370 



THE GEKESEE FARMER. 



ANSWERS TO SEVERAL INQTJIRIES. 



Editors Genesee Fakmeh: — I seek information 

 from your pages, and am willing to give you my 

 views. 



Your correspondent J. S., of Onawa, Monona 

 county, Iowa, asks in your April number, " What 

 is tlio most profitable breed for wool growers?" 

 Why confine liimsolf to the fine wool sheep ? Why 

 not take the sheep of the most profit, and not rely 

 on wool alone for profit ? The Cotswold sheep will 

 give more money per fleece, and I never sell my 

 muttons under $10 each, and that the fall of the 

 year they are one year old. I have sold them much 

 higlier. I refer him to my piece in your February 

 number, page 47. • 



Again, he asks, "Is there any horse in the world 

 equal to the blood liorse, the best thorough bred 

 four mile racers of England and America, to pro- 

 duce long lived horses of active stride and power?" 

 I think there is not. Action, strengtli, and endur- 

 ing qualities (bottom), are desirable in all breeds 

 oT horses, for all purposes, and in no breed of horses 

 can they be looked for with so reasonable a pros- 

 pect of success, as from tlie old four mile race horse; 

 for he can not be a race horse without all ot these 

 qualities. But the breeder must be particular about 

 the right kind of blood, for there are some fine race 

 horses who do not transmit their qualities, because 

 chance racers themselves. 



"At what age ought mares to breed to make it 

 best l\)r them and colt, that is, if you want 

 to produce tlie best possible horses in the 

 long run?" The most solid horses are from 

 parents past ten years old at the time of 

 copulation. The old NapoVon of the turf. 

 Col. Wm. R. Johnson, of Virginia, said, if 

 he was raising a mure for breeding purposes 

 only, if well grown, he would commence 

 breeding from her at two years old, not for 

 the value of her first colt, but for the exten- 

 sion of her breeding properties aud euhirg- 

 iug lier nursing capacities. 



"What is the best feeds for colts the first 

 winter?" A liltle oats scalded, with offal or 

 meal, and good hay, oceasiunall}' a bucket 

 of water with a haiidfid of salt stirred in it. 



Answer to J. J. S., W^est Point, Ohio, on 

 Cotswold sheep, also in your April number: 

 I have kept Cotswold sheep for a number 

 of years. I always import the winners of 

 the high prizes of the Royal Agiicultural 

 Society of England. I do not confine mine 

 at all, I have a common straw shed sliaped like 

 a roof, on account of its width, in the sunmier open 

 all around, in winter oj)en only to the south; they 

 go in and out at pleasure. I liave occasionally 

 had some running at the nose like other sheep, not 

 more so, if as much. I never do anything for it; 

 it is only a cold in the head, which soon passes off, 

 doing n<} harm. I have not found it characteristic 

 of the breed. Probably J. J. S. has not the pure 

 breed, or procured them from breeders who have 

 raised them with too much tenderness. 



BerryvilU, Clark Co., Va. J. W. WAKE. 



DESIGN FOR A SMALL HOUSE. 



In response to an invitation in the October 

 number of the Farmer., to furnish its readers with 

 designs of clieap country houses, I send you the 

 accompanying ground plan. It was suggested by, 

 and is in many respects nearly the same as, the 

 design furnished by Mr. IIakney in the October 

 number. I have reduced the size of the rooms to 

 the moderate necessities of an ordinary small farm- 

 er's family. The parlor is made to communicate 

 directly with the dining-room, and the door 

 between the parlor and the bed-room is left out. 

 Those who prefer it there can have it, of course. 

 In other respects, the plan needs little explanation. 

 The apartments are the same as in Mr. Hakney's 

 design, and the remarks given in connection with 

 that will apply to this. The house may be built 

 in the same style as his, either two stories, or, if 

 economy in money is an object, of a story and a 

 half. The style is, in fact, better suited to a low 

 house than to a high one, and it has an essentially 

 cottage-like expression. Built one story aud a half 

 high, with the porch, the verandah, the dormer 

 windows, the brackets and the ornamental chimney 

 tops, it would have a very cheerful efi'ect, and 

 could be built thoroughly for about $2,000; and 

 under favorable circumstances, where the builder 

 could deliver his own materials, and perform with 

 his ordinary laborers some of the coarser work, 

 the cost might be reduced to $1,500. 



Leaves make excellent bedding and excellent 

 manure, more easily spread and mixed with the 

 soil than when long straw is used. 



PLAN FOB A SMALL HOnSE. 



Description of Plan. — A, parlor; B, bedroom, 

 with a large closet, c; C, office or library; D, 

 dining or living room; E, kitchen; F, covered 

 wood-yard ; G, store-room ; II, pantry ; I, hall ; J, 

 porch ; L, staircase hall ; V, veranda. 



Uart/ord, Ct., Oct. 20. GEORGE D. RAIfD. 



Cure fob Poll-evil. — Let C. G. N. peel the in- 

 side f>f black ash b.ark and burn it to ashes, free of 

 all other ashes, and mix it with soft soap. Apply 

 it as a poultice once or twice wiien ho first notices 

 a swelling. Should the swelling re-appear, treat it 

 as before. My father cured a mare fifteen years 

 ago last spring, and it never has returned since. 

 The mare is 26 years old, and her head is as limber 

 as ever. — D. S. C, Fairfield, Ind. 



