tion whether the smaller farms, under this 
system, may not be enabled to keep quite as 
much stock, realizing more profit annually than 
furms ot double and treble their size under the 
ordinary methods of culture. 
“I)r. Wright grows maugolds to'some extent 
tor stock feeding, and prefers them to other 
roots, taking the cost of cultivation and the 
relative nutritive value in amount.” 
ing suceedcd, inducing an early visit to the 
captured bees. They were up and dressed for 
business, and came circling about my head in 
scores — not offensively, but in a way which 
seemed to S9y they had uo hard feelings in con¬ 
sequence of the disturbance of the previous 
night. They went to work regularly and 60 
continued till my departure from the place the 
ensuing autumn. 
Two years ago I had occasion to pass the old 
place and called. None of my former acquaint¬ 
ance were there. Some were dead aud the re¬ 
maining ones had departed to other sections, 
but the old hemlock bee-hive was still there! 
Ii had been divested of its bark : was indurated 
by the sun and exposure, but bid fair to last 
another generation. It had been perforated in 
several places aud supplied with slides or draw¬ 
ers and was still inhabited, being the central 
point of tight,y-dx hives which formed a semi¬ 
circle around it. These bees were all derived 
from the original family above mentioned. The 
then owner of the place, on lcaruiug the share 1 
had had in starting his apiary, courteously prof- 
ferred me the hospitalities of his house,—but 
time would only permit a taste of his metheglin, 
which was by no means ill-timed or unwelcome. 
A parting look at the patriarchal hive caused 
many reflections on the changes which thirty- 
seven years had wrought since the initial step in 
forming this apiary was taken. —n. b. 
very greatly closer together and finer to find a place on 
the'skin. Yet neither of those facts are generally ob¬ 
servable. There probably can be little doubt, then, 
that the number of libers increases ns the carcass and 
skin Increase in si 2 e and surface, 
new germs of w 
loss is inflicted on the manufacturer, aim ulti¬ 
mately ou the consumer, without any benefit 
to the producer. 
Good breeders sometimes use rams which are 
yolkier fleeced than they would wish their flocks 
to become, iu order to counteract the opposite 
defect (too great dryness of fleece) in the whole 
or a portion of their ewes. There is a very in¬ 
structive recorded example of this in the case of 
Mr. Hammond of Vt. (See Practical Shepherd, 
pp. 131, 413, 41(1.) The manner in which he 
made his first great improvement in the general 
weight of the fleeces of his flock by a ram 
(” Voting Matchless”) which had an enormous 
but quite dry fleece, and afterwards improved 
that weight by infusing yolk into the long, thick 
fleeces of the get of that ram by breeding them 
to very yolky fleeced rams, (like Old Greasy,) is 
deserving of the careful study of young begin¬ 
ners. ne has never made it a rule to breed his 
yolkiest fleeced rams and ewes together, and 
having got 'be body of his flock about as yolky 
fleeced as he desires, he uo longer uses stock 
rams in which that characteristic predominates, 
nor has he done so for some years. And be it 
known that the yolkiest fleeced ones he ever 
nsed had not their wool filled with sticky, half- 
dried salve, or sprinkled with “chauks” of 
“gum” from a quaiter to three quarters of an 
inch in diameter, after the fashion of some! 
While there are shades of difference in the 
amount of yolk Eought after, the great body of 
first class breeders have, in like manner, avoided 
extremes iu that particular. And there is no 
doubt they will continue to do so. As Mr. 
