samples from “Barker’s Profit.” The owners write 
ns that “ the weight, of his first fleece was 21 lbs., 
the second 27 lb*., and the third SO lbs,—one year and 
four days' growth." Mr. B. adds; —“I think his 
stock can't be beat for quantity and quality." If he 
can, who owns the buck ?" One ol the samples is a 
trifle over 2 In. long, the others from 2 3-lfi to 2 % In. 
long; quality and style fair for so heavy fleeced an 
animal; yolk yellow, abundant, hut not extraordina¬ 
rily so. We cannot reply to Mr. Barker's question, 
without first knowing something about the stock of 
his ram. 
Crop Prospects—The Harvxst.-Ie this re »i or 
the corn crop has improved zreatly within the last 
three weeks, indicating that, witha favorable autmiln 
the yield will be fully up to that of seasons comment- 
ing more auspicionsly. The same is trne of the p 0 
tato. and should the rot not interfere the yield win hr 
ample for the wants of the market. Hayin'* has C o m ' 
menced with a burthen of grass, especially clover 
rarely equalled. With good weather for gathering 
there will be little complaint of empty burns or starw 
lug stock the comln. winter. The wheat fields am 
rapidly assuming the golden tint, and in some locaii 
can feed intelligently. We must hear in mind, 
that “ like produces like.’’ That constituent of 
food which produces fat will not produce mus¬ 
cle, and vice versa. We must seek a food con¬ 
taining chemically the same constituents as the 
parts of the animal we wish to bnild np. In 
short, the Intelligent feeder must know just 
what effect he wishes to produce by feeding, and 
what food will most economically accomplish 
his object. Animal muscle, lean meat, (fibrin,) 
has the same chemical composition as the gluten 
of oar grains, or the camn In beans, peas and 
flax seed. The bones contain, besides gelatin 
(which is similar to gluten) phosphate of lime, 
some carbonate of lime, magnesia, soda, potash 
and common salt. The fat of animals is chemi¬ 
cally identical with the oil or fat of our grains 
and grasses, and differs bnt little also from the 
6tarch, gum and sugar contained in them ; but 
contains no nitrogen, only carbon and water. 
Thus we see that the animal economy produces 
very few chemical changes in Its food, but sim¬ 
ply appropriates what, is found ready formed to 
its use. The vegetable elaborates nud prepares 
and the animal appropriates. 
When this is fully understood by the feeder, 
be w ill not expect by feeding sugar or starch to 
produce muscle, and consequently, will avoid 
feeding whey, or any other refuse containing 
only partial nourishment, alone to young ani¬ 
mals; and if he wishes to produce fat principal]y 
he will nof use food rich only in nitrogen or 
muscle forming principles. A practical appli¬ 
cation of the knowledge we now possess is what 
is needed. Let,us illustrate by a case in point.. 
For several years, statements have been go¬ 
ing the rounds of the agricultural press, that 
feediug breeding animals with sugar or sweet in 
the form of shimmings and refuse from sirup 
making <which cows are very fond of) would 
render them barren, but no explanation of the 
phenomena. Still, all it needs here is an appli¬ 
cation of facts, well known, to draw a correct con¬ 
clusion. All animal tissues contain, as an essential 
element, nitrogen. Sugar, fat, starch and water, 
are “ non-nitrogenized components of the ani- 
REPORTS OF GREAT FLEECES. 
Weights or Fleeces.— John S. Goe, Brownsville, 
Pa., give- as the following as the product? of his Me¬ 
rino flock: Eight ewes produced each 6 lbs. 8 oz. 
wool; eight from 6 lbs, 1 oz. tofi lbs. 14oz ; forty- 
five from 5 lb*, to 5 lbs. 15 oz : one 7 lbs,; one 7 lbs. 
11 oz.; one 3 lbs.; ora-V !b- ; one teg 7 lbs. 8 oz. 
(carctas* 35 lbs. Burn tegs 0 lbs. 10 oz.; 10 lbs. 2 oz.; 
10 lbs. 8 oz.: 10 lbs. i; oz.: ’.1 lbs. 
Wm. F. Barber, Castleton, Vt,, gives the following 
os the clip of ten ewes, consisting of “old culls from 
hit) brother's flock” and their progeny: Tega,—13 
lbs,, 13 lba. 7 ozb-, 11 lbs., 11 lbs., 10 lbe. 4 ozs. Two 
year olds,—14 lbs.. 14 lbs. 4 ozs., 16 lbs. 14 ozs.. 13 
lbe. 13 ozg., 15 lbs 12oze. Three year olda,—9 lbs. 
