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iHjccp |ntsbanirrj5. 
TT. 8. RANDALL, LL. D., EDITOR, 
Of Coutland Vii.uci, Corti. »xr> Coux-nr, Nbw York. 
HOW SHALL WE WINTER OUR 
SHEEP ? 
The Situation. 
ITow shull we winter our sheep ? Can 
we, in regions where foddering is required 
five months, — where hay is estimated to 
average eight or ten dollars a ton at the 
barn — afford to winter them well at the 
present prices of wool ? We certainly can¬ 
not do it as profitably as we might do some¬ 
thing else. But suppose a farmer has a fair 
flock, and sufficient fodder to keep them. 
What then ? Had he better pelt them, or 
sell them from 50c. to $1.25 a head, as the 
Editor of the Ohio Farmer recently reported 
“ flocks of common stock sheep” to be sell¬ 
ing in that State? We suppose this means 
unculled flocks, containing old and young, 
good and bad. 
We have already advised our readers to 
winter no culls — no old crones, or runts, or 
weak constitutioned sheep, or those essen¬ 
tially defective in fleece or form. And if 
they are not yet disposed of, wo say resort 
at once to the knife. Pelt them. The ship 
must he lumbered up with no such rubbish 
as this in the cyclone of the woolen industry 
we are passing through. 
But will it pay to winter good sheep? 
What is a good sheep ? We are now talking 
about Merinos, full-blood, or of high grade. 
A stocky, strong, hearty, well formed ewe 
that will, on common farmer's keep, shear 
five pounds of irdl washed wool, reasonably 
even in quality, is a good sheep. Such a 
fleece at the average prices (at the burn) of 
the present year has fetched from $2 to 
$2.15. In the grazing regions not contigu¬ 
ous to city or village hay markets, this sum 
will pay for wintering a sheep economically. 
Tli<’ feed is thus paid for at fair prices, and 
the lambs and manure, after deducting the 
summer feed, are left for profit. From such 
ewes as we have described, at least eighty 
per cent, of good lambs should be reared un¬ 
der common (armors' management. And 
what is the manure worth when the sheep 
are. sheltered and the sheep barns kept well 
strawed down? We have the results of no 
careful practical experiments on this subject 
to offer. But our opinion is that sheep so 
treated will make at least fifty cents worth 
of manure a head. This, with their summer 
manure, (as dropped and distributed by the 
animal worth more than twice that of any 
other grazing animal,) and the privilege of eat¬ 
ing good lamb and good mutton at very low 
figures, make a pretty good offset, to their 
summer keep, especially on farms haying 
briery fields, or pasturages too thin for 
heavy stock. 
This is about the way we reckon the 
profit and loss account of keeping such 
sheep as we have described, on the average 
grazing farms of the State of New York, 
which are too far remote from cities and 
villages to tempt their owners to skin them 
by raising hay for market. On our grain 
lands a substitute for animal manure may be 
found in Clover. But on our growing lands 
clover has not yet been found such a sub¬ 
stitute. 
This is not, certainly, a captivating pic¬ 
ture for sheep men. Though there is not an 
actual loss, there is no margin of clear profit 
sufficient to be considered a “ remunerative” 
one, as that word is commonly understood ; 
that is, it i-; not remunerative compared with 
several other branches of husbandry, or 
sufficiently so to give the tux-ridden farmer 
and bis family their usual living. He is still 
far better off than the laboring man of Eu¬ 
rope. But it is certain we cannot ride in our 
carriages, play up gentlemen generally, 
adorn our wives and daughters with lace, 
Grecian hernls and genuine hair switches, on 
the present profits ol' our sheep! To tell the 
whole truth, we cannot, on the amount of 
capital that most of us possess, keep up the 
decent state of prudent, respectable farmers, 
on those profits. 
