APRIL 30 
287 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
It will be noticed that the yield of Norbiton’s 
Giant this year, as well as last, is larger than 
that of the Yellow Globe. The greatest yield 
of any single plot (Carter's) was 15.360 pounds 
per acre greater than that from the Norbiton’s 
Giant plot, which was the next highest. Super¬ 
phosphates, instead of increasing the yield, 
appeared to diminish it, not through any infe¬ 
riority of the superphosphates, but owing, as 
I judge, to the excess of lime in the soil, which 
causes them to pass quite back into their orig¬ 
inal insoluble condition. 
My experiments already point to the fact 
that superphosphates do far more good the 
second year lhau the first on our land and ou 
all lands that have an excess of lime. This 
points towards the economy of using phos¬ 
phoric acid in a form not too soluble. This 
explains, I think, why no increase of yield is 
produced by the application of these fertilizers. 
The actual diminution is caused, without 
doubt, by the phosphate taking up the moist¬ 
ure that the seeds require to cause them to 
germinate. There has been eutirely too indir- 
criminate use of superphosphates, aud if the 
scores of experiments with them conducted 
at the University, in which not one in a score 
has given any marked increase, arc studied 
carefully, i trust it will induce more farmers 
“to prove all things," and in spite of darning 
hand-bills and persistent agents, “hold on only 
to that which is good.” I believe the super¬ 
phosphates applied to lands rich in lime are 
far from being lost, aud it is merely a matter 
»f dollai 8 and cents whether these expensive 
fertilizers can be applied profitably when the 
returns come iu so slowly. 
It shouid be taken into account, in arriving 
at conclusions, that the superphosphates in the 
above experiments cost but about one-tbird as 
much per acre as the farm manures. The 
farm-yard manures cost very nearly $2 per 
cord. This is expending $1 per ton for fertil¬ 
izers alone, and adds quite largely to the cost 
of the roots, but it must be remembered that 
this laud is now in a condition to produce, in 
an average season, 35 I ushels of wheat or 80 
bushels of corn per acre. My former experi¬ 
ments lead me to expect that the superphos- 
phated plots will fall considerably below this, 
but will show an increase over the unfertilized 
plots. 
The salt appears to have had a marked effect, 
raising the normal yield of 30,160 pounds to 
30,860 pounds. Tne continuous use of the 
amount named above on clayey land for three 
years caused it to become very hard and lumpy 
and quite unproductive. After experimenting 
with salt for seven years my judgment is that 
it is usually beneficial to almost any crop in a 
dry season, and may be used liberally on 
sandy* gravelly, dry soils, but should not be ap¬ 
plied continuously, or iu large quantities, on 
heavy or wet lands. 
■-♦- 
BATIN GRASS. 
(Muhlenbergia giomerata ) 
This grass has no common name except 
those given in certain limited localities, and 
such names are of little value. One such 
name is “Wild Timothy," another “Satin 
Grass.” It is a rather striking grass, quite 
easily recognized and to most people it looks 
as though it were valuable. I have often been 
asked to name it, aud I am glad to see a good 
cut of it. It is indigenous to bogs, marshes 
and dry, s&Ddy barrens, especially northward. 
Its presence is no indication of improvement 
in a marsh and no indication that our com¬ 
mon grasses will grow iu the same place. 1 he 
grass is sparingly branched ; the stem quite 
hard and woody, especially near the base. 
.The panicle is contracted into an interrupted 
lead-colored spike about three inches long. 
Experiments testing its feeding qualities are 
not yet to be fouud iu any of our books. 1 
have never seen it growing anywhere in great 
quantity, the plants usually appearing scat¬ 
tered here aud there among sedges and other 
grasses. Professor W. J. Beal. 
-- 
A Small Patch of Heels. 
As a garden crop I find this quite profitable. 
I have always sowu them quite thick, as the 
thinnings were in good demand for greens, but 
last season they were entirely worthless for 
this purpose, as there were worms in the 
leaves. They were hard to discover until the 
greens wore cooked whensmall white maggots 
appeared so plentifully as to entirely destroy 
our appetites for beet greens. As soon as I 
found the beets were worthless for greens, I 
thinned out the bed, leaving the beets about 
three inches apart, 1 planted Egyptian Beets 
aud Bastiati llolf-long Beets which 1 recom¬ 
mend very highly, the first for earliness aud 
the second for quality. When the beets were 
about half-grown l pulled them aud tied them 
up iu bunches aud sold them at a good, round 
profit. 1 then set the ground to cabbages, aud 
they were a good crop. This Summer 1 intend 
to bow some of the early varieties late—about 
the 1st of July—to see if 1 can get a good quali¬ 
ty of Winter beets. Adelbekt Wakefield. 
ttskit&rjr. 
