1884.] 
AMEEIOAI^f AGEIOULTEKIST. 
199 
A Convenieat Pasture. 
A pasture close to the farm buildings is a great 
conyenieuce, and will save much valuable time 
during the busy season. The work horses may be 
turned into such a pasture in the evening after they 
have eaten their ration of hay and grain. It is an 
easy matter to bring the horses in again in the 
morning for their feed, before it is time for work. 
The cows may go to the back feeding ground for 
the day, and into the front pasture to pass the 
night. Boys who are tired from hard work through 
the day, appreciate the convenience of a pasture 
close by the milking ground. The cows are more 
contented if kept near the barns at night. The 
gates and other entrances to this night pasture 
should be arranged to save all possible steps, both 
from the horse stable and the milking yard. Some 
may object to having horses and cows in the same 
field, but the writer has concluded, after several 
years’ experience, that there is no danger vvith any 
ordinary animals. , Young stock of all kinds wlU 
be safer if kept from the old in a separate pasture. 
This convenient night pasture should be perma¬ 
nent, and furnish good feeding to the horses and 
cows throughout the whole season. It therefore 
needs to be kept in good heart. If naturally rich, 
the droppings from the animals will keep up the 
fertility for several years. A man with a manure 
pick or mallet, should go over the pasture each 
spring, and loosen and scatter the droppings. The 
mallet consists of a block of wood a foot long, 
square at one end and pointed at the other, into 
which a stout handle is fastened near the middle. 
A top-dressing of well-rotted manure should be 
given every two or three years, or still better, a 
light dressing each winter. A hundred pounds of 
nitrate of soda per acre in early spring, aids greatly 
in giving a vigorous start to the young grass. If 
coarse weeds appear, they should be rooted out be¬ 
fore they become thoroughly established or ripen 
.any seed. A flowing spring in a central location, 
is of great value in any pasture, and especially here 
where cows may drink after being milked, and 
again early in the morning. It will also save much 
labor in watering the horses before and after work. 
If a flowing spring cannot be found, the next best 
water supply is a well with a wind-mill pump. 
A pasture properly manured, kept free from 
weeds, and thickly seeded with a large variety of 
^grasses, may be as permanent and profitable as any 
field on the farm. The night pasture does not enter 
Into the regular rotation adopted for the other fields. 
Horse-Power from a Mowing Machine. 
Mr. C. S. Currier, Almont, Midi., sends us a 
:sketch and description of a horse-power and 
jack” made from an old mowing machine. The 
-whole cash outlay was fifteen dollars and sixty- 
Three cents. The upright frame of the power is 
Fig. 1.— A “mowing machine hoese power.” 
■fhe old machine woodwork set up sidewise with 
■one of the drive-wheels on top. To this is attached 
a draft lever twenty-two feet long, with hooks on 
■each end so that one or two horses may be used. 
‘The lever and lead stick are bolted to the rim of the 
-wheel by a hook bolt on each side. The fly wheel 
on the “jack” is the other wheel of the mower. 
'This wheel was removed and the shaft cut oflE even 
with the frame. The end timbers of the “jack” below 
the wheel are cut half down so as to let the wheel 
as low as possible and have the belt clear. The 
left side shows the way the tumbling rod is at¬ 
tached, and let down for the horses to pass over 
easily. The rod is attached in the same manner 
to the power. In figure 1 is a collar in which 
the “ shipper” worked to throw the mowing ma¬ 
chine in gear. The “ shipper” was removed. The 
collar is held down by its weight. When the 
“ jack” wheel runs faster than the power this col¬ 
lar rises and lets it run until the power obtains the 
same speed, when it falis down and the power is in 
gear. This machine is light and strong. It will 
furnish all the power that is required to shell corn 
or cut fodder, and in fact anything a two-horse 
power is able to run. Use a four-inch rubber belt. 
Among the Farmers.— New Series. 
BT ONE OP THEM. 
In going about more or less among the farmers, 
I find that those who make money, do so by pro¬ 
ducing specialties, and rarely by their general farm¬ 
ing. He who has been farming for ten years, or 
even for five, to say nothing of him who was brought 
up on the farm, and has not found out what he can 
raise that pays best, is not wide-awake. One class 
raise hay to sell, buying manure from the town, 
and find this more profitable than to feed it. An¬ 
other makes early potatoes a specialty, or perhaps 
combines these with milk (most country boys know 
potatoes and milk go well together). Others calcu¬ 
late upon some other crop for their principal 
source of money. Fruit farming has attractions 
for those who can secure pickers at the time small 
fruits or peaches are ripening, and a good many 
try some particular vegetable, like sweet corn, cel¬ 
ery, Swedish turnips, or cabbages. Even where the 
old system prevails, and the ancient rotation of 
corn, potatoes, or oats, winter grain, and grass is 
the universal order, one man’s specialty is well- 
fatted beef, another’s early lambs, another’s tur¬ 
keys, and yet another prides himself on his pork. 
