1879.] 
AME RICAN AGrRIC ULT URIST. 
3-i3 
so that its ratio to the body is as one to eleven, 
while in the wild hog the long head, with its for¬ 
midable snout, is one-fifth of the whole length of 
the animal. Why should the head of the hog, es¬ 
pecially, undergo such remarkable changes in pass¬ 
ing from the wild to the domestic state ?—To an¬ 
swer this question, 
we must remember 
that the wild hog. 
in his search for 
food, is obliged to 
do much plowing, 
or “rooting,” in 
the earth, and that 
this requires the 
exercise of strong 
and long muscles, 
as well as a long 
and pointed head. 
The cultivated 
races no longerfind 
it necessary to root 
in the earth,and the 
muscles required 
by the wild animal 
in this work be¬ 
come inactive, and 
diminish in size from disuse. The long snout is no 
longer essentia], and it, by degrees, shortens into the 
stub nose which we see in the improved breeds. At 
the same time other organic changes have been made, 
and we find the whole head modified to suit the 
weaker muscles, shorter nose, and the new outward 
conditions. Again, man has, during all these cen¬ 
turies, bred the hog for a special purpose, namely, 
flesh and fat, and the head has been modified to 
suit the tendencies of the rest of the body—and 
fat abounds wherever it can find a place of deposit. 
The most highly improved pigs of to-day would 
find it a severe task to get their living in the rough 
way of their wild ancestors ; but should they suc¬ 
ceed, and continue outside of man’s care, each gen¬ 
eration would acquire characters which would bet¬ 
ter and better fit it to surrounding circumstances, 
and in the course of time the rooting organ would 
again appear in all its strength and utility—the 
swine would have run wild. We give, for the sake 
of the contrast, a head of the wild hog, and one as 
modified by the conditions which man has imposed. 
The Value of Cross-bred Sheep. 
To the general farmer there is most profit in 
rearing grades. This is true of any animal ; whether 
beef cattle, dairy cows, sheep, pigs, or poultry, it 
is the grade that pays the farmer best. There must 
be pure-bred 6tock, to supply the material for the 
grades, but breeding of pure-bred animals, and of 
grades for market purposes, must be kept distinct. 
This is well exemplified in the western grazing bus¬ 
iness in which the coarse Texan cows are crossed 
with pure Shorthorn, or Hereford, bulls, and the 
progeny are sent to Europe, to compete with the 
best butchers’ cattle there. Grades are larger and 
more productive than the pure-bred animals, and 
as they cost less, there is the more profit in them. 
In regard to sheep, this is thoroughly well proved. 
Grade Merino wool, is more profitable than the r 
pure-bred, and the carcass of a cross-bred sheep is 
better mutton. The Merino, or common Grade 
Merino, make perhaps the best foundation for a 
farmer’s sheep, when crossed with South-down, or 
Hampshire-down ; the produce is a plump, fat, but 
smallish lamb, with the black face and legs, so 
popular in the market; crossed with a Cotswold 
ram, the lambs are large, and when six months old, 
will weigh more than the dams; and the fleece is 
in demand for both clothing and for combing pur¬ 
poses. As mutton, this cross is the best and cheap¬ 
est ; the South-down, which is really, when pure, the 
best mutton, is neither so large in carcass, nor do 
its grades, under the best of care, give either the 
wool or the meat, that the Cotswold grades do. 
The frequent references to the advantageous 
THE CHICKEN HOUSE. 
crossing of the fine and coarse-wool sheep, which 
have been made in the American Agriculturist for a 
few years past, have created considerable interest, 
and many persons have experimented in this way. 
Joseph Harris, of Rochester, N. Y., well known to 
our readers, has been very successful in thus cross¬ 
ing grade Merinos with Cotswolds, and has pro¬ 
duced some remarkably fine sheep and lambs. Mr. 
J. L. Gerrish, of New Hampshire, who has also 
been working to the same end, sends a sample of 
the cross-wool, of which we have made an engrav¬ 
ing. This wool, as may be seen, is of considerable 
length, some being five inches or more, and while 
it is long enough for combiug purposes, it retains 
the fineness and some of the peculiar curl of the 
Merino wool. This cross-wool is valuable for man¬ 
ufacturing, and the carcass is excellent mutton. 
A Breeding House for Chickens. 
