VOL. XV. SO. 36. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



285 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



Extract finm a siibsciiber in Maryland, to the 

 editor of the Genesee Farmer: 



" While 1 have my pen in hand, it may not be 

 amiss to give yon a brief acconnt of the very hand- 

 some profits whieli I have realized from a floel; 

 of sheep during the past year. When I came in- 

 to |)ossession of my faim, a short time since, 1 

 found on it, twenty ewes of a very ifidifTerent 

 breed, and of that breed, not the best in age, size, 

 or in any other respect. They were fed during 

 the last winter on corn fodder, with the addition 

 of turnips for a few days about the time of yean- 

 ing. After this, (the early I'art of March) they 

 received no food except what they could find for 

 themselves in the fields. These sheep, thus treat- 

 ed, yielded an interest during the following sum- 

 mer, of 87 per cent, on the sum for which they 

 could have been readily purchased the precediiii' 

 fall, as follows : 



20 Ewes at $5, $100,00 



22 Lambs at $3, 66,00 



60 lbs. of wool at 42 cts., 21,00 



$187,00 

 It is maintained by some writers in agricultural 

 papers, that the manure of this animal is a full 

 equivalent for all the food v/hich it consumes ; 

 but supposing this to be an exaggerated estimate, 

 and that the manure of this uuiuber of sheep dur- 

 ing a year would be less in value than their food 

 by $50, still there is a net intesest of tbirty-seveu 

 per cent. 



Is it not surprising, and murh to our discredit 

 too, that when such are the [irofits of sheep hus- 

 bandry, we should import such large rpiautities of 

 wool ? arul also that persons should leave their 

 pleasant homes in the northern and middle states, 

 tor the wilderness of the west." 



CmwESF. Mulberry, Morcs Multicaums. — 

 The immense r|uantities of this tree, now dissem- 

 inated through every part of the Union, from the 

 different nurseries, will undoubtedly serve to test 

 thoroughly its good or bad (pialities. Its hardi- 

 hood will a'so be fairly proved by the present win- 

 ter, which so far at least, may be considered a 

 season of the onlinary severity. For ourselves, 

 we have no doubt that the Morus Multicaulis will 

 become perfectly naturalized in every fiart of the 

 Union south of 20° latitude, and that the facility 

 of silk-rearing will be wonderlully increased by 

 it. The leaves being of very large size, the trou- 

 ble of gathering a given weight is greatly dimin- 

 ished, and there is every reason to believe that 

 two crops of silk may be reared upon them in a 

 single season. The French silk growers now 

 plant the Morns multicaulis entirely in rows or 

 hedges, to be kept dwarf by cutting them down 

 to within one, two or three feet of the ground an- 

 nually. The advantages of this method are — per- 

 fect hardihood of the i)lants — facility in gather- 

 ing — and enormous weight of foliage from a small 

 surface. In addition to this, a crop of silk-worms 

 may be fe<l on the leaves from the cuttings of the 

 (Chinese mulberry of a single season's growth, in- 

 stead, as in the case of the old Italian vanity, of 

 waiting imtil the tree attained considerable size 

 before plucking the foliage. — Boston Mag. 



The Montreal Courier estimates that during the 

 year 1836, 500,000 bushels of Wheat v/ere sent 

 from Canada to the U. S. 



Bm'TER. — Instead of setting the jmns of new 

 straineil milk in a warm cellar for the cream to 

 rise, set them in a cool buttery, where the milk 

 will gradually freeze ; and as soon as it is frozen 

 solid, the cream will all be at the top, and ready 

 to be taken off; which can be more easily done 

 by a little instrument made of iron, in the form of 

 a common hoe. More cream is obtained from a 

 given quantity of milk, by freezing it u[>, than can 

 be obtained in the old way, of letting it rise itself 

 without freezing. 



When a sufficient quantity of cream is obtained 

 for a churning, place it in an iron kettle, over a 

 clear fire, and scalil it, but not let it boil ; stir it 

 often, and skim off the froth as long as it contin- 

 ues to rise. The process of scalding, stirring and 

 skimming, cleanses the cream of its impurities, 

 and saves about three-fourths of the laborof cluuTi- 

 ing, and [)ro(k:ces good flavored butter, entirely 

 free front that bitterish taste uniformly found in 

 winter-made butter, in the 'old way.' When the 

 sximming ])rocess has been completed, take the 

 kettle from the fire, ami when thecraaiTi is cooled 

 down a shade below the temperature of milk, new 

 from the cow, it is fit to put into the churn. — 

 Yankee Far. 



RuTA Baga. — The crop of Ruta Baga which I 

 have ventured for [)ren, ium on one acre, was rais- 

 ed in this town, on a piece of green sward inter- 

 "ale, and the seed were sown about the 10th day 

 of June last. 



After the land was ploughed, I carted on 12 

 cords of green barn manure, which was spread 

 upon the surface, and the whole again ploughed, 

 and then harrowed — back-furrowed three feet dis- 

 tant and sowed in drills on the furrows, about one 

 Toot apart. After the second leaf had set, the 

 weeding process commenced, leaving two or three 

 plants in a hill. The land being remarkably clear, 

 it was not necessary to weed them a second time. 

