frame furnished aliment for so much wool. 
Even the Improved American Merino often 
has “too long a nose”—but when this is 
offset by a great breadth of the superior por¬ 
tion of the head, it is not so objectionable. 
As to wrinkles—those pets of “ the fan¬ 
cy”—we have again and again stated that, 
in our judgment, they may be tolerated to a 
reasonable extent on the neck, and small 
ones on the breech, flank, and at the elbow ; 
but that any wrinkles on the sides or back 
large enough to obstruct the shears, or pre¬ 
vent close and rapid clipping, are a most un¬ 
mitigated nuisance. We have seen a first 
rate shearer employed three hours in shear¬ 
ing a highly wrinkled ram. With a large 
flock of such sheep, the spring would hardly 
be long enough to get their fleeces off. Nor 
are the fleeces as valuable, because the wool 
growing on the exterior of the wrinkles is 
only rarely of equal quality with the rest. 
Not a solitary good reason can be offered in 
favor of breeding such sheep—unless it is a 
good reason that a ridiculous fashion has 
made them more saleable among novices 
and among a class of men who arc always 
rushing into extremes, and especially new 
extremes. 
Stanger, In the Third District; Harrison Itcggs 
In the Fourth ; A. Harrison, in the Eighth ; John 
George, In the Ninth; Jeremiah Hell, in the 
Tenth; and D. P. ftiohmond, in the Twelfth. 
Secretary— J, S. McConnel, C'butham, Sangamon 
County. 
Tbe following preamble and resolutions were 
passed unanimously t * 
F Pharos, The turliT on wool and woolens was 
agreed upon in a joint convention of wool grow¬ 
ers nud woolen manufacturers, and ns any change 
would be likely to result in injury to those in¬ 
terested ; therefore, 
/iVWivkf, That this association approve of the 
present tariff relating to wool and woolens, and 
consider any agitation or change Injurious and 
ill limed. 
Resolved, That we deem the ro-establishment, 
of what la known as the Reciprocity Treaty with 
Canada prejudicial to the agricultural Interests 
of the bolted States. 
Resolved, That, appreciating the ability and 
distinguished servicesol' our late Secretary, Sam¬ 
uel I*. Rourdinim, wo record our sense of the 
great loss the agricultural, and particularly the 
wool growl ug Interest of the Statu have sustained 
In his death. 
Resolved. That a copy of these resolutions be 
sent, to the family of Mr. Boar dm an. 
\m\) fittslmuirrg 
utomol0gintl 
nnb flt'partttwni 
[Qckstion* lo bo unswtreil la this Dojmrtmont, whoa acconipaulod 
by spedmont, should b« sont directly to C. V. Riley, 521 North 
Main Stroot, St. Louis, Mo.] 
n. S. RANDALL, LL. D., EDITOR, 
Of Court jure Village, ,\p Coi'nty, \kw Yof.ic. 
KANSAS NATIONAL LAND CO, 
Office Pacific! Pa it. way Co., I 
Ht. Lours, Sept. 2',ih, 1809. f 
To the Editor of Moore’s Rural New- 
Yorker:— It is hereby stated, find authorized 
for publication, that the accompanying state¬ 
ments of Col. John 8. Loomis, President of the 
National Land Company, In relation to the 
Agency of that Company of the Kansas Pacific 
Railway Lands, In respect to appraisement, con¬ 
tracts, price and terms of rule of the same, arc 
substantially correct; and I doairo to add that 
the National Land Company havo proved a most 
efficient auxiliary agency; and the energy and 
lidclity with which they have conducted their 
Emigration and Laud Agency, both to the inter¬ 
ests they represent mid the people they har e set¬ 
tled upon the lino of our Railway, entities' ttnij 
company to the lnrgcst measure of public conli- 
dcuce. Respectfully, Adolphus Meier, 
Vice-President and President pro tern. 
Kansas Pacific Railway Co. 
