1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
177 
Portable Pig Pens. 
Mr. L. N. Bonham, Oxford, 0., sends a sketch of 
a portable pig-pen, illustrated by the accompany- 
Fig. 1. —THE PORTABLE PEN COMPLETE. 
ing engravings. He writes: here we raise Poland- 
China or Magie hogs, and ship large numbers to all 
parts of the country for breeders. We give our 
6tock good care, looking to their comfort and health. 
So free have our herds been from that terrible 
scourge, hog-cholera, that some breeders think 
that it is like typhoid fever, among mortals, only 
nature’s avenger for the careless and wanton defi¬ 
ance of her common laws of health. 
I was led to devise this plan for a pig-house, in 
my desire to secure comfortable quarters on fresh 
sod for my breeding sows and their young litters, 
"and so satisfactory is it, that many neighbors have 
already adopted it. By this plan we secure a clean 
place, fresh grass, and pure air, and more sunlight 
in the bed than is gained by the usual sheds or 
houses provided for pigs. The open front faces the 
south; the sky-light slopes to the south ; the front 
may be opened or closed according to the weather, 
and if it is wished to build very cheaply, glass is 
omitted altogether, and a movable cover put over 
the front opening of the roof, which can be open 
in sunshine, or closed if cloudy or stormy. 
One man can remove it from place to place, so as 
not to allow it to remain on one spot so long as that 
the bed may become dusty, or the grass in the vi¬ 
cinity of the house tramped to death. By this plan 
families are kept separate, and the sows farrowing 
are not disturbed by the squealing of neighboring 
pigs, and consequently it will prevent much loss 
at this critical stage of the young pig’s existence. 
This pig-house, all complete, (see fig. 1), will cost 
less than $3, if a shutter be used on the sky-light, 
Fig. 2.—BACK OF THE PORTABLE PEN. 
instead of the sash. The roof is made of good 
flooring, and laid in white lead and well painted. 
Dressed stock lumber is used for the siding; yet 1 
have some sided with tongued and grooved floor¬ 
ing, and think it the best and warmest. The rails 
Fig. 3.— FRONT OF PORTABLE PEN. 
for roof and ends are 2x2 pine or poplar, and rails 
for front and back 2x4. The bottom rails of the 
back are set 8 inches from the bottom, and the siding 
is nailed on the 2-inch face, which gives, when set 
up, a safe-guard, 4 inches wide, and prevents the 
sow from crushing pigs against the siding. The 
bottom end rails are placed 6 inches from the bot¬ 
tom to pass the above. The rails of the front are 
set on edge, and the two side or end pieces are 
nailed on the 4-inch 6ide, projecting one inch over 
the ends of the rails. The bottom rail keeps the 
heading from working out, and is not too large for 
a sow to pass with ease. 
After making the back, fig. 2, and front, fig. 3, the 
side rails in fig. 4 are put in the holes (figs. 2 and 3), 
and the draw pins driven ; the siding for the ends, 
fig. 4, is put on, up and down, the slope cut for the 
roof and sky-light; the notches are cut in the 
ends, for the rafters ; the rafters are cut 4 in. long¬ 
er than the house, and are laid in the notches so as 
to project two inches at each end; the roof is then 
raised upon the rafters. 
We find here, that houses 5x6 ft. are large enough 
for young sows, and 5ix7 ft. large enough for the 
largest. In stormy or cold weather, I have a mov¬ 
able front, which is set in with the swinging door, 
and held in place by two buttons. When my spring 
pigs are large enough to wean, I remove my houses 
from my grass lot to some less conspicuous place, 
and allow the grass to recover and freshen up. If 
the houses are not needed in the wood-lot or field 
during the summer, I take them down and put them 
Fig. 4.— END OF PORTABLE PEN. 
under cover. I can thus promote the comfort and 
health of my pigs, and secure neatness on the farm. 
A New Cotton Seed Huller. 
A Method of Utilizing the Seed for Feed- 
Valuable to every Cotton Grower. 
The importance of utilizing cotton 6eed on south- 
em.farms, as feed for 6tock, has been frequently 
referred to in these columns. The fact that the 
kernel of the cotton seed is the richest of all grain 
food, renders it not only desirable that it should 
be made use of in feeding, but makes it imperative 
as a matter of economy, that southern farmers 
should not waste this, one of their most important 
resources. To make this seed of use as feed, it 
must be deprived of the hulls, and hitherto there 
has been no perfect means of separating the kernel 
from the indigestible and injurious envelope. This 
may now be done perfectly and cheaply by the use 
of the very simple machine here illustrated. This 
is Kahnweiler’s CottoD Seed Huller; a general 
view of the machine is given at figure 1, and a sec¬ 
tion showing the construction at figure 2. Some 
very effective improvements have been made in 
this machine, which we have recently examined for 
the information of our readers. These improve¬ 
ments consist of the use of sharp rotary knives, 
which revolve in the center of the machine. In 
their movement, the edges of these knives pass 
close to the edges of stationary knive6, and the seed 
being led into the space thus left, which may be 
readily adjusted, increased or lessened, the husk is 
cracked or cut and broken, and the kernel disen¬ 
gaged. The seed then falls into a separator, where 
the kernel is freed from the cottony husk, which is 
discharged one way, while the kernel goes in another 
direction. The husks, thus separated, serve admir¬ 
ably for bedding mules or for use in the cow-pens, 
or may be put at once into the compost heap. The 
bulled seed is fit for feed for horses, mules, cows, 
calves, sheep, pigs, and poultry, all of which thrive 
well on it when it is judiciously given. Being a 
Fig. 1.— EXTERIOR OF COTTON SEED HULLER. 
very rich food, only a small portion of it should be 
given to an animal at one time, and being the re¬ 
verse of laxative in its effects, it is frequently found 
very useful in a medicinal way. By setting the 
knives more closely, the seed may be again passed 
through the machine and ground into meal; or 
the machine may be used for grinding corn, fine or 
coarse, as may be desired. It will grind the whole 
cob more finely than can be done in a burr-stone 
mill, and it has also been used for grinding dried 
roots and hulling coffee. A small machine for 
hand use is capable of grinding or hulling 5 bushels 
per hour, and a larger one, driven by horse-power, 
has three times this capacity. There have been few 
machines offered to southern farmers of late that 
may be turned to so useful a purpose as this. 
Manurial Value of Food. —A most important 
investigation has been begun by the Royal Agricul¬ 
tural Society of England, with reference to the 
actual manurial value of foods consumed under 
different conditions. Heretofore, the laboratory 
has been the field of investigation, now the field is 
to be the laboratory. This series of actual experi¬ 
ments will be watched very closely, and with the 
Fig. 2.— SECTIONAL VIEW OF HULLER. 
greatest interest, although many years must elapse 
before any decisive results are reached.. It has been 