 The crop was harv .-sted and secured in my cel- 

 lar, on the 21st day of October, aiul there was 

 above one hundred and eighty-nine bushels, good 

 measure. R. Gordon. 



Diilton, J\rov. 8, 1836. 



Trifoi.ium Incarnatum. — The fine variety of 

 Clover appears to be attracting much deserved at- 

 tention in England, and many experiments are 

 being ujade with respect to the proper mode of 

 cidtivating it. The plan pursued there by many 

 persons of setting it on [)louglied tand, seems to 

 be giving way to a more certain and practicable 

 mode of cultui^e. A writer in the Farmer's Mag- 

 azine, who signs himself " ."^ Constant Reader," 

 gives the result of a series of ex()eriments which 

 he had made, that, so far as they go, would es- 

 tablish the fact that, to ensure success to a crop of 

 this luxuriant and mitritious grass it is necessary 

 it should cither be sown stubble or grass-sward. 

 He remarks that in September, 1834, he sowed 

 three small pieces of light land ; one of which he 

 mowed green for horses, and never had the same 

 quantity per acre of either tares or lucerne ; that 

 all kinds of stock are fond of it, and thrive aston- 

 ishingly upon it : another piece was mown for 

 stock and made the best of hay — the third piece 

 stood for seed,an<l produced about 12 bushels per 

 acre. 



In September, 1835, he sowed two pieces of 

 wheat stubble, where the clover layer had entire- 

 ly failed before the wheat crop, and a piece of 



barley stubble which had also tired of clover, and 

 succeeded in obtaining a good jilant upon each. 



His mode of culture is — first, to use a large 

 harrow to raise a mould ; then to level it with 

 small harrows twice over, and finish with a hea- 

 vy two-horse roller, as the land cannot be made 

 too solid. 



FoRTT-FOLD PoTATO. — This fine variety which 

 we have frequently noticed, and which has been 

 cultivated to a considerable extent, the past sea- 

 sou, and is likely to be more so the coming one, 

 is an. enormous pro<Iucer, and we have been in- 

 formed by several gentleuKMi, who have grown it 

 that the quantity of potatoes generally founil in a 

 hill, is three times the number of any other sort. 

 Owing to this large number, the potatoes are con- 

 sequently, not so large in size as they woidd be 

 were there not so many in a bill ; a gentleman 

 who raised upwards of fifty busffels year before 

 last, observed this, and the past season ordered but 

 one potato to be plante<l in a hill ; but when the 

 crop was dug, the nundjer of potatoes was found 

 to be nearly as great as the year before. The 

 coming season he informs us, that he shall cut 

 them up into sets, and in this manner one potato 

 will plant three or four hills: what the result will 

 be, remains to be seen ; but we have no doubt 

 that the potatoes v/'M be less in number, and of a 

 much larger size. The same gentleman has sta- 

 ted to us that ho thinks it is the best variety he 

 has ever eaten. — Am. Gard. Mag. 



GoLDE.v Ball. — We noticed this ajjple last 

 spring, and it is so good, and as we have further 

 particulars we give it a lurther notice, ft is rais- 

 ed in Norway, by Jonathan Hall, Esq. He can- 

 not trace its origin ; ten years ago, he procured 

 scions from several places and the tree that now 

 |)roduces these excellent apples, was then a small 

 scion set near the ground. It is doubtless a new 

 variety that originated in .sotne part of this state. 

 These apples are of the largest size, round — color 

 bright yellow ; they are of an excellent flavor, 

 very mild, pleasant and rich, good for cooking and 

 eating. The most of them are now in their prime, 

 though some are decaying. We suppose that they 

 are generally in use from December till iMarch, 

 and that they may, with some pains, be kept till 

 J(jne. They are very pn ductive, and one great 

 advantage is, that the tree bears every year. Tlie 

 little scion set ten years ago, produced 5 bushels 

 in 1835, and six bushels in 1836. We think that 

 this is not only one of the best, but the very best 

 apple in its season, worth more than any other 

 brought to this.t!iarket. Mr Hall has left a few at 

 our office, for ade, atid those who choose, can 

 taste and judge for themselves. We shall have a 

 very fevy o^" these scions ; they are scarce, as the 

 tree has beep too much cut already. VVe set 

 some l^ist spring, and shall probably be able to 

 furnish scions another year. — Yankee Far. 



The tremendous snows in England have, us was 

 to be expected, set all the ajitiquarians at work to 

 find out parallels. The following is a loltacker, 

 and a match for Col. Wildfire : — " The longest 

 snow storm that was ever known in England, took 

 place in the year 1514. It is recorded in the reg- 

 ister of the parish of Wottom Gilbert, that it be- 

 gan on the 15th of Janiuiry, and continued to 

 snow every day, uiuil the 12th of March. The 

 loss of human life and cattle was immense." 



