1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
403 
not of great value, the net receipts from per¬ 
manent grass lands, will perhaps exceed those 
obtained from average lands under tillage. 
It should, however, be remembered that, 
with the exception of sewage farms, or those 
similarly situated for obtaining a liberal sup¬ 
ply of cheap manures, lands under tillage 
command higher rents than those perma¬ 
nently in grass. The proportion of arable land 
that should be devoted to tillage, and the pro¬ 
portion to pasture and meadow in rotation, 
will require the exercise of good judgment 
to settle in a satisfactory manner. Of the 
land under tillage, the proportion that can be 
profitably used for growing forage crops, to 
be fed on the farm, can only be determined by 
a careful study of the system of stock man¬ 
agement it is proposed to practise, in connec¬ 
tion with climatic and other local conditions. 
Where the live stock is bred and raised upon 
the farm, the system of cropping will not be 
the same as in cases where but few animals 
are kept in summer, and purchases are made 
of the bulk of the stock for winter feeding. 
As the labor problem is one of the most 
difficult that the farmer has to deal with, the 
plans of the farm should be arranged with 
reference to it, so that the greatest economy, 
consistent with efficiency, can be practised. 
The order of the crops in rotation, and the 
system of feeding and care of the live stock, 
will determine, to a great extent, the import¬ 
ance of a distribution of labor. This is one of 
the great advantages of a mixed husbandry, 
that cannot be so readily practised in an ex¬ 
clusive system of special culture. It would 
be desirable, under favorable conditions, to 
arrange the details of management, so that 
work could be profitably provided for a fixed 
and uniform force throughout the year. By 
this means it would be possible to avoid pay¬ 
ing high prices for extra labor during the 
season of harvest, and it would at the same 
time be for the interest of the farm laborer, 
who could thus obtain steady employment. 
Under a well planned system, it would not 
be necessary to make any marked increase of 
working force on the average farm at any 
season of the year, if full advantage is taken 
of the improved farm machinery that can 
now be readily obtained for a variety of 
purposes. In the cases where it is not pos¬ 
sible to secure an exact uniformity in the dis¬ 
tribution of labor, it will be best to make as 
close an approximation to it as possible. 
Farm buildings are too often planned and 
constructed without any reference to the par¬ 
ticular wants of the farm. If it was possible 
to obtain a correct statement of the aggre¬ 
gate annual loss, in the United States, aris¬ 
ing from defects in the arrangement and con¬ 
struction of farm buildings, the result would 
undoubtedly surprise those who have not 
given the subject particular attention. Build¬ 
ings that were made for a temporary purpose 
are found to be insufficient, and expensive 
alterations and additions are made without 
securing what is needed for the storage of 
crops and the accommodation of the live 
stock, while the internal arrangements in¬ 
volve a continual waste of labor. In many 
instances much ingenuity is apparently ex¬ 
pended in devising a plan that gives the great¬ 
est number of inconvenient arrangements. 
Several years ago, a number of plans of 
buildings that had been drawn up in competi¬ 
tion for a prize, were submitted to the writer 
for examination, as one of the committee on 
awards. The most striking feature of a ma¬ 
jority of the plans was their entire unfitness 
for the intended purpose. The idea seemed 
to prevail that a model building should have 
some unusual appendages in the way of nooks 
and comers, that would attract attention as 
special features of the plan, even at the ex¬ 
pense of utility. The plans of a building can¬ 
not well be made without having, in the first 
place, decided upon the details of the system 
it is proposed to practice on the farm. A 
model structure on a farm, managed under 
one system, might be very objectionable on a 
farm where a different system was practised. 
Mistakes are often made in copying the 
plans of buildings that are well adapted to 
the wants of a particular farm, without taking 
into consideration the many changes that 
would be required to fit them for a different 
purpose. When it is not possible to construct 
at one time all the buildings that will ulti¬ 
mately be needed on the farm, it will be best 
to make a plan, furnishing the best possible 
accommodations and facilities for the pur¬ 
pose when the building is completed, and 
then build such parts of the plan as the means 
at command will permit or immediate ne¬ 
cessities require. 
