1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
257 
float is lifted, and the gate is closed, as shown by 
the dark lines. The float in this case is a piece of 
pine plank, 3 inches thick, and 2 or 3 feet long, so 
that it shall he sufficiently buoyant to close the gate 
E 
Fig. 1.— GROUND PLAN OP BAEN. 
firmly. The float is braced to the supporting bar 
by an iron rod, tightened by a screw and nut. The 
floats in either case should be made of light, dry 
pine, and be thoroughly well painted, to prevent 
them from becoming water-soaked, by which their 
effectiveness might be lessened. 
Plan of Barn, with two Floors and 
The accompanying plans of a barn, 6ent by Elder 
Brothers, of Darlington, Pa., are intended for a 
mixed farm, and to be built against a bluff that has 
a rise of about 14 feet, so that a driveway to the 
third story may be made with a moderately easy 
grade. It is intended to have 16 glazed windows 
for the stables, and 38 Venetian windows for ventila¬ 
tion to the barn above. The roof is intended to be 
one-third pitch, and to project two feet at the eaves. 
There are three ventilators in the roof,and the spouts 
of these passing through the floor may be used 
for hay or straw shoots. The plan of basement is 
given at figure 1. The root-cellar is at E; the sta¬ 
ble or pen for small stock, F, is at the left, and the 
cow and horse stable on the right, at G and H. The 
wall at the front of this ground floor is two feet 
thick, of 6tone; the retaining walls, W, W, at the 
rear are 5 feet high ; these are flanked on each side 
of the root-cellar by walls 10 feet high, and at the 
rear of the cellar the wall is 20 feet high. The doors 
and windows of this basement are shown at figure 
2, which gives a view of the frame-work at the side 
of the building. The windows are here shown at 
W, W. The view of the section of the frame is 
given at figure 3, showing the side of the first, sec¬ 
ond, and third floors, with the stairways. The end 
Fig. 2.— CROSS-SECTION OF BARN. 
view is given at figure 4, and 6hows the manner of 
framing. The plan of the second floor is given in 
figure 5; the stairways being at A, A ; the bays at 
B; the shoots at C, C; the sloping driveways to 
the second and third floors being also shown. 
Management of Ducks. 
A subscriber desires to know the secret of suc¬ 
cess in the management of ducks. First as to lo¬ 
cation. While it is true that ducks will live, and 
thrive to some extent, without water to furnish 
food, they are raised with most profit only where 
water is plenty, and well supplied with fish and 
other animal food. The paradise of ducks is a salt¬ 
water cove, fed by a fresh-water stream, where fish 
come in. for spawning, and every tide brings a varie¬ 
ty of food in from the sea. The range on the land 
may be very limited, if they have free foraging in 
such a cove. The feed in such a place is practical¬ 
ly unlimited, while the water remains open, and the 
flock, however large, will need very little other 
food. Com, or some other grain, however, should 
be kept always within their reach, that they may 
never lack food, or stray too far from home. If 
such a cove, or sea-side location, is not at hand, the 
next best place is a pond or stream, near the farm 
house. If the water swarms with frogs, fish, and 
insects, and has a marshy shore, it is all the better. 
In an inland location, they should have a wider 
range. A wet pasture, or swale, of an acre or 
more, is especially desirable. The location select¬ 
ed, the next thing is a duck-house, or pen, where 
they may be confined at night, and during the ex¬ 
treme winter weather. The laying season extends 
from February to September. Young birds of the 
early hatch will some times lay in October and No¬ 
vember, but this is not the rale, and is not very de¬ 
sirable, as it will not pay to raise ducks in the win- 
Fig. 3.— LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF BAEN. 
ter. The duck-house may be ornamental and ex¬ 
pensive, or cheap. It should have a roof for shel¬ 
ter, and a board floor, or in the absence of boards, 
be kept littered with dry sawdust, or refuse mat¬ 
ter ; near the coast, sea weed is often used. 
The object of the house, or pen, is to save the eggs, 
and to keep the feet from freezing during the win¬ 
ter. If they are shut up at night, during the lay¬ 
ing season, few eggs will be lost. Although ducks 
are quite as hardy as barn-yard fowls, snow and ice 
are not good for them, and it saves much food in 
winter to have them roost upon a dry warm bed. 
They commence laying much earlier, and continue 
later for good winter care. The hatching of eggs 
may be kept up from March until September. As 
mothers, we greatly prefer hens to ducks. They 
may be raised without water to swim in. The 
young have so many enemies, and are so eagerly 
hunted by Norway rats, that it is much better to 
keep them confined within narrow limits for the 
first six or eight weeks of life. They do not re¬ 
quire a mother for more than three weeks. After 
that, they will do quite as well with an old box or 
barrel for their roost at night, and for shelter from 
storms. They are as sensitive to wet weather as 
chickens, and' without shelter, drenching storms 
will kill them. They are also liable to be injured 
by the mid-day summer sun while very young, and 
the duck-pen should have shade of some kind dur¬ 
ing the middle of the day. For feed, we have 
found nothing superior to coarse-ground Indian 
meal, scalded, and mixed with fresh or skimmed 
milk. As they grow older, wheat and other grain 
may be added. Unbroken corn should not be given 
until they are four months old. They delight in 
earth worms, and if they have the run of an old 
garden or orchard, that is occasionally spaded or 
plowed, they will take care of the worms and in¬ 
sects. With a good location, ducks can be made 
as profitable as any other poultry. Connecticut. 
Irrigation of Crops and Meadows. 
The old proverb about locking the door after the 
steed is stolen, may be of wider application than 
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Fig. 4.—CROSS-SECTION OF FRONT OF BARN. 
simply to stable doors. Owners of horses keep 
their stable doors locked, and similar provisions for 
safety are wisely made in other cases. Just now, 
the drouth in California furnishes a timely reason 
for considering the necessity for providing means 
and methods for irrigating crops, although there 
may not be a necessity for using these every season. 
The advantage of having a resource at hand in case 
of .need, is just now very apparent to farmers in 
California, where the great San Joaquin Valley, the 
garden of that rich State, when there is abundance 
of water, is now bare of vegetation, and there hav¬ 
ing been only two inches of rain, crops are a fail¬ 
ure. Irrigating canals cost nothing, after the first 
expense of construction, and are ready for use 
when such an emergency as the present arises. 
So.with meadows, in other places, where these 
may be irrigated, and ordinary crops are measurably 
6afe against drouths. To lower the gate, and raise 
the water, turning it into the permanent channels, 
is only the work of a few moments, and may save 
the crop of grass, or preserve the pasture from 
drying up. It only needs that the facilities should 
be provided, the cost of which, in many cases, 
would be very trifling indeed. The time to prepare 
