THE GOLDEN HOOF.
This phrase, the golden hoof, means, of course, that where the sheep have trodden, have been penned in a flock, there the most golden grain grows. The sheep are the surest engine of fertility. In these later days when wheat is unsale- able at a remunerative price the sheep, it may be thought, lose a part of their value : they have but leaden feet. But it is not altogether so, even at this nadir of depression ; and in one regard science has increased the carat of the golden hoof. The only grain that still may bring in a moderate profit is good malting barley. The habit of growing this on heavier lands after sheep was virtually surrendered until it was found that non-nitrogenous, artificial manures plus sheep restored to these soils the quality desired by the barley- grower. In other words, in respect of barley, of which the value depends upon the appearance of the section of the grain, the science of artificial manuring has increased the area of soils capable of growing this crop.
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