont shows a yield of upwards of 

 three millions of pounds, the fifth in largeness of 

 amount ! In Cotton, Georgia takes the lead— Kentucky 

 in Tobacco,— while in Flax and Hemp, Virginia is first. 



"Taken as a whole, through the planting, growing, 

 and harvest periods, the season of 1843, was perhaps 

 not so favourable as that of 1842." There is, however, 

 compared with the estimate for 1842, an increase of 

 more than 50,000,000 of bushels in the crop of corn, 

 while in that of wheat, we find a diminution of some 

 2,000,000 of bushels. In potatoes, there was, as we 

 all know, a great falling off. 



In the great variety of soil and of climate, which 

 the extent of our country affords us, connected with 

 the different manner in which, in different districts 

 we are accustomed to have our wants supplied, we 

 have under a beneficent Providence, a strong guaranty 

 that the fluctuations of the seasons, and the failure of 

 particular crops in particular localities, will yet not 

 deprive us, to any very inconvenient extent, of an 

 abundant supply of every thing which our daily wants 

 require. Our garners overflow with the good things of 

 life, the fruits of our own industry; and thus may we 

 be shown, that He who " giveth us all things richly to 

 enjoy," hath wisely ordered, that in more ways than 

 one, " the diligent hand m&keth rich."— Ek, 



