trace back to importation, will alone be re- are called the West, I have some doubts of 
ceived. Eligible pedigrees should be sent in at even these. 
the earliest moment to E. Lewis Sturtevant, The Merino is the sheep for the West, upon 
So. Farmingham, Mass.—terms one dollar for which to found a hardy, successful and profit* 
of it is attended with so much less labor that 
we think it the cheapest in the end. The best 
way we have found to give fine, common salt, is 
to take long troughs, smear the bottom of them 
f]l£ |lou(trir fartr, 
each pedigree accepted. 
able flock. The common native—which is a with tar, and sprinkle it with as much salt as 
Proflt In Poultry. 
run-down, close-bred, Spanish sheep, origiually will stick to the tar. Sheep cannot then well Last spring I had 14 pure Buff Cochin hens. 
THE BEST BREED OF SHEEP FOR THE 
WEST. 
HENRY STEWART. 
of Merino blood mixed with 6ome modem 
Merino—is hardy, cheap, and to the manner 
(and the manor) born. It can be purchased 
for $1.50 to $2 50 a head. When crossed with 
pure Merino, the second cross produces a 
grade of wool that often sells for more than 
that of the pure-bred. It herds well, is con¬ 
tent with poor fare upon which a big sheep 
take an excess of this, aDd the little tar they I sold $23 worth of eggs and chickens and 
get with it is very healthful for them. J have 18 fowls on hand—four more than I 
started with, which at the least market price, 
would be $1.50. 1 have kept no account of 
the eggs and chickens used by a family of six. 
The fowls had the run of the farm where they 
- found most of their feed. I think the eggs 
CHESTER WHITES. I P aicJ for the{r feed, leaving gratis the chickens 
$lit ^toutc-|jiedr 
There is perhaps more disappointment in 
regard to sheep than any other sort of live 
stock. With the exception of swine, no other 
stock is so easily Impressed by breeding and 
feeding as sheep. Therefore, a skillful shep¬ 
herd may soon get up a model flock, as regards 
size, healthfulneas and fleece, which enraptures 
(there is no better or truer term for it) the or¬ 
dinary sheep-man and impels him to go and 
do likewise. But he soon finds that is not so 
easy. The model flock has been skillfully 
bred and teuded, generously fed with roots, 
grain, oil-cakes and rich pasture, and they 
are plump aud covered with a silky wool of 
great length, closeness aud beauty of staple. 
The envious beholder picks out and purchases 
a few sheep from this flock aud intends to as¬ 
tonish the natives at home aud sweep all the 
prizes at the fairs. He puts them in a good 
pasture (for him), but a poorone for the sheep, 
feeds them liberally with graio, but gives them 
too much; keeps them sheltered from every 
wind of heaven lest it might visit them too 
roughly; aud in a short time finds his pets 
looking downcast about the jaws, dull about 
the eyes, with a dry, harsh fleece; some of 
them begin to cough, run at the eyes, take on 
diarrhea and, in general, the flock becomes 
what the old poet knowingly remarked “ in- 
fdix pecus." By and by the model sheep “ go 
to the dogs," literally aud otherwise, aud the 
owner says, "Oh. these high-bred sheep will 
not thrive in this country; they are too tender 
for our very changeable climate; the food is 
not right and, in short, they are exotics which 
require the bust of nursing."—And he is right. 
We have imported the finest South-Downs, 
Leicester*, Lincolns, Oots wolds, Hampshire- 
Dowur, Oxford Downs, Shropahiresaud black¬ 
faced Scotch, and have tried them here aud 
there, and where are they now ? A few flocks 
have become acclimated, pulling through the 
trial "by the 6kin of their teeth,” aud with 
the aid of the most careful management ; and 
the farmer—"a a is a farmer” aud not a 
breeder—is yet to be seen who has been able to 
keep a pure-bred flock up to the standard 
which he hoped to attain. In the East, iu 
small flocks and upon highly cultivated farms, 
theie have been some successes which, how¬ 
ever, have been in general narrow escapes 
from failures, aud these have been owing to a 
concatenation of favorable circumstances. 
For the VVcst, with its spare herbage, its dry 
summers, its hot suu. its windy aud dusty 
plains aud its fluke-infested swales and marsh¬ 
es, none of these heavy bodied breeds of sheep 
will bo fouud satisfactory. I do not think even 
the hardy South-Down can there be kept iu 
good condition ; certainly not any of those of 
of the Walsiughaiu breeding, which are 
broughtinto this country looking “ as pretty as 
a picture" aud as if modeied by an artist aud 
dressed by a fashionable barber; but which 
are too artificial for common use. I might 
here except from the general term “ West,' 
those delightful fields found in the blue-grass 
region of Kentucky where Mr. Robert Scott, 
the originator of the Improved Kentucky 
sheep, resides. There the Cotswold aud other 
kindred (in every sense) breeds may thrive to 
perfection ; for climate, soil aud herbage can¬ 
not be excelled anywhere. 
