State Fate—Committee? on Department?.— The fol¬ 
lowing member? of the Board are assigned to the charge 
of the several departments at the New York State Fair 
at Rochester: Cattle — Messrs. Hoven and Chntch. 
Hornes —Messrs. Burr ami Thorne. Sheep, Swine and. 
Poultry — Mr. Foster. Mae.hinery — Messrs. Geddcs and 
Thayer. Farm Produce -Mesers. Ely, Lewis and Ingles- 
be. Fruit and Flowers — Messrs. Taker and Angel. 
Miscellaneous - Messrs. Wing and Cornell, Supeiun- 
tkndents.— General Superintendent — Col. H. Bmven. 
Svp't of Cattle — -T. S. McDonald, Do, of Horses —John 
F Quick. Do. of Sheep and Swine —T. V. Mason. Do. 
of Poultry —E. P. Cbeever. Do. of Implements and Ma¬ 
chinery — Julius W. Smith. Do. of Crain. Vegetables, 
Butter, Cheese, etc. —11. H. tnglesbe. Do. of Domestic 
Department —C, M. Tyler. Do. of Fruit and Flowers— 
James Vick. Judges. — Short Horns — Lewis O- Morris, 
Thomas Ball. Devons and Her, fords— B. H. Andrews. 
Ayreshires and Jerseys— Olis Dillingham. Benj, L. Swan, 
Jr. Grades, (fee.—Benj. Long- Geo. W. Root. Breeding 
and. Crowing Stock -Charles W. Bathgate, John McGraw. 
Harness and Saddle Horses, .Jacks, dtc, —Dr. A. L Elwyn, 
Ardell B. Raymond. Fat Sheep, Long and Middle Wools 
— Carroll Fitzhugb, J. McD. McIntyre. Fine Wooled 
Sh.ee]> -Parson H. Peterson, C. F Marshall. Swine— S. S 
Whitman. Levi S. Fulton. Poultry— Abram Vought, D. 
S. Heffron. Implements and Machinery— Dyer Williams 
Avery A. Sweet. Crains, Vegetables and Flour — Jude 
Premiums— O. K Rice, C. B. Way, Charles J. Hill. But 
ter and Cheese— Jacob Ellison, J. B. Harris. TUines- 
Lewis F. Allen, Alexander Thompson. Joseph Park 
Flowers—J. A. Eastman, Nicholas Hallock. Fruits—A 
B. Janie?, Amos A. Hendee. 
ness to share in the spoil which, the pioneer beei 
attracted by the aroma of the burning comb, has 
discovered. 
BDITBD BZ HUNKY S. RANDALL,, LL. D- 
Eds. Rural:—I am a lover of bees and like to 
keep them. A swarm of bees is a perfect picture of 
what a family should be; where uo drones arc- un¬ 
reasonably tolerated around the domestic hearths, 
there peace and plenty reign. While the hog, horse 
and cow make men the veriest slaves the bees take 
care of themselves. I take genuine pleasure in sit¬ 
ting in the shade and watching my bees at their 
labor. There is true enjoyment in looking on while 
work is being done, whether you lend a hand or not. 
To me there is no music more delightful than the 
hum of bees. It. reminds one of the glad sunshine, 
of flowers and the most delicious sweets in exist¬ 
ence. How different from that abominable noise 
made by the mosquito. I remember passing a 
WOOL AUD MUTTON SHEEP IN THE 
SOUTH. 
We give up our entire apace this week to rue sud- 
joined communication, not without reluctance, for 
we are sensible that many readere would prefer a 
more varied hill of fare. But the topic is one of great 
and immediate importance to a large portion of our 
country, and is therefore entitled to what, may be 
termed exhaustive treatment. We think reflecting 
and especially interested readers would choose to see 
all the principal facts and arguments, on each side of 
the question, submitted “ in a lump”—so they can 
be weighed at the same time, and in their relative 
bearings on each other. For these reasons we ghe 
our correspondent’s letter undivided, and entire with 
the exception of a few passages which have a politi¬ 
cal bearing. For the latter there is room enough in 
the political journals: we never introduce them or 
permit others to introduce them into this Depart¬ 
ment. Those desirous to impugu “Georgian’s” 
statements or conclusions will, of course, he wel¬ 
come to an equally full hearing. 
Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 15, 1868. 
1 have observed 
the most free and friendly way. I believe the bee 
knows his owner as well as the ox, and practice ac¬ 
cordingly. Last winter I bought at auction a hive 
of bees that no one seemed to want. The middle of 
June it sent forth a large and powerful colony which 
has worked with such unexampled industry as to 
nearly fill two boxes and the main body of a good 
sized hive in four weeks. In all my experience I 
never saw better work than this. The old swarm 
has also done well. Who says bee keeping wont 
pay ? In justice to the bee 1 ought not to use the 
tern bee keeping. The truth is they keep themselves, 
the owner having no trouble about fence, water or 
pasture. What a lesson on the importance of in¬ 
dustry they teach humanity. h. k. f. 
North Chili, N. Y., 1868. 
young gold 
Owned by S. B. Lusk of Batavia, N. Y., and thef 
Marcus Lusk of Newstead, N. Y, The proprie- j bury 
tors write ns: —“He was bred by Harry Dean Loci 
of West Cornwall, Vermont, by Hammond’s Gold Bufb 
Drop out of a choice ewe bred by Edwin Hammond, just 
Young Gold Drop was awarded I 9tb, 
Hon. Henry 8 Randall —Sir 
lately, copied from Northern agricultural journals, 
the results of two experiments— one made by a Mr. 
Winxb (1 think his uame was) of your State, and 
the other by Professor Miles of the Michigan Agri- 
which go to show that improved 
more profitable for artificial fat- 
!. These exhibits struck me 
the light ol carrying coals to New- 
cultural College— 
English sheep are 
tening thau Merinos, 
very much in 1 
caBtle. Who has ever contended that on high, fat¬ 
tening feed, (such as grain, roots, &c., In addition 
to grass or hay,) the Merino will acquire flesh and 
fat as rapidly as the Down, Leicester, Cotswold, &c.; 
or that it is as profitable a mutton sheep as these, 
where mutton is the primary object of production, 
and where the climate and other circumstances are 
adapted to the latter? I supposed the contrary was 
as universally conceded as is the fact that the Merino 
will yield the most wool and the greatest value of 
wool, from the same amount of feed. 
Such experiments, however, may possess a certain 
degree of value, as going to show the precise differ¬ 
ence between the breeds, in profitable mutton pro- 
by his Sweepstakes, 
■ofitable than that of various 
tion is not more p 
other Northern staples, This does not ehow a 
demand greatly iu excess of the supply. What 
then would be our chance if we annually threw five 
millions more of fat sheep, or over five hundred 
millions pounds more of mutton on the markets of 
the country ? 
And there is another equally pertinent question. 
Wnat would we do with an annual clip of say 
eighty or a hundred million pounds of combing 
wool? What would it then be worth per pound? 
Am I incorrect in supposing that not a tenth or 
twentieth part sr. much of it is used iu the United 
States as of clothing wools? Am I incorrect in snp- 
rw-,a!no- that, its sunerloritv iu price over the latter is 
speedily lose it. They cannot be fattened off grass, 
and thus they reach winter thin. Our winters are 
short and mild, but even to sustain large flocks of 
English sheep through them, requires better keep 
than occasional feedings of corn blades. They de¬ 
mand what they receive in the mild climate of Eng 
land,—turnips, vetches or other greeu crops, or 
graii^—and this i6 precisely what we cannot give 
them without introducing a new, expensive, and 
what would prove to us an unprofitable system of 
husbandry. 
Kept in our common way and according to our 
present available means, tbe English sheep, even in 
not very large sized flocks, remains comparatively 
lean; and it dwindles in size and loses its Improved 
characteristics in each successive generation, until 
it “run6 out.” And this process is a pretty brief 
one. On the other band, the small, active Merino 
The Iowa Homestead recently published from 
the Dixie Farmer a communication from an apiarist, 
claiming that a certain bee hive had been fully test¬ 
ed in tbe South aud found to be moth proof. To 
this claim Mrs. Ellen S. Tcppbr, conductress of 
the Bee. Department of the Homestead, responds by 
emphatically denying the claim thus set up. She 
says“ We publish the above to show our patent 
bee hive agents at the North that they must be 
awake with their business at the South, or a 1 Dixie 
tnau ’ will head them off on ‘ humbugs.’ We sin¬ 
cerely sympathize with the ‘several hundred’ who 
are using such an exploded trap as this Finley hive 
is. We wish to see good improved hives introduced 
into every section of the South, and every one sold 
of this pattern will tend to disgust bee keepers with 
any improvement in hives. If this meets the eye of 
any Southern bee keeper, we beg to assure him (and 
A Nebraska Colony.—E. J. Huse, Nebraska City, 
state? that he has been prospecting in Nebraska, and 
fluds it one of the finest fanning States in the Union. 
