300 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August,, 
to go at large. In this way the present over¬ 
whelming increase of the race would be stopped 
the aconite-leaved geranium. —(Geranium acmitifolium.) 
at once, and the cruelties practised by the lawful 
“ dog catchers ” be avoided. At present we permit 
an indiscriminate multiplication of dogs, and an¬ 
nually carry on a war of extermination against 
them, at great cost and suffering. This is simply 
making trouble for no purpose. There is a grow¬ 
ing disinclination amongst farmers to keep a dog 
of any kind, and the great majority are preserved 
solely to gratify the desire of the children to keep 
a pet or a companion. If the law which applies to 
male domestic animals of other kinds were brought 
to hear upon dogs, and these were restrained just as 
rams, boars, bulls, and stallions are, there would be 
a prospect that the evil would essentially diminish. 
crops, and clover, is yearly widening ; and that un¬ 
der cotton at the same time is only slightly dimin¬ 
ishing ; thus leaving the 
cash crop, nearly, if not 
quite,ns productive as ever ; 
but rendering the expendi¬ 
ture for food and fertilizers, 
very small, or complete¬ 
ly avoiding them. But it 
is always safe to have two 
things to depend upon, so 
that if one fails, the other 
may remain, and wool is 
precisely a companion crop 
for cotton in this respect. 
Besides, with wool there 
is mutton, which is a food 
crop, and sheep manure 
is of the richest quality. 
Wool is always salable, 
and is the staple of a large 
home manufacture. It is 
worth more in many places, 
at a distance from the sea¬ 
board, than on the coast, if 
there are mills in the locality 
to work it up. Mutton and 
lamb, if of fair quality, arc 
always salable to the local 
butchers, and provide a 
very agreeable fresh food 
for the farmer’s family. 
Sheep will thrive excellent¬ 
ly in the Southern States. 
There are vast tracts of 
land, notably, the piny 
woods and table lands of 
Western Georgia, the Caro- 
linas, and Eastern Tennes¬ 
see, which are unsurpassed 
as cheap sheep-walks. In 
the South, sheep require 
less feeding in the winter, 
than in any other part of 
the country, California 
excepted, perhaps. Root 
crops may be grown and 
fed off from the ground by 
a “penning” system, and 
thus the soil be richly 
and cheaply fertilized and prepared for cotton or 
corn. Large tracts of adaptable land, can be 
furnish excellent pasture for sheep ; among these 
are the so-called Wire-grass, Bermuda-grass, Crab- 
grass, and Broom Sedge. Other plants of an astrin¬ 
gent and resinous character grow in the old fields 
and pine woods ; and Blue-grass of the best kind 
grows abundantly upon the table lands. From 
ample experience, it has been found, that fine wool, 
and wool of the common Merino crosses, can be 
grown very profitably in the South ; flock owners 
of large experience, have rated the cost of growing 
wool under the most favorable circumstances, as 
low as 6 cents per pound. The climate enables the 
raising of early lambs for Northern markets, to be 
carried on with the greatest facilty ; and the easy 
communication with the North, as well as markets 
of the South, ensure a ready sale of the products. 
The Aconite-leaved Geranium, 
It has more than once come in our way to state 
that the plants popularly known and cultivated as 
Geraniums, did not belong to the genus Geranium 
of botanists, but were classed as Pelargoniums. 
There are differences in the structure of the flower 
distinguishing Geranium from Pelargonium, which 
need not be given here ; besides these,..the Gerani¬ 
ums are, with very few exceptions, herbaceous 
plants, while the Pelargoniums, as a general thing, 
make woody stems. We have several native species 
of Geranium , notably the Cranesbill, which is com¬ 
mon in all the States west of the Mississippi, and is 
well known for its remarkably astringent root, 
much used in domestic medicine. The European 
Geranium sanguineum and one or two other species 
are not rare in collections of herbaceous plants, 
where they are valued for their compact habit and 
abundant bloom. The species here figured, Gera¬ 
nium aconitifolium, the “ Aconite-leaved Gerani¬ 
um,” is a native of Switzerland, and is interesting 
as an instance of the renewed popularity of a very 
old plant. It was introduced into the gardens of 
England over a century ago, but it is only recently 
that its remarkably fine foliage—which has the 
shining green of the Aconite, from which' it is 
named—and abundance of bluish purple flowers, 
have attracted attention. It is now regarded as a 
useful hardy bedding plant in England, especially 
for its early and abundant bloom. We are not able 
to testify to its hardiness here, but have put out a 
row as a margin to a bed, and expect to be able to 
report that it has survived the winter. At any rate, 
Sheep Farming for the South. 
Exclusive cotton growing is an unsatisfactory 
business. It has brought many planters to bank¬ 
ruptcy, and more into debt; and the advice is given, 
“raise corn, grass, anything but cotton.” The 
American Agriculturist has for many years advo¬ 
cated the growing of a variety of crops in the South¬ 
ern States, to such an extent as would involve all 
the planters capital and attention. First, food 
crops; then crops to consume upon the farm, and 
then crops to sell, is a judicious system of manage¬ 
ment. The Southern farmer then has food, meat, 
manure, and money; and in this case, the money is 
more apt to stay with him than that procured by 
the sale of cotton, from which is deducted the cost 
of fertilizers, food, interest, etc., and a very small 
balance, if any, is left for the planter and his work¬ 
men. It is encouraging to note the change which 
has occurred of late years’ in this direction, and the 
consequent improved condition of the farmers. 
The acreage under wheat, corn, oats, grass, fodder 
THE FOREST ROSE. 
cheaply procured in many parts of the South. 
There are several varieties of wild grasses and 
other plants which grow spontaneously, and which 
should it fail to be hardy, it is an admirable plant 
for a cool greenhouse, both on account of its fine 
foliage, and the abundance of its lively flowers. 
