752 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NOV. 43 
Weld, was, as bis name represents, golden- 
bued—a color which be Invariable Imparted to 
his progeny—with a hide delicious to handle, 
and tbongh j'istinbis prime, five years old, 
was sold for $45. whilst a male calf of his get 
a few months old brought @200! Mr D F. 
Appleton, one of the most enterprieiug ol Jer¬ 
sey breeders, who seldom hesitates at the price, 
if what he desires in the line of cows or balls 
suits him. and who was undoubtedly prepared 
to give cix or eight times the amount actually 
paid for‘ Gold d ist." if there bad been any 
competition, was the judicious and lucky pur¬ 
chaser and ail signs will fall if the product of 
hU ” Ipswich ’' herd during the next two or 
three years is not superior to its predecessors, 
notwithstanding the excellence of the blood 
and breeding already imparted. TUertmain- 
lng Jerseys were so d for fair prices, and do 
One could com pi 'in that the sale was not well 
ad Venice d and managed nor that many, if any, 
de-irable animals brought much less than they 
Wi re worth. 
Of course, this second sale was not intended 
to be a C' tnpeer of the first, but breeders were 
allowed to send such animals as they pleased 
to he sold only under their own names, aud the 
prices they brought depended not only upon 
the reputation of tb*ir owners, but upon their 
actual merit and condition. "Easter Flower" 
wus not a solid-colored cow, though she 
brought the highest pi ice at the sale, neither is 
••J-rsey Belle of Seituate.’’ tuough her owner 
has refur-ea to put any priceupou her; yet the 
hetd of Mr. Parke owed much of Its beauty to 
its uniformly I'gbi fawn, aud much as we may 
deprecate ‘ giving away” auy valuable qualities 
as a sacrifi e to •* color.” there can he no doubt 
th«t, other things being equal, “solidity” is 
atli'iciive to husers. and that a herd of good 
ammds of unifoim color always makes an 
impression. But it is rare that one bull will so 
impress nearly all cows which receive his eer- 
vieos as did “Gold dn-t though our lament¬ 
ed L uox whose shade we trust is now feeding 
in pastures new, bad the like quality—but 
if a brt> der Is lucky enough to own such a one 
he cau d> no b -tter than to baog on to him 
aud use bim so long as he can beget. 
The le 680 u from these sales is that good ani¬ 
mal* bring goid prices, and vice versa; that 
we have in this country as valuable breeding 
herds as cau be found in the world ; that not 
only breeders themselves, but all thoee dealing 
in J 'ise}‘s. are aware of the fact, and that with 
judicious management we can compete even at 
public auctions with any Imported stock. 
Lenox, Mass. 
.- 4 *■ * - 
Fancy pedigrees and individual 
EXCELLENCE. 
rule, to bring the best prices, tint little prefer¬ 
ence being given to the Kentucky branch in 
the past of anv animal. It was perfectly evi¬ 
dent that neither pedigree nor premiums 
awarded in the past would sell an auiinal un¬ 
less he Individually filled the eye of the pur¬ 
chaser. For example, the eighth Baron Mor- 
ley, 28 537. bred and owned by Mr. Harrison, 
had taken first prize as yearling bull and in 
prlzu herd in 1876 aud as aged bull and head 
of prize herd In 1879 both at New York State 
fair, these two being the only times he ever 
was exhibited. But the animal himself did Dot 
fill the eye of the bidders, most of whom were 
naturally fastidious, and hud, besides, seen the 
floe show of "aged bulls” at our late State 
fair and had had their eyes spoiled for 
anything not pretty near perfection, individual¬ 
ly. And so, though the Baron had a good 
show record, aud was line-bred Pi incess with 
hut a single out-cross, he went at the ridiculous 
price of $60. True, his age was against him 
(six years past), hut Duke Dunmore, 33,248 
was six months older aud had just sold ffir 
4300. But he was a straight Rose of Sharon 
of the Kentucky branch, and hud a form and 
bearing that filled the eye of Short-bnm men. 
