422 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[NOVEMBEE, 
beneath. A sharp, small gouge and a penknife arc 
Ihe best instruments with -n-hich to remove the 
horn. A hook make o£ horse-shoe nail rod, or a 
Lorse-shoe nail, is then made, as shown in figure 2, 
and pointed at each end. This is placed between 
the open jaws of a pair of pincers, and the ends 
are inserted in the cuts opposite to each other, on 
cither side of the crock, as in figure 3. The hook 
is then forced together by closing the pincers, or in 
any other conTcnient manner, and the sides 
of the crack are held together. Or a pair of 
hooks may be 
made, each 
having an eye 
nt one GX" 
Tig. 4. HOOKS OB CLAMP.?. Fig. 5. jremity, and 
when these are inserted and drawn together 
■with a pair of pincers, a piece of strong wire, 
or soft Norwiiy nail rod, may be passed through 
the eyes and clinched or riveted, as at figure 
4. Or each hook may have a small winged 
flange on the end, in which a screw-thread is cut, 
and a small screw be made to fit it ; when the hook 
is inserted, it may be drawn tightly together by the 
screw. This is shown at figure 5. In all these 
cases a heavy, wide shoe with heel and toe caullis 
should be used, to prevent spreading of the hoof. 
iSecoitd : Another method as at figure 6. In this the 
hoof is shod with a heavy 
caulked shoe, niiide wide 
at the heels. The crack 
IS previously pared, as 
already described. To 
the heel of the shoe on 
each side, a strap of nail- 
lod iron is welded so as to 
fit around the hoof, as 
in the engraving. Each 
strap is turned up at the 
loose end, at least half-an- 
mch. The end is spread, 
ind a hole is drilled or 
punched through it. A 
squnre headed bolt with a 
nut is then made to fit 
the hole. The ends of the 
straps may then be drawn 
together aa tightly as 
necessary, by screwing up the nut. With this 
method the horse may be worked regularly without 
Injury, and there is no strain upon the hoof, by 
which, if the crust is dry and brittle, it might be 
broken, as in the former method. 
If there is no sound horn at the coronet, the cure 
is more difficult. These appliances must still be 
nsed, and after the hoof is secured as above de- 
Bcribed, the hair should be shaved from the coronet, 
and the part where the crust is cracked should be 
touched with a hot iron. This will stimulate the 
growth of new horn, which will then go on down- 
wards until it reaches the sole. Without some 
Buch mechanical contrivance as these we have de- 
scribed, a cracked hoof may be regarded as incur- 
able, but if these are properly applied, the cure is 
then only a work of time. 
Sale of Short-horns in Great Britain. 
Fig. 6.— SHOE WITH 
STRAP. 
A sale of fashionable Short-horns of the herd of 
the Earl of Dunmore, was held recently at Dun- 
more, near Stirling, Scotland. This sale is worthy 
ef notice, as having surpassed the memorable New 
York Mills sale as regards prices, the highest price 
yet obtained for a bull having been paid for the 
two-year-old Duke of Connaught, which brought 
jE4,?i5, or about $26,000 of our currency. There 
were 30 cows and heifers sold at an average of 
$2,8.S1, and 9 bulls and bull calves averaged ?4,975. 
The average of the whole 39 head was over 
$3,700, while tha_t of the New York Mills sale two 
years ago, was only $3,504. We remarked at the 
time of the last named sale, that it was very im- 
probable that we had seen the highest prices paid 
for this class of stock, and even now, we think, it 
■would be equally unsafe to conclude that the high- 
est point has yet been reached. This business is in 
the hands of English noblemen and millionaires, 
and wealthy American gentlemen, and while the 
fashion lasts, no one is hurt by their indulgence in 
it even to a still greater extent than at present. 
The strife to possess the Dukes, Duchesses, Red 
Koses, and a few other families of cattle, of no 
more intrinsic value than hundreds of other Short- 
horns, seiTes to call attention to this breed, which 
stands unapproached by any other, as a means of 
improving our common stock, for the production 
of both milk cows and beeves. There are, however, 
scores of breeders of Short-horns, who are now 
engaged in the useful and laudable business of 
raising excellent stock for sale, at prices such as a 
farmer or stock grower can afford to pay, with pro- 
fit, to one who devotes his attention to fashionable 
stock. The final and best test of all, is the butch- 
er's scales, and it is not by that test that these high 
priced stock are judged at all. With " pedigree " 
hogs, sheep, dogs, and chickens, and " herd-books " 
and " records," wherein to enumerate their titles, 
and the cxhorbitant and monstrous prices paid for 
some of the stock, this fancy has passed out of 
the domain of the farmer altogether, and seems to 
be approaching to a mania such as has existed 
heretofore, in connection with Dutch bulbs, old 
china, and " bonanzas " in silver mines. Those 
who look on may be amused, but are not hurt in 
any way. There is a limit to the real value of 
everything, and however highly we may rate the 
value of the Short -horn stock to the world at large, 
we begin to fear that this class of stock known as 
" fashionable," is made of no real utility by being 
confined to a clique of very wealthy and ambitious 
purchasers, who breed them for amusement, and 
sell them to each other. No " Duchess butter " 
nor "Duke beef" is likely to come into the market 
while this mania lasts. 
