400 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Ferrets—European and American. 
Within a few centuries the methods of 
hunting have in some respects greatly 
changed, and this change is probably largely 
due to the greater perfection in fire arms, 
and greater skill in their use. Falconry, for 
example, where trained hawks were em¬ 
ployed to bring down larks, pigeons, ducks, 
and other game birds, went out of fashion 
early in the 18th century, when the art of 
shooting on the wing came into practice. 
Hunting with ferrets is still more or less fol¬ 
lowed in England, where there are extensive 
rabbit warrens, but this never became popu¬ 
lar in this country, for the reason that we 
have no rabbit warrens, our so-called rabbits 
being all hares, which do not make burrows. 
Still ferret hunting is to some extent followed 
in England, and a few ferrets are annually 
imported to this country, though not for field 
sports, but for hunting rats. The true Fer¬ 
ret, Putorius fero, supposed to be originally 
from Africa, is now known only in the 
domesticated state, and as Albinos, that is, 
with white hair and red eyes, 
as is the case with some do¬ 
mesticated rabbits. The full- 
grown Ferret is about fourteen 
inches long, and is noted for its 
great strength and boldness. 
Ferrets are bred quite extensive¬ 
ly in Europe, for hunting rab¬ 
bits, rats, and mice. Though 
regarded as a domesticated ani¬ 
mal, the ferret is far from 
docile, and never shows an 
affection for those who care for 
it. The natural instinct of the 
animal is so strong that it does 
not need to be trained to attack 
its prey, though practice im¬ 
proves the animal in its work, 
the chief gain being in allowing 
themselves to be more readily 
caught. The ferret is always muzzled to pre¬ 
vent it from killing its prey; if this precaution 
is not taken,it will suck the blood of its victim, 
and fall into a sleep from which it will not 
arouse until the food is digested. When sent 
out muzzled the ferret will return after the 
hunt to receive food. It runs into the bur¬ 
rows of the rabbits, for which animal the 
ferret seems to have a natural enmity, and 
drives the timid creatures out, where they 
are caught in nets and snares set for the pur¬ 
pose. A Ferret will soon rid a house of rats 
and mice, and it is for this purpose princi¬ 
pally that the animal is now bred and cared 
for by man. The Weasels, the Minks, the 
European Ermine, and the Ferrets, all be¬ 
long to the same genus, Putorius, of which 
there are many species in this country as 
well as in Europe. In the wild state these 
are very destructive, not only to domestic 
poultry, but to game. From their long and 
worm-like (or vermi-form) bodies, these ani¬ 
mals were collectively regarded as vermin, a 
name we now use with a wider meaning. 
There is found in the wooded portion of the 
Rocky Mountains, a handsome little Ferret, 
about which little has heretofore been known. 
But as that country is being settled up, and 
our correspondence in that quarter is becom¬ 
ing more frequent each year, we call the at¬ 
tention of our friends living there to this 
Black-footed Ferret, Putorius nigripes, first 
described by Audubon & Bachman, and only 
collected by one naturalist since. It is de¬ 
scribed as being about 18 inches long, with a 
blunt head, with short and triangular ears. 
The legs are stout, and the soles of the feet 
covered with hair. The long hairs on the 
back have a yellowish tinge below and tipped 
with reddish-brown. The sides of the face, 
throat, and under surface of body, are all dark 
brown ; the tip of the tail is black. We 
hope that some of our friends who live where 
this pretty little ferret is found will under¬ 
take its domestication. The idea of clearing 
a house or barn of rats by the use of ferrets 
is an old one, but the practice has proved 
in many cases exceedingly effective. 
A Convenient Small Barn. 
Mr. John T. Gordon, Hanover Co., Va., 
sends a plan and description of a small barn 
which he has recently built and finds very 
convenient. Figure 1 shows the bam in per¬ 
spective ; it is 20 feet wide, by 30 feet long, 
9 feet between the floors. The loft is 7 feet 
high at the eaves, and 16 feet in the center. 
