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ROCHESTER, N. Y.-EOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, NOYEMBER 26,1864 
MOOEE’S EUEAL NEW-TOEKEK, 
an ORIGINAL ■weekly 
RURAL, LITERARY AND PA3HLY NEWSPAPER. 
taking earc of it; with the graiu and hay fed to 
it; with pasturage, with every expense incurred 
in fitting it for and taking it to market. Against 
these charges you set the gross receipts for the 
stock sold, if it is all sold, and if there is any 
balance in favor of the stock, it is so much 
realized ou your permanent investment in the 
farm, fixtures, &o. So with each crop you cul¬ 
tivate on the farm, whether it be wheat, barley, 
potatoes, or fruit. And book-keeping Is simply 
keeping this record so as to give you the most 
comprehensive understanding of what you are 
doing. 
We know of no better system than that 
known as Double Entry, by which all business 
men now keep their records or accounts. 
Knowing the principles, the farmer may modify 
his records so as to adapt them to his business, 
precisely us railroad men, bankers, commission 
men, Ac., Ac., have their peculiar modifications, 
suggested by their practical wants. But the 
essential principles are always the same, and 
must be learned by the railroad,-bank, or farm 
accountant. And it is a grave mistake that 
there is anything mysterious or complex about 
it. It is simple, and any man of common sense 
may acquire it in a very brier period. But no 
man will ever acquire it who hopes to find a 
work on book-keeping with which brains are 
furnished, so that he only has to turn a crank 
and the Millenium of Accounts revolves before 
him. We don t know of any book-keeping 
which docs not require the agency of brains to 
understand it; and we do not want to know of 
any. We suppose there are many good works 
on book-keeping; we know of some, but we 
do not know which Is the best We studied 
Preston'3 when u boy, and have it yet; we 
have also in our library a more modern and a 
better work, published by Bryant & Strat¬ 
ton, whose Business Colleges were advertised 
in our issue of Oct, 1st, page 321, aud of whom 
we suppose it can be obtained by addressing 
them at any one of their Colleges, The price 
we do not know. 
— Now one word further: It is timely to 
urge that each farmer prepare to keep an ac- < 
count with his farm the coming year—with 
each crop and class of stock on it. At least we 
urge that a diary of transactions be kept. If 
the old farmer’s fingers are stiff, and he is not 
used to writing, let him provide a book or 
books, and set his boy or girl about this work of 
book-keeping or diary writing. If you want 
your boy to learn what you do not happen to 
know, aud you can not send him to one of the 
business colleges in the country, hire his board 
(or let him work for it,) and place him under 
the tuition of the nearest practical book-keeper; 
let him go right into the counting-room; pro¬ 
vide him with a set of books, and let him make 
the same business entries in them that the ac¬ 
countant makes in Ills, Let him spend three 
months in this way; and then, when he returns 
to the farm, require him to open a set fur you, 
and you will soon have a book-keeper of your 
own, whose business education and practical 
knowledge- will command for him a good posi¬ 
tion among business men at auy time. It is a 
great deal better that your boy of fifteen or 
eighteen years should so spend his winter, than 
in solving algebraic problems or committing 
of Cotswold blood for the purpose of improving 
their constitutions, and their hind quarters, 
which are inferior to those of the Cotswold 
sheep. The improved Cotswold, now in gen¬ 
eral vogue, has been generally if not universally 
crossed to a certain extent with the Leicester's, 
to improve some points of its carcass, and spe¬ 
cially to give It earl ier maturity. The Improved 
Oxfordshire sheep, so successful in prize taking 
in England, is the result of a recent direct cross 
between the Leicester and Cotswold. "With 
the single exception of the South Downs, all the 
most distinguished English Middle Wooled va¬ 
rieties are crosses between different varieties— 
and a portion of the most approved of them are 
cross-breeds, not only in the English, but in the 
American sense of the term. The Hampshire, 
Shropshire, and Oxfordshire Downs, classed as 
Middle "Wools, are all credited with infusions of 
Long Wool blood! If, therefore, a prize list 
arranges all or most of the previously enumre- 
ated kinds of sheep into separate classes, that 
classification is based on characteristics—not on 
identity of blood. I see no objection to this, in 
itself considered—that Is, if the Society offering 
the prizes has sufficient funds, and if all the 
breeds, cross-breeds and varieties to which pre¬ 
miums are offered, are really valuable; if each, 
even to the smallest degree, meets better than 
the others 3ome want of the consumer and pro¬ 
ducer. 
