416 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
coating of hot gas-tar is laid upon it until no 
more is absorbed, and fine sand scattered upon 
it. Then we have a floor which will last in- 
definitely if only care has been taken to make 
a solid foundation and to ram the stones down 
solidly. It is entirely rat-proof, dry, and 
therefore healthful. This floor is also pig-proof, 
and suitable for hog-pens which have nothing 
beneath them but .the ground. It is obvious 
that this paved surface is solely a ground floor, 
and can not be used over a cellar. 
A Cart for Irrigation. 
There is no doubt that the experience of the 
last two or three years will lead to a very early 
use of some method or other of irrigating crops 
grown upon land of more than ordinary value. 
Market gardens, lawns, private gardens, dairy 
farms on which soiling crops are grown, all 
will before long be brought under some system 
cup, stopping the flow when down, and when 
raised permitting whatever quantity is desired 
to pass through the pipe. The top and bottom 
of the sprinkler are made of two pieces of board 
four inches wide cut to the proper curve. The 
front and back of the sprinkler are made of 
sheet zinc nailed to the edges of the board 
strips. The front is pierced with a quantity of 
holes, through which the liquid escapes in 
small streams. When in use, the horse walks 
between two rows, and the wheels pass between 
the rows on each side, thus watering four rows 
at one passage. It is obviously proper when 
the use of this cart is contemplated upon any 
crop planted or sown in rows that the rows 
should be made to suit the width of the cart. 
The Poitou Jackass. 
Fig. 2. — BALL AND CUP VALVE. 
Fig. 1. — AN IRRIGATING CAR 
of irrigation, not so much with water as with 
fertilizers in a liquid form. 
When it becomes a question of crop or no 
crop upon land that must pay interest on a cost 
of several hundred dollars per acre, to say 
nothing of repaying the costly labor laid out 
upon the crops and that the saving of the crop 
depends \ipon a supply of moisture which is 
withheld by na- 
ture, it is certain 
that an imme- 
diate solution 
will be found 
i n providing 
means for sup- 
plying the need- 
ed moisture. Be- 
sides, manure al- 
ready dissolved is immediate in its action 
upon plants, and is at once absorbed by the 
roots. By irrigation with weak solutions 
of manure crops of rye grass are continually 
grown upon some English dairy farm'?, which 
amount in the aggregate to 30 tons per acre 
during one season, and an aggregate growth 
of 100 inches ha9 been thus procured by 
making several cuttings. 
The great difficulty is in applying the liquid 
and procuring proper carts for the purpose. A 
correspondent has favored us with a descrip- 
tion of one of these carts which he has con- 
structed, of which we give an engraving. It 
consists of a tank set upon a frame having a 
pair of shafts as the main portions. The 
shafts project behind sufficiently to permit the 
sprinkler to be attached. The tank is a simple 
water-tight, covered box, as represented in fig. 1. 
The valve (fig. 3) is a ball which drops into a 
An. Improved Sled-Box. 
— * — 
" H. P. D." sends us a sketch of an improved 
sled-box, which is easily put together and as 
easily taken apart when 
necessary. The im- 
provement consists in 
affixing corner and side 
irons to the frame of 
the sled, in which stakes 
are placed to hold the 
box in place. The side 
and corner irons are 
shown in the upper part 
of the annexed engrav- 
ing, the lower part of 
it shows how the stakes 
are set into the irons to 
hold the box. The sides 
and ends of the box are 
loose. The side boards 
are held in position by 
cleats upon the inner 
sides of the end boards, 
and the ends overlap the sides, as may be seen 
in the engraving. If it is desired to draw a load 
of wood the box is taken apart and the irons 
serve as stakeholders whereby the load is held. 
This removes the necessity for boring holes in 
In a recent number of the Agriculturist we 
gave engravings of the Poitou mule, with some 
notes of their history and character. We now 
give an engraving of the Poitou ass, the pro- 
genitor of the Poitou mule, as he appears in 
his early youth or as a yearling. While he has 
no beauty, this animal has a sturdy, long-suf- 
fering look very proper for an ass, and besides 
his very ugliness to us is considered by his 
SLED-BOX ASD IRONS. 
owners or those who patronize him for his ure- 
fulness as a style of beauty no less remarkable 
than it is desirable for their purposes. The 
points of this animal which are most esteemed 
are precisely those which are desired to be per- 
petuated in his progeny. His heavy bone, 
short pasterns, and broad feet, his thick strong 
neck, broad chest, and stout limbs make him 
so desirable, that the inevitably accompanying 
head, enormous in size, immense ears, often 
lopped by reason of their extreme size and 
weight, and the pendulous lip, with the shaggy 
coat, are considered as a standard of excellence 
of the very highest character. The more these 
seemingly hideous features are exaggerated, 
the more valuable the creature becomes and 
the higher are the hopes entertained of his 
future merits. To a breeder's eye these seem- 
ing anomalies are points of great interest, and 
skillfully used combine -with equally skillful 
selection as to mares to produce probably the 
hardiest kind of draft animals in the world. 
This ass is supposed to be of Spanish extrac- 
tion, and the vast difference between the ori- 
A YOUNG POITOU JACK. 
the reve of the sled, by which it is very much | ginal race and these descendants has been 
weakened. The cuts in a corner of the engrav- 
ing show so plainly the exact character of the 
irons that no further description is necessary. 
brought about by careful selection and judi- 
cious breeding. The height of the full-grown 
Poitou ass is about 14 hands, and the color is a 
