SHEEP IN THE UNITED STATES 
DAIRY NOTES 
Dogs causa the farmers of some districts 
to discontinue the keeping of sheep ; bad 
fences prevent many from raising this val¬ 
uable variety of live stock; and a system of 
farming which admits < f no pasture for 
some parts of the year, and nothing to keep 
them in line, healthy, growing condition 
through the winter, puts it out of the power 
of others to do any good with a flock; con¬ 
sequently there is no general kind of sheep 
husbandry, and there uro hundreds of be¬ 
nighted beings who actually believe that 
Bheep are injurious to the land. 
Thu Merino is the breed which answered 
best under former management in those 
parts where sheep were regularly kept, be¬ 
cause they bear the being kept altogether 
without separating the different ages; but the 
low price tho carcass makoa for mutton jus¬ 
tices a good deal which is said against tho 
prolit of sheep. The Down, of several varie¬ 
ties are in different States, but are rarely 
kept in numbers sufficient to prove their 
value for increasing the fertil it y of the soil; 
and those who possess them, or indeed any 
of the pure, loug-wooled varieties, instead of 
systematically keeping the females to pass 
through a regular course and disposing of 
them as they arrive at a certain age, adver¬ 
tise to sell any time, and allow purchasers to 
pick out as they please. 
Doubtless tho time is not far distant when 
tho best long wool, and all sheep excepting 
flocks where rams are raised as a specialty, 
will bo raised and brought rounds to a cer¬ 
tain ago and sold for mutton, and the wool 
and tho mutton will bo a regular stated in¬ 
come, while, at tho same time, the good food 
grown and fed on the farm to produce so 
much wool and multou will go back to the 
soil and increaso tho yield of every crop. 
Tho continual selling of corn and grain, 
and keeping little live stock, and the few 
animals there are eating naught but tho less 
marketable produce, will, as a matter of 
course, soon bring the soil to the lowest 
depths of poverty; but if, instead of sending 
away tho heart of the land in tho shapo of 
tho produoe mentioned, it were eaten witli 
other fodder, the meat and wool made, over 
and above former quantities, would bring 
more money, and a good deal more after tho 
increased fertility of the farm had forced 
heavier crops, which in turn would give 
greater weight to the sheep, and also allow 
Of a great many more being bred, reared 
and fattened. 
This is how sheep would help agriculture 
in tho United States. Shoot all the hateful 
race of useless eurs, make good fences, and 
crop the land in such a studied rotation that 
there would be abundance of seasonable nu¬ 
tritious food all the year round, then, by 
judiciously placing the flock in such a way 
as to make the dung and urine tell on suc¬ 
ceeding crops, and parting them into flocks 
of young together MUl old together, those of 
one sex by themselves, and those of the op¬ 
posite sex would do better as well. All 
sheep require such attention as this, and 
likewise a careful consideration of their com¬ 
fort in every respect. Then sheep husbandry 
would go hand in hand with the best system 
of farming in every part of tlm United States. 
A Working Farmer. 
A correspondent living in the vicinity of 
Kansas City sends us the following ques¬ 
tions, which ho desires answered: 
1. Is there most money in cheese at 20 
cents or butter at 40 cents pet pound! 
2. What n umber of cows can one man prop¬ 
erly milk and feed with good bams, stalls, &c. 
3. In what way can I most likely get in 
correspondence with a man who is an ex¬ 
perienced butter-maker? 
4. What wages are generally given such 
in butter districts in New York 1 
5. Would it be best for me to hire such 
man by the month or year, or furnish him 
cows, feed, pasture and everything that is 
necessary in way of buckets, churns, milk- 
house, &e., and give him so much per pound 
for the butter made. 
6. I have 200 acres of land—110 acres in 
pasture, ■well watered, and 90 acres in clover 
and timothy. How many cows can I prop- 
peiiy keep upon it—of course in winter to 
feed hay and bran or meal ? 
Kansas City is a good market, and I have 
sold the butter from 25 cows during the past 
summer at 40 cents per pound. 
I. Wo should say that ordinarily cheese at 
20 cents would be u better business than but¬ 
ter at 40 cents per pound. We refer now of 
course to the usual manner in which dairy¬ 
ing is conducted, whether for butter or 
cheese, and where the native or common 
cows of the country arc employed for the 
purpose of supplying milk. • Taking the 
average of the season, 10 pounds of milk 
from such cows arc taken to make one pound 
of cured cheese—that is cheese ready for 
market. In some instances the average is a 
little less than 10 pounds, the range being 
from 9 to 10 of milk for one pound of mar¬ 
ketable cheese. In butter making wo think 
the average would be nearly if not quite 25 
pounds of milk forone of butter. Dairymen 
usually reckon in this way in estimating the 
quantity of milk requisite for the two pro¬ 
ducts. Still wo have records where the 
average lias been reduced to 22 pounds of 
milk for one of butter, and sometimes as low 
as 20 pounds of milk to the pound of butter 
has been reached. If tho average quantity 
of milk for a pound of butter is only double 
that for cheese, then the same amount of 
money would be obtained from the product 
whether it bo butter at 40 cents or cheese at 
20 cents. There is perhaps a little *moro 
labor in butter making than in cheese mak¬ 
ing, but tho sour milk resulting from the 
one is more valuable than tho whey from 
tho other, so that on tl e whole, all things 
considered, there would not be much to bo 
gained whether the one or the other was 
adopted. 
