MOOSE’S BUBAL MEW-YOBKEB, 
«6 
A ticket was attacked to each sheep with 
the price put on him, so that customers could 
choose according to their taste and means. 
The impetus given to the breading of Che¬ 
viots was immense ; they rapidly found their 
way into other districts of Scotland and the 
north of England, supplanting the black- 
laced breed, which, like the aborigines in In¬ 
dia and America, may bo said to retire be¬ 
fore the advancing wave of civilization. 
The practical management of a Cheviot 
ilock is, on the whole, exceedingly simple. 
Generally speaking, they go at large over 
the farm during the whole season, individual 
sheep never taking a very wide range. The 
area required for each varies from about two 
to four acres, according to quality. In some 
cases the hoggs arc kept separate from the 
ewes, which gives an opportunity of supply¬ 
ing them with more generous treatment in 
stormy weather; but frequently they are 
allowed shortly after weaning to graze to¬ 
gether. This gives them the advantage of a 
mother’s care, for they generally recognize 
each other. In some cases they arc allowed 
to g« on without being weaned at all; but 
we think such a system must, be injurious to 
the future progeny. Ewes have their first 
lambs in April at two years old, and are sold 
as draughts at five or six, being replaced by 
the best of the ewe lambs. They are invaria¬ 
bly sold for producing a crop of lambs by 
Leicester tubs. Those, with the wedder 
lambs, the small ewe lambs, and wool, usually 
form the whole produce of the farm. This 
applies to Cheviots in the southern counties 
of Scotland—in the north the practice differs 
considerably. There tiic -wedder lambs are 
not sold, but kept on ‘till sold as wedders at 
three years old. The wedder hoggs are never 
wintered at home, but sent into winter quar¬ 
ters in Ross-shiPfl and neighboring counties— 
some as far as Aberdeenshire—where they 
have the outrun, as it is called, on arable 
farms, viz., nearly the. whole, grass, on which 
they are kept till the weather becomes 
stormy, when they are folded on turnips. 
They are sent about October 10, and remain 
till the beginning of April. The cost of win¬ 
tering, including smearing (which operation 
takes place shortly after reaching their win¬ 
ter quarters), varies from 7s. to Ss. each. 
There is perhaps no finer animal of the 
Bheep species than the Cheviot tub. Possess¬ 
ing the general conformation of the Border 
Leicester, he is altogether a more stylish 
sheep, carrying his head higher, with greater 
fire in his eye and grace in his movement. 
Compared with the Leicester, he is os a cav¬ 
alier to an alderman. 
Besides reproducing their own kind, the 
Cheviots are valuable for crossing with the 
Border Leicester* ; the former giving hardi¬ 
hood, the latter greater tendency to fatten. 
By infusing the two breeds in different pro¬ 
portions, other breeding stocks are raised, 
suited to medium soils and temperatures. 
Thus, taking the Leioesters as the center of 
agricultural improvement, the others may be 
said to radiate. First, we find three-parts 
bred in the intermediate ; next, half-bred in 
the higher altit udes ; then we come to Che¬ 
viot entire on their native mountains; and 
above and beyond them our old favorites the 
black-faced, among their fastnesses of rock 
and purple heather. 
Cheviot slice]) are seldom shorn before. J uly, 
the weight and fineness of the fleece depend¬ 
ing on the nature of the pasturage ; the tex¬ 
ture being finer on dry, sweet herbage than 
on coarse grass, and bringing a higher price. 
It has a steadier demand than almost any 
other, being extensively employed in the 
manufacture of tweeds, now so commonly 
used in clothing, from the prince to the peas¬ 
ant. Coming down from the poetry, so asso¬ 
ciated with the Cheviots in the lights and 
shadows of pastoral life, to the inevitable 
prose—for to mutton they must all come iu 
the end—that of the Cheviot sheep may fairly 
be put down as one of the luxuries of life. It 
has always been a nice point, whether this or 
the black-faced is the finer, and we recall au 
incident which occurred many years ago, in 
which the father of the present writer bore a 
part. He was a great enthusiast In black¬ 
faced sheep, and having the honor to be a 
special favorite with Su' Walter Scott, and 
an occasional guest at llis table, begged his 
acceptance of a lew wedders to convince him 
of the superiority of the block-faced mutton 
to the Cheviot, of which Sir Walter was iu 
the habit of keeping, what is called in Scot¬ 
land, a pot-flock. Sir Walter accepted them 
on condition that he. would dine with him, 
along with a few friends, to test their respect¬ 
ive merits, when a saddle of each should be 
presented, having received the same advan¬ 
tages of the culinary art. The verdict was 
in favor of the Cheviot, to the infinite delight 
of the great poet and novelist. Dissenting, 
however, from this judgment, we venture to 
remark that the quality of both depends very 
much on the feeding. For delicaey of flavor, 
we never tasted any mutton equal t o t hat of 
a yeld young ewe or gimmer of either breed 
that happened to get fat on its native pasture. 
