power, or horse power, to grind a ton of any kind of 
fodder. On a large scale, the operat ion can be made 
to pay with such machinery as ia now in use. 
New York July 25, 1S63. S. Edwards Todd. 
Remarks .—We give the above with some reluc¬ 
tance, the subject having been already amply dis¬ 
cussed. However, as his opponent “opened the 
ball,” we give Mr. Tonn the last word, and think 
E. W. S. can afford to allow the matter to rest 
without reply.—E ds. 
flicqi futslmmlni. 
EDITED BY HBNBY S. BAND ADD, LL. D. 
To Cob respondents.—M r. Randall’s address is Cortland 
Village, Cortland Co., N. Y. All communications Intended 
for this Department, and all Inquiries relating to sheep, 
should be addressed to him as above. 
- ♦ »> » - 
SHALL WE KEEP OUR SHEEP? 
A Wisconsin acquaintance writes us, under date 
of July 11th: 
“Is it best to ban? on to our sheep? The produce of 
the ram 1 bought of — average five and a half pounds 
of wool per head, and 1 can barely get 40 cents a pound 
for it. My luck with Iambs last spring was good. I raised 
102 per cent My land Is worth ten dollars an acre — but 
my sheep run mod of the summer on umnclosed land be- 
longing to non-resident*; and in the winter 1 feed corn 
stalks, which count mo but little. But it is slow business 
compared with what dairying used to be in Old Herkimer 
IN. Y. 1 gave six dollars a head for my sheep, and the 
bvst oner I eau now get for them,old and young, is three. 
When will this long lane of low woo) prices find its turn¬ 
ing:' I have been a full believer iu the tariff, but why 
don’t it work r When will it work? I would like to 
stick to the sheep ir 1 can, for I am past hard work, 
John and Edward weal to California two years ago. 
Mary is married and keeps hi,use eight znlles Horn here 
- and 1 don't want to go into grain raising again with 
hired help. 1, lik- ulool, dropped off the- Rural about a 
year since, but shall write Moore for it immediately. Do 
yon see any sigus of better times for sheep and wool ?” 
This letter, not intended for publication, repre¬ 
sents the feelings, and, approximately the circum¬ 
stances, of many persons in the West,—and we shall 
therefore reply to it here. We have not a doubt 
that it is best for the owners of such sheep “ to 
hang on” to them—especially where, as in the 
above case, circumstances do not render a change 
of business convenient or at all necessary. 
Is it really a starving business now to grow sheep 
as our correspondent is growing there ? Each fleece, 
it appears, sells for $3.30. Each ewe raises a lamb, 
and each lamb after weaning is worth $3.00. The 
cost of keeping as described is small—certainly 
less than a dollar a year per head. Putting the ex¬ 
pense of keep at $1.00 per head, and charging seven 
per cent, iuterest ou present value of dams, we have, 
saying nothing of manure, within a cent of -54.00 a 
head—over 100 per cent.—annual net profit on the 
breeding flock. Two or three hundred sheep net¬ 
ting -5800 or -51,200, without any material additional 
labor on the farm, except shearing and foddering in 
winter, is a pretty good investment I We doubt 
whether in “ Old Herkimer,” taking one farm with 
another, and one year with another, as much clear 
profit on money and labor invested, is realized in 
dairying. We wish the flock masters of the East 
eonid do half an well. But Eastern farmers have 
no ten dollar an acre sheep lands—and free sum¬ 
mer pasturage: nor have they cornstalks, paid for 
by the crop, and worth but a trifle to sell. 
Then, friend-, is there not another quite an 
essential difference between your present and your 
Herkimer Co. experience ? There you, your wife, 
your two then young sons and your daughter, were 
the slaves of a dairy. Twice every day, from early 
spring to late autumn, Sundays and week days, rain 
■or shine, the household must be on hand to milk, 
The churniDg and butter working were everlastingly 
going on. Not for a day could you or your wife be 
absent. For about nine months in the year your 
cows and your butter held you “prisoners at hard 
labor.” And what a time you had with your great 
gaug of hands in haying—mowing over scores and 
scores of acres of grass—to be entirely consumed 
by your cows in winter—not like your sheep feed 
now, lirst paid for by a crop. But I need not de¬ 
scribe to you the moil and the turmoil, the constant 
hurry and scurry of a large dairy farm. 
