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THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER.  Sept.  24 
markets  are  better  and  our  prices  higher.  This  Irish 
family  was  economical,  to  say  the  least.  The  oatmeal 
from  their  1  acre  of  oats  provided  most  of  their  bread 
supply,  while  the  straw  went  to  feed  the  cow  !  No  use 
saying  that  oatmeal,  potatoes,  pork  and  milk  are  not 
proper  food — thousands  of  people  who  “  go  West  ”  to 
Dakota  and  other  States  live  on  far  worse  food  than 
that  for  years  in  order  to  “  get  ahead.”  We  know  be¬ 
cause  we  have  tried  it ! 
Cross-Bred  Lambs  for  Market. 
HOW  TO  BREED  GRADE  EWES. 
I  am  asked  for  my  views  as  a  breeder  of  sheep  on 
the  question :  How  shall  we  breed  ?  Shall  we  use 
grade  ewes  of  the  Hampshire  or  Shropshire  cross  upon 
Merino  or  common  ewes  to  get  the  best  results  for  the 
farmer  ?  Owing  to  the  low  price  for  the  American 
Merino  wool,  and  the  increased  price  for  the  Hamp¬ 
shire  or  Shropshire  clip  in  the  sheep-growing  counties 
of  western  New  York,  there  is  a  strong  tendency 
among  old  breeders  to  go  out  of  Merino  breeding 
entirely,  and  there  has  been  a  large  reduction  in  the 
number  of  sheep  and  flocks  among  the  staunch  Merino 
breeders  in  their  ancient  strongholds  of  Yates, 
Steuben,  Ontario,  Livingston,  Schuyler,  Chemung  and 
Seneca  counties.  The  Merino  breeder  with  pains  and 
by  selecting  large,  fine  ewes,  could  get  more  money 
for  the  clip,  as  a  rule,  than  the  coarse  wool  sheep  of 
the  Down  families  would  produce,  but  on  market 
lambs  the  Merino  breeder  is  nowhere. 
Among  other  breeders  holding  well  bred  American 
Merino  flocks,  I  was  forced  to  a  cross,  and  I  used  both 
Hamsphire  Down  and  Shropshire  bucks,  buying  ewes 
and  bucks  from  well-established  herds,  finally  giving 
preference  to  the  Hampshire  cross,  acting  under  the 
advice  of  a  man  near  New  York  in  every  way  qualified 
to  advise  me  by  experience  and  backed  by  my  own 
knowledge. 
I  realize  the  value  of  opinions  and  theories,  but  one 
lesson  we  have  learned  by  experience,  at  our  own  cost, 
is  worth  mountains  of  opinions  and  theories  of  men 
not  based  upon  experimental  trials.  The  lambs  thus 
bred  are,  judging  from  my  experience,  a  great  success. 
They  are  but  little  inferior  to  the  sire’s  family  in  size, 
while  they  greatly  excel  them  in  weight  of  clip,  and 
their  wool  brings  the  highest  market  price.  The 
wether  and  ewe  lambs  also  bring  the  top  prices 
whether  bred  to  be  dropped  in  February  or  March,  or 
in  April.  At  first  I  sold  my  ewe  lambs,  because  of  the 
high  prices  I  was  always  offered,  receiving  sometimes 
$5  for  each  offspring  of  the  Hampshire  Down  at  wean¬ 
ing  time,  with  the  preference  slightly  in  favor  of  the 
Hampshire  Down  cross.  I  am  prepared  to  advise  every 
breeder  who  has  a  Merino  flock  to  cross  them  with 
either  a  full-blooded  Hampshire  or  Shropshire,  and  to 
withstand  the  temptation  to  sell  his  ewe  lambs. 
We  now  reach  the  most  interesting  problem. 