Shall wc, therefore, jump out of the trying 
pan into the fire ? Shall we give away our 
sheep for nothing, and replace them with 
other stock at high prices, or fall to skinning 
our farms, and hauling our liay fifteen or 
twenty miles to peddle it ofl' by the ton in 
the precarious market of some country vil¬ 
lage ? If the times do not mend in the wool 
market, woof the Northern Stales shall have 
to give up our sheep. But, even in that 
event, let us act coolly and discreetly, and 
make t he best of our situation. Many things 
can he done with our good sheep better than 
throwing them away. 
And there is every prospect that better 
times are coming for the wool industry, if 
the wool tariff stands and is legally admin¬ 
istered. We take the situation to he just 
this:—There is but a plank on the ocean 
between the United Slates and the South 
American wool grower, and it will bear but 
one. The other must perish. Without the 
tariff, the South American grower would 
have all the plank, because he could entirely 
undersell us in our own markets, and he raises 
more than enough fine wool to glut our mar¬ 
kets. The tariff gives us the plank. It has 
made wool so low in Buenos Ayres that it 
will scarcely pay the mere cost of shearing, 
—and its price would fall considerably be¬ 
low the cost of shearing in our country. The 
whole fine wool growing business of that 
country is rapidly going to utter ruin. In¬ 
deed, the extreme lowness of its wools has 
been made temporarily to rc-aet* against us. 
They are so low in the European markets 
that foreign manufacturers can use them and 
undersell ours, in certain fabrics, in our own 
markets, not withstanding our tariff on wool¬ 
ens; and, consequently, they, to the same 
extent, cut off the demand for domestic wool. 
This has been one of the principal causes, 
since those produced by the war have grad¬ 
ually disappeared, which have kept, down our 
wool and woolen trade. But. this state of 
things must necessarily he very temporary. 
South America cannot, of course, continue 
to grow wool to sell at such ruinous prices 
in Europe. She has held on thus far for the 
following reasons;—Wool growing in Bue¬ 
nos Ayres is not generally distributed among 
small holders, and made one of the various 
products of the farm. It is chiefly carried 
on by large capitalists (English, Scotch, 
Spanish, native, &e.,) who devote immense 
tracts exclusively to the growing of wool, 
and which arc not now available for any 
Other husbandry. There is, therefore, no re¬ 
treat—nothing to fall hack oil—for them. 
Their all is at. stake. They are usually in¬ 
telligent and energetic men, and many of 
them, like Hannah, Sheridan, IIauuatt, 
Stbximann, Tiiwaites, Martinet m? TToz, 
Perks Mendosa, Newton, Gibson, White, 
Bell, McOlymont, Latham, Crab, and 
others, are known among well informed 
sheep breeders throughout the civilized 
world. They have seen our wool tariffs 
repeatedly changed. They have been en¬ 
couraged to hope that the tariff of 1867 
would he as short-lived as many of its pre¬ 
decessors. They therefore have held on, 
animated by hope or nerved by despair. 
While we have not been making remunera¬ 
tive gains, they have been suffering enor¬ 
mous losses. It will be impossible for them 
to continue the struggle much longer; and 
the moment they are satisfied the tariff will 
not be disturbed for some years, they will 
abandon that struggle. If the free-traders 
make their promised raid on the wool tariff 
In the next session of Congress and arc de¬ 
feated—as they will be, if our wool growers 
do their duty—-it will be the knell of line 
wool growing for exportation in South 
America. And then we shall reap the 
legitimate benefits of the wool tariff. Wc 
certainly regret the necessity which compels 
us to destroy others to save ourselves. But 
charily begins at home. Nor is our action 
towards them agressive. YVe are under no 
obligations to them. It is our market we 
are contending for—our plank which they 
are trying to throw us off from. 
But let us return to the subject of winter¬ 
ing our sheep. How can it he most econ¬ 
omically and profitably done? We reply 
most emphatically, by keeping them as well 
as good common farmers (not fancy farmers) 
kept, them when wool was worth from 80c. 
to $1 a pound. Either kill them and done 
with it—or give them as fair a chance as 
other domestic animals. There can he no 
profit in starving half of them to death, and 
bringing the remainder into spring in a weak 
and miserable condition. Such management 
is as foolish as brutal. No man has a moral 
right thus to put to death by slow torture 
the defenseless animals whose only province 
is to minister to his wants. Utilize every 
kind of proper food. Waste nothing. But 
give the sheep fair play! 
