90 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
March. 
When a portion of the hedge is thus treated, slender 
sticks or poles are cut, and wattled in among the stakes, 
within about an inch of the tops, by twisting backwards 
and forwards, and crossing them on alternate sides of 
the stakes; the second set of poles overlapping the pre¬ 
ceding, so as to bring all to a stiff straight line. The 
live stakes, in consequence of being surrounded by the 
hedge, are apt to send out shoots thickly at the top, and 
not below, unless prevented by being cut half through 
at the ground. When finished, the refuse is to be ga¬ 
thered up and removed. Strong leathern mittens, with 
long sleeves, are needed by the man who does the work. 
MERINOS IN VERMONT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
Mr. Tucker —I submit for the perusal of the readers 
of the Cultivator, a few notes taken in a recent ^our 
across the Green Mountain state into N. Hampshire."' 
Monday, Dec. 29th, 1845, I started in company with 
Mr. D. A. Bennett, of Bridport, for the purpose of vi¬ 
siting some of the most noted flocks of sheep in Ver¬ 
mont, and one in particular in New Hampshire. The 
first flock of importance that I shall stop to notice was 
that of Mr. Merrill Bingham, of Cornwall. In passing 
his place his man was approaching the sheep yard with 
a bushel of potatoes on his shoulder, which he scattered 
along on the snow, then slipped the bars, and out came 
thirty or forty nobie fat ewes, “pure Paulers,” as he 
termed them, and set themselves busily at work devour¬ 
ing the potatoes; they were not cut, but whole, and 
that appeared to be no obstacle in the way of the sheep 
as they were very soon disposed of. Mr. Bingham then 
showed us a buck of the Rambouillet breed, recently 
from the flock of Mr. Collins, of Connecticut.— 
He is carrying his old fleece, a practice which is al- 
waj-s to be condemned in my estimation, as injurious to 
the animal, and misrepresenting their true condition. 
However, he is a very good sheep in appearance, cover¬ 
ed with a coat of wool that is soft and even. From 
Mr. Bingham's we drove to Mr. Lincoln's in Brandon, 
where we found some very good sheep which he has 
selected from some of the most noted flocks in Connec¬ 
ticut, New Hampshire, and Addison county, Vt. We 
called at Mr. Hinds’, near by, but finding him absent, 
we took a hasty survey of his splendid Rambouillets, 
also a very fine colt in his yard, and passed on to Pitls- 
ford. 
Dec. 30th. Called on Mr. Wm. Barnes, of Rutland, 
where we were treated with great attention and kind¬ 
ness, and shown some of the best Saxon sheep that I 
have ever seen out of Addison county. Many of them, 
Mr. B. informed us, were from the flock of the late H. 
D. Grove, Esq., of Hoosic, N. Y., or their direct de¬ 
scendants. The shape of their bodies and the size of 
their limbs are strong indications that they possessed 
sufficient constitution to enable them to endure the se¬ 
verity of our long winters; their wool is long, fine, 
clean, being free from yolk, and shear on an average 
3.| lbs per head, worth at least 50 cents per pound to the 
manufacturer. Mr. Barnes has one of the best houses 
in the country, built of brick, and his out buildings and 
fixtures for the care and accommodation of his sheep 
are not inferior to the comforts and conveniences he has 
provided for himself and family. 
From Mr. Barnes’ we drove to Mr. Kelley’s, a short 
distance from Rutland village, where we found some 
very good sheep, but Mr. K. being from home, we left 
his place and drove to Mr. Hull's, in Wallingford. 
Here we saw a superior flock of sheep; better flocks, 
take them from old to young, (and his flock numbers 
from 400 to 500,) are “ few and far between.” After 
dining with Mr. H. we left Wallingford and crossed the 
mountain to Ludlow. The next morning, Dec. 31st, 
we drove through Proctorsville and Cavendish, all with¬ 
in 4 or 5 miles of each other, and each containing a 
woolen factory. We reached the Connecticut river 
about four miles below Windsor. Shortly after passing 
the village, we saw in two or three different places the 
operatives at work on what is called the “ Central Rail¬ 
road.” Surely Vermont has at last struck one blow for 
internal improvements; what ten years will do for her 
is veiled in the future, but “ we Yankees” prophecy 
great results. 
