1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
157 
Any given sample of these articles might 
vary materially from the proportion of con¬ 
stituents given in the table, but the wide 
variation in composition of the different feeds 
is intended to represent the average of fair 
samples. The last five articles mentioned in 
the table have a larger proportion of proteids 
than would probably be desirable for any 
special purpose, and their great value as feeds 
would consist in their supplementing other 
feeds in which the carbohydrates are in ex¬ 
cess. A judicious use of these data will be 
useful to the practical man, but they should 
not be followed blindly as positive truths. 
From what has been presented in regard to 
the physiology of feeding, the difficulties in 
the way of making a direct comparison of 
foods as to value must be obvious. 
How to Set a Hen. 
There is a right as well as a wrong way to 
seta hen to secure a “good hatch.” Poor 
hatching may be due, in some cases, to the in¬ 
fertility of the eggs, yet most of it is due either 
to a restless hen or to her not having been 
properly set. If the eggs become too dry, 
which they are apt to do in early spring, when 
high winds prevail, or if set high up in a 
nesting box and the nest made of dry, ab¬ 
sorbent material, the chicks will be found 
dead in the shell, even though they are about 
ready to hatch. The skin which surrounds 
the chicks becomes dry and parchment-like, 
and clings fast to the little prisoners. We 
prefer a no-bottom box for a nesting box, set 
right on the ground floor of the hen house, 
and a medium sized nest, made of well 
broken and fresh rye straw. Where there is 
danger from rats, weasels, dogs, etc., neces¬ 
sitating more secure nests, the proper amount 
of moisture can be secured for the eggs by 
putting a fresh sod, about three or four inches 
thick, in the bottom of each nesting box, and 
making the nest upon it. If fresh and moist 
at the time it is put in, it will exhale all the 
moisture the eggs need. Two-year-old hens 
make better setters than yearling pullets, as 
they'are far more constant, seldom deserting 
their eggs, or the young broods subsequently, 
as pullets frequently do. D. Z. E. 
Turkey Surgery. — About a month 
since, a neighbor bought an extra heavy 
young gobbler, weighing 27 lbs. After a few 
days in his new home the turkey acted as if 
he had some difficulty in his throat, trying 
to throw up some undigested material. On 
examination it was found that there was a 
lump of some sort of food that had lodged in 
the crop, and would not pass either way. As 
the bird was growing weaker, and must die 
without relief, it was resolved to open the 
crop. A small slit was made with a sharp 
pen-knife, and a huge ball of dried grass was 
carefully removed. The wound was sewed 
up and healed kindly in a few days. A month 
after the operation, the young cock is appa¬ 
rently as well as ever, and gives fair promise 
of siring a noble flock" of turkeys for the 
season of ’82. We have little doubt that many 
valuable birds, notably young gobblers, are 
lost every year for the want of a little skill 
with a pen-knife and needle It is not very 
difficult to tell when surgery is called for by 
the swollen condition of the crop in the morn¬ 
ing before feeding. 
Law for Farmers.—II. 
Farmer’s Liability in Sale ot Produce, Etc. 
H. A. HAIGH. I.. L. B., DETROIT, MICH. 
In a former article, the principles of war¬ 
ranty, as applied to the sale of garden seeds 
were considered. Let us extend their appli¬ 
cation to the sale of farm products, as it is of 
interest to fanners to know their rights and 
liabilities in that regard. It was stated that 
in the absence of fraud, or of an express 
warranty, the maxim caveat emptor (let the 
purchaser take care—or look out for his own 
interests) is the general rule applicable to the 
sale of chattels. A man must buy with his 
eyes open, and if he does not, and thereby 
suffers, he caimot as a general rule get re¬ 
lief. But while the law does not relieve a 
man from the exercise of care, prudence, 
and observation, in making his 
purchases, there are certain cases 
where the exercise of these facul¬ 
ties would be of no avail, and in 
some of these, the law raises an 
implied warranty as to the quality 
of the thing sold. These cases of 
implied warranty are in the nature 
of exceptions to the general rule 
above stated, and among them is 
that of the sale of garden seeds, be¬ 
fore referred to. There no amount 
of observation would reveal the 
quality of the seed, and hence the 
law raises an implied warranty that the seeds 
are good and of the kind represented, and if 
they are not, the farmer who buys them, and 
who has perchance lost much time, labor, and 
investment, by reason of their worthlessness, 
may recover of the seedsman the value of 
the crop that would have grown from the 
seeds had they been as represented, less the 
value of the crop they did produce. 
