pound; color with carrots, if desirable; pac k close** 
ly in the tub or crock, and cover liberally with finely 
pulverized salt. Butter thus made will keep sweet 
a long time! and when brought upon the table will 
not cause nansea by the offensive ness of the odors 
exhaling from it. 
two or three cents a pound. The habitations of the 
shepherds are usually mud hovels, with other ap¬ 
pointments to match. Wool can be profitably 
grown at ten cents per pound. 
We will now turn to the 6hecp of that country. 
In a small work entitled “Sheep Farming in Buenos 
Ayres," Wilfred Latham, Esq., a sheep breeder 
resident there, states that the Merino flocks of 
those estaneieros (farmers) who have been the pion¬ 
eers of sheep farming in Buenos Ayres produce an 
average of only 2% lbs. of unwashed wool to the 
fleece—that the one point which has been aimed at 
and attained is fineness, without length, elasticity 
■that the low estimation of their wools 
locality would possess more than its 6bare of attrac¬ 
tions, and, if wc may believe the Latin maxim, the 
gods do not give all good gifts to any of us; there¬ 
fore, considering the advantages already enumer¬ 
ated which South Jersey may justly lay claim to, it 
seems only fair that the soil should be compara¬ 
tively poor. The soil is comparatively poor. It 
has not the innate fertility that abounds in the 
great prairies of the far West. It will not, like 
them, produce good crops for thirty years without 
manure. It must be manured at once, and liber¬ 
ally. Then it 6milcs with a harvest, and a harvest 
which finds a ready market just at hand, and not a 
thousand or more miles away. Besides, there is a 
special fertilizer in the remarkable marl deposits 
which so largely abound, and which seem so pecu¬ 
liarly fitted to make up the deficiency complained 
of, aud the application of which has in many cases 
brought about results quite marvelous. The soil is 
a light gravelly or sandy loam, there are no stones, 
and it. is verv eosilv cultivated. It seems to lack 
Weather, Crops, &c.—The autumn has been disagree¬ 
able over a large extent of country. Storms of snow 
and rain and hard frosts have been frequent since the 
middle of September. As a consequence seasonable 
farm work is yet nndone and a great deal of farm produce 
yet ungathered. Within the past few days the weather 
has brightened “ from Maine to Minnesota," and there is 
a mild promise of Indian summer. This is needed for 
the gathering of the corn crop. In this State the potato 
crop is not yet wholly secured, and the most of it out of 
the ground is yet Btored in warehouses or in transit by 
canal, river and railroad to market. The shippers re¬ 
member the “pickle they were plunged in last season 
by the sudden approach of winter, sticking their boats 
loaded with potatoes fast in the Erie Canal until spring, 
and they are careful to avoid its recurrence. Western 
farmers complain of “ruinous low prices,' but in West¬ 
ern New York, with potatoes bringing $2@3 per barrel, 
barley $2 per bushel, white wheat $2.40 per bushel, ap¬ 
ples $3 per barrel, butter 40 cents per pound, and other 
farm products in proportion, the farmers appear to be 
prospering if not exactly satisfied, Diversity of pro¬ 
ducts liee at the foundation of prosperous farming. 
