1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



311 



engine, corn slieller, mills for grinding, straw 

 cutters, steam boxes, storing feed, etc. Corn 

 cribs, with hopper bottoms, will be placed 

 between these wings and the corn brought 

 into the centre building by the engine with 

 drag belt, and delivered to the corn sheller, 

 the shelled corn being elevated to the story 

 above, into a receiving bin, and drawn thence 

 by spout to the mill below for grinding — all 

 performed by the engine. A feeding car, 

 filled from the steam box, will be run along 

 the centre of each wing, and the cattle fed 

 right and left srom it. — West Rural. 



SHEJAKINO- SHEEP. 



After remarking that sheep-shearing can be 

 learned only by careful practice, the Western 

 Rural says, if we were asked to give instruc- 

 tions to a new beginner, in as few words as 

 possible, it would be about as follows : — Have 

 only good shears, and keep them alwaj's in 

 good order. Handle your sheep quietly — 

 placing it in no uncomfortable positions, as it 

 will very rarely struggle xnless cramped or 

 pained by awkward handling. Open the fleece 

 on the side of either the belly or neck, as may 

 come handiest after a few days' practice. 

 We prefer the neck. Leave the back and 

 upper part of the sides to be sheared last. 

 Handle your sheep so that if it struggles it 

 will interfere as little as possible with the 

 fleece, which should always come off without 

 breaking. Keep the shears flat, and cut slow 

 enough to see where they are running ; and 

 leave no ground to be gone over the second 

 time. Don't get nervous and hurried, but do 

 your work only so fast as you can do it well. 

 Speed is of secondary importance, and should 

 never be sought at the expense of thorough 

 workmanship. If at work with others, never 

 let go your sheep until it is well out of the barn, 

 as it will most likely frighten and make rest- 

 less every other animal on the floor. Have 

 patience, show mercy, and use common sense, 

 and in a little while all the accomplishments 

 of a first class sheep shearer will be at your 

 command, and this is no mean distinction. 



the country. Those that are of value as 

 watch dogs could be retained, while the host 

 of snarling, dirty curs would give place to 

 some more useful and less troublesome pet. — 

 Poultry Standard. 



Hens ix pi^vce of Dogs. — There is hardly 

 a family that does not throw away enough 

 table scraps to keep at least half a dozen hens, 

 and many that keep a nuisance in the shape 

 of a dog, that does no good, but costs more 

 than a dozen good hens, complain that they 

 cannot afford to keep hens. One dog in a 

 neighborhood Is generally a greater trouble to 

 the neighbors than a flock of hens would be, 

 for if hens are well fed at home they will 

 rarely go away. But who ever saw a dog 

 that was not a pest, running across the newly 

 made garden, and sticking bis nose into every- 

 thing. Kill off the curs and give the food to 

 the hens and you will find pleasure as well as 

 profit in so doing. We wish there was a tax 

 of one hundred dollars on every dog kept in 



Value of Eggs. — During the war many 

 experiments were made by medical men and 

 others interested in the subject, to see in how 

 small compass the most nutriment could be 

 got, and after all the experiments of physi- 

 cians, physiologists, patent rights men, savans 

 and investigators on scientific subjects, they 

 all had to knock under (to use a phrase more 

 expressive than vulgar) to an old hen, or a 

 young one either — for it was found that an 

 egg contained the greatest amount of nutri- 

 ment or life-preserving food in the compass it 

 occupies, of any other known substance. 

 True there are essences of meats, etc., that 

 by combination with other articles may be as 

 powerful, but alone the egg is the most nu- 

 tritious. There is more life-sustaining ele- 

 ment in a single soft boiled egg than in twenty 

 times its bulk in bread or food of that kind. — 

 Poultry Standard. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



YOUNG TUEKEYS AND CHICKENS DYING. 



I would like to inquire through your valuable 

 paper in regard to a disease that has shown itself 

 among my poultry. I had fourteen turkeys ; they 

 seemed very smart for a few days and then they 

 could not stand on their legs ; they would fall down 

 and could not get up, and would die in an hour or 

 two from the time they were tirst taken. I have 

 lost a number of my turkeys and twenty chickens ; 

 an acquaintance, forty-eight chickens out of fifty, 

 and another seven in one day, the same way. I 

 have done everything I could, but still they die, 

 and I c^n find no one who can tell me what ails 

 them, or what to do for them. If you can't tell, 

 will you please to ask some learned poulterers to 

 repl.y, as I am very anxious to know what to do, 

 as ail mv poultry are dying. A Sucscriber. 



Haverhill, Mass., May 25, 1S71. 



Remarks. — AVe cannot tell you what to do and 

 therefore must asS some experienced poulterer to 

 reply. Your description of the symptoms of the 

 disease among your poultry is not sufficiently 

 minute to enable us to determine what caused 

 death. Several disorders terminate in loss of 

 strength, or ability to stand, and death. For chicken 

 cholera, alum water has been recommended, also 

 mix their food with alum water for a day or two. 

 Cinders from a blacksmith's anvil, pulverized and 

 mixed with their feed is another remedy. 



Mr. P. Welch, of Marlboro, Mass., wrote to the 

 Farmer last year that he lost thirty young tur- 

 keys, about all he had. He gave one that could 

 hardly stand a piece of saltpetre about the size of 

 a pea, and the next day it was eating with the rest. 

 He gave it to others with like result. A little gun 

 powder may be mixed with their food. 



On new farms or in new places on old farms, 

 poultry is said to be generally healthy. It is su]?-- 



