170 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
©riginal UTommiimcations. 
Sheep, 
Mk. Camai? : — I am aware that I can give 
you no new ideas on the subject oj sheep man- 
agement, yet I am willing to give you my ex- 
perience in sheep husbandry. The soil most 
suitable for sheep is a dry one. It is emphatical- 
ly an upland animal, and prefeis high dry, ground 
for grazing, and always selects the driest points 
for feed and rest, and the various and nutritious 
herbage of upland and hill slopes are best adapted 
to sheep ; but any dry land will answer. They 
are not so healthy when fed on cold, w.“t s wampy 
land. To no other domestic quadruped is water 
more repugnant, (unless when necessary to 
slake its thirst,) as will be seen in its aversion to 
cross streams. Water is not so essential for 
sheep as other domestic animals, since their in- 
stinct leads them to graze early in the morning 
before the dew evaporates, and again awhile in 
the evening, when the temperature of the sea- 
son is warmest, yet lambs will do better when 
suckling, if the mothers have free access to it at 
all times. No other domestic animal is known 
to manifest that fondness for variety of herbage 
equal to the sheep. No domestic animal feeds 
upon so many kinds of plants as the sheep ; nor 
does any so quickly pine by confinement to 
any one kind. The disposition of sheep prompts 
them to range over a sufficient scope of country 
in search of food, and when they find plenty, 
they have but little disposition to ramble. They 
soon get accustomed to their walks and homes. 
They delight to range through the sponta.ieous 
growth ofthe woods. Sheep which have had 
the benefit of woods to retire !o during the heat 
of the day in summer will be in better condition 
in the fall than others deprived of such grateful 
r '•■-eats, 
; Is worthy of remark that sheep which are 
su pH f) roam at large ir the summer sea- 
son, p..)duce more wool at a shearing than 
sheep that are kept entirely wiihiri enclosures, 
and the wool is of a better quality ; sheep 
that run at large (if they escape the dog) will 
thrive and do well, so that variety of fool, so 
conducive to the health and thrift of the animal, 
is thereby afforded. Nothin? more conduces to 
the health of sheep during the summer than fre- 
quent chan-’p pasture ground. This suits well 
me inc uf sheep ; the health of the flock 
depends more upon frequent changes than the 
number of the flock. 
If sheep are confined too long in one field they 
w "l soon become unhealthy. No matter how 
good the feed may be, it becomes tainted by their 
constant wandering over it; and hence, from 
their nice habits and extraordinary keenness of 
smell, will neglect it. When sheep are seen 
nosing here and there without catin? contented- 
ly, lose no time in removing them. Even if the 
pasture to which they are taken is short and 
less abundant, it will be fresh and untainted, 
which is reason enough for the change. 
The sheep should be assembled as often -as 
necessary during the tormenting career and 
flight of the gad-fly (which is between May and 
October) and their nostrils and adjacent parts 
kept thoroughly tarred, w'hich can Very quickly 
be performed with a paint brush er swab. 
For winter management a lot should be pre- 
pared, well secured from the hogs and other 
stock, around the gin house or burn, for the 
sheep to be shut up in at night and rainy days 
during winter. Tne lot thould be supplied with 
troughs to feed and salt in, and good dry shelter 
should be made in it for the sheep to go under 
when it suits them. And where sheep are pro 
vided with comfortable dry sheds or shanties, 
they will seek them when needed. The shelters 
should be scraped out as often as necessary and 
filled, and the manure thus saved will alone pay 
well for the trouble, besides the increased num- 
ber ot lambs that may be raised. Sheep should 
be protected, particularly against the cold drench- 
ing rains of winter. It injures their health. — 
They will stand severe cold, if dry, much better 
than w'et, as frequent wetting of the wool renders 
the tops stiff and rotten. The necessity of pro 
tecting sheep from the cold winds and storms 
particularly of rain, is indicated as well by the 
instinct which invariably leads them in bad wea- 
ther, to seek the shelter offences, thickets, and 
anything else that will screen them from it. In 
the day, when the state of the weather will ad- 
mit of it, they should be driven toa field where rye 
or some other small grain has been sown early in 
the fall for winter and early spring grazing, and 
occasionally, to the woods, where they can browse 
upon the under bushes of the forest growth, and 
whatever else they please. This contributes to 
their health; and pine boughs should occasion- 
ally be strewn in the lot for them to browse upon, 
which they are fond of. 