Office National Land Co., I 
St. Louis, September 27th, 1809. \ 
To the Editors of Moore’s Rural New- 
Yorker :—As the high character ami exten¬ 
sive circulation of your valuable paper give 
effect to statements appearing in its columns, 
which can greatly appreciate or damage 
business enterprises upon which you com¬ 
ment editorially or nllow the use of your col¬ 
umns for purposes of criticism by correspon¬ 
dents, I desire to cull your attention to the 
following extract, which I have taken from 
your paper of the eleventh of September, 
1809. [Let. the reader see in Report of New 
York Farmers' Club, page 580 current vol¬ 
ume Rural, article entitled “Land Sharks 
in tho West,” which we do not reproduce 
for want of space.— Eds. Rural ] 
I have the following “ light to throw on 
this subject”:—Tbo National Land Com¬ 
pany is a legally organized corporation, and 
the legally authorized agent of the “ Kansas 
Pacific Railway Company,” (formerly called 
the Union Pacific Railway Company, East¬ 
ern Division,) for tho sale of its Congressional 
Lauds. It is a corporation organized, 
originally, under the auspices of sard Rail¬ 
way Company, and is operated, so far as Its 
lands are concerned, under the specific di¬ 
rection and in perfect harmony with all de¬ 
partments of the Railway Company. The 
National Land Company sells the railway 
lands exactly at the appraised valuation 
placed on each tract, and upon the specific 
terms regulated by the Railway Company. 
The lands arc the alternate sections granted 
by Congress to aid construction of the rail¬ 
way, and are situated for twenty miles each 
side of the track of said road in Kansas, and 
aro of tho identical list of lands advertised 
by you for the financial agents of the Rail¬ 
way Company in the same paper in which 
you print the Mkmeur calumny. The bulk 
of the lands are appraised at from two ($3.00) 
dollars to seven (§7.00) dollars per acre. A 
very few tracts, less than fifty, in the entire 
range of several million acres, by reason of 
their great value for mill sites, quarries and 
other purposes distinct from agricultural 
uses, are appraised at from seven to eleven 
dollarsY>er aero; and these arc,the highest 
prices asked by the Railway Company or 
any of its agents. 
Tho National Land Company has nothing 
to do with the appraisement of those lands; 
and every sale we make is first reported, and 
before contract is issued to purchasers, it is 
approved by the Railway Company. We 
are not authorized by the Railway Company 
to sell differently, and wc have never sold a 
tract of the railway lands, Or asked a price, 
except according to tho appraised valuation 
placed upon the lands hy the road. We as¬ 
sume and run all risks of advertising the 
lands; of securing low rates of transporta¬ 
tion for colonists emigrating thereto from 
Europe and the old States of the Union, ami 
receive for our services and expenses only 
the compensation contracted to be paid as 
commissions. Therefore the reported state¬ 
ments of Mr. J. S. Mkmeur, that the Na¬ 
tional Land Company or any of its officers 
or agents have “ asked from five to twenty 
dollars per acre” for the railway, or any 
other lands owned or held for sale in their 
agency, is false, and his “ conclusion that the 
National Land Company was swindling Hie 
buyers out of five to fourteen dollars per 
acre, and putting this snug little sum into 
their own pockets, besides the per centage 
that the Railroad Company paid them,” is 
wicked and malicious. 
It is presumed that you thought a service 
would be rendered the public by printing 
Member's letter “to tho Club.” A3 we 
pointedly deny, and arc prepared to prove 
his statements to bo false and libelous, we 
respectfully ask you to give space in your 
paper for this refutation of them. 
Very respectfully yours, 
John y. Loomis, 
President National Land Company. 
— • ♦ »- 
Inquiry.— Will the Rural say where I can ob¬ 
tain Information respecting Government land 
in North Missouri and Southern Iowa? Also 
where I can obtain a copy of the Homestead 
Law ?—11, I)., North East, Pa. 
See page 663 oummt vol. of Rcual for copy 
of Homestead Law. 
IMPROVED BREEDS: 
Their Tendency to Deaencnue. 
Is there a tendency to degenerate among 
improved breeds? Cannot new and im¬ 
proved qualities become eventually so “ es¬ 
tablished,” that they are no more liable to 
be lost than the original characteristics? 