In almost all herds of cows will be found some 
animals whose milk is draws with a great and pain¬ 
ful expenditure of moscle when no disposition to 
hold np is manifest. The cause is generally found, in 
a defective formation of the teats, the milk ducts 
being obstructed or contracted. A correspondent 
of the New England Homestead states that he had 
a valuable young cow that milked so hard from 
hind teats as to make the operation slow and very 
fatiguing to the milker. He addB:—“ By the aid of 
a probe I ascertained that the obstruction was at the 
lower end of the teat; I therefore thought a little 
surgical skill might remove the evil. I took a very 
narrow-bladed knife, gave it a keen edge, took the 
teat in my left hand, inserted the point very gently 
into the milk passage, and then, without fear or 
trembling, gave a sudden thrust of the knife in the 
right direction, and the cure was effected. The cow 
started a little and then stood still. A few drops 
of blood followed the cut only. I then operated on 
the other teat with the same result. Another young 
cow that came of the above-mentioned had lost one- 
quarter ot her bag, and milked so hard from one 
teat that the stream of milk was no larger than a 
small knitting-needle. With the same success I 
operated upon that. They milked afterwards as 
The Prairie Farmer, bold and outspoken for the 
interests of the wool growers, has the following on 
the subject of renewing the Reciprocity Treaty with 
Canada: 
M Various mercantile, shipping and fishing interests 
are laboring with the powers at Washington for a re¬ 
newal of the Reciprocity Treaty. There is at least one 
branch of farm industry that stands fundamentally op¬ 
posed to this Treaty. This Is the wool branch. Since 
the passage of the pre-ent tariff granting protection to 
the producers of combing wool!*, an immense amount of 
capital has been invested in the long wooled breeds of 
rheep, such as are universally bred in the Duminion of 
Canada This business and capital would suffer immense¬ 
ly if Canadian woole were brought into the States free of 
duty. It therefore becomes the duty of wool growers, 
through their Associations, to act In opposition to the 
effort to include wools In the Reciprocity Treaty. The 
manufacturer* who joined hands with the wool growers 
in securing the present tariff on wools and woolens, at 
the meeting of their Association on the It a of October, 
gave evidence of their good faith by passing resolutions 
opposing the movement an the ground ‘ that the advo¬ 
cacy of renewal of the Treaty for me purpose of obtaining 
Canadian wools free, would be a violation of the spirit 
of the agreement with the wool growers, npnn which the 
present tariff on wools and woolens was founded,* and 
they say, ‘ tmit any advantage which might accrue to the 
worsted manufacture from free introduction of combing 
wools under the proposed Treaty, would be more thau 
counterbalanced by checking the Impulse which has al¬ 
ready been given to the growth of combing wools here.* 
If the mauufactureni oppose the Treaty, how much more 
should woo) growers ? 
The Prairie Farmer says of the resolutions on the 
subject of the Tariff and Reciprocity, which recent¬ 
ly passed the National Wool Growers’ Association : 
“ The action Is timely and should have great weight 
at Washington, eudor&ed as it is by the Manufac¬ 
turers’ Association.’’ 
or softm-ss 
is due to their quality in point of length and sound¬ 
ness of staple—that the characteristics of the Meri¬ 
no rams used for “ refining their flocks," are small 
carcass, fine but not very long wool, and open in 
the fleece—that what is required is large rams ol 
heavy fleece—and Mr. Latham recommends a cross 
with French Merinos as the most appropriate one. 
Mr, Hannah considering his owu flock included 
in these censures, states that his 6heep averaged 
last clip 5 lbs. each — notwithstanding that they 
had been entirely grazed on the plains and exposed 
to all the storms and vicissitudes of the seaso,., as 
well os to some loss of w ool by scab. His Negretti 
ewes, under the same circumstances, produced 7 
lbs. of wool per head. (We speak only of unwashed 
fleeces in this article.) Mr. Hannah also states that 
he Las imported a number of French Merinos from 
the Royal Rambouillet flock, and from the flocks of 
Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Cugnot —the most celebrated 
in France. He gives the weight of fleeces of these 
in different years, and they average quite as high as 
those of the prime French sheep imported into the 
United atates a few years since. Their progeny 
constantly deteriorated in fleece on common keep, 
and Mr. Hannah quotes quite fully, and as if with 
his entire concurrence, our condemnations of this 
variety, in “Fine Wool Husbandry," for wool grow¬ 
ing purposes, on ordinary keep. 
It is interesting to note, in passing, that Mr. 
Hannah also experimented with the “ Mauchamp 
Merinos"—that new variety claimed to have been 
established in France, producing long, straight, 
silky wool, which has been several times adverted 
to in this department, ne imported some of these 
“ expressly for the purpose of giving greater length 
"Unfor- 
and it is very easily cultivated, 
potash and needs Hme. 
The writer traveled somewhat in South Jersey 
during the past season, ai I from notes of what he 
saw there may be gathered a just idea of the pres¬ 
ent situation, and of the possibilities of the future. 
The cereals, or some of them at least, do well. 
