OCT. 4 
give some facts ami figures showing what my 
Illinois friend lias done. But, first, let me re¬ 
peat the points which I claim in favor of 
Spring feeding, for they are of so much im¬ 
portance that they will bear repetition. 1st. 
The feeder who buys cattle the first of March 
for feeding, can usually buy as low (often 
lower) than if he bought three or four months 
earlier. 2nd. Cattle bought at this season 
will not shrink in weight at all, but will at 
once begin to gain, w hi In cattle bought in early 
Fall will often lose 100 pounds or more in the 
transition from grass to dry feed. 3rd. Cattle 
fed at this season of the year will come into 
market ahead of grass beef, when good cattle 
are scarce, and the price high, two or three 
weeks often making a difference of from 50 
cents to §1 per hundred in price. 4th, and 
most important of all, cattle that have been 
feil before going On grass long enough to give 
them a thrifty start, will make the greatest 
possible gain, as all the conditions are favora¬ 
ble—water is abundant and pure; there are no 
flies; the pasture is fresh and abundant, and if 
the cuttle are to he sold in June, t he pasture 
may be stocked twice as heavily as if they are 
to be feil all Summer. 
But I will give the experience of Mr. Deal, 
oif McLean Co,, Ill. He had been feeding cat¬ 
tle through the Winter, and selling them be¬ 
fore grass time in the Spring and found no 
profit in it, and in the Spring of 1877 he con¬ 
cluded to try a new plan. He put 55 steers 
in the feed lots on the 17th of February, and 
began light feeding, but got them on full feed 
before the end of March. He fed a peck of 
corn to each per day after they were turned 
to pasture, and sold them in 121) days from the 
beginning of feeding. His catllc averaged 
1,010 pounds when put up to feed, and 1,420 
pounds when sold, making a gain of 410 pounds 
each, or about pounds per day each. 
These cattle ate 1,500 bushels of corn, or about 
27 bushels apiece, and. although I have now 
mislaid the figures, 1 think they paid over (X) 
cents per bushel for the corn. 
The next year Mr. Deal fed 64 head of steers. 
He began feeding in February w ith cattle 
that were quite thin in flesh and averaged 
1,000 pounds. They were worth ?8.50 per 100, 
or $85 'mi-h. They were fed lightly till the 
first of April, and from that time till put on 
grass they were fed all the shock com they 
would eat clean. When turned on pasture 
feed boxes were provided and they were fed 
one peck of ear corn each per day. These cat¬ 
tle were kept until August, as they continued 
to gain well, and when sold averaged 1,536 
pounds, and brought $4.50 per 100 or $69.12 
per head. After allowing $1.25 per month 
for pasture and corn—the regular price at 
which it could be bought—and eight per cent, 
interest on the money invested, it leaves for 
labor and as profit on the money invested, 
$1,115.68. 
My own experience in feeding cattle, al¬ 
though limited, full}' confirms Mr. Deal’s idea 
that Spring feeding will give a profit when 
Fall and Winter fuelling will result in loss, for 
it seems that Spring is the natural period of 
growth In the animal as well as in the vegetable 
world, and it is by careful watching and tak¬ 
ing advantage of these favoring circumstances 
that wo get the greatest profit. It is absolute¬ 
ly necessary that the stock should be fed grain 
long enough before going on glass so as to 
give them a start. 1 should be very much 
pleased if many of the readers of the Rural 
would try this plan next Spring, if only with 
a single animal. Weigh your animal the first 
or middle of March, when you begin feeding 
grain, and make a note of its condition, ns to 
whether it is in low or moderate flesh. Weigh 
again when you turn it to grass, and a third 
time in a month. Measure or—what is better— 
weigh, all grain or meal fed and then send us 
the report. It will be read by all farmers with 
interest and profit. 
Butler Co., Ohio. 
@L\)t Siinnc-ijerti, 
SWINE JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOME¬ 
STEAD. 
There is nothing like a pasture for breeding 
sows to run in. All of our sows which lost 
their pigs last Spring while confined in pens, 
have had large litters of fine, strong pigs. 
They had nothing to eat but Orchard Gross 
and clover, and helped themselves to spring 
water in the field. They slept under the trees 
and by the side of the fences, and were let 
alone until a few days before pigging, when 
they wore put into a pen and given a little 
straw for a bed. One had her little family 
under a tree, and did well. If the field was 
large enough and the weather was good, sows 
might safely be left out for the young to be 
bora. 
