150 
CULTURE OP LATE POTATOES. 
silky to the touch, and sell in that market from 
$25 to $100. I have no-t been able to get any idea 
of the form of the sheep, their domestic habits, or 
the quantity of wool which they produce. But as 
these Delaware traders say they have a great many 
of them, and as they probably are dependent on 
their fleeces for their clothing, it may be pretty 
certain that they are well domesticated. 
I have seen one man who has conversed with 
one of tho§e traders upon the subject. 
Is not this race of sheep worth an effort of the 
wool-growers of the United States to possess ? I, 
have been long thinking that we have been very 
remiss in our efforts to introduce the Alpaca ; but I 
am much gratified in reading to-day in a newspa¬ 
per, that the American Agricultural Association 
are now-determined on importing 300 of that valu¬ 
able animal. Success to the enterprise. It will be 
a great individual and national benefit. 
Cincinnati, Feb. 20, 1846. Nath. Sawyer. 
We sent the above letter for an answer, to Dr. 
Lyman, who has travelled extensively in New 
Mexico, among the Rocky Mountains, and in Cali¬ 
fornia. The following is his reply: 
Northampton, Mass., March 6, 1846. 
I will endeavor to answer, in as brief a manner as 
possible, the interrogatories of your correspond¬ 
ent. There are no modifications of the Argali, or 
“ Rocky Mountain sheep,” among any of the Indian 
tribes of the mountains, nor are there any kind of 
sheep among them, with the single exception of the 
Nabajo Indians, living due west of Santa Fe, and 
about 100 miles from that place. 
The Nabajos raise very large flocks of sheep, 
but they are of the genuine Spanish breed intro¬ 
duced by the early conquerors. It is not fifty 
years since these Indians were entirely destitute of 
every description of stock, excepting a few wild 
horses which they caught out of the wild droves 
of the country as they needed them. In the time 
of the Viceroys, they were nomadic in character, 
like the other Indians of the mountains at pre¬ 
sent; but since this the character of the New Mexi¬ 
cans has so much deteriorated in every respect, that 
the Nabajos, naturally enterprising, have discovered 
their own superiority, and consequently have made 
free with the property of the Mexicans. The 
stock they now have is derived from what they 
obtained in their frequent marauding expeditions 
into the valley of the Rio del Norte. In fact they 
have so thoroughly drained the Mexicans, that they 
have left them almost entirely destitute of every 
kind of stock, except vermin and mongrel dogs—a 
lew noble shepherd dogs still remain; while the 
Nabajos have become enterprising and energetic 
farmers, and capital stock-breeders—rich in sheep, 
mules, horses, and horned cattle. Some of the horses 
they breed are not surpassed by any on the conti¬ 
nent. Their farming implements consist of a plow 
made of two sticks, tied together where they cross. 
These are drawn by oxen. A hoe of wood—a fork 
of wood also. The ground they cultivate is a 
light alluvial soil, easily broken, and annually 
flooded by the swollen streams of spring. They 
raise maize, beans, peas, onions, and pumpkins. 
They have an abundance of poultry also, They 
dress in buckskin breeches and shirts, which are 
beautifully ornamented and fringed. The blankets 
they make are worn constantly thrown over the 
shoulders. For a more particular description see 
account I have given of them in Farnham’s Cali¬ 
fornia, part 4th, pages 372-3-4. 
The sample of wool you sent me looks very 
much like the New Mexican lamb’s wool [from 
Mr. Watson, see current volume, page 110.— Ed.] 
—or like the under fleece of the sheep, which lies 
close to the skin, and is covered by the long part of 
the fleece. The fleece of the New Mexican sheep 
is long, coarse, and heavy, like mohair. The Na¬ 
bajo sheep of course is the same, being the same 
kind of animal. What this fleece was when first 
imported by the conquerors of Mexico, I do not 
know, but probably much finer than now. 
You call the above sample “ Rocky Mountain 
woolit is so, inasmuch as the “ Rocky Moun¬ 
tains” run into New Mexico, where the sheep 
which produce it are found ; but you leave me to 
infer that it is the product of the “ Rocky Moun¬ 
tain sheep,” or American Argali, which is entirely 
destitute of wool. Its covering is of precisely the 
same character with that of the elk, deer, and ante¬ 
lope of this country. It has coarse hair, like bris¬ 
tles ; any one who has seen a deer will understand 
me. The only close resemblance of the animal to 
a sheep is in the flavor of its meat, which is pre¬ 
cisely like that of Southdown mutton—juicy, ten¬ 
der, and luscious. In shape, it has some resem¬ 
blance to a Merino ram, but is much larger, say 
about three feet high, and four feet long. Their 
horns are remarkable for size and weight, averag¬ 
ing some 40 to 50 lbs.; five inches in diameter 
where they leave the head, and about three feet 
long, gradually tapering to the end, they curl like 
a ram’s horns, but make three or more entire revo¬ 
lutions. The only difference between its skin and 
that of a deer is, that it is rather finer and softer; 
but it is used by the trappers and Indians for the 
same purpose of dress. J. H. Lw vsr.'' 
Mr. Sawyer will find an engraving and descrip¬ 
tion of a male and female Argali, or Argali, at 
page 128, Vol. 2, of Godman’s American Natural 
History, third edition, published by Messrs. Uriah 
Hunt & Son, Philadelphia. These figures closely 
resemble deer, except they are greatly coarser in 
the head and other points, and their horns are like 
those of Merino sheep, saving that they are very 
much larger. One might almost think that the 
Argali was a cross between a huge, coarse Merino 
ram, and a female elk. Stuffed specimens of the 
Argali can be seen in our Museums. 
CULTURE OF LATE POTATOES 
There being a desire among farmers to obtain 
information on the different modes of cultivating 
the potato, with a view to escape the rot, I have 
concluded to throw my mite into the collection of 
experiments. A great yield was no part of the 
object. Having been unable to obtain potatoes of 
a good quality, I determined last spring ~to make an 
effort, not only to grow them free from the rot, but 
to get an excellent quality. 
Early in April I chose a small piece of ground, 
