gmgiufr to imjrte tire farmer, tlje flatter, antr tjje <®arJrerter» 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHY, THE MOST USEFUL , AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN. - Washington. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ALLEN & CO., 189 WATER ST. 
VOL. XII.—NO. 3.] 
mp -for prospectus, terms, ^c., 
SEE LAST PAGE. 
MUTTON MARKETS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Why it is that in a country, so favorable 
to sheep as this, we have so little good mut¬ 
ton, is a standing wonder to every Englishman, 
and a burning shame to our American farmers. 
We have little doubt that there is more poor 
mutton sold in the markets of New-York alone, 
than in the whole of England ; and for no rea¬ 
son whatever, but the niggardly meanness of our 
farmers in neglecting to buy good South-down, 
Cotswold, or Leicester rams to breed in with 
their old-fashioned and worthless ewes. We do 
not now speak of Merinos or Saxons as a mut¬ 
ton sheep. They are valuable for their wool 
alone ; yet thousands of them are killed and 
sold in the markets, and help to make up, with 
the lean brutes called “ common sheep,” all over 
the country, the wretched stuff dignified by the 
name of mutton! Indeed, so worthless are mil¬ 
lions of our farmers’ sheep, that almost every 
year hundreds of thousands have been slaugh¬ 
tered in the large interior towns, for their pelts 
and tallow alone ; the latter article, by the way, 
scarcely perceptible, but for the aid of the steam 
vat and hydraulic press applied to the whole 
carcase. 
Now, let us ask, in all sincerity, what is the 
use of keeping such a miserable race of animals 
as the common sheep ? The only answer that 
can be given is, either that those who breed 
them know no better; or, that being determined 
to starve them any way, they will, from long 
habit and neglect, bear starvation better than 
any other breed; and this mode of treatment 
can certainly lead to no profitable result. From 
the anatomy of the animal, they can lay on, un¬ 
der ever so favorable circumstances, but little 
flesh, and that flesh not in the best parts. They 
have, even when called fat, a large preponde¬ 
rance of bone; and in a lot of what butchers 
commonly call good ones, if the dressed carcase, 
come up to one-half the gross weight when 
alive, it is a good yield of flesh. In proportion 
to their weight, common sheep are large con¬ 
sumers, eating more than a well bred sheep of 
greater weight, and their merits, in comparison 
with better ones, may be thus classed: great 
eaters, bad feeders, the worst fence-jumpers, 
giving a light fleece of poor wool, late to mature, 
and yielding a light carcase of the most detesta¬ 
ble mutton. 
There can be no apology for breeding this 
kind of sheep, when good Long-wooled and 
South-down rams can be bought for twenty to 
fifty dollars a head. A good ram, well kept, 
NEW-YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1854. 
will serve fifty ewes in a season, and without 
accident, will last five years, and his fleece 
nearly or quite pay for keeping. These lambs, 
in the most remote markets, arc worth fifty 
cents to a dollar more, at three to four months 
old, than common ones for the butcher, and will 
bring it, too, among any people who know the 
difference between good mutton and poor. If 
well kept on hay and grass only until two years 
old, they may be fed off in a good carcase of 
flesh ; grass fed only, at sixty to eighty pounds 
dressed, besides giving ten to twelve pounds of 
rough tallow; or if stall fed until the succeed¬ 
ing February or March, they will give you a 
carcase of 80 t3 120 pounds, and 15 to 20 
pounds of tallow, depending somewhat upon the 
material and manner of their feeding. The pelt 
is worth more than that of a common sheep of 
the same age, which cannot then be fattened at 
all; and thus you have at an early market, an 
early and a good return for what, if of the 
other kind, you could not realize half the 
amount, besides saving one to two years in the 
keep of the animal, and the risk, and interest on 
the amount of capital invested. 