II. In some of the- large dairies in New 
York a man will milk 20 cows night and 
morning through the season, but t his num¬ 
ber is much above the average. The milk¬ 
ing should not be delayed too long, and 
usually from 10 to 15 eow8 will be all that is 
considered profitable for one person to milk. 
A good milker will turn off fvorn 10 to 12 
cows per hour, and if the work is done rap¬ 
idly and thoroughly it is about as much as 
one cares to do when the cows arc in full 
milk. There is u great difference in the 
capacity of men in milking. With sopic the 
muscles of tho hands begin to relax and be¬ 
come weak and tired after milking It) or 12 
cows, and when this is tho cane the person 
should not bo required to milk regularly a 
larger number, since the work is not likely 
to be done in the be d; manner, besides the 
hands may be injured by the overstrain if 
continued from day to day. Instances pf 
this kind are not unfrequent, and sometimes 
so seriouB as to incapacitate the person from 
milking for weeks. From 12 to 15 cows, we 
should say, would be about, the number tl at 
a man would mi'k profitably, and ii the 
number above that was increased we should 
expect a loss in milk from delay and lack of 
thoroughness in milking some of the cows 
last handled. Of course in properly con¬ 
structed barns and stables a man could feed 
and take charge of a large herd of cows. 
IIL A good way to get in correspondence 
with butter makers is to advertise the kind 
of work lobe performed, &e., &e.: or to at¬ 
tend some of die dairy conventions in New 
York and other States, where many persons 
are present seeking situations. By obtain¬ 
ing a list of the butter factories in New York 
and addressing the proprietors of the same, 
good hands would be likely to l ie obtained. 
IV. The wages of butter makers vary, ac¬ 
cording to the work required, the capacity 
£00 to 500 cows delivering milk, manufac¬ 
turers making butter by the pound got from 
four to five cents per pound for the work. 
For a small number of cows we prosumo the 
rate would bo larger. If it is proposed to 
run simply a farm dairy of 50 to iO cows, 
perhaps the more ecouoin leal course would 
bo to employ a good dairymaid, one who 
understands butter making thoroughly, pay¬ 
ing her by the week. They can generally be 
had at cheaper rates than men. 
VI. This is a question which no due can 
answer satisfactorily without knowing defi¬ 
nitely concerning the productiveness of the 
lard and its general adaptation to dairy pur¬ 
poses. In New York tho best grass farms, 
when under good management, will carry a 
cow to three acres, together with the neces¬ 
sary teams for working the farm, and per¬ 
haps a little young stock. But take the 
average of farms in some of oar best dairy 
sections and it, takes from four to five acres 
for the summer and winter keep of a cow. 
Of course it is understood that on most 
farms there is more or less broken land. 
Perhaps a few acres of wood-land, while the 
teams for working tho farm and perhaps a 
few sheep or young stock arc kept, for which 
no account ii taken in tho estimate. Then 
there is a great difference in the manage¬ 
ment of daily farms. Some men will grow 
roots largely, or fodder-corn, dr seme other 
forage crop, and thus carry stock through 
on a less number of acres than when only 
grass and hay are relied upon. 
PROPOSED SCALE OF POINTS FOR 
JER8EYS. 
