is, to connect the stakes before the top rail is put in, with iron wire, say one-fourth of an inch in diameter, which is done after the stakes are set by bringing the tops of the stakes as near together as the fence will admit; then take the measurement with a cord, which will show the length to cut the wire, which is easily done with a cold chisel; the ends of the wire are then hooked around each stake; the top rail being then put in, completes the fence. With an iron a foot or more in length, with a hole near one end to admit the end of the wire, the operation is quickly performed. This is a much cheaper method of securing upright stakes than the usual way with a piece of scantling. THE HARROW, whether square or triangle, should be constructed entirely of iron, (except the points of the teeth, which are steel); bars of iron of proper thickness, width and weight, are selected and welded together so as to form the desired shape for the frame; the tops of the teeth being rounded about an inch down, pass through the iron plate or frame, and are made fast on the upper side by a nut. The teeth in this way are always kept tight, which is very difficult in a wood framed harrow. With the exception of the teeth, a harrow thus constructed will endure a century without being housed. A FARMER. GRASSES FOR THE SOUTH. EDITOR OF THE CULTIVATOR-Your correspondents frequently inquire respecting the grasses suitable to the south. If each would communicate what he has observed, it would be a sufficient answer to such inquiries, and might prove the most important benefit to the agriculture of the south. During this winter I have seen bundles of northern hay brought to the stables of my neighbor, which had paid for carriage many hundred miles round the capes of Florida, through the Gulf of Mexico, and five hundred miles (by the course of the river) into the interior. This is a standing reproach to the agriculture of the south. LUCERNE, This is found to grow well here. Sow it in drills, in the early part of the fall, 24 to 27 inches apart; it flourishes, yields four to five cuttings in the course of the year; and on soil which would bring 20 bushels of corn to the acre, grows one foot and a half high. This season, some was cut on the 12th of March, for soiling; and was then from a foot to knee high. The most of it has been cut twice over, since the first cutting, to this day, May 13. Cattle and horses eat it greedily; a cow, fed on it chiefly, is yielding at this time between five and six gallons of milk daily; when as yet there is no grass in the woods or on the common, sufficient to change the poverty-stricken appearance of the cattle in "the range." I have made no hay from it; but have no doubt it will make good hay. lot of these grasses in conjunction, on high land; the whole about knee high, and the clover in flower. Mr. Kirby, one of my neighbors, cut the wood from a piece of low, pipe clay, crawfish land, last winter; and when the brush, &c., lying on the ground, had become sufficiently dry, he set fire to it and burnt it all off; thus giving it a top dressing of ashes. He then sowed Herd's grass on the top of the ground, without plow, harrow, or any thing of the kind. He now has a most rich and beautifu! crop of this grass growing. If desired, your readers may obtain further particulars of this crop. LEERSIA ORIZOIDES, (rice grass.)--This plant so much resembles rice that only a practiced eye can distinguish them. The negroes on the rice plantations in Carolina call it "the rice's cousin." It will grow wherever rice will-in the water, or in any damp situation. It is found wild in all the southern country; grows tall, seeds in a panicle not unlike a head of oats, and will yield two crops a year of choice hay. Roots perennial. B. M. Tuskaloosa, Ala., May 13, 1845. TREATMENT OF SHEEP AFTER SHEARING, MR. TUCKER-The directions for a "compound for smearing sheep," that is given in your last number, leads me to make the following remarks respecting the treatment of sheep generally after shearing. There is nothing conduces to the general health and comfort of sheep at this season more than a clean skin; any appli cation that has that tendency will be of service; any thing to the contrary must injure them, and the growth and quality of their wool, in a greater or less degree. Smearing of any kind is injurious at any season, but particu larly so after shearing, when the wool is short; it stops the pores, checks the growth of the wool, and leaves it dry and brittle, far into the season. If when sheep are shearing, there is a large hogshead of very strong brine made, and as the sheep are shorn they are taken to it, and while one man holds the sheep, another takes a strong scrubbing brush, such as floors