AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
375 
1878.] 
triangle is surveyed. He sold out a year since 
to George C. Miller, another New Yorker, who 
is now in possession, for about $8,000. Those 
who imagine the Rocky Mountains a scene of 
bare rocks and sterility would be surprised to 
look out upon the fertile meadows, the wooded 
parks, and the forest-clad hills that surround 
this frontier home. Mr. Miller is doing a thriv¬ 
ing business as a farmer, and seems quite con¬ 
tent with his lot. He has about 75 head of 
cattle and 18 horses upon his ranch, and milks 
20 cows. Cattle are worth four cents a pound 
live weight, averaging in his herd about $35 a 
piece. Butter sells for 50 cents a pound, and 
the market is near in the mining districts; beef 
is worth 10 to 14 cents a pound; horses at four 
years old are worth on an average $150, and 
the market is lively. Stock-raising brings 
money easier than anything else, and the temp¬ 
tation is to neglect the tilling of the soil, though 
other crops pay well. Wheat is a sure crop, 
and the yield is from 30 to 40 bushels to the 
acre, worth two and a half cents a pound. 
Everything is sold by weight in Colorado. Oats 
yield from 40 to 75 bushels to the acre, weigh 
42 pounds to the bushel, and are worth two 
and a half cents a pound. Rye and barley grow 
as well as wheat, but are not so generally 
grown. They are worth three cents a pound. 
The potato is as much at home here as in the 
Green Mountains. Everywhere the crop is lux¬ 
uriant, and the tubers are of the finest quality. 
Mr. Miller raised last year a thousand bushels 
upon seven acres, and sold them for from two 
to six cents a pound. They keep well in this 
cool atmosphere all through the summer, and 
old potatoes are selling, August 2d, at six cents 
a pound. All the new potatoes in market are 
from California, and are of poor quality. All 
the cereals thrive except corn, which can only 
be grown for green ears and for fodder. The 
garden crops, peas, lettuce, beets, carrots, par¬ 
snips, onions, thrive, though they come to a late 
maturity. The wild grass, which makes a very 
sweet hay, is cut and baled and sold to travel¬ 
ers, and thus turned into money. The rain-fall 
is abundant all through the summer months, 
and crops mature without irrigation. There is 
little snow in winter, and store cattle do well 
without fodder. The autumns are long, dry, 
and pleasant, and more snow falls in April and 
May than during the winter. The old residents 
are charmed with the climate, and pronounce 
it the best stock-raising country in the world. 
The original log house is still standing, though 
a much larger and better frame building has 
been erected. A large barn is now going up 
for the storing of hay to supply the wants of 
the mining districts. The great drawback to 
prosperity here seems to be the high price of 
labor in the kitchen. The wages of servant 
girls are from $10 to $14 a week, and very diffi¬ 
cult to procure at that. There is also com¬ 
plaint that the railroads have spoiled the 
business of freighting, and, of course, interfered 
with the profit of the country hotels. Money 
is not as abundant as it was a few years ago. 
There is another side to this question ; it is 
quite certain that railroads will bring the kitch¬ 
en help that is needed from the East, where 
this kind of labor is worth but a quarter as 
much. Such a paradise for servant girls can 
not long remain vacant. The railroads, too, 
are bringing summer tourists in large numbers 
to breathe this mountain air and to admire 
this charming scenery. Such a refuge from the 
summer heats, where there are no dog-days 
and the atmosphere is always delicious, cannot 
fail to draw increasing multitudes as it becomes 
better known. The air this August morning is 
as crisp and bracing its the October days of the 
sea-board. The Colorado farmer in the moun¬ 
tains has an enviable lot. 
A Good Cross in Sheep—Cotswolds and 
South-Downs. 
One of the most profitable products of East¬ 
ern farms is early lambs. For a month or six 
weeks the demand is lively, and a farmer can 
sell all lie can raise to the butchers at fair 
profits; or if he prefer it he can retail in the 
nearest city r market for twenty to thirty cents, 
averaging about twenty-five cents a pound. The 
dressing of lambs is not a difficult process, and 
many farmers near good markets dress their 
own lambs and sheep as regularly as they do 
their poultry. They find it makes a difference 
of nearly a quarter in the amount of sales from 
their flocks. We had had good results from a 
flock of South-Down grades for two years, 
raising nearly all the lambs dropped, and sell¬ 
ing them dressed during the summer for an 
average of about seven dollars. The butchers 
wanted them at four-and-a-half and five dollars, 
but we did not covet their greenbacks. The 
only fault we had to find with the South-Down 
grades was lack of size. They would dress 
from thirty to forty pounds. The flesh is 
savory, and to our taste better than any buffalo 
or deer we get in Eastern markets. 
Last fall we procured a thorough-bred Cots- 
wold buck from the flock of L. A. Chase for the 
purpose of securing larger lambs. He was put 
with the flock quite early, and all the lambs 
came in March. We had anticipated some 
trouble in the parturition of the ewes, but the 
large lambs were safely delivered without any 
unusual peril, and we only lost one of a pair of 
lambs several days after birth. The lambs are 
exceedingly thrifty, have had no disease among 
them, and will average at least twenty-five per 
cent heavier than the lambs of former years. 
