60 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February. 
HUNTING THE ANTELOPE 
[COFTKIGHT SEOCBBD.] 
ON THE PLAINS. 
West than with us. Again, we ask, what are 
the facts? We are well aware that a gang of 
ordinary men working by the day will not aver- 
age 40 bushels of ears. Last fall we paid men 
from $1.50 to $1.75 per day, without board. At 
the same time, we got our corn husked " by the 
job" for 5 cents per bushel, (equal to at least 
10 cents per bushel of shelled corn,) and the 
buskers made good wages. Some corn husked 
" by the day" in the same field, while we were 
absent at the State Fair, cost us over 9 cents 
per bushel of ears ; but all that this proves is 
that the fellows were lazy. And we give it as 
our opinion, founded on most costly experience, 
that if these same men had been husking it 
with a machine, with no one to look after them, 
it would have cost even still more. The way to 
introduce corn-husking machines is for two or 
three good men to buy a machine and go round 
and husk corn by the bushel, just as is now 
done in thrashing grain. Mr. Banfield states 
that with an Aspinwall machine he has husked 
8 bushels in 15 minutes, and at no time has he 
used more than four men about the machine. 
This is at the rate of 32 bushels per hour. At 
the N. T. State Trial this machine husked the 
first bushel of ears in 3 minutes and 10'|, sec- 
onds, or at the rate of 13 s | 4 bushels per hour; 
and it husked another bushel in 2 minutes and 
57 seconds, or at the rate of 20 bushels an hour. 
"We have no doubt that our corn will be husk- 
ed by machinery — whether it will be done any 
cheaper than we can now, sometimes, get it 
done by hand, is with us an open question. 
Hunting' the Antelope on the Plains. 
The wild life of the plains, the wild Indian 
in his buckskin and nakedness, the realities of 
the war-path and the seal ping knife, are brought 
vividly under the scrutiny of the civilized world 
by the facilities of travel, the love of adventure, 
and the desire of pleasure-seekers to go amid 
new experiences. We all have the feeling that 
this interest and excitement of the wilderness 
and the frontier are passing away, and so what- 
ever relates to them has an attraction for every 
one. Mr. Wm. M. Caiy, who not long sincere- 
turned from the Rocky Mountains, and whose 
pencil has repeatedly adorned our pages, fur- 
nishes to the Agriculturist the accompanying 
striking picture, with the following statement, 
drawn from his own observation and practice: 
-Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
" In hunting the American Antelope, the 
hunter relies almost altogether upon the curiosi- 
ty of the animal, and it is almost sure to fall a 
prey to its investigating spirit. The hunter ap- 
proaches by stealth near enough to a herd to 
attract them by waiving his red blanket in the 
air, taking good care not to show himself; then 
setting up this blanket or a piece of scarlet cloth 
upon an arrow or wiping stick thrust into 
the ground, he goes back a few yards and 
throws himself down to await the approach of 
the herd. The decoy fluttering in the air at- 
tracts the animals, who come on, headed by an 
old, cautious buck, who stops every few steps 
to sniff the air for lurking danger. So they 
come on, stringing along one after the other, 
until they are within reach of arrows or bullets. 
Good care must be taken to kill at the first shot, 
for if one is allowed to run wounded among 
the herd, it is almost impossible to get within 
shot of them again. The flesh is very delicate, 
except in the spring, when it is rank. In the 
fall it is delicious, and is flavored with the wild 
sage which they feed upon. The fur is ex- 
tremely coarse, aud more resembles a rope-mat 
than hair. The hides, dressed like buckskin, 
are used as summer clothing for the Indian." 