are scrubbed with, and after pouring some of the brine along the back and shoulders, he scrubs the sheep well all over, until he raises a lather as with soap; nothing more is necessary, The skin will be left bright, and red, and clean. Every tick and sheep louse instantly disappears, and if the skin had any tendency to itch, it is entirely cured; perspiration is promoted, and the growth of the wool improved. In this way I think that the general strength of the sheep, to withstand the effects of any storm, will be better promoted than by smearing of any kind, which is never admissible. Whenever this simple and cheap plan is once adopted, its effects are so obvious that it will never be neglected by the good shepherd every season after, at shearing time. BLACK LEG IN CALVES. GRAZIER GUINEA GRASS.-The root is similar to that of the cane or reed, and is perennial. The stem and blade are like those of the Egyptian Millet. On rich soil it is very MR. TUCKER-The remarks on the black leg in luxuriant, yielding many cuttings in the course of the calves," in your last number, taken from a Scottish paper, year. It is good for soiling-horses and cattle eat it remind me of my own sufferings, and those of my fareadily, and, if cut when in flower, it makes a hay most ther, from that dreadful disease for many years, and never abundantly, of which cattle feed greedily in winter. occurring but on the one farm, and when the calves were Horses do not seem to like the hay. It is most readily in the highest condition. The inhabitants of the island propagated by the root. A small root, two inches long, of Araumore, on the western coast of Ireland, are famed with one or more joints to it, will vegetate; and, if the for raising the finest calves in the kingdom. In one of ground is made loose by plowing once or twice during my visits there, to purchase their heifer calves for spaythe season after planting, roots placed in cheeks of four ing, in talking over the several diseases that stock are feet will take complete possession of the soil the first season; subject to, I named the black leg in calves, and to my so that the next spring it will start up evenly over the surprise I learned that they had for a century before, in soil everywhere. Hogs root after them with great eager that primitive spot, been aware of not only a cure, but ness; and as the tendency of this plant is to fill the ground a preventive for that disease, as effective as it was simple with roots in so thick a mat that the grass does not grow and easy to administer. At six weeks or two months tall in consequence, the idea suggests itself of pasturing old, they took the calf, and under the tail near the butt cattle on this grass in the spring and summer, and giving where the skin is free from hair, a small incision is made, the hogs the benefit of the roots in the winter. They and pea of garlic about the size of half a hazle-nut is cannot destroy it; the smallest fibre left in the ground inserted into the incision, the skin being loosened a little will grow. It might be a great pest in a garden; but if downwards, so as to retain the pea, which is left in. The land is to be used for stock it will take and maintain effect is surprising. As quick as the person performing entire possession to the exclusion of any competitor which the operation can step from the tail to the mouth of the the operation calf, the smell of the garlic is perceptible on the breath we have in middle Alabama. CLOVER AND HERD'S GRASS.-I have now a beautiful performed on all my calves, and every year afterwards when about two months old, and from that time to the present I never lost one from the "black leg." I will here add, that I never heard as yet of a case of the "black leg" in calves in this country; but if such a disease ever makes its appearance, you may rest satisfied that the above is a sovereign remedy. GRAZIER. Louisville, Ky., 10th June, 1845. WASTE MANURES. The Economy of Waste Manures; a treatise on the nature and use of neglected fertilizers. By JOHN HANNAM, 8vo., pp. 114. London, 1844. this inconvenience, a shed was built adjoining the barnyard capable of holding 150 to 200 ox-cart loads of manure. Under this shed it is now heaped and fermented, free from exposure to the weather, and two trials of its utility have been very satisfactory. Some farmers, particularly those among the Friends, in the western part of New-Jersey, protect their compost heaps by the same method. The drainings from houses and offices are universally neglected, and in some cases might be easily preserved and conveyed to the compost heaps or barn-yards, to add to their fertilizing properties; but in this country it is difficult to recommend a course that would be universally