OCT. 2 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
§ $7 
failing to supply its own wants. In his open¬ 
ing speech he remarked: 
“Our country is capable of growing any and 
every grade of wool that may be called for in 
the manufacture of any and all fabrics, and in 
such quautity and so cheaply that, instead of 
importing, we should have such quality, sur¬ 
plusage and price as to command the mar¬ 
kets of the world. I have seen recently 
hundreds aud thousands, yes, hundreds of 
thousands of acres of land in the hilly and 
mountainous regions of Virginia, North and 
South Caroliua and Colorado that are admira¬ 
bly adapted to the raising of sheep, and where 
the “tread of the sheep would be golden” to 
the wretchedly poor farmers, who barely live 
by the cultivation of the worn-out hillsides of a 
country whose healthy and temperate climate, 
fine water and bright skies should attract im¬ 
migration and capita! to engage in the produc¬ 
tion of wool and mutton. If, as I hope, one 
of the results of this Convention will be to in¬ 
crease largely the breeding of sheep in these 
regions, I will feel richly compensated for any 
work or assistance I may have rendered to the 
gentlemen who have projected and executed 
this plan of an international sheep exhibition." 
The sheep exhibited were of remarkable ex¬ 
cellence, consisting chiefly of the three most 
valuable varieties for our uses: viz, the 
American Merino, the 8outh-Dowu and the 
Cotswold. There were Hampshire-Dowus, 
Oxford-Downs, Shropshires and Lincolns in 
lesser numbers, but in no way of less excel¬ 
lence. With two exceptions the lots exhibi¬ 
ted were native-bred, and proved beyond a 
doubt that. America may be made a “sheep’s 
paradise ” if the shepherds only do their part 
well- It goes without sayiug that the Merinos 
were all that could be wished, for to see a poor 
or ill-conditioned Merino at an American ex¬ 
hibition is the rarest sight. This sheep is 
modest and homely, but it bears a true golden 
fleece, and the beauty of its wool, when the 
dark and unattractive surface of the fleece is 
carefully spread apart, never fails to delight 
even the uon-profeesioual beholder. A good 
flock of these sheep was shown by Mr. Ilam- 
mond (a historic name), of Middlebury Vt , 
who took a pardonable pride in explaining to 
every inquirer the nature of the prominent 
wrinkles upon his excellent rams, aud the 
fineness and curl of the wool. This sheep, 
being cosmopolitan, it was not surprising to 
find flocks from Illinois and Missouri and 
the Northwest, as well as from Pennsylvania, 
New York and Vermont. 
The South-Downs were represented best by a 
remarkably good flock, sent by Samuel J. 
Sharpless, of Philadelphia, and another owued 
by R. M. Fisher, of Danville, Ky. Mr. Sharp- 
less’s South-Downs were in excellent health 
and hardy, and had evidently come direct 
from his pasture. Of his large flock not one 
specimen could be objected to as undeserving 
of the honor of competing with the best. 
Mr. Fisher’s flock showed how well this uoble 
sheep can match the no less noble Blue-Grass 
fields of Kentucky. They were heavy, broad- 
loined, smooth-built Bheep, with a fleece and 
make-up that required no odds in comparison 
with the new arrivals from Lord WalsiDgham’s 
flock, shown by Mr. Cooper, of Pennsylvania. 
These imported sheep always carry to me the 
idea that they were last seen in a barber’s 
shop, and under the shears and manipu¬ 
lation of the “tonsorial artist"—au appear¬ 
ance which they soon lose after their introduc¬ 
tion to our more rough-aud-ready management. 
As a sample of what the South-Downs can do 
under trying circumstauces, a flock which had 
been Bent to the Philadelphia House of Cor¬ 
rection. was brought from that institution and 
looked well, notwithstanding the association. 
A flock ol Cotswolds irom Illinois was shown 
by Mr. Abner Strawn of that State. These 
were nragniflejeut sheep in no way gotten up 
for show, but in working order, and were no 
new importations, thus showingthat this sheep 
does not, or need not, go back upon us in 
our climate. A fine ram with good, blotched 
face and legs and a fleece 11 Inches in length, 
turned the scale at 340 pounds,and good feeding 
might easily add 50, if not 100 lbs. more to his 
weight. It was a matter for regret that Borne 
other fine flocks of American-bred Cotswolds 
wore not present to compote with Mr. Strawn. 
A few Hampshire-Downs and Shropshires 
were shown by Mr. W. Homeward, of Newark, 
Del. These were fine specimens of these sheep, 
which are desirable for those whose business 
is to supply the markets with early lambs. 
