■45b 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
little, if any, of the loose prairie soil that at the 
depth of four or five inches would need atmospheric 
action.At Marshall, Minn., Mr. E. S. Youmans 
treated a part of his land thus : It was broken May 
10th to July 10th, 1878. Beginning Sept, 15th, the 
disk harrow or sod-cutter was put on, and the sods 
cut fine. It was then “ back-set," that is, the plow 
was run deeper, and the cut sods buried under the 
loose soil turned up. Spring wheat was sown April 
fith to April 30th. Though not yet harvested when 
we were in that region, the indications were that 
the land thus treated would yield 5 to 7 bushels per 
acre more than that with the single plowing. Mr. 
W. L. Nevins had 600 acres of wheat near Tracy, 
Minn., some 20 miles S. E. of Marshall, of which 
540 acres were treated like the above, and the crop 
promised a yield of 8 bushels per acre more than 
that upon the simply inverted sod. He sowed the 
Fife Spring Wheat, 50 quarts to the acre, sowing 
April 6th to April 16th. Fanners in Eastern Min¬ 
nesota, with whom we conversed, said that this 
double plowing and sod cutting was comparatively 
more valuable for the tougher sods of Western 
Minnesota and Dakota, than for the less firm and 
more readily decomposed prairie sod farther East. 
This is a subject of much interest, and we shall be 
glad to hear from the experience and observation of 
several of our readers in different parts of the West. 
Root-Cellars and Root-Houses. 
The leading features of a good root cellar are 
cheapness, nearness to place where the roots are 
Fig. 1.— CROSS-SECTION OF ROOT-CELLAR. 
consumed, dryness, ventilation, and, above all, it 
should be fro6t-proof. If a hill-side is handy, it 
can aid much in securing all of these important 
points. An excavation is first made in the hill-side, 
in size depending upon the desired capacity of the 
cellar, and in it erect a stout frame of timber and 
planks—or a log-pen, which is often the cheapest— 
and make upon this a stout roof. The earth that 
has been excavated, is then thrown over the struc¬ 
ture until the whole is covered, top and all, to a 
depth of two feet or more. A door should be pro¬ 
vided upon the exposed side or end. This door 
may be large enough to enter without stooping, or 
it may be simply a “ man hole,” which is better 
than a regular door, so far as protection from frost 
is concerned, but is not so handy for putting in and 
taking out the roots. Sometimes, when the bank 
is a stiff clay, such houses are built without putting 
up any side walls, the roof resting directly on the 
elay. A cross section of 6ucli a root cellar is shown 
in figure 1. In such cases, the facing, or front, of 
the cellar may be built up with planks, logs, or 
stones, as circumstances may allow. In figure 2 a 
facing of stone is shown ; this is a large cellar pro¬ 
vided with a wide door; it also has a window on 
each side, which are rarely necessary. Two tight 
Fig. 2. —STONE-FACING OF HILL-SIDE CELLAR. 
fences, of stakes and planks, two feet apart, and 
with earth filled in between, or of logs, or stout 
rails used in the same manner, make a cheaper 
front, and is a better protection against cold than 
stone. If there is no hill-side convenient, a knoll 
Fig. 3.— EXCAVATION AND BASE OF HOUSE. 
or other dry place should be selected, and the soil 
removed over a space a trifle larger than the 
ground-plan of the house, and to the depth of two 
feet or more, provided there is no danger that the 
bottom will be wet. In the construction of the 
house, select poles or logs of two sizes, the larger 
ones to be shorter; these are for the inside pen, as 
it is subjected to greater strain. The ends of the 
logs are cut flat, so that they will fit down closely 
together, and make a pen that is nearly tight. At 
least two logs in each layer of the inner pen should 
be cut long enough to pass through and fit into the 
outer pen, to serve to fasten the two walls together, 
the space between the two being two feet on each 
side. Figure 3 shows the excavation, and the be¬ 
ginning of the house-walls, with the method of 
“ locking" them together. The doorway is built 
up by having short logs, which pass from one layer 
of poles to the other, and serve as supports to the 
ends of the wall-poles ; this is shown in figure 4, 
where the house is represented as completed. The 
space between the two walls is filled with earth, 
sods being used to fill in between the logs to block 
the earth. It is best to begin filling in the earth 
before the walls are completed, as otherwise it will 
require ah undue amount of hard lifting. When 
the walls are built up to 5 to 6 feet ou one side, and 
about 2 feet higher on the other, to give the neces¬ 
sary slope, the roof is put on, which should be of 
poles placed close together, well secured to the logs, 
and covered with sod, 18 inches of earth, and sod¬ 
ded again on the top. Two doors should be pro¬ 
vided, one on the inside, and the other on the outer 
wall, both to fit closely. A filling of straw can be 
Fig. 4.— ROOT HOUSE COMPLETED. 
placed between the doors, if it is fouud necessary 
to do so in order to keep out the frost. Figure 4 
shows the root-house as thns constructed, and is 
a structure that will last for many years, paying 
for its moderate cost many times over. 