Havingthus  secured  grade  ewes  from  Merino  mothers 
and  Down  sires,  how  shall  we  breed  them  to  be  the 
most  profitable  to  the  breeder,  both  for  mutton  and 
in  wool?  That  is  the  burning  question  of  the  hour 
among  breeders!  Our  first  impulse  is  to  breed  them 
again  to  the  Hampshire  or  Shropshire  buck.  This  has 
its  reward  as  well  as  its  penalties. 
1.  It  will  not  decrease  the  size  of  the  progeny,  but 
rather  increase  it,  and  so  far  as  mutton  goes,  would 
not  be  a  step  backward,  but  there  is  another  side  to 
the  question  now,  and  that  is  the  question  of  wool. 
2.  These  grade  ewes  thus  bred  will,  if  well-bred  on 
both  sides,  shear  an  average  of  8 %  pounds  at  the  first 
cross,  with  exceptional  clips  of  10  pounds  or  even  11  or 
12  pounds,  but  a  whole  flock  from  good  strong  Merino 
mothers  and  good  Down  bucks  of  either  family,  will 
average  about  8%  pounds. 
3.  If  crossed  by  a  Down  buck  the  progeny  will  be  in 
fact  only  one-fourth  Merino  and  three-fourths  Down, 
and  of  course  the  weight  of  the  clips  of  the  lambs 
will  be  less,  and  when  we  consider  that  the  mothers 
and  their  progeny  are  in  either  case  now  in  the  first 
class  of  wool  producers,  and  command  the  highest 
price  for  their  wool,  we  can’t  afford  to  lose  the  dif¬ 
ference  in  wool,  which  would  be  3 %  to  4>£  pounds  on 
a  fleece.  What  can  we  do?  There  are  two  courses  we 
can  take. 
1.  Breed  our  grade  ewes  thus  bred  to  full-blooded 
Merino  b\icks  of  the  large  family.  By  that  I  mean, 
as  the  highest  type  of  excellence,  bucks  out  of  full- 
blooded  registered  Merino  dams  (American  Merino)  by 
the  largest  type  of  the  French  Merino.  It  is  a  buck 
of  this  class  and  thus  bred  that  I  shall  use  the  present 
season  on  my  grade  ewes.  Why?  He  is  scarcely  in¬ 
ferior  in  size  to  the  Shropshire  or  Hampshire  of  the 
same  age,  while  he  has  double  the  wool-producing 
power.  If  it  be  conceded  that  the  get  should  be  five 
pounds  lighter  at  maturity  (which  the  friends  of  that 
family  deny,  and  which  I  cannot  state  as  a  fact,  but 
only  a  fear),  it  is  clear  that  he  will  add  to  the  progeny 
from  2%  to  3%  pounds  more  than  the  mother  shears, 
gnd  this  addition  is  of  wool  at  the  top  of  the  market. 
If  we  should  select  10  of  the  best  of  the  flock  of  this 
class  of  ewes,  and  give  five  of  them  to  the  Merino  and 
five  to  the  Down  buck,  the  difference  in  the  clip  of 
these  would  show  exactly  the  loss  in  wool  by  the  use 
of  the  Down  and  the  gain  by  the  use  of  the  Merino, 
and,  as  the  mother  at  8%  pounds  is  the  standard,  if 
we  found  the  get  of  the  Merino  advanced  only  2% 
pounds  above  the  mother,  while  that  of  the  Down 
dropped  2%  below  the  mother,  between  the  two 
the  difference  would  be  five,  which,  at  30  cents  a 
pound,  is  $1.50,  or  the  cost  of  keeping,  and  these  are 
minimum  figures,  with  possibilities  of  still  larger  dif¬ 
ferences. 
The  other  plan  is  to  breed  the  grade  ewes  to  a  grade 
buck  carefully  selected,  half  Merino  from  the  mother 
and  half  Down  from  the  father,  and  take  the  largest 
in  size  and  the  heaviest  in  wool.  This  keeps  up  the 
size  of  the  progeny  and  tends  to  increase  it,  and  keep 
up  the  wool  to  the  grade  standard  while  tending  to  in¬ 
crease  it. 
