4:12 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
Movable Feed-Boor for Pig-Trough, 
“E. W.,” Aroostook Co., Me., sends a drawing 
of a trough for feeding pigs. The door, G, tig. 2, is 
hung on hinges at the 
top, and when closed 
is held in position by 
the bolt, E, sliding 
down into a groove. 
When going to feed, 
the bolt is pulled up, 
the door is swung in 
beyond the trough, 
which is placed close 
against the front of 
the pen, as shown in 
the engraving, and is 
bolted inside of the 
front of the trough. 
This holds the door in 
position, and shuts the 
pigs away from the Fig. 1.— feed-tbqcgh 
trough until it is clean- closed. 
ed out, or the swill or other food poured in, when the 
sliding bolt is raised, the door swings to its place 
by its own weight; the fastener is then slid down 
Fig. 2.— MOVABLE DOOR TO PIG-TROUGH. 
into the groove, and all made close. Figure 1 
shows an end view of the trough and door. 
Selecting Seed Corn. 
Two ears or more, regularly, to a stalk, is a great 
desideratum in corn, and should be an essential 
point in selecting ears for seed. Size, however, is 
of secondary importance, the almost universal 
practice of farmers to the contrary notwithstand¬ 
ing. If the reader will take a long ear—almost any 
one—he will observe that the kernels are rather 
loosely set on the cob, and are roundish in form. 
Then take an ear of ordinary length (8 to 10 inches 
long, 8 or 10-rowed), well filled out at both ends, 
having a small cob, and the butt no larger than the 
midcle,—on such an ear the kernels will be so close 
set as to be flattened by the pressure, and often all 
sides will be compressed and angular, and the tex¬ 
ture of the grain will be more compact than on the 
loosely set cob. Now shell equal lengths of both 
ears, and it will be found that the small ear will 
yield more bulk and weight of grain than the large 
one, provided both have the same number of rows, 
and we have seen an eight-rowed ear that yielded 
as much as a ten-rowed one. Any one can test this. 
The obvious inference from these facts is, to 
select for seed corn ears from stalks bearing two 
or more ears, having the kernels compactly set, the 
ends well filled—good plump kernels should cover 
the “nubbin” end of every seed ear,—the butt of 
uniform size with the rest of the ear, which should 
not taper much, but hold the same size from butt 
to tip, and a small cob. These essentials obtained, 
the larger the ear the better, of course; hut the 
small ear possessing them, is better than a large 
ear without them. The shape of the kernel from 
such an ear (of Northern corn) will be long from 
the cob outward, broad crosswise of the ear, and 
very thin, and its texture will be hard and compact. 
These rules for selection of seed corn apply par¬ 
ticularly to the varieties known as Northern or 
Canada com; but the same principles apply as well 
to the many rowed Dent and White varieties grown 
in the West and South, and they are derived from 
the experience of intelligent, practical farmers. 
The Guenon Milk Mirror. 
The “Escutcheon” or “Milk Mirror” of Gue¬ 
non, long the subject of much discussion, is receiv¬ 
ing a practical test at the hands of a Commission 
appointed by Gov. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, to 
act under the direction of the State Board of Agri¬ 
culture. The result of the first reported examina¬ 
tion of several herds, is strong corroborative evi¬ 
dence of the value of the escutcheon as an indica¬ 
tion of the milk and butter qualities of a cow. The 
following table shows, in condensed form, the ac¬ 
count of the cows as given by their owners, in 
comparison with the estimate of the Commission, 
which is based chiefly on the “ milk mirror,” but 
includes also the general appearance of the animal: 
owhrr’s aco’t. 
THEORETICAL lOTJICATfONS. 
Breed. 
g 
1 Amount, \ 
\ quarts. \ 
|a> 
1 Months 
\ Dry. \ 
1 Amount, 1 
| quarts . 
|3> 
1 Months 1 
| Dry. 
Form of 
Escutcheon. 
Shortho’n 
18 
* 
2 
IB 
good. 
1 
Flanders Isr. 
— 
— 
t 
—— 
1 
13 
very g’d 
1 
do. 2nd. 
-- 
*— 
19 
— 
IK 
20 
1st rate. 
1 
do. 1st. 
i 
— 
9 
rich. 
3 
8 
id rate. 
4 
Salvage 5th. 
— 
— 
17 
good. 
2 
18 
good. 
3 
Flanders imp 
— 
— 
13 
extra. 
2 
14 
very g’d 
3 
do. 4th'. 
-- 
— 
12 
-- 
3 
12 
good. 
4 
do. 2nd. 
■- 
— 
11 
-- 
— 
11 
rich. 
2 
Cnrveline 2d. 
— 
17 
pood. 
IK 
18 
good. 
IK Flanders 1st. 
Gr. Ald’y. 
12 
16 
good. 
1 
tl9 
fair. 
8K 
do. 2nd. 
Guernsey 
10 
16 
first. 
3 
17 
first. 
2 
Cnrveline 2d. 
Jersey.... 
8 
13 
me’rn, 
0 
13 
medl’m. 
2 
Demijohn 2d. 
do. 
0 
10 
first. 
1 
16 
first. 
1 
Flanders 3rd. 
Guernsey 
6 
14 
— 
1 
16 
first. 
2K Cnrveline3d. 
Jersey.... 
5 
12 
— 
1 
14 
second. 
1 
Salvage 2nd. 
do. 
4 
10 
— 
1 
12 
second. 
1 
Cnrveline2d. 
do. 
2 
8 
— 
—- 
12 
medi'm. 
2 
Salvage 2nd. 
do. 
2 
6 
■ 
— 
— 
medini. 
3 
Flanders 3d. 
do. 
9 
17 
first. 
2 
18 
first. 
— 
iCurveline2d. 
