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142 
MOOllE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 
pet him in various ways, feeding him with a 
nubbin or two of corn. 
Of course he must learn to “ haw'— so I 
strike him geutly on the off car with my 
switch, and with my back to him twist his tail, 
(a little twisting is better than more.) . Hav¬ 
ing succeeded, I conduct him again to his cor¬ 
ner and order him to “ Whoa" —which from 
the force of circumstances he is compelled to 
do. Thus I teach him to “ stand ” as well as 
“ haw," and in a short time he will obey the 
command in any part of the pen. 
After sufficient practice in the pen, 1 let him 
out into a large yard, and there drive him 
with equal success. Here he becomes Mell 
accustomed to the whoa, haw and gee pro¬ 
cesses. But if he does not prove sufficiently 
tractable I return him again to the small yard 
for further discipline. The other steer I serve 
in the same way. 
Preparatory to yoking, I drive them both 
into the pen and exercise them together, mak¬ 
ing one stand while the other come3 up as if 
coming under the yoke, the whip being held 
out to represent the yoke. Then taking the 
bows out of the yoke, I lay it on their necks, 
taking care not to frighten them in the opera¬ 
tion ; then put in the bows, and I have a yoke 
of oxen ! But previous to yoking drive them 
side by side in the large yard. While dri\ ing 
in the large yard, either single or double, use 
a whip eight or ten feet long, and when driv¬ 
ing both put on a lash two feet long. 
Gautioxs. —Keep cool ! Use judgment for 
yourself and for your cattle. If they kick 
you, look out next time, but don’t return the 
compliment, for you arc not to consider youi 
self on equal terms with them. A little pat 
ting and rubbing is better. II you have not 
Christianity enough to return good for evil 
don’t undertake to break steers. I had rather 
break a pair of wild steers for So than a pair 
that has been injudiciously handled for $10. 
Be very careful not to overload them, anu 
never drive them till they get out of breath. 
Many cattle are broken in spirit and consti¬ 
tution while young. Indeed very few know 
what a good, well broke, well fed, and well 
tended pair of oxen can do. Never whip and 
never talk loud. The superiority of this mode 
in economy of time, in ease ol execution, and 
in final results, will be apparent enough to any 
one who tries it. 
Pearl Creek, N. Y., April, 1855. 
Cffmiiuuuntiitnts. 
ROTATION OF CROPS. 
Allowing that scientific and profitable 
farming demands a regular rotation of crops, 
the farmer should pursue that method which 
will yield him the greatest returns, in the 
shortest time, and with the least expense, 
without impoverishing his land. I submit to 
farmers the following system, and without as¬ 
serting of it what the vender of patent medi¬ 
cine claims for his compound—that it will ap¬ 
ply to every case ; yet I believe that there are 
very many instances throughout the land 
where its adoption would be followed in the 
course of years, by such an increase of products 
as would be astonishing. 
Let us take for illustration, a single field 
which we will supppose to be seeded with 
clover. Be sure and turn your stock out time 
enough to let the clover get a full growth be¬ 
fore plowing, and just before the seed ripens, 
turn it completely under. Cultivate the 
ground thoroughly, and in the autumn sow it 
to wheat. Seed with clover again, sowing 
double the usual amount of seed, and the spring 
following the harvest, spread on a coat of com¬ 
post manure, plow it under and plant it to 
corn. After the corn is harvested in the fall, 
plow the ground again, and in the spring sow 
barley or oats, and seed once more with clover. 
Do not be afraid of sowing too much clover 
seed, for on the clover, depends, in a great 
measure, the success of your succeeding crop. 
We have now gone through with a rotation 
of crop 3 , and the next year we will begin 
again with wheat. 
It will easily be seen that by this method 
we obtain three crops in four years, and ma¬ 
nure the land twice, and with clover, and once 
with compost manure. Now let us apply 
this illustration to a farm of one hundred acres 
which the owners desire to devote exclusively 
to the raising of grain. The farm may be di¬ 
vided into four equal portions, of twenty-five 
acres each. One of these will have wheat, a 
second corn, a third, barley or oats, while the 
fourth will be preparing for wheat. Every 
year crops arc taken from seventy-five acres 
and only twenty-five lie idle. 
