210 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Sept 



enormous in size and of fatness. Another 28 months 

 old, wcijfhe^l fuur hundred and sixteen pounds, and 

 had made forty pounds in five weeks ! 



The Mountain sheep were principally Cheviots, 

 larg-e rough animals; and Shctlands, very poor, small, 

 starved looking things, contrasting strongly with 

 the others. One man exhibited five of these little 

 Shetlanl ewes, and he felt highly indignant at there- 

 rnarks they elicited, and the slurs cast upon their 

 character and appearance. lie said their fat sheep 

 were all a humbug, they were unfit to breed, or even 

 to kill ; that his were in a natural state, wore able 

 to walk hundreds of miles, and fit for any thing. — 

 There was some truth too in what he said in regard 

 to the excessive fatness of many of the specimens. 

 They w'ere iuigc masses of fat, unable to stand up. 

 In fact all the animals were too fat, except to show 

 how fat they could be made. Of pigs about two- 

 thirds were wiiat are designated small breeds, Berk- 

 shire, Sussex, Middlesex, and crosses of these. These 

 appear to be in general favor at present. Their bones 

 are small, and llesli fine grained, and every way superi- 

 or to tliat of the larger breeds. Many s; ocimcns of 

 these were so fat that their legs could scarcely be 

 seen, their eyes wholly concealed, and their very 

 snouts barely projecting beyond the folds of fat. — 

 The largo breeds were less remarkable, though ons 

 of the prize specimens measured 9 feet long and 11 

 feet girt. 



I find that my account of this show, whicli I in- 

 tended should be brief, is already so lengthy that I 

 must withold many details respecting the animals. 

 What I have given may convey some idea of what is 

 going on in England in regard to this branch of agri- 

 culture. At the close of the exhibition there was a 

 grand dinner given, at which some 2000 persons sat 

 down. Several speeches wore dclivere^^, among 

 which that of Prince Albert is not the least worthy 

 of note. He and the Queen gave particular attention 

 to the show, as they do in all cases of great public 

 iiilcrcst. In respuiise to the usual toast " The Queen 

 &c.," IJis Royal Highness said : 



" My lord duko, my lords and gentlemen, — I am very 

 scnsioie of ilio honor which you have done me in proposinl' 

 my health, and I can assure you, gentlemen, th-.a tlie kimi 

 w.iy in wliich you have responded to the to:ist will never be 

 foru'olton by me. >Somo years have already elapsed since I 

 last dined with you in this migratory pavilitm; and I am glad 

 you slioijhl have puched it this day under the walls of 

 VVindhor Castle, and that I should myself have an opjiortu- 

 nity of bidding yoa a henrty welcome in tlio Home-park.— 

 \oiir encimpment singularly contrasts with that which the 

 barons of Kngland, the feudal lords of the land, with thrir 

 retuiners, erected around old Windsor Castle, on a similar 

 mead, though not exactly in the same locality. They cam.t 

 then clad in steel, and with lance and war-horse. Vou ap- 

 pear in a more peacji'iil altire, and the animals you brini: 

 wiih you to tlie meetmg are the tokens of your successful 

 cultivation of the arts of peace. King John came trembling 

 amongst liis subjects, unwillingly compelled to sign thai 

 great charter which has ever sinCe been your birthright.— 

 Your Sovereign cajne confiding among hor loyal and loving 

 people; she came tu admire the results of their industry" 

