1865.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
147 
Thus it is that our western farms are fast being 
depleted, losing all of their virgin richness by 
our persistent “ hogging.” The land of the 
above mentioned hog-breeder, is a fit illustra¬ 
tion of this. Upon three farms he owns, there 
is but one gate and not a single pair of bars. 
His land is exhausted so it will not bring half 
a crop of corn. Year after year the same fields 
have been worn, and now they look white and 
barren; yet he is said to make money. His 
neighbor, the cattle breeder, can at any time get 
double the price for his land, simply because he 
has not “ hogged” his farm. Is not the conclu¬ 
sion just that hog-raising, although it may bring 
present gain, will result in permanent injury, 
and that the western farmer through sheer ex¬ 
haustion of his lands, will be compelled to re¬ 
sort to cattle and sheep raising in imitation of 
his eastern neighbors, to recuperate the exhaust¬ 
ed energies of his naturally fertile soil ?” 
[Note .—The least exhausting system of farming 
is, buying animals which have their growth and 
fattening them for market. The most exhaust¬ 
ing is selling grain and hay, without buying fer¬ 
tilizers. “ Hogging,” as practised in many parts 
of the West, approaches very nearly to this lat¬ 
ter course; and even were the manure all saved 
and made the most of, the draught upon the 
phosphates of the soil would be immense.] 
■ m I I i «> 
Horses at Pasture. 
Every horse in the country ought, if possible, 
to have at least a few weeks run in the pasture. 
It will do for him what no kind of medicine or 
nursing can do as well. It will improve his 
hoofs, his hair and skin, his wind, digestion, 
and blood, will take out stiffness and lameness, 
and put on flesh, and infuse new life generally. 
Before turning horses out, it is well to accus¬ 
tom them gradually to that kind of food, by cut¬ 
ting a little grass for them each day, or allowing 
them to “ bait ” for an hour or so daily in the 
back-yard. And when let out, they should not 
have “ flush” feed at first, as they will be likely 
to over-eat, and injure themselves both in their 
looks and their wind. The best grass for 
a horse pasture is a mixture of Timothy, 
Blue grass, and Red Top. Horses relish this 
feed better w’hen it is moderately short. When 
they are to be turned out for any length of 
time, and not to be used much in the mean¬ 
while, they should have on only a light pair of 
shoes. This will allow the hoofs to come in 
close contact with the soft earth, and will pre¬ 
vent contraction. Where horses can not enjoy 
pasturage, they should have fresh cut grass as 
often as convenient, and should have their stall 
floors covered with tan bark, or better, have 
the planks taken up and clay floors laid. 
Management of Working Oxen. 
It is not so much hard labor that heats oxen 
end makes them loll in warm weather, as the 
ill treatment of rough and abusive drivers. 
Treat them with gentleness when at work; feed 
them well and regularly three times a day, with 
cut hay and straw wet with water, sprinkled 
with oat and Indian corn meal, at least twelve 
quarts, besides some roots daily; let them have 
clean water as often as they are fed, and not 
require them to drink that which is impure, 
or stagnant; give them at least two hours after 
feeding to chew the cud and rest, and they will 
perform a vast amount of hard work, and in¬ 
crease in flesh at the same time, and will usu¬ 
ally he found to be more convenient for many 
purposes than horses. Let it be reiterated that 
it is not the hard labor that oxen perform that 
exhausts their energies. Oxen were made for 
hard service: and if treated kindly and care¬ 
fully, they will labor hard every day, and still 
grow fat. But when fed a stinted allowance of 
poor hay and meal, worried and abused by a 
bawling, ill-natured driver, who incessantly ap¬ 
plies the lash or goad, and dragged out by 
carrying on their necks a huge cart tongue, 
from morning till night, their strength fails, and 
sensible people are lead to conclude that they 
cannot endure the heat like a horse. 
--— —aw . —-- 
Eeclaiming Bog land.....II. 
PRACTIOAI. NOTES BT “ HEEMON.” 
If the operations recommended in a previous 
number have been carried out, the subduing 
effects of the buckwheat crop, together with the 
atmospheric influence upon the upturned soil, 
will have produced a great change in the fria¬ 
bility of it, by the time the crop is ready to har¬ 
vest. A piece of swamp treated in this manner 
by me some years since, was planted the next 
spring with early potatoes, and the crop dug in 
time to sow Timothy and flat turnips—of the 
former six quarts, of the latter one gill to the 
acre—put in about the 10th of August. The 
ground being in fine condition, both grew vig¬ 
orously, and presented from the road a beauti¬ 
ful and rather uncommon appearance, and elic¬ 
ited numerous inquiries respecting what was 
sown. The result was, there grew a fine crop 
of very sweet tender turnips, which, at pul¬ 
ling, appeared to be doing damage to the grass, 
but the next spring those places all filled in, 
leaving no vacancies to show where the turnips 
grew, and a stouter piece of Timothy I never saw. 