It is very difficult, however, to apply the 
same rule of classification to the fine wooled or 
Merino sheep, and at the same time give no en¬ 
couragement where none, relatively speaking, 
is believed by the great majority of the public to 
he deserved. Our State Society has at different 
times offered separate prizes to Spanish, French, 
Saxon, and I believe Silesian Merinos, But the 
farmers of this State have almost universally 
condemned the French and Saxons, and but 
few have yet adopted the Silesians. There cer¬ 
tainly are manifold objections, both in theory 
and practice, to bestowing premiums on tried 
and condemned varieties of stock. For the 
present, at least, the American (it ought no 
longer to be called “ Spanish "*) Merino is indis¬ 
putably most profitable for general breeding; 
and therefore it has, in the popular estimation 
and in price, thrown all the other Merino 
varieties into the shade. Accordingly the last 
prize list of our State Society made but one 
class of Merinos, or fine wooled sheep. All the 
different varieties of Merinos were required to 
compete against each other on the ground that 
they possess “identity of blood,” and that it is 
to the best of the same blood or breed alone that 
premiums should be awarded. Two serious 
practical objections have been found to this 
course. The first is that no uniform or even 
approximately uniform standard of excellence 
is thus recognized or fostered. The finer wooled 
Merinos whose staple is adapted to the manu¬ 
facture of the Suer fabrics like broadcloth, are 
required to compete against the heavier and 
coarser wooled Merinos, whose staple is only 
adapted to coarser fabrics. You might as well 
require all English Long Wools and all English 
Middle Wools to compete each in one class: nay, 
you might far more consistently do so, for what 
is the value in the United States, of Cotswold or 
Hampshire Down or Shropshire products, for 
example, compared with the products of either 
of the above mentioned grades of Merino sheep ? 
And by merging all Merinos in one class, you 
can not in reality merge competition between 
Merino varieties. If a majority of the viewing 
committee consider a particular variety of them 
preferable, they will of course, if the relative 
quality of the specimens exhibited is equal, 
award the premiums to that variety. They 
would not be honest to their own convictions if 
they failed to do this. In 1863, nearly all the 
fine wool premiums of this State were given to 
the Silesian Merinos. Indeed there was scarcely 
any competition from American Merinos—be¬ 
cause the breeders of that variety were not 
satisfied with the selection of the committee, or 
in other words, believed that it was composed 
of men who would give the preference to the 
finer grades of Merinos. In 1834, on the other 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
CHARLES O. BRAGDON, Associate Editor. 
to Correspondents. — Mr. Randall’s address is 
Cortland Villag*, Cortland Co.. \. Y. All communica¬ 
tions Intended for this Department, and all Inquiries 
relating to sheep, should be addressed to him as above. 
