Vol. 1.— No. 34. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



271 



From the Winchester Republican. 



.SHEEP. 



Lucky -Hit farm, JulytZ, 1831. 



Mr. Davis — I obseived in your last Re 

 publican a comparison between some of the j 

 sheep of New-York and our Frederick sheep. 

 I cannot say that I regretted this little ad- 

 vantage of the ancient dominion over your 

 native state, so far in many respects before 

 vour adopted one ; but I am sorry for the 

 character of her agriculture, she cannot 

 boast of greater productions in the article of 

 *ool, it being one of her great staples, and 

 especially as she possesses a variety of 

 breeds introduced from Europe. 



I presume the seven New-York sheep spo- 

 ken of, shearing an average of 6lbs. 3 oz. 

 must either have been washed on the back 

 or have produced wool of superior fineness, 

 consequently less productive. The 28 sheep 

 you mention, of the Frederick breed, shear- 

 ing an average of 10£ lbs., were also picked 

 sheep, as the average of the whole Hock fa- 

 bout 130) was under 8 lbs. You further 

 state that some individuals of the Frederick 

 sheep have shorn as high as 14 lbs. Now I 

 may remark that for several years past I 

 jiave Keen in the habit of carefully reserving 

 certificates from some of my neighbors of the 

 weight of my shearings and of remarkable 

 individual sheep, from a reference to which 

 [ find that the heaviest fleeces have been 16.J 

 lbs. — the greatest average 8J lbs. — half a 

 dozen rams 134 lbs. average — and several j 

 individuals 13 to 15. Our last shearing, in 

 consequence of the severity of the winter, j 

 multiplication of number, later lambs, and' 

 the increase of fineness of the wool, was less! 

 than usual in its average — a fraction under 

 "4lbs. from 160 sheep, which has been sold 

 tor 45 cents cash, with the reservation of a 

 sufficiency for domestic purposes. 



I have taken the liberty of mentioning my 

 last shearing to you for several reasons : 



1st. Farmers will not and should not be 

 satisfied with the partial reports of the shear- 

 ing of a few remarkable sheep, picked out of 

 a flock, because they all know that a few con- 

 spicuous individuals may be selected and 

 made so fat as to produce, in dirt, grease and 

 woo), double the quantity which has been 

 the fair average of the balance of the flock 

 kept in the ordinary way. 



2d. Because there can be no possible de- 

 ception when sheep are shorn and the wool 

 weighed in the presence of intelligent neigh- 

 bors and friends. 



3d. To excite a spirit for improvement in 

 the multiplication of such rural meetings 

 throughout the country, where farmers can 

 ' ompare notes, relate their successes, inquire 

 into the causes of their failures, and spend 

 a few rational hours in suggesting improve- 

 ments in the numberless branches of the no- 

 blest of professions. 



4th. For the better effect in having a num- 

 ber of respectable witnesses to the real char- 

 acter of any breed of animals, thereby fa- 

 cilitating their dissemination throughout the 

 >:ountry,united with the superior social pleas- 

 ure of seeing friends united in the cause of 

 real utility, &r.c. fee. 



At our late meeting, added to the pleas- 

 ure of seeing friends from adjoining coun- 

 ties, was a truly intelligent gentleman who 

 Jiad lately seen some of the fine Southdown 

 flocks of England, in a visit to tie celebra- 

 ted farmer, Mr. Coke of Norfolk. Such 

 interviews are more than ordinarily interes- 

 ting, and n»aj be improved to great advant- 



age when observation had been diligent and 

 curiosity made subservient to schemes of 

 general utility. 



I have observed, Mr. Davis, many and 

 long cries for wool ! wool ! wool ! in your 

 paper; and I might say, from having a 

 greater demand for sheep, that the excite- 

 ment does not end there. Farmers, instead 

 of prudently preparing for high prices, put 

 it off until it is too late, but it is always of 

 importance to them to double the fleece and 

 improve the wool. Little more than half 

 the present price would yield a handsome 

 profit if sheep generally produced double 

 the quantity of wool, which may easily be 

 attained by a uniformity of care and the in- 

 troduction of crosses, accommodated to the 

 circumstances by which they may be sur- 

 rounded. I am, &C. 



II. K. Meade. 



At a recent meeting of the Horticultural 

 Society a paper was read, entitled, " An ac 

 count of the different modes of keeping fruit, 

 which have been tried at the Society's gar- 

 den for the season 1831." The statement 

 wasdrawn up at the garden, and enumerated 

 eight different modes; the three best, and 

 most practicable of which were, the covering 

 ofthe fruit in pure and perfectly dry sand, 

 dry fern, or in a deal box buried in the earth. 

 By any of these modes it was preserved, free 

 from shrivelling and any disagreeable flavor 

 — in all it must be deposited in a cold situa- 

 tion. By the other five modes, although the 

 fruit was preserved in a pretty sound state, a 

 musty flavor was found to be communica- 

 ted ; this was especially the caee where oat- 

 chaff was the medium. 



