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fddd RAMBOUILLET BLOOD. SnpcvnHftil Sheep ]lulinnilry on Ahn ndonrd Kncland Krm. Asa remit of six years of cnrefnl and painstaking experiments with sheep husbandry npon the abandoned farms of New r England Hon. Frank P. Ben nett of Saugus, Mass., president of the New England Woolgrowers’ associa tion and first vice president of the Na tional Woolgrowers’ association, argues that there is as much difference between races of sheep as between races of men, and that lack of success with a flock of sheep is more often dne to the choice of an unfit breed in the loginning than to any other cause. By unfit ho mean* ill adapted to the special conditions and surroundings of the farm npon which the sheep are to be maintained. The domestic sheep now’ in the Unit ed States are mainly descendants of the flocks introduced by Spanish and Eng lish colonists. Hence the so called “na tive 1 ' sheep of all the New England states as well as of Virginia, the Caro* linas and in fact of the entire 18 origi nal colonies had for Hieir progenitors the Downs, Leicesters neid other English races of sheep. The English colonists brought their own sheep w’ith them, and the Spanish brought theirs. The Spanish sheep imported by Christopher Columbus himself at the isthmus of Panama and brother conquistadores in Mexico and elsewhere have formed the basis of the flocks throughout the west ern section of the United States. The essential difference between the Spanish and English sheep may be summarized in a single sentence —namely, the sheep of Spanish origin can live together in large numbers w’ith a minimum of care, W’hile the English sheep will 'perish it housed together in considerable num bers. The “native sheep” of New Eng- mm^mm v *m§mwmmi y; W/Wfv-Mt'imW > s&*ss . v^Z^s^we^* ' . ■%c ■". UAMBOUILI.KT RAM. land, being wholly of English origin, contract fatal diseases of such certainty if kept in large bands that the farmers of Massachusetts and Maine are accus tomed to assert in general terms that sheep will not thrive if kept in flocks of more than 30 or 40 head. For sheep raising upon a profitable scale upon the abandoned farms of New England, Mr. Bennett recommends the Rambouillet ram crossed upon “native” ewes. A history of these sheep, of which an illustration is presented herewith, is as follows: In 1785 Louis XVI of France, who two years before had bought the domain of Rambouillet and established an experimental farm there on, obtained permission from the king of Spain to purchase and take from the last named kingdom a flock of pure Merinos. The Spanish king gave orders that the selection should be made from the finest flocks of his kingdom. The Rambouillet flock was put under the care of an agricultural commission at the beginning of the French revolu tion. and through all the horrors of that period it was preserved from danger, and from the day of its foundation in 178(> to the present, a period of over a cent try, this flock has been conducted with the closest attention to feed, care and selection. The common American Merino ram tinlay weighs about 100 ponmls, but the best American Ram bouillet ram weighs from 200 to 270 pounds. The Rambonillets began to be im ported into the United States some years ago and are now largely domesti cated in Ohio and Michigan. Mr. Ben nett has had a considerable flock of them at Freedom. Me. The Rambouillet ewes make excellent mothers and un der proper conditions will produce lambs at any season of the year. As to the theory that the difficulty with sheep raising in New England lies Ui the destructiveness of duxs. Air. Bea- nett writes to a correspondent that this is a great mistake. He has experiment ed largely with sheep, both in Maine and in Massachusetts, and has never had any trouble with dogs, because he uses a dogproof barbed wire fence, the wire for which cost $07.20 per mile, built of seven strands. The first strand is very to the ground, so that sheep and dogs cannot crawl under, and they will not jump over, because a fence of moderate height is never troubled by a dog unless he can put his paws upon it when jumping over. As to the value of an investment in sheep husbandry upon the abandoned farms of New England, Mr. Bennett re plies to a correspondent as follows: Dkak Rill—The development in eheep hus bandry which we are iujrßestlng is designed for present or prospective farmers who get their own living from the aoil rather than for outside investors who propose going into the industry in the same manner in which they would invest a certain sum of money in rail road or mill shares or bonds. Hut we have no lesltation in asserting that a well managed nvestment in sheep husbandry upon farms which are now wholly or partially abandoned in England would be entirely successful. In the first plaoo, it should be remembered that the first cost of these farms is exceeding ly small, and that most of them can be pur chased for the cost of the buildings, if any buildings remain thereon. Ten thousand dol lars would purchase 1,000 acres of such land with the necessary buildings and leave some thing over for quick capital. These should maintain 1.000 sheep, which, with thorough bred rams, should cost Sfi,UUO. All