The thriftless farmer need not excuse himself 
by saying that he cannot afford to buy sheep at 
this price. If he cannot afford to buy the ma¬ 
terial to produce a good article from his farm, he 
had better abandon farming at once, and go into 
some other occupation, if he can find it, which 
pays a premium on stupidity and ignorance. He 
need only get a good ram to start with. If his 
ewes be even of the commonest breed to be 
found, if he will keep them decently, and breed to 
his ram, they will improve two hund ed per cent, 
in their first produce; and then breeding up 
from these, using a thorough-bred ram continu¬ 
ally, he will, in the course of two or three crosses, 
have as good sheep for practical uses as if he 
had the thorough-bred altogether— bearing in 
mind alicays, never to use a grade ram when a 
thorough-bred one is to be had. 
We have tried this experiment out and out. 
At different times we commenced two several 
flocks of sheep, chance having put in our way, 
each time, as contemptible a collection of ewes 
as could be picked up in a frontier country. 
They were intended for mutton, and bought con¬ 
trary to orders, and being fit for nothing else, 
like thousands of others, with an article too 
worthless to make other use of, we put them to 
breeding—with this difference, however, we let 
them to thorough-bred Cotswold and South- 
down rams, instead of one of their own villain¬ 
ous race. From these, even in the first cross, 
and much more in the second, we bred wethers 
of the sizes and weights already recorded. It 
is an extraordinary stall-fed wether of the com¬ 
mon breed that will give a carcase at three or 
[NEW SERIES.—NO. 29. 
four years old, of 75 pounds; or grass-fed of GO 
pounds. They will not average over 50 pounds, 
and oftener undergo than overrun that weight. 
We say, therefore, to all who grow mutton 
sheep—and none are so profitable within rail¬ 
road reach of our large cities—procure well-bred 
South-downs, Leicester, or Cotswold rams, as 
your climate or soil may best be adapted to 
either, and go to breeding them up, on such ma¬ 
terial as you have, and you will find your ac¬ 
count in it. 
ITALIAN RYE GRASS-RAY GRASS. 
As the letter below is similar to others fre¬ 
quently addressed us, and as we have not time 
to reply to them separately and privately, we 
trust the writer will excuse its publication in 
order to give us an opportunity of a general an¬ 
swer. 
There are many varieties of the Italian Rye 
Grass, annual, biennial, and perennial; some of 
them have bearded heads like common rye, 
others are smooth or awnless (beardless.) The 
latter varieties are preferred. 
In the cool, moist climate and mild winters 
of Great Britain, this grass succeeds well, and is 
much liked. We have often seen it growing 
there. The only person we are personally ac¬ 
quainted with who has grown it in the United 
States, and expressed his approbation of it to 
us, is Mr. Alsop, of Middletown, Connecticut. 
From all we can hear of it, however, it is little 
superior for early spring pasture to the common 
rye of America, or beardless wheat, as it grows 
coarse and gives little after math. 
Ray grass is entirely distinct from Rye grass. 
The former is a perennial, comes forward early 
in the spring, grows rapidly till July, and yields 
an abundant aftermath. It requires a rich soil 
and deep tilth. North of 40 degrees of latitude, 
it should be sown in the spring, and like any 
other grass seed. It may occupy the ground 
entirely alone, or be sown with other grass seeds, 
or clover. If sown alone, it requires two bushels 
of seed per acre; but to get a first rate stand 
and thickly cover the ground, three bushels 
would be better. The cost in this city is $3 per 
bushel for pure, well cleaned imported seed. 
Ray Grass makes a superior lawn, but it must 
be cut often, otherwise it grows up too coarse. 
Frequently cut, it becomes fine, and makes a 
softer, thicker, and more velvety turf than any 
other grass we have yet seen cultivated in the 
United States. 
For hay, neither Ray nor Rye grass is equal 
to Timothy or red top. They grow too coarse, 
and become too dry and woody. Still we have 
heard some assert that they make good hay. They 
probably cut them when younger and greener 
than ours was; but we repeat, we are yet to be 
