118 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
These are convincing proofs of the effect on the fleece of high 
keep, and the breeding for larger sheep. 
In the early establishment of the improved Leicesters, it was an 
accusation, which their most zealous supporters did not attempt to 
deny, that the wool was sacrificed to the carcase; nay, the very 
founder of that breed of sheep stated to his namesake of Wakefield 
that “ he had no doubt that fine wools might be grown on rich pas¬ 
ture lands by overstocking them, and preventing sheep from obtain¬ 
ing more nourishment than they had been accustomed to.” 
'for. Parry, whose observations on sheep-husbandry always deserve 
attention, and whose opinions, except when he was deluded by his 
fondness for the Merinos, are very correct, says that sheep-breeders 
« had observed a sort of gross connexion between the food and the 
quality of the fleece. On the one hand, the staple of a sheep that 
was starved was weak, and the wool dry and unprofitable in the 
manufacture. On the other hand, the wool of sheep on deep inclos¬ 
ed pasture, or on artificial food, was found to be coarser and more 
intractable than that from the downs. On these two simple facts 
they thought themselves qualified to reason, and, as is unavoidable 
from insufficient premises, they reasoned falsely. They concluded 
that the fine herbage of the downs necessarily produced fine wool; 
and that none but coarse wool could spring from gross luxuriant 
food. Neither of these conclusions is precisely true. The fineness 
of a sheep’s fleece of a given breed is, within certain limits, inverse¬ 
ly as its fatness, and perhaps also (although I am not certain of this 
point) as the quickness with which it grows fat. A sheep which is 
fat has usually comparatively coarse wool, and one which is lean, 
either from want of food or disease, has the finest wool; and the 
very same sheep may at different times, according to these circum¬ 
stances, have fleeces of all the intermediate qualities from extreme 
fineness to comparative coarseness.” 
All this is very true and very important; except that opinion, of 
the truth of which Dr. Parry confesses that he is not certain, “ that 
coarseness of wool and disposition to grow fat are connected. The 
experience of the British sheep-master would prove that the finest 
woolled sheep will maintain themselves in tolerable condition where 
coarser ones will starve; and that when both are placed in a situa¬ 
tion to exhibit their tendency to fatten quickly, and to a great ex¬ 
tent, the fine woolled sheep will beat his rival out of the field. 
“ There used to be great controversy with regard to the influence 
of particular kinds of food on the wool. There are no decisive 
proofs as to this. Between diversities of food wholesome and nutri¬ 
tious, there will be little to choose; or rather experience will prove 
that an occasional change of food is not only grateful but advantage¬ 
ous to the sheep.” 
TRUENESS. 
Connected with fineness is trueness of staple—as equal a growth 
as possible over the animal—a freedom from the shaggy portions, 
here and there, which are occasionally observed on poor and neglect¬ 
ed sheep. These portions are always coarse and comparatively 
worthless, and they indicate an irregular and unhealthy action of the 
secretion of wool, and which will probably weaken or render the 
fibre diseased in other parts. 
Comprised in trueness of fibre is another circumstance that has 
been already alluded to—a freedom from coarse hairs which project 
above the general level of the wool in various parts, or, if they are 
not externally seen, mingle with the wool and debase its character. 
In the same term, and most important of all, is a freedom from 
those irregularities in the bulk of the fibres of the wool, which ren¬ 
der it difficult at times to give it a definite name and character, and 
which must materially interfere with its usefulness; and also those 
breaches in the wool so singular in their appearance, which have 
been already described, and the distance of which from the extremi¬ 
ty or the root will enable the observer, as has been already stated, 
to calculate the time when the imperfection occurred, and which 
may generally be traced to cold or starvation, or to some malady of 
the skin itself. 
GRAIN WORM. 