Glenn intimates, the scouring of the show 
fleeces at Fairs, which was inaugurated, we be- 
Hauvest, Crops, Farm Machinery, &c., in Illi¬ 
nois.—a letter just received from Carrollton. 111., says: 
—“ Harvest is gathered, so far as wheat Is concerned, 
which is the principal harvesting here. Our fanners 
are greatly disappointed, for the crop is decidedly 
light. Teu days ago a ueighborlDgrinrmer was told 
Ids wheat would certainly yield twenty bushels to the 
acre, lie cut it last week, and it had shrunk so as to 
be scarcely worth harvesting. The chintz bng, and In 
some cases a black rust, have done mischief. Corn 
is looking very promising. Outs will be a good crop, 
utiless the dry lime which has just commenced, should 
bu too severe. This ia the very paradise of farmers, 
in most respects. The soil cau scarcely be improved; 
the quality of it, the case with which it. is worked, the 
facility With Which it adapts liaelfto a wet season or to 
a dry one. The markets are capital. The supply of 
farm machinery is bettor than in almost auy part of 
the country. The variety of such machinery is really 
wonderful. In reapers we have McCormick's (both 
kinds,) J. Manny's, J. p. Manny's, Excelsior, Cham¬ 
pion, Buckeye, Mayberry's Header, &c., and mowers 
without number. Corn cultivators in the same 
abundance, as also coru planters, Gradually onr 
most, intelligent farmers are coming to tbeldecision 
that drilling ie the true way to raise corn, and it will 
not bo long before the great majority of our large 
raisers will practice no other mode.” 
It- is possible tlmt 
■ root fibers are gradually produced in 
the skin, but we should be more inclined to suspect 
that all are coeval with the skin itself, aud that a por¬ 
tion of them continue dormant until the extension of 
the skin gives them a chance to develop themselves 
aud put forth fibers. It is said, iu opposition to this 
view, that all the adjacent fibers ore of the same 
length. We do not believe this to be the fact, and we 
think the observable difference in length would be far 
greater were the same fleece to continue on the sheep 
until four years old. The Merino had probably a nat- 
uralperiod of moulting, or eheddiDg Us wool, like the 
coarse sheep, and though this has been effaced by a 
long course of domestication, it may bo that both 
in its case and that of the coarse sheep, there is a 
stronger tendency In the dormant woo! germs to put 
forth fibers soon after the moulting season ns there is 
iu the germs which have previously produced wool. 
If this were so, it would account for there beiug uo 
greater disparity in the length of adjacent fibers, as 
the moultiDg and shearing season so nearly corres¬ 
pond with each other. We arc aware that this is spin¬ 
ning out theory pretty fine, but we have a right to 
guess, if we call it by no better name than gnessing, 
aud ask no man to pin his faith on it! 
Keeping Cattle on Thirty Acres 1 of Land. 
One of the most interesting; papers in the 
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of 
England is that in which the^Rev. J. L. Brereton 
relates his experience In the use ot bought food 
upon about thirty acres of grass land, the extent 
of his glebe. Ou this small plot about £1,500 
worth of stock has been kept by a purchase of 
food and mauure to the amount of £500, that 
the result is a profit of about" £100, besides ma¬ 
nure, “worth about£200.” The following are 
Mr. Breretou’s conclusions "ion ; the question of 
feeding cattle on bought food : 
1. That it is quite possible^to feed animals on 
purchased food alone. 
2. That a mixture of the common grain and 
pulse, e. ff., linseed, peas, beans, wheat, &c., 
may be made for £10 per tun, which will fatten 
auy animal. 
3. That, the addition of seasoning (aniseed and 
fenugreek arc those that I have used for live 
years,) at an additional cost of £1 per tun, ap¬ 
pears to pay well in the added relish and the im¬ 
proved condition of the animals. 
4. That doubling the quantity of linseed, 
though raising the price, probably gives quite 
a proportionate increase to the value of the mix¬ 
ture. 
5. That oy the use of this meal the farmer may 
fearlessly increase his stock without adding to 
bis acres; and yet, by that increase of stock, 
greatly increase the productiveness of his farm. 
This consideration both suggested and replied 
to the following exclamation of a neighboring 
farmerMr. Brereton, if you are doing all 
this on thirty acres. I'm thinkiDg what’s to be¬ 
come of the landlords." 
0. That the use of sea-sand as bedding will 
enable the farmer either to dispense with straw, 
or to use it more profitably as food, and that be¬ 
sides possessing, according to its quffffiy, manti- 
rlal properties, the sand acts as a purifier of the 
land, and seems to allow of a closer herSing of 
stock than might be otherwise safe. 
