VOL. LII. 
NEW YORK, APRIL 8, 1893. 
PRICE, THREE CENTS 
$ 1.00 PER YEAR. 
A NEW HYBRID BARLEY. 
I have sent to The R. N.-Y. by mail some samples 
of the hybrids obtained from a cross of a variety of 
two-rowed barley known as “Swedish,” and a six- 
rowed sort known as “ Baxter’s,” the result of a cross 
which was made by me in the summer of 1889 . I have 
inclosed also a sample head of each of the parent 
sorts. The two-rowed barley was used as the female, 
hence the sports have all sprung from two-rowed 
seed. It can he seen that this lot of heads show a 
number of intermediate forms between pure two- 
rowed and pure six-rowed. 
I have found a great 
variation in the size of the 
two rows of kernels on each 
side which have been added, 
and which are merely indi¬ 
cated by undeveloped chaf¬ 
fy scales in the two-rowed 
head. In some instances 
these kernels are quite 
small, in others they are 
almost uniform in size with 
those in the lateral rows. 
The heads on different 
plants sport very much, 
hut those on the same plant 
are closely alike. [Among 
our rye-wheat hybrids we 
have never found that heads 
of the same plant varied. 
Eds.] In time of ripening 
these crosses vary from 
July 29 to August 8. The 
heads also vary very much 
in length, and also in length 
of heard. 
These have all been 
grown from two kernels 
obtained by a cross made 
in 1889 , and the greater 
part of them are from one 
original kernel, which 
showed from the first a 
great tendency to sport. I 
have examples of all forms 
of variation from pure two- 
rowed to pure and even- 
grown six-rowed, all from 
these two kernels of two- 
rowed seed. I have en¬ 
deavored to separate them 
into groups, and a few of 
the types last season proved 
to be fairly well fixed, 
while others sported very 
much. In form of kernel 
there is also very great 
variation. In the six-rowed 
parent, male, the kernel is 
short, thick and rounded ; 
in the two-rowed, female, flat, longer and larger. 
The straw varied much in stiffness, some plots being 
completely lodged during the past season, while 
others adjacent 'and exposed to the same conditions 
remained standing. wm. saunders. 
Director Central Experimental Farm, Department 
of Agriculture, Dominion of Canada. 
[A trial quantity of Prof. Saunders’s barley crosses 
was planted im one long drill in the garden at the 
Rural Grounds last, spring. The plants grew vigor¬ 
ously until they began to 4 head out, when they became 
so infested with rust that the most we could learn 
from the trial was that the heads varied much as 
Prof. Saunders describes. The illustrations, Fig. 93 , 
show photo portraits of heads raised in Canada by 
Prof. Saunders.— Eds.] 
AMONG THE DORSET HORNED SHEEP. 
[Editorial Correspondence.] 
Keeping Sheep on High-Priced Land. 
Beautiful for situation is the home and farm of T. S. 
Cooper, President of the Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders’ 
Association. The farm is located in the broad and fer¬ 
tile Saucon Valley, just outside the little hamlet of 
Coopersburgb, about a dozen miles south of Bethle¬ 
hem, Pa. Directly to the north, looking up the 
valley, looms Lehigh Mountain, while ranges of 
hills bound either side. 
“How much land have you here?” I asked Mr. 
Cooper, whom I found snugly ensconced in a neat and 
commodious office, forming a part of the tasty cot¬ 
tage in which he dwells. 
“ About 200 acres; but I get as much from one acre 
of it as most of my neighbors get from three of theirs, 
so its capacity is not measured by the number of acres.” 
“ How long have you owned the place?” 
“ Ever since I owned anything. I was born here. 
This is the old homestead, although I have made some 
additions. This is the old Peter Cooper farm.” 
“ The man o* whose memory New York boasts ?” 
“ No, and probably not related to him, unless dis¬ 
tantly.” 
“ What is the average price of farm land in this 
vicinity ? ” 
“ About $125 per acre, though I paid considerably 
more for some I purchased. You ought to visit us in 
the summer to see the soil, and how productive it is.” 
The sheep, horse and tool barns are in the rear of 
the dwelling house, and theigeneral arrangement much 
resembles a capital T. The upright part contains the 
horse stables, harness rooms, etc., with storage over¬ 
head. Few horses are kept except what are needed to 
do the work of the place. A Welch pony mare and a 
couple of her colts were about the only exceptions. 
These sturdy little animals, broad of chest and deep 
of shoulder, probably com¬ 
bine more strength and en¬ 
durance for their size than 
any other equine extant. 
The right of the crossbar 
of our letter T represents 
tool and storage rooms, etc., 
while in the left are the 
sheep pens with hay lofts 
overhead. These structures 
are all substantially built 
of wood, with vertical sid¬ 
ing well battened, and the 
roofs are covered with slate. 
There are a number of 
sheep pens, thus dividing 
up the flocks into smaller 
numbers. 
How the Sheep Are Made 
Comfortable. 
“Of what is the floor com¬ 
posed ? ” I inquired, as the 
heavy coating of straw 
rendered it invisible. 
“Of clay, which makes an 
excellent floor. You notice 
the feed racks are all around 
the outside of the building. 
(A picture of one of these 
racks is shown at Fig. 94 , 
reprinted from last year’s 
R. N.-Y.) The hay is 
thrown down from above 
into these without getting 
any chaff into the sheep’s 
wool. The upper part of 
the racks is made tight, 
and the lower slatted, so 
that the chaff and seeds 
cannot rattle down into 
the wool while the sheep 
are feeding.” 
“ What is the object of 
these small pens off from 
the others ? ” 
“Those are to allow the 
lambs a little extra feed. 
You see there is an open¬ 
ing which only a lamb can 
get through, and a trough inside always contains feed 
for them.” 
“ What do you feed ? ” 
“ Hay and whole corn in the morning. I prefer 
clover hay, but can’t always get it. At night I always 
feed ensilage and bran, and corn and cob meal equal 
par ( s by measure, with a little old-process linseed 
cake, about a peck for 60 sheep. I get this latter 
fresh from Philadelphia, and consider it worth more 
than any other. Of this mixture, I feed about a pint 
to each sheep ” 
“ Have you any special rule for feeding ?” 
“Yes; my general rule is to feed everything and 
anything the animals will eat, and so to feed them 
that they are always looking for more. I watch 
the manure to see whetner they are being fed right, 
New Hybrid Barley. Fig. 93. 
