1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
14=1 
A Convenient Small Barn and Stable. 
A plan for a small barn and stable to accommo¬ 
date two cows, two horses, and a carriage, a place 
for pigs, with yard, and conveniences for feeding 
and for handling manure, is given herewith. The 
building is 33 x 24 feet, and may be 16 feet to the 
eaves. It is divided into a two-stall stable, with 
harness room and a passage to the barn floor or 
feeding floor. The pig-pen is shown at B; into this 
the litter may be thrown from the stable through a 
half door made to close tightly. The cow-stable, 
her bed, and finds the size is such, that she cannot 
hurt the pigs, as they have sufficient room in the 
corners. It is so light as to be readily turned, when 
the direction of a storm makes it necessary to af¬ 
ford protection from a particular quarter. He re¬ 
gards this, all things considered, as the best shel¬ 
ter that has been tested in his and the adjoining 
States. When out of use, they are stacked in an open 
shed, or piled in the field and covered with boards. 
-:- - 
Gardens—Where Does This Hit, and Fit? 
<7, for 2 cows, opens into the yard, £>, as well as at 
the front. There are conveniences for feeding all 
the animals from the main floor, and a place for the 
carriage is provided, as shown in the plan. A stair¬ 
way leads to the upper floor, where hay and feed 
may be stored. The cost of such a building should 
not be more than $200 (or but a little over that), all 
completed. The whole floor should be of 2-inch 
spruce or oak plank ; the frame of oak or spruce, 
with 8x6 sills, 6x6 corner posts and plates ; the 
beams 3x8, and the studs 3x4; the bparding 
may be of dressed pine, 12 inches wide, and bat¬ 
tened, and the upper floor of matched boards, to 
prevent dust falling through. 
A Portable Shelter for Sows. 
Those who raise swine upon a large scale in 
the great com-produeing States, find it very neces¬ 
sary to have a shelter for their sows at pigging time, 
and several portable pens have been devised for 
such use. “Mr. G. N. M.,” of Shawnee Mound, 
Ind., sends us sketches of a pen of this kind, which 
<seems to meet all the requirements of affording 
shelter, protecting the young pigs from injury by 
the sow, of portability and ease of construction. 
Figure 1 shows an end view, fig. 2 the front, and 
tig. 3 a perspective view', giving both front and end. 
Fig. 3.— SHELTER COMPLETE. 
For pens of this kind, planks 12 feet long, 12 inches 
wide, and one inch thick, and others of the same 
length and thickness hut 10 inches wide, cut to the 
best advantage ; scantling 2 by 2 inches is needed 
for the comer posts. For the ends and back, the 12- 
inch plank is cut into four pieces of 3 feet each ; the 
10-in. plank is cut from corner to comer to make the 
slope for the roof. For the front, a 10-inch plank, 
5 feet long is nailed to two pieces of scantling 3 ft. 
10 inches high. The sides are put on as in fig. 1; the 
rear and sides are nailed to other corner posts, and 
a roof is nailed on to complete the whole. Mr. 
M. supplies the pen to the sow when she has made 
A correspondent, whose name and locality we 
omit by request, writes :—“ I have been looking 
about and figuring up, with this result: Around 
me there are twenty farms, averaging over 100 
cultivated acres each, and not bad farms either. 
Excluding the patches of early corn and potatoes, 
the total amount of space devoted to house garden¬ 
ing is less than one acre on the whole twenty farms 
—not one acre in 2,000!... .On two farms there are 
good gardens ; on some hardly an apology for one. 
... .1 have for the first time succeeded in getting up 
a small club ef subscribers for the American Agricul¬ 
turist. Can’t you stir them up on this garden ques¬ 
tion ? ”—This is a pretty hard report, but it 
partly applies in far too many localities. Still, we 
can see that, though it goes on slowly, the past ten 
years have shown an improvement, and we trust 
to see it more marked in the future. At all 
events we shall work to this end. We have some¬ 
thing to say on the subject in another article. 
How to Mend a Rope. 
A splice is made by untwisting the strands of 
each end for a foot or 18 inches, as shown at a (fig. 
1). When the twisted parts are brought together 
singly, one end of the splice is bound with a piece 
of cord to hold the 
parts while one- (fy ft 
half tlie splice is § 
being made. Then 
by means of a 
smooth and greas¬ 
ed wooden peg, 
seen at b, the sec¬ 
ond of the rope 
strands is loosened 
and raised, so that 
the upper loose strand can be passed under it, and 
drawn tight. The next strand is raised by the peg, 
and the second loose strand passed under it; and so 
with the third; each loose strand passing under 
and over the twisted strands alternately. This is 
again repeated, and the strands drawn tight by aid 
of the wooden peg. The loose si rands are then 
shaved down gradually to a point, and the previous 
operation repeated until the joint is made quite 
secure ; when the ends of the strand are cut off an 
inch from the rope. This is shown in part at c. 