How differently are you situated now ! You have 
a little extra care at lambing time—a little extra 
labor at shearing—and the sheep, like the cows, 
must be foddered in winter. But during a great 
portion of the season, your flock costs you no 
trouble or labor worth mentioning. You can at¬ 
tend to other matters, or piny all summer. The 
female members of your family have no additional 
labor growing out of your ownership of sheep. 
They can cook, sew, knit, 
<* Gar auid clot hes look almaist as well as now,” 
read, aud go a visiting, at their option—finding time 
to enjoy the pleasures as well as to discharge the 
duties of life. To make butter requires constant 
milking, constant churning and constant working 
over. Wool makes itself. It grows whether you 
are asleep or awake, whether you arc at home or 
abroad, whether you are at work or at rest. We 
don’t believe iu laziness—but we do believe in prod¬ 
ucts which give the best returns for the least labor. 
If the sheep farmer wants to work every “ week day” 
in the year aud do chores Sundays, he can combine 
other objects with wool growing; and the latter 
does not either by its cares or its labors preclude 
him from so doing. It is the most convenient and 
suitable adjunct or tillage husbandry. 
When will this long lane of low wool prices find 
its turning? When will the tariff work? We will 
answer the last question first; and you would have 
needed no answer to it had you not “dropped off 
the Rural.” The tariff works, and works most 
effectually, now. In our issue, two weeks since, 
we showed that the imports of wool, at New York, 
for the lirst six months of the respective years, fell 
off from $4,148,173 in 1866, to 51,105,946 in 1868: and 
in Boston, from 15,745,006 lbs. in 1800, to 5,331,887 
lbs. in 186S. No sensible man asks for absolute 
prohibition, for that would beget absolute monop¬ 
oly: and no free people will endure, or ought to 
endure, monopoly. The tariff’ lessens the foreign 
competition far enough — as far as our interests 
require, or prudence dictates. 
And what can any protective tariff possibly do to 
benefit the protected parties, except to reduce for¬ 
eign competition to such limits V Can it enact that 
the people shall consume more ? Can it compel the 
manufacturer to boy more of the raw material than 
the consumption requires —or pay a higher price 
for it than it will sell at in its manufactured state? 
It used to be the adopted theory of explanation 
when wool prices were depressed, that it was because 
woolens were better protected than wool. This tra¬ 
ditional cry ie occasionally revived now under the 
present tariff by a few very ignorant or very shallow 
persons. It is certain that without a protective 
tariff, wool must be low — for we cannot grow it as 
cheaply as it is grown in some other countries; but 
When wool is sufficiently protected, it is decidedly 
for the iuterest of the grower that the manufacturer 
should also be sufficiently protected. Otherwise he 
cannot possibly compete with the foreign rnanu- | 
facturer who works the cheaper wools of other 
countries. And when he cannot thus compete, not 
only his mills must stop trot domestic wool growing 
must stop. We cannot export wool for sale. If the 
domestic grower cannot compete with cheap foreign 
wools In our own market, he certainly cannot com¬ 
pete with the same wools In the markets of Europe 
where bis own pay equal duties. 
So long as the tariff compels the manufacturer to 
buy domestic in preference to foreign wool, the 
more protection he receives the better it is for the 
immediate interests of the grower. If he got twice 
as high a per centage Of protection as the grower, 
it would not only enable him to buy more wool, but 
compel him to buy more domestic wool. And tbe 
larger his demand the better of course would be 
prices. But this would not serve the ultimate in¬ 
terests of the grower, because a tariff giving enor¬ 
mous and unreasonable protection, — protection 
which confers monopoly, — to any special interest, 
never will be, and never ought to be, long tolerated 
by the American people: and the reaction against I 
excessive protection, almost invariably proceeds to 
the opposite extreme, and sweeps away all protec¬ 
tion. To be stable, a tariff'must be reasonable—that 
is, it must be just to the consumer. The consumers 
arc always the vast majority compared with the per¬ 
sons engaged in any one or two special industrial 
pursuits — and in democratic governments majori¬ 
ties control legislation. 
