Sept. 22, 1855.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



637 





the wool begins to grow again as soon as the sheep 

 recovers his flesh, there is always a weak place in that 

 year's clip at the point where the growth recommenced, 

 by which it is materially damaged for combing purposes 



at least. 



5. Length of fibre must be carefully regulated by the 



nature of the pasture and climate ; for any, the least, 

 excess will cause a proportionate deficiency in soundness, 

 by which the wool will be depreciated for clothing, and 

 rendered utterly useless for combing. If the length of 

 the wool be too great for the nature of the country, it 

 will be known by the twisting of the wool into hard 

 bands, like pieces of twine, which break almost like 

 rotten thread. It is an error as mischievous as the 

 short cottony wool, and cannot be too carefully avoided. 

 To judge of the length of the staple in a fleece, the best 

 part to examine is the division along the ridge of the 

 back, as it is there usually somewhat shorter than in 

 other parts. 



6. Softness sufficiently explains itself. A want of this 

 quality is most conspicuous between the points of the 

 shoulders and up the neck. 



There is an oily matter natural to the wool of merino 

 sheep, an excess or deficiency of which is equally objec- 

 tionable, but there seems to be no definite term to ex- 

 press the different kinds of oil, yolk, or gum, as they 

 are alternately called. Probably those sheep should be 

 chosen whose fleeces abound in what may be termed 

 transparent oil within the fleece, which, flowing to the 

 end of the staple, there forms a yolk or gum, which by 

 combining with dust, gives the surface of the wool a dark 

 look. There can be no doubt that this yolk preserves the 

 fleece from " dead ends," and the deleterious effects of 

 stormy weather, that it greatly facilitates the growth of 

 the wool, and much increases its strength, softness, and 

 elasticity. Manufacturers, I believe, will be found to 

 prefer a fleece well supplied with the yolk, after it has 

 been thoroughly washed, to a dry fleece with "dead ends," 

 as they acknowledge that the wool from oily sheep is 

 manufactured with much less waste, is easier worked, and 

 will make handsomer and more lasting cloth than the 

 wool of sheep quite destitute of oil. But there is another 

 kind of gummy matter, quite different in its appearance 

 and effects from the above. This may be observed in 

 yellow, thick, pitchy particles within the fleece, and does 

 not circulate freely to the end of the wool, consequently 

 the fleece has a light-coloured surface, with " dead ends," 

 and as the wool cannot be freed from this thick adhesive 

 gum by a common cold-water wash, such fleeces will 

 show a larger per centage of shrinkage in cleansing than 

 any others. 



The German fleeces are much fuller of yolk than the 

 spout-washed Australian wool ; on this account a con- 

 siderable allowance of weight must be made when com- 

 paring the weight of the former with that of the best 

 conditioned flocks of Australia. 



The weight of the fleece obtained from various kinds 

 (both the maximum and the average), is a matter highly 

 desirable to be known. 



We have a great number of breeds in Great Britain, 

 from the Shetland, yielding only about l^lbs. of fine 

 cottony wool, and various short and long woolled sheep, 

 ranging from 2 to 10 lbs. the fleece, but there are other 

 breeds scattered over the globe, of the peculiar charac- 

 teristics of which we know little. 



It is impossible for a stranger to conceive the extreme 

 care and attention paid to the production of fine wool in 

 Germany, where immense flocks are reared for their 

 wool alone, kept during the greater part of the year in 

 large barns, and so carefully tended, that neither dew 

 nor rain is allowed to fall upon them. In the King of 

 Saxony's flock, wethers are kept to the age of nine or 

 ten years, solely for the 2 lbs. of wool which they 

 annually yield. If subjected to a varying temperature 

 or checked perspiration, a knot is formed in the staple, 

 which can be seen under a very strong magnifying 

 power, and which very materially deteriorates from the 

 value the Germans attach to the article. Next to 

 equality, fineness of texture is the great desideratum, 

 and a beautiful machine has been invented by Mr. 

