246 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb 23. 16 



in Planting and Gardeninsr, after giving ftirections 

 for ferliliziiiff the female ilowers-of the liazel with 

 the pollen of the innle, says, " 15y this knowledge 

 we may alter the property and taste of any fruit 

 by impregnating the one vvitli the farina of anoth- 

 er of the same class, as for example a codlin with 

 a pearniain, which will occasion the codlin so im- 

 pregnated to last a longer time than usual, and be 

 of a sharper taste ; or if the winter fruit be fecun- 

 dated with the dust of the summer kinds, they will 

 decay before their usual time ; and it is from this 

 accidental coupling of the farina of one kind with 

 the other, that in -an orchard, where there is a va- 

 riety of apples, even the fruit gathered from the 

 same tree ditfers in it3 flavor and times of ripen- 

 ing ; and moreover, the seeds of those apples so 

 generated, being changed by that means from 

 their natural qualities, will produce different kinds 

 of fruit, if they are sown. Turner, after quoting 

 several instances, and among others, one from the 

 Philosophical Transactions, " concerning the ef- 

 fect which the farina of the blossoms of different 

 sorts of apples had on the fruit of a neighboring 

 tree." States upwards of si.t cases of hybridised 

 apples, thaf had cocie within his own observation, 

 and concludes with the remark, that if there does 

 exist in fruits such a liability to change, it will at 

 once be evident to the intelligent cultivator how 

 much care is requisite in growing melons, cucum- 

 bers, &c. to secure their true characters, even 

 without reference to saving seed for future crops. 

 In the same volume of the Horticultural Transac- 

 tions (p. 2.'!4,) an account is given of different col- 

 oured peas being produced in the same pod by 

 crossing the parent blossom. All these facts seem 

 to contradict the generally received opinion, that 

 crossing only affects the next generation ; here it 

 appears to affect the embryo offspring ; and a gar- 

 dener who had no keeping apples in his orchard, 

 might communicate that quality is part to his sum- 

 mer fruit by borrowing the use of a neighbor's 

 blossoms from a late variety. It is probable how- 

 ever that such counter-impregnations do not take 

 place readily ; otherwise the produce of common 

 orchards would be an ever-varying round of mon- 

 strosities Loudon. 



IVEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, FEB. 33, 1827. 



EWES AND LAMBS. 

 It is highly important to feed your ewes well ior 

 a few weeks before and a considerable time after 

 yeaning. They should have about ,}■ a gill of In- 

 dian corn a day, each, till they have produced their 

 lambs, to give them strengtJi; and while suckling, 

 good roots or some other juicy food. The want of 

 milk is the princidal cause of the death of lambs. 

 Keep your ewes well and your lambs will thrive 

 and be strong. The Farmer's Manual says " If 

 you have stored more turnips than are sufficient 

 for the use of the table, give them to any stock 

 that will eat them, except your sheep ;• give to 

 thern potatoes but not turnips, at this season ; they 

 will injure the lambs." '■ Weak lambs should he 

 treated in all icspects as if they had been drown- 

 ed, and you would restore thom to life. Apply 

 gentle and regular warmth ; give warm milk fre- 

 puently in small quantities, (the milk of the sheep 

 is best,) and if the ewe has milk suff.cient for its 

 support you may generally raise them ; but if not 

 they generally die. It is mere work lo nurse one 



such lamb for 24 hours, than to feed regularly 10^' 

 sheep for the same time, take your choice." I' 

 yonr dock be large, the wethers should be kept 

 by themselves. They do not require so good keep- 

 ing as ewe3 and young sheep. The Farmtr^s 

 Guide says " If lambs are weak, it is necessary to 

 give them, the first day or two, a small quantity of 

 cow's milk, warm, three or four times in the day ; 

 if it is cold weather, the cup containing the milk 

 should 8tand in another vessel that is partly fi\ed 

 with warm water. Should the lamb be chilled, 

 rub his legs with tow, and let a warm cloth be put 

 round it. But if corn, barley, outs, or white beans 

 are given to sheep, during the winter, in small 

 quantity, tlie lambs will be strong and the trouble 

 of nursing saved." 



Loudon directs to give ewes after lambing " tur- 

 nips or other kinds of green food provided for the 

 purpose, and given them in a suitable manner ; but 

 where it can be done, it is always better to leave 

 this sort of food untouched till about the period of 

 lambing, when it should be regularly supplied in 

 proportion to the necessity there may be for it." — 

 The same author says " The economy of the suck- 

 ling-house, (for lambs) is as follows : The sheep 

 which begin to lamb are kept in the close (sheep 

 yard) during the day, and in the house during the 

 night, until they have produced twenty or thirty 

 lambs. These lambs are then put into a lamb- 

 house, which is kept constantly well littered with 

 clean wheat straw ; and chalk, both in lump and 

 in powder is provided for them to lick, in order to 

 prevent looseness, and thereby preserve the lambs 

 in health. As a prevention against gnawing the 

 boards, or eating each other's wool, a little wheat 

 straw is placed with the ears downwards, in a rack 

 within their reach, with which they aiiiuse them- 

 selves, and of which they eat a small quantity. In 

 this house they are kept with great care and at- 

 tention, until fit for the butcher. 



