THE WOOL TARIFF. ] 
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After a laborious struggle in Congress, 1 
a new tariff law has been enacted, the pro- s 
visions of which will somewhat affect the < 
future price of wool and woolen goods. The ] 
new law takes off one-tenth of the duty 
imposed by the law of 1867, on wool, woolens 1 
and cottons. When the tariff law of 1867 
was enacted, the premium on gold or foreign i 
exchange was some three times as much as i 
it has ruled for a year past, which wont to ] 
increase by so much the cost of importation, < 
and he amount of protection to the Aiueri- i 
can wool grower was directly the amount of j 
the tariff duty and indirectly the cost of < 
exchange added. It took nearly four years ( 
m the course of trade for the effects of the 
tariff of 1867 to be felt in their full force. ( 
In 1871 the paradox in political eoonomy | 
insisted upon by the free-trade financiers | 
was finally solved and exploded by the ] 
hard logic of events in the commercial i 
world, aud the facts of the protective policy 
were fully vindicated. All this while the 
premium on gold was going down till, in 
1871, it reached the low figure of ten cents, 
and has been ever since between ten and 
thirteen cents—mostly between eleven and 
twelve cents. And all this while the mar¬ 
ket for domestic wool has been getting into 
a healthy condition, until now It is all that 
could be reasonably desired. 
With a duty on wool which gives a pro¬ 
tection equal to ten or twelve cents a pound, 
for most of our domestic fleece, the price of 
sucli wool this season stands at sixty-live to 
seventy-five cents in the country markets. 
At these figures wool growing is as remu¬ 
nerative as any staple farming business in 
the country. Now, say that the new law 
takes offouc-tcnth of this protection—equal 
to oue-und-one-quarter cents per pound— 
and still the wool grower could stand it. 
Bui the effect of the reduction will be more 
than this, inasmuch as it extends equally 
to woolens and cottons; since, whereas un¬ 
der the old law woolens were more easily 
imported than raw wool, now the facilities 
for the importation of woolens aud cottons 
•will be by so much increased, and more too 
by the accelerated force of trade, so that 
the loss of protection to domestic wool will 
be double the amount nominally expressed 
in the law. We may call this the “direct 
damages” of the new law, while the “con¬ 
sequential damagos ” are not so readily fig¬ 
ured out. 
When we consider the persistent warfare 
which the free-traders have waged against 
us for the last three years, and diligent ef¬ 
forts of the hired emissaries who have in¬ 
fested the country as free-trade lecturers, 
we in ay congratulate ourselves that the 
matter is no worse; indeed, the wool grow¬ 
ing interest has been dealt with the most 
leniently of any of the great industries of 
the country, in the arrangement of this new 
tariff law.—s. D. n. 
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SHEEP ITEMS. 
Heavy Cotswold Fleeces, — In the 
Cotswold flock of Jacob Flick, near Cleve¬ 
land, Ohio, are six yearlings, which pro¬ 
duced this season an aggregate of seventy- 
seven and one-fourth pounds of wool, un¬ 
washed but not dirty; this is an average of 
twelve pounds and fourteen ounces per 
fleece. One three-year-old ram gave eight¬ 
een pounds three ounces of very handsome 
wool. These sheep were shorn on the 13thof 
May. In Northern Ohio long-wool sheep 
have been taking the lead for the last few 
years, and tho quality is bred up to “ con¬ 
cert pitch.” 
Another.—Since writing the above 1 have 
pastured my eyes upon the premium Cots- 
wold flock of Wm. Squires of the county of 
Lorain, hereabouts. lie it was w T ho furn¬ 
ished to one of our Cleveland butchers, for 
his Christmas sales, a Cots wold mutton 
which dressed 275 pounds! Mr. Squires' 
flock of about one hundred sheep gave an 
average of nine pounds of washed wool per 
head. Ilis stock ram gave fourteen pouuds 
of washed wool. One little lamb, at a little 
over eleven months old, gave ten pounds, 
the staple being seventeen inches in length. 
Before being shorn this little thing looked, 
in form, like a live hay-cook! 
Nice Merino Flock.—Being recently at 
the farm of P. T. Thompson of Geauga Co., 
O., I found him in tho midst of sheep 
shearing, and it was like those good old 
days to see his flock of Merinos, of the pure 
Atwoop foundation, kept up with Ham¬ 
mond blood. Last year Mr, Thompson pur¬ 
chased a noble ram of this sort from Hon. 
