1 ■*£■;?■•■ 
■ 
room or feed, can easily he driven across the 
Plains to Colorado, which has yet thousands 
of acres of Government domain free to any 
one who will occupy them. 
Here sheep cau graze the whole year with¬ 
out artificial feed, and at no greater expense 
to the owner than that incurred in. watching, 
attendance during lambing, and shearing 
them. 
The best season for driving across the 
Plains is from the middle of July to the first 
ttsbanitrn 
with underground stable, say 40 by 45 feet 
area, with all the modern improvements; 
entrance for horses on a level with the 
ground; cellar about three and a-half feet 
below ground; cistern below, with hay 
shutes, feed-room, <fcc., all in a convenient 
relative position.— A Subscriber, Qwi/iei/, 111. 
rdntcrture 
SHEEP IN ARKANSAS, 
PLAN OF HEN HOUSE, 
Or. tlio Farm of Charles Mount, Closter. 
New Jersey, 
The following letter has been accidentally 
mislaid, and has therefore remained unan¬ 
swered until now: 
Danville, Yell. Co., Ark., Juno 9,1870. 
Hov. H. 8 . It vndall— Dear Sir: Your valu¬ 
able book on “ Sheen Husbandry” has wriveu me 
muoti pleasure,and I wish to trouble you with a 
single inquiry. I will state, first, that X own 
several hundred acres of valuable laud, on a 
small river in Scott Co.. Ark. Extensive public 
land of mountainous enanioter surround It on 
two sides, and rhegrass is the best in the. West; 
a timber country, hut the native ranjre Is almost 
equal to the prairies of Texas. The publiegrnss 
Xmd adjoining is unlimited ten to twenty miles. 
The timber destroyed, and a line grass most 
suitable for sheep grows in abundance. The 
Bottom Crook lands very productive for corn, 
cotton and grasses; a small experiment shows 
clover to do well. Now, the difficulty is that 
wolves, foxes, wildcats nod dogs would destroy 
the flock at night if not protected. The lauds 
can be easily fenced In largeJneloshre*. and I 
now inquireIf the building high picket, in- 
elosures for folding at uigiil to protect the flock 
would nut. in our southern climate, cause them 
to become diseased '< How often would It be ne¬ 
cessary to change rhe sheep from one to another, 
and how tunny such Inclosiires would be neces¬ 
sary for a flock, say of 1,300 sheep? ll conve¬ 
nient, answer. Yours, truly, 
J. T. Harmson. 
Reply — Suitable attention by day, and 
confinement by night, within " high picket 
enclosures,” would undoubtedly protect the 
sheep, in a great degree, from the enemies 
mentioned. This system of folding by 
nigh? is generally practiced in many coun¬ 
tries, and under proper conditions does not 
produce diseases 
This house cau he chiefly constructed, 
and has the advantage of being easily kept 
clean, as the droppings full on the inside 
A correspondent at Hudson, Mich., asks 
if any of the Rural New-Yorker’s corres¬ 
pondents can inform him how to construct 
walls under buildings on sandy soil so as to 
prevent ruts from digging under them. 
utamoiofjiral 
SNOUT-BEETLES 
Injurious lo Fruits mul Vegetables 
BY CIIA8. V. RILEY. 
[Rend before the III. Sluto Horticultural Society.] 
[Continued from page 26, .fan. I I.j 
The many words that have been penned 
in the discussion ol this question would fill 
a volume; but one stern fuel, one 
usu.n syniuoi ul Molinnnuedniiiarii, which 
she so Invariably inscribes on stone fruit; 
and that where this mark is made on apples* 
it more easily becomes obliterated. 
During their beetle life, these insects feed 
continually, just, ns long ns the weather is 
mild enough to make them active. While 
fruit lasts, they gouge holes in it, and nfier 
peaches have gone, apples are badly attacked, 
They also gnaw large holes in the leaves, 
and when nothing else presents, will feed on 
the bark of the tender twigs. 
Let us be thankful, therefore, that there 
can no longer reasonably he difference of 
opinion, or discussion on these questions, 
which, though of no very great practical im¬ 
portance, were yet of great interest to us all. 
—[To bo continued. 
thorough 
experiment is worth more than all the theo¬ 
ries that were ever conceived, or the phrases 
that were ever written on the subject. At 
first it, seems to be a very simple question to 
settle, but the fact that il remained unsettled 
so long would indicate the reverse. One of 
your worthy cx-Pmmlents, Judge A. M. 
Brown of Villa Ridge, at my suggestion, 
endeavored in Hie summer of 1800 to solve 
the problem by imprisoning the first bred 
beetles and furnishing them with plucked 
fruit,. Dr. Hull partially performed a like 
experiment, and 1 did the same myself; but 
we were met by the advocates of the two- 
brooded theory with the objection that such 
a test was of no value, as the curcnlio would 
not deposit on plucked fruit or in confine¬ 
ment; and to add weight to their argument 
they could cite us to numerous instances 
among butterflies to prove that, many insects 
really will not deposit in confinement. But, 
as we shall see, they placed too much confi¬ 
dence in the instiuct of Mrs. Turk when, 
from such premises, they made these deduc¬ 
tions apply to her. 
