34r2 
AMERICAN AGRICURTURIST, 
[ September, 
shall produce three or more ears upon a stalk, of 
which 150 will yield a bushel of shelled corn. With 
three ears upon a stalk of this character, it is evi¬ 
dent that the product will be,at least double that 
of the larger-eared variety. In addition to this gain, 
the stalk of the smaller variety is not so coarse, and 
may be nearly all consumed, and the ears are bet¬ 
ter fitted for feeding whole, or for cutting into 
chaff together with the stalks.' These items should 
all be taken into account, in determining to what 
end we shall direct our efforts, in the improve¬ 
ment of this; the most valuable of all our crops. 
Killing Domestic Animals. 
Animals are often killed in a needlessly cruel 
manner, partly from thoughtlessness, but mostly 
from ignorance. Every farmer is likely to be called 
upon to terminate the life of some animal; it may 
be for food, or because some serious injury or fatal 
disease, makes it necessary to put an end to its life. 
There are three principal methods of killing ani¬ 
mals : 1st. Cutting the throat without firot produc 
ing insensibility ; a method adhered to with such 
tenacity by the Jews ; 2d. Rendering the animal in¬ 
sensible by a blow upon the head, or by piercing a 
portion of the brain or spinal column, by means of 
a sharp instrument, followed by bleeding by cutting 
the throat. 3d. By the use of Anaesthetics, as Eth¬ 
er, or Chloroform, to render the animal insensible, 
or if small to kill it entirely. 
The first method is to be condemned for its cru¬ 
elty ; and because it injures the flesh, if the animal 
is killed for food. All intelligent butchers under¬ 
stand that the quality of the meat is influenced by 
the manner in which the animal is slaughtered. 
Anything like prolonged fear or torture promotes 
secretions which act deleteriously upon the flesh. 
In the second method, the practice of “ pithing,” 
which consists in producing a sudden shock to the 
whole nervous system, by piercing a small portion 
of the posterior part of the brain—known to anat¬ 
omists as the medulla oblongata —with a sharp instru¬ 
ment, is probably the most humane method of pro¬ 
ducing insensibility: in this operation the man 
stands upon a platform above the animal, and gives 
a single thrust of the spud. The animal falls in¬ 
stantly, without a struggle, after which it is bled 
by cutting the throat. This excellent method is 
followed in the best large slaughter houses, but 
it requires great 
skill on the part of 
the one who wields 
the spud, and for 
this reason is not 
practicable for gen¬ 
eral use among 
farmers, who, dur¬ 
ing the year, kill 
but few animals. 
Eor general prac¬ 
tice, a sharp and 
vigorous blow up¬ 
on the head, with 
an axe or maul, is 
the best. The end 
to be reached is 
the derangement 
of the brain, as pig 2 —head of house. 
consciousness, and 
sensibility to pain, remain as long as this is un¬ 
impaired ; therefore the blow should be directed at 
the brain. In killing an animal in this manner, 
many strike too low, and fail to bring the animal to 
the ground at the first blow, thus causing a need¬ 
less prolonging of pain. Figure 1 shows the locali¬ 
ty of the brain in the horse, as seen in a cross-sec¬ 
tion view of the skull. It will be seen that the 
point, a, is the place to strike, and not b. 
Figure 2 shows a front view of a horse’s head, 
with the point, a, which is ordinarily covered by the 
tip of the fore-lock, and is at the intersection of 
the lines running from the base of each ear to the 
eye on the opposite side. Figure 3 shows a cross- 
section of the skull of an ox. The brain, c, is small¬ 
er than in the horse, and protected bv thicker fron¬ 
tal bones. Figure 4, a, gives the point to be aimed 
at where the blow should be struck, and that is at 
the intersection of the lines joining the base of the 
horn and the opposite eye. The point is not “ be¬ 
tween the eyes” as may be seen by the position of 
b, in figure 3. There is no brain below the surface 
between the eyes. In all cases the head should be 
securely fastened, and it is advisable to blindfold 
the animal. In the far West, where good marks¬ 
men are the rule, slaughtering is frequently done 
with the rifle. In proper hands this method is to 
be commended as sudden and painless, but no one 
! who is not a “ dead shot ” should attempt it, as a 
wounded and infuriated ox may be a source of much 
trouble. A small animal should be treated as mer¬ 
cifully as a large one, and be made instantaneously 
insensible. Caires, sheep, and swine, are usually 
tortured by throat-cutting, when a single sharp 
blow upon the head would end their misery ; the 
throat can then be cut, and the bleeding accom¬ 
plished. To “stick” a hog so that it will die by 
inches is altogether wrong. A few judicious blows 
with an axe will make the hog-killing day a far more 
humane and less noisy one in many a farmer’s yard. 
