902 



THE 



S O U T H Jfl K N 



PLANTER. 



Tomatoes, — It Is usual with most persons 

 to let the vines lay upou the ground, much 

 to their injury, and to the injury of the fruit 

 during the hot season. To obviate the evil to 

 "which we refer, without the great trouble of 

 •staking the mass of vine, we merely raise the 

 vines and place under them brush, which 

 answers just as well. The brush, which, 

 till now, has supported the- pea vines, may 

 ije used. 



Strawberries. — It is very much the fashion 

 m this region, with cultivators of strawberries, 

 to neglect the strawberry beds, when the fruit 

 of the year has been gathered. Walk in some 

 gardens and look at the beds, and not a plant is 

 to be seen because of the weeds. This is 

 2j fatal error. The beds should be kept scrupu- 

 lously clean, and the surface of the ground loose 

 and light to assist the runners in rooting. 

 This occurs during the month, and to have 

 fruit of good quality from the new plantations 

 the spring after they are made, care should be 

 taken to plant out only one runner from each 

 of the old plants, and that the first one 

 which appears. Others will make their 

 appearance but they should be cut off, so 

 as to give the one that is allowed to root all 

 the nourishment which it can derive from 

 the parent stoejc. It may be, however, that 

 the gardener does not wish to make new planta- 

 tions, and in that event none of the runners 

 should be spared, but as fast as they appear 

 they should be removed. 



SILESIAN MERINO SHEEP, 

 In our last week's paper, mention was made 

 of the shearing of some Silesian Merino sheep, 

 on the farm of Wm. Chamberlain, Esq., of 

 Bled Hook, N. Y. As this variety of sheep 

 will probably occupy for time to come, a pro- 

 minent position with the wool-growers of this 

 country, we deem it proper to note some points 

 iji regard to its history, in connection with 

 facts having more special reference to the spe- 

 cimens which came under our examination on 

 the occasion alluded to. 



In 1851, Mr. George Campbell, of West 

 Westminster, Vt., in company with Mr. Wm. 



Sanford, of Orwell, in the same state, tra- 

 velled through Spain, France, and several of 

 (ihe German States, for the purpose of seeing 

 tihe fine wooled sheep of those countries. In 

 :many they were so fortunate as to obtain 

 Uie personal aid of Mr. Charles L. Fleischman, 

 $en American Consul at Stutgard, whose thor- 

 ough knowledge of the sheep husbandry of that 

 region was of great importance to them in 

 accomplishing their object. Among the cele- 

 brated flocks they examined, was one in Prus- 



sian Silesia, owned by Messrs. Fischer (father 

 and son,) the foundation of which — one hun- 

 dred ewes and four rams — the senior partner 

 procured from the Infantado Nigretti flock, in 

 Spain, in 181 1. From this selection, the pre- 

 sent flock has been wholly bred — no blood 

 from any other sheep having been admitted 

 for forty-four years. This item deserves par 

 ticular attention from its influence in estab- 

 lishing a peculiar character for the flock, and 

 as showing that benefit may result from slj'u 

 dicious course of breeding from animals more 

 or less allied by consanguinity. The flock has 

 latterly averaged 600 head, the surplus being 

 annually disposed of at high prices to breeders 

 from Hungary, Russia, and other countries. 



Messrs. Campbell & Sanford purchased 

 from the flock of Messrs. Fischer, forty ewes 

 and several rams, which they brought to this 

 country. We had the opportunity of exami- 

 ning these at Troy, N. Y., shortly after their 

 arrival, while they were on their way to Ver 

 mont. Although then in low condition from 

 the effects of their long confinement, we were 

 struck with the many valuable traits they ex- 

 hibited, and in an article written at that time 

 expressed the opinion that they would prove 

 an acquisition to the country — an opinion which 

 subsequent experience has fully confirmed. 



We quote the following as giving a good de- 

 scription of these sheep, from Mr. Sanford's 

 notes of his European tour, published in the 

 Albany Cultivator, in 1851 : 



They (the breeders) have always had two things 

 uppermost : constitution and weight of fleece. These 

 sheep have more good points than any that I have 

 ever met with before. They are clothed in 'wool 

 from the nose to the hoof. The wool is thickly 

 set, and an even surface. They possess what all 

 good breeders in Germany consider very essential 

 —a perfect wool staple. The wool hair being of 

 the same size all the way — the wool as thick on 

 the out end as it is near the body. They are very 

 careful about keeping up the thickness of the wool, 

 in order to get the greatest weight of fleece. They 

 prefer wool about the medium length. If they get 

 it too long it becomes thin and flabby, parts on the 

 back, and they lose in weight. They say it is much 

 easier to get length than it is to retain thickness. — 

 The sheep will shear as much according to the 

 weight of carcass, I am sure, as any sheep I ever 

 saw. There is no waste space on them, and the 

 wool is quite fine for Merino, and very thickly set. 

 The wool is very clean and white on the inside, but 

 quite dark on the outer ends. 



We believe Mr. Chamberlain was connected 

 with Mr. Campbell in the importation above 

 referred to. Since then these gentlemen have 

 associated with themselves Mr. Wm. H. Ladd > 

 of Richmond, Jefferson county, Ohio, for fur- 

 ther importing and breeding these sheep. Mr. 

 Chamberlain has been himself to Silesia, and 

 made additional purchases from Messrs. Fis- 



