258 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
casks are connected together by a short pipe 
fixed in the boLtom or lower part of tlie side of 
each. A board about twelve inches wide is 
fixed across the lower part of the second cask, 
as shown in the annexed engraving, and on 
each side of it a filter is arranged, which con- 
sists of, first, a layer of gravel, then a layer of 
small charcoal, then a layer of fine gravel, with 
some coarse gravel on the top. The water from 
the first cask passes into the second through 
one side of the filler, and, when drawn off by 
the tap or faucet, passes through the other side 
of the filler, thus being discharged perfectly 
clear from all impurities, and free from any un- 
pleasant taste which may have been gathered 
from the roof. The casks should be painted, 
and, if possible, a shed or shade should be built 
over them to protect them from the sun's heat. 
"When not needed, it will pay to take them 
clown and store them in the bain or some con- 
venient dry place for future use. 
What are " Common Cows " in Eng- 
land? 
Some months ago we should hare said the 
question above proposed could be of no pos- 
sible interest or importance to American 
farmers. But we should have been very much 
mistaken. At the Shorthorn Breeders' Con- 
vention, a resolution was introduced " that ani- 
mals should be traced on both sides to imported 
animals, before they can be entitled to registry" 
in the American Shorthorn Herd-Book. This 
led to a very able and animated discussion. 
We have good Shorthorns in this country that 
can not be traced back on both sides to import- 
ed stock — animals that have Bold fv>r na bigh as 
$2,000 each. Mr. Allen, the editor of the Herd- 
Book, gave it as his opinion that animals might 
be registered that " had six crosses of Shorthorn 
blood, and then went back into something that 
■was known and recognized." It was shown 
that four crosses were all that were required in 
England to entitle an animal to registry in the 
English Shorthorn Herd-Book. And Mr. Por- 
ter, of Illinois, asked, " When our farmers arc 
told that ten crosses are of no account that end 
in the American woods, what are they to think 
when you take up another with four crosses, 
which you hold perfectly good, because that 
ends in the English woods?" 
Judge Jones, of Ohio, said, " The Shorthorns 
are as original and distinct a breed of cattle as 
any other cattle whatever. We are doing our- 
selves monstrous injustice, and practicing a fraud 
upon the people, when we say otherwise. Now 
Mr. Carr [an English authority] says that four 
crosses will serve to make a capital cow out of 
a common market-cow. He says this " Durham 
ox that, traveled, was got by the bull Favorite, 
upon a common cow. What i3 a common cow 
in that country ? Why, a Short horn cow !" 
Now there are in England Hereford, Devon, 
Sussex, Norfolk, Derby, Leicester, Longhorns, 
and Durham Shorthorns, and half-a-dozen or a 
dozen other breeds or sort s of nati ve cattle, besides 
Ayrshires, Galloways, West Highland, and Al- 
derneys, and we supposed that "common" cat- 
tle were such as are raised with no reference to 
breed o; pedigree. They may have some Short- 
horn blood in them, or they may not. They 
may sometimes be pure Shorthorn, and that is 
all that can be said. They are much more 
likely to be a mixture of half-a-dozen breeds, for 
according to our observation the ordinary Eng- 
lish farmer is quitfRemucii given to use a grade, 
cross-bred, or common bull as the farmers of 
this country. 
We are as anxious as any one can be to keep 
our Shorthorn cattle pure. We have great faiih 
in the value of a thoroughly established breed 
— not because they look better, handle better, 
give more milk, mature earlier, grow larger, or 
fat more readily than cross-bred cattle or grades, 
but simply because, when they possess these 
good qualities, they have far greater power of 
impressing them upon their offspring. But 
while we are anxious to exclude from the Ameri- 
can Herd-Book all animals of doubtful origin, 
we want to sec fair play, and no favor shown to 
English breeders that is not extended to our own 
breeders. We would not admit an English-bred 
animal to the American Herd-Book that would 
not be admitted if it had been bred in America 
instead of in England. 
The Feeding of Young Turkeys. 
Why is it that one farmer will raise nearly 
every turkey-chick that conies out of the shell, 
and do this nine years out often, without much 
respect to wet or dry seasons, while another 
loses from half to three-quarters with about the 
same uniformity ? We know of men with whom 
success is the established rule. They are very 
systematic in this, as in all their other business. 
We visited one of these thrifty farmers, who 
raised 165 turkeys last year from nine hens, and 
upon inquiry found that he did about the same 
thing every year. We wanted to know just 
how he managed to secure this uniform result, 
and found him communicative. He insists 
upon good stock to begin with — the best always 
selected to breed from. Then he places great 
reliance upon regular feeding during the fall 
and winter, so that the flock becomes very 
gentle, and the hens make their nests imme- 
diately about the sheds and barns in places 
prepared for them. This ia a great safeguard 
against foxes, skunks, crows, hawks, and other 
creatures that destroy the birds or their eggs. 
