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Yol. IX
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, MAY 9, 1874.
No. 18.
fa1.
Live Stock-
SHEEP AND WOOL.
FLOCKS FOR SMALL FARMS—MANAGEMENT
The rapid growth of our population renders it certain that wool is to bear a more
remunerative price during the next than
■the last decade. We have almost boundless resources for the production of wool,
and it will not be creditable to us as an enterprising and practical people to import
so largely of a staple which we are so capable of growing at home. But in order to
supply the home demand for wool, this industry must be entered into generally, and
in a systematic manner, on a plan adapted
to the size and situation of the farms, cost
of land, nearness to market, etc. At the
far West, the simple product of wool will
amply repay the sheep owner for his outlay
of capital and labor, and there the fine
wools may be made most remunerative.
But on the smaller farms of the Eastern
States sheep may be kept with even greater
proportional profit, by adapting the breed
to tne wants of the market. _ Mutton enters more largely, each year, into the diet
of the people of our towns, and to supply
this demand sheep are profitable upon
small farms in near neighborhood of cities.
The English manage to make sheep profitable on lands which pay a rental of ten to
twenty dollars per acre, but these are the
mutton breeds, and the principal income
is from the sale of lambs and fattened
sheep. If this can be done on such expensive lands, how much easier can it be
done on our high-priced lands which do
not cost moro than half that rental.
HOW TO START A FLOCK.
On the plains of Colorado or Texas care
is only taken to purchase the requisite
•number of ewes to start a large flock ; as
the cost of keeping is not taken into account, so the individual quality of the
initiative flock is given very little attention. But success on Eastern farms, near
large towns, requires a careful selection of
each individual breeder of the nqw flock.
Here you breed for the quality of flesh as
well as the wool. You wantthe lambs all to
possess the same characteristics, that they
may all be of high quality, and bring a
good and uniform price. Where the lambs
differ greatly in quality, those of poorer
quality reduce the price of the best, therefore great care should be taken to secure
uniform excellence. This excellence in the
breeding ewe should cover all points, symmetry of form, vigor of constitution, evenness and compactness of wool, etc. The
best age to select is two years, and those
that have not bred, that you may couple
them with the proper male to secure the
quality you desire in the lambs. Year olds
are too young for the most successful
breeding. Let them all be of one age and
uniform quality, taking great pain's in the
selection. These may be the best selections of mixed breeds; but adapted to the
production of lambs that will readily take
ou flesh. Then procure a pure-bred Cotswold, Leicester, or South-Down ram.
Allow no mixture of bloojl in the ram.
He must be able to impress his qualities
upon every lamb, and then you will soon
start a flock which will breed true, and
never deceive you in quality of Jambs or
wool. With this uniformity in the lambs,
you may always rely upon the highest
market price.
HOW TO FEED.
But every sheep-breeder, as well as the
breeder of all kinds of farm animals, must
remember that after he has selected the
best specimens to breed from, he must
base his chance of success upon judicious
feeding. The best animals will do nothing
without a full supply of appropriate food.
The finest proportioned Cotswold merely
represents so much food. His excellence
is only partly due to thebreed, even more
to the food and care—without this there
would have been no Cotswold, Leicester or
South-Down. Grass is, of course, the
normal food of the sheep, and upon this
must be the main dependence, but the
feeder must ever be ready to furnish full
food to his flock, and if there be a deficiency of grass he must make it up with
roots or grain. The most successful English sheep-breeders arc and have been the
best feeders, and largely of grain and oil-
meal, and it is by this system of high feeding that they make it pay upon high-priced
lands. In this country, that veteran and
most successful feeder, Mr. John Johnston, has followed the same system and fed
largely.-in winter, of grain, and especially
of oil-meal. He has found sheep-feeding
profitable upon lands worth $150 per acre,
but only when fed to their full capacity.
The neighbors of Mr. Johnston were astonished that he could buy such quantities
.of oil-meal and grain, if he did not raise
'enough of the latter, and make it pay him
a fair.profit in growth of flesh and wool,
[besides yielding large quantities of the best
manure. But he well understood that first
principle of successful feeding, that all
profit comes from the extra feed. Oil-
meal seems especially adapted to keep the
sheep in health and promote the growth of
wool. One-fourth pound of oil-meal,
with one pint to one quart of corn, peas,
beans or oats, should furnish the daily
winter ration for sheep. With full feeding and good care, mutton sheep will pay
upon the highestrpriced lands of the Eastern States.—Live Stock Journal.