Therefore it was that framers of the present tariff 
who represented the wool growing interest, first 
sought to establish a proper and just tariff on wool— 
a tariff' which might reasonably be expected to 
stand: and then they sought to limit the tariff on 
woolens as near as practicable by the same bounda¬ 
ries. That the manufacturer obtained no exclusive 
advantage, and no greater advantage in any respect, 
than the grower, the result has demonstrated. The 
depression which has reigned so long in the wool 
market, has reigned equally in the woolen market. 
The manufacturers have suffered equally with the 
growers throughout. Nearly all of the mills have 
ruu short time, and many have run at an actual loss. 
Some substantial firms have broken down —aDd 
others have been crippled. Without that basis of 
experience, skill and solid capital on which these 
establishments generally rest, nearly all of them 
would have failed. 
When is this “long lane” of depression and dis¬ 
aster to the two interests to find its “turning” — 
when is this prostration of those interests to cease ? 
Not until its causes cease. What are those causes ? 
Oa this subject we will quote a resolution passed by 
tbe N. Y. State Wool Growers’ Association, De¬ 
cember, 1867: 
“That prominent among these disturbing causes has 
been the vast over-supply of woolens in oar markets on 
the passage of said tariff, occasioned in part by the ex¬ 
traordinary stimulus given to domestic manufactures 
by the war. and still more by enormous aud dispropor- 
rioned importations of foreign goods made in antici¬ 
pation of azi Increase of duties, while the subject was 
ponding in Congress. That this over-supply has been 
slowly reduced by consumption, owing to tpe necessity of 
the American manufacturer constantly to make additions 
to it, or stop his mills and throw his laborers out of em¬ 
ploy: owing to short crops in tbe West and famine crops 
iu the South in Ibtid, and the comparative failure of the 
emton crop in 1S67, which vastly diminished the usual 
means of purchase and consequently the amount of con¬ 
sumption; owing to other plmous circumstances which 
have depressed aud are severely depressing trade in some 
of the States; and owing to the high taxation, arid gen¬ 
eral condition of monetary affairs which have enjoined on 
the prudent portion of the rural populat ion, at least, ot our 
whole country, the necessity of reducing their expenses 
in this aud ail other practicable directions.'' 
And this resolution might have added that the 
Government itself was for a considerable period, 
subsequent to the war, a serious competitor with 
both the growing aud manufacturing interest, by 
flooding the market with its suiplus army woolen 
goods vastly below their cost and far below their 
value. 
We do not choose to hazard any predictions as 
to the precise period when all these disturbing causes 
will have ceased to operate, and given place to a 
sound and healthy condition of things. It is obvi¬ 
ously impossible to foretell a fact dependent upon 
both natural and political circumstances which have 
not yet occurred. But the soundest men in both 
industries believe they have undoubtedly touched 
bottom, aud will henceforth improve. Reasoning 
from all the analogies of the past, and from all the 
natural laws and principles of trade, the period is 
approaching and is not far distant, when, if the pres¬ 
ent tariff is preserved, the wool and woolen inter¬ 
ests of tbe country will again be prosperous, and 
doubtless enter upon a long career of success. And 
the growers who cling to their valuable improved 
sheep will then be in the best condition to reap the 
rich harvest. 
IMPORTS OF WOOL. 
In our statement of the imports of wool at New 
York, in the Rural of July 25th, instead of obtain¬ 
ing all of our statistics from the officers of the Cus¬ 
tom House, as we usually do and should have done 
in this instance, we were foolish enough, in order to 
save ourselves a little trouble, to cut the imports of 
1867 aud 1S6S from the New York Economist; and 
they contained an error which is thus corrected by 
the U. S. Assistant Appraiser, having wools in 
charge, at New York: 
Office of the Appraiser, Port of New York, / 
New York, July 30th, 1868. { 
Dear Sir In the Rural New-Yorker of 25th inst., 
I notice a statement of the importation of wool at this 
port for the first six months of 1867 and 1S68. 
In that statement it states, for 1867,1,717 bales, 1,390,107 
lbs. wool imported from Mexico. This is evidently an 
error, as I did not have one pound of wool from Mexico 
during that year. My impression is the printer has in¬ 
tended it for the “ Giaplatine Republic, ” instead of 
Mexico. And, by the way, this “ C'isplatine Republic,” 
I presume, means “ Uruguay,” of which the port of 
“Montevideo” is the shipping point, “ Cisplatine Re¬ 
public" being obsolete. 
