624 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
perhaps, being the middlings purifiers and por¬ 
table saw-mills. The machinery was thor¬ 
oughly and carefully examined by thousands 
of farmers I do not think it true that our 
State fairs are degenerating into mere horse¬ 
races and places of cheap amusement. It cer¬ 
tainly was not true of the oue of which I am 
writing. For example, each class of stock— 
horses, cattle, sheep and swine—divided accord¬ 
ing to breed, age »Dd sex. was led in its turn in to 
the show rlug, to be examined, standing side 
by side, for the award of premiums. This is 
the usual custom at large fairs. The fact I call 
attention to is that a large crowd constantly 
surrounded the-e rings and examined these 
fine animals with care, and the point I wish to 
make is that the educational effect of such 
shows is by no means small. The incitement, 
too, to each farmer to breed better stock is 
great. On the last day of the fair, too. there 
was a grand parade of all premium stock on 
the race track in frent of the graud stand, and 
it was a fine show and was witnessed by thou¬ 
sands of people. 
R ices at fairs are o' jected to bv many people 
on moral grouods. The view of a majority ot 
the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, however, 
seems to he that the breeding of improved road¬ 
sters is a legitimate brauch of agriculture, and 
that the fairest test of speed and endurance is 
the race. Also that if pool-eellmg and jockeying 
are excluded, aud no unfairness on the part of 
the judges is practiced, and the different races 
occupy only a part of each afternom, there is 
no real ground of objection. That there was 
absolute fairness this year at least in intention 
on the part of tlm judges and of the “ member 
in charge,” all seem ready to admit. 
Finarcially the fair was a success. The 
combued surplus fuudof 1879 and 1880 amounts 
to nearly $12 000, aud w II be used by the 
Board In promoting the interests of Ohio agri¬ 
culture according to their best judgment. 
w. i. c. 
^bffjj liusbaitkij. 
SHEEP ON THE BUCK SOIL OF ILLINOIS. 
B. F. JOHNSON. 
A sheep breeder and farmer of some expe¬ 
rience and reputation, haviDg been requested 
to state the advantages and disadvantages of 
sheep breeding on the black-soil prairies of 
I.liooie, aud in what is known as the corn and 
cattle counties ot that State, replied britlly 
in substance as follows : 
Of the breeds handled about one-fourth are 
Merinos aDd their grades, one-eight mutton 
breeds and theirs, and one half the common 
stock of the country. Within ten years, how¬ 
ever. the English or mutton breeds and their 
grades have increased and the small breeds and 
natives have diminished. 
Of the Merinos, about one-quarter are full 
bloods, with abouttbesame proportion each of 
those more than half bloods, mors than fourth 
bloods and less than fourth bloods. Of other 
breeds them are kept the pure Lincolnshlres, 
Cotswolds, South-Duwns and small Spanish 
Merinos. The live weights of each of these 
breeds are about as toliows: Merinos, 80 
pounds at 6 months. 80 los. at 12 months, aud 
90 lbs. lull irrown. Long-wools. 75 lbs. 
at 6 months, 110 lbs. at 12 months, and 150 lbs. 
full-grown, Middle-wools 60 lbs. at 6 months, 
100 lbs. at 12 months, aud 125 lbs. full- 
grown. The average weight of the unwashed 
fleeces for the fine-wools is five pounds, long- 
wools seven pounds, and middle-wools eight 
pounds. 
The pasturage la nearly all inclosed and 
very few 6beep are running at large; the pas¬ 
turage being neatly as follows :—one-half per¬ 
manent meadow or pasture laud, one-quarter 
stubble, one-eigbtb Fall-feeding meadow, and 
one-eight wood land. The average permanent 
pasture is thought to be able to carry five hun¬ 
dred pounds of live sheep to the acre—the 
principal herbages being Blue Grass, Timothy 
and white clover, valuable iu the order in 
which they are named- The average grazing 
or pasturage season is eight months and the 
feeding season four. Sh eo are put on pasture 
Aptil 1st. and turned off the last of November. 
Beyond the herbage of the permanent pasture, 
stock sheep get no supplementary rations be¬ 
tween ADril and December, but for fattening 
purposes shelled corn is best. 
