Winter fattening of sheep may often be made very profitable and deserves greater attention, especially where manure is an object--(and where is it not?) In England it is considered good policy to fatten sheep if the increase of weight will pay for the oil cake or grain consumed; the manure being deemed a fair equivalent for the other food, that is, as much straw and turnips as they will eat. Lean sheep there usually command as high a price per pound in the fall as fatted ones in the spring, while here the latter usually bear a much higher price, which gives the feeder a great advantage. The difference may be best illustrated by a simple calculation. Suppose a wether of a good mutton breed weighing 80 pounds in the fall to cost 6 cents per pound ($4.80) and to require 20 pounds of hay per week, or its equivalent in other food, and to gain a pound and a half each week, the gain in weight in four months would be about 25 pounds, which at 6 cents per pound would be $1.50 or less than $10 per ton for the hay consumed; but if the same sheep could be bought in fall for 3 cents per pound and sold in spring for 6 cents, the gain would amount to $3.90 or upwards of $20 per ton for the hay--the manure being the same in either case. For fattening it is well to purchase animals as large and thrifty and in as good condition as can be done at fair prices; and to feed liberally so as to secure the most rapid increase which can be had without waste of food. The fattening of sheep by the aid of oil cake or grain purchased for the purpose, may often be made a cheaper and altogether preferable mode of obtaining manure than by the purchase of artificial fertilizers, as guano, superphosphate of lime, &c. It is practiced extensively and advantageously abroad and deserves at least a fair trial here.