1865. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
43 
permitting towns or counties to legislate on the 
subject for themselves—that is to enforce a law 
against dogs, or not, according to whether the 
dog interest or the sheep interest is strongest, 
is making a farce of legislation. 
FORM OF PETITION. 
To (tie Homralle Senate and House of Eq>resenta- 
fives, of (he State of . 
The undersigned, inhabitants of the County of 
. ..., in the State of.... re¬ 
spectfully represent: That many of us suffer di¬ 
rectly and personally, and all of us indirectly, 
from the destruction of sheep by dogs, and that 
tire ravages of dogs are so great as to be a seri¬ 
ous detriment to the prosperity of this State, by 
preventing farmers from entering largely into 
sheep raising. We therefore earnestly request 
your Honorable body to pass a law for the reg¬ 
istration of all dogs, imposing a tax upon every 
dog and dog pup of not less than one dollar, 
and upon every slut and slut pup of not less 
than five dollars; and at the same time urge 
that the law be so framed as not to be easily 
evaded, and that its accurate carrying out be se¬ 
cured by rigorous penalties. To this end your 
petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. 
-—I- — —-- 
The Sheep Mania. 
For several years there has been a gradually 
increasing interest in sheep raising, which seems 
now to have reached nearly its height in a 
mania for paying most exti'avagant priees for 
fine wool sheep of different breeds. The rise 
and course of this mania—for such it now really 
amounts to—has been marked by much more 
common sense, practical views, than those which 
prevailed when the delicate little Saxony sheep 
sold for so much, and infused their next to 
worthless blood into most of the best flocks in 
the country. The exquisite fineness of their 
wool had been produced at the expense of 
the constitution of the breed, and the result of 
this extensive importation and dissemination of 
the Saxons in this country was to degrade the 
vigor of our merino flocks, reduce the weight of 
the fleeces, not increasing the fineness in pro¬ 
portion, and on the whole greatly to discourage 
the efforts making for the improvement of our 
fine wool flocks. This taken in connection with 
the uncertainty of our tariff laws, was sufficient 
to bring the fine wool sheep into discredit. 
Now, however, it is very different. A breed 
of very great excellence has been virtually 
originated among us, and become extensively 
disseminated. This breed of American merinos 
we have before repeatedly alluded to—com¬ 
bining as it does the excellences of the Spanish 
merino, with larger size, better form, heavier 
fleece. It is not remarkable that upon the in¬ 
creased demand for wool, and the inflation of 
prices brought about by the war, the trade in 
sheep should have received a great impetus. At 
the same time almost, one of our enterprising 
breeders obtained at a World’s Fair in Germany 
the highest prizes for some of these sam'e sheep, 
thus giving them a world-wide reputation, which 
brought to a certain extent a foreign demand, in 
addition to greatly increasing the demand for 
the American Merinos at home. We hear of 
sales of rams for $800, $1,000, $2,500, and ewes 
and lambs in proportion. It is even reported 
that Mr. Edwin Hammond, of Vermont, refused 
to take $10,000 for his ram “ Golden-drop.” 
jMany people have taken to sheep raising who 
were entirely ignorant of the business, and 
every animal which had the look of a Merino 
and a greasy fleece has had a ready market. If 
a young man, with a good farm, well adapted 
to sheep culture, with a free capital of $50,000 
to $200,000 to start business, and withal hav¬ 
ing knowledge of farming, a good business edu¬ 
cation, and love for animals, wishes to begin to 
breed sheep, with a view to establishing a flock, 
and making breeding and improvement of sheep 
a life-business, he can afford to pay very high 
prices for his original stock, and for such ani¬ 
mals as he deems, necessary to improve his 
flock in any important points. Others, who 
breed for the current profits less than for ulti¬ 
mate reputation, can not afford to pay these 
high prices. They will never get their money 
back, except in the cases of some owners of 
extensive flocks, upon which the influence of a 
few rams of good quality may be very great. 
In view of the fact that the use of well-bred 
males is the surest method of improving any of 
our domestic animals, it is safe to assume that 
there will constantly be a demand for good 
rams at remunerative prices. Sheep raising 
within easy reach of good markets ought to 
have reference to them, and to the production of 
flesh, rather than wool. The price which the 
coarser kinds of wool have brought the past 
season will impress this upon sheep breeders. 
So great has been the demand for certain grades 
of coarse wools that they have brought higher 
prices than superior grades of Merino and 
other fine wools, and have met with a much 
quicker and more advantageous market. Tlie 
price of sheep for slaughter has been high, keep¬ 
ing pace fully with the cost of corn and hay. 
--- 1 0 — --- 
What are Goats Good For ? 