The following remarks upon this destructive insect, and its ravages in Great 
Britain, are copied from a communication in the Farmers’ Register : 
The mischief done by the wheat-fly in various parts of the king¬ 
dom, in the course of the year 1829, and the two preceding years, is 
frightful to contemplate. In one district in Scotland, (the Carse of 
Gowrie, in Perthshire,) the destruction it occasioned was estimated at 
little short of forty thousand pounds. In many cases, the crop was not 
worth the cutting down ; and in other instances a fourth, a third, or 
even a half of the produce was destroyed. The myriads of this 
vermin, and the facility with which they fly from one field to ano¬ 
ther, in search of the plants in which their eggs can be safely and 
efficaciously deposited, seem to place their depredations beyond the 
powers of man to control; and hence it has been asserted, that the 
only means of avoiding the mischief is, either to give up the cul¬ 
ture of wheat until the race is destroyed, by the want of the plants 
necessary for continuing the species, or by patiently waiting, until 
seasons destructive to them naturally occur. If Providence how¬ 
ever, has created so destructive an insect, as the tipula Irilici, or 
wheat-fly, it has been no less attentive, to prevent its becoming too 
numerous, by making it the food of other insects. Indeed, there 
are no less than three ichneumons, who seem to be entrusted with 
the important office of restraining, within due limits, the numbers 
of this destructive species, otherwise it would become too numerous 
to be subdued. The most extraordinary circumstance is, that one 
species of these ichneumons lays an egg near the egg of the fly. 
They are hatched at the same time; and it is ascertained, that the 
maggot from the egg of the ichneumon, either lays its egg in the 
body of the caterpillar, when it can get at it, or devours the 
maggot, and thus preserves the wheat from its attacks. 
It is not here proposed, to enter into any philosophical discussion 
regarding the origin of the wheat-fly. It is sufficient to remark, 
that in the spring, and in the beginning of the summer, a species of 
fly is frequently found, in great numbers, which attaches itself to 
the heads of wheat, when the ear begins to appear, and where it 
deposites its eggs, which in about ten days after they are placed in 
the ears, become maggots or caterpillars. These destroy the young 
pickle, by sucking up the milky juice which swells the grain, and 
thus depriving it of part, and in some cases perhaps the whole of 
its moisture, cause it to shrink up, and so to become, what in the 
western parts of England is called pungled. In about three weeks 
after, when it has exhausted this substance, it drops upon the 
ground, where it shelters itself at the depth of about half an inch 
from the surface. There it remains in a dormant state, until the 
mean temperature is about 50 deg., when, vivified by the warmth 
of spring, it becomes a fly, about the time that the wheat produces 
the ear. 
It is evident, that the same plan, that in our climate has been 
found so effectual for destroying the wire-worm, would be equally 
destructive to the wheat-fly, namely, that of leaving the soil which 
has produced the wheat untouched till November, and then expo¬ 
sing it to the inclemency of the weather, and in particular to the 
action of frost. 
It has been remarked, that the greatest mischief is usually done 
to the late sown wheats, and that such as are sown early, receive 
little or no injnry. When the grain has arrived at a certain de¬ 
gree of hardness and consistency, (which may be the case with the 
early sown wheats, before the insect has made any meterial pro¬ 
gress, or even commenced its operations,) the plant is not so liable 
to be injured. 
It is much to be lamented that so important an object as the 
means of preventing the destruction of our most valuable crops of 
grain, should not have attracted the attention of government; by 
whose means discoveries might be made, which can never be ex¬ 
pected from private exertions. By public encouragement, the in¬ 
quiry would be carried on with energy, and probed to the bottom ; 
and the most effectual means of preventing the mischief would 
probably be ascertained. What subject can be compared to it in 
point of importance! At present, we are liable every year, not 
only to the loss of some millions worth of grain, but to all the mis¬ 
chiefs of scarcity, and even of famine. These would not probably 
be experienced in this country, were the ravages of insects, and the 
destruction by the mildew prevented; objects which are certainly 
in a great measure attainable, if the inquiries regarding them were 
prosecuted with vigor, and if no expense were spared m collecting 
facts, and ascertaining, by careful experiments, the means by which 
such frightful losses might be prevented. 
VALUABLE PROPERTIES OF CALCAREOUS SAND. 
A curious example of a general practice of adding mineral matter 
to a soil, without the smallest conception, on the part of those who 
do so, of what they add, is to be found in the northwestern por¬ 
tions of Devonshire. The rock of the district is grauwacke, com¬ 
posed of compact acenaceous beds mixed with slate, in the greater 