antra t b. rand at.t, t.t. d„ 
Sditor Department of Sheep Husbandry, 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS: 
P. BARRY, C. DEWEY, LL. D., 
n. T. BROOKS, L. B. LANG WORTHY. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed In Value, Purity, and Variety of Contents, and 
unique and beautiful In Appearance- its Conductor 
devotes his personal attention to the supervision of Us 
various departments, and earnestly labors to render 
the Rural an eminently Reliable Guide on all the 
Important Practical, Scientific and other Subjects Ulti¬ 
mately connected with the business of those whose 
interests it realously advocate?. As ■» Family Journal 
It Is eminently Instructive and Entertaining — bring so 
conducted that It cjuj be safely taken to the Homes of 
people of Intelligence, taste and discrimination. It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary ami News Matter, Interspersed 
with appropriate Engravings, than any other journal,— 
rendering It the most complete agricultural Lite¬ 
rary and Family Nkwspaper In America- 
ten years for a fair tri A Close confinement in¬ 
duces the fattening of turkeys, but very few 
people in this day anti age of the world would be 
eating turkeys on Thanksgiving do vs if this 
class of car fellow creatures had, >usee they 
came out of the ark, beeu systematically cooped 
up in a box three feet square. Talk about/fauor; 
frozen pumpkins would be aromatic compared 
with them. Healthy exercise and fresh air give 
to “game” the peculiar excellence that make 
all palates jubilant in its presence. Turkeys are 
only partially domesticated. Kept in a pig-sty 
game would fall behind pork, for pigs take to 
stenches and beds more naturally than ducks 
and deer. 
Mr. Moore's plan contemplates keeping cows 
in their stalls through the winter, without 
loosening them at all, their feed and water being 
supplied to them in the stable. No w I will con¬ 
cede that under these circumstances they will 
lay on fat more rapidly, and if you please secrete 
more milk, but I hold that these immediate re¬ 
sults are obtained at the expense of their vital 
powers, and if persevered in through successive 
generations will end m physical disability and 
general incompetency. The safe rule at all 
times, under all circumstances, and in reference 
to all stock—and I w<; despite all prejudices 
and prepossessions give mankind the benefit of 
it—is by judicious crosses and careful manage¬ 
ment to secure the highest health and the most 
perfect physical development. The natural 
instincts and habits of an animal are guides that 
we should never lose sight of. They are the 
lights by which we should always steer, 
CLASSIFICATION OF SHEEP FOE PBIZE LISTS 
Rooms op the III State ag'l Soctett, l 
Springfield, III , Oct. 24. 18*14. 5 
Hon. H. S. Bandall— Dear Sir: I observe 
the question of a correct classification of Sheep 
for a J'ri:> List was discussed with some spirit 
during your State Fair. Our farmers of the 
Western Prairies, among whom sheep hus¬ 
bandry is rapidly extending, feel a gon..l\leal of 
interest in the subject: and it is, therefore, of 
much importance that officers of our Agricul¬ 
tural Societies who construct the annual Lists of 
Premiums be properly posted. 
It will very much oblige me if you will give 
a moment’s consideration to the classification 
adopted by this Society, and suggest such 
changes or additions as m 3 y seem to you desira¬ 
ble. It is as follows: 
1. Long wooled (Cotswold, Leicester, <£c.) 
2 . Middle wooled (South Downs, Ac.) 
3. French Merinos. 
4. Spanish Merinos. 
5. Crosses of pure breeds. 
The animals entered in each lot competing 
onty with each other , except in “sweepstakes,” 
of which there are two: 
1 . For all fine wooled sheep (French, Spanish, 
Silesian, &e.) 
2 . For all mutton breeds (Cotswold, Leicester, 
South Down, &c.) 
To encourage improvement the prize on a 
lamb is as large as that on an aged buck; and, 
in “ sweepstakes,” all ages compete with each 
other. 
I inclose our last list of Premiums on Sheep. 
Trusting you will pardon me for trespassing 
on your valuable time, I remain, 
Very respectfully yours, 
John P. Reynolds, 
(Jor. Sec'y LI. State Ag’l Society. 
FARM BOOK-KEEPING. 
F. J. S., Wabashaw, Minn., writes:—“Will 
you give me the name and price of the best 
work on practical book-keeping—the one best 
lor farmer's use t" We have deliberately made 
up our mind ?ioi to recommend any work on 
farm book-keeping to our readers. Tho princi¬ 
ples ol busiuess are the same in alldepartments. 