“ Good for nothing!” exclaims the down¬ 
town citizen, as he takes his airing along the 
Avenues leading to the Park, and spies the 
beasts nibbling stramonium, dock, thistles, and 
other coarse herbs in the vacant lots. “A per¬ 
fect nuisance !” cries the up-town housekeeper 
as she ejects them forcibly from the front yard, 
or snubs their noses with a broom stick, when 
they are poked through the fence. She is about 
half right. An animal out of place is a nui¬ 
sance, as a plant out of place is a weed. A pig 
in a flower garden snuffing the perfume of 
mignonette and roses is decidedly objectionable, 
though he might be a gem of a brute thrusting 
his unjewelled snout into a muck heap, and 
feasting upon larvm and bugs. 
There can be no doubt that the thousands of 
goats that roam unmolested in all the suburbs 
of our cities are great torments to all eivilized, 
orderly citizens. They are thieves and burglars 
breaking into your premises at night, crawling 
through the smallest possible hole, and climb¬ 
ing over the most exemplary fences. You plant 
a favorite shrub in your yard, the gate is left 
open by some careless visitor, the goat enters, 
and your darling is stript in an hour of every 
thing that made it valuable. If it escape death 
not a flower bud is left upon it; and hardly a 
twig smaller than a pipe stem. You have goat 
tracks, filth, and destruction, instead of your 
pretty flowers. Unless you are a Christian 
very much subdued and resigned to earthly 
losses, you will have indignation and wrath, 
heart burning and harsh words for the poor 
Bridgets who pasture their untidy flocks on your 
green area. No doubt this nuisance ought to 
be abated as much as mad dogs. 
But the question has another aspect to the 
Squatter Sovereigns who rule in our suburbs. 
“ In faith sir, the baste gives the richest of milk, 
and wht^t d’y® tbink is a poor man’s tay worth 
widout a sup of milk ? Don’t ye see that the 
goat turns every praty peeling info milk, and it 
don’t cost me a penny.” Patrick’s view of the 
case from his side of the question is a very sen¬ 
sible one. These animals turn every foul weed, 
and every waste of the shanty into wholesome 
food for his children, and their chubby cheeks, 
flaxen hair, and rolling blue eyes, full of frolic 
and fun, are a good certificate for the alimentary 
value of the article. What does he care for the 
trouble his brutes give his rich neighbors ? 
Don’t he live in a free country, and don’t tlie 
grass grow for the good of eveiy body, and 
wouldn’t the grass and weeds run to waste if 
his goats didn’t eat them ? The goat is a very 
useful animal to the Squatter Sovereign, and he 
will not give up his chattels until the strong 
arm of the law compels him to. There ought 
to be a tax of ten dollars levied upon every goat 
kept upon New York island. Perhaps that 
would right this great public wrong. While 
the Squatters can get their three quarts of milk 
a day from each new milch goat, they will not 
be likely to give up their privilege. 
Among civilized people the goat is a useful 
pet for children—a sensible substitute for a dog, 
inasnutch as he draws a wagon better and don’t 
bite so hard. Ho does not get rabid and impart 
his virus to your child. If he butts him over, the 
fall is not apt to be dangerous, and rarely conies 
unprovoked. He is also a good substitute for a 
grub hoe and bush scythe. If you want clean 
work made with a rockj'- bush pasture, put in a 
flock of goats. You can sell your scythe for old 
iron. But before you make your investment in 
goats, please remember that they are death on 
fruit and ornamental trees as well as bushes. 
Italianizing Bees in Box Hives. 
BY a. QUIMBY. 
Many bee keepers would introduce the Ital¬ 
ians in their apiaries, if it could be done with 
the box hive. I will give a method by which, 
with only one movable comb hive, a small 
apiary may be Italianized in a season. First, 
introduce an Italian queen into a colony in the 
movable comb hive. No matter about the bees 
being all changed; if the queen is inaugurated, 
it is all right. Drive out all the bees of some 
good stock into an empty hive,'and set this on 
the stand. Take the hive from which the bees 
were driven, with its contents, to the stand of 
the one with the movable combs. Lift out 
the combs and shake or brush the bees down 
by the box hive, into which they will enter im¬ 
mediately. Now take the movable comb hive 
with contents to the other stand, and shake that 
colony into it, and you have simply traded 
hives for each colony, and each will carry on 
the operations of the hive, the same as if it had 
always been there. The one in the movable 
combs can now be controlled. After a few 
hours, when the bees have become quiet, take out 
the combs, find and destroy the common queen. 
In a week cut out all the queen cells, and in¬ 
troduce an Italian queen, and when she has 
filled the comb with eggs, four or five days 
after, this colony may be transferred also. The 
process may be continued until all are changed. 
The cells cut out being Italian, may be put into 
the rearing boxes to hatch. I have given this 
method—perhaps unseasonably—that it may 
be understood, and one or more movable comb 
hives be prepared before the season to operate. 
Make a man think he is more cunning than 
you, and you can very easily outwit him. 
