420 
AMERIOAI^ AGEIOULTURIST. 
[October, 
The Ox Gad-Fly. 
The genus Tahanux includes several flies witli 
powerful biting and sucking mouth-parts. Horses 
and cattle are sometimes worried to death by tlie 
liarrassing, painful bites of these pests. They 
only do harm in the perfect or fly state, by drawing 
blood from their victims. The true gad-fly has 
nothing to do with producing the maggots in the 
THE ox GAD-FEY. 
back.s of cattle, or the hots in tlie internal organs 
of horses. The larva of the gad-fly lives in the 
earth, upon decaying vegetable matter, and possi¬ 
bly on snails, and the young of other insects. The 
proboscis of tlie gad-fly contains an organ having 
sharp lance-like points, with which the fly pierces 
and draws blood. Like tlie mosquito, the male 
gad-fly does not goad its victims, but lives on the 
sweets of flowers, the female only being provided 
with the piercing and sucking apparatus above 
mentioned. The engraving sliows a back and side 
view of the Ox gad-fly, somewhat magnified. 
Shropshire and Hampshire-Down Sheep. 
The Shropshire and Hampshire-downs are two 
essentially modern breeds of English sheep. The 
desire to improve all kinds of live stock took pos¬ 
session of progressive English farmers during the 
latter part of the eighteenth century. The Wilt¬ 
shire sheep were a hardy, horned, white-faced 
breed, which, wdien crossed with the improved 
hornless, dark-faced, well bred Southdown, became 
a profitable market breed, especially for raising 
early lambs, and tlieir wool was also greatly im¬ 
proved. This cross, with a dash of Cotsvvold or 
Leicester blood, is the foundation of the Hamp¬ 
shire-downs. Tliey had been bred for black or 
dark faces and legs which w'erc Southdown charac¬ 
teristics, hut when Southdown breeders found the 
Hampshires competing with them in the market, 
and successfully, from their larger size, they 
changed in a measure the fasliion of color in their 
legs and faces, now-a-days preferring the grizzly- 
brown lather than very dark. Tiie Hampshires are 
larger, coarser, and not so well formed as the 
Southdowns, and their wool is longer and coarser, 
doubtless from the long-wool cross. They mature 
early, and are hardy and profitable. It takes a 
good .1udge to tell tiie difference in the quality of 
mutton, but the smaller Southdowns make the best. 
The Shropshires were produced in a similar way 
from the old Morfe-common breed, but contain 
more long-wool blood. In .size, they are fully 
equal, if not superior to the Hampshires, and are 
their equals in easy fattening, early maturity of 
lambs and profitable fleeces. Tiie wool being line, 
though of longer staple and more glossy than the 
true Downs. This breed seems now to be well 
established, and rapidly gaining in pojjularity. It 
has spotted or givayish faces and legs, with a car¬ 
cass somewhat resembling the long-wools. We arc 
asked: “AVliich of these two breeds is likely to 
become the most popular ? ” Tlnat depends entirely 
upon the breeders. These breeds do not stand 
still, even for two or three years. Energetic and 
intelligent breeders are all the time improving 
their flocks by selection, and by crossing with the 
best rams they can buy or hire. Thus there are 
constant minor changes whicli affect the breeds, 
while the efforts of prominent breeders are to 
make their own breed fashionable, or. at least the 
more prominent. It is therefore quite impossible 
to predict the popularity of any one of the estab¬ 
lished breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs, or poultry, as it 
depends mucli more upon tlie .success of breeders 
in their tactics than upon the merits of the breed 
itself. The mutton of all these improved mutton- 
breeds, both middle-wools, downs, and long-wools, 
sells much better than that of the fine-wool breeds. 
A Rare, Useful, and Ornamental Grass. 
