Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1882-03-31
Farmers Column.
ssSDeed the PlOw99
Thorough knowledge Necessary in
Keeping Sheep.

lnefe is money IN Sneep, OUT IL Is
not every man who can get at it. He
who embarks in the business must
take with him those practical rules
and administer them with the same
discretion that is found necessary in
every successful enterprise. In flock
to him who brings to the business "a
practical knowled &c of the sheep, it's
peculiarities, its necessities, its posi-
bilities, and who supplements this
knowledge with labor and discretion
as necessary here as in other vocations.
The ability to detect evidences of I'M
thrift and to counteract unfavorable
tendencies, is worth much to the
shepherd; but of far greater value to
him will be found that experience and
knowledge by which he will be ena-
bled to escape the necessity for elm
mating them. As majority Of the
unfortunate ventures in sheep hus-
bandry are the result of ignorance or
neglect, the experienced flock mana
ger is enabled to escape them, leaving
the ''bad luck" to fall to the lot of
those who have acted without discre-
ton. Men do not undertake mer-
chandising, or banking or manufac-
turing, in its various branches, until
they have acquainted themselves with
such of the details of the proposed
enterprise as will enable them to
properly perform the necessary duties,
or at least to be able to Judge when
their employees do so perform them
No more should the man who ESSAYS
to become flock manager expect to
find short cut to the front rank. He
may have money to buy as good ami
mails as the country affords, and may
surround them with all the auxiliaries
that his imagination can devise, but
without skill as breeder and know
eldge of what to do, and the time and
manner in which they should be done,
he will soon find himself distanced BY
some less assuming competitor, who
has plodded over the paths which he
has sought to avoid. Hard work and
close attention are essentials to success
in sheep husbandry; but these are so
sure of reward that none need hesitate
to assume them. Sheep will pay we'll
for intelligent care, but thev must
have if disappointment is to be avoid
ed.-Lire Stock Journal.
[ There is nothing better for fertil-
izer of grape-vines than ground bones.
It seems to afford the vine and the
fruit just the elements they require.
France appropriated for agriculture
in 1881 in round numbers $4,000.
This grant includes agricultural edu-
cation, expenses for breeding studs
and keeping up $500 stations, inspec-
tors of woods and forests and prizes
to regional forests.
Poor soils yield their best results in
seasons of slow, but continued growth.
the crop having longer time to col
lect the scanty supply of food which
the soil contains. In hot seasons,
with an early harvest, only soils we'll
supplied with food can produce full
crops.
The Maine Board of Agriculture in
recent session unanimously advised
"the average farmer" Of the State .'to
await the results of experiments now
in progress on the ensilage of corn
and other forage crops, before adopt
ing the system on scale involving any
considerable expense"
The over-stocking of land is one of
the surest methods of running pas
lures. Many farmers cannot be made
to believe that they are getting the
full benefit Of pasture unless the
grass is eaten off little faster than
it has time to grow; consequently, all
who put this method in practice al
ways have bare pastures and poor cat
tie
i he General Harping farm in Tenn
essee contains 3,7o7 acres, "425 in a
park rivaling anything that England
can exhibit, where 800 wild deer roam
and breed, and furnish venison for
the table, and add beauty to the scene"
About eighty fine brooding mares are
kept, also Jersey cattle and highly
bred sheep. GA hundrend negroes,
old and young, cultivate the rich do
main, and show the care, kindness
and thrift of their noble employers"
D. W. Hall, of Matchbox, n. Y,
says: While digging potatoes, last
fall, | noticed large numbers of small
snakes, and naturally thought they
We're attracted by the beetles but to
satisfy myself on that point killed
some of them; and found on examin-
alton that they contained toads; and
then on opening the toads found them
full Of beetles; so the natural conclu-
sion would be that the toads were at
tracted by beetles and the snakes
again by the toads, and not the snakes
by the beetles, as recent item sug-
gested.
Salt as Fertilizer.