are not able to buy, and have in consequence 
appealed to you to either write or speak to 
some heavy dealers in sheep to get them to 
let us have a flock on shares. The idea has 
bean in our minds some length of time, but 
we only to-day, for the first, could muster up 
courage and ask you, point-blank, to use your 
influence to further our ends. As to charac¬ 
ter, we refer to the Hon. Samuel Mabkr, 
the Mayor of Great Bend, Barton Co., Kan.; 
Geo. W. Nimocks, Esq., District Attorney ; 
Geo. W. Moses, Esq., County sheriff, or A. 
I. Buckland, Esq., merchant, all at Great 
Bend, Barton Co., Kan. Hoping to hear 
casionally, in wet seasons, seen them in 
numbers on low land from which the wood 
has lately been cleared and the ground burnt 
over. 
The snipe is considered by many, by reason 
of his rapid, zigzag flight when flushed, the 
hardest of our birds to shoot; and by others, 
not more so than tho woodcock, quail, or 
ruffed grouse, which are for the most part 
AMERICAN GAME BIRDS.-II 
WHAT I KNOW OF LONG-WOOLS 
THE COMMON SNIPE -SCOLOPAX WIISONIO. 
This species is so closely allied with the 
English snipe that by many they are consid¬ 
ered identical. They have the same irregu¬ 
lar flight, the same bleating note, and the 
same feeble squeals when they rise from the 
marshes ; but our snipe is smaller and has 16 
Under this head, a writer signing “ Penn¬ 
sylvania, ” gives his experience in the Live 
Stock Journal, as follows My experience 
with the so-called mutton sheep, from 1853 
to 1858, was attended with considerable 
trouble and loss, and 1 then thought I would \ 
attend to my other farm stock, and make up 
some of these losses ; afterwards the war 
closed, and wool was low in price, coarse 
wools were in the ascendancy, and as, for 
some reason, I still retained a fancy for a 
nice fat Cotswold or Leicester, I concluded 
to gather a flock of fifty of them. These I 
was enabled to get from Canada at a cost of 
from to ¥75 each, for lambs and ewes. 
In the lot were some beautiful animals, and 
all of them gave me great satisfaction. 
With this flock we spent much time for two 
years, and such grand feeders—a few of 
them seemed capable of eatiug the produce 
of a whole farm : and so prolific—from one 
to three lambs from each owe, and these so j 
fine—just to see them eat ! IIow easily in 
imagination we could change our feed to 
wool or mutton, and then into money ! One 
drawback we must mention, some would die, 
and then, again, wo could sell none of them. 
However, we followed it up for two years, 
and found tho deaths greater than the births ; 
so one day we concluded to hunt up a drover 
to buy them. We sold the entire lot, and 
received 159.25, and concluded to quit this 
profitable business. 
Several car loads were brought into this 
vicinity, and found ready sale at lower 
prices, and where in turn sold off at about 
the same proportion to investment. Many 
tried raising half-bloods; these must have 
been very satisfactory, for they soon aban¬ 
doned it. I must except one case near me ; 
that flock was bought at the same time as 
mine, although a smaller flock, and he yet 
persistently retains it. He seems attached 
to them, although they have not paid him 
very well. Their increase, and productive¬ 
ness are strikingly manifested, as that flock 
contains eleven of all ages, and of both sexes 
living last week, although I will not vouch 
for it to-day. He raised some half-bloods 
BITTER ROT IN APPLES. 
IT*,,, A portion of 
our orchar 1 are affected with 
... !.i them about the size of 
of wheat, just under the skin. The 
i more abundant u -ar the blossom 
end than elscwnere. The orchard producing 
these apples is situated about twenty rods 
from Lake Erie tuid the soil is clay. Part of 
thQ tr°.es &r© old (ind tlio remainder young’, 
standing in ground which has never been 
plowed. Tf you, nr anv of your correspon¬ 
dents, can name tho disease and give cause 
and preventive, the information will be 
thankfully received by—A SUBSCRIBER. 