We believe that with proper breeding and 
management, there is no tendency to degen¬ 
eration—but that without them, that ten¬ 
dency is manifest, and rapid in its effects. 
Suppose that the finest herd of Short-Horns 
were put on scanty or poor keep and suf¬ 
fered to breed Avithout proper discrimination. 
Docs anybody suppose that they would not 
speedily lose these fine qualities and im¬ 
proved points? The English Long-Wools 
thus treated, soou assimilate to what is 
termed “ nativesand avc believe a groat 
portion of modern natives are principally of 
English blood. Wc could specify a number 
of Merino flocks, once improved, which iu 
less careful and skillful hands, have visibly 
retrograded towards the old unimproved 
type. The same is true of all domestic ani¬ 
mals. There is not a truer saying in tliCAvhole 
catalogue of aphorisms than the one, — 
“ Nothing is granted to mortals without 
great labor;" and to nothing does this aphor¬ 
ism apply better than to breeding. 
THE TOMATO WORM, 
Tins rather savage-looking worm is known 
in the tobacco region by the name of the 
Tobacco worm. At any rate the same worm 
infests both plants in the sections where both 
are cultivated. It is the great pest of the to¬ 
bacco planter. During the growth of the 
plant there arc two signal visitations from It 
—one when the plant Is quite young, and the 
other about the period that it is maturing. 
But they are generally to bo found iu greater 
or less numbers at every stage of the plant 
until it is cut. They abandon it as soon as it 
commences curing. 
They arc hatched from the egg of the To¬ 
bacco Fly— Avbicli is about, the size of a 
locust, looking like a little humming bird 
when flitting about the flowers. It is seldom 
seen except in the shadows of evening, when 
the twilight is gathering. It then frequents 
the Jamestown weeds when in bloom. They 
deposit the egg upon tho tobacco leaf—gen¬ 
erally on the under side. It is hatched by 
tbe heat of the sun. If not destroyed during 
their incubation, tho plant is almost sure to 
be injured, as they seem to he born eating. 1 
do not know that I have ever found one so 
small but that it had already made its mark 
on the leaf. 
Those Avho cultivate the plant, have to 
watch against these destructive iusects with 
unceasing vigilance. Sometimes they conic 
in great, numbers quite suddenly. If not 
killed when very small, they damage tho 
leaves seriously—sometimes eating them up, 
except the larger stems. Their ravages not 
only reduce tho quantity, but particularly 
injure the sale of tho leaf, because it is so 
riddled and ragged that it cannot be rolled 
well in the factory. It is tedious business to 
catch them. The process is called worming 
the tobacco. It has to be repeated time and 
again during the season. When the plant is 
getting large, it receives other attention at 
the Same time—such as topping, suckcring, 
&c. Close observation and a good eye are 
necessary to success. One must be able at 
a glance, not only to see a hole iu a leaf, but 
to sec so at a glance as to know whether the 
edges of any hole ar a freshly eaten. A prac¬ 
ticed eye Can tell with remarkable ease, 
promptness and certainty. Although my 
crop is under the supervision of tAvo very 
careful hands, and a regular campaign against 
the worms has been carried on during the 
whole period of growth, yet they were so 
numerous that in a few hours one morning 
these two workmen killed about. 1,500, near¬ 
ly all small ones. 
I have never heard of any other method 
of destroying them, but by simply killing 
with the fingers. This certainly is not. a very 
nice business, but is quite free from the dan¬ 
gers that some persons think avc aro ex¬ 
posed to in handling them. Very small boys 
often work in the tobacco fields and pick 
them off Avithout injury. Very small ones 
are mashed with the thumb or finger on the 
leaf. Larger ones arc often crushed between 
tho thumb and finger. Still larger ones arc 
sometimes held in one hand while the other 
pulls off the head. Sometimes the bead is 
merely crushed. Often the workmen take 
a large one and dash it against the ground. 
They are fond of tobacco, tomato plants, 
nettles, and some kinds of bushes. 
