4r54r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Decembek, 
its propriety and approves of the shallow pan 
system of setting milk, one too which is cer- 
tainly followed by the majority of butter 
makers, we would not enforce the contrary 
upon him. Each system has its advantages, 
and it is greatly a matter of taste or convenience 
for the adoption of one or the other that 
would balance the scale either ways. As to a 
supply of cold running water, that is absolute- 
ly indispensable to success, if there is not such 
a building as shall insure a proper temperature 
with perfect regularity at all seasons. Even 
then we would have a stream of cool water 
flowing around the pans if possible. A stream 
of pure water constantly flowing would carry 
off much impurity that might otherwise re- 
main floating upon the air of the milk-room, 
fowls in two compartments, as seen in figure 3. 
The apartment a is for roosting, and is entered 
from the rear end of the building (fig. 1), in 
ORNAMENTAL DAIRY AND ICE-HOUSE. 
and be retained by the railk. Water is a rapid 
absorbent of such impurities. If no flowing 
stream is available, a well and windmill may 
be substituted. In such a case the building, 
shown in the engraving above, would be such 
a one as would be needed. "Where the means 
are available to make it picturesque, it is not 
only a private pleasure to do so, but a public 
duty. A pleasing object gratifies the thousands 
who are led to admire it, and helps to educate 
the ideas of every beholder. The size of build- 
ing needed for a dairy of 25 cows would be 
about 24 feet square. This would give ample 
room for an apartment for milk and cream, 
and a separate one for churning, in which there 
would be a sink and waste-pipes. If desired, 
the ice-house might be built as an extension at 
the rear. The ground plan of this house might 
be arranged similarly to that shown in the 
Agriculturist of November, 1S71. 
Poultry-Houses. 
Several of our readers request us to give a 
plan for a poultry-house for the accommoda- 
Fig. 1. — ELEVATION OP POULTRY-HOUSE. 
tion of fowls, ducks, and geese. Such a one as 
is hpre shown will answer the purpose. The 
central part of the building is arranged for the 
Fig. 2. — MANNER OF VENTILATING. 
which the entrance holes are seen. These holes 
are raised above the ground so as to exclude 
skunks, and are approached by the fowls by 
means of short ladders and a step. Doors 
from this apartment lead to the front one, re- 
served for laying and setting 
hens (6, fig. 3). The side- 
wings (c, c, fig. 3) are intended 
for ducks and geese, and if 
one is furnished with small 
doors, so as to exclude the 
geese, the ducks may be kept 
separate. The nests in these 
apartments are made upon the 
ground ; a square frame of 
lath nailed together and laid 
upon the ground is sufficient, 
or a hole scooped in the 
ground will answer a very 
good purpose both for ducks 
and geese. Doors from the 
main building (in b) lead into these side apart- 
ments. The plan here given will admit of any 
expansion or modification, so that the main 
features are preserved, that may be desired to 
suit the ideas of the small or large poultry- 
keeper. Figure 2 shows a method of ventilat- 
ing a poultry-house 
when it becomes 
necessary to do so in 
the warm weather of 
summer, and also of 
rendering it tight and 
warm in winter. 
Every alternate board 
on each side of the 
building is hung upon 
hinges so as to open, 
and the space is lathed over as shown in the 
figure. In summer the boards are fastened 
back and the spaces left open to admit the air. 
During the cold weather the boards are shut 
and tightly fastened. This plan for a house 
may be used on a large or small scale. 
A Comfortable Pig-Pen. 
The total value of our swine is a very large 
item in our nation's annual 
balance-sheet. It probably 
reaches in the aggregate a 
sum of over 200 millions 
dollars every year ; yet it is 
safe to say that the aggre- 
gate sum of discomfort, if 
not of positive suffering, 
which, on the whole, our 
pigs are made to suffer 
through the thoughtless- 
ness or carelessness of their 
owners is never truly ap- 
preciated. It 'eertamly far -surpasses- that in- 
flicted upon all other stock combined. The 
pig is generally contemned and abused. If 
it were once felt that all this ill-treatment was 
costly, and that the profit accruing from the 
gross amount of pork yearly raised is consider- 
ably lessened in consequence, it would lead to 
a more careful and humane treatment of these 
animals. The pig is a cleanly, sagacious ani- 
mal, that thrives best in dry, warm quarters, 
and if allowed to do so will always choose 
such. His feeding and sleeping apartment 
should always be of this character, and there 
should be an outer yard to which he can have 
ready access, and which should also be pro- 
tected from the weather. 
We give a plan of a pig-pen which combines 
these requisites, with other conveniences that 
enable the occupants of the pens to be changed 
from one to another very readily. The engrav- 
ing shows one complete pen with its divisions. 
A row of these pens may be built in one long 
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Fig. 3. — GROUND PLAN. 
. PLAN OF PIG-PEN. 
shed, and the description of one will answer 
for all. The pen is 20 feet long from front to 
rear by 8 feet wide. The posts at the front are 
10 feet high, and at the rear 7 feet. A feed 
passage runs along the front of the pens, shown 
at a. The feeding and sleeping apartment is 
shown at b. At c is a passage which also passes 
along the whole building, but which when 
closed by the doors (d) makes the passage a 
part of the yard (<7). The feed passage (a) is 
three feet wide. The feeding place (b) is 10 feet 
deep by 8 feet in width ; the passage (c) is 3 feet 
wide; and the yard (<Z) 4 feet — making the 
whole space of the yard 7x8 feet when the 
passage is closed. When the passage is opened 
the door (d) closes the opening from the yard 
into the feeding place, and the occupants of the 
pens are shut up. Any pig that may have to 
be moved from one pen to another can then be 
driven without any difficulty wherever it may 
be desired. A swinging door in the rear may 
be made to allow the pigs to pass in or out into 
the barn-yard or the pasture if one is provided 
for them. But generally it will be found better 
to have the pens built upon one side of the 
barn-yard, so that the pigs maybe used to work 
up any materials for manure or compost that 
may be at hand for the purpose. The floor of 
the pen should be, in part at least, of plank ; 
that of the yard may be of pavement, of cobble- 
stone, or of cement, but should be so laid that 
it can not be torn up. A tight roof should 
cover the whole, and slide windows at the rear 
and front should be made for good ventilation. 
This is very important for the comfort of the 
animals in hot weather. "We saw a pen last 
summer in which a large number of Berkshire 
pigs were kept, and in which there was no means 
of ventilation ; the heat was insupportable, and 
must have been very injurious to the pigs,which 
.appeared to suffer greatly. The floor of the pens 
Should slope .backwards at least two inches in 
ten feet, and the yards should be well drained. 
A bar is fixed around the bottom of the 