Another  and  better  plan,  in  this  same  general  direc¬ 
tion,  is  to  use  a  grade  buck  selected  as  follows  :  Take 
one  from  a  grade  ewe  carefully  selected  and  thus  bred 
by  a  full-blooded  Merino  sire.  Those  I  have  raised  of 
this  type  are,  as  lambs,  in  no  way  inferior  to  the  other 
grades  in  size  or  promise.  They  are,  however,  enor¬ 
mously  superior  in  wool-producing  qualities.  Three- 
quarters  Merino  and  only  one-quarter  Down,  their 
clip  sells  in  the  first  class.  They  will,  without  doubt, 
increase  the  wool  of  the  get  2K  to  3  H  pounds  and 
more  in  exceptional  instances.  The  ewes  thus  raised, 
as  the  breeding  ewes  of  the  future,  will  shear  12  to  14 
and  15  pounds  of  wool.  Their  progeny  should  be  bred 
no  longer  to  the  Merino  family  after  this  second  cross, 
but  to  the  Downs,  or  to  grades  bred  like  themselves. 
They  will  make  almost  a  family  of  themselves,  with 
all  the  merits,  size,  excellence  and  mutton  of  the 
Downs,  and  shear  about  twice  as  much  of  marketable 
wool,  and  this  within  two  crosses.  I  have  full-blooded 
buck  lambs  of  all  the  families,  Clark  bell. 
Bell  View  Farm. 
Notes  from  the  New  York  State 
Fair. 
The  managers  of  the  State  Fair  at  Syracuse  were 
highly  favored  in  the  matter  of  weather.  Thursday, 
the  opening  day,  was  also  “  Children’s  Day  ”  and  all 
under  the  age  of  16  were  admitted  free.  The  public 
schools  were  closed  and  the  young  folks  were  out  in 
full  force  from  the  opening  to  the  close  of  the  day. 
This  is  a  most  commendable  feature  and  should  be 
perpetuated.  The  cash  receipts  on  that  day  exceeded 
those  of  any  other  first  day  in  years. 
This  is  an  “off  year”  in  fruit  in  the  aggregate  and 
an  unusual  display  was  not  looked  for,  yet,  to  the  de¬ 
light  of  all,  it  has  grown  into  the  best  display  ever 
seen  at  a  State  Fair,  with  the  exception  of  last  year’s 
wonderful  aggregation.  Two  enormous  tents,  80x120 
feet  each,  were  filled  with  the  show. 
Mr.  S.  D.  Willard,  of  Geneva,  among  other  notable 
fruits,  shows  a  new  crab  apple  of  Western  origin,  the 
Martha,  which  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice. 
It  is  as  beautiful  a  fruit  as  ever  blushed  in  the  sun¬ 
shine.  But  it  has  other  virtues.  Unlike  the  ordinary 
crabs,  this  one  is  edible  being  tender  and  juicy  and 
with  none  too  much  of  the  astringency  which  spoils 
so  many  of  the  others.  We  should  think  it  would  be 
in  demand  as  a  table  or  dessert  fruit,  being  much 
more  easily  grown  than  the  Lady  Apple  and  much 
handsomer  also.  Mr.  Willard  says  this  is  the  first 
season  he  has  fruited  it  and  he  is  delighted  with  it. 
“How  about  the  sheep?”  we  queried  of  Prof. 
Roberts,  of  Cornell,  at  the  close  of  the  second  day. 
“  Oh,  the  sheep  are  fine.  Last  year  I  found  a  lot  of 
Cotswolds  that  were  very  poor.  I  would  not  go  into 
their  pen  to  examine  them  and  I  said  so  plainly.  This 
year  I  have  just  finished  judging  them  and  they  are 
really  superb.  I  actually  felt  sorry  for  the  third 
premium  man — they  were  really  all  good  enough  for 
the  first.  From  a  casual  look  at  the  other  folds,  I  am 
satisfied  that  they  are  all  excellent  and  show  great 
progress  among  the  breeders.” 
