180 MERCER COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



tures are the better for not being cropped too close in the 

 Fall. 



STOCK. 



My cattle are Grade Short Horns, and are therefore raised 

 mostly for beef, though I have among them some very good 

 milkers. But we have no dairies near, and the price of butter 

 has not been sufficiently high to encourage giving much atten- 

 tion to the production of the article. I keep a few sheep, 

 they are a cross of Cotswold and Leicester, and are good mut- 

 ton sheep paying very well for wool. The fleeces in 1879 

 averaged nine pounds. I have a shed for one hundred sheep. 

 It is one hundred feet long and twelve feet wide, closed on the 

 north, east and west, and open on the south. I think open 

 sheds better for sheep, cattle, or hogs, than closed stables or 

 sheds. 



SHEEP SHED. 



A very good sheep shed may be made by Setting posts 

 every eight feet, as long as you may wish the shed, in two 

 parallel rows, twelve feet apart. Level the posts to eight 

 feet high. In the center put another row nine and one- 

 half to ten feet high, side up on north, east, and west. Lay 

 the roof double and cover with half inch siding or undressed 

 sealing. My sheep lots are in a row from north to south. 

 These sheds on the north side of the lots answer as a fence 

 or division. My hogs are of the Poland-China breed, and, 

 as a general thing, have no shelter but the open shed, being 

 fatted by following cattle. 



HOG HOUSE. 



For breeding purposes I have a convenient and good house 

 for hogs, which is constructed as follows : First I built a house 

 large enough for storing, grinding and cooking feed, then an 

 addition, as per plan, fronting south. Hall and pens covered. 

 This allows the feeder to pass along the hall feeding each sow. 

 The troughs stand through the center of the building, half in the 

 pen and half in the hall. The trough is raised high enough to 

 allow small pigs to slide under and avoid being laid on by the 



