ttYiril'&k 
EDITED BY HENRY 8. RANDALL, LL. D 
, 7, 7.7 ,ar ’ ms »P T toghz> shown , ( :i 08e 
relationship to that of thirty jeans ago. Cold. Wus 
tering winds have prevailed moat of the time for the 
last two months, accompanied by frequent falls of 
rain, sleet and snow, and riceterm. It was generally 
supposed that March and April had exhausted what 
was left of winter, but May came in quite as grim as 
its immediate predecessors. Several severe frosts oc¬ 
curred in the earlier days of the month; snow was 
not wanting, but owing to the preceding cold weather 
the fruit trees were not sufficiently advanced to re¬ 
ceive much if any damage. As we write a charge for 
THE STATE SHEEP FAIB 
Ode readers will not forget that the large edi¬ 
tion which is printed of this paper requires it to 
go to press so early in the week that no part of 
the proceedings of the State Sheep Fair can go 
into this number. We hope to furnish an entire 
report of them next week. 
PBOPEH SIZE OF MEBINOS. 
We ofte'n receive accounts of heavy Merino 
fleeces, shorn from carcasses of under seventy 
pounds, in the full-grown ewe, and one hundred 
pounds in the full-grown ram—both being in 
good ordinary condition. A large proportion 
of wool to carcass is, of course, a prime point of 
excellence but it is bought too dearly if it is 
bought at the expense of a proper sized carcass. 
It is a demonstrable fact that a small spherical 
bod}-, like the body of a sheep, presents more 
surface iu proportion to weight than a larger 
one; and consequently that, other things being 
equal, the smaller sheep must proportionally 
produce more woob We have seen runts on 
which its prodnetlon appeared too great to be 
natural in a well-balanced, healthy organization. 
It seemed as if the system abnormally devoted 
its energies to the formation of the pabulum of 
wool (the special substances which constitute 
and tend to the growth of wool) to the partial 
exclusion of those secretions which enter into 
the composition of muscles, hones, and other 
and hence while the 
Seed Soweii 
ATAMAN QUS0I DEL 
MEBINO EWES-THE PBOPEBTY OF 8. J. MEBBIAM, BEANDON, VT. 
structures of the body; 
wool grew as fast or faster than on the ordinary 
full-sized sheep, the carcass remained dwarfish, 
unthrifty and deficient iu constitution. We 
have seen sheep that were very small or very 
.large for their species, which were strong and 
hardy; hut this is rather the exception than the 
rule. The common observation of mankind has 
•always discovered and recognized the fact that 
the average or medium size, lu nuy variety of 
animals, is the size which indicates the best con¬ 
stitution—i. c., that development of the general 
organs and functions, which best fils them to 
perform their mechanical duties, utilize food, 
resist disease and withstand hardship. But if 
excessively small or excessively large animals, 
for their species, do happen to possess the full 
average vigor of constitution, it is not therefore 
expedient to breed from them. These peculiar¬ 
ities arc very likely to reproduce themselves, 
especially lu the male sheep. A very small stock 
rum generally gets under-sized progeny—a very 
large one, over-sized progeny. This is peculiarly 
the case where these characteristics of the stock 
ram arc inherited and not accidental. Such a 
coureu of breeding, persisted in, permanently 
changes the average size of the flock. Uniese 
there is a special reason for this — as, for exam¬ 
ple, to better adapt the tloek to meagre or rich 
Iced, privation and hardship—which in the natu¬ 
ral course of thiugs render varieties small, inure 
them to such surroundings-; and it i* this and 
not their small size which render- them capable 
of enduring greater hardship and privation. The 
size is but a coincident effect of the same cause. 
Wo have already, however, noted one apparent 
exception. The small sheep is not compelled to 
waste so much strength in scouring its food, and 
cau therefore better encounter the consequences 
of extremely meagre pasturage But this is 
rather a mechanical advantage than a result of 
superiority of constitution. If the small sheep 
traveled aa far the result would be the same. 
ft follows, from the preceding views, that we 
would determine the proper size of Merinos, 
lirst, by selecting a variety, if it can be found, 
adapted in this particular to the keep; and sec¬ 
ond, that In choosing animals from any v ariety, 
we would consider good medium-sized ones pref¬ 
erable to either runts or monsters. We have two 
varieties of Merinos in the United States which, 
when umnixed with each other, will meet the: 
wants of most localities. The mixture forms 
an admirable, class of sheep—but we have always 
rruivu iqjvueu rater, may oe put m the same 
place. If rain is threatened, rake the pods 
into heaps and cover them with straw or 
boards. Vv hen all the beans are out sweep 
them together, clean with a fanning-mill, sack 
or store them, in a dry place, for market. The 
yield is about twenty bushels per acre' and the 
price per bushel ranges from two dollars to five. 
