1879. J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
181 
enable us to satisfy the many inquiries elicited by 
the article alluded to. The plan, figure 1, is a 
ground plan of part of the stable, showing the two 
rows of stanchions, in which the cows stand facing 
n opposite directions out from the central passage 
way, and figure 2 is a cross-section of the same. 
Eight cows stand on a platform 26 feet long, 
giving to each cow 3 feet 3 inches. A third row of 
cows in similar stanchions faces those on the left 
STANCHIONS OPEN AND SHUT. 
with a passage 5 feet wide between them, while 
upon the right is a row of roomy loose boxes 
used as lying-in stalls. The cows in stanchions 
stand upon platforms varying in the extreme from 
4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 1 inch in width, and hav¬ 
ing a slope to the rear of 1 inch in five feet. Be¬ 
hind the cows is a gutter (B, fig. 2) 10 inches wide 
in the clear, having a sloping bottom, being 3 inch¬ 
es deep at the beginning and 8 inches at the lower 
end. The passage-way (A, fig. 2) between the gut¬ 
ters is a cement grouting, smooth enough to be 
cleanly, and rough enough for good foothold. 
Figure 3 is a diagram showing three of the stan¬ 
chions, two of which are closed and one is shown 
open—the trap lifted to show construction. The 
sill in which the stanchions are 6et is 3 inch¬ 
es thick and 6 inches high. There are three 
fixed stanchions and one* movable one. They are 
II inch thick and 4 inches wide. When closed, 
the movable one is held in position by a “ trap,” 
as shown. This being lifted, the stanchion, having 
the pin upon 
which it is hinged 
on one side of 
the center, falls 
open of its own 
weight. After the 
■ cow puts her 
head through, 
Fig. 2. wire best. the stanehion is 
placed erect, the trap, being lifted by the motion of 
the stanchion, falls behind it and thus locks it in 
place. The space of 12 inches on the right of the 
movable stanchion is filled by a board. The 
whole hight of the stanchions is 4 feet 6 inches. 
The manger (E, fig. 2) is 21 inches wide at the bot¬ 
tom, 30 at the top and 2 feet high, and each one is 
separated from the others by cross-partitions. It 
would be very easy to so connect the traps to a rope, 
that all could be opened at once by a single pull. 
This seems very desirable in case of fire or other 
emergency, and could be so arranged as not to in¬ 
terfere with the ordinary working of the stanchions. 
A Few Words On Under-Draining. 
BY JOSEPH HARRIS. 
[The following is a portion of a letter to a gentleman 
in Mass., who inquired of Mr. Harris as to draining. Ed ] 
The truth is, all soils must be drained before they 
can be cultivated to the best advantage. And all a 
farmer has to do is to find out whether they are or 
are not already drained. Some’soils are drained by 
resting on a porous rock, or on gravel, or on porous 
sand. The retentive clay soil at Rothamsted, where 
Mr. Lawes has made, and is still making, his cele¬ 
brated experiments, is drained by resting on the 
chalk. On my own farm I have put in several miles 
of under-drains, and all except one have paid me 
well. I cut all my drains, with this one exception, in 
the winter and spring—principally in the spring, 
when the land was full of water. By the time we 
had got down three feet, as a rule, there was so 
much water entering the drains that we had abund¬ 
ant evidence that we were not working in vain. 
One under-drain I cut in the summer, where I 
thought it was needed, but this drain has never dis¬ 
charged water enough to pay, so I advise Mr. R. to 
cut his ditches in the spring, say in April, and if he 
finds plenty of water he will know that he is not 
wasting his time. And furthermore, if he finds 
plenty of water, he will soon learn how to lay the 
tiles properly. All he has to do is to cut the ditches 
in such a way that the water will drain off; he then 
has simply to lay the tiles so that they will carry off 
the water, and when they are laid cover them up. 
