crs, whore it flows, unused, to the great 
Oceans, In these streams there is a source 
of untold wealth, requiring not a large ex¬ 
penditure of capital to put it into use. The 
products of our lands might bo nearly 
doubled in the aggregate by the free use of 
water alone, to say nothing of being certain 
of a crop every season. We seldom suffer 
loss in this country from too much rain; 
but there is scarcely a season that does not 
bring Its drouth to oue or more States of 
the Union. Wherever there is a few feet of 
fall in a stream the hydraulic ram can bo 
employed to throw water to the proper ele¬ 
vation to irrigate a farm. Water-wheels 
may also he used for power to work a pump; 
or a hundred dollar windmill will answer 
the same purpose. In fact there is no lack 
of machinery to do this kind of work cheap¬ 
ly ; and now that water pipe, made of wood 
and tarred to prevent decay, can be pur¬ 
chased for a dollar and a quarter per rod, 
(one inch bore) the conveyance of water 
even to a considerable distance in not a very 
expensive operation. I do not believe that 
there Is a farmer or gardenor within a hun¬ 
dred miles of New York city Who would 
not have saved enough already this season, 
in the increased growth of hiB crops to 
have paid for all the machinery accessary 
to have supplied his place with water. Hay 
is likely to be very scarce this scusou all for 
the want of water; and the same is true in 
regard to other crops; st ill I fear that few 
will try to avoid these losses in the future 
by erecting tho necessary apparatus for 
irrigating their lands. 
or wheat—are sowed in this soil, and cov¬ 
ered in by sheep that are driven several 
times across the ground seeded. 
We have repeatedly adopted the same 
course in seeding to small grain in standing 
corn. A well-trained flock of sheep can be 
herded back and forth through a field of 
standing corn, and will thoroughly cover 
theseed without at all injuring the corn, 
and will greatly benefit tho subsequent 
crop, by eating out many of tho weeds 
that would otherwise remain to scatter 
their seed far and wide over the farm. 
The packing the ground gets from such 
treatment, we have found greatly assists 
iu avoiding the freezing out that pi’oves so 
injurious to sections that are unprotected 
by snows through a large portion of the 
Winter.— Western- Rural. 
DAILY RURAL LIFE 
RULES FOR THE CARE OF SHEEP 
FROM THE DIARY OF A GENTLEMAN NEAR NEW YORK CITY, 
A circular issued by F. C. D McKay, 
the general agent of the Aniericau Emigrant 
Company, gives the following:—The compa¬ 
ny have already 10,000 sheep scattered 
among the farmers who purchased land of 
them, iu flocks ranging in size from 50 to 
200 head. 
1. Keep sheep dry under foot with litter. 
This is even more necessary than roofing 
them. Never let them stand or lie in mud 
or snow. 
2. Take up lamb rams early in the. summer, 
and keep them up until December 1, follow¬ 
ing, when they may be turned out. 
3. Drop or take out the lowest bars as the 
sheep enter or leave a yard, thus saving 
broken limbs. 
4. Count every day. 
5. Begin graining with the greatest care, 
and use tho smallest quantity at first. 
6. If a ewe loses hep lamb, milk her daily, 
for a few days, and mix a little alum with 
her salt. 
7. Let no hogs eat with the sheep, by any 
means, in the Spring. 
8. Give the lambs a little mill feed in time 
of weaning. 
9. Never frighten sheep, if possible to avoid 
IToof-Rot in Sheep.— I have used the 
following remedy with great success. I 
never kuew it to fail if judiciously applied: 
Prepared Alum iuc, 1 ounce; pulverized Sul¬ 
phate Copperas, I ounce; pulverized Sul¬ 
phate Zinc, 2 ounces; Oil Tar, 3 ounces; 
pulverized Alum in, 2 drnctims; mix. Tin' 
