THE GENESEE FARMER. 



207 



lalf of the basement being used for corn and tlie 

 itber for a liog liouse. Tlie cfini house should 

 lave a solid plank floor, and a 10 feet door to drive 

 Q with a wagon. It should be 9 feet high, with a 

 rib against the outside wall 30 feet long. There 

 hould be a flight of stairs in tlie end opposite the 

 irge door leading to the chamber above. This 

 hamber should have a tight floor, with an aper- 

 ire in the center, tlirougli which grain or other 

 eavy substances may be raised to the loft. A 

 •ap-door to close it will make all tight. This 

 ^lamber may be used for a granary or store-room, 

 ad should be supplied with bins tor tliat purpose, 

 he hog house should be mad^e into three divisions, 

 iz. : a passage 3 feet wide along the side next the 

 )m house, with a door at each end and one in the 

 iddle communicating with the corn house. There 

 lould be a feeding room in one end of the remain- 

 g division 150 leet long, and a sleeping room in 

 e remaining 10 feet. The basement of the hog 

 )U3e may be 6^ feet high. The chamber ov«r the 

 »g house may be used for a store room for farm- 

 g tools and iinplements» 



A hen house may be large or small, according to 

 e amount of poultry the tarmer wishes to keep, 

 should have a tight floor, and b« furnished with 

 les for roosts and boxes for nests ,• should have a 

 or to enter it, and a svnall slide-door for the hens 

 the exclusion of vermin when closed. 

 A smoke-house should be of stone, brick or 

 ivel wall, 10x10 feet and 9 feet high. The roof 



door should be lined with sheet-iron or zinc, 

 'here should be an arch in tlie side, near the 

 >und, where the fire may be kindled from the 

 tside, the smoke being ushered in through a flue 

 m the arch." 



[solated barns for the storage of hay may oc- 

 )y such locations as are most desirable. 

 Buildings for a Small Fakm. — The house we 

 1 pass by, as its limits, as described above, are 

 /^ays confined to the wants of the family. The 

 •n may be of the same size as above. The floor 

 >■ and stable, across one end, the same. The 

 ement of the division at the opposite end may 

 divided by a partition through the middle, leav- 



two equal divisions, each 18x25 feet. One of 

 semay be open on one side for a shed for neat 

 tie; the other may be finished for sheep. We 

 V have a barn, stable, shed and sheep barn, all 

 ine complete body, and under one roof. If still 



room is needed, leave olf that division now 

 apied for a stable, and make the stable in the 



that has the grauery in one end. Your barn 



then be 50x68 feet. 



he horse barn may be lessened in size by leav- 

 ofF the stable, and 4 feet on one side ; also, 14 



off of one end, leaving the barn 80x34 feet. 

 he corn and hog houses may also be lessened 

 ae to suit the wants of the tarmer. 



CHINESE AGRICULTURE. 



Thk Rev. Carl Vogel, a returned missionary 

 from China, furnishes the Valley Farmer an in- 

 teresting article on the agriculture of the country. 

 "We make a fev? extracts : 



BKD8. — Allow no weeds to mature on your cul- 

 ;ed lands; destroy them thoroughly, for one 

 i will be sufBcient for the perpetuation of its 

 , and will foul a greater extent of surface than 

 )e cleansed effectually in a y-Qur. Most weeds 

 J good articles in the comp()st heap, and when 

 .for this purpose may be made to pay the cost 

 ithering Ihem from the fields and preparing 

 for manure. 



The climate of China is much like our own, of 

 I the same latitude. It has the same kind of rains. 

 Iheir land being more mountainous was perhaps 

 I origmally not so fertile as ours. But they having 

 on an area of about three-quarters of the United 

 States to sustain a population variouslv estimated 

 between three and four hundred millions, can not 

 aflTord to destroy tlie fertility of their soil, they 

 were bound by necesity to retain and even increase 

 It, and they did it. "For unto every one that 

 hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance, 

 but from him that hath not, shall be taken away 

 even that which he has." With them nobody tries 

 to cultivate more land than he can cultivate well • 

 there is very little temptation to do it. for there are 

 not many great land owners, as with us Besides 

 cultivating their land well, they likewise give it its 

 lull share of manure. All that has been taken 

 from the land returns as much as possible back to 

 It again in one form or the other. Tl-e excreiuents 

 of men and animals, old leather, hair, horn and 

 bones, etc., are all carefully preserved and brought 

 back upon their farms. We know that in all 

 European countries they manure their lands with 

 more or less care, but in all a great part of the 

 most powerful manure is wasted ; nowhere but in 

 China, and perhaps Japan, are they so careful not 

 'to waste what may serve to fertilize their fields and 

 in no other country bear the fields so enor^cns 

 crops. Their land is as with us, to a great extent 

 level, but where it is undulating and hilly they 

 have made it level by means of terraces. It' is in- 

 tersected in every direction by ditches and canals 

 which can be well regulated by means of sluices' 

 and are useful to drain the land when there is 

 abundance of water, and to irrigate it in times of 

 drouth. And above all, they love their farms 

 much more than we do— they do not sell their 

 homesteads to every one who offers a few dollars' 

 profit On a certain time every year do the child- 

 ren of one family assemble under the paternal 

 roof and on the graves of their parents. Tltey 

 have often asked the Christian missionaries how 

 they could have left their homes and the graves 

 of their parents? To do such a thing, they regard' 

 as a want of filial piety. With them bountiful' 

 earth is a kind mother, and therefore to abuse 

 jt would be not less mean than for a son to treat 

 ill his own mother. And to destroy its fertjlitv 

 is with them a crime without name, a sacrilege' 

 not less than parricide. 



I have read in some description of Japan, that 

 there they have a law, according to which the land 

 of every one is confiscated who does not improve 

 it ; and that for every tree cut down, at least one 

 useful tree must be planted again. If our legisla- 

 tors would make a similar Taw, and enforce it i 

 think it might do some good. ' 



AGRICULTURE IS HONORABLE. 



The Chinese honor agriculture. The Emperor 

 himself cultivates the soil. The Son of Heaven 

 (as they call their Emperor), he whom they honor 