applicable. This is a valuable practical treatise on manures that be avoided, as a mass of compost in a state of fermentaGaseous waste from manure heaps should by all means are generally neglected, or suffered to go to waste. Although its application is intended for the farmers oftion, exposed and unprotected, loses a rich and valuable England, it may nevertheless be read with advantage in portion of its substance. The author of the work under this country. The essay was written for the Yorkshire consideration says, (p. 26)— Agricultural Society, by Mr. John Hannam, who is the author of two prize essays, "On the use of hand tillages," and "On the effects of special manures." The work before us on "Waste Manures," may be had of Wiley & Putnam, in New-York. It has less of scientific detail, and more of practical utility, than most of the late chemico-agricultural publications, and is accordingly better adapted for perusal by the plain home. spun farmer. of the carbonic acid, and the ammonia of the vegetable "There are many kinds of fixers-oil of vitrol, green That the reader may judge for himself of its value, vitrol, blue vitrol, salt and lime, gypsum, &c., may be and of the subjects treated, we will state its contents. It used; but some of them at all times, and in some cases is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1, Introductory-all of them, have the fault of costing money. A substithe importance of an inquiry into the economy of waste tute which costs nothing except labor, is therefore to be manures. Chapter 2, The general nature of waste ma- sought for. Such exists in cinder siftings, charcoal dust, nures, and the source from which they may be obtained. good black earth, peat or bog mould, rotten saw dust, Chapter 3, The particular nature, value, and economy of leaf mould, black mud from ponds, bottoms of wood stacks, soot, brick dust, burnt clay, &c. Some or all of these may be had in most places." waste manures. The third chapter is divided into three parts-the first designating the waste manures of the farm; the second, waste manures of towns; the third, local waste. By enumerating these the American farmer will see at once what part is applicable to this country. "1. Waste manures of the farm. "Draining from cattle sheds, draining from manure heaps, drainings from houses and offices-gaseous waste from manure heaps-refuse, and vegetable." 2. Waste manures of towns. "Sewerage waste-waste of manufactures, viz: shaddy, croppings, sweepings, singeing dust-flax waste, soap liquid, gas waste, viz: coal tar, gas lime, ammoniacal liquid-sugar waste, soap boiler's refuse, tanner's bark." 3. Local waste. Under the head of Waste manures of towns, there is very little applicable to this country. The waste from sugar-houses has not been collected as far as I know for manure, but the spent ashes of soap boilers in the city of New-York, is a saleable article, and is sought for by farmers of the surrounding country. Tanner's bark is abundant in some parts of the country, and is generally neglected, because by itself it will not decompose or rot. But when mixed with animal and vegetable substances which will ferment, tanners' bark will undergo the same process and become soluble, and be converted into a fertilizer. Under the head of Local waste, Mr. Hannam treats of peat, sea-weed, ashes, fish, clay, marl, chalk, sand, &c. "Peat, sea-weed, ashes, fish, clay, marl, chalk, sand, None of these are entirely neglected in this country, water." The neglected and waste manures of the farm, as above stated, are applicable to this country as well as to Great Britain. The drainings from cattle sheds, and barn yards are very common here. We often see a barn-yard on a slope, permitting all the liquid portions of the manure to run to waste, and the remainder to be soaked and leached by the rains so as to render it of little value. Nay, some old fashioned farmers among us are so averse to wet and moisture, that they dig trenches that their barn-yards may be perfectly dry. though some of them might be used more extensively, or to more advantage. Peat has been sparingly used, but its application as a fertilizer in compost is becoming more general. The value of sea-weed, ashes, and fish, is well known on the sea-coast, and these articles are by no means neglected. Clay also is used to render sandy soils more retentive, and sand to make stiff clays more friable. We have marl, but no chalk to add to soils deficient in lime. The shell marl of the Southern States has been neglected, but the experiments of Mr. Ruffin have brought it into notice, and it is producing utility in Drainings from manure heaps are also to be avoided. restoring some of the worn out lands of Virginia. The Hannam recommends