 Jeppe, of Rostock, for the admeasurement of the thick- 

 ness of the woo!, and the proof of its strength, which 

 unites the accurate workmanship and delicacy of watch- 

 work. By this instrument 100 hairs of each fleece, 

 selected from nine different portions of the body, fcrm- 

 tog an average of fineness, are subjected to a given 

 pressure, which is registered on a very minute index. 

 ■The result of one experiment was, that an Austrian 

 neece had been produced, of which 12 hairs only equally 

 m thickness one Leicester ! 



Iu the Museum at Stutgard are said to be samples of 



every wool in the known world, comprising those even 



°f our most recently-established colonies, carefully 



hashed, weighed, and sorted, with such descriptive 



remarks appended as are necessary to illustrate the 

 subject. 



So important is the proper selection of breeding 

 animals considered in Germany, that the best flock- 

 Biasters there do not trust to their own judgment, or 

 that of their shepherds, but employ persons called 

 'sheep classifiers," who make it their special business to 

 attend to this part of the management of several flocks, 

 an ^ thus to preserve, or, if possible, to improve the best 

 qualities of both parents in the lambs. 



The ordinary flocks in Saxony produce very fine wool, 

 ? ut muc h less in quantity than those of the improved 

 oreed ; the first yielding from 2 to 2$ lbs., worth from 

 * W. to 3s. 6d. per lb., whilst the flocks of M. Gade- 

 gast, and a few others, yield from 2J to 3^ lbs., worth 

 worn 3s. 6d. to 4s. id. per lb. Thus whilst the yield of 



an ordinary sheep ot tiie country would be worth on an 

 average 6s. per annum, the yield of au improved sheep 

 would be as much as 10s. a year. This large difference 

 in the produce of each sheep iu a flock of some thousands j 

 would of course amount to something well worth the 

 extra care and expense. 



There are flocks of the Negretti breed in Mecklen- 

 burgh and Pomerania of undoubted blood which average 

 4 lbs. per fleece, worth 3s. 6d. per lb., and many rains 

 are to be found yielding from 8 to 10 lbs. of washed wool. 

 This weight is also often reached in the Cape Colony and 

 in America. 



The Merino race ought as much as possible to be kept 

 pure in France ; and the flesh of the French breed of 

 sheep would be improved for food by a cross with the 

 English breed. 



M. de Lavergne, a recent French writer, from careful 

 inquiries, estimates the number of sheep in France and 

 the United Kingdom severally at 35 millions, but while 

 the English sheep are supported upon 77 million acres, 

 those of France live upon 1 32 millions. Scotland, in spite 

 of all her endeavours, can maintain only about 5,000,000 

 sheep, and Ireland, which from its pasture ought to 

 rival England, reckons at most only 2,000,000, upon 

 200,000,000 acres. 



Estimating the value of our flocks, we shall find : 



35,000,000 sheep at, say 255. average, worth ... £43,750.000 

 The fleece, at a low average of 4 lbs., say at XOd. 

 the pound 5,833,333 



49,5S3,333 



The average return of an English sheep farm is fully 

 six times greater than a French one. P. L. Simmonds, 

 in the Journal of the Society of Arts. 



Home Correspondence. 



Crops in Ireland. — Contrary to our expectations I am 

 sorry to say that, from what has been threshed out, and 

 from the handling of the sheaves, a great short-coming J 

 in the yield of our Oats is apprehended in this neigh- 

 bourhood. The Potato crop still increases in promise, 

 as the tubers are very large, indeed larger than ordinary, 

 and as well tasted as previous to the disease — there could 

 not be a finer crop of them ; as yet they do not, I am 

 speaking of the general crop, average more than four 

 or five diseased ones in a stone weight, yet the disease 

 is evidently progressing, and the early kinds, which have 

 been reserved in the ground for seed, show many 

 diseased tubers, perhaps as many as a fifth or sixth of 

 them. The singular change in the appearance of the 

 disease is everywhere observed, that of the stems not 

 showing those blotches they have ever done before ; 

