THE CULTIVATOR. 
197 
doors. My stables are eight feet high, and fourteen feet wide, with 
glass windows, which are left partly open, except in severe weather, 
to admit the air, and every animal has a separate stall. My sheep 
have comfortable shelters, with the privilege of going into the open 
air when they please, and are fed from racks that do not admit any 
waste of hay. 
I endeavor to have every thing managed in a regular and metho¬ 
dical manner, that nothing may be neglected, or improperly done. 
The care of my cows is confided to one man, who is instructed in 
my management and method of feeding. The same is done with 
my young stock, sheep and horses. My farm requires the constant 
work of four men, each of whom has an allotted portion of this labor 
to perform, and is held accountable for neglect or carelessness. It 
is my invariable practice, to see every animal on the premises daily, 
and note its condition ; and also to ascertain by personal inspection, 
that my orders are executed with due attention to neatness and 
economy. By this method every animal gets its proper quantity of 
food, nothing is wasted, no accident happens, the profits of my stock 
are increased, my own comfort and enjoyment augmented, and my 
pride to excel my neighbors gratified. All this, and much more, 
may be brought about, by a moderate quantity of good common 
sense, added to a habit of industry and perseverance. I do not 
mean to say, however, that none but men of ordinary capacity should 
engage in the humble and despised occupation of farming. I be¬ 
lieve that the highest order of intellect, and the mind that could 
sway the destinies of an empire, might find ample scope for all its 
powers, in the peaceful and happy pursuits of agriculture. 
F L. CHANDLER BALL. 
Hoosick Falls , Rens. Co. 1836. 
ANGORA GOAT.—Fig. 47. 
The above wood cut is drawn from life, by our townsman J. H. Hall, 
from a female Angora Goat, belonging to J. D. Kinnear, who im¬ 
ported her last spring from the flock of Baron D-,* in the neigh¬ 
borhood of Paris. Mr. K. had through his friends obtained a pair, 
but the buck unfortunately died before reaching our shores. He 
hopes to be able to procure another pair next spring. 
The Angora Goat is a native of Angora, a district of Natolia in 
Turkey, in Asia, and about the same latitude as Philadelphia. They 
were first introduced into France some 25 years ago, in order to 
transfer to that country the manufacture of the Cashmere shawl, 
and they have succeeded in a great measure, as far as a small flock 
will enable them to do so. 
These Goats are covered with long hair, (sometimes a yard in 
length,) and also with a coat of fine wool, both of which are sheared 
in the same manner as we shear our sheep, and then separated; the 
hair is used for shalloons and other articles of that class, and the 
wool has only been hitherto used for the manufacture of the shawl, 
but is of course available for any other woollen manufacture. These 
animals are perfectly free from the unpleasant smell which is the 
characteristic of other goats. They are hardy and easily kept, feed¬ 
ing on almost every kind of nutriment usually given to our sheep 
* The Baron's name we could not decypher. 
and cattle. The one in question is thriving and appears to be able 
to endure the severity of our winters. 
Should Mr. K.’s experiment in introducing this valuable addition 
to our stock be successful, we trust soon to see our wives and 
daughters wear American Cashmere Shawls, as well as American silk. 
We invite communications on this interesting subject, from any 
of our readers who may be acquainted with the animal, its habits, 
or the manufact ure of its wool. _ 
THE FLEECE A GREATER OBJECT THAN THE CARCASS. 
Jesse Buel, Esq.—Dear Sir, —In the December number of the 
“ Cultivator” I noticed an article on sheep husbandry, over the sig¬ 
nature of “ A Subscriber” ; and as the writer thereof solicits an 
argument, and correction, permit me to make a few remarks on the 
subject. 
I differ with him when he says : “ that the carcass should be the 
most profitable”—for the following reason: the price of mutton is 
generally so low, that the sheep masters would make but small pro¬ 
fits from their flocks, should they direct their attention mainly to 
that object, because the price of mutton, for the last ten years, has 
not averaged exceeding two cents per pound, to the farmer; while 
in England, during the same period of time, it has been about ten 
cents. There they can make mutton their principal object of rais¬ 
ing sheep; in this country it must principally be for their wool. 1 
have known mutton sold in this town, Hoosick, at 1J cts. per pound 
by the quarter; and it is a well known fact, that thousands of thou¬ 
sands of sheep are annually killed, for the sake of their pelts, the 
carcasses tried to obtain the tallow, and the meat fed to the swine ! 
Now, should our wool-growers generally change their fine, for coarse 
sheep, and go to raising them for the sake of their mutton, princi¬ 
pally, I ask, what would their profits be, as long as mutton is so low 1 
Would not the price be still further reduced 1 Coarse wool is 
brought into this country in great quantities, free of duty; should 
our farmers therefore enter into the raising of coarse sheep, their 
wool would be extremely low, and our manufacturers be obliged to 
draw from foreign countries fine wool to supply their factories, 
whereby a great amount of money would yearly go out of the coun¬ 
try. It is useless for me to tell you, that by far the greatest quanti¬ 
ty of wool manufactured in this country belongs to the finer quali¬ 
ties. 
The writer asserts that the quality of the mutton of the Saxony 
and merino, is far inferior to that of coarse sheep. I wish he had 
told us his reasons why it is so ! Now I assert, that it is equal if 
not superior, for they being smaller, and more delicately constituted 
animals, the grain of the meat is finer, which in my opinion makes 
the quality equal, if not superior, to that of coarse sheep.* It Is 
true, their carcass is lighter, but, let me ask, do not the large 
coarse sheep require more sustenance? I assert that they do ! Yet 
there may be locations—for instance near large market places— 
where coarse wooled sheep are as profitable—perhaps more so— 
than the fine wooled; but remote from such places, the expense of 
driving the mutton to market, would nearly, if not quite, consume 
the profits. Will your correspondent favor the public with a state¬ 
ment, how much provender the Bakewell, Hampshire Down and 
South Down sheep daily require ? He may, if he pleases, reduce 
the quantity to hay, as that is the standard by which we generally 
calculate the expense" of keeping sheep. 
The writer is evidently mistaken, when he says : “they generally 
keep their wether sheep five or six years, as they produce the great¬ 
est quantity and the finest quality”—“ they frequently lose them in 
consequence of their weak constitution, and their inability to stand 
the hard winters.” I agree with him that they cut the largest 
quantity of wool, but beg leave to say, that but very few wethers 
are kept to that age—not one in ten, take the country through; 
they generally are turned off, at three and four years old. “ A Sub¬ 
scriber” must have but limited practical experience when he says : 
«they frequently lose them in consequence of their weak constitu¬ 
tion, and their inability to stand the hard winters.” Why has a 
wether, at the age of six, a weaker constitution than a ewe which 
partially exhausts her strength by raising a lamb yearly, while a 
wether’s strength is not exhausted at all?—for which reason, I 
* I hereby extend my challenge, which some time since I gave to brother “R,” 
to your correspondent, “ A Subscriber”—that he may procure the best sample 
of Bakewell, Hampshire Dow n and South Down mutton, he can find, and I 
will meet him with a sample of Saxony or Merino. Both shall be cooked in 
the same manner ; we will select one or more of the most accomplished con¬ 
noisseurs in good eating, and I will rest the point on their decision. 
