190 



NEW ENGLAND FARM EH. 



June 



a difference it would make in the profits of the 

 farm between delivering the corn in New York to 

 have it converted into wool there, and converting 

 the corn into wool in Illinois and delivering it in 

 New York. But our American farmers do worse 

 than this — they send, at a heavy transportation 

 cost, their wheat and corn to Europe to have them 

 made into various fabrics and delivered at a still 

 smaller per centage of cost than the cost of trans- 

 porting wool from the far West to any market in 

 the East. Mr. Grinnell says : — "At any point 

 two hundred miles from Chicago, this ratio of 

 cost in freighting is well established ; that to 

 transport your products to the seaboard, on wheat 

 ymi pay 80 per cent, of its value, on pork 30 per 

 cent., on beef 20 per cent., gross on wool 4 per 

 cent. This is not conjecture, but my own experi- 

 ence, that I give 80 per cent, of the value of my 

 wheat, which impoverishes my farm, to find a 

 market, and 4 per cent, to find the best wool mar- 

 ket, the production of which enriches my acres 

 beyond computation." 



The United States, as a country, is strictly ag- 

 ricultural, and yet does not produce more than 

 half of the wool which the country requires for its 

 manufactures. This production would enrich the 

 soil which raised it, while we largely export those 

 products which are rendering sterile the fertile 

 soil upon which they grow. 



The production of wool has not kept pace with 

 the increased consumption of our manufactures. 

 In 1840 there were 50,808,524 lbs. of wool con- 

 sumed in this country. Of this, 35,802.114 was 

 the product of the United States, and 15,006,410 

 was imported. In 1850. there were consumed 71,- 

 186,763 lbs. Of this, 52,516,969 lbs. was home 

 production, while 18,669,794 lbs. was imported. 

 In 1860, the consumption were 95.098,000 lbs., of 

 which 60,511,343 were produced at home, and 34,- 

 586,657 were the production of foreign soils. But 

 while the United States have increased their pro- 

 duction of wool, some of the best wool producing 

 States show a decrease. Ohio had, in 1854, 4,- 

 822,171 sheep; in 1858, that number was reduced 

 to 3,307,798 ; and under the stimulus of the in- 

 creased demand for wool, on account of the'scar- 

 city of cotton, the number increased in 1862 to 

 4,740,227. 



But to come nearer home, our own State is well 

 adapted for growing wool, but during the last 

 twenty years there has been a great falling off. 

 We find by reference to statistics that the number 

 of sheep in this State in 1840, was 378,226 ; in 

 1850, 188,651; in 1860, 113,111; being a de- 

 crease in twenty years of 265,115. In 1845, the 

 number of pounds of wool grown was 1,026,230; 

 in ten years from that time the decrease in the 

 production of wool was over 600,000 pounds. In 

 the same year, the value of sheep and wool was 

 $923,000 ; in 1855 it was $464,889, showing a 

 falling off of near a half million dollars. In 1850, 

 the wool produced in the State was 585,000 

 pounds, while the amount consumed was 22,000,- 

 000 pounds, exclusive of domestic manufactures. 

 In 1860, while the quantity consumed had greatly 

 increased, the production had fallen} to 373,789. 

 Could anything be stranger than this, with a mar- 

 ket at their doors and cash on delivery ? But 

 there is a cause for everything, and there are a 

 number for this. One, we think, has been re- 

 moved in the protection afforded the farmer by 



what is known as the dog-law, one of its wise 

 provisions being found in Section 64 : " Whoever 

 suffers loss by reason of the worrying, maiming, 

 or killing of his sheep or lambs by dogs, may, 

 within thirty days after he knows "of such loss, 

 present proof thereof to the mayor or selectmen 

 of the city or town wherein the 'damage is done, 

 and, thereupon, said officers shall draw an order 

 in favor of the owner upon the treasurer of said 

 city or town for the amount of such loss."' 



Other causes and their remedies will be pointed 

 out in a series of articles to follow on this subject. 

 Tyro. 



Scours in Sheep. — In commenting upon an 

 article of a correspondent, recently, in relation 

 to this disease, we suggested that it may have 

 been induced by the bad fodder upon which they 

 have been fed — that is, upon hay that was injured 

 in curing last summer. 



A gentleman from Keene informed us yester- 

 day that he had lost fifty sheep out of a flock of 

 two hundred and fifty, although he had fed grain 

 liberally to them, and taken every pains in his 

 power to keep them in health and in good condi- 

 tion. He imputes the cause of the disease to the 

 bad fodder that was harvested last summer. He 

 says the losses by sheep owners are common in 

 all that region, and they are so extensive as to be- 

 come of a serious character. 



Remedy for Scours in Sheep.— Mr. Al- 

 fred Poor, of Andover, Mass., informs us that 

 in one or two cases of "scours" that came under 

 his personal observation, the sheep were complete- 

 ly cured by eating common salt. It had been left 

 where they accidentally came to it. They ate of 

 it freely, soon began to ntfend, and in a few days 

 thoroughly recovered. The remedy— if remedy 

 it is— is so simple and cheap that any one may 

 prove it. 



The Black Knot.— A friend in Roxbury has 

 handed us two or three branches from different 

 trees or shrubs, that are completely covered with 

 the black knot of the very worst type. Neither of 

 them are from the plum tree. This is a startling 

 matter. Is this scourge to visit and gradually 

 destroy our climbing shrubs, hedges, and perhaps 

 apples and pear trees ? We hope not ; and yet 

 we see it here in its way to them all. The plum 

 crop has been nearly cut off for several years from 

 this pest, which has baffled all attempts to pre- 

 vent its destructive tendencies, ' and now it is 

 moving on to blast other common plants. We 

 hope some means may be discovered to arrest its 

 progress. 



Pruning Orchards. — It is a very good rule, 

 and the nearer it is followed the better, that no 

 shoot should be allowed to remain longer than one 

 year on a tree that will require removat a ny 

 future time. 



