1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



185 



■with success for some years. Immediately 

 when the bulbs go to rest, in the autumn, is 

 the proper time to repot them. By no means 

 destroy the old roots, but carefully place them 

 amongst the fresh soil. If large examples, for 

 particular, display, arc required, large pots 

 may be employed, and half a dozen flowering 

 bulbs placed in each pot. The soil I use is 

 rough peat. The pots should be well drained, 

 and the crown of the bulb just covered with 

 the soil ; when potted, they should be placed 

 in a cold pit or frame, in order to prevent the 

 soil from freezing, although Irostwill not injure 

 the bulb. There is scarcely any plant which is 

 so much benefited by liquid manure as the 

 Lily. If used in a clear state, and considera- 

 bly diluted, this water alone may be applied 

 fof at least a month before it comes into 

 flower. 



"If the object should be out-door cultivation 

 entirely, I should recommend them to be 

 planted in beds ; their effect is exceedingly 

 grand. Exclvate the soil eighteen inches 

 deep, and fill in the bottom, a foot deep, with 

 very coarse peat, intermixed with one-fifth of 

 decayed manure or leaf mould. The remain- 

 ing six inches may be entirely peat. If the 

 bulbs are large enough to bloom, plant them 

 twelve inches apart every way. 



"All our native Lilies are beautiful, and very 

 much improved by cultivation. While we are 

 bringing together, from the ends of the earth, 

 the treasures of Flora, let not our own be neg- 

 lected. These may be taken from our fields 

 and meadows, when in bloom, by carefully 

 taking them up with a ball of earth, and in a 

 few years will richly repay the trouble." 



Dwarf Peak Trees, Currant Bushes 

 AND Shrurbery. — These plants and many 

 others need attention, now that the deep snows 

 are settling about them. The snow softens 

 around them on the surfiice in the day time, 

 and as night approaches freezes again, but 

 continues to settle below, and drags down he 

 branches imbedded in it, and breaks them at 

 their junction with the stem of the tree or bush. 



At this time of writing, Feb. 8, the snow is 

 BufRciently hard to bear up a man, and has 

 already caused some destruction among pear 

 trees and currant bushes. It settles more or 

 less every day. It is already so compact as 

 to require a stout spade to get it away. De- 

 lay will be dangerous in this particular. 



FALL AND ■WINTER FEED, AND CARE 

 OP SHEEP. 



OMETiMES injurious results 

 arise from sudden changes 

 in food in winter as well 

 as in change of pasture. 

 Sheep should not be kept 

 out late in the season, ex- 

 posed to the autumn rains 

 and cold storms, with 

 fleeces wet for a week at 

 a time ; nor in the winter 

 when the weather is in- 

 clement. This absorbs 

 the heat from their bodies, and uses up what 

 little nutriment they get in the frost-bitten herb- 

 age. In such cases, the wool Is left almost 

 without support, a weak place remains In it so 

 that the weight of the summer growth bi-eaks 

 it in two. Then the farmer ivonders lohat can 

 make his sheep shed their wool so much ! 



This may be fairly imputed to neglect in the 

 fall. Feeding upon sour, frozen grass is apt 

 to produce a relaxed state of the bowels, while 

 a sudden change from such food to dry hay, is 

 likely to induce constipation. 



Sheds to protect the sheep from the storms 

 of autumn, a few roots, and a little good hay 

 once each day, would ensure healthier sheep, 

 better lambs, better wool and heavier fleeces. 

 Sheds are also necessary to protect sheep from 

 the burning suns of summer. Rain, dews, and 

 hot sun have an injurious effect upon wool. 

 Wool contains a large amount of fixed oil, 

 which the hot sun extracts and renders the 

 wool harsh. To understand what this influ- 

 ence is, examine its effect upon a black fleece. 

 When it first begins to grow, the top of the 

 wool is as black as the bottom, but after being 

 exposed to the sun a change in color takes 

 place. It has parted with some valuable con- 

 stituents. A similar effect takes place, too, 

 when wool Is exposed to a high temperature 

 after being wet, whether on the sheep's back 

 or being dried previous to manufacturing, or 

 when made into garments. If an overcoat, 

 after being wet, is submitted to a high temper- 

 ature for the pui-pose of drying, it will be 

 found to have changed its character — that the 

 wool has become harsh and brittle, and that it 

 will more easily tear than before. 



After sheep are brought to their winter 

 quarters, the treatment should be uniform and 

 judicious. They should always be treated 