10 ozs , 10 lbs. Five year old —10 lbs. Twelve year 
old.—9 lbs. 6 ozs. All have lambs but the vearlint's. 
Mendenhall e IMPROVED Hand Loom.— Farmers 
and other? interested lu reducing the cost of clothing 
to their families are referred to the advertisement of 
this loom- which we have heretofore commended to 
Rural reader ~ ~ 
phia, thus speaks of Mendenhall’s 
provement: 
ic-al expert, we 
The Farm and Fireside of Philadel- 
valuable im- 
A» a practical mechanic and mechau- 
bave given close aud continuous 
critical attention, for more than a year, to the prac¬ 
tical performance of the ‘Improved Mendenhall,’ and 
freely confess we have found no feature to And fault 
with—everything to commend. So entirely simple, 
disorderof parts is nearly impossible. With so little 
friction, but trifling power Is required to operate it, 
It weaves by simply turning a crank—a perfect au¬ 
tomaton—swings the lathe, springs the treddle, flings 
the shuttle, unwinds the warp, winds up the woven 
cloth, and maintains the tension, never making a mis- 
move; but making doth of very superior quality, and 
of eight or nine different styles all on the same warp, 
at the rate of from 20 to 85 yards per day. The far¬ 
mers mechanics, and all others wearing ‘store 
clothes,’actually pay on the material of which they 
are made fix prqfltx. and the U. S. tax of six per cent', 
all of which accrue on tbc raw material between the 
time of Its going out of the farmers' hands and re¬ 
turning to them lu the form of cloth. The Menden¬ 
hall Loom saves to it? proprietors all this, givingtbem 
a better quality of cloth at an average of less than 
two-thirds the cost of store material.” 
DAIRYING IN ILLINOIS 
at Elgin, Ill., of which Dr. J. Tart was made 
President. Judge Sylvan us Wilcox addressed 
the Convention at Considerable length, setting 
forth the reasous for malting a change iu the 
agricultural industry of that region. lie Eaid 
grain growing was getting to be an uncertain and 
non-remunerative business, and it was time a 
change of products was made to a considerable 
extent. The dairy business seemed to promise 
the surest and most munificent returns; hence 
the formation of the Association he was address¬ 
ing. About twelve years ago at tention was turned 
to stock raising in that vicinity, and the result 
had been much more auspicious than could have 
been expected by the pioneers of the movement. 
It was assumed that within a radius of five miles, 
Elgin being the central point, two million of 
gallons of milk were now produced annually, 
and twice that auiouut within a radius of ten 
miles. This milkl represented a cash value of 
A Good Stump Machine.— Since our last issue we 
have received two inquiries about stump machines— 
one from Columbia. S. C., and another from Jefferson 
county \* Y. There are several stutnp machines in 
use In Western New York, and only a few weeks ago 
a trial of four different patents was had in Steuben 
county. The trial was witnessed by one of our asso¬ 
ciates, ami noticed in the Rural of May 18— there¬ 
at being a victory for the Willis Machine, made by 
W. W. Willis of this city. Last week we attended 
a trial of the same machine in Greece, this county, 
and from what we then saw of its operation an* satis¬ 
fied that It is a superior machine, if not indeed the 
very best obtainable. Wo therefore refer all wanting 
a good stump machine to Mr. Willis. 
up the young animal, It is readily seen to what 
an important account this may be turned by the 
breeder of animate. In raising heifers, how im¬ 
portant it is to produce a large and well formed 
muscular development, and to this end glutinous 
or albuminous food should be given. 
FIRST CALF AT TWO YEARS OLD. 
There is no doubt of tbe propriety' of devel¬ 
oping the milk secretions at as early a period as 
the maturity and strength of the heifer will per¬ 
mit, and it has been found by mauy of the best 
breeders that a better milker will be produced at 
four or five years old, when the first calf is borne 
at tw'o than at three years. This point is main¬ 
tained in an able paper by the Hon. L. F. Allen, 
published in die Transactions of the N. Y. Ag. 
Society for 1864, and this is emphatically our 
experience. 
