:ingrabout 18 lb. the

‘ of the

' sheep of the " fective in their forms,

I be ruined if placed

, not to be disregarded;

(From Law‘s Elements 0 Practical flgriculturs.) SHE‘QP. '

Tun Sournnown.——The Sonthdown is a breed of firne-woolled sheep,now greatly esteemed, and eIttensive- 1y difi‘used on the light soils and chalky downs of Eng- land. They are withduthorns; their legs and faces are grey, and, like the sheep ofthe mountains, they are light in their fore-quarters. Their wool is fine and short, being from 2 to 3 inches in length, and weighing, on an average, about 2} lbs. the fleece. Their flesh is of excellent flavor; they are a hardy class of sheep, kindly feeders, and Well suited to the species of pasture on which they are chiefly reared; they are about the size of the Cheviot sheep, the wethers, when fat, weigh- quarter. ' .

hese sheep have been raised from time immemorial upon the chalky soils of Sussex; they have spread into other districts oflight soils and downs, and also into some to which they are not adapted. _

Much care has been bestowed on the cultivation of this breed, and it has accordingly been greatly improve ad; but attention having been mainly directed to the form and fattening properties ofthe animals, 'the quality Wool has declined, thongh its quantity has in- creased.

Martino-In the class of fine-woolled sheep is the Merino or Spanish breed, now partially naturalized. They were originally natives of the nothern provinces of Spain, and were introduced into this country in the year I788. In the year of 1792 the rams were made to cross the Ryeland, the Southdown, and other fine- tvoolled breeds of England. His Majesty King George III. had introduced tents of the Merino breed from Spain. and cultivated it with care. In the year 1804, the sales which then began of his Majesty’s stock at- tracted great attention tothe breed; and, in the year 18“, a society was formed for the purpose of encourag- ing and extending it.

The result of the crosses with the native sheep, has not in any degree fulfilled the expectations formed. The wool ofthe native sheep has indeed been improv— ed in quality; but this has been accompanied by defects in the characters of the animals themselves, not to be compensated by the increased value ofthe fleece. The mixed breed have nearly all proved de- slow feeders, and less hardy than the parent stock. '

Distant—The improved Disliley breed is very gene- rally termed the New Leicester, for having been formed by Mr. Bakewell of Dishley, in the county of Leicester. This gentleman was the son of a considerable farmer; and, about the year 1755, had begun to turn his atten- tion to those improvements in the form of feeding ani- mals by which he became so distinguished. The precise steps which he followed in the forming of his breed of sheep are not known, as he chose to observe a species of mystery upon the subject. He is supposed to have derived his first sheep from Lincolnshite: but however this may be, it was by a steady breeding from the best formed animals, until the properties aimed at had been acquired, that he gradually corrected the defects, and improved the form of the animals. He was well aware of the external characters which indicated a disposition to feed, and, by a steady course of selection, continued during a lifetime, he obtained animals of superior feeding properties to any that had been before cultivaied. By constantly breeding, too, from individuals of his own flock, and consequently near of blood to eachother, he gave a permanence to the characters of his breed which it retains tothe present hour. Mr. Bakewell adopted the practice of letting out his rams for the season, and this comributed to the general diffusion of his breed. Suc- cessors to Mr. Bakewell have continued the same sys- tem, and bestowed the utmOst care in maintaining the purity oftheir flocks; and thus from the county of Lei- cester as a centre, this breed has been spread to every part of England, where the breeders have thought fit to receive it; and it has generally changed the character of the greater part of the long-woolled breeds of this kin dom.

he sheep of the new Leicester breed are inferior in size to the other varieties which they have supplanted. The wool is but of moderate quality, and in weight it falls short ofthat ofthe larger breeds: it weighs from 7 to lbs., and has a length of pile of from 5 to 7 inches The value ofthe breed, therefore, does not consist in the size ofthe individuals, or the quality or abundance of their wool, but in early, maturity, and aptitude to feed. In this latter property, the New Leicester has not been surpassed or equalled by any other breed of cul- tivated sheep.

IMPROVEMENT or BREEDS.— The breed of sheep to be reared in any case must be selected according to the nature ofthe pastures, and the artificial means possessed ofaupplying food. Ifa mountain breed is selected for rearing on a low arable farm, then the advantage is lost which the farm possesses of producing a larger and finer class of animals. If, on the other had, a lowland breed is carried to a mountain farm, an error of a difi‘erent kind, but yet more hurtful, is committed; for a fine stock will ' j in circumstances where it cannot be maintained.