“  Let  us  go  lunch,”  said  mj'  friend  the  Doctor,”  who 
had  just  arrived  on  the  grounds  at  noon  on  Friday. 
We  started  out  when  he  steered  toward  the  nearest 
refreshment  tent. 
“Not  there,  Doctor,”  said  I,  “  i  tried  that  one  yes¬ 
terday  and  I  want  no  more  of  it.  Let  us  try  the  next 
one,  run  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.”  Well,  we  tried  it  and  I 
have  since  been  trying  to  figure  up  which  was  the 
worse.  They  each  charged  50  cents  and  they  gave  a 
most  miserable  feed.  It  would  disgrace  a  Bowery 
hash  house,  where  they  give  “regular  dinners”  for  13 
cents.  It  would  seem  that  the  fair  managers  should 
be  able  to  provide  some  half-way  decent  arrangements 
for  feeding  their  patrons.  The  grounds  are  too  far 
from  the  city  hotels  to  make  these  available  and  so 
the  thousands  of  visitors  must  either  take  their  bread 
and  cheese  with  them,  go  hungry,  or  be  swindled  by 
these  apologies  for  restaurants.  Think  of  these  things 
Messrs.  Managers. 
One  of  the  notable  advantages  of  the  fruit-exhibit  is 
the  annual  straightening  out  of  the  crooked  nomen¬ 
clature  which  there  takes  place.  Scores  of  plates  of 
apples  and  pears  come  to  the  exhibit,  which  are 
wrongly  named.  Much  of  this  is  due  to  the  owners’ 
carelessness  in  their  tree  records,  and  a  part  is  due  to 
the  shyster  tree  agents  who  have  peddled  their  wares 
all  over  the  country.  Almost  every  such  plate  is 
pounced  on  by  some  of  the  pomologists  present,  and 
the  mistake  rectified.  Once  in  a  while  an  exhibitor  is 
found  who  cannot  be  convinced  by  all  the  experts 
backed  up  by  Downing  and  Thomas,  because  his 
father  before  him  always  called  it  by  the  name  he  has 
on  it,  and  it  must  be  right.  Such  characters,  however, 
are  few,  most  of  the  growers  being  anxious  to  be  set 
right  when  in  the  wrong. 
The  floral  display  is  a  fine  one.  It  has  never  been 
excelled  at  any  fair  of  the  State,  with  the  exception 
of  one  held  at  Rochester  a  few  years  ago.  Last  year 
the  tents  for  the  exhibit  were  very  ill  adapted  to  it, 
and  it  was  impossible  to  make  much  of  a  display. 
Profiting  by  the  mistake,  it  has  been  remedied  this 
year,  and  the  show  is  a  fine  one. 
The  premium  list  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society, 
so  far  as  fruits  are  concerned,  needs  revising  at  once. 
Premiums  are  offered  for  only  22  varieties  of  apples — 
a  list  so  limited  that  a  very  large  number  of  our  finest 
fruits  are  left  off.  Among  the  apples  not  in  the  list 
are  Beitigheimer,  Dominie,  Fallawater,  Gilliflower, 
Gloria  Mundi,  Jonathan,  Lady,  Autumn  Pearmain, 
Winter  Pearmain,  Porter,  Rambo,  Seek-no-further,  St. 
Lawrence,  Tallman  Sweet,  Pound  Sweet,  Swaar,  Van- 
devere,  Wagener,  Winesap,  and  many  others.  The 
list  of  pears  for  which  premiums  are  offered  contains 
only  15  varieties.  Among  the  well-known  and  vahi- 
able  sorts  not  on  the  list  are  Belle  Lucrative,  Buffum, 
Clapp’s  Favorite,  Dana’s  Hovey,  Diel,  Kirtland,  Onon¬ 
daga  and  Tyson.  These  are  among  the  best  known. 