The recent importations of Oxford-Downs by 
Mr. T. 8. Cooper, of Pennsylvania, showed 
mostly what could be done by Euglish breed¬ 
ers with these sheep. This was the interna¬ 
tional feature of the exhibition, or at least all 
that could be seen ol it unless a sheep baiting } 
as it might be called in point of fact, outside, 
with some dogs called sheep dogs, were to 
be considered as the foreign element. These 
imported sheep were monstrosities of fat and 
feeding, and a mild protest might be gently 
given against the mistake of importing such 
sheep merely to take premiums at shows. 
Why should it not be possible that premiums 
could be competed for only by native-born 
sheep ? And why should an importer and dealer 
in sheep or live stock be rewarded for the 
possession only by purchase, of sheep fatted 
for exhibition in another country, where it is 
well known that the course of feeding is de¬ 
structive of the only value for which these 
animals are supposed to be brought hither. To 
be enormously fat is no merit in a sheep ; not 
even for the butcher ; it may be for the oleo¬ 
margarine dairymen ; but for no earthly use 
besides, unless for the soap boiler or candle 
maker, and these people as yet have not got 
so far as to offer prizes for fat. 
In a ring, outside, the visitors were offered 
a novel entertainment, which in future would 
certainly be more honored in the breach than 
the observance. It was supposed to be a trial 
ot sheep dogs and had as much similarity to 
the genuine article as the chasing of the wild, 
uutamed Texan steer in the streets of New 
York City has to a real Spanish bull fight. 
Five sheep were let out of a pen along with a 
dog, with the expectation that the dog should 
drive the sheep around a ring like a half-mile 
track, and into another pen near the starting 
point. The trial was a failure. The sheep 
were not the kind to be driven, and the dogs 
not the kind to drive. The result was ludi¬ 
crous, and in a circus ring would kill the 
clown with jealousy. One dog, after scattering 
his sheep scared one out of the inclosure 
through a window into the exhibition building, 
where the poor animal (the sheep) went, con¬ 
sistently enough, into the Secretary’s office for 
protection, and to have its wrongs righted. 
Another dog, after chasing the sheep back and 
forth, lay down ; and one sheep, evincing the 
greatest sagacity, spied the open pen and 
walked into it of its own accord. The truth 
is, we don't want shepherds’ dogs yet in Amer¬ 
ica, excepting on the plaius to guard against 
wolves and to bring in stragglers; and there 
we have dogs to the business and the manner 
born. This international feature of sheep-dog 
trials we can dispense with in future, or at 
least, until we possess those kinds of sheep 
that need dogs to drive them, as the half¬ 
wild mountain sheep, fleet as deer, that carry 
little weight of fleece to hamper them in a 
race with a dog over brush and rocks, and 
through briars and heather where a man could 
not follow. The dog truly has his place 
among sheep; but at this exhibition he was 
as much out of place as those curs -which do 
more to prevent sheep-keeping than all other 
obstacles combined. A genuine sheep dog 
trial would be au interesting exhibition; but 
it wants, for success, a well trained dog, a 
capable shepherd, and sheep that have learned 
to know the dog as a companion and not as an 
enemy to be feared; lastly, it needs the right 
thing in the right place. Shep. 
Idtoritultural. 
TREE PROTECTION. 
S. B. PECK. 
That trees are a protection is beyond dis¬ 
pute. They protect from the cold of Winter 
aud the heat of Summer; and cold, hot, inhos¬ 
pitable and songless of birds is a country with¬ 
out them. They bear seeds, fruits and nuts for 
the birds and squirrels that delight us with 
their music and their gambols, as well as deli¬ 
cious fruits for the pleasure and health of man. 
“Woodman, spare that tree ’’ is the sentiment 
of every lover of nature. 
But the manner in which they protect us is 
not always well understood. It is often sup¬ 
posed that they protect vegetation in the same 
manner in which they protect us and our ani¬ 
mals; but this is not so. Winds cool our 
bodieB, but they are not necessarily cold in 
themselves, and whether they sink or raise the 
mercury in the thermometer depends on 
whether they come from a colder or warmer 
region than that surrounding the iustrumeut. 
Every live animal is a constant generator of 
heat, always giving it off to the surrounding 
air; winds dispel this heat and thus cool the 
air around us. Trees and other vegetation, 
though they have the effect to shut off this 
wind, yet do not, like animals, generate heat, 
but in Summer absorb heat in sunshine by the 
constant evaporation of water through their 
leaves, aud also by shutting off the scorching 
rays of the sun from the shaded space around 
them. 
Trees, valuable as they are for protection, 
do not protect our plants from frost except in 
a vertical line under them; on the contrary, 
they, aB well as everything else that obstructs 
the free circulation of air, favor fro6t. 
