210 
AMEBICA]Sr AGBIOULTUBIST. 
[May, 
A Lifting Gate. 
A gate propei'ly balanced by a weight so that a 
child even can handle it, is often very convenient, 
in any circumstances, and especially when snow 
falls, as there is no shoveling required. Mr. War¬ 
ren K. Duuston, of Dorset, Va., sends us sketches 
Fig. 1. —THE GATE SHUT. 
of one easily constructed, and adapted to general 
use. It may be three, four, or live barred, as de¬ 
sired, and of any convenient width for the use to 
be made of it. The post, lirml}' set, extends a 
little higher than the length of the g.ate. In front 
of this and firmly fastened to it at bottom and top, 
is a board at sufficient distance from the post 
for the gate to move easily between them. An iron 
bolt through the large post, and the lower end of 
the right upright gate bar, serves as a balance for 
Fig. 2.— THE GATE OPEN. 
the gate to turn on. A strong rope attached to the 
bottom of the gate, as shown, runs over the pully 
and has a weight of iron or stone that nearly bal¬ 
ances the gate. The opened gate is shown in fig. 2. 
Ayrshire Herd Tests. 
The breeders of Ayrshire cattle, at their annual 
convention last winter, offered fifty dollar prizes 
for the best milk, butter and cheese tests, made in 
herds of Ayrshire cows of not less than six, and 
twenty-five dollar prizes for the best milk and but¬ 
ler tests made by single cows, the tests to continue 
through the year, and to be made under certain 
conditions named. The breeders are allowed all 
the time they need, up to November first, to test 
their cows and make up their herds before “ enter¬ 
ing ” them. It is greatly to be desired that a num¬ 
ber of good herds should compete for these prizes, 
and that the single-cow milk and butter prizes 
should also be well contested for. We have great 
faith in the Ayrshires, and would be glad to have 
it proved that the breed not only yields milk of the 
beat average quality, which we believe to be true, 
but that it produces it on a less quantity of food. 
There is none among all the breeds of cattle usually 
met with in this country, the milk of which is so 
easily digested, and which contains the elements 
of perfect food in sucii desirable proportions as 
does that of the Ayrshire. The milk of the Jer¬ 
seys and Guernseys is richer and less easily digested. 
That of the Devon is also very rich ; the milk of 
the Sliorthorn and of the Dutch cows is rich in 
casein (cheese), and is said to be not so digestible. 
One cause, no doubt, for the superior digestibility 
of Ayrshire milk, lies in the fact that the butter 
globules average much smaller in size, than those 
in the milk of other breeds. This maises the milk 
a more perfect emulsion, and of a more homogene¬ 
ous character. The real v.alue of Ayrshire milk is not 
in its quantity alone, for it is quite likely the Dutch 
cows—a few of them—will beat the Ayrshires in 
quantity, but in quantity of milk when compared 
with the food consumed, and in the quantity com¬ 
pared with the amount of solid food contained in the 
milk. In these tests this will be shown by the 
quantity of whole-milk cheese made from the milk 
of the herd. One of the conditions is that the 
quantity and character of the food shall be accu¬ 
rately knowui and certified to. No one will think 
of restricting the feed of his cows, except to pre¬ 
vent surfeit or damage from over-feeding, for it is 
a well recognized fact, that great producers are al¬ 
ways heavy feeders. A variety of food is of course 
important, and the character of the food given 
to the milch cows should certainly be a matter of 
careful study and experiment. 
Should the Ayrshire breeders take hold of this 
matter with the energy its importance deserves, we 
may expect a “boom” in Ayrshire stock, as great 
or greater than that which followed systematic 
testing for butter among the Jerseys, the results of 
which are w'ell known. The Dutch, whether called 
Friesian, or, most absurdly, Holsteins, will have to 
look to their laurels. There seems now to be a 
general belief, in the West particularly, that the 
Dutch are the most profitable milch cows. Per¬ 
haps it is true, but the people will demand the 
jjroof, and so far there is very little evidence to 
base such an opinion upon. Tests have been made 
in abundance, but in very few instances has the 
milk-product been compared with the food con¬ 
sumed, and in no case that we have seen, has the 
actual food value of the milk been demonstrated, 
and it is especially important that this should be 
compared with the food consumed. The time cer¬ 
tainly is favorable for tests of this kind, and we 
feel that the thought and labor of good breeders 
can be expended in no other way so profitably. 
Growing Pumpkins with Corn. 
Pumpkins are valuable foi itock in autumn and 
early winter, or as long as they can be conveniently 
kept, though the amount of nutriment, in propor¬ 
tion to bulk to be taken care of, and their liability 
to decay, have led most farmers to discard tliem, 
and adopt roots or squashes for succulent food. 
