226 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[June, 
Mr. Kemp’s Poultry House. 
The accompanying engraving represents the pout 
try house of Mr. Kemp, of Germantown, Ohio 
which the owner thinks to be cheap and convenient 
It is built upon a raised bank, and has a trench a- 
round it which keeps the interior always 
dry. The house is 72 feet long, and 12 feet 
wide, and is divided into nine apartments, 
each 8 x 12 feet. Eight varieties of fowls 
are kept in it; the ninth apartment being 
reserved for packing eggs and other pur¬ 
poses. The runs are 8x 70 feet, and each 
run has two plum trees in it, which furnish 
both shade and fruii: the plums, it is said, 
are not injured by insects. There is no 
room lost by alleys or passages inside of 
the house; entrance is gained by doors 
which open into each pen and run. To 
preserve cleanliness, every part of the 
building is made accessible, and ventila¬ 
tion is secured by two cupolas. The rear 
part of the house is 5 feet high, and the 
front, which faces the south, is 8 feet in 
hight. There is a stout roof of glass on 
the south side, and a window in each apart¬ 
ment. Mr. Kemp writes that his fowls are 
kept in perfect health, and he attributes 
this, in great part, to the dryness and airi¬ 
ness of his house. It is well to refer here 
to the numerous cases of disease and death 
among poultry, which have occurred the 
present season, and which are always ap¬ 
pearing from want of attention to the re¬ 
quisites of cleanliness, dryness, and venti¬ 
lation. Fowls kept in damp, unclean 
quarters, have died in large numbers, and 
they will contiuue to die, whenever exposed 
to these uahealthful influences. It is in 
vain to use remedies while the cause of the 
trouble exists,and it is surprising that poul¬ 
try-keepers should not learn from repeated and cost¬ 
ly experience, that fow'ls are as much subject to dis¬ 
eases from damp, filth, and close, heated quarters, 
as any other animals. “Chicken Cholera” is 
caused by the poisons thus engendered, and is not to 
be cured by the astringent medicines commended. 
given by some too sanguine writers, is equal to 
1,600 bushels per acre, or 10 bushels from a square 
rod : or 40 two horse wagon loads, of 40 bushels 
each to the acre. Those who have grown roots, 
well know how rarely such crops as this, even with 
the mammoth red mangels, which reach a weight 
Sugar Beets, and Beet Sugar. 
Serious misstatements have been made in regard to 
the yield of sugar beets, and their profitable use for 
sugar making. It is a pity that some will get enthusi¬ 
astic over a new idea, and lead others astray. Thus 
it has been frequently stated of late, that sugar beets 
are an enormously produc¬ 
tive and profitable crop ; 
that at the rate paid for 
them at the Maine beet- 
sugar factory, viz., $5 per 
ton, this crop will bring 
$250 per acre, the yield be¬ 
ing 50 tons per acre. This 
would be an extraordinary 
yield for the grosser, and 
more prolific mangels, and 
an utterly improbable one 
for the less vigorous, and 
more refined sugar beet. 
A yield of 18 to 20 tons, is 
considered a fair crop in 
France and Germany, where 
they have been learning the 
best methods for years, and 
if we can succeed here as 
well as do the French and 
Germans, we shall be more 
fortunate than we have 
hitherto been. The truth 
is, the sugar beet crop is 
very remunerative at $4 per 
ton. Twenty-five tons per 
acre will amount to $100, which is equal to 200 
bushels of corn per acre at present prices, and the 
refuse pulp, or bect-cake and the leaves, are worth 
more as food, than the fodder from the corn: 25 
tons is equal to more than 800 bushels per acre. 
Fifty tons per acre, which is the misleading estimate 
COMBINEI* ROCK-WORK AND DUCK-HOUSE. 
of 25 lbs. or more per root; while a sugar beet of 
more than one fourth that weight, is not desirable 
for sugar making, because it is deficient in saccha¬ 
rine matter; the smaller roots being the sweetest. 
