West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-09-13
AGRICULTURE.

SABLE SHEET. There is no profit i'm
black wool and it brings five cents per
| pound less I'm the market than white.
Some years since, when every rural
household contained IA spinning-wheel
and loom, upon which the matrOn spun
out the material with which the family
was clothed, black wool was i'm demand
ana filled an important niche in the
domestic economy. Now the great fac.
tories monopOlize that business. and
are able to furnish the people with warn
and cloth better and cheaper than IL can
be made at home. To day there proba-
bly, Is not yard OF cloth manufactured
domestically where there were thou
sand fifty years ago. The factory pre-
fers white wool, which can be dyed TO
suit their purposes, while il has been
found more difficult TO control the ir-
regular shading of the black. The
preventive against black wool is easy.
There is no black blood I'm sheep, white
or black; no pigmentum i'm the skin of
sheep, as In the races, only difference
IN the outgrowth or wool. A white
eve VIII more frequently produce "A
black lamb than black eve. and n
black eve will more frequently have "A
white lamb than "A black. Were there
black and white blood in the sheen the
reverse of this would be- true. White
ewes unmixed with black will always
have white lambs. Put only one black
sheep with the white flock and there
Will be many black lambs; mix the
black ewes with the white and they
will have n majority of white lambs.
The inevitable conclusion Is that the
marking of the lamb does not arise
from any distinctive characteristic i'm
the blood, but from the Impressions
made upon the mind OF the mother.
She looked upon the black innovator
with wonder and stamped the character
OF her lamb; the black eve took Ina the
beauties OF her white companions and
liked the destiny of hers Not long
since, MIR. Il. ). Tinsley, OF Missouri,
writing To The Rural Worid, inquired
as To what could be the cause of his hav-
ing five black lambs in a flock of forty
head, which had been bred to IA Cotswold
and 'had no black rams there He
mentioned incidentally at"th ere was
black stray wether tnat took up with
his tock.' This accounts for the "milk
IN the cocoanut" and is an illustration
OF the fact set forth above. Missouri
Is the home and birthplace of the black
sheep. some time since we bought 800
sheep there, i'm lots of from To- 100.
and when we got through we had 2IO
black ones. la purchases made of
those natives you have to take black
ones, grandmothers, graHdfathers and
tue mock through. Overloaded with
black, desperate measures were i'm or
der. They were put on strong diet.
ana as they were ready, load was
shipped TO Chicago. "a CARLOAD of
black mutton THE first and only ar
rival of the kind ever in that market.
30 rare was 1t that il was matter of
comment in the local papers. Four
ana one-half cents per pound suiliced
US, and they took them in. The black
sheep is healthy, hardy animal, but
the wool being deprecated i'm the mar
kei, they should be avoided, and when
on hand, committed to the shambles.
PROTECT THE HoRsEs FROM THE
FLIEs.-A cotton sheet will be found
great protection TO the horses working
In the harvest field. 1t screens them
from the heat, from flies, and from dust,
ana the labor of cleaning them rs les
Sened. As mentioned il will DO found
desirable, when horses are washed, TO
use soft sponge and water i'm which
some carbolic soap has been dissolved.
rms cools the skin, assists perspiration,
removes the strong pungent smell,
greatly refreshes the animals, and
uIINes away HleS. w mere there is a
river near by, Il bath i'm the evening
will be agreea Die and safe, If the horses
are kept In the water only two or three
minutes, are driven home at once and
rubbed dry. A scraper for the horses
may be made or a piece of the scythe,
with the edge dulled on the stone with
this the sweat or moisture, after wash
ing, may be easily removed.
The cow that is fleshy gives milk
that is richer In butter than the COW
that is poor and thin. One that has
reached her full maturity gives better
milk than she did before she reached
thai age; COW that ia gaining flesh
day by day gives richer milk than
cow that IL losing gradually. The con-
dltion OF the pastures have also much TO
do with the quality of the production.
Regular feeding, II not generous, is
better than food given i'm excess for
few days, and then stinted, or food
given plentifully, but at irregular per-
iods. Animals do not thrive unless
perfectly cOntented, and never permit
ted to get hungry. The same hours for
feeding should be kept regularly
throughout the whole season.
WHEN cattle chew leather, wood, and
Ola bones II Indicates "a lack of phos-
phste of lime in their food, which i, re-
CURED TO supply bone material. A
teaspoonful of bone meal given daily
with their grain will correct the habit
and supply the deficiency which in