The statement for 1808 is correct (1.050 lbs. from Mex¬ 
ico.) The Committee saw the sample of that wool. Yon, 
no doubt, will recollect it, as the importer entered it at 
3 c-ts. duty, and it was returned by me at 10 cts. per lb., 
and 11 per cent, ad valorem. 
I have thought best to call your attention to this error, 
as exception might be made to it. 
Very trnly yonrs, J. A. Baush. 
Hon. H. S. Randall, Cortland Village. 
-«■-» ».»■- 
Samples.— P. B., St. Louis, Mo. The sample of wool 
sent is fine enough, bnt has a frothy, light look, and a 
well defined joint a little below tbe middle, so that it is 
easily drawn apart. This was produced by disease, or a 
period of very low condition. This wool is a poor article. 
The sample forwarded by a “Penn. Subscriber” is 
very long for time of growth, but must be thin or the 
fleece would have weighed more. Tbe fineness and style 
are quite too deficient for a ram to breed up a grade 
flock with. To grade up a flock from coarse ewes, rapid¬ 
ly and well, requires both of those points decidedly ex¬ 
hibited. A ram of tbe highest blood and quality — of 
qualities thoroughly established in his individual family, 
is the proper one, and in the end the cheapest one, to 
grade up with. The sample sent may be from a pure 
blood animal, but it is not superior to and has much the 
appearance of wool having a not very remote cross of 
common blood. 
fjffutmcnt. 
CHEESE MAKING. ] 
] 
T. B. S., Columbus, Miss., writes:—” Please give , 
us a plain, detailed recipe for making cheese for , 
family use. It would be much appreciated by your . 
Southern subscribers, who know very little of the 
process." 
It is difficult to present in a satisfactory form, 
without illustrations, the process of cheese making, 
even though familiar witu it. It is assumed that 
the necessity of having pure or clean milk is an in¬ 
dispensable pre-requisite for making good cheese, 
also that the rennet, for curding, shall have been 
properly prepared. This is an important prelimi¬ 
nary to cheese making. The second stomach of a 
calf six weeks old, brought up ou the cow, is said I 
to make the best,—though the last condition is not' 
indispensable. Some salt and preserve the stomach 
whole,—but the general practice is to empty it, re¬ 
taining the skin only for use. This 6hould lie In the 
pickle for a year, or at least for several months, be¬ 
fore being used. Farmers’ wives, accustomed to 
cheese making, always keep a stock of rennets on 
hand, preserving one or more each year. After re¬ 
maining in pickle till well salted, the rennets are 
taken out aud stretched over a board or hoop and 
thoroughly dried. They are then packed away in a 
jar for use. When needed, a small portion is cut off 
over night and soaked in salt and water for use the 
following day. Trial alone can determine the proper 
quantity, if too little ia used the fact will be dis¬ 
closed by the tardiness of the milk in curding, or 
by the imperfect manner in which the process is ac¬ 
complished. The remedy, in this case, is more 
rennet. An excessive quantity will tend to give a 
strong tinge to the cheese it would not otherwise 
have, though much of the excess will pass off in 
the whey. 
Where fanners have but a few cows it is good 
policy for several to club their milk, as a good sized 
cheese can thus be made by each in succession. All 
that is required is to use pure milk aud weigh it to 
the party using it till the cycle of contributors is 
completed, and then repeat as long a9 it is desira¬ 
ble to continue the manufacture. This is called 
“ changing milk,” which, among honest parties, 
works well. But if resort be had to the spring, 
pump, or well, for the purpdse of augmenting the 
pounds of milk, tbe chances are that the fraud will 
be detected without the aid of a lactometer, then 
good - bye to the harmony of that neighborhood. 
