By all that priz'd it; not for prud'ry's sake, the west. bought at the government prices. But they are to hundred. From New York city to this place twenbe cleared and fenced, houses are to be built, mar- ty days, and costs two dollars and fifty per hundred. kets to be created, society to be formed, and every Difference one half in expense-or, a saving in the thing TO BE DONE, before comfort can reward exces- transportation of five tons of merchandise from the sive labour. city of New York, of the sum of two hundred and Land is now cheaper in the state of Maryland fifty dollars; in addition to which they are conveythan it is in the vicinities of any good settlements in ed in two-thirds of the time from New York that Good land may be bought in abundance they are from Philadelphia. Allowing our merwithin 20 miles of Baltimore, in any direction, at chants to bring on goods twice a year, and averag$4 to 4.50 per acre. There are good roads and milling five tons at a time, it will be a saving of five When our canal seats in all directions in the same district of coun- hundred dollars each, per year. try. There are manufactories of various sorts, who shall have been completed to the Lake, the expense want a denser population, as weavers and mechan will be somewhat less. [Ohio State Journal. ics, and live-stock, and vegetables, and fruit, and cider, are wanted at Baltimore and Washington city. Slave labour has become unprofitable, and is scarcely practised within this limited district. The writer knows of many farms which, with houses [bred, and barns, fences, &c. and delicious springs of the well-purest water, can be purchased at the price of the land, i e. at $4.50 per acre. Was mark'd and shunn'd as odious. He that sold SPORTING OLIO. SALE OF BLOOD HORSES. Lands thus situated, with an outlet to the Chesapeake bay, to Baltimore, or to the seat of the gene-. ral government, in the midst of a settled country, at the centre of the union, in the (by adaptation) na- The sale of horses belonging to the estate of the tural soil of the vine, the tobacco plant, the peach, late THEO. FIELD, Esq., for some time past adverapple, wheat and Indian corn, are to be bought eve- tised in this paper, took place on Friday last. The ry day for cash, in lots to suit purchasers; and $500 correct judgment and skill of the deceased in sein ready money will settle a family on a farm with lecting and rearing the best stock, together with all needful buildings, containing 80 to 100 acres, the high reputation acquired by some of them as and leave a surplus for tools and stock. racers, attracted hither from a distance, a number There are free schools all over the state. The of the gentlemen of the turf. In order to shew how state is also rich in United States' and other stocks, highly these horses were appreciated, we have [When number 22 was published, the Editor and and the income arising therefrom, almost pays the thought proper to give the account sales of several. the Printer of the Farmer were absent, and a piece expenses of state government; so that the taxes are Gohanna, a fine blood bay horse, upwards of 16 headed "ELEGANT EXTRACT," page 182, was so in- less than in any state in the union. hands high, $3500-Phillis, full sister to Gohanna, TO YOUNG WIVES. Etudiez son caractère: Ménagez-lui le prix de la moindre faveur; It is [Petersburg Intelligencer. CUB MARE. corrrectly printed from a not very legible manu- It is commonly said that the soil is poor and ex- $1654-Merino Ewe, sixteen years old, now in foal script, that we deem it proper, from the work itself, hausted. This is not true. The soil is capable of by Archie, the dam of Gohanna and Phillis, $1205 which was then fast locked in our library, to copy producing all that any soil in this country can pro--a Bay Filly, twelve months old, $357-a Sorrel in this number the passage referred to, preceded by duce by judicious cultivation. The soil in many Filly, four months old, $500, also the offspring of a few more lines from the same poem.] places has been abused, but can be and is daily re- Merino Ewe-Calypso, Archie mare, $265–Lady "L'homme ne sait aimer qu'autant qu'on sait lui stored to its former goodness by the influence of in- Botts, grey mare, $150. Producing the handsome [plaire: creasing knowledge in agriculture. total of $7959-and averaging $994.874 cents each. It is well known that by the operation of natural We understand that none of the purchasers reside causes, such as the reduced prices of produce, and out of the state. VIRGINIA IS STILL HERSELF. the increased white population here, that slave labour is unprofitable, and is going out of use. only in Prince Georges' county, and in some districts on the Eastern Shore, where the soil is so good, and the management so able, as to outweigh the real extravagance of slave labour, that it yet remains in much use. This soon will correct itself, and slave labour is now unprofitable, i. e. dearer than any other sort of labour which can be applied to lands in Maryland; and wherever white labour competes with it, it unders:lls it, and drives it out in all temperate climates. Thus if the man who possesses 50 negroes, sells them, and invests the proceeds in U. States' six per cents, and cultivates only what land 5 hired white men can tend, his dividends and the results of this hired labour will outweigh the results of the labour of the negroes, after deducting their support. The truth of this statement is made clear by the disuse of slave labour, not only here, but in Virginia also, to a considerable extent. Les plus douces des jouissances. Ses lévres presseront le