1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



117 



are not yet complete, which are requisite for the 

 production of cual. It is the babe, not the man. 

 Anthracite has lost its bitumen. It is the corpse. 

 It might have been coal once, it is less now. Shale 

 is the path on which the corpse was laid. It may 

 be saturated with its blood, but it is not the body. 



For the Kew England Farmer. 

 RETKOSPECTIVE NOTES. « 



\Vnm:K Managemk.nt of Sheep. — On page 

 45 of the February number of this journal, those 

 interested in raising sheep and growing wool — 

 and who is not at the present time ? — will find an 

 interesting and instructive quotation from an arti- 

 cle by Mr. Fay, of Lynn, Mass., printed in the 

 last Patent Office Report. So few, comparatively, 

 of the readers of the Farmer are likely to see Mr. 

 Fay's essay, that it appears as if the present quo- 

 tation could not fail to have made hundreds of, 

 readers desire to have more of it iu the same way 

 — the only way in which the bulk of them are like- 

 ly to obtain the benefit of the experience of so ju- 

 dicious and reliable an instructor. 



So many are rushing into the business of wool- 

 growing that mistakes must be made from igno- 

 rance, inexperience, and other like causes, from 

 which disappointments and losses are almost cer- 

 tain to follow ; and as from some special interest 

 in the readers of the New England Farmer, we 

 would fain rescue them from such blunders and 

 disappointments, we have been induced to call 

 their attention to the article under notice, and for 

 their prospective benefit, to make the suggestions 

 somewhat reluctantly ventured. 



As there is nothing stated in the quotation from 

 Sir. Fay's essay, which would be likely to give the 

 readers thereof any idea of one great source of 

 danger in the wintering of sheep, we would here 

 make a remark wliich may save some sicknesses 

 and deaths in their flocks. The danger just re- 

 ferred to is that of the occurrence of sickness and 

 death from what is usually designated ''the stretch- 

 es." From this disease we lost almost all the 

 sheep that we did lose during the first years of our 

 keeping sheep. Our losses and the rarity of a re- 

 covery after a sheep was once attacked with this 

 disease, led us to investigate its causes, and to dis- 

 cover, if possible, efficient modes of prevention. 

 This we think we have accomplished pretty thor- 

 oughly, if not perfectly. Having made ourself 

 very sure that the disease is caused by the want 

 of proper action of the bowels, and that this is 

 caused by the exclusive, or almost exclusive use 

 of dry feed, it was but a short step to reach the 

 conclusion that the most probably efficient method 

 of prevention would be one which would counter- 

 act cost'.veness, and bring the bowels into a con- 

 dition somewhat approaching to that which is usu- 1 

 al when sheep have the succulent feed of spring 

 and summer. Accordingly roots were thereafter 

 grown in sufficient quantity to give all our sheep 

 a full feed at noon, about twice or thrice a week, 

 when not prevented by excessively cold weather. 

 Troughs were also provided in which salt was al- 

 ways kept Avithin reach of the sheep, and more 

 pains were taken to have water made easily ac- 

 cessible. The result of the adoption of this meth- 

 od of prevention has been a complete disappear- 

 ance of this once formidable disease, and an es- 

 cape from the losses previously caused by it. We 

 havfi nppisinnallv niixpfl nshes and sulnhnr with 



the salt, and have also fed bran and oil cake as ad- 

 juvants to the relaxing quality of the rooUs, but we 

 ascribe the disappearance of "the stretches" main- 

 ly to the use of roots, and are confirmed in this 

 opinion by a piece of information lately receive<l, 

 namely: that this disease is nearly entirelv un- 

 known in England, where, as is generally known, 

 sheep are wintered very largely on turnips. 



Those who are not provided with roots must, 

 for the present, devise some substitute which will 

 act in a similar relaxing way, if thev would keep 

 their sheep healthy and out of danger from exclu- 

 sivelv dry feed, and the consequences thereof; 

 and, in the future, raise enough of turnips, bagas, 

 or beets to give every flock of twenty-five to thirty 

 sheep, a bushel of them, cut up in tiiinni^h slices, 

 two or three times a week, or a less quantity dai- 

 ly. As, however, there are days, every now and 

 then, too cold for feeding roots, even under shel- 

 ter, we have found it most convenient to feed them 

 on mild days, and some grain, generally unthrashed 

 oats, on the colder days. Those who neglect to 

 feed roots to their sheep are running on a difl'erent 

 track from that of the best sheep-breeders, and 

 will come, out only second best. 



More Anox. 



Ft the >>•.- England Farmer. 

 EAISING MUSHROOMS. 



To be successful in raising mushrooms at this 

 season of the year, a warm, dry cellar is necessary. 



1. The mushroom spawn, the best kind and 

 purest, can be obtaineil at the agricultural seed 

 stores, in the shape of bricks. 



2. A wood frame, four feet wide, and not less 

 than four feet iu length, will do, but you may go 

 to any length you please, said frame to be thirteen 

 inches high. 



3. Fresh horse manure from the stable, where 

 the horses are fed with grain, without any litter 

 amongst it, is the best for the bed ; the manure 

 must not be frozen. 



4. Making the bed. — The manure mnst be well 

 broken up and beat down solid in the frame, with- 

 in an inch of the top ; that is, the manure will be 

 twelve inches deep ; about the centre of the bed 

 push down a pointed stick to the bottom of the 

 bed, and from time to time take out the stick, and 

 feel of it ; the whole that goes into the bed ; you 

 will, by so doing, ascertain how the heat progress- 

 es. When the rank heat begins to subside, the 

 bed will soon be ready for the spawn ; as soon as 

 the heat is sweet and moderate, spawn the bed at 

 once, as follows : make your rows six inches apart 

 and two inches deep, the spawn being broken up 

 into lumps the si^e of a walnut ; ])laut the spawn 

 six inches apart in the row, cover the spawn and 

 smooth tlie bed evenly ; then half an inch of fine 

 light earth finishes the work. 



A thin covering of clean straw on the bed will 

 preserve the heat. Finally, if the work is well 

 done, and the spawn is good, there is no fear ot 

 not having mushrooms. James M. Russell. 



Ndsnn, X. II., Feb., 1863. 



The Ccxture of Flax. — English papers are 

 agitating the subject of an increased attention to 

 the culture of flax as an ofi"set to the scarcity of 

 cotton. Machinery has been perfected for its 

 manufacture both here and in Europe, and a per- 

 manent nrosneritv will pn f1r..iKt -^^..u 