The breed, then, being selected which is the best suited to the circumstances in which it is to be placed, the province of the breeder is to breed from the best individuals.

Disposition to feed, and early maturity, are the pro- perties most regarded in sheep to be reared for food. But the property of yielding good and abundant wool is and there is another property essential in this class of animals, namely, hardiness and sound health of individuals.

In the case of the sheep, as of the ox, refinement in breeding may be carried too far, and with more danger.

y breeding from animals near of blood, the same means

, exist in the case ofthe sheep as ofthe ox, of giving that

_ ceasing to yield milk, and by

prematurity ofage which produces fineness of the bones

and subject to diseases. It seems a violence done to nature, when carried too far, and the animals show the effects ofit by becoming too fine in their skins, by ceas- lng toproduce wool in sufficient quantity, by the females males becoming at length unable to continue their species.

benever, then, the sheep of any flock become too

‘ near ofblood, the breeder should resort to the best ani-

mals of another

. _ family, but of the same breed, to con- tinue his stock.

This species of crossing is now easy,

sizes there is now scarce any ofthe cultivated breeds of vr

ich

Eupellor males may not be procured from other ks. In the case of the new Leicester, so widely 6 highly improved, no necessity can exist for

5 too nearly allied. in other animals, certain ition to feed, and at

disposition to said

Foam—In the external characters indicat an earlyfage. Other characters in produce wool, and the quantity of wool, it

J

is not tobe disregarded in the rearing of the sheep. But the main purpose in rearing the sheep In. this country being ibi- food, the province ofthe breeder is to accom- plish this object with as little sacrifice as possible of the secondary qualitieS. _

A property that indicates a tendency to feed in the sheep, as in the ox, is‘ageneral rotundity of form and fine.- ness of the bones. The chest should be broad, the ribs well arched, and the back and loins accordingly broad, flat, and straight. The sheep, like the ox, occupleS, independently of the neck and head, nearly a rectangle, and the larger, proportion of this rectangle which the body occupies, the more perfect is his form as a feeding animal. His body, therefore, should be large in pre- portion to his limbs; or, in other words, his limbs should be short in proportion to his body; his breast should be well forward, and his belly straight; his head should be small and his cars thin; his limbs to the joint should he fleshy, below delicate and covered with short half; INS skin should be soft and elastic; his wool soft to the touch, thick, and coming well forward to the face, bUl not covering it : his face and forehead should be covered thickly with short hair, and his eyes, as indicative of health, should be lively.

(From the Colonial Farmer.) COWS.

The best Cows for the Countryman are generally those that make the most butter, and ifa person here were to raise no calves except those of cows that made more than the average quantity of butter, and at the same time carried flesh well; and when these calves were grown, continued his selection of breeding cattle, he would undoubtedly improve his stock., By selecting by hand yearly the best and largest grain to raise seed from, the quality ofthe different kinds ofgrain may be improved also; but the same care must always be con- tinued. And it is necessary to keep in mind the caution given to the Farmer by Virgil, (from whom the substance ofthe above directions are borrowed.) “ That every thing naturally dcgenerates, and that he who does not continue his care to keep up the improved quality of his stock and seeds, will fare like the man who hav- ing slowly pushed a little boat up a rapid stream, stop- ped to rest; when the current rapidly carried him down again.” In attempting to improve a breed of cattle, size should not be regarded ; that will be properly regulated by the quality of the pasture and feeding. We should aim only at procuring a given quantity of beef or butter; of mutton or wool, at the least expense.

Throughout the province, Cows are with few excep- tions turned out to range over the waste lands and woods in the vicinity ofthe farm till the hay season is over. Then milk cows and cattle that are~designed to be fattened are turned into the mowing ground to eat ofi‘the after grass. It is very rarely that we see cattle pastured through the summer upon land that has been formerly ploughed and manured, except in cases where, from neglect of manuring, the grass had become so poor that it was not worth mowing. Early in the season cattle feed in the woods very much upon plants akin to the lily ofthe valley, upon the leaves of beech, maple, and black-berry, and upon the tender leaves of the Prenantbes, a plant somewhat resembling Lettuce, which is found in almost all woods. This kind of feed keeps

