234 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Aug. 
smooth rungs at such distances apart that the sheep 
can readily pass their heads between them. They eat 
with their heads in the boxes, and do not pull the hay 
over each other, or waste it, as they will do when fed 
from racks made in the old mode. Whatever is left in 
the boxes is taken away and fed to young horse-stock or 
cattle, which eat it well. Carrots and other roots are 
given to the sheep through the winter, and the allow¬ 
ance to the ewes is increased when they suckle. All 
speak highly of the carrot. The beet is less nutritive 
than the carrot, but from its cathartic quality, is useful 
as a medicine when sheep are kept chiefly on dry fod¬ 
der. The carrot yields from 600 to 800 bushels per 
acre. All the sheep have constant access to salt, and to 
the best of water, which in most instances, is brought 
by aqueducts into their respective yards, where it 
runs at all times, unchecked by drouth or frost. 
Another great advantage from thus keeping sheep 
confined in winter,-is the saving of manure. Muck and 
litter, spread over the ground at first, absorb all the 
liquids, and the manure is of the strongest and best 
kind for any purpose. 
The sheep are generally pastured on hilly or moun¬ 
tainous lands, which are seldom or never plowed, and 
in many instances would be of little value for any other 
purpose. These pastures afford sweet and nutritious 
feed, and the animals thrive well and are healthy here. 
Sheep are kept on them for a greater part of the year 
than would be expected by a person not acquainted with 
them. The rule is, to keep the sheep out till snow 
comes, if it is not till December; and in many instan¬ 
ces they are turned out again as soon as the ground is 
bare. Mr. Hines informed us that he turned out a 
portion of his floek, the present season, the 13th of 
April, and that 200 sheep did not eat 200 pounds of 
hay afterwards. He has often turned out as early and 
sometimes earlier than the date mentioned. Mr. Petti- 
bone states that he has sometimes turned out in March 
—often the early part of April. In only moderate 
storms, the sheep have shelter in woods; if s.evere 
storms occur, they are taken up. 
It may seem singular that sheep can obtain support 
so much of the year on these mountain pastures. Du¬ 
ring the warm season, they feed almost entirely on the 
highest parts; and the lower slopes and valleys are 
left comparatively untouched for several weeks. The 
grass—(blue-grass, &e.) is of such a nature that it is 
not greatly injured by frost; and as the weather be¬ 
comes cold, the sheep descend to the warmer and low¬ 
er parts, where the feed is abundant. What is not ea¬ 
ten in the fall, remains till spring; and being covered 
with snow and excluded from the air during winter, it 
appears quite fresh, and affords good support to the 
sheep as soon as they are turned out. The warm val¬ 
leys and sunny sides of the hills, protected from cold 
blasts, feel the first influences of returning spring, and 
a thick and sweet herbage is soon produced, on which, 
in connexion with the growth of the former season, the 
sheep subsist, till the increasing warmth of the season 
clothes the mountain ranges with verdure, and the sheep 
again ascend to their favorite haunts. 
Facilities for keeping sheep. —Much of the re¬ 
gion through which w T e passed, affords peculiar advan¬ 
tages for keeping sheep and other live-stock. Many 
farms comprise three descriptions of land, each adapted 
to a different purpose. A portion lies on streams which 
overflow their banks in spring, and produces every year, 
with no attention whatever, (except in some instances 
to keep out the wild grasses and shrubs,) from a ton 
and a-lialf to two tons of hay to the acre. A second 
portion is situated between the meadows and hills, and 
forms the most easy and profitable soil for cultivation, 
and the production of grains, vegetables and fruits. A 
third portion lies on the hills and mountains, and affords 
permanent pasturage. The pastures generally receive 
no manure except what is left by the stock while graz¬ 
ing them; though the application of plaster is some¬ 
times resorted to with excellent advantage. Thus the 
second portion of the farm, or that which is cultivated, 
is all that does not support itself, and this receives the 
the benefit of the other portions. To this, the stock is 
brought in vrinter to consume the hay grown on the in¬ 
tervales, and the manure is copiously applied to the cul¬ 
tivated crops, making the land rich, and insuring large 
returns. But the alluvial meadows, besides affording, 
in many cases, the hay for all the stock of the farm, are 
often grazed in spring, before the grass has started 
sufficiently in the pastures to support stock, and are al¬ 
ways closely fed from the time the hay is off till snow 
falls. Notwithstanding this, the produce is undimin¬ 
ished. 
In respect to the effect of feeding these meadows, 
we questioned many of the farmers whom we met. 
The general testimony was, that it did no injury, and 
some affirmed that in many cases it was a benefit. Mr. 
Thrall, an intelligent and observing farmer in Rut¬ 
land, informed us that his meadows were decidedly im¬ 
proved by feeding; because, if they were not fed, and 
the “ old fog ” was left on the ground, the grass be¬ 
came sour and wild herbage came in. This w r as also 
the testimony of Mr. Kelley, a large farmer in the 
same neighborhood. 
The alluvial lands to which we allude, are mostly si¬ 
tuated on the waters of the Lemon-Fair, the Otter- 
Creek, and the Batten-Kill. Some of the higher and 
warmer portions are sometimes cultivated, and produce 
the most luxuriant crops. Mr. Thrall showed us a 
beautiful field of corn, on a branch of the Otter-Creek, 
and informed us that he had, in a former season, raised 
from this land one hundred and two bushels of corn to 
.the acre, ascertained by actual measurement. 
Many of the mountain pastures are valued at only 
$3 to $8 an acre. It costs but little to fence them, ei¬ 
ther for plieep or cattle. A lot of suitable soil and as¬ 
pect is first selected; it is cleared of wood and sown to 
grass. It is surrounded by a bush fence, made by fall¬ 
ing trees and shrubs into a line, and in such a manner 
as to turn the stock. The fence being in the woods, it 
is not necessary that it should be very high or very 
strong, and with a little attention every spring, to fill 
up the lowest places, it lasts many years. 
Dairying. —On some farms, cows have lately taken 
the place of sheep; and we are inclined to think that, 
on the most level and fertile lands, a considerable 
change is destined to take place in this respect. ^'Wool- 
growing will probably be more confined to the cheaper 
and rougher soils, and the making of butter and cheese, 
and the fattening of stock will be more extensively pur¬ 
sued on the more valuable portions. In Orwell, Mr. 
Sanford conducted us to several cheese-dairies that 
appear to be well managed. J. C. Thomas keeps for¬ 
ty-eight cows. He did not commence making cheese 
last year till after ^he first of June. He sold his 
cheese green at six cents per pound. The cows yield¬ 
ed an average of $30 each, besides the milk, butter and 
cheese used in the family, not reckoned. 
Israel Smith keeps fifty cows,—has generally sold 
his cheese at about six and a half cents per pound; ani 
the average return for each cow, in cheese and butter, has 
been $25 the season. It is proper to mention, that this 
section of the country has been visited by severe drouths 
for the last three seasons; and myriads of grasshoppers 
have each season eaten up the herbage of the pastures. 
These causes have, it is thought, lessened the products 
of the dairies to the amount of twenty to twenty-five 
percent. Mr. Smith has a neat and productive farm, 
consisting of 430 acres. He has lately erected a com¬ 
modious and convenient barn, for the accommodation 