T. That sheep may be folded on grass with 
great advantage if some shelter and dry treading 
are provided in adjacent yards during excessively 
wet weather; hut the bullocks and horses do 
best in yards and sheds, the grass grown after the 
fold being cut by the scythe and carried to 
them. 
Communications 
Weather, Crops, Oil, Ac., in Iowa.— Under date 
of June 30, Mr, M. H. Bisiiard of Dea Moines, gives 
us an account of heavy rains in t-liat region, greatly 
retarding farm operations, flooding bottom lands, 
sweeping away bridges, etc. Yet he adds“ Regard¬ 
less of r.iin and wind and weeds, the crops look well. 
Corn is very good; wheat never promised better; 
oats a little heavy, rather to much straw; potatoes are 
good, though the hugs have been very bad in places. 
In fact all promise well, aud I see no cause for com¬ 
plaint. A few farmcre on North rivet lost most all 
they had, lint people on the Dee Moines, and on high 
ground every where, have no cause for grumbling. * 
* * It is a splendid summer for breaking prairie. A 
good team breaks it readily when wet, and (hen it 
rote so much better. A great mauy homes are being 
made this enmmer, The emigration to Iowa this year 
is good. Dee Moines is thronged with strangers. 
Many are looking for land, many looking for business 
locations, and many viewing onr petroleum prospects. 
The Wright Well, owned by the Bpring Creek Com¬ 
pany of Chicago, ia about three hundred feet deep, 
with every prospect of success,” 
THE WOODCHUCK AND THE RACCOON, 
WHICH IS THE BEST CHURN 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker .—Seeing several 
articles in your best of papers about “ Heading 
off Woodchucks,” and being somewhat expe¬ 
rienced iu the art of trapping and bunting, I 
send you my way of getting rid of Woodchucks 
aud the Raccoon, which, if thought proper for 
the Rural, use for the benefit of others. 
The Woodchuck is very easily disposed of 
with a good rifle in the bauds of a good marks¬ 
man. This, I think, Is the best and surest way. 
But those who cannot direct a hall to the spot, 
cau resort to poison, or the fire method given 
in back numbers of the Rural. Poison is a 
very good way, If you can get them to eat just 
enough. The fire plan will work complete 
when there is ouly one burrow, but I have seen 
where several branches came to the surface. 
You find all these and build a fire over each one 
at the same time, and while you are doing that I 
could shoot your Woodchuck. Just before sun¬ 
set you will find them out. Charge your rifle a 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker;— We noticed in a 
late Rural an inquiry asking “Which is the 
host Churn?” and requesting an answer from 
those who had not got a patent churn to sell. 
We have no patent churn to sell, neither are 
we interested in the sale of any; but we have 
used the Brinkehhoff Churn for a year or more 
past. Wc use the power size, and churn from 
40 to 50 pounds at a churning, which takes from 
five to twelve minutes; and we get as much aud 
as good butter from the same quality aud quan¬ 
tity of cream ns we could with the dash churn, 
which would take four or five times as long to 
bring the batter. When the butter is gathered, 
the milk is drawn off, and the butter is washed 
in the churn, which process, from, the peculiar 
construction of the dasher, Is accomplished in 
four or five minutes. The butter is then taken 
from the chnru, and being entirely free Irom 
milk is ready for salting. 
From the above statement of facts and experi¬ 
ence, the “ world ol people in the dairy regions 
who are anxious to know,” can judge whether 
they know of a better churn. For ourselves we 
venture the opinion that this churn is, what yon 
predicted two years ago It would be, “ the long 
sought desideratum among butter-makers. 1 '' 
Oneida, N. Y., .Jane, 'K5. Oneida Community. 
