68 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Early Lambs. 
Those who breed lambs for an early market have 
them dropped mostly during this month. As 
there is no grass for the ewes, extra care and 
feeding is necessary to preserve the lambs, and 
provide a due supply of milk for their support. A 
moderate quantity of roots, if on hand, or if not, 
a full supply of rowen hay is the best food for 
that object. If neither of them be on hand, 
staked oats may be substituted. If roots are 
used, and the weather be cold, they should not he 
given in large quantity, as they are cold and 
watery, and incline the ewes to scour. A quart 
of cut roots is sufficient for a day, and of all 
kinds carrots are the best, if you have them, if 
not, provide them for next year. With all the 
claims of the superiority of roots as green food, 
by some people, our experience is against it, in 
cold weather, having practiced it long enough to 
know. And our opinion is corroborated by some 
of the best English and Scotch farmers, in their 
own practice since coming to the United States. 
Dry and warm shelter is also necessary, with 
plenty of straw bedding. When the lambing sea¬ 
son arrives, the ewes should be carefully looked 
over, and those nearest their time, taken out and 
separated from the others, and put under warm 
shelter, so as not to be crowded and overrun by 
the others. After the lambs are a few days old 
and well used to the teat, they, with the ewes, 
may be turned out into the open yard, with an 
adjoining shelter to go under at choice. No young 
thing is hardier than a lamb, with enough to eat; 
and plenty of fresh air and exercise should be al¬ 
lowed to them. Give them a good start, and 
when the grass comes, nothing will thrive or fat 
faster; and the little extra pains devoted to their 
early production will be amply compensated in 
their rapid growth and early development ; while 
nothing on the farm, in the stock line, pays better 
in a ready market, and a quick return. 
Spring Chickens 
Are always in active demand from May to Sep¬ 
tember, in the vicinity of all our cities, and the 
larger towns. Of course they are profitable to 
the farmers, and small landholders and cottagers, 
who breed them. This is a good month to set the 
hens, and hatch them out. For this purpose, a 
warm hen-house, and coops in sunny places are 
required. Let the eggs be kept in a proper tem¬ 
perature, till the hen is ready to sit on them. 
Thirteen is the proper number for a clutch of 
chickens. When hatched, if milk curds can be 
had, this is their best food. If not, soaked bread 
for the first few days, and after that, Indian meal 
well cooked, like mush for your own table. Raw 
meal, wet up in the usual way, ii?harsh and scour¬ 
ing for their delicate stomachs. When a few 
weeks old, chopped cabbage, “sives,” and other 
tender vegetables, are to be added, and sour milk 
is the very best drink they can have. 
We would, by all means, entrust the early 
chickens to woman's care. She seems to possess 
the necessary instincts—worth all the boys and 
mei in the country. We have known a Scotch, 
Dutcti, or Irish washerwoman’s cottage, surround- 
eit by a close wall, alive with early chickens, 
when the gentleman’s and farmer’s premises 
would scarce supply a fowl for the table before 
September. 
Don’t keep the “ big ” breeds for “ Spring chick¬ 
ens” either. A close, compact, early matured fowl 
is the thing for this purpose. In most large towns 
a plump, fat chick, the size of a quail, will sell 
tor as much in Mayor June, as a full-grown one 
will in Octoaer ; and if they only know you have 
them, the tavern keepers and pedlars will be after 
them every day in the week. To the habit these 
latter people have of confining them inclose, filthy 
coops for days together, we enter our protest. It 
is cruel to the chickens. It poisons and defiles 
the taste of the flesh. It makes them poor. Ex¬ 
ercise, good air, and plenty of good food they 
should have, till wanted for the table ; and every 
one who keeps them on hand for immediate use, 
should be well provided with yards, and roosting 
accommodation. To make chickens edibly per¬ 
fect they should come upon the table plump, juicy, 
and full of their own natural gravy. “Plump as 
a partridge,” is the term which should always 
be truthfully applied to the early chicken ; and if 
if they be not so, half their excellence is lost, 
while, if in perfection of flesh, they are a positive 
luxury. 
-— •--» O--- 
A New Fish Fertilizer- 
Our readeis are well atvare that we have con¬ 
demned a large proportion of the manufactured fer¬ 
tilizers, which have been brought before the public 
with so much flourish of trumpets, backed up and 
endorsed by the specious but deceptive analyses of 
“ distinguished chemists,” and offered to farmers 
with a very patronizing air. The stand we have 
taken has incurred not a little loss, as our adver¬ 
tising columns have not been crowded with the 
“super-phosphate advertisements,” which have 
been so valuable a source of profit to other jour¬ 
nals. But though our duty to our readers has im¬ 
pelled us to condemn a majority of these manu¬ 
factured stuffs, we are none the less ready to bring 
to notice anything which really promises to be 
useful to the public. We, therefore, refer with 
pleasure to a new enterprise recently started at 
Southhold, L. I., having for its object, the prepara¬ 
tion of'a cheap fertilizer, from the immense num¬ 
ber of fish that abound upon our sea-coast. Re¬ 
peated efforts have been made to manufacture 
these fish into a condensed dry manure, capable 
of transportation, and at a price which would war¬ 
rant farmers in purchasing it as a fertilizer, but 
for varions reasons, all previous efforts have 
failed. 
