-JUNE 23 
a 
331 
suggestions in this connection, and as they are, 
in a great measure, applicable here also, we 
transfer them to these columns. Ho says: 
" Unfortunately, there are no official returns 
showing the annual mortality among the Hocks 
which contribute so much to the wealth and im¬ 
portance of the agricnltnrc and manufactures of 
the country. Yet, without tmeh returns, the 
prospect of the actual loss becoming known Is, 
at the best, a remote one. The contagious dis¬ 
eases that now’ and again swoop over the land 
are not the only causes which decimate the sheep 
stock, nor, indeed, the most generally destruc¬ 
tive ones, as those conversant with the facts will 
readily admit. It is well enough known that 
there are other causes of loss, hut the extent 
of them is, in general, very little apprehended. 
The magnitude, however, of the interests at 
stake soon reveals itself from the national point 
of view. A loss of two and a half per cent, 
among the sheep stock of the country amounts 
to 704,1322 ; a loss of live per coat., to 1,408,015 ; 
and a loss of seven and a half per cent., to as 
many as 2,112,907 sheep and lambs. 
“It is quite the usual thing lor farmers to 
reckon on one per score as a common loss among 
sheep, and oo two per score, or ton per cent., as 
an extraordinary loss in severe seasons. One to 
the score is deemed lucky, and the loss is seldom 
less, but often more. Among lull stock tho 
deaths often amount to ten and fifteen per cent. 
Tho number of lambs that die and are never 
brought forth alive is something appalling. 
More than one farm could he named whoro 400 
and even 600 lambs have been lost in a single 
season. The loss of lambing ewes also cannot 
bo put at less than one per cent. With tegs 
and hogs tho death-rate is frequently as high as 
ten per cent. A case came under my notice a 
your ago where, in a lot of 100, fully 50 of them 
die<l between Michaelmas ami T.ady Day. Ex¬ 
amples could be multiplied of far more serious 
losses than any of these. Putting aside, how¬ 
ever, all exceptional losses, which would swoll 
the estimate a great deal, it. is probably much 
within the mark to assume the annual average 
loss among the sheep stock of Great Uritaiu to 
be at least seven and a half per cent, on the 
whole, taking yonug and old together. 
“The abovo lignros are put forward, in the 
absence of anything more definite, as somewhat 
approximate only. Whatever the actual mor¬ 
tality is, there is no denying that, a large pro¬ 
portion of tho losses that really do occur are 
provcntablo. The sheep is by naturo a most 
hardy animal, and is never allowed to live Jong 
enough to die of old ago. That sheep aro natu¬ 
rally freo of the diseases which are so rife among 
them is proved beyond a doubt by tho compara¬ 
tive absence of disease on many farms, and its 
disappearance from other farms with a differ¬ 
ent system of management. Few lambs die of 
any disease save starvation and exposure to hi 
dement weather. Homo people would rather lot 
them die than spend tive shillings on extra food 
for tho ewo. The immense mortality among 
lambs may he imagined when it is understood 
that on some farms as many as 150 lambs are 
reared to 100 ewes, while on others, again, there 
are only 80 lambs to 100 owes. Tho breeds ol' 
sheep may, of course, partly account for this 
groat difference, but it bus little to do with it, 
compared with their fejdiog and treatment. 
Tho loss of ewes at lambing time, and of all 
kinds of sheep throughout the year, may almost 
without an exception bo connected with tho 
feeding or dietary. Seasons have their Influence 
on the tlock, and every sixth year or so is reck¬ 
oned to be a severe one ; but careful tending and 
good feeding will keep sheep i live and healthy 
in the most trying seasons, although it is no 
doubt sometimes difficult to carry off all tho ef¬ 
fects. Soils and pastures may bo unsound for 
sheep, yet they can be made healthy by various 
means of improvement, and by tho process per¬ 
haps rendered capable of carrying far greater 
numbers. There is only ouo other cause of loss 
among sheep that need ho mentioned here, and 
that is the ravages of dogs, which would make 
up no mean item of loss in some districts. 
