paper bags, hung in a dry airy place,
beyond the reach of mice.

Trying the quality of seeds is important, as it may save loss and
disappointment, from sowing seeds that will not vegetate. A little
cotton wool or moss in a tumbler containing a little water, and placed
in a warm room, will afford a good means of testing seeds. Seeds placed
on that wool, will vegetate sooner than they would do in the soil. But a
more speedy, and generally sure method, is by putting a few seeds on the
top of a hot stove. If they are good they will crack like corn in
parching; otherwise they will burn without noise, and with very little
motion. The improvement or declension of fruits, grains, and vegetables,
depend very materially upon the manner of gathering and preserving
seeds. Gather promiscuously and late, and keep without care, and rapid
declension will be the result. Gather the earliest and best, and plant
only the very best of that saved, and constant improvement will be
secured.

SHEEP.

These are the most profitable of all domestic animals. The original cost
is trifling, and the expense of raising and keeping is so light, and the
sale of meat, tallow, hide, and wool, is so ready, that sheep-growing is
always profitable. So important has this always been considered, that in
all ages of the world, there have been shepherds, whose sole business it
has been to tend their flocks. Were the flesh of sheep and lambs more
extensively substituted for that of swine, in this country, it would be
equally healthy and economical. American farmers do not attach to
sheep-growing half the importance it deserves. We recommend a thorough
study of the subject, in the use of the facilities afforded by the
writings of practical men. We can only give the outlines of the subject
in a work like this. A theory has been scientifically established by
Peter A. Brown LL. D. of Philadelphia, in which it is shown that all
sheep are divided into two species, Hair-bearing and Wool-bearing. These
species crossed, produce sheep that bear both wool and hair, as the two
never change. The hair makes blankets that will not shrink. The wool is
good for making fulled cloth. Blankets made from the fleeces of sheep
that are the product of the cross of these two species, will shrink in
some places and not in others, just as the hair or wool prevails. It is
also true that the hair-bearing sheep delight in low, moist situations
and sea-breezes, while the wool-bearing sheep