THE CULTIVATOR. 
55 
Sheep Husbandry. 
THE SHEEP.— value of the pelt. 
The inhabitants of Ukraine and Podoli, as soon as the lamb is drop¬ 
ped (which comes into the world with a pretty wavy skin, even with¬ 
out the assistance of art), sew it up in a sort of coarse linen shirt, so 
as to keep up a constant gentle pressure on the wool, pouring warm 
water over it every day, in order to make it soft and sleek. They 
slacken the bandage a little from time to time, as the animal increases 
in size, but still keep it tight enough to lay the wool in beautiful glossy 
ringlets, and thereby produce a delicate skin in great request in other 
countries for lining clothes and morning gowns. By this process the 
fine soft wool of the young lamb takes a beautilul arrangement; and 
the animal is killed younger or older, according to the material intend¬ 
ed to be produced, whether with a short glossy nap. like satin, fit only 
for delicate linings, or a warm thick fur for winter clothing. 
The Boucharian Tartars carry this refinement to a greater extent. 
They will not kill the female, for they look to her for the continuance 
of their flocks ; but a great number of the male lambs are destroyed as 
soon as they are dropped. The wavy curls of these fleeces are some¬ 
times remarkably beautiful, the richest damask scarcely exceeding 
them. They are of a black, blue, or silver-grey colour; the first of 
which, when thoroughly glossy, are most highly esteemed. 
In some districts these fine and valuable furs—they partake more of 
the nature and appearance of fur than of wool—are produced by other 
means : the mother is slaughtered a little before the time of pregnancy 
would have expired, and the little one taken from the womb and de¬ 
stroyed while ihe carcase is still reeking. The short glossy fur, lying 
close to the pelt, is said to be more beautiful than any that could have 
been obtained from the same animal after birth. 
Beil, in his Travels in Russia, in 1750, gives a similar account: 
“ At Astraclian they have great quantities of lamb-skins, grey and 
black, and some waved, others curled, all natural and very pretty, hav¬ 
ing a fine gloss, particularly the waved, which at a distance appear 
like the richest watered tabby. They are much esteemed, and are ex¬ 
tensively used for the lining of coats and the turning up of caps in Rus¬ 
sia and Persia, and other parts. The best of these are brought from 
Boucharia, Chiva, and the countries adjacent, and are taken out of 
the ewe’s belly after she has been killed, or the lamb is killed directly 
after it is lambed; for such a skin is equal in value to the sheep. The 
Kalmucks and other Tartars, who inhabit the desert in the neighbor¬ 
hood of Astrachan, have also lamb-skins, which are applied to the 
same purposes; but the wool of these being rougher and more hairy, 
they are far inferior to those of Boucharia or Chiva, both in gloss and 
beauty, as also in dressing, and consequently in value; I have known 
one single lamb-skin of Boucharia sold for five or six shillings ster¬ 
ling, when one of these would not yield two shillings.” 
Professor M’Culloch says, that the value of lamb-skins varies ac¬ 
cording to the fineness, brilliancy, and colour of the wool. Black lamb¬ 
skins are more generally esteemed than those of any other colour. 
Some English lamb-skins, perfectly fine and white, and taken from the 
Anglo-Merino breed, are in considerable estimation. The greater 
part, however, come from abroad, and the importation of them is im¬ 
mense, having amounted on an average of 1831 and 1832, to 2,365,- 
635, four-fifths of which were supplied by Italy. They are mostly 
used in the manufacture of gloves, 120 skins producing, on an ave¬ 
rage, 18 dozen pairs of gloves. 
THE YOLK. 
The filament of the wool has scarcely pushed itself through the pore 
of the skin, than it has to penetrate through another and singular sub¬ 
stance, which, from its adhesiveness and colour, is called the yolk. 
It is found in greatest quantity about the breast and shoulders—the 
very parts that produce the best, and healthiest, and most abundant 
wool—and in proportion as it extends to any considerable degree over 
other parts the wool is then improved. It differs in quality in differ¬ 
ent breeds: it is very abundant on the merinos; it is sufficiently plen¬ 
tiful on most of the southern breeds, either to assist in the production 
of the wool, or to defend the sheep from the inclemency of the wea¬ 
ther ; but in the northern districts, where the cold is more intense, and 
the yolk of wool is deficient, a substitute for it is sought by smearing 
the sheep with a mixture of tar and oil or butter. Where there is a 
deficiency of yolk, the fibre of the wool is dry, and harsh, and weak, 
and the whole fleece becomes thin and hairy: where the natural quan¬ 
tity of it is found, the wool is soft, and oily, and plentiful, and strong. 
Precisely such, in a less degree, is the effect of the salving in suppling, 
and strengthening, and increasing the quantity of the wool. 
It is not the inspissated perspiration of the animal: it is not com¬ 
posed of matter that has been accidentally picked up and that has 
lodged in the wool; but it is a peculiar secretion from the glands of 
the skin, destined to be one of the agents in the nourishment of the 
wool, and, at the same time, by its adhesiveness, to mat the wool to¬ 
gether, and form a secure defence from the wet and the cold. 
