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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTUBAL MEET- 

 INGS. 



The second meeting of a proposed series at the 

 State House took place on Monday evening, Jan- 

 uary 26. Mr. Hubbard, of Sunderland, pre- 

 sided. The question was " Stock Breeding," and 

 the Chairman opened the discussion. He then 

 called on Mr. Secretary Flint, who maintained 

 that different localities required different breeds 

 of cattle. After some remarks by Mr. Flower, 

 of Agawam, Mr. MOSELEY, of Springfield, called 

 attention to the question of breeding, and claimed 

 that the sire or dam should be of pure blood, he 

 preferring the male for this purpose ; Mr. Weth- 

 ERELL, of Boston, agreeing with him on this 

 point. 



Messrs. Proctor, of Danvers, Hubbard, of 

 Brimfield, and Ke^tdall, of Boylston, spoke in 

 relation to native cattle, good cows, and the man- 

 ner of rearing calves. 



Mr. Tower, of Lanesborough, spoke of the im- 

 provement of stock in his locality. Thirty years 

 ago he noticed the yield of cheese per cow was 

 about 250 pounds. Some fifteen years ago a 

 short-horn bull was introduced from New York. 

 Great improvement was thus made in the stock of 

 that community. Cows now yield 600 pouj^ds of 

 cheese per year. This could not have been done 

 ■without short-horn blood. 



Mr. Shorey, of Wayland, and Mr. Quincy, of 

 Boston, also engaged in the discussion. 



Not many facts were elicited in relation to the 

 important subject of breeding our neat cattle. 



The third of this series took place Monday, Feb- 

 ruary 9. The subject was, — Sheep and Sheep 

 Husbandry. Dr. Loring, of Salem, presided and 

 opened the discussion. He alluded to the decay 

 of sheep husbandry ; said that large breeds are 

 not adapted to Massachusetts pastures, and said 

 the Merino breed was best for our farms. 



Mr. Howard, of Dedham, did not agree with 

 him in several of his points. Wool and mutton 

 combined are the objects of keeping sheep. In 

 New York the long wooled sheep have gained on 

 the Merinos because more profitable. 



Mr. Brown, of Concord, thought the culture 

 of sheep might be made profitable on most of our 

 New England farms. They thrive better when 

 in small numbers. A mixed farming is safer for 

 us than to depend upon a single crop, as a gener- 

 al rule, — but there are exceptions. He did not 

 think one could say what breed of sheep should 

 be selected for all locations. The farmer must 

 observe what success is obtained in localities and 

 on pasturage similar to his own, and then decide 

 what course to take. Mr. Brown thought that 

 where ten head of cattle are kept on a farm, as 

 many sheep can be fed, at a cost but a trifle more 



than if no sheep were kept. They eat herbage 

 that neat stock refuse, or cannot reach, and their 

 di'oppings greatly enrich pastures upon which 

 they run, if not fed too closely. He illustrated 

 this point by reference to certain cases that had 

 come to his knowledge. 



Mr. Hubbard, of Sunderland, spoke of a farm- 

 er in Amherst who engaged in sheep husbandry 

 and found it very profitable. 



Mr. Tower, of Lanesboro', said farmers in 

 Berkshire think that sheep run out their pastures, 

 especially meadows. [No doubt of it, if fed too 

 closely, as is often the case. Ed.] 



Mr. Flower, of Agawam, deemed grades more 

 profitable than Merinos. 



Mr. Andrew, of West Roxbury, spoke in fa- 

 vor of long wooled sheep from personal experi- 

 ments with them. 



Mr. S. M. Allen, 3 Tremont Row, Boston, 

 President of the Fibrilia Felting Company, said 

 that the kind of food and the manner of feeding 

 sheep, had a decided influence upon the quality 

 of the wool. [We have some interesting and 

 valuable facts before us upon this point, which we 

 wUl present to the reader at another time. Ed.] 



The fourth of this series was held on Monday, 

 February 9, in the Representatives' Hall. Mr. 

 Flower, of Agawam, presided, but declined open- 

 ing the discussion. Mr. Wetiierell, of Bos- 

 ton, was the flrst speaker, and began by introduc- 

 ing a new plough, manufactured by 0. Ames & 

 Son, of this city. Farmers, he said, are begin- 

 ning to see and to feel the necessity of getting 

 rid of the " dead-furrow," or ditch-like hollow left 

 in the centre of a land where the furrows are 

 turned from each other. This has always been 

 regarded as a deformity upon a lawn or meadow, 

 but since the introduction of the mowing-machine, 

 hay-tedder, and horse-rake, it is of special incon- 

 venience. Attention was invited to this plough 

 as peculiarly suited for ploughing sloping surfaces, 

 as for level land. Sanborn's Side-hill or Flat- 

 land Plough, or Sanborn's Turn-twist Plough, as 

 it is preferable to call it, will enable the farmer to 

 till his grounds free from dead-furrows and ridg- 

 es, caused by turning two furrows together, as is 

 constantly done in ploughing lands one or two 

 rods wide, as is the custom with the common 

 plough. With the common plough, the "ofl-ox," 

 or horse, must always travel in the furrow. With 

 the Turn-twist Plough, the "near-ox," or horse, al- 

 ternates or travels in the furrow one-half of the 

 time, thus equalizing the disadvantage. Again, 

 Avhen he leaves off ploughing, all that has been 

 I)loughed lies together. 



Mr. Wetiierell spoke of Davis' Improved 

 Ketchum's Mowing-Machine, sold last summer for 

 fifty dollars ; he also urged the use of Bullard's 



