whether it will manufacture the desired article 
cheaper or better than the old one; but to ascer¬ 
tain how a pound of beef can be made tho 
cheapest, what machine will convert hay into 
rich cheese in the cheapest and best manner, is a 
matter requiring a good deal more care and skill. 
Among his varied acquirements, the farmer 
should possess a knowledge or animal physiology, 
bo as to be enabled to keep his stock in health and 
administer proper remedies in case of sickness. 
Vegetable physiology, too, must not be overlooked. 
Every day during the growing season the farmer 
performs work for the growth of liiscrops founded 
on the known laws which govern vegetable life. 
lintomulogy Is a science which the (armor is com¬ 
pelled to study to some extent, and often much 
more, perhaps, than he desires; but the more he 
does so the better is be fitted to wage a successful 
war against thousands of destiactive focm In 
addition to all this the farmer most be a merchant; 
for he most sell as well as manufacture. He must 
in some measure take advantage of the rise and 
fall of prices, select the best time for selling, and 
the best market, or after all his toil and anxiety 
he may find but a poor return. 
When we contemplate this subject, at which we 
have merely glauced, in all its bearings, we ore 
led to exclaim, who Is competent to this work? 
Heartily do we pity those who tbiuk that farming 
furnishes no scope for the exercise of knowledge 
or ability. If this opinion were entertained only 
by those engaged In other pmsuits, it would be of 
no serious consequeuce; but we judge that many 
farmers have themselves imbibed such unfounded 
and unjust opinions in regard to their oalliDg, and 
where this is the case there is an end to all Im¬ 
provement, and all desire for improvement, A 
man must Uuvo a good opinion of his calling, a 
proper appreciation of lls importance, and the 
means and information necessary for its success¬ 
ful prosecution, or he cannot hope to succeed. 
We suggest this subject as one worthy the atten¬ 
tion of those who may be called upon to deliver 
addresses before Agricultural Associations tho 
prese nt winter, and for discussion in fanners' clubs. 
AX ORIOIXAL WKE1CLT 
RURAL, LUKRAHT AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
Thu RtTRAt, Nxvr- Yorker is derivned to be nngurpAsfled 
In V»lne, Purttr, ITsvCulnesa and Variety of Contents, and 
unique and bnantifnl In Ajipe&mncH. Its Conductor de¬ 
votes his personal attention to tlin supervision of its 
various departments, and earnestly labors to render tbe 
Rchai. an omlneutly Reliable Guide on ail the important 
Practical, Scientific aud other Subjects intimately con¬ 
nected with tho business of those whose interests it 
leaioualy advocates. As a Family JorHXAL it is emi¬ 
nently Instructive and Entsi mining — bain# so conducted 
that It can be safely taken to the Hearts and Homss of 
people of intelligence, taste and discrimination. It em¬ 
braces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Edu¬ 
cational, Literary and Nows Matter, interspersed with 
appropriate and beautiful Engravings, than any other 
journal,— rendering it the most complete AoRicOLrcKAL, 
Literary and Family Nkwsi'Ackr in America. 
For Tkkms and other particulars, see last page. 
being experienced by it. The consequence of 
this extra wiiBte will be simply this—the animal, 
If preparing for the shambles, will not Increase 
ho fast In weight for a given quantity of food con¬ 
sumed; or he may even loge weight, as many do; 
young stock will not grow ao fast, while they will 
bo deficient of nervous and muscular stamina, 
and also of symmetry; and milch cows will be 
wanting In good milking properties. 
