126 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
SOUTH DOWN SHEEP. 
I was very much gratified, a few days since, on viewing six ewes 
and a buck of the much esteemed breed of South Down, lately im¬ 
ported, in the ship Hannibal, from the famous flock of Mr. John Ell- 
man, England, by Francis Rotch, Esq. of Butternuts, Otsego co. 
They were in fine condition, and did not appear to have suffered in 
the least from the voyage, which is a strong argument in their favor 
as to hardihood. 
The buck is rather larger than they generally are, but of fine form 
and symmetry-^-great length, round and deep in body—fine in the 
head and legs—full and capacious chest—remarkably broad in the 
loin and heavy in the quarters—and well covered with a close fine 
fleece of wool. 
The ewes are equally beautiful, and show higher breeding than 
the buck, and of course not so large. Take them together, I saw 
more to admire, more good points, more style and fashion about 
them than any others I ever witnessed. 
This breed of sheep are justly becoming great favorites in this 
country. They will, I think, cross well with the Merino or our na- 
tive sheep, giving them stronger constitutions and a greater aptitude 
to fatten. 
From the transactions of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society,- 
I have transcribed the following account of this breed of sheep. 
“ The South Down sheep are much smaller than the Dishly—they 
are more hardy—their wool is short, equal in quality to that of half- 
bred Merino—their fleeces are not so heavy—they carry more fat 
within, and much more flesh without, than either the Dishly, Tuni¬ 
sian, Irish or Teeswater sheep. By their activity and vigor, both 
of muscle and constitution, they are fitted to encounter every diffi¬ 
culty, as well as to endure the extremes of heat and cold. They oc¬ 
cupy, in England, one of the most exposed and least fertile portions 
of i he Island. Their mutton is of the finest kind, and commands the 
highest price, although, from the properties of the sheep, it can be 
produced at the least cost. 
“ I am of opinion,” says this writer, “ that the South Down sheep 
are as valuable a stock, if not more so, than any other that have been 
kept in this country.” 
“ The fleece is close, heavy, and sufficiently fine for general pur¬ 
poses, and a small part fine enough for any purpose to which wool is 
likely to be applied for many years to come.” 
From the New-York Farmer and Horticultural Repository, the 
following description of these sheep is taken. 
“ The South Down sheep are without horns; they have dark or 
black-grey faces and legs, fine bones, long small necks ; are low be¬ 
fore, high on the shoulders, and light in the fore quarter: the sides 
are good and the loin tolerably broad, back bone too high, the thigh 
full, and twist good. The fleece is very short and fine, weighing 
from two and a half to three pounds. The average weight of two 
year old wethers is about eighteen pounds per quarter, the mutton 
fine in the grain and of an excellent flavor. These sheep have been 
brought to a high state of improvement by Ellman, of Glynde, and 
other intelligent breeders. They prevail in Sussex, on very dry 
chalky downs, producing short fine herbage.” 
Albany, Nov. 1834. AMATUER. 
Elements of Practical Agriculture, 
By David Bow, Professor of Agriculture, &e. 
I. SOILS. 
II. The Properties of Soils, as determined by Chemical Analysis. 
Having examined the external characters of soils, we might inquire 
into their properties, as determined by chemical analysis. This, 
however, is a branch of the extensive subject of agricultural chemis¬ 
try, into which it would not be consistent with the practical and ele¬ 
mentary nature of this work to enter at length. It is merely pro¬ 
posed, therefore, to direct the attention of the student to this part of 
the science of agriculture, and to make known to him a few results 
which have been arrived at. 
The soil has been said to be a compound of mineral substances, 
mixed with a portion of vegetable and animal matter. 
The vegetable and animal matter of the soil, to which the term 
mould has been applied, exists either in a state of mixture, or of che¬ 
mical union with the minerals of the soil. 
