AMKRICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
1880 .] 
567 
First, we observe on the second day an obvious 
cloudiness in some eggs—others that prove fertile 
show very little if any, perhaps on account of the 
thickness of the shells. The next day the cloud is 
denser and more local, the next, the head is seen as 
a black or dark spot, and about the fifth day it will 
be observed to move about considerably. A motion 
due to the fact that the yolk which contains at or 
near its upper surface the germinal vesicle or seat 
of life, is caused to float in the albuminous fluid by 
which it is surrounded, the germ side up, by means 
of thick masses of albumen, called chalazse. This 
floating up of the yolk, and of the cloudy appear¬ 
ance and of the dark spots which indicate the 
places of the eyes and heart, and more or less of 
other organs as the time progresses, is of course 
entirely involuntary, but the motions which may 
be seen on and after the fifth day are obviously 
voluntary, and I suppose arise from the fact that 
the intense light is more or less disagreeable to the 
little prisoner. In some cases this motion is dis¬ 
tressingly active, so that the observer is impelled 
to lay the egg aside and give the little fellow a 
rest, for fear of hurting him from over exertion. 
The Removal of Infertile Eggs 
is of course easy, and the thing to do. I found 
that eggs which had been ten days in the Incubator 
aud were still clear, and when boiled for salad were 
perfectly good, but of course it would have been 
just as well to have removed them on the third or 
fourth day. An infertile egg will remain through 
the whole period of incubation without essential 
change, but those in which vitality has once exist¬ 
ed, especially if development has once begun aud 
then been destroyed, will scon spoil. So long as 
eggs remain vital they may be kept fit to eat—at 
least for many uses. For hatching they should be 
fresh of course, and the fresher the better. 
Eggs should be kept for any purpose in a cool, 
rather moist place, like an ordinary cellar, and 
turned once in three or four days. This turning is 
to prevent the yolk from adhering to the shell. 
When this occurs the vitality of the egg is lost. 
Dry Spring Weather. 
May drouths are dreadful. Nothing so takes the 
pluck out of farmers as to see the grass crop burn¬ 
ing up in May, or the rye over their broad acres 
struggling up to get two or three feet high and 
heading out with ears two inches long. Wheat 
comes on a little later, and there may be hope for 
that, and spring grains with plenty of rain may 
take a start as late as the first of June. With 
what shall we supplement the lost grass crop ? 
1 am sowing “ Golden Millet.” I tried it a few 
years ago and raised a heavy crop, which was well 
liked by the cattle—rather coarse hay it is true, but 
if the cattle will eat it as well as they did before, I 
shall be satisfied. Some of my neighbors are put¬ 
ting in Hungarian Grass. That is an older and bet¬ 
ter known forage plant, and they know all about 
it. They have raised “ Hungarian ” and sold their 
timothy for years, and are satisfied. The 
New Sorghum, “Early Amber Sugar Cane,” 
promises well as a fodder crop, and I have a small 
patch of that to report upon by and by, but after 
all when it comes to a main crop—when I must put 
in something which will surely furnish good and 
abundant fodder I fall back on corn, Southern 
White Dent, or Evergreen Sweet. The millets and 
the sorghums, and the Prickly Comfrey aud such 
things, must stand aside for corn. I suppose I am 
as old-fogyish as my neighbors who prefer Hunga¬ 
rian to Golden Millet, but old friends and true 
friends are to be held fast to in such times as these 
when clover and timothy and even orchard grass 
“ go back on us.” This is a season for the French 
system of tanking corn-fodder—“ensilage”—to 
prove its worth. The experiments, which have 
been well made, indicate that the value of the 
process is not much overrated. It is a pity that we 
can not try this on a small scale, for so many more 
would thus gradually work into it. 
It seems as if a season beginning so dry would 
prove a wet one by and by, and even if so, the need 
of fodder ciops will be felt, and much can be done 
after the first of July. Southern cow peas, and all 
the millets may be sown after that, and will make a 
crop with any good superphosphate, or with fine 
bone-dust and guano. I have had the best luck 
with that—say fifty pounds of Peruvian guano to a 
barrel of bone-dust. The war on the west coast of 
South America makes guano scarce and is likely to 
cut off oiir supply. Strangely enough we have no 
really good substitute for this valuable fertilizer. 