The cost of a crop of 25 tons of sugar beets, need 
not be more than that of 80 bushels of corn per 
acre, so that a handsome profit of $60 per acre re¬ 
sults from the former ; counting the beets only, at 
$4 per ton, and the corn at 50 cents a bushel. We 
by no means state these facts to discourage the 
growing of sugar beets orthe manufacture of sugar. 
We are well persuaded that we shall ultimately 
make our own sugar from beets, and it is to hasten 
this end that we would have farmers avoid the dis¬ 
VIEW r OF MR. KEMP’S POULTRY HOUSE AND YARDS. 
couragement that must follow false expectations. 
When we succeed in profitably making sugar from 
beets, we shall then keep at home $90,000,000 which 
annually goes abroad to pay for foreign sugar. This 
is surely an end worth striving for, and every farmer 
should feel a lively interest in its accomplishment. 
A Rock-work Duck-House. 
Duck-houses are often built of brick; they may 
as well be of stone, if that material is at hand, and 
in suitable localities, the house may be made orna¬ 
mental by fitting it to grow alpine plants and ferns 
—in fact, a combined rockery and duck- 
ery. Such a house may be an intrusion 
from being out of place, or it may, in an 
appropriate spot, add greatly to the em¬ 
bellishment of the grounds. The general 
ideas on such matters given last month on 
p. 187, apply in this case. Near a pond, 
such a duck-house mayfind an appropriate 
place, or if the disposition of the grounds 
is such that it would be proper not far 
from the lawn, such a location would be 
desirable, as then the birds could add an at¬ 
tractive feature to the lawn. Ducks are the 
only poultry, that may with safety be al¬ 
lowed the run of the grounds ; they do not 
destroy by scratching, like other poultry, 
though they are not admissible to borders 
and flower plots where there are small 
plants, on account of the injury they may 
do by trampling. Where the surroundings 
will allow, the large pure white Pekin 
ducks, or the varied and rich colors of the 
Rouens, make them not only tolerated, 
but desirable, partly on account of their 
beauty, and also as destroyers of insects. 
The engraving represents a house of this 
kind recently built. An interior room or 
cave is first built of brick, or small stones, 
laid in cement, outside of which the rocks 
are disposed in a natural manner. In the 
rear there should be an opening to allow 
of access to the cave, and this may be 
closed by a door of cedar strips. In ar¬ 
ranging the rocks with a view to the grow¬ 
ing of plants, crevices of different sizes 
must be left, and these are to be filled with vegeta¬ 
ble mould from the woods, or peaty earth, mixed 
with sufficient sand to keep it always loose. As 
stated last month, success in growing plants in such 
crevices depends on having the earth they contain 
in connection with the soil below. Indeed, for all 
that relates to the duck-house as a rock-garden, 
reference maybe made to that article. To prevent 
the ducks from leaving their eggs here and there, 
after their usual manner, they may be confined by 
a movable pen of wire netting until they have laid. 
Angora Goats.— For some reason, the goat 
fever of California and elsewhere has suffered a re¬ 
lapse. Where flocks of 
thousands were started, 
there are now heard com¬ 
plaints that the wool fails 
to pay more than the ex¬ 
pense of feeding, making 
the flock, the larger it 
grows, a greater incubus 
upon the owner’s pocket. 
Prominent goat owners 
have looked for their profit 
not to the wool, but to the 
sale of animals for breed¬ 
ing, and as the demand in 
this way has ceased from 
what are now called “ igno¬ 
rant and deceived custom¬ 
ers,” and is very small in¬ 
deed from others, the prof¬ 
its amount to nothing. 
This may be unfortunate, 
because there would seem 
to be a place in our indus¬ 
tries for the rearing and 
keeping of goats, as well as 
a demand for their wool, 
under proper management. 
So far, however, legitimate goat keeping for wool 
has hardly existed, and it is to the exaggerated state¬ 
ments made by persons interested in selling bucks 
at high prices, that the unfortunate condition of 
a promising industry may be charged. All new 
industries are acclimated through difficulties. 