Imprisonment for Debt. — It seems 

 strange that England and America, the two 

 nations in the world most jealous of their po- 

 litical liberties, should be at the same time 

 those wherein the least respect has been paid 

 to personal freedom in matters of pounds, 

 shillings and pence. The North American 

 Review, in an excellent article on this sub- 

 ject informs us, "that the number of per- 

 sons imprisoned in the debtors' apartment 

 in Philadelphia, from June 6, 1829, to Feb- 

 ruary 24, 1830, was 817, of whom there 

 were — 



30 whose debts were below $1 

 233 above 1 and below #5 

 174 above 5 and below glO 

 140 above 10 and below #20 

 142 above 20 and below glOO 

 98 above #100. 

 Of252 of these unfortunate people the debts 

 were 866S dollars nnd the costs 8448 ; and 

 of 64, the debts were 853, and the costs 

 8120 dollars!" Truly, the tyranny of the 

 law furnishes a fearful counterbalance to 

 the despotism of an individual. — Atkena- 

 um. 



TheWesterrj Tiller says, that Peach Trees 

 continue to be in a more healthy state and 

 yield much better upon grass land than up- 

 on that which is tilled. The trees upon 

 grass land will bear when those upon the 

 tillage land will not. The article says, " 

 shall not pretend to theorize on these phe- 

 nomena, but the inference appears natural 

 that we may have overdoctored the trees, as 

 is sometimes the case with a learned pro- 

 fession in curing diseases incident to human 

 nature." Will not some of our farmers in- 

 form us whether the above case will not ap- 

 ply to apple or other fruit trees. 



From the Boston Courier. 

 THE MOWER'S SONG. 



[Unprecedented Mowing E. M 



Fox, at Suffield, Ct. mowed four measured 

 acres of grass on the 2Cth day of July, ult. 

 He began at sunrise and finished at one 

 hour and twenty minutes before sunset, fresh 

 and in good spirits. There were not less 

 than sx tops of hay. Fences were on three 

 sides of the lot, and a heavy fall of rain du- 

 ring the forenoon, added much to the labor. 

 One acre of it, a swale, in which the grass 

 was very heavy and badly lodged, would 

 have been a good day's work for a vigorous 

 mower. There are two or three instances 

 in which an equal surface has been mowed 

 over, but for quantity and quality of labor, 

 this is acknowledged to be the greatest fete 

 ever acomplished in this part of the coun- 

 try.] 



I'm a father of ploughmen, a son ofthe soil, 



And my life never tires, for my pleasure is toil 



There are worse stains to bear than the sweat on 



the brow, 

 And worse things to follow, my friend, than the 



plough. 



What is sorrow 1 I think such a matter there is 



But to me it show'd never its ill-looking phiz 



What is want 1 To be idle, to steal and to lie 



And sickness ? The Doctor can tell — but not I 



I suppose I must come to the scratch, though al 



last. 

 For Time has a sythe that would cut down a mast 

 Though now on the borders of threescore and ten' 

 Your corners I cut, and can do it again. 



If the best of you willing to try with me feels, 

 Let him strip to the cotton, and look to his heels ■ 

 Through the clover and timothyjlook al my swath' 

 Like the wake of a frigate, — stand out of my path'; 



Lowell.— Speculations in land in this 

 flourishing town, have been carried within a 



few weeks beyond all former example 



Numbers who but recently were in moder- 

 ate pecuniary circumstances, have amassed 

 independent fortunes by this means. Real 

 estate has risen within the last eighteen 

 months, nearly one hundred per ct. Some 

 lots of rand well situated for business, which 

 were sold within six months for two shillings 

 per foot, have been sold within a few weeks 

 for seventy five cents a foot. Last Wed- 

 nesday a lot of land was purchased by two 

 gentlemen for twenty-five thousand dollars ; 

 and on the same day they sold one half of it 

 at an advance of forty thousand dollars.—- 

 Buildings, it is said, rent for a greater profit 

 in Lowell than in any other town in New 

 England, averaging fifteen or twenty per 

 cent, per annum on the capital invested. -— 

 Sahm Mass. Mercury. 



Cachemire Shawls — This elegant article 

 of fenrale luxury promises soon to become 

 common enough : an inhabitant of Moscow 

 has just constructed a machine for the fab 

 rication of cachemire shawls, by means of 

 which a workman can manufacture this 

 article with as much ease and readiness as 

 the ordinary cottons. He intends making 

 his invention public, not desiring even to 

 have a patent monopoly of it. 



A Pennsylvania paper contains a number of se- 

 vere strictures upon tjie wanton practice of shoot- 

 ing small birds, not usually eaten, such as swal- 

 lows, tomtits, pewees, &c. These birds are useful 

 in destroying insects, and should notbe woriturj" 

 Hilled 



