180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



Mr. Wetherell, of Boston, alluded to a far- 

 mer in Hampshire County, who purchased seven- 

 ty-five or eighty Cotswold sheep at four cents 

 per pound — his object being to test sheep-feeding 

 over that of oxen, and he felt encouraged. He 

 could sell their carcasses at eight cents per pound. 

 Allusion was also made to another gentleman who 

 raised lambs of the Oxfordshire Downs, and could 

 sell them for $5. This breed he thought better 

 for raising spring lambs than the South Downs ; 

 but the speaker believed both were good. Why 

 pastures in which sheep were fed were better than 

 those where cattle were kept, was in a measure 

 attributable to the fact that the sheep were kept 

 in them the most of the time, and to the more 

 equal diffusion of the manure. Farms far from a 

 raih'oad or market, he observed, had been nearly 

 depopulated of men, and those of the best quality. 

 Poor land with no market was intolerable. In 

 such places sheep husbandry might do well ; let a 

 man raise hay enough to feed in the Avinter. For- 

 est trees are not profitable on poor land, but rais- 

 ing sheep might be, if the land were not too wet. 

 An acre of corn would buy all the coal a farmer 

 would use in winter. There was some profit in 

 growing wool, but more, in raising mutton. 



Dr. LoRiNG, of Salem, admitted that sheep hus- 

 bandry in Massachusetts had gi-eatly declined 

 within half a century. But what is the cause of 

 it? Mr. Flint attributed it to the introduction of 

 fine-wool sheep, and their degeneration by cross- 

 ing. But the speaker thought differently, and ob- 

 served that sheep felt their feeding and treatment 

 very much. Farming declined some years ago in 

 Massachusetts, and sheep felt the decline first. 

 They became very small, and were abandoned. 

 Dogs, he thought, not so great an evil as some ; 

 sheep will flourish in spite of them. The first 

 question to decide is — What shall be the kind of 

 sheep ? And, deciding this, they should be kept 

 for profit and not for pleasure. The fine-wool 

 sheep are the best, but large sheep are profitable 

 in rich districts. Yet he doubted whether for the 

 ordinary farmer the coarse wool sheep was the 

 best. He spoke of the Merinos, and the Atwood 

 breed of Vermont. They were checply kept — 100 

 eating only 15 tons of hay in the winter. The fine- 

 wool sheep were the best, and he believed no one 

 could gainsay it. Allusion was made to Mr. 

 White, of Framingham, as to the raising of mut- 

 ton, which was very cheap — Mr. W. getting only 

 from $2,50 to $3,00 per head. Men do not live 

 on mutton, and the fore-quarters were unprofitable. 

 Nevertheless, the hind-quarters were very good. 

 But can we afford thus to raise mutton ? Dr. L. 

 spoke of a man in Essex county, who had large, 

 coarse sheep, which he fed at a loss during the 

 winter. Generally, sheep were easily kept, but too 

 many Cotswolds in a flock would deteriorate. 



Mr. Fearing thought Dr. Loring wrong about 

 dogs. The loss of sheep by them was in some 

 places discouraging. One hundred thousand dol- 

 lars' worth in Ohio had been destroyed by dogs. 

 He thought wool and mutton should go together, 

 and fine wool alone he regarded as unprofitable. 



Dr. Loring thought dogs a nuisance, but the 

 evil laid deeper. To a question as to what Merino 

 lambs were worth, he replied that fine-wool lambs 

 were not to be sold to the butcher, and mentioned 

 an anecdote of a little boy in Vermont who was 

 taking his pick from some of his father's flock, 

 and having done so, gave his father a ten dollar 

 bill ! The latter said it was a good investment. 



Mr. Wetiierell again advocated the raising 

 of mutton, and said the fore-quarters of sheep were 

 as digestible as any other, and were used by in- 

 valids. We might as well inquire what became 

 of the fore-quarters of beeves. To an extent he 

 favored the raising of large, coarse sheep. 



INIr. Roberts, of Lakeville, said he had some 

 Oxfordshire Downs, and likes them very much. 

 He sold his lambs from $3,75 to 4,50. From his 

 ewes he got about 8 pounds of wool, and from liis 

 bucks 9 to 12. They were more profitable than 

 crops, and he regarded his breed the best. He 

 did not feed his pastures close, but moved his 

 flock from one to another. 



Mv. HoAVARU spoke of the weight of the fleece 

 of the J/Ierino sheep ; it was great, but there was 

 great shrinkage, as it secreted a large amount 

 of animal oil. 



The time for closing the meeting having now 

 arrived, the chairman announced Fruit Culture as 

 the subject for the next discussion, when the Hon. 

 Marsilvll p. Wilder is expected to preside. 



The Flax and Linen Trade of Ireland. 

 — Belfast, the great emporium of the linen trade, 

 exported in 18G0, 65,600,000 yards of linen, and 

 13,200,000 pounds of yarn and thi-ead. Next in 

 importance to the flax industry, is the trade in 

 sewed muslins, employing about half a million of 

 persons in Ireland. Another manufiicture, car- 

 ried on in Belfiist, is important in the consumption 

 of agricultural produce — namely, starch making 

 from wheat. Ten firms use nearly 240,000 bush- 

 els of the finest red wheat every year. The Aveaten 

 starch made by the old fermentative process, is 

 largely used by bleachers, the goods retaining 

 their stiffness longer than if dressed with the rice 

 and other starches. The whole of this businees is 

 at present nearly paralyzed, as America was the 

 best market for Irish linen goods, very limited 

 quantities of Avhich have been imported during the 

 past nine months. 



The Wire Worm. — At the discussion of a far- 

 mers' club in Buff'alo, 111., Mr. Franklin Reed said 

 that the ravages of the wire worm could be pre- 

 vented by putting half of a fresh cob in each hill. 

 The Avorms Avoidd Avork into this, and leave the 

 corn. 



