Vol. IX.— \o. oi. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



411 



down tu rise no move, even wlioii imaLilc to lilt 

 their houils li-utii the ^.ihiikI, lioMiii!; up tlii; leg, 

 to invite llie starving liunli to the inist.'iublo pittance 

 that the miller still loiilil supply. I liiul ncvei' 

 seen aught more p.vint'iillv atVectiHg. 



It is Well known (hat it is a custom willi siicp' 

 berds, when h lauih dies, if the mother have sutli- 

 ciency ofmilk, to bring her in ami put aiiolhel' 

 htttib to her. I have ilesoribeil the proeesH some- 

 where ciso — it is done hy putting the »Uin of the 

 dead lunib upon the living one, the eye immediate- 

 Ijr acknowledges the relalionsliip, and after the 

 akiu has warnusd on it, so us to give it something 

 of the smell ol'hor own progeny, and it has sucked 

 her two or three times, she iiecepis anil nourishes 

 it^as her own ever alter. Wheiher it is from joy at 

 this apjjarent reaiiimaiion of her young one, or 

 a little douht remaining on her mind that she would 

 fain dispel, i cannot decide, but, for a number of 

 days, she shows far more fondness, more bleat- 

 ing, and caressing, over this one, than slie did 

 formerly over the one that was really her own. 



But this is not \vlnit I wanted to explain ; it was, 

 that such sheep as thus lose their lambs must be 

 driven to a house with dogs, so that the land) may 

 be put to them ; for they will only take it in a 

 dark confined place. But here, in Willenslee, 1 

 never need to drive home a sheep by force, wiUi 

 dogs, or ill any other way than the following : — 

 I found every ewe, of course, standing hanging 

 her head over her dead lamb, and having a piece 

 of twine with me for the purpose, 1 tied that to the 

 lamb's neck or toes, and trailing it along, the ewe 

 followed me into any house or fold that 1 chose 

 to lead her. Any of them would have followed 

 nie in that way for miles, her nose close on the 

 lamb, which she never quitted for a moment, ex- 

 cept to chase tlie dog, which she would not siifler 

 to walk near me. I often, out of curiosity, led 

 them in to the side of the kitchen fire by this 

 means, into the midst of servants and dogs, but 

 the more the dangers nmltiplied around the ewe, 

 she clung the closer to her dead offspring, and 

 thought of nothing but [u-otecting it. 



From Loudoii^s Encyclopedia of Agiicullure. 



Sheep in i>pain. — The sheep in Spain have 

 long been celebrated. I'liny relates, that in his 

 time Spanish clothg were of an excellent texture, 

 and much used in Uonie. For many centuries 

 the wool has been transported to Flanders, for the 

 supply of the Flemish manufactories, and after- 

 wards, to England, when the same maniifaciure 

 was introduced there. By far the greater [lart of 

 Spanish sheep are migratory, and belong to what 

 is called tlie mesla or Merino corporation: but 

 there are also stationary Hocks belonging to pri- 

 vate individuals in Andalusia, whose wool is of 

 equal fineness and value. The carcass of the 

 Sheep in Spain is held in no estimation, and only 

 used by the shepherds and the poor. 



The flocks which form the mesta usually con- 

 sist of about 10,000 sheep. Each flock is under 

 th« care ol a directing officer, fifty shepherds and 

 fifty dogs. The tvhole flock composing the mesta, 

 consist of about five millions of sheep, and em- 

 ploy about 45 or 50,000 persons, and nearly as 

 many dogs. The flocks are put in motion the 

 latter end of April, or beginning of May, leaving 

 the plains of Esfamadura, Andalusia, Leon, Old 

 and New Castile, where they usually winter ; they 

 repair to the mountains of the two latter provin- 

 ces, and those of Bi:>cay, Navarre, and Arragon. 



The sheep, while feeding on tlie mnnntnins, have 

 occasionally administered to them small ipnintiiiea 

 of snil. It is laid upon flat stones, to which the 

 flocks are driven, and permitted to eat what qnan^ 

 lily ihey ploasr, 



In September the sheep ate Oelired, their backs' 

 and loins being rubbed With red ochre, or nuldic 

 dissolved in water. This prattice is founded 

 Upon ail ancient cnstotti, the reason of which is 

 not clearly ascertalncil. Some suppose that the 

 ochre uniting with the ole;iginoiis matter of the 

 fleece, forms a kinds of varnish which defends 

 [he animal from the inclemency of the weather. 

 Others think the ponderosity of this earili pre- 

 vents the wool growiiifr too thick and long in the 

 staple. But the more eligible opinion is, tint the 

 earth absorbs the superabundant perspiration, 

 which would otherwise render the wool both 

 harsh anil coarse. 



Towards the end of September, the flocks re- 

 commence their march. Descending from the 

 mountains, they travel towards the warmer part 

 of tiie country, and again repair to the ]ilains of 

 Leon, Estramadura, and Andalusia. The sheep 

 are generally conducted lo the same pastures tliey 

 had grazed the preceding year, and where most of 

 them had been. yeaned ; there they are kept du- 

 ring the winter. 



Sheep shearing commences the beginning of 

 May, and is performed while the sheep are on 

 their summer journey, in large buildings. Those 

 which are jilaced upon the road are capable of 

 containing forty, fifty, and some sixty thousand 

 sheep. The .shearing is preceded by a pompous 

 preparation, conducted in due form, and the inter- 

 val is considered a time of feasting and recreation. 