“Many of these causes influence the mortality 
among sheep to a degree that will never he alto¬ 
gether overcome: hut if the general loss over 
the country could be reduced and approximated 
to what is effected by some Hock masters in nearly 
every part of the country, and that without their 
being pi&ced in more favorable circumstances 
than others, it would he the moans of adding to 
the food of tho nation a number of sheep and 
lambs greatly in excess of tho uumhbr now an¬ 
nually Imported. 
“It seems superfluous to urge a question of 
this kind on the attention of the fanner and the 
landlord, yet it is only by pointing out such radi¬ 
cal defects that the remedy for them comes at 
last to he applied. As long us these losses con¬ 
tinue, the fanner must have a larger capital In¬ 
vested in sheep stock than ho otherwise would 
require to obtain au equal return. And by re¬ 
ducing the losses he would have more sheep to 
sell and get more for his sheep, even though 
the gains were shared equally between himself, 
tho landlord, and tho tenant. It is certainly 
quite as much a landlord’s question as a tenant’s 
one. It has been shown that the former rockons 
on having so much loss among sheep, and tho 
loss iB considered in tho rent paid, so that indi¬ 
rectly it falls on the landlord. This, of course, 
cannot always he the case, and it would bo as 
hard on the clover tlockmaster if his skill was 
not rewarded ; but tho exceptions only prove tho 
rule. And the influence of a rule always makes 
itself felt somewhere; in this particular more 
especially in thoso districts tho routs of which 
are wholly derived from sheep." 
- - ♦ »! 
SPRING LAMBS AGAIN. 
Mb. George Gardner inquires as to the best 
time to sell spring lambs. The New York mar¬ 
ket uses very few, if any, spring lambs boforo 
St. Patrick’s Day, and even theu only a few aro 
wanted ; they must bo prime to sell, and weigh 
about 50 pounds at the market. The demand 
for lamb comes with green peas and warm 
weather. For tho past ton years, wo have found 
from tho 15th to tho last of April tlm best mar¬ 
ket, and from that time until the end of May 
there is usually a good market. 
All lambs over four months old are classed as 
fall lambs, and sell for about two cents per 
pound more than old sheep. This applies to 
early lambs. There aro many sent late in tho 
season that are six months old or more. Wo do 
not care to have any lambs before the lirst of 
January, and then wo can get them ready for 
market from the first of April to the first of 
June, and have them weigh at home from GO to 
70 pounds. 
if Mr. Gardner will tell'tlio readers of the 
Rural how to have a lot of lambs ready for 
market at a given time, ho will confer a great 
favor. Blackwell, Bros. 
% poaltni garth 
DUCKS. 
Although domesticated ducks retain a groat 
deal of their priuiitivo instincts, they aro close 
observers, and require a corresponding watch¬ 
fulness on the part of their owners to keep them 
to advantage. Much, has been said in Poultry 
and Agricultural Journals as to tho merits of 
ducks and tho requisites necessary to keep them 
for profit, and yet I do not know of any other 
kind of live stock on tho farm about which there 
is bo much misconception aud contradiction. Wo 
sometimes boo it assorted, as in the Country Gen¬ 
tleman recently, “ that they do not require more 
water than they drink ; that they ar<f enormous 
foodors, and will feed on everything that a com¬ 
mon barnyard fowl will eat, and a good deal 
more, hut cau bo stinted and do quite as well." 
What advice for rearing ducks ! Is it any won¬ 
der that so little is known of them ? As to the 
assertion about their doing well in inclosed yards, 
a veteran poultrynmn disposed of tho question 
in this way“ 1 have repeatedly tried to make 
ducks lay while in yards, but always failed. 1 
would get now and then au egg, hut that was 
all." This has been the axjtorionoo of all I have 
ever known who kept ducks without a natural 
water supply and a good run. 