In reply to J. VV. S. who, iu the Rural of 
May 15, asks for the information, I would say 
that the Improved Kentucky sheep is the off¬ 
spring of selected native ewes crossed with 
Merino, Leicester, South Down, Cotswold and 
Oxford-Down rams for 40 years past. The 
foundation is seen to be a grade Merino—aud 
I would hero remark that the grade Merino is 
the best possible basis upon which to found a 
flock in the West; the better for the better se¬ 
lection of the native ewes choBeu for the first 
cross. Now J. W. 8. says there is a dash of 
Meriuo blood in this breed. But the dash is a 
very heavy one, because it is the foundation 
cross. What is this dash of blood that is so often 
talked of ? It is a cross which makes a half- 
bred, and unless it is diluted by returning to the 
former breeding, it remains a half-cross aud not 
a dash at all. The line of breeding of Mr. Scott 
has been peculiar. He has taken all the best 
breeds and has crossed until he has procured a 
type that suited him, finishing with the large 
body, long aud lustrous wool and close fleece 
derived from the imported sorts upon the 
hardy and already acclimated half-bred Marino 
and best uutive sheep. These he has iuterbred 
and made into a breed that will do for Ken¬ 
tucky and other favorable localities; but lor 
the open prairie States and the plains which 
would starve; its fleece is a coat of mail, water¬ 
proof and almost air-proof, with itsclose, well- 
oiled aud yolked surface; aud it may be en¬ 
larged in size, weight and leugth of fleece, by 
selection of rams of the best kinds. Profit is 
what we work for. Beauty of form aud size 
are nothing as compared with the market 
value of the produce. And 1 will venture to 
sa> that 99 per cent, of the money made in the 
West is made from sheep of Merino blood, and 
99 per cent, of the losses is made from flocks 
of the pure-bred, long-wool breeds. 
Lastly, in the nearer West, where sheep are 
kept on farms, and necessarily in small flocks, 
the best success will be with Dative sheep or 
high-grade Merinos, crossed with long-wool 
or medium-wool sheep, Cotswold, Oxford- 
Downs, Ilampshire-Downs or Shropshires ; or 
with grades of these crossed with Merino rams. 
But, if in England—a small pocket country 
compared with ours—it is fouud necessary to 
vary the kinds of sheep for different localities, 
how much more necessary must it be in our 
vast expanse, to find different varieties of 
sheep to suit the peculiar circumstances of 
widely differing localities ? No one variety 
can be the best everywhere. 
-- 
TREATMENT OF SHEEP. 
From the breaking up of winter to the set¬ 
tled weather of early summer is the most crit¬ 
ical period of the year with sheep, and they 
require more atteDtiou during this time than 
at others. There are the yeaning of the ewes, 
the care of the lambs, the washing and shear¬ 
ing of the flock, the turning out to pasture, 
which last is so abrupt a change from dry to 
green, succulent food that it is apt to give scours 
ror several days, proving often quite injurious, 
especially to the ewes and lambs. To obviate 
this, the sheep should be turned out for only 
an hour or so to begin with, gradually increas¬ 
ing the time till they can graze the whole day 
without subjecting them to looseness. If not 
previously fed a little flax-seed or oil-meal 
daily, two to three or four tablespoonsful should 
be given now to each auirnal, according to its 
size, early in the morning and again at evening. 
This tends to keep the bowels in good order, 
assists in digesting the food, and adds to its 
nutriment. 
In respect to washing sheep, flock-masters 
are often tempted by a few warm days in May 
to do this too early. It must be recollected 
that river aud pond water is still quite cold, 
aud if too much so, it gives 6uch a shock to the 
system as to prove injurious to the condition 
oi the sheep for some time. After washing, be 
particular to turn into a perfectly dry and 
well-littered yard, or on to a dry, clean pas¬ 
ture; otherwise the sheep will gather up more 
dirt into its fleece before shearing than was 
washed out of it in the general ablution. 
Shearing now is the most dangerous change 
of all; and if warm, dry weather does not fol¬ 
low, the sheep are apt to take severe cold, 
resulting in inflammation, and oerhaps death. 
To be exposed to a raw easterly vied or a rain¬ 
storm till several weeks afte shearing, is 
particularly daugerous; and on the expecta¬ 
tion of any such, the flock ougnt to be well 
sheltered till the wind shifts to a more favorable 
quarter, or the rain ceases. The change from 
a thick, warm fleece to a bare skin, is as great 
for a sheep as for a man to cast off heavy 
winter clothing, for a light, thin summer 
dress; aud It is equally dangerous, unless the 
poor animals are well protected from raw, 
chilly weather. 
