1S86 
807 
the brisket and pelvis bones apart, and hands 
the splitting axe, but must not sharpen any 
knives. The quiekest time made was 10 min¬ 
utes 2a seconds in dressing a beast, and nicety 
of work counts more than speed. Tt is <daimod 
that the same men can dress a carcass in "go 
as you please" style in three minutes and 40 
seconds, and in "market style" in four minutes 
and 50 seconds. One man made 220 knife cuts 
and another 270 in skinning a carcass. H. .t. 
SCARCITY OF DONKEYS. 
One thing that surprised me when 1 first 
came to t his couutry was the few donkeys to 
be seen on the streets of American cities. In 
England and in Europe the hucksters all have 
donkeys, and many small farmers and milk¬ 
men find them valuable. Here these venders 
drive some crippled old horse, about. A don¬ 
key would bust, longer, do more patient work, 
and cost le-ss to keep. He is to a horse what a 
goat is to a cow. In proportion to his weight 
and the cost of his food he does far more work 
than a horse. An American farmer would 
be almost ashamed to meet his neighbors if lie 
used donkeys instead of horses, and goats in¬ 
stead of cows, ami yet there are plenty of 
places in this country where he could make 
far more money by keeping the smaller 
animals. ENGLISHMAN. 
Sljccp ijusbant)n). 
No>esfrom the Western Neir York Form. 
SHEEP VERSUS COWS. 
MAINTAINING THE FERTILITY OK THE SOIL. 
Let no one for a moment suppose that in 
pasturing either sheep or cows, or in feeding 
them solely on what is grown upon the farm, 
anything can be added to the fertility of the 
soil. The animal is not an originator, it is 
only a machine, and as such is run by outside 
influences. It has no means of getting any¬ 
thing outside of what is taken in its food. 
Consequently there can be nothing in its pro¬ 
ducts or its excreta aside from what is taken 
in—what is eaten or drunk—and if this comes 
solely from the farm, it contains nothing, ex¬ 
cept its carbon, but wlmt was derived from 
the soil, and consequently the manure made 
by its consumption cau carry back to the 
soil no element of plant growth not originally 
there. On t he contrary, even with the best of 
care in saving and returning to the soil every 
particle of the manure, there is a constant 
and unavpi lable lo-s to t he farm. This arises 
from the abstraction from the food, of the 
nitrogen, phosphoric arid and potash, which 
are requisite to the formation of flesh, milk, 
bones, hair, wool. etc. When full-grown cows 
are purchased and arc kept for hotter making, 
and this is the only product sold from the 
farm, nothing but u mere trace of anything 
beyond carbon an 1 hydrogen will be removed, 
and if the m.Ik be judiciously fed to full- 
grown hogs for fattening purposes, nearly nil 
its nitrogen and other valuable ingredients 
will be left in the mauure. and if this be so 
saved that no loss occur by burning or wash¬ 
ing, and if all of it be returned to the fields, 
but very little exhaustion of fertility should 
b > the result—much less than when sheep are 
kept. In sheep husbandry the profits are 
made in raising aud selling young sheep, and 
in the growth of the annual rteece. In both 
of these much plant ood is taken away in the 
shape of bon s. meat and wool, the constituents 
of which are largely potash, phosphoric acid 
aud nitrogen, and even where the practice is 
followed of buying full-grown sheep and fat¬ 
tening them for the market, a large growth of 
wool takes place, and this is largely made up 
of the nv i»t expensive elements of plant growth. 
So, while neither sheep nor cows can of 
themselves add anything to the fertility of the 
farm, it must be conceded t.hn if both are 
kept according to the too common method of 
depending solely on th • farm for what they 
eat, the cows will be fur loss exhausting where 
kept for butter making alone. But, where the 
milk is sold or taken to the cheese factory, or 
to the butter factory, and the skim-milk is 
not returned, the tables will be turned, for in 
the milk, aside from its butter, will be found 
in large proportion the very elements of plant 
food which go to make the carcass and wool 
of the sheep, and in many dairies the practice 
prevails of raising und fattening the calves. 
Where this i- so, then the exhaustion is much 
more rapid with the cows. But the wise 
farmer, whether keeping cows or sheep, will 
supplement what is grown ou his farm both 
in .Summer and Winter by the use of brau, 
oil meal, corn meal and ot her foods, which are 
rich in plant food and which can be used at a 
pntit, and when he does so, either class of 
stock can bo kept not only without a loss, but 
with an actual aud constant increase of the 
fertility of his farm, and of its productiveness, 
as a matter of course. 
