THE GENESEE FAEMEE. 



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a ton on its way to New Orleans, Mobile, Texas, and the West Indies. Railroads are 

 aiding powerfully to deplete American pastures and meadows which yield both hay and 

 stock of all kinds in such immense qnantities. When will these iron ways beo-in to 

 carry back from cities and the ocean into the country the essential elements of grass 

 and grain, wool and cotton, to recuperate the long injured farms of the interior ? Those 

 that dwell in cities have not the power to annihilate a single atom of matter, and may, 

 if they will, give back a full equivalent for what they consume. But as we do not 

 expect that the idea of restoring the elements of grass to pastures will be adopted by 

 formers in our time, we shall best promote their immediate interests by showing how 

 close feeding in spring and the early part of summer diminishes the growth of grass 

 one-half, taking the season together. 



Close feeding of pastures is nothing more than severe pruning; and it matters little 

 whether one cuts off all the limbs of a tree, or all of its roots-^either greatly retards its 

 growth, as may be seen in dwarf hedges, formed simply by close clipping. Estimated 

 in pounds of roots, trunks, limbs, and leaves, this severe pruning diminishes the growth 

 two-tliirds or three-fourths. Permit cattle, sheep, and horses to prune forage plants by 

 biting them close at the ground, and all such mutilated plants are stunted for a time ; 

 and if the severe pruning is often repeated, the growth of both roots and stems will be 

 reduced to one-fourth of what the land without any manure is capable of producing. 

 By all means allow grass to cover the ground well and get up nearly into blossom, 

 especially if clover, before stock is permitted to feed it severely. In nine cases out of 

 ten, close feeding is unwise; for unless one can irrigate or is favored with genial rains, 

 much time must elapse before the grass can recover and afford good pasturage. Lime, 

 ashes, gypsum, salt, and bone dust all pay well, as a general thing, when applied to 

 pastures as a top dressing in the spring, or fore part of summer. Many pastures and 

 meadows need more grass seed as well as manure. To scarify the surface with a sharp 

 harrow when fertilizers are applied is a capital operation. Make the ground rich, culti- 

 vate thoroughly, and no other crop will pay better than gostd pastures and meadows. 



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SHEEP BREEDING. 



The Boston Cultivator of April 16th and 23d, contiiins an elaborate criticism of an 

 article on " Sheep Breeding," written by P. A. Browne, L. L. D., of Philadelphia, and 

 published in the agricultural part of the Patent Office Report for 1851, which, from the 

 importance of the subject discussed, deserves some notice at our hands. 



Our Boston friend commences his " review" by remarking that " the main object of 

 the writer [Dr. Brov/ne] appears. to have been to introduce a new classification of sheep 

 in regard to their natural affinities. He divides the common sheep into two species, 

 which he designates as "the hairy sheep, and the woolly sheep.' 



Whatever may have been the object of the author of the essay on " Sheep Breeding," 

 in the Patent Office Report, the following comments of the reviewer strike us as 

 singularly irrelevant : 



"The inquiry may be made why we have devoted so much space to the refutation of such wild 

 nolioiis (and we have noticed but a tithe of them) as are contained in Mr. Browne's essay. We 

 reply, the source through which they appear, gives them intliicnce. Tlie gfivernment of the United 

 States assumes to give the people valuable intelligence through the medium of the Patent Office 

 Repbrt". It employs an agent, styled an Agricultural Clerk, to collect and prepare this information. 

 But if the character of these Reports is not what is assumed — if instead of truth they propagate 

 pernicious error — they are an injury to the people and a disgrace to the government. PoUticians 

 talk of reform, progress and improvement, and captivate the credulous with these attractive words. 

 Agriculture, the most important of all national interests, ought to receive tlie first efforts for advance- 

 ment from the servants of the people. But when the sanction of a government functionary is given 



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