1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



19 



porters without any cross whatever with any oth- 

 er breed, and which are known and certified to 

 be such by gentlemen of the highest respectabili- 

 ty and unquestionable veracity, I keep and breed 

 by themselves. I do this, in the first place, to 

 keep this invaluable breed pure beyond a doubt, 

 and secondly, because I consider the purity of 

 blood the first requisite towards perfection of 

 fleece. In selecting sheep for breeding, I have 

 reference to fineness, evenness, length, thick- 

 ness, and style of fleece, worn by a well formed 

 animal. Any sheep whose pedigree cannot 

 stand the ordeal, or about wliose pedigree there 

 is the least uncertainty, is placed among the 

 grade sheep, which I also keep and breed by 

 memselves, in flocks according to age, size, and 

 condition. The smaller the number in the flock 

 the better ; but not to exceed one hundred. I 

 use pure merino bucks. I also keep the sexes 

 by themselves, and rarely meet with any loss of 

 sheep, except by. dogs or other accidents. Hon. 

 S. Lawrence, of Lowell, is right in his opinion, 

 (Ameriean Shepherd,) that a breed may be rear- 

 ed which will give four pounds of exquisitely 

 fine wool to the fleece. My full blood merino 

 ewes have never given so small an amount on 

 the average ; bucks, from five to eight pounds, 

 and sometimes more with higher feed. Sheep 

 should always be well tagged previ(^us to turning 

 to grass in the spring. i\Iuch pains should be 

 taken in washing and shearing them ; also in 

 folding the fleeces, that they may be clean and 

 whole. Respectfully, yours, 



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



Save Your Fodder. 



Messrs. Editors — As there is no stock upon 

 the farm probably that is so prone to run over 

 and waste their fodder as sheep, I would suggest 

 to my brother farmers a plan of making moveable 

 racks to feed them in, which I find from expe- 

 rience, is a very great saving. 



Take 4 posts 3 feet long, of 3 by 4 scantling; 

 place them 2 J feet apart one way, 12 feet the 

 other ; take some rails, 2 by 4 ; frame them in, 

 top and bottom, and pin them together ; take a 

 board 8 inches wide, nail round the bottom for a 

 base. The lower rail should be framed in 7 

 inches from the bottom of the post, so that the 

 base board will lap on to it one inch — or, in 

 other words, prepare it in the same way you 

 would to make a common picket fence. Then 

 take your slats, 6 inches wide, nail them on, up 

 and down, 6 inches apart, (let them run up as 

 high as the top rail) — that will leave a space 6 

 inches wide for tlie sheep to gel their heads in, 

 which is sufficient. 



One such rack, 12 feet long, will accommo- 

 date about 25 sheep. Any farmer will save hay 

 enough, in one winter, to pay the expense of 

 building them. After feeding is over in the 



spring, they can be laid away under your shed, 

 and will last a number of years. I would also 

 recommend to every farmer moveable racks for 

 foddering cattle, a drawing of which may be 

 found in the February Genesee Farmer, for 

 184.5, page 29. A. W. Turner. 



Ontario, N. Y., Dec. 1847. 



Cutting Food for Stock. — It has frequently 

 been asked how cutting hay for stock adds to its 

 nutritive qualities. It is precisely upon the 

 same principle as cutting up meat fine and ma- 

 king a mince of it. There is more or less nu- 

 triment in the tougher pieces, and even gristle; 

 if these are cut fine with the chopping knife, 

 and nicely cooked and agreeably seasoned, the 

 dish is eaten with peculiar relish, easily digests, 

 and goes twice as far as in the ordinary method 

 of taking meat in slices ; for under such circum- 

 stances we reject all that is not tender, juicy, 

 and particularly palatable. In cutting hay all 

 the coarser parts and even straw are made agree- 

 able to the taste of animals, especially if it be 

 cut up and spiced with a little meal, shorts, or 

 bran. Nor have they the power to reject any 

 part when cut up, and as all is more or less nu- 

 tritious the hay must go further ; nor can it be 

 pulled out and wasted as when fed loose. An- 

 other important consideration is, an animal can 

 fill its stomach much more easily and readily on 

 cut than uncut food, and can then lie down and 

 ruminate, and rest, allowing the food full time to 

 digest and distribute its strengthening qualities 

 throughout the system, and renovate it for re- 

 newed exertions. — Ainer. Agriculturist. 



Horse Power. — We are frequently asked the 

 question, what is understood by a Jiorse power? 

 and why that way of reckoning came to be adopt- 

 ed, and brought into general use 1 



Before the power of steam was generally known 

 and applied to mechanical purposes horses were 

 used to raise coal and other heavy bodies, and 

 Mr. Moots, in his experiments, carefully com- 

 pared the relative power of the different breeds 

 of horses, and found its average equal to raising 

 33,000 pounds one foot per minute, or what is 

 equivalent, to raise 330 pounds 100 feet, or 100 

 pounds 330 feet during that space of time, when 

 attached to a lever or sweep of a given length. 

 Thus, this afterwards became the standard of 

 measuring power or force applied to mechanical 

 purposes, and which is still retained in common 

 use. — Farmer ^' Mechanic. 



The English Quarter, at which wheat is; 

 quoted in the English reports, is 560 pounds, or 

 one-fourth of a ton gross weight of 2240 lbs. 

 The English legal bushel is 70 lbs., and conse- 

 quently 8 of those bushels is a quarter — equal to 

 9 J of our statute bushels of 60 lbs. Facts that 

 should be known to all Avho wish to compare 

 English prices with ours. 



