1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
95 
leading agricultural weekly was employed to give 
the farm a grand send-off in a Supplement, of which 
it is said there were 50,000 extra copies distributed, 
mostly to wealthy New York families. When the 
butter was ready to be put upon the market, 3 one- 
half pound packages were given at intervals to a 
great number of leading families. In addition to this 
skillful advertising, the farm was made prominent 
in every way possible ; by excursions and feasting 
of city friends, of Aldermen and other notables, and 
by a splendidly illustrated magazine article. At 
the farm every obtainable means is employed for 
the making of the best butter; yet, aside from this, 
it was literally forced upon a certain class of people 
who are willing to pay almost any price for style. 
And in this case they do pay 50 cents a pound for 
Style only ; for, without any disparagement to the 
product, we know that about as good butter is 
every day sold in the markets for 40 cts., 50 cts., 
and 60 cts. per pound, though under less preten¬ 
tious circumstances and claims. The latter brands 
are, however, probably sold at as large a profit. 
It is now quite definitely settled, that, aside from 
exceptional cases, “ gilt edge ” butter is not an at¬ 
tainable or profitable product. Barring this, then 
the question at hand is, first-class eastern against 
the same quality of western butter. To the west¬ 
erner we say, go on in the same way and do as 
much better as you can. The eastern dairyman, 
we advise to raise as much of the grain he feeds as 
possible ; to improve his machinery, that is, his 
cows, so that it will turn out the largest possible 
yield; to study the methods by which his com¬ 
petitors beat him, and then to go and do likewise. 
Bands for Corn Shocks. 
A subscriber asks for a method of using wire for 
binding corn shocks. As the preparation of these 
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 
bands is necessarily a work of the leisure season, 
we now give a few hints on the subject. There is 
no cheaper or more durable material than wire, 
and No. 12 annealed galvanized wire will probably 
answer this purpose better than any other. The 
bands should be about 5 feet long. The fasten- 
Fig. 3.— WOODEN HOOK FOR WIRE BAND. 
lngs may be made by twisting a loop at each end, 
and using a wire hook (fig. 1), or by making a loop 
at one end, and having a small cross-bar of wood at 
the other, as in fig. 2. Another form of fasten¬ 
ing is shown at fig. 3; this double hook is made 
of hard wood, and is fastened to the band as shown 
Fig. 4.— ROPE BAND WITH WIRE LOOP. 
in the engraving. An ingenious person may hit 
upon a number of modifications of this plan. Cord 
bauds, made of hemp or cocoa-nut fiber, will be 
found very useful. These may be fastened very 
readily, by attaching to one end a wire loop, made 
as is shown at fig. 4, knotting the other end and 
drawing the knotted end through the loop, when 
it will be held firmly and the band secured ; or a 
plain ring of wire or a small bar of wood may be 
tied to one end of the cord, and the other end passed 
around this, and secured by a few turns around the 
tightened band. These are given as suggestions 
only, and will doubtless set the inventive genius 
of many sharp boys in operation to devise other 
methods, which if improvements, we shall be happy 
to receive and publish for the benfit of our readers. 
Another Good Word for the Boys, 
FROM A CLERGYMAN CULTIVATOR. 
The question has often been discussed, “ How to 
Keep the Boys on the Farm?” The “Danbury 
News ” man had his joke as usual, and finished 
thus : “ We hope our fanners are just as anxious 
as they appear to be, to keep their boys on the 
farm ; but they don't seem to take any definite action.” 
1 am not much of a farmer, yet I can speak to this 
point definitely. I am a Clergyman, but find it 
adds to my comfort to cultivate an acre of land, 
and two other lots besides. I have three sons 
working with me, and they are the most enthusi¬ 
astic workers 1 ever saw anywhere. If they perse¬ 
vere, they cannot fail to be rich men. Their ages 
respectively are 15,13, and 12 years. Now the 
“ definite action ” I have taken, is this : 
I bought Peter Henderson’s “ Gardening for 
Profit,” two years ago, and tried to put its in¬ 
structions into practice, working in our vegetable 
gardens with my boys. Then I took the American 
Agriculturist, which now lies contantly on my table. 
