39^3 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
[Notembep., 
Skunks Destroy Honey Bees. 
Mr. M. S. Snow, Forestyille, Chautauqua Co., 
N. Y., reports to the American Agriculturist an 
original ..observation in regard to the fact stated 
in the heading of this article. He writes : 
“ It is a well-known fact that Skunks dig out 
the nests of the Bumble bee, taking the bees, but 
leaving the honey undisturbed. There is hard¬ 
ly a farmer, or farmer’s son, but has met with 
their work while going about the pastures and 
meadows. But it will surprise people to know 
that they will attack bees in their hives and eat 
them readily, as though they were harm¬ 
less as flies. This occurs when the hives are 
near the ground, or within their reach. They 
cany on life worlc dextrously. If no bees are 
outside, and the pickets are withdrawn, they 
will actually stick their noses into the hives and 
snufij to bring them to a sense of their duty; 
and when they come out, they take them right 
and left. At other times they scratch upon the 
hive to accomplish the desired effect. Those 
who keep hives near the earth, and find the 
alighting boards considerably soiled, and the 
grass or earth scratched over, may be sure that 
skunks have been at the bees. This is a matter 
of my own original observation.” 
A Talk on Sheep Breeding. 
Mutton and wool being the products of the 
Domestic Sheep, the one, or the other, or both 
equally, are the especial aim of the sheep keep¬ 
er. Improvements in the carcasses of sheep 
of particular breeds have been attempted, and 
resulted in distinguished success. Efforts to 
cause flocks of sheep to yield finer wool and 
heavier fleeces, have also been eminently happy 
in their results. It seems as if sheep breeders had, 
at least until latel}'-, regarded good mutton with 
a well shaped carcass as incompatible, or unde¬ 
sirable, in the fine-wool producing breeds. That 
mutton is a less than secondary consideration 
with fine-wool growers is natural enough, for 
while mutton sheep live but a few years ordi¬ 
narily, and are best kept in rather small flocks 
and conveniently near to market, fine-Avool 
sheep are allowed to live, and are fattened and 
killed, often, only when their teeth give out. 
They may be kept too in large flocks at a great 
distance from market, their product of wool be¬ 
ing easily packed and safely transported. Hence 
hardiness, and vigor of constitution, are of much 
more importance than fitness of the carcass for 
the table. Ho small portion of the mutton rais¬ 
er’s profits arises from the wool, hence to him the 
latter is of more importance than is mutton to 
the wool raiser. The kinds of wool too, which 
are yielded by the mutton breeds of sheep, meet 
an active and constant demand in the market. 
The attention of farmers has within a few 
years past been called especially to improve¬ 
ments in the Spanish Merino sheep. The 
sheep arc larger, yield heavier fleeces (and 
more avooI), and bein^thoroughly acclimated, 
are probably hardier than when first intro¬ 
duced. Spanish sheep were taken not only 
to America, but into France and Saxon}q and 
from Saxony into this country, Silesia and Rus¬ 
sia, and in each of tlicse countries Avere subject 
to peculiar treatment in accordance Avith the 
views of the sheep breeders in whose hands 
they were; hence Ave have several quite distinct 
breeds of Merino skeep, all departing more or 
less from the original type of the best Spanish 
flocks, which varied also among themselves. 
In all the great advances that have been made 
in the breeding of cattle, sheep, or other ani¬ 
mals, it has been the objeclt of breeders to 
direct the vital strength of the animal to the de¬ 
velopment of the most valuable portions, and to 
do away AAdth the useless or less valuable por¬ 
tions,—to “breed in” good points, and to 
“ breed out” bad ones. In the short-horn cattle, 
for instance, big heads and horns, coarse fleshy 
tails and legs, and skinny necks, are bred out; 
and fine bony heads, thin tails, small bones, sin- 
eAvy legs and thin necks, free from dewlaps, are 
bred in. A similar course Avas folloAved by 
Bakewell, in improving the long-wool sheQp. 
It becomes fine-wool sheep breeders to in¬ 
quire candidly Avhether the system hitherto 
practiced by them is founded upon as correct 
principles. We have been painfully imin-essed 
Avith the fact that many breeders of American 
Merinos, at least in their conversation about theiif 
sheep, and in indicating their good points, talk 
more about the color and abundance of the 
yolk, and the number and position of the 
wrinkles, than about the quantity, strength, 
and fineness of their wool, their Avell-shaped 
bodies and hardy constitutions. 
There is a tendency in the Merinos to 
wrinkle—that is for the skins to be very loose 
and lie in folds or Avrinkles over the bodjx Hoav 
as no more wool groAVS on a Avrinkley sheep than 
on a smooth one, and as Avrinkles make a fleece 
harder to shear, and as the avooI is not so uni¬ 
form and good on the wrinkles and betAveen 
them as upon smooth parts of the body, aa' e say 
wrinkles are useless, a nuisance, a deformity, 
should be bred out if possible. Yet some of 
these breeders seem to pride themselves in 
Avrinkles, and show them off as if they were 
one of the greatest merits their sheep possessed. 