The hot sun is injurious to young pigs and 
blisters their delicate skin. This gives them a 
stunt and is apt to make them grow crooked. 
A rain-storm and a damp bed are liable to 
give the mother a cold and milk fever; hence 
we prefer to house the mothers before the 
young ones are bora. A young pig won Id make 
a good meal for a fox, and when safely indoors 
they can be looked after with less trouble. 
A sudden change from grass to solid food is 
not healthful. It will make fever just at a 
time when it must be avoided. On this ac¬ 
count we make the change gradually, and 
give the sows green corn-stalks, apples, or 
some sort of vegetables with the solid food. 
Avoid corn and com-meal as much as possible, 
as they a re the worst food a sow with young 
pigs can liave. Wheat middlings is the best. 
The udders and nipples should be examined 
before yeaning, and if they are dirty they 
should be washed clean. If the sow is tame 
this can be done with a sponge; and if not, 
with a broom dipped in a pail of water. If 
any of the nipples are cracked or sore—and 
this is often the ease—they should be smeared 
with oil and healed up before the young pigs 
are put to nurse, or else the sow will be rest¬ 
less and either lie on them or tread on them. 
When the nipples are sore, a sow may be fe¬ 
rocious and attack the young ones and eat 
them up, as she imagines that they are the 
cause of the pain. Brim’s will scratch the 
udders and make them sore, and lying in the 
mud will poison them and cause them to crack. 
When there is a scanty supply of milk from 
the mother, little pigs may Vie taught to go 
into a separate pen and drink milk from a 
shallow vessel. They should be put by the 
vessel with their fore-feet in it, when they will 
smell the milk and soon begin to drink. The 
vessel and milk should be warmed before the 
experiment is tried. If the sow is cross or 
irritable, the pigs can be quietly pushed into 
the adjoining pen with a long stick, and so 
avoid nny excitement. They can also be 
moved around and into the vessel in the same 
manner without being frightened, when they 
will lie more likely to drink. A seared pig 
won’t drink, neither will it if the mother is 
making a fuss. 
Pigs are scarce and high all over the coun¬ 
try. Care will pay. F. D. Curtis. 
f arm Camomij, 
THE MASSACHUSETTS LAW OF 
TRESPASS. 
PROFESSOR F. H. STORER. 
The remarks on page 488 of the Rural, as 
to the necessity of legislation for the protec¬ 
tion of farmers living near towns and cities 
from the depredations of excursionists, are 
borne out by the Massachusetts act, which de¬ 
clares that : 
" Whoever, between the first day of April and the 
first dnv of December wilfully enters on or passes 
over or remains on any orchard, garden, mowing 
land, or other improved or Inclosed land of another, 
after being forbidden by the owner or occupant 
thereof, or by the authorized agent of said owner or 
occupant, either personally or by notice posted con¬ 
spicuously on the premises, shall he guilty of trespass, 
and shall be punished by fine not exceeding twenty 
dollars; and such fine shall not Via less than live dol¬ 
lars, if the offence I* committed on the Lord's Day. 
A person found In the act of committing the tres¬ 
pass described in the preceding section, may be ap¬ 
prehended by the Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, Constable, 
Watchman, or Police officer, without a, written war¬ 
rant, und kept lu custody in a convenient plaeo not 
more than 21 hours, Sundays excepted ; at or before 
tbo expiration of which time he shall be brought be¬ 
fore a trial juBtiee, police, municipal, or district 
court and proceeded against according to law, or 
discharged as the magistrate or court shall deter¬ 
mine." 
It has been sufficiently illustrated by Euro¬ 
pean experience that in proportion as a coun¬ 
try becomes densely populated, special pains 
must be taken to insure to the owners of crops, 
cattle and lands some small share of the pri¬ 
vacy and quiet which are essential to their 
happiness and success. The Massachusetts 
law is manifestly a stop in the right direction, 
and it is important as evincing a just recog¬ 
nition of some of the rights of landholders. 