With deep plowing, and with careful man¬ 
agement in sowing and applying the manure, 
the land will not become exhausted by this 
treatment, but on the other hand, will gradu¬ 
ally improve in richness and fertility. The 
straw and corn-stalks from the seventy-five 
acres, if carefully saved, and properly convert¬ 
ed into manure, with the addition of muck and 
other materials which may be collected, will 
furnish a good coating of fertilizing substance 
for the other twenty-five acres. If the farmer 
has not stock sufficient for the purpose, in the 
tail he can purchase a flock of sheep, (the 
wheat stubble will supply them with pasture) 
and they will not only convert his straw and 
corn fodder into valuable manure, but if he give 
them a little corn daily, in the spring they will 
be fat enough for the market, and in nine cases 
out of ten, he will thus make ahandsome profit. 
If the farmer devotes his whole farm to this 
system, he cannot expect, of course, to keep 
any other than necessary stock—merely hi 9 
teoms, cow's, hogs, &c., and these probably he 
might pasture in his clover lot, and then, if 
the season was favorable, have a sufficient 
quantity of grass to turn under. 
Monroo Co., March, 1855. RUSTICCS. 
GALLS ON HORSES. 
Mr. Editor: —I have noticed lately in sev¬ 
eral agricultural papers remedies suggested 
for galls on horses. Canal horses are more 
cruelly galled than horses in any other service. 
Generally they lie idle during the winter sea¬ 
son. To a considerable extent, also, the horses 
of the farmer arc but little used during win¬ 
ter, especially where more than one span is 
employed on the farm. Ordinarily a single 
pair is well fed on grain so as to do the chief 
portion of the winter work, and the rest are 
kept at a cheaper rate, and do little or no work 
until spring. The result is, the breast and 
back of horses thus idle become tender, and 
when the hard work of spring commences, and 
the weather is warm and the animal sweats 
freely, the skin being tender is scalded, and 
then galled. 
Now, prevention is better than cure. A 
cooling application, that will toughen the skin 
before use, and prevent inflamatory action 
when used, is what is needed for the work 
horse. From long experience, I have found 
these results to follow the use of spirits satu¬ 
rated with alum. 1 keep a bottle of alum and 
whiskey in the stable, and bathe the part 
pressed by the hames, or breast-collar, and also 
the back, for several days before the horses 
commence their spring work, and also along 
through the season occasionally, when there is 
special danger of scalding the breast. 1 have 
thus passed entire seasons, employing con¬ 
stantly not less than five horse teams in farm¬ 
ing uso3, and have not lost the service of a 
horse a single day, for years together, on ac¬ 
count of sore back or breast. This remedy 
will enable a sore to heal, although the ani¬ 
mal continues in constant use. 
Now the remedy I have seen most frequent¬ 
ly and highly recommended is the application 
of white lead, in some form or other, to the 
injured part. I have at an early period trictl 
this remedy—have used it when I knew noth¬ 
ing better—but dislike it much. It answers 
the purpose, 1 acknowledge,—makes a hard, 
tough scab or incrustation on the sore, likely 
to terminate in a white spot, if the hair ever 
grows. But I consider this tanning the skin 
into leather, while on the horse‘s carcass, to 
be a tough business, to say the least. 
Farmer D. 
HINTS ON PLOWING. 
Mr. Editor :—The time for plowing is at 
hand, and a few thoughts on the subject will 
not be out of season. To plow well and 
thoroughly, is what every farmer ought to do, 
but it is often sadly slighted. That much of 
the success of a crop depends on good, deep til¬ 
lage, is generally acknowledged ; but many, 
who “know the right, will still the wrong 
pursue.” 
The English way of leaving headlands, is 
practiced by some. A better way, perhaps, 
and one which I much like, when the lotto be 
plowed is level, is to “ strike” around the field 
first, say three paces from the fence, leaving 
this to be plowed after the rest of the lot is done, 
and then throwing the furrow' to or from the 
fence, as it is necessary to keep the surface level. 
I)o not throw the furrow towards the fence 
every time plowing, making an embankment 
around the field, as some farmers do. 
Having used three horses abreast for a 
couple of years past, in plowing both sward 
and stubble ground, I wish to say a few words 
in favor of such a team. With three horses 
and a No. 9 Michigan double plow, we plow 
two acres a day, and turn a furrow ten inches 
or a foot, which on most soils is deep. The 
advantage of such a team over a single span is, 
the plow can be run deeper, cut a wider furrow 
slice, and generally the horses will walk faster. 
