lOfe viiUiablc than those of the best common 



r, !■ .L _ il 11 1 l.^r. 



leep. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



203 



Some of the fleeces would bear two, 



ad soim tiircc cuts in the length of the wool, 

 t'hatnext the pelt wnsfiirrt/ and soft ; so that I 

 ave had gloves and stockings made of it, equal 

 ) fleecy hosiery. I have had better cloth made 

 f this wool, when judiciously selected, than I 

 ould obtain from that of common sheep, by ma- 

 y deTOPs. Alcrino'! were then Unknown. As 

 J their prolii'c capacities, no doubt can he en- 

 srtained, pro7.irfc(/ the right k'nd be procured. 

 [1 this 1 may have been peculiarly lucky ; yet 1 



I, nt one time, was seized with a zeal for 

 breeding of //orsc,9. In 1777, when the IJritish 

 took possession of our city and its environs, I 

 had a number of high blooded young Colts, which 

 I tailed in having driven otT from one of my 

 farms. Ten or eleven of them were shot down 

 by the Hessian or Yager banditti, for their skins. 

 This was a damper to my equestrian propensi- 

 ties. When I returned to my domicil, I found 

 my farm near the city, desolated and temporari- 

 ly ruined — houses and fiirm buildings all b\irnt ; 

 and all enclosures and much forest timber taken 



m satisfied that enough of the same class can be i away. Yet the wanton destruction ofthe young 



btained, by carelul and intelligent persons.— 

 Vhero are there any other breeders which 

 ould produce a lamb at twice the age of those 

 iJheep ? My Selima yeaned a healthy lamb in 

 ler sixtcciUli year. All of the race may not do 

 his^ — but all 1 have known retained fecundity 

 nuch longer than any other race of sheep. — 

 Their freedom from all diseases incident to otli- 

 r sheep, may have assisted this natural perfec- 

 ion. Tliey yeaned with much more ease, and 

 ew if any casualties occurred in lambing. — ^I 

 lave, now, none of this breed I can recom- 

 aend. 



Your pair may not be prolific, yet may be of 

 . good kind, except as to the wool. How many 

 i.iir of comely and promising Bipeds do we see, 

 rithout progeny ? Were we to generalize such 

 istances, we should tremble under the appro- 

 icnsion that the human race would cease to 

 increase and multiply, and replenish the earth.f 

 Mttius' alarms would then be nugatory indeeq. 

 In my account of the Tunis sheep, vol. 2d, 

 •age 221, 1 relate the dilliculty of a Tup ofthe 

 ommon kind, coupling with a Tunis Ewe. But 

 such difficulty is experienced either with a 

 ommon ewe, or with a female Laticaudu:. N"a- 

 ure is too wisely directed, to permit any Impe- 

 iments to their intercourse. I %vould not bo 

 nderstood to say, that the Tunis fleece is com- 

 larable to that of really tine wooled sheep. But 

 ts abundance, its not being deciduous, and its 

 ipplicability to all common uses, for which fine 

 vool is unfit, far overbalance its inferiority in 

 his regard, and entitle this singular animal, em- 

 )hatically; its superior carcass, too, considered; 

 o the appellation of the Farmers'' Sheep. 



In some instances of apparent incapacity, I 

 lave succeeded by changing the male, or the 

 female, as the case required. This I have prac- 

 tised with cattle, as well as sheep. 



I have been, at several periods of my life, a 

 breeder of sheep and cattle, and have had as 

 fine animals as most I now see. The English 

 areeds were then not so highly improved, as 

 '.hey are noaj esteemed to be. We procured our 

 breeders chiefly from Holland, the low countries 

 of Europe and Germany. Save that the Alderney 

 race were always^ in high estimation. I had 

 them, during twenty years, in great perfection. 

 [ never found much certainty in breeding grext 

 milkers, even from the best parentage ; though 

 often I have had success. My farms have been 

 ill chiefly devoted to large dairies, during more 

 *i than forty years past. 



If' My days of agricultural activity have passed 

 11 away, and I can now only enjoy recollections ; 

 til and also the gratification of seeing my early en 

 it deavors now far exceeded. I rejoice to pe:- 

 I) ceive the spirit for improving our stock, so gc.i- 

 y erally and meritoriously diftused ; and am sig- 

 nally delighted by its prevailing where it was 

 i most required. 



horses, nnd the barbarian and merely mischiev 

 ous prostration of an extensive and well select- 

 ed collection of tine, young and thriving fruit 

 trees, mortified mc more than the more import- 

 ant deprivations. Added to weightier excite- 

 ments to avenge my rebellious exertions, an il- 

 liberal officer of a British picket, was stung by 

 an imprudently smart girl, who remained with 

 her widov/ed mother in the farm house. He 

 sarcastically told her, that " Washington had 

 been a low mechanic." — She replied that she 

 had never heard that part of his history — but 

 their General, Ho-we, was assuredly one — he was 

 a fl7(;>-maker. The house was burned in a 

 night or two after. 



