444 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 1 
meadows on black or dark mold containing an ex¬ 
cess of humic acid will show a truly marvelous effect 
after the application of the slag, an abundance of 
clover and other plants appearing with great vigor 
and as if by magic. We find it equally advantageous 
to employ it on grain, forage and soiling crops.” 
“ Do you use the slag alone or in combination with 
potash ? What combination is best ? ’ 
“ On meadows that seldom get stable manure I 
never sow the slag alone, but always with kainit, 400 
pounds of the former and 200 to 300 pounds of the 
latter per acre ; when liquid manure has been spread 
I drop the kainit. The same mixture will do for 
clover, peas, vetches, potatoes and mangolds; also 
barley requires a quantity of potash, rye and wheat 
less and for oats I sow the slag alone always plowing 
it under before sowing the grain. When used by itself 
I mix it with some mold or some damp wood ashes, 
as without this precaution a slight wind would suffice 
to carry it away as soon as it leaves the hand.” 
“ How does it compare with bone or rock ?” 
“ The solubility of the phosphoric acid in bone and 
rock superphosphates (and we do not use either the 
one or the other in the crude state) is liveliest when 
freshly brought into the ground and from that time 
forward decreases, while the solubility of the slag’s 
phosphoric acid increases with time, and this fact in 
itself is an assertion that bone and rock fertilizers 
should be put into the ground close on to the growing 
season and the slag away ahead of it. Now the advant¬ 
age of applying slag against bone and rock fertilizers 
will be so much greater, 1, where circumstances do 
not call for a hurried supply of phosphoric acid, and 
2, where the powers of solution of the soil and of the 
roots are highly developed, or, to put it vice versa, the 
smallest results from the use of basic slag as compared 
with bone and rock superphosphates will have to be 
expected, 1, where a rapid effect of phosphoric food 
is required, and, 2, where the dissolving power of the 
soil and of the plants is relatively small. 
“ Asa means of enriching the soil and subsoil, the 
slag is almost invaluable, and it is a great advantage 
that it can be applied at all seasons of the year with¬ 
out incurring loss. We also prize it for its richness in 
lime by which the use of gypsum has been superseded 
to a considerable degree. Fowdered slag may also be 
used mixed with nitrate of soda or with chloride of 
potash, but should never be mixed with ammoniacal 
salts or with Peruvian guano, because of the lime in 
the slag setting free the ammonia. Outside of the an¬ 
alysis as to its percentage of phosphoric acid, which 
will vary from 12 to 18 per cent, it is of the greatest 
importance to know that the slag has been reduced to 
the necessary degree of fineness, as upon this the sol¬ 
ubility of the phosphox-ic acid entirely depends. 
‘ In Germany all experiment stations have agreed on 
a standard of fineness by adopting a sieve with meshes 
of 0.2 millimeters width through which 75 per cent of 
the ground slag must freely pass; failing to do this 
the slag is condemned as not merchantable and the 
purchaser is not liable to pay for it.” j. f. sarg. 
Hessenhof, Germany. 
SHEEP IN THE ORCHARD. 
MR. WOODWARD ANSWERS QUESTIONS. 
H. C , McKean, Pa .—“ I would like to ask Mr. 
Woodward whether he has ever seen orchards prac¬ 
tically overstocked with sheep ou a large scale, as he 
recommends. Would it do to put over 75 sheep into 
one flock for that purpose ? Would not the strong 
run over the weaker ones when fed grain ? Would 
not the sheep with V-shaped troughs shove the grain 
into little piles so that the stronger would get it all ? 
In short, will Mr. Woodward tell us all about his 
method—how the sheep were kept; how they were 
fed; what they were fed and the best results ?’ 
# 
What I write is always the record of my own 
operations, or the result of closely watching others 
to see what they do and the results. On our farms 
we always keep sheep in our orchards and intend to 
keep a number large enough to have the grass eaten 
as close as an old-style roadside when such was the 
town pasture; but sometimes, as during the present 
spring, it rains so much and the grass grows so fast 
that it seems impossible to put in sheep enough to 
keep the grass eaten close. If one has a large orchard 
it is better to have it fenced into lots so that the 
sheep can be changed often from one part to another, 
or if one has but a single orchard it is better to keep 
the sheep there until the grass is eaten very close, 
and then change to another field for a week or two. 
This is better for the sheep and just as good for the 
orchard, only when the wormy apples begin to fall 
the sheep should be there all the time to take them 
as soon as they drop, before the worms have time to 
escape. 
