10 



DOUGLASS COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



weights, and lacerate the womb by hard service, which is often 

 the case when older bulls are used. This I believe produces 

 barrenness in many cattle. The quieter and more carefully a 

 herd is handled the better success I have Avith it. 



PORTABLE FEED RACKS. 



I have an invention of my own like the plan below. It is 

 all made of oak, except feed box ; no nails in the frame, all 

 bolted together : 



No. 1, oak posts, four by four, seven feet long. 

 No. 2, cap, two by five oak, sixteen feet long. No. 



3, rack rounds, two by two oak, four feet long. No. 



4, cross piece, four by four oak, on which the base 

 of rack rests, bolted to up-right posts with one-half 

 inch bolt. No. 5, two and one-half by ten, sixteen 

 feet long bed, which receives the rounds. No. 6 is 

 a trough running lengthwise under the eaves of the 

 rack, eighteen inches wide and one foot deep, and is 

 spiked to rack sill. No. 5, as marked on the plan. 

 The troughs catch all the litter and seed, and also 

 answer the purpose for feeding grain. 



In €ase I wish to move these racks, I bore a hole about eight 

 inches from the end in each of the upright posts, and bolt on 

 a pair of runners, hitch a team, and haul them wherever I 

 wish. These racks, as they now stand, are used for feeding 

 large cattle. In case I wish to feed calves, I dig a post hole 

 eighteen inches deep, and into the holes sink the posts. In the 

 Summer I take the racks out of the holes, and stand them upon 

 boards to prevent rotting. 



