1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
191 
New-York State Ag. Society. 
The Executive Board met at Syracuse on the 10th and 
11th of May. Committees to award premiums, and su¬ 
perintendents to direct the arrangements of the different 
departments of the coming fair were appointed. Grounds 
have been selected, and proper steps taken for its en¬ 
closure, and the erection of the necessary buildings, &c. 
The location is favorable, being but a short distance 
from the city, and comprising all the advantages of 
shade, with pleasant elevation, and suitable dryness of 
soil. Everything promises an excellent exhibition. 
We are happy to say that Professor J. F. W. Johns¬ 
ton, of Durham, England, is expected to deliver the 
address on the occasion. In answer to the invitations 
extended by the Society, letters have been received 
from the President and Vice-President of the United 
States, and the Governors of several of the States, ex¬ 
pressing their intention of attending the Fair. The let¬ 
ter of the President is as follows: 
Washington, D. C., April 25. 1849. 
Sir : I have received your favor of the 12th inst., extending, on 
the part of the Executive Committee of the New-York State Ag¬ 
ricultural Society, an invitation to attend the next annual exhibi¬ 
tion of the Society, to be held in September, at the city of Syra¬ 
cuse. 
Deeply interested, as I have always been, in the cause of Agri¬ 
culture, it would afford me the highest pleasure lo be present at 
the exhibition. I shall endeavor to attend, and hope that my en¬ 
gagements will permit me to do so. In the mean time, I beg you 
to receive for the Executive Committee, my sincere thanks for 
their invitation, and my best wishes for the success of the cause in 
which they are engaged. 
I remain with high respect, 
Your most ob’t serv’t, 
Z. TAYLOR. 
Benj. P. Johnson, Cor. Sec. N. Y. State Agricultural Society, 
Albany, N. Y. 
North American Pomological Convention.—A 
meeting of this association is to be held at Syracuse, 
N. Y., on the 14th day of September next, at 10 
o’clock, A.M.— that being the day succeeding the dos¬ 
ing of the annual Fair of the New-York State Agri¬ 
cultural Society. Though the N. A. Pomological Con¬ 
vention is entirely unconnected with the N. Y. State 
Ag. Soc., it was deemed advisable for the Convention 
to meet at the time and place designated, for the better 
accommodation of the public who will attend the Fair 
from all parts of the country. 
Wool Growing at tke South. 
Eds. Cultivator— Two communications from south¬ 
ern gentlemen are published in your May number, in 
which questions are asked relative to sheep. They 
are referred by you to an article written by J. S. Pet- 
tibone, in which some of their inquiries ar fully 
answered; but as you invite further remarks, I submit 
a few in reference to others, which are not answered in 
said article. 
It is asked, “Are your sheep kept all the time in 
pasture, &c. ?” 
In the state of New-York, sheep are mostly kept on 
enclosed grounds, and with attention to change them 
frequently, they are generally healthy. 
Many good shepherds give their flocks hay, whenever 
they will eat it, from four to five months in each year. 
Sheep are liable to shed their wool w 7 hen they have 
been nearly famished by “ neglect,” and afterwards 
thrive rapidly on grain or grass. It is desirable to keep 
them always in good condition, if necessary, with grain: 
a half bushel of oats daily, is given to a hundred young 
sheep in the winter season, by some of our w T ool-grow- 
ers. 
One man, with the exception of procuring fodder, 
will take care of 500 sheep, and with proper arrange¬ 
ments double that number; but it is doubted by some, 
whether sheep can be attended as profitably by slaves, 
as by freemen; where, comparatively, so great care, 
with so little labor is required; for flocks require care, 
as well as dairies, to make them profitable. 
If the attention of the overseer was directed to the 
sheep, instead of the slave, that attention, with his 
labor alone, if devoted to the flock, w r ould most of the 
year be sufficient; and the capital invested in the slave 
wmuld be saved, with some “vexation” also; and the 
interest of said capital added to the slave’s clothing, 
would hire a freeman; and a small number of freemen 
w T ould build your fences and procure fodder, and might 
support themselves w 7 hen old. 
My farm contains 210 acres, 170 cleared; on which 
are kept 500 sheep; the labor is performed by one free, 
interested man, wuth the addition of two or three hands 
one month each year, to assist in getting hay, with but 
little care or vexation on my part. Instead of expend¬ 
ing capital in the purchase of slaves, I would pay a 
part thereof in w r ages to freemen, (or to slaves-ade 
free.) Although a present loss is generally sustained 
by a change of occupation, I nevertheless believe, that 
an exchange of slave, for free labor, wmuld be profita¬ 
ble, and right; as it is generally admitted slaves are 
careless and wasteful; wdiile freemen, having different 
incentives to action, perform more labor, and better. 
Would not the advance in the price of your lands, 
if w T orked by freemen, be equal to the value of several 
slaves ? 
Could the slaves be made free, competent overseers 
of various flocks, feeling an interest in their improve¬ 
ment, a vast amount of wool might be grow 7 n, (profi¬ 
tably no doubt,) in the south-w’estern states, wdiere the 
winters are mild, and the land cheap. 
Many farmers at the north have become wealthy, 
while others have failed, in the w v ool-growing business. 
One circumstance should be remembered, that many 
prosperous farmers engaged in the sheep business, have 
added greatly to their profits by the sale of bucks and 
breeding ewes, at very high prices, having obtained a 
reputation abroad; all could not avail themselves of 
this advantage. A Cayuga Wool Grower. Kings 
Ferry, May 11, 1849. 
Rearing and Feeding Stock. 
The following is a summary of remarks made by 
Mr. Lyon, in a lecture before the Derby Farmers ’ Club. 
The principles laid dow 7 n are worthy of attention: 
Young animals grow 7 more quickly for a given 
amount of food than older. By high feeding, a lamb 
of Southdown breed (not a large sort) may be 15 or 
16 pounds a quarter at a year old; at the same age, a 
young ox may be from five to six score a quarter. 
This produce, from the smaller quantity of food which 
animals consume w 7 hile young, is equal to w r hat they 
will yield in any subsequent year, from a larger quan¬ 
tity. 
If young animals be reared well, or kept fat from 
the beginning^ they acquire a constitution which en¬ 
sures their growing more in subsequent years from a 
less proportion of food. The progeny of well-reared 
stock improves from generation to generation. 
When an animal is in good condition, i yields a 
greater produce for its food than when it is poor and 
lean. 
If, therefore, an animal be first fed on good pasture 
till it is fresh and fat, and then removed to poor keep, 
so as to lose its condition, not only is the food w 7 holly 
lost on w 7 hich it declined in flesh, but all the good food 
w 7 hich it may consume for some time afterwards has 
very much less effect. 
The feeding of animals should therefore be quite 
continuous, as well as liberal, in order to be fully pro¬ 
fitable. 
All animals pay best for that amount and kind of 