It often happens (hat sheep become filthy 
about the tail. They should be immediately 
caught and tagged, for in this situation they are 
liable to be fly-blown, and without timely dis- 
covery the sheep is lost. 
In addition to their grazing on the rye or other 
small grain dnring winter, they should be fed 
night and morning in their lot with cotton seed, 
peas, cut potatoes, turnips, or a'^tichokes, hay, 
&c. Their food should be changed occasionally 
Peas is the best to promote the growth of wool. 
The fixed time for feeding should be about sun 
down, after which they can retire to their shel- 
ters should the weather require it, and early in 
morning. 
The rams generally begin their service in Sep- 
tember and should not be let to more than thirty 
ewes, and the buck should oe withdrawn in the 
early part ot October, for the growth of an early 
lamb is much more accelerated than a late one, 
and a dry ewe is preferable to a late lamb. Dur- 
ing the tupping season the bucks should be well 
fed with some grain. The usual period of gesta- 
tion with the ewe is five months, therefore they 
will begin yeaning in January, and seldom foal 
out of the lot. except, perhaps, during the day, 
when out grazing on the rye. It often happens 
that ewes will not own their lamb, particularly 
their first; in such a case sprinkle a little salt or 
salt water on the lamb, which induces the mo- 
ther to lick it, after which she will generally al- 
low it to suck. If she still refuses to let it suck, 
she must be caught two or three limes a day, or 
ol'lener, if necessary, and held till the lamb sucks 
At first perhaps the teat will have to be placed in 
the lamb’s mouth, and in a day or two this me- 
thod seldom fails to conquer all difficulty. It is 
safer to keep the ewe in the lot two or three days 
so that she may be more at your command, as 
well as the mother of any of the puny lambs, be- 
fore they are let to the rye field, keeping them 
well watered and fed while in the lot. The ewes 
for breeding should be selected from the finest, 
and finest only. It is best to class them in three 
classes, giving to the most perfect class the most 
p rfect buck. Much care should De taken as to 
male parentage, avoiding the in-and in system, 
that is, where there is a relationship of blood. 
It is by this vile system of breeding that so 
many dwarfy, worthless specimens of sheep are 
seen throughout the length and breadth of the 
lanl. By a judicious selection of the best stock 
rams that can be procured and changing them 
every year, (for this is the most important point 
in breeding ) and breeding from the most perfect 
ewes, in a few years, those imperfections which 
characterize the size and fleeces of a large ma- 
jority of the sheen, will be diminished and a 
breed raised that would not suffer by comparison 
with any common flock. 
The proper time for spring shearing is between 
the 20th and last of April, according to the state 
of the vveather; it is safer to defer it till the latter 
period; and f jr fall shearing the latter part of Au- 
gust is preferable. Sheep that are shorn in the 
fall do equally as well as those that are not shorn 
at this season, for those that are not shorn are 
more liable to shed their wool earlier in the spring, 
and in some cases become almost naked, par- 
ticularly sucking ewes, and in this situation they 
are liable to perish iir the cold, before the tempe- 
rature of the weacher becomes sufficiently warm. 
The manner in which sheep are generally shorn 
is utterly disgraceful, they appear as if their 
fleeces were gnaicned rather than shorn. The 
shears should be grasped about half way from 
the point to the bow, lesting the thumb along the 
blade, which will give the shearer better com- 
mand ofthe points, andin using the shearsletthe 
blades be laid as flat to the skin as possible ; not 
lower the points too much, nor cut more than 
one or two inches at a clip, frequently not so 
luuch, depending on the parts and compactness 
of the wool — clipping from the rump towards 
the head. 