The class of those who raise thorough-bred animals, 
horses or cattle, sheep or swine, dogs or poultry, is 
larger, and so attractive is this, that many more 
undertake it than have either the knowledge or pa¬ 
tience to make it a success. They are good custom¬ 
ers for those whose herds and Hocks have 
achieved fame, and thus they are useful. 
Cattle Ties. 
Their name is “legion,” and while there may be 
no novelty in the one which I write about, there 
is merit in it, and for most people that is better. 
The stanchion has its advantages, which aye so 
great that farmers who are not cruel, and who may 
on the contrary be regarded as intending to be mer¬ 
ciful to their beasts, use them. The cattle are re¬ 
signed to them, much as the man said his wife was 
resigned to dying, “ there was no help for it, she 
had to be.” Neck chains attached to a ring to 
slide up and down upon a perpendicular bar or rod, 
give the cows more freedom. They can lick one 
side at least, and lie down with the appearance of 
comfort which they can not do if in the stanchions. 
The chains which I am now using, and with 
which I have no fault to find, combine the advan¬ 
tages of both stanchions and the common neck 
chains, besides sundry merits of their own. The 
idea is not original, I saw something of the same 
kind at a breeder’s establishment some time ago. 
My floors were arranged for stanchions, which 
never were put in, but instead, I had round bars 
set perpendicularly four feet apart, upon which the 
common neck chains were used, there being short 
partitions between the cows. These partitions I 
had recently cleared away. A two-inch plank, 
eight inches wide, set on edge, forms the front of 
the manger or feedirg trough, and the round bars 
stand close to this. The tie-chains each consist of 
two rings, r, which slide up and down on two of 
these bars; the rings are connected by a chain 
which has a small ring, .s, in the center; attached to 
this ring is the usual neck-piece n, and a snap- 
hook, h. Thus the cow is fastened to the middle 
of the chain, between the posts. She has free mo¬ 
tion of her head, up, down, and sideways. She 
cannot reach her neighbor on either side. She 
cannot steal their feed, nor touch them to do injury 
with her horns. Yet she can lick both her own 
sides, can get up or lie down without straining or 
slipping, and has a limited back and forward mo¬ 
tion, so that she can neither step forward into her 
manger, nor backward off the floor, over the edge 
of which the manure is dropped as nicely as if she 
stood in stanchions. The accompanying engrav¬ 
ing gives the reader an idea of how to have 
these chains made. I obtained mine through a 
wholesale chain dealer, who had a few dozen made 
up according to my description. 
If I was to suggest an improvement, it would be 
to have the center ring funiished with three snap- 
hooks, one to fasten the neck-piece, and one to 
connect with the ring-chain on each side. Thus 
the chain might be made shorter by taking up one 
or two links at will, in order to fit posts set a little 
closer, or to give the cows a little more liberty. I 
have never had a cow get her foot over the chain, 
or when one place was not filled, attempt to lie 
down across the stall. 
Farm Clialiis. 
Speaking of chains, I am amazed to know the 
difference in chains. I have been in the habit of 
buying at agricultural warehouses the best trace- 
CHAIN CATTLE TIE. 
chains I could, and nothing has been more common 
than for them to break. Links sn p off, the chain 
breaks in two, the links bend sometimes, and they 
wear out very fast. We wire them or link them to¬ 
gether, and so make out to use the patched things. 
Other people have the same experience. The reason 
is, that the store-keepers buy cheap American made 
chains, trusting to our ignorance of better ones, 
charging a round price for them, and expecting us 
to buy more as soon as they break. One advantage 
of being near New York, is that for some things 
which a farmer must purchase, one can go to head¬ 
quarters. Now I have a set of trace chains, which 
will last as long as I shall have use for them. 
Prolltable Forls. 
There is a constant demand in the New York 
market for small pork, and people are becoming 
fastidious. The effort to supply this demand by 
thin, poorly grown pigs of eight months to a year 
old, is vain. Such are not wanted, but plump four 
or five months’ pigs that weigh one hundred to one 
hundred and twenty-five pounds. These pigs 
bring the highest market price, and may often be 
disposed of to special customers, at a considerable 
advance upon the prevailing prices in the market. 
I was visiting a large farm a few days ago, where 
big Chester white brood sows are used, crossed 
with small Yorkshires, and a really beautiful class 
of pigs produced. They seem always fat, are ex¬ 
traordinary easy keepers, and are so plump, small¬ 
boned, small-headed and white as snow. The sows 
are great milkers, have big litters, and the pigs 