When this wiser course is followed there are 
some advantages in favor of the sheep, among 
which I will call attention to a few:—When 
running at pasture the droppings of the cows 
are mostly left in compact heaps, destroying 
the herbage upon which they may be and 
fouling that surrounding for a foot or more, 
so that no animal will eat it, aud, besides this, 
they are mostly eaten by insects. The void- 
ings, both liquid and solid, of the sheep are 
more easily’ and evenly scattered over the 
ground. They are never wasted by being 
eaten by insects, arp never destructive to the 
herbage on which they fall, or avoided by 
the stock. They fall close to the ground, 
are readily within the reach of the 
plant roots, and are quickly made available 
in growing fresh food. The trending of the 
sheep is much less likely to poach the ground 
or destroy the sod over which they feed. In 
Winter, when confined in stables, the liquid 
voidings from the sheep are less copious than 
from cows, and arc all quickly absorbed l«y 
the solid droppings, tbns making the manure 
much pleasanter to handle and making their 
return to the field without loss much more 
certain: and when the stock are kept in open 
yards, subject to the rains and snows, the 
di(Terence in fa vor of t he sheep is still greater. 
Sheep will also work up the litter given them 
much finer than will cows, and thus make 
their manure more easily handled. It can lie 
scattered and plowed under more readily, and 
lie less in the way of subsequent cultivation. 
: * 
Comparative Profit.— This is one of the 
most important points to be considered. Every 
man is entitled to a good living from his busi¬ 
ness, and, iu addition, to a reasonable surplus 
to provide against old age and its contingen¬ 
cies. That neither the dairy farmer nor the 
slioep keeper has been adequately rewarded, 
for the past few years at least, is evident to 
every careful observer. The first has had to 
struggle against, the unjust competition of the 
bogus butter and cheese maker. The latter 
has had equally as sharp competition in the 
use of shoddy and other worthless substitutes 
for wool by the dishonest manufacturer; not 
only have these substitutes supplanted the gen¬ 
uine articles in either case, but their use has 
greatly diminished the demand for dairy pro¬ 
ducts and woolen goods by destroying pub¬ 
lic confidence. But, notwithstanding these 
obstacles, these brandies of farming will, on 
investigation, l>e found to have paid as well as 
any other, if we compare periods of eight, ten 
or more years And that they have not paid 
better is more the. fault of those who follow 
them than of the times or markets. Dairy 
farmers have kept by far too poor a class of 
cows, and have not used sufficient rare or skill 
in the production of butter aud cheese to in 
sure the finest grades and the highest prices; 
nor have they forced such cows as were kept 
to their maximum yield. The sheep farmers 
have paid more attention to the production of 
wool than to meeting the wants of meat 
markets, and even in this lino they have not 
bred to the highest excellence; aud in Winter 
they have treated the flocks too inhumanely to 
Secure the largest yields or best quality of 
wool. While there are many exemplary ex¬ 
ceptions, the average cow in the dairy dis¬ 
tricts does not give milk over eight mouths in 
a year, and docs not make, ou an average for 
the whole time, over five pounds of butter per 
week, and the average butter made does not 
net for the Summer over 15 routs per pound, 
thus yielding about *25 per cow, and if to 
this be added the net receipts for the 
skim-milk and the “dcacou's pelt" the aggre¬ 
gate may reach $20. If for each cow were 
substituted, eight sheep, the average receipts 
would be about 40 pounds of washed wool 
worth, at the low figures of the pust three 
years. $10.80, six lambs should be raised annu¬ 
ally worth $12, making ati aggregate of 
$22.80; to compensate for the balauee appear¬ 
ing against the sheep, there would be the 
lesser labor required and the fact that wheu 
the cows are old and no longer profitably 
productive, it is necessary to sell them at a re¬ 
duction below the purchase price. While 
these figures do not make a very attractive 
showing for either industry, 1 believe they are 
not far from correct, as applied to the masses 
engaged in cow and sheep keeping. The 
notable exceptions above mentioned- where 
the receipts are more than double those here 
stated—only show what may be done. With 
proper business energy and forethought, and 
with the best of care, even the receipts and 
aud profits of the best dairyman aud sheep 
keepers may be greatly increased. 
