1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



137 



even m the best feed, if of one kind, and break 

 out, if possible, and roam over the dry pastures, 

 perfectly contented if they can get sufficient 

 variety to supply the demands of their nature. 

 No amount of grain or roots will compensate 

 for the want of variety." 



It has always been our practice to supply the 

 flock with evergreens of hemlock, spruce and 

 the various pines, after they have been feeding 

 for several weeks upon dry food. They will 

 browse them eagerly if scattered through their 

 yards, after January comes in, and they seem 

 to renew their appetite and remain more con- 

 tented for the indulgence. Sheep should be 

 fed when in fold at least three times a day, and 

 always at the same hour. No animal knows 

 better than a sheep his usual meal-time, or is 

 more impatient of its postponement. The ap- 

 petite comes with the appointed hour, and the 

 food is then eaten with the greatest relish and 

 least waste. 



We say nothing of iveigJd or measure in 

 feeding. This must be governed by circum- 

 stances, but chiefly by the temperature. In 

 cold weather they will require more food ; in 

 mild weather less. The lower the temperature 

 the more rapidly heat escapes from the body, 

 and the more food is required to keep it up. 

 Much may be done toward equalizing the heat 

 of the body by proper shelter. Sheep will en- 

 dure a great degree of cold if the weather is 

 dry, and will leave the barn in clear cold nights 

 of winter, when the thermometer ranges near 

 zero, and lie upon the litter in the yards. If 

 alloAved to go out of the yard, they will fre- 

 quently seek some dry elevation to pass the 

 night, even when there is a stiff breeze. But 

 if rain or snow is falling, or if the atmosphere 

 be damp they will seek shelter in their sheds 

 or barn, although the weather maybe warm. 

 Their accommodations should, therefore, be so 

 arranged, that they can go in and out at will. 

 Their instincts will govern them correctly in 

 this particular, with the exception, perhaps, of 

 ewes who may come in early. 



If these conditions are not observed, the 

 wool will suffer, the food which the sheep eats 

 will, instead of making wool, go to produce 

 heat to keep the body warm. If the sheep are 

 merinos the result will be a weak place in the 

 staple, and dry harsh wool ; but if the long- 

 wooled breed, then in the bottom of the staple 

 will be produced another crop of wool, consist- 

 ing of fme fibres locking with those already 



produced, which will felt to such a degree as 

 almost to defy the power of man to tear the 

 fleece in pieces when shorn ! If the sheep is 

 not sufficiently fed to produce bcth heat and 

 wool, nature will apply the food where it is 

 most required. 



This is the result of food not sufficiently 

 nutritious, as it is also of old sheep and of ewes 

 drawn upon heavily by lambs— in short, what- 

 ever interferes with the supply of nutritious 

 food or prevents a proper assimilation and ap- 

 plication to the system, tends to produce poor 

 wool. If we desire good wool and heavy fleeces, 

 sheep must leave their winter quarters in as 

 good condition as when they entered them. 



In another article, next week, we shall speak 

 of the injurious results sometimes arising from 

 sudden changes in food and from changes in 

 temperature, &c. 



AGRICULTTJBAL ITEMS. 



—Losses by cattle disease in England are sum- 

 med up at $17,865,000 in gold. 



— The Detroit Tribune estimates the wheat crop 

 of Michigan, for 1866, at 12,000,000 bushels. 



—The Richmond Enquirer has made the dis- 

 covery that New England farmers "are generally 

 poor, ignorant and unintelligent." 



— The Secretary of the Iowa Board of Agricul- 

 ture claims that full one-third of the receipts of 

 wheat at Chicago are from Iowa. 



—Every child that eats fruit should be taught 

 the importance of saving and sowing seeds and 

 rearing them up to fruit bearing. 



—In 1860, the United States had more cattle and 

 hogs than any other country. It is thought they 

 now have more sheep. 



— It is claimed that Chase Co., Kansas, with a 

 voting population of 226, sold $150,000 worth of 

 cattle, wool and sheep, last year. 



— Twenty years ago there were no vineyards in 

 the Department of the Indre, in France ; at the 

 present time the extent under vineyards is about 

 60,000 acres. 



— On the pine lands of Georgia, which possess a 

 quick, warm soil, two crops are frequently obtained. 

 A wheat harvest is gathered in June ; a corn crop 

 is then planted which ripens by the last of October. 



— The State Horticultural Society of Iowa passed 

 unanimously a resolution approving the decision 

 of the Committee in New York, who awarded the 

 "Greeley Prize" to the Concord Grape. 



— A Kansas correspondent of the New York 

 Tribune says, it is not generally known that wild 

 gi-asses improve in quality as one goes West. As 

 far West as Colorado the dead grass is nearly as 

 good as oats. In Kansas some good fanners think 