The great objection to making cows of heifers 
at two years bus been that they usually make 
6mall cows, as they do not grow much after¬ 
wards. This objection will be obviated by fol¬ 
lowing the hints given above, as the heifer will 
be as large at two years as is u?uul at three. Be¬ 
sides, as the effort has been principally to de- 
velop her frame and muscular system, she will 
have abundant strength aud vitality for mater¬ 
nity. It is not even desirable to develop fat only 
moderately in heifers, aud therefore food, con¬ 
taining much oil or a very large proportion of 
starch, should not be led except iu combination 
with more glutinous food. The calf should 
have mixed with its whey or refuse milk, cooked 
pea or bean meal, oil meal, oats or brau, all rich 
in gluten and phospate of lime—flesh and bone¬ 
forming nutriment. Andafterwards, when extra 
food is given beyond grass or hay, the same ma¬ 
terials should be used, taking care when practi¬ 
cable to mix oil and pea meal or bran to make it 
less fattening. Five dollars’ worth of these 
foods given extra to each heifer will add more 
than double the amount to her value as a young 
cow. We believe that the future improvement 
of the dairy interest will principally depend 
upon the wise determination of the dairyman to 
breed aud intelligently rear his own herd.— 
Ranging Gates, — An engineer in India, where 
grate-posts find proverbially insecure bearings in the 
deep black soil, suggests a mode of hanging by which 
t.he strain of the gate’s weight would he transferred 
from the top to the bottom of the post., The shank 
Of the top hinge- passes loo&ely through the gate post 
and fastens in an upright lever behind It, which 
hinges to the bottom of the post beneath the ground, 
and has its fulcrum against the post near the ground. 
The weight of the gate thus pulls on the upper end 
of the lever and pushes againt its fulcrum near the 
ground, shortening the leverage of the strain by the 
whole distance between the two hinges of the gate. 
The whole pressure against the post is exerted close 
to the ground. 
wool by the farmer, is termed shearings. It Is made 
in all factories, aud is largely imported from Germany 
and France. 11 is felted into cloth while being fulled, 
aud is merely an outside covering which is soon found 
at the lower part of the garment, bet ween the outside 
and the liniug. This is supposed by many to be 
shoddy, but is much worse and can be detected by 
rubbing the cloth over white paper. 
I have thus endeavored to point out a few of those 
wromie. on all sides, which cause the habitual cry, 
“Cheats in all trades but ours.” 
Yours truly, William Hayden, 
[Without endorsing all of Mr. IIa then's views, we 
publish with pleasure the opinions of a manufacturer 
of experience aud conceded integrity on the impor¬ 
tant topics referred to in the above letter. We shonld 
be glad to hear from other manufacturers on the same 
class of subjects. If, for example, there is a single 
intelligent roan among them who claims that a uni¬ 
form aud arbitrary rate of shrinkage (one-third) on 
unwashed wool is just to the producer, we invite him 
to give his reasons in these columns.—E d.1 
RAISING HEIFERS FOR THE DAIRY 
Wisconsin Crops — Scab in Sheep —W. J. B., 
Roaring Creek, writes:—” The crops in this sectiou 
of the country look remarkably well, especially wheat, 
oats and grass, as the weather has been warm aud 
wet since the first of June, Potatoes I think will be 
a failure on account of the potato bug. Many fields 
are completely covered already. Very little of the 
com is large enough to hoe, on account of the late¬ 
ness of the spring. Can auy of the readers of the 
Rural tell me a cure for scab on sheep, ae there are 
mauy iu the neighborhood that have it; and will 
sheep catch it by running together in summer?” 
Dipping sheep in a decoction of tobacco is a sure 
cure for scub. Sound sheep running with infected 
ones in the summer will catch the disease. 
This subject has been discussed at tbe meet¬ 
ings of farmers, at State Fairs and Clubs, and 
generally determined to be of such paramount 
importance to the dairyman that he could not 
afford to depend upon purchasing lite young 
cows in the market. As it costs no more to 
keep a good than a poor cow, and the product is 
usually double, too careful attention cannot be 
given to this matter. Aud iu reference to econ¬ 
omy, it may confidently be said, that if a fanner 
cannot afford to raise heifers, which become 
cows at two years old, then he cannot afford to 
raise any ordiuary farm stock whatever; for a 
young two-years-old cow is worth more than a 
steer of the same age, and worth more than any 
animal or animals that can be raised for the same 
money. The real question is not whether you can 
huy a young cow for less money than you can 
raise her, but whether you can buy a first-rate 
animal cheaper than yon can raise her. As 
heifers are ordinarily raised, they have not vital¬ 
ity and maturity enough to become cows when 
two years old. But under the hand of an intel¬ 
ligent and careful farmer she is rounded out into 
full aud beautiful proportions, aud becomes a 
profitable milker, even the first season. When 
only the best milkers are bred from, with a bull 
also from the best milking family, the result is 
very certain to be satisfactory. And a heifer 
calf from a poor or ordinary milker should not 
be raised, unless the bull has a remarkable milk¬ 
ing pedigree. These tkinge c-an all be eared for 
when the dairyman raises his own cows. But 
our chief object was to call attention of farmers 
to the 
PHILOSOPHY OF FEEDING. 