Mr Lawrence in speaking of "Lr,n;bs newly 

 fallen," says "the ancient practice was to keep 

 them within doers, until they had acquired suffi- 

 cient strengtli to f< llow their dams abroad, an 

 usage long become'obsolete,and indeed no farther 

 necessary, than in the case of severe weather, or 

 of v.eakucss in the lambs, when nursing them will 

 ever be' found the best restorative, notwithstand- 

 ing all the pleas of indolence to the contrary. To 

 counsel tliiit the suckling ewes be fed with the 

 best food in the farmer's power, is to repeat what 

 every one knows ; it is to somewhat more purpose 

 to say, that the articles should be at once produc- 

 tive of milk, and of sub.stantial nutriment, for those 

 animals are too often fed with such loose and 

 waehy food, that what with the floods of watery 

 milk and of urine, which arc excited, they are re- 

 duced to skeletons, before the we.'ining time ar- 

 rives, and are not easily recruited afterwards ; a 

 plenty of such food, however, is far better than 

 st.Trving whilst they suckle, because in the latter 

 case they do not always reach the weaning ; and 

 few experienced shepherds in certain districts, 

 but have too often witnessed the horrid sight of a 

 starving lamb tugging at the teat of its expiring 

 mother!" Sec further. S\'eiv England Farmer,yo\. 

 V. pages 3, 59, 133, 143. 



2 feet II inches and a half in width acr^ 

 hips, being probably, says the Portsmouth 

 " the largest animal of his species ever ra 

 this country." 



CONGRESSIONAL. 

 Senate. — A bill to appropriate ^S7,(i 

 Macadanii/ing Pennsylvania Avenue fro- 

 Capital lo Georgetown, was reported, jj 

 Poinsett was appointed as Minister to thJ 

 gress of Ti'.cubaya in the place of Mr AntL 

 deceased. The bill from the other House! 

 crease the duty on imported woollens was | 

 red to the Committee on Manufactures. aI 

 reduce the duties on teas, coffee, and wiac 

 passed, and sent to the House for cencurrec 



House. — A select Committee was appointl 

 the President's Message in regard to the co 

 ing claim.s of the State of Georgia and the 

 Indians. The engrossed bill for the protec| 

 Woollen Manufactures, was read a third tin 

 passed, yeas lOG, nays 95. The Committee] 

 quiry into the official conduct of Vice Prej 

 Calhoun, when Secretary at War, made a 

 exonerating him from all participation in thi 

 contract. 



Large Ox. — An ox weighing -3538 lbs, between 

 7 and 8 years old, is now exhibiting in New Hamp- 

 shire. He was raised on the Parker fp.rm, at 

 Greenland, and measures 9 feet 10 inches in girt: 

 1 1 feet in length ; 6 feet in height at the hips, and 



MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE^ 

 SENATE. — Resolves were introduced and 

 twice'providing for the appointment of a Boar 

 Commissioners of Internal Improvements. 



HOUSE.— ►-A Resolve providing for tlie appc 

 ment of Commissioners for Internal Improvem> 

 was reported and ordered to be printed. A 

 was received from his Excellency Gov. Lii 

 declining to be considered as a candidate tip 

 office of Senator of the United States. The H( 

 agreed to postpone indefinitely the subject oj 

 election of a Senator to Congress. A Mess 

 was received from His Excellency the Cover 

 statini:; his objections to " an act to incorpo 

 the Moiart Association in Salem," which wae 

 ferred to a Committee, and 500 copies ordere 

 be printed. Resolves were passed to providi. 

 the appointment of four Commissioners of Inte 

 Improvemsnts. A bill to authorize the Hamps 

 and Hampden Canal Co. to extend a Canrd f 

 Northampton, to the north lino of the state 

 reported, read and ordered to be printed. A 

 tition for the survey of a Canal Route from Bo; 

 to Blackstdne Canal, and the Connecticut line 

 read and committed. The Messenger of 

 House was directed to procure -300 copies of 

 marks on a rail road from Boston to Con. river, 

 the Editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser. 



Boring for Water. — We have neglected for sc 

 time to mention, that a number of gentlemeu 

 this Village had formed themselves into a con)p; 

 for the purpose of boring for Water, on Mr I 

 brow's plan. And we have now the satisfaci 

 to state, that their success thus far has excee. 

 their anticipations. After penetrating the ci' 

 to the depth of 30 feet, they found Mineral ll'u 

 which was surcharged with the carbonic acid c 

 and contained all the mineral properties of > 

 other fountains, and rose freely from four to 1 

 feet above the surface, discharging at the rate 

 about a gallon per minute. They have pcnetral 

 the eartli to tlie depth of 1/0 feet, and ore ncnv 

 a magnesian calcarious slate rock : and althou 

 they have discontinued operations for the prese 