At Vineland ft field of corn was pointed out which 
grew on a clover sod, and which promised a yield 
of sixty bushels shelled to the acre. The previous 
year a. hay crop of two and a half tons to the acre 
was taken from the same field, and the latter was 
produced by an application of thirty bushels of 
lime. But the small fruit and “ track" receive the 
greater share of attention, and probably pay best 
on account of the proximity of the New York and 
Philadelphia markets. Peaches prosper, and at 
Vineland an orchard of less than two hundred trees 
was shown, from which the owner realized over 
$1,000 for this year’s crop. Grapes also do welL 
Another Vinelander took from eighty-eight Con¬ 
cord vines nearly 1,100 pounds of clusters, and the 
crop from a vineyard of twelve hundred vines was 
sold for $1,300. On the farm of Mr. E. R. Spaulding, 
near Forked River, in Ocean County, the writer 
also saw in September an abundant yield of Con¬ 
cords. Mr. Spaulding’s vineyard is about six acres 
in extent, but less than one-third of it is yet in 
bearing. From Ibis he expected a yield of at least 
two tons. He also had some fine melons raised 
with a compost of hen manure; and a field of corn, 
promising a yield of sixty-five bushels, was grown 
by putting a moss-bunker in each hill at planting. 
These fish are caught in abundauce along shore, 
and make an excellent fertilizer. At the thriving 
settlement of Bricksburg, forty-four miles from 
New York, Mr. V. 8 . Holt showed some common 
and sweet potatpes which looked handsome and 
produced largely, and his com harvest was also 
noteworthy. At Manchester much attention is 
given to cranberry culture. In the immediate vi¬ 
cinity of that village there are about a hundred 
acres now in partial or full bearing. It Is a good 
deal of expense to put in ft cranberry meadow, bat 
it is very remunerative in the long run. .Gen. John 
S. Schultze showed a field of eight acres which he 
is now preparing at a cost of about $2,000, but it 
often costs much more than that. Mr. John Tor- 
«et, Jr., has a meadow now in its fourth year, and 
from which he expected this fall a crop worth $2,600. 
The random facte and figures above given indi¬ 
cate that the lands of South Jersey can be made 
productive. Of course there are shadows to the 
picture, but there is mo reason why these excep¬ 
tional cases, il they are exceptional cases, may not 
come to be the rule. Careless cultivation does not 
pay anywhere, and least of all on land naturally poor. 
There are thousands of persons who have settled 
in South Jersey during the past ten years, aud who, 
by so doing, have bettered their condition." In go¬ 
ing there a family should have at least a thousand 
dollars to begin with, though there arc those who 
have succeeded with something less. Ten acres 
may be enough, half that quantity satisfies some, 
others want twenty. The price ranges from twenty- 
live to thirty dollars per aero. It is stated that a 
crop of tomatoes or sweet potatoes may be pro¬ 
duced without manure, but it is safer to start with 
the expectation of spending money for marl and 
lime. Then, with thrift and indnstry, one may rea¬ 
sonably hope, as good old Thomas Fuller says, to 
see God’s blessing bursting from the soil and cover¬ 
ing the autumn fields with golden harvest. 
A, B. Crandell. 
Countt Aoricultural Surveys.— Among the premi¬ 
ums offered by the Executive Board of the Illinois State 
Agricultural Society for 1868, was a gold medal to the 
County Agricultural Society, which, prior to the first day 
of January, 1869, shall present the best survey of its agri¬ 
cultural condition. As yet but two county societies in 
the State have reported for the premium. The points to 
be reported on are .-—Location, boundaries and superficial 
extent; topography and geology, with particular refer¬ 
ence to mining and quarry producte; climatology and 
meteorology, with a catalogue of indigenous plants and 
trees: culture, or the number of acres under cultivation 
and the kinds and quantity of different crops; live stock, 
embracing the varieties of animals and the assessed value 
of each class; what breeds of horses, cattle and sheep, 
and hogs are deemed the most valuable, and the most ap¬ 
proved method Of roaring than : the acreage of orchards 
and vineyards for commercial purposes, and the most ap¬ 
proved classes cultivated, and what soil and exposure 
have produced the best results, and the per cent, of an¬ 
nual increase and the loss by insect depredations; pro¬ 
ducts grown for epecial manufacture, such as hemp, flax, 
beets, &c,; the supply of labor and its average rate of re¬ 
muneration; the prominent points where the surplus 
crops are marketed, and what proportion of products are 
sent off: the value of farm commodities; the number of 
farms and their size; fences and larai buildings and the 
material used for fencing, the number of miles and the 
cost per rod; organizations for the promotion of agricul¬ 
ture and its kindred industries; the population of the 
county and the relative proportion ol males aud females, 
and of adults and minors, with such remarks as may throw 
light on the industrial condition of the county. 