Henrv 8 . Randall, and his lambs wear 
the seal of a royal pedigree. Mr. Thompson 
kept up the purity and integrity of his 
flock through all the discouragements of the 
past few years, and now his dish is right side 
up for a shower of porridge. Iu the hand¬ 
ling of his wool Mr. Thompson tags his 
sheep early i” March, before the wool be¬ 
comes foul, sets the tags by, and at shearing 
puts them in with the fleece—all without 
washing, as ho does not believe iu washing 
live sheep with the wool on. 
Sheep Shearing in Ohio, which is 
usually accomplished by the middle of May, 
was very late this season, and held off till ‘ 
near the middle of June, except for fat £ 
sheep which were intended for Eastern i 
markets, large numbers of which were fed 1 
in the counties of Clark and Madison, in t 
Central Ohio, where grazing aud feeding are > 
done on an extensive scale. £ 
Sound in (lie Feet. —We see nor hear 1 
of but very little foot-rot among the sheep J 
flocks this season. This old chronic trouble y 
has been pretty well weeded out during the s 
past few years of low prices, and the flocks * 
are sound iu the feet.—s. d. h. 
i 
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NOTES AND QUERIES. ; 
Swelled Neck in Cotswolds. — The j 
breeders of Cotswold sheep in Canada and 
in Ohio, complain of a fatal trouble among 
their sheep and lambs. There comes a 
swelling across the large arteries of the J 
throat, and lambs are born with this trouble ( 
upon thorn, which is pretty sure to prove 5 
fatal. Besides the strangulation of the 
blood vessels, there is labored breathing 
and a hacking cough. I am told that uo 1 
remedy has been discovered for this malady, 1 
and where it prevails in much force, the 1 
raising of lambs is a precarious business.—s. • 
(fhttmotcrgical. 
ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES. 
Rose-Chafer (Macrodaotylus Sub- 
spinosa, Latr.)—G. H. M. of Mitlin, Ohio, 
writes that the Roee-chafer, which is often 
incorrectly called the Rose-bug, is very 
abundant in his neighborhood, almost every 
year nearly destroying tho grape crop. Ho 
also asks for the beat mode of destroying 
this post. Perhaps some of our correspond¬ 
ents can give a better one than ours, which 
ft to catch and kill them. Wo take a com¬ 
mon tin dipper, holding a quart or more, 
and into this put a little hot water, and the 
trap is ready. Take the dipper in one hand, 
holding it under the cluster of flowers upon 
which the beetles arc feeding, mid, with the 
other hand, jar them off into tho hot bath. 
When the water is filled, pour out iuto a 
larger vessel and fill up again. This may 
seem to be a slow process, but it is not, 
considering the quantity that can be col¬ 
lected in a few hours; and if an entire 
neighborhood will join in the work of de¬ 
struction, these pests would soon disappear. 
To Keep Worms from Currant and 
Gooseberry Busliea.—Please tell Mrs. C. 
E. Keat, and your other numerous readers, 
that common plaster will keep worms off of 
currant and gooseberry bushes. Sow it on 
while tho bushes are wet; if it rains and 
washes off, you must put on again, aud keep 
putting on as often as washed off, until 
worms disappear, which will bo iu a week, 
more or less. I have kept them off of my 
bushes three years with the above simple 
remedy. Hellebore isn't a circumstance to 
plaster.—D. Ashuv. 
Cabbage Worm and Flea Beetles.—I 
have noticed lately that the Cabbage But¬ 
terfly (Pieris rapne) has an inveterate ene¬ 
my iu a bird that closely resembles the King 
bird. They perch on the garden fence, and 
the moment a butterfly is seen, a rush is 
made, and it is soon disposed of; conse¬ 
quently, there are less, worms on the plants 
than last Spring. The little flea beetles are 
very numerous aud destructive to young 
plants. I have tried sulphur as an experi¬ 
ment, but have not had time to note tho 
effect yet.— x. l. 
Destroying Potato Beetles,—I see that 
the potato beetles are promising to be more 
numerous than last year. They are already 
on my Early Rose in great, numbers. I be¬ 
lieve if they are destroyed early in the sea¬ 
son the trouble is nearly surmounted. I 
see they are now copulating, and if do- 
i atrovod before they lay their eggs, the next 
1 generation will not trouble ns. 1 tried this 
, fast year with success. My boys go through 
the patch once a day, and with two pieces 
’ of flat stick, or lath, smash every one as 
- (they now appear) couple.—P. H. 9., Ma- 
. con, Mo. 