—John Usher, in London Field. 
Jpeld <%op. 
SILVER-HULL BUCKWHEAT. 
In- answer to your inquiry concerning the 
merits of this now variety of buckwheat, 
permit m© to say that 1 have looked into its 
history somewhat, and fiud that it probably 
originated in France, and a small quantity 
lias been sent out by the Department of Ag- 
rioullyure. The grain is of a beautiful silver 
gray, varying slightly in shade, and the cor¬ 
ners are less pronounced than in the ordinary 
variety, while the husk is thinner. • Messrs. 
Pi, att & Barker, proprietors of the large 
buckwheat mills in tliis State, to whom I 
have gent a sample, write We would say, 
in regard to the Silver-Hull buckwheat, tliat 
it i* altogether the best, we have ever seen, 
and should judge it will make from three to 
five pounds of flour per measured bushel 
more than the ordinary buckwheat, and of 
better quality. We trust you will distribute 
the seed in the country from wliieh we draw 
our supplies.” 
The Iowa correspondent of the Depart¬ 
ment speaks of its “Wonderful yield—seven 
pounds of seed yielding thirty-live bushels of 
beautiful buckwheat, the weight, of wliieh 
is considerably greater than that of the ordi¬ 
nary.” I believe that the weight of the ordi¬ 
nary long-cornered black or grayish buck¬ 
wheat is from forty to forty-five pounds— 
seldom more than the latter figure*, The 
Hilver-Hull weighed witii me last year from 
fifty-eight to sixty pounds per measured 
bushel — an important difference ! Have 
weighed none this year, but it looks to be 
full as heavy. 
Concerning the yield :—I have grown it for 
two years, also the common kind, in adjoin¬ 
ing fields, and find the difference t o be sur¬ 
prisingly in favor of the Silver-Hull, perhaps 
yielding—I have made no accurate experi¬ 
ment with it—two or three times as much, 
under the same conditions of soil and culture. 
Many who saw it growing, estimated the 
yield at fifty bushels per acre. At any rate, 
it has been awarded the flint premium in our 
County Agricultural Societies as a field crop, 
for the two years I have grown it, and the 
Agricultural Committee this year not only 
adjudge it the heaviest crop in the county, 
but say it was the plumpest and best filled 
buckwheat they ever saw. Unfortunately, 
an early frost cut a considerable portion of 
my crop on low-lying ground. There con be 
no doubt that it should, and eventually will, 
entirely supersede the old variety. 
Berkshire Co., Mass. H. S. Ooodai.e. 
-• ♦ » ■ 
NOTES ON WHEAT.. 
Scottish April Wheat is thus commended 
by a correspondent, of the Western Farmer : 
“Last Spring I received, tlu-ougli Mr. Alex. 
Findlay, three bushels Scottish April Wheal. 
I sowed it t he last of April on two acres, grow¬ 
ing one acre good, the other very poor. It 
stools much more than any other wheat, 
growing to good length, and strong enough 
to prevent lodging. The heads are large and 
well filled, fifty-eight kernels being common. 
It is bearded something like the Rio Grande, 
and does not shell when allowed to stand. I 
threshed thirty-six bushels pure, and calcu¬ 
late I lost from four to six bushels by being 
mixed with another variety, by mistake of 
the threshers. 
French Winter Wheat is thus described by 
a Green Co., Wia., correspondent of the West- 
tern Farmer —This Wheat is a red chaff bald 
wheat, some ten days later than the Golden 
Straw. I have harvested three crops and am 
satisfied it is far the best sown with ns. The 
bugs have not hurt it while my other kinds 
were mostly destroyed, side by side, 
“ Wh ite Michigan ” Wheat. —A Darlington 
Wis., correspondent of the Western Farmer 
says The Wheat known as the White Mich¬ 
igan is a Russian variety, and bids fair to 
Dike the preference over all other varieties in 
this locality. The straw does not grow as 
tall as the Rio Grande, is very soft, less liable 
to rust, and ready for harvest ten days earli¬ 
er, when sown at the same time, and there¬ 
fore less subject to the ravages of the chinch 
bug. Last Spring I sowed the White Michi¬ 
gan and Rio Grande on hind as nearly of the 
same nature as possible, and on the same 
day, in order to test the relative value of each 
kind. My white wheat ripened naturally, 
undisturbed by rust or bugs. On the day 
that I commenced harvesting it, I noticed one 
white spot, perhaps a yard square, in the Rio 
Grande, which was unmistakable evidence of 
the presence of chinch bugs, and before the 
j end of the week the whole piece was perfect- 
i ly dead. The white wheat yielded 29 bushels 
of clean wheat to the acre, while the Rio 
Grande, yielded a little less than 14 bushels. 