Whether cheese is to be made from single or double 
milkings, it is important to have it of the proper 
temperature before adding the rennet. This can be 
ascertained when the milk is all in the tub and well 
mingled. If much below 85 tbe temperature should 
be raised to it by heating all, or a portion, t.o mix 
with the mass, til) this point is reached. The ren¬ 
net, say half a pint or bo for a medium cheese, is 
then added, a cloth thrown over the tub and left 
undisturbed for about an hour. The process of 
curding will then have been completed, when it is 
customary to break the mass up finely in the whey 
and leave it for about half an hour. By this time 
the curd will have settled to the bottom, wheD the 
whey may be dipped out and the curd broken up 
and gathered into a mass ou one side of the cheese 
tub, which should be tilted ou one edge for that 
purpose. Here it is allowed to remain for a further 
draining. When the whey ceases to flow the curd is 
broken a second time into fine sections and left to 
settle a little. When tkf, whey is mainly out the 
curd may be placed in a glove to prevent the escape 
of any of the smaller particles, and allowed to drain 
still more. After the whey ceases to flow, the mass 
should be placed in a cheese cloth and put into the 
hoop and subjected to a light pressure for half an 
hour, when it is taken out, cut into slices and 
broken up finely. It is then put into a dry cheese 
cloth, spread evenly over the surface to prevent 
ridging, placed in the press and subjected to tbe 
necessary pressure to make it into a compact mass. 
The board on the top of the cheese, upon which the 
power is to act, should fit nicely into the hoops, eo 
as to make as even a surface as possible. After an 
interval of two or three hours the cheese should be 
taken out, and if ridges on the upper edge have 
formed, they should be pared off smoothly, the 
cheese inverted on a clean, dry cloth, and replaced 
in the press, where it should remain under pressure 
for twenty-four or thirty-six hours. It should then 
be removed and fine salt rubbed in by the hand over 
the entire surface, as long as the mass will absorb 
it, after which it is placed in a dry cloth and return¬ 
ed to the press. The following day salt is again 
rubbed over the cheese and the pressing continued 
for another' day. A third salting and pressing is 
sometimes given to the cheese, when it is deemed 
sufficiently manipulated for removal to the cheese 
room, where it is turned daily for three or four 
weeks. It is then supposed to be sufficiently cured 
for use. If designed for market, it is customary, 
with 6ome, to scrape and paint the surface, while 
others, we believe, omit tti is part of the perform¬ 
ance. It requires practice to make good cheese, a 
lack of which no written directions, however mi¬ 
nute, can supply. 
- - A i . ^ -- 
AIRING MILK —A DESIDERATUM. 
Alluding to the newly invented milk agitators 
now used in many of the cheese factories, the Utica 
Herald adds“ What really is needed, and it is 
what we have urged from time to time, is some 
simple apparatus for airing the milk as well as cool¬ 
ing it before it goes into the can at the milk barn. 
When such an invention shall have been made and 
put into general use, we shall begin to manufacture 
cheese of that pure, delicate flavor which obtains 
among some of the Cheddar dairies of England.” 
Does not this imply that these dairies are in pos¬ 
session of the precise “ invention” needed, and if 
so, is it not possible to obtain it by asking, or for a 
consideration V The writer in the Herald has been 
among the Cheddar dairies of England, and if they 
had in use any invention by which milk can be im¬ 
proved before undergoing the process of manufac¬ 
ture, it is natural to suppose, from the consideration 
accorded him, that this invention, did they possess 
one, would have been explained and its free use 
proffered for the benefit of transatlantic dairymen. 
MILK COOLERS. 
Ever since the extension of the dairy system, 
consequent on the introduction of cheese and butter 
factories, efforts have been made to improve the 
methods of cooliDg the milk and of eliminating the 
animal odor pertaining to it while imparting an 
equable temperature. Dr. Jennings of Dunkirk, 
recently advertised a cooling apparatus in the Ru¬ 
ral, which promised well, and which a recent trial 
at Mina, N. Y., has made good, according to a cer¬ 
tificate of the experiments published in the Utica 
Herald. Forty-nine pounds of milk were put into 
the Jennings refrigerator, and an equal quantity j 
into the Orange county pans, with a common tem¬ 
perature, when the cream was rising and when 
cleansed, which was at the expiration of thirty-six 
hours. The milk in the refrigerator produced two 
pounds of butter, and that in the pans one pound 
and fourteen ounces. The difference is not very 
great, a single trial being considered,—but, running 
through the season, the gain would be an item wor¬ 
thy of consideration. The milk iu the cans was a 
foot deep, aud in the refrigerator two and a-half 
inches, wnich probably accounts for tbe difference 
in quantity of butter made. A new cooler has re¬ 
cently been introduced among the dairymen of Illi¬ 
nois, which is said to combine many desirable fea¬ 
tures, cooling tbe milk almost instantaneously. It 
is thought the system of milk cooling has nearly 
reached perfection. Iu cooling milk, whatever the 
apparatus used, it iB thought a room of the tempe¬ 
rature of 75 a and the water 49°, is deemed about 
right for butter. When tbe cream is churned, a ' 
temperature of 62" is deemed about tbe right thing. 