Another piece of land treated as before, was 
planted with late potatoes, yielding finely but 
rotting somewhat; followed the next year with 
carrots in drills about twenty inches apart, and 
the mold pressed upon the seed by running a 
wheelbarrow lengthwise over each row, so that 
the seed sprouted quickly and uniformly. Before 
the plants made their appearance, a liberal dres¬ 
sing of ashes was sown broadcast In the after 
treatment I followed the American Agriculturist, 
and obtained a yield at the rate of one thousand 
and fifty bushels per acre. They were pulled 
with less than half the labor required on upland. 
An experiment was tried, viz.: drawing the 
logs when cut, and heaping them to rot on a 
knoll, in place of burning them and spreading 
the ashes over the mucky soil. The seeding 
stood much better where the ashes were spread, 
and the yield of hay was fully double. 
The tendency of Timothy grass on all peaty 
lands, so far as I am acquainted, is to run out 
after the third year, but where the bank of 
earth scraped from the open ditches contained 
gravel, the grass has stood well for ten years. 
This suggested an experiment I am now watch¬ 
ing : Immediately after haying in 1863, I had 
about two acres of this run-out meadow hand¬ 
somely turned over, and shortly after harrowed 
smooth; then before the fall rains set in, I 
covered it evenly, with 850 loads of gravel from 
an adjacent knoll, plowed it before winter and 
left, it in rough furrows. As soon as the 
ground dried a little in the spring (April 6th), 
I sowed with barley and haiTOwed well. The 
expense of the job was $85.00, and as the crop 
of barley was sold at $2.20 per bushel in Sept., 
it more than paid. Now the land is sowed with 
rye and seeded to Timothy, both of which look 
very finely. As a rule, hpwever, I prefer sowing 
the grass seed alone on such land and doing it 
in August, when a good crop of hay may be 
looked for the next season.” 
----- 
Washing Sheep 
It may be for the interests of dealers in wool, 
and manufacturers, to have sheep washed pre¬ 
vious to shearing. But the welfare of the flocks 
and the interests of the owners of valuable 
sheep, which are considerations of paramount 
importance to everything else, are promoted by 
not washing. The farmers’ only reason for 
washing sheep is, that, if the wool be thoroughly 
washed, a man can shear a sheep sooner than if 
it were not washed. Sheep hate wet in every 
form. They dislike wet pastures, wet yards, 
leaky sheds, and, more than all else, wet fleeces. 
When they are washed, the water and the 
weather are frequently quite cold, and as they 
often become uncomfortably warm while being 
driven to the water, and are plunged immedi¬ 
ately into it, and kept there until quite chilled 
through; they are quite liable to contract 
more or less cold, which will many times super¬ 
induce some other disease. This is particularly 
true if the weather continue wet and cold for 
several successive days after washing. This is 
the great argument against the practice of 
washing sheep in our changeable climate. 
Every practice that endangers the health of 
sheep ought, if possible, to be abandoned, and 
not be made subservient to ordinary pecuniary 
considerations. 
Another thing against washing sheep is, that 
cleansing of wool in this manner is often 
of little real advantage, and frequently of none 
at all, as it often becomes quite as dirty be¬ 
fore shearing, as it was before the sheep were 
washed. This is particularly true when sheep 
are not kept in clean pastures after they have 
been washed. Many times it is quite imprac¬ 
ticable to confine every flock in pastures where 
they cannot find some dirty places to roll in. 
Sometimes shearers cannot be obtained at the 
desired time, or the weather is too unfavorable 
to allow the wool to dry sufliciently to be 
sheared, and sometimes the labors of the field 
are so urgent that shearing must be deferred for 
a number of days. All these considerations are 
in favor of abandoning entirely the practice of 
washing sheep. Admitting that it costs more 
per head for shearing unwashed sheep, the ex¬ 
pense of washing will exceed the extra cost for 
shearing without washing. Therefore, these 
two items will balance each other. Then, when 
the difference between the prices of unwashed 
and washed wool, which is not definite, even 
when the absurd one-third rate is insisted upon 
by buyers, is contrasted with the injury which 
may follow washing valuable sheep, it is safe 
to assume that it is better to shear them un¬ 
washed. Moreover, when flocks from various 
parts of the country are driven to the same 
washing-place, there is great danger that sound 
and healthy flocks will come in contact with 
the contagion of diseased sheep that have been 
in the pens to be washed. Many an excellent 
flock of sheep, which has been guarded with 
vigilance by its proprietor, has been well nigh 
ruined, simply by being yarded where sheep 
having the foot-rot had recently been confined. 
What is needed at the present time is, an un¬ 
derstanding between wool growers that all will 
shear their sheep without washing; then the 
practice will soon be abandoned, as neither pro¬ 
motive of the welfare of the sheep nor of the in¬ 
terests of the shepherds nor of manufactvjrers. 