Winter pasturage consists of Blue Grass and 
Timothy—the former being much the preferable 
for sheep. If Blue Grass and Timothy pastures 
or meadows are inclosed after the first of July 
and stock kept off till the first of December, and 
sheep are ihen turned on, stock sheep will go 
safely through a moderate winter, if allowed 
access to hay during storms and snowfalls of 
considerable depth. The average Summer 
Charge for pasturing sheep iB 15c. per month 
per head—aud the cost of pasturage for the 
eight months of Summer is estimated at $1 20, 
and the keep for the four months of Winter at 
60c. Of the grain fed sheep duting Winter, 
three-fourths are corn and one-fourth oats; of 
the fodder one-half Timothy hay, one-eighth 
red clover, one-quarter corn fodder, one-eighth 
straw and a trifle perhaps of Hungarian. In 
the average "Winter feeding of stock sheep, the 
consumption is estimated to be one and one-half 
bushel of corn, costing 40c., half a bushel of oats 
costing 10c., and hay and fodder costing 10c. 
more ; total, as above, GOe. Tery little linseed 
and no cotton seed meal is fed. In carrying 
sheep through the Winter, if the weather is 
dry and fine, the more grass and open air the 
better, and neither grain nor fodder is want¬ 
ed. Where there is plenty of grass and stacks 
of hay or fodder to go to, the feeding of corn 
or grain of any kind is thought to be of no 
benefit to stock sheep. Iu bad weather, how¬ 
ever, a supplementary ration of corn or oats 
is Dearly absolutely necessary to keep the 
animals in good heart. As extra feed for ewes 
in lamb, there is nothing equal to well cured 
corn fodder. 
W’hen kept for wool the ewes are suffered to 
live to the average of about five years—the 
wethers one to two. For mutton, ewes are 
kept four years and wethers one to two. Sheep 
are generally neither yarded nor herded, but 
shade i& nearly always provided for them against 
mid summer heat. Herders are paid from $15 
to $18 per month. Sheds are not provided 
for more than half the flocks, and these are 
built of poles covered with straw, or poles, 
boards and straw combined. The proportion 
of an average flock is about two-thirds ewes, and 
the average lambs for a hundred sheep are, 
for fine-wools 75, long-wools 75, middle-wools, 
90, and natives 100. The lambs are mostly 
dropped between first of April and the first of 
June, but the earlier is the preferable, or near 
the first of March under the climate of Central 
Illinois. The average mortality of young 
lambs from exposure is about 20 in the 100, 
and five iu the 100 from accidents. Of the 
sutviving lambs, one-half go to the butcher as 
latnbs. The weight of gras6-fed lambs at four 
months is 60 pounds, and the average price is 
$4 each. The raising of early Spring lambs 
iB occasionally made a specialty, and in that 
case, it is preferable to have them dropped in 
February. When ewes are bought, it is usual¬ 
ly between August aud October, and when dis¬ 
posed of for slaughter, they are sold in Decem¬ 
ber. If oue is desirous of starling a flock, 
there are sheep enough and of good quality 
enough to be found In the State, without the 
necessity of going abroad for them. Latterly 
in the selection of males for improving flocks, 
the Lincolnshire and the Cotswold are most 
in fashion. 
The average weight of sheep killed for 
mutton is not far from 100 pounds, bnl when 
the large breeds are fed for slaughtei, the aver¬ 
age weight is fully 130 pounds. There is not 
much special feeding for mutton, but where 
engaged in, it is commenced about the first of 
December, and continued two or three months, 
the average gain being not far from 20 pouuds, 
at the cost of not far from three bu6helS of 
corn, and fodder to match. The average price 
of sheep for fattening is not far from $8 for 
the hundred pounds, and the average fat sheep 
sells for about 4£ci8. a pound, live weight- 
Nothing in the black soil and in the latitude of 
Illinois suits sheep bo well as dry weather, 
both in the Summer and Winter seasons, and 
(ce/a va sans dire) in the Fall and Spring 
mouths too. Shelter is not generally provided 
and for the fine and middle-wools it does not 
seem to be so much necessary, but more so for 
the long-wools, though all breeds and all 
flocks would pay better were more care taken 
in proviaiug shelter, especially against sleet 
and rain in the cold weather. Lincoln6hires 
(Jotswooda and South-Downs are considered 
the best mutton sheep, each breeder haviDg his 
favorites, but the Lincolnshires do make the 
greatest weights in the shortest time. 
The usual date of shearing is about the 20th 
of May and the average cost not far from 7c. 
for each sheep sheared. Twice shearing is 
never practiced, and the Fall fleece is uu known; 
Only about one-fourth are washed before 
shearing, and this is mostly done in streams, 
though a few use tubs- Toe usual lapse 
of time between washing and shearing is 
about one week, the average washed fleece 
weighing four, and the unwashed six pounds. 
The advantages of washing seem to be that 
when rightly managed, it is a healthy experi¬ 
ence for sheep; but in the matter of the sale 
of wool, it make& no difference—a deduction 
of a third being made in price or weight of 
uu washed wool. Fleeces are usually done up 
inside-out and lied separately with twine— 
neatly tied fleeces selllug from eight to ten per 
cent, more than those which are loosely and 
dumsily put op. The total wool crop is 
nsualy sold at the farm, the demand being such 
there is no occasiou to ship aboard on com¬ 
mission or consignment. The average propor¬ 
tion of wool to live weight in different breeds 
is found to be nearly aB follows: 
Live Fleece 
weight, weight. 
lbs. lbd. 