remedy should be applied ever}’ third or 
fourth day iu bad cases. When the sheep 
are treated, every lame sheep should be 
taken from among the souud ones and put 
in separate fields. Tho unsound sheep 
should have several applications after they 
are sound and well. When the horn is sep¬ 
arated from the fleshy sole it must he sha¬ 
ven down to the live or sound flesh with a 
sharp knife. No permanent cure can be 
performed without this. Every floclt-mas- 
tcr should have a copy of Randall's Practi¬ 
cal Shepherd to become thoroughly ac¬ 
quainted with the pathology of the feet.— 
G. W. S., Brownsville, Fayette Co., Pa. 
important, but usually most neglected, 
operations. It is very difficult to mako 
workmen do this; but it should be insisted 
on by every one who is setting out choice 
plants. If farmers would use tho roller 
more on their meadows and grain fields, 
they would find their crops increased far 
more than the cost of application, Wherever 
tho soil is light tho roller is needed to mako 
tho surface more compact, keep out tho 
drying, hot winds, compress tho earth 
against tho seeds and roots of small grains, 
and, in compact, clayey lands the roller 
should be used to break up the lumps and 
pulverise the surface soil, thereby allowing 
tho young plants an opportunity to grow. 
Tho proper manipulation of the soil Is one 
of the operations belonging to successful 
agriculture and horticulture, of which very 
few porsous seem to know anything. To 
tell a man that, he must make his soil deep, 
rich and light, and then roll it down, seems 
to be contradictory advice; and so it is to 
those who have had no experience in such 
matters; but it is no more unphilosopliieal 
than beating cream to make one portion 
more compact and tho other a thin liquid. 
Tile Foreman Strikes .—May 14.—My 
foreman struck for higher wages to-day; or, 
in other words, he had a call to another 
parish, for a bigger salary than ho could ob¬ 
tain iu his present one. Or course, this 
'is a legitimate transaction, and iu accord¬ 
ance with tho custom of tho day, and L had 
no other alternative than to pay advance 
wages or lot him go. I choso the latter, and 
L hnvu been acting as foreman myself. Re¬ 
potting plants In tho greenhouse, and di¬ 
recting tho planting of small stock, is no 
new business for mo, and I have been dig¬ 
ging in the dirt to-day with a will. Of 
course I am a little tired to-night, but there 
is a compensation for it iu sound sleep and 
a glorious appetite. Sometimes I almost 
wish that T was obliged to work as hard, 
physically, as I did twenty years ago; for 
then I had no dyspepsia, slept soundly, and 
had splendid dreams of happiness in the 
good time coming, when I should be able to 
rest occasionally. 
Plunging Potted-Plants. — May 15.— 
There are many kinds of greenhouse plants 
that should he kept iu pots during Summer, 
in order to secure au abundance of flow- 
era tho next Winter. I have had a plung¬ 
ing bed made for this purpose, in a half- 
shady situation, under some largo trees. 
Camellias, Azalias, Begonias, Bouvar- 
dlas , and similar plants, should bo repotted 
as soon as they have finished blooming iu 
Winter or Spring, and then plunged in such 
a bed as I have described. The pots should 
be plunged up to the very top, and placed 
as near together us the branches of the 
plants will allow. Roses and fuschias that 
are wanted for Winter blooming, should 
also bo kept in pots, and all buds that ap¬ 
pear during Summer removed as soon as 
they appear. In dry weather the plants 
should be frequently watered overhead, and 
the earth in and around the pots kept moist. 
If ladies who keep many window plants 
would try this plunging system during 8um- 
mer, they might save many choice species 
that are otherwise lost. Camellias in par¬ 
ticular, are very likely to be injured if the 
pots are exposed to the hot, dry winds in 
Summer, the plants making afeeblegrowth, 
and the buds drop long before the usual 
time of blooming. 
Utilizing Waste Water.— May 16.—'This 
long and severe drouth which is now upon 
us should awaken the people to the impor¬ 
tance of utilizing the waste water to be 
seen on every side iu small brooks and riv- 
10. Sow rye for weak ones in cold weather, 
if you can. 
11. Separate all weak or thin or sick, from 
t hose strong, in tho Fall, and give them spe¬ 
cial care. 
12. If any sheep is hurt, catch it at ouce 
and wash the wound; and if it is fly-time 
apply spirits of turpentine daily, uud always 
wash with something healing. If a limb is 
broken, bind it up with splinters tightly, 
loosening as tho limb swells. 
