54: 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
“hawk color.” A striking peculiarity of this fowl 
is the “ working garb,” so to speak, in which it 
presents itself; the entire absence of every super¬ 
fluity, which, however pleasing to the eye of the 
fancier, is to the farmer suggestive of a want of 
sympathy with him in his daily toils, and who wants 
nothing so much for show as for use. There is no 
excess of comb and wattles in this fowl, as in the 
great egg-producing breed, the Leghorn, which, in 
severe cold winter weather, is sure to become 
frozen, and this, if it does not cause the death of 
the fowl, after much suffering, leaves it at least 
disfigured. The Plymouth Rock has a single, up¬ 
right, moderate sized, well proportioned, serated 
comb (as may be seen by the illustration given in the 
American Agriculturist in January), with wattles to 
correspond. This fowl is not burdened either with 
the crest, muff, and beard, which by some are consi¬ 
dered ornamental in the Houdan and Polish breeds, 
but which nevertheless are a great disadvantage to 
the fowl, as the chicks, when feathered and left by 
the hen, cannot see upwards very well, and often 
become a prey to hawks, which pounce down upon 
them ; nor can they readily get out of the way of the 
animals in the stable, or cow-shed, but are trampled 
upon and maimed, or disappear very mysteriously 
in the pig-pen. Though like the Dorking (that old 
English breed so justly celebrated as a fine table 
fowl) in size, and in the abundance of delicate and 
well flavored flesh, the Plymouth Rock is not en¬ 
cumbered with the fifth toe, an indication of weak¬ 
ness in the legs, which peculiarity in the Dorking 
has so strong a tendency to run into a deformity, 
that it is, as all breeders know, only checked by 
careful selections for breeding, and by frequent in¬ 
fusion of fresh blood. The Plymouth Rock is su¬ 
perior also in having bright yellow legs, instead of 
white or flesh-colored legs, like the Dorking. So 
long as the yellow color of the legs is regarded in 
the markets of this country as the most reliable in¬ 
dication of the good quality of the flesh, it is a 
matter that cannot be ignored—however false it 
may be in fact, until consumers are educated out 
of the notion. The legs of the Plymouth Rock are 
not only yellow, but are clean, not lined with a 
quantity of stiff feathers down to the extremity of 
the outer toe, as the Asiatics are. These feathers 
are in the way during incubation, and often cause 
the breakage of eggs in the nest, and the conse¬ 
quent spoiling of the whole setting, if not discover¬ 
ed in time. It is like the Brahma fowl, however, 
when mature, in being well supplied with an abund- 
ancy of downy feathers, which, though they may 
not lie as close to body as in some breeds, yet do so 
sufficiently to protect them from the weather, and 
are equally adapted to secure the comfort of the 
fowl in the heat of summer or the cold of winter. 
Like the Brahma, the Plymouth Rock lays well 
during the winter, but is never so much inclined to 
become broody as to be an annoyance, a propensity 
that has discarded the Cochin fowl from many 
barn-yards. On the other hand, this absence of all 
desire to incubate, as is the case with the Leghorns 
and other egg-producing breeds, is so serious an 
objection that it prevents these breeds from be¬ 
coming generally introduced. The Plymouth Rock 
hens are good mothers and sitters. The chicks 
mature moderately early, and when grown, are not 
excessive consumers of food. It is claimed that 
this fowl originated from a cross between the com¬ 
mon American Dominique, as already stated, and 
the Black Java, a breed almost, if not quite, ex¬ 
tinct in this country. This claim is disputed by 
some, and is giving rise to much warm discussion 
among breeders at the present time, and is not yet 
settled beyond question. It cannot be denied, 
however, that a fowl entirely resembling the Ply¬ 
mouth Rock may be produced by substituting the 
Brahma for the Black Java, and it only remains, by 
careful selection and a period of breeding, to es¬ 
tablish a strain indistinguishable from the Plymouth 
Rock, and yet have no relation to it. This fact 
does not go, however, to prove that the claim put 
forth of its origin is not the correct one, though it 
might be questioned on account of the buff color of 
the Plymouth Rock fowl’s egg, which is like the 
eggs of the Brahma, a circumstance which rather 
favors the opinion that it has originated from this 
source. This dark color of the shell is objection¬ 
able to many, however much may be said.in favor 
of the egg in other respects. It is certainly not so 
beautiful as the pearly white, well shaped egg laid 
by the Black Spanish hen, and until this change is 
effected by our breeders, while still retaining and 
improving the good qualities of this fowl, the Ply¬ 
mouth Rock can not yet be regarded as perfect. 
