458 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
quire more food to fatten them, or to keep them 
in good condition, than sheep that have attain¬ 
ed their growth, and are in good health. 
, In fattening sheep in winter in our severe 
climate, our profits are derived principally from 
the extra price that fat sheep usually bring in 
the spring, and not from the mere increase in 
the weight of the sheep. For instance, last 
December, sheep that could be bought for 4 cts. 
per lb. were worth 8 cts. per lb. in April, if 
moderately fat, and 0 cts. if extra fat. A sheep 
that gains 20 lbs. during the five winter months 
may be considered as doing well. But this would 
not pay for the food consumed if we had to de¬ 
pend merely on the increase in weight of the 
sheep. We should, at 8 cts. per lb. get only 
$1.60 for five months’ feeding. But if we buy a 
hundred pound sheep for 4 cts.per lb. and it gains 
20 lbs., and then sells for 8 cts. per lb., it would 
bring $9.60 and we get $5.60 for feeding, etc. 
This will pay as well in our opinion as any 
ordinary branch of farming ought to pay. 
The real point in fattening sheep in winter is 
to have the sheep nearly fat before winter sets 
in. It will not do to attempt to fatten the 
“ worst lambs.” If we attempt to fatten lambs 
at all, they must be of the very best quality, and 
should have extra food during the summer and 
autumn. We would advise our young friend to 
adopt the following course: Select good, com¬ 
mon, long-wooled ewes. Then get a thorough- 
bred Cotswold ram. We should prefer one that 
manifests a tendency to early maturity, rather 
than to extra size. Have the lambs come in 
April or the first of May. While in lamb, keep 
the ewes in good, healthy condition; not too 
fat and certainly not too thin. After they have 
lambed, feed liberally, so that the ewes will have 
The 
A 
Fig. 2.— RUSTIC BRIDGE. 
abundance of milk. This is a very important 
point. If the grass is not ready, give good 
clover hay and bran with roots and a little 
grain. We find bran excellent food for suck¬ 
ling ewes, either with or without roots. When 
turned out to grass, we would continue to sup¬ 
ply them with what clover hay and bran they 
would eat, also a little grain, say, from half a 
pint to a pint per day for each sheep. This will 
give the lamb3 a good start, which is half the 
race. Let them have good pasture during the 
summer and fall. If the pasture is not first- 
class, feed a little oil'-cake or bran and grain. 
Feed well, during the winter, on good barley 
and wheat straw, with a pound of oil-cake, each, 
per day, and towards spring feed clover hay; 
or, if preferred, feed clover hay during the 
whole winter instead of straw and oil-cake. 
The next summer feed liberally, and by the first 
of November the sheep will be in prime order. 
Then shut them up and feed clover hay and 
oil-cake for about six weeks, and send the sheep 
to the market for Christmas mutton. By this 
Fig. 1.— BIRD-HOUSE. 
time the sheep should average 200 pounds 
each, and would command a high price, 
point we wish to 
make is, that in our 
severe climate, we 
should aim to fat¬ 
ten our sheep dur¬ 
ing the summer. 
In the hands of 
experienced feed¬ 
ers, sheep can be 
fattened during the 
winter; and those 
who can purchase 
the right kind of 
sheep in the fall 
at ordinary rates, 
often make a good 
deal of money 
by fattening them 
for market. But it is getting more and more 
difficult every year to find the right kind of 
winter sets in. All that we should attempt to 
do in winter is to finish off the sheep, make them 
ripe for the butcher, and find a good market. 
Structures in Rustic Work. 
The term “ rustic work ” is now used for 
many objects made of materials, the surface or 
the shape of which is left in the natural condi¬ 
tion. The smallest flower-baskets, consisting of 
a bowl ornamented with cones and crooked 
sticks, and large, even elegant, edifices, such as 
are seen upon our parks, are classed under the 
rather comprehensive name of rustic work. 
Probably no finer specimens of this style of 
architecture can be found anywhere than at 
New York Central Park; the shelters, summer 
houses, seats, arbors, boat-landings, and bridges, 
built in this manner, are numerous, and are 
tasteful in design and executed in a workman¬ 
like manner. It is probable that the successful 
introduction of rustic work at the Park has done 
much towards popularizing it, for we now sel¬ 
dom visit a neighborhood where any attention 
is given to rural adornment that we do not see 
more or less ambitious attempts at this kind of 
decoration and frequently excellent examples. 
Work of this kind should present the expres¬ 
sion of durability and solidity. Its very rude¬ 
ness of exterior demands that there should be 
nothing shaky about the structure. There is no 
wood so well suited to the purpose as the Red 
Cedar,not only on account of its great durability, 
but because the natural growth of its branches 
presents a great diversity of angles and curves, 
twists aud knots, that in the hands of a skillful 
workman give most pleasing effects; besides 
these, its color is a harmonious one. No instruc.- 
Fig. 4.— RUSTIC BEE-ST VND. 
sheep. And it certainly will not pay to attempt 
to fatten sheep that are in poor condition wi'en 
Fig. 3. —COVERED ARBOR. 
tion can make one a clever builder of rustic 
work, he must have a natural ingenuity that 
will allow him to combine irregular shapes into 
something like symmetrical forms. A mere as¬ 
sociation of grotesque branches is not pleasing. 
There must be an architectural design, and the 
details of this worked out by the ingenious use 
of natural materials. We give a few illustra- 
trations of simple structures. In fig. 1, we have 
a bird-house and a support for climbers com¬ 
bined. The central pillar is made sufficiently 
strong to support the structure, and the vines 
are trained to the corners by means of wires. 
Fig. 2 is a bridge upon the estate of Edwin A. 
Saxton, Esq., at Tenafly, N. J. Rustic work is 
often used with fine effect in small bridges, and 
though this is less regular in its design than 
some we have seen, the effect is very pleasing. 
The covered arbor, fig. 3, is an exceedingly sim¬ 
ple design. It is over one of the path-ways at 
Central Park. Fig. 4 is a bee-stand at Central 
Park. The roof, and enclosed sides, and ends 
are covered with split sticks of Red Cedar. 
