276 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



•with the harrow and sowed my grain and grass 

 seed. I then went the other way with the harrow, 

 which left the land as mellow as a garden ; the 

 gi'ass and grain came uj) as nice as I ever had 

 an3^, and the grass now looks m'cII. I think the 

 harrow a valuable tool, and think 1 saved the lull 

 cost of it in labor in one year. There are two 

 sizes of teeth. I prefer the seven inch. 



EeEN RlClL\rvDSON. 

 Pepiierdl, Mass., April, 1860. 



E.E^LVI^KS. — We know !Mr. Richardson as an 

 excellent farmer, and a person well qualified to 

 judge of the value of an agricultural implement. 



CEEEPEU BREED OF SHEEP. 



I noticed in the March monthly of the Farmer 

 an inquiry in regard to the Otter or Creeper 

 sheep, and liad I not at that time been particu- 

 larly engaged, I would have answered the inquiry 

 of your corres]5ondent in some measure. 



I believe it is about fifty years since the Creep- 

 er sheep were introduced into this neighborhood. 

 They were recommended particularly as being 

 peaceable. Our fences being mostly made of 

 stone, our common sheep could walk over them 

 with very little trouble, so that the Creeper sheep 

 were quite an acquisition to our farmers. In re- 

 gard to the other qualities of this breed of sheep, 

 they are as hardy as other breeds ; their flesh is 

 as good ; and I believe that in mixing the merino 

 with them the wool is rather superior to that 

 mixed with the common native fsheep. The only 

 objection to this hreed of sheep that I know of, 

 is, they require a little more attention at the time 

 of dropping their lambs, as the lambs are not so 

 strong for a day or two as most kinds of sheep. 

 The war of 1812 tending to enhance the price of 

 wool, merino sheep were introduced and became 

 the rage of that day, so much that other breeds of 

 sheep were cast in the shade. The Creeper sheep 

 are not common in this vicinity. I believe that 

 Dea. Joshua Coburn, of Dracut, has some of that 

 kind in his flock, and if your correspondent wish- 

 es to obtain that breed of sheep, he can probably 

 be accommodated by him. Abel Gage. 



Pelham, N. E., April, 1860. 



HAY CAPS — BLACKBEEKY BUSHES. 



I am about having some hay caps made ; I wish 

 to know the best way to keep them on the hay 

 cock .*• 



I have some blackberry bushes that have been 

 set five years ; last year they made canes six feet 

 long; is it best to cut them in this spring, or let 

 them go as they are ? JoNAS Holt. 



Andover, April, 1860. 



Eemaeks- — Take cotton cloth worth eight or 

 nine cents a yard — cut off a piece tM'o yards (six 

 feet) long — then cut another of equal length, and 

 sew them together. That gives you a square of 

 six feet. Turn the corners over an inch and sew 

 down the point strong — that leaves a loop through 

 which run a stout piece of twine, which, when tied, 

 shall be an inch long. Now the cap is made. Take 

 any pieces of clean pine board and split out pins 

 15 inches in length and whittle them to a point 



at one end and leaving them three-fourths of an 

 inch in diameter. Put the cap on the top of the 

 cock, the pin through the string, and then, first 

 with a downward and then upward motion, thrust 

 the pin up into the hay cock. Do this with each 

 corner and your hay will not suffer by standing 

 out in a storm of a week. 



Take out all the old wood from your blackberry 

 bushes, and head down the canes you intend to let 

 stand to about four feet in hcisrht. 



maple sugar. 



As the maple sugar season is now over, I send 

 you a statement of the sugar made by three per- 

 sons in the yard of Messrs. P. & G. Beede, Sand- 

 wich, N. H. 



About 1000 trees were tapped, mostly young 

 second growth. We commenced to tap March 

 15, and finished making April 10, and have made 

 2300 lbs., the largest amount made in any yard in 

 Carroll County. The largest part of this was run 

 in small cakes, and the rest stirred off dry, and 

 ch-ained as follows : 



Cakes 1406 



Pry 378 



Drained 616 



2300 pounds. 



Besides this, we have made molasses, &c., 

 which would make at least 50 pounds more. 



Maple Hill. 

 Sandwich, N. H., April 16, 1860. 



Rejl\rks. — It is very pleasant to record the 

 capital success of our friends in the sugar orchard 

 of the Messrs. Beede, — hut that pleasure might 

 have been sAveetened by some samples of their 

 rare skill ! 



experiments on sandy lands. 



Which is the cheapest and best of the two fol- 

 lowing experiments ? 



1. Spread a liberal dressing of good manure 

 upon three or four acres of sandy loam land, plow 

 under, plant with corn and seed down to grass the 

 next year. Or, 



2. Take the same piece of ground, put on a 

 light dressing of manure, plant to corn, manur- 

 ing in the hill, and then in the fall put on a good 

 coat of clay, and the following spring lay down to 

 grass. 



Which of these two processes will produce the 

 most permanent and best crops of grass ? 



A Subscriber's Son. 

 St. Jolmslury, Vt., 1860. 



Rem.\RKS. — We think the latter course would 

 produce the "most permanent and best crops of 

 grass." The cheapness of the process would de- 

 pend upon circumstances, such as the value of 

 manure in your neighborhood, and the facility 

 with which you can get the clay. If you must cart 

 the clay a mile or more, the manuring process 

 might be the cheapest. You must judge of these 

 things from your own stand-point. The addition 

 of good clay to sandy loams is a permanent im- 



