124 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



three hundredths, and it seems to me that any 

 one who can compute annual interest, which is 

 simply multiplying by the decimal .06, can have 

 no difficulty in using these tables. 



J. Herbert Siiedd, 



Agricultural Engineer, 

 Boston, Jan. 19, 1861. 



J<'or the New England Farmer. 

 ■WHJEAT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



How are we to account for the fact, or the opin- 

 ion, that a few years ago it was of no use to try 

 to raise wheat ? 



Now, it is a common practice for farmers to 

 sow a patch, one, two or three or more acres, fall 

 or spring, and with as good success as with any 

 other grain. More bushels, per acre, of wheat 

 than rye are raised, and more value than oats, or 

 even corn, taking the labor into account. 



Have the seasons changed, or was the opinion 

 which prevailed for a period not well founded ? 

 The two last seasons have proved unusually fa- 

 vorable for wheat; and, as they have been cool 

 and more than ordinarily even in temperature, 

 while the grain was maturing, some observing 

 persons have attributed the result largely to these 

 facts. 



The corn crop, during these two years, has not 

 come up to the average, especially in 1859. 



On 91 rods of land I sowed the 27th of Sept., 

 1859, one bushel of wheat, rolled in tar, plaster 

 and ashes, from which I had 25 bushels of choice 

 wheat, being at the rate of 44 bushels per acre. 

 On one-half the patch I sowed a bag of 160 

 pounds of guano, but could perceive no differ- 

 ence in the lot. Practically, that experiment may 

 stand as a representative one, reaching over a 

 term of eight or ten years. It had been under 

 cultivation five years — the first in corn, three car- 

 rots, and again corn. 



I have seen accounts of much larger yields of 

 wheat, and forward this, in order to add the tes- 

 timony of a moderate farmer, that wheat can be 

 raised to advantage in our own State. 



While on the subject, I should like your opin- 

 ion whether wheat improves by age ? I had sup- 

 posed the contrary was the fact. But happening 

 to keep over a barrel or two of spring wheat un- 

 til three years old, I found it made superior flour, 

 equal to the best St. Louis, while the first year, 

 we regarded it only as ordinary. s. s. 



Amherst, Mass., Jan. 14, 186L 



Remarks. — If wheat is improved by age, it is 

 a fact new to us. 



' Barley Elour. — Our old friend, A. Pease, 

 Esq., of Newport, N. II., formerly well known by 

 the newspaper fraternity, handed us a sample of 

 harle]) flour to-day, which is very fine. It is nearly 

 as light colored as wheat flour, is perfectly sweet, 

 and has a slight taste of that peculiar barley fla- 

 vor so much esteemed by many persons. It was 

 made from a crop of barley yielding nearly flfti/ 

 bushels per acre. This is a good example, which 

 we trust many will profit by. 



SHEEP AND SHEEP CULTURE. 

 BY DR. JOSEPU REYNOLDS, OF CONCORD. 



The following extracts are from an excellent Re- 

 port to the Middlesex Agricultural Society, upon 

 the subject of Sheep and Sheep Culture, by Dr, 

 Joseph Reynolds, of Concord, a gentleman famil- 

 iar with the care of sheep in his youth, and who 

 has given them more or less attention all through 

 life. 



Previous to 1812, most farmers in the county 

 kept a few sheep, and many who did not claim to 

 be farmers kept one or more cossets to supply 

 wool for domestic use. The wool was spun and 

 woven or knit in the family. Large quantities of 

 cloths, flannel and blankets were manufactured 

 of excellent fabric and enduring quality. Until 

 after the period above referred to, little woolen 

 cloth was made in manufactories established for 

 the fabrication of woolen cloths. The commer- 

 cial difficulties of that period interfered with the 

 importation of wool and woolen goods, and led to 

 the establishment of manufactories, and to an in- 

 creased demand for domestic wool. About the 

 years 1808 and 1810, Chancellor Livingston and 

 Mr. Grove, of New York, Col. Humphreys, of 

 Connecticut, Mr. Jarvis, of Vermont, and other 

 public spirited citizens, imported large numbers 

 of merino sheep from Spain and France, which 

 were rapidly distributed, and greatly improved 

 the character of the native breeds already in the 

 country. Elkanah Watson, Esq., the father of 

 the Berkshire Agricultural Society, deserves hon- 

 orable mention also in this connection, for his ef- 

 forts to introduce merino sheep into this State. 

 About 1786 the French government devoted great 

 attention to the culture of sheep. It imported 

 from Spain the finest merino sheep that could be 

 obtained, and in the space of ten years, by care 

 and skill, raised the average product of wool from 

 6i| pounds to 9 pounds per head. The King of 

 Prussia and the Elector of Saxony at the same 

 time devoted earnest attention to sheep culture. 



From the European flocks thus improved, the 

 finest samples were selected for importation into 

 this country. The climate and soil, especially of 

 New England, were found well adapted to their 

 constitutions and habits. 



These importations, with those which have 

 been subsequently added to them, constitute the 

 basis of the wool-bearing sheep now in the coun- 

 try, and it is believed that no finer sheep can now 

 be found in the world for the production of wool. 



They belong to the smaller varieties of sheep, 

 are prolific and hardy, and their thick heavy 

 fleeces enable them to bear the variable and ex- 

 treme weather of our climate. They are now 

 spread over the Western and Southern portions 

 of the country. 



In 1850 there were nearly twenty-two millions 

 of sheep in the country, yielding fifty-two and a 

 half millions of pounds of wool. The number has 

 greatly increased since 1850, and yet more than 

 twenty millions of pounds of wool are annually 

 imported. 



Within a few years the long wooled varieties 

 have been introduced, among which the Leicester 

 and the Cotswold are the most prominent. Their 

 wool is particularly suited to the fabrication of 



