12 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Quadrupeds, in assuming their winter dress, and birds in autumnal 
molting, assume a dimmer coat and darker hue. 
A sentiment has been promulgated, and is now vibrating on the ear 
of folly, that fine wool can only be produced on ill conditioned sheep. 
Compare the fine glossy coat of the courser and gig-horse, with that of 
the meagre and deserted hackney and dray; or the glistening plumage 
of a full-fed bird, and the faded feathers of the setting hen. 
The wool is dependent on the condition of the skin, and the skin is 
dependent on the condition of the animal. Tanners understand this, 
and will not pay full price for the skins of animals which die of starva¬ 
tion or disease. Picking or plucking of wool, ought to be unknown to 
a good shepherd, and is even now reluctantly acknowledged by bad ones. 
The non-conducting electrical property of wool, hair and feathers, a 
familiar instance known to all the boys, viz. stroking the back of a 
black cat with the hand, in a dry, cold, dark night. 
There are some curious considerations, subject to the development, 
or arising from the influence, of light on animal covering. The inves¬ 
tigation of the French naturalists, has resulted in the opinion that wo¬ 
men, with red, auburn or sandy hair, are the best nurses. Light com- 
plexioned persons are most disposed to scrofula; dark, to a melancholic 
disposition. This is not to be received in disparagement of those who 
have black hair, for on scriptural authority, who can “make one hair 
white or black 1” Still, there may be some such wonder-working cause 
in operation. Thence the popular supposition and prepossession, that 
red cattle and cows are better for beef and butter, and the strong preju¬ 
dices against white. That white horses, and those with white legs 
and nose, are more subject to scratches. With white or wall eyes, 
skittish. Black sheep, never fine. 
Felting, or entanglement, is a poperty of fur better understood by ex¬ 
perience, than can be described by language. Hair, horse-hair, bristles, 
&c. will not felt; fur will. Wool possesses an intermediate property; 
the nearer it approximates fur, the more valuable for the purpose of cloth¬ 
ing. The most perfect wool is produced on a healthy sheep, and on 
those uniformly kept in good condition. 
Fur felting and wool felting, are somewhat analogous. From the fine¬ 
ness and durability of the best hats, it is obvious that wool best dispos¬ 
ed to full will make the most durable cloth. On this principle, fine 
elastic wool will make more cloth per pound, and a more durable fabric. 
From its elasticity it yields and gives way to resistance, neither break¬ 
ing like straw, or suffering friction: hence more durable. Fine wool, 
in its approach to fur, is also a warmer covering. 
There are certain articles of traffic, denominated staple articles, that 
is, which are indispensable to life, viz. food and clothing. The market 
is always intermediate between the vender and the purchaser, and re¬ 
gulates the. price. 
It is not the amount of stuff in pounds that is most valuable to the 
manufacturer, whether hair or wool, or an indefinite admixture, but 
wool that will make the most and best cloth for durability, warmth and 
beauty—having the least waste and inviting the best paymaster. 
If the manufacturer will say to the wool grower, quantity is prefera¬ 
ble to quality; and the purchaser of cloth will say to the manufacturer, 
coarse cloth is preferable to fine, for beauty, warmth and wear, then 
may we expect to see the goat stand in the place of the high-bred meri¬ 
no, and the wonderful improvement in modern machinery sacrificed to 
wilful ignorance. 
That fine wool can be produced as easily as coarse, without capital, 
care and discrimination, is absolutely inadmissable, any more than pur¬ 
chasing superfine cloth at the same cost of coarse. Gold is not found 
in this way. 
Bleaching by heavy rains, dew and fogs, although not a properry of 
wool, is a consideration. Wool, cotton, hemp and flax, long subjected 
to the direct or alternate influence of great moisture and intense solar 
heat, loses its cohesive property. Cloth, feathers, wool, &c. soon decay 
upon being subjected to solar and humid atmospheric influence. 
Hence the difference between the delightful, bewitching, silky curls of 
the miss of ten and sixteen, and the weather-beaten head of a rugged 
cow-boy without a hat. Age likewise exerts its influence. Could not 
a blind man by the touch distinguish the difference between the downy 
softness of the infant hair, and the harsh covering of the aged head ? 
Wool from a very old or diseased sheep, is diminished in firmness of 
texture, is not so strong. The three or four first clippings of wool are 
the best. 
The different qualities of wool, as to length, fineness, elasticity and 
softness, grown on an individual sheep, have in European countries, 
produced an officer called wool stapler, or sorter, as yet little known in 
this country. His business is to assort the individual fleeces of a flock, 
and apportion it, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, as to quality. And in this way, 
from experience, like the inspector of beef and pork, render it tangible 
to the purchaser, and at the same time fix the reputation of the flock. 
If I was desirous of a judgment, I should want it by a competent 
judge. When we arrive at this point in our country, we shall be on 
fair ground. One man’s flock will staple three-quarters first quality; 
one one-half; another one-third. Then the only inquiry of the pur¬ 
chaser will be, how much staple wool, No. 1, or No. 2, have you ? ac¬ 
cording to his requirements as to quality. This will at once simplify 
the process of purchase, and establish the production of wool upon its 
proper basis. A good flock will then be a good flock in the market, by 
the decision of a good judge. A fair decision can in no case be had, but 
by a competent, disinterested and independent judge. F. 
