112 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
SINCLAIR & CO.’S PATENT WHEEL SELF-SHARPENING PLOW. 
INFORMATION ABOUT SHEEP AND WOOL. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker—I received a short time 
since, the following letter from Samuel Lawrence, Esq., 
well known as one of New-England's most intelligent 
and successful manufacturers, which contains information 
and hints of a useful character to farmers; and therefore 
permit me to recommend its publication in your widely 
circulated and useful periodical. A Wool Grower. 
Lake Ridge , N. Y., March 15, 1844. 
Lowell, Feb. 24, 1944. 
Dear Sir—Y our esteemed favor of the 8th, covering 
some questions, was duly received; and I have now great 
pleasure in handing you replies. 
You ask 1st —“ What will full blood Paular wool, after 
washing on the back, waste by the manufacturer’s cleans¬ 
ing ?” 
The American Paular wool will shrink 40 to 45 per 
-cent. I know a flock of Paular and Negretti selected in 
Spain by George Flower, Esq., and carried by him to the 
prairies of Illinois, twenty-seven years ago, which yield¬ 
ed 60 lbs. to the 100, two years since. This wool now 
Strongly resembles Saxon; the fleeces weighed 2$ lbs. 
This flock had never been crossed with any other blood. 
Query 2d .—“ What price did Paular command in July 
last, and what is about the average weight per fleece in 
general?” 
We paid for full blood Montarco* wool in July last, 44 
cents; the fleeces averaged 3^ lbs., and lost by scouring, 
44 per cent. We bought no full blood Paular wool. 
Query 3d .—“ Have you any reason to suppose that 
Saxon sheep are going out of repute ?” 
I am well acquainted with a great many owners of 
Saxony flocks, and in no instance do I know that a change 
is contemplated; on the contrary, every thing is doing to 
make the wool finer. I believe that by proper care in 
crossing, the length of staple may be increased without 
affecting its fineness. This is a desideratum of great im¬ 
portance to breeders, and should receive their serious 
consideration. A few years ago it was thought by man¬ 
ufacturers that very short stapled wool only would make 
fine goods. Now the quality of the staple is looked at 
without regard to its length. I beg you to give this mat¬ 
ter your best attention; for if 8 to 10 ounces of wool can 
be added to every fleece in the country, it will place both 
growers of wool and manufacturers on such a basis, that 
do foreign competition could touch them. 
The Saxon sheep were carried from Spain and impro- 
“ A distinguished variety of Merino. 
Of this plow, Messrs. Sinclair & Co. give 
the following description :—“ This plow 
has the advantage of a wheel attached to 
the land side, 5. or what may be termed a 
rolling land-side—has a long curved, high 
breasted mold-board, a. which turns the 
furrow-slice to admiration; the point and 
wing are in separate pieces, and are form¬ 
ed so as to be reversed when they become 
dull, thus forming a self-sharpening prin¬ 
ciple. The point and share are fastened 
by a plate e. d. secured over them by two 
bolts, which protects them from the wear 
of the front edge of the mold-board. The 
point is made with either wrought or cast 
iron, and may be used in clean or the 
roughest lands.; the beam of this plow has 
two bearings on the casting; one on the 
mold-board and the other on the back part 
of the land-side, and so attached that it can 
be thrown to or from the land in a mo¬ 
ment.” 
Price, with cast point and share, $10— 
with wrought point and share, $12. Made 
and for sale by R. Sinclair, Jr. & Co. 
Baltimore. 
ved in Germany. Why can’t the Merinos be brought up 
to the same height in this country ? We have stapled 
some American wools of great beauty, and finer than any 
Spanish wools that ever were imported into this country. 
The best blood of Saxony sheep is in very high repute 
in Europe. It is but three years ago that six hundred 
dollars each were paid in Germany for a large number 
to be carried to Russia. I have specimens of the wool. 
Is there any reason why we ean not do as well by start¬ 
ing with the right blood ? 
As to encouragement to the wool growers, in my 
opinion, their prospects were never as good; and among 
other reasons, ere ftrst: a majority of the people are 
coming square up to the mark in favor of a “protect¬ 
ive tariff j” and the wool growers have learnt that this 
kind of tariff, is quite as useful to them with their three 
hundred millions in sheep farms, sheep, &c., as it is to 
the woolen manufacturers with their twenty millions in 
mills, machinery, &c. 
Second. There is infinitely more skill employed in the 
working of wools, and more talent and character in the 
general management of the woolen business than at any 
former period. 
Third. A number of new branches have lately been 
undertaken with entire success. The making of mouislin 
de laines has been commenced also under the most favor¬ 
able auspices; and last, though not least, the horde of 
“ drab gaitered gentry” from Yorkshire,* which infested 
New-York city for so many years, has been broken up 
and driven from our shores. 
The advance in the prices of all kinds of wool will he fully 
sustained. The article has been depressed below its va 
lue, all over the world for three years past; but it has 
now turned, and a considerable advance has taken place 
in Europe; the next German fairs will show more ani¬ 
mation in the demand than has been seen for a long time. 
It is a singular coincidence that when writing you on 
this subject, I should this moment hear the report of the 
death of our mutual friend, H. D. Grove, of Rensselaer, 
with whom I have long been on terms of intimacy; the 
shock to my feelings is very great, for I was sincerely 
attached to him. A more reputable and honorable man 
did not live, and he was truly an honor to his calling. 
Your ob’t servant, Samuel Lawrence. 
Bounty on Silk. —The Legislature of Tennessee has 
passed an act offering ten cents per pound on cocoons, and 
fifty cents per pound on reeled Silk produced within the 
State. 
* Smugflers. 