I have said, I always found plenty of water in the 
land in the spring. But once I dug a drain through 
a basin on high land that I knew was wet. It was 
in May and the weather was hot and the soil a stiff 
clay, and very dry and hard. The men urged me to 
give it up. And in fact, one warm day they came 
home about ten o’clock and said, “ It was no use 
digging. There is no sign of water and the land is 
so hard that we cannot make wages.”—I replied, 
“ There is water there, somewhere. The land is wet 
in the spring and as hard as a brick in summer. It 
needs draining and I will at least finish the drain 
marked out.”—They went back, grumbling, and in 
less than an hour struck a spring that threw up a 
stream two or three inches in diameter and several 
inches high, and it continued to run at this rate for 
several days and then ceased. But it discharges a 
large quantity of water every spring, and I have no 
doubt drains several acres of land before too wet. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
Rests fob Milk Strainers.— When milk is 
strained into shallow pans, the strainer is generally 
placed in the pan, and rests in the milk. This is 
objectionable, and may be avoided by using frames 
which rest up¬ 
on the tops of 
the pans, and 
upon which the 
strainer may be 
placed. At fig¬ 
ure 1 is shown 
a rest made of 
strips of wood, 
and at figure 2 
Fig. 1.— STRAINER REST. 
one of wire. A metal frame is better than 
a wooden one, as it will not absorb milk and be¬ 
come tainted. At a, fig. 1, is shown one of the wires 
which are attached to the frame to form the rest. 
Arrangement for Feeding Pigs. —The low price 
of pork renders it necessary to feed pigs as cheaply 
as possible. Whole com is a costly feed, and is 
not very healthful for young pigs. They thrive 
best on sloppy food in which milk, whey, bran, 
middlings, or corn meal can be mixed. Where milk 
or whey is not to be spared, a mixture of bran and 
meal with water will make a good food. This kind 
of slop may be 
prepared as fol¬ 
lows : A large 
hogshead is 
sunk three- 
fourths of its 
depth in the 
ground near the 
pens. This is 
so arranged (see 
figure 3) that 
the slops and 
waste milk or 
whey from the 
dairy and kitch¬ 
en may be ran into it through a drain pipe. For 
a large hogshead or tank holding 100 gallons, 4 
bushels of mixed bran or middlings and meal 
may be thrown in, and the vessel filled with 
water. The mixture is stirred, and in a short 
time ferments, when it is ready for use, and may 
be lifted with a scoop into the troughs. As 
the supply diminishes, more water and feed may 
be added from time to time to keep it replenished. 
Wire Fence Tightener. —A wire fence needs 
frequent drawing up, or it sags and becomes use¬ 
less. The ordinary method of tightening, by means 
Fig. 3.—PIG-FEEDING. 
of a species of winch and roller, is costly, incon¬ 
venient, and ineffective. The method used by the 
telegraph companies, however, is, as may be ex- 
Fig. 4.— device for stretching wire. 
pected, a most effective and a cheap one, and may 
be applied to ordinary purposes with great ease, 
one set only being required for one farm. It con- 
Fig. 5.— fence for freshets. 
sists of a pair of grip-tongs and a set of small 
blocks and tackle, and is used as shown at figure 4. 
The tongs can be made by any blacksmith, and the 
blocks and tackle can be procured at any shop 
where tools are sold. A hook of iron is used to 
attach the block to the post, and as the wire is drawn 
up, the free end of the loose rope may be given a 
turn around the post while the staples are driven 
tight to hold the wire. This method is simple. 
A Fence for Freshets. —A panel of fence that 
offers no obstruction to a swollen stream may be 
made as follows : A short post is set in each bank, 
rising only one foot above the ground and near to 
the post of the permanent fence. A two-inch hole 
is bored in each of these short posts on the side 
next to the water. A piece of three-inch square 
timber, or a round pole, is fitted at the ends into 
these holes, so that it will turn easily. A few up¬ 
right boards are nailed to this bar and to a top- 
Fig. 6.— BLOCK FOR LEVELING DRAINS. 
rail, as shown in figure 5, so that the top-rail rests 
against the permanent fence posts on the side down 
the stream. The panel is held in place by two 
props, as shown, and will give way when the high 
water presses against the fence; it then lies flat 
while the current flows over it. When the water 
subsides the panel is set up and propped as before. 
Levelling Drains. —“N. T. N.,” Kamten, Aus¬ 
tria, sends a sketch and description of a method of 
levelling drains. He chooses a straight piece of 
timber or scantling, and hollows it on each side, as 
shown at figure 6. The hollows form water chan 
nels, and when the timber is placed in a drain, and 
a small quantity of water is poured into it, the 
direction of the 
slope and the 
velocity of the 
current can be 
readily ascertain¬ 
ed. This contri¬ 
vance may be 
made very useful 
in laying out 
drains and irri¬ 
gating channels. 
Calf Pens.— 
Where calves are 
raised it will be 
found very convenient to provide separate pens for 
them. This will be the more necessary where 
winter dairying is practised and cows of extra 
