seen in this show-yard, and in this city, to suppose that any thing I could say, would materially hasten the progress of agriculture among you, or turn you into any better paths than those you have already begun to follow. If any man wishes an evidence of what you are in energy, and what you are capable of in action, let him come to Syracuse, and look around him. It was brought as an accusation against the ancient Romans, that they made a country desolate, and called that peace. It is the nobler praise of the great modern Republic, that you find a country desolate, and cover it with people-a wilderness and you plant it with fertile farms-furnished with rude wigwam encampments, and you strew it over with splendid palaces and great cities. Energy, discernment, constructive talent and administrative skill, must all be united to accomplish such results, so rapidly, so safely, so securely. I thank you for inviting me to come among you, that I might see all this, and might enjoy the gratification which the sight of progress of such a kind imparts. It will be to me a source of future satisfaction, if I shall be able, on reflection, to believe that my visit to your country has in any way contributed to the further or more safe advancement among you of that pursuit, which is the surest support of nations—whether in the Old World or in the New.

AGRICULTURAL DISCUSSIONS.

Meetings were held on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings during the Fair, at which the subjects of sheep and sheep husbandry, and agricultural schools, were discussed. These meetings excited much interest, and we give a summary of the remarks made at the several meetings. From the experience of the present, as well as the last season, we are satisfied that meetings of this character held during the annual Fair, are productive of great good, and should be continued. There are always in attendance gentlemen of intelligence and practical knowledge, who have an opportunity of exchanging their views, and the farmers in attendance receive instruction of great importance to them, and which they seldom can obtain elsewhere. The Society are under great obligations to the gentlemen who attended and gave interest to these meetings during the Fair; and we would indulge the hope that at our future exhibitions, we shall be permitted to meet them again, and hear from them on matters interesting to the practical farmers of our State.

SHEEP AND SHEEP HUSBANDRY.

Discussion at Market Hall, Syracuse, on Tuesday evening, Sept. 11.

The Hon. Wм. FULLER, of the county of Onondaga, who had been selected to preside over the discussion, called to order. He announced the subject for the evening's discussion to be, " Sheep and Sheep Husbandry," stating that Mr. HowARD, who was to have opened it, was unavoidably detained. But he saw around him many who were familiarly and widely known as extensive growers and manufacturers of wool, and who were fully capable to give their views and the result of their experience in relation thereto. He called on Mr. ScoVEL, of Salisbury, Conn., to open the discussion.

Mr. ScOVEL said that this was the first meeting of the kind he had ever attended in this State, and being so, he preferred to be rather more initiated before he took so prominent a part in the proceedings.

Mr. BLANCHARD said that as most if not all of those present were interested in the growth of sheep, and the discussion of that subject being the object of the meeting, he would suggest that those who had peculiar notions in relation to it should now set them forth for the advantage of all concerned. That there were preferences existing among persons in regard to different breeds of sheep, he was aware. He saw here many whom he recognised as wool-growers, who had endeavored to make all the experiments suggested by experience and their own knowledge, and who have been very successful in the improvement of their flocks, and the quality and quantity of their wool. It was this we desired to discuss here. Here was his friend, Mr. Curtis, of Columbia, before him, who had been twenty years a breeder of sheep, had tried different grades, and had arrived at a satisfactory conclusion in his own mind, that one particular grade was better than another.

Mr. CURTIS, of Columbia county, said that he had been a wool-grower for twenty years. About fifteen years ago, he commenced to cross the Saxony on the Merino breed, and had continued that course ever since. His flock was composed entirely of ewes, and yielded him an average of from three and one-quarter to three and one-half pounds to the fleece. So far as his individual interests were concerned, he had found it best for him to pursue that course, though after all he was satisfied that if a man applied himself to one steady course of breeding, it was, perhaps, not so much matter what it was, so long as he profited by it. It was this eternal changing and shifting, which ruined almost every man who attempted it. They would find, at a particular time one particular kind of wool most in demand, and would go into that; and when the demand had failed, then would lay it aside, and go into something else. The true course was the pursuit of one regular, steady system. Such at least was the result of his experience. The form and fleece of the sheep could be changed, though it was not an easy matter, and one requiring a great deal of attention to ensure success. He had been crossing the Escurial Merino with fine Saxony bucks, and the result was they were brought very nearly to Saxony sheep. As he before said, his flock were all ewes and lambs, and his attention was confined solely to the raising of wool.

