1884 .] 
AMEEIOAI^ AGEIOULTUEIST. 
11 
Preventing Cattle from Browsing. 
While that is not the best fanning which devotes 
the same laud to orchards and pasturage, yet it is 
often convenient, sometimes necessary, to allow 
cattle to graze among trees. Swine are the only 
farm animals that will do no mischief when al¬ 
lowed free range in the orchard. Cattle, the most 
gentle, are perverse; however abundant and suc¬ 
culent the grass, they will vary their diet by brows¬ 
ing. It may be they require the tonic bitter of 
the apple twigs to increase their appetites for the 
grass; but they will do mischief. Whether among 
fruit or ornamental trees, they must he prevented 
from lifting their heads. On the Island of Jersey, 
where orchard pasturing is general, and where the 
.animals are always tethered, a singular crib-like 
understood. So the Carp can be made a toothsome 
feature of the dinner table, if the mistress of the 
kitchen comprehends the mysteries of the sauce¬ 
boat. Without that skill, which by the way is 
universally possessed by our adopted German fel¬ 
low citizens, and can be learned from almost any 
of them, the carp is rather tasteless. In very 
cjld spring brooks carp will not grow at ad, they 
rather seem to shrink, if we can imagine a fish 
shrinking with the cold. But in w'arm waters, es¬ 
pecially in the Southern States, where there is no 
trouble with frost, they attain an enormous size 
quickly. There have been instances of their grow¬ 
ing to seven pounds w'eight in two years, which far 
surpasses anything known of any other species of 
fish. In the North, if Ihe ponds have hard bottoms 
and freeze their entire depth, the carp will be 
killed. But if the bottom is soft and muddy, they 
Above-Ground Cellars. 
Eben E. Eexford writes us very urgently in favor 
of having cellars always above ground. He does 
not explain how ho would construct them, but we 
gather that he would build against one side of the 
house, as a part of it, with double walls and a cover¬ 
ing that woulci Keep out frost. As for that matter, 
if on the rear side, they might not bevery oliensive 
ill appearance, and they might be banked up and 
covered with earth and green sods, and even be 
covered with plants or trailing evergreens. If ad¬ 
joining the kitchen warm air enough might be ad¬ 
mitted to keep out destructive frosts in very cold 
weather. These are only suggestions c f our own. 
Mr. Rexford’s arguments are that cellars thus 
placed could be entered on a level like other rooms. 
PREVENTING CATTLE FROM; BROWSING. 
Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Structure of wood is used to protect the trees, 
which is not put upon them, but on the cows. If 
the gentle creatures have any sense of the ugly, 
one with her deer-like neck encumbered with such 
a timber structure would keep her head down for 
shame, without the need of all its weight. Much 
simpler are the various methods shown in the en¬ 
graving, which do not disfigure the animal, and 
are equally as effective as those more cumbersome. 
The Carp as a Food Fish. 
BT EOBEKT BAENWELL EOOSEVELT. 
There is much inquiry concerning the German 
Carp introduced into this country by the United 
States Eish Commission. People want to know’ 
where it will live, how fast it will grow, and gener¬ 
ally what it is worth now that we have it. Often as 
these questions are answered they come up again, 
and in truth, the different results reported are con¬ 
fusing unless accompanied with an explanation. 
Carp are not a first class table fish, but they are 
immensely superior to no fish at all, when a fish 
dinner is wanted. They are not as good to eat as 
the bull-head for instance, but then it may be said 
that the bull-head is a very excellent fish when well 
will burrow into it and protect themselves. They 
are said to feed on vegetables, cither the r.atural 
growth in the water, or the refuse from the garden, 
but I imagine they are greatly improved by an oc¬ 
casional taste of the numberless insects that are 
found on all aquatic plants. The same rule ap¬ 
plies to them, that is found to govern in all other 
departments of nature ; the best is always the 
hardest to get. Not only will carp neversupply the 
place of trout, but they will hardly live in the same 
water. They need little care, and will exist on 
poorer food, are content in less fine water, and 
they are in the end an inferior fish. The common 
proverb says that whatever is worth having, is 
worth working for, and that, translated into fish 
literature, means that an ordinary variety is more 
easily mainta^ed than a superior one. StjH there 
is always more need of the low'er class. Few men 
eat trout, more eat shad, and infinitely more use 
cod, while the ponds that are adapted to trout, are 
not as one in a hundred lo those fitted lor carp. 
Any old sluggish pond, above a mud-hole, will ans¬ 
wer for them. In conclusion, it is almost self- 
evident that carp are no more a game fish, than a 
fattened hog is a game animal. Carp can gen¬ 
erally be procured through the State Fish Commis¬ 
sioners, and several breeders offer them for sale. 
by a door direct from the kitchen, and a great deal 
of running up and down stairs would be saved. 
He further argues in favor of such cellars that 
they are more healthful, since there is always a 
large amount of odors and noxious gases from ma¬ 
terials in the underground cellar that rise up and 
penetrate all through the house, which would be 
blown away if it were placed outside the house. 
Again, if on a level, they would be far more like¬ 
ly to be kept clean like other rooms. It is often 
no small job to carry out the large amount of 
refuse that is constantly accumulating. Where 
much milk is produced, and the cellar is the only 
dairy room, as it is on a large majority of farms, 
the saving of labor in going up and down stairs to 
attend to the milk, is an important matter. 
The question of economy in construction is one 
item in the account. Eveiy house must of course 
have a solid foundation, and the first floor should 
be two or three feet above ground, or more. The 
expense of excavation, and of the walls extending 
below the needed foundation, w’ould usually bal¬ 
ance a pmrtion of the cost of an above-ground cel¬ 
lar. There are several arguments on botli sides of 
the question. Let us have some jdans and esti¬ 
mates of building cellars on the ground from our 
readers. “The question is before the meeting.” 