sein, Du plaisir de trouver l'auteur dans son ouvrage, MISCELLANEOUS. J. S. SKINNER, Esq. Mare. What became of this mare I never heard; but I do know, that very soon after her appearance, the same northern sportsman became possessed of Col. The right of suffrage is universal in Maryland; the roads are among the best made ones in the Good's celebrated horse Flag of Truce, the sire of Leviathan. The Cub mare ran as aged, but how country, and are the great avenues to all parts of the union. There are towns, churches, mild laws, old she was I cannot say. Her dam may have been free schools, toleration for all sorts of religions and got by Wildair out of the imported Cub mare. May politics, no religious tax, the climate of the south of not Flirtilla be from the stock of this mare? France, proximity to two great cities, cheaper lands, and better apparent profits to industry than appear to us to offer themselves to industrious farmers and emi grants, in any other quarter of our wide spread land. Old Figure ran well in England and Scotland, and beat Mr. Galloway's Selim in Maryland. The last time I saw him was in Philadelphia, in the year 1774, but do not know when or where he died. These hints will stand for what they are worth. F. TO EMIGRANTS AND FARMERS. Advantages of Maryland as a place of settlement. While the whole tide of emigration to our country from abroad, flows towards the new states in the west, and our own Atlantic brethren follow the stream, the facts which are about to be named seem to be forgotten or overlooked. The western lands It takes thirty days to transport goods from Phi- [It gives us pleasure to record the addition which are strong and good, are very cheap, and may be jadelphia to this place, and costs five dollars per has been made to the existing stock of these faith TRANSPORTATION. DOGS. ful and useful animals, by the importation, in the Belvidera, to this port, of a couple, male and female, of genuine bull-terriers, of the most famous stock in England-as appears by the following extract of a letter to the gentleman to whom they were sent:] the "I have succeeded in procuring, and now send you in the Belvidera, a prime dog and bitch of genuine Terrier and Bull Dog breed. "The dog was bred by a member of Parliament for Newton, and was got by the celebrated dog Billy, who won a wager of 1001. by killing rats in London. The bitch by one of the dogs that baited the lion at Warwick; and both out of celebrated fox terriers. The dog is fifteen and the slut twelve months old." [We rode out to see these dogs soon after their arrival, and expect to present to the readers of the Sporting Olio, an engraving of the son of the renowned BILLY, whose feats are well known to the readers of the English Annals of Sporting. The following, amongst others, will give the reader an idea of one of the spectacles which are gotten up for the amusement of the sober people of England, and a specimen of the slang phrases used in the description of them:] "Rat murder, by authority.-One hundred lives lost in twelve minutes, at the Westminster Cockpit, Tufton street, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, when the phenomenon dog, Billy, the property of Mr. Dew, will exhibit his wonderful, peculiar, and almost incredible, method of rat-killing, for a stake of twenty sovereigns. land, of late years particularly, terriers have been The dog imported in the Belvidera is of the race RECIPES. TO CLEAN ORANGE COLOUR ON SILK, COTTON, AND If it is a silk garment, it must be cleaned with a We contemplate procuring engravings to be pub- solution of soap, no matter what sort, and in the selished, with a sketch of the natural history and uses cond liquor pearl-ash must be used to stay the coof the various races of dogs, most of which are lour. The water must be used much under a hand now to be had in this country in a high state of cul-heat for silks. If requiring more to scarlet, or redder, then the pearl-ash must be omitted, and a little vinegar used in the rinsing water. See the mode of cleaning of coloured woollens in the following pages, recollecting that acids heighten the red colour, and alkalies make it more upon the buff. tivation. "Alas! and so my friends dropt off One friend, one honest friend remain'd One that ne'er shrunk, nor friendship feign'd- DISEASES OF DOGS. THE COMMON MANGE. OF CLEANING BLACK SILK. If this is a slip, unpick the seams; take one piece at a time and put it on a table, then take a pennyworth of bullock's gall, and boiling water sufficient to make it pretty warm, dip a clean sponge in the gall liquor, and, washing your sponge in a pan of warm water, after dipping it into the liquor, rub the silk well on both sides, squeeze it well out, and proThis disorder is very infectious, and originally ceed as before. Then hang up this piece of silk, proceeds from dirty beds, bad food, and filth in and clean the others in the like manner. When the general. It has a loathsome, scabby, dirty appear-whole are done, immerse them altogether in a pan ance, somewhat similar to the itch in human beings; of spring water, to wash off the dirt which the gall and, like that disease, contains animalcula in each has brought upon the surface of the silk; change of the pustules. It may be cured with the following: your rinsing waters till they are perfectly clean, and, Oil of tar, Sulphur vivum, Train oil; of each an equal quantity, after washing, dry your silks in the air, and pin them out on a table, &c. first dipping a sponge in gluewater, and rubbing it on the wrong side of the silk. Dry it near the fire, and it will be as aew. "Such were the terms