The pelts have much longer wool, and will sell 
for considerable more. Of course, the receipts 
from lambs this year must be at least a quarter 
more than that of last year, without any increase 
in the cost of production except in the cost of 
the buck and in the increased amount of food 
consumed. As they have run in the same pas¬ 
ture, the increased cost is only perceptible in 
the hay-mow and meal-bin. All that we an¬ 
ticipated in the cross is fully realized. The 
Cotswold, we think, is not quite so hardy as the 
South-Down and other coarse-wooled sheep. 
But the cross has all the good qualities of the 
dam with the size of the sire. We have no 
doubt that it pays to buy a thorough-bred 
Cotswold buck for the purpose of raising lambs 
from common coarse-wool sheep or South- 
Down grades. It might pay better, perhaps, to 
hire the use of the ram, and if there were de¬ 
mand enough among our sheep-breeders for 
this kind of service it would be met by the Cots¬ 
wold breeders, and we could have the annual 
letting of bucks as they have in England. 
Sheep husbandry would be much more profit¬ 
able in Virginia and the Carolinas than in the 
North but for the dogs. Sheep masters there 
could meet the demand for early lambs in March 
and April in our large cities, and could get much 
higher prices without any additional cost of 
production. Lands are cheaper, the climate is 
mild, and everything favors the cheap produc¬ 
tion of sheep and lambs to meet the demands 
of this early market. We can recommend 
the cross under consideration as admirably 
adapted to meet the wants of the market. 
This cross has not been much attempted in 
this country on account of the scarcity of Cots¬ 
wold sheep. But in England it is very common, 
and is thought to be one of the most profitable 
in the sheep-raising districts. Tom Brown of 
Norfolk County and Hugh Aylmer sell and let 
annually close upon eight hundred rams, chiefly 
to the farmers in the county and vicinity, who 
use the rams for crossing with some sort of 
Down ewe—South, Hampshire, Wiltshire, or 
what is now called Suffolk-Down, the latter a 
black-faced sort. It is said by these farmers, 
who have a sharp eye to profits, that the pro¬ 
duce of this cross—half-bred Down-Cotswolds 
—are probably sheep that come earlier to matu¬ 
rity, make more wool and mutton, and conse¬ 
quently more money than any other sort the 
world over. They arc not, however, sold gene¬ 
rally as lambs but as yearlings, 12 to 15 months, 
worth from $20 to $23 a head. Of course, 
such sheep must have liberal feeding—about all 
the grass, turnips, and linseed-cake and meal 
they can consume. This extra feeding pays in 
the increase of wool and mutton and in the 
superior quality of the manure dropped by the 
sheep. Connecticut. 
The Good Points in the Rouen Duck. 
We have raised Rouen ducks for three sea¬ 
sons, and they are growing in favor on the 
farm and, judging from sales, elsewhere. They 
are without doubt the descendants of the Mal¬ 
lard, and are the result of persistent breeding 
for size through many generations. They are 
the Shorthorns of the duck family, growing 
with great rapidity, and attaining a larger size 
at maturity than most other varieties. It is not 
uncommon for them to weigh four pounds at 
two to three months old, making them very 
desirable to raise for the summer market at 
watering places, where poultry brings the high¬ 
est price. At maturity they will weigh from 
eight to ten pounds if well fed, which is a mat¬ 
ter of prime importance in raising Rouens. 
They are very superior layers, beginning quite 
early in the spring and not unfrequently laying 
in the fall. They are more careful of laying in 
the nest than the other varieties, and there is 
much less danger of losing the eggs when they 
have their liberty. The eggs are large and of 
excellent quality, and for most purposes quite 
as valuable as hens’ eggs. They are as domes¬ 
tic as common dung-hill fowls, never wander¬ 
ing fir from the yard. If they have access to 
a pond they come home regularly at night and 
are easily managed. Though a pond or run¬ 
ning water is always desirable in raising water- 
fowl it is not essential for the Rouens. If they 
have fresh water in a trough every day it will 
meet all their wants, and they will thrive nicely. 
For the ducklings, a shallow vessel like a 
bake-pan, an inch or two deep, answers a good 
purpose. Clean, fresh water every day is of 
more importance than the quantity. The secret 
of large growth does not lie altogether in im¬ 
ported stock of the largest size. The large 
stock is exceedingly desirable, but it will soon 
deteriorate without full feed and constant atten¬ 
tion. If you want Rouens of large size feed 
regularly and often from the time the ducklings 
begin to eat until they attain maturity. Coaise 
Indian meal or hominy scalded is good staple 
food, but this should be varied occasionally 
with other grain, grass, vegetables, and animal 
food. Offal from the fish or butcher’s market 
is highly relished, and makes them thrive. 