Full blood Merino rams. 175 IS 
Full blood Merino ewea. 75 6 
Half blood Merino rams. 136 10 
Hall’ blood Merino ewea. 76 6 
Native ewes. 60 4 
Cotswold ewes. 80 7 
South Down ewes. 80 7 
The difference between the weights of fleeces 
often amounts to 25 per cent, between one year 
and another, and occasionally the high differ¬ 
ence of 50 per cent, is noticeable, between one 
year remarkable for dry and fine weather all 
through, and another year equally remarkable 
in the opposite direction. Fleeces are always 
lightest after wetandeold Winters and heaviest 
after a loug, dry Summer has been succeeded 
by a Winter equally dry, but in which there 
has been no weather of a very intense char¬ 
acter. The tendencies in breeding in Illinois 
now seem to be in the direction of substituting 
the mutton for the small flue-wool breeds. 
Within ten years the average fleece has in¬ 
creased from 8J to six pounds, and if wool has 
lost in fineness of fiber, it has gained more iu 
yolkiuess of fleece. Besides, the average car¬ 
cass has increased from 60 to 100 pounds ; there 
has been a corresponding gain in compactness 
and roundnesa of form, the constitutional 
vigor of the animal has very ranch improved, 
and the average sheep of Central Illinois has 
been changed from an insignificant, little, 
bare-bellied. and bare-legged creature, weigh¬ 
ing 50 to 60 pounds, to full and half-bloods 
averaging from 100 to 120 pounds. The devel¬ 
opment of the wrinkles or folds on Merino 
sheep is encouraged only by those puri6ts who 
consider these marks as characteristic of the 
breed. One way or the other, breeding them 
on or off appears to have no effect on the 
health or constitution of the individual or 
flock. 
The crosses preferred for the improvement 
of Mexican flocks are the French Merinos; for 
natives the Cotswolds; for grades, the Lincoln¬ 
shire. Iu selecting sires for cross-bred flocks, 
the local preference is for Merino ewes and Liu- 
colaehire rams; for native ewes, Cots wolds; for 
Mexican ewes, French Merinos. In the matter 
of crossing the different breeds, the best results 
have been found when Lincolnshire bucks 
have been bred to the South Down ewes, and 
Cotswold bucks to French Merino ewe8. 
In respect to the introduction of sheep into 
this portion of Central Illinois, the farmer and 
breeder who is responsible for these statements 
says, about 1850 large flocks ot Spanish Meri¬ 
nos were shipped into this County (Champaign) 
from Pennsylvania. They ran out the native 
sheep or at least fully supplied what demand 
there was for them. They were small and 
bare-bellied, weighing between 50 and 60 
pounds, and were badly diseased with the scab. 
About ten years ago the South Downs aud the 
Cotswolds were shipped in, and the Lincoln¬ 
shires subsequently, from Canada. The bucks 
of these breeds being crossed with the first im¬ 
portation, almost all signs of it have disap¬ 
peared. As for disease there is little or no 
scab at the present time; when itexisted tobac¬ 
co water was thought to be a perfect remedy. 
And there is neither foot rot nor liver rot enough 
to call for antidotes or remedies for either. 
Indeed, sheep are very healthy, there beiug 
neither grub iu-the-head, nor abortion, nor 
rabies, nor madness from the bites of mad dogs, 
or other wild animals. In conclusion, the ad¬ 
vantages for sheep raising in the corn or cattle 
counties of Illinois are at this time so great, 
that with capital sufficient for starting the busi¬ 
ness, a thorough knowledge of it from first to 
last, and a proper exercise of that knowledge, 
any reasonable investment would be pretty sure 
of returning from 33 to 50 per cent, per 
annum, so long as present rales of wool and 
mutton were maintained. 
Bairn iusbaniri). 
THE DAIRY COW-NO. 7. 
HENRY STEWART. 
How to Lodge Dairy Cows . 
Comfort, cleanliness and quiet are import¬ 
ant iaetors in that result for which the dairy¬ 
man works—a pailful of milk ; and these may 
be secured without sacrificing cheapness. A 
herd of cows may be lodged in the best manner, 
at a cost of $10 per head ; that is, a most com¬ 
fortable and convenient shed for 15 cows may 
be put up complete for $150. Elaborate build¬ 
ing are all very well for the farmer who has no 
need to work for a living; but the business 
dairyman must look carefully to his invest¬ 
ment lest he may have no profits to care for. 
COW STABLE.—FIG, 304. 