of the invitation to see times, a day or two elapsing between each rubbing. A METHOD OF CLEANING CHINTZ BED AND WINDOW this performance, which attracted a full attendance Sulphur, given internally, will be of service. of the most distinguished characters among the fancy, from all parts; nearly two thousand persons, at a bob a nob, having crowded the pit at an early hour, including the high toby gloaks, swells, and tu Another: Flowers of sulphur, half an ounce, FURNITURE, SO AS TO PRESERVE THE GLOSS AND This will generally answer where the cloth is not in a very dirty state:-Take two pounds of rice, boil it in two gallons of water till soft; put the whole lips of the first order, many bringing their own well mixed and rubbed completely over the animal into a tub; and when your liquor is at a hand heat, tykes to view the slaughter, and to profit by the twice a day, giving a tea spoonful of the flowers of put in your chintz, and use the rice as you would example of Billy. A score of carriages, coaches, sulphur every evening in a little molasses. Keep soap. Then take the same quantity of rice and wacurricles, gigs, chaises, besides carts, buggies, drags, the animal confined alone, and the moment the ter, but when boiled, strain the rice from the water. and things without number, enlivened the purlieus, cure is effected, give him a clean bed. As the Wash the chintz in this till it is quite clean: afterand gave a smack to the sports; even the Jarvies disease is very infectious, without great care, all wards rinse it in the water in which the rice was and Johns outside 'went a trifle' upon the event, your dogs will become disordered. boiled, smooth it out with the hands, and hang it up will remove this disease; but it is rather a dange- and it is finished. rous remedy, and will kill a weak animal, if not carefully administered: muzzle the dog. taking the cue from their employers, each consider- Mercurial ointment rubbed on the parts affected to dry: then rub it with a sleeking stone, or glaze it, ing his own master as the most knowing of the lot within. Altogether, many hundreds of pounds were laid on the match. "Billy, seconded by his owner, and the rats, by Cheetham, now entered the area of the pit, (12 feet The method practised by dyers, is as follows: An infusion of fox-glove leaves, I have reason to Clean the chintz by washing it, or rather beating believe, will answer the purpose: it is the cleanest it with the doll in a tub of warm soap lather, at a square,) and we expected to have seen the rats let remedy; and though I have not had sufficient expe- hand heat; and, at last, either take flour of starch, go singly with room to get away, and laid our blunt rience to pronounce its infallibility, I have no hesi- and make it of the consistence of oil; the article is accordingly; but they were put in all at once, and tation in recommending it. Put a handful of fox- then beaten up in this; let it be opened well, that it Billy had easy work of it, despatching the entire glove leaves into a quart or three-pint jug, pour may be smooth; dry in the air, and glaze it. Should hundred in seven minutes and forty seconds, a grip boiling water upon them; and, when cold, rub the the colour fade in the washing, (that is, the red and a piece sufficing to despatch the varments. Loud dog every day for three or four days. The dog green,) it will be necessary to give the goods a drop huzzas from the winners crowned the feat, and need not be muzzled-as soon as dressed he will or two of oil of vitriol in cold water after rinsing: drowned the remonstrances and maledictions of the attempt to lick, but will not take a second taste. this stays the colours. losers. Billy having been regaled with drops of The following I have seen successfully used: eye water, and decorated with ribbons, reappeared, and the lot (pros and cons,) repaired to the Hoop and Grapes, to grub a bit of the hollow, and some Cut a pound of mottled soap into thin slices; put of the substantial, washing their masticores with well mixed; with which rub the dog every other and one ounce of pearl-ash; then pour a pail of boilit into a pan with a quarter of an ounce of potash, drops of the juice, and miscivium of sweets and sour, strong and weak,-punch to wit. Upon this day. Three or four dressings will generally be suf- ing water on it: let it stand till it is quite dissolved; occasion, Master Dew showed particularly jolly above, will not injure the composition, and will pro- tub, with a bowl of your solution of soap. Put in ficient. Two drams of aloes, mixed up with the then pour hot and cold water into your scouring chaffed fifty as the price of his Billy, and, if we understood him rightly, he proposed to fight any wise, muzzle him. bably prevent the animal licking himself--other- your counterpane, and beat it well out with a doll, dog of his no weight, for fifty sovereigns-a sum too mighty for those coves who own the best dogs." FOR DISTEMPER IN DOGS. often turning the counterpane over in the tub. When this is done, wring it across a gallows or a hook, which is done by turning the two opposite ends round each other, and putting a small clean [The use of the terrier is well known to be that The following has been recommended with con- stick between them. By this method you may of a guard to the house, especially in the country,fidence: To a dog eight months old, give 4 grains wring it as dry as possible, the harder without inagainst destructive vermin-such as rats, weazles, of Turbeth's mineral, and keep him from water 24 juring it, the better. Having given it this first liminks, &c. Terriers are distinguished