TAKING DOWN STOVES. 
I have just returned from a visit to 
Stewer’s whom I mentioned in my last let¬ 
ter. It has been a cold, raw, wet day. 
Stewer was in the house churning. I 
wanted to talk with him about working out 
my road tax, he, being Pathmaster, He in¬ 
vited me to a seat iu tho sitting-room. 
There was no fire; the room was damp. 
Stewer began to sneeze. Finally I sug¬ 
gested he was taking cold. Ho said he 
guessed ho was, aud put on his coat; said 
he would invite me iuto the kitchen whore 
there was a fire, but did not think his wife 
would allow us in there. The fact is, the 
stove bad been down a week aud stored 
away in a loft to gather dampness and rust. 
It is a piece of “house cleaning" against 
which I emphatically protest. There is 
scarcely a week in the year when any living 
room is not more comfortable for having a 
fire built in it. to say nothing of the neces¬ 
sity for a lire as a means of promoting 
health. Besides, it is the best way of pre¬ 
serving stoves'. Stoves are more injured 
by disuse in summer—by being stowed away 
where they will gather dampness anil rust— 
than by use during the year. 
I said as much to Stewer, but be said 
Mrs. Stewer ruled in the house, and she 
did not care so much for comfort and health 
us for looks, and “it’suo use o’ talking.” 
Well, I happen to know that Stewer has 
been trying to sell his farm because himself 
and family have fever and ague annually; 
and people will not purchase it, because they 
know the fact. Now. Stkwer’s farm is 
just as healthful n place to live ou as my 
own. We never have tho fever and ague. 
But we do not take down our stoves, aud 
we do build tiros in them whenever it. is 
damp or chilly, even though we keep alltho 
doors aud windows open. As a means of 
promoting and retaining health, fires are as 
nocessary in tho summer months as cold 
water. So I told Stewer. Why, sir, I 
would buy Stewer’h place to-morrow as 
soon as any I know of, notwithstanding its 
fever and ague reputation. I'd risk it; but 
I would keep up the stoves and fires. The 
absence of those when they are really need¬ 
ed causes moro sickness in families than all 
the quack nostrums distributed through 
the country ever cure. 
Farmer Garrulous. 
of cholera, aud such like diseases, during 
the summer months.” 
Remedy for Rheumatism.—Take equal 
parts of the best quality of Spirits of Tur¬ 
pentine and Oil of Juniper; shake them well 
together aud bathe the parts affected, and 
rub iu thoroughly. Eat no fat meat, nor 
rich gravies, nor pastries.— Emilv W. 
IIawkes. 
HYGIENIC NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Hygienic Inquiries.— Will some one 
who has been afflicted with and cured of 
dyspepsia give symptoms, length of time 
diseased, and treatment, to a sufferer for 
five 3'ears with this most harrasslng com¬ 
plaint?—D. A. White. ... A subscriber 
asks for a remedy for an enlarged neck, 
which has lately commenced enlarging, and 
is quite painful at times. . . . Can any one 
give a remedy for salt rheum?—R. J. P. . . 
I would like a remedy for uasal catarrh of 
six months’ standing. 
Bunion Remedy.—I can offer tho fol¬ 
lowing as simple and effectualLet fall a 
stream of very warm water from a tea-ket¬ 
tle, at the highest elevation from which the 
patient can bear the water to fall directly 
ou the apex of the swelling; continue this 
once a day for a short time and a cure will 
be effected, providing you desist from wear¬ 
ing short shoes. The greater the elevation 
of the kettle the more effectual the remedy. 
W. R. S., Morristo wn, N. J. 
Croup Remedies.—Oue teaapoonful of 
skunk’s oil; also one of soothing sirup. 
Another remedy is oue tablespoonful of 
hog's lard, one tablespoonful sirup or molas¬ 
ses, oue teacup of chamber lye. 
Another:—Half a teaspoonful pulverized 
alum, one tablespoouful of molasses. We 
have used all of the above remedies in our 
family and find them good. —9. A. Howell, 
Benton Co., Oregon. 
Wind in the Stomach. — A physician, 
in a very sensible article on bathing, recom¬ 
mends a more general use of warm baths 
instead of tho sirups and worse nostrums 
for the wind iu the stomach, which is 
thought to be so often the cause of the wor¬ 
rying restlessness of very young children. 
