1853. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
285 
South Down Sheep. 
Many of our readers are aware that it is the common 
practice of eminent breeders in England, to let, annual¬ 
ly by auction, to the highest bidder, such male animals 
as they have to dispose of for the year. Among those 
lettings, that of Mr. Jonas Webb of Babraham, the 
celebrated breeder of South Down Sheep , is one of the 
most attractive. His 27th annual letting was held at 
his place, on the 6th of July, at which were present se¬ 
veral hundred gentlemen, including many from other 
couniries; and among them, Mr. F. M. Rotch of Mor¬ 
ris, Otsego county, in this State, who, it will be seen, 
procured the favorite buck let on this occasion, paying 
therefor the handsome sum of 130 guineas, about $650. 
We copy from the Mark Lane Express:— 
“ The annual letting of Mr. Jonas Webb s celebrated 
tups took place on Wednesday, Mr. King officiating as 
auctioneer. The attendance was about as large as usu¬ 
al. The animals met with unqualified admiration; 
and one hired by Mr. Rotch, an American, fetched the 
astonishing price of 130 guineas, being the highest fig¬ 
ure yet obtained by any single tup since Mr. Webb has 
commenced as breeder. There were 71 sheep let, 
which netted £ 1,580, being an average of .£22 4s. 
Previous to the letting every animal has a reserved bid 
fixed upon it, by Mr. Webb himself, and it is but jus¬ 
tice to that gentleman to say that every tup put up 
realized more than the price put upon it. Indeed, the 
aggregate produced £500 more than the reserve; one 
instance we might name, of a ram being fixed at $5 5s. 
fetching £18.” 
At the dinner given on the occasion, at which the 
Earl of Hardwicke presided, Mr. Rotch responded in a 
brief and appropriate manner to the customary toast— 
“ The hirer of the highest prize tup of the day.” Mr. 
Webb, in proposing the toast, alluded to the fact that 
he had sold, some nine or ten years since, to the father 
of Mr. Rotch,one of his best rams for 50 guineas.($250.) 
Product of Half-Blood Ayrshires. 
Messrs. Editors — From seeing an account of a 
widow’s heifer named “ Cherry,” in the u Country 
Gentleman,” pages 163 and 388,1 am induced to give 
you a short statement of my heifer, “ Cherry 2d.” 
Cherry 2d was three years old in May last—is a cross 
between a good native cow, and an “ Ayrshire” bull 
raised by Mr. E. P. Prentice of Albany, N. Y. She 
dropped her first calf June 8th, 1853, and in ten days 
from the 14th, she gave 410 lbs. 15 oz. of milk, averaging 
41 ]_bs. 1J ounces per day. The lastday of June she 
gave 39f lbs. of milk, measuring 16| quarts after it 
was strained, which made one pound four and a half 
ounces of butter—making eight pounds 15£ ounces per 
week, on grass only, and would have probably made 
more, if she had given as much milk on that day as usu¬ 
al. She gives as much milk now as at the time of trial. 
I intend you shall hear farther from her sometime. 
I have also two four year old cows of the same blood, 
which stand only three feet 10 inches high, and weigh¬ 
ed the first of this month, after driving four miles, 
700 and 720 lbs., and gave during the same ten days, 
viz—from June 14th to June 25th, 411 9-16th lbs., 
396 14-16th lbs. of milk; and the three have made, 
(after using milk and cream for a family of six persons, 
and also milk before it is soured to raise a calf,) to ave¬ 
rage three and three-fourths pounds of butter per day. 
Very respectfully yours. A. D. Arms. East Mont¬ 
pelier, Vt., July 16, 1853. 
Charcoal for Sheep. 
One of the best medicines for human beings, is finely 
pulverised fresh charcoal, kept corked in a close vial or 
jar, one-half to a teaspoonful mixed with five times its 
bulk of water, forming an agreeable and excellent remedy 
for almost any kind of deranged stomach, and in larger 
doses constituting a very mild and perfectly safe laxative. 
There is no doubt that the same remedy would often 
prove of great service to domestic animals. Although 
we have never seen it tried, we confidently predict that 
half a pint to a pint of powdered charcoal, mixed with 
two to four quarts of water, would prove an admira¬ 
ble remedy for hoven in cattle. We observe that a cor¬ 
respondent of a late paper has used charcoal mixed with 
salt for his sheep, with the best results; he had found 
them, in accordance with usual experience, to suffer 
much on wet pastures, until he made use of this reme¬ 
dy, after which they immediately presented a more 
healthful appearance, and have continued to thrive, the 
salt as well as the charcoal operating beneficially. 
Feeding Cattle around Stacks. 
When a corner or knoll in the meadow is found to be 
in a poor condition, farmers often attempt to enrich such 
places by making a stack of hay on the ground, and 
foddering it out, expecting to reap a double benefit 
of improving the land, and saving the trouble of cart¬ 
ing the hay and manure. Let us examine the argu¬ 
ments for, and objections to, this course of procedure. 
The ground in this climate is always frozen in winter 
and covered more or less with snow, and consequently 
the liquid manure freezes upon the snow, and as the 
snow melts before the ground thaws and settles suffi¬ 
ciently to absorb the fertilizing qualities of the manure, 
the most valuable portion is lost entirely. The heavy 
rains drench the solid part of the manure, and alternate 
thawing and freezing destroy its strength, so that the 
soil is comparatively little benefited. 
Another prominent objection is, that the cattle or 
sheep thus exposed in some bleak place, consume about 
one-fourth more food than would be necessary, if com¬ 
fortable stables were provided for them, and they come 
out emaciated and sickly in the spring. Thus instead 
of securing a double profit in stacking the hay, a three¬ 
fold loss is sustained—namely, the better portion of the 
manure—a considerable portion of the hay, and in the 
condition of the stock. Cows, kept during winter in 
this way, require a long time to recover from the effects 
of exposure, and frequently the season is far advanced, 
and the grass becomes dry and less succulent, before they 
regain their flesh—thus very much lessening the profit 
arising from them. 