as rough hours; then give him 4 grains of crocus metallo- quor, you may put in some old cottons or woollens, and smooth, and vary considerably in size. In Eng-rum, and turn him out. that the liquor may not be thrown away, and then PRICES CURRENT. WHOLESALE. ARTICLES. per. from give your counterpane a second liquor as before. all yet much more gratifying to have seen you receive put in your counterpane: beat it out with the doll The letter of Mr. Shepherd, the eminent woollen N. B. In some cases where the cottons are very [Tucker's Family Dyer and Scourer. THE FARMER. BALTIMORE, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1826. J. S. SKINNER. COFFEE, Java, . Havana,. COTTON, Louisiana, &c. Georgia Upland,. An advance of 1 cent CANDLES, Mould, lb. RETAIL. to from to 5 30 Steubenville, July 31, 1826. I have been several weeks from home, and otherwise so much engaged, that I could not before acknowledge the receipt of your letter, announcing in such very flattering terms, the fact, that the Committee, at your late Cattle Show, had awarded to me the silver cup, placed by Jose Sylvester Rebello, Minister from Rio Janeiro, at the disposal of the Maryland Agricultural Society, and most judiciously offered by that enlightened Society "for the ram, THE PRIZE RAM.-Our readers will remem- which, being shorn upon the ground, yielded the ber, that at the last Maryland Cattle Show a spirit-greatest weight of picklock wool." Considering the high (yet fair,) and fearful comed contest arose for the silver cup, which had been offered by the liberality of Mr. Rebello, Minister from petition, as to its character; the degree of emulaBrazil, to the owner of the ram, which, being shortion previously excited; and that I was justly proud HEMP, Russia, clean, upon the ground, should yield the greatest weight of of a flock which, for the last fourteen years, I had Do. Country picklock wool. been zealously rearing and improving-you can HOPS, 1st sort, The prize was awarded, after close investigation, more readily imagine than I can express the gratifi- HOGS' LARD, to W. R. Dickinson, Esq., of Steubenville, Ohio, cation, which such a victory (over Saxon sheep of LEAD, Pig although it was observed by the committee, that on recent importation, selected with so much care and Mr. Patterson's imported Saxony sheep, wool was attention,) is calculated to afford. to be found a shade finer: but the cup was judi- I receive the assurance of the respects of the ciously offered for the animal which should bear Maryland Agricultural Society with the deepest upon his body the greatest quantity of the finest sense of gratitude, and shall treasure the cup, this kind of wool, and it was, as Mr. Dickinson informs offering of a distinguished foreigner, whose publick us, with an eye precisely directed to the terms of spirit will be long remembered in our country,) as a the offer, that he selected from his flock of native trophy of inestimable value; ranking its achievegrowth, originally from imported stock-not, the ment among the most pleasing incidents of my life. animal bearing the finest wool, but one which he I am, most truly, yours, W. R. DICKINSON. was willing to show against the Union as carrying the greatest weight of picklock wool. J. S. SKINNER, ESQ. MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. In the "Western Herald" we find the following letter from the Corresponding Secretary of the Maryland Agricultural Society, acquainting Mr. DickThe place for the next meeting of the Trusinson with his success-to which we can now add his answer, which came to hand some time since, tees of the Maryland Agricultural Society has been changed, by consent, and said meeting will be held This fine ram was taken back to Ohio, where, in at Brookland Wood, the residence of R. Caton, Esq. procession on the anniversary of our Independence on Thursday, the 28th of this month. he bore a conspicuous part, and displayed his honours, gracefully-amid rattling drums and roaring cannon. in the Editor's absence. MY DEAR SIR, Baltimore, May 1826. Alluding to Mr. Thomas Johnston, of Steubenville, who has the care of the ram CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. Your fine ram arrived in time, and constituted an concluded-Essay on Making Wine, by N. Herbemont Essay on Reclaiming Marsh Land, by R. G. Johnson, interesting feature of our exhibition, not only for Science of Gardening, Causes of the Sap's ascenthis intrinsic merit, but as his appearance establish- On Raising and Making Woad for the Blue Vat, concluded the great zeal of one whose judgment was al-ed-Report of the Central Committee on the Chesaready widely and well known. peake and Ohio Canal-Management of Families, CookI have only time to say just now, that he has ing Utensils-Poetry, Address to Domestic Happiness, taken the premium offered by Jose Sylvester Re- by Cowper; To Young Wives-Advantages of Maryland as a place of Settlement for Emigrants and Farbello, Minister from Rio Janeiro, "for the ram which being shorn upon the ground should yield Horses-Cub Mare-Importation of fine Dogs-Diseasmers-Transportation-sale of Theo. Field's Blooded the greatest weight of picklock wool;" although he had to contend with Saxon sheep of recent impor- Clean Orange colour on Silk, Cotton and Woollen, To es of Dogs, Common Mange-Distemper-Recipes, To tation, selected with great care. I had the satisfac- Clean Chintz and Window Furniture, To Scour Countion in your absence to represent you in the recep- terpanes, Quilts, &c.