274 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Aug. 
11 This shows that cattle were imported at that time, 
or else these laws would have been entirely nugatory. 
“ In 1772 a law was passed for seven years, giving full 
liberty to import cattle from Ireland, which had been 
prohibited by the law of Charles 2d. And in 1776, the 
above act was made perpetual. (There had been no 
prohibition between the Continent and Ireland during 
all this time.)” 
11 is unnecessary to add a word to the above explicit 
and authentic facts, to show that no such prohibition 
existed as is asserted by Mr. Stevens. The statement 
of various historians, therefore, in regard to the impor¬ 
tation of cattle into England at different periods “ since 
1600,”—and that some of these importations contributed 
to the improvement of the Short-horned breed,—remains 
unshaken by Mr. Stevens’ attack. 
3. Besides asserting that the English Short-hornshave 
had no connection with the Short-horns of the Continent 
since 1600, Mr. Stevens says: u as a breed they are and 
ever have been pure ; and all Short-horns recorded in 
the Herd-Book are purely of that kind, except such as 
have the Scotch Galloway blood, introduced by Charles 
Colling.” 
There is an ambiguity about the expression “ as a 
breed.” It may mean that though some animals of the 
breed have been crossed, all have not. This is no doubt 
correct. But can it be possible that Mr. Stevens means 
to say that all Herd-Book Short-horns are of pure blood 
except such as have the Galloway cross? If so he has 
probably obtained some light on the subject within a 
short time; for without adverting to other examples, it 
is presumed he will not deny having said that at least 
two bulls sent to this country by a late noted Short-horn 
breeder, and “ recorded in the Herd-Book,” had West 
Highland blood in them! Sanford Howard. 
The Bingham Sheep Shearing. 
Eds. Cultivator —On the morning of the 18th May 
last, we left the village of Middlebury, on the Rutland 
railroad, to attend an agricultural festival, at the resi¬ 
dence of one of the well known farmers in Yermont. It 
was a bright clear day, and our road for some miles lay 
along the top of the gentle acclivity, which separates the 
valley of Otter Creek from that of Lake Champlain. The 
prospect from this ridge, embracing as it does, the wind¬ 
ings of the gentle river, skirted in the distance by the 
mountains on the east and south; and on the west undu¬ 
lating from hill to valley, each rising upon the other, till 
it culminates at eighty miles in the lofty peaks of the 
Adirondac, renders the town of Cornwall one of the 
most beautiful and picturesque spots in the whole coun¬ 
try. The valleys on either side were highly cultivated, 
and dotted at intervals with frequent cottages, whose 
white fronts and neat enclosures, contrasted strikingly 
with the deep green of a luxuriant vegetation. 
On arrival at the place of our destination, we were cor¬ 
dially received by A. L. Bingham, the host of the day, 
a plain practical farmer, justly worthy of praise for the 
intelligence and enterprise, with which he has introduced 
important improvements in several kinds of agricultural 
stock, and more particularly in French Merino sheep. 
One object of his festival was to exhibit these sheep at 
the time of shearing. A large collection of people from 
the surrounding country, and some even from distant 
states, had already gathered to attend the party and wit¬ 
ness the shearing. A big barn had been cleared and 
prepared with seats, from which a half dozen shearers 
might be seen busily employed in removing the fleeces 
from the heavily laden sheep. A committee of gentle¬ 
men was appointed to take the weight of the body and 
of each fleece as soon as sheared. 
The first day, (for the festival was of two days con¬ 
tinuance,) was devoted to the shearing of yearling ewes, 
of which the committee reported thirty three had been 
shorn. From their report we learn that the heaviest 
weight of body was 112^ lbs., and the heaviest weight 
of fleece was 21 lbs.; and the lightest weight of body 
was 82 lbs., and the lightest weight of fleece was 13if lbs. 
