THE CULTIVATOR 
127 
which in some sections of the country had already commenced to some 
considerable extent. The various reports from gentlemen of intern- 
gence of the practical results of apple feeding are most gratifying, and 
we have no doubt the system will be fully approved wherever fairly 
tested. Where convenient, let the hogs lie in the orchard from the 
time the fruit begins to fall, till it is time to gather apples for winter 
or cider, and they will in most cases be found respectable pork. W hen 
it is necessary to put them in the pen, boiled apples mixed with a small 
quantity of corn, oats, peas or buckwheat meal, will .fill them up rapid¬ 
ly, make them lard well, and fill the farmers 7 barrels with sound, sweet 
pork, of the first quality. If any, however, are doubtful, they can 
easily finish off their apple fed pork, as is generally done with potato 
fed, with corn o r peas, and with similar results.— Gen. Far. G. 
BEET SUGAR. 
Extract from a file of the “ Journal des Debats , 15 th April, 1836,” at 
the rooms of the Young Men’s Association, in this city. 
Four residents of the village of Wallers, department of the north, 
one a blacksmith and the others farmers, formed, some months since, 
an association for manufacturing beet root sugar, with a capital of 400 
francs,* in four equal shares of 100 francs a piece. These enterprising 
men obtained the most happy results. They were able, every day, to 
make a loaf of sugar of medium quality, weighing from forty to fifty 
pounds. The following is their simple mode of manufacturing the su¬ 
gar. They used curry combs !! to rasp the beet roots with, and linen 
bags for expressing the juice; the syrup thus obtained was boiled in 
the family iron pot, on the blacksmith’s fire. By these simple means, 
they were able to make a loaf every day. , 
More lately still, Messrs. Rapez and Lecerf, of Onnaing, have also , 
manufactured beet sugar on a small scale. The sugar of Mr. Lecert j 
particularly, is, in the opinion of a sugar refiner in Paris, of a quality 
that heyvould pay for at the rate of from 57 to 58 francs the 50 killo- j 
grammes. Monsieur Lefitte, deputy from Seine and Oise, and one of 
the most zealous propagators of agricultural improvements, is on the 
point of establishing some “sucreries” on his farm at Auverneau. 
Should, thanks to the endeavors of the Royal Agricultural Society, the 
process of making beet sugar become popular in France, we shall soon 
see the day when every family will make its sugar, as it now does its 
preserves. ___ 
THE SHEEP.—( Continued from page 99.) 
THE SOUTH-DOWN SHEEP. 
The next is the hill sheep, adapted to more elevated situations and 
shorter feed on the natural and permanent pastures; able also to tra¬ 
vel, without detriment, a considerable distance to the fold and to the 
down. There can be no hesitation in fixing on the South-Down as the 
model here. 
The following is the substance of the description of this sheep, by 
Mr. Ellman, who, if he may not be considered, like Mr. Bakewell with 
regard to the Leicesters, as founder of the breed, yet contributed more 
than any other man to its present improvement and value. 
The head small and hornless; the face speckled or grey, and neither 
too long nor too short. The lips thin, and the space between the nose 
and the eyes narrow. The under jaw, or chap, fine and thin; the ears 
tolerably wide, and well covered with wool, and the forehead also, and 
the whole space between the ears well protected by it, as a defence 
against the fly. 
The eye full and bright, but not prominent. The orbits of the eye— 
the eye-cap or bone—not too projecting, that it may not form a fatal ob¬ 
stacle in lambing. 
The neck of a medium length, thin towards the head, but enlarging 
towards the shoulders where it should be broad and high, and straight 
in its whole course above and below. The breast should be wide, deep, 
and projecting forwards between the fore legs, indicating a good con¬ 
stitution, and a disposition to thrive. Corresponding with this, the 
shoulders should be on a level with the back, and not too wide above; 
they should bow outward from the top to the breast, indicating a spring¬ 
ing rib beneath, and leaving room for it. 