The Tall Oat Grass, or Meadow Oat Grass is a 
species that has given the greatest satisfaction 
wherever it has been tried, yet we rarely see it in 
cultivation. It is admitted on all sides to be vastly 
superior to Timothy, yet our fanners have been 
so long accustomed to that grass, they will not 
give it up, even for a better one. Tlie tall oat 
grass was formerly placed in the same genus 
with tlie Oat (Avena), but as it dilTers in the struc¬ 
ture of its spikelets, it is now called Arrhenatherum, 
a name that signifies that the male floret only bears 
a bristle or awn, in which particular it is unlike the 
oat. Tile grass is usually from two to four feet 
high, though on rich land it reaches five to seven 
feet. It starts early in spring and continues its 
growth until late, and is noted for the abundance of 
its aftermath. It is equally valued for hay, and as 
a pasture grass. The late Mr. Howard said of tlie 
tall oat grass: “ It deserves to be placed at the 
liead of the winter grasses for the South... .Tlie 
amount of green food yielded by this grass during 
tile winter is greater than that of any other grass.” 
For soiling, it allows of three abundant cuttings 
THE TALE OAT GRASS. 
during the summer. This grass has been tested 
by experienced farmers in New York, Pennsylvania, 
and Virginia, all of them assigning to it a greater 
value than Timothy. It may be sown upon wheat 
in the fall, or may be sown by itseif in early spring. 
The seed is very light, and not less than two 
bushels should be sown to the acre. The tall oat 
grass is one of the kinds cultivated for ornament 
in England. If cut early and dried in the shade, 
the panicles are very pleasing. Besides the names 
already given, this grass has been called “ Peruvian- 
grass,” and “ Grass of the Andes,” names to which 
it has no claim, it being a native of Europe. 
Manger for Cattle. 
Mr. J. W. Harrow, Columbia Co., N. Y., sends 
us a sketch of a feeding manger, shown in the en¬ 
graving. The bottom of the manger may be 
slightly elevated above the stable floor. The front 
of the manger is boarded up with the exception of 
a V-shaped opening four inches wide at the bot¬ 
tom, and two feet at the top. The side-pieces, 6, 6, 
are three by four-inch scantling; a ring, <?, fur¬ 
nishes a suitable tying place for the halter. It is 
impossible for a cow to throw hay out under her 
feet when feeding at a manger of this kind. The 
quantity of fodder wasted, when fed from a poorly 
constructed manger, amounts to much more, in a 
single year, than the cost of one properly built. 
Mushroom Growing. 
Mushrooms may be grown in almost any place 
that furnishes a rich and moist bed, and sufficient 
heat for the subterranean portion of tlie plants. ; 
Mushrooms have no use for sunshine. They are 
very extensively grown in large caves near Paris. ' 
Any low, propagating house, or even a cellar, the j 
air of which can be kept charged with moisture I 
will answer. Well fermented stable manure is best \ 
suited for furnishing the nourishment and required i 
artificial heat for the plants. From one-fourth to | 
one-third of dry loam should be mixed with the ' 
manure. The bed needs to be from a foot to eigh- ; 
teen inches thick, flat, and thoroughly packed, • 
When the temperature of the bed is about seventy 
degrees, usually a week or ten days after being ; 
made, the spawn is introduced. Two inches of the | 
surface of the bed is removed, and pieces of the ! 
spawn ai e scattered over tlie top, patted down with i 
a spade, and the surface material returned. By f 
spawn is understood the fine filaments of the t 
mushroom, that have been dried in “bricks” of 
earth. In somewdiat the same manner yeast is 
preserved in a dry state. The subsequent work of 
tlie mushroom hed will be the gathering of (he 
crop, adding liquid manure occasionally, and keep¬ 
ing a moist atmosphere and an even temperature. 
Mushrooms have been grown on the floors of cel¬ 
lars in conical beds, in tubs and casks, in stables, 
railway arches, and in beds in the open ground. In 
short, mushroom-growing requires no greater skill 
than that possessed by the ordinary gardener di¬ 
rected in a particular direction. The mushroom 
spawm is usually kept for sale by seedsmen, and 
a small amount for a trial bed can be procur¬ 
ed at little expense. There is always a quick 
market for fine mushrooms in the large cities. 