-- 
THE DAIRY INTEREST. 
The farmers in Northern Illinois, like those in 
Central New York, pay much attention to tbe dairy 
branch of farming. Like the latter, too, they have 
their “ Dairy Clubs,” at the meetings of which par¬ 
ticular attention Is paid to meadows and and pas¬ 
tures, these being essential to dairy products. At 
a recent meeting of the Fox River Club, surface 
stimulants, for renovating exhausted meadows and 
pastures, found special favor. Twelve loads of ma¬ 
nure spread on au acre of worn out, gravelly mead¬ 
ow, produced two tous of hay. Leached ashes, 
which had been undisturbed for twenty years, were 
applied by one member, when one load was found 
equal, in invigorating power, to four loads of barn¬ 
yard manure. The old method of spreading manure 
and plowing it under was deemed unwise, especially 
if followed by a crop of corn, as the grubs were 
almpst certain to destroy it. If worn lands are ma¬ 
nured before plowing, it is safer to crop with oats 
than with corn. Top dressing exhausted low land, 
and was not less beneficial than on the more elevated 
ones. In re-seeding such lands without backing 
them up, it was important to give them a thorough 
harrowing, enabling the seed to germinate readily 
and the plants to appropriate the invigorating forces 
contained in the top dressing. 
|bc |lablc. fr. 
HORSES.—POWER OF SCENT. 
A writer in Tait’s Magazine passes a high en¬ 
comium on the acuteness of scent possessed by the 
home by which the animal is enabled to make his 
way over the roughest road during the profoundeet 
darkness of night. In view of this fact he says: 
“ Never check your horse at night, but give him free 
head, and you may rest assured that he will never 
get oil' the road, and will carry you expeditiously 
aud safe.” The “scent” part is all right, but the 
expeditious progress depends upon circumstances. 
As an instance: An eccentric man residing in the 
backwoods some miles south of Erie, Pa., left that 
village, now city, on horseback at about ten o’clock 
of a very dark night. Getting fairly upon tbe road, 
the horse was given his head, and, to make the time 
seem as short as possible, the party thought he 
would close Iris eyes and recite the “Bride of 
Abydos,” as a means of whiling away the time, 
which, with many other pieces, he knew perfectly 
well. It was his impression that the piece would 
occupy most of the time necessary to reach home. 
He closed his eyes accordingly and commenced 
aloud the recitation. He felt the motion of the 
horse for a time, but, warming with his subject, all 
else was forgotten till the piece was concluded, 
He then opened his eyes, which were not of much 
use owing to the profound darkness; nevertheless, 
by the aid of these and his other organs, he discov¬ 
ered that the horse had come to a halt by the road 
side and was quietly feeding from a cock of hay 
which lay within reach over a low fence ! Instead 
of the keen scent of the horse serving to aid in his 
homeward course, it detected the bay as well as tbe 
road, and, as appetite preferred the former, the con¬ 
sequence was that not a mile had been gained to¬ 
wards home while the “Bride of Abydos” was 
being expended on the desert air! Iu this case a 
“ free head ” to the horse was not synonymous with 
progress because the scent of the bay was more 
inviting than that of the road homeward. 
HORSES IN FLY TIME. 
The fly, insignificant as it is in size and devoid of 
the power of doing any gTeat harm, is one of the 
most annoying of the insect tribe. A nuisance to 
man, the fly is the terror of the horse, whose flesh 
is made to quiver whenever the foot of one touches 
him. It is, therefore, an act of humanity to come 
to the aid of tbe horse, powerful as he is, against his 
nimble assailant, the fly. Here is a recipe which is 
said to be an excellent defense against it. At all 
events a trial of it will not involve much expense, 
nor will it do harm should it prove unavailing as a 
defense to the horse: — “Take two or three small 
handfuls of walnut leaves, upon which pour two or 
three quarts of cold water; let it infuse one night, 
and pour the whole next morning into a kettle and 
let it boil for a quarter of an hour; when cold it will 
be fit for use. No more is required than to moisten 
a 6ponge, and before the horee goes out of the Btable, 
let those parte which are most irritable be smeared 
over with the liquor, viz: between and upon tbe 
ears, the neck, flank, etc. Not only the lady or gen 
tleman who rides out for pleasure will derive benefit 
from tbe walnut leaves thus prepared, but the coach¬ 
man, the wagoner, and all others who use horses 
during the hot months.” 
