AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
265 
S O U T H-D OWN- S H EJEJP. 
Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Whoever gives this picture the most casual 
glance, if he is at all familiar with the breed, 
will recognize the well-bred South-down; it re¬ 
quires no name under the cut. The straight, broad 
backs, broad loins, long, full quarters, fine heads, 
deep chests, the carcass round and well filled out 
back of the shoulders, the short, fine limbs, close 
fleeces, and the breadth of chest indicated by 
the distance apart of the fore-feet, all show this 
peerless breed of mutton sheep. Why is it that 
our animal portrait painters in this country, at 
least those whose pictures are engraved, so sel¬ 
dom succeed in giving any natural air and life 
to their productions ? Perhaps the best talent is 
not often enough engaged. Portraits like the 
above, which might almost be called Heating 
likenesses, would be invaluable to a flock- 
owner who wanted to secure for his flock the 
notice and appreciation of the public. The 
sheep, and particularly the mutton sheep, occu¬ 
pies a place in economical husbandry, which 
can not be dispensed with, or supplied by any 
other animal. It is a great fault in American 
farming that over great districts sheep are so 
thoroughly ignored. They are an almost essen¬ 
tial element in high farming; with then intro¬ 
duction, root crops to be fed on the farm; clo¬ 
ver-lays fed off, and the sod, enriched by the 
droppings, turned under for wheat, the improve¬ 
ment and clearing up of wild and brush-grown 
pastures; tidy fences, and other evidences of 
good farming, follow almost as a necessity. We 
say, therefore, keep sheep, and if mutton is an 
object, keep South-downs. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Cost of Harvesting Hay. 
I had occasion to hire a meadow of nine acres 
the present season, and the notes from my field- 
book show the cost of the hay and of the har¬ 
vesting, and also throw some light upon the 
profits of farming. 
The rent of the Land was.$20.00 
Cutting grass with horse-mower. 6.50 
Raking four hours with horse-rake. 1.00 
Curing and stacking seven tuns. 7.50 
$35.00 
This shows the cost of the hay in stack to be 
five dollars a tun. As it is worth fifteen, there 
is a profit of seventy dollars on the nine acres. 
But it is poor farming where grass yields under 
a tun to the acre, as in this case. Had the land 
yielded two tuns to the acre it would have cost 
no more to mow it and to rake it. The only ad¬ 
ditional expense would have been in gathering, 
which would not have exceeded a dollar a tun. 
Prom accounts kept several years, I have nev¬ 
er been able to gather hay with the scythe and 
hand rake for less than three dollars a tun. The 
expense in this is but a trifle over two dollars a 
tun. The farmer who owns his horse mower 
and rake, I have no doubt can gather his hay 
for a dollar and-a-half a tun. What an infinite 
relief the horse mowers and reapers are to hu¬ 
man muscles. It is cheering to see them appear¬ 
ing in new fields every year. Connecticut. 
The Fall Fairs and Cattle Shows. 
These are likely to be held in undiminished 
numbers this season. Two years ago the cattle 
disease prevented the holding of many of these 
faffs, and last year the alarms of war either 
postponed them, or occasioned a thin attend¬ 
ance. But this year, notwithstanding the dis¬ 
turbed state of the country, and the multitudes 
that have joined the army, the usual number of 
faffs in the loyal States is likely to be held, 
judging from the premium lists and the an¬ 
nouncements we have seen. This is as it should 
be. There is no good reason why the faffs 
should not be opened with their usual attrac¬ 
tions. Our crop reports, embracing all the loyal 
States, show very conclusively that a larger 
breadth has been planted than in any former 
year, and perhaps we are justified in saying, 
that not an acre the less has been planted on 
account of the war. The demand for our 
breadstuffs in Europe, as well as the war, has 
stimulated production. Some probably have 
been influenced by the tradition that “high 
prices rule in war.” Horses and machines have 
so far taken the place of human muscles in the 
field, that we miss the labor taken by the army 
far less than we should have done ten years ago. 
Farm crops, on the whole, were never better, 
and the materials for a fine show are abundant 
on every hand. It is conceded that the wheat 
crop is a good deal better than the average; hay, 
with rare exceptions, is good, and grass abun¬ 
dant, which ought to put cattle in good con¬ 
dition. Fruit is plenty, which .should make the 
horticultural department of the fairs unusually 
good. Manufactures in 
some branches are de¬ 
pressed, but there is the 
material for a good show 
in almost every county. 
Fairs which once might 
have been advocated as 
a farmer’s holiday, have 
now become a necessi¬ 
ty. They give a few 
days of recreation after 
the pressing labors of 
the Summer are over, 
and for this purpose 
they are worth all they 
cost. It does men of a 
common pursuit good 
to get together and have 
a celebration. It be¬ 
gets enthusiasm, and 
lightens the burdens of 
toil. But fairs are no 
longer mere holidays. 
They are schools of 
instruction, and no far¬ 
mer can afford to stay 
away from them, and lose their benefits. He 
can hardly fail to learn something that will 
make his capital and labor more available for 
the next year. Here all the improved seeds, 
and tools for lightening the labors of the hus¬ 
bandman, are on exhibition. Here are the model 
animals that will turn the vegetable products of 
his farm into the most animal products for sale. 
So long as one cow will make more milk, but¬ 
ter, and cheese, from the same pasture than 
another, it will be a matter of great importance 
to visit cattle shows, and study the models. 
These fairs have already done a great work for 
the farming interests of the country, and, we 
doubt not, are destined to do a still greater. 
The shrewdest and most successful farmers are 
the steady patrons of these institutions, always 
present in person as careful observers, and 
sending in samples of their stock and crops. 
The shows should lose nothing of their inter¬ 
est in a time of war. The ability of the coun¬ 
try to sustain its burdens, will depend very 
much upon the prosperity of our agriculture. 
With our granaries full of wheat and corn, and 
our fields covered with flocks and herds, we 
shall be able to continue this war for years to 
come, if it be necessary. Let us go up to the 
faffs then-in full force, old and young, and take 
with us the best samples of our handiwork—the 
products of the field, garden, and orchard, and 
the best specimens of our flocks and herds. 
There is pleasure and profit at the fair. 
Hogs on Dung Hills. 
The practice of keeping swine in a pen or 
small yard containing the manure etc. thrown 
out from the barn, is not to be commended. 
The hogs may find some fodder among the 
refuse hay and straw; they may improve the 
heap by turning it over and mixing their- own 
ordure with the same; but we question whether 
it is a good thing for the swine. They become 
dirty and scabby, and sometimes lose essential¬ 
ly in vigor and health. Perhaps the injury 
comes partly from the heat and the gases con¬ 
stantly inhaled from the fermenting manure. 
It is much better, we think, to keep hogs in 
quarters by themselves, and as clean and sweet 
as possible. Give them dry and commodious 
pens, with plenty of dean straw in their beds. 
