206 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



than this, they huy twin lambs, which the butch- 

 ers reject, for stock, and sell their own single ones. 

 I do not want it to be understood that I think tvyni 

 ewes ought never to go into stock, but I do main- 

 tain that if the fanner wishes to sncceed in sheep 

 husbandry he must make it an exception and not 



a rule. , , 



Let the farmer yearly renew his stock by sav- 

 ino- his best lambs and feeding his oldest ewes ; 

 the younger his ewes are when fatted the better his 

 wool will be. The farmer that produces the best 

 wool in this section of country never keeps his 

 ewes for breeding after six years old, but 1 think 

 it would be an improvement to his flock to take 

 them out at five, particularly th(^e that have had 

 twins three years in succession. 



I saw a fleece of wool, a few days ago, that had 

 been sheared from an old ewe. It weighed less 

 than two pounds. It was hairy, short and cotted. 

 While common unwashed wool was fetching fifty 

 cents per pound, the whole of this fleece was not 

 worth fifty cents. She had a lamb which was sold 

 for four dollars ; her carcass was good for nothing. 

 It could not be fatted ; yet there had been a time 

 when she sheared a six po^nd fleece, and two or 

 three years old ewes in the same flock were shear- 

 ino- eight pounds of good wool, worth four dol- 

 lars • their carcass, in the fall, would bring six 

 dollars at the least, the lamb at their side, at the 

 time of shearing, worth four dollars more ; niak- 

 in"' a total of fourteen dollars against tour dollars 

 and a half. The cost and care of keeping would 

 be in favor of the youngest ewe, and the risk in 

 freedom from disease would certainly be in tavor 

 of the youngest, for, be it remembered, the old 

 ewes are more liable to disease than young ones 

 and, when attacked, have less power to throw off 



In calling attention to this single fact, we wish 

 it to be understood that it is not a solitary in- 

 stance • we meet with hundreds, and would say 

 thousands, of very similar fleeces in a year, ^yere 

 it not for fear that some of our readers might 

 think us prone to exaggerate. 



1 am acquainted with two gentlemen who own 

 adioinin"- farms. Each own a flock of sheep of the 

 Merino "and Leicester cross. They both sold 

 their wool to the same person. One had thirty- 

 two fleeces from ewes six years old and upwards, 

 some of them, I have no doubt, eight years old. 

 His wool weighed 94 pounds ; four of the fleeces 

 were unwashed, yet averaging less than three 

 pounds per fleece. The other had 36 fleeces which 

 weighed 160 pounds, all washed but one ; aver- 

 aging near four and a half pounds per fleece, and 

 he obtained five cents per pound more for his 

 wool than his neighbor. These were from shee]! 

 one and two years old; none over two. 1 hey 

 cost no more keeping than his neighbor's, yet the 

 difference in the profits of the two is so apparent 

 that comment are unnecessary. 



I know it is a great temptation to the farmer to 

 sell his lambs, and to bring those he raises into 

 breeding as soon as possible, but let him remem- 

 ber that the long wooled part of sheep husbandry 

 embraces three ideas, and his eyes, if he is desir- 

 ous of succeeding, must be upon all at the same 

 time namely : wool, mutton and lambs. If his 

 attention is well directed to the first, he will cer- 

 tainly have the second, and not lose but rather 

 sain the third. If the second claims his attention, 



the first will still be his gain ; but should the third 

 win his attention too much, he will be very likely 

 to lose the whole if that attention is directed to 

 the butcher, but if to stock, then he will certainly 

 gain the three. 



Wlioever saw a cosset with a small carcass or 

 a light or poor fleece of wool ? This, if nothing 

 else, would prove what good feed and good care 

 will do for sheep. I do not expect that a whole 

 flock will receive the same care that a single lamb 

 will, but simply introduce the fact to show what 

 good care and attention can and will do. But the 

 fact that they are always larger, and have larger 

 fleeces, and when bred from have large lambs, cer- 

 tainly points in the direction of good feed ; and the 

 returns coining from three sources, mutton, wool 

 and stock, give three chances for success to one of 

 failure. The long wooled buck should always be 

 eighteen months old before allowed to run with 

 ewes, and at that age the number should be limit- 

 ed. Merino lambs should be a year older. 



Some farmers have an excellent method of 

 dividing their ewes in the fall. Those are allowed 

 the company of the ram early in October, which 

 are intended to produce lambs for the butcher, 

 while those which are intended to prdfluce lambs 

 for stock receive his company later, stock lambs, 

 by this method, costing much less, because re- 

 quiring much less care ; and by selecting the old 

 ewes, which are intended for the butcher, to pro- 

 duce the early lambs, they have the advantage of 

 a month or two longer to feed on grass, after the 

 lambs are weaned, than those which come in lat- 

 er. The Prairie Farmer says that an Illinois 

 farmer has his lambs drop in mid-winter in order 

 that his bucks may be ready for service in the 

 fall. Such a system may be profitable to the rais- 

 er of the buck, but ruinous to the purchaser of 

 such stock. This is as great a violation of phys- 

 iological law as to breed from young ewes. Any 

 one purchasing such bucks with a view of improv- 

 ing his stock will be greatly disappointed. If his 

 ewes are as young as his buck he cannot have any- 

 thing else but degenerate stock. If his ewes are 

 mature and vigorous, the buck, so far as breed is 

 concerned, will have scarcely any influence, and 

 concerning stock, it will be bad; and the buck 

 will never be so good as he would have been had 

 his youth been properly served. Tyro. 



WHAT IS CULTIVATIOIirP 

 At a recent meeting of the Fruit Growers of 

 Eastern Pennsylvania, held in Norristown, the 

 question propounded above was earnestly dis- 

 cussed. Mr. A. W. Harrison said : — 



Cultivation resolved itself into two divisions. 

 1st. Mechanical. 2d. Nutritive. ' The first had, 

 for its object, the improvement of the texture of 

 the soil, by underdraining and pulverization ; the 

 second, by adding to the soil the elements taken 

 away or required for the perfection of the growing 

 crops. Thought all soils improved by underdrain- 

 ing : even sandy soils are rendered by it moister 

 in summer, by the condensation of the moist air 

 drawn through the soil to the- underdrains. The 

 object of pulverization was to present new sur- 

 faces continually to the action of the air. Air and 

 moisture must act together before the oxidation 

 necessary to prepare plant food can go on. The 

 soil must be so pulverized that the particles must 