Disease in the Stable.— The North British Ag¬ 
riculturist attributes much of the disease in stables 
to the exclusion of the necessary quantity of light, a 
fair share of which is deemed as essential to animal 
growth as to vegetable. When Btables or other in¬ 
closures, are kept in comparative darkness, tilth is 
apt to he overlooked, from which unwholesome 
gases are continually exhaling, rendering the air 
unsuited to the demands of animal life. This con¬ 
clusion is, in every aspect, a reasonable one, and 
should challenge the attention Of every stock grower. 
Extreme darkness or garish ness — especially in the 
case of fattening animals — is to be avoided, as along 
this medium line runs the pathway of healthfulne6S 
to stable 6tock and of profitableness to tbe owner. 
-^ ♦ i■ »- 
French Draft Horses.— Several parties in Ohio 
and Illinois are making purchases of draft horses in 
France for the purpose of Introducing the breed into 
those sections. Several have already arrived, others 
are on the way with more to follow soon. This 
style of horse is regarded with much favor by the 
I dealers in horse stock. 
[itral MBits mtfr Stems. 
A Good Harvest Season.— The memory of that uni- 1 
versal witness, the oldest inhabitant, would be severely 
taxed to recall from the annals oi the past a season more 
favorable for tbe gathering in of the summer harvest 
than trie present one has been. Both bay anti wheat, in 
nearly all sections or the country, have been secured in 
admirable order, while the quantity of each compares 
favorably with that of the most productive seasons. 
Most harvest seasons are characterized by considerable 
falls or rain, retarding work and, not infrequently, doiug 
considerable damage both to the hay and wheat crops. 
Tbo present one, over a wide section of country, has 
proved an exception, and, be ihe yield what it may, it is 
a satisfaction to know that the crop has been garnered in 
good order. 
-- 
Combined Reaper and Binder. —The reaper has 
been an institution in the land for a series of years, and 
though uniting all the requirements of a grain cutter, 
still something was lacking to complete the business, 
and that was an attachment, which should make the cut¬ 
ting and binding ol the grain a simultaneous operation. 
Several attempts to combine these movements have been 
made by different parties, bnt hitherto without success. 
Within the past year, however, J- F. Gordon, formerly a 
resident of this county, bnt latterly of Michigan, has 
made the combination desired. The Reaper and Binder 
was manufactured iu this city, and tested on several occa¬ 
sions last week on the farm of William Otis, in the 
town of Gates, in the presence or a number of practical 
farmers and mechanics, whose united expression was 
Eureka. Suffice it to say that the grain falls upon a plat¬ 
form in theuenal way, when a rake, at stated intervals, 
carries it across to au iron arm, which clasps and com¬ 
presses it, simultaneously investing it with a wire band, 
which is twisted into a knot and severed. The arm then 
releases the sheaf, as it rises for another one, and Ihe 
bound bundle falls, longitudinally in the swarth, to the 
ground. As an experiment the trial was all that could 
have been reasonably expected, as it is always difficult to 
combine by a first effort all the points of a complicated 
machine so perfectly that use will not disclose more or 
less defects. In this case there le nothing lacking in the 
machine itself, bat to render its action what it should be, 
an enlargement of the platform and a greater elevation 
of it from the ground are desirable;—the first to increase 
the size of the bundles, and the latter to permit their 
free and easy discharge from the Reaper. With these 
amendments, which are easily made when the manufac¬ 
ture of the machines is commenced, the farming commu¬ 
nity will be presented with a reaper which will do its 
own binding, and thus dispense with the labor, bard to 
be got, of five or six men, which a common reaper re¬ 
quires. It may be added that the cost of wire per acre 
is about twenty cents. The manufacture of these ma¬ 
chines is to be commenced at once, as full faith is enter¬ 
tained that the demand for them w-ill he ample for an 
extended outlay. 