It would take too large a space now to give the 
details of a system for their niauagoraent; but I 
shall say more at a future time. There is no 
doubt that ducks, under a proper and careful 
attendance, are much more profitable than chick¬ 
ens to raise for early market. This is demon¬ 
strated in the neighborhood of Aylesbury, En¬ 
gland, where tho keeping of duckB is made a 
groat business. Homo persons doubt whether it 
can bo carried out in this country, and to test 
this I have made a trial this spring with marked 
success, and I cau see no reason why it cannot 
bo done as well here as anywhere, provided the 
samo water facilities aro accessible; but these 
are imperatively essential to success. Ducks 
will not grow rapidly without water aud a good 
supply of food. Deprived of those, they will be 
stunted and worth nothing for early market. 
I hatched some duck eggs under hens in tho 
middle of March, giving them no artificial heat; 
then cooped the ducklings under the heu, with 
hoards around them to keep them from roaming 
and going too early to tho water, merely allow¬ 
ing them enough to drink. They were kept in 
this way until four weeks old, when I lot them 
into a yard with a pond, for two weeks, after 
which 1 let them tako full liberty with a water 
privilege, and to-day (June !)) some of them uro, 
to all appearances, as largo as their parents, that 
weigh from six to seven pounds each, 't here is 
no doubt hut that they aro worth twice as much 
as chickens at tho same ago, though they caused 
no more trouble and lost expense. They cost 
hut little to keep after they have full liberty, 
while they grow very fast. How many fanners 
have water that they could make profitable iu 
this way ! But it is no use undertaking it unless 
a thorough system is carried out, for young 
ducks are extremely helpless and fall a prey to 
so many enemies—or what many people call ac¬ 
cidents, but not to sickness. 
There is no kind of (owls more easily reared 
than ducks, if they aro kept, from their dostroy- 
ors. Thoso appear in a variety of forms j but 
tho ducklings can be protected from them with 
caro, when one knows which way to look for 
them. Young ducks, in June and July, aro a 
rarity, and command high prices in market 
when green peas arc plentiful, and could thoy be 
seen in market in large quantities, they would 
become a popular dish, for the demand would 
most likely increase with the supply. 
Henry Hales. 
—-♦♦♦- 
EGG STEALING IN ENGLAND. 
The man who will rob a hen-roost Is generally 
considered a pretty low fellow, and it must be 
admitted that between him and the ono who will 
rob a hen’s nest of eggs there is not so much 
difference as there is between “ tweedlodco ’’ 
and “ twoodledum." Then there Comes up an¬ 
other very fine point of law, to wit.: Is the man 
who purchases the chickens or eggs, thus ob¬ 
tained, any better or more respectable that the 
thief. Tho questions of egg thieves and dealers 
in tho stolon oggs are, at the present moment, 
agitating Great Britain, for it has, of late, boon 
discovered that thero is a large number of men 
who make a business of robbing tho nests of 
plioasants in noblomon’s preserves, and selling 
tho oggs to other noblemen, either through a 
dealer or sometimes under the pretense that thoy 
come, by regular sale, from tho very ono from 
whom they were stolon. 
A writer in tho Ipswich Journal states that ho 
knows of one London game-dealer who received 
an order for 10,000 pheasant eggs, and as it is 
well known that nuch a number cannot ho sup¬ 
plied by legitimate means, tho question comes 
up, Whence and how will he obtain them ? 
Those who have investigated tho subject say 
that egg-stealing ift carried on by idlo and vicious 
characters, who prowl about the woods early in 
tho morning, before tho keepers aro about, and 
then hide through the day. These rob every 
nest thoy can find, bring in their pelf at night 
aud dispose of it to dealers who pass as respect¬ 
able meu. 