The mineral matter of the soil forms greatly the larger part of it,- 
and necessarily consists of the same substances which constitute the 
mountain rocks and mineral masses which are found on the earth, 
and which form its crust or covering. The hardest rocks break 
down by degrees, and are decomposed by the influence of air and 
moisture. Sometimes the decomposed matter remains upon the 
rocky basis from which it had been derived, and there forms a soil; 
but more frequently the action of water has mingled together the 
different mineral masses and strata which are found over all the 
earth. 
The great body of the soil, then, is a mixture of the various mine¬ 
ral substances which are upon the earth, and is resolvable into the 
same constituent parts. Now, all the rocks and other mineral mass¬ 
es which exist on the surface of the earth, are found to consist of a 
few bodies, the principal of which are four earths—silica, alumina, 
lime and magnesia,—and the oxide of iron, soda, and potassa. In 
like manner, the great mass of the mineral part of the soil is resolva¬ 
ble into silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, the oxide of iron, soda and 
potassa. 
The manner in which this compound body may be conceived to 
exist is the following: Let it be supposed that the different minerals 
on the surface of the earth are more or less decomposed, broken, 
ground down, as it were, and mingled together. 
Some are in the form of stones, and are therefore merely species 
of the different rocks of a country. These form loose stones and 
gravel, which we see accordingly to be every where mingled with 
the soil, and to form often a great proportion of it. 
A more minute comminution reduces these mineral substances to 
sand. This is the form in which the largest part of all soils exists, 
and when it is in a very considerable proportion to the whole, the 
soil is termed sandy. 
When the parts are more comminuted still, and reduced by che¬ 
mical or mechanical means to powder, the soil appears to be in the 
state most favorable to vegetation. All our finest soils contain a 
large comparative proportion of their parts reduced to this state of 
division ; and where none of this finely divided substance, or a small 
quantity of it only exists, the soil is barren. 
Of the substances which form the constituent parts of minerals, 
the most widely diffused is silica. This earth forms the principal 
constituent part of all the fossils and mountain rocks of which the 
crust of the earth is composed. Those in which it exists in large 
quantity are usually very hard. The sand of the sea-shore is mostly 
silicious, and silicious sand forms vast deserts in every part of the 
world. 
In quartz, and in felspar, this earth exists nearly pure, and it forms 
98 parts in 100 of common flint. It is from its abundance in quartz, 
a mountain rock of universal diffusion, and in felspar, which is like¬ 
wise one of the most abundant minerals in nature, that silica is im¬ 
portant as forming a principal constituent part of all the loose mi¬ 
neral matter of the surface of the earth, and consequently of all soils. 
Quartz is a rock of constant occurrence, and its disintegrated parts 
have been every where washed into the plains to form an element 
of the soil. Quartz has been found to consist of silica, alumina, 
and a small quantity of oxide of iron. Quartz is also an integrant 
part of sandstone, and other rocks of general diffusion. It enters 
largely into the composition of granite and other primary rocks. It 
forms, in short, a part of the rocks in all the series of formations 
which geologists enumerate ; and thus silica is the most universally 
diffused mineral substance on the surface of the earth, and forms a 
part, accordingly, of every soil that is known to us. 
Alumina, next to silica, is the most generally diffused of the earths. 
United with silica, it forms a great proportion of all the rocks and 
mineral masses on the earth. It is accordingly every where found ; 
and forms a part of every soil not wholly barren. Kneaded with 
water it becomes a ductile paste, and is the substance which chief¬ 
ly gives their plastic and ductile characters to the soils termed clays. 
Silica and alumina, then, forming the largest part of the rocks and 
minerals which exist upon the surface of the earth, enter the most 
largely into the composition of soils; and in these they are found to 
exist, either as grains of sand, or as gravel, or in the form of an im¬ 
palpable powder. 
Lime, the next of the earths, is one which is of wide extension, 
and performs an important function in the vegetable economy. 
In nature this mineral is usually found in combination with acids. 
Combined with carbonic acid, it constitutes the numerous varieties 
of marble, limestone and chalk. In this and other combinations, it 
exists in rocks, in soils, in the waters of the ocean, in plants, and in 
animals. It forms great rocks and mineral strata; and numerous 
fossils in combination with silica and alumina. 
