222 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Mat 



there were some full blood South Downs in his 

 neighborhood which were certainly very good 

 sheep, large, and wool of very good quality, and 

 they raise up a gre;vt many lambs. Tlie Leicesters 

 come to maturity earlier than any other sheep, 

 but whether they are the best sheep for us, is 

 doubtful. They are not so good for wool, and the 

 lambs the first year arc worth but very little. 



The Chairman mentioned the manner of feed- 

 ing sheep pursued by Mr. L.\wton, Great Barring- 

 ton, in the western pjirt of the State. He keeps 

 800 sheep, and feeds them one quart of corn each, 

 per day, and all at one time. 



^Ir. RrssELL, of Pittsfield, said he had noticed 

 that the half blood Merinos did not produce so 

 large lambs as the full bloods, but they were very 

 fat — fatter than any other he knew of. He was 

 firmly of the opinion that a cross of the French 

 Merino with the South Down, would produce a 

 most profitable variety. He saw a lot of about^thir- 

 ty tun Diuud Fx^^o), \rerinos on the Hudson river 

 last fall,which were fine sheep, and wouia pruijabi^j- 

 weigh 140 lbs. each, per live carcass. They were 

 not fine wooled generally, but he picked out six or 

 eight from the lot which had very fine wool. The 

 wool on any of them was fine enough for de laines. 

 He thought a cross of them with the South Downs 

 or "old-fashioned" or native stockjwould be success- 

 ful, but should give the preference to the "old- 

 fashioned" on one or two accounts ; one is that 

 their lambs mature quicker. He also spoke very 

 favorably of the Silesians, as yielding a long, fine 

 and compact fleece, and possessing a very hand- 

 some form. A year old sheep of half blood French 

 Merinos, sliorn at Hinsdale, last year, yielded 4 

 lbs., 13 ouucesjof wool, which sold for 60 cents 

 per lb. The animal weighed only 44 lbs. 



The Chairman said he thought we must use tur- 

 nips as feed for sheep. 



Mr. Howard said he understood there were ep- 

 icures in this city who would not eat anything but 

 Plymouth County mutton, because,they said, Dan- 

 iel Webster was the greastest epicure in this coun- 

 try, and imported pure South Down sheep, whose 

 blood has l»een disseminated in Plymouth county, 

 and they must have good mutton in that county. 

 He desired to hear from Mr. Spragub on this 

 point. 



Mr. 8prague said he knew very little about 

 sheep, altliough he knew Mr. Webster had sheep 

 which wer.' wortli seven or eight dollars. H<^ 

 then went on to remark concerning sheep in Great 

 Britain . There sheep have more muscle than here, 

 and a }x;tter admixture of fat and lean flesh. Sheep 

 intended lor the table should not have too much 

 fat. Mutton is growing more popular in this 

 country. The great difficulty in raising it here is 

 our hot sun. In England the climate is moist. 

 Farmers in this country have paid little atten- 

 tion to the raising oC mutton, ];ut it is impor- 

 tant that they should. 



Mr, Russell remarked that considerable had 

 been said in regard to the quality of the meat of 

 fine wool sheep, — that it was not so good as the 

 coarse wool varieties ; but he thought this opinion 

 would be found erroneous on investigation. The 

 South Down appr^Kimates to a fine wool sheep. 



Mr. Coi'ELAND, of Roxbury, thought the value 

 of different kinds of feed for farm animals, should 

 be studied more, and should be made statistical. 

 It is said on good authority tliat 90 11>8. of turnips 

 will make 1 lb. of beef, and 85 lbs. of corn will 

 make the same amount. Prof. Nash had said 

 that the reason why English mutton was less rank 

 than our, might be the fiict that English mutton 

 is fed on turnips. In regard to the matter of buy- 

 ing animals at a certain age to fatten, instead of 

 raising them, he thought it the more profitable 

 plan , because after the bone and muscle are formed, 

 tlie cost of fattening is much lessened, and a lar- 

 ger profit is made on an animal after this period 

 than before. In England it has been found (al- 

 tKaiigh the matter is not definitely settled) that 

 cattle, after a certain age, f<vtton first inside, and 

 then outwardly, 



Mr. Howard said he did not think that the con- 

 nection between feed on turnips and good mutton, 

 could be established, for the best mutton in the 

 English markets is grown on the hills and heathers, 

 and is never fed with turnips. The difference is 

 not the result of climate on feed, but in the germ 

 or breed. 



Mr. Russell said he considered himself a good 

 judge of mutton, and thought the matter was not 

 treated properly. Mutton should not be eaten 

 until it is a fortnight old, when it is exceedingly 

 tender and palatable. This system is pursued in 

 England. 



The Chairmam expressed his concurrence in 

 this view of the matter. He also alluded to the 

 want of some rule for raising animals. We can tell 

 by the eye what is a good animal, but we do not 

 know how exactly to produce another like it. He 

 believed that hybrids from the French merino were 

 going to be of great benefit to this country. 



Mr. Russell offered soiae remarks in relation 

 to offering premiums for fine animals He thought 

 the most judicious plan would be for the agricul- 

 tural societes to award premiums for several ani- 

 mals to be raised by one person, because the selec- 

 tion of a single remakable animal for premium had 

 no tendency to improve breeds of stock. 



The Chairman inquired of CoL Newell whether 

 sheep would eat wax-wood ! 



Mr. Newell replied that they would eat it and 

 thrive on it. A gentleman of his acquaintance 

 had puchased a flock for the very purpose of era- 

 dicating it from his farm, and was successful. 

 He had no doubt that the qviality of mutton was 

 improved by feeding roots. Sheep fatten full as 

 well, and the mutton is better than when fed on 