In short, more work can be done, and it will be 
done better. It is preferable to a four-horse 
team, as it does not require a hand extra to 
drive, and nearly or quite as much can be done. 
The plow cannot be run as deep, it is true, but 
in common w'ay, on moist soils, it will be as 
deep as most will care to plow. It is more 
convenient turning at the “ends,” and much 
time is saved in that way. 1 am persuaded 
there arc many farmers who might use such a 
team to advantage. The past season damn 
strated to me the importance of going farther 
into the ground, and turning up soil which our 
fathers never saw. 
The best clevis I have seen for three horses, 
is a cast-iron clevis, with the “jaws” bolted to 
the sides of the beam, and a knuckle piece, or 
horizontal cross-bar, with a small clevis, to 
which the wkiffletrees arc attached.—S. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
COBS VS. WIRE WORMS. 
Eds. Rural :—In your paper of March 24, 
W. B. P. inquires if cob3 placed in the hill 
with seed corn, will prevent the wire worm 
from injuring the seed ? The result of one ex¬ 
periment with us in that instance, at least, 
says, No. Wo had a piece of bottom land, 
which had lain till three years previous, in 
meadow for a long time. On breaking up, it 
was planted the first year to corn, and it pro¬ 
duced an abundant crop, after which the worms 
nearly rendered the land useless. I Toping, then, 
the worms were so reduced in numbers as not 
to injure the crop, we planted again, but took 
the trouble to place cobs in the hills of part of 
it. The result was, the seed was so destroyed 
that in June oats were harrowed in ; and there 
was no observable difference between that part 
in which cobs were placed and that part in 
which there were none. What seems to us a 
reasonable remedy, is to plow the ground in 
which the worms are immediately preceding 
the setting in of winter, or during some thaw 
in winter. Should there be freezing weather 
soon after their being thus disturbed, we think 
it must destroy them.— A. Hitchcock, Bristol. 
experiment with muck. 
In 1839 1 bought a poor Vermont farm of 
CO acres, with the idea that the muck which 
was on it would renovate it. So I drew it out 
plentifully, as I thought—about 50 cords to 
the acre—and with the help of some barn-yard 
manure (all plowed in) I raised from 50 to CO 
bushels of ears of corn to the acre, and when 
seeded, it produced about a ton of hay to the 
acre, though previously it was not worth 
mowing. I then tried it on newly sealed land, 
and I found a more immediate benefit, for where 
I. spread from 30 to 40 cords per acre, it pro¬ 
duced I y 2 tons of hay for three years, which 
was three or four times as much as it would 
yield before, besides having a good sal to be 
turned under. I found it did most good on 
clay land. — F. Powell, Bernhard's Bay , Os¬ 
wego Co., N. Y. 
CORN.—THE CUT AND WIRE WORMS. 
Messrs. Eds. :—The while grub or cut 
worm has been very destructive in my corn¬ 
field, and also the wire worm. Year before 
last they came so thick that 1 could pick a 
handfull from the furrow in going four rods. 
So, soon after planting, and before the corn 
was up, I put on every hill about a gill of 
ashes, lime and salt, mixol together. The 
compost was in proportion a bushel of ashes, 
a peck of lime, and four quarts of salt. My 
corn came up looking fine, and at the first 
hoeing scarcely a hill was touched by the grub. 
They worked a little after, but did not destroy 
ten hills to the acre. If any are likely to be 
troubled the coming spring, I would advise 
them to try this.—D. L., Caledonia, N. Y., ’55. 
Large Lambs and Colts. — I have read 
with interest various accounts of remarkable 
animals, given from time to time in the Rural, 
and will add another item. A few years since 
an ewe of mine brought three lambs at one 
birth, weighing nine? pounds each. This has 
seldom been equalled. Last spring one of my 
mares brought a pretty fine colt, and being 
curious to know its weight, I found it to be 
130 lbs.—H. H. Root, Oxford Co., C. W. 
GUANO AND SUPERPHOSPHATE. 