trenches to be dug around a com-marl of New-Jersey, found in the green-sand formation post or manure heap, and a pit at one end to receive the of that State, is extensively used there, and has been the liquid, which is to be returned upon the heap. This means of greatly increasing the value of land. The may be rendered unnecessary with us by heaping the white calcareous marl found in Ulster and Orange councompost on one side of the barn-yard, which, if hol-ties, of New-York, has not been brought into use, prolowed, will receive the liquid, or soakings from rain,bably from the difficulty of raising it from the places of and will not be lost. It has been my practice to remove deposit in low and wet bogs; or because fertility in those the manure from the stable, hog pens, and barn-yards, grazing counties was so much easier and so much more spring and fall, and to make a compost with these and cheaply produced by gypsum. A substance called marl other materials, on the side of the yard, or in the field has recently been employed in Rockland county, of this where they were to be applied. After fermentation, the State, derived from the debris of the sand-stone rock at heap was turned, the materials broken and well mixed Nyac, (geologically the old red sand-stone.) What the before application. In two instances my heaps had be-ingredient is, which in this sandy marl causes fertility, gun to ferment, when the fermentation was arrested by has not been chemically ascertained. But in the greenrepeated and soaking rains, one instance in the spring sand or Jersey marl it arises from potash, which exists and one in the fall. The manure was consequently cold in it to the amount of ten and twelve per cent. and heavy, and depreciated when carted out. To remedy There is much in this treatise on waste manures, to make farmers think and act for themselves. Further posed, from a cold taken in his excursion. He was details would burthen the reader, and trespass upon the buried at Ashville, and his collections and papers fell into pages of the Cultivator, but we cannot refrain from giv- the hands of those who valued them not and were lost. ing the concluding paragraph, in which Mr. Hannam I met with but few before or afterwards, who had the recommends to his countrymen to husband their own re-least idea of the object of collecting specimens. The sources, in which we cordially agree, and think the advice would be useful to American farmers. chief end and aim of most persons is to obtain property, and they are puzzled to contrive how money can be made from a dried plant, a shell, an insect, or a mineral. "What is the use of a dried plant or flower?" "It must be to make medicine!" How often I have been toldmedicine to send back and sell to us." "You must be well paid for being to so much trouble and taking so much pains." Another quite common opinion was, that I was collecting them "to print calico." "It has been shown that, by a proper economy of manures which are now wasted or neglected, we may increase the production, and decrease the cost of food; that our farms, our towns, and particular localities, are sources" You are getting these to take to the north and make from which an abundance of these manures may be obtained; and that they have been made use of, in some cases, with eminent success, and may, by the use of proper means, be employed in other cases with equally beneficial results. It remains, therefore, for us to hope,| that the suggestions which have now been offered on their economy, may not be altogether fruitless; but that the same energy of spirit which induces the agriculturist to explore the caves of India, and the battle-fields of Europe, the coasts of Africa, and the islands of the Pacific, for the elements of fertility, and which carries the manufacturer to the plains of Saxony and Australia for the materials of our garments, will lead us to cultivate our own resources, and make use of the vast stores which we possess, of the raw material of the bread of the people." (p. 113.) A PRACTICAL FARMER. The above work has been republished by Cary & Hart, booksellers, Philadelphia, and may be had at the bookstores. Price 25 cents. 17th.