As 1 proved over and over again, the 
question could not be solved, with any more 
certainty, by confining beetles to living 
among the sheep. The 
folds should be sufficiently spacious so that 
the air in them shall not be rendered im¬ 
pure, and should be made on dry, firm 
ground—gravelly ground, if practicable— 
having a rapid surface drainage. In most 
countries they are only changed when it Is 
necessary to obtain pasturage tor the she°p 
without compelling them to travel too ‘ar 
for iL; but different folds would be pronotive 
of cleanliness and health and a g^at com¬ 
fort to the sheep during the rMuy season, so 
that when one fold became badly poached 
up by the feet of t he sheep, the other could 
he used. Fifteen hundred Merino sheep are 
often folded together, but with proper con¬ 
veniences for constructing folds, we should 
prefer to keep say not more than half that 
number together. 
fit dLitnralist 
S. or Quincy, ill., asserts that, snakes do 
hiss, and mentions a reptile known by some 
as “Hissing Adder;” by others as “Blow¬ 
ing Adder;” by others as “Spread Head.” 
He says they are a short, thick, spotted and 
very ugly snake. When approached they 
coil up and spread or flatten their bead and 
neck (or that part of the body joined to the 
head) about four inches down, very flat, and 
hiss loud enough to be heard some four rods 
distant. 
“Milk snake,” Carpentaria, Cal., writes 
that once in Lake Co., Cal.—“I discovered 
a large snake had caught a quail on her nest; 
but as I got nearer, the quail got away and 
took to flight, and the snake ran into a hole 
in the ground. I returned to the spot after 
a little and found the snake eating Hie quail’s 
eggs. I picked up a stick to hit him, and 
the snake hissed at me equal to any goose. 
This was a ‘ Milk snake ’—so called in Cali¬ 
fornia, being covered with black and whito 
rings.” 
Facts ’ of Freemont Co., Iowa, lias seen 
and killed in Illinois, snakes that hiss, known 
as “ Hissing Adders.” They grow from two 
to three feet long, and like the Copperhead, 
spread and flatten the head when ungry. 
R. H. A., Greensboro, N. C., writes “ We 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Tlio Fii 11-If loot! Merino Hum, Vouchor. 
Voucher, one year old last spring, the 
property of John P. Ray, Hemlock Lake, N. 
Y., and Marriner & Bronson, East Bloom¬ 
field, N. Y.—bred by the last named gentle¬ 
men—was got by their ram, Bloomfield, out 
of a ewe bred by S. S. Rockwell of Corn¬ 
wall, Vt,, got by Eureka. Bloomfield was 
got by Harlow’s Young Grimes, dam bred 
by D. E. Robinson, and got by Young Tot,- 
lingiiatn. (The pedigrees of all the above 
rams, except Bloomfield, have been hereto¬ 
fore published in the Rural New-Yorker,) 
Voucher, when a lamb, was considered the 
best of tlio pen of ram lambs which took the 
first premium at. the New York State Fair, 
1869; and also took first premium Hie same 
year at the Ontario Co., N. Y., Fair, and the 
Union Fair at Hemlock Lake, N. Y. When 
a yearling, lie took the first premium at the 
Ontario Co., N. Y\, Fair, competing with the 
two year old rams. His first fleece, thirteen 
months growth, weighed 19 pounds. 
SHEEP INTERESTS IN COLORADO. 
Colorado City, C. T., Nov. 22,1870. 
A. M. Garland, Esq .—Dear Sir: Colo¬ 
rado is rapidly growing in favor as a wool- 
growing section. During the past year many 
have engaged in the business, and many 
more are preparing to do so. Several lots 
fine-wool sheep have been brought in from 
your neighborhood (Central Illinois,) and 
one lot of long wools imported from England. 
North of the Arkansas some 30,000 sheep 
have been grazed this year, which clipped 
about 60,000 pounds of wool, sold at an 
average price of fifteen cents per pound. 
Some of it sold as high as thirty cents per 
pound, and some as low as twelve cents. In 
1869, iu the same section, there were about 
7,000 sheep, shearing some 16,000 pounds of 
wool, selling at an average of twenty cents 
per pound. 
Our wool is generally sold at the house to 
buyers from the Eastern markets, among 
whom for the past two years there has been 
much competition. 
Denver, Cheyenne, aud the mountain 
cities, have been overstocked with wethers 
from this Territory and Now Mexico. Year¬ 
lings have brought $1,20 to $2; two-year- 
olds, $1.75 to $2.50; three-year-olds, $2.50 
to $4, according to supply in market, quality 
of meat, etc. Hereafter the great railroads 
will undoubtedly furnish outlets for our 
wethers to the Western, and even Eastern 
markets. A large amount of heel lias al¬ 
ready been shipped from Colorado to Chica¬ 
go and St. Louis, and arrangements are 
made to send a large quantity, frozeu, to 
New York this winter. 
The Mexican plan of indiscriminate “ in- 
and-in” breeding has served to degenerate 
our native sheep into a long-legged, long¬ 
bodied, and long-necked animal, with long, 
thin, and coarse wool. What we want is 
your compact Merinos, with thick and oily 
wool, to give weight and quality to our 
fleeces. 
