330 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
ly withered grass to fill their stomachs. This 
extra allowance should not be delayed until the. 
animal is suffering from insufficient food. It 
is far easier,to keep a cow in good condition, 
than to bring her up after falling off. 
Pumpkins are usually fed out first, upon failure 
of the pastures. If it be practicable to keep 
them uninjured until later in the season, it 
would be better. They come in best when dry 
hay and stalks are the staple diet, and some¬ 
thing more succulent is craved and needed. 
It is best to remove seeds from pumpkins; they 
are an active diuretic, and many believe that they 
divert to urine fluids which would form milk. 
Any penSon who has been long confined to a 
single article or two of food, say to salt beef 
and potatoes, knows how the appetite craves a 
change. The greediness with which cows lay 
hold of turnips, mangel wurzels, or other roots 
in Winter, proves that they, too, relish variety, 
and in the case of healthy animals, appetite is a 
safe guide in the selection of food. Even if 
roots were lacking in nutriment, an occasional 
allowance of them to cattle would be beneficial. 
Observe strict regularity in the time of feed 1 
ing. If meals are regularly served, animals 
will patiently wait the appointed time; other-, 
wise, they will be restless and uneasy, while 
looking- for supplies, and ravenous when'fed. 
The importance of comfortable, well venti¬ 
lated shelter for milch cows is yet greatly un¬ 
derrated, despite all that has been written and 
said. A large part of the food eaten is con¬ 
sumed in furnishing warmth to the animal. 
Thus, good shelter is equivalent to a large per¬ 
centage of food. Besides the actual loss of food 
from the increased amount required under ex¬ 
posure to cold, there is further loss in milk from 
the feeling of discomfort. The secretions are 
always disturbed by influences that cause pain 
or uneasiness, and every shiver of a half-frozen 
cow will make itself visible in the milk pail. 
In their anxiety to secure warmth, many have 
' overlooked the importance of pure air. Close, 
crowded stables, reeking with odors from accu¬ 
mulating manure, produce feverish restlessness 
in the cows, and the flow of milk suffers. At 
best, confinement during the winter months is 
irksome to animals, and kindness to brutes, as 
well as profit, demands that everything prac¬ 
ticable should be done to secure their comfort. 
For tlie American Agriculturist. 
Feed for Farm Horses. 
When I was a boy in the north of Vermont,' 
we used to feed dry hay and oats, unless the 
horse had the heaves, which was very common 
among them at that time, owing to feeding too 
much dry hay and oats, and driving too fast 
when full. We then supposed they ought to 
have hay before them all the time. This is a 
false idea; all kinds of animals will do better on 
regular meals. 1 Farmers usually feed too much 
dry hay. You may keep a horse eating all the 
time and not have it thrive. I came'to Massa¬ 
chusetts about 12 years ago, and was engaged in 
the teaming business about 7 years. I began to 
feed cut hay and corn meal, and found the 
horses would do more work and last longer, and 
be in better condition than when kept on dry 
feed. Cracked corn and-oats make a very good 
feed for noon, when in a hurry. I would feed 
carrots all winter in small quantities, especially 
to young horses and breeding mares. This 
keeps them in a healthy condition. Team 
horses may be fed on them once each day to 
advantage. I am not able to state the amount 
each horse should be fed: this depends on the 
size and age of the animal. I would advise all 
owners to keep their horses, especially those 
they use, in good condition; it costs less in the 
end. Colts ought not to have much grain, un¬ 
less very thin in flesh; they are often injured 
by graining. A few ground oats, with cut hay 
or straw wet and mixed, and half a pint of ash¬ 
es added once in two or three weeks, is all colts 
need besides hay. The ashes keep the bowels 
open, and, it is said, free from worms. If living 
in Maine or Vermont where hay and oats are 
cheap, I would have the oats ground, and cut a 
portion of my hay and straw to mix with what 
grain I fed, and consider myself well paid for 
the time and trouble. W. R. Lewis. 
Milford, Mass. 
Keep Sheep. 
Perhaps this counsel is supererogatory just at 
this time. All wool-growers and their neigh¬ 
bors are fully aware that at present prices, few 
if any other branches of agricultural industry are 
more remunerative. The unprecedented de¬ 
maud for woolen goods consequent upon the 
necessities of the immense armies now in the 
field and being raised, is still further enhanced 
by the scarcity of cotton, which brings woolen 
fabrics into more general use. How long this 
exceptional state of things may continue, it is 
impossible to predict with certainty, but there is 
good reason to suppose that even if the long- 
wished for peace should be. proclaimed within 
the next six months, the demand for woolens 
will almost certainly be such as to give a paying 
return for investment in sheep. One fact alone 
speaks volumes in favor of sheep-raising. There 
has been imported into the United States from 
foreign countries, wool and woolen goods to the 
average amount of $35,000,000 to $45,000,000 
for the last three years, equivalent to the yield 
of at least 13,000,000 sheep. It is stated by 
Daniel Needham, Secretary.of the Vermont 
Wool-Growers’ Convention, that the average 
annual increase of population in this country re¬ 
quires the wool of 3,000,000 sheep. If these 
figures be only approximately correct,’ they 
demonstrate the slight danger of an overstock 
of sheep for many years to come! The present 
and prospective high tariff will keep up the 
price of American-grown wool to much higher 
figures than have prevailed hitherto. 