The most noted breeders of the State were 
at the sale, and replenished their herds with 
choice animals. Also several well known gen 
tlernen fn ip other States, as. for example, Pro¬ 
fessor S Johnson, of the Michigan Agricultur¬ 
al College, who. beiug clearly a judge of cattle 
aud having the 8tat.e of Michigan to back him. 
bore off several of the verv choicest anirna s 
< ffered. My footings of the sale, in round 
numbers, are: 
0 & F. P. Hills. 80 >tf bead at $151 per head, $4,sou 
X. • t. Jones & Son.28# ” 115 " 
T. L. Harrison. 8 * lot 
T. F. Joy..22 88 
Total.... ..89 124 $11,045 
Hills aud Joues owned the bull Duke Dun- 
more in company. Hence the '•£” above. 
The animals were widely scattered by the sale 
among common farmers as well as breeders, 
aud will do much towards grsdiug up the 
dairies and herds of the State of Onio. 
STOCK NOTES. 
vr. I. CHAMBER!.AIN. 
A joint public sale of highly bred Short¬ 
horn cattle was held at Delaware, Ohio. Octo¬ 
ber 2lst 1880 The cattle 6old were owned, 
and almost without exception bred by four 
parties, viz , C & F P. Hills, Hon. T. C. 
J ,nes & Son. T L Harrison and Hon. T. F. 
Joy, aud a primed catalogue, as Is usual at 
such ea es, gave full pedigrees of animals 
Toe Messrs. Hills & JoDes are two of the old¬ 
est and best hre< d^ra in Ohio, while Mr. Harri- 
bou is a well kaown breeder of St. Lawrence 
Co., N. Y- aud Secretary of the New York 
Stale Agricultural Society, and Mr. Joy has 
an excellent local reputation In Ohio as a 
breeder. The sale was conducted under the 
rules of the Ohio Short-horn Association, 
which fact alone would have assured perfect 
fairness in every respect, had It not been al 
ready securrd by the known character of all 
the gentlemen concerned. 
The animals 6old were of excellent families 
or strains, but had not been put in 6ptci,l 
show condition at a large and worse than use¬ 
less expeme. They were in good breeding con¬ 
dition, and n><t pampered and grain fed in 
daik stables to put on ii jurious fat and arti¬ 
ficial gloss and d lor for mere fancy bidders at 
fancy prices. There was not a fancy or ille¬ 
gitimate figure obtained during the whole day, 
but rather a steady run of good aDd remuaer 
ative prices. The day of fancy prices is past 
lu Omo, but the day will never pass when 
the carefnl, honest, sagacious breeding of 
Short horns will fail to be remunerative. The 
total receiptsf°i 89 animal* actually sold weie, 
as I figure it, @11 045 or a shade over $124 per 
head all around. This price is good when it Is 
known that two of the bulls were six years 
past, and that a large number of "young 
things" from four to ten months old were in¬ 
cluded in the catalogue. 
While it is true that “ fancy " pedigrees 
were not at a premium, yet nothing was more 
evident than that a straight and unbroken line 
of approved ancestry was in all cases deemed 
essential, and that any question on any ances¬ 
tor « vtn quite remote greatly itjared the price 
of the annual on sale. It was a most intelli¬ 
gent aDd ■ Xidiug crowd of bidders, and in 
every instance they seemed to demand two 
things, viz. Individual excellence, and a good 
pedigtee. 
The Roe* of Sharon family seemed, m a 
Messrs. POWELL Bko’s.. of Springboro, Pa., 
have for years been reoogniz-d as the most ex¬ 
tensive importers of Clydesdale horses in 
America, aud are also noted for tbe high qual¬ 
ity and worth of their stock- We had the 
plea-ure of inspecting their last importation of 
ten Clydesdale stallions lauded lrorn tbe Clr- 
cast-ia. of Che Anchor Hut*, from Seo laud, on 
Oct. 81st. It is no disparagement to any 
others to say that the-e were pronounced by 
good judges the finest lot ever laud-d at this 
port. They not only had la ge size—several 
of them weighing over a ton each—but they 
aL<o had unusual quality, style and action. 