Be careful to keep the sheep well salted, for 
this not only improves their appetite and con¬ 
dition, but is also a preventive of various dis¬ 
eases. Some flock-masters assert that by the 
free use of salt, they have prevented rot, which 
otherwise would have occurred, and even after 
an attack of this loathsome and daugerous 
disease, have thus cured it. Some breeds of 
sheep want much more salt than others, and 
agaiu wheu feeding on different kinds of grass, 
or in wetter or drier pastures, a greater or leas 
quantity of salt is required to keep them iu 
good condition. For these reasons the 6heep 
should have free access to at all tlmus to salt, 
to take little or much, the saui" as man does 
according to the craving of the "'tite. 
The best kind of salt tor this purp. • is the 
Liverpool rock, which ought to be pla^ 1 in 
large lumps iu open boxes in different parts ’ 
the pasture, where the sneep cau ccme and lick 
it as often as they choose. In this way they 
will never take an excess. This salt costs a 
higher price than common ealt, but the giving 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Origin and Good Qualities. 
The most ancient breed of American pigs is 
the Chester White, or, as it was formerly 
called, the Chester County White. The Chester 
county, where they originated, is in Pennsyl¬ 
vania, south of Philadelphia. The late Pasehall 
Morris informed me that Chester Whites were 
started by crossing native hogs of the county 
with a Bedfordshire boar imported by Captain 
James Jeffries in 1818. It will be recollected 
that ihe Bedfordshire hog was one of the 
numerous families of the Yorkshire bred in 
England. Iu the early breeding of these crosses 
with this imported boar, two families were 
started, one with more of the Yorkshire type, 
with small, erect ears ; and the other inclining 
more to the native, with large, lopped ears. 
Subsequent crosses were attempted with the 
Suffolk aud Berkshire breeds. These latter 
crosses were not followed up, the best breeders 
continuing to breed in a straight line with the 
original cross. The presence of black or blue 
skin soots, with an occasional fleck of black 
hair in some instances In Chester Whites, goes 
to show that there is still a taint of Berkshire 
blood running In some families. When Joseph 
Harris wrote his work on the pig, the Chester 
Whites were so mixed acd uncertain in their 
breeding, that he did not think they were suffi¬ 
ciently established to be called a breed. A 
number of years later, iu 1872, at tbe National 
Convention of the swine breeders, they were 
admitted as a breed, with the following stand¬ 
ard and description:— 
Head, short aud broad between the eyes; ears, 
tbin, projecting forward, and lopping at the 
poiot; neck, shortandthick; jowl,large; body, 
lengthy and deep; back, broad; bams, full 
aud deep; legs, short and well set UDder the 
body for bearing the weight; coat, thin, white 
and straight—if a little wavy, no objection; 
tail, small and with no bristles. 
Chester Whites, when they breed closely to 
this standard, are entitled to be recognized as 
thoroughbred. They do not seem to be as 
popular uow as they were a few years ago. 
The chief reason why they have kat reputa¬ 
tion has been from the fact that in the absence 
of any authenticated and recognized standard 
of characteristics, eross-bred pigs of all sorts, 
if they were only white, have been sold and 
sent out through the countrj' as "pure Chester 
Whites.’’ These impositions naturally caused 
distrust and disgust with the breed, as the inno¬ 
cent purchasers supposed their pigs to be of 
genuine blood. 
There always have been careful breeders of 
these pigs in Chester County and elsewhere, 
and in their hands they have become valuable. 
They possess the merit of desirable color 
(white), and of being capable of making a 
large growth. They are exceedingly hardy 
and vigorous. The young pigs are strorg and 
active. The mothers are very prolific aud re- 
markuble for their supply of milk. These 
qualities, together with docility, make them 
exceedingly profitable breeders. There is no 
better breeding sow. all things considered, than 
a Chester White. For profit to breed pigs to 
make pork, there is much Improvement 
when a sow of this breed is crossed with a 
Suffolk or a Victoria, or other boar of fine 
qualities. The pigs from such a cross, for fat¬ 
tening, will be as near perfection as It is pos¬ 
sible to mako them—more perfect than if either 
breed had been bred by itself. The reasons 
to an experienced breeder are well kuown. 
From the sire are obtained fineness in bone 
and quality iu general; from the dam, consti¬ 
tutional vigor which carries with it a strong 
appetite, strong digestion and rapid growth, 
with the beuefitof bountiful suckling. Chester 
Whites rank with the large Yorkshires and 
Poland Chiuas in size, being coarser in bone 
than the standard of either of these breeds. 
They have good coats af hair, which fit them 
better for the American climate than the York¬ 
shires. 