A Good Mii.k Rack —Mr. W«. V. Smith of San¬ 
dusky, N. Y., writes the Rural thus:—“I have a 
milk rack that I think very cheap and handy. Take a 
scantling 4 by 4 inchee—long enough to reach from the 
cellar bottom to the Jolce above—plane It smooth; 
then get out strips or boards \ of an inch square and 
2 feet 2 inches long Tor small pans, and 2 feet 4 inches 
for largo; nail ou one on each side so that your pans 
will stand level; lay on two more top of them; then 
0 ineUes from them put ou four more, and so on to the 
top of your post. By so doing. If your cellar is as 
high as mine, you will get 40 pans in 2 feet 2 inches 
square and live feet high, easy to get at, and it takes 
but little room." 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE, ITEMS, &c 
Correction.— In the note next to the bottom one 
in the 2d column, page 214 of Rural, last week, we 
are made to say Mr. Atwood " states that his heaviest 
ram's fleece in 1840 was 18 lb6.4 ozs. This is so great¬ 
ly at variance with his other weights that we presume 
the fleece was washed.” The last word should have 
been unwashed. 
Farmers and Farming. 
A prominent public man at Washington 
writes me:—“I envy you the delights of your 
farm, aud long to get back to mine.” There ia 
a pleasure in farming which those who have 
never engaged iu other pursuits do not appreci¬ 
ate. I pity the man who has no love for agricul¬ 
ture or horticulture. There must be something 
radically wrong in bis constitution. Depend 
upon it, he cannot be much of a man. Of course 
he may wish to engage In other pursuits for the 
purpose ol’ makitig money. But if he prefers to 
stand behind a counter and measure out dry 
goods or groceries, aud thinks it more “ respec¬ 
table ” than cultivating the soil, he either lacks 
the Instincts of a gentleman, or is weak in the 
upper regions. I would not walk ten rods with 
such a man If I could help it, or have any inter¬ 
course with him further than was necessary, I 
should expect him to say something that was 
disagreeable. 
“But. farmers are not all geutlemeu.” True. 
Some of the most conceited aud disagreeable 
men I ever knew were farmers. But such men, 
however much they may affect to despise those 
engaged in other pursuits, have no real love for 
agriculture, and no genuine self-respeet. Igno¬ 
rant, prejudiced, without culture, ill-bred, self- 
satisfied, with low tastes and sordid desires, they 
are incapable of appreciating the dignity of their 
avocation.— Ex. 
Caustics Applied too often in Hoof Rot.—A 
friend residing in Knox Co., Ohio, writes: —“The 
sheep of a neighbor of mine became lame. He went 
to work to apply vitriol every other day and kept it np 
four weeks. At this stage I saw the sheep. The 
sores hud not in a single case worked into the hoof. 
Ia some a hole between the toes, say, as large as a 
three Cent piece, seemed to be eaten about three- 
fourths of an inch np toward the ankle joint — in 
others the flesh was entirely eaten away so that the 
toes could be spread apart to twice the natural dis¬ 
tance. The eorea discharged much matter; the sheep 
grew poor; their appetites failed; the wool looked 
bad, &c.—but there was no offensive smell. In some 
of the worst cases, the foot was much swollen above 
the hoof, mostly in front and np to Ute ankle joint. 
Du you know the disease aud the cure?” 
The disease was an excessive cauterization of the 
foot, and consequently an extirpation or eating away 
of the undiseased tissues, by the too frequent applica¬ 
tion of vitriol. The cure would be effected by discon¬ 
tinuing this frequent cauterization, and it would he 
acceleratedhy making soothing and "healing” appli¬ 
cations to the parts. Where the strong acids are em¬ 
ployed on the feet, wc have seen them almost eaten 
np by their too frequent and too plentiful use. 
ABOUT RAISING BEEF CATTLE. 
Drain Your Roads !—Friend Isaac G. Ewer of 
Mention Center, N. Y., sent ns a note on this subject 
under date of 4th mo. 3d; though lat« we give the 
substance of it now, as follows:—“The springy,pla¬ 
ces that have shown themselves so much tn our tuads 
the past spring may be very much improved by tile 
draining. It was suggested that we try the experi¬ 
ment the previous spring through a springy place in 
our road. So at It we weut, in the middle of the road. 
With horses, plows, men and boys we soon had some 
thirty rods dug 2# feet deep, with the tile in and ditch 
filled. The experiment works admirably. I am sat¬ 
isfied that it would pay to put thousands of rods in 
our roads." 