Gentlemen who find that tho pheasants are 
becoming scarce in their preserves, give orders 
to increase the number, even if recourse must 
be had to tho employment of domestic fowls to 
roar them ; while, to got tho necessary eggs, 
tho keeper goes to tlio nearest dealer for a sup¬ 
ply, and iu many instances ho, no doubt, pur¬ 
chases thoso stolen from tho very preserves to 
which they are destined to be returned. 
Lord Htuadrrokk, in a letter to the Times, 
calls attention to tho trade in pheasants eggs, 
and expresses his opinion that “ iu all eases the 
receiver is worse than the thief." ITo stains 
that recently a box containing pheasants’ eggs 
was sent from a station in East Suffolk, address¬ 
ed to tho gamekeeper of a noble earl in Scotland; 
“loan prove," says he, “that such boxes are 
often sent by a notorious receiver to different 
places in England. He keeps a very few hen 
pheasants, aud sells thousands of eggs." His 
lordship adds : “ How nuy person, assuming to 
bo a gentleman, and perhaps sitting ou the 
Bench iu Petty Hussions, cun purchase Buch 
eggs, aud at the samo time punish a poacher for 
snaring hares, or netting winged game, is be¬ 
yond my comprehension. They know welt that 
tho Loudon dealers purchaso nearly all they sell 
from country receivers of the worst possible 
character.” Tho law dooB not permit a game- 
keeper to search an egg-stealer, oven if he finds 
him in tho middle of a covort. Tho nefarious 
trade will only cease when game-preservers dis¬ 
continue to purchase pheasants’ oggs, except 
from legitimate dealers who raise them in their 
own pleasantries. 
- *-*-4 -- 
WISE ON GAPES. 
No chickens will gape that do not come in con¬ 
tact with hen lice ; it is a known fact that thoy 
don’t have the disease in new-made places unless 
thoy carry tho vermin with them. I never knew 
the chickens of a hen that stole off aud made a 
new nest and raised her brood away from tho 
old haunts of fowls to have the gapes. Moral: 
Keep old poultry freo from vermin and the 
chickens will he free from gapes.—/. 1‘. in 
N. V. Weekly Tribune. 
Its a pity that tho wise man who wrote the 
above did not inform us how tho gape worm was 
related to the various species of lice which infest 
hen bouses and fowls generally. There is about 
as much souso in the above suggestion as there 
would be iu saying that if children are kept free 
from intestinal worms they will never have tho 
measela or Binall-pox. 
♦ ♦ » - 
Don’t assist the chick from the shell. Tho 
fuss about tho nest frets the hen, and if the 
chick can’t free itself, it will not live to maturity. 
If you will do so, let the egg be cracked gently 
all round without tearing the inside membrane; 
if that bo perforated, the viscid lluid inside dries, 
and glues the chick to the shell. 
CUT-WORMS. 
Cut-worm is a name applied to various kinds 
of grubs and caterpillars which infest garden 
and Hold crops, but moro generally to tho nu¬ 
merous species of grayish or greasy-looking cat¬ 
erpillars which food at night, cutting off young 
plants in field or garden, and then hiding away 
just under tho surface during the day. Thoy 
aro immensely numerous some years, au in tho 
present, and moro so in years following dry 
seasons than in those succeeding wet ones, just 
as tho ease is at present in many parts of tho 
Eastern States. 
There aro a dozen or mora spocios of these 
CUt-worms, all of which are the caterpillars of 
some niglit-fiytng moth, known to entomologists 
under tho general namo of Noctuidm. Thoy 
aro all supposed to he natives of this country, 
and hence were always hero, though probably 
thoy were kept in cheek by natural enemies until 
man stepped in and disarranged the order of 
Nature. 