Value of Brood Mares.—A paragraph
in the March number of this journal, mentioned the fact that E. Dillon & Co., of
Normal, Ills., had sold four colts, the produce of* one brood mare, for $5,500; and
run with them a month or six weeks, and
are then taken away; and in two weeks the
cows and calves can be turned in the same
pasture without noticing each other in the
usual way. \
Cost of Abusing Milk Cows.—Harris
Lewis, the eminent dairyman of Herkimer
county, New York, satd lately in an address to the Board of Agriculture, that he
had known a cow which uniformly gave 18
Eer cent, of cream to her milk, to decrease
er yield to six per cent, in the short space
of twelve hours, merely from the excitement caused by the bad treatment of a
brutal milker. It was not guess work ; he
used graduated glasses to test the matter.
This shows conclusively that it does not
en her. At length, as grass appeared and
spring advanced, dandelions were procured
which she ate with avidity. One evening
a much larger supply than usual was
brought, a half bushel, perhaps, and the
next morning, to our great joy, she was
found standing. Whether it was the medicinal quality of the herb, or simply nourishment or rest, I am not prepared to say,
but since Taraxine has been given to the
public, I am inclined to think there are at
least some extra good properties in those
dandelions. Felicia.
A subscriber wants to know where
"Dick Clyde," which stood at Acton last
year, now stands. Will some of our readers give the desired information?
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"MASTERPIECE."
Short-horn Cow, oicned by C. E. Coffin, Muirkirk, Maryland.
we now allude to it for the purpose of stating that this is not, by any means, an exceptional case. On the contrary, it has
been; demonstrated over and over again,
that it is scarcely possible for the general
farmer to keep any kind of stock on his
farm that will prove so uniformly profitable as a good brood mare. Instances are
numerous where a single brood mare, well
and fashionably bred, and coupled for a
series of years with popular sires, has, by
her produce, made a handsome fortune for
her owner; and in almost every neighborhood can be found mares whose produce
are uniformly .of more than average value.
The prudent, wide awake farmer will be
on the look out for such mares; and whenever he can purchase them at reasonable
prices, he will not fail to do so. Such an
investment can not fail to be better than
money at compound interest, if the mares
be coupled with the right sort of stallions.
Good horses always find a ready sale at
pay dairyman to allow their cows to be ill-
treated. And in ill-treatment is to be included anything_ that will alarm or excite
them—fast driving to and from pastures,
worrying by dogs, yelling at them and
threatening demonstrations by boys, etc.
Civility and good nature pay, even when
bestowed on cows.
high prices—the scrubs only are a drug in J
the market—and a     "
cheaply as a steer.
There has been a grand awakening
among farmers within the last few years
concerning the improvement of their live
stock. This is a praiseworthy move on
their part, as it shows a worthy intelligence,
energy and system being brought to bear
upon one of the noblest of professions.
The fact that stock needs improvement is
becoming gradually more apparent as the
country becomes older ; the soil is being
exhausted by excessive and continual cropping, and it must not only be rested, but
but must also be restored. It has been
proven that animal manure is the best of
colt can be raised as
To make horse breed
all dressings used on worn out soils, hence
the necessity of farmers keeping live stock
about them.    They have also found that
ing^ profitable^,   you ^ must   start   right  good stock eats but little more, if any,
tt i. __ j _i i. j   than scrubs, and that when offered for sale
the smooth grade will sell for more by
weight or by the head than the common.
It is useless to here figure out the profits
that thus accrue from these several things.
If a farmer would thrive, improve his
land, and have his stock of such a character that his children would prefer working
with it than running to town, he must
keep that which is good, and improve upon
it when opportunity offers. H. c. m.
Horses are not sold at so much per pound
in the market, like cattle or hogs, it is the
quality that determines the price, and
quality is a thing of inheritance, derived
from the sire or dam, or from both. If
the foal, when dropped, has not inherited
those characteristics which give value to
a horse, no amount of after-care and attention can compensate for the lack of
organic quality. It costs no more time or
money to raise a good colt than a poor one,
excepting, perhaps, in the original investment—the difference in cost of a_ good
brood mare and a poor one, the service of
a first class stallion and a scrub—and herein lies the secret of success.—Live Stock
Journal.