Thev stood the voyage well. This lot are all 
registered in the Clydesdale Siud Book of 
Scotland, and are a great credit to the skill of 
Mr. Powell, as shown in their selection They 
are bays and browns. One ol the lot goes to 
Smiths & Powell, Syracuse, N. Y. Messrs. 
Powell Bro’s have made several large impor¬ 
tations this season. They landed seven at 
Boston last week, and other lots shortly before; 
they have still other purchases to arrive. 
jsbtqj Ijusliankjj. 
EARLY LAMBS. 
The breeding of these may be greatly In¬ 
creased aud made one of the most profitable 
industries of American flock masters. They 
are quick <>f 6ale. aud command high prices in 
consequence of the rapid increase of the wealth 
and population of our cities. Siuee the intro¬ 
duction of steam engines lutoso many barns, 
for the purpose of grinding grain, cutting fod¬ 
der and cooking root - , warm winter-quarters 
arc easily mude for ewes, in which they may 
safely lamb all Winter and rear their offspring. 
Thus they may begin to drop them early in 
November, and so continue comfortably housed 
till mild Spring weather. 
Early lambs may be most profitably raised 
in conjunction with cows kept for the dairy; 
for to bring them forward rapidly and well 
fattened lor market, it is generally neces¬ 
sary to feed them cows' milk in addition 
to what they draw from their dams, and the 
more especially if ihere are twins or triplets. 
The lambs can be taught to drink milk by the 
time they are four weeks old, or possibly a 
little sooner. Begin with a gill to half a pint 
morniDg and night, fresh drawn and warm from 
the cow, and go on iucreaslng the quantity to 
the full extent of the lamb’s subsequent appe¬ 
tite. Lambs can thus be grown large enough, 
and well tatted for the market when six to 
eight weeks old. and their flesh is then so deli¬ 
cate and savory as to command the highest 
price. Mil a of the Ghauuel Island aud some 
other cows may poaeibly be found too rich for 
the lambs, causing them to scour ; if bo, dilute 
It with pure warm water before feeding. It 
might be beat also to add a tablespoonful or 
two of oil meal or flaxseed giuel When kept 
on longer, they can be fed a little flaxseed and 
oats ground together, raw cotton seed and oll- 
meal. and. at a suitable age. hay, roots, cooked 
or raw, aDd grain of some kind. 
Much judgment and a little experience are 
required in feeding lambs, 8^ well as other 
young stock. The great thing is to promote a 
rapid, healthy growth, at the same time keep¬ 
ing them from scouring. They are easily 
made to sconr unless the food is of the 
right kind, and if too much at a time is forced 
upon them. Apartments for ewes and lambs 
should be kept well aired and clean. This is 
essentially necessary for their health, as sheep 
require a fresher and purer air than any other 
kind of domestic animals, in mild days they 
may be turned out into a dry yard for exercise 
a few hours, but never when the ground is wet 
or muddy. When lambs get to be two months 
old, if ihe weather be still cold, they and their 
dams cau be gradually inured to sheds open in 
front to the south, but in case of a threatening 
snow storm or beavv rain, the lambs, at least, 
| should be stabled or kept where neither snow 
nor drenching rain can reach them. 
At the South, early lambs can be more easily 
and cheaply raised than at the North, for 
there open sheds only would be required to 
protect them, and green pastures may be had 
in abundance nearly all Winter for the ewes 
and he lamls also to nibble as soon as they 
got old enough to do so. But even there we 
would recommend, If desired to push them 
forward rapidly, feeding milk as above stated 
and cottoD-seed meal, as oil-meal or flax-seed is 
not so easily obtained, and both are dearer there 
than at the North, while cotton seed meal Is 
much cheaper. The lambs at a suitable age 
can be quickly transported by steamers to 
Northern markets, and in-ure on their sale a 
profitable return to Southern farmers for their 
breeding and rearing. They would also give 
them plenty of fiebh meat at home, and thus 
avoid their being so confined as they now are 
to salt pork and bacon. 
