1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



09 



to forty, each oponinp; on a small 

 yard witli <j,raiii troiijilis, where 

 the shee}) iiuu' move alioiil iii line 

 weatlier, hut closed a( ni.iilit, with 

 root ei'llar.s in tlie rear, and mows 

 above liUed with sueli hay as the 

 };ood iiirnier loves to place hefbro 

 his stock. We siiould jiid;4e that 

 the granary is not distant. It is 

 noticed that tlie "ratent ('ombi- 

 natioii iSheep-racks" arc; not tol- 

 erated here. A ]Aixm rack, nearly 

 or ([uite three feet wide and one 

 foot deep, with Hat bottom rest- 

 ing on the ground, and nppcrside 

 boards slanting inwai'd, is of suf- 

 ticient capacity to hold a substan- 

 tial feeding ol' hay, and seems 

 easy ibr the sheep, 'flic grain 

 trough — two boards, about ten 

 inches in width, nailed together 

 at right angltss and i-esting on 

 legs of three inch joist crossed 

 to lit the sides — is always clean and ready lor 

 use. 



We missed the genial face of Dr. Boynton, 

 now in Texas with a cargo of sheep, and who 

 would never have trusted his editorial pen to 

 our hands had he imagined it would have been 

 used in a manner so repugnant to liis well 

 known modesty. 



Praiuie PASTURES.-Every succeeding year's 

 experience is contradicting the genei'ally con- 

 ceived idea that prairie land is not well adapted 

 to the prodiK tiou ol' l\n' tame grasses. Espe- 

 cially is this true of the older grazing portions 

 of Central Illinois. In a recent conversation 

 with an extensive stock grower of Logan coun- 

 ty, a Ibrmer resident of the renowned blue 

 grass region of Kentucky, he aflirnKsd tliat he 

 coui'd keep more stock on an acre of blue grass 

 pasture upon his present I'arm than upon any 

 equal amoii.Mt o.'' land he had ever seen txdbre. 

 It is also a fact, w'C believe;, that the older the 

 pasture becomes, if propei-ly treated, the bet- 

 ter the yield of grasses. Blue grass and white 

 clover seem to come into our pastures sponta- 

 neously, together with a proportion ol other 

 varieties that keeps up a saccession of feed. 

 There are some soils of course, here as else- 

 where, that do not "set" well to grass. — Prai- 

 rie Fanner. 



SAFFORD'S SWINGING CATTLE STANCHION. 



Tiie couvenit'nc(! and security (jf the old- 

 fashioned stanchion for cattle are acknowledged 

 and pi'ized by farmers ; but many, being anx- 

 ious to give their stock greater freedom, have 

 tried chains, straps, bows, &c. ; but seldom 

 with much satisCaction. The siniple contriv- 

 ance illustrated by the above cut, secures all 

 the advantages of the old stanchion, and most 

 of those which belong to separate ties, «&c. 

 Properly made, they must be secure and as 

 easily operated by children or others as the 

 old-Cashioned j)ermanent stanchions. In case 

 of milch cows, while they can lie down on 

 eithei- side, it is Ibimd that, in the swing stan- 

 chion made as seen in the cut, they soon ac- 

 quire the habit of lying upon the side opposite 

 the milker, thus keeping the right side clean. 

 It is the invention and patent of Larkin S. Saf- 

 ford, a practical farmer ol" Hope, Me. From 

 an examination of a model, we think well of 

 the invention, and wonder it was nevei' thought 

 of before. 



Sxonixci IvooTS. — See that thev are dry 

 and clean, and that the air can circulate more 

 or less among tliem. With ruta baga.^^ it is es- 

 pecially important that they should be placed 

 in lattice cases or racks, if in cellars, so that 

 wind from open windows may pass through 

 them except m the coldest weather. The rot- 

 ting of timbers connected with cellars, often 

 results from imperfect ventilation. — Country 

 Oentleman. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 BONE DUST, PLASTER AND SALT. 

 Having recently seen an editorial invitation 

 to yoin- readers to give their expcn-ience with 

 commercial fertilizers, and believing that they 

 ought to do so, 1 bi'ielly give mine. 



1 have a triangular piece of land at the Three 

 Corners, near tlie (!entre of our village, just 

 opi)osit(! to and descending towai'ds the Post 

 Oilice, which had been mowed eight years, and 

 was broken up last spring and ])lanlcd to corn 

 and carrots m the following maimer : — The 

 south half was manured in t.he hill with par- 

 tially decomposed cow manure and Indian 



