58 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
[February, 
and the carcass shoved up, one side at a time ; 
then the longer ones are employed until you 
reach the desired height, leaving the beef sus- 
pended as represented. Two men can butcher 
in this way without much trouble." — When 
strung up it is comparatively easy to finish 
skinning, and to remove the vicera, after -which 
the carcass may be allowed to cool, when it 
can be cut into quarters. A single man will 
have no difficulty iu lifting a beef carcass if 
he uses a lever and simple sling, as shown in 
figure 3, to move up the crotchet! sticks, first 
on one side and then on the other. The lever 
being placed at right angles to the long poles. 
— »-. Ll & t. I 1 
Care of Young Pigs in Winter. 
It seems to be generally admitted that the 
stock of pigs in the United States is unusually 
light. At any rate, pork brings a very high 
price, and this fact, in the face of a tight money 
market, is pretty conclusive evidence that the 
supply is not equal to the demand. It is not 
improbable that farmers will make, or have 
already made, an unusual effort to raise a large 
number of pigs next spring, and if we have a 
good corn crop next year, we may see a marked 
decline in the pork trade in the winter of 1870-1. 
But the indications now are that pork will be 
in demand through the coming summer, and 
early autumn, and we should make it a point 
to have our pigs in such high condition that we 
can avail ourselves of the high prices. Every 
farmer who has a litter of fall pigs should see 
to it that they are kept growing rapidly through 
the present winter, and during next spring and 
summer. A well-bred fall pig can easily and 
profitably be made to dress 250 or 300 lbs. at 
ten months old. But to accomplish this it is 
absolutely essential that the pigs be provided 
with comfortable quarters through the winter, 
and are furnished with a liberal and regular 
supply of nutritious food. We do not advocate 
fattening pigs during our northern winters, but 
we do most earnestly advocate keeping young 
pigs growing vigorously. So far as our observa- 
tion extends, half our farmers do little more 
than keep their 3 r oung pigs alive during the 
winter. Whatever food the pigs eat is lost. 
They do not gain a pound, ant! they are so 
stunted that half the summer is past before 
they get into a thriving condition. No wonder 
such farmers say " pigs don't pay." Pigs kept 
warm, dry, and comfortable through the winter, 
with food enough to keep them nearly fat, will, 
when spring comes, grow with great rapidity 
on food but little better than that which is 
ordinarily given to store pigs at that season; 
and so all through the summer, the effect of the 
good food and treatment in the winter will be 
very decided. With the run of a good clover 
pasture, and the wash from the house ant! 
dairy, with a pint or so of corn a day, these 
well-wintered pigs will gain rapidly, and will 
at any time be ready for the butcher. No 
matter what the price of pork may be, we are 
satisfied, from experience and observation, that 
if pigs are kept at all, the only profitable way 
is to keep them well. They may not always 
pay, but the liberal feeder has a better chance 
of getting his money back than the farmer who 
half starves his pigs. It is true that one of the 
objects of keeping pigs is, that they may eat 
food that would otherwise be wasted, and we 
would not be understood as advocating any- 
thing inconsistent with this idea. If possible, 
however, the "scavengers of the barn-yard" 
should be full-grown breeding sows. Young, 
growing pigs, whether intended for breeding 
purposes or for fattening for the butcher, should 
never be left entirely to chance food that they 
can pick up. Let them have the run of the 
yards iu winter, and pick up all the food they 
can find, but never suffer them to depend on 
this alone, unless there is abundant evidence 
that they can find all they need. Farmers 
should have a pair of platform scales and weigh 
their pigs occasionally, and they would then 
ascertain whether their pigs were receiving 
good treatment and a proper amount of food. 
We have just weighed some, at four months 
old, that averaged 80 pounds each. They 
ought to be so fed through the winter as to gain 
25 pounds a month, and, as they get older, and 
the weather gets warmer, they should gain a 
pound a day ; and when the summer comes, 
with milk and clover, and a little corn-meal, 
they should gain 1 2 | 2 pounds a day; and for the 
last month or six weeks before killing, they 
should gain nearly 2 pounds a da} r . We Jaiow 
that this can be done, and we also feel cer- 
tain that, at the present price of pork and 
grain, no branch of farming affords a greater 
profit than liberal feeding of well-bred pigs. 
Next to liberal feeding, a dry, warm pen is 
of the greatest importance. Better have a good 
pen, so constructed that neither wind, nor rain, 
nor snow can enter; but, in the absence of 
such a pen, the farmer is inexcusable who does 
not contrive some plan for keeping his pigs 
warm and comfortable. If made of boards, a 
few laths can be used as battens to stop up the 
cracks. We have seen pigs shivering in a pen 
close to a heap of stable litter, where half an 
hour's labor with a fork would have made the 
pen comfortable. No matter how the snow and 
wind are kept out. Anything that will stop up 
the cracks will answer. With litter or corn-stalks 
a rail pen may easily be made comfortable. 