Moreover there is also a natural tendency in 
all sheep, and espceially in fine-Avool sheep, to 
secrete an oily soap in the avooI, Avhich is called 
grease or yolk. This prevents the felting of the 
AA'ool, and its getting dry and breaking; it pre¬ 
vents also the moth attackinglhe fleece, and may 
have other uses, but a maximum good effect is 
attained Avith a comparatively small portion of 
yolk. It seems to us that the greatest quan¬ 
tity really needed, cannot be more than twice 
the weight of the avooI. Yet many Avill wring 
locks of fleece, and exhibit with great glee the 
drops of oil which exude from them, and actu¬ 
ally claim it as a great merit. The production of 
10, 15, or 30 pounds of this greasy soap, (which 
is not uncommon), containing as it does about 
33 per cent of potash, is a serious tax upon the 
vital jAowers of the slieejj; it is moreover use¬ 
less, a tax upon the land, and an unnecessary 
weight to transport to market. Hence we con¬ 
demn excessively greasy fleeces. The Aveight of 
the fleece is no criterion of the actual Aveight of 
wool it contains. Manufacturers knoAV this, and 
avoid the purchase of this greasy wool, or pay 
for it only very safe prices. 
The mutton sheep of the improved breeds are 
hornless, both ewes and rams. The rams of 
fine Avool breeds all carry heavy horns as a gen¬ 
eral rule. These are ornamental, it is true, and 
a wrinkled head with its ponderous circumvolut- 
ed and gnarly hoiais, is very picturesque upon a 
flock leader; but horns are useless, a great tax 
upon the vital powers to produce, dangerous 
AA'eapons besides. Why not then breed out the 
horns? It may be easily done. Years ago an 
American sheep fiuicier ably advocated smooth, 
no-horned Merinos, and actually bred them. 
And we must record our hope and anticipation 
that before long we shall have a breed of har¬ 
dy, good-bodied, short-legged, smooth, fine- 
Avool sheep, peculiarly American in common- 
sense fitness for their uses. 
We were very much gratified to observe that 
the judges at the late Hcav York State Fair at 
Saratoga aAvarded a first prize to a Vermont 
Merino ram nearly hornless—having a single 
horn not bigger than one’s finger. A Vermont 
breeder of fame, not less than Mr. Hammond’s, 
shook his head and said: “ That never could 
have happened in Addison County.”—We hope 
it may some day. 
Mr. Hammond and the other sheep breeders 
of Vermont, who have made such improvements 
upon the original Spanish sheep, have certainly 
gained a much better form for their sheep. They 
are less leggy, their bodies are more compact 
and deeper, they are heavier fleeced, and there 
is more wool in the fleece. The wool besides 
grows all over the sheep, covering the legs and 
the bare spots which used to be on the bellies, 
and, though not so fine, it is of greater length. 
We give a fine portrait of one of these sheep, 
winner of one of the first prizes at the NeAV 
England and Vermont Fair, on our first page. 
It exhibits Avell the striking peculiarities of the 
breed. It is claimed by the breeders, who ap¬ 
pear to set a high value on Avrinkles and grease, 
that these are marks of vigor of constitution 
and ability to transmit their good qualities to 
the progeny. This aa'C are not inclined to dis¬ 
pute, but would like to have the proof. 
— ■ ■ I i n - 
CMcken Ailments. 
Gapes. —Our discussion of this subject in 
former numbers has been tolerably full, but es¬ 
pecially bearing upon a cure—which is effected 
by removing by a feather-tip the worms in the 
windpipes of the chickens, which are the cause. 
The prevention of the ailment is thus treated 
of in a communication to the American Agri¬ 
culturist by N. B. Worthington, Esq., Editor 
of the American Farmer, of Baltimore, Avhich 
journal, though suspended during the war, is 
noAV a Avelcome monthly visitor. 
“I have a word to say to the ‘wide, wide 
AA'orld’ of Chickendom, and ask your permis¬ 
sion to say it through the Agriculturist. Here, 
in Maryland, I have insisted over and again, 
that chickens must not have ‘ Gapes,’ and our 
well bred chickens will no more gape in your 
presence, than the Avell bred boys and girls will 
yaAvn before folks. Elsewhere, I find that 
chickens are gaping still, and scarcely an agri¬ 
cultural Journal, but a remedy is asked or giv¬ 
en. A favorite one is to throttle the poor in¬ 
nocent, and, with a feather or hair, twist a bunch 
of Avorms out of its throat. This may cure, when 
it does not kill, but it reminds me too much of 
an attempt I made in my young days to un¬ 
choke an ox, that had an apple in his throat. 
My bungling attempts killed him. I let the next 
one alone, and he managed the apple himself. 
The chickens may not be so successful, but haA"- 
ing tried this and many other remedies, I Avould, 
if my chickens had gapes, Avhich they haA’e not, 
diligently let them alone. So much for remedies. 
“ For preventives, the New England Farmer 
says: ‘ This disease is caused by colds and sore 
throat, which the chickens get by Avandering in 
the wet grass,’ and the preventive is to keep 
them drjx A Bucks Co. corres 2 Aondeut of the 
Germantown TelegrajAli, replies: ‘How is it 
that they never get that complaint Avhen fed on 
wheat screenings, and alloAved to run when and 
Avhere they please ? ’ This writer adds: ‘ Years 
ago, we fed exclusively on Indian meal, and in¬ 
variably had the ‘ gapes ’ l.o contend Avith.’ 