-Passed through the village of Kingston to Mrs. Lucy's, 20 miles from Knoxville. Roads muddy from a heavy rain last night. People have just finished or are still engaged in planting corn. Shortly after my arrival, four young men, travellers on horseback, came in who, according to the usual southern custom, ride all day withoot stopping to dine or feed their horses. Horses will do well, and keep in good condition, under such treatment. as I can testify from experience. At Knoxville the landlord told me that I would find a German botanist at Dandridge on my route to the Warm Springs in North Carolina; and on the 19th, through mud, rain, and cold, over hills and rocks, I came to Dandridge, a little village among hills and rocks of limestone, on the French Broad river. Dr. Rugel, the botanist, was not at home nor did he arrive until next day towards night, when he came in loaded with plants. We were soon well acquainted and exchanged specimens. He was a real German stuthe best prepared and equipped for collecting and predent, careless of his appearance, very industrious, and serving specimens of any person I ever met. Still his knowledge of American plants was very limited. I soon agreed to spend several days at Dandridge, and then we would make an excursion to the Smoky mountains, whose April 15.-Frost last night. Continued on the moun- the rocky lands of the French Broad, found Philadelphus summits were in full view about forty miles distant. On tain, going up and down hills and along ridges, having hirsutus, (syringa,) Viola tricolor, Arabis, a species lately occasionally a glorious view of distant mountains, until described by Mr. Sullivant; Sisymbrium canescens, ChaI arrived at the Crab Orchard, at the foot of Spencer's rophyllum taintureii, Hydrophyllum macrophyllum, MeHill, or rather mountain. This is one of the highest conopsis de phylla. I went about five miles from Dandridge points of the Cumberland range, a mountain raised on a down the river, and obtained an Indian plate of limestone mountain. It was about 3, P. M.; a clear fine day (about the size of an ordinary dining plate) with scollop went on the highest peak where, seated on a rock, I had edges. It was found a short time before in a small a fine view of mountain, plain, and river. The Rhodo-mound beneath the head of an Indian skeleton about six dendron-laurel of the south-and Kalmia latifolia-ivy feet long. The back of the skull rested on the plate with and calico bush of the south and laurel of the north, grew a very rich square piece of lead ore by its side. The field in the clefts of rocks at the summit, accompanied with containing the mounds had just been planted with corn and several vacciniums, (huckleberries.) Here also, were the showy flowers of the Ladies' Slipper, Cypripedium acaule. Growing on the loose rocks at the foot of the hill, was the true Phacelia bipinnatifida of Michaux. Its bright blue flowers are quite pretty, but when handled the plant emits a rather disagreeable odor. western part of the Cumberland mountains, met Robinia On the hispide (honey locust) in flower, and afterwards saw it frequently on the Allegheny mountains, near the Warm Springs, and other places. I should have mentioned that beneath a ledge of rocks near the summit of the hill I found a new species, the Streptopus maculatus (nobis.) NOTES OF A BOTANICAL TOUR-No. II. Mr. TUCKER-In my last, after ascending the Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee, which are at that point (on the road between Nashville and Knoxville,) thirty miles across, I made some remarks on their fitness for sheep. In continuation I will give you some extracts from my journal: 16th.-Left my kind host about 10, A. M., and at the distance of five or six miles called to see a fine waterfall of about 90 feet perpendicular. After the water falls it descends along a deep gorge ainong the mountains. At the distance of 11 miles from the Crab Orchard, arrived at the eastern foot of the mountain, and soon drove into a fine farming section, and stopped at a house kept by an old revolutionary soldier, who was the first person I met in the state, who understood wherefore I was collecting plants. He informed me that about 20 years or more before a botanist, an elderly man, had spent several days at his house, from which he made several excursions to collect the plants of that neighborhood. It was probably Lyon, an English botanist, who made his headquarters at Ashville, North Carolina, who is said to have made an excursion of some weeks to the Cumberland mountains, shortly after which he died, as was sup prevent its being overflowed by the river. Yet time was part of a rich alluvion at an elevation sufficient to was, within a comparatively modern period, when it was all beneath the water, since the ground was strewn with as well as contained, beds of numerous shells living in the French Broad, but is by no means as commostly of one species, the lo spinosa, which is now found mon in a living state as it must have been at a former period. Not far distant from the small mound containing the skeleton, is a large conical mound, hollowed out at the top, apparently for the purpose of containing warriors, from which they could fight with greater secu rity, or as a place to which they might retreat. At the