But, as a mark of good breeding, I will clo.se 

 my prosing letter, which I began only to rescue 

 my i'avorite Tunisians from unmerited imputa- 

 tions. My subject is, however, not a barren 

 one. You will, therefore excuse my prolific 

 prolixity, and permit me to offeryou sincere as- 

 surances of my best regards. 



Your's, very truly, 



RICHARD PETERS. 



.J. S. Skinner, Es<i. 



Any persons desirous of examining the loom, 

 may see it, by calling on the proprietors, or on 

 John Jiestwick, the weaver, Medway, Mass. — 

 Lace manufactured by it, is for sale in Provi- 

 dence, by Messrs. Watson and Rathbone. 



Trom the Mamilacturors^ (Providence) .Tournal. 



LJCE LOOM. 



We learn with pleasure, that the Latf. Loo.m, 

 the construction of which was commenced about 

 two years ago, on account of Messrs. Walker & 

 Bestwick, of Medway, Mass. has been at last 

 completed, at an expense of more than ^2000. 

 The width of this macb.ine, within the shuttles, 

 is 50 inches. The shuttles are 1230 in number, 

 and all play at one time, abreast of each other, 

 with the same number of warp-threads. The 

 warp threads are prepared on 20 bobbins, to 

 which the machinery gives two motion^, one a 

 vertical rotary, to unwind the warp — the other 

 a horizontal rotary, to turn the bobbin endwise ; 

 so that the warp runs two ways at once. The 

 frame receives 26 breadths of lace at once — 

 each having a selvage, and being held to the 

 breadth on each side by a single thread, drawn 

 through the adjoining meshes, as the work pro- 

 ceeds. When the piece is finished, these sin- 

 gle threads are withdrawn, and the lace is di- 

 vided into the requsite number of pieces. 



The machine has three treadles and four han- 

 dles, and is moved by the labor of one man. It 

 occupies about as much space as a common 

 Scotch Loom. It is so complicated that its pro- 

 prietors think no intelligible draft can be made 

 of it, 



A piece of lace 23 yards long and 56 inches 

 wide, from this loom, weighs twenty-two ounc- 

 es and an half This thread is No. 180. In 

 constant operation, the machine would employ 

 about sixty persons, mostly females, to prepare 

 tlie lace lor the market. 



TlIK ART OF DOWING. 

 In all classes ami professions there is some- 

 thing Peculiar in the method of bowing. Who 

 that has seen much of the lawyers but will ac- 

 knowledge th:it ho tliro\rs into his obeisance a 

 considerable share of that gravity arising from 

 the awful honors of the wig and the gown ? But 

 altogether, th« bow of law is not greatly to be 

 admired— it seems to be a compound of the 

 lessons ofthe d;mcing master, and that sagacious 

 sort of nod which is acquirei' by long practice 

 in the courts of law, and which generally ac- 

 companies any particular display of the cunning 

 advocacy. Whoever has been in the court of 

 justice must have seen the senseless nodding of 

 some baatling advocate while the judge was 

 charging the jury — taking hold of any circum- 

 stance favorable' to his client, as it dropped tVom 

 the bench, and then, with infinite importance, 

 shaking his head to the twelve men in the box,' 

 as much as to say, ' mark that !' — Now this is 

 one of the worst uses to which such a head can 

 be applied. 



The bow ofthe courtier has too much ofthe 

 drawing room about it, and looks too cold and 

 formal. The English, in general, can-not be 

 respectful without making the act of obeisance 

 too long ; the French combine brilliancy with 

 grace, much better, are super-eminent with that 

 kind of bend which combines condescension with 

 self-importance. 



The medical professions are notorious for the 

 peculiar natxire of their bows — they are gener- 

 ally acconrpanied witti a turning op their eye?, 

 and losk which says, ' you are in a sad wa}', 

 madam, but, no doubt, we shall soon set you 

 right again.' Doctors always speak in the plu- 

 ral, and like authors, cannot do without the edi- 

 torial rovalism. I am not much in love with 

 the physical bow; it smells as decoction of' I'm 

 glad to find yoa poorly, but would not have yon 

 worse,' ami a few simples not vforth meutioa- 

 ing. 



Every body is acquainted with the bow ofthe 

 shop keeper — It is good enough in its way, and 

 not open to many objections, because it profess- 

 es no more than it means — ' always happy to 

 serve a customer.' 



The theological bow is ever best on Sunday, 

 and nearer the church yard the better. I was 

 never more impressed with the importance of 

 this bow than when lately in a country church. 

 According to the good old fashion wluch pre- 

 vails beyond sixty miles from town, we were all 

 in our pews before the minister arrived. The 

 dignity of his appearance, and the consequen 

 tial, although at the same time, parental ex- 

 pression that beamed from a rubicund, but in- 

 telligent countenance, created an involuntary 

 sensation of respect. As he walked up the mid- 

 dle of the aisle, the congregation rose and wel- 

 comed him, the return which he made right and 

 left, was in the best style of clerical bowing. 



But the most distinguished on the list ol bows 

 is that of the military profession. It is so well 

 known and so fully admired — by the younger 

 par; of your fair readers in particular — that aoy 

 illustration would be sujieriiuous. 



