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1 10 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. S 



i^ayiug!' and Doings, No. 1. --Wintering 



Sheep. 

 Mr. Editor— li «U3 n enying, it is aoid, of ihi- 

 lioloiioHs Sam Piiich, " tbnt eomo tilings could be 

 done 08 well 08 others " His losl faml Icnp from ilic 

 falls of your beouiiful city, lella ua that tuc mtixim is 

 true in part only. He had already, by bis (omous 

 leaps, euffieienily innnorlulised himself. Tlicy were 

 coneidcred hazardoua experiments— being repeated, 

 they .^nded in a sacrifice of life. 



Thus are we reminded, that, though many things 

 may be accomplished, they should never be oilenipted 

 and that we should always avoid all rash and hazar- 

 dous experiments. I do not wish to be understood as 

 being hostile to oil ' cxpcrimcniing and improvenieni,' 

 nor do I wish to be forever plooding and digging nficr 

 Bomeihing new. Well woidd it be for us all, il we 

 would exercise a liille caution nnd ti.nidity, and were 

 lees daring and adventurous. So much for an intro- 

 duc.ion. 



* At the commencement of the winter of '41, fearing 

 that I had not sufficient feed provided to keep oil my 

 Block in good condition through the winter, 1 wos 

 forced upon on untried e.^periment,— of keeping my 

 floidis ol sheep on oats and straw. I om nwnre that 

 sheep had been kept on grain and straw through n 

 part of the winter, with success; still I wos oppre- 

 bensive of evil in I'ecding on grain and straw e.tclu 

 eivelv, through the entire winter— as ihey were ewes, 

 of miture oge, nnd with lamb. 



I gave to a flock of 105, one bushel of cicon or 

 threshed oats per day, and what wheat ftraw they 

 needed— fed in boxeo. (For description and diagram 

 see M ly N^-. of the CuUivator.) 



And now need I say, Mr. Edilor,that when a boy I 

 was shepherd, a young man, still a shepherd, for I fed 

 my flocks I With on experience of 12 or 15 years in 

 eheep husbandry, 1 am prepared to speak knowingly, 

 (excluding all boasting) that I never knew a fl.'ck thni 

 were wintered on hoy, that were finer in appearance 

 and condition. The sheep, of course, were protected, 

 their Of petite at all times woa good, devouring their 

 food with gree lineas — consuming nil, and using boxes, 

 wasting none — and in candor, there was no nppinr- 

 nnce of sickness or disease among ihcm, ond their 

 progeny were strong and thrilty. 



And now let the erednlous and unbelieving follow 

 me a little farther, while 1 prove, I trow to their sat 

 jsfaelioii, that sheep may be wintered more ckciipUj 

 on groin and straw, than they cm be on hay. 



In my estimate of the expense of wintering a flock 

 of 100 sheep, of mature oge, I deem 12 tons uf good 

 bay hardly sulficient, if fed as they should be ; bow- 

 ever, tuliing it for gronieJ that it is enough, in fe.v 

 wordj, the occount stands thus: 



a tons of hoy, at $6 per ton, $72 00 



1 fed to the Hock in question, (perhaps 1 should not 

 onit to say they were high grade Saxons) 105, one 

 bushel ol clean or thres'ied oais per day — 150 days — 

 tlie outs wero worth two slidlings per bushel and ho 

 more. 



] 50 bush^.? of oats at 25 cents, $^7,50 



15 loads uf Braw, 15,00 



.§52, 50 

 We tin 1, thurefu-e, the expense of feeding oa'.s to 

 be !|5'2,50, and a sii'ing of §19,50, — i small item it 

 is true, but worth looUng alter in these times. 



I followed up myexpiriment of '41, and kept the 

 past winter a fl.jck of Toof- the same description ol 

 sheep, and succeeded equJ to my expectations. In- 

 Btend of giving them oats c^lusively, I gave an equal 

 q-ianiity of bran, ond again ^nd a difference quite os 

 great as befoie. 

 75 bushels of oots ot 34 cents, $25,50 



75 do bran at 6 cents, 4^5!) 



