<% farmer's iHontljIn Visitor. 



45 



here and there little oases of the white pine and 

 hemlock. 



But 1 have already extended my letter beyond 

 my original intention. I hope some persons ma] 

 he induced by what I have said, this Spring, by 

 planting trees, to add some beauty to the earth, 

 and gain some honor to their memories. 



HENRY F. FRENCH. 



Exeter. N. H.. March. 1SJS. 



Care of Sheep. 

 In the February number of the Visitor is an 

 article on the " Winter management of Sheep," 

 taken from " Cole's Veterinarian." This is, in my 

 opinion, the most important subject for the con- 

 sideration of the farmers of New Hampshire and 

 Vermont, of any subject connected with farm- 

 ing. The value of sheep in Vermont is greater 

 than that of any other kind of stock ; yet it is 

 evident there is less attention paid to make them 

 comfortable in winter, or profitable, than to any 

 other kind of stock. My experience does not 

 confirm the views expressed by Mr. Cole: many 

 articles there recommended as "condiments," are 

 'iseless, causing much trouble and expense with- 

 out any benefit to the sheep. I have been en- 

 gaged for more than thirty years in wool-grow- 

 ing. My number of sheep wintered annually 

 will average about 350, full-blooded Meriuoes. 

 It is unnecssary to relate the experience of past 

 years — such as digging sheep out of snow-drifts 

 in winter, pulling them out of ditches in spring — 

 doctoring for the grub in the head — putting lambs 

 into a warm bath by the dozen, or that diseases 

 which generally carried off one-fourth of the Hock 

 annually, have of late disappeared from my flock 

 — I have now no doubt all this loss was for the 

 want of good sheds in winter. I will now give 

 the result of my experience for the last year 

 which is the same as that of the two preceding 

 years: I have had comfortable sheds for most of 

 my sheep for twelve or fifteen years past ; I have 

 for the three past years kept my sheep closely 

 confined during the winter. 1 have a lot of 200 

 at a barn about one mile from my house — 100 

 of them lambs — the other 100 yearling ewes, ex- 

 cept a few wethers: I have a shed fourteen feet 

 wide, extending one hundred and si\ feet along 

 one side, one end, and part way on the other side 

 of the barn. These sheep are fed on intervale 

 or low-land hay: this flock was put into the shed 

 on the 2Glh of November; they have not been 

 out since they were put in — have been fed 

 with hay but twice a day, and no more — have 

 had access to water and salt at all times — have no 

 grain of any kind, or condiments of any de- 

 scription: they are now in as good order as 

 when first put up. Limbs are apt to scour in 

 the winter, and 1 could never entirely prevent 

 that complaint until I adopted close keeping in 

 winter. My breeding ewes I keep in the same 

 way, except I let them out once a day to eat 

 grain— giving to 100 ewes, eight quarts of corn 

 per day: I give them no other kind of grain. 

 My barns are so located that water, which never 

 IVeezeS) can easily he taken into thetn. I have 

 raised annually for the last ten years as an aver- 

 age, 97 lambs from 100 ewes. Last year, out of 

 120 lambs, I lost but two. 



I consider it of little consequence what kind of 

 grain is given to sheep: I find corn the most 

 profitable crop to raise, therefore I feed corn. — 

 Others who have adopted the method of close 

 keeping, and feeding on potatoes, carrots, or oats 

 and beans, do equally well. I am confident sheep 

 will yield much more and better wool when kept 

 housed than when they run at large : my flock for 



the hist ten years, has averaged over 4 pounds of 

 woo! per head, and for the same time the average 

 price has been 48 cents per pound. There is no 

 difficulty in having a flock of Merino sheep of 

 400 produce annually 8J or 4 pounds of clean 

 fleece wool per bead; and of the black gummed 

 kind, 5 pounds,— but this kind of wool will not 

 with us demand a high price. 



JOHN S. PETTIBONE. 



Manchester, Vermont, March 7, 1848. 



The Forest Trees. 



Up with your heads, ye sylvan lords ! 



Wave proudly in the breeze ; 

 I''or our cradle bands and coffin boards, 



Must come from the forest trees. 



We bless ye for your shade, 



When our weak limbs fail and tire ; 



Our thanks are due for your winter aid, 

 When we pile the bright log (ire. 



Oh ! where would be our rule on the sea, 



And the tame of the sailor bind, 

 Were it not lor the oak and nloud-crowo'd pine 



That spring on the quiet land ? 



When the ribs and masts of the good ship live, 



And weather the gale with ease, 

 Take his glass from the tar who will not give 



A health to the lorest trees. 



Then, up with your heads, ye sylvan lords ! 



Wave proudly in the breeze ; 

 From our cradle bands to our coffin bosrds, 



We're in debt to the forest trees. 



The Victoria (Texas) Advocate, in a notice of 

 the salt lakes of Nueces county, says : 



Of the remarkable excellence of the salt itself, 

 for curing meat, we ourselves can bear witness, 

 having lately used it with the most satisfactory 

 results. So efficient is it for this purpose, that 

 the u^f. of saltpetre as an auxiliary is entirely dis- 

 pensed witli. Indeed, we confess our surprise 

 that the whole of western Texas is not supplied 

 with this indispensable necessary, from the 

 source above referred to, since our information 

 leads us to believe that these tidies furnish it in 

 almost inexhaustible quantities. We have no 

 doubt, however, that enterprise will very soon 

 bring these salt lakes into notice, and that they 

 will not only open up a new branch of industrial 

 employment to our citizens, but become a source 

 of wealth to the State. 



