under ice is so cold that it makes stock shiver, as though they had the ague, which certainly does not add anything to their comfort or well doing. The pond being a disagreeable thing for both man and beast in winter, I am now trying to make an artificial spring thus: Immediately south of my barn, there is a small ravine that empties into a large branch, 30 rods east. I have here made an excavation, sufficiently deep to put up troughs, with an open ditch for the waste water to pass off. I have here put in a stone wall, with a place arranged in it to receive the end of a trough; I here start, first, with gas pipe of inch and a half capacity, with a faucet of the same size over the end of the trough. I have run the gas pipe 166 feet, on a grade of 4 inches to the 100 feet, and here the pipe is five feet under ground; I here commence laying 2-inch pipe tile, after puddling substantially around the gas pipe, at the junction with the tile. I am laying the tile on the same grade, going off through higher ground for half a mile, and will put a great portion of the pipe from 7 to 12 feet under ground. I am running this pipe close by an artificial pond, so that if the surface water should give out, I can lay a switch of gas pipe into the bottom of the pond, and thus have a supply. The faucet at the outlet can be adjusted so as to let the water run at any desired rate. I have now laid 80 rods of pipe, and have a continual stream of water sufficient to water a large number of stock, and yet I am only half done. This is an experiment with me, having never seen nor heard of such a thing, and it may possibly fail, but I do not see how it can; and as I have a great deal of faith in it, I have thought fit to mention it, and place it at your disposal. J. G. Swann.-Horses: mixed blood-Lion, Empire and Cub stock. Hog: Chester white preferred. For fattening animals, plenty of good corn, hay and oats. be well spread on. Stable manure should J. Balsiger-Of live stock, I have kept, until now, only the common breeds. I will let those more experienced than I am, give their views, which might be the most profitable breeds, etc. I believe, for dairy purposes, our common kind of cattle, if kept well, to be about as good as any other. J. Y. Bothwell.-I keep the Durhams, and in good growing order until I sell. I raise the largest mules, thinking them most profitable. Keep but few horses, work mules altogether. My lambs come in April. My mutton sheep, two years ago, sold at $10 and $12 per head. They are the cheapest meat that can be raised on a farm. My pigs come the last of March, and dress from 225 to 250 pounds the next winter. Do not keep any but breeders over. I find shock corn to be the best and cheapest feed for cattle, mules and sheep. J. Barber.-Manure is saved carefully, and scattered over the farm where most needed, and put in hills of vines, etc. I wish to call attention to the fact that earth thrown from cellars and wells, when spread upon the soil, and after receiving the action of frost, operates as an excellent manure. What elements it may contain beneficial to the soil, I can not tell, but have noticed it in repeated instances. 16. OTHER DOMESTIC ANIMALS.-Poultry, bees, silkworms, etc.: best breeds: rearing and management: diseases. M. A. McConnell.-We have kept Shanghais and Bremens; these are the best for all purposes. They are large, and good layers; take good care of their brood, and are not mischievous about the yards. H. Pierce. A cross of Dorking, Shanghai and the common fowl is, I believe, preferred, although the black Spanish is being introduced with fine success. A. Rankin.-The Domingo fowls are the most profitable to raise, as they are good layers and setters, and good for the table-I mean when left to hunt their own liv ing. I consider Brahmas, with a little extra care and feed, a very superior fowl. Rev. G. W. Minier.