But it is extremely doubtful whether the diffi¬ 
culties which the act seeks to do away with 
can be cured by legislative enactments alone, 
since no inconsiderable part of the annoyance 
and even of the actual loss to which suburban 
farmers are exposed, depends upon pure igno¬ 
rance and not upon malice. The average city 
child, or adult, even, lias absolutely no con¬ 
ception that it is wrong to walk through 
standing grass, for example, and it is not at 
all easy to convince him that “shooing” at. 
cows is an act at which anyone may justly 
take offence. The notion that animals may 
be disturbed by crossing their pastures would, 
of itself, never have occurred to him, for he 
does not reflect that actual molestations by 
previous visitors may have made the animals 
fearful and uneasy. He is. in general, bliss¬ 
fully unconscious of the fact that his move¬ 
ments and those of his fellows are of the same 
order as the constant dropping which wears 
the stone, and he fails to realize that the 
“ harmless ” thing lie may be doing has been 
already done over and over again, with mani¬ 
fold variations, by others; and that it will not 
fail to lie continued by his successors. Still, 
the general diffusion of the knowledge that 
there is a $20 fine for trespassing must work 
powerfully to hinder unconscious as well as 
conscious faults. 
It is probable anyway, that it will be easier 
for the farmer to keep city children out of his 
mowing tields than for the suburban resident 
to guard his lit tle lawn and borders against 
the over-grown boys “ from up country ” who 
have come down to serve his grocer, bis milk- 
man, and his provision dealer. Ten to one 
that each new grocer's boy, on his appearance, 
will drive over or walk over some cherished 
bit of grass, with as little compunction as if 
he were in his father's dooryard, and that he 
will continue to offend for a'considerable sea¬ 
son, Incessant exjtostulntion—judicious and 
injudicious, in season and out of season— 
seems to be the only known palliative for this 
most unnecessary annoyance. No certain 
cure for it has yot been discovered; and it. is 
noticeable that the country-bred boy has even 
a fainter conception than his city cousin of 
the difficulty or making anything grow that 
is exposed to constant contact with humanity. 
It would be well, undoubtedly, in populous 
neighborhoods, if people could acquire the 
habit of keeping off private land on all occa¬ 
sions. But. in the vicinity of Boston, at least, 
there is one circumstance well calculated to 
hinder this most desirable consummation. Ac¬ 
cording to the Massachusetts system, tbo farm 
lands in a township, as well as the shops and 
dwellings at the centers of business, are taxed 
for the creation and support of tea tor-works, 
systems of sewerage, police, the sweeping, 
paving and lighting of streets, and all the mul¬ 
tifarious necessities which arc incident to the 
craw tied population which exists at the cen¬ 
tral city, tow n, or village. At the same time, 
the farms are “ valued,” not on a basis of 
what they produce, but on some more or less 
wild estimate of w hat the kind could be sold 
for to speculative builders. There is apt to be 
considerable uncertainty, withal, as to how 
rapidly the rates of taxation and of valuation 
may be increased. In consequence of this 
most absurd condition of things, few people 
can afford to cultivate mediocre land in the 
vicinity of the city, and it happens that very 
considerable masses of lund are left idle; or, 
at Utebesl, the standing grass, such us can 
grow without any care or manure, is sold once 
a year at auction. But the existence of such 
uncared-for land, over which anyone may, 
practically, roam at his pleasure, tends natur- 
ally to bring all landed property into con¬ 
tempt; and it, will not be easy to teach people 
to respect mowing fields and pastures in Mas¬ 
sachusetts until this particular anomaly has 
been done away with. The example of Con¬ 
necticut, which has sought to protect farm¬ 
lands from unjust and burdensome taxation, 
might well be followed in the parent State. 
Sl)cq) ijitsbflTulnj. 
OUR ANIMAL PORTRAITS. 
Dudmaston Hero. 
For years the Shropshire Sheep have held 
a very high position in England both for the 
excellence of their fleeces and the superior 
quality of their meat which in some flocks, 
notably that of the late Marquis of Anglesea 
is more lik° venison than mutton. However, 
their popularity has been rapidly growing 
and the present high value set upon the best 
of them may be inferred from the fact that last 
year the subject of the accompanying illtis- 
ration, Dudmaston Hero, was hired for 160, 
guineas or $S13, while a couple of weeks ago 
he was sold, as a two-shear, at 200 guineas, or 
$1,016. With him bis late owner, Mr. Mansell, 
won the first premium at the late Royal Show 
at Derby. 
