378 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[OCTOBER, 
edge at the bottom, is used to cut out the blocks. 
These are cut in the manner shown at figure 2, and 
in the order indicated by the numbers, for the pur¬ 
pose of keeping the water at the lowest point. The 
digger stands on a plank lest the soft peat should 
be broken down by his trampling upon it. The 
blocks are laid to drain upon the edge of the ditch, 
and when hardened sufficiently by exposure they 
are put up to dry in the manner shown at figure 3. 
As the peats dry, they shrink largely, and when 
solid enough to withstand the pressure they are 
piled in stacks for final drying, as at figure 4. The 
stacks are covered with coarse hay to shed the rain. 
When thoroughly dry, the blocks are light, but 
solid, and will bear bandliug without waste. 
In burning this fuel, care is needed to manage 
the fire with success. A block is first broken up 
and the pieces are lightly placed upon some shav¬ 
ings or other kindling. A few half blocks are laid 
■over these, and then whole ones so placed as to 
leave as large air spaces as possible between the 
blocks. Thus arranged, they burn lively and make 
a bright glowing fire without flame, and with little 
smoke. It is a pleasant fire to broil meat over. 
When a slow fire is wanted the peats are laid close 
together, aud some ashes drawn over them. 
Packing Eggs for Winter. 
Of the various methods practised for preserving 
eggs for winter use, one of the most effective is 
that employed by the dealers who buy when the 
supply is large and prices low. This is as follows: 
Fig. 1.—VAT FOR PICKLING EGGS. 
Brick vats, or wooden tanks, are constructed in 
cool dry cellars, partly sunk below the level of the 
floor, as in figure 1, the dotted lines showing the 
portion below the ground. Thase vats and tanks, 
—or casks, which may be used instead,—are partly 
filled with a preservative mixture of thick lime- 
water, or milk of lime, to which are sometimes 
added salt and a small quantity of cream of tartar 
(bi-tartrate of potash) and the eggs are placed in 
this mixture and kept covered. The eggs are 
placed in the tank by means of a peculiar dipper, 
(fig. 2) made of a round, shallow tin pan, with a 
long handle, the tin being perforated to drain off 
the liquid. The eggs are lowered to near the bot¬ 
tom, and gently rolled out, with little risk of break¬ 
age. Here they remain until required for sale. If 
they were fresh when packed away, they will come 
out after three or four months so little changed, 
that few persons would be able to distinguish them 
from fresh ones. When wanted for sale, they are 
taken out of ihe pickle with the dipper, and care- 
EGG LADLE. 
fully placed in the crate, shown at fig. 3. This is 
made of laths ; but an open splint basket would 
answer the purpose as well. A large low tub, as 
half a hogshead, is provided, and two boards are 
placed across the top as seen in fig. 4. The crate 
of eggs is placed upon the boards, and water is run 
through it until all perceptible traces of lime are 
removed. In this method of preservation, there is 
nothing that may not be done in a small way, and 
with any substituted apparatus which will answer 
the purpose. One thing is imperative—the eggs 
must be fresh when packed, or they cannot be 
kept in a good condition for several months. 
Fig. 3.— CRATE FOR 
IMMERSING EGGS. 
The Lack of Educated Veterinarians. 
BT A. LIAITTARD, H.D., V. S. 
- <:• - 
Inducements to Young Men to Study- 
Veterinary Surgery and Medicine. 
The American Agriculturist for September, con¬ 
tains an excellent letter from one “Among the 
Farmers.” His hints on treating ailing animals, on 
Veterinary Surgeons, etc., are veiy good, aud as one 
among the Veterinarians, I would say a few words 
in confirmation of your correspondent. 
That the number of educated Veterinarians is yet 
far below the requirements of the country, every 
one knows, and it will 
probably remain thus /- 
for some years to come. 
Why should Veterinary 
Science stand so low 
among us, while the 
number of domestic 
animals is so great ? It 
is not merely because 
our people are ignorant 
of the real value of the 
profession, for every 
one will admit that 
Veterinarians are much 
needed, that it is a diffi¬ 
cult profession to mas¬ 
ter, and that it requires 
as much study as to become a physician, if not 
more. It is rather because those engaged in 
the profession, generally speaking, have proved un¬ 
worthy of the confidence of the people, either by 
their conduct or by their ignorance and their own 
social standing. Scarcely one respectable veteri¬ 
narian can be found where there are ten such 
pretending practitioners. This being the case in 
many large cities, what must it be in the country ? 