, same square acre with a high condition

them in tolerable flesh, but they do not give more than two-thirds the milk they would ifkept in a good grass field. After the middle ofAngust the feed in the woods grows worse, yet dry cows and young cattle still can support themselves feeding upon violets, wood sorrel, French willow, with the young shoots ofwbite maple and black-berry. In many places cattle have a scanty allowance of hay in winter and support themselves partly by browsing upon the tops ofthe hardwood trees which are cut for cordwood. l have seen at Margaret’s Bay 14 head of small sized cattle in the month of April who could not have consumed more than five hundred of hay each during the winter, as Ijiidged by the space which the baymow had occupied; they were poor, but the owner said that he did not‘ lose anv, they having been brought up from calves upon brouse', that they did not give halftbe milk that was given by cattle which were well fed, but that he gave to five only the quantity of hay that others gave to one, and that they would make as much butter as two cows that were well fed, and that they would fatten earlier than the cows that were well wintered, and make as much beefas any other five.

When there is no land producing hardwood in reach, these cows generally learn to eat the Carriboo moss upon the barrens.

There are in the Eastern part of the Pr0vince large tracts ofa better description for pasturage, but much of this land is still in a state of nature, without settlers.

As there are contiguous to most ofour settlements large tracts so poor that they will not be cultivated, yet capable ofsnpporting cattle in summer, we should take ad 'antage of this pasture which costs nothing, and for that purpose, a small rather than a large breed is the most suitable. The size ofthe animal is not ofimport—

ance. we want those which will furnish a given quantity of beef or butter at the least expense. %

THE DWELLINGS or THE Poor: IN LONDON.—Il' it were required to draw a strong picture of man morally and socially degraded by misery, the savage tribes of dis— taut zones would in all probability be selected to sit for it. Yet such darkly-shaded originals, such painful realities need not be sought in remote lands. Let the street beg: gar or the London thief be followed to his home (if he have one), and mankind will be seen existing in degrada- tion as great, enduring misery as sharp, as the South Sea Islanders or the South Africans in their worst aspect. Amongst them poverty, vice, ignorance, have no contrast to heighten their efi‘ects; but here—in England, in Lon- don,perbaps at our own back doors-wretchedness the most acute, infamy the most shocking, exist upon the of luxury and wealth; and despite this near neighbourhood, it may be safely conjectured that the British public know more of the social miseries ofsavage nations than they do oftheir own poor. Yet upon this ignorance the debased and the criminal are specially legislated for, sometimes incor- rectly, always inefficiently. It is a fact that in St.Giles’s in the back streets of Drury-lane, around Westminstef Abbey, in the parishes of BethnaLgi-een, Shoreditch, &c., nearly all along the Surrey shores of the river, and in the similar neighbourhoods of great towns, a state of civilisation exists as low in degree as it is found in the far- ofi'regions of Africa! This is no rhetorical flourish_we

have seen it, and will describe as much of it as dare be pourtrayed without violently shocking the sensibility of the reader. Beggars, street-jobbers, and the poorer class. es otherwise employed, either hire a room by the week or seek shelter in a nightly lodging-house. The firs; description of houses and their inhabitants will occu

us at present. " Lodgings for travellers,” as they are

—-"—'"” t the (colonial wreath.

. ' le. The caned’iwm form the SUbJect 0f aanilszlarfdfclife than P00r Pay more (dearly for every nbe dantopportnnities the wealthy. This we .shall haven IJn t We visited ofproving; but to begin With house rent. Drmrlane; last week Charles, King and Parker stree 5.. me of the many of the houses are Without-fore-doors , sod exhibit rooms are in the last stage of dilapidatmn.k 8" e of a fewer conveniences than ‘ the basket-wot stairs °r °‘ a,Ri‘l:';‘i.'::t....:..... ' few cases ro en awa ; -

lilizrianaiie any—are rendered useless from accuénourliztzti' filth, and sewerage is frequently stopped up. th cold the rooms have no grates, and large holes let in F t in from without. The best ofthe habitations mam. es er- some part or other traces of ruin—all alford impm