 Cue hundred and twentyfive men are usually 

 employed for shearing a thousand ewes, and 

 two hundred* for a thousand wethers. Each 

 sheep affords four kinds of wool, more or less 

 according to the parts of the animal whence it is 

 taken. The ewes produce the finest fleeces and the 

 wethers the heaviest; three wether fleeces ordina- 

 rily weigii on the average twentyfive lbs. ; but 

 it will take five ewe fleeces lo amount to the 

 weight. 



The journey which the flocks make in their 

 peregrination is regulated by particular laws, 

 ami immemorial customs. The sheep pass unmo- 

 lested over the pastures belonging to the villages 

 and the commons which lie in their road, and have 

 a right to feed on them. They are not, however 

 allowed to pass o\er cultivated land ; but the pro- 

 prietors of such lands are obliged to leave for 

 them a path, about forty toises (eightyfonr yards) 

 in breadth. When they traverse the commonable 

 pastures, they seldom travel more than five nnlcs 

 or five and a half mile's a day ; but when they 

 walk in close order oyer the cultivated fields, 

 ofien m»re than six Tara.s, or near seventeen 

 miles. — The whole of their journey is usually 

 an extent of one hundred and twenty, thirty, or 

 forty le»gues, which they perform in thiity or 

 thirtyfive days. The juice paid for depasturing 

 the lands, where they winter, is qually regulated 

 by usage, and is very low : but it is not in the 

 power of the lauded proprietors to make the 

 smallest advance. 



The public opinion in Spain has long been 

 •gainst tlie mesta, on account of the number of 

 people it employs, the extent of land it keeps un- 

 cultivated, the injury done to the pasture and 

 cultivated land* uf individuals, and the tyranny 



of the directors and shepberdsi These have 

 been grievances from time immemorial. Gov- 

 ernment yielding to the pressing solicitations of 

 the peojde, instituted n eoinniiltee to inipiiro in- 

 to ihum about (he iiiiildle of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury i but it did no good, and it was not till the 

 revolution of 1810, that the powers and privi- 

 leges of the niesta were greatly reduced. 



ON WEEDING YOUNG CROl'S. 



' To keep ofl'tlie sun and hugs from our cuckiii- 

 tcrs,' was our reply to our neighbor L. who on 

 seeing a parcel of weeds standing in oiir garden, 

 interrogated us why they were left. We noticed 

 the muscles of his face were a little disiurbed, 

 but nothing more jiassod on the subject. Yester- 

 day as we sat chatting on various subjects, he took 

 up CohheVs Gardener, and began very accidental- 

 ly reading his observations on Stocks. — Now there 

 has always appeared to us, to be such a love of 

 quackery in everything, with this man, that many 

 of bis observations have been underrated by us. 

 Notwithstanding he has written many very excel- 

 lent things both in politics and horticulture. Our 

 neighbor L. read as follows : 



'I cannot help observing here, upon an ob.ser- 

 vation of Mr Marshall ; as to weeding,' says Cobbet, 

 'though seedling trees must not be smothered, yet 

 some small toeeds may be suffered to grow in sum- 

 mar, as they help to shade the plants, and to keep 

 the ground cool.' 



' IMercy on this gentleman's readers ! Mr Mar- 

 shall had not read Tull ; if he had, he never would 

 have written this very erroneous sentence. It is 

 the root of the weed that does the niischief. Let 

 there be a rod of ground, set with small weeds, 

 and another rod kejit weeded. Let them adjoin 

 each other. Go after fifteen or twenty days of 

 dry weather, and examine the two; when you will 

 find the weodless ground moist and fresh ; while 

 the other is dry as dust, to a foot in depth : the 

 root of the weed sucks up every particle of mois- 

 ture. What pretty things they are then to keep 

 seedling trees cool.' 



After lie was gone, we went to our encumbers, 

 and found that the weeds had not shellered them 

 from the bugs ; but that they were actually eaten 

 more than those that were weeded, besides they 

 were not as large. We have frequently asked 

 farmers when we have seen their cornfields full of 

 weeds, why they ilid not hoe their corn ? and they 

 have answereil, ' because the ground is too dry.' 

 It will be foiiiid that Cobhet's theory in tl'iis 

 respect is correct. The dryer the groimd tho 

 ofiener it should be siirreil, even where it isi 

 clear from weeds. Ifyonr corn is willing with 

 the drought, hoe it ; if your cabliages droop, hoe 

 them; if ihe bugs eat your melons or cucumbers, 

 hoe and mannre them ; the more rapid their growth, 

 the less will they be attacked with the bugs. A 

 rusty hoe in summer, is the sign of a bad farmer. 

 — Genesee Farmer. 



Jf'ool. — The following suggestions in Niles' Reg- 

 ister may be deserving of notice just imw : 



We advise the wool growers to dispose of the 

 stocks wliiidi they may have on hanil, as soon ae 

 they can. We think it impossible that the present 

 price can long bo mainiaincd, and if the «^8c«/a- 

 Jors suffer, we shall not regret it. The manufac- 

 turers generally, cannot pay such prices, and live 

 by their business ; and wool will he imported in 

 cloth. 