Every farmer of any experience knows, 
whether he is able to explain it or not, that in¬ 
closed valleys are always more subject to un¬ 
timely frosts than level plains, and they more, 
so than side-hills, the latter often being unin¬ 
jured when in all other aspects tender vegeta¬ 
tion is killed. He is slow to learn, however, 
that any protection against wind has in a mea¬ 
sure the effect to produce this dreaded enemy 
to horticulture, most especially to the raising 
of fruit. Time and space forbid a full explan¬ 
ation here of the cause and effect of frost; suf¬ 
fice it for the present for me to say, that al¬ 
ways, except in extreme cases, killing frosts 
occur only on still nightB, or rather on early 
mornings, and that anything that disturbs this 
atmospheric calm tends to prevent frost. Slop¬ 
ing aspects produce currents of air, by the 
fact that the atmosphere, as it cools after sun¬ 
down, becomes heavier, and thus, like water, 
seeks the lowest ground, aud crowds the air of 
the valley up the slopes. During sunshine the 
earth is heated up rapidly by the rays of the Day 
God, but as soon as he disappears this accumu¬ 
lated heat passes directly upwards, but any 
shade, like fogs, clouds or smoke, prevents this 
upward flow of heat and thus hinders frost, 
while winds or currents of air have the same 
effect by disturbing this upward flow. 
If I have made myself understood by this 
brief attempt at explanation, and have thus 
taught some one the value of a due selection of 
aspects for all frost-fearing fruits and tender 
vegetables, my object will have heeu accom¬ 
plished. That this part of the scieuce of hor¬ 
ticulture is partially ignored by the average 
country farmer, as well as by many pomologists, 
I have daily evidence, both by observation and 
by reading the printed remarks of many on 
this subject of tree protection. I would by no 
means discourage this leaving or the planting 
of trees for protection or ornament, but the 
right selection of the place in which to plant 
them or our fruits requires deliberate consider¬ 
ation. 
Those who have access to the annual reports 
of the Michigan State Pomological Society will 
see the effect of tree protection as there re¬ 
ported in the reports for 1874, page 138, aud 
for 1877, page 398. In both cases peach orch¬ 
ards were evidently destroyed by protection. 
Muskegan Co., Mich. 
ffjft gftaim 
BEES. 
Anyone in the country, however limited his 
space, can keep bees at a considerable profit, 
for it must be recollected that they have the 
whole region rouud them to roam in and free¬ 
ly forage for honey, no matter to whom the 
land belongs. Thus those who possess the 
fewest acres are just as well off for bee pastur¬ 
age, as those who possess the most. 
Think of the hundreds of fruit trees within a 
circuit of a few miles around nearly every¬ 
one’s habitation, whose numerous early Spring 
blossoms Invite all the bees of the neighbor¬ 
hood to come and sip their nectar freely and 
without price. Then, there are thousands »f 
wild flowers; and, soon following, millions of 
white and red clover heads; the blossoms of 
grain, of peas, of beans, and other things 
during the Summer, which the eye of man 
does not note, but the acuter one of the bee 
does. 
Then in Autumn there are fields of buck¬ 
wheat, and wild flowers still linger in abund¬ 
ance. What treasures all these combined are 
for this highly intelligent and ceaselessly la¬ 
boring little insect to draw from for the grati¬ 
fication and sustenance of man, the sweet 
treasures of all of which, except for these busy 
little creatures would go to waste. 
As soon as cold weather has set in, hives can 
be safely removed to any reasonable distance. 
Let every one who is now destitute, possess 
one, at least of these, and as many more as 
can be well atteuded to. Women are just as 
capable as raeu to manage bees, or even more 
so, as they have a gentler hand, more patient 
disposition, and. we may add, a better tael for 
the pursuit of this light and pleasant home 
industry. 
If instruction is wanted in the management 
ot bees, plenty of cheap books ou bee-raising 
are published, and the Rural during the year 
has frequout articles ou the subject, aud is 
always ready to answer all inquiries with re¬ 
gard to this pleasant business. 
HUsrclIattfotts. 
GLEANINGS. 
Encourage the t'se of Cheese. 
It is a duty every public writer, or speaker, 
aud the press generally owe to the agricultural 
interests and citizens of the country, to urge 
upon the public an increased consumption of 
cheese. Our facilities for dairying in thegreat 
northern belt of the grass States, in the ele¬ 
vated and rolling regions of the middle belt of 
States, and in the mountainous sections of 
the far West, the South and the Pacific Slojie, 
are practically inexhaustible. Dairying is like 
an engine that furnishes motive power to it¬ 
self—it is capable of building up the lands 
which support it. It is & branch of farm in¬ 
dustry that will not only give us immense 
quantities of cheese, a food hardly second to 
any in its cheapness, excellence and economic 
yalue ; but indirectly it will give us Immense 
additions of veal, pork, butter aud beef. If the 
home consumption of cheese can be so stimu¬ 
lated as to keep a constantly increasing demand 
for it so as to keep dairying constantly and 
rapidly expanding over those wide areas so 
well designed for it, keeping pace with our 
rapidly growing population, it will indeed be 
a national blessing, and an object well worth 
laboring for by those who would form, guide 
and direct public opinion, taste, habits and 
modes of living. There is no article of equal 
value as food whose consumption needs to be 
more encouraged, or which would do so much 
real good. 
