PRACTICAL NOTES. 353 



PRACTICAL NOTES, 



FOUNDED ON OR DRAWN FROM AGRICULTURAL READINGS BY THE EDITOR. 



At Farming-Clubs in England, instead of wasting their time and breath about 

 this thing and that thing, and everything, they stick to a given theme until it is 

 sufficiently elucidated and exhausted to enable them, as they think, to come to 

 some practical result. That result is embodied in a Resolution which is put in 

 form, passed upon and sent out as the best judgment of the Club, for what it is 

 worth, to have its weight according to the known judgment and practical knowl- 

 edge of the members. The subjects are always of substantial importance con- 

 nected with the field operations of practical men. Thus at a late meeting of the 

 Spalding Club, " after an able and interesting discussion " by farmers whose 

 names are given, the following Resolution was unanimously adopted: 



" That with regard to feeding sheep it is highly desirable to give them a change of fooJ, 

 •which will keep them in a more healthy state than confining them to one sort of keeping. 

 With respect to beasts, if not intended for grazing the ensuing fsiimmer, they cannot be kept 

 too warm, if attention is at the same time paid to proper ventilation ; and that a variety of 

 food, such as Swedes, mangel-wurzel, cake, and clover, will be found most fattening ; beasts 

 intended for grazuig shoidd not be housed or kept too warm." 



The " feeding" sheep here spoken of we apprehend means feeding in the pro- 

 cess of fattening ; but what seems most worthy of remark is the distinction 

 taken between beasts to he fattened and beasts to be grazed the next year — that 

 while the former " cannot be kept too warm, if attention is paid to proper ven- 

 tilation," the latter "should not be housed or kept too warm." 



By another Club it was resolved, without one dissent, 



" That the trough system with cut hay, turnips, &c., was every way preferable to the 

 old cage practice, which invariably leaves seeds and scattered turnips half consumed all over 

 the fold ; and that il-is the best management to keep ewes well at all times, in order to in- 

 sure healthy and well-gi-own Iambs." [This corresponds with the practice of our friends m 

 the grazing districts of Western Virginia.] 



A gentleman exhibited a plan for " field-shed feeding," fomied of hurdles and thatched, 

 put together at a small expense, and movable as the food is consumed, by the shepherd and 

 his assistant, which was highly commended, and will no doubt come into general use wheu 

 the inclement weather sets in ; as there is no doubt one acre of turnips will produce much 

 more mutton wlien consumed in warm sheds than when fed in, the open ground. 



We believe the Messrs. Reybold, of Delaware, who unite reflection with ex- 

 perience, breed their sheep under warm shelters through the winter. 



LoNG-WooLED Sheep in England. — At a late public sale, a splendid lot of 

 long-wool shearling rams (40 in number) was sold by auction by Mr. Briggs, bred 

 by and the property of Mr. Thomas Mons, of Stenigot, near Lowth. They were 

 thought by many eminent judges to be the best lot of shearlings, for their num- 

 ber, that had been ofl'crcd at Lincoln on any prior occasion. After a very spirited 

 sale the whole were sold at an average of near £10 each, and a few of the best 

 averaged £20 each ; a pair-of twin sheep, much admired, sold for £36 ($5 to 

 the pound). 



A Hint TO THOSE WHO WASTK Manure. — A little book -'On Manures," recently pub- 

 lished in PVench, concludes with tiie following sensible maxim : " The scarcity of manm-es 

 is the cause of the sterility of a country, and it is useless to improve the mechanical methods 

 of culture if we neglect this source of fertility." In Flanders it is commonly bi.-lieved that 

 the first crop exhausts one-half of tlio maiuire. \_Comptes rendu a I' Academic. 



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