I took pains early in the spring, when the 
rain was pouring down in torrents, to go 
about four miles to an old dry pasture to sow 
some guano, superphosphate and plaster. Du¬ 
ring the summer, 1 often went to see its effects, 
but saw no effect at all. On a piece of moist 
pasture, with clay bottom, I sowed some 
phosphate, and it caused the clover to come in 
very thick: but plaster would do equally as 
well, if not better, as it is plainly to be seen 
half a mile distant, where the plaster was sown 
thickest; but on corn 1 was pleased with its 
effects. The best corn I raised was on a piece 
that was spread lightly with common manure 
and then a small handful of phosphate put in 
the hill. It was not measured, but was pro¬ 
nounced by good judges to be the best piece of 
corn in these parts—far better than my other 
pieces that were spread and dunged in the hill 
liberally. 
A gentleman of our town had an acre of 
worn-out, sandy land, which he did not con¬ 
sider worth cultivating; on this I sowed, on 
12th of June, 200 lbs. of guano, and plowed 
in deep. I then planted it with an early kind 
of corn, putting 75 lbs. of phosphate to the acre 
and the result was a very good piece of corn, 
and ripe in good season. 
In September last I seedal down some land, 
sowing part with phosphate and a part with 
guano ; the result you shall have in due timv. 
As 1 said last year, so 1 say this,—for corn, 
give me a tablespoonful of phosphate in pre¬ 
ference to any other manure in the hill; but 
you want to spread some other manure and 
plow in deep, that the corn roots can feed up¬ 
on in August and September. This is of more 
special benefit to those who have moist, hilly 
land, that cannot be worked early. If the 
manure is put in the hill, the heat of the sun 
causes it to burn up and leave a dry mass at 
the roots, and thus not only the virtue of the 
manure is gone, but it retards the growth of 
the corn during the whole season; while, on 
the contrary, if this had been plowed in and 
phosphate put in the hill, the latter would 
have given it a good start, and the former 
would have been incorporated with the soil, 
ready for the roots in autumn.— Cor. N. E. 
Farmer. 
N. Y. State Aa. Society.— We have re¬ 
ceived from the Secretary, Col. Johnson, a 
pamphlet embracing the List of Premiums 
and Regulations for the Fifteenth Annual Ex¬ 
hibition of this Society, to be held at Elmira, 
Oct. 2, 3, 4 and 5,1855. Among other mat¬ 
ters, it announces that “ spacious and conven¬ 
ient grounds, easy of access, have been select¬ 
ed, and will be arranged in the most covenient 
manner for the satisfactory exhibition of stock 
and articles. Erections and enclosures will be 
prepared, as at the last Exhibition in New 
York, for each department, so that articles 
and stock will be entirely protected. The 
Premium List has been improved and enlarged, 
exceeding eight thousand dollars ; and a more 
complete List has never been offered to the 
Farmers, Mechanics and Manufacturers of our 
country. The usual facilities will be afforded 
by the railroads for the accommoiation of ex¬ 
hibitors. Persons intending to compete are 
desired to give early notice to the Secretary.” 
— We presume copies of the Premium List, 
&c., can be obtained by addressing the Secre¬ 
tary, B. P. Johnson, Albany. 
Tiie Monroe Co. Ag. Society, at a late 
meeting, decided to have a Mowing Match, 
near this city, on Tuesday, the 5th of July.— 
The principal object is to test and compare the 
merits of the various Mowing Machines, and 
manufacturers and inventors, both near and 
distant, are requestal to govern themselves ac 
cordingly. We shall announce the arrange¬ 
ments— premiums, location, &c.,— as soon as 
completed by the Committee. The Annual 
Fair of the Society is to be held at Spencer- 
port, on the 20th and 21st of September. 
Western Ya. Ag. Society. —We have re¬ 
ceived a pamphlet containing “ Premiums and 
Regulations, with the names of Awarding 
Committees of the Western Virginia Agricul¬ 
tural Society and Industrial Institute, for their 
Third Annual Fair, to bo held at Wheeling, 
Va., on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 
Sept. 2Gth, 27th and 28th, 1855.” The pre¬ 
mium list i3 somewhat extensive, embracing 
the various departments of Agriculture, Arts, 
Manufactures, &c. From the regulations, &c.^ 
we judge that the Virginians and Ohioans in¬ 
terested, purpose to have a good Fair, and wc 
trust they will not be disappointed. 