Taken all in all, there seems to be no breed which 
will give so general satisfaction as will this, or 
which will return a larger profit for its keeping, 
and these advantages should certainly recom¬ 
mend it for trial, at least as the farmer’s fowl. 
Among the Farmers.—No. 13. 
BY ONE OP THEM 
Good Roads, and Springs for Heavy Wagons. 
There was an interesting paper upon roads pub¬ 
lished in the last quarterly report of the Royal 
Agricultural Society. I was so struck by some of 
the statements, that.I noted a few of them in my 
memorandum book. For instance, the writer 
quotes Law’s treatise on roads, as stating that the 
power required to move one ton upon a railway, is 
8 pounds. That is, as I infer, after a load is started 
it requires a traction power of 8 lbs. per ton to keep 
it in motion ; on a level well laid pavement of hewn 
stones, the traction is 83 lbs., or four times as 
much ; on a hard, McAdamized or Telford road, of 
best quality, six times as much, or 48 lbs. ; on Flint 
McAdam, by which I infer one newly dressed with 
flinty stones, not yet compacted to an even surface, 
65 lbs., or eight times as much, while on a common 
gravel road it requires 147 lbs., or sixteen times as 
much power as to move one ton upon a railway. 
That is, if one horse will move upon a railway a 
freight car with its load, which will often be 16 
tons, it will require 16 horses to do the same upon 
a common road, and I presume this is true. 
This is a strong argument in favor of good roads, 
and a strong one also, in favor of having iron tracks 
laid upon one side of the roadway along our most 
traveled country roads, over which heavy teaming 
is done. What a saving of horse-flesh it would be 
if we could double or treble the loads upon our 
market wagons ! All that is needed is a railway 
track, with extra broad rails, so made that a wagon 
can be pulled on or off the track at any point. 
The grade of a first class road, the writer states, 
should never exceed 1 foot of ascent or descent in 
24 feet of length. Our roads are often 1 to 12, and 
sometimes 1 to 8. Of course traction increases 
rapidly with the grade. The traction, or severity 
of draft, is not alone felt by the beasts of draught, 
but through their action it is manifested upon the 
road itself. The horse’s hoofs digout a deep track 
where they travel, if the road is not frequently 
dressed. Traction is directly as the load ; inversely 
as the diameter of the wheels.On a paved, or 
hard McAdamized road, it is independent of the 
width of tires, provided this exceeds 3 or 4 inches . 
At a walk, traction is the same with or without 
springs... .On a hard road, traction increases with, 
and as the velocity, at all speeds above the velocity 
of 21 miles an hour. (That is, I suppose, it bears 
a direct relation to the friction).On soft roads 
traction is independent of velocity — The destruc¬ 
tion of the road is at all times greater as the diameter 
of the wheels is less, and when no springs are used. 
Now if springs or no springs on heavy vehicles 
seriously affect the road, what effect must their 
absence produce upon the wagons ? 
This is a matter, the importance of which I had 
little idea of, until it was recently forced upon my 
attention. Now, facts exhibiting the great good of 
springs upon heavy wagons, frequently force them¬ 
selves upon my attention, e. g., wagons often pass 
my office, on the street, probably 60 feet away, 
with as heavy loads as two horses can draw, say 4 
to 6 tons; some are on springs, and some are not. 