He is or the opinion that those in the East, having the 
spirit of moving strong opon them, would do well to join 
a colony now forming for settlement in that country. 
Mutual aid and protection are the points aimed at. 
Crops in Ohio.—F rom a private letter received from 
Wauseon, Ohio, we make the following extract relative 
to the crop?“ We are having flue weather, and shall 
have a good crop of com and potatoes, and the buck¬ 
wheat bid? fair to be a good crop. Fruit, however, is 
scarce this season — but few apples and no peaches to 
speak of." __ 
Silk in Arkansas.— The St. Louis Republican states 
that a sample of white sewing silk made from cocoons 
produced in Phelps Co., Arkan=as, has been received at 
that office. It had a brilliant gloss, was soft to the touch 
and or a strong fiber. The silk business promises to 
commanding position in that section of the 
There is another insuperable objection to the 
mutton sheep for our purposes. Our object should 
not be to keep a handful of sheep each, for domes¬ 
tic purposes, or to bring in annually a mere driblet 
of money. Oar object is to render a vast area of 
the South —millions of acres In each State —pro¬ 
ductive, which are now essentially unproductive. 
Having facilities for the cheap production of wool 
which are probably not excelled in the world, and 
which are not even approached in those portions of 
the United States where it is now principally 
grown, we want to enter largely on the production 
of a staple which will promptly replenish our pock¬ 
ets, * * * and, most fortunately, at the same 
time improve instead of impoverishing our sods. 
On a good sized plantation it is vastly cheaper in 
proportion, and nearly as easy to care for five hun¬ 
dred as one hundred sheep. On miinchsed ranges 
they must be managed by shepherds, and to do this 
most economically one shepherd and his dogs 
should take all the care of at least one thousand— 
aud the sheep must necessarily run together in the 
same flock. The mutton breeds do not herd well 
in large numbers. Even a few hundred kept to¬ 
gether the year round become unthrifty and sickly, 
it is generally conceded that not more than about a 
as?time a 
country. 
Potato Yield.—I. W. Briggs. West Macedon, Wayne 
Co,, planted six aud three-fourths pounds of the Early 
Rose variety of potato. Each pound of seed produced 
167 pounds of potatoes. They ripened considerably 
ahead of the other varieties. The yield is certainly 
promising. 
AGRICULTURAL, EXHIBITIONS FOR 1868 
Merino, among the people of the South. We want 
sheep. All parts of the South sorely need a broadly 
extended system of sheep husbandry, to bring into 
profitable use millions of acres which are now nearly 
or wholly unproductive; and in our present situ¬ 
ation, and on the present basis of labor, * * * 
a remunerative husbandry on these lands, requiring 
hut a small proportionable amount of human labor, 
would be an inestimable blessing to us. * * * 
But let U6 start right. Let us obtain definite ideas 
of what we want, and to what our climate, herbage, 
situation to markets, and other circumstances are 
best adapted. 1 have had some experience formerly 
with both Merinos and English sheep, and I have 
had rather extended opportunities for observing 
their relative success in various parts of the South. 
I own neither now, aud can therefore express my 
opinions disinterestedly. 
In Georgia, the large mutton breeds, except when 
kept in 6mall numbers, and fed entirely out of the 
usual way of feeding sheep in the South, have proved 
an undeniable failure. I will not cite my own former 
experience. Yon doubtless know by reputation Mr. 
