224, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
a gate for a barn-yard as follows: Three fence 
strips were bolted together by three pairs of up¬ 
right pieces, these being placed on each side of the 
strips, as shown in fig. 5. The end strips are made 
7 feet long, and a long brace, which is another 
fence strip, is bolted diagonally across the gate, 
from the top of the head strips to the bottom of 
the foot strips. This prevents any sagging. The 
hinges are bolted to the gate, as seen in the en¬ 
graving, a short piece being fastened from the heel 
Fig. 5.—A CHEAP YARD GATE. 
pieces to the brace for the upper hinge. A gate 12 
feet long requires 7 fence strips, 11 3I-in. carriage 
bolts, 5 2i-in., and 1 4-iu. bolt, and 2 pairs of 
hinges. The latch is a common slide-latch of wood, 
which fastens into a mortise cut into the post. 
Discipline for a Kicking Horse.— The method 
(illustrated in figure 6) of curing the habit of kick¬ 
ing in the stable, so frequent with nervous horses, 
is given,with the accompanying sketch, by a German 
subscriber. It is to hang in a proper position, be¬ 
Fig. 6.—CONTRIVANCE FOR KICKING HORSES. 
hind the horse, a log of wood, by means of a rope 
fastened to the beam. When the horse kicks, the log 
is struck, and that swings back against him, with 
sufficient force to suggest that his kick is always re¬ 
turned. This lesson is soon learned by him and 
becomes effective. When not in use, the log is 
hung up out of the way by a hook upon the beam. 
Fish Culture—Its Success Established. 
The Thirteenth Report of the Fish Commission¬ 
ers of the State of Connecticut, presented at the 
recent session of the Legislature, established be¬ 
yond reasonable doubt the possibilities of entire 
success in re-stocking the rivers of the State with 
shad, salmon, and other migratory fish. It has 
been known since 1870, when the remarkable in¬ 
crease of shad, as the result of the artificial hatch¬ 
ing at Hadley Falls, appeared in the Connecticut 
River, that the plans of the Commissioners for the 
reproduction of this fish were entirely successful. 
There has been a large increase of the catch of 
shad in the “ pounds,” at the mouth of the river, and 
in the sweep-nets and gill-nets at the fishing sta¬ 
tions up the river. Shad have been made so plenty 
at some of these stations, that in the hight of the 
season, fine fish have been sold at ten cents (10 
cents) each. This increase has been so steady, in 
response to the artificial hatching at Hadley Falls, 
that there is no room for doubt among intelligent 
observers. It is not so generally known that the 
most persistent enemies of fish culture, and of the 
legislation necessary to its success, have been 
found among the fishermen, especially those at the 
mouth of the river. Their pouud-nets, extending 
ten miles west of the mouth of the river, and run¬ 
ning a mile or more into the sound, caught by far 
the larger portion of the shad hatched in the 
river. This lion’s share of the profits of the fish¬ 
ery was altogether too profitable to be given up 
without a struggle, and it is not until the views of 
the pound-men can be made to harmonize with 
the interests of the river fishermen in Massachu¬ 
setts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, that the 
shad hatching, suspended for the last three years 
at Hadley Falls, can be restored. The possibilities 
of entire success are demonstrated, if Connecticut 
will legislate to protect the fish, and the people 
will enforce the laws. Much more solicitude has 
been felt about the restoration of salmon in the 
Connecticut than in the case of shad, although in 
the early days the salmon was the cheaper and the 
more abundant fish. Occasional plantings, in 
small numbers, of young salmon in the tributaries 
of the Connecticut had been made previously, but 
it was not until 1874 that an adequate supply was 
furnished. In that year, Connecticut, Massachu¬ 
setts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, planted 
nearly 1,200,000 young salmon in the various brooks 
that feed the river. Previous to last year, only a 
few adult salmon, the results of the earlier plant¬ 
ings, had been seen in the river. About the last of 
April, 1878, salmon began to be taken in the pounds 
at the mouth of the river, and later in sweep-nets 
and gill-nets, all the way up to Hadley Falls. As 
many as 500 were taken in the course of the sea¬ 
son, the average weight being about 12 pounds. 
Unfortunately, the law protecting salmon, and 
punishing their capture by heavy penalties, had 
been repealed by the Legislature, and the first 
fruits of the labors of the Commissioners were sac¬ 
rificed to the greed of the fishermen. They were 
sent mostly to the New York market, and were re¬ 
ported to be of the best quality. By far the larger 
part were males, and the loss is not so great as it 
would have been a year later, when the females 
make their appearance to deposit their spawn. 
They appeared in considerable numbers at the 
fish-way at Hadley Falls, and, although strict 
watch was kept, it is not known that any of them 
passed through. The proposed increase of the 
volume of water in the fisli-way, it is expected, 
will make it available for the salmon another sea¬ 
son. As a demonstration of the theory of our 
fish culturists, that salmon will return to the 
streams in which they are bred, and that barren 
rivers can be economically re-stocked, the labors of 
the Fish Commissioners are a complete success. 
The needed legislation must follow in due time. 