13. Keep a number of good bells on the 
sheep. 
14. Do not let the sheep spoil wool with 
chaff or burs. 
15. Cut tag-locks in early Spring. 
1G. For scours, give pulverized alum in 
wheat bran; prevent by taking great care in 
changing dry for green feed. 
17. If one is lame, examine tho foot, clean 
out between the hoofs, pare the hoofs if un¬ 
sound, and apply tobacco with blue vitriol, 
boiled iu a little water. 
18. Shear at ouce any sheep commencing 
to shed its wool, unless the weather is too 
severe, and save carefully the pelt of any 
sheep that dies. 
19. Have at least one good work by you for 
refei’ence. This will bo money iu your 
pocket. 
NOTES FOR SPORTSMEN. 
The Boat Breech-Loading Hille for 
Target and Sporting.—I saw an inquiry 
in tho lti/RAx, New-Yorker of April 13, 
from F. A. C., wishing information respect¬ 
ing the best rifle for target and sporting 
purposes. 1 will briefly give him tho bene¬ 
fit of my experience, having used many 
breech and muzzle-loaders, and thoroughly 
tested them at long ranges. I have long 
since given uiy preference to the Maynard, 
as regards accuracy and force at long range; 
also for simplicity and ease of manipulation, 
this gun takes the lead. A serious objec¬ 
tion to a breech-loader using the metallic 
cartridge, lathe inferior quality of powder 
that is ofteu used; also, ixi many instances, 
the shells are not evenly charged; conse¬ 
quently, tho result would be unsteady 
shooting from either cause. Whereas, the 
shells used iu tho Maynard rifle are loaded 
by yourself; tho powder used is subject to 
your own inspection; and, by a simple pro¬ 
cess, every shell can bo evenly charged. 
The wear of the Maynard is less than any 
other breech-loader. I have used one of 
those rifles six years, and it is as good now 
as when now. The size used by mo for 
sporting is 2G inch barrel, 35 calibre; fortar- 
get, the 32 inch, 41 calibre. As regards 
muzzle-loaders, I consider them as accurate 
as breach-loaders; but the superior advan¬ 
tages that the breach loaders possess over 
them will soon do away with them.—C. C. 
Owen, Brand Blanc, Mich. 
A Woman Catches the Largest Speck¬ 
led Trout ever caught iu America.—A 
Plattsburgh (N. Y.) correspondent of tho 
Sun states that Mrs. William C. Rhodes, 
an expert angler, caught iu Chazy Luke, 
Wednesday, May 8, a speckled trout weigh¬ 
ing twenty-two pounds and one ounce. She 
was out trout fishing, two miles from tho 
hotel, had caught nine trout, averaging 
about two pounds ill weight, when her bait 
was struck with such force as to nearly pull 
her out of tho boat, Fooling that she had 
him securely fastened she began playing 
him. She had no gaff-hook, and was com¬ 
pelled to tow him two miles. She was en¬ 
gaged in her struggle with the fish a little 
over two hours. When near the hotel she 
called for help and gall's. No landing-hook 
was at hand, but parties went to her assist¬ 
ance with boats and met her a few rods from 
shore. The water was getting shallow, and 
the fish began to struggle and lash the water 
into a foam, and it was feared ho would 
break his hold on the line and escape. Fi¬ 
nally two men jumped into the water and 
seizing the flsh by the gills landed him on 
the Lawn. As above stated it proved to be 
a speckled trout weighing 22 lbs. 1 ounce. 
It was immediately dressed, packed iu ice 
and sent to Gov. Hoeeman. It weighed 19 
lbs. 1 ounce dressed. 
How to Trap Fisli in a Moss-Grown 
Lake. — A correspondent at Muscatine, 
Iowa, asks how to make a trap to catch 
fish in a small lake where there is so 
much moss that a net is of no use. 
New Disease Among ,Sheep.—In Cali¬ 
fornia sheep are said to be dying of what is 
supposed to be lung disease. When first 
attacked they froth at tho mouth. The 
froth at first is white, but gets bloody when 
the sheep is dying. In that section an oc¬ 
casional loss lias heretofore been observed 
in sheep when affected in this manner, but 
liavoo recently made led to examination, 
from which tho conclusions arrived at was, 
that lung disease and not poison, is doing 
the work. 