Tho third point has reference to the deteriora¬ 
tion of the quality of butcher's meat and dairy 
produce, and also to tho deterioration of tho 
healthy, robust characteristics of breeding stock, 
where bad water is consumed. Such meat must 
of uecessity, by the peculiar ferment or zymotic 
propeities which it thus contains take on a rapid 
state of decomposition, producing, it may be, 
ferments of a more poisonous type than the origi¬ 
nal, Milk is Htill roore liable to be adulterated 
with tbe putrid matter (>f the water drunk by 
milch cows; and with regard to breeding stook 
and tbe health of stock generally, it is a well- 
established fact that all uniraals, In the daily habit 
of consuming putrid food, urc of a feeble consti¬ 
tution, and more liable to zymotic disease than 
those fed on a fresh* 1 a fit,by diet, while putrid 
drink is, perhaps, more injurious to health than 
putrid solid matter. A very clear case has thus 
been made out against dirty water for cuttle. 
The principle of purification is sound, aud tho 
means now being used in precipitating and filter¬ 
ing are similar. To throw down matter held by 
the water in solution, lime is being used. Char¬ 
coal is employed as a filtering medium, and the 
water is exposed to the influence of the sun and 
atmosphere to produce softness. Such means 
have been used from time immemorial in the 
purification of water, both for man and beast; 
and although far from being chemically perfect, 
they nevertheless, when properly UHed, render 
water comparatively pure in the vast majority of 
cases. In the metropolis a fine charcoal filtei 
only Is employed, end for general use this might 
probably be sufficient, if the charcoal ia frequently 
changed, ub farmers could readily do, by applying 
advantageously the dirty charcoal to tho land as 
a manure. 
We now oomo to the finale—“Will it pay ?” 
And to this interrogatory an affirmative answer 
must, without doubt, be given. The question, it 
will have been seen, is one of economy under 
three separate heads, and in each of these there 
will be a balance in favor of pure water more than 
sufficient to cover the extra expense of purifica¬ 
tion. In other words, (1) a saving will be effected 
in the economy, or rather, perhaps we should say, 
the chemistry of food, which will do more than 
cover this extra expense; (2) the reduction in the 
dally waste upon the body—/, e., the increase in 
the quantity of butcher meat and milk— with an 
improved state of health, will likewise do more 
than cover the extra outlay; and (3) the improve¬ 
ment of the breed and quality of butcher meat 
and milk will also do more than pay for the extra 
expense of purification. 
Application of Gas Lime. 
TnE North British Agriculturist says, that at 
a meeting of the “North Lancashire Agricultural 
Society, the application of gas lime was entered 
fully upon by several farmers present at a discus¬ 
sion on manures. Nearly all of those spoke 
highly of the benefits which had reunited from 
its application, when applied in small qaantities 
under four tons per acre, and of Its injurious 
effects when applied at the rate of nine to ten 
tons. The evidence of Hr. Baxter was most 
conclusive as to the benefits from gas lime to 
pasture lands and meadows. We may mention 
that we have seen lands which have been dressed 
with gas lime some years ago, and the crops wore 
Tub necessity of furnishing shelter for sheep 
in a northern climate is, we suppose, universally 
acknowledged, but how much is nocessury for tho 
comfort and health of tho animals, and how this 
is best obtained, is an open question. The ac¬ 
companying engraving of a Sheep Barn, we tftko 
trom Randall's Shrrji Husbandry . With those 
open ends closed, it seems to ua to bo a very con¬ 
venient arrangement. The barn proper is UHed 
mainly for storing hay, and the wings should be 
made of sufficient size to afford the necessary 
room. 
“Humanity and economy both dictate, here, 
that sheep be provided with shelters to lie under 
nights, aud to which thoy can resort at will . In 
our severe winter storms, It is sometimes neces¬ 
sary, or at least by fur tbe best, to feed under shel¬ 
ter for a day or two. It, Is not an uncommon cir¬ 
cumstance in New York and New llnglaud, for 
snow to fall to the depth of 20 or 30 inches within 
2-1 or IS hours, and then to be succeeded by a strong 
and inlenaely cold woMt or north-west wind of two 
or three days’ continuance, which lifts the buow, 
blocking up the roads, and piling huge drifts to 
tho leeward of fences, barns, Ac. A flock without 
shelter will huddle closely together, turning their 
backs to tbe storm, constantly stopping and thus 
treading down the snow as it rises about them. 