As a rule, every crop needs all the ground it occu¬ 
pies, and all the air and sunlight available. Corn 
is a “sun plant,” and to shade the soil and the 
lower stalks with the dense foliage of pumpkin 
vines, must be more or less injurious, even if the 
latter do not rob the former of any needed nutri¬ 
ment. On very fertile, new soils, with short-stalked 
varieties of corn, in localities where frost is not to 
to be feared, it may be allowable to plant pump¬ 
kin seed at the second hoeing, in every third or 
fourth hill, in each second or third row. With fa¬ 
vorable weather, the corn will produce about the 
usual yield, and after the early gathering of the 
corn, the growing pumpkins thus exposed to full 
sunlight, will ripen up those pretty well developed. 
Asa rule, let the pumpkins have the whole ground; 
but still better are the harder fleshed squashes, 
which will probably supply more nutriment than 
field puinpldns, wiiether for man or beast. 
Saving Crops and Stock from Freshets.— 
It is very hard, .after having raised crops or stock, 
to see them swept away by a flood, as very many 
have done during the present year. Those having 
farms on low lands liable to overflow, destroying 
grain or drowning stock, can provide against such 
loss thus : Select the highest spot of ground, and 
grading up witii plow and scraper a narrow drive¬ 
way above high water mark ; tlien build on each 
side of this drive-way on posts set in the ditches, 
made by the scraper, the cribs for grain, and th? 
stables and pens for stock ; also platforms for hay 
and grain stacks. This work can be done at the 
most leisure season of the year, and would not 
cost much more than the same preparations for 
farm animals made on the level ground. F. 
Simple Ca<rriage for Plows, etc. 
Even where there are no stones, the common 
“stone-boat” is always convenient on any farm, 
for taking plows, harrows, cultivators and the like, 
to the field or from one field to another, over roads, 
grass, and soft ground. For common plows we 
have used a simple wooden shoe made with an axe 
in a very few minutes. Split one-third from the 
upper side of a round stick from the wood-pile, 
three or four feet long, and five to ten inches in 
diameter. Cut a notch two or three inches deep, 
a fool or so from the front end, and split ofll 
another piece down to this notch. With the cor¬ 
ner of the axe, or a chisel, cut a small notch in the 
elevated front end to receive the point of the plow. 
Round up the front like a sled runner, and the thing 
is done. If preferred, use a large stick, and flatteu 
the bottom of the shoe to give a broader base. 
Mr. Reuben Harlan, Covington, La., recently 
saw a plow carriage on a Soiithern plantation. It 
was a plank of hard-wood eight feet long, a 
foot wide, an inch and a half thick, rounded in 
in front like a sled runner, that it may easily pass 
A PLOW SHOE. 
over roots, stones, etc. A piece of trace chain, 
eighteen inches long, is fastened to the plank with 
staples, 18 inches from the front end, leaving it | 
loose for the plow point to slip under a littie dis¬ 
tance. Pressing the handles will lift the front end to‘ 
pass over large obstructions. The plowman can ride- 
on the rear. Mr. H. says, “he has seen ten plow 
teams thus rigged coming in from a cane field on 
a galloiq and by the dexterity of the driver, the' 
plows were thrown from side to side, and jumped 
gullies, roots, etc.” Experience is the best test, 
but a plank four feet long would seem to be pref¬ 
erable, leaving lazy drivers no chance to ride, as it 
would be hard on a weary team to drag a man’s 
weight on a plank having so large a friction surface. 
Mode of Planting Peanuts. 
E. W. JONES. 
Peanut planting is done any time in May. The 
ground should be ridged and otherwise broken by 
plowing several weeks beforehand. Soil suitable 
for the peanut does not harden o'r pack much un¬ 
der rain and sun.—The best soil for this crop is a 
white or chocolate-colored sand. Some prefer a 
reddish sand, but that is more likely to color the 
peas and make them less salable. Any dry, open 
soil, having plenty of lime in its composition, will 
produce good peanuts. It should be clear of 
weeds and other coarse rubbish ; hence ground in 
corn, potatoes, or some cultivated crop last year, is 
preferred. In planting, the ground is marked in 
rows about three and a half feet apart, and if any 
fertilizer is used it is applied in the drill before 
ridging. The ridge is formed by running a light 
furrow on eaeh side of the drill, lapping the dirt 
in the middle. These ridges are afterwards 
knocked down nearly flat, by drawing over them 
from end to end a tolerably heavy pole, or board, 
or piece of scantling, attached to shafts or small 
poles for the horse. This is long enough to reach 
across two, three, sometimes ever four ridges, and 
they are flattened so as to leave only a little eleva¬ 
tion to keep the seed out of water in case of a heavy 
