1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
293 
Shepherd Dogs. 
The Scotch Colley dogs are remarkable for great 
Intelligence; an instinct which seems sometimes to 
surpass reason; wonderful endurance, and activity. 
Without these dogs, sheep-keepiDg in many dis¬ 
tricts, useful for no other branch of agriculture, 
would be impossible. The home of this breed is 
the Scotch highlands, a locality of rocks and hills, 
interspersed with grassy valleys; elevated table 
lands bearing scanty herbage, and “moors,” or 
level or slightly undulating tracts covered with 
gorse, heather, low bushes, boggy places, and scat¬ 
tered rocks. Upon these hills sheep are kept in 
large flocks, exposed from day to day to all the 
vicissitudes of storms, mists, rains, and snows, 
with no other shelter than is afforded by the lee- 
eide of. abrupt precipices, overhanging rocks, stone 
walls, or in rough sheds of poles and heather. 
Without his dogs the shepherd would be helpless 
to manage his flock in this rough country. In 
countries where arable land bears a very high price, 
only such land as can not be plowed is given up to 
sheep pastures, and'here the dog is invaluable: 
and not only here, for he is made useful upon the 
more civilized hill-sides'of the Scotch low-lands; 
■upon' the grassy downs of England, the rich fafms 
where sheep-keeping is only incident to high cul¬ 
ture, and upon our own Western plains. Every¬ 
where, where sheep are kept, a sheep dog of some 
kind is found useful; and of all the different varie¬ 
ties the Scotch Colley is considered the most valua¬ 
ble. He possesses a rare instinct for his work, 
which comes as a second nature to him. He often 
knows the ways of sheep better than his master, 
and understands the signals of the shepherd when 
far out of hearing, with great precision. Cases 
have been known in which the dog has discovered 
the absence of some laggards of the flock which his 
■master had not missed, and has returned to the 
pasture for them unbidden. He cau range his flock 
vipon one side of a road, when meeting other 
sheep, and thus keep them from intermingling with 
the strangers. He will discover by his acute sense 
of smell sheep that Jjave been overwhelmed in 
snow-drifts, and will conduct the shepherd to the 
place. If no help is available, he has been known 
to dig into the drift and release imprisoned sheep, 
and to warm chilled lambs by huddling close to 
"them. He is valiant in their defence, and will give 
battle to a wolf without hesitation. No vagrant 
4og will be permitted to approach a flock of which 
he has charge. He will bring back stragglers when 
upon the march, and will return to find the sore¬ 
footed ones that have lingered by the way. For a 
farm dog he is of special value, as he can easily be 
trained to manage with gentleness any kind of 
live-stock. He is domestic in his habits. While 
kind and affectionate to his owner, and his herds, 
he is watchful and suspicious of strangers and 
strange animals. His good disposition gives him 
great influence over his charge, and causes them 
to have confidence in him. When a flock is afraid 
of the shepherd’s dog, it shows wrong management 
on the part of the shepherd, and that the dog has 
been badly trained. The Scotch Colley has long 
and woolly hair; a bright mild eye ; a sharp nose ; 
an intelligent aspect; a long bushy tail, curling 
upwards, with the end clear of the ground; and in 
color is usually black and tan, variegated with a 
little white. The illustration pictures three dogs 
of this breed, owned by Francis Morris', of Phila¬ 
delphia. Not the least wonderful or useful charac¬ 
teristic of the dog is his tenacious memory, by which 
he is able to remember all the turning points in a 
journey of hundreds of miles, and to recognize at 
A Useful Farm Dog. 
The fox-terrier is a great favorite in Great Brit¬ 
ain, and is getting quite well known in this country 
as a useful dog on the farm. For unearthing foxes 
he is as able as a ferret after rabbits; and in kill¬ 
ing all sorts of vermin—rabbits, woodchucks, 
skunks, rats, mice, squirrels, etc.—he has few 
equals ; and next to a shepherd dog, there is none 
the farmer stands more in need of than one to de¬ 
stroy the vermin which prey upon his crops, trees 
and shrubbery. The fox-terrier is plucky, and 
brave as dog can be, facing danger and death ’.ike 
a true soldier. He is small, neat, and comely easy 
to handle, and quick to obey. The “Tartar” 
strain, it is’ said, should be avoided, as being an ob¬ 
jectionable mixture with bull-terrier blood. A 
writer in an English paper, the “ Country,” thus 
describes what he claims to be the true type of the 
fox-terrier: “Head level, and well filled up under 
the eyes; long and powerful jaw, with just a sus¬ 
picion of flew, rather square, decidedly not a fast 
taper; ears small and drooping close—this is a sine 
qua non; eyes small and expressive; deep and 
rather narrow chest; shoulders well set back, with 
elbows working as straight to side as the cocks on 
a double barrel; legs as straight as arrows ; feet 
round, toes slightly arched, and not the least 
splayed ; short body, well ribbed up ; can not have 
too much. bone or muscle; must be as cobby as 
possible, and should be very near a breeder’s defi¬ 
nition of what a Shorthorn should be—a brick with 
the corners knocked off. He should not be more 
than seventeen pound weight, which is imperative; 
and his heart should be in the right place. He 
should stand low, and his coat, though close, 
should be dense and hard. The fox-terrier, as I 
have found him, is pre-eminently an intelligent 
dog, ‘at all times to our will conformable, ever 
in fear to kindle our dislike.’ ” 
-- 
RIcH Soil for Roots. —A fair shaped mangel 
or turnip cannot be grown upon poor soil, even 
though freshly manured. To grow a well-shaped, 
dense root, without lateral fibres of great thickness, 
spreading like the outstretched fingers of a hand, 
the plant-food must be equally and thoroughly 
mixed with the soil, so that each fibre can reach it 
without travelling far. Then the nutriment is 
THE FOX-TEERIEE. 
sight every member of the flock to which he has be¬ 
come attached. With all his good qualifications, 
however, he sometimes lapses from virtue ; and no 
other dog is so destructive in the fold as a sheep 
dog become demoralized by bad companions. A 
traitor is the worst of enemies. 
brought from all quarters to the bulb, and its 
growth is regular the fine root fibres being numer¬ 
ous, evenly distributed, while the tap-root de¬ 
scends straight downward. This condition of the 
soil cannot be procured by the application of fresh 
manure, but may be by the previous application of 