You said in a late iMpL, " Is there any good 
reason for not raising cattle, if so name it?” 
While the iarrner is raising the three year old 
beef, which you say will bring him fifty or 
seventy-five dollars, be can make three or four 
times as much raising hogs. A half dozen spring 
pigs, well fed during the summer, will bring 
more money at six months old than your high¬ 
est priced beef at three years. No long winter 
nursing and currying to enliven the skin, and 
stewing of odious tobacco upon the stove to kill 
lice, and baking corn cake and slicing carrots 
for the dainty calf. Mr-can sit down and 
read his paper, study hie commentary, and go 
n-vtslting with his wife You will say the only 
true way to keep up and enrich a farm is to raise 
cattle, but then one cau as well keep milch cows 
as raise beeves, except for his own family con¬ 
sumption. L. 
Newark, N. Y. 
Origin or the Early York Potato.— 8 . W. Ar¬ 
nold, C'ortlaud, Ill., (iu the Rural of April 15th,) 
wants to know where and by whom the Early York 
potato originated. I think this potato must be the 
Shaw potato, although he doo6 not describe the color. 
If ao, they were grown from the seed about twelve 
years since by Brioki.kv Shaw of Dover, Lenawee 
Co., Mich., and go by the name of Shaw potato. They 
are very extensively grown in Southern Michigan aud 
North- western Ohio, and somewhat iu Orleans Co., N. 
Y. Many think the Shaw decidedly the best potato 
grown for all seasons of the year — Western Trav¬ 
eler, Leavenworth, Kansas. 
dttmal spirit of the 
Goitre in Michigan—Account of a Flock.— II. T. 
Ross, Brighton, Mich., informs ne that lu 1801 he 
wintered 150 ewes.. He raised 83 lambs aud lost about 
75 with “ swelled throats." Those raised were affected 
more or less with the malady. Iu 1861 he wintered 
111 ewes aud raised 122 lambs; in 1862 he wintered 
108 ewes and raieed 103 lambs: in 1863 he wintered 
106 ewes uud raised 96 lambs. During these years the 
sheep were wintered in an open shed with a few boards 
set up lu Iront. Mr. R. feeds his ewes little grain in 
winter, but takes care to have them enter that season 
in good order. In aii other particulars his described 
management is good. He feeds a few turnips toward 
spring. Hie flock has been the same throughout. 
They are “Spanish," crosses between Spanish and 
French, und grades. In 1883 Mr. R. bull! a sheep bain 
40 by B0—with doors and windows on all sides to give 
air—the doors opening into four yards where the sheep 
could drink at pleasure. Bat to keeping them closer 
tn the yard and warmer than previously, he attributed 
the goitre which made its appearance in 1864. In 1865 
he wintered 123 ewes, r.ieed 122 Iambs, and has not 
seen u swelled neck He frd Uls sheep in the burn 
yard in the morning unlees u stormed —ut noon in a 
lot about 60 rods from the barn, and kept them out 
until night in fair weather. They wore fed In the 
barn at night, with the little doors left open so they 
could go In and out at will. Mr. R. saya:—“I will 
give you the produce of five ewes and two lambs of 
my French and Spanish stock, lu 18641 raised three 
lambs from the five ewes and sheared 56 lbs, 2 ox-, of 
wool. In 1865 I raised uiito lambs, four of the ewes 
having twins, and sheared 55 lbs. 2 o.:s. in 21 days less 
than one year. Two of the yearlings, dropped in 1804, 
produced respectively 13 lbs. b ozs. and 11 lba. 12 oze. 
of wool.’ 1 
Soiling for Cows. 
Dr. Lyman S. Height of Whltesboro, 
New York, gives an acccunt of an experiment in 
soiling, In the second annual report of the New 
York Cfierce Manufacturers’ Association. 
