THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



809 



DO SHEEP DETERIORATE IN THE QUALITY OF 

 THEIR WOOL m WARM CLIMATES? 



Editors Genesee Faemer : — President Fanxing, 

 of Franklia College, Tean., remarks, in the South- 

 ern Homes f^ad : 



" The effect of a warm climate is to thin out and 

 shorten the fibre, lighten the fleece, and take the 

 wool from the limbs and under portions of the 

 body, and substitute rough, hairy locks, particu- 

 larly about the hips, neck, &c. In higher latitudes, 

 slieep are more compact and uniform in the fleece 

 over the whole body, and the yield is perhaps 

 double that of southern flocks." 



Now is all this true? Hardly, I think, to the 

 extent the Professor would lead us to believe. 

 "Where do the finest and best wools come from ? 

 Is it not the hot and dry climate of Australia, of 

 Cape Colony, and of the plains of Estramadura and 

 and Saxony ? Is it not generally the case that the 

 fine-wooled sheep, if removed to a colder and 

 damper climate, such as Great Britain or the north- 

 ern States of America, are apt to have their wool 

 deteriorate and become coarser, from the united 

 effects of external moisture, the want of green and 

 succulent food, and the confinement during our 

 long and severe winters? Would not the same 

 amount of care and attention expended on a fine- 

 wooled sheep in the ever green pastures of Austra- 

 lia result in the production of a larger and finer 

 fleece than is obtained from the same animal in 

 Vermont ? What would be the quality and quan- 

 tity of wool obtained from a sheep in Vermont, if 

 it were to have to shift for itself all the year round, 

 exposed to the wet and cold, and subsisting on the 

 driest of hay or a cold bite of frozen grass ? Do 

 the fine-wooled sheep in Australia, Spain, or Sax- 

 ony, yield a less average weight of fleece than those 

 of Vermont or Ohio, of an equality of fineness? 

 Is there not a great difference in the profit of keep- 

 ing 1000 sheep in the former at the same expense 

 as 100 in the latter ? Is not the want of green food 

 in winter, such as turnips, one of the causes why 

 sheep, when removed to our cold northern climate, 

 have a tendency to yield wool of a coarser fibre 

 and longer staple ? 



Will some of your correspondents give us their 

 views on this subject? m. 



The Insect on Mulleins not the Wheat-midge. 

 — I have to-day been examining, with a microscope, 

 the small yellow worm which infests the mulleins, 

 and which has been supposed to be the larva of the 

 wlieat-midge. But I think that it is not this larva, 

 though at first sight it closely resembles it. Its 

 color and size are exactly the same, but it moves 

 about much more actively, and the microscope 

 reveals that this larva has several long legs, which 

 the larva of the wheat-midge has not, and a sharp 

 pointed tail, and two horns or antennte from a very 

 projecting head, which it moves from one side to 

 the other. Now the larva of the wheat midge has 

 scarcely any perceptible motion at any stage of its 

 existence, (and it has long ago passed into the pupa 

 state,) nor are there any marked distinction between 

 its two ends; both are similarly rounded off, and 

 there are no antennas. — E. M., Ancaster, C. IT., 

 September 8, 1859. 



WEATHER, CROPS. &c., IN MAINE. 



Editors Genesee Farmer : — No rain fell in the 

 month of Augu.st up to the 25th, when we received 

 a refreshing fall of eighteen hours continuance. 

 The number of days drouth Avas fifty-two, or from 

 July 8d till August 25th. The montlily mean of 

 heat for August at this place, lafe. 44 deg. 23 rain. 

 N., long. 69 deg. 6 min. W., was 70^. This was 

 obtained from observations made by myself at the 

 hours of 7 A. M., Noon, and 6 P. M. The warmest 

 day was the 5th — mean 81°; the coldest, 80tli — 

 mean 59°, The weather for September, up to this 

 date (Sept. 7th), has been cool. Vegetation suffered 

 severely in consequence of the drouth, l)ut partially 

 revived under the influence of the moisture. Grain 

 has been harvested in good order; the crop is remu- 

 nerative; principally oats and barley. Wheat rye, 

 and buckwheat, are grown to a limited extent. 

 Potatoes have as yet escaped the rot and rust. 

 Many fields are to be seen perfectly green and 

 growing, exhibiting a striking contrast with former 

 years, when the tops were black — dead with rust — 

 long before this time of the year. The absence of 

 rust can only be attributed to the lack of moisture 

 — foggy weather — of which we have been most 

 entirely free the past season. Throughout the 

 whole State, fruit is entirely wanting. Corn has 

 revived, and will be quite a crop. The grasshop- 

 pers in some sections are very destructive, sweep- 

 ing whole fields of potatoes, turnips, carrots, etc. 

 Belfmt. Me., Sept. 7, 1859. G. E. BRACKETT. 



MANAGEMENT OF HOGS. 



Editors Genesee Farmer: — A very good way 

 of keeping stock hogs through the winter, is to have 

 a sufficient quantity of sheaf rye stacked at some 

 distance from the barn and away from other ani- 

 mals, as hogs do best where they are not annoyed. 

 The rye can be fed in the sheaf. One sheaf per 

 day for each pig that is nine months old is suffi- 

 cient. It is better for them thus than in any other 

 way, as they masticate it better, and it is easily 

 digested. They should have a field to run in, with 

 a good supply of fresh water. A small quantity of 

 salt may be laid by the water, where the pigs can 

 have ready access to it. Last season, I wintered 

 my swine on sheaf rye, and I never had any look 

 better. 



In wintering hogs, people err in keeping them in 

 stys for weeks, and even months, without changing 

 their bed. Mine lie scattered through the straw, 

 and look clean and healthy. They work the straw 

 over, and have it in good condition for plowing 

 under in early spring. If young pigs are kept at 

 home in winter, it is best to put the mother in the 

 sty, and give them a fresh bed of straw every week, 

 and let them also have air and exercise on warm 

 days. Wean them at the end of seven weeks, and 

 then feed them with scalded Indian meal for the 

 first six weeks after. john ewing. 



Benton, HoVmes County, Ohio, 1S59. 



There are truths which some men despise, be- 

 cause they have not examined them ; and which 

 they will not examine, because they despise them. 



To PREVENT Hens eating thier eggs — Give them 

 a piece of raw meat, about once a week, to peck at. 



