u XXIV. Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., MARCH, 1863. 



No. 3. 



SHALL W£ KEEP SHEEP OS COWS! 



iV^e know a farmer who has recently sold all his 

 rs, with the intention of " going into the sheep 

 lioess." We think he makes a mistake. Sheep 

 V are all the rage. They have undoubtedly 

 n very profitable the past year, and consequent- 

 e very body wants to keep sheep. It is the old 

 •y repeated for the hundredth time. 

 L few years ago a farmer told us he was going 

 buy sheep. We advised him not. "Why," 

 [ he, " everybody is buying sheep." " That is 

 very reason," we replied, "why you should 

 buy." In less than eighteen months he re- 

 ked: " You saved me $500 by that advice," 

 ol was again low, and everybody wanted to sell 

 r sheep. Those who did so would have made 

 >ey had they held on to their sheep ; but they 

 e too fickle minded. They will probablybuy at 

 time, and pay double what they sold for then, 

 ^e would not be oaderstood as intimating that 

 1 growing will ioo be profitable. We think 

 e who have sheep will realize handsome profits 

 I them. But to sell cows at a low price, and 

 sheep at high figures, is not wise. 

 e believe cows will prove quite as profitable 

 heep — especially to thoie who purchase sheep 

 lie present high prices Butter and cheese 

 inand high prices, and are likely to do so as 

 as tjje pr.isent> high premium on gold continues, 

 ything that can be exported will bring gold, 

 consequently high prices. If gold falls, so will 

 er and cheese — and so, we believe, will wool, 

 assuming that gold will continue as high as at 

 3nt, butter and cheese will continue to bring 

 prices, and will be among the most profitable 

 acts that farmers can raise. There can be no 

 >t on this point. The freight on them, as com- 

 d to value, is comparatively light, and there is, 

 will continue to be, a ready market for them 

 Ingland. Persons who wish to send money 

 ad, are now buying up everytning that can be | 



exported, rather than pay the enormous premium 

 on exchange, A few days ago an English gentle- 

 man wrote us from New York to inquire the price 

 of bran. He is a large manufacturer, and had 

 collected some $40,000 or $50,000 in this country, 

 which he wished to take home with him. The 

 premium on exchange was frightful, and he was 

 desirous of putting the money into something that 

 would sell on the other side. Bran is the last 

 thing we should have thought of, on account of 

 its bulk, and the incident shows how eagerly 

 everything is purchased that can be exported. 

 Now, as we have said, butter and cheese can be 

 exported with less expense than any other agricul- 

 tural productj and consequently we may expect 

 higher prices. 



We say nothing against wool growing. It may 

 continue for some years, as it is now, highly profit- 

 able. But aside from wool, we know of nothing 

 that promises to be so remunerative as the manu- 

 facture of cheese. There are few farmers in this 

 State that have made more money than the cheese 

 makers in the northern counties, even at old prices 

 and at the present price of cheese their profits 

 must be much larger than ever before. 



The cost of going into the dairy business is not 

 large. The press, cheese vat, and dairy utensils 

 cost comparatively little, and will last for 

 years. In no other country has mechanical ingenuity 

 done 80 much to lessen the labor of cheese making 

 as in the United States. With one of our easily 

 worked presses and one of Rowk's Western Reserve 

 Cheese Vats, cheese making, as compared with the 

 old fashioned English plan, is a pleasant pastime. 

 If the farmer provides a clean cow house, his wife 

 and daughters will not object to help in milking, at 

 least occasionally, and there need be little money 

 paid out for hired help. 



It may be asked, " would you recommend making 

 cheese on grain farms ?" In certain circumstances • 

 most decidedly, we would. If there is land enough 



