1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



191 



It is the opinion of those with whom I have 

 conversed on the subject, (that had the best means 

 of getting information,) that the number of pure 

 Merinos in the United States is small. Such I 

 understand to be the opinion of Mr. Jarvis. — 

 But if we take into the count all those flocks that 

 have been improved by the use of the Merino, 

 so as to be more like them than they are like 

 any other, the number will be very much in- 

 creased, — for Blacklock seems to think that the 

 greatest value of the Merino consists in its giv- 

 ing rise to a variety equal if not superior to it- 

 self. The improvement of the sheep in Saxony 

 has, it appears, all been brought about by the use 

 of the Merino; and history informs us that even 

 there the purest Merinos produced both finer 

 fleeces and more wool those engrafted on the 

 common slock of that ceuntry; . and the same 

 history informs us (the Ameidcan Shepherd,) 

 that when they were being sent to this country, 

 the German newspapers teemed with advertise- 

 ments of sheep for sale, good for the American 

 market, and that they were purchased in suffi- 

 cient numbers for a cargo, at prices varying 

 from one-fourth to one-eighth the price that full 

 blood sheep would cost, together, sometimes, 

 with a few full bloods to make a flourish on. — 

 Sometimes a cargo was selected altogether from 

 grade flocks of low character, some hardly half 

 blooded, and represented as being of most miser- 

 able character. 



Thus we see imposition has been practised on 

 the country to a great extent, and to its great 

 injury, and it has also prejudiced the minds of 

 some against the acknowledged foundation of all 

 improvement of the fleece, both in the United 

 States and in Europe. The real Merino, the 

 fineness, compactness, length, and beauty of 

 whose fleece, when properly bred, is rarely if 

 ever equalled — they are also constituted hardy 

 and well adapted to our climate. Thus we see 

 that impositions have been practised upon the 

 country with apparent ease; and I think, there- 

 fore, that there can be no harm in having an eye 

 to this matter, that, whether impositions have or 

 have not been practised in the sale of Merinos, 

 they may not be hereafter. 

 Lysander, N. Y., 1847. J. L. Randall. 



Remarks. — The suggestions of Mr. Randall 

 are worthy of attention. No one should pur- 

 chase fine-wooled sheep, for the purpose of 

 breeding, without good evidence of their purity. 

 Proper caution ought always to be exercised in 

 making selections and purchases. 



Comparative weight of Fleece and Carcass. 



Mr. Editor : — My attention was some time 

 since called to an article in your paper, signed 

 by Solomon Hitchcock, in relation to Saxon 

 and Merino Sheep. The writer contends — first, 

 that sheep consume food in proportion to their 



own weight ; and, second, that they produce 

 clean wool about in proportion of one pound to 

 from 18 to 19 lbs. of carcase. The former is 

 undoubtedly correct — the latter may be, as a 

 general rule, but I think by increasing the lengtli 

 of wool the weight of the fleece may be increased 

 in proportion to the weight of carcase, without 

 decreasing the quality. I this year weighed my 

 sheep as they were shorn, and found they varied 

 from 1 pound of wool to 8 lbs. .5 oz. of carcase, 

 to 1 to 28. My yearling ewes averaged 1 to 13i 

 — yearling bucks, 1 to 16 J — yearling wethers, 



1 to 16i ; these were about 13 months old. My 



2 years old buck, 1 to 14 — 2 year old wethers, 

 1 to 17 §. Fat sheep, 1 to 171 — breeding ewes, 

 1 to 18i. The whole flock, consisting of 176, 

 averaged 1 pound of wool to little short of 17 

 pounds of carcase. This wool was well washed, 

 free from gum, and nearly so from oil ; the pur- 

 chaser thought it would not waste more than 15 

 to 20 per cent, by scouring. 



The sheep that sheared the most in proportion 

 to its weight, was a yearling ewe weighing 40^ 

 lbs., and yielding 4 lbs. 14 oz. of wool, about 4 J 

 inches in lengtli. Another weighed 50^ and 

 sheared 45 lbs., making 1 to about 10? — a sam- 

 ple of which you will find enclosed. My year- 

 ling ewes were the lightest sheep, averaging only 

 46 pounds, and had the finest and longest wool, 

 except my bucks, of any that I sheared. 

 Victcrr, June, 1847. W. D. Dickinson-. 



We thank Mr. D. for his valuable communi- 

 cation. It is brief but to the point, and worth' 

 more than half a dozen pages of theory upon 

 the subject 



Early Sowing of Wheat. 



Mr. Editor. — I sowed nine acres on the 5th 

 of September last, after plowing four times. — 

 The soil was good, and worked very fine; in 

 consequence the wheat grew very large in the 

 fall. The ground being wet I did not feed it 

 oflf until the ground froze; then I turned on 

 horses, cows and sheep, but it was too late — it 

 had got into spindle and the frost killed it, so that 

 it will not pay for harvesting. 



One of my neighbors has twelve acres nearly 

 as bad as my own. He sowed the first of Sep- 

 tember. 1 think farmers frequently sow too early. 



If you tliink this worthy a place in your 

 Journal, please insert it. A. D. Marvin. 



Cambria Centre, June, 1847. 



Remarks. — Our readers will recollect that 

 we particularly alluded to the impropriety of 

 sowing wheat early in September, last autumn. 

 Mr. Sheffer, of Wheatland, informs us that 

 the field in which the insects worked last fall, 

 (some account of which we gave in the Farmer,) 

 has been wholly destroyed by them and the 

 frost. This w£is an early sown piece on the 

 Genesee flats. — Ed. 