He adopted “in pari the system of green¬ 
soiling for SO cows. Twenty acres were em¬ 
ployed for the purposf of producing food for 
these cows, and were divided up in the following 
manner: — Pasturage, 15 acres, clover, 3 acres; 
rye, half acre; oats, half acre; sowed coru, 1 
acre. The rye is put in the previous season, by 
the last ol August or fifot of September, and is, 
therefore, ready to be tut early in the season 
following. By the time this is used up the clover 
will be large enough to be nsed, and after that 
the outs, which are sowed early in April. The 
corn fodder comes last, and different parts of 
this acre of land arc sowed with the com, bo as 
to have a succession lh food, the earliest com 
being put in by the 5th Of May. In tills way the 
twenty acres were amply sufficient to keep the 
Cows in feed until eome time in October, when 
they were turned into the aftergrass. The Doc¬ 
tor is oi the opinion tilt the cows do as well, if 
not better, both a* to health and yield of milk, 
than they would at pustjure, and that when laud 
is valuable and arable, ol adapted to this system, 
it can be employed with profit. The cows were 
generally fed by G.o'eldck In the morning, and 
remained at their feed about three hours, when 
they were turned iuto the pasture, and at 3 
o’clock P. M., they weie brought np and re¬ 
ceived their afternoon s meal. To cut the feed 
aud take charge of the tows, it takes one man 
about half his time, 
“ It may be observed here that it usually takes 
two to three acres of hnd to pasture a cow, 
while by the system adopted as described above, 
two-thirds only ot an acre suffice. The system 
of green soiling is not generally understood, 
nor are its advantages appreciated by the dairy 
farmer. All experiments of this kind are valua¬ 
ble, uud ie well worthy of bought und invostigu- 
Product of a Small Dairy. — “Dairymaid" of 
Tompkins Co., N. Y., writes the Rural as follows:— 
“ Having kept eome account of my dairy of five cows 
recently, I send you the results for one week, com¬ 
mencing with the 7th of May last. From the milk ob¬ 
tained during the first three days I made 5 lbs. 13 ozs. 
of butter, and a cheese weighing 42 lba. i) ozs; the 
next two days n cheeso weighing 43 lbs. 7 ozs,, and the 
remaining two one weighing 4Sjrf lba. Daring this 
time the cows were fed six quarts of potatoes each at 
night, aud in the morning six quarts of meal, mixed 
with whey, were divided among the five." 
A SHORT BEE STORY, 
To Prevent Cattle from Jumping. 
At the last meeting of the Am. Inst. Far¬ 
mer’s club, the following novel way of prevent¬ 
ing cattle from jumping fences was stated: 
“We lately learned a curious remedy to pre¬ 
vent steers from jumping fences, which is so 
easy of application and appears so effectual, that 
we give it to the public. It is simply to cut off' 
the eye lushes of the upper lids with a pair of 
scissors, and (he ability or disposition to jump 
iB as effectually destroyed as Sampson’s power 
was by the loss of bis locks. The animal will 
not attempt a fence until his eye-lashes are 
grown again. Of this we are informed by Sam¬ 
uel Thorne, the great breeder of Dutchess county, 
who assures us that he had tested It upon a pair 
of very breaeby oxen. As it was of great 
value to him, he hopes it will be tried by 
others.” 
One warm afternoon in J une, 1820, a swarm of 
honey bees came whirlling through the woods 
where I was engaged at work. Their proximity 
to the ground indicated that their destination 
was not distant, and a hurried pursuit was the 
consequence. A short run through the bushes 
sufficed to bring me to the tree they had selected 
for their future habitation. It was a hemlock, 
some two feet In diameter, and about seventy in 
altitude. The point of entrance was in plain 
sight, aud In a short time they had all disap¬ 
peared, through a small hole, into the body of 
the tree. A sudden impulse derided me to at¬ 
tempt transferring them to a yard near the 
dwelling, then my home. My host thought It a 
wild, if not impracticable scheme, but the wo¬ 
men und the son lent their voices in favor of It, 
aud the matter was decided affirmatively. 
Iu the evening, provided with a yoke of oxen, 
a sled, ax and lantern, we repaired to the tree 
and soon had It. down—its descent being ren¬ 
dered easy by coming in contact with sundry 
small saplings on the way. The bees gave evi¬ 
dence of discomfortnre, but their egress was 
prevented by plugging up the avenue of entrance 
with some rugs brought for that purpose. 
