THE CULTIVATOR. 
159 
of it. Those farmers that pursue the former course, are doing their 
country great injustice, and injure those breeders who study to im¬ 
prove. 1 have seen, in many instances, flocks of sheep descended 
from well bred ones, so much degenerated by this system, that a 
good judge could scarcely tell to what breed they belonged, and the 
owner, when offering them for sale, would represent them as first 
rate sheep, and bred from the flock of a noted breeder. As long as 
this principle is sanctioned, there will be no excitement to improve, 
as it is discouraging to a good breeder to meet with such treatment, 
when he has been earnestly striving to excel. I appeal to sense 
and reason, whether there is any encouragement for a superior 
breeder, in such a case. Another practice 1 know exists, of men 
going to vessels, as they arrive from Europe, and buying the re¬ 
mainder of the captain’s ewes, perhaps the culls of a flock of no 
note, and introduced here as imported sheep, from a good flock; 
and among many farmers, the name of an imported sheep is quite 
sufficient, and they do not examine the good and bad points they 
possess; but if he is large and looks well to the eye, it is quite sa¬ 
tisfactory ; and this is a very mistaken notion. The eye cannot ac¬ 
curately tell a good sheep from a bad one; .a fine looking sheep 
often when examined by the hand, proves exactly opposite from ex¬ 
pectation. 
Here I cannot avoid mentioning a circumstance that came under 
my observation, of rather a laughable nature. A farmer, in select¬ 
ing a ram, had three or four put together, and stooped down to see 
which was the tallest; his decision was expressed in the following 
words —I think this is the tallest sheep; I will take him —and accord¬ 
ing to my judgment, he selected the worst sheep in the lot. Though 
I thus state my opinion candidly, I do not mean to do so offensively, 
as it is my earnest wish to see the farmer prosper, and any thing I 
can do to promote his happiness and welfare, will always be to me 
a gratification. 
Having condemned the system pursued, I will advance one that, in 
my judgment, would answer better. I would purchase as many 
ewes as I thought my farm would support, of that breed my taste 
dictated, and they should be the best my judgment could procure, 
and my purse sanction. I would then purchase the best ram of the 
same breed, I could possibly meet with, and lose no time in search 
of him; when once procured, he would serve for the same ewes 
three or four years, till his own stock came into the flock ; and if a 
high price is paid for him, and his life spared, he will be sure to earn 
it. I am undecided whether I should sell my wether lambs, or keep 
them till two years old, but should be governed by my means of 
keeping. I would wean my lambs about the middle of July, keep 
the ewes, ewe lambs and wethers separate, and as soon as the ewe 
lambs were fit to take the ram, (which would be in eighteen months,) 
would procure a good ram for them that was no relation, and then 
select as many of the worst as I thought proper, and take as many 
of the worst of my ewes as I put of the best yearlings in, and sell 
them to such farmers as I thought would do them justice. Though 
the worst, let them be attentive, and they will improve ; but I would 
always have them leave in lamb, so that the first descendants might 
be genuine. When a farmer has pursued this course a few years, 
his whole flock will be nearly equal, and when arrived to this purity, 
is worthy to be called a good one; and if his land and mind are 
cultivated equally well, he may be one of the happiest beings on 
earth, and ought to be much respected. 
I will refer those who wish to see good flocks, to some I have 
seen:—Mr. Roach, of Butternuts, has a flock of superior South 
Downs, and according to my judgment, are selected with care, and 
from a first rate flock. Mr. Bement, Three Hills Farm, near Alba¬ 
ny, has a flock of Hampshire Downs, that I think very good, and 
well descended. Mr. Adcock, of Gilbertsville, has a flock of Cots- 
wold or Bakewells, that I think superior; and Mr. Dunn, of Albany, 
a flock of the same kind, that I think well bred and very superior, 
and still improving, as the sheep lie was using this season weighed 
296 pounds, and every point equal in proportion. These flocks 1 
think worthy the farmer’s notice, and I would advise those who stu¬ 
dy to improve theirs, to go and examine for themselves. There may 
be others that deserve credit, but they have not come under my ob¬ 
servation. 
One thing I would advise all breeders to be cautious in, and that 
is, to keep their breeds distinct, and if two breeds are kept on one 
farm, it is almost impossible to do so. Should any person wish to 
argue the point, I shall be most happy and pleased to do it. 
I am, sir, yours respectfully, A SUBSCRIBER. 
St. Luke's, S. C. Nov. 5 th, 1836. 
