1884] 
AMEEIOAJ^ AGEIOIJLTUEIST. 
99 
leads all others to-day because its work has been 
persevering and continuous in directlines, although 
it has taken many years to bring it to a point where 
it could be appreciated by the public. 
With the adoption of more scientific methods 
and higher standards, will come the necessity for 
Special Stations dealing with special questions 
only. This they have already attained in Germany, 
and certain Stations analyze fertilizers, others test 
seeds, and some conduct feeding experiments, and 
as a natural consequence of this division of labor 
the most valuable results are attained. Thus far 
our Stations have no common meeting ground. A 
kindly interest in each others’ labors exists, but 
there should be something more. Individual or¬ 
ganization should be supplemented by a collective 
one. The German Stations publish a bi-monthly 
journal containing a digest of their work and serv¬ 
ing as their official organ. A similar journal is 
needed in America as an incentive to a better work, 
-.as weU as a valuable record of important results. 
Feeding Cattle. 
'Some Notes from tlie Experimental 
Department of tlie Nebraska Agricul¬ 
tural College. 
Looking over the experimental work of the past 
;year, some points are suggested as likely to be of 
"interest to the readers of the American Agriculturist. 
1.—Two steers—40 months old when put up—were 
fed all the corn and hay they would eat for 215 
■ days. Their only shelter was ashed open to the 
; south. Up to the beginning of the experiment 
they had been fed only hay and grass, no grain. 
.During the 215 days they ate nearly two tons of 
prairie hay each, and 81.6 bushels of corn. The 
two steers together, gained on an average of 1.78 
lbs. per day, and 4.59 lbs. for every bushel of corn 
-consumed. The percentage of gain on live weight 
was 27. At the end of the experiment one weighed 
1,835 lbs., and the other 1,675. At the same time a 
■Jiumber of steers of the same age were fed on a 
farm adjacent to the College in the same manner, 
■ except that they had no shelter, and received about 
30 lbs. of ensilage (of corn), daily, instead of hay. 
On an average these steers gained 50 lbs. more than 
those of same age fed with hay. The ensilage 
seemed to make the corn more digestible, so as to 
■enable the animals to accumulate flesh faster. 
Two other steers of same general appearance, but 
•one year younger, were fed under same circum¬ 
stances and conditions as the two first mentioned. 
During 174 days they ate 74.8 bushels of corn, 
gained at the rate of 2.12 lbs. per day, or 4.96 lbs. 
for each bushel of corn consumed, and gained 38 
per cent of their weight when first put up. One 
weighed 1,400 and the other 1,250 at the end of the 
time. The heavier one gained 425 lbs. in 174 days, 
or 2.44 lbs. per day, the other gaining 110 lbs. less 
in the same time. Allowing, as we may safely do, 
that the pork made by the hogs that followed the 
-steers paid for the hay consumed, this steer paid a 
handsome profit for feeding. It cost 839.00, and 
sold for -S77.00, a gross profit of $38.00 Dividing 
$38.00 by 74.8 (the number of bushels of corn con¬ 
sumed), gives 50 cents as the value received per 
bushel for the corn. The other steer of the same 
age, returned only 42 cents a bushel for the corn 
-consumed. Such a calculation shows the impor¬ 
tance of selecting good steers to feed, and at the 
same time the difficulty of doing this. These two 
were both half-blood Shorthorns, sired by the 
same bull, reared in the same way, and very much 
alike in general appearance. Yet with com at 40 
cents a bushel, one animal would barely return 
expenses of feeding, while the other would pay a 
fair profit on each bushel consumed. 
Two yearling Shorthorns were fed during the 
same 174 days as the two two-year olds. These ate 
■80.4 bushels of corn each, gained at the rate of 1.89 
lbs. per day, or 5.43 lbs. of beef, live weight, for 
-each bushel of corn consumed, and gained 43 per 
-cent of their live weight when put up. Though 
they gained less in the aggregate than the older 
•ones, the gain per bushel of com consumed, 5.43 
lbs., to 4.59 lbs. for the three-year olds, almost a 
pound more per bushel. Making the same calcu¬ 
lation as in the other cases, we find that these one- 
year olds cost $61.60, and sold for $121.00, giving a 
total profit of $59.40. Dividing this by the number 
of bushels of corn consumed by the two (120.8 
bushels), shows that the corn returned 49 cents a 
bushel. This average is nearly as good as the best 
of the two-year olds, and three cents a bushel 
above their average. Another circumstance about 
these younger steers deserves mention. During 
the month of May, when all the steers were fed 
coarse meal instead of ear corn, one of these year¬ 
lings gained 85 lbs., and the other 110 lbs., an aver¬ 
age of 97.5 lbs. in 32 days, or over 3 lbs. a day. 
During this month, white the yearlings gained 195 
lbs., the two-year olds gained 105, and the three- 
year olds just 10 pounds. This seems to indicate— 
that if the year-olds had been fed meal the whole 
time, the gain would have been greater. It will be 
observed in regard to all these steers, that they had 
never been grain-fed until the experiment was be¬ 
gun, but had made their growth on grass and hay. 