When young they are of rather a deep green 
color. When about half grown they shed off' 
the old skin, during which process they do 
not cat any. When they have shed their skins, 
their color is a light green, and stripes develop 
themselves on the side. Not long after the 
black stripes appear, the worms disappear, 
burrowing into tho ground to the depth of 
several inches. The first visitation when the 
plant is small does not Inst long, and the 
damage done then is not so great. The 
second visitation is thought to be by the off¬ 
spring of the first. In the ground the Avorm 
completes its chrysalis state and comes out 
a fly. 
When the leaf on which one is feeding is 
struck it often raises its head and makes a 
sort of snapping, chattering sound, but 
neither with the mouth nor the horn on the 
tail has it ever been known to poison or 
hurt any one. N. b. 
North Carolina, 1SG0. 
aentifb imtr ohtM 
THIN CASTINGS, 
Tile Journal of Applied Chemistry tolls 
of the exceedingly thin castings of the Chi¬ 
nese used for kettles, having bottoms much 
thinner than avos found possible to make at 
Birmingham. Being so thin, they are ex¬ 
ceedingly liable to crack, and are mended 
by wandering tinkers. These mechanics not 
only mentl cracked wares, but also repair 
such as have holes an inch square knocked 
in them. Tho sides of tho hole arc filed and 
cleaned with brick dust, the pot is thou in¬ 
verted over a tripod, so that the hands can 
have full play upon the outside as avcII as 
inside. A crucible not larger than a thim¬ 
ble is taken and a bit of east-iron put into 
it, tho iron brought to fusion by a charcoal 
tire in a furnace not larger than a, goblet. 
The melted iron is poured upon ashes on a 
piece of felt., and introduced under tlio pot 
by the left hand, while it is pressed on the 
top by the right hand, also protected by felt 
and ashes. The protruding portions of tho 
iron are filed and polished off, and the vessel 
is tested to sec if it is water-tight. The 
price for the job is from six to eight cents. 
This is a decided advance on what our 
western household science has yet reached. 
STOCK RAISING IN MISSISSIPPI. 
The southern counties of our State (Miss.) 
are particularly adapted by nature to the 
raising of large herds of cattle and sheep. 
With a soil totally unfit for the production 
of the cereals, save where some water course 
has deposited the rich loam washed from 
upland counties, it produces grass, and for¬ 
merly reed and cane in abundance. The 
ruinous practice of burning off the woods in 
early spring has destroyed nearly all the 
reed and cane, but I have little doubt that it 
would spring up again if some stringent lo¬ 
cal law could be passed to prevent tho Avoods 
from being burned at all. Tho district 
known as the “plney woods" Avas formed 
by nature for the rearing of flocks and herds. 
Little or no Avinter feeding is required to 
keep cattle in good condition through the 
whole year, and sheep arc never taken up 
except at shearing time. Most of the farm¬ 
ers have come to the conclusion, especially 
in this, (Marion) county, that raising stock is 
the most profitable business that can be fol¬ 
lowed here. There Is one thing that grows 
to perfection in these pine barrens. Incredi¬ 
ble quantities of tho sweet potato can be 
grown, and there is no more nourishing food 
for stock. It is true they are very liable to 
rot, but it is generally in the spring after the 
young grass begius to shoot up. 
A small statement will show how profita¬ 
ble sheep may be mode with a very little 
care ami expense. Five hundred head of 
sheep may be bought for $750, and placed in 
a good range in the piney woods, several 
miles from any thickly settled locality, away 
from the vicinity of dogs, &c. The returns 
for the first year will be as follows: 
2,000 pounds of wool, at. 25c. per lb.$500 
375 head of sheep increase, at $1. 375 
Total........$875 
E.vpcnaes. 
Hire of hand to look after sheep at $10 
pel’ month . $120 
Hiro of hand to shear sheep... 25 
Total.$115 
Leaving $730 clear profit the first year. 
Thi3 may, perhaps, appear a large estimate, 
but I know of a good many who are, in a 
small way, realizing a larger per cent, profit 
on sheep, and give them no care at all. A 
little attention will prevent them from stray¬ 
ing off Sheep running loose in the woods 
in this section are subject to no epidemics, 
and if not troubled by dogs will nearly 
double every year. 