The disease affecting your apples is doubt¬ 
lessly tfie well-known “Bitter Rot.” 1 he 
cause is unknown, but may be In part attrib¬ 
uted to neglect in culture ns well m uncon¬ 
genial sols and localities. Borne varieties 
are more subject, to the disease than others, 
and the only cure or even lessening of the 
number of diseased fruit must cojoc through 
a better care of the trees. Plow the land, 
adding manure and, if the orchard is worth 
tho cost, put in tile drains every forty or 
sixty feet. Underdraining any clay soil will 
rimiKio ih=» value for other crops as well as 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker 
the apples in 
brown, hitter spots in 
a grain 
Spots are 
L..1 f. . 
these apples 
1ST SISTXTPE. 
The snipe is found throughout the whole 
of America, from Hudson’s Bay to the equa¬ 
tor, and is exceedingly abundant in W estetn 
and Southern districts during winter, great 
quantities gathering at that season in the 
extensive rice fields of the latter region. 
Its bill is brown, twice as long as the head, 
straight, depressed, soft and flexible, the 
sides with a narrow groove extending to the 
tip, which is black, obtuse and probe-Uke; 
both mandibles covered, after death, with 
reticular depressions, leaving small promin¬ 
ences between them ; head small and oblong, 
with roundish forehead and hazel-colored 
iris ; neck short; body full ; legs slender and 
of moderate length ; toes very slender, free, 
slightly roargmed beneath ; feet bluish-gray, 
with arched, acute, dusky claws. Its plum¬ 
age is soft,, full and blended ; wings of mod¬ 
erate length, narrow and sharp; tail short, 
rounded, of 16 rounded feathers. 
The crown is black, divided by an irregular 
line of pale brown and another of the 
same tint passes over each eye ; neck pale 
reddish brown, spotted with brownish black. 
General color of upper parts brownish black, 
variegated with pale, reddish brown ; tail 
feathers brownish black at base, with a 
broad, sub-terminal band of brownish red on 
the outer web of the two middle and on both 
from you at your earliest convenience, i re¬ 
main, respectfully yours, B. E. Byrne. 
Clarenoe Post-office, Barton Co., Kan. 
As will be seen, the foregoing is a private 
letter to the Editor ; but under tho circum¬ 
stances we choose to publish it, that any of 
our readers who have more sheep than they 
want mav out, themselves in communication 
WOOL GROWING IN NEBRASKA 
tliority among our flock-masters, I take 
tho liberty of calling the attention of your 
many wool-growing readers to the advantage 
this section (Southeastern Nebraska) offers 
to the flock-master. Our fine pasturage, 
cheap lands, favorable soil, andlay of country, 
climatic influences, water <fec., all favor the 
success of this pursuit, ; and with the same 
care and skill exercised by successful Eastern 
flock masters it can be made a success beyond 
question, and that, too, at far less expense 
than in the Eastern States. We have excel¬ 
lent Church and school advantages, there 
being over fifty good school buildings in this 
county, and a fine graded school at this 
place. 
Believing that wool-growing in this vicinity 
would be of service to our country, and a 
source of profit to the owner, 1 will gladly 
answer any and all correspondence relative 
to our country or the interest in question. 
Pawnee City, Nob. John L. Marshall. 
P0M0L0G1CAL NOTES. 
Seidel Apple .—'This is a. variety brought 
to public notice by J. S. Keller, Orwigs- 
burg, Pa.., through tho Practical Farmer, 
who’ says of it:—“ I grafted it some years 
ago. Besides the excellent quality of this 
apple, it bears regularly every .year ; is good 
in November and keeps till February 
March inacool, moist cellar 
begins to I- 
and 
March inacool, moist cellar. When the fruit 
• take its beautiful red color, the tree 
is quite ornamental up to tho time ol [lick¬ 
ing.” The Editor Of the Farmer adds: 
“ With the above description, we received a 
small box of the Seidel apple. They are 
roundish oblate in form, rather under me¬ 
dium size but very beautiful in appearance, 
of a bright scarlet color, so as to be attract¬ 
ive as a dessert fruit. The core is small and 
as the specimens sent us are fully ripe, we 
find them mellow throughout bnt rather dry 
to our tuste. The flavor was such as to indi¬ 
cate that they might have been buried or 
absorbed something from tho box or straw, 
where kept, not natural to tho apple. As 
being highly ornamental, the Seidel deserves 
a place with other attractive varieties for the 
dessert table.” 