The third method, taking life by the use of anaes¬ 
thetics, is difficult and expensive with large ani¬ 
mals, and is rarely practised with small ones, 
though where it is necessary to end the life of a dog, 
cat, or other pet animal, it may be resorted to. The 
animal, if placed in a small tight box, with a sponge 
or cloth wet with Ether, or Chloroform, will soon 
become insensible, and die with no suffering. 
Fattening Poultry for Market. 
-- 
No fowl over two years old should be kept in the 
poultry yard, except for some special reason. An 
extra good mother, ora finely feathered bird that 
is desirable as a breeder, may be preserved 
until 10 years old with advantage, or at least so 
long as she is serviceable. But ordinary hens and 
cocks should be fattened at the end of the second 
year for market. Feeding for this purpose may be 
begun now. When there is a room or shed that 
can be closed, the fowls may be confined there. 
The floor should be covered with two or three 
inches of fine sawdust, dry earth, sifted coal ashes, 
or clean sand. The food should be given four 
times a day, and clean water be always before the 
fowls. A dozen or more fowls may be put at once 
in this apartment, so that there may not be too 
mauy ready to sell at one time. The best food for 
rapid fattening, for producing well flavored flesh 
and rich fat, is buckwheat meal, mixed with sweet 
skimmed milk, into a thick mush. A teaspoonful 
of salt should be stirred in the food for a dozen 
fowls. Two weeks feeding is sufficient to fatten 
the fowls, when they should be shipped for sale 
without delay, and another lot put up for feeding. 
If the shed is kept dark and cool, as it should be, 
the fowls will fatten all the quicker for it. 
Tl»e Cost of Soiling Catlle.— The supposed 
large amount of extra labor involved in soiling 
cattle upon green fodder crops, cut and carried to 
them in yards or barns, is the greatest objection 
urged against the system. While a certain amount 
of extra labor is needed, this is by no means so on¬ 
erous or so costly, as to overcome the advantages 
of the system. By the use of a one-horse mower, 
hay rake and wagon, green rye, clover, oats or mil¬ 
let, sufficient for a day’s fodder for 20 cows, can be 
mowed, gathered, loaded and hauled a quarter of 
a mile to the stable in one hour, by a smart boy of 
14 or 15 years. The labor of feeding, watering and 
Fig. 4.— head of ox. 
cleaning the cattle, will occupy two hours more. 
If half a day is thus taken up, it will cost about a 
cent and a half a day per cow, for the labor. The 
saving of manure will more than pay this, and there 
are other savings about' the system, which will sum 
up in all to a respectable profit. It is on small 
farms that the advantage of soiling is the greatest. 
How Domestication has Modified the 
Hog’s Head. 
Probably no part of any domestic animal has 
undergone greater modifications, both in internal 
structure and outward form, than the head of the 
hog. Indeed, the whole body of the animal has 
changed so wonderfully, that the wild hog and our 
finest specimens of the improved breeds, would 
hardly be thought to be the wild and domesticated 
forms of the same species. As Darwin, in his won¬ 
derful work, “Animals and Plants Under Domesti¬ 
cation,” says: “The whole of the exterior of the 
skull in all its parts has been altered; the hinder 
surface, instead of slopiug backwards, is directed 
forwards, entailing many changes in other parts; 
the front of the head is deeply concave, etc.” As 
to the teeth, the incisors, or “nippers,” do not 
touch, in the domesticated hog, and the canine 
WILD BOAR AND DOMESTIC HOG. 
teeth are small and differently situated from what 
they are in his savage ancestors. In the highly 
domesticated animal its head is much shortened. 
