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Let a standing premium be offered for the best sheep-farm, and 

 let the requisitions for success embrace all the items connected with 

 this subject on which information is most desired and needed ; as for 



example : the number of sheep kept should not be less than , 



and the account required by the board should embrace their whole 

 history and management ; their kind ; tlie quality of tlieir wool ; the 

 amount of wool to a fleece ; their cost of keep ; their feed ; the 

 kinds of feed ; the quaniity required to any given number ; the value 

 of hay, straw, Indian meal, oil meal, potatoes, turnips, carrots, cab- 

 bages ; tiie number pastured on an acre ; the value of pasturage ; 

 the average number of lambs raised to any number of ewes or any 

 mixed flock ; the number of bucks required to a flock ; the time of 

 lambing ; the mode of managing sheep at the time of lambing ; 

 the comparative value of ewes and wethers ; the utility of salt- 

 ing or withholding salt from sheep ; the age to which sheep may 

 be advantageously kept ; the time of shearing ; the mode of washing 

 sheep ; the mode of preparing the fleece for market ; the loss in 

 weight, if any, which the fleece suffers from keeping ; comparisons 

 of profits or advantages among the different breeds ; the results of 

 crossing with different breeds ; the raising of early lambs for market ; 

 the fatting of wethers for market ; the most eligible condition, age, 

 modes of feeding, and kinds of feed ; the proper construction of 

 sheep-pens, racks, mangers, cots, houses ; the comparative ad- 

 vantages or disadvantages of housing or exposing sheep ; the ordin- 

 ary diseases and accidents to which sheep are liable, and the reme- 

 dies or preventives ; and many other particulars, which are impor- 

 tant, and would naturally suggest themselves to any practical in- 

 quirer. 



The next subject of premium might be, for example, a dairy- 

 farm, whether of butter or cheese, and this likewise should embrace 

 its entire management. The number of cows should not be less 

 than . The competitor should be required to state their num- 

 ber, age, breed ; whether raised or not by himself; mode of raising 

 calves ; feed of cows ; pasturage ; value of land for pasturage ; 

 number of acres required for a cow ; winter-feed ; hay ; corn-fod- 

 der ; vegetables : such as turnips, carrots, parsnips, pumpkins, In- 

 dian, rye, oat, or oil meal ; their quantities and comparative value from 

 actual trial and observation ; cost of feed ; pounds of hay or vege- 

 tables consumed in any given time ; trials of cooked or uncooked 