-Editorial, Correspondence with tion of the premium, though it would have been to us W. R. Dickinson, relating to his Prize Ram. 4 00 5 50 60 65 68 85 95 75 80 80 83 Bar. lb. 3 00 35 25 7 10 12 50 621 30 33 37 61 NAVAL STORES, Tar, bbl. 1 501 62 Pitch,.. do. RICE, fresh, gal. 2 1 75 27 70 75 88 bbl 11 0011 50 8 50 ton. 4 00 bbl. 1 50 lb. 24 3 14 18 20 51 10 12 gal. 32 33 38 50 - 75 100 1 25 33 50 15 No. 27.-VOL 8. AMERICAN FARMER-BALTIMORE, SEPTEMBER 22, 1826. AGRICULTURE. ART OF BREEDING. VERAL VARIETIES in one breed. 209 "The objects of improved breeding, therefore, as soon as they were born. Nay, Mr. Knight's exare, to obviate defects, and to acquire and to per-periments with plants have fully convinced him, petuate desirable properties; hence, when a race of that in the vegetable, as well as in the animal kinganimals have possessed, in a great degree, through dom, the offspring of a male and female, not related, Mr. Powel's queries answered by Mr. John Barney, several generations, the properties which it is our will possess more strength and vigour, than where of Delaware, ON BREEDING CLOSELY IN-ON MIX- object to obtain, and any tendency to produce un- they are both of the same family.* This proves ING DISTINCT RACES-On the combination of SE-wished for properties, has been extirpated, their how unprofitable such connections are. That is no progeny are said to be well-bred, and their stock reason, however, why a breeder may not manage may be relied on.* a particular family of animals to great advantage, "It was upon this principle of selection, that Bake- by shifting or changing, instead of breeding directwell formed his celebrated stock of sheep, having ly from parents to offspring. Hence the propriety spared no pains or expense, in obtaining the choic-of procuring males, from the flocks and herds of est individuals, from all the best kinds of long or those who have the same, or a similar breed It combing woolled sheep, wherever they were to be has been remarked, that those farmers have in met with; and it cannot be doubted, that any breed general the worst flocks, who breed from rams promay be improved in the same manner, namely, that duced on their own farms, and that an interchange Answer I did, about 13 years ago, a few of his of putting the best males to the finest females. of males, is mutually beneficial. ewes and lambs. Do you ever put brother and sister together, in breeding Sheep, except for particular purposes? Answer. If I could conveniently avoid it, I would NEVER DO IT. Did you buy of Farmer part of your flock? Answer. I did, one of his Bakewell rams, about 14 years ago. Did you buy of Case, another part? Did you buy of Exton, another part? Did you not buy some of James & Hickman's *IRISH SHEEP? Answer. I did, a few ewes about 15 years since. Have not ALL THESE PORTIONS OF YOUR FLOCKS BEEN MIXED? After a superior breed, however, has thus been ob- "With respect to the doctrine, that when you can tained, it is a point that has been much disputed, no longer find better males than your own, then by whether it is proper to raise stock, 1 From the all means breed from them, for that best can only same family; or, 2. From the same race, but of dif- beget best,' it is ably refuted by an intelligent auferent families: or, 3. From races entirely different. thor, who has devoted much attention to the art of "1. Breeding from the same family.-This method breeding. He observes, that there never did exist is called breeding in-and-in, or putting animals of an animal without some defect in constitution, in the nearest relationship together. Though this plan form, or in some other essential quality; and such was for some time in fashion, under the sanction of defect, however small it may be at first, will inBakewell's authority, yet experience has now prov-crease in every succeeding generation, and at last ed that it cannot be successfully persevered in. It predominate in such a degree, as to render the may prove beneficial indeed, if not carried too far, breed of very little value.§ Breeding in-and-in, Cannot SEVERAL VARIETIES BE COMBINED IN ONE in fixing any variety that may be thought valuable, therefore, would only tend to increase, and to perBREED? but on the whole, it is so only in appearance. Un-petuate that defect, which might be eradicated, by Answer. YES. der this system, the young animal comes into the a judicious selection, from a different family, in the Answer. YES. Do you approve of MIXING DISTINCT RACES, except where animals of the same race cannot be had? Answer. No. To the foregoing questions submitted by Mr. world, on, comparatively, a very small scale. By same race. Philadelphia, Sept. 13, 1826. JOHN BARNEY. If a man select his flock from four folds, and allow not brother and sister to be joined, except where it cannot be conveniently avoided Quere. How long may he not breed from such flock without breeding closely in and in. a keeping it fat from the first moment of its existence, "2. The breeding from different families of the it is made to attain a greater size than nature in- same race, is therefore a preferable system. When tended; and its weight in consequence will be very these have been for some time established in difgreat in proportion to the size of its bones. Thus ferent situations, and have had some slight shades a generation or two of animals of an extraordinary of difference impressed upon them, by the influence form, and saleable at enormous prices, may be ob- of different climates, soils, and treatment, it is tained; but that does not prove that the practice is found advantageous, to interchange the males, for eligible, if long persisted in || On the contrary, if the purpose of strengthening the excellencies and the system be followed up, the stock get tender and remedying the defects of each family On this delicate, they become bad feeders; and though they principle, the celebrated Culley continued, for many retain their shape and beauty, they will decrease in years, to hire his rams from Bakewell, at the very Dear Sir,-Does your large experience in the vigour and activity, will become lean and dwarfish, time, that other breeders were paying him a liberal management of sheep and cattle, confirm the an- and ultimately incapable of continuing the race. price for the use of his own; and the very same swers given by Mr. Barney to my inquiries upon The instances of this are numerous. The celebrat- practice is followed by the most skilful breeders at breeding? ed breeder, Prinsep, found, that decrease of size present.