1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
181 
Hydraulic Ram. —Fig. 31. 
long time; it is not, however, till within a comparative¬ 
ly short period, that an apparatus having a self-acting- 
power has been brought into use. The machine in¬ 
vented in 1796, by Montgolfier, a Frenchman, is be¬ 
lieved to have been the first of this kind which was very 
extensively adopted. Since that time, several patents 
have been taken out both in England and this country, 
for inventions designed for this purpose. 
The machine above represented, is thought to be one 
of the most simple and effective that has been used. In 
reference to it, the manufacturers say—“it costs but 
little, and is never out of order. Any spring, or small 
stream, affording a fall of from one foot to ten feet, 
may be used to elevate a portion of the water, and thus 
a fountain of water be secured at the point required/’ 
The height to which the water can be raised, is estima¬ 
ted at thirty times the fall. The following rule for cal¬ 
culating the amount of water which a machine will 
raise in a given time, is taken from a communication by 
H. P. M. Birkinbine, in the Farmers ’ Cabinet. 
11 Measure the amount of spring or brook discharges 
in a given time. Ascertain the greatest amount of head 
or fall that can be obtained, and the elevation to which 
the water is to be raised. Then divide the elevation by 
the head or fall, and the amount of water by the quo¬ 
tient. Deduct thirty per cent, from this result, and it 
will give the amount delivered in the given time. For 
example, suppose an elevation of 60 feet, with a fall of 
5 feet. The supply 4 gallons per minute, or 5760 gal¬ 
lons per day: 
Then ^ = 12; then = 480 : and 480 — 30 per 
cent. = 336 gallons raised per day.” 
If the machine is properly made and put up, it is said 
this rule may be depended on. 
Explanation of the Cut. — A, B, C, D, E, the 
ram. F, spring. G, pipe from spring to ram. H, 
pipe conveying water to house or barn. 
The machine above described is manufactured by 
Farnham, Brown &. Co., Philadelphia, and is for sale 
at the Agricultural Warehouse, Albany—price $25. 
Sheep Husbandry. —Many farmers in this section are 
convinced by actual experience, that there is no crop 
which we raise at so little expense, and is of so much 
value to feed to sheep, as carrots. Sheep fed on them 
will attain a better size, and are more healthy than 
when fed on grain. Aside from hay, we feed nothing 
to store sheep in winter so well adapted to their wants, 
as this vegetable. Half carrots, with grain, is better 
than all grain for sheep or horses, to fat them. Seve¬ 
ral thousand bushels were raised in this county last sea¬ 
son, for the purpose of feeding sheep, and I presume the 
quantity will be doubled the coming year. 
With us, we make it more profitable to raise sheep 
than cattle; even when we sell our wool as low as 
twenty-five cents per pound, the average profits on 
sheep exceed those on cattle. In fact, I was about to 
say that the income from the sales of the increase of 
our sheep about equalled that of cattle, aside from the 
wool. The common flocks of this district yield annual¬ 
ly about three pounds of wool per head. The annual ave¬ 
rage price of store sheep is over one dol¬ 
lar per head; fat sheep over one dollar 
and a half. The sales of our wool occur 
every year; our cattle once in two or 
three years. For instance, we keep our 
calves till they are three years old, then 
sell them in the fall. From our sales 
we lay out one-fourth, or one-third of the 
money to re-stock. 
The wealthiest man in this state, once 
remarked, as as we were discussing the 
relative merits of raising sheep or cat¬ 
tle, u that some of our graziers did not see the differ¬ 
ence between an annual income, and income once in 
two or three years.” 
Another farmer who lived in this town, with the excep¬ 
tion of three or four years in about fifty, sold his wool 
invariably for twenty-five cents per pound. In the mean¬ 
time,his flock averaged about 550, and stock of cattle over 
sixty. His two year old cattle sold at from $10 to $12; 
three years old, from $17 to $20. I have frequently 
heard him say that his clean and easy money was made 
on his wool—that the cattle cost all that he got for 
them; the growth and increase of the sheep nearly paid 
for their keep. 
If we bring into the account the improvement of our 
farms, to stocking either sheep or cattle, we must place 
the credit on the side of sheep. 
The pure descendants of the Spanish Merinos are un¬ 
doubtedly the most profitable sheep that we have. They 
yield a more abundant return of wool in comparison to 
what they consume, than any other breed. They are 
more robust and hardy. They withstand our northern 
winters, fed at hay stacks, without any covering above 
them except the broad heavens, and will range on short¬ 
er feed in larger flocks, arid keep in good condition, when 
other breeds w’ould pine away. 
Before I end this sheepish chapter, allow me to give 
you a brief computation on the value and relative 
merits of two flocks of sheep, one of them the common 
variety, yielding wool equal to the common average, say 
three pounds per head; the other flock may be consider¬ 
ed pure bred Merinos, and yielding an annual average 
of four and a half pounds, on the same keep. A. and 
B each commence with a flock of 100 young breeding 
ewes; each flock produces annually ninety lambs, for 
nine years. The increase from the lambs we leave out 
of the account. 
Mr. A.’s flock of 100 ewes in 10 years, yields 3,000 
pounds of wool, at 3 lbs. per head. Their lambs, ia 
nine years, number 810, which yield 4,050 fleeces, or 
12,150 pounds of wool, in nine years; allowing thirty 
cents per pound, A.’s wool brings, ... $4,545.00 
Mr. B.’s flock of 100 ewes, according to 
the same calculation, at 4-§ lbs per head, 
22,725 lbs., at 30 cts., is..... 6,817.5® 
Making a profit in B.’s flock over A.’s, of.. $2,272.5® 
in wool only, not including interest. 
If we value B.’s lambs worth only one dollar 
per head more than A.’s, we allow B. 
nine hundred dollars extra in lambs , in 
ten years, ... 900.0® 
Which gives B. the advantage over A. of 
more than three thousand dollars in lOy’rs. $3,172.50 
In this computation I have given no credit to B. for 
the extra price that his wool brings in market over A.’s. 
Pure Merinos will live and propagate about one-third 
longer than the common sheep of our country. 
I will close in hope that some wool grower who may 
chance to read this chapter on sheep—one that has 
been in the habit of saying “ that he never learned any¬ 
thing in an agricultural paper,” will be so far stimula- 