-Aye, sir! Did you ever know a preacher that did not like poultry and honey? But, let me whisper this in your ear: They prefer eating them to rearing them, and study their peculiarities on the table, rather than running at large, or roaming in quest of the "healing dew." Although the earth was cursed for man's sake, yet a beneficent Creator has placed within his reach many comforts and blessings, that he may enjoy by making use of the means to obtain them, and of these, none, perhaps, repays with greater yield the labor bestowed, than the honey bee. Those that have taken proper care of them have not only enjoyed the liquid nectar of their rich store houses, but have received large remunerative profits in return. But, like all other stock, they must have proper care and attention. First, they must have the right kind of a hive. The one I have found the best is a square box, containing from 1,800 to 2,000 cubic inches, with movable frames, and a cap on top, covering a box the same size as the inside of the hive, that will contain from 25 to 30 pounds of honey. But the box should not be put on when the bees are first put in the hive. There should be a thin board, the size of the top of the hive, which I call the honey-board. This should be put on top of the hive, to prevent the bees from coming up into the box. The honey may be set on the honey-board, and the cap put on; and when the bees have filled or nearly filled the frames in the hive, then take off the cap and honey-board, and put on the honey box with the frames. The honey-board may be laid on top of the honey-box, and then put the cap on, which is a covering for all the top. In a good season, a strong colony will fill two such boxes, which we call surplus honey. But, in order to have bees do well in this latitude, they should be housed in winter. A room that will not freeze is best. The idea of some, that bees freeze up in winter and thaw out all right in spring is very erroneous. If bees once freeze they never come to life again. The best place to winter bees is in a dry, side-hill cellar, made dark. But, as few people have such a place, a small room in the dwelling will answer, made perfectly dark. But if that cannot be had, set all the stands together and cover with straw. I would recommend those that have bees to get Quimby's work on bee-keeping. T. Gregg. Bees are beginning to attract attention, and are increasing rapidly. Italians are being introduced. The bee moth is very destructive in some instances I am not cognizant of any very effectual remedy. ever seen. H. Sodowsky.-I have raised the Shanghai, Cochin China, Brahma Pootra, Hunter's Dominico and Black Spanish. The Hunter's Dominico is the largest chicken I have The Black Spanish is the best layer, the liveliest and smartest fowl I ever tried. It is a very healthy fowl. When cholera prevailed among our fowls, killing most of our large fowls, it killed very few of the Black Spanish. It is, too, a handsome fowl. The cock is a dark, glossy green, while the hen is black, with They are medium size, not much at setting, but extra layers. white gills and face. I have had common white geese; also, a much larger variety, called the Bremen. The goose and gander are both white. Last fall I was in the State of Ohio, and saw a species of geese, called the Hong Kong, the largest I ever saw. The goose and gander are of the same color, a blue, or rather a gray. I had four shipped to me in January. They have been laying since the middle of February. They say these geese will weigh 50 pounds to a pair. They are the largest I ever saw. I have, also, a variety of turkey, called the Bronze turkey, that is the largest and finest I have ever seen. As to bees, they are a sect I have nothing to do with. They do not like me, and there is no love lost on my side. I have a fine sugar orchard, and we have all the maple sugar and molasses we can use, besides other varieties of sugar and sweet things; so we can live independent of the bees. G. W. Vaughan.-We raise no poultry but for our own use. The mixture of Shanghai with the common fowl is the best, not being so subject to disease as others. J. G. Swann.-The common small breed is best for eggs. J. Barber.-Bees have succeeded well. I use the square box hive, containing about a cubic foot. Place glass boxes upon the top, and cover with a cap. 17. RURAL ARCHITECTURE, ETC.-Houses, barns, (for hay and grain and different kinds of stock,) root and fruit houses, etc.: the materials preferred: best arrangement for economy of labor and comfort? M. A. McConnell.-We have three houses on the farm, all made of wood, with a wing attached. We have 5 barns; 2 for grain, each 33 by 60 feet; 2 cow barns, one 28 by 44, and one 28 by 60, 7 feet in the first stories, and 9 in the second for hay. The cattle stand with their heads toward the centre, and are fed out of the alley. Then we have a sheep barn 22 by 60, with racks to feed the sheep in; a horse barn, wagon house, corn crib, and a shed to keep tools in; also, a cheese factory, 30 by 128 feet and two stories high, where we made, last year, 185,000 pounds of cheese for our neighbors and ourselves. We charged for making, 2 cents per pound, and found every thing. The factory is supplied by water that comes in at a temperature of 45 degrees. C. E. Barney.