570 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



3d. They never shed their wool when kept in 

 umform condition. 



4th. Thoy are very quiet, and seldom jump a 

 fence 4 feet in height, and hence take on flesh much 

 easier than coarse sheep. 



5th. They will bear crowding in large flocks and 

 do well, while coarse sheep invariably decline when 

 heavily stocked. 



Gth. They will do well on pasture so short and 

 indifferent that on it a flock of coarse sheep would 

 most certainly decline. 



7th. They yield about one-third more wool, 

 which is worth one-third more per lb., so their 

 fleeces bring double those of common sheep. 



8th. The wool hairs have 2,400 serrations, or 

 saw-teeth to tlie inch, being much more than that 

 of common wool, and consequently its felting prop- 

 erties are unsurpassed. 



9th. The luxurious yolk of the fleece furnish 

 these sheep with an impervious coat of mail, which 

 resists rain and snow, and impurities that would 

 injure the wool, and gives to the manufactured 

 fabric a softness and finish that adds 20 per cent, 

 to its price when thrown upon the market. 



In short, we believe they combine more excel- 

 lences than any other breed of sheep on the globe, 

 and when their merits are fully and everywhere 

 known, will take the place of all others. 

 — Wool Grower. S. B. Rockwell. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MEADOW MUD. 



Though urged so often, we must suggest again to the far- 

 mers the importance of gettingjup a large quantity of this valu- 

 able absorbent and fertilizer. Haul it upon the uplands ready 

 for the corn land next spring, by placing a large shovel full 

 in each hill, mingled with a handful of guano.— iV. E. Far- 

 mer. 



Don't do any such thing. Dig the mud and make a pile, 

 mixing a bushel of lime with each cartload, which you have 

 slacked with brine as strong as salt can make it. Use this 

 substance in your stable to absorb the urine and gases. Don't 

 put a handful of guano in the hill, unless you wish to kill your 

 seed. — If. Y. Tribune. 



Remarks.— The New York Tribunehaa "travelled out of 

 the record" in its teschings and comments ou our suggestion 

 as to the use of meadow mud. This is a fair specimen of the 

 Bort of teaching which discourages the farmer more than any 

 thing else. Talk to nine- tenths of the farmers about mi.King 

 a cask of lime with each cart-load of muck, at a cost of $1 

 to $1,25 for each cask, and this to be slacked with brine as 

 strong as salt can make it ! ! What would the farmer's corn 

 cost per bushel, with his manure made by this expensive pro- 

 cess. No, no, no ! Haul up the mud and let it freeze, and to 

 a shove full of it to each hill, in the spring, add a half gill, or 

 a whole one, of good Peruvian guano, mix it thoroughly, and 

 not a kernel of your corn shall be injured by it. We speak 

 from our personal practice, as well as thafof many about us. 

 The Tribune must be in the harness and furrow a little longer, 

 befoie its doctrines on these subjects can be considered relia- 

 ble. 



Mr. Brown : — The article appended I find in 

 your Farmer of Oct. 1. I have nothing to do with 

 the differences between you and the Tribune. I can 

 only say that I regret to see them. I look to yours 

 and other agricultural journals for light. Light 

 shines but dimly through "mud" or "dust," 

 which compose the principal of yours and the Tri- 

 bune's differences.. I cannot say which of you are 

 right. Nor that, under certain circumstances, 

 both of you may notbe strictly correct. But what 

 I desire to have you understand is, that your esti- 



mate of the cost of lime is absolutely enormous. 

 Shell Lime is advertised in Boston at 30 to 40 cts. 

 per cask. Air Slacked Lime is a drug at 30 cts. 

 per cask. I have bought, the past summer, 

 upwards of 30 barrels — equal to 90 yards of the 

 Tribune's compost, and the price paid has fallen 

 below 20 cts. per cask. About 25 casks of this 

 lime was made into mortar and worked well, so 

 that in case you object to my proposition on ac- 

 count of its difference from the Tribune's recom- 

 mendation to have it "slacked" with lime, your 

 advice falls to the ground. But the slacking is of 

 little consequence. If the lime is applied to old 

 mortar, proportions being equal, the same results 

 would very likely follow. But 1 am digressing 

 from the object at which I was arriving when I 

 commenced. My aimwasyowr "lime." I wish to 

 say, if the privilege is granted me, to your Far- 

 mer Readers, that they may each and all of them, 

 around our large towns, burn their own lime at a 

 cost not exceeding 10 cts. per barrel, if they will, 

 as I do, count ashes and burnt earth, or bits of 

 charcoal, equal to lime. This is the way I do it. 

 I collect combustible i^rubbish, such as brush, po- 

 tato-tops, any thing that will burn, and pile it as 

 compactly as possible, in a pile about three feet 

 high, and covering a space of ground ten feet wide 

 by thirty feet long. Upon this pile I empty from 

 thirty to fifty barrels of Oyster and Clam shells. 

 On the top of this I pile other, and the finest com- 

 bustibles I have, to the depth of about one foot. 

 The sides and ends are then banked with turfs and 

 the top covered in with turf or loam, and the heap 

 fired on the windward side. In two days, the 

 heap, with a little attention, is a "splendid ruin." 

 Every shell to which the fire has reached can be 

 crushed in the hand. The lime is made. And now 

 you will object that the materials are not at hand. 

 Let us see. Lawrence contains 12,000 people. As 

 a basis of estimate, we will "call it" 15,000. These 

 15,000 people, annually consume the oysters con- 

 tained in more than 1,500 barrels of shells! The 

 population of the State is about 1,000,000. Now 

 admitting that more oysters are eaten in manu- 

 facturing than in other towns, I believe I may safe- 

 ly say that the farmers of Msssachusetts can an- 

 nually produce more than seventy-five thousand 

 barrels of shell lime — worth, agriculturally used, 

 more than stone lime,which you estimate at $1,00 

 to $1,25 — and in producing this, may also produce 

 seventy-five thousand barrels of ashes, and bits of 

 charcoal — the fertilizing qualities of which, pro- 

 perly combined with meadow mud, would be worth 

 not less than one hundred thousand dollars. The 

 cost would be less than $8000. 



[Yours ever truly, "Glen." 



Lawrence, Oct. 27, 1853. 



Remarks. — The writer of the above, in a note, 

 says — "I have pruned the article some. It is at 

 your option to prune it more, provided you do not 

 prune that part which hits yourself" We assure 

 our friend that if our articles are commented upon 

 in a spirit of fairness, and such comments tend to 

 elicit truth, they shall not be touched by expung- 

 ing pen of ours. We believe the usefulness of this 

 paper depends in a considerable degree upon leav- 

 ing its columns open to a free and fair discussion 

 of all proper subjects, and in their proper limits. 