The Merinos are eminently adapted to 
this section for the following reasons :—They 
flock well, therefore large herds can be kept 
with ease; they are hardy, therefore will 
readily acclimate; and lastly, and princi¬ 
pally, the great amount of oil in their wool 
counteracts the tendency of our native wools 
to be dry and brittle. This tendency Is aid- 
the ‘ Spreading Adder* or ‘ Spread Adder.’ 
There are two kinds: the one, the most 
dangerous, and also the most rare, is black, 
and resembles, so far as T can form an idea, 
from history, the Egyptian Viper ; its bite is 
almost sure death. The other resembles the 
Rattlesnake, and Its venom is equally as 
poisonous, aud the snake more dangerous, as 
it, gives no warning. If seen before it.strikes, 
and made angry by striking or teazing, it 
spreads its head about four times the usual 
size, something like the cobra de catfeUa, 
which it also resembles, and ‘hisses’ s« 
nearly like an enraged * gander’ that it would 
require a very fine oar, and oue also well 
versed in ‘ goo&eology,' to detect the tK(Ter¬ 
ence.” 
Another Californian writes of a snnke 
called by some the “ Gopher snake,” and by 
others the “Bull snake”—brown striped, 
with some spots of light brown, resembling 
in color the common siriped snake of New 
York, and just as harmless. “ These snakes, 
(Nov. 23d,) are burrowed In the ground now, 
and will not be out for a month or so, unless 
plowed or dug out. I often see them from 
two and a half to four feet, long; aud they 
can put down a gopher or a squirrel with 
little trouble when hungry. When tensed 
they will blow or hiss—an unmistakable hiss; 
and it is so common here to hear them that 
we do not get excited about, it.” 
The roosts (F, F) are round poles, which 
rest in notches cut in pieces which are fas¬ 
tened to each end of the building, which 
allows of them being taken out to clean. 
The gable end should face to the suu, aud 
have double sash covering the whole size of 
the feeding room down to within one foot 
six inches of the ground, to Jet in the light 
and heat of the sun in tiie winter. The 
roof at the peak is left open for ventilation, 
and surmounted by a double row of pigeon 
boxes, the under side of which have hoards 
hung to close in extreme cold weather. The 
whole is surmounted by a vane to give it 
finish. 
The house is eighteen by thirteen feet, 
and eight feet post; is clap-boarded outside 
and sealed inside with worked boards, aud 
filled in with tan bark. It can be floored 
with plank or cemented. 
time to detail here the many interesting ob¬ 
servations made on this tree which I had 
under control, or to enumerate the many 
other experiments which I conducted in 
other ways, or the innumerable facts ob¬ 
tained; and it will suffice to give in a sum¬ 
mary manner the results,—premising only 
that every precaution was taken, and no ex¬ 
pense spared, to prevent failure; that the 
experiments w'ere satisfactory beyond ray 
expectations, the results conclusive beyond 
all peradveuturc, and that I can prove every 
statement I make. To sum up then :—The 
Plum Curculio is single-brooded , and 1 have 
with mo a number now alive and kicking 
which were bred during the latter part of June 
from the first stung peaches. [These beetles, 
warmed by the artificial temperature of the 
ball, were quite active, and were feeding 
ravenously on a piece of apple which I had 
placed in the bottle. I But, as there seem to 
be exceptions to all rules, so there are to 
this; yet flic exceptions are only just about 
sufficient to prove the rule, for as far south 
as St. Louis not more than one per cent, of 
the beetles lay any eggs at all, until they 
Epizootic Catarrh iu Georeia. 
J. L. S., Caloosa Co., Georgia, asks the 
name and remedy of a disease in sheep 
which was prevailing, in November, in 
Georgia. lie describes the symptoms as 
about the same with those mentioned by 
Mr. B. A. Cox, in a letter published by us 
Jail. 7th, ns characteristic of a disease pre¬ 
vailing in Virginia; and we judge it to he 
the same disease, viz., epizootic catarrh. By 
turning to our reply to Mr. Cox, lie will as¬ 
certain our views in respect to the proper 
remedies. 
Foot-Rot auil Sheeps’ Tails. 
Gorlitz, a German writer, asserts that 
foot-rot was unknown amongst sheep until 
Hie practice of cutting their mils was intro¬ 
duced. His explanation is, that the sheep, 
when lying down, protects its feet with its 
tail, and thus saves them from exposure. 
The assertion is a curious one. We wonder 
if it is borne out by the facts!— Exchange. 
A more obviously absurd reason was never 
rendered for a known fact. 
ButtcrflleH nml Moihw nro now printed by na¬ 
ture in London. They have the appearance of 
first rate lithograph* but retain the luster of tho 
insect. The representations are formed of tho 
wings of the insect, with tho body painted in. 
Some of those butterflies and moths are most 
exquisitely rendered by this process, which mny 
be useful both iua seieutifio and artistic point 
of view. 
UR BUILDERS, 
I’lan of Hum Wanted. 
^ Will some reader of the Rural New- 
\ orkek give a plan for a convenient barn 
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