other ex penses of the investment, Including tools, fences, furniture, etc., should not bring the gross investment above 120,000. In the management of this investment there should be no operating expenses to speak of except wages of men. Everything else should be grown upon the place, and one of the prin cipal profits of the investment would lie in the fuct that under the fertilizing influence of the sheep the property would he constantly increasing in value. In nearly all other in vestments a percentage must be charged off every year for deterioration of property, hut in a steep farm of this kind the opposite would be true, and a credit could be made upon the profit and loss account every year because of decided improvement of the prop erty. Tills would appear in the growing pro ductiveness of the farm, which, if it kept 1,000 sheep, handled with reasonable care, would furnish 6,000 pounds of wool in the beginning, which should be sold for $1,400, and 1,000 sheep and lambs, which should bring $5,000, making total earnings of $6,400. But if the business were well and shrewdly managed the production of wool should even tually increase to ten pounds per head, mak ing from 1,000 sheep 10,000 pounds per annum of somewhat improved quality, which should sell for more than $2,500. Then the flock should be constantly bred in the production of a considerable portion of thoroughbreds, which should furnish each year a carload of 200 thoroughbred rains to be sent to the great woolgrowing regions of the west and sold for $5,000. In such ways as this the annual gross earn ings of the I,UOO acres should be raised to $15,- 000 per annum, exclusive of the iyiprovement of the property. We have no hesitation in saying that this kind of an investment under proper management could he multiplied almost indefinitely, and that an investment of S‘2OO,tKX) could he made to eventually yield ten times as great an income as an investment of $20,000, and that the expense should not great ly exceed the amount paid in wages to men, ns nearly everything inquired should he raised upon the farm. Frank P. Bennett. GOOD STALLIONS. Qnnllty nnl Action "Wanted ns Well us Itulk. There has been an active inquiry for good draft and coach stallions all win ter, says The Breeder’s Gazette, and with the approach of the regular breed ing season many sales are being con summated. Since the “booin’’ days in horse breeding stallion buyers have learned many useful lessons. They know now that a draft stallion must have some breeding quality an.l action as well as bulk. They know that high class coach horses cannot be successfully bred by the use of cold blooded sires and dams They know that a trotting bred stallion to be of any real service as a sire must possess size and good looks as well as a fair degree of speed. The market calls for size joined to quality and good action, whether it he in “drafter” or “driver.” The time is now here when every farmer can well afford to own a few choice brood mares to be mated to first class sires. The “scrub” is dear property at any price. Beware of breeding to grade stallions or to those purely bred ones that are unsound or of faulty conformation. Do not patronize an inferior horse simply because ho stands at a low service fee. Pay a fair price for the service of the best horse within reach. It is difficult enough to attaiu the superlative in horse breeding even where the best ma terials are in use. Low bred, under sized, cheap stallions are a curse to any community, and we trnst that no Ga zette reader will this spring be guilty of giving such any encouragement. If there is no first class horse available, it is easy to form a little syndicate for the purchase of a stallion likely to pro duce the sort of stock buyers are now so eagerly seeking. Big, fine draft geld ings are scarce. First class harness and saddle horses are not easily found. Of “common horses” there are millions. Escape their competition by breeding for something better. Get Good Bulla. With any farmer or dairyman who depends upon breeding and rearing calves for the maintenance of his herd and its improvement the choice of a bull is of prime importance. That “the bull is half the herd’' should not be for gotten. Good Habit to Acquire. The farmer who gets interested in any kind of stock and resolves to have the very best of its kind that is to be had soon sees the benefits thereof, and t&is habit soon extends to all other branches of his business. SHEEP AND WEEDS. Ctlllt)' of Vegetation Supposed to Be Valueless. A weed is said to be any useless or injurious plant growing where it is not wanted. But there are some plants com monly thought to be weeds which may be of service under some circumstances, says Live Stock. This is the case as re gards sheep pastures, in which there are some plants which may lie of much use as tonics or alteratives, which the sheep will eat when instinct leads them to do it. One of these common weeds is the dandelion, the taraxicum of the botanist and the herbalist. The extract of the plant is a very useful bitter tonic, as well as a laxative and diuretic. It is not always eaten by sheep, but when instinct seems to impel them they take it freely. It has an excellent effect on the