These inquiries are of a comprehensive character, and 
to answer them intelligibly will require much lime and 
patient examination,—more, probably, than many coun¬ 
ties In the State will be disposed to devote to them. That 
b ut two have, as yet, completed the survey is. therefore, 
in no way surprising. 
On Monday, November 9th, the weather was rainy 
and the roads bad, bnt there was considerable cheese 
on delivery at the Little Falls market. The range 
for farm dairies during the forenoon was 16c., 16)^c. 
and 16%e. We heard of some lots selling as high as 
17c., but these, of course, were “gilt edged,” and 
probably nothing went higher daring the day for 
farm dairies. A tew factory men were in market, 
bnt up to 1 P. M. we heard of bnt one or two sales. 
The price of factories seems to be from 17j^c. to ISc. 
There is very little factory cheese comparatively now 
back. The impression prevails that prices will be 
maintained firmly, and that an advance will be made 
before all the fall cheese is shipped. The country 
probably has not been so bare of cheese at this sea¬ 
son in years. 
We have advices from abroad down to October 
20th. Out London correspondent says that there 
have been considerable sales of American cheese, ex¬ 
tra fine, realizing the quotations below, which it 
will be seen is 2s. better than quotations the week 
previous. 
The London market is given as follows; — Eng¬ 
lish Cheddar, 70s. to 86s.; Wiltshire double, 60-. to 
74s.; Cheshire, 52s. to 76s.; Scotch, 6‘2s. to 72s. 
American extra fine, 68s. to 70s.; fine, 62s. to 06e.; 
Dutch cheese, Edams, 50s. to 60s.; Goudas, 48s. to 
56s.; Derby shape, 50s. to 56s. 
The Vermont Transcript of November 6th, reports 
the St. Albans butter market as follows: — Tuesday, 
November 3d, the prices of butter ranged fiom 40 to 
48 cents, with a few choice lots at 50 cents per 
pound. The total shipment of butter was 744 tubs. 
In cheese but few transactions of farm dairy at from 
14 to 15 cents per pound—factory made cheese, 
none.— Utica Herald. 
of staple to the Mestiza ewes, 
tnnatcly the Manehamp had not yet attained to 
much fixity of type. The result was that all the 
lambs from the Mauchamp rams resembled the moth¬ 
ers, but were quite unlike the fathers." 
In answer to Mr. Latham’s reasons for the low 
estimation in market of Buenos Ayres’ wools, Mr. 
Hannah attributes it to different causes, viz., to bur 
in the fleece; to Us being badly shorn, by “ getting 
many double cuts;” to its being torn and very 
dusty; to the prevalence of scab which causes a 
break in the staple and impregnates portions of the 
fleece with its matter, «fcc. 
We have only seen Mestiza wool in our own mar¬ 
kets, but we have seen much of it, aud consider 
ourselves pretty familiar with its general character. 
W T e difler somewhat from either Mr. Lathams’ or 
Mr. Hannah’s characterization of it. The elasticity 
and softness which the former claims that it lacks, 
we have not generally found to be wanting in the 
higher grades of blood. On the other hand, the 
lack of soundness which he attributes to it, and 
which 1e not admitted by Mr. Hannah (except 
when a break in the staple is caused by scab) is, 
beyond ail question, eminently characteristic ol 
Buenos Ayrcan, or Mestiza wool. As a general 
thing, It does not compare in strength with the 
Merino wool of the United States. It usually 
breaks too easily to be used conveniently in fine 
cassimere warps, without some mixture of sounder 
woolaud it is frequently drawn apart iu the fin¬ 
gers so readily as to suggest the idea that it is to 
some extent artificially decomposed or rotten. This 
defect causes it to waste greatly in the process of 
burring, and in all the processes of manufacture. 
