1861, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



281 



labor of the field — men who must still be fed — 

 will require more than the ordinary energy of the 

 husbandman to supply their wants — so that now 

 is the time for the farmer to bring into use every 

 economical means, and by the blessing of Heaven 

 upon his labors, secure an abundant harvest, and 

 find an ample profit in disposing of it as it is 

 ready i'or market. 



The adoption of this course will prove to the 

 farmer one of the compensations of a great evil — 

 and this compensation must continue for a con- 

 siderable period, for a war of but a single year 

 will so derange affairs as to call a large number 

 from the cultivation of the soil after actual hos- 

 tilities have ceased. 



With the farmer, there is no real cause for 

 anxiety, much less for despondency. While he 

 deplores the evil brought upon us by infatuated 

 and wicked men, he can pi-osecute his labors with 

 the cheering reflection that he is as eff"ectually 

 sustaining the prosperity and honor of the coun- 

 try, and that his labors are as patriotic and hon- 

 orable as those of the sons who have gone from 

 their hearth-stones to defeat our enemies. He 

 must consider that the measure of a nation's 

 wealth lies in its labor — in its reproductive power 

 — power quickly to supply the waste that war has 

 made ; and he will find that power in a wonder- 

 ful degree in our people. 



While our brave soldiers can span rivers with 

 new bridges where the enemy have destroyed for- 

 mer ones, set up and repair locomotives, re-build 

 railroad tracks and navigate ships from under 

 the enemies' guns into ports of safety, th.Q farmer 

 will not fail to manifest his energy, skill and pa- 

 triotism in the cultivation of the soil, to sustain 

 the brave men who stand by the guns. 



The resources of our country are unbounded — 

 the chief one being in the indomitable will of our 

 people, but sustained by a general knowledge in 

 all mechanism, art and handicraft. The genius 

 and aptitude of the people is wonderful. Noth- 

 ing has before occurred to call them out in rela- 

 tion to the arts of war, so that our enemies stand 

 appalled at this new manifestation of our skill 

 and resources. Until our country was imperilled 

 and her sons called to arms and the life of the 

 camp, we, ourselves, had no proper conception of 

 the burning patriotism which underlies our peace- 

 ful pursuits. But we are freemen, the true basis 

 of skill, courage and patriotism, and being free 

 and skillful, we can supply the wastes of war to 

 an unlimited extent, whether they occur in the 

 destruction of crops or through the usual channels 

 of the commissariat. 



Be up, then, brother farmers, to the occasion ! 

 Stand by your field pieces earnestly and reso- 

 lutely the coming summer. Press every available 

 force into service in tending and securing the 



crops, and make the earth and the hearts of the 

 people glad with their luxuriance and promise. 

 Let us, then, while others have gone forth to sub- 

 due the common enemy, see that the earth yields 

 her increase to sustain her gallant sons. 



jFor the New England Farmer. 

 •'GRAIN FOR SHEEP." 



Messrs. Editors : — Under the above head, 

 your Henniker correspondent, "N. M." inquires, 

 "Will oats hurt sheep to feed to them without 

 being ground ?" In your remarks you say, "Fed 

 in proper quantities, we believe them admirably 

 adapted to sheep ; but all grain must be fed to 

 sheep judiciously." These remarks are sensible, 

 and to the point, and all, indeed, that need be 

 said upon the subject. But as you ask, "Will, 

 some of our farmers give you, or us, the reasons 

 why unground oats will hurt sheep ?" I answer, 

 as a farmer, it is my experience that unground 

 oats will not only not hurt sheep if "fed judi-- 

 ciously," but do them much good. 



My farm is mostly stocked with sheep. I feed 

 them unground grain through the winter, — oats 

 in December and January, half oats and half 

 corn the rest of the winter, with such roots as I 

 have to spare, and never had a sheep hurt by eat- 

 ing oats or corn. My early lambs have a trough 

 of oats where they can eat what they wish, at all 

 times of the day, and will, at four months old, 

 sometimes take a quart each daily, which causes 

 them to "thrive finely." 



Several of my neighbors have large and fine 

 flocks of sheep. They feed on unground grain, oats 

 or corn, separate, or mixed, in such proportions 

 as they choose, and any one who will examine 

 these flocks will be well repaid for their trouble, 

 and need no further proof that unground oats 

 are not injurious to sheep. I doubt the economy 

 of grinding grain for sheep, as they masticate 

 their food very thoroughly, and no seed passes 

 them that will germinate. 



A flock, to be profitable, should be so cared 

 for, that they will retain their flesh and vigor 5 

 but should they, by neglect, become poor and 

 weak, and while in this condition a large amount 

 of any kind of grain be given them, whether it 

 be unground, or ground, it would hurt them, per- 

 haps kill them, as it would a famished man to 

 eat a hearty meal of wholesome food. But "fed 

 judiciously," beginning with half a gill of un- 

 ground oats per day, and increasing daily for four 

 weeks, at which time they will take a pint, or 

 more, if you have them to spare, they will be all 

 all the better for it. 



The only danger of losing sheep fed on oats, 

 according to the above directions, is, that the 

 butcher will make you too tempting an oifer to 

 be refused. J. R. Walker. 



Springfield, Vt., April, 1861. 



Cow Bells. — It is said that a good cow bell 

 of rolled sheet iron, well made, 10 inches deep, 

 with a mouth 3 by 6 inches, can be distinctly 

 heard at a distance of from three to five miles. 

 It is said that a farmer in England provides all 

 his cows with bells tuned to difl'erent notes in the 