-Vertical boarding for corn cribs is much the best. ing the best barn is the one in which the corners are farthest apart. Generally speak A. Rankin. My buildings are common affairs. My barn is 48 by 24, and holds hay enough to feed the horses and cattle necessary on the farm, after they have eaten up the stalks. My hog sheds cannot be excelled for comfort to the hogs. The sheds all run east and west, and are twelve feet wide; made perfectly tight on the north and east and west. The shed is covered with slough grass, and topped off with bagasse fresh from the mill, which will never leak or blow off if well put on. The pens are all floored and kept clean. The hogs are bedded with wheat straw. When my sows have young pigs, I give each sow 8 by 12 feet under the shed. Each pen has a door opening into a yard on the south. After the pigs are weaned, I take out the partitions and let them all go together, still keeping it clean so as to prevent dust, as pigs will not thrive in dust. They all have good pasture in summer. A. C. Hammond.-The introduction of the horse fork, by which hay can be elevated to any desired height, bids fair to revolutionize the whole system of barn building. Under many of the barns now built basements are constructed, to be used for stabling, storage, etc., and the whole upper portion used for hay. Under a portion of my own barn, built the past season, I have constructed a fruit cellar seven feet deep, and thirty feet span, with double doors and windows, and double floors over head. I shall remove eight inches of dirt from the bottom and replace it with pounded rock and cement both bottom and sides with hydraulic cement. The cellar under my house, which was formerly wet and infested with rats, has been treated in this manner, and it is now perfectly dry and free from the encroachment of vermin. S. P. Boardman.-In sheep-keeping there is not a doubt but sheds enough to shelter all the different divisions of a flock, pay a large interest on the investment. I have not as yet been able to form an opinion whether it would pay to build large hay barns or not. It is easy enough to figure up the difference in amount of hay saved by barns over stacking, but there are other considerations which complicate the problem. To put a large hay crop in barns takes much more time than to stack it in the meadow wherever most convenient. In "catching weather" it frequently is of great importance to put up large amounts of hay in a short time. I find that I can "rope up," or "slide up," and get into the stack nearly double the hay in the same length of time that I can put on a wagon and haul to a barn. It is also much easier loading from the stack, in feeding out, than from the mow. I think, perhaps, when one had all the other buildings and improvements generally, it might then pay to build hay barns-one of the things to come in just before tile draining. Only such "high farming" will be practiced in our State as will bring in money enough to pay the cost-that, too, in a year. For sheep-barns (used merely as shelters) our flock-masters use, nearly altogether, low double-roofed sheds inclosed on all sides. They are usually from 100 to 200 feet in length, and from 26 to 30 feet in width. J. G. Swann. My house is 18 by 40. Cellar under all. Two stories high; five rooms; upper and lower halls 8 feet wide. An L kitchen, 16 by 24, one story, with hall 6 feet wide. A common stable, 8 stalls, a corn crib and cow shed. Stable 36 by 36. 10 foot stable, on north side for hay and corn. 16 feet center cow shed, on south side 15 feet. J. Balsiger.-My buildings are of the most common kinds, i. e. some of frame and some of logs. I think brick buildings for dwellings, as well as for stables, preferable, more durable, and both warmer in winter and cooler in summer. 18. FENCES.-Material preferred: cost per rod, and cost of keeping up hedge, board and rail fences: value of hedges for protection: is it cheaper to fence out stock than to keep them up? E. Moss.-Osage for hedge is thought most desirable. Fence stock in. Not allowed at large. M. A. McConnell-We think pine boards and burr oak posts preferable to anything else, and the cost is about as follows, per rod: Hedges do not do well in this climate. The winters are too cold, and they freeze down; but if they could be grown as they can farther south, they would be a great protection to stock, and very much cheaper than any other fence. H. Pierce.