hundred pounds of plaster to the acre two springs in succession for pasture. With the help of clover and plaster, his hogs in 1879 paid better than any part of his grain crop. Must make use of clover and plaster to supplement the barnyard manure. The question of applying science to farming is being forced upon us by the necessity of competing with newer western lands.

President True thinks plaster is good in some soils, and calls for the opinion of gentlemen.

Mr. Wood believes in plaster on his farm. Soil, heavy timber land, inclined to a predominance of clay. Has always seen decided benefit from the use of plaster. Would always use plaster with clover. Has had wheat and oats lodge from the use of it, and it has made him a little cautious in its use. It is a fact that on some soils it has no effect.

Mr. Lawton, on a clay soil, believes thoroughly in plaster; uses it on corn as well.

Mr. Smith thinks that where plaster will work there is no better way to renovate soil than by the use of plaster and clover. As a general rule, plaster works well on timber land. It used to help his soil, but of late can get no good results. His land has been very heavily manured.

Recess until 1:30 P. M.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOCK.

By I. W. MORLEY, OF EXCELSIOR.

Having prior to this presented a paper annually for the last three years to this society on subjects intimately connected with sheep husbandry, I had thought that I had worn this subject threadbare, to that extent at least that anything that I might add would be looked upon as rather stale, if not nauseating. But as our worthy president saddled my hobby again and asked me to mount, I decided, insomuch as it will require no one to hold my familiar steed while I vault into the stirrups, to try the rein, at the risk of driving into some of the same moonlight views, as we were wont to. But in doing so, I say that this is a field or theme

upon which there has been so much said, and which has been so ably and thoroughly presented by the writers of all our agricultural papers, by the greatest lights in the land, that it does seem to be a violation of the great law of propriety for me, Uzzah-like, to raise my hand to steady this ark of truth as it is borne onward.

If I could even hope to succeed in implanting a fixed resolution to bring our practice in the management of the flock up to the best theories, these lines would be penned with cheer and satisfaction.

We start out in the discussion of this subject with the evident fact before us, and staring us in the face, that care, feeding and breeding have made all the difference we now see between a really choice flock and a miserably poor one. Think of it. And now if these three levers which interwork so harmoniously have produced such results, I believe that each one of that company of farmers now before me can see, although it has been tauntingly said of farmers that they are good for nothing except to make money out of I say I believe we can see the importance of having these levers intelligently manned and diligently plied.

Having been taught by our agricultural papers that we should provide shelter for our sheep in the winter, most of us have done so, and we keep them where they can avail themselves of its benefits, too, at that season of the year; but have we, during the cold, wet storms of the fall of the year, been so sensitively affected by the condition of things that we have always acted on the theory that now is the time of all others in the year when our pets need their shelter?

Let us apply a little common sense here. We all know that a rapid and brisk bath in warm weather is good for a person, in opening the pores of the skin and in removing the waste particles of the system from its surface. But suppose we change the condition and have on a fair supply of clothing, and suppose that that clothing has not been changed night or day all through the dusty summer, then let a drenching cold rain beat upon us till the streaks of wet filth run down our persons; and with these unfavorable conditions, suppose the weather to remain cold and bleak for three or four days, as it frequently does in the fall

of the year, so that a person needs, even if dry, an overcoat on more than in cold weather in winter-would this be conforming to hygienic laws? Would not such a health-bleaching process rather tend to bring on rheumatism, tooth-ache, catarrh and consumption to a human subject? Then let us reflect and use a little good judgment in its application, and though we may be deaf to the cry of humanity, or of mercy to our brutes, allow me to lift a warning voice by saying, that unless we care for the comfort and the health of our flock, that great sympathetic nerve that runs down through the pocket-book will soon get affected. On the ground of self-interest then, give the flock the benefit of good, dry quarters during the fall rains, and should it rain all day, or for two days, keep them there. It will stop some time. Give them a feed of hay as often as they need it. They will be all the better to receive dry feed again when winter sets in, especially the lambs.