As to the be6t breeds of sheep to produce 
early lambs, the different sorts of Downs, and 
especially the pure South Downs, are pre¬ 
ferred iD England, and it should he the same 
here. But crosses of these as well as those 
of tbe various kinds of long-wooled sheep 
answer an excellent purpose, aud may be 
largely and profitably used. Ou lean grade 
Merino and native Southern ewes, perhaps 
tbe first cross ofaCotswold, Lincoln, or Lei¬ 
cester ram may be best, but one should rarely 
go beyond one cross, otherwise the lambs 
might be too fat for delicate eating. 
As these three latter breeds are of extra- 
large size, care should be exercised to select 
as roomy ewes to breed to them as possible, 
and also to Belect the smallest and most com¬ 
pactly formed rams of their breed for this pur¬ 
pose, otherwise the fetus would be so large as 
to make yeaning dangerous. Unless such 
care is used in coupling sheep, both dam and 
offspring are often lost. We are aware that 
it is said the boues ol long-wooled rams are 
bo flue in proportion to their size, that little Is 
risked in coupling them with quite small 
ewes; but those most experienced in such 
breeding declare that there is more or less 
danger lu it, and we therefore caution our 
leaders to be careful in making selections for 
their flocks. 
Other breeds of sheep besides those we rec¬ 
ommend above are used in Eoglaud for the 
production of early lambs, such as the Dorset 
etc; but they aresmaller and not sohardy and 
tbiifty, and, moreover, have horns, which are 
quite objectionable in mutton sheep. These may 
be colled rather fancy animals than otherwise. 
We believe that the system of raising early 
lambs was first begun in Dorsetshire, Eng¬ 
land, and thence has gradually spread over 
the United Kingdom. 
As poultry begins in late Winter and Spring 
to diminish, in the meat markets, nothing is 
fouud equal to early lambs to supply Us place, 
and we trust their numbers may be rapidly in 
creaeed hereafter for this highly desirable 
purpose. 
. -- -- 
MUTTON 8HEEP. 
the numerous crosses made by their rams, as 
well ashy thoseof the larger-sized long-wooled 
on native ewes. When this produce becomes 
well fired in that type which particular dis¬ 
tricts prefer for their regular breeding, then 
the males and females of these crosses may be 
put together, and serve to stock tbe several 
localities as desired by their occupants. 
For a breeding flock farmers should pay 
special attention toselecting such only as are of 
strong constitution, good form, hardy, quick 
feeders, and early to mature, coupled with as 
valuable a fleece as possible, although this is 
of secondary consideration. Tbe possession 
of all these qualities io a breeding stock, is of 
the utmost importance, and should be care¬ 
fully considered in each individual sheep ; for 
Ibe better or worse they may be. ihe greater 
or lr-6s will be the profit realiz a d out of the 
flock. When anyone ha« not sufficient confi¬ 
dence in bis own judgment to make a proper 
selection of breeders, ho should avail himself 
of the services of a friend who is capable of 
doing it for him, as he may be assured this is 
well worth the extra trouble and moderate ex¬ 
pense such a course may be to him. 
Feed is the next thing of importance, and in 
giving this be careful that it is such as will 
keep the sheep at all times in good Btore order; 
Dot over- fat on the one hand or lean on the 
other. If too fat, neither males nor females 
will produce as many or as strong lambs as 
when fairly kept, nor will their offspring be 
so hardy and thrifty. The milk of over-fat 
ewes is liable to give their lambs the scours, 
while that of the lean is not sufficient for their 
full nourishment. Thus, in both cases, the 
growth of tbe offspring is checked, and they 
never can be made as good sheep as if they 
had been properly nourished when young. 