Every farmer knows that tho cut worms fre¬ 
quent cultivated in preference to uncultivated 
grounds, for it is there they find food and tho 
general condition of things best adapted to their 
wauts and habits. They can readily burrow into 
the soft ground, hiding away from tlm birds 
during the day and mooting with few obstacles 
to traveling in search of food at night. Moro- 
OVOr, they thus measurably escape from their 
most voracious natural enemies, tho Cabsomas 
a genus of largo ground beetles which seek 
their prey at night. Accordingly they then come 
in ooutaotwith the cut-worms, but hiding during 
Urn day under old logs, stouos, ami similar rub¬ 
bish, they find no such cormmient rotroats in 
cultivated fields, and consequently talco them¬ 
selves off to the woods, where thoy are not so 
likoly to bo disturbed. Tho same is also true of 
tho night-flying birds, as few of those visit tho 
fields for out-worms or other food. Thero are a 
few kinds of birds, however, and notably among 
these aro the robin, crow, and blackbird, which 
have learned the hiding-places of tho out,-worms 
during tho day, and these will, if permitted, 
souk them diligently, especially while feeding 
their young. 
Tho crow, which possesses moro brains, reasou, 
good sense, and canning than any other North 
American bird, aud hence is capable of doing 
more mean tricks in proportion, and in this re¬ 
spect is no worse than his greatest enemy, man, 
soon learns how to follow tho cut-worm to his 
hiding-plaeo by tho Blight disturbance of the 
surface soil which lie makes in burrowing under 
it, after ruakiug his nightly meal. 
But it is urmeoesBary to pursue this theme of 
tho causes which have helped to open the way 
to the cut-worms, for all know that man seldom 
stops to consider the effects of his acts upon 
other creatures so long as his own wants are 
supplied. Tho ravages oi tho out-worms aro 
but oue form of tho many results of blindly 
following our own desires without regard to con¬ 
sequences, and If wo have to work a little harder 
as a penalty for our willful stupidity and igno¬ 
rance, we have no ono to blame but ourselvos, 
and in this doleful plight it may he a slight con¬ 
solation to remember that those insects were, 
doubtless, created for a special purpose as well 
as ourselves. 
Tho natural history of the eut-womw -or more 
properly speaking, caterpillars—has been care¬ 
fully studied by outomologists, but as our space 
forbids tho repetition of all that has beon said 
about, them, wo shall consequently give only a 
brief epitome of their habits. 
The more common species are hatched from 
eggs laid by moths upon woods or other sub¬ 
stances near the ground, in the fall. Tho yonng 
caterpillars theu enter tho ground and remain 
there during the whiter, feeding during the lull 
upou vegetables; hut as t hey are very small at 
this time, their ravagos are scarcely noticed. Iu 
t,be Spring they come to tho surface and soon 
commence to cut off the tender, sueculuut plauts 
set out or springing from woods sow n. 
By the time very hot weather has arrived- suy 
from the first of June to July, the caterpillars 
are fully grown ; theu they de-tceml deeper into 
the earth, forming for themselves neat mile cav¬ 
ities where they take a rest, and paws into w hat 
is termed the chrysalid or quiescent state. After 
romaiuiug iu this ntate for a few weeks, tho 
moth hiusts open the pupa skin and comes forth; 
the sexes meet; aud the female forthwith com¬ 
mences to deposit her egg« for aunt her genera¬ 
tion of cut-worms. Tho moths, tike the cater¬ 
pillars, are most busy at night, and hundreds of 
tiie former will often lly into a room in the early 
part of tho evening, bring attracted by the light. 
The moths aro very handsomely marked, but 
are rnaiuly of an ashen-gray or yellowish color, 
aud known nndcr many different common as 
well as scientific names. The Owlet Moth (A'oc- 
tua ClaiuIesUna of Harris) u the parent of the 
W-marked, climbing cut-worm. The Guiliio Dart 
(Ajrotis subfjolhica, Haworth) im the parent of 
the Striped cut-worm. Then again, Dart-bear¬ 
ing Rustle {Aqrolls jaculifera) is the parent of 
the Diugy cut-worm, and so on with the Greasy, 
Glassy and other species, all of which infest our 
fields and gardens. 