Prolific seasons may depress the price below 
two dollars, but this is not often the ease. Where 
the cultivation is on an extended and permanent 
scale, a drying-house is important, as loss from 
bad weather is avoided and a saving made, in the 
cud, amply repaying the cost of the structure, 
1 OKK i aching in Crxci.NNATi.-The Report of the 
Commissioner of Africa!ttirc for February contains a 
table allowin'; the number of ho;;a puckt-d at Cincin¬ 
nati during thirty-five years, also theiraveraee weight 
per head for the last ten years, and the avrrege price 
per pound for the last fourteen vears. The'results 
A Hove! Way of Taming Bees 
A WRITE! 
tisli Gardener says 
have only to accustom them 
human beings. A 
friends call ‘a; 
the hives of stinging bees, Is « great help. It 
cun be shifted now and then, and, to provoke a 
geucral attack, place a loose waving rag or hand¬ 
kerchief in the hands of the bogle. I have been 
told that vicious, kicking horses have been com¬ 
pletely cured by hanging bags of buy behind 
them in the stalls. They kicked and plunged at 
the bags till their strength was exhausted, when 
their vice and folly left them, so that they 
quietly tolerated the bags to dangle by their 
sides, and grooms to do as they liked, in like 
manner the bees attack the waving, provoking 
lmndkeichief, and sting it till their vice- leaves 
them. That which scares crows tends to domes¬ 
ticate bees. If kept in a garden where men, 
wmmen and children are often seen, and where 
they are not disturbed, bees are as tame and 
peaceable as cocks and hens. 
and showy, and to get "brag fleeces." They are 
pampered the second season for the same reason and 
to enable them to do extra work-and this forcing 
system and over-work are kept op through a life ren¬ 
dered short by a total disregard of the natural habit* 
of the animal, and an obvious violattou of the laws 
of nature. 
m a recent number of the Scot- years, $6.’ 
1 • " 1° tame vicious bees, we years was 
-- 1 to the form of in 1801 - 62 , 
scarecrow, or what my Scotch 
potato bogle,’ placed in front of 
Potato Culture.— CUder this heading J. II. Vail, 
in the Cultivator, gives his experience in cultivating 
the potato and •• the decrease in the yield per acre now" 
compared with Ibrmer years. He thinks that, expert 
ence has proved that the farther w- get from the 
source of all new kinds -the seed ball — the less the 
yield, the weaker the plant, more subject to disease, 
and the finer the quality of the tubers when they do 
escape the rot.” He adds that using potatoes for 
seed, grown :n mucky land, on upland, and t tee versa, 
will add twenty per cent, to the quantity. 
Diseased Ram.—W. M, IIoi.mes, Greenwich, N. Y., 
writes" I would like to know what to do for a ram 
that has been touch and rugged for two years, and 
then becomes all at once stiff and apparently fown- 
dered —tint that never has had over half a pint of oats 
twice a day —no corn—and was not heated,” We 
have no Idea that the rain is "foundered." If all the 
symptoms are given, we would merely nurse him well, 
protect him from sudden changes of weather, keep 
all the evacuations regular, and trust to nature for 
the rest. 
Elliott's Hat and Manure Loader. —«. R. M , 
Marengo, Iowa.) The "machine” termed "Elli¬ 
ott's Hay and Manure Loader," L an unmitigated 
humbug. The proprietors of it are shrewd operators 
and have ‘•fleeced” more money out of farmer's pock¬ 
ets than they could ever hope to earn In a lifetime of 
honest toil. However nicely the model may operate 
yon will find the machine perfectly worthless when 
pnt to practical work. 
Cube for Hoof-Rot.—* 1 An Old Partner,” Knowles- 
ville.-, gives the following as a "sure cure” for 
lioof-rot:—"Take 4 uzs. blue vitriol, 4 do. verdigris, 
L’do. butter of antimony. 1 pint spirits of turpentine! 
1 do. strong vinegar. Shake all well together before 
Uttiag, Pare the hoof down so as to remove the af¬ 
fected parts, and then apply with a swab; after which 
the sheep should be kept on dry straw for twenty- 
four hours.” 
