THE CULTIVATOR. 
67 
and distinct.. It will doubtless be a great convenience to buyers to 
tind on the same farm the different breeds of fine wool sheep, and 
there too “all entirely distinct.” However, in such a case, 1 
should prefer to look and judge for myself, for bucks sometimes 
leap the fences, or the gates get open. In making a purchase, I 
shall always choose to examine into the health of the sheep, to see 
them free from foot rot and scab, for I would make him liable, who 
would sell me a sheep that would bring •contagion into my flock. 
An attempt has been made to prove that the defects of the Sax¬ 
ons did not attach to the “ Electoral ” Saxons, and that they were 
a race of sheep different in constitution and quality of wool. Why 
sir, let me tell you that there should be no magic in the name 
“ Electoral,” for in Saxony there are many private flocks quite as 
good as the Electoral. It is true, that the “ Electoral” sheep are 
generally better bred, but that they have better constitutions is 
absurd, and is a pretence which I never heard set up in any other 
country but our own. The climate of corresponding latitudes of 
Europe and American is widely different, and it is not surprising 
that animals suited to their climate, should be totally unable to 
withstand ours. I admire very much the beautiful appearance of 
Saxony wool, and I do not deny, that they can be kept alive in this 
country, by proper care and nursing. For a gentleman farmer, or 
for a man retiring from a professional life to a farm, and not de¬ 
pending on its profit for an income, the Saxony sheep are very well 
suited. But to a working-man, dependant on the products and pro¬ 
fits of a farm for support, I say let him in the first place, be sure 
that he selects such breeds of animals as will endure the climate. 
Closely connected with this subject, let me remark, that ninety per 
cent of the wool manufactured in the United States is of a middle 
quality, and why should we aim to produce an article which is 
above the market, or at most but little wanted. At this very time, 
when the medium quality of wool is nearly all manufactured, and 
manufacturers have been found to use the inferior foreign wool, yet, 
through the whole year, Saxony wool has had a dull sale, and the 
supply greater than the demand. This is a fact beyond dispute. 
But why do I trouble you ? farmers will soon learn what is for 
their interest. Indeed, their own experience for the last winter, 
will t*dl them plainly, whether the Saxons can endure our climate 
as well as the old Spanish Merinos. As a large majority of your 
subscribers are interested in wool growing, I hope you will not dis¬ 
courage any remarks on the subject. 
In may last letter a few mistakes were made, but not of such 
consequence as now to require to be corrected. 
Very respectfully yours, 
May 9th, 1836. A. B. 
SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
THE SHEEP .—(Continued from page 189, Vol. SI.) 
THE VALUE OF THE PELT. 
The inhabitants of the Ukraine and Podoli, as soon as the lamb 
is dropped (which comes into the world with a pretty wavy skin, 
even without the assistance of art), sew it up in a sort of coarse 
linen shirr, 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 g ossy ringlets, and thereby produce a delicate 
skin in great request in other countries for lining clothes and morn¬ 
ing gowns. By this process the fine soft wool of the young lamb 
takes a beautiful arrangement; and the animal is killed younger or 
older, according to the material intended to be produced, wfiether 
with a short glossy nap, like satin, fit only for delicate linings, or 
a warm thick fur for winter clothing. 
The Boucharian Tarturs carry this refinement to a greater ex¬ 
tent. 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 sometimes remarkably beautiful, the richest da¬ 
mask scarcely exceeding them. They are of a black, blue, or sil¬ 
ver-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 her time of 
pregnancy would have expired, and the little one taken from the 
womb and destroyed while the 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. 
Bell, in his Travels in Russia, in 1750, gives a similar account: 
“At Astrachan they have great quantities of lamb-skns, grey and 
black, and some waved, others curled, all natural and very pretty, 
having a fine gloss, particularly the waved, which at a distance ap¬ 
pear like the richest watered tabby. They are much esteemed, and 
are extensively used for the lining of coats and the turning up of 
caps in Russia 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 va¬ 
lue to the sheep. The Kalmucks and other Tartars, who inhabit 
the desert in the neighborhood of Astrachan, have also lamb-skins, 
which are applied to the same purposes; but the wool of these be¬ 
ing rougher and more hairy, they are far inferior to those of Bou¬ 
charia or Chiva, both in gloss and beauty, as also in dressing, and 
consequently in value; I have known one single lamb-skin of Bou¬ 
charia sold for five or six shillings sterling, 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 color 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 immense, 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 pro¬ 
ducing, on the average, 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 sin¬ 
gular substance, 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 con¬ 
siderable degree over other parts the wool is then improved. It 
differs in quantity in different breeds: it is very abundant on the 
merinos; it is sufficiently plentiful 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 weather; 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 d-y, and harsh, and weak, and the whole fleece be¬ 
comes thin and hairy: where the natural quantity 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 strength¬ 
ening, 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 together, and form a secure defence from the wet and the 
cold. 
The medium quantity of yolk on a Hereford, Shropshire, or Sus¬ 
sex sheep, is about half the fleece; and this is the customary al¬ 
lowance to the wool-buyer, if the fleece has been sold without wash¬ 
ing. 
A celebrated French chemist, M. Vauquelin, has made various 
experiments on the composition of the yolk of wool; the result is 
as follows: It is composed, 1st, of a soapy matter with a basis of 
potash, which formed the greater part of it. 2nd. A small quanti¬ 
ty of carbonate of potash. 3d. A perceptible quantity of acetate 
of potash. 4th. Lime whose state of combination he was unac¬ 
quainted with. 5th. An atom of muriate of potash. 6th. An ani¬ 
mal oil, to which he attributed the peculiar odour of the yolk; and, 
in conclusion, he was of opinion that all these materials were es¬ 
sential to the yolk, and not found in it by accident, for he analysed 