Potatoes and Health.—The Food Jour¬ 
nal says:—“The use of potatoes is a preven¬ 
tive against scurvy, if not an actual cure 
for it. Potatoes that, have been exposed to 
the air, and have become green, are un¬ 
wholesome; and new potatoes, i. e., unripe 
ones, have much to do with the prevalence 
GARDENERS’ NOTES. 
Improved Cucumber Bed. — James 
Groom, commenting upon a previous com¬ 
munication in The Garden, suys:—“I am 
surprised that “A.,” speaking of dung 
frames for Cucumbers, should recommend 
Solidly built up beds, wheu hollow bottomed 
ones are so far superior to them iu every 
way, besides being capable of being put to 
other uses, so as to keep them at work the 
whole year round. The plan which we adopt 
is to build up corner piers of bricks to tho 
required flight, say about eighteen inches 
in front, and twenty-four inches at back, 
aud to lay strong bearers to form a floor, 
leaving sufficient apertures for the float to 
pass through. We then set the frame on and 
put into it about three Inches of loaf mold 
to keep down tho steam ; u loud of strong, 
fresh dung is now put under the frame aud 
enclosed with a lining of any sort of Utter 
or garden refuse that may be at hand. In 
this way the heat will be up aud the bod lit 
for planting in less than a week, thus effect¬ 
ing a great saviugof time; and the float may 
be regulated to a degree. 
“Frames set up in this way are useful all 
the year round for forcing asparagus, early 
potatoes, propagating bedding plauts, for 
cucumbers and melons, and for growing 
young stock of stove plants in during tho 
summer, etc. Having a good quantity of 
houses and pits heated by hot water, we, of 
course, get our earliest supply of cucumbers 
from that source. But for amateurs or gar¬ 
deners with a small amount of glass those 
simple structures are invaluable. Any one 
giving them a trial will never go to the trou¬ 
ble of preparing manure for beds, as it is 
labor worse than lost, and In even the larg¬ 
est gardens it is not one of the gardener’s 
troubles to find sufficient employment for 
all hands.’' _ 
Strawberry Crinolines. — Here’s an 
idea? We notice in tho London, Eng., pa¬ 
pers “ Strawberry Crinolines” advertised. 
Wo oopy tin; engraving, (Ree page 108,) and 
the following quotation from one of these 
advertisements,which Bays: —“The Straw¬ 
berry Crinoline is in the form of a table, 
made in halves, so as to bo used without 
disturbing the plant. It is 16 inches iu di¬ 
ameter, and stands 4 inches above the 
ground, galvanized. Its use Is to preserve 
strawberries from slugs, contact with tho 
soil, superfluous moisture, and other nui¬ 
sances. They are considered to last ten 
years at least, with care. The Strawberry 
Crinolines are declared by' all who use them 
to be of tho greatest use iu Keeping the fruit 
clean and assisting Its growth” 
Snap Beans.— F. R. Elliott, Cleveland, 
O., writes:— It is now time to plant varie¬ 
ties of snap beans, and we must say that a 
trial of years, with all tho varieties cata¬ 
logued and known, the best is tho Wax or 
Butter, with black seed, aud second to that 
is the White Wax or Butter, with a white 
oval rounded seed. This latter is entirely 
new, having been introduced into this coun¬ 
try from Germany only two years since, and 
some seedsmen, because of uot having it, 
will tell it is no improvement; and neither 
is it over tho black seed variety, except 
that all the beans that mature are white, 
and just as good and clean white for cook¬ 
ing as tho finest nuvy beans you can buy. 
Rake vs. Hoe in the Garden.—F. R. 
■ Elliott saysIu ninety-five cases out of 
a hundred a steel tooth rake will accom¬ 
plish double and better results in half the 
time amoug rows of early peas, beets, on¬ 
ions, parsnips, &c., than the hoe. A neigh¬ 
bor of ours don’t or didn’t believe it un- 
i til he looked on and saw, and while he 
i muddled away with his hoe on ono-thlrd as 
i many rows of peas as we had, a whole half 
. day, we put ours through a dressing in just 
one hour. Let me tell you, friends, the 
small Iron rake is the thing among your 
garden truck early In spring, and next to it 
■ is the Dutch scuffle hoe. 
s - 
> When to Apply Salt to Asparagus.— 
- “ When is the best time to apply salt to 
; asparagus? ” asks P. R. C. Now—anytime 
; when the plants are growing. 
