106 



THE ^SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the country it is made the leading pursuit, 

 as the lands are better adapted to grazing 

 than tillage; but even in our best grain 

 producing sections, it would be of great 

 advantage to pay this department more 

 special attention. The agriculturist, who 

 constantly cuts and carries away the pro- 

 ducts of his soil, will be certain to bank- 

 rupt its fertility. The sure way to obviate 

 this undesirable result is to keep upon the 

 place the largest number of animals that 

 can be made profitable, and then econo- 

 mise their manures to be returned to the 

 soil as a compensation. 



A flock of good sheep ought never to 

 be omitted from the catalogue, as they 

 can be kept at a comparatively small cost, 

 and as a general thing, give an ample re- 

 turn. The fleece, which is considered the 

 chief item, comes into the market at a 

 time when the farmer has little else to dis- 

 pose of, and its sale is often relied upon 

 as the only resource for the payment of 

 spring interest and instalments, and the 

 necessary summer expenses. Although 

 at times the value of the staple rules low, 

 there is always certainty of a cash market 

 at some price. The fleece of the sheep is 

 an article of absolute necessity to the 

 whole civilized woild, and hence no fear 

 need be entertained that a change of 

 fashions, of tastes, or of pursuits will per- 

 manently endanger the profitableness of 

 of its production. There must be varia- 

 tions in the price of wool, as in that of all 

 other products ; but any unusual depres- 

 sion of a year or two years' duration will 

 be followed by better times, and we see at 

 present, indications of this returning tide. 



But, aside from the value of the wool, 

 there are many other considerations in 

 favor of sheep raising to a certain extent 

 by nearly every farmer. The rapidity of 

 increase of the flock is an important con- 

 sideration. The ewes are competent to 

 become dams the second season, and not 

 unfrequentiy the twins produced are suffi- 

 cient to more than compensate for all the 

 losses that may occur during the whole 

 year. The young farmer of limited means, 

 especially at the West, whose income as 

 yet amounts to just sufficient to meet his 

 expenses, cannot purchase stock exten- 

 sively and of the most expensive kind ; he 

 must be contented to wait until he can 

 rear them himself, and this is an operation 

 that requires time. Sheep come to ma- 



turity and increase much fast ;r than neat 

 cattle or horses, and will afford him a nu- 

 cleus around which, in a few years will be 

 clustered animals of all kinds which he 

 desires ; for the wool and the increase of 

 his flock can be sold -and the money re-in- 

 vested, or an exchange be made of them 

 for other cattle. 



We recollect, not over twelve or fifteen 

 years ago, when sheep were slaughtered 

 in the town of East Bloomfield, in this 

 state, by the hundred thousand annually ; 

 •their carcasses, except the hams, were 

 tried up whole, and the tallow sold in 

 New York, "wholesale, at six cents the 

 pound. The hams were distributed by 

 peddlers all over Ontario and the neigh- 

 boring counties at one, dollar and a half 

 the hundred weight, and farmers, then 

 considered sheep raising profitable em- 

 ployment. The dressed carcasses of just 

 such sheep will sell in our streets to-day 

 for four or five cents per pound, and the 

 pelt is worth at the same time, one dollar 

 more; thus netting the farmer from three 

 to four dollars per head, and a good fat 

 sheep on the foot in New York city, will 

 ' bring from five to eight dollars. We know 

 I a young farmer in a neighboring town who 

 I refused, last fall, ninety-five dollars for 

 ; fifty good grade lambs one year old next 

 | spring. 



HINTS FOR YOILNcTgARDENERS. 



Cultivate nothing carelessly. Whatever 

 is worth cultivating at all, is worth culti- 

 vating diligently and well. 



Many kinds of garden seeds lose their 

 germinating power when more than a 

 year old. Therefore, be careful to sow 

 fresh seed whenever practicable. 



But melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, and 

 members generally of this family, are an 

 exception to this rule. The seeds of these 

 should not be sown till after they are sev- 

 eral years old. Plants from old seeds pro- 

 duce less foliage, and more fruit. [Doubt- 

 ful, Ed.] 



The seeds of most kinds of weeds re- 

 tain their germinating power for an almost 

 indefinite period. Hence, weeds should 

 always be carefully gathered and burnt, as 

 the most effectual mode of destroying the 

 seeds. 



The first leaves which appear on the 

 surface (in many cases called cotyledons, 

 are, for the time, the sole supporters of the 