15 loads of Btiaw, 



3 5.00 



.f45,00 



both departments of the above nomed business. I 

 moke no pretensions to ogriculturol knowledge, ex- 

 cept whnt 1 hove learned fiom my numerous ogricul- 



Fceding boy in the same qnantity and propui-tion > ,^^j.^| ^.^^j.^ ^,,j ^ f^,^ ,^^„|,,g„;,^gf^.„ij„„^ and as the 



result of which nllow me to stale a few facts, and first 

 in relaiion to the manner in which I have wintered my 

 ttiick. 



This consists of twenty-si.t head of cattle, princi- 

 county, is 34 cei.-s, and hoy Inia sold ubiind.intly for j |,^,|^ fyy i^i^^jed ond grade Durha-s, ond twelra 

 $•7 per ton. Another smoll item, you perceive, Mr. | ^„,^^^^ n^,„,|y „|| ihorough bred. Four of the horfcs 



as before, wj should have need 



9 tons, at $7 per ton, $6;i,n0 



Milking a d flercnt-e of §18,00 



The averoge price of oota this winter in Tompkins j 



C. M. 



ve consider well dcserv- 

 Fceding upon hay ex- 



Editor, ond if icononiy be the watch word of eveiy 

 former, then let us look to these things, and disregard 

 them not. 



Yours, i&c. 

 Lvdluicrilk, Nay, 1842. 

 I'heobove commiinicotion 

 ing the ottention of farmers, 

 clutivcly must be considered, in ict-pi ct to almost oil 

 animals, os the most expensive of fill feed. A large 

 portion of the stock in Greot Biitoin we suppose is 

 kept upon strow ond turnips, and much of il foiled 

 upon the some feed. It were very much to be desired 

 that our farmers shnuld raise some succulent feed for 

 their stock, to mix, during our long winters, with 

 their dry feed. On the ground of economy, os well 

 ns regard to the he-ilth of their nnimols, this maybe 

 siiongly urged upon them. We have mode repeated 

 experiments in feeding horses ond oxen upon cut 

 straw ond meal, end have found it a great saving, cer- 

 tainly a third of the expense, over the mode ol feeding 

 them with boy. We sbnll subjoin to Mr Morell's 

 account, a statement of Mr. Bard on the same sub- 

 ject, published in the Memoirs of il:e New Vork Stale 

 Agricultural Society, vol. ii, which is confirmatory of 

 the results of the experiment detailed above, 

 Letter fiom W. Bara, Esq., on Wintciiug 

 Sheep on tut Straw and Jleal. 

 My Deah Sin — Though late to do so, I will now 

 answer the inquiries you make relnlive to the nianni r 

 n which 1 fed my sheep last winter. 1 was feaifnlol 

 wanting hay belore spring, ond determined to tiy the 

 txperimeiu of feeding a Sock of one hundred wctbeis 

 on cut strow ond Indian meal. I begun when tiiey 

 ivere fi'sl put up for the winter, ond continued one 

 pinn of feeding till they were Inrncd out in the spring 

 onpos'iire. 1 o low six quarts of straw and hnlf o 

 pint of Indinn nieul, inixed with water, to e.ich sheep 

 per riny ; it was ffd ot three times. Now ond then, 

 iliey had on armful of hny thrown to them, perhaps 

 2')0 wt. in the course of the winter. I lost none of 

 ihcin. When turned to posture they were in good 

 healih, ond apparently os ortive ond strong as my 

 other shci'p. Thry sheared about three pounds ol 

 wool per head. Their bellies were not swi lied oul 

 like the bellies of my oiher sheep which had hny ond 

 water ; they hod a gonntness I flid not like. Wheth- 

 er this was owing to the qnolity ol the food, to their 

 not being ollowed enough of it, or to their not get- 

 ting through the winter any water, excepting the 

 little thot mixed the straw and menl, 1 can not tell. 



1 have Bomewhit altered rny plon of feeding this 

 winter. I feed all my sheep 'oiind onec a day, in the 

 morning, with hay. und give them meal and straw in 

 the middle of the day nnd ot night, ullowing them two 

 thirds the quautiiy of meal ond etrow per diiy which I 

 ■illowed th m last winter. I consider this higher 

 l'"eding, and the mixing long ond short feed may be 

 nn advantage. I shall be bc.ter able to any in the 

 spring which I like best; ot present my eheep look 

 very well ; they are fond of the mool ond straw. 0;ie 

 mun tends 420, nnd cuts the strow for them. 