The success here should encourage similar efforts 
elsewhere, as all our rivers may be made to afford 
an abundance of the choicest fish. Connecticut. 
American Provisions in England.— An 
English paper relates a characteristic business enter¬ 
prise of the dealers in American provisions in that 
country, and an instance of the extreme prejudice 
against our products which exists there. Ameri¬ 
can bacon costs 9 cents per pound at whole¬ 
sale in the English market, but the largest portion 
of the imports are retailed as native brands, and not 
as foreign articles. American hams, which cost 
when landed, 4G shillings sterling ($11.50) per cwt., 
(112 lbs.) are repacked, and marked “ Belfast hams,” 
and sold to the retailers at 95 shillings ($23.75) per 
cwt. Long ribs are transmuted into “Irish rolled 
bacon,” and the price doubled ; “ Cumberland cut ” 
meats, become “ English farm fed,” and clear mid¬ 
dles costing 6 cents, appear on the tables of the re¬ 
tailers, marked conspicuously, “No Yankee Rub¬ 
bish,” “ price, 8pence perpound,” (about 15 cents). 
A fashion prevails of cutting American hams into 
two parts, and selling one as American at 10 cents, 
and the other as home cured, at 20 cents. This 
we can hardly find fault with, as it is not altogether 
unknown on this side of the water. While the 
trade is so profitable to dealers, we shall not 
want for purchasers, and therein lies our comfort. 
Science Applied to Farming, LIL 
A Talk with our Experimenters. 
This enterprise of field experimenting with fer¬ 
tilizers is assuming much larger dimensions than I 
had anticipated, and I am free to say that I expect 
a great deal of good from it. Agricultural Science 
needs the help of practical men to promote its most 
useful progress. The man of practice and the man 
of science, the farmer and the chemist, can work 
advantageously together in many ways, aud this is 
one. Information is needed, and can be got, and 
there are men who are able and ready to help in 
getting it. Of the accuracy with which the experi¬ 
ments are made, I have, of course, no means of 
judging, except the reports and my own personal 
observations in part of the cases. 
HOW WELL LAST YEAR’S WORK WAS DONE. 
This, last season, were very gratifying. I took 
occasion to visit Mr. Sage while he was planting the 
corn for his experiments, one of the special trials of 
the effect of nitrogenous fertilizers on corn mention¬ 
ed last month. The land was accurately marked ®ut 
in long, narrow, parallel plots of equal size. Each 
one of these was divided into eleven equal parts, the 
divisions being indicated by small stakes. In a lit¬ 
tle shed close to the field were arranged in order the 
seventeen small bags of fertilizers. On a small 
table were a pair of small scales, a sugar scoop, 
paper, and pencil. Mr. Sage was taking the bags 
one by one, weighing them, calculating one-eleventli 
of the weight to the half ounce, and weighing off 
the portions Three men were at work spreading 
the fertilizers. As each one came up he received 
the small lot of the fertilizer, mixed it very care¬ 
fully with earth in a pail, weut to the short strip 
where it was to be put, distributed it carefully, go¬ 
ing through the length of the strip and back again, 
and calculating to have a little left over to be put 
on in going over the ground the third time. In 
this way the fertilizers were applied to each di¬ 
vision of each plot. The object of all this pains¬ 
taking was to make sure that the fertilizers should 
be “applied evenly over each plot.” Frequent 
visits convinced me that the whole experiment was 
conducted with corresponding care.-1 visited 
Mr. Bartholomew’s Experiments when the crops 
were being harvested. Nearly every hill of corn 
had exactly four stalks. Those of a certain num¬ 
ber of hills, twelve, I believe, were put in a shock. 
The ears of corn and stalks of each shock were 
weighed, and the weights noted in a schedule de¬ 
vised for the purpose. By a simple and ingenious 
arrangement, a spring scale was attached to a cart, 
which was driven along the rows, so that each lot 
could be weighed as it was loaded, with very little 
trouble. Everything, from the arrangement of the 
plots to the disposal of the corn in the crib where 
it could be weighed and shelled after it had dried, 
to determine the loss in shrinking and the number 
of pounds of ears to the bushel of shelled corn, like 
the thrifty appearance of the whole place, showed 
careful, thorough work.-Of Prof. Farrington’s 
experiments, which I also had the good fortune 
to see, it is sufficient to say that they had the 
usual care given to such work by that gentleman 
and his students at the Maine State Ag’l College. 
And yet, with the very great care, thoroughness, 
and completeness with which all these experiments 
were made and reported, a large number of others, 
so far as the reports indicate, were made not one 
whit less thoroughly. I have been frequently con¬ 
gratulated upon finding such excellent men to work 
together in these experiments. It is not that I or 
any one else has found them, but that they have 
sought the work, and that they represent a large 
class of efficient farmers who can do and are doing 
a vast deal to advance the agriculture of the coun¬ 
try. The intelligent, progressive American farmer, 
and his name is legion, is a good deal of a man. 
Now, I have said all the above with a purpose. 
There arc thousands of men iu the country like 
Prof. Farrington, Mr. Bartholomew, and Mr. Sage, 