-- 
TIME AND MODE OF COUPLING. 
A Minnesota correspondent writes:—“ 1 
think f shall not. turn out. my rams until 
about the first of December. Do you think 
that too late? I can’t take the trouble to 
put rams singly. They must run with the 
flock. Is it best to put the rams together in 
same flock of ewes? I think they work 
sharper for if , though they sometimes fight. 
On my father’s old farm in New York, we 
always took that course.” 
It is better where the climate and conven¬ 
iences for properly sheltering sheep in lamb¬ 
ing admit of it, to have lambs dropped before 
May. It is an old saying among sheep farm¬ 
ers, that it is better to lose two lambs in 
spring than one in the fall. If all the lambs 
are dropped by about the first of May, it will 
do very well; but if the rams are not turned 
out until first of December, the lambs usual¬ 
ly continue dropping through the entire 
month of May, and the later ones of young 
ewes not abundantly supplied with milk, are 
too small to winter well. 
Putting rams to ewes singly is greatly the 
best course for the rams, but it is too much 
trouble in ordinary flocks. Where several 
arc used, they ought not to run together in 
the same flock. It is true they exhibit more 
activity, but it is a useless and injurious ac¬ 
tivity. They frequently kill or incapacitate 
each other for service. As every sheep 
grower is called upon to use the very best 
rams he raises nr can afford to obtain, it fol¬ 
lows that the death or disabling of any of 
them, in addition to the loss, compels ldm 
to put up with inferior animals. And it 
is positively cruel thus unnecessarily to set. 
rams to pounding and killing each other. 
Either the flock should be divided and each 
lot have its separate ram, or the rams should 
be kept, up and admitted to the flock in ro¬ 
tation. The first of these two courses is 
much the best when there are conveniences 
for it, for in that case each lot of ewes can 
be coupled with the ram which is best cal¬ 
culated to improve their progeny. But even 
where each ram runs with a separate pared 
of ewes, it is well to separate him from them 
each night, giving him extra feed and entire 
rest. Unless rams, however, arc used to be¬ 
ing kept and thus fed alone, they will often 
worry themselves more than they would 
running all the time wit h the ewes. A stock 
ram should he trained to it, and should thus 
be shut up alone a little in advance of the 
coupling season each year. A great deal is 
gained by teaching stock rams “ their man¬ 
ners.” They should he always approachable 
in the yard, perfectly halter broke, and 
taught to remain alone quietly. 
--- 
ItrolM-n Mouthed Klieep. It. K,, St. Louis, Mo., 
writes:- “Among the sheep l drove in, l find 
f lu-re me some that have but a loose tooth or 
two, and a larger Humber that have loose nar¬ 
row teeth turning In towards ouuh other. They 
are in pretty good order. Had I better kill 
them? I would prefer not. to, if they will keep 
up through the winter and raise lambs next 
spring." Hugged old Merino owes that enter 
the winter in good Condition, will frequently 
winter well on good feed, and raise lambs In 
t ho spring, though they have not ». front tooth 
in their heads. Tho front tooth, or incisors, are 
used only to crop Off mid collect their food: its 
mastication is dono by tho grinders or molar 
tooth, which U. R. will probably find still in 
l heir places in the mouths of his old owes. If 
so. they can out hay without difficulty. As a 
general thing, it is not advisable to lccop over 
such sheep, but it may bo otherwise in regious 
where sheep are scarce and it is an object to 
increase their number. 
-♦♦♦- 
Corn Htniloi for Sheep,—M. R. C. inquires if 
“ Northern farmers nave made much use of 
corn fodder for sheop and how they (led if to 
compare with meadow buy?" Com stalks havo 
been extensively used for that purpose in all 
parts of the country, and if cured green before 
being injured by frost, arc regarded ns a full 
substitute for good hay. 