The Use of Town Sewage. 
Much has been said and written about the value 
of the liquid refuse of towns and cities as a ferti- 
lizer for farms so situated as to be able to receive 
the flow of the sewers conveniently. It does ap- 
pear at first sight that a great waste occurs when 
the refuse of a million people flows into a river 
and to the sea uselessly, and sometimes offensively. 
But if it should cost two dollars to gain one by its 
use as a fertilizer, the economy is clearly in getting 
rid of it in the best way as quickly as possible. In 
England this "sewage" question has been ex- 
haustively treated. Expensive works have been 
erected to pump the liquid into distributing tanks, 
from which it has been conducted over the fields 
rented or purchased, and cultivated specially for 
the purpose of using it upon crops fitted for irriga- 
tion. Nearly a million and a half of dollars have 
been thus expended. The cost of working the 
farms, (33 in number), in 1873, as stated in a " Par- 
liamentary Return," amounted to ?165,505. The 
receipts of the farms were $104,360. Only two 
farms made a profit ; one cleared J60, and the other 
SO, .550 ; the total loss was $67,755 in one year. It 
is doubtful if the f'.'.rm which claimed a profit of 
86,550, which is the Warwick farm, the great crops 
on which have been so much written ahout, really 
made any profit, and such a result is broadly hint- 
ed at by well informed people in England. 
The experiment may, therefore, be considered as 
a failure, and the use of the sewage matter of in- 
land towns even, in ngricultnral operations, as not 
remunerative. Far less profitable would it be in the 
eases of those seaboard cities where the cost of get- 
ting rid of the matter is the least, and that of using 
it upon the land would be the gieatest. Sanitary 
enthusiasts must invent some other means of dis- 
posing of this refuse, now that the vaunted Eng- 
lish system has failed to be practicable, for the seri- 
ous question, what shall be done with the waste of 
our towns and cities, is as far front solution as ever. 
A motion was recently made in the English Parlia- 
ment for returns showing the cost, and profit and 
loss, in the treatment of sewage by all the differ- 
ent methods now practiced in England, which 
will doubtless contain valuable information. 
A Eock Cistern. 
When there is soft rock, or very compact clay, a 
short distance beneath the surface, a very excel- 
lent cistern may be excavated, in such a manner as 
to need no arch or covering over it. A narrow 
well, to serve as a man-hole, is first sunk down to 
the rock, or a hole is dug large enough to work in. 
The rock is then dug out in the shape of a jug, 
enlarging the excavation as it is carried down. In 
the soft magnesian limestones, the sandstones, and 
Flff. 1. — CISTERN CUT IN THE ROCK 
soft clay-slates, which are very frequent over wide 
districts in the west, this kind of cistern may be 
made with no tool but a light, sharp pick, or a 
hatchet and a shovel, and when once made, will 
last indefinitely. Figure 1 represents the shape of 
such a cistern. When the excavation is complete, 
the opening or man-hole is built up with brick to 
the surface, and filled .around with earth. A cov- 
ering for a pump or a wcU-curh may then be made 
over the opening. 
A correspondent from Lansing, Mich., sends us 
a plan of a cistern with a filter, which he has con- 
structed to supply his kitchen with rain water. 
The outside wall is buUtwith bricks laid in cement, 
and also plastered on the surface with cement. 
Two inner walls are buUt of bricks laid upon their 
Fig. 2. — SECTION OF FILTERING CISTERN. 
edges, without any cement between the ends. A 
space of four inches is left between these walls, 
which is filled with fine charcoal. The water fil- 
ters through the narrow openings in the walls and 
the charcoal, into the email compartment, from 
which it is drawn sweet and pure. Figure 2 shows 
the ground plan of the cistern, with the inner walls 
and the layer of charcoal. 
Oleo-Maroarine Cheese.— Those who take so 
deep an interest in the success of the " oleo-mar- 
garine" adulteration of dairy products, profess to 
be hurt when it is classed amongst the frauds 
which exist only by false representations. A curi- 
ous illustration of the "honesty" of this business, 
is given in a recently published interview with a 
manufacturer of this so-called "patent cheese." 
In reply to a question, the manufacturer stated 