Chicago Stock Yards.— The yards of the Union Stock 
Company, Chicago, have involved a heavy expense. The 
yards embrace 346 acres. Occupied by pens, 100; hotel 
and other business, 45; land for new pens, 200; cattle 
accommodated, 21,000: hogs. 75,000; sheep, 22.000; horse 
stalls, 300. Total animals accommodated, 118,000. Under- 
drainage, 31 miles; streets aud alleys, 7: water troughs, 
10, Number of gates, 2,300; open pens, 1,500: covered 
pens, 1,500; tanks, 342,000 gallons; lumber used, 22,000,- 
000 leet; nails, 500,000 lbs. Cost of the whole, $685,000. 
-*-*-*- 
Drouth in Canada.— The Cayuga Sentinel reports the 
wneat crop harvested, and the yield above the average; 
but barley, oats and peas have suffered severely by tbe 
drouth. As for potatoes, the SeDtinel says if it does not 
rain soon there will not be ten bushels dug within a 
ratlins of five miles of that place. The Expositor, 
Perth, reports the drouth equally severe in that region, 
and that rain had been publicly invoked in the Churches 
of that place on a recent occasion. 
-- 
Ditching Machines. — A correspondent from Essex 
Co., Va., asks for information about “ Choate’s Ditcher.” 
We know nothing about it, and do not think it is adver¬ 
tised, which accounts for the ignorance of the public re¬ 
garding its merits, if, indeed, it has any. Persons wish¬ 
ing to buy ditching machines, or, indeed, any farm 
implements, will do best to examine those which are 
well advertised, as their proprietors are men of energy, 
and aro apt to have the best and latest improvements. 
- - -»■»♦- 
Fire in or on the Mountains,— The Denver News 
mentions the occurrence of a devastating fire, which 
commenced near Equator lode, consuming everything 
combustible in its course. The heat was eo intense as 
to be sensibly felt at a distance of a mile and a half. At 
one point eight yoke of oxen were consumed, together 
with five thousand cords of wood. The face of the 
mountain presents a blackened and ghastly appearance. 
Regulations at State Fairs.— We have received the 
Regulations and List of Premiums of the Agricultural 
Societies of New York and Wisconsin, whose annual 
Fairs will be held, the former at Rochester, commencing 
Sept. 29th, and the latter at Madison, opening on the 2Sth 
of the game month. The aggregate of premiums oft'ered 
in each case is fully $10,000. 
Normal School, Bdknboko, Pa.—W e have received 
the annual catalogue or this school for 1867-8, and infer 
from it that the school is in a highly prosperous condi¬ 
tion. The attendance is two hundred females and one 
hundred aud ninety-six males. The school year is di¬ 
vided into three terms, the cost for each varying from 
$30 to $60. 
-- 
8eason and Crops in Alabama.— F. A. D., Camden, 
Alabama, under date of Jnly 20th, writes:—“The im¬ 
mense rains have been late and partial. The corn crop 
has been more or less iujured—In some sections very 
materially—by the drouth. The cotton crop promises’ 
well: it will he, perhaps, more thau an average one if 
the caterpillar does not appear.” 
Mowers and Reapers.— According to manufacturing 
statistics, it appears that the farmers of the United 
States invest fifteen millions annually iu mowing aud 
reaping machines. One hundred thousand of these ma¬ 
chines are required each year to meet the increased ex¬ 
pansion of farming operations, 
Hatched by the Sun.— The Cohcord (N. H.) Patriot 
notes two instances in which eggs were hatched by the 
heat of the sun during the recent warm term. In both 
instances the nests had been prematurely abandoned by 
the hen. 
-- 
Farming on the Prairies.—A farmer in Illinois is 
breaking up ten thousand acres of prairie land, which 
will lie sown to wheat for the first time the coming fall. 
He has also planted out three hundred and twenty miles 
of hedge fence. 
---- 
: A Good Bag Holder.— We are assured by a friend 
who has examined it that the new, patent Bag Holder, 
advertised in this paper, is a very good thing, and there¬ 
fore commend it to the attention of farmers and others. 
- ■*-*-* - 
A Farmer Governor.— The Governor of Kansas is re¬ 
puted to be one of the most successful agriculturists in 
that State. His wheat yield the present season waB ten 
thousand bushels. 
-♦ ♦ ♦ 
New England Fair.— Governor English of Connecti¬ 
cut has accepted the invitation to deliver the annual 
address at the New England Fair, to be held in New 
Haven the first week in September. 