Strong, elose-eoated sheep do not seem to suffer 
us much from tho cold, for a period, as would be 
expected. But it is next to impossible to feed 
thorn enough or half enough, under such circum¬ 
stances, without an immense waste of hay — en¬ 
tirely impossible, without racks. Tho hay ia 
whirled away in an instant by the wind, and even 
if racks aro used, tho sheep leaving their huddle 
where they were kept warm and even moist by tho 
melting of the snow in their wool, soon get 
chilled ami are disposed to return to their huddle. 
Imperfectly filled with food, tho supply of animal 
heat la lowered, aud at tho end of the Bcoond or 
third day, the feeble ones have sunk down hope¬ 
lessly, the yearlings and oldish ones have received 
a shock which nothing hut careful nursing will 
rocover them from, and even the strongest have 
suffered an injurious loss in condition. 
Few holders of more than dO or 50 sheep now 
attempt to get along here without somo kind of 
shelters. The following is a very common form 
of a Northern sheep-barn with sheds. The sheds 
front the south, or, what is a better arrangement, 
one fronts the east, and the other, being turned 
to a right angle to tho direction of this, fronts 
the south. I have represented hole racks, run¬ 
ning round tho sheds, as, although not yet ia 
general use, they are undoubtedly the best in such 
situations. The sheds are not usually framed or 
silled,—but are supported by posts of some dura¬ 
ble timber set in the ground. Tho roofs are 
formed of boards, ‘ battened ’ with slabs.” 
KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED IN FARMING. 
There are many who look upon farming as 
rather a small business, who think that its suc- 
cesaful prosecution requires only a little oormnon 
senna—just enough to prompt the hardy worker 
to seek shelter in a rain storm—and a very little 
knowledge, just sufficient to count a flock of 
sheep, or read a newspaper. This opinion was 
once more general than now, for the world ia 
growing wiser; yet at the present time it is enter¬ 
tained by m«ny. It is an old and true saying, 
that “ honor and Bhame from no condition rise;” 
that honor is only acquired by acting well our 
part in whatever situation we may be placed. A 
man of ability and knowledge, who devotes all 
his energies to his business, will make it honora¬ 
ble and profitable, no matter how insignificant 
that business may at first Bec-m. The making of 
a pin, or a button, or a lead pencil—how tiifling a 
business does this appear—and yet even the man¬ 
ufacture of these articles affords full scope for the 
greatest manufacturing skill and business tact, 
and we see large factories erected for this work, 
giving profitable employment to hundreds, and 
yielding rich revenues and princely fortunes to 
the proprietors. If, then, a business so small and 
contemptible in itself iB mude honorable by the 
energy of those engaged in ita management, it 
only requires the same energy and ability on the 
part of those employed in farming, to cause it to 
take its proper position as the moat important 
and honorable profession that can engage the 
attention of man. A profession that feeds and 
clothes the world, that furnishes all the luxuries 
and necessaries of life, the suspension of which 
even for a single year would bring upon the world 
wretchedness and starvation, tbe like of which 
has never been witnessed, is certainly of sufficient 
importance to rank with any trade or manu¬ 
facture. A profession that has to do with the 
earth and its variously formed soils—with air, and 
rain, and heat, and light—with every tree and 
shrub that beautifies, and every thorn and briar 
that curses the earth—with the whole animal and 
vegetable economy—should certainly rank with 
the learned professions. 
There it no business requiring such varied 
acquirements, so much knowledge, so much good 
judgment and commercial ability combined, as is 
necessary for the thorough, accomplished farmer. 
He stands first among the manufacturers of the 
land. He makes the wheat and com, the beef, and 
mutton, and pork, the wool and flax, and manu¬ 
factures from the earth, the air, the water, nearly 
all that we eat, and all we wear. 
EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 
The Purification of Water for Cattle. 
