JSheep gufikittlri). 
ATTEMPT TO REPEAL THE WOOL 
TARIFF.* 
The fact has transpired, in a way that 
admits of no doubt of its correctness, that 
the Ways and Means Committee in Con¬ 
gress hare, by a majority of one, determined 
to report in favor of abolishing the present 
duties on combing and clothing wools, and 
substitute therefor merely aci valorem du¬ 
ties of thirty per centum. The N. Y. Tri¬ 
bune, March 14, thinks the proposed ad va¬ 
lorem rates may be fifty per cent. We can¬ 
not say what changes may take place in the 
determinations of tho Committee, before 
making their report, but at the time of this 
writing (March lb) they stand committed 
by vote to the thirty per cent. rate. But 
in tho practical result It makes not tho 
sli {’ltest didurcuco-which rate is adopted. 
Sit mr is fatal to the wool husbandry of the 
o n itry. Tac Ways and Means Committee 
ii iv.' also substituted for tho present duties 
o i v ' ileus, ad viuorem duties of fifty per 
cent, on all manufactures of every descrip¬ 
tion, composed wholly or in part of wool. 
Wan has called for this sweeping change? 
The Rhode Island wool manufacturers havo 
d one so. A few froe trade newspajicrs, froo 
tra 1 j leaguos, etc., have done so. But the 
groat masses of tho people of the country, 
au 1 of the industry of the country, have 
neither asked for, nor do they wish it. 
The wool tariff of 1807 doubtless saved tho 
growers* Interests from entire destruction, 
fro n the time It went into effeot until the 
close of 1810, but it did not help them until 
after that period sufficiently to render 
growing profitable. There were impedi¬ 
ments to be removed before it could do so. 
Tue failure of Congress to pass the bill in 
1837-6, allowed importers, in anticipation of 
its passagj, to forestall the markets under 
no ninal rates of duty. Seventy million 
P r.mls of wool and woolens of the valuo of 
•S')r. 1 !■*».0)0, almost equaling tho entire im¬ 
ports of the four preceding years, were im¬ 
ported in 1803. The government, too. at 
the close of the war, threw millions of dol¬ 
lars' worth of its woolen army stores on our 
markets at mere nominal pricos. Various 
other oircuiustauoes, whioh have been too 
often specified to require repetition here, 
operated in the same direction. Wool was 
grown at a loss in all the principal wool- 
growing States of the North. Sheep sold 
for a song. Sheep, for example, that had 
fetched six to eight dollars a head in Illinois 
during the war, sold from fifty cents to a 
dollar a head. A large proportion of the 
growers oould uot hold on to their flocks 
for the good time coming, and killed them 
for their pelts. Yet the growers did uot 
move for any change in tho tariff. They 
wore satisfied with the law. They knew it 
would bring relief to those who could hold 
on, when the obstructions in the way of its 
normal operution should be removed. All 
who oould encounter the temporary losses 
held on. At length, in 1871, the law began 
to produce its legitimate effects. Wool- 
growiug became profitable, but not more 
profitable than dairying had been for a num¬ 
ber of preceding years. No soouer did this 
ooour than the Rhode Island manufacturers 
and the ” revenue reformers" commenced 
agitating for repeal. They did not produce 
much effect in the session of 1870-71. But 
the remarkable and exceptional condition 
of wool production now existing thr oughout 
the world—the “wool famine," as it is 
called—whioh has raised the price of wool 
to an extraordinary pitch in every country 
of the world, is now seized upon as an ex¬ 
cuse for agitation. Our people aro to be 
made to believe that the wool famine 
throughout the world Is due to our tariff— 
or that the repeal of the tariff will relieve 
that famine t 
But, famine or no famiue, we should have 
had a repeal agitation. Tho Rhode Island 
manufacturers, who can readily sea why the 
manufacturers of a product should he pro¬ 
tected, while the grower should not, though 
equally ueeding it, would have equallj' clam¬ 
ored for the restoration of the “good old 
times,” when their feet were on the necks 
of the producers. The revenue reformers 
would, of course, co-operate with them. 
Anl the chronic tendency to change iu 
tariff legislation could not have failed to 
mau'ifest itself more or less extensively in 
Congress, iu case of any tariff law which had 
been in effeot upward of four years! Speak¬ 
er Blaine placed a majority of revenue re¬ 
formers on the Ways and Menus Commit¬ 
tee, and hence, repeal has the important. 