About six feet of bole of the tree was found to 
be hollow by rapping It with the head of the ax. 
It was severed a foot or more from the top of 
the cavity, and then again below, leaving a sec¬ 
tion about six feet- in length. This was trans¬ 
ferred to the sled, transported to the house, and 
placed securely upon u platform or bench about 
two feet from the ground. It was subsequently 
stayed by braces aud held firmly iu it* position. 
On leaving, for the night, the hole or avenue 
to the cavity was unstopped and the swarm left 
A bright and genial Sabbath rnorn- 
Rbmbdy for Choked Cattle. —Mr. D. Hyzeii, 
Andes, N. Y., furnishes the Rural this remedy for 
choked cattle as one which he has never known to 
fail:—"Take abont half a pint of lard, warm it aud 
pour It down the throat of the animal. 1 first tried 
this in the easo of a young cow. after trying several 
other supposed remedies, uiue hours after she was 
choked, ami it relieved her iu two minutes. Since 
then I have tried it three tiineB without a failure, and 
therefore think the remedy should be made known to 
every one who keeps cattle." 
Market Faiiw.—O ur Farmers' Club ii* talking of a 
“Market Fair," ami wishing more Information as to 
the success of similar institutions here In America, 
we sluill bo thankful for such Information through the 
columns of the Rural, or by direct correspondence 
with those practically engaged In such Fairs.—E l wood 
Stanton, Monrovia, Morgan Co,, Ind- 
Market. Fairs were somewhat popular In thiscouu- 
try a few yea re ago, but we hear but little of them of 
late. Any of our readers who live in regions where 
such Fairs have been successful this year will please 
respond through the Rural, or advise our correspon¬ 
dent by letter. 
-- 
Pome Marino in tub West. — I wish to know 
through your paper if the raising aud fattening of 
hogs on a large scale can be made profitable ? Cana 
mau make It pay well to keep up from 100 to 200 hogs ? 
In short, what will be my prospects In going into 
swine raising and fattening as a business here lu the 
West.—and what clreumsuucc» govern most the prob¬ 
able success or failure of the enterprise? 1 should 
Scratching Posts—Luxuries for Cattle. 
Sidney Smith used to say:—“I am for all 
cheap luxuries, even for animals; now all ani¬ 
mals have a passion for scratching t heir back¬ 
bones; they break down gates and palings to 
effect this. Look! there iam,y universal scratch- 
er, a sharp edged pole, resting cm a high and low 
post, adapted to every bright, from a horse to a 
lamb. Even the Edinburgh Reviewer can take 
bis turn ; you have no idea bow popular it is. I 
have not had a gate broken since I put It up. I 
have it In all my fields.” 
Increase of Wool Fibers on the Sheep,—C. A. 
Miller, Mich., asks the following questions:—“ Is 
there as many wool fibers on the lamb at four weeks 
okl as there is when his first fleece Is shorn? 16 there 
as many fibers to the equiire inch ou a two year okl us 
there 1* on a yeaning? If there is a greater nmnuer 
on the whole surface of the older sheep, at what time 
do they commence growing ? If there are no more 
fitters on the two or three year old, then is the first 
fleece finer than the second or third ?’’ 
We can only answer these interrogatories by giving 
what we guess to be the facts—for we have never made 
the subject one of personal investigation, or known of 
its being made so by other persons. If the lamb has 
us many wool fibers as the grown sheep, they must be 1 to repose. 
A correspondent of the Canada Farmer 
complains of a prejudice there against turnip 
growing, although many of the farmers are 
from England. Hu says the last census shows 
that, “wc raised 27 million bushels of wheat 
to 10 million bushels of turnips.” 
like your opinion, aud hope some of your experienced 
readers will give un an lnMructlve article on thin sub¬ 
ject as soon a* possible.- YbUNti Man, A’i/w«, ff i*> 
We hope some experienced Western mun will re 
spend to the above. 