J. H. Kemp of Germantown, Ohio, whose poultry 
house described in the American Agriculturist for 
June last, page 226, has been much commended, 
sends us a plan of his hatching and rearing house, 
of which an engraving is here given. The house 
has been in use for three years, and the arrange¬ 
ments prove to be convenient and healthful, the 
loss of chicks, having been but two in a hundred 
last season, which was exceptionally unfavorable, 
as the average loss, during the whole period, has 
been but one in two hundred of chicks taken from 
the nest. When a chick is safely hatched, and is 
strong enough to be removed to the coop, there is 
no reason why it should be lost, except through 
carelessness, or faulty management while in the 
coops. All the accidents or diseases, which kill 
tfie chicks, arise in this way, and gapes, which is 
the dreaded evil attendant upon young broods, is 
especially a result of bad management, while in the 
coop or runs. A good method of constructing and 
managing the coops and runs, is therefore of the 
greatest importance. The building in question is 
well adapted for this end. It is 13 x 1-1 feet on the 
ground, 9 feet high at the peak, and 6 feet at the 
eaves. There are two windows on the south side, 
and two doors, hung to open outwards 
from the bottom. A roost runs all 
around the outer edge, which is intend¬ 
ed to accommodate 100 chicks, and 
give them ample room ; but in no case 
are more than 100 chicks kept in one 
house. There is a feeding room, 3 feet 
high, joining the house at the south 
side, and one foot high at the side or 
eaves, meeting the coops, and 4 feet 
wide, with a half glass roof in the cen¬ 
ter, a door at each end on the roof, to 
clean and feed. A 3-inch hole is made 
at the rear end of the coop in the feed¬ 
ing room, to pass feed through. The 
coops used, are the same as those de- 2 .— catch 
scribed by Mr. Stoddard, in his book en- B0ARI) - 
titled “An Egg Farm,” with the scantling, used to 
slide the coop back, sawed off so as to let the coop 
meet the bars of the feeding room. The rear end of 
the coop, has a hole large enough for the passage 
of the chicks but too small for the hen ; this meets 
a similar hole in the wall of the feed room. When 
the front door of the coop is open, as shown in the 
engraving, the chicks can pass in and out freely. 
The building is used as a hatching room, until 
needed for young chicks. No chicks are hatched 
later than May. The young birds have an unlimited 
range, except on cool mornings, when they are re¬ 
strained until the ground is dry and warm. The 
house is cleaned every morning, and the coops 
every week ; the coops being then littered with dry 
earth. Mr. Kemp has never had a case of gapes, 
or any other disease among his chickens, which is 
an indication that his place is well arranged. 
Some Wagon Jacks. 
Mr. Edwin M. Fairchild, Lansing, Mich., sends 
sketches of a home-made Wagon Jack, which has 
been in constant use for ten years, and has proved 
most satisfactory. The drawings were made 
with such care, the measurement being placed 
upon them, that the engravings tell nearly the 
whole story. Figure 1 shows the Jack when in 
position to hold the axle, at a. When not in use, 
the lever falls down out of the way, and the affair 
can be hung up in a handy place. Figure 2 show's 
the “ catch board,” and the dimensions proper for a 
Jack, for an ordinary wagon, buggy, etc. It is so 
shaped and fastened by a pin between the upright 
parts of the Jack, that it is pushed in position, d, by 
the foot at c, when the axle is raised ; and falls 
back of its own accord when the lever is raised a 
trifle to let the wheel down. All the parts are 
made of inch stuff, the foot board, catch, and lever 
should be of hard wood ; the upright boards be¬ 
tween which they are placed, can be of pine or 
other soft wood. Persons who see this simple and 
convenient wagon jack frequently say, “ Why 
don’t you get it patented?” but the inventor thinks 
that such simple things, which any one can make, 
ought to be contributed for the common good, and 
in the same spirit we commend it, to any who 
may be in need of a good wagon jack. 
Another Jack. —Since the above was in type, 
we have seen a very simple and effetive Jack, made 
by Mr. Karl Schlueter, of Bergen Co., N. J. This 
is an ingenious combination of levers, the operation 
of which will be readily understood from an inspec¬ 
tion of figures 3 aud 4. It may be readily made 
from a few pieces of 14-in. plank. The base, A, is 