Richard Peters of this place. He begau with South 
Downs iu about 1850, and subsequently procured the 
other most celebrated English breeds. He gave them 
a full trial, hut was eventually forced to abandon 
them and resort to the Merinos. His fixed conclu¬ 
sion is that the latter is the only breed which can 
be relied on in this climate, when kept in large 
flocks, both for wool and mutton. ThiB is the com¬ 
mon experience, and I know of no exception to it, 
I believe our long continued warm weather is, of 
itself, unfavorable to the large mutton sheep, but at 
all events it is attended by circumstances which 
render it unfavorable to them. It makes good 
bite comparatively scanty, especially on our natu¬ 
ral grass ranges—where we can find the greatest 
profit in keeping sheep. Any kind of them, if the 
flock is large, must travel far to obtain their fill; 
and as sheep consume food in proportion to their 
size, the Cotswold or Leicester must travel nearly 
twice as far as the Merino. This, in hot weather, 
is peculiarly oppressive on great, fat, naturally slug¬ 
gish animals. Such sheep cannot acquire fat under 
these circumstances, and if they have it they must 
« our correspondent Is mistaken. We have intended to 
publish tbe results, but baye not yet done so. They are 
thus stated by J. Harris, iu American Agriculturist: 
‘•The lambs were shut up iu pens Dec. 13, and weie feo 
ooT-ii aud clover hav for twenty-three weeks, or till the 15th 
of May. At tho commencement of tue experiment the two 
■Trade Merino lamb# welrjw-ti I2t,q pounds, (one it) pounds, 
the other 531* pounds.) nle two grade Cots wold? weighed 
158 pounds, (one 86 pounds, the Other 73 pounds.) 
f ••■rhe Merino* eat 335 pounds of bay, and 349 pound) of 
I corn and gained H6 h pounds. The Cotswold* eat :■«<? pounds 
, of hay, and 369 pounds 01 corn, and k^ed 67K pounds. A 
T little il"urine will show that it took 1,672 pound* of hay and 
r Lorn to produce 150 pounds at increase with the Merinos. 
\ and only 1,1* pounds with the Cotswolds. 
[ *• Professor Miles 1ms (reared up the amount of food con- 
■ mined for each 100 pounds of live weight. In trio twenty - 
l t hrpe weeks, the grads Menuot, for 100 pounds of live weight, 
7 ^LsTpouhd^f hay, and iklS pounds of corn, and the 
f grade OOUwolds,2I3.H3 pounds of hay, and ls6.43 pounds of 
) ,. fir n The Cots wolds cat more com and less hay In propor¬ 
tion to live weight than the Merinos; but the total amount 
!/ of food consumed m proportion to live weight is almost 
I identical. Thus the Merinos consumed 399.96 pounds, and 
COUNTY AND TOWN—NEW YORK. 
Columbia Association, Hudson..Sepl 
Elllsbtirg. Adams, &c>, Belleville. 
Galen, Clyde.. 
Lewis, Turin.- • .. 
Nesv Berlin iTowu.) New Berlin. 
Orange Co. Horse Show’, Goshen — 
Sangerlield and Marshall, (Oneida Co.,) ban 
gcirfleld... 
Ulster, Kingston. 
Westmoreland, Hampton. 
MAINE. 
Oxford. South Paris. 
West Oxford, Frybnrg... . 
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 
Hillsborough. Milford. 
Manchester, Manchester. 
VERMONT. 
Caledonia, St. Johnshury . 
CONNECTICUT. 
Fairfield. Norwalk.. 
Housatomc, New Mr 
Litchfield. Litchfield 
Pena&buck. Bristol. 
Union, Fall? Village 
_Sept. 22—25 
....Oct. 8—10 
Sept. 30—Oct. 1 
.Sept. 80 
.Sept. 8—10 
.Sept. 22—21 
.Sept. 23—21 
The Crops and Weather.—A large portion of West¬ 
ern New York is suffering from the severest drouth of 
many years. The pastures are white, and it is about as 
hard to walk up a turf-covered hUl as it would be up one 
of ice. Many farmers are feeding hay. Water is scarce, 
aud springs have failed that for thirty years before have 
never ceased flowing. There was not rain enough last 
spring and early summer to restore the moisture ab¬ 
stracted by last year's drouth. The trees are turning 
brown, as if singed with fire, and corn leaves rattle in 
the wind, and are white as if frost had struck them. The 
greatest damage will be done to the potato crop, for with 
the hot sunshine and dry winds the tops are dying last. 
A soaking rain within a day or two would benefit late 
varieties and make a medium crop. But there is little 
prospect of rain; every day holdB out a promise of 
showers, but the clouds fly away before a still breeze, 
and tauntingly give only a few dry-weather sprinkles. 