The small stable-door is at one comer, near 
it is a window provided with a wire screen ; 
there is a small door through which the 
hay and other provender is passed to the loft; 
two large doors open to the driveway or 
main floor. The general entrance to the bam 
is through a small door at the end. There 
is a window in each gable end. The dark 
portion of the cupola represents solid work, 
above which are slats for the purpose of ven¬ 
tilation, with one side movable to be used 
in case of fire. The roof, which is of shin¬ 
gles, overlaps two feet at the eaves and gables. 
Figure 2 shows the ground floor: a, a, a, are 
stalls 10 feet by 6 feet 8 inches ; the floor¬ 
ing in the stable portion is of 2-inch oak 
planks ; that of the driveway, b, is l’/s-inch 
plank of the same material; that of the work- 
ventilating shaft, which has one side made 
movable, and is used for throwing down hay, 
etc. ; b, b, are small doors ; c, is a large grain 
room ccupying one comer at the head of the 
stairway, d, which leads from the floor below. 
The estimates, in brief, as given us by Mr. 
G., are as follows : 9,850 feet of yellow pine 
lumber at $10; 6,425 feet of hard yellow pine 
shingles at $4 per M. ; 250 bricks for pillars at 
$10 ; 200 pounds assorted nails, $7.61; car¬ 
penters’ work, $100. The cost of this small 
and convenient bam is not far from $250. 
Wheat: Soil, Tillage, Varieties, and 
Harvesting. 
Ilf PROF. N. S. TOWNSBEND, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, 
COLUMBUS, OHIO. 
Soil — The farmer must sow his wheat 
upon such land as he has, it may be clay or 
sand, wet or dry, rich or poor. If it be clay, 
and other conditions are favorable, he ma T 
expect a plump, soft berry, and a full crop 
his soil is sandy, and other conditions fs 
able, the wheat is likely to have a smalle 
harder kernel, the quality will perha 
better, but the quantity somewhat less 
the soil be too moist, it will pay to underdi 
Tile drains, two rods apart, and at an aA 
age depth of three feet, have doubled the 
crop and paid the total expense of the drain¬ 
age in a single year. If for any reason under¬ 
draining cannot be practised, no fear of in¬ 
commoding the reaper ought to be allowed to 
prevent making a sufficient number of open 
furrows for surface drainage. The greatest 
possible inconvenience at harvest time is a 
poor crop. Black mucky land, after it is 
drained, may need to be dressed with fertil¬ 
izers, such as salt, lime, or bone-dust. A dry 
poor soil needs barn-yard manure. 
Tillage. —If wheat is to follow oats or 
other spring crop, the sooner the ground is 
plowed, after the crop is off, the better. Land 
plowed before the middle of July has often 
produced five, and sometimes ten bushels an 
acre more than land plowed after the first of 
September,the plowing should be deep enough 
to bury everything. The harrow is the 
best implement to kill weeds as they come 
up, besides this, it mellows and compacts 
the soil. The best time to apply manure for 
wheat is just before sowing; spread evenly, 
and thoroughly harrow it into the ground, so 
that the surface shall be fine and rich when 
ready for the drill. The quantity of seed re¬ 
quired will depend on several circumstances; 
sown late, more seed is required, as there will 
be less time for tillering ; on poor land more 
seed should be sown because the plants, being 
smaller than they would be upon good land, 
may stand thicker. A variety that has a weak 
stem, must be sown thinner to avoid lodging. 
Varieties. —The soft, plump-berried varie¬ 
ties are usually the most productive, and are 
therefore most popular with the farmer. The 
flinty and glutenous varieties make the best 
little-known ferret, as some of them may 
wish to experiment in its domestication. 
The animal in question is known as the 
shop, c, is one-inch board. The plan of the 
I loft is shown in figure 3, a, representing the 
Fig. 1.—A SMALL BARN IN PERSPECTIVE. 