 and to encourage them to p-^rsevere in their exertions: and 

 the gratification which the lluecn has felt at the siglit of 

 your splendid colkciion must, I am sure, be participated in 

 by all who examine it. I am doubly pleased at this success, 

 not only be&ui.so it is witnessed by the many visitors from 

 foreign lands now wiUiin our shores, whom every Knu'lisli- 

 m an must wish to inspire with respect for the state of JJriiish 

 ogricultiirc, but al.so because I feel to a cirt.iin degree, pi r- 

 sonally responsible for having deprived you of one, penrral- 

 ly iMJ.it interesting, feature of your show, I mean the field 

 ;■;'''•'•• ""J ihe agrioultur.al machines and implements.— 

 1 h'jugh separated from your collection, they ore seen to 



great advantage in another royal park; and you will have 

 been glad to hear that, whatever dilliculty may be in decid- 

 ing u[)on the superiority of the works of industry and art 

 sent to the Crystial Palace by the dilTerent nuiions of the 

 earth, the tlritish agricultural implements are acknowledged 

 to stand there almost without a rival. Let mo now use tho 

 the privilege which your president has allowed mo to enjoy, 

 in proposing to you as a toast, ' Prosperity to the lloyal Ag- 

 ricultural Society.' To its exhibitions, the moans of com- 

 parison which they have alTorded, and the emulation which 

 they have stimulated, we owe, to a great extent, the prog- 

 ress which British agriculture has made of late. To lliis 

 society belongs the honor to have been one of the first to ap- 

 preciate the value ofsuch exhibitions, and to have, from the 

 beginning, liberally and fearlessly admitted all competitors 

 without restriction. 1 drink ■ Prosperity to the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society.' " His royal higluifss resumed his seat 

 amidst loud applause. M. V'an i»io W'kyer, tlie P)elgian 

 Minister, proposed the "Health of the Duke of Richmond," 

 and the convival proceedings elicited speeches from Mr. 

 Lawkence, the American Jlinister, Lord Ashbukton, Mr. 

 Dji.MsoN, M. P., and others. 



WIRE FSNCE. 



Messrs. Editors. — Permit me to answer some in- 

 quires put forth in the Farmer by II. G. Skinner, in 

 relation to wire fence, having experimented some 

 myself, and also had a good opportunity of v/atch- 

 ing the results of experiments of others. First, I 

 b dieve that three-fourths of the wire fence made in this 

 section of country a failure, in consequence of the 

 cheap manner in which it has been put up, and Mr. 

 S. may be assured that the kind of fence he thinks 

 of putting up v.ill also prove a failure. The writer 

 has some built in the following manner, which he is 

 not satisfied with as being a safe fence against cat- 

 tle — posts firmly set one rod ajmrt, with four strands 

 No. 9 wire. I furtlier intend putting up more in 

 the following manner, say forty rods ; first, set a 

 post firmly and well braced, then to each 16 feet set 

 a good fence post, 2J feet deep and so on the entire 

 distance to a tightening post made in the following 

 manner, have a stick one foot through, eight feet 

 long, morticed into a sill and braced, to be bedded 

 in the ground three feet, with four two inch auger 

 holes bored in the same side, as follows, first, 18 in- 

 ches from ground ; 2 J, 2G in.; 3d, 36 in.; 4th 48 in., 

 said holes to be morticed out 2 inches deep, and two 

 squares with a wooden pin made to loosely fit, with a 

 head similar to a common wood screw to a carpen- 

 ter's vice. I am now ready for the wire, best No. 9, 

 (any smaller is worthless,) fasten to first post with a 

 staj)lo, and loop wire enough together to reach the 

 last, which is done by turning it back about eight 

 inches and twisting the end around tho standing post, 

 and secure this end by means of a staple to the head 

 of the pin, which is then placed loosely in its hole in 

 the post, and with a heaver screw upon it as tight as 

 possible, and drive tiic pin home so the square will 

 prevent tho pin turning, and so on until the four 

 wires are in place, and loosely stapled, each wire to 

 each post. Now in each space we drive a throe inch 

 stake and also fasten the wire to it. The staples 

 are made from the same wire cut in lengths of 2J in- 

 ches for hard wood post, and doubled together with- 

 out pointing. It will be easily perceived that if wo 

 want to make this fence sheep tight, it can be done 

 by adding a board at the bottom. Uradfokd. — Kiii~ 

 dull, III. 



To make poppies bloom tilllate in the season, cut 

 off the capsules (seed vessels) as soon as the fiow- 

 crs fall. 



I 