Nor will it, alone, make anything like as strong 
cloth as United States Merino wool. 
Our wool growiug readers will be glad to learn 
the origin of the Mestiza sheep, of which they have 
heard 60 much. Mr. Latham says: 
“ The original stock from which, with few exceptions, 
our flocks have proceeded was the Creole sheep, a leggy 
cnaall-carcaseed animal, with an open fleece, coarse with¬ 
out elasticity; possessing, in feet, uo qualification to 
recommend it as a basis to breed from. The exception 
is that of the Parnpa sheep which is an animal much supe¬ 
rior In all points for the breeder’s purpose. So small, 
however, is the proportion of Parnpa blood in otir flocks, 
that it is not of importance to consider it." (He means 
that the Mestiza flocks were formed by crossing the above 
sheep with Merinos and breeding towards the lattor.) 
Mr. Hannah does not admit the superiority 
claimed for the Pampa over the Creole sheep, 
though his own Mestiza stock sprang principally 
from the former. He. states that the Mestizos ot< 
the Sheridan estancia, were formed first by breeding 
Pampa ewes to English South Down rams and then 
breeding the produce steadily to Merino rams im¬ 
ported from Germany. He declares; “In due time 
the best or highest crosses became fully equal to 
the original stock of pure Merino sheep,” “ not 
only in wool hut in size." 
We find, on looking on further, how long con¬ 
tinued crossing Mr. Hannah considers necessary to 
effect the above object. He says of his own flock: 
“I believe that after 40 years crossing they have 
attained to perfect purity of blood; but I never 
attempt to disguise their origin in the Pampa ewes, 
and allow other people to judge for themselves." 
Forty years of judicious crossing ought to make 
sheep not easily distinguished from full bloods, but 
it is a contradiction in terms to declare that 40, 80 
or any number of years of crossing will cause mon¬ 
grels to attain “perfect purity of blood.” And we 
prefer perfect purity of blood to anything short 
of it! 
Having only Mr. Hannah’s side of the contro¬ 
versy between him and Mr. Latham, we are not 
prepared to form a general opinion on its merits; 
nor are our readers interested in beyond a few 
points in it. It would seem to ns that so far as a 
description of the sheep is concerned, the difference 
is mostly nominal — one describing the common 
Mestiza sheep of the country, the other the most 
improved flocks. Both concur in the fact that the 
real want now is longer staple and heavier fleeces 
with heavier carcasses. It is astonishing that with 
these views, and after so repeated failures in other 
directions, the estanceiros of Buenos Ayres have 
not turned to the American Merinos to supply these 
desiderata. Oar sheep when unpampered are, as 
we know from repeated trials, as capable after a 
very brief acclimation of supporting themselves 
entirely on natural, aud consequently on occasional 
short or poor herbage, aud among all the Other 
vicissitudes of the system of management which 
prevails in Buenos Ayres, Texas, and Australia, as 
any other sheep. Without being overgrown like 
the French Merino, and thus forming a violent cross 
| in respect to size with the existing sheep, and a 
“Those Ruinous Prices." — L. B. T,, Fayette Co., 
Iowa, writes: — “Crops are good here this year, and 
pricee have been also till lately; if they go much lower 
it will be ruinous to those who are in debt. We bave 
had a very cold fall, consequently farm work is behind. 
But now the weather is fine. This is a fine country; 
good soil and plenty of timber. Land cheap enough, 
though it is tost appreciating in value.” 