Some of the citizens of our county have 
been thinking the matter over and have con¬ 
cluded to buy up a large number of sheep 
and try the experiment of raising them on 
an oxtensh'e scale. Our native sheep, how* 
cver, though very hardy, arc small and poor 
in quality of wool. IVe have thought that 
if wo could import some other varieties of 
Bheep from older States and cross them with 
our native breed, with the view of combining 
the various good qualities of length and fine¬ 
ness of avooI, size, and mutton qualities, Avith 
the hardiness and vigor of our home stock, 
the profits of the business might be largely 
increased. There is no better situation than 
this location for malting money by raising 
stock. The pastures are all public lands, 
and will, in all probability, not be entered 
for years to come. How the finer grades of 
sheep will flourish here remains to be seen, 
but 1 have no doubt that, by repeated cross¬ 
ings, a breed combining all the good qualities 
consistent villi vigor and hardiness might 
bo easily obtained. — Monthly Report of Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture. 
HORNS AND HEAD OF THE ME. 
RINO—WRINKLES. 
“ C. J.,” St. Louis, writes:—“ I have 
thought when I start my sheep establish¬ 
ment, next spring I would commence with, 
and breed for, hornless rams. I think it 
would be a decided improvement. Is there 
any objection to it ? I saw a few days since 
Mr. -’s high priced ram, brought from 
the East. Ilia burns arc enormous, and run 
out in the form of a corkscrew a foot, and a 
half, I should say, from each side of his 
head. His face is narrow and unusually 
long. Is this a good point ? lie is wrinkled 
all over. The wrinkles on bi3 sides are 
nearly as large as halter rope. Is this a 
good point?" 
A Merino ram without horns is, for the 
practical objects of wool groAvjng, as good 
or better than a horned one. Large horns, 
particularly those of the conformation men¬ 
tioned, inflict dangerous side blows on other 
sheep at the feeding trough or when crowded 
round a lock of hay; and wo havo known 
several instances of shepherds being thus 
wounded, in carrying out feed. Rams 
should be selected the coils of Avhose horns 
lie closer to the head; and if the external 
points project out at right angles to the 
head they (the points) should be sawed off. 
Even then a ram addicted to striking side- 
Avays is a great nuisance. Were the liabitr a 
common one, it would form a very serious 
objection to horned sheep. 
There is one advantage in horned rams. 
Tiiey can he much more readily distin¬ 
guished, even in a large flock, and at consid¬ 
erable distance. And it is well, at some 
periods of the year, to know what rams are 
in the flock. But the chief plea for horns on 
Merino rams is that they are usual—they are 
a “ badge of the tribe.” Custom regulates 
taste in such matters. How, to use a Ilibcrm- 
cism, would a short-horned bull look Avithout 
any horns? Hoav a Cots wold ram, with a 
ponderous pair of horns? Therefore the 
Merino breeder must stick to horns. The 
Merino wool grower may respect them, and 
perhaps, counting profit and loss, might find 
it for his interest to do so. But as for 
“breeding them out,” it reminds us of the 
old Greek joke of the man who, having heard 
that a cro av would live two hundred years, 
bought one to try it. The proportion of 
homed rams dropped might be materially 
lessened by excluding them from breeding 
for many generations; but after the recur¬ 
rence of fifty, or a hundred generations, we 
have no doubt that the horns would often 
make their appearance. The Merino blood 
is too old and li ved to have any of its ancient 
landmarks removed without extreme diffi¬ 
culty. On the Avhole, we suggest to C. J. 
that he look to the fleece, form and consti¬ 
tution of liis breeding rams, and let the horns 
take care of themselves. 