The Northern Farmer —Is the title of a 
weekly folio newspaper recently commencol 
at Woodstock, Vt., by Brown & Crosby. It 
is “ adapted to the Climate and Soil of Ver¬ 
mont and New Hampshire, and devoted to 
Agriculture, Literature and General Intelli¬ 
gence.” The numbers received are well filled, 
and indicate that the editors possess good judg¬ 
ment and enterprise—important requisites to 
success in such an undertaking. To sustain it, 
however, the encouragement and support of 
the farmera of Vermont will be necessary, and 
should not be withheld. 
Onondaga Co. Ag. Society. —We are in¬ 
debted to Dr. H. D. Didama, Secretary, for a 
pamphlet embracing Premium List, &c., of 
this Society for 1855. The Annual Fair is to 
be held in Syracuse Sept. 19, 20 and 21. In 
the list of J udges we recognise the names of 
many of the best farmers of good old Ononda¬ 
ga—names with which we were familiar in 
boyhood. May their owners long be spared, 
and as long be found among the progressives 1 
The Jefferson Co. Ag’l Fair will be held 
at Watertown, on the Society’s grounds, Sept. 
19th and 20th. The Premium List and Reg¬ 
ulations arc already published, and a spirited 
show is anticipated. The officers for 1855 
are— Edward S. Massey, President; Benj. 
Maxon, E. Sage and Geo. Brown, V. Presi¬ 
dents ; J. C. Sterling, Treasurer, and A. P. 
Sigourney, of Watertown, Secretary. 
The English AViieat Crop. —The last num¬ 
ber of the Mark Lane Express, says that the 
prospects of the next wheat crop are good, 
thinks prices cannot go higher, and that the 
stock on hand will last till harvest. Prices 
here are now as high or higher than in England, 
a state of things not often occurring. 
Spring Rye. —Please state in the Rural 
where Spring Rye can be obtained, and at 
what price?—A. W. Tillotson, Cazenovia, 
N. Y. 
James P. Fogg, of this city, is selling it at 
$1,75 per bushc’. Perhaps you can obtain it 
of E. J. Foster, Syracuse. 
Millet Seed. —Can you, or Mr. G., of New 
Haven, tell us farmers where the best kind of 
Millet Seed can be bought, and at what price? 
—S. C. S., Horseheads, N. Y. 
We presume the seed advertised by II. O. 
White, of Buffalo, at $2 per bushel, is the 
article wanted. 
The weather continues favorable, and the 
farmers are exceedingly busy with spring work, 
hereabouts. The wheat crop looks line here, 
as it is said to at the West and in Canada. 
BREEDS OF SHEEP. - MIDDLE - WOOLED. 
We copy on our first page, from Knights’ 
“Pictorial Half-Hours," an English work, a 
very spirited engraving of the middle-wooled 
sheep of Great Britain, and extract the fol¬ 
lowing from the remarks which accompany 
the same : 
The middle wooled sheep include the South 
Down, the Dorset, the Norfolk, the Suffolk, 
and the Cheviot breeds, together with several 
others, and which were formerly short-wooled. 
The length of the staple is on the average three 
and a half or four inches. 
The South-Down sheep Is the model of what 
a hill sheep ought to be, and the flesh in fine¬ 
ness of gram and flavor Is peculiarly excellent. 
The wool is of a very useful quality, but is 
both larger in fibre and less numerously ser¬ 
rated than the short Saxony, and does not 
therefore possess such a felting power ; hence, 
it is rarely used in the manufacture of fine 
broadcloths. Still from its fineness and felt¬ 
ing powers compared with the wool of many 
other middle-wooled breeds, it is highly esteem¬ 
ed,—and for tlannel and worsted goods in gen¬ 
eral 13 extensively employed. In Surrey, 
Hampshire and Berkshire, the South-Downs 
have either superceded or been blended with 
the old short-wooled sheep. 
Dorsetshire possesses its own breed, en¬ 
croached upon, however, by the South-Downs. 
The males have large spirally-twisted horns, 
and the females have also horns, but much 
smaller than those belonging to the males — 
Neither the wool nor flesh equals that of the 
South Down breed. The old Norfolk breed 
of middle-wooled sheep is very valuable, but 
it is rapidly giving way to the South-Down. 