The scarcity of mutton has, as would be ex¬ 
pected, been aggravated by the rise in wool. 
We say aggravated, because year by year before 
the breaking out of the war, it had been more 
and more difficult to procure a supply of good 
mutton at-reasonable prices. • At present this 
article is one of the luxuries. Very wisely, few 
care to sell when prospects for keeping are so 
good. Even if the wool market should re¬ 
turn to its ordinary level, or below it, there 
is abundant encouragement for sheep-raising. 
Of course, each must be governed by the cir¬ 
cumstances of his locality, both in deciding to 
invest in sheep, and also as to the best breeds. 
Thus, the average cost per head,' per annum, of 
keeping sheep, is estimated as follows: In Illi¬ 
nois, 60 cents; Iowa, 75c.; Michigan, 83c.; Vir¬ 
ginia, 60c.; New-Jersey, 60c.; Pennsylvania, 
50c.; Maine, $1; California, 75c.; Vermont, $1.30. 
• In Vermont, after trying almost every breed, 
the majority of wool-growers give the preference 
to the Spanish Merino, as yielding the largest 
return for wool. Where mutton is tile principal 
object, as in the vicinity of large (Cities, larger 
middle-wooled breeds, like the Southdown, are 
preferable. The latter breed probably combine 
the desiderata of both wool and mutton in a 
higher degree than any other raised in this 
country. With the additional security which 
the tax upon dogs will give,we may safely 
say the prospects of the sheep interest in this 
country are better than ever before. A word 
to the wise is sufficient. 
A Good Breeding Ram. 
In answer to the question, “ What ram shall 
I choose ?” a correspondent of the Mark Lane 
Express (England), writes, “ Take care that in 
every case you select an animal of like contour 
of frame, i. e.\ full and proportionate through¬ 
out. To be more minute: His head should be 
masculine, but denoting kindliness; his neck 
full and of fair length—not a thick, short, bull- 
neck, but kind and graceful; his shoulders, 
chine, and chest, all wide and full in form, the 
chine joining nicely to the neck, the breast end 
out, the brisket wide and fat; the ribs well 
springing and nicely arched; the back and loin 
level and broad, and fully covered with firm 
fat and muscle; the hips wide, rump rather 
long, but full, and not hanging; dock thick and 
fat; twist wide and well filled; purse well hung, 
and covered, not too long nor large; legs and 
flanks thick and full; offal fine but not light; 
wool good in quality, and as much of it as can 
be got. The breeder that obtains all these points 
in perfection is worthy of all credit; but be that 
as it may, he must seek to obtain them in as 
great a degree as possible; of course, the more 
of these valuable points he gets, the better.” 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Rearing and Fattening Hogs. 
BY SAMUEL BERRIMAN, OF STAMFORD, C. W. 
[The foliowing.article was submitted in competition for 
the prize, and though not awarded a premium, it contains 
too many practical hints to be left unpublished.— Ed.] 
The writer has been a breeder of hogs for the 
last twelve years. The breeds raised have been: 
Byfield, Suffolk, and improved Berkshire. I 
prefer the latter, after much experience, for 
the following reasons, viz.: They breed equally 
well with the others, fatten earlier, and com¬ 
mand a higher price in the market. It is ac¬ 
knowledged that the cost of wintering hogs is 
one of the greatest difficulties in raising pork; 
hence a change of breed to one wherein the 
weight can be attained in half the time, and at 
two thirds the cost, will be a marked advantage. 
The gain derived from raising and feeding im¬ 
proved hogs will readily be seen, when it is 
borne in mind that the weight usually attained 
by common hogs kept over winter, is not great¬ 
er than the ten months improved breeds. Again, 
for example, what will be the gain hi weight on 
the first day of May, of a four-month’s hog- 
weighing sixty to seventy pounds on the first 
day of December previous, fed and cared for in 
the ordinary way ? This question I have put 
to many farmers, most of whom admit that such 
gain is small; others say that such hogs will do 
well, if they hold their own during the winter. 
Now if this gain in weight is so small, what 
is the cost of such gain, or of holding their own? 
It would be far better to save the food used in 
winter, and apply it towards the fattening of 
Spring pigs early in the Fall. I keep none but 
breeding sows during Winter. My practice is, to 
have my sows come in as near the middle of 
February a,s possible. The sows and pigs are 
kept in a warm, comfortable sty, well protected 
from the prevailing winds. The sow is supplied 