Wo should much prefer the use of a Chester 
White female rather than of a male iu crossing 
with other breeds. The use of such u male 
with a smaller breed would not be sound phil¬ 
osophy, or satisfactory iu the results. Where 
a large growth and heavy weight are desired, 
Chester Whites will meet the demand, since, 
when full-grown, they may be made to weigh 
from 500 to 000 pounds, or even more. The pigs 
at nine months of age, will reach 300 pounds. 
The flesh is not so fine as that of smaller breeds, 
nd on this account it Is an improvement to 
088 the females with more refined stock. 
we used at home. 
Nelson Ritter says in Rural of ,Jan. 31. that 
it doesn’t pay to raise high-priced poultry. I 
have not found it so. In the first place, the 
Buff Cochins lay all winter when eggs sell for 
the best price, and they are ready to sit early 
in the spring. They are so gentle and tame 
that they make the best mothers; they don’t 
fly off the nest and break their eggs when I go 
near them, as the common varieties do, and 
they are as large as two of ordinary sorts, my 
cockrels weighing ten pounds when seven 
months old. We sell our chickens by the pound, 
five cents live weight being tbe most paid 
last season. Eggs were from five to 15 cents per 
dozen, The common chickens would only 
bring $1.75 per dozen while the Cochins sell for 
$4.00 per dozen. m. 
-- 
Hamburg Fowls vs. Crow’s Meat. 
My excellent friend, Col Curtis, says, in the 
Rural of May 1, that Hamburg* are not much 
better for the table than a craw! As I have 
never been so lucky as to get a taste of crow’s 
meat, I cannot tell as to its quality, and am not 
therefore able to dispute tbe assertion. But as 
I have kept a considerable lot of White Ham¬ 
burg fowls for several years past, aud have 
had any number of them cooked for my table, 
from four-month-old chickens to two-and-a- 
half-year-old hens, I can vouch to their mak¬ 
ing as savory a meal as anything in the fowl 
line, outside of Games and Dorkings. I have 
aiso kept White LeghornB, and And their meat 
is of tbe same quality as that of the White Ham- 
burgs, and not a wbit better. I fancy the Col¬ 
onel was unfortunately served up with a very 
ancient "biddy," or had a very poor cook. I 
should be glad to have Col. Curtis sit down to 
a Hamburg dish with me some convenient day. 
A. B. Allen. 
«»» — .i 
How many Eaos per Annum will the best 
non-sitting varieties of hens lay ? We have 
heard of single Hamburg and Leghorn hens 
producing 250 to 300 eggs each per annum ; 
but what we would like to know is, can a flock 
of 10 up to 50 average this? There Is no doubt 
with proper care iu selecting to breed from, 
and in time, such a flock could be brought up 
to this great average. The difficulty, however, 
in selecting breeders from a flock, is to ascer¬ 
tain which hens out of it lay the most eggs; 
for there are some, even among the non-sitters, 
that lay few; and if their eggs are hatched, 
the chickens, like their mothers, would prob¬ 
ably grow up poor layers. In order to increase 
the average laying of a flock, eggs for hatch¬ 
ing must be selected from those hens which 
lay the greatest number. Now, who will go 
into this, and give us hens that we can depend 
upon, every oue, to lay an assured number of 
eggs per aunuui, as with cows which wl'I give 
a certain quantity of milk or butter per 
annum. Yet to be certain of this, the former, 
like the latter, must be kept separate. Who 
will take the particular trouble to do this ? It 
would be well worth one’s while; for he could 
rapidly sell the chickens thus produced, at a 
large price. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
The Centrifugal Cream Separator.— The 
following extracts from the address of Mr. Ed¬ 
ward Burnett, of Southboro, Mass., before the 
last convention of the American Dairymen’s 
Association, as given in its fifteenth annual 
report, give a description of the operation of 
this device, of which Prof. Arnold said, in a 
late Rural, that it was the most complete ac¬ 
count he had ever seen :— 
All dairymen know that the separation 
of cream from milk is the result of gravi¬ 
tation ; the fat globules being of less den¬ 
sity lhau the watery poitlons of the milk, 
rise to the surface. Now the centrifugal ma¬ 
chine produces a very powerful and forced 
gravitation, which develops this separation 
almost instantly and with great rapidity. At 
120 revolutions per minute a weight six inches 
from the shaft., would be equal to two and one- 
half times its specific gravity. 
At 600 revol’s per minute 
“ l,o«0 “ M 
“ U,(KJ0 *• “ 
*•3,000 “ “ 
61 H times its spec. grav. 
170 “ •• •« 
684 “ •• “ 
1,637 " •• « 
My own machine, patented in September, 
1868, by D. M. Westou of Boston, has probably 
the largest capacity of any in the world, the 