 I remain, with great respect, 



Your obedient servant, 



W.M. BARD. 

 To G. W. Fcotherstonhonoh. 



hnvebecn woiked ond kept ot boy ond groin all the 

 lime, and two others port of the winter, the remain- 

 der of the entire stock hove been securely tied up 

 during the night under good sheds, nnd rcgidarhj fed 

 twice e day; in strong plnnk mongers, with as muth 

 corn stolks, cut up at the roots, as they could cat ; on 

 which, after being cut up in n cutting box about one 

 inch long and properly wet, hat been put corn and cob 

 col, nicely incorporated with il; ol ihe rote of four 

 torts to each onimal da ly, or obout two quarts of In- 

 dian meal. 



Pcrhops some one will say thot thot oraount of meol 

 with plenty of good hoy, would hove answered just os 

 well, ond soved oil the time and trouble of culling 

 nnd prcporing the food ; but hold on friend, we'll 

 mnkea"7y!n<" there. Hny is worth here fourteen 

 dollars per ton. Now according to the utuol eslimolo 

 in such coses, my stock would hove consumed obout 

 fifty Ions of hay, amounting to, ot that price, seven 

 hundred dollars. My corn stalks weie.eut from four- 

 teen acres of corn ground, when the corn v. os newly 

 glazed, oil sound ond in good condition. The ex- 

 pense of carting the stalks to my born I consider 

 more than poid, in the odvantoge and pleasure of til- 

 ling the crop the following year, when compared with 

 the slovenly manner so often adopted in Ohio, in hav- 

 ing a corn swamp in the field lo clog the plough, con- 

 fuse the team, and after the corn is ready to plough 

 and hoe, ot least two boys ought to follow the plough 

 to act ns resurrectionists, and lo bind up the broken 

 bocks of the young corn. 

 But we will soy corn stalks from 14 ocres, at 



g5 per ocre, 70,00 



Five months, or 150 doys feeding 32 ben', 4 

 qnnrts per dny each, corn and cob meol 

 600 bnsliels ; corn worth here 25 cents, 

 corn and cob meal soy 20 cents, 120,00 



Extra expense between cutting stall's and 

 foddering boy 20 shillings pi r month for 

 5 months or 150 doys, 12,50 



-Making the expense of wintering my stock 



on stalks ond meol. $202,50 



Which, when token from the estimate above 



of $700, leaves the snug sum of $198,00 



Again, during the fore part of March I ha I a job of 

 work which I wanted done with dispatch, nnd no tlmo 

 seemed to bo left for cntiing stalks, and I told my 

 foreman to give my stock their usual quantity of meal 

 with 08 much good boy os they would eat. This last- 

 ed obout a week cr ten days, ond ot the end of the 

 time I was Oitonished when told by the wife of my 

 foreman that the milch cows bad decreased over one 

 half in their milk. We immedinlely returned to tha 

 uaunl feed and with it returned the usual quanty of 



Again — a very important consideration, to nie at 

 least, is that my stock ore oil fat ; many of them good 

 beef; ond I don't believe thot with nil tne good hoy 



Winter Farm Management. 



Friend BATF.HiM — Agreeobly to your request nnd 

 my promise, I herewith send you a few facts in rela- 1 they could eat, even with the nb .ve quontity of meal 

 lion to that subject of subjects, Agriculture, And I j per day, they would hove been in os good condition, 

 must here premise that in oil my life I hove written Scverolof my cws, which will calve in from four to 

 lull three otticles for piiblicotion, ond that Inst yeor I six weeke, now give from six to eight quarts of 

 was ihe commencenienl of my forming operations I milk daily. The beontiful patent cutting box which 

 I '^ns necessarily absent much of the season, consc- 1 you sent me lost fill, I consider one of ibe greatest 

 qu«ntly, «8 you will perceive, I am rather grroi in ' niprovements of the nge ; it has cut all my corn stalks 