L. M. L., Philadelphia, sends the following 
to the Journal of tho Farm : 
1. Udder, must run well under the belly, 
extend well back between tho thighs with 
teats well apart, of good size pointing 
downwards, - -- -..-3 
2. Escutcheon run wide on thighs, and 
wide up to the vulva of the cow, bo com¬ 
posed of fine velvety upward running hairs 
wliich are to bo free from interruption by 
descending hairs cr tufts of hairs, - - 3 
3. Milk veins muBt bo large, terminating 
well towards the girth, - - - - 3 
4. Hoad, small, dishud rather long, wide 
between eyes, contracted at the base of 
horns, -------- 3 
5. Eyes, large, black miid, orbit well de¬ 
veloped, lids either black or brown, - - 3 
fj. Muzzle small, mealy in color, - - 3 
7. Nostrils well open, - - 3 
S. Nose black or slaty in color, - - - 3 
9. Tongue either black or white, - - 3 
10. Bars small, thin, and yellow inside - 3 
11. Horns, fine, crumpled or curved in¬ 
ward, amber at base, black points, - -3 
13. Cheeks lean,.3 
13. Neck lean, rather long, fine adjunc¬ 
tion with head, free from dewlap, - -3 
14. Breast rather contracted, - - -3 
15. Shoulders lean, not too high, - - 3 
10. Girth contracted, - - - - - 3 
17. Ba«k straight, - - - - - 2 
18. Ribs well arched,.3 
19. Paunch large,.3 
20. Flank deep,.- 3 
21. Loins wt-le, ------ 3 
22. Hips wide, -.3 
23. Rump long ami level, - - - - 3 j 
2-1,. Thighs wide, thin, standing well 1 
apuVt, - -- -----3 
25. Tail set high, level from hips to droop, 
tapering, - - - - - - - ' - 3 
20. Legs, short, fine in bone, - - - 3 
27. Hoof, small, black or black and 
white. - - - - - - - - 3 I 
28. Bony structure, fine, delicate, - - 3 
29. Bkin, yellow, thin and pliable to the 
touch, ....----3 
80. Hair, soft and velvety, - - - 3 
81. Colors, fawn, gray, black, or fawn and 
white, block and white or a blending of all 
these colors, - - - - - -3 
Total counts for perfection, - - 98 
To obtain the specific value of each of these 
points, the Figs. 12 3 shall be used ; 1 de¬ 
noting a poor development, 2 a good one, 
and 3 an extra fine development. Therefore, 
a cow counting 63 or more on scale should 
be entitled to a first premium. One counting 
93 on scale will not only bo entitled to first 
premium but shall also be. branded on each 
horn with A. J. C. C. (Am erican Jersey 
Cattle Club). ProvisoWhere a cow hiis 
| counted 3 on udder on scale, ami where her 
whole count is no less than 50, she may also 
be awarded a premium for merit. 
Heifers are to lie judged same as cows de¬ 
ducting 2 for udder and 3 for milk veins, her 
counts on scale for first premium, 58. 
Bulls tiro to be judged same as heifers, 
with deduction of 3 for udder and 2 for milk 
veins. Counts on scale 58. 
The Escutcheon I propose dividing into 
four ordersThe first to comprise all es¬ 
cutcheons running wide on thigh* of cows 
and descending wide, with up-running liairs 
I to the vulve, without interruption. 
The second order to Comprise all escut¬ 
cheons extending well on thighs and ascend¬ 
ing but partly towards the vulva. 
The third order Bhall apply to all escut¬ 
cheons well developed on thighs, but ter¬ 
minating abruptly on reaching the upper 
part of the udder. 
The fourt h order to be applied to all es¬ 
cutcheons differing in their course, or which 
- shall be interrupted by ascending or de- 
Tho same may I scending hairs or tufts of hairs. 
MODES OF KILLING ANIMALS, 
Dr. Slade, Prof, of Veterinary Science at 
Bussey Institute, Harvard College, recently 
read a paper before the Massachusetts Board 
of Agriculture upon this subject, from which , 
wo extract what followsr- Dr. Slade spoke , 
on the subject of killing domestic animals, 
both for food and to relievo them of the I 
burden of life, in case of disease or old age. J 
Animals for food urc killed in Several different 
ways :—by striking a blow on the head that 
stuns the animal, followed by immediate 
bleeding ; by driving a sharp needle or thin 
knife through the neck, severing the spinal j 
cord, called pithing ; by cutting the threat, j 
as practiced by tho Jews. Many experiments 
have been made to determine the most liu- | 
mane method of taking life, and to learn 
, what is death and when it occurs. 
Severing the head from the body with a j 
knife, as by the guillotine, does not cause 
instant death. The body has two motions, 
those which are voluntary, and those which 
} are involuntary. Bodily motions arc not sure 
I indications of pain. There may be pain witli- 
CARE OF OLD SHEEP 
It is a very common tiling among farmei's ’ 
who keep sheep to have a lot of old run-down 
ewes which are either let die during tho 
winter or are sold for a mere trifle. In my 
practice it has been an object with me to 
uvohl either of these. By sortirg out such 
as present a run -down appearance, or show 
signs of old age, And putting them by them- 
sulves, with a little grain being fed during 
the early fall months, they can be got into 
good condition for wintering, and by being 
fed a little extra may be made fit for the 
butcher by shearing time. If this course is 
pursued from year to year it will be a great 
help toward improving tho flock, besides 
amply repaying for all the trouble and ex¬ 
pense incurred. — Cur. Germantown Telo- 
yruph. 
Clipping Sheep Twice a Year.— A corres¬ 
pondent of the Department of Agriculture 
says “The shearing of sheep twice a year 
diminishes the amount of wool, as 1 ltavo 
satisfied myself by experiment. One fleece, 
annually shorn in the spring will weigh more 
than both tho full and spring - fleeces from 
the same sheep.” 