The same laws of exchange and investment 
apply in farming that apply in manufacturing, 
or in buying and selling lands, goods, Ac, The 
same system of accounts are used, if the farmer 
possesses the same knowledge of his business 
and im cstments that other business men have 
of their operations. If it pays to apply these 
rules in one case it does in another. Wo are 
willing farmers should learn that an intelligent 
aud systematic mode of conducting business 
P a V s that, other things being equal, the man 
who knows most about- hi? business, in its de¬ 
tail, succeeds best,—has fewest losses, makes 
fewest mistakes, and meets with proportionate 
success. Wc do not wish to be understood that 
a knowledge of book-keeping is all that is essen¬ 
tial to become a successful farmer. There we 
men who succeed as manufacturers who are not 
practical book-keepers; but they bring to their 
aid men who are, who systematise the record of 
the operations of the manufacturer, so that he 
may know at a glance what he does, how his 
investments result, and which pay the greatest 
profit. So a man may be a good practical farmer, 
and yet know nothing of book-keeping; but he 
must always labor at a disadvantage compared 
with the man who, added to his practical knowl¬ 
edge ot Agriculture, can keep books, can make 
Loco¬ 
motion is as natural to a calf as to a child. You 
might as properly tie the one to his bed-post for 
life as the other to its stall. 
These are not open questions. There is not a 
respectable medical authority in the universe 
that dare undertake to dispense with daily 
exercise in the open air for man or beast w r hen 
perfect health and high development are aimed 
at. Horses are never put on the race course, 
and fighting men are never put in the ring, with¬ 
out severe and regular exercise. Mr. Moore 
stated in his remark-, that when he let his cows 
out in the spring, they ran and played for a 
short time, then laid down to rest, and after a 
brief interval returned to their stalls. I submit 
that here is evidence of the very physical dis¬ 
ability that I have spoken of. They ran and 
played, showing how they loved freedom ; rested 
aud returned to their stalls, confessing the weak¬ 
ness and incapacity induced by long confinement. 
Doctor Loring ot Mass., if I understood him 
right, endorsed Mr, Moore in this particular, 
and 1 am very sorry to add that even my friend 
Lewis F. Alle n satou the platform and *• held 
their clothes ” while the Stephens of the herd 
were “stoned!" 
In this, as in all other matters, we must be¬ 
ware of drawing conclusions from imperfect 
data, and establishing general principles from 
limited observations aud experiments. We must 
beware of sacrificing indispensable ends to tem¬ 
porary profit,—if indeed there can be even tem¬ 
porary profit in a wanton violation of physio¬ 
logical law. lu the case referred to above the 
cows •• were groomed and properly cared for.” 
It is sell evident that cattle in the open yard are 
not always groomed and properly cared for, 
neither are cattle that are stabled in the ordinary 
way. We may safely credit the good coalition 
of these animals, denied the "habeas e rpus” 
for a whole winter, to good grooming aud care. 
Certainly close confinement without good beds, 
grooming and care, would be intolerable indeed. 
Having said thus much, I would also condemn 
to the full extent of the English language, the 
barbarous practice of exposing anitnds to the 
winds aud snows aud frosts of these Nonhem 
winters without adequate protection; the pre¬ 
vailing error is on this side. Where want of 
locomotion damages one animal, cold winds and 
storms torment and enervate scores. Stable 
your cattle, or give them close warm sheds. 
answer to the above. 
Cortland Village, N. Y, Nov. 10, ISM. 
Dear Sir :—The proper classification of sheep 
for a prize list, adapted to the present time, had 
not received my attention until a short period 
before our recent State Fair. Being invited by 
the State Agricultural Society to open the “ dis¬ 
cussion” which you refer to, on that topic, I 
gave it such brief consideration as I could, but 
I arrived at no definite conclusions embracing 
the whole subject; and therefore, avowing my 
unreadiness to submit any complete plan, con¬ 
tented ray self with pointing out tho inequalities of 
ourexibting system and submitting a fewproposi- 
tions for its amendment. Most of the latter, 
however, were thrown out rather for further 
consideration and discussion, than for definite 
action. The subsequent debate, I am sorry to 
say, elicited little further ou the subject—it 
being mainly diverted into a dispute about the 
pedigrees of American Merinos. 
