166 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
or top of the cistern, and is partially protected by straw, &c. and it has 
been frozen bin once, and that was in the extreme cold weather in De¬ 
cember last: since then it has remained free and works well. 
The advantages of these pumps are, the very low price at which they 
are afforded, their durability, perfect operation, and protection against 
frost. 
In a printed advertisement, furnished me with the pump, I find certi¬ 
ficates and recommendations from thirty persons, who have them in ope¬ 
ration. ,m CALEB N. BEMENT. 
MERINO SHEEP. 
To the Editor of the Cultivator, 
Sir —As a practical farmer, I offer you a few remarks on the sub¬ 
ject of sheep, and though I may not have as many finished sentences and 
rounded periods as some of your correspondents, yet I hope my commu¬ 
nication may not, on that account, be discarded. I am an old fashioned 
man, and inclined to old fashions, unless I am convinced that a new fa¬ 
shion is preferable. 
In the recent discussion in the Cultivator, on the subject of fine wooled 
sheep, reference has been made to “old fashioned merino.” The term 
appears not to have been well received by some, and has drawn forth the 
denunciation of a “ barn yard phrase.” For one, sir, I should be glad to 
see more of such farmer like expressions, in place of the wordy, theoretical 
remarks, with which some of our agricultural writings abound. Who 
ever thought of restricting the farmer in the use of words when talking of 
his cattle, sheep, or hogs? 
An affectation of refinement in these things is, in my view, worse than 
ignorance. 
For years I have been a sheep breeder, and the term “ old fa¬ 
shion merinos,” conveys to me a “ distinctive perception” of an animal, 
and a particular family of animals, which existed in this country, soon af¬ 
ter their general introduction from Spain. They are now rarely to be 
found. If another name is more desirable, let them be called the Ameri¬ 
can merino, for in truth, they were first bred in this country by crossing 
the different flocks which were imported from Spain. I will instance a 
flock within my own knowledge. The person who commenced the flock 
was interested in the original importation, and therefore had an opportunity 
to select individuals in reference to a particular object. He did so, hav-i 
ing in view a farmer’s sheep that should give quantity with as fair quality 
as could be obtained; the little choice bore the marks and brands of five 
different Spanish flocks. They were crossed as was judged best; their 
lambs were by no means uniform in their appearance or value; but in a 
course of years, with the original object steadily in view, there came a 
race of sheep having the general appearance of the Paulaur, the fineness 
of the Escurial, and (he close woolled qualities of the other flocks. The 
hid also the large size of the Nigretti. 
The sheep from this little beginning, were scattered far and near, with a 
high reputation. In 1826, the clip of that and the previous year, was sold 
at fifty cents per pound: with that exception it never sold as low. The 
same course of breeding has, I dare say, been followed by others with like 
success. It is, I presume, sheep of this description and character, that some 
one, with strict regard to truth, has called “ old fashion merinos,” and home¬ 
ly as the name is, I ilke it, for it reminds me of times when our sheep gave us 
four or'four and a half pounds of wool, whereas they now only give us two or 
two and a half. My neighbor farmers on all sides, fearless of “ retrograding,” 
are striving to regain their merinos. One of them has a flock of merinos, 
which he keeps at a stack, without shelter during the whole winter. In 
the severe storm of the early part of this week, I saw them entirely expos¬ 
ed to the weather, yet not one appeared to heed it. They w’ere in fine 
condition, and their close fleeces and well woolled heads and legs, assured 
me they could endure any extremity of weather. There was nothing in 
their appearance very “ chimney corner” like, I can assure you. 
It is a mistaken idea, that all breeds of sheep will thrive well in all coun¬ 
tries. It is a fact, that delicate constitutioned sheep cannot live in Eng¬ 
land, and that even of the merino there is but one small flock. The im¬ 
portation of Saxony sheep has never been attempted, except for re-ship¬ 
ment to New South Wales, Of the many thousands of merinos imported 
into England on the invasion of Spain, scarce a trace can be found. The 
only pure merinos I could find in that country, a short time ago, were the 
property of a gentleman near London, kept with exceeding care and at¬ 
tention. He succeeded, it is true; but what did it prove? Why, thatan 
exotic may be grown in a green house. W hy then are paper statements 
made calculated to mislead the farmers, when experience has shown us, 
that to succeed in wool grow'ing, we must breed a race of sheep suited to 
the climate. 
In my county vve have paid dearly for our speculating, experimental 
propensity, and the remains of our merino are no w departing. A drover 
informs me, that he has during the past season, driven to a distant part of the 
country, and sold 4,000 sheep, and that he is unable to. supply the demands 
at home for merinos. 
It is an established principle, that private interest and speculation must 
give way to public good. Very respectfully, yours, A. B. 
January 8, 1836. 