We repeat — feed the young pigs well this 
winter, keep them growing rapidly in spring, 
and then, next summer or autumn, you can 
avail yourselves of the unusual demand there 
will probably be for good pork. Neglect the 
pigs this winter, and the probabilities are that 
your pigs will not be ready to kill before the 
price has declined. Recollect that, in any case, 
whether prices decline or not, liberal feeding is 
more profitable than a starvation diet for six 
months, ant! afterwards a surfeit of corn. 
" Can the United States raise its own 
Wool ?" — Why not ? Have we not land enough ; 
have we not sufficient range of soil and climate? 
If we can compete with other nations in raising 
wheat and corn, beef, pork and cheese, why 
cannot we raise wool enough for home consump- 
tion ? It requires less labor to raise wool, in pro- 
portion to its value, than any other farm pro- 
duct. Peter Henderson cannot afford to raise 
wheat on his land, but it would be absurd for 
him to assert, that wheat cannot be raised with 
profit in the Uuited States. There are farmers 
on high priced laud that cannot afford to keep 
sheep for wool alone, but they should not assert 
that it cannot be raised in the United States. 
Do Pi«s Pay ? — A correspondent in N. J. 
writes : " I have just footed up the proceeds of 
one brood sow, kept during the past year, and 
find I have received $406.54, and have the sow 
still on hand. The pigs were kept and fed in 
an ordinary manner during the summer on milk, 
and aside from the poor corn, not more than 
100 bushels of ears of good corn were fed." The 
pigs were sold at from 5 to 11 months old. 
Maple Sugar Making. 
ET "W. T. CHAMBERLAIN, HUDSON, O. 
During the last twenty-five years many im- 
provements have been made in the apparatus 
for, and methods of, making maple sugar. I 
give those now in use by the best sugar-makers 
of Northern Ohio. 
The Buckets are made of the best " IX " tin. 
They are straight, (not flaring) and are of three 
sizes — three buckets fitting together and form- 
ing a " nest." The nest occupies only the space 
of the largest bucket, thus securing convenience 
in handling, and economy in storing. The 
three sizes, too, permit the size of the bucket to 
be adapted to the flowing capacity of the tree. 
The dimensions are — Largest, circumference 
34 inches; depth, 9 in.; capacity, 15 quarts. 
Medium, circumference 32'| 2 in.; depth, 9 in.; 
capacity, 13'ls quarts. Smallest, circumference 
30 in.; depth, 9 inches, capacit}', 11 quarts. 
Three buckets require eight sheets .of 10 x 14 
inch, and two sheets of 10 x 10-inch tin. The 
sides of each bucket re- 
quire two 10 x 14 sheets 
and a. piece. The piece 
in the largest is 7'la 
inches wide, and in the 
medium 6 inches. Both 
these pieces are made 
of the seventh sheet of 
10 x 14 tin. The bottoms 
Fig. I.-sap bucket. of these Jackets are 
made of the two 10 x 10 sheets. The piece in 
the smallest size is S'Ij inches wide, and this, 
with the bottom, is made of the eight sheet ot 
10 x 14 tin. Figure 1 shows the smallest of the 
three buckets ; in the other two the piece is 
much wider. Just below the wire rim an inch 
hole is punched, so as to hang the bucket on 
the " spile." The hole is in the middle of the 
piece above mentioned, as in fig. 1, as the seams 
strengthen the bucket, and prevent its bending 
when it hangs full of sap. Such buckets cost 
now about $40 per hundred. The buckets 
should be painted outside with yellow ochre, or 
other durable paint, to protect them from rust. 
The sap does not rust the inside. The buckets 
will last thirty jrears or more. Tin is better 
than wood, as it is more easily kept clean, does, 
not sour the sap so much, and does not shrink, 
get leaky, and require hoop-driving every 
spring, when one is 
in haste to be tap- 
ping. It is also more -pj g —spile 
easily handled, and 
stored. It is better than earthen- ware, which is 
heavy to handle,and cracks when the sap freezes. 
Hanging the bucket on the tree is preferable 
to setting it on the ground. It saves hunting 
for a block or stone ; the bucket is more con- 
veniently emptied, as will be seen hereafter; 
the wind cannot blow the sap away as it drops, 
nor blow the bucket away; and, what is of 
most importance, the bucket can be covered. 
The Spues, fig. 2, are made of beech or maple, 
turned and bored by machinery. They are 
better than elder with the pith punched out, be- 
cause they are not so liable to sour, and are 
stronger and more durable. They should be '['« 
of an inch iu diameter, 3 or 4 inches long, taper- 
ing for an inch of the length, aud only 3 | B of an 
inch where they enter the tree. Each should 
have three notches turned around it, about an 
inch apart, to keep the bucket from sliding 
off. There should be three notches, so that the 
bucket may be huug in one or the other of 
them, and be level, whatever way the tree may 
lean. The spiles cost about $1.25 per hundred. 