It is to Vie hoped that the oleomargarine bill 
will lessen the competition of the dairymen, 
aud in the consumption of wool a more lively 
and largely increased demand is before us, 
iu some measure the result of a change in the 
fashions to more woolen goods. The markets 
for the best grades of niuttou are never over¬ 
stocked, aud I hope the prices and profits in 
both these brauches of fanning may lie 
greater. While I cau advise no one to change 
abruptly I would advise every man to study 
the capabilities of his farm and the demands 
of the markets just about him and most 
readily available, and it may lie that in many 
eases a change is desirable. 
-> . 1 . 
* * *** 
It is now time to expect severe freezing 
any day, aud when this occurs to such an ex¬ 
tent that the clover leaves are broken where 
walked upon when frozen, the sheep should 
be at once gathered into the yards aud stables, 
or the pastures should be supplemented by a 
da ill feed of grain. It is the poorest of all 
policies to let the sheep begin to go down hill 
before they come into winter-quarters. 
* ** 
Where reasonably comfortable quarters are 
provided for the sheep, it is better to have the 
lambs dropped before the sheep go to grass in 
the Spring. If the rams are put with the 
flocks the first half of November, the lambs 
should appear mostly in April, and this is 
none too early. 
* * * 
The great advantage in having the lambs 
come while thesheep are in winter-quarters are 
that they are within the constant supervision 
of the shepherd, and auy assistance needed 
can be given before it is too late. There is 
no danger from exposure to cold rains; there 
is less danger of milk fever; the sheep are 
much cleaner to handle, and the lambs are 
more valuable, both to sell as early lambs, or 
for feeding the next Winter. 
T * * 
It will pay every farmer, even if breeding 
thorough luvil Meriuo sheep, to sort out his 
second-grade ewes and breed them to some of 
the black-faced sheep. There is a great and 
a growing demand for "smut-nosed*’ lambs 
for winter feeding. They are now worth a 
half-dollar per head more than equally good 
lambs with white faces. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. j. s. woodward. 
THE REFORM OF IRISH DAIRYING.—II. 
improvement has taken place in it perhaps for 
many centuries. We cannotstate with author¬ 
ity the condition Irish butter-making was in, 
say four or live hundred years ago, but no one 
would venture to say, iu reference to a good 
deal nt* it, that any improvement whatever, 
lias taken place in the interval. Id thousands 
of the small farmers’ huts, the milk is set to 
cream in the one general living-room, or per¬ 
haps in an adjoining sleeping-room, or in some 
outbrtuse miserably ill-a<lapted to such a pur¬ 
pose. The cows themselves are not uncom¬ 
monly sheltered under the same roof, ora con¬ 
tinuation of it. The dung heap is closely con¬ 
tiguous. The pig, "the gintlomau that pays 
the rint," roams wherever his fancy leads him, 
and is treated with all the deference to which 
his position entitles him. The Putter is made 
as best it may be under such conditions, and 
each successive churning is packed in a firkin 
till the firkin is full. Where only one cow is 
kept, the firkin is several months in filling, and 
will contain many layers which differ a good 
deal from each other in color and quality. The 
trying iron brings out a motley succession of 
samples, and the price is about as we may ex- 
peot—very low. 
This is a state of things which Irish dairy 
reformers have set themseves to eradicate, 
aud we may hope that ere long it will have 
become a thing of the past. Much has al¬ 
ready been done, and more remains to do. 
I have spoken hitherto of the small farmers 
who have oue or two or three cows. On the 
larger fa nns a great improvement lias taken 
place within niv experience. Special dairy 
rooms, more or less commendable in construc¬ 
tion and arrangement, have been provided, 
and improved equipments are found in many 
places. Still the system followed is decidedly 
primitive for the most part, aud the questions 
of temperature, ventilation, situation and the 
like, are but. little understood. Comparative¬ 
ly few dairies produce first-class butter, but 
these few demonstrate the possibilities of 
Irish dairying. The price paid for the best 
butter in Irish markets is two or three hund¬ 
red per cent, above that paid for the worst, 
and the people arc becoming conscious and 
tired of that enormous disparity. 
PROFESSOR J. P. SHELDON. 
Dairying the chief industry of the Emerald 
Isle; favorable conditions: varieties of 
soil , climate; dairy stock; no improvement 
in immemorial usage; consequent want of 
uniformity; recent improvements on larg¬ 
er farms. 