English Taxation. — '['he English government 

 is about to propose an increase of expenditures, 

 and, of course, an increase on the already enor- 

 mous amount of taxation. The sum now levied 

 upon the people, in one form or another, more or 

 less direct, is, in round numbers, 4,000,000,000 

 dollars. Of this vast amount, about threc-qunr- 

 ers is raised by customs and excise duties, 

 stamps, crown lauds, &c; 60,000,000 is obtain- 

 ed by local taxation, such as poor-ratts, borough- 

 rates, church-rates, &c; and say 40,000,000 by 

 the tithe rent-charge, including the whole reve- 

 nue of the church and the universities not de- 

 rived from hies. In ill is way, it 's calculated, the 

 government appropriates one-fifth part of the 

 property of every industrious man in the com- 

 munity — that is, every individual pays, in taxes to 

 support the extravagance of the government, 

 twenty dollars out of every hundred which his 

 labor produces. No wonder an Englishman's 

 idea of the United States is a " land free from 

 taxes." 



Distribution of Wealth — The total value 

 of property in Great Britain is estimated at 



S2o,000,000,000, and the annual value of the pro- 

 duct at .§2,500,000 000. The total value of the 

 property in the United States of America does 

 not exceed *i;,000,000,000, and the total annual 

 value of our products is estimated at about 

 SI, 200,000,000, If the property of Great Britain 

 were equally divided among the population, it 

 would give nearly $5,000 to every family of five 

 persons; and if the annual income were thus 



divided, each fiimily would have $500. The 

 same division in the United States would give 

 each family Sl,500 of property, and for an annu- 

 al share of the products, $300. 



For the Fanner's Monthly Visitor. 

 Agricultural Improvement. 



Mr. Editor :— Among all the various improve- 

 ments which are going on at the present day for 

 the amelioration of mankind, there is not one 

 which justly demands so much, and comparatively 

 receives so little attention, as Joes the improve- 

 ment of agriculture. As much as bus been said, 

 and as many eulogies as have been pronounced 

 by orators, upon the benefits and blessings of a 

 farmer's life, yet very little, personal effort has 

 been made to elevate, his condition as an intel- 

 lectual man. We are led to believe, that very 

 many, in speaking and talking of agricultural 

 improvement, think only or the improvement of 

 the soil, while the mind and the intellect, or that 

 part of man which raises him above the brutes, 

 or a machine, is left to stand or take care of it- 

 self as best it can. In the course of the last ten 

 years, from our own reading and observation, we 

 are satisfied that a great deal more has been 

 written upon the best manner of cultivating 

 crops, and going in for an immediate improve- 

 ment of the farm, than there has been for the 

 improvement of the farmer's mind. But at the 

 same time, we are not, by any means, one of 

 those who believe that the improvement of the 

 soil and the intellect should he separated ; on the 

 other hand, we know that, by judicious men, the 

 two will always he connected together. But we 

 are aware that improvements in the soil and 

 farming, can be made with very little if any im- 

 provement of the mind, in connection ; and of 

 this latter class we have reason to fear, from 

 personal observation, that the great mass of U3 

 (farmers) would come under. All we ask on this 

 point is, fair means ; but let any one that feels 

 interested in this matter go through some of the 

 best farming districts in the Slate, and talk with 

 the fanners personally on this subject, and then 

 if he does not arrive at the same conclusion, vve 

 shall be mistaken. Now agricultural improve- 

 ment as we. understand it, does not consist in 

 raising large beeves, or fit wethers, or even larded 

 porkers, or in one hundred bushels of corn on 

 an acre, nor in getting the first premium at "cat- 

 tle shows"; fin- all this has been done and more 

 too, forty years ago, and yet the principles id' ag- 

 riculture were not half as well understood then 

 by the masses as they now are, and even more, 

 they are not half understood by us. 



Strange as it may seem, vve know that there 

 are hundreds and thousands of dollars paid out 

 every year for extra breeds of cattle, sheep, 

 swine, fee., to where there is three, or five dollars 

 given for agricultural reading to feast the mind, 

 .lust as though it v. is so much more important 

 for the firmer to have extra stock, than it is to 

 try to improve his oho condition in life. We 

 are aware, however, that in the last few years 

 ]xtst. agricultural papers have circulated very ex- 

 tensively among the farmers, and have been the 

 means of exalting their condition, and doing a 

 great deal of good. And yet we are led to believe 

 that a majority of our farmers, even now, are ig- 

 norant of agricultural reading, while many of 

 those who do read, read them for what they are, 

 and then like any newspaper, stow them away 

 for waste paper. But after all, take any one ag- 

 ricultural paper, however large the circulation, 

 that is devoted exclusively to the farmers' inter- 

 est, and yet we think that we are not much out 

 of the way when we say, that it does not receive 

 one half the patronage it ought to among farm- 

 ers themselves. Of all the different classes of 

 men under the sun, we do not know of any, with- 