 the haulm of the earlier kinds, and in some instances of 

 the later, wither and die away without an appearance of 

 blotch, and, where this is the case many diseased ones 

 are found. The stems of our late kinds, which is here 

 confined to Scotch downs, are everywhere green, the 

 leaves alone are withered, and we may, therefore, 

 expect them still to improve in size and ripeness. It 

 seems, too, that the bogs have suffered this year in some 

 cases more than the uplands, and there are instances in 

 which the clays are safer than the gravels. Altogether 

 it seems a most whimsical disorder, and as fanciful as a 

 fine lady, for it is never two years the same ; it is quite 

 a Will-o'-the-Wisp to our poor peasantry. When it 

 first made its appearance, at least when it first struck 

 so sensibly upon us as to be remarked, in 1 8 15, the 

 Potatoes were dug and housed before we knew any- 

 thing of it, but they were no sooner so than destruc- 

 tion began and progressed with a rapidity that soon 

 left little more sound ones than barely sufficed for 

 the next year's seeding. In 1846 it so varied its 

 time of attack that none but the early planted 

 escaped an all but total destruction, and such as did were 

 of course unripe and very small ; they were also without 

 flavour, indeed not eatable by any but those to whom 

 a Potato in name and form was still a Potato. In 1847 

 the disease came on so late that the withering of the 

 stems was taken for a ripening, and people flattered 

 themselves that the enemy had retired from the fie'd. 

 In 1848 they were disappointed by its again early 

 appearance, and so it has continued to play upon us with 

 an alternate early and late attack every year, the years 

 of odd numbers showing itself late, and the years of 

 even numbers early. The Potato has, however, every 

 year improved in its keeping quality, and, with ordi- 

 nary care, the rot indoors in the winter has been 

 very trifling. The attack, too, to ordinary obser- 

 vation appears lighter every year ; but this, I 

 rather fear, is more apparent than real, and is, I 

 think, more owing to the discovery of new sorts 

 that, from some mysterious cause, are able to resist 

 the disease, or its effects at least, on the tuber, for the 

 old kinds wherever grown seem still to suffer as much 

 as ever while in a growing state, and the early Potatoes 

 are very liable to it when left in the ground to the 

 time of its attack, depending in some degree on localities. 

 The White Rocks, which I do not know, and the Scotch 

 downs, the crop of the country for a great distance 

 round this, from a peculiar vitality, are able to maintain 

 the greenness of their stems for a month or six weeks 

 after their leaves are withered, and their tubers suffer j 

 certainly much less than any other kind, but they have 

 i peculiar property of throwing off their tubers to a 

 very great distance from the plant, the tuber under- 

 ground string or stem being frequently a foot 

 and a half long; I am disposed to think that much 

 I the safety of the tuber may depend on this cir- 

 cumstance, as the antiseptic property of clay may 

 intercept and absorb the vitiated juices on their so 



long passage to tile tubers*. As lar aa 1 have remarked 



the tubers of the close clustered kinds of Potatoes suffer 

 more from disease than those of the kinds in which they 

 are more spread out. I think the regular alternate 

 early and late appearance of the disease deserves more 

 notice than it has yet attained ; if it does not tend to 

 elucidate the subject, it might be of practical use both 

 in regulating the period and manner of planting, and 

 indicating the propriety of introducing a stolen crop, 

 especially in the years of early attack ; the plants in 

 these years are so withered by the end of July as to leave 

 such a crop in the full possession of the ground. I would 

 suggest the planting of alternate rows of Potatoes and 

 Drumhead Cabbage, and where, as in Ireland, the 

 Potato is a main chance, and, more especially, where 

 a Potato similar in habit to the Scotch down is grown, 

 that the drill be planted with a double row of sets, as 

 they are apt to send out their tubers in single drills 

 into the spaces between them. I have found such 

 double drills with other kinds of Potatoes very produc- 

 tive. Say then, take a double drill one foot asunder 

 with an interval of 3 or 4 feet, in which plant a row of 

 Cabbage. /. If. Goodijf, Scrably County, Cavan. 



