66 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Mar. 



Saxon and Merino Sheep. 



Mr. Editor : — It seeins tome that writers on 

 this subject usually leave out one important part, 

 viz : the living weight of their sheep, which 

 they otherwise describe. We cannot judge any 

 thing about the profits of a sheep or flock, with- 

 out helving the weight of the animals at some 

 particular season (say after shearing;) also the 

 weight of their fleeces, and their fair cash value 

 per lb. Several of your correspondents dwell 

 particularly on the \\eight of their fleeces — for- 

 getting that the weight of the fleece is no sure 

 criterion of a profitable breed. 



It is now admitted by prominent wool-growers, 

 that sheep consume food in proportion to their 

 own weight; and also (other circumstances be- 

 ing the same.) that it requires an equal amount 

 of food to produce a pound of wool without re- 

 gard to the size of the slieep. So, after having 

 the weight of the fleece and its value per pound, 

 it is necessary to have the weight of the living 

 animal, from which to calculate the cost of grow- 

 ing the fleece, before wi can decide on its profits. 



A part of my small farming business has been 

 wool-growing for tlie last I'S years. My flock 

 at present numbers 425, principally Merinos, 

 which I have taken care of most of the time per- 

 sonally. About one year ago I became of the 

 opinion that as many pounds of Saxon wool from 

 ewes weighing about 62 lbs. each (the common 

 weight of a full grown Saxon ewe,) could be 

 raised on one hundred acres of land, as could be 

 grown on the same of (equally clean) Merino 

 wool, from ewes weighing 88 lbs. each (about 

 the common weight of a full grown Merino ewe.) 

 Bucks, weathers, and younger sheep of each 

 breed would weigh of course in the same pro- 

 portion to each other as the ewes. With the 

 view of testing this by experiment, I went last 

 February to Saxon-Hill, Dutchess county, where 

 Thomas W. Swift, Esq., owns a choice flock 

 of sheep which am descended directly from im- 

 ported Saxons. For symmctrj'-, quantity and 

 quality of fleeces, coUecUvehj considered, I have 

 seen none su[)erior to his. It is true they are 

 not so large as Merinos, but this is of but little 

 consequence when we consider that 100 lbs. of 

 the Saxons produce the same amount of (equally 

 clean) wool as the same weight of Merinos — and 

 that it costs no more to keep 100 lbs. of the one 

 than of the other. I am aware there are Saxons, 

 ill-shaped, tliin wooled, with weak constitution^, 

 )nade so by bad selections, and worse bree'ding; 

 but Mr. Swift's sheep are free from these ob- 

 jections. From this flock I pui'chased four ewes, 

 (all he would then dispose of,) and five bucks. 

 Fi-om a neighbor of his, who furmerly ol)tained 

 his sheep from Swift's flock, 1 selected thirteen 

 ewes from about 150. The reputation of this 

 last flock was not as good as Swift's, but my 

 opportunity for selecting was such that the 



ewes I got were equally nice in every particular. 



Should you think the above worth publishing, 

 in another article I will compare the profits of 

 these Saxons with Merinos according to my late 

 experiments, and former experience in wool- 

 growing. I liad forgotten to say that three gen- 

 tlemen in our vicinity who have had considera- 

 ble experience in growing Merino wool have 

 just sent to Dutchess county, and to Litchfield 

 county. Conn., for a lot of full-blood Saxons. — 

 This breed is undoubtedly obtaining more favor 

 than formerly in our county, which (the census 

 of 1845 will show,) grows more wool in propor- 

 tion to its size than any other county in the State. 

 Solomon Hitchcock. 



Co)iesus, Liv. Co. Jan., 1847. 



Cleaning Clover Seed. 



Mr. Editor : — It has become a matter of some 

 importance to this section of Illinois, to possess 

 some facility for separating clover seed from the 

 chaff. At present we have no means of doing 

 this, except tramping with horses, which is very 

 tedious ; and the consequence is, we import our 

 clover seed from other states, instead of getting 

 out and using our own. We are told a machine 

 is in operation in your State, by horse power — 

 and which is moved from place to place with no 

 more inconvenience than an ordinary threshing 

 machine — which successfully and cheaply accom- 

 plishes this labor. If from your position at the 

 head of Western New York farmers, you are 

 able to furnish information of such a machine — 

 its maker, cost, &c., &c., you will confer a spe- 

 cial favor upon myself and neighbors by com- 

 municating to iis. Our only apology for trou- 

 bling you in this matter, is that we read your 

 paper. Very truly yours, 



W. J. Phelps. 



Elmwood, III, Nov. 30, 1846. 



Remarks. — There are several kinds used in 

 this State. The one we ard most acquainted 

 with is manufactured by Thos. D. Burr all, of 

 Geneva, N. Y. It is a small machine about the 

 size of a wheat thresher, and is attached to any 

 horse power. It costs, we believe, from 80 to 

 100 dollars, and performs its duties perfectly. — 

 Persons in this vicinity travel with them over 

 whole townships. * 



Wood Ashes. — Professor Jackson, in one of 

 his highly able and scientific lectures in Boston, 

 illustrating the manner in which the improve- 

 ment of soil, immediate and permanent, may be 

 effected, says that "a farm witliin his knowledge, 

 with a blowing sand, a pine, barren, and almost 

 hopeless soil, on which ten bushels of corn to tlie 

 acre could scarcely be grown, by the judicious 

 application of ashes, has been made to produce 

 forty or fifty bushels to the acre." 



Good fences make good neighbors. 