• Dr. Randall wrote and mailed this article In 
Urne for our last Issue, hut the snow hlocknde on the 
i lilr .ads prevented Its arrival In season.—[Eos. 
MOOBE’S BUBAL NEW-Y0BKEB. APBIL 
advantage of that Committee’s official rec¬ 
ommendation. 
Is there danger that the repealers will be 
successful in their assault on the wool and 
woolen tariff ? We think it Is unsafe to act 
on any other hypothesis than that there is 
danger. There are enough wavering, un¬ 
decided members of Congress, who will 
swim with what they believo to be the cur¬ 
rent, to render tho result doubtful. It is 
the business of the growers and the friendly 
manufacturers to show them which way 
the popular current really sets. We are 
not of the opinion that petitions will be of 
much avail lor this purpose. The manufac¬ 
turers must judge of their own course of 
procedure, but wc advise intelligent grow¬ 
ers immediately to address their represen¬ 
tatives and State senators, by Utter, on this 
subject. (Neighbors might join in the same 
letter, if they chose.) it is not necessary to 
their effectiveness that they be argumenta¬ 
tive or long. Thoso who have important 
facts or arguments to communicate, lot 
them do so; thoso who havo not, let them 
merely express their wishes. These letters 
will strengthen the hands of decided friends, 
and tend strongly to influence the action of 
tho undecided and wavering. If tho friends 
of wool protection will thus show their 
hands, and do so promptly, we shall have no 
doubt of tho result. 
Wo cannot but hope we shall obtain some 
(secret or open) assistance from our most 
far-seeing and disofeot opponents among 
the hostile manufacturers themselves. We 
have not chosen to argue that question 
now, but wo fully believe that repeal would 
involve the manufacturing in aa complete 
destruction as the wool-growing interest. 
We know such to be the fixed opinion of 
the leading manufacturers who belong to 
the Natiouul Association of Wool Manufac¬ 
turers. We cannot believe all the auti- 
tarlff manufacturers are bo blinded by their 
prejudices as not to seo the facts in the 
same light. Whut is tho meaning of the 
following paragraphs, from the New York 
Economist. (March 1C), the organ of the 
New York wool trade, and hitherto the 
bitterest denouuoer of tho wool and woolen 
tariff of 1837? They have special signifi¬ 
cance, and we Invite an attentive perusal of 
them: 
“Wo havo sound reason to believe there 
will be no change in tho Wool Tariff, nor is 
it at all desirable just at this moment, for 
verily no greater calamity could befall the 
manufacturing interest than to reduce the 
Tariff just now, because it would afford uo 
relief, as wo have shown above, by way of 
Cheap Wool. 
“Besides, if tho duty was taken oft of wool 
the Western farmers would, iu a body, ad¬ 
vocate free trade. Free wool means free 
goods and cheap woolens. If the manufac¬ 
turing interest generally, and the Govern¬ 
ment, stand ready to advocate this policy, 
we aro equally ready with the people of the 
West to advocate open Free Trade, 
“Now, if the ports were thrown wide open 
to-morrow to free wool, it would not help 
tho manufacturing Interest much. It is 
true it would set. move sets of woolen ma¬ 
chinery in motion, but it would cheapen 
goods at the same t ime and cause the farm¬ 
ers to kill their sheep iu whole flocks—iu 
thousands; the very thing we are endeavor¬ 
ing to discountenance at present. If Con¬ 
gress and the manufacturers of New Eng¬ 
land will but let the Tariff alone, we shall 
get the farmers, after a year or two. to 
grow a sufficiency of wool at low enough 
prices to keep all tho woolen machinery of 
t he country iu full motiou the year round." 
No friend of the wool and woolen tariff 
could have slated the results of its over¬ 
throw, or even of its reduction, more cor¬ 
rectly. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Fat Sheep Dying.—I found in the lot a 
very choice ram of mine dead. The morn¬ 
ing before he was as well as he ever was. 
The next week 1 had two very choice ewe 
lambs die. One of them died in an hour 
from the time itwas taken Eick. Yesterday 
morning J found a large fat sheep that could 
not stand, which died in a little while. 
These sheep were all fat. What was tho 
cause?—S. C. Lewis, Orleans C'o., N. t. 
Did our correspondent make a post-mor¬ 
tem examination? If so, what did he dis¬ 
cover ? It may be they died of orer-fatuess, 
plethora, or apoplexy. When sheep are so 
taken, Srooner recommends a doBe of two 
or three ouuoes of Epsom salts for full- 
grown sheep, and for lambs half a dose. 