part from the other. Thus, it has been claimed, 
for example, that while the sire controls in much 
the greater degree the size of the progeny, the 
dura exerts the predominating influence in trans¬ 
mitting the characteristics of the viscera—and 
one of those characteristics is size. If then this 
theory la sound, it would follow that the coup¬ 
ling of a large male and a small female would 
generate offspring whose viscera were dispro- 
portioued iu size to the general frame, and like 
results would follow coupling large females with 
small males. Sncb results wonld obviously be in¬ 
jurious. The ram does, undoubtedly, as we have 
already said, far most control size. The proofs 
are. visible to all eyes. The other hypothesis has 
not, so far as we know, received any ocular dem¬ 
onstration. But waving all speculations on the 
subject, wo are prepared to believe on general 
physiological principles that any sudden and 
violent changes iu the size and structures, pro¬ 
duced by breeding, must derange to some extent 
the animal machinery ami the adaptation to each 
other of the different parts. Wo could, wc think, 
New England Ag’l Society Fair— The Executive 
Committee of this Society has decided to hold the 
uext New England Fair at Cranston, about three 
miles from Providence, R, r. The grounds selected 
arc those or Col. AMASASrBAcrE, containing seven- 
ty-flve acres, encompassed with a substantial fence 
twelve feet high. A hall is in process of erection 
competent to seat five thousand people. The Fair 
will be held the first week in September. 
J UE LAMB iiBor IN New YoRK.-Further informa- 
lion goes to ehow that the season has not been wo 
favorable for lambs. In New York, as wo hoped 
when wc recently wrote on the subject. We have 
received a number of letters from good and careftil 
breeders which mention severe losses of lambs in 
their own ilocks and those of their neighbors. 
muons UUOYG jam down, depends upox ihe 
quantity and quality of the aliment—summer 
nud wiutcr feed—which can be profitably be¬ 
stowed on it in the locality where It is to be 
kept. On the rich grain lands of Western New 
York aud Southern Ohio, for example, whore 
sheep are only an incident in convertible, hus¬ 
bandry—where all its varieties of feed are super¬ 
abundant—the largest variety is called for. It is 
called for, because it can as well be kept as 
smaller ones, aud because it will produce a given 
amount of mutton, with a less percentage of 
■offal than a smaller variety. And it will pay 
quite as well for what it consumes. The advan¬ 
tage of greater surface for the production of 
wool, in the small sheep is probably nearly or 
quite counterbalanced by its increased con¬ 
sumption to support parts of the carcass which 
are not salable products, namely, the offal — for 
it- requires food to grow Offal, iu proportion to 
its amount, as well as mnttou and wool. Add¬ 
ing the superior proportion of mutton in the 
large sheep, the balance stands in its favor, in 
the situations to which it is adapted. 
On light or meagre soils and pasturage, or 
those habitually exposed to periodical drouths, 
smaller varieties of the Merino are called for. 
Sheep, it is well known, consume food in pro¬ 
portion to their weight. It follows then that 
■when pasturage is scanty, a smaller sheep has 
.not to travel so far to obtain its necessary sup¬ 
ply as a larger one. And if the large sheep is 
for this purpose required to travel beyond what 
is necessary for healthy exercise, the labor thus 
incurred both wastes its valuable products (wool 
and mutton i and creates a demand for additional 
food. How long would the high-fed and heavy 
Infantados of Vermont retain their present size, 
condition and weight of fleece, if forced to travel 
fifteen or twenty miles a day over the burning 
plains of Australia, or half that distance over 
•the prairies of Texas, when scorched by droulh, 
to -obtain even a moderate supply of food ? Aud 
turning onr eyes to other breeds besides the Me¬ 
rino, how long wonld the great splendid mutton 
varieties of England contrive even to live , under 
such circumstances ? 
Many persons suppose that small sheep are 
hardier per sc than larger ones. We doubt this. 
But it is made to appear so to superficial ob¬ 
servation, because the physical causes — raeagro 
Sheep Wintering in Omo.-^t letter dat< 
l!Hh, from a leading sheep breeder in Lake 
(Western Reserve) Ohio, says:—"Sheep ha 
tered badly. Fodder was never so scarce, or 
so closely as now.” 
1 he Cotton Crop. — The cotton crop of last year 
has been about half sold, according to an estimate at 
New Orleans, bringing the growers about one hun¬ 
dred and thirty-five millions of dollars. Pressing de¬ 
mands will soon absorb the avails of the remaining 
uioicty. the National Intelligencer says the great 
resource of the South must, or ought to be found in 
the application of a large force in the production of 
cotton. 
Castor Beans 
Cultivation, tic. 
The editor of the Farmer’s Advertiser, St. 