It was to remedy such condition of things that 
Veterinary Schools were started. I would here 
correct an error of your correspondent. He says : 
“ We have two or three Veterinary Schools.” There 
is at the present, only one Institution entirely de¬ 
voted to the study of Veterinary Medicine, in active 
working order, viz., the “ American Veterinary Col¬ 
lege,” situated in New York City, at 141 West 54th 
St., which has been frequently announced in the 
columns of the American Agriculturist. This Insti¬ 
tution, far from “struggling with poverty or 
lack of appreciation,” is in a prosperous condition 
and is fully satisfied with the success it has met 
since its opening. Its facilities are as good as those 
of any of its kind; it 
has a faculty of eight 
professors, who, since 
1864, have been lectur¬ 
ing every session. This 
College is well pre¬ 
pared for work; its 
lecture-rooms and dis¬ 
secting room are every 
winter well filled by 
students from all parts 
of the country, while 
the museum contains 
Fig. 4.— TUB FOR DRAIN¬ 
ING THE EGGS. 
nearly 3,000 specimens for illustrating the lectures. 
The hospital and clinics brought last year nearly 
1,500 patients [diseased animals] before the class. 
So far from fearing as to its future, the officers are 
now puzzled to foresee how they will accommodate 
their class a year or two hence. The Alumni of the 
“American Veterinary College,” are, of course, 
yet few in number, but these few are to be found 
in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylva¬ 
nia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, etc. ; 
and they now form the nucleus from which Veter¬ 
inary Science will extend its influence far and wide. 
Other schools have been started in different parts 
of this country, but, for reasons easily understood, 
all have failed. The “American Veterinary Col¬ 
lege” has proved a success because it was not 
started for money-making, but for scientific objects, 
and, with the officers who undertook to carry on 
the work, it could not prove a failure. 
Your correspondent asks, “Why should not 
Physicians treat animals as well as men ? ” 
In the present condition of the country, with 
almost no Veterinarians of education, I, as one of 
them, accept this proposition, and say that rather 
than to trust to nature alone, and certainly instead 
of leaving our animals in the hand of every empiric, 
quack, horse doctor, or any impostor of that sort, 
by all means let our Physicians give timely assist¬ 
ance and good advice. 
But is it necessary that we should depend on our 
medical man for advice as to domestic animals, and 
would he be the proper man for that double work ? 
—We doubt it much ; though similar in generali¬ 
ties, the two branches of medicine are so different 
in their details, that it seems to be asking too much 
of a man to be both a good V. S. and a safe M. D. 
Let young farmers look at the veterinary profes¬ 
sion in its proper light; let them remember that 
it will require hard study and steady applica¬ 
tion before they can qualify themselves for prac¬ 
tice ; let them appreciate the fact that veterinary 
medicine is not merely horse-doctoring or the like, 
but that it is a profession of science and of learning 
—one which is of the greatest importance to our 
national wealth—agriculture being the wealth of a 
country. Let them impress their minds that it 
is not the profession which makes the man, but the 
man who makes the profession, and I am sure that 
but very few years will pass before a sufficient 
number of educated men will be found to remedy 
the need at present so much felt by our farmers. 
Let me add a few words, which I am sure will 
carry weight in favor of veterinary science. Out 
of the whole list of the Alumni of the “American 
Veterinary College,” there is not one who does 
not command a paying practice of from $1,500 to 
$4,000 a year ; and this not after several years 
from the time of graduation, but in some cases 
in a few months after leaving college. What 
business, what trade, what other profession, offers 
to young men greater inducements ? 
[In allowing this well deserved praise of the In¬ 
stitution mentioned, the impression may be con¬ 
veyed that there is no other Veterinary College 
in good standing in America, which our Canadian 
neighbors may resent, as there is an excellent 
Veterinary College at Montreal, which we do not 
doubt graduates skillful practitioners.— Eds.] 
A Safe Tether. 
In tethering animals, the dauger of the chain or 
rope winding around their legs and throwing or 
fettering them, may be avoided by attaching a strong 
rod, as a portion of a young hickory sapling, about 
8 feet long, to the end of the tether, and by a short 
chain not more than 2 feet long to the neck strap 
or headstall. The end of the rod nearest to the 
animal is thus raised a little from the ground when 
its head is up, and cannot be interfered with by 
the feet, nor can the tether chain become en¬ 
tangled about the legs. The method of attaching 
the rod is shown in the accompanying illustration. 
Color of Farm Buildings. 
In painting even a shed it is just as cheap and 
easy to give it a pleasing color, as to make it a 
blemish on the landscape. Barns and other farm 
buildings, painted red,—especially the dark Vene¬ 
tian red—offer a fine contrast to the green of the 
fields and trees, and we are pleased to note that the 
.use of this color is increasing. The numerous 
red buildings of English farms are very attrac¬ 
tive to the traveller’s eye; and they are not only 
handsome in appearance, but also give an air of 
thrift and permanency to a place, which unpainted 
wood, or white or straw color, do not impart. We 