Those which are on springs make very little jar, 
the others shake the building, in fact nearly the 
whole block. When the solid ground, covered 
with four and five story storehouses is thus shaken, 
what must be the effect upon the wagon ? It is an 
old law of mechanics that “ action and reaction are 
equal,” even our toughest hickory, and ash, and 
elm, cannot long 6tand the strain put upon them 
when they are required to jar the ground of a whole 
city, like a miniature earthquake. 
Torsion Springs for Farm Wagons. 
About a year ago I put under a new farm wagon 
which 1 had built, a set of the “Erie Torsion 
Springs,” calculated to bear 3,000 pounds. Ido not 
often haul more than one ton upon it, and up hill 
and down hill this is a fair load for light horses. 
So far, I am delighted with the action of these 
springs. They are so constructed that they can 
not “bump,” there being a constantly increasing 
mechanical advantage given to the spring as the 
load is increased, so that although the elasticity is 
diminished by the weight, there can never be a jar. 
On rough, stony, or frozen roads, I can see a nota¬ 
ble difference in the wear and tear of the vehicle, 
or rather in the strain to which it is subjected, and 
I find I can drive off without a load or with a light 
one, with comparative comfort at a brisk trot, 
although, of course, the springs are not intended to 
make it easier to ride in the wagon. They are in 
my estimation a very important invention, and are 
easily applied, without the aid of the wheelwright. 
One of the paragraphs noted above, is to the 
effect that upon soft roads 
“Traction is Independent of Velocity.” 
This seems strange, but it is precisely the result 
which was such a poser to the wiseacres of the 
Auburn Plow-trial, a few years ago. They found, 
if I recollect aright, that a plow drawn at the rate 
of four miles ,or so, an hour, produced no greater 
effect, or even a little less, upon their accurate 
dynamometer, than the same one moving 2 to 21 
miles. The expression quoted is, I think, likely to 
create a misconception. Traction may be meas¬ 
ured, we will say, by the strength of the trace- 
chains ; thus, if they will move a wagon at the rate 
of 2i miles an hour, over soft roads, they will draw 
it at the rate of 5 or 6 miles, and be subjected to no 
greater strain. This is all it means. The extra ef¬ 
fort tells upon the horses, however. It is easy for 
a man to carry his 160 lbs. of flesh, and walk three 
miles an hour, but let him try to walk five, and he 
will find that though his weight does not increase, 
his labor does. 
Wide-tired Wheels, 
This is another point which we are very apt to 
over-look, greatly to our disadvantage. We suffer 
ourselves to be guided by wagon makers, and the 
wheelwright knows very well that he lives by his 
trade, and that wear and tear is the life of trade. 
He serves himself when we are suited with narrow 
wheels. A set of wheels with 4-inch or 6-inch 
rims and heavy tires, cost to make considerably 
more than a set 21 inches wide ; but an extra price 
is always put upon them. They are well worth it. 
A wagon or cart with a 6-inch tread, will take heavy 
loads over soft meadows and hardly leave a track, 
where a narrow-wheeled wagon with a similar load 
could not go at all. On country roads such broad- 
tread vehicles destroy ruts, and act like rollers, 
making the roads agreeable for light carriages, and 
keeping them in much better order throughout the 
year. It would be a real blessing to every State of 
the Union, to put so heavy a tax on narrow wheels 
upon heavy wagons and carts, that they would be¬ 
come quite obsolete. Millions of dollars would be 
saved to the people of each State, in repairs of 
roads, in repairs of wagons, and in horse-flesh. 
Sparrows. 
One of my neighbors and friends, who is a good 
farmer, though a Wall street lawyer, and one who 
thoroughly enjoys good horses, Jersey cattle, good 
poultry, and good crops, both in the fruit-garden 
and in the field, surprised me the other day, by ad¬ 
vocating the cause of the detestible, chattering, 
English sparrows. I am free to confess that I m.'iy 
be prejudiced, but really I can not see much good 
in them outside of cities. Neighbor Clark says he 
shot one, and found its crop full of rose-bugs, and 
6ince that hour has venerated them. They do not 
quarrel with the bluebirds under his eaves. Their 
voice is no longer harsh and grating in his ears. 