New Way of Teaching Calves to
Drink.—A correspondent of the Maryland Farmer says: " Never let your calves
suck the cows, but as soon as they are born
take them from their mothers and put
them in some house or shed to themselves.
Have a trough made with a seooped-out
bottom (so they can obtain the last drop
of milk), and at intervals of one foot tack
the fingers of an old buckskin glove; pour
into this trough milk obtained from the
dairy after being skimmed (at first it must
be sweet and.warmed a little, but they
soon become fond even of sour milk mixed
with a little bran); lead up the calves, and
for two or three feedings insert the glove
fingers into their mouths, afterward the"?
will come of their own free will, and all
trouble ceases. The trough should be
kept covered when not in use. By adopting this plan you have the benefit of all
the milk ; you get rid of the disagreeable
bellowing of the cows when the calves are
weaned; your cows do not slacken or refuse to give down their milk, as they sometimes do when the calves are allowed to
Better Than Whipping.—I say, Reuben, did you see that man beating his hofse
yesterday ? I will tell you how uncle Nat.
managed with him. He asked the teamster to step to the back of his wagon for a
moment, and his horse should go forward
without any more trouble. He had stopped
at the foot of a hill, and what do you
think uncle Nat. did? Only put a hit of
crumbled paper, or leaf, or something in
the horse's ear, and he went right off without another word. I asked uncle if it
would not make the horse deaf, but he said
no, it would soon fall out of itself. And that
driver never knew what changed the mind
of his horse, for uncle wouldn't tell him,
it was so simple.. Edgar.
 •	
Old Wiiitey and the Dandelions.—
One fine spring morning, some years since,
it was discovered that our favorite milker,
" Old White}'," was unable to support herself, and though not appearing to be sick,
was so weak that no plan could be devised
by which she could be made to stand. As
she could eat, the children procured such
things as she was expected to like, and
made her as comfortable as possible. By
partly rising, and turning herself, she made
some advance in locomotion, and for some
weeks was sustained by whatever was giv-
STOCK SALES.
We would call the special attention of
the farmers of Indiana to the approaching
sales of fines stock, and urge upon tl\em
the importance of availing themselves of
the opportunity now offered, for making
investments in stock that will pay larger
dividends than canal, railroad, or bank
stock, if well managed, and will bear watering far better.
The first in order is the Muirkirk
Herd, of choice Short-horns, to be sold
at Muirkirk, on the Baltimore & Ohio R.R.,
13 miles from Washington, D. C, May 13,
1874. This is a choice herd, and some of
the best should be brought to Indiana.
The Glen Flora Herd, consisting of
65 cows and heifers, and 20bulls and bull-
calves, will be sold at Waukegan, near
Chicago, 111., May the 20th.
The Lyndale Herd, consisting of 02 females and 22 bulls, will be sold at Dexter
Park. Chicago, May the 21st.
S. Meredith & Son's Herd of Short-horns,
consisting of 40 females and 15 bulls, will
be sold at Cambridge City, Friday, May
the 22d. This is an Indiana Herd, and one
in which we take special pride, not only
because it is of Indiana, but because ofits
most excellent quality. Do not pass it by,
for you may go farther and fare much
worse.
Joint sale of 82 head of Short-horns, at
Decatur, Illinois, Thursday, May 28th,
these being the entire herds of B. Z. & T.
B. Taylor, Decatur; Mrs. A. P. Pickerill,
Mechanicsburg, and Geo. Elliott, Harris,
Illinois.
These are all choice herds, and should
command general attention, as we have no
doubt they will.
Pigs.—I received my pigs of Job Rodg-
ers, of Clayton, Indiana, last week, and
am highly pleased with them. They are
as fine pigs as have ever been brought to
this (Marshall) county. So all good judges
that have seen them say. Tell friend
Rodges that they are good enough for anybody, even for Grangers.
J. Brownlee.
Plymouth, May-i, '74.
 . »  . '—  /
[For the Indiana Farmer
LETTER FROM LAGRANGE.
The season has been very cold and dry
this spring; but very little rain since the
20th of March. In traveling across the
country from here to Goshen, a distance of
26 miles, I observed that the wheat on clay
ground was all killed, leaving the ground
entirely bare. The clover is also completely killed. Grass has not started yet, so that-
stock needs as much feed now as in the
middle of the winter.