-Osage orange costs $1 per rod for making a good stock fence. The cost of keeping up a post and board fence for 10 years averages 25 cents per rod, and then it must be renewed almost entirely. Hedges are much used around orchards, and are valued highly as a protection. My opinion, after a careful calculation of the land that is occupied by fences around a farm, and cross fences, wear and waste, is, that it would be far cheaper to keep cattle up, though, as yet, we have a large lot of land unoccupied, upon which the large cattle owners pasture their stock, to the manifest injury of the poorer man, who must fence them out at a first cost of not less $2 per rod, and then some fine morning wake up and find his fields of wheat or corn destroyed by from 50 to 500 cattle filling themselves and trampling down the remainder; and no recourse left but to pocket the loss with as good a grace as he can. J. Tefft.-For road fence we prefer wire, as it turns unruly stock better than board fence. Costs about 50 cents per rod when well made. C. E. Barney.-Quaking asp poles, cut, split and peeled in summer, nailed on good, seasoned posts, make a light and very strong fence. Cut eight feet long. I think, if no stock was allowed to roam in the roads and lanes, people would have better stock, take better care of it, and make more money on it. V. Aldrich.-Fences here mostly made of rails, called the Virginia fence. The staked and ridered fence, where timber is plenty, is the best. In this locality the post fence, with rails or boards, is fast taking the place of the old worm fence. Either of them will cost from $1 to 1 25 per rod. Osage hedge, properly made, I prefer to all other fence. The plants cost from 62 1-2 to 75 cents per rod. It will require four or five years growth to make a substantial fence. I formerly cut it back each year, but now prefer to let it grow as fast as possible, until large as fork stobs-10 or 12 feet high, or more, then lop it by cutting each one about half off near the ground, laying it in an angle that will make the top high enough for the fence. It will sprout up through this and become very thick and still retain life in the main lopped stem. When I desire wind-breaks I let them grow their own way after lopping; prune other places to suit. The cost of a hedge is less than keeping up other fences. I am greatly in favor of keeping up stock. Which is cheapest, to fence in or out? I don't know, but believe least trouble to arise from fencing in. A. Rankin.-I think Osage orange is the best material for fencing. The next best is made by using large, round cedar posts, with three boards and three wires; costing about $1 60 per rod. It is decidedly cheaper to put up stock than to fence them out. G. W. Minier.-Osage orange hedge every time and all the time. Mine, completed, cost just twenty-five cents per rod. Board and rail fences will soon be obsolete. We can hardly estimate the value of hedge as a wind-break and modifier of our bleak climate. "Is it cheaper to fence out stock than to keep them up?" Yes; by at least fifty per cent. T. Gregg. "All sorts" of fences abound. White oak posts and pine lumber are very extensively used as a first fence, both on the prairie and on the bluffs. The Osage orange succeeds well and is being planted in great quantity. It is believed to be the best material for live fences for this region, and will have to be generally resorted to. That earlier planted has, however, been much neglected; so that it is a rare thing to see a really good and beautiful live fence in the country. But the slovenly habits of our people are gradually yielding to the influence of better teachings, and there is a marked improvement taking place. A. C. Hammond.-The Osage orange is the cheapest, best and most durable fence. It can be planted, cultivated and trained until it forms a perfect fence, for 50 cents per rod, and afterwards annually pruned for 5 cents per rod. A board fence cannot be built for less than $1 25 per rod, and I find the expense of keeping it in repair greater than that of trimming the hedge. When properly pruned a hedge is of little value for protection. If the farmers of Illinois were to keep their stock up, instead of fencing it out, it would undoubtedly add hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to their pockets. W. A. Allen.-Hedges preferred for fencing. Cost now, $1 per rod. Keeping hedge trimmed costs $8 per mile per year. Keeping up a board fence costs nearly all your Vol. II-28 |