Should the water given to live stock be fil¬ 
tered, to free it from those impurities which it 
generally holds in suspension? And where in¬ 
jurious substances are held in solution, can we 
precipitate these, or otherwise render them innoc¬ 
uous, so as always to present to stock, whether 
grazing in the field or being fed at the home¬ 
stead, a full supply of pure, wholesome water? 
These two queries form the subject for a long 
article in the Mark Lane Repress from which we 
condense as follows: 
The proposition involves a fundamental principle 
in the feeding of live Btock,thesoundnes8 of which 
cannot be denied. It is one of those practical ques¬ 
tions, too, that does not admit of proof; for pure 
water for our cattle is as essentially necessary for 
their health as it is for our own. The subject, it 
will thus be seen, when examined from a practi¬ 
cal point of view, is—the dirty water now given 
to cattle — its injurious influence upon their 
health—the consequent loss sustained thereby_ 
the chemical and mechanical means proposed for 
the purification of the water— and that universal 
omega of all agricultural propositions, “ Will it 
pay?" Such are the priaoipal practical topics 
that claim investigation. 
The putrid vegetable matter in the water now 
consumed by so many cattle is productive of dis¬ 
ease. If the constitution of the ox or the horse 
is stronger than that of man, there may be a 
longer struggle between health and disease, so to 
speak. In the former case, nature muy throw off 
the putrid poisonous matter for u longer period 
of time before she succumbs; but no constitu¬ 
tion, however strong, even of the ox, will resist 
for any great length of time the continuous action 
of putrid matter in the circulation. The farmer’s 
loss lies in the Ies3 return for the food consumed 
by his cattle. By giving dirty, putrid water to 
cattle, lie experiences a general loss, produced by 
the joint agency of three distinct causes, to each 
of which we shall give a separate notice. 
The first of these considerations has reference 
to the economy of the raw materials of food. 
When bad water is given, a waste of such raw 
material is experienced; less of it being assimi¬ 
lated, and more going to the duogbilL Whether 
the manufactured article is butcher-meat or milk, 
a large quantity of water is required, and that 
water should be pure. If it is mixed with nox- 
jous putrid matter, healthy digestion and assimi¬ 
lation are prevented, while decomposition is 
promoted, the fermentation that takes place in 
brick clay; the bottom should be flagged or laid 
with brick. If tho soil ia wot, it must be com¬ 
paratively shallow, unless good drains bo laid 
outside it to intercept and carry off’ the water; 
if dry, tho tank may be made comparatively 
deep; the shape must he governed by tho sito> 
and may he either round or oblong, more or less 
wide, and in length according to requirements. 
It should be arched overhead to keep out rain or 
other water. The capacity of a tank for thirty 
cows and sixty pigs depends on the periods it is 
intended to empty them; about a month is 
necessary for the contents to ferment and ripen. 
A tank to contain the quantity of mine voided 
by the above animals for one month should con¬ 
tain about 1,000 cubical feet, but tu effect your 
object in the best manner, there should be a sja- 
tem of at least three such tanks, viz., one ripened 
and using, one filled and ripened, the other filling.” 
out knowing whether he would tako my advice or 
not, but he did tako it, and gave the sheep three- 
fourths of his meadows for pasturo. When win¬ 
ter commenced ho began feeding half a pound 
daily of buckwheat to each sheep, with fresh 
straw three times a day, (wheat, oat, and barley 
straw,) until the first of April; then gave good hay 
with a very little grain. Tho first year his ileeceH 
were increased about U lbs. each, or from 2$ to 
4 lbs.; the next year they averaged 10-10 lbs., and 
this year they averaged plump 6 lbs. But that ia 
not all hla gain; he raises far more lambs and far 
better ones, and ho sells his wetherM immediately 
after shearing for nearly or quite double what he 
could formerly get in the autumn. 
Now li t, us look at tho cost in keeping Bhcep in 
tho way 1 recommend. In tho first place there is 
the saving in the expense of cutting and making 
four months’ hay, which is a considerable Item. 