Of the best kind of feed for store keep or 
fattening sheep every farmer must learn to 
jadge for himself, and act accordingly, for 
this varies with the climate, season and 
weather. Take, for example, a hilly pasture in 
dry weather. The grass then will be scant, 
wiry and so hard of digestion as not to fur¬ 
nish sufficient nourishment for the flock. If 
then it can be brought down at evening to 
richer land, growing a more succulent herb¬ 
age, and hurdled there till morning, this, will 
assist in digesting tbe drier food of the day, 
and fi 1 tbeir stomachs with all that is neces¬ 
sary to keep the sheep in good condition, or 
even fatten them for market. 
Again, during a superabundant fall of rain, 
grass becomes so rank and watery that if 
eaten too freely it causes scours. The flock 
ought then to be fed partly on dry hay or 
straw, if they will eat it, to correct this loose¬ 
ness, aDd in any event have a moderate ration 
mornings and nights of linseed meal or flax-seed 
ground half and half with oats. When led 
roots in Winter the same ration should be 
added, which will generally prevent scouring. 
One great consideration to the farmer in 
keeping Bheep is, that the carcass Is bo much 
smaller than that of tbe bullock that he can 
easily supply himself with fresh meat. This Is 
not only more palatable and healthful than salt 
meats, but the consumption of it in hot weather 
is nothing like such a provocation of thirst 
as the latter to all out-door laborers. When 
families are small, neighbors can take turns in 
furnishing a carcass of fresh mutton to be 
divided among them, or, if the family is large, 
the meat can be kept in good order till con¬ 
sumed, especially if there is an iee-bousein 
which to Btore it. Such every farmer ought to 
have, not only for this purpose, but for various 
others, which add so greatly to the comforts 
of all duriug hot weather. 
Mutton has advanced in price in Great Biit- 
ain during the past few years considerably 
more than beef or pork, inconsequence of the 
enormous destruction of sheep there from 
various causes durinv* this time: it will con¬ 
sequently take several years to fillup ibis gap. 
In themeanwhlle.our ownpopulatlon is rapidly 
increasing, a- d the taste for good mutton with 
it, thus making an extra market both at home 
and abroad for our flock-masters. They will 
now see that they have every encouragement 
in the future, not only to improve their sheep, 
but also to add largely to their numbers. 
No doubt this class of sheep Is destined 
to take the same precedence among us, in the 
course of a few years, as it has long since taken 
in Great Britain. Mutton there is much more 
largely consumed than either beef or pork, 
aud, when comiDg from the right sortof sheep, 
it is more savory than either and more healthful 
than thelatter, particularly In summer weather, 
it can be produced more cheaply than beef or 
pork, and we have only to give due attention 
to breeding such sheep as Bupply mutton of 
the best quality, to increase its consumption 
rapidly among our people, and also its expor¬ 
tation. 
As to tbe breeds of sheep for this purpose, 
tbe various classes of Downs are unquestion¬ 
ably preferable ; and they are so hardy, pro¬ 
lific and early to mature, that they may be 
made, with proper attention, to stock the 
country rapidly. 
Next best to the Downs as mutton sheep, are 
Mountain Sheep produce the cholcP6t flav¬ 
ored and ten derest mutton and avery valuable 
wool for domestic purposes. For Instance, 
the Welsh mutton produced in the mountains 
of Wales is sold by English confectioners as a 
delicacy, and the Welsh flannel is the best of 
its kind, never shrinking and hardly ever 
wearing out. Everybody has heard of Shet¬ 
land wool, which is made into ladies’ knitted 
shawls of strange devices, and into the softest 
hose and underwear. And tbe Shetland sheep 
are exposed on those bleak Btorm-swept moors 
in tbOBe rocky isles of the northern ocean 
which we ehould think uninhabitable. The 
Cumberland mountain Bheep. the Herdwick, 
and the Scotch black faces, which feed on the 
rocky Grampians, are also noted for their use¬ 
ful wool, short but strong and soft, and of the 
warmest, fleeciest kind, and are by no means 
small, for they reach a weight of 130 pounds. 
/ 
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