liver, thus purifying the blood, in creasing the appetite and preventing bilious disorders. Parsley is another plant having similar effects and is more readily eaten by sheep than the preced- ing. Yarrow is another useful plant, which is purposely sown in laying down pastures for sheep in England. Indeed an English sheep pasture will be com monly found glistening with what we call weeds. Tho bntteicup is especially abundant and is considered usefully me dicinal. Wormwood is also so considered and as a bitter tonic is certainly use ful. The narrow leaved plantain, the rib grass of the English shepherds, is commonly sown in pastures for sheep and is readily eaten. A species of grass known as sheep’s fescue, a bluish green kind with wiry and hardy and productive, is also much liked by sheep. It is certainly a weed otherwise, as it is too small to be inown. Most of these plants are nutritious as well as medic inal, and as sheep should have a per manent pasture, as they should also be a permanent part of the farm stock, it is advisable to stock the land with some of these weeds if not all of them. Plants generally grow most thriftily in con junction. These -weeds in a pasture may never decrease the amount of feed, while they may serve a useful purpose in preserving the health of the flock. Animals mostly, by instinct, make use of such plants ss these. They do not feed on them, but take them as they seem to need them. Pare Water I’or Sheep. We must always think of water as being directly taken into tho blood of an animal and whatever impurities it may contain go directly to the very source of life. Impurity of the blood thus occasioned must inevitably pro duce disease. At this time of the year surface water of all kinds, especially that which is stagnant, and even (but less so) that of streams, contains a vast proportion of impure matter, the drain age of the land which is covered by de composing matter, dead insects with their eggs, and an uncountable quan tity of various kinds of injurious germs. If one desires to test this matter, let him taste such water, and if the ap pearance of it alone does not disgust him the smell and taste of it will sure ly do so. Sheep should never be com pelled to drink water that the shepherd would not use himself. And as we know that the use of bad water at this season is a frequent cause of fatal disease to persons, we must think of this as re gards the sheep. Here is an instance: A friend living in Dakota lost many of his lambs by diseases which seemed to him to be produced by quite different causes. The symptoms seemed to vary so much that no one source of the dis ease could seem to be sufficient. But it was unquestionably the impure water supplied from a pond and a brook which fed it and which flowed from swampy ground, to which every symptom could be attributed. On advice the pond was fenced off, and water from a well was used. It was only a few days before ev ery difficulty disappeared, and the flock recovered without any special treat ment. We must think of the easy sus ceptibility of sheep through their very weak physical organization to diseases from which more robust animals would escape. We cannot treat sheep as we may safely treat pigs or even cattle, but we are always to give them the benefit of every possible care which we know we must exercise for ourselves.—■ American Sheep Breeder. Duration of Vounx Animnli. Everybody knows that animals make their most rapid growth while young, most of those which reach their growth in two or three years making more growth, and we may add at less cost,, the first year than they ever can again. This is, we think, mainly because di gestion the first year is better than it ever is likely to be thereafter. Much of this good digestion of young animals is, we think, caused by the labor they have to perform to slowly get their food during the first few weeks by drawing milk from the teat. It cannot be made to come rapidly, and the operation of sucking the teat starts the salivary glands in the mouth to working, so that by the time the milk does come it is well mixed with saliva and is of course easily digested. This is one rea son why the butchers always prefer a calf that has suckled its dam rather than one that looks equally well that has been fed by hand. But it injures the milk giving capacity of the cow to let her calf suckle and will soon dry her off if long continued.—Boston Culti vator. “Pitts' —■*' Carminative Smvmd My Baby’a Ufa.” ¥¥ UMAR & RANKIN DRUG CO.. I can not recommend Pitts' Car minative too strongly. I mast say, I owe my baby’s life to it. I earnestly ask all mothers who have sickly or delicate children jvet to try one bottle and see what the result will be. Respectfnlly, Jks. LIZZIE MURRAY, Johnson's Station, Ga. ¥¥ Pitta * Carmlnatlvo lm mold by all Dm try!aim. PRICE, CERTS. They Hide Free. Senator Chandler, whose love for the Boston and Maine railroad is exactly opposite to the love "which Damon bore Pythias, has scored a point against that road by securing the publication of the names of all the persons to whom free passes have been granted. Mr. Chandler started the trouble by making a formal complaint against the road last summer and compelled the inter state commerce commission