Mr. Buel,— Sir—Permit me to make the following statement in ans¬ 
wer to an article in the November number of the Cultivator, over the sisr- 
nature of R. “ 6 
The mistake that I made in my figures, and of which I was not aware 
till I saw it in the publication, was wholly unintentional, and was so obvi¬ 
ous that I thought every reader would have come to the conclusion, with¬ 
out laying the stress upon it that R. does. I am, however, perfectly wil¬ 
ling to be corrected in this as well as in any other mistake. 
As I took the price current of the Cultivator (May number) for my guide 
to make up the valuation, and for the different qualities, but which was 
far below the actual value of my own wool, I beg leave to state, that in¬ 
stead of 80 cents as quoted from the Cultivator, its actual value was 110 
cents per pound last summer. The account, therefore, as compared to 
R’s merinos, will stand thus: 
My grown Saxons, 2| lb. per head, at 110 cents. $3 02£ 
R’s merinos, 4£ per head, at 60 cents. 2 70 
Leaving a balance in favor of my Saxons, of. 32| 
My actual clip of 2 lbs. 6ij> oz. consisted of 85 fleeces from lambs, 65 
from grown ewes suckling lambs, 45 yearling ewes suckling lambs (with 
the exception of 8 dry ewes,) and 5 from bucks from one to three year? 
old. Every one practically acquainted with sheep, knows that ewes, espe¬ 
cially young ewes suckling lambs, do not shear as much as dry sheep, 
and I think if I had as many wethers as I have ewes, that I should shear 
three pounds of wool on an average, per head. I rate therefore my grown 
sheep at 2| lb. of wool, well washed on the sheep’s back, per head, and 
I think it will rather overrun than fall short of it. 
As it regards the claims of earlier maturity of the merinos over the Sax¬ 
ons, I will not pretend to decide, but it is questionable in my mind whether 
the fact is so. With great respect, your ob’t. serv’t. 
A. D. GROVE. 
Hoosick, near Euskirk’s Bridge P. O. Jan. 6, 1836. 
POLICERATE SHEEP. 
Mr. Buel,— Sir—Having in my possession a variety of sheep, which 
are not very common in this country, I have procured a likeness of the 
oldest buck, engraved by Mr. Hall, of this city, who I think has done 
himself great credit in the execution. 
I obtained three bucks and nine ewes, in October last, from a farmer 
in Bethlehem, who procured the buck figured above, some five or six 
years since, from which he bred several bucks with four horns. The 
breed was originally procured as I have been informed, from some emi¬ 
grants. I esteem them more for their odd and singular appearance, than 
lor any intrinsic value they appear to possess. 
The specimen represented above,* is remarkable only for his horns. 
The upright ones measure from the base twenty-two inches. 
Buflbn says, “ One of the curious modifications produced by cultivation 
in the domesticated sheep consists in the augmentation of the number of 
its horns; two, three, or even four supplementary appendages of this des¬ 
cription being occasionally procured in addition to the usual number. 
Under these circumstances, the additional usually occupy the upper and 
forepart of the head, and are of a more slender shape and take a more up¬ 
right direction than the others, thus approaching in character to those of 
the goat’s, while the true horns retain more or less of the spiral curve that 
distinguish those of the sheep. There exists a strong tendency to the 
hereditary propagation of its monstrosity, which is extremely frequent in 
the Asiatic races, but is also met with in a breed that is common in the 
north of Europe, and is said to have been originally derived from Iceland 
and Fetoe Island. In the latter case it is unconnected with any other ano- 
moly; but in the flocks of the nomad hordes of Tartary it is usually com¬ 
bined with the enlargement of the tail and adjacent parts, by the disposi¬ 
tion of fat frequently to an enormous extent.” 
In the islands of the Archipelago, and chiefly in the island of Candia, 
there is a breed of sheep of which Bellon has given the figure and des¬ 
cription, under the name of Strepscierus. This sheep is of the make of 
our common sheep; it is, like that, clothed with Wool, and only differs 
from it by the horns, which are larger and rise upwards, but are twisted 
into spirals. The distance between the horns of the ewe enlarges towards 
their tops; those of the ram are parallel. This animal which is commonly 
called the Wallachian sheep, is frequently in Austria and Hungary, where 
its name is Zacke. 
The more cold districts of Iceland and Russia afford a 7nany horned 
breed of sheep of mostly from four to seven or eight; having a coat of dark 
brown coloured hairy wool, weighing about four pounds, and covering an 
inferior quality of short soft fur. 
In Cyprus many of the sheep are policerate, (having more than two 
horns.) They all spring from the frontal bones, the crest of which is ele¬ 
vated in a peculiar manner, in order to form their base. The central 
horns are usually straight, or somewhat devaricating—occasionally they 
are spiral; the lateral ones assume almost every possible variety of curve. 
A cut representing one of the most frequent appearance of the Cyprus 
The cut referred to has been destroyed or lost. 
