148 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
jackal. Darwin, in his work on “Animals 
and Plants under Domestication,” concludes 
a long discussion of the origin of the do¬ 
mestic dog, with the following : “ When we 
reflect on the inherent improbability of man 
having domesticated throughout the world 
one single species alone of so widely distri¬ 
buted, so easily tamed and so useful a group 
as the Canidse ; when we reflect on the ex¬ 
treme antiquity of the different breeds, and 
especially when we reflect on the close simi¬ 
larity, both in external structure and habits 
between the domestic dogs of various coun¬ 
tries and the wild species still inhabiting these 
same countries, the balance of evidence is 
strongly in favor of the multiple origin of our 
dogs.” Other naturalists agree with Darwin. 
Box Chicken Coop. 
Mr. M. O. Lanfair, Franklin Co., Mass., 
uses a chicken coop which he has “made for 
many years and has not yet found anything 
of the kind that is as well liked.” He sends 
a sketch, from which the engraving is made. 
An ordinary drygoods box is used. To the 
open end of this box a frame of lath is fast¬ 
ened, thus making a run or yard for the 
chickens when the box is placed upon the 
ground, as shown in the engraving. The 
box furnishes a comfortable place for the 
BOX AND FRAME CHICKEN COOP. 
lien and chickens during stormy weather, an 
escape from the hot sun, etc. When not in 
use the lath frame can be taken from the 
box, its three sides and end separated, 
and stored away for use another season. 
A Rat and Mouse Trap. 
The accompanying engravings, made from 
sketches sent by “ G, W. O,” Harmony 
Grove, Pa., show a trap for catching rats and 
Fig. 1.— BOTTOM OF MOUSE TRAP. 
mice. It consists of a long narrow box with 
the top and lower part of the ends removed. 
A square piece is cut out of the bottom near 
the middle, which becomes the “ pan ” of the 
trigger of the dead-fall, shown in figure 1. 
A heavy board is made to fit the interior of 
the box closely, and an upright piece is 
fastened to it at the central point. This 
standard is connected with the trigger as 
shown in figure 2. The trap is set in the 
path of the vermin, and as they pass over 
Fig. 2.— A-BOX MOUSE TRAP. 
the “ pan,” in the center of the bottom, the 
trap is sprung, and the heavy board falls and 
does its work effectually. This trap can be 
easily and quickly made by almost any one. 
In using a trap of this kind, it should be 
placed in the run of the animals, with the 
board that serves as a dead-fall propped up. 
After a few days, when the rats have become 
accustomed to it, and pass through it freely, 
remove the props and set the trap for them. 
Among the Farmers.—No. 63. 
BY ONE OF THEM. 
Of all our domestic animals none, in my 
opinion, are more generally neglected than 
Farm Dogs. 
On most farms they are ill-trained nui¬ 
sances. A good dog is to me invaluable. I 
do not regard him as much of a safeguard 
against systematic or “ professional ” robbers, 
for the best dog in the world will yield to the 
influences of the other sex, and be by this 
means enticed away from his charge long 
enough for the house to be entered and plun¬ 
dered ; but tramps, hen-roost thieves, and all 
of that class are sure to keep at a respectful 
distance from a large and powerful dog. 
A sonorous bark is one of his grand pos¬ 
sessions. I love to hear a dog’s bark fairly 
wake the echoes of the hills. It may wake 
your guests too, but the family will soon get 
used to it, and whoever has the responsi¬ 
bility of the house on his mind will wake, 
listen a minute, and determine by the tone 
whether the bark means a half welcome to a 
late returning hired man, or that some one 
coming toward the house is thus warned to 
keep off if he has no business. It may mean 
to sound an alarm of danger, and is accom¬ 
panied by an under tone of anger, showing 
the immediate presence of a real foe; or 
the bark is only a sort of watchman’s call, 
as policemen “sound their locusts,” on the 
curb stones, or, in European cities, sing out 
their hourly hail. Whatever it means, it is 
an assurance of vigilance, and so far, of 
safety. Of all the “voices of the night,” 
none is so pleasant, none breaks upon the 
stillness with so friendly a tone, and none so 
lulls to sleep as the bark of a dog. 