To make a smooth joint, the splice, after the loose 
strands are twice passed beneath the twisted ones, 
they may be opened, shaved down, and spread over 
the rope ; the splice is then bound very tightly with 
spun-yarn or tarred twine, and beaten hard with a 
mallet. It is always best to have all the pulleys 
large enough to admit of mended ropes passing 
over them without any hitch. 
A long splice makes a neat job, and is shown 
at d. Bring the untwisted ends together, as in 
the previous case ; then 
untwist one strand for 
a foot or more, and fill 
up the space with the 
opposite loose strand, 
beating it down firmly. 
Then turn the rope, and unwind a strand, filling 
the space with the opposite loose strand, and secur¬ 
ing it temporarily. The long strands just unwound 
j are then cut off, and the ends temporarily secured. 
Fig. 1.— MAKING A SPLICE. 
Fig. 3.— THE ROPE READY FOR THE CLASPS. 
The remaining loose strands are split into two equal 
parts, and each crossed with the opposite half 
strands ; twisting the two joined half strands to¬ 
gether, and passing them under two or three strands 
of the rope, as in the short splice above described. 
Do the same witli the other loose ends, beat the 
splice down, and stretch it to make a smooth joint. 
To mend a rope not used for tackle, take thin sheet 
copper, made as shown in figure 2, which will clasp 
I he rope for a foot or 18 inches. Cut the ends of 
the broken rope off square, and bring them to¬ 
gether; fit them iuto the copper clasps, holding 
Fig. 4.— THE ROPE MENDED, 
them in a vice. Then make holes through the rope 
where the holes appear in the clasps, and rivet the 
parts securely. The mended rope appears at fig. 4. 
How Cream Cheese is Made. 
A very rich and toothsome cheese is made of pure 
cream, and eaten while fresh. This is sold in the 
Fig. 1.— FRAME. Fig. 2.— MAT. 
English and French markets at a high price, gener 
ally for more than butter, and is often made in 
country houses for domestic use. The cream is 
taken from the milk as soon as it is thick, but while 
yet sweet, placed in a muslin cloth, and hung up 
to drain over a pan in which the drippings are 
caught. After hanging in this way in an airy, clean 
dairy-room for 20 hours, it becomes firm enough to 
be placed in the moulds. The mould is a small 
wooden box or frame about 5 iuches long, 3 wide, 
and li thick, without bottom or top (figure l). This 
is placed upon a layer of clean smooth straw, and 
a mat of rushes, made as shown in figure 2, is 
placed under it. The cream is then put into the 
mould, which is lined with a neatly fitting square 
piece of muslin folded at the corners ; this is turned 
down over the cream and a second mat of rushes, 
which fits the mould, is laid upon it (figure 3). A 
block of wood and a light weight is placed on the 
mat to press the cream into the shape of the mould, 
where it remains until 
it has become set to the 
shape, which is in two 
or three hours. The 
cheese is marked on the 
top and bottom by the 
rushes of the mats, 
which give it a corrugated appearance. It is 
fit for use as soon as it is set. When sent to 
market it is not removed from the moulds until it 
is sold for use. No salt is used in the preparation; 
this is added as it is eaten. The ordinary price of 
this cheese is the same as that of the best butter. 
When made for home use, and eaten fresh, it is a 
choice delicacy. It is sparingly made in the vicinity 
of New York, and sent to market wrapped in tinfoil. 
What Garden Have You? 
The best paying plot on any farm, and the one 
yielding the most enjoyment, too, is the Vegetable 
Garden—or “ Kitchen Garden,” as it is frequently 
called, and quite appropriately, especially when the 
<l Kitchen folks” have the chief or sole care of it. 
A good supply of garden products for the table cods 
less than the standard bread, meat, and potatoes, is 
more healthful and nourishing than all corn beef, 
salt pork, and the small assortment usually found 
on the farmer’s table. Need we add anything about 
palatableness, comfort, home enjoyment? Con¬ 
trast a table set nearly the year round with bread, 
salt pork, corned beef, potatoes, boiled cabbage, 
varied with hash, mush, buckwheats, and occa¬ 
sionally a few other items, with a table well sup¬ 
plied in succession and abundantly with Asparagus, 
Green Peas, Lima Beans, String Beans, Sweet Corn, 
Radishes, Carrots, Beets, Parsnips, Celery, Salsify, 
Turnips, Cauliflower, Spinach, Lettuce, Egg Plants, 
Tomatoes (all the year), Rhubarb, Okra, Squashes, 
Onions, Cabbage, Cucumbers (?), and other things, 
—filled in with Currants, Strawberries, Raspber- 