MORE ABOUT WINTERING SHEEP. 
J. S. WOODWARD. 
The many questions of Mr. Wilson, of Fay¬ 
ette Go.. Pa., which the Rural refers to me, 
can best be answered by a short article which 
shall cover the various points. 
Baiins. —Our barn is 76 by 8a feet, having 
au above-ground basement under the whole; 
this is divided into 16 pens or four rows of four 
pous in each row divided by two alleys In 
addition there is a lean-to 26 by 76 feet with a 
basement also, aud the floor above is also used 
as a feeding floor. These are both divided 
into pens, giving sixteen more pens 11 by 18 
feet, whieh are used for feeding and shearling 
lambs. 
Water. —The whole is supplied with a 
system of water pipes running overhead in the 
basement part and under the floor in the 
feeding-room above, and these pipes are 
supplied from a large tank elevated 20 feet and 
filled by means of a wind engine and pump. 
Water is drawn into a trough in each pen, 
which is four feet long, four inches deep and 
eight inches wide, aud kept constantly full, as 
each cock is allowed to drip just enough for 
that purpose. 
Graining —The sheep are put into these 
pens j ust as soon as frost deadens the pastures 
and before cold weather, and are kept there 
minoids. Still we prefer all three in the mix¬ 
ture. At present we are mixing three bags of 
corn, two of oil-meal, and two of bran, hay¬ 
ing bought at last Fall's prices. 
SPIKELET OF SATIN GRASS.—FIG. 223. 
Racks —We use several styles of raeks, and 
for some purposes we like one best and for 
another, another; but lor general purposes 
we like a rack that is so made that hay or 
straw, roots and grain are all fed from the 
6 ame place. For breeding ewes and lambs a 
rack having a slatted Y-shaped place above for 
forage and at the bottom ou each side a V- 
shaped trough for grain aud roots, suits us 
best. 
Roots.—W e have no more trouble to teach 
the sheep to eat roots, than we have in the 
house to teach children to eat sugar. There 
is no teaching about it—they take to them nat¬ 
urally. The lambs, if they can get at a man¬ 
gel, will scoop it out aud eat it long before they 
will eat hay. We feed mangels twice each 
day; they are cut with a root-eutter that 
SATIN GRASS— MUHLE NBERGIA GLOMBUATA.—FIG. 232. 
constantly until they are ready for market. 
We commence to grain as soon as they are 
put into the pens, beginning with a very light 
ration aud gradually increasing it until we 
feed all they will eat with a good relish. 
Nothing about us is ever allowed to go hungry 
to “lean a streak of fat.” We mix bran, oil 
meal aud corn together but have no fixed 
formula. Sometimes oil-meal is cheaper than 
bran and theu we feed more oil-meal; and 
so if bran is cheaper we feed more bran. We 
flud we can do very well feeding corn aud oil- 
meal with a little bran, or coru aud bran with 
a little oil-meal. The great fattener is corn, 
and the bran or oil-meal furnishes the albu¬ 
scoops them out with a circular knife which 
breaks them all up into little pieces about as 
large as a walnut. A pen of 20 sheep to do 
well should have two bushels of mangels each 
day. 
Kind of Sheep.—O f all the sheep we have 
ever fed. we like Merino grades best—they are 
quieter and will bear close yarding, and do 
much lees fighting than other sorts. If we 
feed wethers we like them to be from three to 
five years old and to weigh, when put in, as 
near 100 pounds as we eau get them. This 
class we do not feed all Winter, but we hurry 
them aloug to sell them in February or March 
to make room for our lambs, and we usually 
get them bv this time to weigh from 125 to 130 
pounds. Coarse-wooled sheep will not bear 
being put in such large flocks either in the barn 
or in the pasture after we have bought them 
and before penning time. 