|| Answer. My experience does confirm them. C. CHURCHMAN. September 13, 1826. MR. CHURCHMAN, unavoidable, in spite of all his endeavours, by keep- "3. Any attempt at improvement, by crossing two ing his young stock well, to prevent it. Sir John distinct breeds or races, one of which possesses the S. Sebright tried many experiments by breeding in- properties which it is wished to obtain, or is free and-in, with dogs, fowls, and pigeons, and found the from the defects which it is desirable to remove, Mr. Churchman is an extensive Grazier and breeds uniformly degenerate** A gentleman who requires a degree of judgment and perseverance, Breeder of Sheep, and successful in his practice in tried the system with pigs, brought them at last to render such a plan successful, as is very rarely the management of a flock containing a thousand into such a state, that the females gave over breed to be met with. Indeed, though such crosses may, ewes. See his communication, Memoirs Pennsyl- ing almost entirely, and when they did breed, their by great attention, answer at first, yet it is generalvania Agricultural Society, page 102. produce was so small and delicate, that they died ly found, that great singularities attend such mix tures: and, in breeding bulls, though some of them (Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, page 104.) tions, have borne the same general characters.-Obser- may apparently do, yet their breed is not to be "On the Principles of Improved Breeding. vations by C. Mason, Esq., of Clifton, co. Durham. trusted. The first cross between a good short"The art of breeding consists, in making a care- *Sir John S. Sebright's Essay, p. 7. Incessant care horned bull and a good Kyloe cow, will make a ful selection of males and females, for the purpose and attention, however, are necessary, to keep them up good grazing animal; but by proceeding farther, of producing a stock, with fewer defects, and with to the mark; and this is rather fortunate than otherwise, disappointment will ensue, if a regular stock be greater properties than their parents; by which since it perpetuates the merit of breeders, and the com- wanted. If such a cross is to be persevered in, the their mutual perfections shall be preserved, and male should always be of the same breed with the first."T their mutual faults corrected.† *This breed of Sheep were imported by Jeffrys. Mem. Pennsyl. Agric. Soc'y. page 107. petition of stock. Young's Lecture, p. 9. It having been found, that this system produced animals quite deficient in vigour, those who are now possessed of a capital stock, keep two or three streams of blood, quite distinct, that they may avoid a consangui Sir John S. Sebright's Essay, p. 13. Paper by Hen Mr. Editor,-I have always considered Mr. Bar *Paper by T. A. Knight, Esq., Comm. to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 186. †Sir John S. Sebright's Essay on the Art of Improving nity. the Breed of Domestic Animals, p. 5 and 8. All breedHusbandry of Scotland, vol. ii. Appendix, p. 199. ing proceeds on the presumption, that the tendency of ry Cline, Esq., Comm. vol. iv. p. 442. The same rule holds good regarding the human species. any individual animal is, to transmit to its offspring, the Paper by T. A. Knight, Esq., Comm. to the Board of By a train of unfortunate circumstances, a brother and form, constitution, and qualities which it possesses; and Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 185. These dwarfish males, how-sister German, ignorant of their close connexion togeas two animals are concerned in the production of one ever, may not have an injurious effect on the stock of ther, were married. They had ten children, all of whom offspring, that one is expected to inherit, a form and another person, especially the first cross, if the females died before their parents. constitution, compounded on the joint qualities of its be of a coarser quality, and, on Mr. Cline's principle, if two parents. Thus it is found, in numerous breeds of they are of a larger size than the males put to them. animals, as in deer, in the West Highland cattle, in the Paper by T. A. Knight, Esq., Comm. to the Board of North Devon, and in the wild cattle of Chillingham Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 185. Park: the offspring, for an indefinite number of generaNo. 27.