A narrow and long face is objectionable, 
because it usually indicates narrowness of 
chest and long bones. The original Spanish 
Merino hacl these peculiarities of the face 
much more strongly marked than the im- 
provefl American-—and it Avas flatter in the 
iil>, proportionally longer necked and longer 
legged, and every Avay “ slimmer.” So far 
as constitution >vas concerned, the Spanish 
sheep atoned, in a great measure, for his nar¬ 
rowness, by his great depth ; but as a quiet, 
< asy kept, mutton producing animal, he was 
! ir inferior. He was constructed to travel-— 
not to carry flesh and fat. Nor do we be¬ 
lieve his comparatively lean, attenuated 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 
Unsafe Kerosene .—Gunpowder is as Safe to 
hum as the “ patent safety oil” which is 
offered for sale. A chcmIc**Aprofessor gives 
this simple test for determining whether an 
oil may be safely used “ These most dan¬ 
gerous oils can lie recognized at once by 
applying a lighted match to a small quantity 
contained in a saucer. Every oil that can be 
lighted Avith a match should be condemned 
at once, as only the most dangerous will take 
fire at ordinary temperatures.” Every per¬ 
son avIio has in his house an oil which will 
not. stand this test keeps it at his peril. 
Decay of Iron Railings .—Every one must 
have noticed the destructive combination of 
lead and iron, from railings being fixed in 
stone with the former metal. The reason for 
this is, that the oxygen of the atmosphere 
keeps up a galvanic action between the two 
metals. This Avaste may he prevented by 
substituting zinc for lead, in which case the 
galvanic influence would be inverted; the 
Avhole of its action would fall on the zinc: 
the one remaining uninjured, the other nearly 
30. Paint formed of the oxkle of zinc, for 
the same reason preserves Iron exposed to the 
atmosphere infinitely better than the ordinary 
paint composed of the oxide of lead. 
To Preserve a Bouquet— When a bouquet 
is received, at once sprinkle it lightly with 
fresh Avater, and then put it in a vessel con¬ 
taining soap suds. ThisAvill keep the flowers 
as freshly as if just gathered. Then every 
morning take the bouquet out of the suds and 
lay it sideways—tbe stock entering first—in¬ 
to clean water, keep it there a minute or two, 
then take it out and sprinkle the flowers 
lightly by the hand with water, replace it in 
the soap suds, and it will bloom as fresh as 
when first gathered. The soap suds needs 
changing every three or four days. By 
observing these rules a bouquet may be kept 
bright and beautiful for at least a month, and 
will last still longer in a passable state. 
Preserving Bodies &c. —Prof. Abba to, of 
Naples, it is reported, has discovered a 
method of petrifying a dead body Avithout 
the slightest alteration in its appearance. He 
has also found the means of preserving meat 
in a perfect state for any length of time, ah 
though exposed to the atmosphere. The 
petrifying process will be useful to those who 
desire for any cause to preserve the dead 
bodies of their friends, while the meat pre 
serving method will be of great advantage to 
those who uoav pay high prices for their beef 
The “ refrigerators" which Avere invented to 
bring the carcasses of Texas cattle to New 
Orleans and to the Nort h seem to have failed; 
but as the inventive talent of Europe and the 
United States have the subject under con¬ 
sideration, avc may expect soon to hear of 
some simple and cheap method of preserving 
meat. Then beef will be cheap, and the in- 
yentor will make his fortune. 
Striped Bug Remedy.—I havo often seen com¬ 
plaints In the Rural from different subscribers, 
about the great aud provoking pest—tho striped 
bug. My sure and speedy remedy will do no 
good this season; out it can be applied another 
year. As soon as the vine;: arc up, sprinkle over 
them common sulphur. In a few days, do it 
once more, and that is all that is needed. The 
bugs leave on suspicion that t hey aro in the 
wrong pow, as it. smells too much like that place 
we hear of. The sulphur will not In the least 
Injure any kind of vines, and it costs but a trill©. 
If it is used, there need bo no more complaint 
from any readers of the Mural.—H. P. Timjiv, 
West Bloomer, Mich. 
Illinois AVool Growers* Association.— The an¬ 
nual meeting of the Illinois Wool-Growers’ As¬ 
sociation, says the Western Rural, was held on 
tho Fair grounds at Decatur, on Thursday, tho 
29th ult, A good deal of interest was manifested, 
and after a comparison of views between the fine 
and long-wool growers, the meeting proceeded 
to the election of officers, with the following 
result: 
President—A. M. GOOLD, Sangamon County. 
Vice-PrcSridents At Large—F. I’assc-tt, Sangamon 
County; districts same as hist vour, except J. S, 