But an instance of implied warranty of 
still greater importance to farmers is in the 
case of sales of articles of food. Where an 
article is sold for food to an actual consumer 
there is an implied warranty that it is whole¬ 
some and fit for such purpose. The reason of 
this rule rests in the danger to human life re¬ 
sulting from the sale of unwholesome food. 
If the farmer sells his products to actual 
consumers he impliedly warrants, whether 
he intends to or not, that they are wholesome 
and fit for food. It makes no difference 
whether the purchaser examines the articles 
or not, nor does the fact that the farmer did 
not himself know of their unwholesomeness 
relieve him of liability. It is his duty 
to know. This rule is well settled in 
New York State and has been generally 
followed. It has been applied most 
often in the sale of beef and pork ; but 
the principle is equally applicable to the 
sale of food of any kind, including those 
very common articles of farm produc¬ 
tion—eggs, butter, cheese, milk, and all 
vegetables and fruits. Let the farmer, 
therefore, who sells any of these for 
domestic use, take care that they are 
sound, for if they are not, the purchaser 
may tender them back and recover the pur¬ 
chase money ; or, without doing this, he may 
recover from the seller the damages sustain¬ 
ed, and the damages might be very large. 
This implied warranty of wholesomeness 
does not arise except in the case of sales to 
consumers. If the sale is to a dealer, the food 
is then regarded as an article of merchan¬ 
dise, and the maxim caveat emptor applies. 
Another instance of implied warranty, in¬ 
teresting to farmers, is the sale of goods by 
sample. In such a case the law raises a war¬ 
ranty that the bulk of the goods are like the 
sample, and the farmer who so sells his 
wheat, or corn, or hops, or wool, or cotton, 
impliedly warrants, whether he intends to or 
not, that they are like the sample shown. 
In the sale of goods by “ description” there 
is an implied warranty that they are mer¬ 
chantable or salable; but this rule is not of fre¬ 
quent application in the sale of farm products. 
A Home-Made Clod Crusher. 
--4^--- 
Mr. John Stewart, Sandy Creek, sends us 
a sketch of a Clod Crusher which he has 
used with much satisfaction, both as a Clod 
Crusher and to cover corn, beans, potatoes, 
etc. He writes; “It is about 10 feet long 
A VALUABLE CLOD CRUSHER. 
and 4 feet deep, made in three parts and 
hinged as shown in the sketch. This enables 
the crusher to adapt itself to the unevenness 
of the ground. It should be made from hard¬ 
wood ; the planks lap about two inches, and 
are spiked or bolted to the cross-trees from 
the bottom. I secure a bent pole across the 
center part, by which the driver may steady 
himself when it is necessary to add his 
weight to the crusher. I also place an old 
plow handle in the outer tie of each wing for 
convenience in lifting when turning the cor¬ 
ners, thus preventing the crusher from goug¬ 
ing out holes in the surface of the field.” 
A Cheap Field Roller. 
“ An old subscriber” in Olmsted, Ky., has 
found his log roller so convenient that he 
sends us a sketch and description for the read¬ 
ers of the American Agriculturist. For a 
two-horse roller, an oak or poplar log is 
selected, 3 feet in diameter, and 8 feet long. 
Large-headed iron pins are driven into the 
center of each end of the log. To these the 
iron rods from an old “sweep” horse-power 
are fastened by rings, and the rods are joined 
to each other at the opposite ends by another 
ring, as shown in the engraving. The rods 
are of f-inch iron, and may be bent a little 
just in front of the ends of the log. Such a 
roller can be quickly made, and does good ser¬ 
vice, where an expensive one is out of reach. 