As to overstocking, it’s only a question of feed and 
care. In the winter we put 20 sheep into a pen 1(5 
feet square, or even less sometimes, and they do 
nicely. Then why will not the same 20 sheep do as 
well in summer on a whole acre, if only fed sufficient 
food and well looked after, especially in the open air 
and broad sunshine. It is perfectly safe to put as 
mary as 200 sheep into a single flock. If the orchards 
are so large as to require more than 200 sheep to eat 
the grass, then they should be divided into lots. Of 
course it is not advisable to put a lot of sheep to¬ 
gether, some strong and some weak, or a lot of weth¬ 
ers with a lot of ewes and suckling lambs ; but let 
them be assorted as to size and vigor, or be kept in 
smaller flocks so as to have sheep of about the same 
vigor together. 
As to the shape of the feeding troughs, we have 
them with broad, flat bottoms and the V-shaped, and 
I have never been able to see aDy advantage in the 
one over the other, except that the lambs, if any are 
in the flocks will delight to run in the flat troughs 
and will do so much more than in the V-shaped. 
Whatever form is used, there should be ample room 
for all to eat without crowding. In fact, there should 
be at least three or four times as much as used when 
sheep are in winter-quarters. The feed can then be 
scattered very thinly and there will be no danger of 
the sheep bunching the feed. Of course it is pretty 
lively work to feed grain to 200 sheep, but it can be 
done with no difficulty. By having the troughs well 
scattered and having the feed in half-bushel handle 
baskets, and by beiDg quick, one can easily keep ahead 
of the rush, and if there is an abundance of trough 
room, the feed will be so thinly scattered that each 
one can be sure of getting its share. If the flock is so 
large as to need more feed than can be carried in a 
single basket, it will aid materially to have at proper 
distances tables rn which to place the full baskets be¬ 
fore commencing to scatter. These may be made by 
driving a single heavy stake or post firmly into the 
ground and nailing a board on the top, sawed off 
square or they may be made by driving three light 
stakes into the ground in a triangle and nailing boards 
to the tops sawed off level. 
Above I have given about all the information needed. 
It is perfectly practicable to keep 20 sheep upon a 
single acre. As before said, it is a question of feed 
and care alone. As to whether it will pay, that is a 
question for the location to decide. Where land is 
worth but a few dollars per acre and sheep can be 
kept on h're for $1 per 100 a week, it would not pay 
unless for the benefit derived by the orchard. But 
where, as here, in Niagara County, N. Y., sheep pas¬ 
ture cannot be hired for less than $3 per 100 per week, 
it will pay for the keep of the sheep alone. We can 
here now buy 200 pounds of bran for $1.25 ; 100 pounds 
of new process linseed meal for $1.25 ; corn for 75 cents 
per 100 pounds, so that for 50 cents we get 6(5% pounds 
of corn, which will make of the feed 366% pounds, or 
over 52 pounds of the mixture for 100 sheep daily. 
With this and plenty of fresh water 100 sheep will do 
better and make more gain in a five-acre orchard than 
in any pasture we can hire. 
Mr. C. can take the prices of feed in his markets and 
easily see whether it is or is not profitable for him to 
so keep his sheep. In this calculation we must not 
lose sight of the value of the manure made by the 
sheep. If we will raise fruit, we must manure our 
orchards. There are no two ways about this. Our 
orchards are unproductive mainly for the want of more 
fertility, and we must buy or make it for them. Now 
the manurial value of the feed given the 100 sheep 
each week as indicated will not be less than $2.50, 
and w 11 consist largely of just what the trees need. 
As to the net results : these consist of the gain of 
the sheep, the manure made and scattered in the or¬ 
chard, and the advantages of having sheep keep down 
weeds, sprouts and insects in the orchard, all of which 
each orchardist can figure for himself. J. s. woodward. 
A FARM WITHOUT A BACKBONE. 
Some weeks ago we gave a picture of a New England 
barnyard leach where the strength of the manure 
mostly went into the brook. Now the scene shifts to 
the West and we show the barnyard of a Western 
dairy farm. At the foot of the steep hill to the left is 
a creek that empties into a larger stream. See how 
the hillside has been dug and furrowed by the escap¬ 
ing water. These lines correspond with the care- 
wrinkles on the forehead of a troubled man. They 
represent the loss of the farm’s backbone—the manure. 
See how that barn is situated. There is no possible 
way for the water to get away from it without run¬ 
ning through the manure. What’s the manure good 
for after that leaching? What’s the difference between 
leached and unleached ashes ? What’s the difference 
between fresh tea and dried tea ‘ ‘ grounds ?” There 
is no more difference in value between these articles 
than between leached and unleached manure. A farm’s 
fertility is its backbone. The owner of that farm is 
washing its backbone out as fast as he can. Did you 
ever see a better illustration of how not to locate"a 
barnyard ? We never did—this one beats all. $ 
THE GUERNSEY IS A GUERNSEY! 