After many years’ experience with all kinds 
of cow stables, I consider s< parate stalls for 
the cows ranged in a long, narrow, low shed, to 
possess the most advantages. It Is difficult to 
have every desirable feature in one thing ; but 
in such sheds as I am about to describe, one 
SEPT.48 
has economy, convenience in every way, abso¬ 
lute safety (which is a very great point), room, 
warmth and every other attribute of comfort 
for the cow. The shed which I consider the 
best can be built for $1 50 a running foot and 
100 feet will give 15 cows a separate, roomy, 
loose stall for each, in which the occupant can¬ 
not be injured by horns, robbed of her food, 
or trodden upon and damaged In the udder or 
teats, and can be left at night with absolute 
certainty of safety. Even from fire there is 
the greatest possible safety, for as the cows 
may he left unfastened at night, each may be 
turned out by merely opening the door. A 
stall 6J x 8 will be large enough for any cow, 
and 15 stalls will require 100 feet in length and 
14 feet in width. A plan of a range of sheds 
is here given. The size is as above stated and 
the plau is drawn to Beale of 16 feet to one 
inch. In front of the cows is a wide feed pas¬ 
sage through which a light-wheeled feed truck 
may be taken and the fodder distributed very 
easily and conveniently from a feed-room 
where it is prepared. 
The shed may be attached to a barn from 
which the fodder may be brought already pre¬ 
pared, or the end stall may be used for a feed 
room. In this case it will be found very con¬ 
venient to have a cistern supplied by the rain 
water from the roof, and a pump, under one 
end of the shed. The stalls are divided from 
the feed passage by a partition six feet high, 
or, which is better, to the roof; a hanging door 
in front of each stall serves to introduce the 
food into the feed troughs, and, if the parlic 
tion is made to the roofs, slide doors as large as 
half the space, should be provided for ventila¬ 
tion and for other obvious purposes. The 
rear of the shed should face the north, and 
should have a row of hanging shutters along 
the whole space to be opened in the summer 
time, if the cows are kept up at night. 
The sheds should be built upon high 
ground to give ample drainage and as the 
production of manure is of great importance, 
it will be found of the greatest value to keep 
the stalls abundantly littered and cleared out 
only when necessary for cleanliness. The 
manure may be left three or four days at any 
rate, if plenty of short litter or absorbenLs is 
provided. The partitions between the stalls 
are double-boarded for safety, and fivefeethigh. 
A post or long iron staple will be require d in 
each stall at each corner, as marked by 
the round dots. To these are attached steel 
rings aud short chains to go round the necks, 
or to hook ou to rings in leather neck straps. 
It is best always to secure a cow when she is 
milked and it may be found desirable some¬ 
times to put two cows in a stall, when this 
arrangement will be found useful. 
Where room is not sufficient to give cows 
more than 3$ feet of floor room, stanchions 
will be found the best method of fastening. 
When cows are kept for profit one cannot well 
be too fussy about their ideas of comfort. A 
cow’s idea of luxury and comfort is to be able 
to steal from her neighbor, to tyrannize over 
her, to punch her whenever she can, and to 
keep her in terror. I have found no manner 
of fastening so comfortable for the owner and 
the milker, so safe for the cows, and so com¬ 
fortable for the weaklings and quiet animals 
as stanchions. I don’t approve of cows lick- 
ink themselves clean. I do that with the card 
and brash, and that they cannot do this is the 
greatest objection made to staucbiODS. From 
a desire to be as kind and humane to my cows 
as possible, I have tried all sorts of fastenings, 
but as I have concluded hereafter to consider 
myself first and the cows second, whenever 
I change my methods of fastening, I will use 
stanchions, or the loose stalls which I have 
found very convenient for my own purposes. 
I do not intend to, nor can I in the space at 
my disposal, do more than give general prin¬ 
ciples lor the lodging of dairy cows. There 
are a lew indispensable points to consider in 
selecting any plan. These, or the inoBt im¬ 
portant of them, are economy of labor ; econ¬ 
omy of feed; ease of management; safety to 
the animals; comfort, first for the owner, and 
then for the cows ; healthful ness, provided for 
by good ventilation, cleanliness, and Bvflioieut 
room; and last, but by no means least, the 
making and saviug of mauure; and with all 
these cheapness aud durability of construction 
and material are not to be lost sight of. 
Jarm (gtonomg. 
EVAPORATING APPLES. 
The apple crop in this vicinity is the largest 
for many years. Picked and well sorted fruit 
sells for thirty cents per bushel- In conse¬ 
quence of this low price, many growers are 
turning their attention to evaporators. 
Evaporated fruit is very fioo, and sells readily 
at good prices. But right here I wish to drop 
a word of caution to those persons who are 
contemplating purchasing driers. 
A small evaporator that will evaporate five 
to ten bushels of apples per day, is too expen- 