The  list  of  grapes  contains  19  varieties — it  should  have 
not  less  than  75.  Among  those  missing  are  Bacchus, 
Clinton,  Brilliant,  Colerain,  Diana,  Empire  State, 
Eumelan,  Green  Mountain,  Hartford,  Iona,  Isabella, 
Lady,  Lady  Washington,  Lindley,  Martha,  Woodruff 
Red,  Wyoming  Red  and  others.  Some  of  these  are 
very  largely  grown  in  this  State  and  it  would  seem 
that  if  a  good  show  is  wanted,  the  list  must  be  ex¬ 
tended.  Another  suggested  reform  would  be  to  strike 
out  the  premiums  now  offered  for  floral  displays  for 
funeral  purposes.  Good  taste  to-day  has  entirely 
tabooed  the  use  of  elaborate  floral  designs  for  funerals, 
and  the  “  Gates  Ajar”  and  the  “  Golden  Stairs”  which 
are  sent  to  the  fair  seem  quite  out  of  place.  They  are 
too  suggestive  of  mortality  to  say  nothing  of  being 
essentially  vulgar.  Give  the  money  expended  for  these 
cadaverous  reminders  to  some  other  floral  display. 
[Every  query  must  be  accompanied  by  the  name  and  address  of  the 
writer  to  Insure  attention.  Before  asking  a  question,  please  see  If  It  Is 
not  answered  In  our  advertising  columns.  Ask  only  a  few  questions 
at  one  time.  Put  questions  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper.] 
The  Cost  of  Life. 
Comparative  Prices  of  Necessary  Goods. 
QUESTIONS. 
At  the  present  prices  for  articles  at  your  place  of  residence  what 
will  It  cost  you  to  buy  the  following:  A  barrel  of  flour:  10  pounds  of 
sugar;  meat  for  one  month;  a  pair  of  boots  or  shoes;  a  fair  suit  of 
clothes;  a  dress  for  your  wife;  medical  attendance  one  year,  including 
medicines. 
Please  also  give  the  size  of  your  family,  the  special  line  of  farming 
you  are  ln-and  how  nearly  you  supply  your  wants  from  your  farm. 
A  Maryland  Dairyman’s  Expenses. 
I  pay  at  present  $5.10  for  one  barrel  of  flour  ;  50 
cents  for  10  pounds  of  granulated  sugar  ;  $15  for  meat 
for  one  month  ;  $30  for  one  suit  of  clothes  ;  $5  for  one 
pair  of  shoes  ;  $15  for  a  new  dress  for  my  niece,  in¬ 
cluding  making ;  $7  for  medical  attendance.  I  am 
single,  keeping  “bachelor’s  hall,”  the  farm  hands — 
seven  in  number — are  boarded  at  my  house.  They  will 
eat  nothing  but  the  whitest  flour,  costing  from  $5  to  $6 
per  barrel ;  while  I  on  my  own  table  eat  the  unbolted 
flour  bought  at  a  country  roller  process  mill  for  $3.50 
per  barrel.  I  raise  nearly  all  the  meat  my  hands  eat, 
cuiing  about  4,000  pounds  of  bacon,  and  the  fresh 
meat  above  is  meat  bought  for  my  own  table  and  also 
for  the  hands,  to  whom  once  or  twice  a  week  I  give 
fresh  meat  for  a  change.  I  can  get  very  good  ready¬ 
made  clothing  for  $15  per  suit.  We  never  take  patent 
medicines,  and  this  being  a  very  healthy  region,  we  do 
not  need  much  doctoring  ;  in  fact  I  think  that  if  we  let 
Nature  alone  and  eschewed  medicines  of  all  sorts  we 
would  do  much  better  than  if  we  paid  big  doctors’ 
bills.  I  think  this  a  safe  rule:  “Doctors  kill  more 
people  than  they  cure.”  I  have  a  herd  of  80  Jersey 
cows — registered  and  grades — make  butter  and  ice 