Low prices for a few farm products ought not to be 
ruinous to farmers in a region such as our correspondent 
describes. Wbat is the matter? Probably there is too 
little diversity in their products. Reliance is placed on 
one or, at most, two staples, and if these fail there Lb no 
resource left. The hop growers have learned this lesson 
to their cost. Make the farm self supporting and diversi¬ 
fy its products and low prices wont ruin the farmer. 
over the calcareous sous oi reeniucKy; yet, wuer- 
ever, in the late war, cither army scattered blue 
grass seed iu hay fed to horses, (the distribution is 
very wide, often reaching the tops of mountains,) 
this fine pasture grass is growing and spreading as 
though indigenous to our soil and climate. Every 
known species and variety ol' clover is equally 
adapted to this region; but man should sow the 
seed. Northern men should select land adapted 
to grass and clover, scatter seed where it will grow, 
and thus form extensive sheep walks. Such laud 
will cost from twenty-five cents to two dollars per 
acre, and may easily be improved till worth ten 
times the sums named. 
I am near the junction of the French Broad and 
Holston Rivers, and some 300 miles south of the 
Ohio River at Cincinnati. The best route is through 
Cumberland Gap, which is 60 miles north of Knox¬ 
ville. Our native sheep have been so much neglect¬ 
ed that they yield little wool, although clipped t wice 
a year. One might sell good Americau Meriuos or 
South Downs very well to farmers to improve their 
breeds; and many would go from here into North 
and 8onth Carolina, Alabama. West Tennessee and 
Mississippi. There is a great deal of open land, i. e., 
not fenced, between the valley of the Tennessee and 
that of the Ohio above Louisville, which favors the 
cheap driving of sheep. Those that would like 
good sheep pastures by the mile, summer and wiu- 
ter, should ictch with them the seeds ol tall and 
meadow pat grass, sheep fescue, hard and meadow 
fescue, on >rd grass, redtop and June grass. Sheep 
husbandry in the South is destined to be a grand 
agricultural interest at no distant day. It 6hould 
be started at tlie base and on the sides ol Southern 
mountains, where frequent rains, many springs and 
brooks, and a grass soil and climate give health, 
vigor and a rapid multiplication to flocks. Here 
their offspring and their wool will escape alike the 
heat of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio snm- 
*mers, and the* cold of their winters. In this ele¬ 
vated region, bo near the Atlantic and the Gulf, 
onr pastures, flocks and herds are not subject to 
the periodical drouths of a part of Texas, of New 
Mexico and California. Fine wool sheep never did 
better in Spain than when moved to elevated graz¬ 
ing lands in summer, and hack to lower and wanner 
districts for their winter pasturage and quarters. 
Something like this system is entirely practicable 
in the South, Bermuda grass, Lcspedeza and white 
clover will give excellent summer grazing quite 
down to the Gulf; and I have named above the 
grasses that yield green herbage all winter. 
Who will aid iu starting this enterprise in a plain, 
common-sense way ? D. Lee. 
Gap Creek, Tean. 
Farming in Alabama.— “ Our Mountain Home," Talla¬ 
dega. Alabama, discovers cheering indication!- of future 
prosperity for the South iu the movements making there 
for agricultural improvement. An abrupt change iu the 
system of labor demoralized both employer and employe, 
but order is emerging from confusion, while hopefulness 
is taking the place of inertion and despondence, Farm¬ 
ers’ and mechanics’ clubs are being organized for the 
promotion of diversified production, instead of relying, 
a- formerly, on one or two articles. This is a sensible 
view ol things, and, if generally acted upon by the pco- 
pl . a speedy recovery from the effects of a devastating 
civil strife wiH be the result. 
Splitting Rails. 
The Ohio Farmer gives some directions about 
splitting rails which are very good. Some use a 
beetle with ring&, but a maul is much more readily 
handled aud more effective in execution while it 
lasts. It is a good plan to make several of these at 
a time, out of ironwood or hickory, and let them 
season several months before being used. When a 
large tree is cut into logs the top one may be rolled 
out aud split np when the others can he managed 
without moving, except as the rails arc piled away. 