A Floor for a Cow’s Stall. 
A floor so constructed as to allow of the quick 
removal of all liquid manure, and thus be kept 
Fig. 1.— A PORTION OF THE FLOOR. 
comparatively clean, is shown in the accompanying 
engravings. The sketches and description are from 
“C. A. N.,” Rockingham Co., N. H., who has had 
a floor of this kind in use for some time, and is 
highly satisfied with it. Figure 1 represents a part 
of the stable floor, the 
front portion, D, for the 
manger and the fore¬ 
legs of the animals, is 
solid flooring. The rear 
portion is made of deep, 
but narrow slats, F, 
which are wedge- 
shaped, being narrow 
below and placed one 
inch apart. The slats, 
one of which is shown 
in figure 2, are 3 inches 
deep, li inch wide on top and I inch on the bottom. 
The floor complete is shown in figure 3. The slats 
rest on cross-timbers, and are far enough from the 
floor below to permit the use of a hoe in removing 
Fig: 2.— SINGLE SLAT. 
the manure, and also to rake under litter of any 
kind to absorb the liquid manure. The floor should 
Fig. 3.—THE FLOOR IN USE. 
be so long that there may be no danger of the cow 
stepping off at the rear. “ The slats should be of 
white oak or some hard-wood that will not break 
or wear out quickly. Those who have used this 
plan of floor for the stable like it very much ; it gives 
the cows a chance to lie down with some comfort.” 
A Log Raiser. 
It is the thoughtful man who avails himself of 
any contrivance by means of which a heavy load 
can be moved without the direct application of 
main strength. This is what is called advantage in 
mechanics; aud it can be obtained by the use of 
any one of the six mechanical powers, viz., the 
lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, 
and screw; or a combination of two or more of 
these working together. To this end, the gaining 
of advantage, all machines are made. Mr. Peter 
Werner, Dubuque Co., Iowa, sends a sketch and 
description of a device for raising logs, which is 
shown in the accompanying engraving. The stand¬ 
ard consists of two hard-wood planks 2 by 6 and 7 
feet long ; cleats two inches thick are inserted be¬ 
tween them at the ends, and well fastened by bolts. 
A support 2 by 2 inches of sufficient length, and 
fastened with a bolt, holds the standard in position. 
A lever 4 feet long, with a hook, passes between 
the two planks of the standard. The latter has two 
rows of holes 4 inches apart and 3 inches apart 
in the rows. Two stout pius are necessary to hold 
the lever, which latter is provided with notches 
to fit the pins. In working the machine the pins 
are alternately moved up a hole at a time. “ In 
this manner, a man can raise a log 3 feet in diameter 
on to the wagon without other help.” There is 
certainly an advantage to be gained in using such 
devices if the most is to be made out of a limited 
amount of muscle or power of any kind. Of course 
it takes longer, but it is easier, and in that is the gain. 
Hungarian Grass. —A quick growing plant 
is required for the production of a second crop 
upon the early rye or other stubble, and this is well 
supplied in the Hungarian Grass. If the season is 
warm and the moisture sufficient, with a rich soil, 
a large crop of this valuable fodder may be pro¬ 
duced in from six to eight weeks. About one 
bushel of seed is required per acre, to be sown 
broadcast and slightly harrowed in. From the 
rapidity of its growth, the Hungarian Grass may be 
safely sown as late as July; but the best results 
may be expected when sown as early as June. 
Sown at intervals of a week or so it will give a suc¬ 
cession of excellent succulent green fodder, and 
that when other green food is often scarce. The 
plant, when allowed to ripen fully, has a head bear¬ 
ing a multitude of hard, sharp bristles or awns, 
which are irritating to the stomach, especially those 
of horses which have fed abundantly upon it. Trou¬ 
ble from these can be avoided by cutting the crop so 
soon as the head is formed, and at the same time 
a better fodder in all other respects is obtained. 
Its excellence as a soiling crop is only equalled by 
its value for fodder when cured as hay. A few 
acres of Hungarian Grass on any farm is a good 
index of thoughtful and profitable farming. 