Various circumstances have conspired to ren¬ 
der tiie propel classification of sheep for a prize 
li»t a matter of much greater difficulty than 
would be at first apprehended; and the constant 
changes which are taking place in breeds and 
varieties, or in the popular estimation of them, 
require corresponding changes in classification. 
That of our English breeds has been made com¬ 
paratively easy by the adoption of English pre¬ 
cedents. The English classification rests partly 
on identity of blood, but more ou the existing 
physical status. It recognizes as a “breed" 
everv variety or sub*variety which breeders 
adjudge to have become *• established,” however 
recent its origin and however mixed its blood.. 
The prevailing mode of producingnew varieties, 
or as they term them, “breeds” by the English, 
is by crossing previously existing varieties. And 
even the oldest varieties known in Great Brit¬ 
ain. tuve, iu almost every instance, been mod¬ 
ified and biought to tbeir present mark, by 
crosses with other va. - ties. Among the Long 
Wools. I know of uo exception to the preceding 
remarks. The favorite Leicester were created, 
and at a comparatively recent period, by a mix¬ 
ture of several “ breeds; ” and it is well known 
that they are now receiving and have been 
receiving for years, occasional fresh infusions 
farm investments. A man may he a good book¬ 
keeper aud yet not be a successful merchant, 
manufacturer, or farmer. A man may be a 
successful merchant, manufacturer, or fanner, 
aud yet not know anything of book-keeping. 
But the most successful of the three classses are 
those men who, added to their practical knowl¬ 
edge of their profession, have also an intimate 
knowledge of the laws of business, and the best 
system of recording their transactions, or who 
bring to their aid men who have. 
We have an aversion for make-stiifts—we do 
not believe in them, we will not encourage 
them, nor will we fool any poor body by making 
him believe that there is either a farmer's 
heaven, hell, or book-keeping, exclusively; for 
we do not believe there is. What the farmer 
CATTLE IN CLOSE CONFINEMENT. 
You would scarce believe it, but several dis¬ 
tinguished breeders anddairyman, at the evening 
discussions at tho State Fair, confessed that they 
had put sundry well meaning and well deserving 
cattle in close confinement for a loug period—say 
sixty or ninety days. They avowed it freely, 
without apparent shame or remorse. They 
even excused and justified it, seemed persistent, 
and by plausible pretexts endeavored to bring 
others into complicity aud alliance with them. 
I don't know how many it takes to make a con¬ 
spiracy, hut it looks to me like a conspiracy 
against the natural rights of cattle. 
The worst teat lire of it is, it don't seem to be 
a scu t of epidemical delusion, like nullification 
in South Carolina, where men are carried away 
by sympathetic infatuation which new develop¬ 
ments might suddenly cure—each case seemed to 
stand on legs of its own, well braced. 
Mr. Moore, a successful, enterprising and 
intelligent dairyman of Erie Co., N. Y,, is re¬ 
ported in the Journal of the N. Y. State Ag. 
Soe., to have said, “Three years ago 1 picked 
out the poorest and oldest cows from my herd 
* The French. Saxon, Silesian, tic., Merinos, all 
equally descended from the Spanish Merino, take na- 
"'iiiu or provincial designations to distinguish the 
new varieties which have been established iu the 
co uutries from which they are named. It is the roast 
natural, convenient and ‘usual mode of designating 
such local offshoots rrom a common stem. JL'he Ameri¬ 
can Merino has becomes? distinct a variety from 1 he 
Spanish (either of the past or present) as any of the 
preceding. It Is Immensely superior to tho Spanish 
Merino. Then why should we, In the spit it of eolo 
nists. continue to appropriate the national name al n 
foreign and infenur variety. 