Banana s in Florida .—At a recent meeting 
of the Florida Fruit Growers’ Society, 
Bananas grown at Palatka, by A. L. Eichel- 
berger were exhibited. He has been grow¬ 
ing them since 1852, and now has 12 acres of 
the “Florida Banaua” in cultivation. He 
grows three varieties. He cuts the bunches 
ohinmmt, from the stock when the fruit 
SHEEP WANTED ON SHARES 
I am located oil the frontier of Kansas with 
eight in family.* We hold between us a half 
section of land just seven mile? north of Paw¬ 
nee Rock Depot on the Atchison, Topeka and 
Santa Fe R.R., and just fourteen miles west 
of Great Bend, and have been located here 
going on two years. I need hardly add that 
our entire crops were completely destroyed 
by the grasshoppers, and tbatin consequence 
thereof we have passed through a fearful 
ordeal—a struggle really for life. But thank 
God for his goodness ; we are here and all 
alive yet and, taking everything into consid¬ 
eration, I think I can safely say we are in 
good spirits. True, we have been tried in a 
fiery furnace ; we have been checked, but uot 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Luster Sheep , a New Breed .—At a recent 
exhibition in Bremen, a fleece was exhibited 
from South Australia of a yearling ram, 
which was so remarkable for its fine silky 
luster and softness, and the unusual length 
(over five inches) of the smooth, fine wool, as 
well as for its beautiful, almost dazzling 
whiteness, that all were satisfied that a fine, 
firm yarn, and very superior cloth, could be 
made from it. It was stated that it was a 
result of in-and-in breeding of Negretti sheep 
with Leicester (Lincoln) rams ; the number 
of generations required was not stated, how¬ 
ever. 
Origin of Cotswold Sheep. —Mr. Smith, a 
prominent handler of sheep, at Westend, 
Eng., has this opinion of the origin of this 
now famous breed “ The Cotswold sheep 
are supposed to derive their names from the 
‘ cots’ or sheds from which they were fed in 
winter and from the * wolds’ or open hilly 
grounds on which they were pastured in 
summer. I believe them to be the original 
breed of the long-wool sheep, as they are 
continually spoken of from the earliest times, 
when no other sheep are noticed.” 
Lice and Ticks on Sheep .—Will some one 
1 give in the Rural New-Yorker a safe rem¬ 
edy to apply in winter for lice and ticks on 
sheep and lambs ; also for lice on cattle ?—? 
C, B, 
olive color, speckled with different shades oi 
brown. The young leave the nest as soon as 
hatched. 
Snipe appear when the frost is out of their 
feeding grounds, and tarry for a while be¬ 
fore passing on to their more Northern 
breeding places, though a few remain and 
raise their young as far South as Pennsyl¬ 
vania. They are with us again in force in 
autumn, stopping to feed and rest on their 
way South, and not entirely deserting the 
Northern States till their feeding grounds 
are frozen. 
Frank Forester says:—“When their 
breeding season is at hand the birds have a 
trick of rising perpendicularly into the air, 
and then letting themselves ch op a hundred 
feet plumb down through the air, with tho 
quills of their wings set edgewise, making a 
strange sound, which, once heard, cannot be 
mistaken, and is known as drumming ; nor 
do I know of a worse omen to the sports¬ 
man, since at thesq moments the birds are 
inconceivably wild.” 
Tho snipe feeds on aquatic insects and 
small worms ; the latter he obtains by prob¬ 
ing the soft earth with his long, sensitive 
bill, and so his favorite feeding grounds are 
marshy tracts, where the sedges and tus¬ 
socks of wild grass ftre interspersed with 
^ -X- 