The medium quantity of yolk on a Hereford, Shropshire, or Sussex 
sheep, is about half the fleece; and this is the customary allowance to 
the wool-buyer, if the fleece has been sold without washing. 
A celebrated French chemist, M. Yauquelin, has made various ex¬ 
periments on the composition of the yolk of wool; the result is as fol¬ 
lows: It is composed, 1st, of a soapy matter with a basis of potash, 
which formed the greater part of it. 2d. A small quantity of carbonate 
of potash. 3d. A perceptible quantity of acetate of potash. 4th. 
Lime whose stale of combination he was unacquainted with. 5th. An 
atom of muriate of potash. 6th. An animal oil, to which he attribut¬ 
ed the peculiar odour of the yolk; and, in conclusion, he was of opinion 
that all these materials were essential to the yolk, and not found in it 
by accident, for he analyzed the yolk in a great number of samples, as 
well Spanish as French, and found them in all. 
The yolk being a true soap, soluble in water, it is easy to account 
for the comparative ease with which the sheep that have the na¬ 
tural proportion of it are washed in a running stream. There is, 
however, a small quantity of fatty matter in the fleece, which is not in 
combination with the alkali, and which, remaining attached to the 
wool, keeps it a little glutinous notwithstanding the most careful wash¬ 
ing. 
This subject may be summed up in the comprehensive language of 
Mr. Luccock. “ He,” the northern sheep-master, after having applied 
his salving, “finds this dirty coat as indispensably necessary to the 
good qualities of the fleece as it is to the health of the animal; with¬ 
out it, the wool becomes hairy, thin, and light; with it, the fleece is 
full, soft, and rich, possesses a sufficient quantity of healthy yellow 
yolk, and the qualities and condition of the wool are most wonderfully 
improved. From these circumstances we conclude that the yolk is not 
only necessary to the production of a valuable fleece, but is the very 
pabulum of wool. The manner in which the yolk acts upon the wool 
is not accurately known. Some have considered it as the superabun¬ 
dance of that substance which forms the filament, and which, by some 
unknown process, while the pile is growing, is consolidated into a 
transparent mass; while others conclude, perhaps more reasonably, 
that it is a peculiar secretion which exudes through the skin, and, by 
intermingling with the pile, renders it soft, pliable, and healthy, af¬ 
fecting it much in the same way as oil does a thong of leather when 
kept immersed in it and perfectly saturated. In general this substance 
has been noticed without any particular reference to the breed of the 
animal, or the qualities of the fleece which it bears ; sometimes as per¬ 
fectly disregarded as the sand and the hay-seed which are accidentally 
mingled with the pile. Yet the disposition to produce this valuable 
animal soap is certainly as important as some other characteristics of 
the sheep, and ought not to be overlooked when we describe their dif¬ 
ferent varieties or select them for our farms .—Library of Useful Know • 
ledge , Farmers’ Series. 
. KXTIUGTS. 
CHEMISTRY FOR FARMERS. 
The excellent essay on lime, byftl. Puvis, which we are in the course of 
publishing in the Cultivator, has been re-published in a pamphlet form, 
with an introduction by Professor Renwick, of Columbia College, full of 
instruction to the farmer. The public, we understand, are principally in¬ 
debted to James Wadsworth, hsq for this publication. The introduc¬ 
tion of Professor Renwick is explanatory of many of the principles of agri¬ 
cultural chemistry, and as it will be likely to aid the reader in understand¬ 
ing more distinctly the object and effect of liming lands, we suspend, for 
this number, the continuation of M. Puvis’ essay, and insert the introduc¬ 
tion entire. We heartily rejoice, that men of science are at last applying 
their labors to agriculture—the great business of our country, and of the ci¬ 
vilized world ; and in behalf of our brethren of the plough, we lender to 
the gentlemen who have interested themselves in the publication of this 
valuable pamphlet, our grateful acknowledgments.— Conductor. 
The chemical facts and principles which are applicable to agricul¬ 
ture, are neither numerous nor complex. They are, however, to be 
found only in works on general chemistry, in which they are intimate¬ 
ly associated with laws and phenomena of a more abstruse description, 
and in connexion with which they constitute a science of which the most 
learned are still students, and to attain which in its existing form may 
require years of close and attentive study. The language, too, of che¬ 
mistry, which, to those who study it in a regular course, serves as an 
artificial memory, and single words of which call up long trains of 
thought and experiment, presents to the uninitiated all the difficulties 
of a foreign tongue. 
Yet it cannot be doubted, that the practical farmer may derive im¬ 
portant benefit from acquiring so much of this language as will enable 
him to understand the chemical explanation of the numerous changes 
which are continually taking place in the natural actions which it is 
his high privilege to call into his service, to direct in part, and modify 
in degree. So also are there certain chemical elements and compounds, 
with the properties of which he ought to be acquainted if he wish to 
be able to direct his practical skill with more effect, even in circuiu- 