The .Mothers of Early lambs.-Ewes now 
in lamb, whose lambs are intended for early market, 
should be separated from the rest of the flock, and 
kept by themselves. A covered yard having a num 
ber of small retired pens, one for each ewe, is most 
convenient, as each ewe may be examined when 
necessary, without disturbing the others. Here the 
^,ves should be well fed. A sheep in good condi 
lion experiences no trouble in lambing, and the 
lamb will be thrifty and strong. A run in a field 
for an hour or two for exercise, is too beneficial to 
be neglected. Before the lamb arrives, the ewe 
should be closely tagged about the hind parts and 
the udder, and this, with all other things needful to 
be done, should be attended to as soon as may be, 
and before the ewe’s time has nearly approached. 
When that is about to occur, she should not be 
disturbed, but left alone as much as possible. 
A Wasteful Interest Paid by Farmers. 
There is no disputing the fact that any farm im¬ 
plement, be it wagon, plow, harrow, reaper, rake, 
or what not, if left exposed to rain and sun for ten 
years, will be practically good for nothing. We 
might say in five years, but if any choose to cavil 
at five, we will say ten. This is ten per cent per an¬ 
num / At a cost of less than one per cent, these 
tools can be kept always housed, or under cover of 
some kind, even if but rough boards, that will shut 
out sun and rain. Because we do not see the si¬ 
lent, slow, but steady, waste, we are apt to forget 
that it is ever going on. It is unnecessary to sug¬ 
gest the “ application ” of this short sermon. Niue 
percent interest saved is not to be despised, even if 
better times are at hand. 
Ornamental Beds in Winter. 
A correspondent at Staten Island, writes that he 
has his lawn filled with ornamental plants, which 
the first hard frost will make desolate. He asks if 
these beds can not be filled with something to pre¬ 
sent a more attractive appearance during the win- 
ter. On Staten Island, through the influence of 
the sea air, snows remain for a much shorter time, 
and the surface of the lawn and the beds is bare 
during a much greater share of the winter, than a 
few miles inland. There are many other northern 
localities where the same thing occurs from local 
causes, and in these, as well as in the uncertain 
winters farther south, it is desirable to make the 
beds upon the lawn attractive. It can be done, but 
it must be prepared for in the spring. The best treat¬ 
ment for such beds is to fill them with Evergreens. 
There are numerous low-growing Evergreens of a 
sufficient variety of color to produce pleasing ef¬ 
fects. There are various shades of green from the 
lightest and bluest to the richest and darkest. There 
are species in which the golden and silver variega 
tion of the foliage are distinct, and, what is of most 
importance, is held through the winter. The win- 
ter is the proper time to visit the nurseries to make 
selections for this kind of bedding, as in some the 
color in winter is very different from what it is in 
summer. The plants, selecting low-growing kinds 
of different hights, should be potted in spring, and 
carefully grown through the summer, plunge the 
pots, and shade the plants, for the first season at 
least; of course, watering mu6t be attended to, 
and every care given to insure success. The 
Evergreens should be selected and purchased ac¬ 
cording to a well-considered plan, and when the 
beds are cleared, after frosts have despoiled the 
plants, the Evergreens are to be placed in them, 
plunging the pots as before, according to the plan 
European Ivy will make an excellent margin for 
such- a bed, trained carefully, and pinned down 
where need be ; the Ivy may be grown during the 
summer, and left there all the time, as it makes one 
of the best margins to the beds in summer for 
whatever plants they may contain. The Golden 
Retmispora (Itctinispora plumosa aurea), is an¬ 
other excellent plant for edgings. It may be kept 
as low as may be desired, by cutting, and will make 
a pleasing edging in summer if some plant that 
presents a good contrast be placed within it. The 
same plant, but grown taller, will be found useful 
in contrast with others in filling the beds. Proper 
attention given in time to selecting the plants will 
allow of the production of pleasing -winter effect. 
Barn-Yards.— There have been many plans 
for the improvement of barn-yards, but after all the 
old-fashioned, dished yard, cemented, puddled, or 
deeply littered in the center, has hardly been im¬ 
proved upon. If, however, the barn-yard was 
roofed over, so as to protect it from rains, and the 
water from the roof were carried to a cistern and 
used for watering stock in the yard, there could 
scarcely be a better arrangement. A tight roof is 
not necessary. A few leaks, even large ones, would 
not be seriously objectionable; a roof of single 
boards, laid close together, and pitched and sanded, 
would cost about $3.00 per 100 feet, and a yard 
20 by 50 feet, thus protected, at a cost of $80, would 
certainly be fouud a cheaply procured convenience. 
