1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAE!^IER. 



175 



typhoid fever to the milkman. For fifteen years 

 there had been no cases of this fever in this to\ra. 

 In 1870, there were 168 causes within a radius of a 

 quarter of a mile. Out of 140 families supplied 

 %vith milk from one dairy, it is stated that "no 

 fe\rer than 70 suffered from typhoid, and 30 deaths 

 occurred." The origin of the disease Avas traced to 

 an underground tank on the premises of the milk- 

 man. It \vas stoutly denied that the milk was 

 diluted with water from this tank, and out of 

 charity it was suggested that possit»ly, as the water 

 was used for cleansing the milk cans, enough 

 might still remain. to poison the milk, without any 

 iutcutioiial adniixturc with it Iteiug practiced. 



WOOL AWD MUTTOK. 



At the winter session of the Ne\v York State Ag- 

 ricultural Society at Albany, Feb. 8, 1871, the Hon. 

 J. R. Dodge, of the National Department of Agri- 

 culture, read a paper in which he discussed the 

 questions, — Why are wool prices depressed r How 

 can Sheep-husbandry be made profitable in the 

 future ? What breeds should we grow } And 

 where shall each be produced ? 



We have not space even for an abstract of the 

 views presented by this gentleman, further than to 

 say that he takes a hopeful view of the whole sub- 

 ject. The older and more densely settled portions 

 of the country must adopt the "mutton-with-wool" 

 element as an inseparable adjunct of high farming- 

 mutton as the product of large yields of the roots 

 and grasses, obtained in the shortest period of time 

 and in the largest mciisure of quantity, with wool 

 a^ a valuable incidental, and manure as a thu-d re- 

 sult_ of present intrinsic value and still greater 

 economic importance as a productive investment. 



Farmers must recognize m their management 

 and feeding, the fact that the meruio is to be i:'-j>t 

 for wool, and the Leicester to be killed for mutton. 



We copy his closing paragraphs :— 



In closing, I would say to \vool-irrowers, thank 

 God and take courage ; instead of tanit-hcartedness 

 there is abundant occasion for high encourasemcnt. 

 You can only thrive in companionship with the 

 manufacturers; and have no occasion, and I pray 

 you Uiay never have, either to go aliroad for woof- 

 ens or for a market for your wool. Contrast the 

 prostration of manufacturing at the close of the 

 war of Cireat Britain, when the bars of the customs 

 were let down, and the invasion of woolens proved 

 far more a calamity than the invasion of red coats [ 

 for the three previous years, with the condition of ' 

 the biisincss of manufacturing to-day. Before that : 

 war, in 1810, the value of woolen manufactures 

 was ^2o,608,7S8; after it, in 1820, it was but 

 •S'4,4 13.068. Before the recent war, in 1860, the 

 value was #68,S6.5,963 ; after it, in 1868, it was ^175,- 

 000,000— two-thirds of it the product of wool of the ■ 

 L nited States. Is that a cause of discouragement > ' 



No man in his senses, and with ordinary intelli- 

 gence, can fail to see that the tariff of 1867 has been 

 the salvation of our sheep husliandr^^— salvation 

 from a more complete and remediless overthrow 

 than awaited the business at the close of om- war 

 with Great Britain a half century ago. 



You should adapt your business to the changing 

 exigencies of the tujies and the progress of the 

 country, making fat mutton and tine lambs the 



leading considerations in populous regions, where 

 the demand is imperative tor more food for the 

 people, and improved culture for the soil, and leav- 

 ing the production of wool alone mahilv to the 

 pastoral regions of t)ie far West, where 8,000,000 to 

 10,000,000 sheep are now profitablv kept, m place 

 ofscarcely 2,000,000 ui the Territories and Pacitic 

 States in 1860. The region west of the Mississippi 

 now yields nearly as much wool as the whole 

 country prodnce<l in 1860, and is ttipable of pro- 

 dncmg enough for the supply of onr population 

 for many ye^irs to come without the importation of 

 a single ponnd. 



Then contrive to improve your flocks, increase 

 their yield of wool, give them better care, protect 

 them against diseases, persistently and intelligently 

 follow your Imsiness without discouragement or 

 fear, and you will find that any present cloud will 

 show a silver lining, prophetic of a glorious future 

 of prosperity for yourself, for ag};iculture, and for 

 the country. 



F.VRMKES IN- AGHICULTrR.\L SOCIETIES. — TLc 



State Board of Agriculture of Massachusetts, at its 

 late business session, adopted the following resolu- 

 tion : — 



That each Society in the State shall publish a cata- 

 logue of its inemliers in connection with the transac- 

 tions of the present year — ant! that in arranging this 

 catalogue the oceupation of each member be set down 

 against his name. 



The object of this vote, as stated, is to ascertain 

 how generally the influence of each society extends 

 among iiirmers, and to what extent the member- 

 ship is composed of fiirmers. 



We apprehend that this classification of the mem- 

 bers of these various societies mil be much more 



j difficult in practice than in theory, and it might be 

 well for the Board itself to illustrate the operation 



! of the classification proposed by applying it to its 



! own constituenc}-. 



I What, to begin with, would be the classifica- 



j tion of the members of the "Conmtittees for Inves- 

 tigation and Report," appointed by this Board for 

 1871, as follows :— 



Tfi^ Breeding of iJomestic Animals— ilesers . Asrafisiz. 

 Loriiig, Hyde. ' 



I'iehl and Garden Seeds — Messrs. Moore, Hvde and 

 Claris. 



Tke OMitation and use of Forest Trees— ^qssys. 

 Clark, Gooilman, Darfee. 



The OtUiwttwn and Preservation of Fruit— Messrs 

 Wilder, Fay, Hubbard. 



The Management of the />«?>•;/— Messrs. Ell.sworlh, 

 Allis, Phinuey. 



Agricultural and f/orticuitmrU Edmaiion for Women, 

 — Messrs. Goodman, Wilder and Birnie. 



A Boy Fakmer.— The editor of the Maine Far- 

 mer wa-s made happy by receiving the following 

 letter : 



"Last spring father gave me some land, and told me 

 I should have all I could raise on it. I harvested two 

 bushels of nice shelled corn; one bushel of yellow- 

 eyed beans and five bushels of potatoes. I am nine 

 years old. Do you think any little boy that reads the 

 Farmer has done any better ?" Frankie L. Pa.ine 



Bean's Corner, Me., 1871. 



Frank certainly tells a good story, and tells it well. 

 If none of the New England Farmer boys can 

 make as good a report of their last year's opera- 

 tions, will not some of them try their hand, at 

 farming next year, and let us know how they suc- 

 ceed? 



