1853 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
C|e OinuiiT 
Feeding Troughs for Sheep. 
NE of the best feeding 
troughs for sheep, is shown 
in the annexed fig. It com¬ 
bines more advantages than 
any other we have met with, 
and proves, on trial, to an¬ 
swer an excellent purpose, 
both for feeding grain and 
chopped roots, and as a rack for hay. Troughs 
similar to this have been made for many years, 
with the exception of the double trough below, an 
improvement described by Geo. Geddes. 
Ti'iq.l. 
Ft Cj 9 
Fig. 2 exhibits 
a section across 
one of the ends, 
and shows the 
structure with¬ 
out anydeserip- 
tion. It may 
be well enough, 
however, to say that the feet (a a) should be of 
thick, durable plank, and should be notched, and 
the lower inch-board troughs (6 b ) nailed in, be¬ 
fore the end-boards and upper trough are applied. 
If the trough is 12 feet long, which is a convenient 
length, a third plank foot should be placed across 
the middle. A single board, as a roof, will, if need¬ 
ed, preserve the fodder from the weather or rain. 
The space between the upper and lower troughs 
should be just sufficient for the sheep to abstract 
the feed, and which will wholly prevent the chaff 
and seeds from entering the wool. 
By selecting plank and boards the right width, 
so as to require no slitting, a farmer who is ac¬ 
customed to the use of tools will make several of 
these in a day, and a large flock may be soon sup¬ 
plied at a small expense. 
Winter Food for Horses. —At one of the dis¬ 
cussions of the Highland Agricultural Society, 
Black, of Dalkeith, stated that his mode of feed¬ 
ing his horses in winter, was to give each, daily, 
15 pounds of hay, 12 pounds of oats, and 28 pounds 
of boiled turnens. He considered the boiled tur- 
neps a most palatable, nutritious, and gratifying 
food for cart-horses, and equally so for coach and 
saddle horses. —— 
Merino Sheep. 
SPANISH, FRENCH, AMERICAN AND MAUCHAMP. 
Some farmers in this neighborhood, as well as 
in other wool-growing districts, are prejudiced 
against the French Merino sheep. Still we are 
half inclined to believe that they would, in a small 
way, be ready to test them, could they do so 
without making a hole in their u squirell-skins.” 
They claim no improvement upon the best im¬ 
portations of the Spanish, during the first half of 
the present century; and it is quite doubtful 
whether there can be found, at this time, among 
the twenty-five millions of sheep in the United 
States, as many good, pure-blood Merinos as were 
first introduced here from Spain, of equal value. 
That there are pure descendants of the best 
Spanish Merinos now in France, in the hands of 
three or four flock-masters, who, by long perse¬ 
vering efforts, have improved them in size, sym¬ 
metry and mutton qualities, as well as in an in¬ 
creased quantity of wool, without deteriorating 
the quality, cannot be denied. 
To renew the blood of the American Merinos, 
by mingling it with this improved Spanish Merino 
sheep, is only wisely adding an improvement to an 
un improvement. Then to assert that this renewal 
of blood from the same kin of a superior animal, 
will result in the manifest injury of our flocks, is 
absurd in the extreme. And none but those 
who are ignorant of the true principles of breeding, 
and those whose present interests control their 
better judgment, will ever advance the assertion. 
That this renewal of blood will ameliorate our 
flocks, and elevate them to a higher standard in a 
short space of time, which the long continued pa¬ 
tience and skill of the Spanish and French ama¬ 
teurs have labored for ages to acquire, many of 
the best breeders in this country are now begin¬ 
ning to appreciate. 
The Mauchamp sheep , is a particular breed that 
J. L. Graux, of the farm of Mauchamp, in France, 
has for some time sought to establish. The wool 
is a greater length than the common Merino—glos¬ 
sy, and very wavy; considered more valuable for 
its fine combing qualities, imparting more strength 
than other wools in this class. The fleece is not 
as dense, and the quantity of wool is less than on 
ordinary Merinos of France. But the price it 
bears in Paris, is 20 per cent, above the best Me¬ 
rino wool, because the supply is limited. But, 
according to the latest information that I could 
obtain, he had not a distinct race, permanently 
