1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



467 



or as the French have it, "take an affection" 

 for them. When the prejudice is entirely 

 overcome they place the real eggs under, she 

 easily covering 18 or 20 of them. The cover- 

 ing is removed and the innocent turkey ac- 

 complishes the task assigned her without fur- 

 ther trouble, save that it is necessary to remove 

 her once a day that she may partake of re- 

 freshments. If this is not done these "sitters" 

 sometimes starve to death, rather than volun- 

 tarily leave their charge, so great is this forced 

 affection. After hatching, the little chicks are 

 placed in charge of another turkey that may 

 not have all she can raise and which is kept for 

 bringing them up, and the original turkey 

 mother supplied with a new lot of eggs, con- 

 tinues her "mission." These young turkeys 

 are thus made to hatch three or four "litters" 

 in a season. — Paris Cor. Prairie Farmer. 



IMPORTS OP ■WOOL IN 1866 AND 1867. 



We have been able to obtain from an official 

 and perfectly reliable source the following here- 

 tofore unpufjlished statistics, giving the quan- 

 tity and class of wool entered at the New York 

 Custom House during the first six months of 

 1866 and 1867 respectively : — 



FIRST SIX MONTHS, 1868. 



Class 1, "Clothing Wool," 23,692,043 lbs. 



Class 2, "Combing Wools," 



Class 3, "C;iipc't Wools, and other similar 



wools," 4,839,533 " 



Total 28,531,576 lbs. 



Noils 13,737 " 



Camel's Hair 408,417 " 



FIRST SIX MONTHS, 1867. 



Class 1, "Clothing Wool," 4,346,183 lbs. 



Class 2, "Combing Wools," 122,796 " 



Class 3, "Carpet Wools, &c.," 8,240,652 " 



Total 12,709,631 lbs. 



Camel's Hair ... • • .... 163,839 " 



We are authorized to say that "most all of 

 Class 1, imported since the present tariff went 

 into operation, was entered in bond, and it is 

 presumed either remains in bond or has been 

 shipped out of the country." 



We need not remind our readers that Class 

 1 embraces all the foreign wools which com- 

 pete with any kind of icool grown in the United 

 States, except "combing wools of English 

 blood." During two months of 1867 (Janua- 

 ry and February) the present tariff was not in 

 operat ion. Yet considerably less than one-Jifth 

 as nmch "clothing wool" was imported in the 

 first half of 1867 as in the first half of 1866 ; 

 and most of the small amount imported in 

 1867, as has been stated, remains in bond, or 

 has been exported to other countries ! It has not 

 been brought into competition in market with 

 our own wools. Who now shall say that the 

 tariff has not been as effective in shutting out 

 foreign competition as was expected, or as can 

 be reasonably desired by the great mass of the 

 wool growers of our country ! 



There is, it is true, a gain in the import of 

 "combinji wools" — but the amount is inconsid- 



erable. Very probably the wool was entered 

 before the passage of the tariff. At all events, 

 the imports of this class of wools into all our 

 different ports, especially those of the Cana- 

 dian frontier, will fall off during the year 

 probably in about ecjual proportions with those 

 of "clothing wools." Our foreign supplies 

 were mostly drawn from Canada, and it is no- 

 torious that the last clip of that country is un- 

 sold — that the market is utterly flat — and that 

 the impression is now prevalent there that un- 

 der present duties the English market will prove 

 a better one for them than ours. 



The import of "carpet wools" nearly doubled. 

 These compete with no wools now grown in the 

 United States, and their increased import there- 

 fore does not affect our growers, provided no 

 frauds are practiced — provided other wools 

 are not invoiced, and pass our Custom Houses 

 under that name. Are such frauds practiced? 

 Not, in our opinion, in New York. John A. 

 Baush, who appraises every invoice of wool 

 entered at that port, is an old. experienced, 

 perfectly competent, and we believe thorough- 

 ly upright officer — the very man we would put 

 in the place, were the appointment made by 

 us. VVe have made inquiries in respect to the 

 officer at Boston, who has the appraisement of 

 wools under his charge. We learn that he has 

 not had an experience on the subject extend- 

 ing much beyond two years — a thing certainly 

 much to be regretted — but he is regarded among 

 the business men of Boston as a man of integ- 

 rity, and he has, it is said, an official under him 

 in this department who is a very experienced, 

 judge and appraiser of wool. With this aid, 

 and the aid of the standard samples, an up- 

 right man can discharge his duties faithfully. 



These are the pi'incipal ports of entry for 

 foreign wool, but there are others which de- 

 serve attention. We trust our friends who 

 have any opportunities for ascertaining the 

 character and conduct of wool appraisers, in 

 any of them, will keep the officers of the Na- 

 tional Wool Growers' Association informed of 

 the facts. It is one of the most obvious duties 

 of these officers to keep watch and ward on 

 the subject of a fair and just administration of 

 the law, and to expose any fi-auds piacticed by 

 its administrators. We, for one, are prepared 

 to do the latter with a will, should occasion de- 

 mand it. — Rural Neio Yorker. 



Hungarian Hay for Sheep. — My experi- 

 ence in feeding Hungarian hay to sluep i:< rather 

 limited ; however 1 have made close enough 

 observation to conclude that it is injurious, 

 unless great care is taken, as it affects sheep 

 as it does many horses. If it is fed cautiously, 

 perhaps it could not hurt them, but I fed sev- 

 eral tons of it hist winter, to my sheep, twice 

 a day, and they looked well, but after a while 

 quite a number of them began to get stupid, 

 and would not keep with the flock, and lingered 

 along for several days, and a number of them 