At Queechy village, inHartland, we crossed the Con¬ 
necticut, and soon arrived at the mouth of Mascoma ri¬ 
ver, in N. H., which brought us on to the line of Con¬ 
cord road. Here we found them making railroad in 
earnest. From the Connecticut river to Enfield, a dis¬ 
tance of ten or fifteen miles, we counted clubs of 12 to 
25 men at short intervals, engaged in leveling the hills 
and constructing their embankments. 
Arrived at the Shaker village in Enfield, we found 
many things that attracted our attention, and more than 
that, an abundance that is capable of feasting the eye of 
the agricultural tourist. The village is composed of 
three families. We called at the trustees’ office of the 
middle family,where we were received in a very friend¬ 
ly manner by the trustee, Caleb M. Dyre, and treated 
with all the hospitality characteristic of that order of 
people. On looking about their premises but a short 
time, we were compelled to admire the order and ar¬ 
rangement of their dwellings and out-buildings. 
Simplicity, neatness and economy appeared to prevail 
throughout the whole establishment. Their buildings 
are principally built of wood, large and roomy, without 
cornice, which gives them rather a novel appearance at 
the present day, and mostly painted yellow. In the rear 
of the trustee’s office, and about the centre of the build¬ 
ings occupied by the middle family, stands a large 
building, four stories above the basement, composed of 
granite. This we were informed was used as a place of 
lodging and dining; though we did not think it expe¬ 
dient, from the shortness of the time we had to spend 
here, to be very inquisitive respecting their religious 
tenets, we supposed it also to be their place of worship. 
This family contains 150 persons. 
Jan. 1st, 1846. Rose at the ringing of the bell at half 
past 4. Before the twilight of the morning had lit up 
the eastern horizon, the streets, yards and shops were 
all alive with industry; each with a light in hand ap¬ 
peared to be attending to his own business; some were 
feeding their teams; some repairing their sleds, while 
others were busily at work in their respective shops. 
The greatest industry and neatness appeared to prevail 
in-doors as well as out. As soon as it was sufficiently 
light, we visited first the cattle yard, where we found 
eight as fine pair of working oxen, yoked and ready for 
business, as I ever saw standing together in one yard. 
Color mostly red, and red and white, a cross of Devon, 
Durham and native. Many of them were fat enough 
for first quality of beef, soft coated, rich and mellow 
handlers. We were next shown a two year old bull, 
and two bull calves; they were all large and fine ani¬ 
mals. The trustee prefers the Durhams for cows and 
the Devon for oxen. We next visited the sheep yards, 
where we found a flock of strong, healthy looking 
sheep. They are of the Guadaloupe breed, and said by 
the trustee to have been bred pure. They are unques¬ 
tionably great shearers, being clothed with a thick coat 
of wooi, which was of good length, and many of them 
we found covered with very fine wool. On inquiring 
the weight of fleece and prices obtained for their wool, 
we were informed that they were the owners of a fac¬ 
tory; that they manufactured more wool than they 
grew, and in consequence of manufacturing their own 
wool they sheared without washing. But it is my opi¬ 
nion they will shear as many pounds of clean washed 
wool as any breed of sheep I have ever met with. They 
appeared no ways anxious to part with any of their 
sheep, but after some conversation we prevailed on 
them to sell us six ewes and a buck, which we put into 
our sleigh, already prepared for the purpose, and 
brought away. 
But before leaving the Shaker village, I wish to give 
you a description of their mode of making fence; first, 
their posts are of granite, which are split as true and as 
straight as a chestnut rail, these being drilled for a bolt 
at top and bottom, are firmly planted in the ground at a 
proper distance from each other according to the length 
of their fence boards. In the next place the boards, 3 