Hay 75 lbs. of buckwheat per day for each Hheep, 
for 150 days, at <10 cts. per <13 lbs.—making C2J cts. 
Increase of woo), say only 2 pounds at 4G cents, 
(the price ho sold it for theso two years,) Is 02 
cents. Then there is the profit in more and better 
lambs, the additional price for tho wethers, be¬ 
sides getting them off' in June in place of Octo¬ 
ber, and tho saving of cost of cutting tho hay. 
Why, I should think any farmer could at onoo 
see that the profit is immense from keeping on 
dried up timothy hay and poor pastures in sum¬ 
mer, and then every farmer can do this that 
iaisca straw and oats, barley, buckwheat or corn; 
for either will answer the purpose, only give half 
to three-fourths of a pound daily to each sheep. I 
assure you there Is no way of making Btock of 
any kind pay unless fully fed. When once sheep 
are got up ia good condition, a little less than 
the above quantity daily will answer a very 
good purpose, especially if grain is high; but I 
have put the buckwheat above tho average price 
on the farm; poas or oil cake meal is better than 
any grain for sheep. 
Now, Mi’. Editor, there are many thousands of 
farmers keeping their sheep equally rb badly as 
my fiiend did a few years ago, who might better 
their circumstances greatly if they would only 
read this and believo me. I write what I do know 
and nothing else. It makes no difference whether 
a fanner koepB 100 or 5,000 sheep; he ought to 
keep them all in the same way. When I kept a 
fiock of from 800 to 1,000,1 fed half u lb. of oil cake 
meal or corn daily to each sheep, even when I fed 
hay all winter—at least always after I found oat 
by experience that that was the only true and sure 
HIGH FEEDING OF SHEEP: 
FOB THE BENEFIT OF ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, 
Eds. Rckai, New-Yorker:— You know I have 
for many years advocated the higher feeding of 
sheep and cattle and keeping them growing in 
winter as well as summer. No farmer can afford 
to let his stock stand still, and what is far worse, 
let them get poorer from the first of December 
until the first of May or later. 
Now, I will give you a case that came directly 
under my own notice. A long-time friend of mine, 
who lives at a considerable distance, was visited 
by me a few years ago, when I looked at his wool, 
just then shorn. 1 handled a few fleeces, and 
then said to him I was surprised that any man of 
commou sense would raise such light fleeces. He 
asked how he could help it; he fed tbeinalHho 
huy they would eat in winter, and it would not 
pay to feed grain to sheep. 1 told him that it 
would not pay to keep Bheep that sheared such 
light fleeces at any rate, and that, if it would not 
pay in the way he was keeping, he had better try 
grain, as ho could be no worse oil’. Advised him 
to feed straw aud grain until April, then have 
good, early cut bay, to feed until grass, either 
with or without a little grain; and, judging from 
his breed of Bheep, I wuh confident that in a few 
years, by cutting so much less hay ho could afford 
them far more pasture, and in that way get his 
fleeces to average from five to six pounds — that 
he would raise far more and better lambs, and 
thus make his sheep profitable. I left him wilh- 
And this is not 
only done by farmers as a class, but almost every 
one produces many, if not all, of these articles. 
The manufacturer usually confines his labors to 
the production of one article; but the farmer is 
by necessity compelled to make many. If he 
would make grain, he must also make beef, or 
butter and cheese, or mutton and wool. Hence 
the necessity for extensive knowledge. It is an 
easy matter for the manufacturer to ascertain 
how much wool will make a yard of cloth of a 
certain description, and what will be its cost; but 
it is not so easy for the farmer to ascertain how 
much gras 1 , or hay, or grain, will make a pound 
of wool. The manufacturer can test a new ma¬ 
chine, and ascertain by a few Biinpie trials 
Er-*i l.-vwg-ll 
I! 
Lv||ti 
|y|f 
IRVING, N Y 