Fourteen of these yearling ewes sheared more than 17 
lbs. to the fleece. The average weight of the ewes was 
about ninety-one pounds, and the average- weight of 
their fleeces, a little over seventeen pounds. We also 
saw the shearing of a two-year-old buck, and saw the 
fleece weighed. The buck weighed 183 lbs., and the 
fleece twenty-five and a quarter pounds. 
A capital and abundant dinner was provided, near a 
beautiful maple grove in the open fields, for all the visi¬ 
tors, by the hospitable host, during the partaking of which, 
a large and well cultivated band discoursed most eloquent 
music. Several hundreds found at the table ample satis¬ 
faction for the wants which the clear bracing air, and the 
drive and ramble through the country had, by dinner 
time, made decidedly imperative. 
After dinner we took a stroll through the grounds and 
examined the numerous specimensof stock which fell un¬ 
der our eye. We saw a flock of French Merino bucks 
w'hich had just arrived from the pastures of Victor Gilbert 
in France, and which seemed, notwithstanding their long 
voyage, in excellent order and quite at home in the new 
world. We also saw a three year old buck, raised by 
Mr. Bingham, and which weighed 292£ pounds! At 
another place, quite unconscious of his honors, and chew¬ 
ing his cud like an ordinary sheep, stood the celebrated 
buck Napoleon, which took the silver cup at the Ameri¬ 
can Institute, and the prizes at the state fairs of Mary¬ 
land, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. This giant was relieved 
of just eighteen months growth of wool on the lltli of 
May last, and the jleece weighed forty-seven pounds. 
Passing on, we encountered among other cattle, a Dur¬ 
ham calf, not then a year old, which weighed fifteen hun¬ 
dred pounds ; and Mr. Bingham’s other Durhams, with 
beautiful specimens of Herefords, and mixed breeds 
of divers sorts were presented, and particular among 
worthies, was the Hereford cow “Fanny,” pronounced 
by competent judges, the best in the United States. 
Returning to the house, we found numerous elegant 
horses, with trotting gigs attached, which the neighbors 
from Cornwell and adjoining towns, bad trotted out for 
inflection. These were regarded as the crack horses of 
the country round about, and were mainly coal-black, 
small, but compactly built, and highly spirited animals. 
One of them we agreed, was the most elegant animal we 
had ever seen. They were mostly the progeny of a not¬ 
ed horse owned in the vicinity, by David Hill, Esq., 
and known as “ Black Hawk.” 
As evening came on we reluctantly left the place of our 
cordial entertainment, and in the rays of the setting sun, 
bid farewell to a scene and a day vividly impressed on our 
minds as one of the most interesting and peculiar we had 
ever experienced. 
We had read of the games and festivals of bye-gone 
ages, when some old baron would collect together his 
vassels and his serfs, and on some broad green, broach 
his puncheons of ale, and disseminate his beef—and now 
here had been reproduced a similar gala day—but under 
what different auspices, and for what different uses! A 
noted farmer invites in all his friends; throws the door 
open for strangers; gives and receives information; ex¬ 
emplifies his views by his productions; extends his ac¬ 
quaintance ; knits his friends closer around him ; breaks 
up prejudices, and creates a festival, which, while it re¬ 
sults in benefit to himself, cannot fail to contribute some¬ 
thing to the agricultural advancement of his neighbors, 
and the general promotion of the farming interest. Wo 
regard the example as eminently worty of imitation. 
Viator. Vermont, 1852. 
Paint for Wire Fences. —The chief advantage of 
painting the wires white, is to prevent their becoming 
so much heated by the sun’s rays, and consequently 
expanded and slackened. Prof. Mapes says the best 
white paint is a mixture of white oxide of zinc with 
gutta percha, rubbed on while the wire is kept hot by 
means of a “small lamp.” It strikes us that a very 
large lamp would be indispensible to even a tolerable 
degree of expedition—would it not be better, to heat 
whole coils by a fire? Is this a cheap or a costly paint? 