Randall recommends, for Meriuo sheep, 
two ouuces of the salts, followed by an 
ounce every six hours, until copious evacu¬ 
ation takes place. 
Sheep Dying in Wisconsin.—Geo. Pel- 
ton, Sauk Co., Wis., Feb. 17, writes“ Our 
sheep ai'e dying off pretty fast. They seem 
to grow poor, notwithstanding they are fed 
grain and roots. They go off by themselves, 
refuse to eat, and soon die.” 
ofidit £10 jHi. 
ORCHARD GRASS. 
My attention was arrested by a remark, 
in the Rural New-Yorker of March 2d, 
by an “Old Subscriber," in regard to Orch¬ 
ard Grass,” and your appended remarks. 
Will you permit me, as one who has had 
some experience with Orchard Grass for 
the last six years, to say a word in regard 
to that most neglected grass? Were I to be 
asked, “ Which, of all the grasses with 
whioh you nre acquainted, do you value 
most for pasturage ?” I would say, em¬ 
phatically, Orchard Grass. From tny ex¬ 
perience with It, I think that one aero well 
seeded to Orchard Grass, is worth, for pas¬ 
ture, two of Red Clover, or four of Herd’s 
Grass, on land that is easily affected by 
drouth. 
I have beeu surprised, in my intercourse 
with farmers, to see how many have never 
heard of such a grass, and how few of the 
remainder have interest enough in it to try 
to post themselves up in regard to its real 
value. Wore there far more Orchard 
Crass sown in our pastures, I think there 
would be less complaint of cows “falling off 
in milk” as the dry season advances. 
It is better than Herd’s Grass to use with 
Clover In soodiug down our meadows, for 
these four reasons: — It gives more hay per 
acre; it is in its prime for cutting just 
when Clover 1e ; it roots much more strong¬ 
ly. and consequently "throws out" much 
less than Herd's Grass; because of its strong 
roote and rapid “ after growth,” it Is a real 
protection to the Clover. My advice to 
every farmer is, Do not raise less clover, but 
far more Orchard Grass. 
Waukesha Co., Wis. T. Loomis, Sen. 
■ ■-»♦»- 
TOBACCO-QUALITY AND CULTURE. 
In reply to A. G. H., Clayton O., in the 
Rural of March 2. 1 would say, that r am 
told by an old tobacconist that the qualify 
of tobacco ‘seems to depend a very great 
deal upon the climate or latitude, or per¬ 
haps both. The same kind of t obacco raised 
iu Connecticut or Minnesota, which is worth 
from eighty cents to a dollar per pound, if 
raised in Ohio. Pennsylvania, Indiana or 
Kentucky .will bring oul.v from ten to fifteen 
cents per pound. It Is better if grown in 
Maryland. If grown in Cuba or some of the 
neighboring isles, it is far superior to that 
grown in Connecticut. But if grown in 
Florida and some other Southern States, it 
is very poor Indeed. Who can tell the 
cause of this? Tobacco should be topped 
soon after the buds are formed. The num¬ 
ber of leaves left depends upon circum¬ 
stances. If late in the season, it should be 
topped low, so that It will ripen up quick; 
if early, of course top high enough to save 
all the most valuable leaves. Keep the 
suckers and worms off all tile time. It 
makes but little difference whether it is 
done when the dew is on or off, if it is only 
done. * An Ex-Tobacco Grower. 
Winona Co., Minn. 
-- 
FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. 
A Corn Swindle, Probably.—We have 
a circular sent us by a correspondent, which 
issues from Cincinnati, iu which the state¬ 
ment is made that the subscriber received 
three kernels of corn from his brother in 
Hungary. The circular says, “Last year I 
planted the grain on nearly an acre of 
ground, and raised, with ordinary culture. 
190 bushels of corn from it." It seems to 
us hardly necessary to say that this is too 
apparently au attempt to swindle to war¬ 
rant us in supposing that any one will be 
duped by it and send 82 a pint for the seed. 
Selecting Seed Corn.—I fear it is not 
generally the wisest of your farmer friends 
who write to you. Instance the long ha¬ 
rangues about corn raising. They were in¬ 
deed interspersed with many useful hints; 
yet look at the chaff. Only one person 
hinted at the fact that all of the grains of 
corn on tho cob should be planted; but he 
did not give the true reason for it. Most 
intelligent persons know the i*eason hinted 
at, but your writers, it seems, did not. 