The exact efl'ect produced by the various kinds 
Of food used in growing the young aud sustain¬ 
ing the mature animal, has not been so minutely 
determined, practically, by scientific men, as it 
deserves to have been. Yet there is much more 
Agricultural Address. —We understand that 
Mr, George W , Bungay, editor aud lyceum lecturer, 
has prepared au elaborate address on Agriculture, 
suitable for delivery at Agricultural Fairs. As speak¬ 
ers for Fairs are usually in demand at this season, we 
mention this for the information of officers of Agri¬ 
cultural Societies. Mr. B's address is 15 Laight street, 
New York. 
Condensed Correspondence, Items, &c 
Wool Samples.—T. A. Bemus, North East, Pa„U 
samples. Five from ewes, ranging from good to ex¬ 
cellent in quality—length varying from 1% in. to 3 in. 
Three frqm tegs, quality good, length from 2 % to a 
trifle over 8 in. Ram No, 1 , quality good, length 
2 .I 4 in., fleece 20 lbe. Ram No. 2, quality good, length 
2’j iu., fleece 1834 lbs. Ram teg. quality very flue 
aud style considerably superior to preceding rams; 
length 234 in., fleece 18% lbs. 
J. L. Holden, New Hudson, Allegany Co., N. Y., 
Infantado ram “Holden’s Dew Drop,” got by Dew 
Drop owned by John Sheldon & Sons, Moscow, 
N. Y., out of ewe bred by Nathan Cushing of Ver¬ 
mont, Received first prize at Allegany Co. Fair last 
fall. Three years old. Fleece 20 lbs. Carcass 93 
lbs.; wool 2)4 in. long; of good quality and style; 
yolk very abundant and yellow. 
Dr. Theodore N. Davisson. Jeffersonton. Culpep¬ 
per Co., Va. Sample from his pure-blood Silesian 
ewe “Eiderdown," 1\ in. long; yolk moderate in 
amount and of a pale gold tint; fineness and style 
exquisite, and equal to that of picklock German 
wool. Dr. D. offers, in the Warrentou Index. §10 for 
a fleece exceeding it in fineness and style. ltowu in 
Eastern Virginia. It may be equaled among the old 
“ Washington Co.” wools, so-called, but probably 
not elsewhere in the United States. 
John Barker & Son, North Granville, N. Y. Three 
Western Viroinia Items.— W. R. G., Creek's Mills, 
Va., writes in a business letter:—"The weather has 
been line aud the growing crop promises to be a good 
one. There has never been a finer prospect for all 
kinds of fruit. Live Stock is high and very little 
money to buy with. Our farmers and stock raisers 
are showing more energy than they used to. So much 
for the result of emancipation." 
Milk Sickness. —The Med. and Snrg. Reporter 
says the cause of milk sickness is the white snake 
root on which cattle often feed. This discove¬ 
ry seems to have been made by three separate 
observers, at about the same time. One ot them, 
Mr. William Jerry of Edwardsville, Ill,, in 1860, 
gathered this plant by mistake for the nettle, 
and ate it as boiled greens. On the day follow¬ 
ing he was suddenly seized with violent trem- 
bliug, prostration aud faintness, and on the 
next day with vomiting and violent retching. 
He did not fully recover in five years, and in the 
mean time tried the plant on domestic animals, 
with similar results. 
Flies Killing Cattle. —Accounts from Austria 
are to the efl'ect that swarms of poisonous flies have 
appeared in Transylvania, by which large numbers of 
cattle have been killed. Fanners are compelled to 
house their stock closely, while large fires are kept 
burning night and day around barns and sheds to 
ward off this new aud unwelcome pest. The guards 
have great trouble in avoiding their venom. 
WOOL SHRINKAGE, MANUFACTURE, &c. 
Auburn, N. Y., June 25,1867. 
Hon. H. S. Randall — Dear Sir: Having received 
numerous letters of inquiry in regard to wool and 
the manufacture of wool, caused by a few remarks 
made by me at the Wool Growers’Meeting held in 
this city in May, aud which were reported in the 
Rural of May 25tb, I would ask a small space for ex¬ 
planations and answers. Although willing to answer 
all reasonable inquiries, I find it encroaches too much 
on my time to answer each individual, and will there¬ 
fore consolidate my replies and ask you to publish 
Iowa State Fair,— Several copies of the “Roles 
and Regulations and Premium List ” of the 14th an¬ 
nual exhibition of the Iowa State Agricultural Soci¬ 
ety. have been received. The Fair opens on the first 
day of October, at Clinton, aud continues four days. 