The white wheat is esteemed so highly here, 
that 1 have sold more than one-half that I 
have to spare, at tho granary for $1.50 per 
bushel. The flour is superior to any spring 
wheat I have ever raised. The head is short 
and plump, light colored and very soft. T 
shall sow tliis kind exclusively the coming 
season. 
Foltz Winter Wheat.— Prof. W. W. Daniels 
of the experimental farm of the university of 
Wisconsin says of this wheat sent out by the 
Department of Agriculture : - Tins is a bald 
variety of whea t, having a Stiff, strong straw, 
that this year was clean and bright, with a 
slightly brownish-red color, extending below 
the head a few inches. The grain is light red 
in color, the berry short and plum]). The col¬ 
or of the grain raised is slightly darker than 
that of the seed sown. 80 far as one year’s 
experience can ossuro the success of a new 
variety of grain iu this climate, is the success 
of the Fultz winter wheat assured for Wis¬ 
consin. By it- side, and with equally favor¬ 
able conditions, were sown the White Winter 
Touzellc, Red Winter Saissette, and Tread¬ 
well varieties, which all winter-killed so en¬ 
tirely tliat the land was sown toother crops. 
The killing was doubtless done by the thaw¬ 
ing and freezing of early spring, as the ground 
was well covered with snow during the win¬ 
ter. But the Fultz was subjected to the in¬ 
fluences that destroyed the other varieties, 
and yet succeeded well. On this account, I 
have great faith that it will prove valuable, 
as a hardy variety of winter wheat in this 
State. 
-♦♦♦■ - 
COOLEYS EARLY FIELD CORN. 
LAST Spring I purchased of C. C, Cooley, 
two quarts of his early corn. I planted it 
the last week in May on good land. It grew 
well, ripened about as early as Mr. C. repre¬ 
sented it would, and yielded moderately 
well. 11. is a very early variety, and Apparent¬ 
ly of ordinary value ; stalks of moderate size, 
producing two ears each frequently.] ears 
eight to ten inches long, fourteen to eighteen 
rows. 1 do not feel that 1 am badly swin¬ 
dled, although I would not recommend this 
as a very valuable sort. I think varieties of 
corn, as well as Other grains and plants, vary 
wonderfully in different localities. I once 
sold Sanford corn to parties in nearly every 
State and Territory in the Union. I believe 
a large, majority of my customers in the 
North were pleased with tliis variety, while 
in the South it was almost, an entire failure. 
An article of this kind should not be recom¬ 
mended as suited to every luoality, nor yet. 
pronounced a swindle because it fails some¬ 
where. E. Y. s. 
Rlvlimond, Ind. 
--- 
ALSIKE CLOVER. 
YV. H. H., Oshtemo, Mich., is informed that 
we do not think Alsiko would prove of suffi¬ 
ciently greater value for his purposes than 
the Red clover to warrant us in recommend¬ 
ing it. However, it will do no harm to tost 
it. Alsike clover seed sells at f>t) ets. per 
pound, or $40 per 100 lbs. in this market. lie 
can probably get uo clover for $5.50 to $0 
per busheL Three to four pounds of seed per 
acre of Alsike is said to be sufficient by those 
who have tried it. We should not hesitate to 
give it a trial on such soil as you describe ; 
but we cannot recommend it, from experi¬ 
ence, for extended trial. 
-- 
NEW FIBER PLANT. 
A Fibrous plant, called Apoeynum Vene¬ 
tian, lias been discovered growing wild in 
aueh quantities iu Turkistan that it may be 
expected soon to make its appearance in the 
market. Its fibers, as tender and delicate as 
flax, as strong and tenacious as hemp, are, 
by combining the qualities of the two, greatly 
superior to either. The Russians will prob¬ 
ably endeavor to transplant it to Europe, an 
attempt whicli might be made by other 
countries as well. 
■- 4 -*-*- 
APPLYING ASHES TO POTATOES. 
A reader of the Rural New-Yorker asks 
the best method of applying ashes to pota¬ 
toes. We have seen little difference in results 
where we have sown the ashes broadcast on 
the ground after plowing and before harrow¬ 
ing, and applying a large handful directly to 
each hill soon after the plants show out of the 
ground. 
