33 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



that last June he sowed an acre of corn in 

 drills, and commenced cutting and feeding to 

 the cows the first of July. When the Sep- 

 tember rains came on, he omitted the corn 

 feeding four days, and the result was a dimi- 

 nution of fifty -two pounds of milk per day. 

 The corn feeding was again resumed, and in 

 (our days the cows gave their customary quan- 

 tity of milk. The increased How of milk 

 doubly paid the cost of the food given. 



SHEEP-SHE ABING JBY MACHHSTERY. 



Machines for shearing sheep and milking cows 

 have been invented, and they have been used suffi- 

 ciently to demonstrate the possibility of perform- 

 ing both operations. City cows have been milked, 

 and city sheep have been shorn by machinery. 

 But in the country, farmers are still obliged to milk 

 their cows and shear their sheep by hand— not the 

 only difference between city and country farming ! 

 Some of the "farmers" of New York city have re- 

 cently witnessed the operation of two different 

 sheep-shearing machines. A committee was ap- 

 pointed by the New York Institute Farmers' Club 

 of that city, to see two sheep sheared by these 

 machines, and here is the report that they made 

 of the working of each of them : — 



The machine of Mr. Anderson cuts the v.ool on 

 the same principle as a movving machine, beirg 

 driven by compressed air, conducted to the shears 

 through a rubber tube from the bellows, worked 

 by a crank, and turned by a second person. The 

 machine is very ingenious in its construction, and 

 when nharp will cui the wool closely and rapidly ; 

 but it gets dull quickly, owing to the delicate con- 

 struction of the knives. The power is not suffi- 

 cient to clear the knives of the wool, the machine 

 presenting the same difficulties in operating that a 

 mowing machine does in thick, wet grass. With- 

 out increased power and an ability to keep sharp 

 longer, and not to clog so easily, the committee 

 could not commend this mackine, but yet it has 

 some decided merits, which are the closeness and 

 evenness with which it shears. 



The machine of Mr. Earl shears with a rotary 

 knife with two cutting points, rotating on a bed 

 plate with notches or guards which rest on the 

 body of the sheep, and is attached to a universal 

 joint, connected by a revolving rod to a wheel, 

 turned by a belt driven by a crank and wheel 

 tamed by a second person. The machine is easily 

 adjusted, and the universal joints will turn in any 

 direclioD, allowing the shearer to work the knives 

 without the lease difficulty on any part of the 

 oheep- The committee are of the opinion that in 

 the hands of an experienced operator the machine 

 will do good work. 



ExiiiniTioN OF Wool. — The American Insti- 

 tute, as will be remembered, made a very liberal 

 offer of space at their late Fair in New York, for 

 an exhibition of wool. It was hoped that the wool 

 groweis of the country would make such a show 

 as would indicate their ability and their purpose to 

 supply our own manufactories with the various 

 grades of wool required for the woolen faljrics they 

 produce. They have failed to do so. Col. Harris, 

 of the Ohio Farmer, visited the Fair which was 



held in the Skating Rink in the north part of the 

 city, and says, "I hunted the Rink all over for the 

 much-talked-about show of wool, and found about 

 enough of fragments to make two fleeces 1" 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



PREMIUMS AND STATEMENTS AT FAIRS. 



At the last fair of the Middlebury society, held 

 at Concord, I had a number of articles for exhibi- 

 tion, and among them twelve pounds of butter. 

 Upon examination, the committee said it was the 

 best on exhibition. But as I did not state the temper- 

 ature of the cream when churned, they declined to 

 award it the first or any premium. I gave what I 

 thought to be a full and correct statement of how 

 it was made, supposing the object in requiring a 

 statement was to get information. The committee, 

 however, awarded the premiums to those who 

 made their statements according to the require- 

 ments of the trustees and not to the best article. 

 The committee put the card for the first premium 

 upon a lot of butter which they themselves admit- 

 ted was not the best, and it stood there exposed to 

 the gaze of thousands, indicating not the best but- 

 ter but the best statement. Consequently the 

 statements took the premium, not the butter. 

 Now I contend that this is wrong. If the commit- 

 tee could not give the best article the premium, 

 because of a little defect in the statement, then I 

 say withhold it from any one untU another year. 

 To give premiums to anything that may be 

 brought in, because the statement is up to the 

 requirements, is to encourage skilful writing, not 

 good butter-making. I enclose a copy of the 

 .sfatemcnt I made, and am confident that any one 

 who follows that method cannot fail to have the 

 first quality of butter ; but at present I do not wish 

 the statement published. A Bctter Maker. 



Middlesex County, Mass., Oct. 23, 1869. 



Remarks. — One object of awarding premiums 

 at agricultural fairs is undoubtedly to reward and 

 honoi- skill ; but another, and perhaps a higher 

 object, is to collect and disseminate information. 

 Ii is desirable and pleasant to look upon a nice 

 article of production or manufacture, but with our 

 Yankee inquisitivcness, we are very apt to ask,' 

 How was it done ? or, How was it made ? 



We have known societies who made no provi- 

 sion for an answer to any such questions, but 

 awarded their premiums on the apparent merits 

 of the articles oj animals submitted to their inspec- 

 tion, and left the public to find out the secret of 

 superiority as best they could. This course has 

 been so unsatisfactory that the managv;rs of our 

 fairs now generally require a more or less full 

 statement from those to whom premiums are 

 awarded. If they are justified in demanding any 

 statement at all, must we not concede to them the 

 right of specifying the character of that statemsnt, 

 and to indicate the points on which information is 

 desired ? 



There has been considerable discussion by but- 

 ter-makers of late, as to the proper temperature of 

 cream for churning. The managers pf the Middle- 

 sex society may have wished to settle this point, 

 or at least to learn the practice of the butter mak- 

 ers of the county on this one subject. If they 

 offered their premiums on condition that this fact 