The ribs coming out horizontally from the spine, and extending far 
backward, and the last rib projecting more than the others; the back 
flat from the shoulders to the setting on of the tail; the loin broad and 
flat; the rump long and broad, and the tail set on high, and nearly on 
a level with the spine. The hips wide; the space between them and 
the last rib on either side, as narrow as possible, and the ribs, general¬ 
ly, presenting a circular form like a barrel. 
The belly as straight as the back. 
The legs neither too long nor too short. The fore-legs straight from 
the breast to the foot; not bending inward at the knee, and standing 
far apart both before and behind; the hocks having a direction rather 
outward, and the twist, or the meeting of the thighs behind, being par¬ 
ticularly full; the bones fine, yet having no appearance of weakness, 
and of a speckled or dark colour. ____ 
* Valuing the franc at 18| cents, this would amount to $75. 
The belly well defended with wool, and the wool coming down be¬ 
fore and behind to the knee, and to the hock; the wool short, close, 
curled and fine, and free from spiry projecting fibres. 
The South-Down is adapted to almost any situation in the midland 
part of England; it has a patience of occasional short keep, and an 
endurance of hard stocking, equal to any other sheep; an early ma¬ 
turity, scarcely inferior to that of the Leicesters, and the flesh finely 
grained, and of peculiarly good flavor. 
South-Down Ram. 
It is only lately that the South-Downs have been brought to that de¬ 
gree of perfection which they at present exhibit. Their zealous ad- 
vocate, and the breeder to whom they are indebted more than to any 
other, for the estimation in which they are now justly held, Mr. Ell¬ 
man, says of them—“This breed was formerly of a small size, and far 
from possessing a good shape, being long and thin in the neck, high on 
the shoulders, low behind, high on the loins, down on the rump, the 
tail set on very low, perpendicular from the hip-bones, sharp on the 
back—the ribs flat, not bowing, narrow in the fore-quarters, but good 
in the leg, although having big bone.” Arthur Young, who saw them 
in 1776, thus speaks of them—“Fine wool is certainly a very consi¬ 
derable object, provided it is gained on a well-formed carcass; but if 
a fine coat is procured at the expense of a thin chine, low fore-end, and 
rising back-bone, the advantage is purchased too dearly. The faults 
most common in the South-Down breed are these three. They are 
found very general, even in the best flocks, inasmuch as not more than 
one sheep in a hundred, perhaps'in two hundred, is to, be seen tolera¬ 
bly free from them.” 
Since that time, they have materially improved, yet not by any ad¬ 
mixture of foreign blood, for even the cross with the Leicesters was a 
failure, and the promised advantages to be derived from the Merinos 
were delusive. The sheep owners began better to understand, and 
carefully to practise, the true principles of breeding. The “ sorting” 
of their flocks was no longer left to the menial; the sexual intercourse 
of the sheep was no longer a matter almost of chance-medley: but a 
system of selection was adopted, and sedulously followed. In addi¬ 
tion to this, as has been already remarked, there was a great improve¬ 
ment in agriculture generally. The introduction of the turnip hus¬ 
bandry enabled the farmer to keep more sheep on the same quantity 
of land, and to keep them better, and, in fact, to feed them up earli¬ 
er and more certainly to that development of form and utility of which 
they were capable. “They arc now,” says Mr. Ellman, “much im¬ 
proved, both in shape and constitution. They are smaller in bone 
equally hardy, with a greater disposition to fatten, and much heavier 
in carcass when fat. They used seldom to fatten until they were fcur 
years old; but it would now be a rare sight to see a pen of South- 
Down wethers at market more than two years old, and many are killed 
before they reach that age.” 
For an account of the most perfect form of the South-Down sheep, 
the reader is referred back to page 111 of this Treatise, where a de¬ 
scription is given of what a hill or down sheep ought to be; and to 
which may be added, that this animal has a patience of occasional 
short keep, and an endurance of hard stocking scarcely surpassed by 
any other sheep, an early maturity, not inferior to that of the Leices¬ 
ters, the flesh finely grained, and the wool of the most useful quality. 
The South-Down sheep are polled; but it is probable that the crmi- 