The rams arc distinguished by long spiral 
horns, those of the ewes and wethers being 
smaller; the flesh is remarkably fine, and the 
wool delicate and felts weii. The figure of 
these sheep is tall and slender; the legs are 
long, and the face and lirnbs black or mottled. 
The general aspect is wild and animated. This 
breed thrives on the coarsest pasturage. The 
wool is not used in fine broadcloths, but is used 
in such as are of inferior quality, and in woolen 
stuffs generally. 
In Suffolk the South-Down breed prevails. 
The black-faced and horned sheep of West¬ 
moreland, Cumberland, and various parts of 
Scotland, as Lanarkshire, belong to the middle- 
wooled section. With respect to their wool, 
these sheep do not rank high; it ex cads in 
length that of the middle-wooled breeds gen¬ 
erally, but is harsh and coarse ; to compensate 
for this, these sheep are very hardy, have an 
admirable contour, and the flesh in fineness of 
grain and delicacy of flavor equals either the 
South-Down or the Welsh mutton. 
The Chevoit breed is very distinct from the 
common mountain or black-faced race, with 
which it is on all sides immediately surrounded, 
these two 'races dividing the north between 
them. 
The Chevoit breed is hornless, and the gen¬ 
eral contour is excellent,—the shoulders are 
full, the body round and long, and the limbs 
small-boned. The mutton is in great esteem ; 
and the wethers average sixteen, eighteen, or 
even twenty pounds weight per quarter. The 
wool is good, though inferior to that of the 
South-Downs. It far surpasses that of the 
black-faced breed, and as the Cheviot race is 
equally hardy and as capable of sudtaining 
cold as the former, and is content with the Al¬ 
pine plants of the bleak hills and mountains, 
it will soon supercede the black-faced breed, as 
it has already done in the forest of Ettrick 
and the whole of Selkirkshire, and Sutherland. 
DRAINI NG LOW LAND. 
A correspondent inquired, a week or two 
since, in regard to the best way of draining low 
land. Wc have noticed a mode of draining 
such land, at West Cambridge, on the farm of 
Mr. Samuel Butterfield and that of his relative, 
adjoining, which appeared to be effective.— 
Open ditches had been made, but they would 
fill up by the falling in of the banks ; they oc¬ 
casioned much waste of ground, and were an 
obstruction in working on the lots with teams. 
The first thing done was to sink the ditches to 
the depth of, say, three and a half feet. The 
muck in most instances was several feet deeper, 
leaving the bottom of the ditches still soft. A 
layer of sand, six or eight inches thick, was 
spread along the ditches, and boards were laid, 
singly, on the sand, care being taken to secure 
the necessary descent. Three-inch tiles were 
laid on the boards. Pine shavings (if we re¬ 
member rightly) were scattered over the tiles, 
and the ditches tilled with sand and muck. 
To guard against the filling of the tiles, open 
pools about a foot wide and two or three feet 
long, were made in the drains—the pools being 
sunk so low that the water would discharge 
into them, and after rising to a certain point, 
would flow into the tiles connected with the 
lower end. Any matters which found their 
way into the tiles, would thus be washed into 
the pools, from which they could be removed 
as often as necessary. It was understood, how 
ever, that very little sediment had been depos¬ 
ited. The pools answered the additional pur¬ 
pose of reservoirs of water, which could be used 
for various purposes as needal. ’They were 
made of boards or plauks. The ground, al¬ 
though naturally very soft and miry, had be¬ 
come so firm that it was readily plowed, and 
was devoted to vegetable crops; it was, in 
fact, made into a highly productive kitchen 
garden.— Boston Cultivator. 
To make a real Experiment —an intelli¬ 
gent one—the nature of the soil must be un¬ 
derstood ; the nature of the crop proposed to 
be raised must be known ; and the nature of 
the manure intended to be applied, and all 
adapted to each other. If there is no such 
mutual adaptation known to exist, the result 
will be an accident, instead of an intelligent 
gaining of an object. And then the produce 
must be carefully weighed and measured. And 
the thing must be so conducted, that it will 
be known, that the result must come from the 
jneans used, not from some accidental cause, or 
the operation is no experiment.— Oxford Hem. 
