CORRESPONDENCE. 



143 



CANADIAN SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



Mr. Editor : — I wish, through the medium of 

 your paper, to adJress a few liues to our Canadian 

 farmers on the subject of sheep. We have several 

 varieties of sheep in the country, including the Leices- 

 ter, South Down, Merino, Canadian, and all the vari- 

 ous crosses. Now, the question is, what is the best 

 breed for our farmers to keep ? Here there is, and 

 will be, a difference of opinion ; — some preferring the 

 pure Leicester, others the South-Down, others a cross 

 between these two. The latter, I believe, is really 

 larger and more easily fattened than the Leicester 

 and the wool is somewhat finer. The South-Down 

 is an easily-kept sheep, and yields a fine fleece, but 

 the carcass is small. The manufacturer of woo 

 greatly disapproves of the cross between the Leices- 

 ter and the South-Down, inasmuch as it does not 

 improve the wool. The wool in this cross is harsh, 

 lacking oil. The best stockfof sheep for Canada is 

 a cross between the French Merino and the pure 

 Leicester. By this mixture you have a hardy sheep, 

 of good size, — one easily fattened, and the very best 

 quality of wool, both for the Canadian and for the 

 American market. The Leicester sheep is quite de- 

 fective in the amount of oil in its fleece, while the 

 Merino has a superabundance, by which means it is 

 enabled to endure the cold storms of rain much bet- 

 ter than the Leicester. From this cross you there- 

 fore obtain a long, fine and soft wool, suitable for 

 making up into Orleans cloth, and goods of that 

 class, while it is just the thing for good Canadian 

 3loth. Now, in order to have such a stock of sheep 

 as the above, it is needful that some parties should 

 iontmue to raise and import the two kinds in their 

 purity— that is, the French Merino and the Leices- 

 A goodly number are to be found who have 

 done good service to our country, and honor to them- 

 selves, by importing and raising the pure Leicester 

 ieep. A few persons have directed their attention 

 ;o the French Merino sheep, and in getting them 

 lave spared no trouble or money. Mr. Jacob Ry- 

 »AL, Jr., of the township of Barton, is one of this 

 ■lass. He has some of the pure French Merino 

 heep, and I think has one or two for sale. Mr. Ry- 

 rAL obtained a number of premiums for his sheep at 

 ur last Provincial show. 

 Many of our farmers would do well to direct their 

 .ttention chiefly to sheep husbandry for two or three 

 ears: in so doing they would rest and enrich their 

 md, and, I doubt not, themselves also. 

 I might here state the comparative value of wool 



Supposing the Leicester wool to be worth Is. per 

 pound, then South-Down is worth Is. 3d; a cross be- 

 tween the South-Down and the Merino, Is. Gd. ; also 

 the cross between the Merino and Leicester would be 

 worth Is. 6d., and the pure Merino at that standard 

 would be worth from 2s. to 23. 3d. per pound. 



Wool growers should never allow their sheep to 

 run where there are burrs, nor should they shear 

 them without having first washed them clean; be- 

 cause either of these defects deducts from the value 

 of the wool from a quarter to one-third. 



A buck should never be allowed to run with the 

 same flock more than two years, and it is better to 

 change every year. The entire flock should be 

 changed eveiy three or four years. S. Kma. 



POTATO PLANTER AND SEED DEILL 



Mr. Editor : — As I am confident that you are 

 anxious to do all in your power for the purpose of 

 introducing labor-saving machines among the agri- 

 culturists of this Province, I have thought that it 

 would be in some degree interesting to your readers 

 to have a short description of an invention lately 

 patented by Mr. William Nixion, of the township 

 of Grimsby, in the county of Lincoln. ^Mr. Nixion's 

 invention is for the purpose of cutting and planting 

 potatoes, dropping corn, and sowing small seeds. 



The hopper, or box for containing the potatoes, 

 rests upon the axle passing through two wheels, with 

 shafts attached to the axle in the same way that a 

 cart or gig is constructed. A horse is then put be- 

 fore the planter, in like manner as a horse is placed 

 before a cart, and the machine is drawn in the same 

 way. 'J"he seed hopper rests upon the axle and 

 wheels, as above described, being keyed together and 

 fastened to a cog wheel which drives a horizontal 

 cog wheel that is fastened to the underside of the 

 cast-iron seed-wheels. When, therefore, the horse 

 moves forward, the whole machinery is set in motion. 

 There is a round bottom to the hopper that revolves 

 correspondontly with the motion of the animal which 

 draws the vehicle. In this bottom, or revolving 

 platform, there are holes at given distances. For 

 planting in hills you open two holes, and leave all 

 the olhei's shut up; and in this case four or five sets 

 are dropped in one place, at whatever distance you 

 may think proper, the seed being cut by a sharp 

 knife placed immediately nnder the revolving plat- 

 form. Some might prefer to cut the sets by hand, 

 and in this case the knife may be removed, or the 

 potatoes may be dropped without being euL If drilla 