distance of a few rods, is a large excavation in the ground, from which the earth to form the mound was taken. I saw the remains of several sketetons, male and female, which had been plowed up, and the person who tilled the field told us that more or less of them were plowed up every year. They are contained in small mounds which were scattered in every direction over the field. Fragments of Indian pottery were also common. Extending across both the upper and lower end of the field, are the remains of ancient ditches. The afternoon that I visited this interesting spot, was warm and sultry, and the person who accompanied me (Dr. Hill) was in a state of ill health, so that we were unable to give the place a very thorough exantination. S. B. BUCKLEY. West Dresden, Yates county, N. Y, 1845. NOTES OF CONNECTICUT FARMING. ing can be made more profitable, than in the vicinity of these flourishing manufacturing villages. A home mar Mr. L. DURAND, of Derby, Ct., informs us that heket is what the farmer wants, which is always better than made, during the past winter, a short tour of observation through some of the towns of his section. From his notes, with which he has favored us, we give the follow. ing extract: one at a distance. In these villages he can always find a ready market for his produce, and generally good prices. Thus, pork in Waterbury, the past winter, has brought a better price, and had a more ready sale, than in New "In the westerly part of the town of Watertown, is Haven, one of the capitals of the State; though a smallthe residence of Stephen Atwood. His farm lies on higher amount would furnish the market every day. Naugaground, is somewhat rough; but is dry, and very healthy tuc is also a flourishing manufacturing town; with some for sheep, of which he keeps a flock. His sheep are spirited farmers. The towns of Prospect and Cheshire, pure Merinos, and have been kept so from the commence-are devoted to farming. The former, is a small, hilly ment of his wool-growing. The consequence is, his town, situate on high land, and the farmers to correspond, sheep command a ready sale at large prices. He exhibit-take several copies of the Monthly Visitor, and Culed some of his flock at your State Fair, at Poughkeepsie,||tivator. In Cheshire, some twenty copies of the Cultione of which, a buck, he sold to the Messrs. Morrell, vator are taken, and the farmers have a good soil to culand another to some Vermont men-obtaining for the tivate, and are quite spirited. I am aware that the winlatter, the price, (I think,) of $50. ter season is not as good a time for taking notes on farming, yet there is always something new to be learned, if people are willing to learn.” BE DEFINITE. "Mr. Atwood's wool is not as fine as some I have seen, but it is very compact on the sheep and of good length. I was struck with the perfect evenness of the wool on the sheep-it had the appearance of having been evenly shorn. On making inquiry of Mr. Atwood as to the quantity per head his sheep would shear, he said the MR. TUCKER-I have, from the impulse of the moflock would avarage six pounds of clean washed wool.ment, decided to send you a little lay sermon, upon the He further said he had not used a buck for the last ten importance of the brief words that compose my caption. years, that would not shear annually, eight pounds. This You are indebted for this favor, to the vexation I have shows what can be done in the way of wool-growing, if this minute experienced, while engaged in reading, for the right system is pursued. Mr. Atwood has one buck my gratification, on a favorite subject, viz: good cookery. among a lot of others, which is the handsomest sheep II may as well say, here, that I am particularly fond of ever saw. His body is heavy and compact, legs short, neck short and well set on, so that every time he stepped, I noticed he drove the wool on the shoulder up against the horn. choice corn bread, or as the yankees call it johnny cake; and I desire also to have it "twice alike," or in other words, always the same, and that same very good; but it has been my fortune to occupy quarters for many years, "In the easterly part of this town, (Watertown,) I where the mistress of the house presides both at her called on Jacob N. Blakeslee, another noted wool-grow-pantry and her table, and she scouts the idea of being er. His flock consists, I believe, of about 350, and pro-definite, or of doing things exactly by rule; hence her duces perhaps the finest wool in the state. His sheep are johnnys are never twice alike—the good are "very good," not so large as Mr. Atwood's, but yield finer wool, which the bad "too poor to give the pigs." I was reading, as commands a more ready sale in market. His farm is not I have