-4-4+- 
Hen Manure and Corn .—I would say in 
answer to G. B. Syracuse, N, Y. that hen 
manure is the best fertilizer I know of for 
corn and potatoes ; put one handful in a hill, 
and cover slightly before planting the seed. 
—S. A. Pelton, Sank Co., Wis. 
<3^ Horseman. 
WOLF TEETH IN HORSES. 
I notice that H. C. Morgan is disposed to 
criticise and dispute my article on wolf teeth 
in horses. Now, in reply, I wish to say that 
I wrote the. said art icle on wolf teeth with 
no intent of getting into an argument or con¬ 
troversy with any one, but with the sole in¬ 
tent of quieting the fears of the uninformed 
on such matters, and to prevent horse own- 
era from being swindled by unprincipled men 
who Style themselves “horse doctors,” but 
who, in reality, know as little of the anatomy 
and physiology of the horse as the horse him¬ 
self. Mr. Morgan, in his criticisms, proves 
nothing; localise lie has never seen wolf 
teeth growing only against or very near the 
grinders is no oroof that it is so ; neither is 
it a fixed fact tliat what he saw growing on 
the grinders was a wolf tooth. What he saw 
on the inside of the grinder was undoubtedly 
what every veterinary surgeon frequently 
meets with, a sharp projection of the grinder 
which had grown so far into the mouth as to 
interfere with the tongue. It is no more un¬ 
common for colts’ teeth to grow in crooked 
than for children’s teeth to grow crooked ; 
neither is it an uncommon thing for the t-ceth 
of old horses to become broken off or worn 
off, and present a sharp projection, which 
injures the parts with which it comes in con¬ 
tact. As Mr. Morgan says that I never saw 
any wolf teeth, 1 would like to have him tell 
Rural readers how they look, wluit they are 
and in what possible way they can affect the 
eye, and if he can quote one single author 
who has any standing, I should be pleased to 
hear his name. 
Meantime, I would advise horse owners 
who have horses suffering from inflamed or 
weeping eyes, that do nob yield readily to 
outward applications, to carefully examine 
the mouth and see if something is not the 
matter with some of the bad teeth,, and if 
the eyes are not weeping through sympathy. 
Logan, N. Y. D. Hmkad, V. 8. 
- 4 4-4 - 
AFTER THE EPIZOOTIC. 
We had a large, run of the horse disease 
(Epizootic) the fore part of winter ; but very 
few cases proved fatal. Here let me tell you 
of ft horse I have ; ho is u gelding, six years 
old, and I have been offered $200 for him 
several times, but did not wish to sell, as he 
was quite a pet; but in the condition he is 
in now, he will not sell for near his former 
value. In October, he was taken with the 
Epizootic, and got along very well, as I gave 
him rest, warm stable, warm mashes, &c. 
After I thought him well 1 used him, and 1 
think he caught more cold, as he was taken 
decidedly worse, the next day, and came 
very near dying. I pursued the former treat¬ 
ment for some five or six weeks, when ho 
appeared well in flesh aud spirit, but when 
driven faster than a walk, he wheezes badly; 
sometimes tho trouble appears to be in his 
throat, at others, on liis lungs. I have done 
all I could to relieve him, but all of no avail 
as yet. If you know or have heard of any 
similar cases, and of anything which I may 
do to relieve him, please let me know in 
Rural New-Yorker. w. p. r. m. 
St. Laurence Co., N Y. 
- 444 -- 
HORSE NOTES. 
A Horse that Hubs the Hair off his tail 
and legs so that they are raw, and seem to 
itch all the time, is owned by a subscriber in 
Onondaga Co., N. Y., who wants to know 
what lie shall do for him. The trouble is, 
evidently, mango, wliieh is identical with 
itch on the human body, and is caused by 
minute insects called acari. Wash the ani¬ 
mal in acetic acid and remove him from the 
stall in which he has been standing. Don’t 
put the horse back in the stall in wliieh he 
has stood, until thoroughly cleansed aud 
whitewashed. Wash the harness he has 
worn also. 
How to Make Hair Grow on a Wound on 
a horse that lias been kicked, causing a deep 
flesh wound which healed over quickly, but 
leaves a large, bare spot that disfigures the 
animul very much, is what M. E. W. asks 
for. In answer, wc give a remedy furnished 
some time ago by a correspondent:—Take 
an old boot or shoe, place it on a fire, burn to 
a coal, pulverize, and mix with hog’s lard to 
a thin paste. A few applications of tliis 
paste to the bare spots will do the work. 
Scratches on Horses .—Can any of the read¬ 
ers of the Rural tell by experience what 
will effect a permanent cure. Information 
wanted soon.—c. w. c. 