A Minnesota Farmer. — The editor of the Prairie 
Farmer paid a visit awhile since to the farm of Oliver 
Dai.i'.vmfle, in Washington Co., Minnesota. It com¬ 
prise- 1,700 acres of rich prairie land Operations were 
commenced in wheat raising in 1866, on a capital of $25,- 
000. The whole faini was sown to wheat, and produced 
37,500bushels, which sold for $55,335. The past season 
the average yield was 65 bushels to the acre, or over 
40,000 hnshela iu all. During harvest, which lasted twelve 
dayB, there were employed eixty horses, one hundred 
men and nine reapers. The ground is plowed deeply in 
the fall, harrowed in the spring, and the seed sowfi broad 
cast. No fertilizers have yet been nsed. 
How to Use an Ax. 
The Canada Farmer quotes from Mark Tapley’s 
“ IU,mie in the Wilderness” sundry directions about 
the use of an ax in chopping which will make an 
old chopper smile, if not laugh outright. In chop¬ 
ping down a tree, he says, a man must whirl the ax 
at arm's length around his head and bring it down 
against the point of severance. Thb is all nonsense, 
as no such whirling takes place amoDg choppers 
who know their business. It is further said than an 
ax for ordinary purposes ought to weigh about eight 
pounds. This is too heavy by at least three pounds, 
as any man knows who has followed chopping for 
any considerable time aud knows how to use an ax 
to advantage. 
EDITED BT HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D. 
Large Ears of Cohn.— The com growers of the West 
are having a tittle game of brag through the medium of 
the Prairie Farmer. J. H, Warner, Whiteside Co., Ill., 
picked an ear of white corn this eeason having 28 rows 
and 1,380 kernels; Frank Haywood, Peoria, 20 rows and 
1,284 kernels; A. A. P., Knox Co,, 22 rows and 1,320 ker¬ 
nels ; aud “A Subscriber," Logan Co., 18 rows and 1,350 
kernels. Logan is a little ahead yet. 
We have received from Mr. John Hannah, an ex¬ 
perienced breeder and wool grower of Buenos 
Ayres, two pamphlets on the Merino sheep of that 
country. Being intelligently and apparently can¬ 
didly written, it is unfortuuate for our readers that 
they are not couched in a more directly descriptive 
form—for we arc sure that a clear and accurate ac¬ 
count of the varieties of fine wool sheep in Buenos 
Ayres would be read with great interest by the wool 
growers of the United States. And ot the same 
time we should have been glad to obtain a distinct 
and minute account of their treatment under the 
different systems which prevail, if different systems 
do prevail, in that country. Hitherto all that wc 
have seen published on the subject is general—mere 
birds-eye views caught by travelers or casual ob¬ 
servers who had no special knowledge of or interest 
in sheep husbandry, and whose observations conse¬ 
quently were superficial and vague. 
Buenos Ayres, as few of our readers need to be in¬ 
formed, is a Republic, lying on the Atlantic slope of 
South America, between South latitudes 33" and 41* 
— corresponding with the latitudes of Southern 
Virginia, Kentucky, Southern Missouri, North Car¬ 
olina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and the northern por¬ 
tions of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South 
Carolina. Its average length from the ocean to the 
Andes is about. 750 miles, and it extends North and 
South about 450 miles —thus embracing an area of 
337,500 square miles, about as large as that of all the 
New England States, New York, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin; 
Grasshoppers—Buffalo Grass. 
M. C. Nicherson, Little Sioux, Iowa, writes the 
American Entomologist concerning the depredations 
of grasshoppers in Western Iowa the past and pres¬ 
ent seasons. They were quite serious thi6 year, 
causiug great loss in the section visited, bnt as a 
partial recompense are said to have seeded thickly 
the whole region over which they passed with Buf¬ 
falo grass—a variety more highly prized by stock 
than any of the native grasses grown there. It is 
described as being of quick growth, consisting of 
little tufts or bunches, stooling thickly, and heavily 
seeded. It has taken possession of all barren spots, 
and in many places already covers the ground quite 
thickly. According to the estimate placed on this 
grass the grasshoppers have a credit account with 
Iowa of no inconsiderable proportions. 