premised of gastronomy, in one of the daily as healthy for sheep as Mr. A.'s, but his sheep will grow, newspapers, and an article headed "choice corn bread," he says, till they are five years old, and will then shear "directions for making, &c.," met my eye,-" Ah ha! five pounds of clean washed wool, very fine and clear thought I, now will we have a touch of the delicious from gum, and of course will not waste as much as other all the time, hot corn bread, every day quintescently light, wool in manufacturing. Mr. Blakeslee sends his wool and always the same. So I began to read-"Take as to Lowell every year, and gets such prices as enable him much corn meal as you wish to cook, scald it well, stir it to persevere in raising fine wool; and indeed I believe thoroughly, mix it to the consistence of batter, with that the only course which the eastern wool grower can milk; the more you mix it the better; add an egg, one take for profit is to grow the finest wool possible, and at teaspoonful of saleratus, a tablespoonful or more of lard, the same time increase the weight of the fleece. Mr. mix thoroughly, and bake." On a second reading, I Blakeslee also exhibited some of his sheep at the Pough-looked as I am wont, to the practical part, prefacing it keepsie Fair, and sold some to the Messes. Morrell and with "is this just the thing, let us see:" "Take as much other wool-growers at good prices. He too, I think, has corn meal as you wish"-ah, the jackanapes, I could pomkept his sheep quite pure in the Merino blood. I hope mel you with right good will," as much as you wish❞— the example of Mr. Atwood and Mr. Blakeslee will in-suppose I wish I quart, or up to 10, or any other number; duce many other farmers in our state to persevere in all the same, eh? 1 teaspoonful of saleratus and 1 eggraising good sheep and fine wool. all right for 1 qt. 2, 3 or 10!! I'm done up-the RALE "The farmers here raise good cattle. At Mr. At-THING has vanished. Why was'nt you definite, you ninwood's, I saw a splendid red bull, one of the finest I ever ny? "Then mix it with milk to the consistency of batsaw-his blood Devon and native. ter." Are there no degrees in the "consistency of batter." Would one qt. or 3 qts., make some one of these degrees? Why did you not say how much meal and how much milk, that some benefit might have come of your knowledge? Now, Mr. Editor, I have a vast many times had trouble with these "point no point" writers, and lost the good I love to enjoy, just because they do things by halves; they will tell you something as particular as a "teaspoonful of saleratus," and others, perhaps of vital importance, are left for conjecture, and that too, in cases where they profess to be giving you a receipt, that is, special direction for preparing the compound. "In Watertown, particularly on Mr. Atwood's farm, I noticed a plan of building fences which answers well, and the farmers say it prevents sheep from getting out of the fields. It consists of a wall about three feet high, in the same shape of a worm fence, a heavy stone being placed on each corner, and on the top of this four heavy rails. It makes a heavy, stiff fence. But I noticed that in building this kind of fence, not more than half the stones were cleared from the fields. My plan, I think, would be to make heavy, whole walls; say four feet wide at the bottom, and four or five feet high. By making fences of this kind, the fields might be well cleared of the surplus stones and the ground left in a good state for cultivation. "I also visited the towns of Waterbury and Naugatuc. Waterbury is a large manufacturing town, and here almost every kind of article is made which yankee minds can conjecture. It is the largest manufacturing town in the valley of the Naugatuc, and the most thriving, with the exception of Birmingham, in Derby, which lies at the junction of the Naugatuc and Housatonic rivers, and at the head of water navigation. I do not know where farm How much, sir, every where, and even in your own excellent paper, is left undone, in this particular; how many mistakes would be avoided while attempting to pursue directions,-how much disappointment prevented,-how much positive good be wrought and success insured, if writers were definite, where now occurs a dispiriting failure, consequent upon pursuing, half informed, the various plans of benefit and improvement concocted by your correspondents and offered in your colums. ONEIDA. MERINO BUCK "VERMONT HERO," owned by Mr. A. L. BINGHAM, of Cornwall, Vt.