* 10¥ lbs. butter in one week; only trial. 
116 lbs. 3 oz. butterin one week; largest, milk record lost, 
i 18 to 20; in such cases we give tlie average to save space. 
The table shows a remarkable coincidence be¬ 
tween the escutcheon indications, and the recorded 
facts of the cows’ performances. This careful in¬ 
vestigation promises to confirm the opinion of 
stock men who have given this subject careful 
study, if this, the first trial, is an indication of sub¬ 
sequent results. If we carry this so far as to be 
able to judge of nearly the exact quautity and qual¬ 
ity of a cow’s milk before purchasing, it will be a 
great advantage, and place dairying on a more 
certain footing as a business.* 
Light Power Stone Bray. 
An improvement on the ordinary stone-boat, is 
represented in the engraving, made from a sketch 
taken at “ Deerfoot Farm,” Southboro, Mass. 
The “body,” 8 ft. by3i ft., is made of strong planks, 
with heavy side pieces, similar to an ordinary 
stone-boat. The rear wheels, 18 inches in diame¬ 
3TONE DRAT. 
ter, are two thicknesses of plank, with iron boxes 
or hubs, and tires five inches wide, and run on a 
heavy axle taken from a broken down cart. To 
the under side of this axle the body is strongly bolt¬ 
ed. For front wheels, any heavy cart wheels are 
used. The body is suspended under the axie by 
a bolt, ring, and hook, as shown in the engrav¬ 
ing. Such a dray permits a greater weight to be 
drawn at one time, and with a much less expendi¬ 
ture of team force, than any stone-boat without 
wheels. With it, stone or other heavy articles 
•This theory is fully explained, with illustrations, in I 
11 Guenon on the Milch Gow," Grange Judd Go.: price 76c, 1 
can easily be drawn long distances, and it hangs so 
low that there is little difficulty in loading it, 
while the broad tired wheels enable it to be used 
on soft ground. This dray has played an impor¬ 
tant part iu the clearing of stony land, and in other 
improvements of “Deerfoot Farm,” and the simple 
attachment of the low wheels has saved to the 
owner many times the amount of their extra cost. 
Relations of Fertility to Stock Breeding. 
Barnyard manure is but the hay, grain, and roots, 
fed to animals, deprived of that portion of their 
substance used to make flesh and bone, milk and 
wool, with the wastes of the system added, and the 
whole mixed with refuse of the yard and stable. In 
practice we find that the dung of animals contrib¬ 
utes to the growth of crops, because it is composed 
of the substance of those crops. And since the 
quality of the manure depends on the food con¬ 
sumed, the manure from grain fed animals is more 
valuable than that produced from feeding roots and 
hay alone, as grain (the seed of plants) contains a 
far larger proportion of the more important elements 
of fertility, than the stem or roots of any plant. 
Investigations by Lawes and Gilbert upon the 
comparative values of manures produced from dif¬ 
ferent foods, showed that, when reckoning the ma¬ 
nure made from feeding a ton of hay at $10,00, the 
manure from a ton of 
Clover is worth.$.15.00 Wheat.$11.00 
Oat Straw....4.50 Indian Corn .10,59 
Wheat Straw. 4.16 Barley. 9.83 
Barley Straw.3.50 Potatoes. 2.33 
D’c’t’d Cotton-s’d Cake43.33 Mangolds. 1.68 
Linseed Cake..30.65Bwedes.... 1.41 
Malt. ...10.50 Turnips. 1.33 
Oats...11.50|Carrots.. 1.33 
The most remarkable fact in tbis table is, that 
the cotton-seed is worth more for manure, after 
having served its end as a nutritious food, than its 
first cost. This is due to its unusual richness in 
potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen, which are 
removed by digestion in small part only, its more 
valuable nutritious portion, the fatty ingredients, 
having little commercial value as plant food. Indian 
corn, our most prominent grain food, also gives a 
high value to the resulting manure. But in selling 
any of these for food, we only obtain a price corres¬ 
ponding to the amount of digestible material that 
the animals abstract from them, nothing being 
allowed for the increased value of the manure 
heap which is derived from their consumption. 
Now with every cargo of corn, oats, or barley, 
shipped abroad, we send out of the country, away 
from our farms, an amount of fertility equaling 
nearly half the entire proceeds of the grain, for which 
we get no return ; and in oil cake, more fertility than 
its selling price would purchase. Where does this 
fertility go to ?—The grain and oil cake go to Eu¬ 
rope, to make beef and mutton for the great Eng¬ 
lish and other markets, and the manure resulting 
from feeding it enriches foreign soil. Indeed, it is 
largely to the feeding of cattle and sheep for beef 
and mutton, that English farmers owe the great 
fertility of their highly productive lands. 
In the light of these facts, is it not better for 
Southern farmers to convert their refuse cotton 
seed into beef and mutton, and in selling the latter 
get as much or more , than they now obtain for the 
former? while still preserving to their lands the 
great amount of fertility which is removed in the 
seed of their cotton, and which they now give away? 
In the present and increasing demand for American 
meat abroad, it is well for our farmers, East, West, 
and South, to consider the feeding of grain for 
beef and mutton, as a means of ready profit in the 
sale of meat, and for retaining the fertility which 
they are now sending over the sea in almost number¬ 
less cargoes. Farmers who can not afford to or can 
not conveniently raise grain for stock food, should 
consider that ill every ton of grain purchased and 
fed, a large percentage of its cost is retained in the 
manure heap, perhaps saving the expenditure of 
just so much money for commercial fertilizers. 
With a proper selection of animals, and with proper 
feeding and care, the beef, mutton and pork pro¬ 
duced, ought at least to pay the cost of food and 
labor, leaving the resulting manure as so much clear 
profit on the -investment In stock, buildings, etc. 
