148 
AMEEICAl^ AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
An Old Dwelling Improved. 
Mr. Jas. H. Rogers sends us a rough draft of his 
dwelling as it was and is now, and writes; “The 
old roof needed re-shingling, and while doing this 
Fig. 1.— THE OLD HOUSE. 
it was projected over the sides and ends, and a sim¬ 
ple cornice added at small cost. The other changes 
are two windows in the gable instead of one; a 
small porch added in front, and a bay window with 
glass panels (not shown), was placed in the back 
dough with hot milk, feeding it sparingly. I have 
before now advised those keeping poultry to raise 
a crop of mangels as vegetable food for laying hens 
in winter. Failing to raise a crop myself the past 
season, and not being able to find any, I procured a 
quantity of cow-horn turnips, hoping they would 
take the place of the mangles, but they do not sat¬ 
isfactorily, and I still say, for a winter green-food 
for fowls, nothing equals the beets. They keep 
well, and when cut open and placed in the feed 
boxes, the fowls will pick greedily at them as long 
as they last. If fowls do not have access to hay in 
the winter, it should not be given to them whole 
and dry, for if eaten in quantities it will obstruct the 
free passage of food through the crop, and they will 
become crop-bound. The early clippings of the 
lawn should be saved, and steamed with hot water, 
which will make it very good for fowls, and quite 
digestible. H. C. B. 
Fig. 3.— AFTER THE IMPROVEMENTS. 
wing, which changed the dismal and cheerless sit¬ 
ting or family room, into the most pleasant room 
in the house, and greatly improved the exterior. 
Practical Poultry Suggestions. 
Many suggestions for the care and management 
of poultry intended as helps to beginners, are liable 
to mislead those with little experience, who should 
be cautious in trying aU new methods presented. 
When recommended to use strong mixtures, like 
oil of sassafras, turpentine, kerosene, etc., on the 
chickens to kill the lice, avoid doing so unless de¬ 
siring to kill the chickens as well. Sprinkling sul¬ 
phur freely about their coops, and on their bodies, 
is a milder and quite as effective remedy. The 
best possible plan is not to allow lice to get a start, 
by keeping the premises thoroughly clean, and the 
buildings well white-washed. I have read that at 
the time parsley is abundant in the garden, it 
should be given to the fowls as a green food. It 
is not well, however, for it is likely to cause a 
looseness of the bowels, and dropping of soft- 
shelled eggs under the roosts. Allow the fowls ac¬ 
cess to tender grass a few minutes in each day, and 
give the parsley to the pig. Another suggestion is, 
to scatter air-slaked lime freely about the houses 
as an absorbent, and a deodorizer. But the contin¬ 
ual motion of the fowls keeps the air filled with 
the choking lime dust, and soon causes injurious ir¬ 
ritation in the air passages. Piaster, or a shovelful 
of dry soil thrown on the roost board, is better 
than lime. When fowls have a cold, it is better to 
use a little care in feeding for a few days, than to 
dose heavily with pills, red pepper, etc., etc., as 
some recommend. A cold or roup shows itself in 
different ways, by coughing or sneezing, and by 
swelled faces, watery eyes and nostrils, and the 
worst form is canker in the mouth. A simple cold 
can be easily managed and cured in a few days, by 
giving small quantities of sulphur in their warm 
dough, with a light sprinkling of red pepper occa¬ 
sionally, and warm water to drink. Castor oil, ap- 
plied by pouring it down the throat from a small¬ 
necked bottle, is particularly good. In cases of 
canker, which is the worst form of cold or roup, 
more care is necessary. The diseased fowl must 
be immediately removed from the well ones, and 
pure water provided for them in clean dishes, in 
which a small piece of copperas may be dropped 
occasionally. Feed no hard grain, and mix the 
The Drag. 
Wherever introduced the drag is taking the place 
of the roller. In almost every way it does better 
work. If the ground is uneven the roller will not 
smooth it; the drag will. If the clods are hard 
and dry, and the rest of the ground loose, the 
roller will often simpl 3 - push them down without 
crushing them ; the drag grinds them fine. If the 
lumps are wet, the roller will be likely to press 
them into a solid mass, and while the drag will 
often tear them to pieces, leaves them loose to be 
dried by the sun and air. Figure 1 is the best form 
of drag, made of oak planks two inches thick, and 
about a foot or fourteen iqches wide. If for four 
horses, the planks can be about twenty feet long; 
if for only two horses, ten or twelve feet long. 
These are bolted firmly together, over-lapping 
about two inches, as shown. About two feet from 
each end of the front plank, a strap clevis is fixed 
to receive the double-trees, and a team is hitched 
to each, the driver standing on the drag behind. 
If the driver’s weight is not enough, stones or logs 
may be added. For a two-horse drag, a hole is 
bored in the front plank about two feet on each 
Fig. 1.— A PLANK DRAG. 
side of its center, and a chain is then passed 
through these holes, connected with a clevis 
in front, to which the double-tree is attached. 