-VOL. 8. JOHN HARE POWEL. Powelton, Sept. 13, 1826. ney's Sheep extremely fine of the kind and to them before the sheep are five years old. When Merinos prevent the fleece from becoming thin and hairy,” but I referred when I stated (Memoirs Pennsyl. Agric. were first introduced into England and in this coun-"in the northern parts, and on the hills of Scotland, Soc'y page 111.) "A successful grazier of Delaware try, there was a prevailing opinion that all those some of the breeds produce it in such small quanhas shewn his sagacity by crossing with Jeffry's, and characteristics which most distinguished them from tities as to render it unsafe for the farmer to expose other sheep; he has gained size and weight of other sheep, were the evidences of superiority in his flock to the severities of winter, unless he furfleece." And I may add that the finest Bakewell relation to each other. These opinions found their nish them with an artificial covering of grease and sheep (as it is called,) of Beanes' importation, which way into essays and agricultural reports, and were tar in order to keep them warm." Such is the I have possessed is derived from Mr. Barney's flock. received as orthodox by all those who read them, foundation of a grave theory upon an abstruse opeYour obedient servant, until proved, by observation and experience, to be ration in the general economy of nature! "In warm fallacious. It may be remarked, that few persons climates," says he, "nature provi les this nourishing give sufficient attention to the subject ever to be- soponaceous pabulum” in sufficient quantity to keep come nice discriminating judges of fine wool; as the sheep warm and prevent the growth of hair, but our skill in this respect improves, our impressions in the hills of Scotland, nature neglects her duty, ON YOLK, AS AN INDICATION OF THE and prejudices derived from authority are found to and the profound chemico-physiologists of that enyield: but the subject has become by that time a lightened region have discovered that grease and FINENESS OF WOOL. stale one, and the cacoethes scribendi has so abated, tar are an excellent substitute for soap and potash, It has so happened that for some months I have that few ever think it worth the trouble to refute (the component parts of yolk.) Remarkable siminot had an opportunity of reading the American errors even of high authority, when public opinion litude, and admirable discovery! By parity of reaFarmer, and had therefore not seen what had been is so nearly corrected. soning, we may expect, in due time to find, that the published there in opposition to the few remarks It was said by intelligent writers in England, be- natural covering on sailors' legs, instead of being which I had taken occasion to suggest on the selec-fore and after the introduction of Merinos into that thin and hairy, will be converted into "a soft and tion of Merino sheep, as the result of my own obser- country, that their wool would degenerate in any attenuated pile" of fine wool, sufficient to keep them vation, and confirmed by that of every skilful breed climate colder than that of Spain, and that their warm without the covering of the greasy, tarry er of that stock with whom I have conversed on the mutton was not fit to eat. Every body believed it, trowsers which now so encumber those noble felsubject, for several years. It is of no small impor and the manufacturer would not buy the wool from lows! In a subsequent part of his book, Mr. L. obtance for those who are engaged in improving fine the King's flock after inspecting it: they would not serves, "that wool is injured by the readiness with woolled sheep to be able to judge accurately of the trust the evidence of their own senses, (see the re- which water mingles with and carries off that aniessential quality of their stock, and perceiving a port of Sir J. Banks, in 1800.) These sheep were mal soap,” (yolk,) and grease and tar are necessary once prevailing, but now exploded error, repeated imported in 1792; in 1796, a forced sale of the to preserve the yolk and repel the water. Thus in in a number of your paper by one of your corres wool was made, and for several years it sold below order to maintain an absurd theory, the whole ecopondents, it seemed to be due to the interests to the imported Spanish wools. In 1801, some car-nomy of nature is arraigned by Mr. L., and an artifiwhich your very useful and ably conducted paper casses were given away, and one butcher was in cial system introduced. Grease and tar are first made is devoted, to suggest a correction. The opinion duced to buy a few more. At length, says Sir Jo- a substitute for volk, which preserves warmth and excepted to in my former remarks, is "that the seph, "experience has demonstrated, both at Wind destroys hair, &c.; then yolk is found to possess too greatest quantity of yolk indicates the finest wool;" sor and Waybridge, that Spanish mutton is of the great an affinity for water, by which the wool is into which I added that the pendant dewlap and best quality for a gentleman's table." If prejudices jured without the aid of a repellant, which is readiwoolly heads and legs, though also once esteemed such as these were so difficult to combat among a ly found in the substitute, viz: grease and tar! characteristic marks of fine wool, were not to be mutton eating and wool manufacturing people, how Now, let us see what later writers have said onrelied on in the selection of a flock," and that an much more likely would the crude and erroneous the subject of the grease and tar application. Sir "excessive secretion of yolk was rather injurious notions of the most unprejudiced men of that day George M'Kenzie, in his treatise on sheep, says, than otherwise to fine wool." Opposite opinions become the confirmed opinion of their contempora- "Shepherds vary in their answers, when asked why have been urged upon the authority of respectable ries, and be adhered to as prejudices by their suc- they smear their sheep. Some say it is intended persons in this country and agricultural writers of cessors? An abundance of