Jfarm Economy. 
V $ 
EITHER PAINT OR WHITEWASH. 
In tho Rural of October 16th, James II. 
Hotchkiss says“ To young men of small 
means, I say do not mortgage your farms 
for paint to cover your buildings; there is 
no economy in paint." 
If a young man of small means has not 
the cash to pay for paint to cover his build¬ 
ings,—which, if he is any way handy, lie 
can apply himself, and save the largest part 
of the outlay in money, and common paint 
enough to cover an ordinary barn and sheds 
may be had for (urn!// dollars , and enough to 
cover tho dwelling well for the same, or less, 
including lead, oil, turpentine, coloring mat¬ 
ter and brushes—then by all manner of 
means let him get a barrel of lime, if lie has 
to go twenty miles for it, and make a good 
whitewash. Tf one has not got a whitewash, 
brush and cannot raise one, use a corn broom 
for want of something better; then, with a 
will and plenty of elbow grease, give his 
barns and sheds a coat of lime. If he docs 
not make his buildings look better and 
neater, say nothing about the preservation 
which the lime would give to the wood, the 
writer will go and scrape it ofl'. 
What in the world looks more dreary, 
forlorn and forsaken than a home (?) made 
of boards, without any coloring or cov¬ 
ering save what the elements impart to 
it ? Talk about the young people leaving 
their country homes and going to the over¬ 
crowded, overflowing towns and cities ! Is 
it to be wondered at, when there are so many 
homes (?) that have never seen, let alone felt, 
the touch of paint and brush ? When you 
see a house in such a condition you will 
hardly find the- refining influence of flowers, 
papers or books. What is there to keep 
young people, who want to know and do, 
on and around such a homestead ? Nothing ! 
They sec the mechanics, clerks, &e., in the 
neighboring towns having homes which 
look comfortable and cheerful, while they, 
among God’s green fields, have homes with¬ 
out such an atmosphere 
Young men of small means, middle-aged 
men of moderate means, and old men in 
comfortable circumstances only, if you can’t 
afford paint, use whitewash ; if you do not 
like that color of purity, you can make it in 
many colors with earth paints, chromes 
yellow and green, the umbers, Spanish brown, 
Prussian blue and lampblack, mixed. Use 
anything to cover the bare boards, but use 
something, sineo that is the thing necessary 
to give a cheerful look to the house. Follow 
that by making a little garden around or 
about the house, for flowers, shrubs, «&e.; 
then let the little ones have a chance to do a 
little something in it, under the guiding word 
and hand of those whom t hey look up to as 
protectors. Bring about the home all that is 
beautiful, as far as you can; make the homo 
the dearest spot on earth to your children ; 
by so doing, you will make it. so to yourself. 
Hammond. 
Remarks. — We indorse this doctrine, and 
ask our readers, having experience, for a 
recipe for making the most, durable white¬ 
wash for the outside of buildings. 
-—- 
FENCES IN MISSOURI. 
We find in the St. Louis Journal of Agri¬ 
culture a report of a discussion of the fol¬ 
lowing resolution by the St, Louis Farmer’s 
Club: 
Re&di'ed, Thai the Legislature ol’ this State 
should puss a law requiring all owners ol' stock 
to keep them from running at large, and within 
proper enclosures. 
We give some of tho points made by 
members In favor of such a law. Mr. Pea¬ 
body said:—“it is for the interest of this 
State that every part should be settled up 
rapidly, and nothing would induce immigra¬ 
tion so much as a law to control stock. An 
immigrant, for instance, goes to Vernon 
county, and buys a. prairie farm, lbr which 
lie expends about, all Ids money. Men there 
have been in I lie habit of allowing their 
stock to roam at large. I le cannot put in a 
crop unless he first builds a strong fence to 
protect it, and the fence will cost him four 
times as much as the land cost. But with a 
stock law which obliged men to control 
their stock, lie could at once put In a big 
crop of corn or wheat, which will give him 
a fine start, lie would write back and tell 
his friends how easy it is to raise, line crops 
in Missouri. The old citizens who have kept 
large herds of stock could hire men or boys 
to herd (hem, and be believed could do bet, 
ter than they are now doing. In Europe, 
Where they do not have fences, lit had seen 
little children taking cart: of herds of cattle 
and keeping them out of t he growing crops. 