Louis, Mo., bus had considerable experience in 
the cultivation aud preparation of the castor 
bean for market. Tiiis he communicates in a 
receut number of his paper, from which wc con¬ 
dense the leading features of hb practice in the 
cultivation of this article. TLc* soil for this crop 
should be dry and adapted to growing wheat or 
com. The beau straw is said to be superior to 
clover as a fertilizer if plowed under iti the fall 
as soon as the seed pods are gathered. Plauliug 
should be done as soon as the ground cau begot 
into good tilth, as l'or other cultivated crops. If 
the ground is low, or likely to suffer from rains, 
throw it into ridges. The rows should be from 
five to six feet apart each way. About every 
xijlse ammais, when youug, arc sometimes 
afflicted with what is denominated among farm¬ 
ers at- black-tooth, which generally proves fatal 
in a short time, if means are not used to relieve 
them, A gentleman, foi-merly a resident in this 
city, but now a successful farmer in Wisconsin, 
States that pulling out the affected or black tooth 
of the ailing pigs, if promptly done when the ani- 
ea speedy 
A pair of ordinary pincers will 
The Cattle Plague. - At a recent meeting of the 
"American Institute Farmers’ Club,” Prof. Brown 
delivered a lecture on the Cattle Plague which is said 
to have given great satisfaction. He showed diagrams 
of the virus enlarged 2,800 times, which the Tribune 
denominates opening the wonders of the Invisible 
world. 
Condensed Correspondence, Items, &c, 
The Lamb Drop in Texas. — George Welkins 
Kendall, the most distinguished wool grower of 
3 exas, writes us:—"My lambs commenced coming 
on the 12tit of March, at the end of a warm and group¬ 
ing spell. On the 13th, the worst sleet storm ever 
experienced in this State set in; away went the 
grass: the ewes had no milk; and the consequences 
you caft easily judge. I hoped to raise 1,800 lambs 
this season at least, but if 500 rub through I shall be 
satisfied. Most of my neighbors—all with large flocks 
—are served in the same way. The weather (April 
7tb) has continued persistently cold, raw and back¬ 
ward. In the older Southern States it has been floods 
here, freshets there, and late frosts everywhere. * 
* * Yet 1 am as hopeful of the future aa ever I was. 
I know whut I have done in Texas in years past, 
especially before the war, and nnless Providence has 
entirely changed the seasons, I am sanguine I can 
effect the same results again. Why not f April 9th. 
A warm aud growing day at last, the first time in 
nearly a month. But so treacherous has been the 
weather this month, and nearly ail the last, that I 
will not crow. Our old ewes are picking up a little, 
and the curled up lambs, what are left of them, are 
straightening out —bat we are not yet out of the 
woods.” 
I rnals give signs of distress, will produe 
and certain cure, 
answer for the purpose, if a better instrument is 
not attainable. If pigs are found to be ailing- 
refuse their food and are disinclined to their cus¬ 
tomary exercise—they should be examined for 
the black-tooth, as these -are symptoms of this 
ailment. 
Farming in Kansas. 
The Ashtabula Sentinel states that Judge 
Chaffee has purchased a farm of 1,000 acres, 
near Manhattan, Kansas, sending forward to 
stock it 85,000 worth of blooded cattle. Among 
these animals are the imported bull Clarendon 
and twenty-five other short-horns. A lot of 
very fine sheep, native and imported, has been 
sent in the same direction. The Judge has de¬ 
voted much time and money to the etockdepart- 
ment of his business, and his present enterprise, 
under the management of his son, can hardly 
fail of proving highly advantageous to the farm¬ 
ing interest of Kansas. 
I- arm Manager,— Any one requiring the services 
of an experienced person to manage a farm in all its 
branches is referred to the advertisement of Mr. Geo. 
Gardener in this paper. The advertiser can give 
unexceptional references, and has the capacity to 
paring the seed, pour water, raised to nearly the 
boiling point, upon it and let it remain twenty- 
four hours before planting. Eight or ten seeds 
to the hill should be dropped, as the cut worms 
are likely to destroy some of the plants. Keep 
the ground open and mellow as for other hoed 
crops. The pods arc generally about eighteen 
inches long, and should be gathered as soon as 
they begin to turn brown — cutting them off as 
they ripen. They may be dried in a house spe¬ 
cially prepared, or iu an open place with a 
southern inclination — the ground being first 
rolled down hard to facilitate the gathering of 
the beans, as they pop out of the pods, as they 
frequently do to the distance of a dozen feet. 
The spikes or pods should he frequently turned 
over till they are all clean, when a new batch, 
Large Eggs.-O. C. H., Whitney, Yt., wries us that 
Black Spanish fowls, owned by Calvin Kelsey of 
that town, laid two eggs, one of which measured 8 
inches in circumference one way and 7 inches the 
other; the second egg 7^ and 6 Inches. 
Hildreth’s Gang Plow.— E. E . S., Saline, N. Y., 
asks where the above named patent gang plow is 
manufactured. Oar advertising columns ought to tell 
him. We do not know. 
Anthracite Coal Ashes.—(A Subscriber, Hoosic 
Falls, N. Y.) These ashes possess little value for 
fertilizing purposes. Perhaps they are of most use 
scattered on grass land, or applied to light, sandy soil. 
