Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-12-17
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Fallacies about Sheep.

Fallacies about Sheep.
There is a general impression amongst
those who do not know, that by means
of sheep great deal may be made out
of nothing. We may frequently see
absurd statements to the effect, that ''the
sheer's foot turns all to gold;" that
there is no reader or surer way to fer
tilize a barren field than to put flock
of sheep to pasture upon the briers and
weeds in it; that, in effect, sheep will
live upon the poorest food and make the
richest manure, and are thus the very
best stock farmer can keep on his farm.
But those "who have been there" know
better. 'Sheep are always an unhappy
flock, ,"-oues senaper infeLic aoecus-
wrote the old author, Virgil, and many
man who has been deluded into keep
ing sheep in the vain hope of finding
gold in their foot-tracks, has found out
"the truth about it.' iG
Now, having been through the mill
and having turned defeat into victory
by disahusing my mind of the common
fallacies about sheen, / warn intending
shepherds that there is no other domeS.
for profitable thrift, than sheep; that
out of their finely grinding manure
mill, comes nothing that is not first put
into the hopper; that yet with proper
care and skill, well selected flock of
the right Kind Of sheep, in the right
place, can be made to pay 100 per cent.
on their cost every year. It is true that
a flock will clear field of weeds, briers
and rubbish, and will enrich it; but it
will not live upon these alone. To rel
ish this rough herbage, the sheep must
be fed literally upon supplementary
food, such as bran, meal, cut clover,
grass, or green corn fodder, and always
a pint day per head of linseed oil-cake
with this alloy, the sleeps foot will
take golden tinge, and will edge with
gold the farmers pocket, by making his
poor lands rich giving him at the same
time lamb Or two, and a fleece every
year. A field may be enriched too, by
sowing grass seed, at the rate of peck
per acre, and when the crop is of thrifty
growth, the sheep may be turned in to
eat it down through the late fall and
early spring; thus fitting it for crop
of corn, oats Or roots next year. But
the sheep must have their pint per day
of bran or oil meal even then.
ers, rather than manure makers. We
feed them with the material; they take
their pay out of it, and give back the re-
mainder, transformed into a substance
of equal value-because it is more avail
able-with that which they receive, and
they get fat meanwhile in doing it,
just as we give the mint bag Of gold
dust and we get back exactly the same
weight of gold dollars. So with sheep;
ii we don't feed them with the materials
needed to make fat themselves and rich
manure for us, they will be as unprofit-
able as Pharaoh's lean kline.
POULTRY RAISING FOR PROFITs.-
Poultry raising, to be profitable, requires
thorough knowledge of the business
on the part of the keeper. First, he
should be located near some city, town,
or railroad station. He should procure
one or two or more good breeds. Sec
ondly, he should provide clean, COM
| Portable houses for them in winter and
airy roosting places in summer. Third
| ly, when the two former essentials have
been attended to, he should give his
fowls cooked, parched, and raw grain
food regularly three times day, with a
plentiful supply of fresh water. He
should feed them chopped meat scraps,
vegetables cut fine or cooked with some
kind of ground feed a few times week
during the winter months. He should
provide pulyerized oyster or clam shells,
chalk, bone, or old Stacked lime, also
boxes of coarse sand or gravel for their
use. Fourthly, he should clean out his
fowl houses every day. He should not
crowd too many hens into house-for-
ty are enough. He should colonoze
them if possible. and be careful to avoid
misunderstanding, no matter how val
liable the breed. And by following
these rules he can make poultry profita-
BILE; if he neglects them, he will find
fowl raising an ''up hill work." and a
non-paying business.
To INSURE EARLY CHIcKENs.-To
insure early chickens you must have in
the first place hens that will lay during
| the winter and be ready to set before the
tsnow is gone. Then there must be a
place to set them which will be warm
and dry, and which is far enough from
the place in which they have been kept
in the winter to be free from vermin.-
Here the nest must be fixed with great
care. There should be earth enough in
the bottom of the nest to hold the heat
of the fowl for some time after she goes
off the nest, and also to hold little
moisture. Allowing the eggs to become
dry from the heat of the fowl will be
very sure to prevent their hatching.-
The nest should be slightly followed
out in the center, but not too much, as,
if it is too deep, the eggs will roll
against one another, with force enough
to break the shell when the hen gets off
the nest. -t
Common rock salt, dried in an open oven
and pulveri3ed, mixed with equal parts
of spirits of turpentine, will kill a felon
In twenty-four hours. Keep a rag con-
stantly wet with the preparation on the
felon during that time. M
TINTED FRosTINe.-The yolks OF
three eggs; and one-half cup of pulver-
lied sugar. Do not beat the eggs sepa-
rate from the sugar. Flavor with lem
: on. Splendid on white cake.
/ The SCOT from the chimney should be
I saved. A pint of SCOT to a pailful Of
water will make u liquid manure o.
great value for flower beds and plant.
e of all kinds.
Il Potatoes contain nearly all the nutri-
ment (the starch) very near the surface
i the heart has but little; hence, let th,
= peeling be the thinnest possible.
!, Cool rain-water and soda will remoy,
= machine grease from washable goods.
l.