Cattle soon become accustomed to such con¬ 
trol and submit to it readily. lie was plead¬ 
ing in behalf of new settlers. Such a law 
would be a great benefit to them. 
Mr. Cabannk was in favor of such a law 
for the following reasons: 
To one wishing to buy, or more particu¬ 
larly, to rent land in this country, which 
more frequently is the case, because tho value 
of the land places it beyond the means of 
many to buy, the following objections pre¬ 
sent themselves: 
1. Hedge fencing requires too much time 
and labor to perfect. 
2. TllO fust cost of a board fence, the con¬ 
tinual wear and tear, and the labor required 
to keep it in good repair. 
3. The destruction of crops and property 
by fence-breaking cattle or hogs. 
4. Land crossed by small streams, such as 
River Des Peres, which often rises to such a 
height as to carry away the fences and swing¬ 
ing gates that cross it, thereby placing it be¬ 
yond the power of any one to keep off stray 
stock, consequently diminishing the agricul¬ 
tural value of the land. 
5. Diseases that stray stock may convey. 
G. Amalgamation. 
7. The additional price tho land-holder is 
compelled to ask, because of the money in¬ 
vested m fences. 
8. The actual loss of money invested in 
fences by decay. 
0. The experience of farmers who live in 
counties where there is a stock law. 
These objections could be obviated by a 
protecting law' that we all feel so much the 
necessity of. This would enable land-holders 
to rent their lands at remunerative rates, 
both to themselves and their tenants. It 
would also increase the assessable value of 
the land in this county, and place within 
tho means of many the profitable cultivation 
of all the land in it with such a market as 
this city. 
The only argument in opposition to the 
passage of such a law, would be that it de¬ 
prives the poor man’s stock of what little it. 
could pick up on the road, but unfortunately 
for bis neighbor, be lie rich or poor, he finds 
Ins produce feeding stray stock, which, when 
he takes up, he finds an owner for, and who 
always proves his fence to be unlawful. 
-«-*-»- 
I'ortnble Mill. D. W. Clark, a young Iowa 
farmer, asks if it will pay a farmer to buy a por¬ 
table mill to grind his feed, where he is not near 
to a grist mill. We should think not ,n Iowa; 
but wo should think it might pay to cook the 
feed without grinding- it. Meantime, if our 
readers hold different, opinions let them give 
their experience on the subject. 
---- 
Wood for \\ inter. A writer says“ Wood for 
winter use should be cot in the fall, for this rea¬ 
son: wood, especially soil wood, should not be 
thoroughly seasoned for winter use; if it is, the 
tire goes right through It, cold, windy nights. 
At tho same time, 1 do not mean that It should 
be covered with enow and dripping wet, as some 
folks have theirs.” 
Scientific antr itscful. 
TANNING FURS AND SKINS. 
A Western correspondent asks us for 
recipes for tanning furs and skins of small 
animals. Wc give the following which have 
heretofore appeared in the Rural: 
To tan with the fur on, nail the fresh skins 
tightly and smoothly against a door, keeping 
the skinny side out. Next proceed with a 
broad bliuled blunt knife to scrape away all 
loose pieces of flesh and fat; then rub in 
much chalk, and be not sparing of labor; 
when tho chalk begins to powder and fail off, 
take the skin down and fill it with finely 
ground alum, wrap it closely together and 
keep it in a dry place for two or three days; 
at the end of that, time unfold it, shake out 
the alum and work it. over. 
