woo 



new Leicesters, 6 to 7 lbs. ; Cots- 

 wolds, 7 to 8 lbs. ; Lincolns, 8 to 10 

 lbs. The price of wool per pound, as 

 reported in 1845, was, Saxony, 35 to 

 50 cents ; pure Merino, 30 to 35 

 cents ; half-blood Merino, 25 to 30 

 cents ; common country sheep, 20 to 

 25 cents. Tlie wool of the English 

 kinds are not separated, but are worth 

 about the same as the half-breed Me- 

 rinos. 



^VOOL-GROWING. In the arti- 

 cle Food, we remarked that provender 

 differed in its effects, some kinds, as 

 the oily seeds, producing rapid fatten- 

 ing ; others, as the dry grains, serv- 

 ing to sustain strength. The fod- 

 ders best calculated to increase the 



WOR 



weight of wool may be ascertained 

 theoretically by considering the com- 

 position of that sluplc (see WuuUcn 

 Rags) ; it is there seen that 100 lbs , in 

 the ordinary state, contain 177 nitro- 

 gen, a quantity unusually large. The 

 inference is, therefore, that azotized 

 or nitrogen food is best calculated for 

 the increase of wool, and that pease, 

 beans, rye, barley, may be judiciou.sly 

 given. On this point theory is also 

 abundantly confirmed by the experi- 

 ments of M. de Raumer, of Silesia. 

 The following table exhibits tire value 

 of 1000 lbs. of various fodders in in 

 creasing the live weight, producing 

 wool and tallow : the sheep were 

 Saxons : 



Kinds of fooJ. 



1000 pounds of raw potatoes, with salt . 



1000 



1000 

 lOOO 

 lOtiO 

 1000 

 1(X)0 

 1000 



1000 



1000 

 1000 

 1000 



1000 



without salt 

 raw mangold wurzel . . . 



pease 



wheat 



rye, with salt 



rye, without salt 



oats 



barley 



buckwheat 



good hay . , 



ha;/, with straw, without otlier 



fodder 



whiskey still-grains or wash . 



Inrrease of 



weight in 



live animnl. 



46^ 



44 



38 

 134 

 155 



90 



83 

 I4« 

 136 

 I'iO 



58 



31 

 35 



Prodaced 



wool. 



6 



fi 



5 



14 

 13 

 13 

 12 



9 

 II 

 10 



7 



13 



6 



M 

 8 

 3* 



Produred 



tallow. 



11 i41 

 \U 59 

 14S 35 

 10* 33 

 12" 40 

 6^ 60 

 4i 33 

 lOA 12 



8 



6 



1 4 



5i 



6" 



9 



114 



84 

 8 

 1 

 8 

 14 



n 







Nitrogen 



per cent. 



in food. 



(F36~" 



36 

 0.21 

 3.83 

 2-09 

 2 00 

 2-00 



1 TO 

 1-90 

 210 

 1 15 



The daily ration of the sheep is 

 regulated in the same way as for cat- 

 tle ; two per cent, of the weight be- 

 ing allowed for those in an ordinary 

 state, and more for such as are put 

 up to fatten ; 2 to 2i lbs. of hay, or 

 its equivalent in other fodders, are 

 about the average. In M. de Rau- 

 mer"s experiments the animals were 

 permitted to eat all tliey would, and 

 the result shows that they took each 

 daily of potatoes, sliced, 7 lbs., with 

 straw ; mangold, 8 lbs., with straw ; 

 pease and beans, 2 lbs. : these should 

 be soaked in water or steamed, to en- 

 able the sheep to chew them ; wheat, 

 rye, barley, oats, from 2 to 2? lbs. ; 

 buckwheat, 3 lbs. : in every instance 

 where dry fodders were given, the 

 animals required two or three quarts 

 of water. 



WOOLLEN RAGS. They are 

 used as manure, at the rate of half a 

 ton to the acre, eitljer alone, chop- 



ped into pieces not exceeding half an 

 inch square, or in compost. The hop, 

 tobacco, turnips, and plants requiring 

 much putrescent manure, are most 

 benefited. Wool is almost identical 

 in composition with hair, horns, and 

 feathers : it consists of 506 carbon ; 

 7 hydrogen ; 17-7 nitrogen, and 247 

 oxygen, with a very small amount 

 ofash. The rags alone will show 

 good effects for four or five jears. 

 In their decay, 100 pounds produce 

 20 pounds of ammoia, which is liber- 

 ated in the form of carbonate. Wlien 

 rotted in compost, 200 pounds will be 

 enough to the acre, spread as a top- 

 dressing on growing plants. 



WOOL SHEARS. Sheep shears. 



WORM. A common name for cat- 

 erpillars and the tribe Vermes. See 

 Cut Worm, Wire Worm. 



WOR.MLXG. An operation per- 

 formed on puppies, consisting in the 

 removal of a vermiform ligament froia 



871 