Then I bought Henderson’s “Floriculture ; ” then 
his “ Gardening for Pleasure ; ” then Roe’s “ Play 
and Profit in My Garden.” Next I saw among the ad¬ 
vertisements in the American Agriculturist, mention 
of the catalogues of books and pamphlets on rural 
affairs. With what a relish I read the contents of 
certain books, all the while comparing the prices 
of the books with my empty pocket-book! Never¬ 
theless, I contrived to buy the above books, and 
also “Four Acres Enough.” I saw “Prize Essay 
on the Potato,” sent for it; then “How to Raise 
Cabbages; ” also Bliss’s “ Prizes for Potato Cul¬ 
ture,” which my boys and I read and referred to 
constantly, with a great desire to grow potatoes 
like those who had received the prizes. We didn't 
though, alas ! Besides, I had Bommer’s “ Method 
of Making Manure,” which I have tried to put in 
practice and succeeded tolerably well. At last, I 
said to my boys : “ See here, boys ; I don’t care 
for money, and will make a bargain with you. You 
may have half the money we make in the garden, 
and of the potatoes which we shall plant, the boy 
that raises the most from twelve rows, shall have a 
silver watch costing $16.” The youngest is under 
the impression that if he is not far behind the eld¬ 
est in the quantity from his rows, that he may get a 
watch too. I may mention another thing which 
works very well. It is this: lam boss,and they know 
it; but I am never arbitrary. They always see my 
reason for doing anything, and at once acquiesce in 
my judgment. A part of my method is that 
we frequently consult together. I listen to their 
suggestions, and often they will suggest the very 
plan in my own mind. But, if we happen to differ, 
I show them my reasons, after which they agree 
to my plan with promptitude and cheerfulness. 
Then they are always at liberty to rest when they 
please. I often say, “ Now boys, take a rest,” and 
they have frequently replied, “ We are not tired Pa, 
but if you are, go and rest.” What do you think I 
do ? Why, I grin, and go and rest awhile ! Now, 
these things I have done, besides the moral train¬ 
ing they receive as my sons. And I believe that all 
farmers may well do something similar by way of en¬ 
couragement, and not wait until they are about to 
die, and then leave their farms to their children, 
when they can retain them no longer. Let our 
farmers treat their sons like sons, and not like 
slaves; give them a share in the proceeds, as well 
as in the work and responsibility, and I believe 
that in nine cases out of ten, the boys could not be 
easily tempted away from the parental homestead. 
J. D., Berwick, Columbia Co., Pa. 
raised there are nearly perfect; the vegetables are 
wholesome, and the health of the people living 
among the market-gardens is as good as the average. 
City Sewage for Manuring Land.-In our 
foreign correspondence last summer, reference was 
made to the Gennevilliers Plain, near Paris. We 
learn from our foreign exchanges that the success 
of this experiment is now assured. One-third of the 
sewage of Paris—one of the largest cities of the 
world—is used on 2,000 acres of market-gardens on 
this plain. The farmers are unanimous in their 
praise of the system, their crops having been in¬ 
creased in many cases nearly five-fold. The flowers 
Sliding Spout for a Barn or Mill, 
A spout through which bags of grain or feed may 
be sent from one floor to another, in barns or grist 
mills,is represented in the accompanying engraving. 
This will be found very useful for other purposes 
than the one men¬ 
tioned, and may be 
readily made to serve 
as a ventilating trunk 
as well. It consists 
of a wooden spout 
about 2 feet square, 
made as shown in the 
engraving, and pass¬ 
ing at each turn from 
one floor to another. 
A bag of grain or 
feed dropped in at 
the top, will slide 
from floor to floor 
until it reaches the 
table at the bottom. 
The openings a, a, 
are closed by doors 
which may be shut 
down across the 
spout, when it is 
required to deliver 
the bags upon any intermediate floor. This spout 
is necessarily used in connection with a hoist¬ 
ing apparatus or an elevator, by which the grain or 
feed is raised to an upper floor. In high barns pro¬ 
vided with a hoist and a sliding spout of this kind, 
it will generally be found convenient to store the 
grain upon the top floor where it will be well 
ventilated, and may be made free from vermin. 
SLIDING SPOUT. 
A Salting Table. 
To supply salt to sheep and cattle, a table, such 
as shown in section in the engraving, may be used. 
A stout post is set in the ground, and two cross¬ 
pieces of plank are spiked to it a foot or so up, and 
boards laid upon the cross-pieces to form a table— 
four, six, or eight-sided as desired. A light roof of 
slabs or bark is secured to the top of the post. A 
small supply of coarse salt, or a few lumps of rock 
salt may be kept on the table, and prevented from 
falling off by cleats. Cattle are not so likely to 
fight over the salt when they can reach it as they 
desire, and there is room for several at the table. 
Encouraging tto Cattle-Men.— Mention was 
recently made in these columns of the law’ passed 
by the British Parliament concerning the importa¬ 
tion of animals into that country. This law, which 
went into effect on Jan. 1st, allows the landing of 
live cattle at only six ports, and these to be slaugh¬ 
tered at the port of debarkation within ten days 
after landing, from any country, with the exception 
that cattle from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, 
Portugal, and the United States are exempt from 
compulsory quarantine or slaughter, as dangerous 
diseases are not common in those countries. As 