Figure 3 shows another form, made of two logs, 
about a foot in diameter, and sixteen or eighteen 
feet long. Three cross-pieces are let into the logs, 
and pinned or bolted to hold them about one 
foot apart. A stout iron rod with hook in front 
for the double-tree, and a screw nut in the rear, 
fits a hole bored about two feet from each end of 
Fig. 3.— A LOG DRAG. 
the front log. This drag does not do quite so 
good work as the plank one, as there are no sharp 
edges to cut the clods, and it is more unwieldy; 
but it is quickly constracted from material al¬ 
ways at hand, and for this reason is often made 
in preference to the other. 
Milking Tubes. 
An unusual number of inquiries about milking 
tubes have been received recently. Several years 
ago they were brought before the public, by a man 
who had some notoriety as a practical farmer and 
stock breeder, with a great flourish as convenient, 
practical and useful in any herd, and not injurious. 
No doubt at first he may have been honest about 
it, but he really tested only one or two of his own 
cows, and the only one we saw thus used had her 
udder ruined. Still the boom went on in spite of 
the warnings of this journal, and other editors, who 
took care to let their readers know what the matter 
was as soon as they learned it themselves. A dozen 
different forms were made, and some were patent¬ 
ed, but all were worthless except in the hands of a 
skilful surgeon, and then in case of obstructions. 
At times the insertion of a tube into the teat of 
the cow will empty the quarter rapidly of the mUk, 
without harm to the cow. But there is one danger 
always present: on withdrawing the tube a bubble 
of air is very likely to escape from it into the udder, 
and there being no provision for absorbing of air 
thus introduced, it acts like any other foreign sub¬ 
stance, and produces inflammation—garget, often 
most intense. All the efforts to prevent the escape 
of the air bubbles by bending the tubes, by attach¬ 
ing rubber tubes, and various other contrivances 
were in vain. Hundreds of cows had the garget 
and lost one or more quarters. Our advice given 
then and repeated now is, let milking tubes alone. 
They are no longer on sale that we know of, and 
ought not to be. It is important for a physician or 
surgeon to be able to draw off milk without pres¬ 
sure upon the teat or udder, but other people 
better be content to follow the old way in milking. 
Animal Ailments. 
PROP. D. D. SLADE, HARVARD UNIVERSITT. 
An Impoverished Calf.— “ A. A. IF.” writes 
from Slocumville, R. I.: “I have a calf drop¬ 
ped last August, weaned and turned out to grass 
in September, and cropped as well as any animal; 
eats any kind of fodder or grain, has some oil-meal 
every day, but is poor as a crow. Has a good ap¬ 
petite, is not lousy I think; still 1 have treated her 
for lice. What can I do to make her lay on some 
flesh ?”—It is hardly possible that lice are numer¬ 
ous enough to affect the health and escape even the 
most superficial examination. Parasites of every 
description abound more especially on animals re¬ 
duced in health and strength, and suffering from 
poverty and neglect. Under such circumstances 
lice are the effect, not the cause. Strict cleanli¬ 
ness, warm, dry, sunny well-ventilated quarters, 
thorough rubbing and brushing of the skin daily to 
stimulate the circulation, attention to the state of 
the bowels, are necessary factors in bringing about 
a better condition. Hasty pudding and milk given 
warm twice a day is a nourisbing food. Sweet 
clover hay, or good rowen, with a few carrots cut 
fine, are essential.—The animal in question needs 
a change of diet, and whatever this may be, if ap¬ 
propriate and sufficient, with attention to the other 
points described, will soon result satisfactorily. 
Distemper in Dogs.— “C. M. IF.,” StarCity,Ind., 
writes : “ What is good to give my dog, and what 
disease has he ? He seems to be always chilled, 
and matter fills his eyes ; breath very bad ; breath¬ 
ing very heavy. I think he has distemper.”— 
These are among the common symptoms of canine 
distemper, and our correspondent is probably right 
in his diagnosis. As the tendency in this disease 
is toward debility and emaciation, all depleting 
remedies should be avoided. Almost all parts of 
the body may become implicated, but the respira¬ 
tory and digestive organs are most frequently at¬ 
tacked. The treatment must be directed towards 
the various complications that may arise. Under 
all circumstances the general treatment is obvious. 
The dog should have dry, warm, well aired quar¬ 
ters, and his food milk with bread, or milk por- 
.ridge. Cooked meat may be given according to 
circumstances. A gentle laxative of half an ounce 
of castor oil may be given, followed the next day 
if necessai'y, by three grains of ipecac twice a day 
until the breathing becomes better. Afterwards as 
tonics twelve grains of gentian or three grains of 
sulphate of iron should be given with the food 
three times a day, and the diet maybe more stimu¬ 
lating and generally richer as he improves. 
Stunted Colt. —“ L. H.," Lancaster, Mass., de¬ 
scribes a colt of thirty months as small and of slow 