When the young first come off the nest they 
are confined in pens for a few days until they 
are strong enough to fly over a board inclosuro 
one foot high. He feeds frequently with coarse 
corn-meal and sour milk until four o'clock in 
the afternoon, ne found in his experience that 
he lost a good man}' chicks from the food hard- 
ening in the crop. There is danger from over- 
feeding. As the chicks grow, the sour-milk diet 
is increased, and during the summer it is kept 
constantly in a trough for them. They are ex- 
ceedingly fond of sour-milk and butter-milk, 
and they grow very rapidly upon this diet. An 
incidental advantage, and a very important one 
he thinks, is that the young birds are prevented 
from straying very far from the house. They 
return many times during the day to the butter- 
milk trough for their favorite food. This, with 
Indian-meal, constitutes their principal food 
until midsummer, when insects are more abun- 
dant, and they wander farther from the house. 
This method can easily be tried on dairy farms. 
■ ' mmm « - 
How Early should Heifers have Calves? 
There is a great difference in the practice of 
farmers in this respect — some feeding high and 
breeding as early as possible, and others keep- 
ing the heifers away from the bull until their 
third year, feeling quite satisfied with a calf at 
three years old. It is admitted that the heifers 
grow larger that breed late, and if beef is a 
prominent object in the animal this may be 
good policy. But in dairy districts we want 
milk, butter, and cheese at the earliest moment 
that the animal is capable of producing them eco- 
nomically. The Jerseys and their grades bring 
calves quite early, sometimes at 15 months old, 
frequently at 18 months, and as a rule at two 
3 - ears or under. The heifers that come in at 
fifteen months frequently lose their calves, and 
their growth is a good deal retarded. But the 
milking qualities of the animal are generally 
developed, and if the heifers have rich pasture 
ami are well fed during the winter we prefer to 
have them come in the second spring after 
birth, say from 20 to 24 months old. This saves 
at least, a year's keeping, and we think makes a 
better cow, although she may not be quite so 
large. The cost of keeping a two-year-old 
heifer in the older states is from $35 to $50 a 
year, and if there is no calf until she is three 
years old it is so much money out of pocket. 
We have never been able to discover much dif- 
ference between t lie quantity of milk given by 
a heifer in her second and third year. If well 
cared for, the two-year-old begins to pay as soon 
as she brings a calf. If of good stock, and a 
heifer, the calf will be as well worth raising as 
any subsequent calf dropped by the same 
mother. She will probably give more than 
milk enough to pay for her year's keeping, and 
the calf will bo clear gain. The cost of keep- 
ing cows in the Eastern States is now so great, 
that one needs to put them to breeding at the 
earliest day it can be safely done. At three 
years old the animal has consumed not Air 
from eighty dollars' worth of food, whether she 
have yielded any return or not. If you can put 
fifty dollars to her credit at the close of the third 
year it looks a little more like making the rais- 
ing of dairy cows a living business. 
Steam-Plowing in Europe. 
— • — - 
That steam-plowing is certain to become at 
some future period a regular branch of agricul- 
ture, may not be doubted any more than that 
steam will eventually supersede horse-power 
wherever it can be made available in the future 
as it has already done in the past. Agriculture 
can not afford to remain behind the ether arts 
in any particular. It has been brought to that 
condition now in England and the East that 
convenience mainly determines whether the 
farm be plowed by steam or not. Its great 
economy is no longer in doubt. In the month 
of April last, at a meeting of the London Far- 
mers' Club, a paper was read by a farmer, Mr. 
J. K. Fowler, relating his experience with steam 
cultivation. In the discussion, or rather re- 
marks — for there was no divided opinion upon 
the matter — which followed, several other far- 
mers gave their views in a practical and inter- 
esting manner. It appears that the use of 
steam is so rapidly extending, that at one fac- 
tory in England 100, chiefly double, engines 
are made yearly to supply the home demand, 
and 00 yearly for foreign customers. Also, that 
the unfavorable condition of the public and 
farm roads, the weakness of the bridges, and the 
crooked fences and small fields greatly retard 
the use of the engines. That in Germany 50 
engines are at work on the sugar-beet farms, 
and that the improved cultivation — a depth of 
15 to 30 inches being reached — so increases the 
quantity and quality of the crop that the en- 
terprise is very profitable. In England, 200 
acres a week have been plowed by one set of 
engines and plows, with three men, and horse 