No such increase per day, or in the aggregate, could 
be made upon three-year olds well fed from youth 
up. Gillett’s steer, Mammoth, weighed 2,250 lbs. 
at 24 months, gained only 200 lbs. the next twelve 
months, and actually lost 5 lbs. the next four 
months, just preceding the Fat Stock Show of 
1883. All the possibilities of profit were gone 
when the steer was 24 months old. Indeed, the 
total increase of live weight the next 16 months, 
cost something like 50 cents a pound. These steers, 
led at the College farm, were purposely kept and 
fed in the manner common among feeders in this 
State. It is a rough kind of a way, but steers ac¬ 
customed to out-door life, never stabled or ha ndled 
until they are put up to feed, do not take kindly 
to stables and confinement. The great number of 
those feeding cattle in this State, are not unable 
to build barns to accommodate them. Indeed, 
many stock-raisers of long experience, believe it 
better to feed steers in a dense grove, situated in a 
sheltered place, upon dry ground, than in a barn. 
Weed-Killing’ Clod Crusher. 
Mr. J. J. Rogers, New Dungeness, Clallam Co., 
Wash. Ter., sends us sketches of what he calls a 
home-made “Clod-crusher,” but, as will be noticed, 
he uses it much as a weed-killer. Two strong planks 
six feet long, six inches wide, and two inches thick, 
are notched as shown in fig. 1, and set four feet 
Fig. 1.— VIEW OP SIDE a?:d plauk. 
apart from their centres. Three planks five feet 
long, six inches wide, and an inch and a half 
thick, are spiked on to these, cross-wise, as shown 
in fig. 2. The angle at which they are set is not 
stated, but for ordinary work we suppose forty-five 
degrees would be about right. Perhaps on some 
ground they may need a greater pitch back to pre¬ 
vent scraping the soil forward. An elevated seat for 
the driver stands on legs let into the side-pieces a- 
bout the middle or a little back of it, so as to throw 
the entire weight evenly upon the three scrapers. 
Mr. R. writes : “ This clod-crusher, made by myself 
six years ago, is the first I ever saw. Now no farmer 
here could do without one. We run it over grain 
as soon as it is harrowed in, and use it upon pota¬ 
toes when they begin to show through the ground, 
first running the common spike harrow over them. 
This covers most of the potato tops with earth, while 
it pulls up and kills every weed that may have start¬ 
ed. In a few days the potatoes will be above ground 
again, large enough for the cultivator, clean of 
weeds even in the foulest ground. It saves more 
than half the cost of raising potatoes here. Of course 
the riding or the weight of the rider, will depend 
upon the condition of the soil. On light ground, too 
much weight would pull up some potatoes. I am 
aware farmers in my native place (Chester, Pa.), 
think this treatment may ruin their crop, but a 
trial would convince them of their mistake. 
Fastening for Sarn Doors. 
Mr. “ J. H. B.,” Port Huron, Mich., sends us a 
description of a plan forfastening large barn doors. 
FASTENING FOR LARGE BARN DOORS. 
Use an upright bar, two by four inches, for each 
door, held in place by a piece of iron three-eighths 
by three-quarter inches, bent so as to include the 
upright, with room to move it past the wedge by 
which it is held on to the cross-bars of the door, 
at the top and bottom. The upright reaches from 
the floor to the beam over the doors, and is held in 
place by driving a heavy nail or bolt into it. Just 
above the iron bar that holds it in place, a piece of 
hard-wood is fastened to the floor, and also one to 
the beam above, so that when the door is shut and 
the upright moved toward the edge of the door, 
the latter is drawn perfectly tight, and cannot 
warp or get out of place. Either door can be 
shut and fastened independently by this method. 
The Propagation of House Plants. 
Nothing about plant culture is moi’c fascinating 
than the multiplying of plants from cuttings. It 
is the making of a new plant, and one takes all the 
more interest in a plant thus produced. Florists, 
with their propagating benches, turn out plants by 
hundreds and thousands. Their propagating 
houses are regular plant factories, in which the 
raw matetial of cuttings, is turned out as the fin¬ 
ished product—the rooted plants. Several years 
ago we iniblished a method by which the amateur 
could multiply his plants in all needed numbers, 
and with something like the certainty that attends* 
the larger operations of the florist. The method 
alluded to is known as “ the saucer sy'stem,” and, 
as it will be new to a large number of our readers, 
we give it in brief. The out-fit needed is sharp 
sand—if from the sea shore, let it be thoroughly 
washed, to deprive it of all salt—and a saucer, 
soup-plate or other dish, that will hold an inch in 
depth of sand. Cuttings are made of the tender 
growth of house plants, an inch or two long, and 
set in the sand so closely together as to touch one 
another. The dish of sand containing the cut¬ 
tings, should be set in a sunny window fully ex¬ 
posed to the light, and the sand, from the begin¬ 
ning must be “sopping wet,” and kept in the 
