22 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



for show by the sheep barber. A thick ifleece, 

 coveriug all parts with as much equality as possi- 

 ble, containing plenty of yolk, or retained or in- 

 spissated perspiration, is the object. If <;wes, 

 equally well bred, can l)e procured, the shepherd 

 anticipates and reaps an immediate benefit ; if not, 

 he must patiently await improvement of his wool, 

 through the medium of the superior blood of his 

 rams. 



At shearing time, examine the bottoms of the 

 fleece, or the lower extremity of the filaments of 

 wool; if it be stitchy-haired, of mixed quality, or 

 if the sheep have a coarse breech, or be not well 

 covered, it must be rejected, as im|)roper for a 

 breeding stock, where it would perpetuate its 

 defects. The quantity of yolk or grease is a good 

 proof of ths thickness of the fleece, since, by the 

 closeness and thickness of the wool, the grease or 

 persftirable matter of the animal is retained; hence 

 fine, closed, curled wool has ever the greatest quan- 

 tity of yolk. — Bath Memoirs. 



ENGLISH CULTlVATIOIff. 



I had heard and read much, before I went to 

 England of the beauty of its scenery the perfec- 

 tion of its roads, and of the high state of cultiva- 

 tion Avhich prevails through the country. But 

 when I came to see those things with my own 

 eyes, I found that my previous conceptions were 

 extremely inadequate. I cannot do justice at all, 

 to any of those objects which interested and de- 

 lighted me so much the moment I saw them. — 

 But imagine yoiuself safely landed as I was, at 

 Liverpool in the month of April. You recollect 

 that m New England, and even much farther 

 south, winter still lingers— that the fields are 

 brown, the treci leafless, and the roads bad. Not 

 BO ,n England.— You take the coach for London. 

 As you go out of to,vn you are very much sur. 

 prised to see a <!eep June vegetation, especially 

 when you recollect that you are in the fifiyfourth 

 degree of north latitude, and you ascribe it to some 

 peculiar advantage of soil, or early exposure. But 

 as you are bo.ne rapidly along, you find other 

 fields still more verdant. The scone opens wider. 

 t leld beyond field, and lawn beyond lawn, rises 

 lu endless perspective. The farms are regularly 

 laid out in squares and parallelograms, of fron two 

 to forty acres ; and in general are laid down as 

 smooth and level as the roller can make them. 

 Here is a luxuriant wheat field, and there a mea- 

 dow, and next a rich pasture, and there busy 

 preparation for putting in potatoes or turnips; and 

 there bailey or oats just shooting up from the dark 

 and rich soil. But scarcely a rod of fence such as 

 we meet with every where in the United States of 

 America, do you see in your two hundred miles 

 rid,e from Liverpool to London. All is haw. 

 thcfrn ; and these hedges, which are for the most 



part kept neatly trimmed about the garden and farm 

 houses, and by the road side, add more to the 

 beauty of the country than any description had 

 pictured upon my mind. The common method 

 of making the hedge is this; first the ridge is 

 thrown up, perhaps a foot above the level of the 

 fields which are to he fenced in; when the young 

 thorn is to be planted in two parallel rows, al)out 

 a foot or eighteen inches apart. The growth is 

 not very rapid ; but when it has attained the 

 height of four or five feet, in about as many years, 

 it becomes so dense that no domestic animals 

 would think of breaking through it. The leaf is 

 small, deeply verdant, and beautifully serrated. — 

 In the month of May these hedges are clothed 

 with a white fragrant blossom, very much re- 

 sembling that of the thorn of our own country; 

 and it is then that the honey suckle and other 

 wild flowers enfold their bright hues and mingle 

 their sweetness with the hawthorn. In the hedg- 

 es, trees, such as the oak, the elm, and the horse 

 chesnut, are planted, sometimes in rows, near to- 

 gether, but oftener far apart, so that each one rises 

 and waves in grandeur by itself over the humbler, 

 but not less charming growth below. Single 

 trees very large are sprinkled here and there in 

 ev ry direction, and, every now and then you 

 catch a glimpse in the distance, of a grove or cir- 

 cular clutnp, which add not a little to the beauty 

 of the landsca|)e. 



Let me not be understood as intending to con- 

 fine my remarks to the country between Liver- 

 pool and London, as if they were riclier or more 

 highly cultivated than other parts through which 

 I afterwards travelled, for, in truth it is less so. 

 With the exception of the downs, and here and 

 there a heath, what I saw of the English scenery, 

 taken altogether, very much surpasses my expec- 

 tations — not in boldness, not in grandeur — but 

 in richness and beauty. It seemed to me as 1 

 passed rapidly along, from town to town, and 

 from city to city, more like one interminable se- 

 ries of gardens and pleasure grounds, than any 

 thing else to which I could compare it. (n addi- 

 tion to what I have already mentioned, the tur- 

 retted castles and halls of the nobility and gentry ; 

 their immense parks and princely domains, some- 

 times embracing several miles square of fine ter- 

 ritory, and enclosing gardens, lawns, and forests, 

 adorned with avenues, and fishponds, and streams. 

 All these and many other features of the island, 

 serve to increase your admiration of what nature 

 and taste have done for our father land. — Dr. 

 Humphrey's Tour. 



Agriculture aided by science, will make a little 

 nation a great one. 



All the energy of the hero, and all the science 

 of the philosopher, may find scope in the cultiva- 

 tion of one farm. 



