52 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Mr. Meikle does not mention the price at which 

 he soUI his himbs; but I see it stated in a newspaper 

 that he oljtained for them £1 4s. a head, which is 

 equal to $5.75. Neither does he state the number 

 of cattle that he fattened. If, however, the propor- 

 tion of cattle to sheep is kept up that was observed 

 when I left Scotland, the numl^er would be about 35. 

 His sales, therefore, would be as follows: 



507 lambs, at So .75, $2,915.25 



290 fleeces of wool, at $2, 680.00 



Produce of 290 ewes for one year, ..$3,495.25 



85 two-year-old cattle, at $85, 2,975.00 



• Produce of cattle and Bhecp for one year, 6,470.25 



The above is not an isolated instance of extreme 

 fecundity of sheep, but one that may be considered 

 a fciir represeatatiou of what occurs in every flock 

 qI Blakewell ewes, that is judiciously managed. 



countries; and as to the expenditure upon the cattle 

 in Scotland, it is not much more than that incun-ed 

 upon the cattle of this countiy. The former, from 

 the time they are calved to the time they are seut to 

 the butcher, which embraces a period of two years, 

 do not consume more than an acre and a quarter 

 of turnips each, while the latter would, for the same 

 period, to be worth $25 a head at the termination 

 of it, require an acre of corn, estimating the produce 

 at 35 busliels. 



The contrast cannot be ascribed to a difference in 

 the price of meat, for that is nearly the same in both 

 places; uor can it be imputed to the soil of Scotland 

 being better, nor the climate more propitious lor 

 raising and fattening stock, for in none of these respects 

 is Montgomery county inferior to that country. It 

 must be chiefly owing to a want of a proper breed, 

 which Mr. Meikle says it is of gi-eat importance to 



V^?^- 





SOUTH DOWN SHEEP. 



The same result might be obtained in this country 

 with the same breed, and with the exercise of the 

 same management and care. 



The early fitness of the cattle for the shambles is 

 the effect of good keeping, joined with a strong ten- 

 dency in the breed (Durham) to early maturity. 



I may, as a contrast to these sales, give the sums 

 that a farmer in Montgomery county (Md.) would 

 realize for the same quantity of stock of the same 

 ages, but of the breed now existing in that county: 



From 290 ewes 270 lambs might be raised, which, 



at $3 a head, wouldamount to $810.00 



290 fleeces of wool, at .$1.62^, 471.24 



85 two-year-old cattle, at $25, 875.00 



$2,156.25 

 Amount of Mr. MeUde's sales, 6,470.25 



■ Difference, $4,314.00 



The difference of actual profit would not be far 

 short of that amount, for the expense of keeping the 

 sheep throagh iha winter ia about the same in both 



possess; and in so far as the cattle are concerned, to 

 a want of turnips, a root which Mr. Ch.irles B. 

 Calvert has clearly demonstrated can be cultivated 

 as successfully in Maryland as in Great Britain. — J. 

 Bell, in the Amencan Farmer. 



SOUTH DOWN SHEEP. 



•The South Down breed is derived from the chalky 

 hills of Sussex on the British Channel. It is to be 

 classed amongst the Down and Forest breeds, but it 

 has been made to surpass them all by the effects of 

 breeding and careful culture. It has been widely 

 spread over all the south-eastern counties of England, 

 and has passed into districts beyond the countries of 

 the Chalk, taking the place of the preexisting breeds 

 of the downs and commons. The sheep of this breed 

 are destitute of horns, have dark colored faces and 

 limbs, and produce a short felting wool fitted for pre- 