Smut in Wheat. — Our attention was first drawn to the 

 cause of Bmut in Wheat, arising from thick sowing, 

 three years a^ r o. A neighbouring farmer permitted us 

 to thin a rod of his Wheat by way of experiment, in the 

 month of March, which was sown at 2\ bushels per 

 acre. Three- fourths was taken out, but it did not answer 

 the purpose for which we intended it, viz., it did not 

 branch satisfactorily, as some have from similar pro- 

 ceedings when performed early in autumn. It did not 

 tiller more than the rest, but was prominent for its 

 dwarfness throughout the summer, and did not lodge as 

 the other, nor hasten to ripen by a week or fortnight. 

 It taught us one other important lesson, however, which 

 we have not forgotten, and now desire to make known 

 that not one smutty ear could be detected in the whole 

 group, whilst on the main breadth, at least 20 black ones 

 might have been gathered at any part, without moving a 

 foot. The variety was rough chaffed white, which 

 appears more subject to smut than any other. Hardy 

 and Son j Secdgroivers, Maldon, Essex. 



Beans for Horses. — Oats with me are a very poor 

 crop, aud they are scarce in the district. Beans are 

 plentiful with me. I wish to feed my horses on the latter, 

 but there is considered to be a danger in using Beans till 

 they are hardened in the stack — say till Christmas. 

 Would boiling or steaming obviate this ? And are 

 boiled Beans for horses in hard work equal to bruised 

 Beans. S. [Will any one who has bad experience ef 

 Beans soaked in water previous to use as horse food 

 give it to our correspondent ?] 



Thin Seeding. — No wonder that your correspondeat 

 at the Newmarket Union obtained 131 heads from V 

 grain of Wheat, containing 5700 grains, by transplanting 

 the spires. We believe it quite possible to obtain 

 double or treble such a quantity by a similar proceedings 

 provided it was sown in the month of June instead of 

 September, by repeating the transplanting process from 

 the spires or offsets in a nursery bed during summer, 

 and finally in October allowing ample space for all the 

 plants. But this is only a weak argument in favour of 

 thin seeding, as it cannot be practically followed up as 

 advantageous to farmers. Our practice of thin seeding^ 

 we contend, may be practically and profitably carried 

 out on a large scale with no inconvenience. Frequently 

 have we obtained upwards of 80 ears, and from 4000 feo 

 8000 fold from single grains and isolated plants, by 

 giving them ample space to perform their natural capa- 

 bilities without the trouble of propagating or transplant- 

 ing the spires and offsets. How it is that your corre- 

 spondent manages to make Wheat germinate at 5 years 

 old we caunot understand, as we ourselves have failed 

 to get any to germinate at all when it was 3 or 4 year& 

 old. Hardy <k Son. 





Miscellaneous. 



Well made Hay. — I have always held the doctrine 

 that for hay to be nourishing it must retain the sap- 

 Just as a Radish for instance was only good when fresh 

 gathered, but became dry and fibrous afterwards, so- 

 was it with hay, which when cut too late, instead of 

 being sweet to the taste, became thick, woody, and 

 fibrous, both less agreeable to the palates of cattle, and 

 less nourishing to them. If hay was mown just before 

 it was ripe, they would get less weight but more 

 nourishment. If any person wished to sell hay merely,, 

 he might care more for the weight of it and less for 

 the welfare of the cattle eating it, though even then he 

 mi*ht be no real gainer, since parties buying his hay,. 

 when they found it inferior to other hay, would not give 

 so much for it, so that he would not get so good a price 

 in the end. It was better to make the hay good, and 

 get a good name for it. As an analogous instance of 

 the benefits of cutting hay when in a greenish state, I 

 may mention that when the Tobacco growers wish that 

 leaf to have a particularly fine flavour they put it 

 together in a wet state and let it ferment. So it is 

 with hay ; if allowed to remain till it is dead before 

 cutting it, it cannot swear. There was a way in some 

 parts of putting hay into what was called lap-cock. 

 Before night the hay was taken up, and turned over 

 into these lap-cocks, which were made up very light, 

 something like a lady's muff, for the wind to blow 

 through. The lap-cock system answered very well, and 

 did a deal of good. In the Halifax neighbourhood they 

 never let the hay alone from the time it was cut till if' 