yolk was found in Me- to prevent the scab; some to cure it; others say it some eminence in England. I therefore propose to rino fleeces, and Merino fleeces were finer than any is for the purpose of keeping off rain, and some re-examine the points in controversy, in the hope of others; therefore, an exuberant secretion of yolk assert that they do it merely to soften the wool; but eliciting truth, believing that it is a most important is essential to the growth of fine wool, to the pre- it cannot be denied they bedaub their sheep with tar matter in agriculture to have any one fact in rela-servation and support of it, is the very pabulum of in order to make the fleeces weigh well; in other tion to it settled. wool. Such is the syllogism upon which the opi-words, to cheat the wool merchant." He seems to The reader will observe, that in the selection of a nions I am combatting are founded. Luccock is the admit that a proper composition may be of some Merino flock, the peculiarities of Merinos are to be chief authority relied on to support them. The use, but adds, that "it can have very little effect on considered, not in comparison with other breeds, writers before him seem to have embraced the no- coarse fleeces," and that for the finest wool, which but in comparison with each other; not as a species, tion upon the syllogistic foundation above stated, is supplied with an oily matter, it is unnecessary. but as individuals of a species. I shall not, there- and mostly dismissed the subject with a passing re- Sir Joseph Banks, who had the care of the King's fore, contend that Merinos have less yolk, or less mark. He probably adopted it in the same way, Merino flock, says "that smearing is required in wool on their heads and legs, than other breeds; but it comported better with the plan of his work proportion to the coarseness of the fleeces," and consuch an assertion would be absurd: but I contend to give an elaborate speculation on the subject, to demns the use of it for fine woolled sheep. The that the excessive secretions of yolk and the exces- which I beg the reader's attention. It may be ob- probability is, that both writers had no confidence sive covering of wool on the heads and legs of in-served, that he was a wool stapler, not a breeder of in the practice; and that it is useless for any other dividual Merinos, is no evidence that such sheep sheep nor a manufacturer. It is well known that the purpose than to repel the rain from sheep kept in ahave finer wool than those of the same race which Spanish wool stapled in England was formerly, and cold, wet climate, whose fleeces are too thin to keep are not so marked. In performing this task, little I believe is yet, all washed in Spain; it is roughly them warm. The idea that grease and tar are a more will be necessary than to examire the authori- assorted in the fleece before washing, but the Eng-substitute for yolk, which is soap and potash, is abties upon which the opposite opinion is founded. lish stapler does not handle it in the yolk. Luccock surd. The English writers seem to have been The first that presents is Dr. Parry, well known in had therefore, probably, but little knowledge of pleased with the notion of having found in the Methe agricultural world as a breeder of some note in Merino wool in the yolk; as indeed the bare pass-rino a substitute which supplied the place of the England. He had procured a few full blood Meri- ing it through his hands could not enable any one obnoxious practice of smearing, and they seized nos from the King's flock, and was engaged in to determine the properties of yolk. He candidly the occasion to get rid of the prejudice. Vauquecrossing them with the finest woolled races he could admits that the investigation of the subject "was lin, a very respectable French chemist, who is reobtain. When he wrote his paper to the Board of more properly the business of the grazier than the ferred to by all subsequent writers as the discoAgriculture, he had comparatively but little expe- wool stapler as he had the most abundant means of verer of the properties of yolk, remarked, "that rience, and he evidently spoke of Merinos as a race acquiring information;" and adds, that "the FEW wool which had remained a long time in its own in distinction from other breeds, when he said they FACTS with which we are furnished, indicate that yolk, swelled up, split and lost its strength; effects were "buried in wool to their eyes, with their legs without the assistance of yolk or the application of which took place in strong, soapy water." "May enveloped down to their very hoofs." He does not some other substance as a substitute for it, wool it not be possible," says he, "that this accident say these marks indicate the finest woolled Merinos possessing the best qualities cannot be produced." often takes place on the backs of the animals, espe If he had waited a few years longer before he wrote Now, let us see what the facts alluded to are, and cially during damp warm weather. The acridity that paper, he would have said, with Mr. Tessier, what is the substitute to be employed. "In the of yolk may occasion an irritation in their skin and that "the young ones have it to the extremity of southern parts of the Island," says L., "the yolk is prove the cause of some of those maladies to which their feet," and that a considerable part of this re-sufficient for the production of a coat which enables that organ is subject in damp, warm weather; formarkable covering on the face and legs, disappears the flock to endure the rigours of winter and to tunately at this season they are occasionally expos |