fect shelter, and no convenience; there not citing be}: fixtures (such as stoves and cupboards) but ' t as? e longing to the tenants; the accumulation of dirt, Ire , &c., exhales efl'luvia scarcely tolerableon entering “e passages; it is quite unendurable to a ViSitor, esptacmhy afteroa shower'ofrain, and can only be borne yt e inhabitants from long habitiide: These wretched abdodes are either let in separate lodgings by their mime iate landlords, or are rented by persons who sub-let them , a speculation which seldom fails to be a most profitzble one; for what doesthe reader suppose each of Lesa dens produces per annum? It may startle him to car, from £35 to £50! Thus :--for two cellars, 3s. pher week are charged; the parlours fetch 4s per week ,rIthe first floor, 45 6d; the second,4s; the attics 35. 1e excellent secretary of the London City-misSion has cia - culated the rental of Charles-street, Drury-lane, from in- formalion obtained from parties interested both ways, and finds it exceed £2,000 per aniium !, Tosliow still further how profitable the sub-letting system is, and, at the same time, the horrible encouragement and temp- tation to crime it creates, it is only necessary to state the manner in which it is carried on. We Will take the example of a blind man who has now become the sole proprietor ofNos. l to5 in King-street, Drury-larie. Some of the houses he originally rented of a superior landlord, and to make a profit he proceeded thus :——A single man or woman would apply for lodgings; he would ask what they Could pay; ifthe answer were, " 28 a-vreek,” he would say,,“ You can have a lodging for Is 6d a-week, furniture and all, if you do not mind a couple of companious~the bed is very large.” The bargain is struck: and thus the old man would get three lodgers at ls 6d a-week each for a room that probably stood him in less than ls. By this means he gradually accumulated money enough to purchase the five houses he now owns, and will doubtless die rich; but by what means? Let us see :——-—the applicant for lodgings is possibly ayoung man who has some situation of from 103 to 153 per Week, without friends to provide any other home than such as his narrow income drives him to seek in a poor neighbourhood. He is honest and Well-dispOSed; it is more than likely, however, that one, perhaps both his bed-fellows, seem to him gay, pleasant persons, who live he does not exactly know how, but, at all events, are seldom in want of cash. They takeihim to a “ free-and-easy” now and then, introduce him to a female companion or two, whom he takes to the tea- gardens on a Sunday. Being up late at night, he rises late of a morning and neglects his employer, who of course discharges him. His rent soon gets into arrear, and the landlord is troublesome; but his companions pat him on the back when he desponds, and ask him if he have “pluck” enough to do as they do. What is that? The question is not long in being answered. Look for the hitherto well-disposed young man, who was till lately earning an honest living, and you will find him busy in some crowd seeking pocket bandkerchiefs, and other stray articles. He makes more money at this kind ofindustry (for a thief’s is by no means an idle life), than he did in his former pursuits, till he gets

introduced a cylinder, round which 1 printed on is placed; also a wheat-him the alphabet arranged regularly on its 9* inking roller. All theserevolve horizon V ‘ taneously, the wheel With the letters tween the ink—roller and the cylinder h, is communicated to these parts by a poi , nets attached to them andcommunica’ttn Thus, ifthe word “ the" is to be prints the dial-plate is allowed to revolve until, letter t, beyond which it is prevented f' the peg. When stopped, the printer t. on a spring attached to the plate, which

rent of electricity to pass to the wheel ‘ , which immediately presses the letter t agsiw

it having previously been inked by the vol retires. The other letters are arranged way until the word is complete. A pooch

mechanism, and that which can hard], .g I. without a diagram, relates to the passagsg’f nic current from the dial-plate to the wind V _ . letters on it, in order to produce corre a t . , 1 y ,, , in both, so that the letter indicated shall be printed by the other. This, how ed by a simple arrangement on the faceoft ,m” which makes and breaks the current case required. The inventor ofthis extraordin I: is Mr. Alexander Bain, the chronometpr— . not appears to us that its introduction for _ . other similar purposes might be attended wit (“1” cess. The length of the wires laid on at' ,4), nic Institution is not more than a mile; but 4,0, distance of a hundred or a thousand, the ' effect woul-d be the same. i “a «Ca ll! IF I Wane—It is very apt to be the casc, .- 11;“ would do a great many good things if be we ' I situated; but that troublesome word, "if, T1, interfere with his good intentions. Hisp y'mti ofthe must patriotic and praiseworthy “I would be the most kind-hearted, the most ‘ ’_

most benevolent man in the world, if it certain things which intervene to prevent th of his noble designs.

“I were a merchant, says one, I would ll act all my business in the most honourable we never take advantage of another, I would d with all, I would accumulate a fortune, a leave my children independent of the world.

IfI were a farmer, 1 would devote my who to the cultivation ofthe soil, I would raiset crops ofwheat, the greatest number ofbushels to the acre, the largest cabbage, heads, and the neatest and best managed farm in the t