A flock treated in this way during these storms will keep comparatively free of those catarrhal troubles that affect so many flocks. And as the wool secreting glands are located in the skin or hide, and as copious secretions can be carried on only when in a healthy condition, it follows that, if we expect to clip very heavy annual coupons from our investment, all possible conditions for a healthy hide should be supplied. The cuticle, on opening the wool, instead of looking pale and dead should present a freshness and a glow like the blush of a maiden's cheek.

The fall season of the year, too, is the time that sheep need grain perhaps more than any other. The fact that they fill themselves on frost-bitten grass so that they look round and plump, as they always will, is deceptive, and may lead one to think that they must be laying on fat and doing well enough, whereas that very plumpness is an indication that they need something more hardy, as they thus gorge themselves to get nutriment enough to supply the demands of the system. It needs some judgment to decide just when the grain supply should commence.

We have thermometers to tell us the temperature of the atmosphere and surrounding objects, and barometers to indicate the

approach of a storm by the weight of the atmosphere; but no instrument has yet been invented to tell us just when our sheep need the fall grain storm to commence. But an index that will answer the purpose, if we will closely observe it, may be found in the farmer's milk pail. Soon after a heavy frost, if we find, as indicated by said milk pail, that the grass fed cow needs to have her milk-secreting glands nourished to keep up the usual flow of milk, "know ye that the time draweth nigh and is even now at your door." And this additional nourishment should not be ignored. I wish to emphasize this, for a failure here may prove a Waterloo to the success of the flock and their already wasting energies; may, like the rallying spirit of Napoleon, be banished to St. Helena.

Let every flock owner, then, give them during this critical period of the year the benefit of a close observing, whole-souled, liberalhanded shepherd, to see that they are brought into winter quarters on the bound. Then, after becoming a little accustomed to their new feed, the grain supply may be lowered, or suspended altogether, as may seem best.

Another very important item in the general management that needs to be attended to in the fall of the year, is the selection of an animal to stand at the head of the flock, if not already secured; and if one is breeding a flock that he expects will be able to write their own history on the records of Sheep Husbandry, he needs the exercise of some judgment. An animal that has been far fetched and dearly bought is not always the desirable one.

Science and the general history and success of stock breeding unite in teaching us that we may predetermine quality, and with skill may reach high attainments. Here there are no assigned limits. Jacob, of ancient time, understood some of these scientific principles and profited by them, too, to the disadvantage of his father-in-law Laban.

It is sometimes the case with one who has not been long in the business, that he does not know just what he does want. It is not the object of this paper to point such to any particular breed. But there are some general principles that might assist in the selection. In the first place you do not want one that has a femi

nine appearance, such as a small, slim neck, a fine ewe nose and nasal organs, a small leg, etc., no matter what his other qualities may be, for he has neither the stamina nor the longevity that should be bred into a flock. But you do want one of full medium size for the breed, and one that has written on every part of him his masculine nature, and one, too, that if once called on and thoroughly aroused, would not wince in undertaking to butt a steam-engine from the track; not necessarily cross, I do not mean, but one that seems to realize that he is master of the ground he stands on, and whose form would indicate that he had the ability to hold the fort without putting on any false airs; then if he has the other qualities to mark his merit in the particular breed to which he belongs to a high degree-when you find one with such an individuality, coupled with an untarnished pedigree, you will find a treasure worth possessing. And if you become the happy owner of such a prize, take care of him. One-half of the good qualities of your future flock are here. Do not turn him loose with your flock and allow him to waste his energies uselessly.

Let us now return to the flock. The well-bred sheep, if properly handled during the year, will at shearing time surrender a large, massive fleece with a strong elastic fiber, which, when made into cloth, will far outlast anything that ever was or probably ever will be manufactured from wool grown from sheep that have been neglected and left only to grub the frost-bitten grass during the fall. Wool that is grown from excessively poor sheep is but little better to wear than shoddy. The manufacturer, then, is not the only sinner in the wide world. I think there are sheep that shear the shoddy, whether we have those cows that, according to the authority of queenly aristocracy, give the buttermilk,

not.

or

In the spring we require our ewes to surrender ten or fifteen pounds of their clothing, and our bucks from twenty to thirty pounds. There will consequently be quite a change in their ability to withstand the varying conditions of cold or heat. If sheared too early they may suffer from cold. If not sheared till late they may suffer both before and after shearing; before shear