-- 
THE SHROPSHIRE SHEEP. 
HENRY STEWART. 
One of the most successful instances of cross¬ 
breeding sheep is the Shropshire. It presents 
itself just now in a pertinent and timely man¬ 
ner to those shepherds who are looking out for 
an excellent ram for breeding lambs or grade 
sheep for mutton and medium wool. For 
early market lambs there is no better stock 
ram than the Shropshire, for its lambs are 
stocky, hardy, fat, good feeders, of good size, 
and carry the so-mueb-desired smutty faces 
and legs. For mutton for domestic use or for 
the butcher, the half-bred Shropshire equals 
the South Down cross in quality, and it excels 
it in size and early maturity; while the fleece 
is heavier and of longer wool than that of the 
South Down, and equally available and desir¬ 
able for the country carding mill or for the 
wool buyer. It rivals the South Down and 
the Cotswold, and for the fanner’s use it sur¬ 
passes either. This quality, which is by no 
means inconsiderable, it derives from its pa¬ 
rentage. which is made up of both of these ex¬ 
cellent breeds, with a foundation of a hardy, 
long-established breed, known as “Morfe- 
Comrnon ” sheep. 
This original parent was a fine, short-wool 
sheep, horned and black-faced, which was 
kept on a large tract of land known as Morfe 
Common in England. It was very hardy and 
thrifty, and as long ago as 1792 liecame the 
chosen material upon which to found a series 
of improvements, by some of the shrewdest 
and most, enterprising breeders of that enter¬ 
prising period. The Cotswold was the first 
improved breed used, and after a good mix¬ 
ture bad been procured the South Down was 
used. In fact, the original sheep was about 
bred out entirely, being used chiefly as a vehi¬ 
cle for combining the blood f the Cotswold 
and South Down, and the re-- t was the Shrop¬ 
shire, which is for all purj. *s and to all ap¬ 
pearance a cross of these tv. t breeds. It is an 
enlarged South Down with longer and heavier 
fleece, retaining the fineness, compactness and 
rotundity of this breed, mingled with the 
larger frame, and longer, looser and more 
open fleece of the Cotswold. 
The Shropshire has been very carefully 
bred and continually improved during the long 
period which has. lapsed since its foundation; 
and, notwithstanding that fashions change 
and the exigencies of the business of breeding 
require a constant accession of novelties, it 
has retained its position in England as a pop¬ 
ular farmer's sbequ The “rent-paver” is a 
frequent title given it to distinguish it as a 
safe and trustworthy source of the most im¬ 
portant part, of the profits of a mixed farm, in 
which the production of mutton and lambs 
has a very large share. 
But we have far more to do with the ques¬ 
tion of its adaptability for American agricul¬ 
ture than with its popularity in other coun¬ 
tries. It is well that a breed of sheep should 
come to us with “ the highest references” and 
most encouraging testimonials. But we want, 
to know what place it will fill upon our farms. 
This question has fortunately been satisfac¬ 
torily settled. The Shropshire lias been tried 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores, in 
Canada, in Georgia, in Tennessee, in Missis¬ 
sippi and in Texas, and has failed nowhere. 
T T |xm mountains and upon plains; in the most 
luxuriant pastures, and with but sparse and 
scanty vegetation: with the wenltliv amateur, 
and the working, practical farmer, it has never 
gone back upon its friends. The appearance 
of the sheep is good and even attractive. They 
have the look of solid, hearty, contented 
sheep, and with only modernteiv good care 
have proved hardy arid easily acclimated. As 
a rule, our sheep hove to rough it. mil are 
never—or hardly ever—coddled und petted; 
and on this account, the less hardy kinds usu¬ 
ally come to grief in *i short time. The Shrop¬ 
shire, however, holds its own with the Merino 
and the *’ iron clad ” natives. But no Ameri¬ 
can farmer will find money in or out of a flock 
of pure Shropshire's, and* few will do so even 
with our own native American Merino. These 
sheep are profitable, first, tithe breeder who 
raises nuns fur the supply of the farmers, and 
second, to the farmers for the production of 
grade lambs and mutton sheep only, and this 
is a profitable and secure business. It is not 
an El Dorado exactly, but it pays better than 
money in bonds and mortgages and is equally 
SHROPSHIRE RAM, DUDMASTON^ HERO—FIG. 476. 