1'HEchief industry in Ireland is dairy fann¬ 
ing and butter-making. The pretty euplie- 
nism, “ Emerald Isle," indicates the preva¬ 
lence of grass land. The greater part of the 
soil of the country is derived primarily from 
the carboniferous limestone, and, so loug as 
there is enough of it, there need lie no better 
soil for the maintenance of permanent pas¬ 
ture* and meadows. And when such a soil is 
covered by a genial atmosphere and a climate 
which varies less than most others as between 
Winter ard Summer, a climate mellowed and 
moistened by the (toIf Stream, wo have a 
combination of conditions eminently suitable 
to stock-raising aud butter-making. There is, 
of course, a great deal of inferior mountain 
land with a thin soil, of bog laud which is of 
no use for agricultural purposes, aud of cold 
uudrained swamps that are of littl • account 
in their present condition; but beyond these, 
there arc many extensive tracts of naturally 
sound land, of others that have been drained 
and cultivated, aud among these are found in 
places what is admitted to be the finest per¬ 
manent grass-land iu the world. The Winters, 
as a rule, arc so mild that a large number of 
young stock remain out of-doors all the time, 
and live well enough on what they find on the 
laud. A friend of mine wintered over 1,400 
young cattle iu this manner last season, and it 
will l»e seen that the Irish climate is in itself, 
so far as Winter is concerned, an element of 
great, economy, and a source of very consid¬ 
erable gain to the farmers. 
Such a couutry is naturally adapted to 
dairying, stock-raising and grazing, rather 
than to the growing of grain. Heuce it fol¬ 
lows that Ireland is, and is likely to remain, a 
great dairying couutry, and the inference is 
clear that the greatest attention should be paid 
to the art of butter-making, as well as to that 
of the breeding of superior cattle. The prevail¬ 
ing cattle arc Short-horn in character, though 
in some of the southern counties a great many 
Kerriesare kept; anil the Kerries, the smallest 
of the British breeds, and little bigger than 
donkeys, arc wonderfully useful little animals, 
yielding rich milk and plenty of it. 
Ireland had a high reputation for butter im 
til the Danes, the Dutch, the Germans aud the 
French went, ahead of her in that department. 
The bulk of Irish butter on the small farms is 
still made iu a primitive fashion, quite out of 
joint with the progress of the age, and it is dif¬ 
ficult not to admit the obvious fact that no 
Working Better by Hand.—A dairy ex¬ 
pert who went out from London to lecture at 
a dairy test was surprised to find that dairy- 
mauls all worked the butter by hand. In¬ 
stead of using paddles or workers, the “maids" 
gathered the butter with the bare hands aud 
rolled, slapped and kneaded it as a housewife 
would work bread. The expert thought this 
practice would counteract all the advantages 
due to pretty dairy-maids or superior pasture. 
He called the system offensive. It would be 
just as sensible to bring the butter to the table 
in the hands—without a plate—as to think of 
eating butter that had been fumbled about 
for 20 minutes. If they could not give up the 
old custom, they should at least prepare their 
hands for it. In Denmark the hands are first 
dipped into hot water, then into cold and then 
rinsed in butter-milk before touching the 
butter. 
A Hand-power Cream Separator was 
exhibited at the late London Dairy Show. 
The labor of two men was required to keep it 
up to the necessary speed. The trouble with 
cream separators has been that it costs too 
much to run them Only the larger dairymen, 
who could afford steam power, could well 
handle them. The uew implement is said to 
be uot only inexpensive, but so small that it 
occupies no more space than the average 
churn. Possibly separators may yet be made 
ou a still smaller scale, so that small dairies 
may use them. 
(U) f 0 }: tuinn. 
NORTH AMERICAN BEE KEEPERS’ SO¬ 
CIETY. 
Bee literature ; the way to succeed in bee 
culture—lessons from a successful apiarist , 
the "America n bee;" superior prepotency of 
drones; the ''ideal" bee. 
"Apiceltural Journalism” was the title 
of an essay by John Aspinwall, of New York. 
America is ahead of all other countries m 
bee-keeping, and has more papers devoted to 
the subject, but it seems that no bee journal 
lias yet been successful wheu not connected 
with the sale of apiarian goods. 
Mr. T, G, Newman, Illinois, read a paper 
upon “Bee Literature." He said that the 
writers of the Bible toll us of the early races 
Of bees, and describe the “laud flowing with 
milk anil honey." The records of the Egyp¬ 
tians and Chinese, cut iu stoue, show that bees 
were well known in those olden times. Three 
hundred years before the Christian era, Aristo- 
| tie affirmed that the bee was a “magazine of all 
