1880.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
57 
costs Id food, care, etc., to produce a given amount 
of butter, or cheese, in each case, and whether the 
products of different breeds, pound for pound, are 
of the same market value. 
A Nose Jewel for Sucking Calves. 
C. A. Thresher, Topeka, Kans., sends a descrip¬ 
tion of an improved nose jewel for a sucking cow 
or calf, which can not slip out of the nose. Usually 
these are so made as to 
slip over the septum of 
the nose, and if they 
are so loosely fitted 
as to be slipped on, 
they may be forced off 
by the efforts of the 
nose jewel. animal with equal ease. 
To prevent this, Mr. 
Thresher suggests making one of the points loose 
and fitting it to the lower part by two screws, as 
shown in the engraving. It can not then be re¬ 
moved from the nose without first taking out the 
screws. The board should be of hard-wood, half 
or three-quarters of an inch thick, and may be cut 
out of the proper shape with a key-hole saw. The 
holes for the screws, 2 inches long, are then bored, 
and the point sawed off. There is no need to take 
out both the screws when fitting the board to the 
nose ; one screw may be drawn and the point of the 
“Jewel ” turned partly around, to be returned when 
fitted, and the second screw may then be put in 
its place and all made secure by turning it home. 
width of all the bars being added, an equal distance 
is laid off, as from a to 6 on the lower bar, and a 
line parallel with the 
ends of the bars at the 
front, is marked on the 
bar6, as shown by the 
dotted line 6, c. The 
upper hole is then made 
at c, and the two bind¬ 
ing pieces are fitted, as 
shown in the accom¬ 
panying engraving, by 
carriage bolts, which 
should work easily in 
the holes; the ends of 
the bars being kept 
even, as in the engrav¬ 
ing. The lowest bar 
may be four feet long, 
which will be a con¬ 
venient length for a 
hand gate. The rear 
strip is fitted parallel 
to the front strips, and 
with the bars is bolted 
bar is 7 feet long, and has a weight hung to the 
end, which nearly balances the gate, so that it may 
be swung up, as shown at figure 4, with but little 
effort, when the balance weight is sufficient to 
keep the bars raised. For winter use, this gate is 
a very desirable one. 
Ergot and Abortion in Cows. 
to the heel post. The top 
A Gate Without Hinges. 
A very convenient gate is here described, which, 
having no hinges, and not being made to swing, can 
be used in deep suow, as conveniently as when the 
ground is bare. A latch post is fixed in the ground, 
and connected with the fence. This is upright as 
shown at figure 1, and is made by nailing a piece of 
narrow batten to a square post, and then a piece of 
fence strip to the batten, so as to leave a slot on 
the side of the post, from the top to the bottom, in 
which *the ends of the gate bars fall, when it is 
closed, as at figure 3. A heel post is 6et in the 
ground, and slopes backwards, as 6een at figure 2. 
The gate is fitted to the heel post by bolts, as shown 
at figure 3. The gate is made in the following man¬ 
ner. The five bars are laid close together upon a 
level floor. These may be of fence strips, or battens 
8 inohes wide, and one inch thick. The place for 
the lowest hole, at a, being chosen, the aggregate 
An interesting account of the growth of Ergot, 
or “ Spurred Rye,” as it is often called, is given in 
the “ Live Stock Journal,” (Eng.), for Oct. 31st., by 
Prof. Henry Tanner. In the illustrated article on 
Ergot, in our October number, page 38S, and al6o 
in previous articles on these destructive pests, it was 
shown that moisture is necessary for the develop¬ 
ment of most fungi. In England and throughout 
Europe generally, the past season has been re¬ 
markable for its abundant rains, and, as a result, we 
should expect an abundance of Ergotized grain and 
grasses. Such is the case, and. as a sequel, to quote 
the Professor : “ We regret to notice that the last 
few months have been more than usually remarka¬ 
ble for abortion among cows.” The question of 
prevention is a serious one, but it can be satisfac¬ 
torily answered by not allowing cows to run in pas¬ 
tures where the grass has gone to seed. The Ergot 
appears only in seed, and is an abnormal develop¬ 
ment from the substance of the seed; while the 
grass in the pasture is without 6eed-bearing heads 
there is no danger. The seed-stems standing about 
these fields, are so many danger-signals to the 
stock-master, who knows the liability to this pro¬ 
duction of Ergot. The scythe should be used to 
cut down any places in the pasture, where the grass 
is “running to seed.” The lesson taught by the 
wet season abroad, is an important one for our 
people in its relation to the excessive production of 
Ergot, and the prevalence of abortion among cows. 