NO JERSEY AROUT HER. 
Either Dignified or Undignified. 
I was surprised to note in large type in a late Rural 
the assertion “ Guernseys are dignified Jerseys.” As 
a Guernsey breeder and enthusiast, pardon my indig¬ 
nation and consequent request to put in the largest 
type that emphatically Ouernseys are not Jerseys, at 
all, either dignified or undignified, and that readers of 
The Rural may not be asked to credulously pin 
their faith to the opinion of one champion, let me 
place before them, further on, what the oldest and most 
experienced of breeders and importers have to say 
about this dairy breed that now leads all the others, 
having triumphed over prejudice, favoritism, fashion 
and speculative “ booming.” 
There are so many typical Guernsey heids even in 
this country that I think it would be difficult to get 
together one of “ all shapes and colors.” Never in my 
experience have I come across a herd of this descrip¬ 
tion. All I have seen have been distinctively similar in 
appearance—for instance, such have been the different 
importations and home-bred animals of Mr. Kent, of 
West Grove, Pa., as well as the lovely herd of Mr. Led- 
yard, of Cazenovia, and the magnificent herd of Mr. 
Fuller’s importation, every one a gem ; and that also 
of Mr. Shaw and many others. Why, in form, color and 
quality, and all the attributes of a dairy breed, these 
have all been a type—a beautiful Guernsey type—no 
“.dignified Jersey,” Holstein, Short-horn or Ayrshire— 
but purely and unqualifiedly Guernsey—over all, 
above all and through all. 
As to their grades, animals of no other breed trans¬ 
mit to their progeny their inbred characteristics more 
forcibly; even the first cross on such antagonistic blood 
as the Holstein bears unmistakable imprint of Guern¬ 
sey prepotency. The Guernseys are like the Jerseys 
in the rich quality of their milk ; but in their contin¬ 
uity of milking and in the marvelous color of their 
cream and butter there is nothing that compares with 
them. 
Mr. Ledyard says of this cow with the golden 
skin, with gilding in her ears and on and around her 
horns : “ She is a farmer’s cow with a gentle face and 
quiet temper, full of affection and abundant in pretty 
ways of showing it. Her milk flows freely and her 
butter has the sunshine that gilds the spring flowers, 
and it holds it all through the long, dark winter of 
the latitude of Labrador. She was sought to enrich 
the milk of the English dairies where it is well known 
that the color that comes with the milk has a flavor 
accompanying it, that is not found with color that re¬ 
sults from stains. The Guernsey man sees no reason 
to breed for qualities other than the practical ones his 
favorite cow has inherited from unknown generations 
of pure ancestry. The aim with which the animals 
are bred is to produce cattle making a large amount 
of the finest high-colored butter in summer and win¬ 
ter, rather than an occasional phenomenal record. In 
quality, quantity and color of the milk, cream and 
butter, no concession need ever be made. The Guern¬ 
seys have been bred for generations for th se points 
and have obtained them fully. They were not traits 
that demanded a sacrifice of any other merit, and the 
Guernsey now has foundation to stand upon as peer of 
any other dairy cow. 
“Among all the perfected classes of cattle,” he con¬ 
tinues, “ none are more pronounced in fixed and really 
transmissible traits than are those of the Channel 
Islands ; indeed it cannot be imagined that any but an 
insular people of unusually conservative purpose could 
have maintained intact their strain of cattle for gener¬ 
ation after generation, resisting temptation in many 
forms and holding fast to their faith in their cherished 
butter kine. One hundred years or more ago, they 
had so much satisfaction in their cattle that it was 
conceded that no intermingling of other blood could 
be an improvement on their favorites, and one enact¬ 
ment reinforced another year after year in guarding 
them from foreign contamination. Fines and penalties 
were provided, until even the ship that should land 
an animal for breeding purposes was forfeited, and 
imprisonment awaited the master and crew. The 
cattle of the Island of Guernsey have remained as 
absolutely pure as any breed that is known. The aim 
that has animated these many years of care has been 
to produce a cow as perfect as possible for the dairy 
of luxury, a cow to produce milk and cream of marvel¬ 
ous richness, and butter that in grain, flavor and 
golden color excels that of any and all other breeds. 
The most remarkable characteristic is the richness of 
the animal. It is seen in every point. The horn is 
soft and full of color ; the hoofs are usually like 
tortoise shell ; the skin is soft and of a golden-yellow 
tint, and the inside of the ears is still more highly 
colored ; while the same orange hue seems to glow 
from the bag, as if there were light under the soft 
skin. In the mature, well-bred animal, both eye and 
hand find evidence that all secretions are rich and of 