Angora Goat.— William II. Lease is 
informed that we do not know that anyone 
iu this country has got rich by selling the 
fleece of the Angora goat. Many who have 
had the animals for sale have figured out 
fortunes on paper—but that is all. Wo do 
not know who has them for sale. 
Turn Lambs into Corn Fields.—Tell 
your subscribers to turn the lambs into the 
corn field on taking them from the ewes. 
They will do tho corn no injury, and find 
there plenty of the best of food. I never 
saw lambs do as well as when treated in 
that way.— A Subscriber. 
PROFITS OF SHEEP FEEDING, 
I titink we may estimate that for sheep 
weighing about 100 pounds it takes about 
two pounds of hay per day, or its equiva¬ 
lent, to keep the sheep alive and healthy, 
without gaining anything in weight. Give 
them one pound of corn per day in addi¬ 
tion, and a good sheep ought to gain two 
pounds per week in live weight. The ac¬ 
count with 100 sheep would stand as follows: 
Dec. 1st. Tsn— 
100 sheep, 100 lbs. each, at 13.50.*350 00 
10 tons or clover hay, at *18. 180 00 
180 bushels corn, at30c. 90 (JO 
What is the Matter with my Pigs.— 
I have three Poland China pigs, all of one 
litter, that at times lose tho use of their 
hindlegs. First tho joint just, above the 
toes seems to take the cramp and they stand 
on the points of their toes. Next the hock- 
joint cramps, and t heir logs become straight 
and stiff. Then the cramp seems to take 
them in the hips. They cannot move for¬ 
ward, and after standing a while they grad¬ 
ually settle back upou their haunches, with 
legs wide apart. They remain iu this posi¬ 
tion a few minutes, when the cramp ap¬ 
pears to leave them, and they get up and 
walk off, and iu a few minutes they are 
down again. I have kept and bred hogs 
pretty extensively for the past thirty-live 
years, and never hud any thus afflicted be¬ 
fore. Can you, or some of your readers, 
tell me what ails my pigs, aud what will 
cure them? — Lysaxdkr \V. Babbitt, 
Council Bluffs , Iowa. 
March 10th, 187 2— 
100 sheep, 120 lbs. each, at *6.50.*832 00 
Manure from 10 tons clover hay, at *9.64. 96 40 
“ " 5 tons corn, at *6.65. 33 25 
*961 65 
This shows a very fair profit. On farms 
where there is plenty of good wheat straw, 
tho shoop can be wintered at less cost. The 
profit does not come from the increase of 
weight of sheep so much as from the in¬ 
crease in price, and provided the sheep are 
fat enough iu the Spring to bring the high¬ 
est price, a few pounds less tallow on each 
sheep will mako little differeuoe in the re¬ 
sult—certainly nothing like as much differ¬ 
ence as that between the cost of hay and 
straw. So far as the amount of nutrition is 
concerned, com at 50 cents per bushel is 
far cheaper than hay ut $18 per ton. The 
most prevailing folly is iu wintering sheep 
on straw alone. A little corn in addition to 
the straw, will keep the sheep iu good 
health aud vigor, and pay better than most 
agricultural operations with which I am ac¬ 
quainted. — J. 13. Bowles, in American 
Agriculturist. 
Swine Frothing at the Mouth.—Can 
any of your readers tell me if it is an indi¬ 
cation of any serious disease, for a hog to 
foam at the mouth?— E. P. a. 
Healthy hogs — especially males — ofteu 
froth at the mouth when excited. We do 
not know that it is necessarily an indication 
of disease. Diseased animals sometimes 
froth at the mouth; but in such cases there 
are other and surer Indications of disease. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Covering Grain with Sheep.—In re¬ 
claiming what is known in California as the 
‘ Tule Lauds,’ the system adopted is to bum 
off the tule, which leaves a bed of ash soil, 
several inches deep. Crops—usually barley 
For Kidney Worms in Hogs, feed them 
corn soaked in weak lye.— r. 
6 