However, we cannot think it will be so protracted as 
last year, for all around us there has been rain, and the 
storm currents must soon set this way. In the mean¬ 
time we comfort ourselves with the thought that too lit¬ 
tle rain for a season works less harm than too much, 
Respectfully your: 
tt - |icepcr s i3*partm*nt 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
Northampton, Easton 
OHIO, 
Andover, Andover. 
Augusta, Augusta . 
Brookfield, Brookfield. .. 
Hancock, New Manchester 
Knox, Mt. Vernon.. . 
Muskingum, Zanesville..., 
Tuscarawas, Canal Dover.. 
Warren, Lebanon. 
A question is raised, among apiarians, as to 
whether bees trace out honey fields by scent or by 
sight. Dr. Albfield, in “The Bee Flora of Ger¬ 
many aud Switzerland,” adduces some plausible 
reasons iu support of the assumption that bees dis¬ 
cover the places where honey may be obtained by 
the sense of sight and not of smell, is it not quite 
as reasonable to infer that their discoveries are not 
confined to either, but result indifferently from 
both ? Ilaviug had some experience in tracing bees, 
in their wild state, this has been onr conclusion 
from the results of several experiments made in 
hunting them to their homes. 
If a hunter will go into the forest and uncover his 
bee box, without auy other preparation, he will 
probably find a bee lured to the exposed store, after 
awhile, if he has the patience to wait. Having suc¬ 
ceeded in this and permitted the laden bee to de¬ 
part, let the hunter move to another point remote 
from the first position, open his box and ignite some 
hmifiv-rnnib and sec if his last vigil is not much 
ILLINOIS, 
Edwards, Albion. 
Franklin, Benton. 
Livingston, Pontiac.... 
Montgomery, Hillsboro 
Sfielby, Slielbyville. 
Union, Jonesboro.. 
Union, Sandwich. 
Wabasb Valley, Paris.. 
IOWA. 
Allamakee, Waukon. 
Clayton, Farmersburg 
Central Iowa, DesMomes 
Michigan White Wheat.— Messrs. Moore, Foote & 
Co., Detroit, have placed at the disposal of the Michigan 
State Agricultural Society the sum of $401), to be divided 
into three grand prizes, for the best five acres ol' white 
wheat sown in 1868 and harvested in 1869. The prizes 
are:—1st, for the best five acres of wheat harvested in 
1869, of the crop of which not less than five bushels shali 
be shown at the State Fair of that year, $350 ; 2d, for the 
second best five bushels of white wheat, of which not 
less than five bushels shall be shown at the State Fair of 
that year, $100; 3d, for the third beet five acres of white 
wheat, of which not lees than five bushels shall be shown 
at the State Fair of that year, $50. 
WISCONSIN. 
Grant, Lancaster. 
Green, Monroe.... .... 
Marquette, Montello.. 
Platieville, Platteville 
MICHIGAN, 
....Oct. G-8 
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 
Sept. 30—Oct. 2 
....Oct. 7-9 
granting to the English breeds the same superiority 
as mutton sheep here, which they seem justly to 
hold in the North,—where would we find a market 
for our mutton, if Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, 
Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, dec., should go to pro¬ 
ducing sheep anywhere nearly as largely as their in¬ 
terest demands, and should make mutton the primary 
object in the selection of the prevailing breed? I 
am told that dairying is now generally held to be 
more profitable in your State—within a day’s trans¬ 
portation of New York, the greatest mutton mar¬ 
ket of the Union. I am told that mutton produc¬ 
er, Mo., August 21th, writes“ Crops are fair iu this 
vicinity consideruig the drouth. The week just past 
was one of fine rains, wetting the ground completely, 
making it for the first time since a year ago last June too 
wet to plow. The peach and apple crop is abundant, 
though small in size, owing to the dry weather. This, I 
think, is the finest fruit country in the West, producing 
an abnndance of ail kind? planted.’ An eminent future 
is predicted for that section of the country, so rich in 
soil and natural advantages. 
Sept. 18—19 
....Sept. 17-19 
....Oct. 13-18 
_Sept, 23—25 
....Oct. 20-25 
Sept. 29-0 ct. 3 
....Oct. 13—16 
