1881.] AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 197 
A Tether for a Cow. 
cut up and stooked in September, and cures 
with little or no difficulty, if properly handled. 
The weather does it little harm, and on ap¬ 
proach of the cold^eason it will be found to 
have lost over three-quarters of its weight, 
so that it may be easily loaded on wagons 
and stacked near the bams or sheds. 
We read of the enormous yield of corn 
fodder to the acre when converted into ensi¬ 
lage. It modifies our ideas of its value a little 
when, after figuring down the actual cost 
per ton to a surprisingly low figure, we find 
that a ton of ensilage contains only B60 pounds 
of dry substance. We handle 1,640 pounds 
of water to get the use of this 360 pounds of 
feed. Meadow hay and cured com fodder 
contain about 300 pounds of water to the ton, 
and 1,700 pounds of dry substance, which I 
have no doubt is just as digestible as the 
dry substance that is contained in ensilage. 
Com fodder, when cut for ensilage, must be 
cut very fine, say three-quarters of an inch 
long. When cut for the process of ferment¬ 
ing with pulped roots, it need not be nearly 
so finely cut. Here is another saving which 
is of considerable moment, for though it 
seems much easier to cut green fodder than 
dry, yet I very much doubt if the power ex¬ 
pended to cut say, one hundred stalks of the 
green be not greater than that required to 
cut the same number of stalks of dry fodder. 
I must say that I have frill faith that ensi¬ 
lage has its uses and in its way is excellent, 
but believe also, that some such plan as that 
described of using dry fodder with pulped 
roots may be a good deal more economical and 
better, especially for small farmers, and for 
those who produce milk in the winter months. 
Ensilage for Eate Crops. 
Ensilage is only applicable to crops which 
can be harvested late in the season. The 
reason for this is clear, from the fact that we 
must depend upon cold weather to check 
fermentation, or it will go on until all the 
sugar is turned to alcohol. Sorghum will no 
doubt be a favorite crop for preserving in this 
way, and Southern Cow Peas seem to be 
another crop well adapted to ensiloing. 
Should we mix Corn Fodder, Sorghum, or 
Cow Peas with Hungarian Grass or Golden 
Millet, especially with the latter, the quality 
of the feed would be greatly improved. In 
my experience no fodder equals. Millet in its 
effect on the butter. It certainly not only 
increases the quantity, but improves the tex¬ 
ture, and I have no doubt benefits the flavor. 
Why should it not have the same effect fed 
out of the silo as when fed as hay, or cut 
green ? Who will test the matter and reply ? 
Training a Colt.—Bad horses are more 
frequently made than bom. It is very much 
in the bringing up—in the way the colt is 
cared for, and the manner in which it is 
broken. Firmness with kindness go very 
far in making a valuable horse. The colt 
should early learn that it is never to be de¬ 
ceived ; that it is to be encouraged and re¬ 
warded when obedient, and punished by the 
withholding of caresses when disobedient. 
The same natural qualities that make a horse 
vicious will, with proper treatment, make 
one of those intelligent and spirited horses 
that all desire to possess. The true trainer 
of colts is gentle, loving, firm, and thought¬ 
ful ; and the young animals under his 
charge partake much of the same qualities. 
In the Island of Jersey, where the pastur¬ 
age has a richness, owing to a most favorable 
climate, that no part of our country can 
equal, it is used with great economy. The 
animals are not turned out to roam at will, 
and in choosing the herbage most to their 
fancy, trample under foot much more than 
they eat, but every cow and bull is tethered 
while at pasture. With our scanty pastures, 
this economical use of them is far more 
necessary than in that favored Island, and 
feeling that sooner or later we should find 
some method suited to our conditions, we 
have in former volumes shown several kinds 
of tethering. We now give the manner in 
which C. L. Crydorman, of Grand Forks Co., 
Dak. Terr., tethers his cow, which is quite 
unlike any we have before published. He 
stretches a line across the pasture, to which 
the cow is fastened by means of a short rope 
or chain, attached to a ring which runs fore 
and aft upon the fixed rope. His description, 
with the engraving made from his sketch, 
will make the matter plain. He says: “I 
use a piece of half-inch rope, 50 or 60 feet in 
length, and two iron stakes. These stakes 
are of 3 /,-inch iron, are 18 inches long, and 
pointed at the lower end, 60 as to drive into 
the ground readily. The upper ends of these 
stakes are turned to form an eye, just large 
enough to admit the rope. Each end of the 
rope being put through the eye in one of the 
stakes, and knotted, this part of the tether is 
ready. The rope being stretched in the de¬ 
sired portion of the pasture, the cow is at¬ 
tached to this by a rope or small chain, 10 or 
12 feet long, or of such length as the abund¬ 
ance of the pasturage may make desirable. 