A Wheat Growers’ Convention,— The Prairie Farm¬ 
er, in view of the fact that the yield of wheat in the 
States formerly the most noted for its production is an¬ 
nually decreasing, infers that “ the whole matter of wheat 
culture needs writing up and talking up.” In order that 
this may be done, that paper suggests the propriety of 
holding a Wheat Growers’ Convention, aud names Alton 
aB a suitable place for the meeting. Ab we have conven¬ 
tions of wool growers, grape growers and poultry raisers, 
wheat may as well have a place in the ring, not forgetting 
corn in the list. 
A Drive at Poultry Societies.— The editor of the 
Ohio Farmer, who claims to be the only surviving mem¬ 
ber of the National Poultry Association of Brattleboro, 
Vt., which never had a meeting, enters a protest against 
** the hatching out of any more such except on the rea¬ 
sonable. guaranty that they will survive their first moult¬ 
ing, and be able to pay for inserting their bills in the 
papers.” 
- ♦ >» — -* 
Ohio Farm Stock.—T he Farmers' Chronical contains 
a communication from J. H. Kufpart giving an account 
of the live stock on the farms iu Ohio This is a sum¬ 
mary of the whole:—Horsee, 698,909, worth $75,000,000; 
mules, 25,272, worth $2,500,000; cattle, 1,501.558, worth 
$60,000,000; sheep, 7,622,496, worth $14,750,000: swine, 
1,807,594, worth $20,000,000. Total value, $162,250,000. 
When receiving forty-five or fifty cents per 
pound, farmers have no right to pat up and send to 
market the poor staff named butter, which some¬ 
times—too often, in fact,—finds its way there. It 
occasionally looks as though streaked with badly 
rendered lard, — is sticky and perambulated with 
rivulets of stale buttermilk, giving the mass the 
appearance of enjoying a good cry 1 It contains 
more or less hair, and is fronzy and repulsive to the 
taste, possessing no single quality rightly attaching 
to a good article of butter. This is all wrong, the 
cause of which is less often attributable to a lack 
of judgment than to a disregard of the plainest prin¬ 
ciples of right. Suitable food for cows, cleanliness 
in the stable, yard, and the milk room, are the prime 
requisites in turning out such butter as the necessi¬ 
ties of consumers require. It should not he so lib¬ 
erally salted as to render it bitter to the taste, nor 
so scantily as to putrify while waiting sale. Have 
clean cream, a churn free from all foul odors; work 
the milk nicely out from the mass of butter, and 
work in a small quantity of Aabton salt to the 
Colts Need Care in Winter. 
Cake is essential for the proper wintering of 
any kind of stock, but especially requisite in the 
case of colts. Some allow colts to struggle on 
among cattle and sheep and store hogs, deeming 
them competent to fight their own way through, no 
matter bow rough their treatment may he, nor how 
much they may be robbed at the stated periods of 
feeding. They, besnre, when thus treated, manage 
to worry throngh, but it is at the expense of that 
development which the season should bring to them. 
The aim should be, when colts are weaned, to keep 
them from falling away in flesh, but this cannot be 
accomplished by hap hazard management. They 
require shelter during storms, and suitable food and 
plenty of it, till the return of the season of verdure 
shall enable them to range in search of that con¬ 
genial to them and promotive of their development. 
Colts, like their dams, find an occasional application 
of the card agreeable, and it is certainly healthful. 
while its 
population is not estimated to exceed 490,000—not 
half that of Massachusetts. A sufficient portion of 
this immense region is adapted to the keeping of 
sheep — without artificial winter feed —to supply the 
United States with all the fine wool it requires; aud 
doubtless to supply many other countries besides. 
The sheep run on vast plains, like our western 
prairies, covered with natural grasses. The chief 
cost of production is labor, and the cost of labor is 
a mere trifle compared with that in our Northern 
States. One man with his dog3 can take care of 
1,000 or 1,500 sheep. Subsistence is equally cheap. 
The best beef sells in the city of Buenos Ayres for 
Poultry Exhibition. —The Cook Co. Poultry Exhibi¬ 
tion at Chicago —the initial one of the Society of that 
county — proved quite successful. An admission fee of 
twenty-five cents produced ample means for defraying 
expenses, which were quite large. The officers all 
evinced their interest in it by the exhibition of stock ol 
their own raising. 