Our Granges in this part of the State are
all flourishing, and are no doubt doing some
good socially, if not financially.   We have
no open opposition now; there are a few
croakers who do their work of opposing us
in a sneaking way. I sometimes tell them
that a membership of three months iii our
Order would teach them to mind^their own
business. I see that the grangers in one
county of this State have issued a call for
subordinate granges to appoint members
of their respective granges to meet as
citizens and appoint grangers as delegates
to a convention to nominate county officers.
That looks to me just like whipping the
"devil around the stump," and as though
the grangers were trying to monopolize the
politics of that county. It seems. to me a
very injudicious movement, and altogether
outside of our declaration of principles
and purposes. w. c.
Lagrange, Ind., April 2.0th.
 . »  ■	
[For the Indiana Farmer.
ABOUT OREGON.
The farmers of Oregon, following the
example set them by their brethren in
several of our States, have held a State
convention and placed in nomination a full
State ticket.   The have placed their ticket
in the field without forming a  coalition
with either of the old parties, and whether '
they will each bring out distinct tickets, is
for the future to determine.   Their candidate for Governor is Thomas F. Campbell
of Monmouth.   He was born in Concordia
Parish, Louisiana, and graduated in July
1852 at Bethany College, W.Va., then presided over by Alexander Campbell.   Soon
after graduating he settled at Mt. Enterprise, Texas, where he taught a seminary,
also preached in the vicinity; from there
he went to Camden Point, Mo., where he
taught for some time ; thence to Menland^
T3xas, where he practiced law, and while
there he was made Judge of one of the
courts.    He   then   went   to   Monmouth,
Oregon, where he now resides. He is Pre-
sident_ of Christian College, an institution
established there some lure or six years
ago mainly through his efforts.  He is also
the editor and proprietor of the Christian
Messenger, a weekly paper devoted to the
interests of the Christian Church, of which
he is a member and is one of its preachers.
Mr. Campbell is one of those restless, but
resolute and active men who by nature
seem fitted for the work of settling and
civilizing the wilds of the West. His genius
is versatile, and he is equally at home in  .
the pulpit, in the school room, on the
bench, or in the political field when called
upon to lead the force engaged in a great
reformation. He has been a most industrious man all his life, has filled several positions in the world, traveled about a great
deal, seen much of the world every way,
and has ever tried to spend his time and
talents in that way by which he should accomplish the greatest good.   Judgingfrom
the success he has met with in the various
fields of labor in which he has engaged,
we believe he will make Oregon a good
Governor if he is successful at the polls.
Although he has not been  known as a.
farmer, it is fitting that they should select
such a man—one whose time is devoted to
the education of the youth—for the first
place on the ticket.   We take it that the
farmers are desirous of bettering their condition in every respect and that they fully
realize that better educating themselves
and the masses will be the most powerful
engine  they can  employ in  restoring an
honest government, and by means of education they will be enabled to make their
homos  more attractive and  pleasant   to
themselves and to their children.
William O. Foley.
Greensburg, Ind., April, 1874.
 ■   m «	
Fine Roses.—All that is necessary to
have all the monthly roses that you may
desire'is to bud them. For this it is necessary to select a well known variety
called the Maiden Blush, which is common all over the country. It is nearly
white, with a slight tinge of pink. Cut
from the fine rose such growth as you
would select were you going to bud from
a peach or pear, and insert the bud the
same.as.in budding fruit. This may be
done whenever the sap will run and suitable buds can be found, which will be from
June to September. The reason that the
variety should be Maiden Blush, is, that
it never dies down. I have had buds
bloom four weeks after inserting them.
By this method you may have a large bush
at once, and as many varieties as desired.
Trimble co., Ky. U. S. Wolf.
The Southern Sweet Potato.—J. R.
Childers, Auburn, Ky., says: Tins is earlier,
sweeter, and more productive   than any |
other sort of potatoes, and is almost as
good a keeper as the Irish potato.
 . » ■	
Cabbaoes.—Of all the cabbages with
which we are acquainted, the Jersey Wakefield is the best for early use, the early
Flat Dutch for medium, and the pure Flat
Dutch for fall and winter use.
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