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172    THS W1$CO8$IN FARMER.



with more despatch and less expense. In thU
arrangement the division of the warp is effect-
ed by means of a series of perforated cards oi
pasteboard, one being provided for each shoot
of the woof necessary to form the pattern.
The cards are all linked together as an endless
chain, which passes over a hollow box at the
top of the loom, in such a manner that the
blank portions operate upon the levers which
work the warp threads required to be lifted,
while the levers opposite the holes pass into
them without being worked at all.
  Twenty thousand cards are necessary to the
weaving of some patterns, and one year's time
of one man is required to make them ready,
notwithstanding the perforations are all made
by machinery!

        Wheat-Growing Doesn't Pay.
  EDITOR FARMER:-The experience of the
past two years has probably brought over many
converts to the doctrine that wheat-growing is
not to be relied upon exclusively as a source of
prosperity among farmers.  Still, there are
many who cling to it as the safest way to gain
a livelihood, and are, at the same time, on the
brink of poverty from this very cause; this is
but a legitimate result. Most farmers know
that to sow wheat for a number of years in
succession will exhaust the best of land for
that crop, even if the straw be returned as
manure. But this is too seldom the case, as
many still burn their straw as a matter cf
economy, to save drawing manu re.
  We admit that it is hard for one whose mind
has continually run on wheat-raising to be
compelled to seek some other means of susten-
ance, but Nature's laws are inexorable, and
the unsuccessful farmer reluctantly turns his
thought s to something else.
  Oats would be a change, but they are some-
times salable and sometimes not.  Corn, if
properly attended to, is good for cleaning and
invigorating soils, but is seldom worth the la-
bor it costs and the trouble of drawing it to
market. The same may be said of potatoes.
And live stock, why, the critters  e always



jumping over fqnoes, breaking into crops and
bieeding trouble Haeng neighbors, generally,
besides looking very thin and dying off as
much as possible in winter. But hold t This
reasoning won't do. We would here wish to
say, that it is folly for our farming friends to
try to shove along with poor fences. The fence
which will not keep in our own cattle will not
keep out our neighbors'. One poor fence has
frequently spoiled a whole neighborhood, and
such things generally go by neighborhoods.
So do breachy cattle, for they are inseparable.
  Our advice is, keep good fences, and cattle
will learn to respect them. But farmers must
keep stock, were it for nothing else but to pro-
duce manure, and the idea we would wish to
convey is that it will pay. Experience is gen-
erally better than theory; we give you ours.
One hundred and seventeen sheep require about
40 acres to keep them one year.) JThe wool,
sold at 456 cents a pound, and the increase, at
two dollars per head, amounts to a little over
$400. We know of flocks which have done
better, but quote this to show it will pay. We
had also about 50 acres of wheat, which, after
deducting seed, threshing, and drawing to mar-
ket, might be worth half that sum; while the
labor of plowing, sowing and reaping, might,
and -probably would, cost double that of at-
tending to the 117 head of sheep.
  We would further say that raising good hors-
es will pay nearly as well as sheep. A good
four year old colt, for instance, will generally
bring about a hundred dollars in any civilized
community, and it is as easy to raise good ones
as poor ones. Farmers and others may figure
for themselves, for we have no room, but we
think they will agree with us that raising hors-
es is still a lucrative business.
  As for horned cattle, they have not been
very high of late.  Yet few have lost much,
even at them, except through carelessness.
And we would say, in conclusion, that, with-
out care and attention as regards shelter from
inclement weather, and plenty of food at all
Limes of the year, live stock never will pay.
                           JOHrN RHODII.



BfurEton. Mrea, 1B.



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