Another process is to carefully avoid get¬ 
ting blood or dirt upon the fur before and 
while skinning the animal. Then stretch 
the skin tightly upon a hoard, and scrape 
with a dull knife until you remove all the 
flesh. Mix two quarts of milk, a teacup till 
of salt, and half an ounce of oil of vitriol. 
Warm this mixture to somewhat more than 
blood heal, hut not scalding, and soak the 
skin in it forty minutes, stirring and squeez¬ 
ing it- in the warm liquid. Press out tho 
liquid and let tho skin dry a short time, and 
then commence rubbing the flesh side with 
all your strength across the smooth edge of 
aboard, (’onlinue this work until the pelt 
is entirely dry. 
Another method is to cover the flesh side 
of the skins, when first taken off, with pow¬ 
dered alum and salt, in equal quantities, 
which may remain from one to four days, 
and then be washed off in warm soap-suds, 
partially dried, and afterward rubbed until 
thoroughly ho. In rubbing dry, you may 
use powdered chalk, mid afterwards sprinkle 
with powdered alum, and fold up for a few 
days, when the skin will be thoroughly cured 
and very soft. 
For making glove leather, the hair must 
bo first removed by lime or lye upon the 
flesh side, t hen t horoughly wash in soap-suds, 
and afterward soak several days in a paste 
made of brains; then rub dry, and cure by 
smoking moderately for a week in a cool 
place. This will give the line, soft, durable 
Indian moccasin leat her. 
Woodchuck skins arc 111 for use from the 
25th of September to the 1st of April, and 
to prepare them take two ounces of alum, 
four ounces of salt, and dissolve in a quart 
of warm rain water. Put this in a pail or 
tub and add rain water enough to Cover the 
skins. After soaking the skins and scraping 
all the fat from them with a blunt knife, put 
thorn in the preparation for two weeks. 
Then take them out and wash and dry them, 
when nearly dry rub them well two or three 
times a day. When dry, put on a little oil, 
and they will he ready for use. 
--- 
SPECTRUM OF THE AURORA. 
The spectrum of the aurora borealis, as 
usually seen, consists of a single yellowish 
green line, which belongs to no substance 
with which wc arc acquainted. Of this the 
New York Nation says:—■“ As the aurora is 
held to he above the ordinary atmosphere 
(and this is confirmed by its showing no ni¬ 
trogen lines,) it follows that there is some 
unknown gas reaching above the other con¬ 
stituents of the atmosphere. According to 
the laws of gravity and the diffusion of 
gases, this substance must extend down to 
the surface of the earth. Why, then, have 
not chemists discovered it? It must be a 
very light, clast ic gas to reach so high. Now 
the atomic weigh Is of elementary gases are 
proportional to their density. 11 must, then, 
have a very small atomic weight. It may lie 
as much lighter than hydrogen us hydrogen 
is t han air. In that case, its atomic weight 
.should be so small that, supposing it to have 
an oxide of the type of water, this oxide 
would contain less than one per cent, of it 
and in general it would enter into its com¬ 
pounds in such small proportions as almost 
infallibly to escape detection. In addition 
t.o tho green line usually seen in the aurora, 
six others wore discovered and measured at 
the Harvard College observatory during the 
brilliant display of last spring, and four 
of these lines were seen again on another oc¬ 
casion. On the 29th of June last a single 
narrow band of auroral liglit extended from 
east to west, clear over the heavens, at Cam¬ 
bridge, moving from north to south. This 
was found to have a continuous spectrum, 
while the fainter auroral light in tho north 
showed the usual green line.” 
- -» t » 
An excellent suggestion is made by an 
English druggist in relation to the dispens¬ 
ing of poisonous substances, He primuses 
that, in addition to the word “ poison,” tho 
labels should have printed on their margins 
the appropriate antidotes for each class of 
poisons. A bottle containing a mineral acid, 
for instance, would have on its label: “ Poi¬ 
son 1—If taken by accident, give (mixed with 
water) chalk, or soap, or whiting, or ceiling 
scrapings.” 
10 