Jesse Buel, Esq—Dear Sir — I am in receipt of your letter of 
the 14th ult. in answer to my inquiry for an agricultural school for 
boys, for which please accept my hearty thanks. I had previously 
noticed in one of the numbers of the Cultivator the charter obtain¬ 
ed for a school, which meets my views decidedly, and I trust it will 
not be limited to your state, but open to students from all parts of the 
union. The prospect of such a school, and under the patronage 
and direction of men so ably calculated to prosper its first efforts, 
almost renews ones youth, and makes me wish, in spite of years, to 
enter as a student. Every idle moment is employed in reading over 
the numbers of the Cultivator, all of which came safely to hand a 
few days since. It is without doubt the most valuable work of the 
kind published in this country. I consider each number worth the 
fifty cents, and trust before the coming year expires it will save me 
fifty dollars, if not five hundred. 
Being a novice in agriculture, I feel rather diffident in asking 
questions ; I shall not therefore consider it neglect if in your own 
good judgment you throw them aside as trifling. 
My compost heap is composed of leaves and litter from the woods, 
scraped up with hoes, in which more or less of the surface soil is 
mixed—scrapings from the yard, litter from the stables, poultry 
houses, hog pens, kitchen, &c.—green marsh, dry sedge, and salt 
clay mud, all of which are spread in even layers, m order to have 
the heap as near alike throughout as possible, and this nightly trod 
by cattle. Now I have been in the habit of burning a lime kiln from 
oyster shells, and spreading the lime over the heap previous to cart¬ 
ing into the field. This was from the conclusion that the land on 
which it was to be applied was destitute of calcareous matter, and as 
the lime woukfnot be over two to three bushels per acre, it was more 
evenly and expeditiously spread by mixing with the general heap.— 
The heap accumulates gradually to between 2| to 3 feet in thick¬ 
ness, over a surface of one fourth of an acre ; the lime is evenly 
spread over this, (and by being exposed to air and dew, probably 
looses some of its caustic qualities) and the whole mass chopped and 
thoroughly mixed by hand for the purpose, and carted into the field ; 
as soon as hands can conveniently follow, it is spread in the trench, 
and the ground listed over it as is usual in our ridge system in the 
culture of Sea Island Cotton. The land to which it is applied, is a 
high, dry, pine, barren ridge, the growth was pine, with black jack, 
red oak and hickory shrubs, and had been kept clean by frequent 
burnings—the soil thin, of a yellow cast inclining to grey on the 
sides, and being a striking resemblance to the light lands near Sara¬ 
toga ; sub-soil yellow and dark brown sand. Now whilst one neigh¬ 
bor objects to the lime altogether, another objects to the manner of 
its application. Can you settle the controversy! When I say to 
you that this field has been planted six years out of seven in Sea 
Island Cotton; that my neighbors laughed at my folly and ignorance 
when I cut and cleared it for cultivation; that under so harsh as sys¬ 
tem it has gradually improved and paid per acre the last year (gross 
sale) sixty-five dollars, you will no doubt think it a substantial test, 
and another proof of the great advantages to be derived from a 
steady, if not a judicious application of manure. We are called 
upon in justice to others to relate our mishaps, as well as our suc¬ 
cessful experiments in agriculture. Mine are pretty numerous on 
both sides, but as I can claim but one millionth part of your time, 
and finding my letter already spun beyond what was intended, I will 
venture only on one. 
Finding an insufficiency of manure, and desirous of putting forth 
my best exertions for a crop, I collected together in the fall a con¬ 
siderable body of sedge. Laying a floor of this, I then strewed 
on pretty heavily, cotton seed, then another layer of green marsh, 
cut for the purpose, then seed, and so on alternately for six feet in 
height, on the top of which I threw sundry buckets of salt water. 
In the month of February, I found on examination, the heap but ve¬ 
ry partially changed. I then turned in with hands and hoes, chop¬ 
ped it and turned it completely over, then commenced a new heap 
with alternate layers of this and a hog pen heap composed of corn 
cobs and litter, and which was pretty well decomposed—taking 
care to throw buckets of salt water on each layer, that there might 
be no want of moisture to produce fermentation, over which was 
spread a layer of thick salt marsh sods. In a few weeks the stench 
arising from this heap was almost beyond bearing; and fearful it 
might, lead to sickness, it was carted as fast as possible into the field, 
spread and covered without a day’s exposure, in order to '•etain as 
much of the gas as possible. Some part of the field was spread 