-(Fig. 72.) MR. A. L. BINGHAM'S SHEEP. to grass in the spring. I believe a sheep will shear from a quarter to half a pound more wool by being kept As we have remarked in another place, we had not an sheltered from the storms, than they will by being exopportunity of seeing this animal; we are, however, as-posed to all kinds of weather. Many persons will keep sured that the cut is a good likeness. Mr. Bingham says them out at a stack all winter, with nothing to shelter "the portrait is no flattery." He was bred by Tyler them from the storm; and they not only sustain a great Stickney, of Shoreham, Vt., and is brother to Mr. Jewett's loss of wool and flesh, but not unfrequently a great loss Fortune. The sire was bred by Hon. William Jarvis, and of life. Mr. Baily tells me he feeds grain to his sheep. the dam was from the flock of Andrew Cock, Esq., but two months in the year-a month when they are first Flushing, Long-Island. She was owned by Mr. Stick-put to hay, and the last month before they go to grass. ney, and it is said was an extraordinary sheep, both for constitution and woo!-the weight of her fleece," (says Mr. Bingham,) "running from five to seven pounds." We are informed that she died in 1843, at the age of fourteen. Mr. Bingham states that the weight of this buck on the 11th of April last, was 150 pounds; that "the weight of his first fleece was 4 pounds 15 ounces, the second 8 pounds 12 ounces, the third 12 pounds 8 ounces, the fourth 13 pounds." The fleece of the present year was not shorn when this statement was written. He will be, as is stated, five years old on the 22d day of July, 1845. Mr. Bingham informs us that he has lately purchased of Joseph I. Baily, of Rhode-Island, forty-four sheep, all ewes but two," for which he paid $661, having his "entire selection from the whole flock, consisting of 250 full blood Spanish Merinos." This stock, he says, "were imported by James D'Wolf and Paul Cuff, in 1812 or '13. They were bought," continues Mr. Bingham, "by his [Mr. Baily's] father, at the wharf, and he tells me they have been bred pure ever since-always breeding from bucks of his own raising. His flock is the most uniform of any I ever saw; remarkable for size, low on the leg, heavy boned, wide chested, large and thick necked, considerably ruffled, heavy fleeced and dark colored on the outside, the wool fine, thick, and long in the staple." The weight of the fleeces of Mr. Baily's breeding ewes, over a hundred in number, Mr. Bingham says, "averaged live and three-quarter pounds per head. His lambs from these ewes," says Mr. B., "averaged six pounds five ounces per head, all well His lambs are dropped between the 15th of April and the first of June. To avoid the danger of the sheep running over the lambs when housed, they are kept in very small lots." DURABLE FENCE-BARNS. MR. L. TUCKER-Every farmer should have his lands well fenced. All will admit this, and yet how few have fences that can be trusted. In this climate, where frosts prevail, fences will need repairs every spring if built in the ordinary way; and it is one of the greatest vexations that farmers have to encounter, the inefficiency of their frost-shaken fences. The experience I possess in relation to the erection of permanent farm fences, has been considerable. A stone wall, which, for some farms, is the cheapest and most durable fence, should be constructed by first digging a trench eighteen inches deep by two feet in width. This should be paved with oak or yellow pine boards; and upon this commence laying the foundation, not with small stones that will work out, but with large flat stones that will lay well. It is likewise necessary to lay the stones lengthwise across the wall, which will bind and strengthen it. A wall put up in this manner will stand the heaving influences of frost much longer, and maintain its even and straight appearance, in which consists the beauty and efficiency of a wall, to amply repay the extra expense. Every wall should be made five feet high, which is a reasonable security for an enclosure against the depredations of most animals. It is my opinion that the cheapest fence for farms where s'ones cannot be had, and lumber is scarce and high, Mr. Bingham thinks the weight of wool was much in- would be a fence constructed of cast-iron pickets, the creased by Mr. Baily's somewhat peculiar mode of pattern for the construction of which should not exceed management. "He selects his sheep in the first place one-eighth of an inch for the most part, increasing to into sinall flocks, of equal size and strength, taking spe-one-quarter where the holes are placed for securing them cial care to keep them fat the year round. He told me to the iron bars. The bars should be twelve feet in that he never allowed any snow or rain to fall on them length, cast very light, with holes in them at proper disfrom the middle of November till they are turned out tances for riveting. The riveting process is simple, and washed wool." |