If an owl hoots we fear for the hen-roost; 
if a cock crows, we wonder if it is morning ; 
if a fox barks, we get up, worry about the 
turkey-hen sitting in the meadow, and whist¬ 
ling for the dog start him off to chase the in¬ 
truder away. 
The Training of a Dog 
should begin soon after birth, and be finish¬ 
ed before he is much over two years’ old. 
A dog who changes his owner after he is two 
years old is never the companion and friend 
that he is if trained and fed by him who is 
to be his life-long master. During his period 
of training he should have little to do with 
other dogs. He naturally, or by second 
nature, prefers man’s companionship, and 
should have all his enjoyment when with his 
master or the family. Petting, approbation, 
and perhaps tit-bits, should reward well¬ 
doing during his lessons, and the reward 
should follow at once upon the deed. In the 
same way disapprobation and light punish¬ 
ment should follow upon remissness. Severe 
punishment cowes a young dog and should 
never be resorted to, except perhaps for 
“ turning’’upon his master, or biting one of 
the family—then the lesson, never to do so 
again, must be prompt and decisive. After a 
dog is once so trained as to thoroughly com¬ 
prehend an order, even then disobedience, 
though very persistent, should not be severely 
punished until after long and patient efforts 
with every kind of mild treatment fails. 
Dogs may be so trained as to have every 
particle of pluck taken out of them, thrashed 
and cowed, and made to do every thing from 
fear of the lash, to follow at the heel, to be 
as cringing and subservient under the mas¬ 
ter’s eye as slaves—and yet give them a 
chance and they will show the treachery and 
ferocity of wolves. The very lash that makes 
a dog cringe and crouch and obey under pro¬ 
test, stirs in him and trains in him fierceness 
and cruelty and hate, instead of the love, 
fidelity and kindly tempers, which should 
bear sway with every household dog. 
It is just the same with dogs as it is with 
children—cowards are cruel and treacherous 
the world over. A passionate, cowardly 
father trains up cowardly, mean-spirited 
sons, and wolfish, treacherous dogs, and does 
not know why this is so. 
As to Kinds of Dogs, 
I prefer greatly those which are valued for 
their intelligence. Our house-guard is a cross 
between a St. Bernard and a Scotch Colley. 
He is a noble fellow, veiy handsome, marked 
like the St. Bernard, and of nearly the size of 
that breed, with the coat and face of the 
Colley, and with the docility and intelligence 
of both breeds. He was nearly three years 
old before he manifested much affection. 
Now he is eight, and a more affectionate 
creature, or one more solicitious to obey 
orders and do as he is told, never lived. His 
size makes him the terror of tramps, and of 
others too, particularly of that class of 
society whose fondness for chicken makes 
them indifferent to claims of ownership. 
There is an advantage in crossing certain 
breeds that cross well. With two breeds of 
dogs that have been for years reared for in¬ 
telligent, faithful service, these qualities may 
be expected to prevail in a hightened degree 
in the offspring of a cross, but no doubt, as in 
other crosses, not in the progeny when both 
parents are cross-bloods. The result of such 
breeding is to form curs and mongrels, with¬ 
out uniformity of either physical, intellectual, 
or moral characteristics. In ill-bred dogs no 
trait is more common than a reversion, in a 
Darwinian sense, to a wolfish treachery, 
which make them unsafe to have around. 
Tliis leads me to think of an interesting 
conversation that I recently had in regard to 
Polled Angus Durham Cattle, 
My friend, Mr. Thos. R. Clark, of New 
York City, showed me, with pardonable pride, 
an article in the Chicago “ Drovers’ Jour¬ 
nal,” praising greatly a lot of 86 head of 
Polled Angus half-blood steers, of his breed- 
