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SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SPAIN,-BONES FOR MANURE. 
SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN SPAIN.—No. 3. 
The first thing to be done after the sheep return to 
their winter plains, is to prepare the toils, in which 
they are to pass their nights, lest they should stray 
away and fall into the jaws of the wolves. The 
“ Rediles,” or toils, consist of enclosures of net-work, 
with meshes a foot in width, and of the thickness of 
the finger, made of a species of rush, called “ Espar¬ 
to ” (Lygeurn Spartum). This plant is also much 
used in the south of France and Spain, for making 
ropes, mats, baskets, &c., and was also employed for 
similar purposes by the ancient Romans. 
About the end of December, the ewes begin to 
bring forth their young, which is the most toilsome 
and the most solicitous period of the pastoral life. 
The shepherds first separate the pregnant from the 
barren ewes, and conduct them to the best shelter, 
and the others to the bleaker parts of the district. As 
the lambs are yeaned, they are led apart with their 
dams to a more comfortable place. A third division 
is made of the lambs last brought forth, for which 
was allotted from the beginning the most fertile spot, 
of the sweetest feed, and of the best shelter, in order 
that they may grow with as much vigor as those first 
yeaned; for they must all set off the same day, in 
spring, towards their summer-quarters. 
It is the interest of a proprietor to increase his 
flock to as large a number as the land allotted to it 
can possibly maintain ; in consequence of which the 
sheep are always low kept. When a flock has ar¬ 
rived at that point, all further increase is useless, as 
there is but little sale for these sheep unless some 
neighboring cavana has been reduced by mortality. 
Hence most of the lambs are killed as soon as they 
are yeaned, and each of those preserved is allowed 
to suck two or three ewes. 
In the month of March, the shepherds perform four 
operations on the lambs, about the same time. They 
first cut off'their tails five inches below the rump, in 
order to preserve cleanliness; they next brand them 
on the nose with a hot iron, making a permanent 
mark or character, indicating the flock to which they 
belong; and then saw off a portion of their horns, to 
prevent the rams from hurting one another, or the 
ewes. The fourth operation is to render impotent 
the lambs destined for docile bell-wethers, to walk at 
the head of each tribe. This is not done by making 
an incision, as with us, but by turning the testicles 
with the fingers twenty times round in the scrotum, 
twisting the spermatic cords, as a rope, and the parts 
wither away without danger. 
As soon as the month of April arrives, which is 
the period of departure from the winter to the summer 
quarters, the sheep manifest, by various uneasy mo¬ 
tions, a remarkable restlessness, and a strong desire 
to be off. At this time, it is necessary that the utmost 
vigilance should be exercised, lest the sheep should 
escape, as it has often happened that a tribe has stolen 
a forced march of three or four leagues upon a sleepy 
shepherd ; but he is sure to find them by pursuing the 
same road over which they came the autumn before; 
and there are numerous instances of three or four 
strayed sheep walking a hundred leagues to the very 
pasture where they fed the preceding year. Thus 
they all go off'towards their summer retreats in the 
same order as they came, only with this difference— 
the flocks which migrate to Old Castile are shorn on 
[ the road, and those that go to Arragon, are shorn at 
their journey’s end. D’Jay Browne. 
TO PREPARE BONES FOR MANURE. 
A considerable number of bones are collected about 
my house, and I presume those of my neighbors, 
every year. I have long had an idea that these might 
be converted into a valuable manure on the spot, but 
am at a loss to know how to crush them. The ordi¬ 
nary mills are too far distant, and one on the farm 
would be too expensive. I tried to soften them at 
first by cheap acids or vinegar, but find it too trouble¬ 
some and expensive. How would the following an¬ 
swer :—have a large stone mortar, with a heavy pes¬ 
tle attached to a spring pole? Can any of your 
readers furnish a hint on a subject of no small im¬ 
portance to farmers, and oblige your friend and occa¬ 
sional correspondent, W. W. 
Newark , N. J., Jan. 20, 1845. 
We are of opinion that the pestle and mortar sug¬ 
gested by our correspondent would be entirely ineffi¬ 
cient to crush bones, they are so hard. It would be 
easier to break them with a stone hammer. A cheap 
mill to move by horse power might be erected to 
grind for a neighborhood, upon the same plan as the 
old fashioned bark or oil mill, viz.: thick, heavy 
stones, fashioned like flour mill-stones, and placed 
upright, to follow each other in a circle, rolling over 
and crushing the bones. The principal value of 
bones is their phosphate of lime, which in the domes¬ 
tic animals varies usually from 59 to 70 per cent of 
their weight. In burning bones, bat a small por¬ 
tion of this phosphate is lost; when, therefor^ it is 
inconvenient to grind them, they may be burned, and 
the ashes applied to the land. A very simple and 
cheap furnace may be made for burning bones in the 
following manner. Build it up with brick or stone 
and lime, shaped like an oven, leaving a flue with a 
chimney a foot or two high at the top of the back 
end. In building it, when the walls are raised two 
feet or so from the ground, place iron bars across, 
within two or three inches of each other. These 
may be of cast iron, or old wagon-tire. When the 
furnace is completed, put a layer of fine split, dry- 
wood on these bars, then a layer of bones, then ano¬ 
ther layer of wood, then bones again, till the furnace 
is full. Now set fire to the wood, and as the mass 
consumes the ashes fall below through the iron grate, 
and can then be removed as wan ted. Rain shouU 
not be permitted to fall on these ashes before apply¬ 
ing them to the land, as it will injuriously leach them. 
In burning bones the animal matter in them is lost. 
This varies from 20 to 45 per cent of their weight, 
and for some crops, such as wheat, &c., it is very 
valuable. We are of opinion, where no mill is con¬ 
venient, that it would be more economical to break 
them up with hammers. It can be done under sheds 
in rainy weather; and it is not material to break 
them very fine, as they will decompose pretty rapid¬ 
ly, even coarsely broken. 
Imperial Oats. —We desire to call particular at¬ 
tention to the advertisement of these oats and a de¬ 
scription of them in the February No. 
Plows and Cultivators. — We have a very 
choice and complete assortment of these on hana 
See advertisement. 
