176 [Assembly 



Still-slop has been found to increase the wool one pound per head, 

 and pay all expenses of purchase and carting. Sheep have the or- 

 gan of taste in a very extraordinary degree, having the papillae very 

 large and long, they can distinguish flavors with infinite accuracy, and 

 Malphigie's description of the papillse, copied by almost all of the ana- 

 tomists, was taken from the tongues of sheep. One lot ought to be 

 covered over with an open kind of holland from the neck to the tail. 

 Some people may laugh, but this is not new, but very old. 



Varro, the learned Roman, in his " De Re Rustica," says, sheep 

 were covered over with a leather covering to improve the wool, and 

 the wool growers of Podolia and the Ukraine, particularly in the 

 province of Astrachan, have a peculiar method of turning wool into 

 fur. The lamb after a fortnight's growth is taken from the ewe, 

 nourished with milk and best herbage, and wijipped up as tight as 

 possible in a linen covering, which is daily moistened with warm 

 water, and is occasionally enlarged as the animal increases in size. 

 In this manner the wool becomes soft and curly, and is by degrees 

 changed into shining and beautiful locks. It is called Astrachan. 



Twenty-five years ago this was the most fashionable lining and 

 trimmings for cloaks a dandy could wear, who took it for fur. One 

 lot should certamly, during the winter be fed on cooked food. One 

 lot should have a daily ration of rye in meal and grain, with and 

 without salt. This grain has been said to develop more than any 

 other grain the growth of wool, though neither rye, barley or oats, 

 possess any gluten. Yankee beans ought to be tried on one lot. 

 Shearing twice on one lot. Consider that even six ounces increase of 

 wool per head, on 30,000,000 of sheep, is immense. We have much 

 to learn, and if twelve men will undertake each a lot, keep accurate 

 daily accounts, and report to the Institute, I have little doubt some- 

 thing important will be discovered, at all events that another year's 

 experiment will succeed. 