No. V.—On the habits, management of sheep, and production of wool. 
AN ESSAY ON GRASSES. 
At the request of a gentleman proposing to publish an agricultural work,we 
drew up for his use, some time ago, a compendium of Loudon’s chapters 
on grasses, omitting such parts as weie deemed of little use here, and add¬ 
ing such facts as were most likely to render it serviceable to American hus¬ 
bandry. The projected work was not published ; and the manuscript hav¬ 
ing been returned to us, we now proceed to publish it in the Cultivator, as 
well in reply to may inquiries which have been addressed to us on this sub¬ 
ject, as in the hope of rendering an acceptable service to all our patrons. 
OF THE CULTURE OF HERBAGE PLANTS. 
Under this head Mr. Loudon has embraced the clovers, lucern, saint- 
foin ( Hcdysarum onobrychis,) burnet ( Poterium sanguisorba,) ribwort 
plaintain ( Plantago lanceolata.) the whin (Ulex europeus ,) the spurry 
(Spergula arvensis,) the broom ( Spartium scoparum,) the parsley (Api- 
umpetroselinum,) the birdsfoottrefoil (Lotus corniculatus,) the wallflow¬ 
er, yarrow, &c. As the saintfoin is peculiarly adapted to chalk soils, of 
which we have none, and as every attempt to cultivate it in this coun¬ 
try has proved unsuccessful;—and as the other plants enumerated are 
either considered as noxious, or unfitted for field culture here, the no¬ 
tice of this chapter will be limited to the clovers and lucern. 
The cultivation of clovers and herbage plants, used exclusively as food 
for live stock, is comparatively a modern improvement. They were 
not introduced into Britain.till the sixteenth century. Their introduc¬ 
tion among us, on any thing like a general scale, was far more recent, 
and indeed may be said to be among the improvements of the present 
century. But at-present clovers are deemed indispensable in all good 
farming; and particularly on light soils and in alternate husbandry. 
In Flanders, where husbandry underwent its earliest improvements, 
and where it is found now most to excel, clovers are deemed indispen¬ 
sable to good husbandry. Upon their cultivation, says Radcliff, hinges 
apparently the whole of the farmer’s prosperity. “ Without clover, 
no man in Flanders would pretend to call himself a farmer.” It is 
there used, as it should be here, as food for both plants and animals. 
Sec. 1. The clover family—Trifolium L. Diadel. Duan L. aud Legu- 
minosece J. 
The species of clover in cultivation are the red clover (Trifolium pra- 
tense ) a biennial, and sometimes, especially on chalky soils, a triennial 
plant, known from the other species by its broad leaves, luxuriant 
growth, and reddish purple flowers. 
The white, or creeping, or Dutch clover (T. repens) is a perennial 
plant, known by its creeping stems and white flowers. 
The yellow clover, hop-trefoil, or shamrock clover (T. procumbens) a 
biennial, known by its procumbent shoots, yellow flowers and black 
seeds. 
The cow grass, meadow clover or marl grass (T. medium) a perennial, 
resembling the red clover, but of a paler hue, dwarfer habit, with 
pale red or whitish flowers, and long roots, very sweet to the taste. 
Trifolium incarnatum, an annual, a native of Italy, but little known 
either in the U. States or G. Britain, and the character of which for 
usefulness cannot yet be fully decided on. Will not endure our win¬ 
ters, but would probably do in Pennsylvania and south. 
In the choice of sorts, the red or broad leaved is most generally cul¬ 
tivated. It yields the heaviest burthen. Yet some prefer the cow grass, 
distinguished in the northern states as southern clover. It comes in 
flower, and is fit to cut, ten or fourteen days earlier than the broad 
variety. It will yield a crop of hay, and afterwards a crop of seed. 
The white and yellow clovers are seldom sown to any extent. They 
come in spontaneously on many soils, and are a valuable accession for 
pasture uses. 
The soil best adapted for clover is a deep sandy loam, which will 
freely admit the long tap-roots ; but it will grow in any soil, provided 
it be dry. Calcareous soils are peculiarly congenial to clover; and the 
application of lime or gypsum, upon most soils, will call into action 
clover seeds, which would appear to have before laid dormant. Plaster 
of Paris has a magic influence in accelerating its growth, where this 
mineral is not neutralized by the influence of marine air; and when 
this is the case, lime and ashes serve as good substitutes. 
The time of sowing is commonly in the spring, with the spring crop, 
and before the last harrowing; or upon winter grain in March or April, 
followed by a light harrow, and sometimes without it. Yet clover is 
often sown in Sept, or Oct. with the seed corn. The objection against 
the latter practice is, that the tender plants are liable to be destroyed 
by the winter. Rolling the ground after seeds have been covered by 
the harrow is of manilest advantage: It produces a smooth surface 
breaks the clods, and compresses the earth about the seeds, and thus 