The Lennon of the Year 
agriculturally from the deep, sharp long-con¬ 
tinued drought, is deep, thorough, frequent cul¬ 
tivation. A rich, friable oft-stirred soil will 
stand tbe drought much better than one of op¬ 
posite characteristics. The lesson of a wet 
season is the benefit and necessity of drain¬ 
age. There seems to be a happy mixture, 
kind, aud condition of soil that is neither too 
wet nor too dry ; that sustains ilself amid wet 
or dry influences of the seasons, and, properly 
handled, always liberally responds to the de¬ 
mands made upon it, and gives good crops 
without much regard to wet or drought. But 
we have great quantities of soil not of this 
happy consistency and component make-up, 
that can aud ought to be mechanically and ar¬ 
tificially improved by draining, impacting, ad¬ 
mixture or fertilization. This is a gradual 
work, and oue the farmer must do by regular 
siege approaches rather than by a single dash 
or charge. It must be the outcome aud crown¬ 
ing work of years, a little here, a little there, 
by good calculation and economic plans slowly, 
persistently surely carried out. This will be 
for time and lasting agricultural progress. 
A Criterion of Agricultural Skill. 
About as good an index as one can have by 
which to judge of the State of agriculture in 
a town, section, country or State, and espe¬ 
cially of any farmer, is the success, extent 
and quality of the wheat crop produced. It 
requires, except on virgin soils of great rich¬ 
ness and tall of the elements of plaut growth, 
skill, judgment and good management to raise 
good crops of good wheat. Those farmers, as 
a rule, in our older sections are the most 
prosperous who plant, cultivate and produce 
the most wheat and curu. I am not talking 
of dairy, trucking or fruit sections or farmers, 
but more particularly of thegreat mixed farm¬ 
ing sections of our country. Wheat is a plant 
of delicate tastes, peculiar in its likes and dis¬ 
likes, and one that will not bear neglect m any 
respect. It must, more than most plants, have 
its likes administered to and its enemies and 
adverse conditions beaten off, to do well. 
Wherever good wheat can be produced, the 
highest type of farming will be found neces¬ 
sary to, and employed in its culture. The flour 
made from it will be the material most used in 
making the bread of that community. The 
more advanced in civilization a people become 
the better they live, the more flour, sugar, meat, 
and improved vegetables they will use; the 
better their stock and domestic animals will be 
fed and cared for. and the more all will enjoy 
life. 
The Percheron Horse 
stands among the first of the business breeds 
of horses. He has been, bred for business for 
so long a time that his characteristics have be¬ 
come firmly fixed and are sure of successful 
transmission. He has become a thoroughbred 
in the fullest, sense of the term and as a thor¬ 
oughbred business horse ha6 attracted, and is 
now attracting, the attention of all civilized 
nations, and especially of the United States. 
While the undue encouragement given by Ag¬ 
ricultural Societies and public attention to 
ttotters aud speed horses, has directed the 
aims of the farmers and horse breeders to a 
wrong standard aud iu a wrong direction, we 
see many signs of reaction and of a return to 
the breeding of more generally useful and in¬ 
trinsically valuable draft, farm, truck and 
business horses. The Percheron horse is called 
in to aid in this reform, and is sure to leave 
much of his mark for good in wide circles from 
the points where the best specimens are kept 
for breeding purposes. J. W. Lang. 
- ♦♦ ♦ 
Remdy for Warts. —W. B. R., Medina. N. 
Y.. savs that a simple remedy for warts on ani¬ 
mals is the application of muriatic acid. Small 
worts can be be Bafely cut from a cow’s ud¬ 
der, aud killed by a drop of muriatic acid ap¬ 
plied with the point of a small stick. He has 
also removed flat wavts the size of a 25c. piece 
from the inside of a horse’s leg by carefully 
scraping off the top and applying muriatic 
acid in the same way. 
-»•» 
BRIEFLETS. 
The White Elephant Potato ripens a few 
days after the Late Snow-flake. The latter is 
quite uniform iu size, smooth, beautiful. But 
the W. E. will yield three times as much and, 
though not distinguished for beauty, is just as 
good in quality. ...... Mr. Ricketts 
brought to tbe Rural Office last week eight 
or ten bunches of his seedling grapes. Nobody 
supposes that his many kinds will do well 
everywhere. But it begins to appear that those 