We feed a good many shearlings, that is, 
lambs coming one year old. Like grades pro¬ 
duced by using a Cots wold or South Down 
buck with a Merino ewe, we can make these 
run over 100 pounds by March 15th, aud find 
rearing them to pay us much better than 
wether feeding. 
Cost of Feeding.— It will cost to keep a 
wether on full feed, for grain, hay and roots, 
counting roots at four cents per bushel (which 
is more than mine cost), 50 cents per month, 
saying nothing about the attendance which 
is much more thau offset by the manure. So, 
if we keep a wether lour months, the advance 
must be $2. to get out even, or for five months, 
$2.50. We should be satisfied if we got our 
money back paying for everything that is fed, 
because we get such a large quantity of very 
excellent manure; but we have always done 
better, even in the worst years making a fair 
profit. But we find the rearing of W.nter 
lambs much the most profitable. We olten 
make the gain of ewes pay the entire cost of 
keep ng and get the lambs, wuich tell for from 
four to six dollars each, as clear profit, and 
when we can do that it is a very momy-and- 
manure-making business. But let me say 
tight here, as little as some learned professors 
tbiuk of mangels, any man who attempts to 
raise early lambs for market without au 
abundant supply is a fool, however learned 
he may be. 
Lameness. —It is possible to feed sheep so 
irregularly and carelessly as to founder them 
the same as a horse is foundered; but the 
most cases of lameness are caused by the pens 
not being well littered or by not keeping close 
watch over the sheep. If you see a sheep 
showing lameness, catch it at once and exam¬ 
ine its feet and clean between the toes, aud if 
there is any symptom of rot. separate the ani¬ 
mal at once from the flock and treat it for 
foot-rot. 
General Remarks.— Feeding sheep requires 
more care than any other branch of stock¬ 
growing. To succeed you must have system 
and regulariiy and be punctual in all opera¬ 
tions. The sheep know as well as a clock will 
tell wheu feeding time has come, and they 
want their feed just then, and if you wish to 
be successful you must be on time They 
should also be kept very quiet. Never allow a 
dog in sight of the pen, and don't show 
strangers around any more than courtesy re¬ 
quires. The great secrets of success are, va¬ 
riety of foods, plenty of roots, prompt care, 
warmth of barns, good ventilation, plenty of 
fresh water, cleanliness of rack and trough, 
quietness, and, above all. a gentle, loving shep¬ 
herd. 
— ■ ■ - - M* -- 
Close Confinement of Sheep. 
Having formerly had considerable experi¬ 
ence in wintering sheep, I desire to express 
my concurrence, generally, in the ideas ex¬ 
pressed by J. S. Woodward in the Rural of 
Feb. 5, iu relation to the above subject, and to 
state a faet in my own experience:—Some¬ 
where about the year 1845,1 had ou hand some 
250 fiue-wooled sheep, whieh l purposed to 
attempt to winter. Some of them were rather 
old, aud others feeble from other causes. 
I put up a temporary shed of posts aud loose 
boards in the corner of the yard, aud inclosed 
a 6mall space iu from of it for their feeding 
ground in fine weather. I selected 20 of the 
most feeble ones from the main flock, such as 1 
judged were not strong enough to compete 
successfully with the stronger ones, and put 
them iu that yard at the commencement of 
Winter, and did not allow them to go out ot it 
once during the season, which was a very se¬ 
vere one. I was particular to furnish them 
with good hay. aud a fair feed of roots, each 
day. The result was they actually gained iu 
flesh finely all Winter, aud all came out in the 
Spring vigorous aud in fine condition. Had 
I allowed them to run at large with the 
main flock, no doubt I should have lost a ma¬ 
jority of them. As It was, 1 did not lose one. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. “ Clinton." 
m gasman. 
NOTES BY A STOCKMAN. 
The fighting Irishmen at the noted Donny- 
brook Fair go on the principle of “whenever 
you see a head hit it; never mind if it is your 
own father’s; he must look out for Ms own." 
1 like to act on this principle. I want to tell the 
truth and let consequences regulate themselveB 
as they may. 1 know the Rural desires the 
truth should always be told. We must all 
stand on that foundation or we must fall. 
Therefore I have to say that when the 
Rural (March 19, page 192), in its column of 
Brevities says, “ Cows’ milk causes worms” in 
puppies, it inadvertently (and 1 know unin- 