This, which is the tether proper, has at one 
end an iron ring, large enough to pass over 
the eyes at the ends of the stakes, and the 
other end is fastened around the cow’s horns, 
observing always to have a swivel in the 
center of this chain or rope.” The tether in 
use is shown in the engraving. Mr. C. says : 
“This is the best way for staking out cattle 
that I have ever seen, as it is impossible for 
cows to snarl themselves up, as they are apt 
to do with a long rope fastened at one end. 
It is also a great saving, as the rope will last 
much longer than when a great length is 
drawn around through the wet grass. An¬ 
other thing in its favor is, you can stake the 
cow on a long narrow strip, as on the border 
of a piece of grain, by shortening the rope 
or chain by which she is attached to the hori¬ 
zontal rope. In using this tether, I first drive 
one of the stakes, then slip the ring of the 
short rope over the other stake, stretch the 
long rope taut, and then drive the second 
stake. Always drive the stakes down close 
to the ground, so that there will be no chance 
for the ring on the short rope to catch upon 
them, and thus make trouble. In taking off 
the cow, pull up one stake, slip the ring over 
the end, and use the short rope to lead her by.” 
A Ventilator for a Poultry House. 
Mr. R. De Garmo, Dutchess Co., N. Y., 
sends a drawing of a ventilator to his poultry 
house, and describes it as follows : “A hole,. 
6, is cut through the roof r, for an air passage, 
over which the galvanized iron collar, g, is 
securely fastened to the roof, r. This collar, 
is 9 inches in diameter, and 9 inches high 
above the peak of the roof. The rod, 
d, is Va-inch in diameter, and is fastened 
to the inside of the collar by the four 
iron braces, n, n, n, n. This 
rod, d, is 18 inches long, with 
a small bearing at the top, up¬ 
on which rests the elbow, c. 
The lower end of the elbow is 
made larger than the top of 
the collar, so that it will come 
down four or- five inches over 
the collar, turn easily, and yet 
prevent snow and rain from 
driving down the collar. An 
iron rod, p, is fastened near 
the bottom of the elbow, with 
a hole in its center through 
which d passes, forming a bear¬ 
ing that prevents the lower 
end of the elbow from rubbing 
the collar. The air-passage, b, can be partly 
or entirely closed if the state of the weather 
makes it necessary by the wooden slides, s, s, 
which are moved by the cords, t, t, passing 
over pulleys at h, or it can be closed by slides 
made to run parallel with the top of the roof, 
without using pulleys. The slides will need 
to be open most of the time unless the wea¬ 
ther is very cold. By placing the vane, a, 
at the top of the elbow, c, as in the cut, it 
will be impossible for the wind, rain, or snow, 
to blow down the elbow, c, into the house. 
The wind blowing against the vane keeps the 
open part of the elbow always from the wind. 
Poultry keepers will find that by using this 
ventilator, no matter how small their houses 
are, they will not have a draft of cold air 
driven in through the ventilator upon their 
fowls every time the wind changes. The en¬ 
graving herewith presented is made from the 
neat sketch sent with the above description. 
Early Lambs for Market. —A cross 
between a Southdown and Merino makes a 
A COW WITH DOUBLE-STAKED TETHER. 