Mr. BLANCHARD inquired if it were better calculated to improve the quality of the sheep, by crossing with a fine buck on a lower grade, or by the reverse course. He gave as the result of his observation, that it was most judicious to cross a fine buck on a lower grade, than to pursue a contrary course; but he would like to have the views of others on the subject.

ewes. ence.

Mr. CURTIS was satisfied that it was best to use fine bucks on coarse He had tried both plans, and this was the result of his experiHis plan was to get the heaviest Saxony bucks he could find. As for what was called the improved plain Merino, they would not do for him; he would not give a dollar a piece for all that could be offered him.

Mr. SANFORD, of Orwell, Vt., had done something in sheep growing, and thought that where the right kind of sheep were bred, it was a very nice business. There were a great many points on which he did not fully agree with the gentleman last up. He thought the true course was a medium one-not breeding grades either too coarse or too fine, but observing some regard to the different locations and sections in which they were bred. To be a successful breeder, he believed one must first look at the constitution, then at the quality, and then at the quantity of the wool; and that it was all these, combined and united, which alone could ensure a man success. To unite these successfully, all must see, was indeed a very nice business. For himself, he commenced the business first with Merino sheep, in 1828, procured from Mr. Jewett's flock. He bred them for several years, crossing them with nothing else, for he had never found any better breed than that of Mr. Jewett. After several years his sheep degenerated, growing feeble, &c., when he made a cross from Mr. Atwell's, of Connecticut, flock of Merino sheep. He (Mr. S.) bred Merino sheep wholly, and he had improved them very much, in this way, in their constitution, and the quality and quantity of their fleeces. His flock generally yielded over four pounds to the fleece-never less than that. Without disparaging

Saxony sheep, he thought the Merino grades better for Vermont growers. Profit he supposed to be the object of every breeder; and he had certainly found the Merino the most profitable for him. One of his neighbors was breeding Saxony sheep, and he did not think he made as much money as those did who used the Merino.

Mr. CURTIS: Yet your Vermont men make money out of the Saxony. Mr. SANFORD formed his opinion from the facts. His desire was to grow the kind which would produce the most money according to the acre of ground. There were locations, perhaps, further South, where Saxony sheep would be most profitable; but in Vermont a hardier kind of sheep was required. He thought a medium Merino to be the best, and he would run into no extremes. A few years ago, many ran into too coarse a grade of wool. His own flock was of the medium description, varying from 300 to 500 sheep.

Mr. REED, of Ohio, said that he paid as much attention to the size and form of a sheep, as to the quality of the wool. Like begat like; and this was a point to be as much regarded as any other in sheep breeding.

Mr. ScOVEL, of Salisbury, Conn, said this seemed to be a sort of meeting in which each one told his experience, and he would now therefore, add his own, so far as he had been engaged in wool growing. He commenced the business in 1824, on the first importation of Saxony sheep. Part of his flock at that time was not full blooded, and he did not get it entirely pure until some ten years since; now it was composed of entirely pure full blooded Saxony sheep. Gentlemen were prejudiced in favor of their own mode of growing, and perhaps he participated in the same feeling, but he would state what was his system. Raising his flock as he had stated, his wool had averaged in weight, by the flock, (he never sheared anything but ewes and ewe lambs,) from two to two pounds six or seven ounces. His bucks he sold. From 1830 to 1837, he sold his wool at a dollar a pound, and from that time to the present, for from 70 to 80 cents. The growing of Saxony sheep required more attention than the Merino. It was necessary, in his opinion, that all sheep should be housed, whatever might be their grade, but Saxony sheep particularly. Of this last description there were a great many grades, and he did not wonder that many wool growers had become out of patience with growing some kinds of grades. The feeble constitutioned Saxony sheep he would not advise any one to go into. His flock were the thick close wooled sheep, of short legged, compact, handsome form, and in these particulars he was satisfied there was not a flock in the country that would compare with them. Their present excellence was only attain. ed by the closest attention. Four years ago he crossed with some of the best sheep in the country, keeping them in different flocks and separate families.

At the same time he imported nine Saxony bucks from Germany, and his family had been greatly improved by that cross, and were much larger than his old stock. He thought the pure Saxony to be of much larger bodies than any Merino he had ever seen, and of stronger constitution. Some of his bucks last year sheared in the dirt without washing, and which of course is no criterion to judge, from 12 to 16 pounds. After washing the yield was from 5 to 6 pounds. He would not advise people to go into Saxony wools unless it was "fancy Saxony." He would advise them to go into no breeds of sheep that would come into competition with the grades of wool of this country. For years he had been in the habit of buying wool largely in western New-York,