Corns on Horses’ Feet.— Corns are rarely ab¬ 
sent from flaUfooted hoofs. They are caused, in 
the majority of cases, by stones lodging in the space 
unwisely left by black¬ 
smiths between the in¬ 
ner edge of the shoe 
and the sole of the 
foot, as shown in the 
engraving, which repre¬ 
sents a section of a shod 
hoof. This causes a 
bruise, which soon be¬ 
comes inflamed, and the 
horn being unyielding 
the products of the inflammation can not escape,and 
remain as a constant source of tenderness and pain. 
The remedy is to keep the space stuffed with tow 
soaked in glycerine, or otherwise to lay a leather 
sole under the shoe to protect the sole of the foot. 
Does it Pay to Winter Turkeys. —The 
general practice in the poultry districts is, to fatten 
the early broods of turkeys for Thanksgiving and 
the later ones for Christmas, and to send each lot 
to market in a lump. The advantages of this are, 
that the warmer weather of autumn is favorable 
for fattening, and less food is consumed. The 
money also comes in a pile, and much labor is 
saved. But occasionally we find a farmer whet 
feeds his turkeys straight on through the winter, 
selling in small lots, when he can get his price. 
When we ask him for his reasons, he tells us that 
there is always a difference in selling farm produce 
at the buyer’s price, and in selling it at your own 
price. The turkey crop is mainly disposed of at 
Christmas—and he can always get a better price if 
he waits until February and March. The turkeys 
are all the while growing, and are wanted in the- 
village markets at reasonable paying prices. There 
is also a good demand for them as breeders in 
March and April. It pays him to winter his flock. 
Inside Fastenings for Barn-Doors. 
“ A Reader ” asks us for some good methods of 
fastening barn-doors from the inside. In the Nov. 
number, 1877, an illustration was given of a fasten¬ 
ing, which may just meet the case, and as this 
question is of general interest, the cut is again used ; 
we present it with two other methods which have 
the recommendation of long, and quite general 
use, rather than newness in their favor. In figure 1, 
the bars, three in number, are made of hard-wood, 
H-ineh thick, and 3 inches wide. Two of these 
are made to slip loosely through iron staples, driven 
into the batten of the door, aud are joined in the 
middle by a bolt. A third and shorter strip, the 
“guide,” has its upper end fastened to the other 
two, by the bolt above mentioned, while its 
lower end is secured to the door by a screw, in the 
Fig. 2. 
position shown in the engraving. The working of 
the fastening is easy to see. When the two long 
bars are upright, as shown by the dotted lines, 
their ends pass above the door, and into mortises in 
the ceiling and floor, and are held in place by the 
guide. By pushing the middle part of the fasten¬ 
ing to the left, the ends of the bars recede from the 
mortises, and the door is free to be opened. Aside 
from the secureness of the. fastening, it is always in 
place, and very easy to 
operate. In figure 2, a 
much simpler method is 
shown, which consists of a 
single, long, hard-wood 
bar, a little longer than the 
door, and fastened to the 
middle batten by a bolt. 
The ends of the bar pass 
into slots cut in the beam 
above, and the floor be¬ 
low. The upright position 
of the bar in the engrav¬ 
ing, 6hows when the door 
is fastened, and the dot¬ 
ted line indicates where the bar is pushed, when 
the door is opened. In working this fastening, 
the bar is grasped by the hand above the bolt, 
and one foot is used to push aside the bottom. 
A third form of inside door fastening, is given in 
figure 3. This consists, as the engraving plainly 
shows, of two upright bars, fastened in the middle 