When quite a boy I had learned that grains 
taken from different parts of the cob devel¬ 
oped and ripened differently. I experi¬ 
mented by planting a few grains from the 
extreme ends. The hills planted from the 
butt ripened about a month before those 
from the top. Now these are reasons why 
the whole ear should be planted, except you 
wish to modify the time of ripening. Corn 
to replant should be taken from the butt of 
the ear. All observant farmers know that 
they should have late pollen for late issues 
of silk that is produced by “late rains,” 
which “ fills out" our corn crop. The corn 
from the point of the cob will do the job. 
If you want a few plain, simple facts, just 
call on your friend— Fleatow. 
It is the fault of “ the wisest of our farm¬ 
er friends ” that they do not write for us— 
not ours, for they know, or ought to know, 
that they are always welcome. We have to 
publish “ a little nonsense now and then,” 
to call them out. We call, at his suggestion, 
upon “Fleatow” for “simple facts.” Has 
he got them? Will he furnish them ? 
A Tanning Potato.—A correspondent 
at Canon City, Col., writes us that he has 
discovered there a potato that is largely 
charged with tannic acid. Being a tanner, 
he has tested it, and finds it tans hides very 
readily, and quicker than bark. He says it 
yields abundantly, Is soft as a potato, and 
only needs boiling to yield its tanning qual¬ 
ities. He wants to introduce It to the at¬ 
tention of tanners, and asks ns to take an 
agency, which we respectfully decline; but 
we would like to see a single specimen of it 
that we may determine what it is. 
Orchard Grass,— F. F. Makttn is in¬ 
formed that we should prefer to bow Or¬ 
chard grass for pasture, under the circum¬ 
stances he details. We think it will prove 
more profitable than Blue grass. 
. ®hc i$tcine-|)cnl. 
DISEASED PIGS. 
Allow me to give you the symptoms of 
a disease prevailing among my pigs. I would 
like to know what 1ft the matter and what 
to do for them. The pigs aro between lour 
and five months old; have beeu kept in the 
pen on the floor and well fed with corn, 
milk, slops from the kitchen, etc., and out 
of a litter of Bix all but one have been at¬ 
tacked, with more or less severity, about as 
follows: — l noticed first that when one of 
them would attempt to eat corn it would 
be attacked with cramps or spasms; would 
t un backwards, fall on its side, and lie for 
some moments as if Buffering the most in¬ 
tense agony, when it would recover, get up, 
and walk about tho pen apparently blind, 
running against any object that happened 
to be in its way. Others would uot cramp 
so badly, but would get stiff, and could with 
difficulty walk at all. One of them has for 
two weeks been unable to stand on its hind 
feet, but ia slowl)' recovering. 1 notice, 
when first attacked, a constant grating of 
the teeth, and au indisposition to cat, par¬ 
ticularly hard substances. When attempt¬ 
ing to drink, they swallow with difficulty, 
strangling aud coughing and throwing the 
milk or water from the nostrils. I have 
been applying some simple remedies. Two 
have nearly recovored, while two are Im¬ 
proving very slowly, and one has just beeu 
attacked. There are some large hogs in an¬ 
other part of the same pen. What is it? 
and is it contagious aud likely to attack the 
larger hogs? E. W. Libbey. 
Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. 
-- 
PIG-PEN PAPERS. 
Tribute to the Berkshire.—The Editor 
of the Rural World says of the Berkshire: 
“The Berkshire is a grazer and fruit eater 
iu such a degree that we have him iu killing 
condition on such feed alone. We havo 
them fat, healthy aud good breeders, that 
have uot consumed a bushel of corn a head 
in the year. They feed on clover aud blue 
grass, fallen fruit and acorns, in summer 
and fall. In winter and spring, turnips aud 
potatoes, with bran, shorts, aud a little cot¬ 
ton seed meal, Is the regimen adopted. We 
prefer the siro to be twelve months old, but 
his services are often valuable before that 
age." 
Castrating Pig-a.—I lost some flue shoats 
last fall iu spaying. I thought there might 
be something in time aud sign. Now, if 
you believe there is anything in the sign aud 
time it should be performed, please give 
me the necessary information, explicitly. 
—C. Jones. 
We have never observed signs or times in 
our practice, except we usually castrate 
those we desire to just before weaning—say 
a week or ten days previous. 
Hogs Eatiug' White Corn, — Having 
noticed in Rural New-Yorker an inquiry 
in regard to hogs preferring white or yellow 
corn, I confess 1 never had trouble in get¬ 
ting my bogs to eat white corn, but I do not 
know that they ever tasted yellow.—A New 
York Farmer, 