to bring his charges to a trial. At this hearing the railroad company submitted a list of the persons to whom passes had been issued, but the list remained buried in the archives of the commission until Senator Chandler secured the' passage of a resolution directing that it be sent to the senate. So now the list appears in public document No. 63. It is a list occupying page after page of small type, and Mr. Chandler’s heart is doubtless happy because among the beneficiaries of the railroad’s courtesy are the governor of New Hampshire and nearly all other officials of the state, while the railroad commissioners, not only of New Hampshire but of all the other New England states, are equally well provided. The members of the rail road committee of the Massachusetts legislature are all provided with an nuals, while clerks of corporations, ho tel keepers and all sorts and conditions of men are also to be found in the list. —Washington Post. Rich Perjurers. The officials of the tax department are secretive as to the question of “swearing off,” otherwise called the “sifting process,” by which hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of personal 'property escapes taxation yearly. The World has obtained definite in formation as to the methods. Customs have sprung up in the tax department, continued year after year, and now are regarded as right and legal by some of the officials. That the law prescribed how personal taxes shall be levied and collected is violated thousands of times every year by New York’s wealthiest citizens is tacitly admitted in the official reports of the department of taxes and assess ments since 1871. To the evil of “swearing off” taxes justly and fairly levied is daily added the crime of perjury.—New York World. Can Yon Wonder? Do you know what the terror and horror of industrial conditions are? Think of going on day after day in the same room, breathing the same air, eating the same food! Can you won der some high spirited girl flings her self out of it and thinks anything is better.—Bishop Henry C. Potter. Kiot a Herman. “Did you enjoy the german the other night, Miss Daisy?” asked Tinkleton. “He wasn’t a German, Mr. Tinkle ton,” answered Daisy innocently; “he’s an Englishman. ” —Harper’s Bazar. HERE is a medical lecture in a nutshell. The Kid neys drain water and im purities from the blood. The Liver makes bile and helps to drive off other waste. If these organs work badly the body becomes a cesspool and disease sets in. You must get them into healthy action or die. folllflcLrans LivffdKidneyßalm Is an old and unsurpassed rem edy for Backache, Debility, Sleeplessness, Lost Appetite, Foul Tongue, Palpitations and all other symptoms of disease in those organs. It cures as well as prevents every serious trouble in Kidney, Liver or Bladder. At druggists, SI.OO per bottle. THE OR.J.H.MCLCAN MEDICINE CO. , ST. LOUIS. MO. For sale by H. C. Poole. The World £ Almanac and dt Encyclopedia for 1899 Illustrated History of the Spanish- American War READY FOR SALE EVERYWHERE JANUARY Ist, 1899. Together with [The Battle Calendar of the Republic. Compiled by EDGAR STANTON MACLAY Historian of the U. S. Navy. THE STANDARD AMERICAN ANNUAL. PRICE 25 CENTS. Podpaid to any address. THE WORLD, Pulitzer Building, NEW YORK. Getting: His Money’s Worth. Youth (to barber) —Cut me a little, please, so that people will see I’ve had a shave. —Journal Amusant. Expectancy. Life's not all romantic sweetness, As the poets love to sing. When they rhyme with grace and neatness On the blossoming of spring, Yet a hope each song discloses, And we all await the day When the violets and roses Scare these microbes far away. Now they linger on the highway. They are lurking in the hall; There is grip in every byway Where your footsteps chance to fall , We may scorn poetic poses And all seriously say: ’ "Haste, ye violets and roses! , Scare these microbes far away!" —Washington Star. Cottonseed Meat. Cottonseed meal cannot be fed to, hogs, since it is almost sure to lead to | disease if fed for more than five or six weeks. Ido not know of any cases in 1 which, when cottonseed meal has been used for steer feeding, that the drop- 1 pings of steers so fed have proved in-, jurious to hogs. Begin with not over two pounds per head daily, in addition to corn and roughage, and at no time allow the quantity of meal fed to ex ceed five pounds if the best results from its use are sought. The droppings should all be carefully saved, as they are very rich in the elements of fertil ity.—W. A. Henry. 1 Good Rants. By getting really good rams it is as tonishing how quickly the quality of a flock can be improved. We are not like ly to see the high prices for wool that once prevailed; therefore the more need to give special attention to the mutton qualities of the sire. A heavy fleece is all right if it goes with the other. —. : A Valid Excuse. “Please excuse William from school today,” wrote the boy’s mother to the teacher, “as he sat up late last night studying his lessons and is too sleepy t 0 come today." Philadelphia North American. Sheep’s Hoofs. See to the sheep’s feet and clip the overgrown hoofs. The sole is to be trimmed smoothly to avoid the irritat* ipg effect of sand or gravel on it. >