Last season, a gentleman erected works at 
Southhold, to manufacture “ fish oil,” and “ fish 
guano,” under the patent of Messrs. Thurneyssen 
& Demolin, of Paris. It was so late in the sea¬ 
son before the apparatus was completed, that only 
preliminary experiments were made. The process 
is essentially as follows: 
The fish are taken in quantitPs of three tuns or 
so, put into a space between two cylinders heated 
by steam under high pressure, and there cooked 
while kept in motion by the revolving of the 
cylinders. They are next transferred to strong 
bags, and subjected to powerful hydraulic pressure, 
while still hot, which extracts most of the water 
not previously evaporated, together with a large 
amount of oil. The mass thus dried is ground 
finely, and put up in bags. Only about one-fourth 
of the original weight of the fish remains, but 
this contains the chief valuable fertilizing ele¬ 
ments. The profit derived from the oil will enable 
the manufacturers to sell the fish at a low price. 
As above stated, only a small quantity was 
made last season. Deeming the matter of sufficient 
interest to our readers, we ourselves selected an 
average specimen from the mass thus manufac¬ 
tured, taking care that there should be no chance 
for collusion in the fitting up of “prepared sam¬ 
ples,” as is too often done. The specimen thus 
procured, we forwarded to Professor Johnson, of 
Yale College, for careful analysis. The results 
we have not space to give in detail, but both Pro¬ 
fessor Johnson and ourselves agree in the t pmion 
that with a little more perfection in the machinery 
it is probable that the process will prove success¬ 
ful ; and we shall soon have in operation, not only 
at Southhold but elsewhere, a feasible plan of ren¬ 
dering available as manure, a large amount of the 
stores of fish abounding in our waters. As soon 
as the factory is in operation, we intend to pro¬ 
cure samples from the materials as actually 
offered in market, and submit them to the most 
rigid analytical tests, and give the results, whether 
favorable or otherwise. 
The process is not a “ secret ” one, but is se¬ 
cured by “Letters Patent,” in Europe and Ame¬ 
rica, and there seems to be little chance for de¬ 
ception. As rights to manufacture at different 
points are offered to the public, if the article should 
prove as valuable as it now promises, there will 
be competition enough to keep the price in due 
bounds. A pamphlet, giving the details of the 
mode of manufacture under the patent, can be 
obtained by addressing Mr. Brundred, as per ad¬ 
vertisement. 
-«>-*——-<-•.- 
Advertising 1 Bodges—Free Seeds. 
Scarcely a day passes without our being beset 
by some benevolent individual, who appears ex- 
ceedingly anxious to benefit the entire world and 
“ the rest of mankind.” One thinks we ought to 
get up at our own expense engravings of his new¬ 
fangled patentmachine. Another is quite affront¬ 
ed because we refuse to tell people that he has 
cattle, or sheep, or fowls, or trees, or seeds, &c. 
to sell. Just now we were terribly scored fin 
publishing a man’s communication respecting a 
particular fruit, and leaving out a paragraph 
which stated that he had 10,000 trees to sell. 
The most frequent dodge, of late, is that ol 
sending us a description of certain plants, puffing 
them to the skies, and wishing us to tell our 
readers that on sending two stamps they can get 
a few grains of seed. Here is an example. A. 
L., living in a Western town, sends us 10 peas, 
which he calls “the very best in the world,” with 
sundry reasons wherefore. Now, he says, “ tell 
your readers, that I shall be happy to supply them 
with 10 of these peas if they will send two 3-cent 
postage stamps.” Very kind hearted Mr. A. L.„ 
we can do no such thing. One stamp will pay the 
postage on 20 peas, and we think you would make 
a fine speculation if we should persuade 30,000 
or 40,000 of our readers to pay you three cents 
each (in an extra stamp) for ten little peas, which 
look to us like very poor affairs. 
But A. L. is only one of a multitude who are 
from time to time trying this game. We give 
notice that any communication designed to pro¬ 
mote a private end, must go into the advertising 
columns, and be paid for, in advance, at regulai 
rates. 
Any subscriber who has anything valuable 
which he or she would take pleasure in distributing 
among the members of the Agriculturist Family 
without taxing them for an extra stamp besides 
the postage, will be doing a good work, and we 
shall be happy to make the fact known. There 
are, however, so many schemes of this kind to 
get the names of persons for the purpose of 
sending them an advertising handbill, in con¬ 
nection with the offered seeds, that we shall al¬ 
most need some credentials, or guarantee of good 
faith, when such a proposition comes from a dis¬ 
tant stranger, even though a subscriber. 
A French horse-dealer was asked if an animal 
which he offered for sale was timid. 
“ Not at all,” said he ; “ he often passes many 
nights together by himself in the stable.” 