There are many other topics that shoe Id 
command the attention of those who intend 
to practice a thorough system of farming that 
are not noticed here. A full discussion of the 
subjects, that we have thus far barely enu¬ 
merated, would require an extended treatise 
embracing the entire range of the principles 
of agricultural practice. These' principles, 
which are definite and well settled, have a 
wide application, underlying as they do all 
rational systems of practice ; arbitrary rules 
cannot be safely followed, as they not appli¬ 
cable to the varied conditions that obtain 
in different localities. The best systems of 
agriculture must be based on those general 
principles of the art that have stood the test 
of experience, while the details of practice, 
will need to be modified to adapt them to the 
peculiarites of the locality, in accordance 
with these same principles. 
An Earth. Closet with Automatic Ar¬ 
rangement. 
Mr. Geo. W. Corey, Hamilton Co., Ohio, 
sends neat sketches of his earth closet, wag¬ 
on, automatic arrangement, etc., from 
which the accompanying engravings are 
made. The side of the building, fig. 1, 
shows the wagon in position ; it is backed 
down the incline (16 
feet long) on a wood¬ 
en track. The ex¬ 
cavation under the 
building is 3 feet 
deep. The railway 
opening is covered 
with boards; when 
the wagon is to be 
emptied the boards 
are removed, and a 
horse hitched to the 
wagon. The wagon- 
box is lined with 
zinc, and is fastened 
to the wagon with 
two heavy strap hinges, as shown in fig¬ 
ure 2, where the manner of unloading is 
represented. The end view of the building, 
fig. 3, shows the dry earth box at a; c. is the 
spout leading down from it, the lower part 
passing through an opening in the wall op- 
X 
0.0 
z 
17 
l 
g> 
Fig. 1. SIDE OF BUILDING. 
posite the seat inside. Figure 4 shows the 
automatic arrangement; D, is the rod that 
works the lever, the knob of which comes 
Fig. 2. —THE LOW DUMP WAGON. 
through the seat, the same as in water 
closets. The rod, A, works the two “cut-offs,” 
which have knuckle joints at d, d; it also 
works the agitator, /. The space from 1 to 
2 on the spout holds just the dirt needed for 
use each time. As the lever is raised, the up¬ 
per “knife” shoves 
in, cutting off the 
earth from above, 
while the lower one 
pulls out,letting the 
supply from 1 to 2 
inn out. As soon 
as the handle is re¬ 
leased the weight, 
g, brings the lever 
down quickly, stop¬ 
ping the motion 
Fig. 3.-END OF BUILDING. Qf ^ earth at 1? 
when it fills up to 2, ready for use again. 
Destroying the Prairie Dog. 
Our request that those who had success¬ 
fully rid their lands of the little burrowing 
animal, popularly known as the Prairie Dog, 
would give their experience, has called out a 
large number of letters. The writers of these 
will accept our thanks for their responses, 
which in some cases covered several pages. 
Three methods are suggested: 1st, Steel- 
traps ; 2d, Water, to drown them ; 3d, Poison. 
The only one who suggest trapping is Mr. 
Wm. F. Doane, Ellsworth Co., Kans., who 
says Procure small steel-traps, and fasten 
the chains to pegs 
driven into the 
ground, old harrow- 
teeth being excel¬ 
lent for the purpose, 
set the trap and 
cover all with fine 
loose earth. A dozen 
traps are sufficient 
for a large dog- 
town, and by care¬ 
fully attending to 
them one can soon 
rid himself of the 
troublesome pests. 
With only four of these traps, I have caught 
as many as twelve animals in a single day.” 
By Drowning .—Several report their success 
with this method. In the localities where the 
towns are built, the water, after heavy rains, 
often collects to form large shallow pools or 
ponds ; by taking advantage of this supply, 
and making furrows with the plow, the dogs 
may be drowned in their holes. Mr. J. T. 
Houch, of Sedgwick Co., says that they are 
readily destroyed. Mr. Doane, mentioned 
above, says that in his part of the State 
whole towns have been destroyed by flooding. 
Fig. 4.—THE AUTOMATIC 
ARRANGEMENT. 