The Scottish mode of castrating lambs is 
thorrght to be the best. With a sharp Vnife cut 
off' about half of the testicle bag, or scrotum, then 
drop the knife and draw out the testicles (one at 
a time) with the teeth or pinchers. This pulls 
out the cords and less bleeding will follow. — 
Smear the place thoroughly with a mixture of 
hog’s lard and tar. 
Sheep should have salt and ashes, about equal 
portions, given them in a trough during the sum- 
mer, every other week, or oftener. The ashes 
will prevent them from eating too much salt, and 
will keep them more healthy, and occasionally 
intermix a little tar and the flour of sulphur. 
Respectfully yours, Raytown. 
P. S. I should like to hear again from your 
correspondent, Mr. Middlebrooks of Newton, on 
the philosophy, in full, of his communication in 
the December No. of the Cultivator of 1845. 
R. 
Grafting in Summer. 
Mr. Camak: — As you conduct an agricultu- 
ral paper, 1 have thought proper to give you the 
result of an experiment, and as far as 1 know, a 
new discovery in the horticultural department, 
viz:— a new way to propagate fruit, or any 
other kind of trees, by summer grafting. 
At any time in the season, when the sap is 
in an active state, makeahoirzontal cut into the 
stalk which you intend to engraft, to the 
depth of the graft you intend inserting; above 
which, at a distance to correspond with the 
length of your graft, you make another, and 
pare away the intervening bark and wood. 
Commence an incison from the lower cut and 
split the bark; then take the bud end ol a limb 
of the tree you intend propagating; clip off the 
leaves and leave the foot staiks; cui in'o it at 
right angles and taper it off gradually towards 
the outer bark, on the opposite side, and the 
lower section will be about two inches long, of 
a wedge shape. Be careful not to injure the 
bark, and slip this betwixt the bark and wood ot 
the incision you made in your stalk, and shove 
it down until the shoulder of your graft rests 
upon the solid wood of the stalk, and the top ol 
the graft will then fall nicely into the open 
space from which the woodand bark was taken 
between the first and second horizontal cuts in 
the stalks as before stated. Then bind them 
tightly up with ribbon shaped pieces ot clolb, 
either wet or saturated with grafting composi- 
tion, and at the end of ten days remove the 
bandage, and the graft will have become com- 
pletely incorporated with the tree. Then cut 
off the tree above the graft, and it iminediate- 
Iv receives the whole energies of the tree and 
grows off with an astonishing rapidity. 
Grafts taken off the prior winter will suc- 
ceed equally well as the young growth. This 
I ascertained from the fact ot having from 
yourself obtained some pear grafts, which I 
had not time to graft in the spring — 1 kept 
them alive until summer, and fixed them upon 
quince stalks in the manner above slated. 
This has been an abundant fruit year with 
us of the mountains ; and yourcity will short- 
ly be glutted with the finest apples. My own 
1 will retain for the spring market. I intend 
sending. you a specimen of some ol my best 
varieties. Respectfully, your ob’t serv’t, 
Silas McDowell. 
Franklin, Macon co., Oct., 1846. 
Apple Butter, 
Mr. Camak In yourOctober number of the 
Cultivator, you have told us about apple butter, 
a luxury I was acquainted with when young in 
Massachusetts. In some States it is called apple 
sauce, stewed apple butter, &c. I had a sample 
ofapple given me the other dry from Cobb 
county, which I think very fine for making ap- 
ple butler. You now must tell your subscribers 
they must not boil the cider, norsiew the fruit, 
in neither copper nor iron. I tried both in 
Georgia, and 1 could not use the butter, f rom the 
taste ot iron and copper. It inus' be boiled and 
stewed in bell metal, or brass. They make it 
in large brass kettles at the North. Thesweet- 
er the apples for the cider and slew, the belter. 
The cider must be put to boiling right from the 
press. Very respectfully, yours, &c. 
Blonntsvillc, Oct., 1816. Francis Tufts. 
