1877 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
thousands of dollars to establish them. The 
simplest method of drying by artificial heat, is to 
place the fruit or vegetables in the stove oven with 
the door left open; sometimes a rack is arranged 
over the kitchen stove to hold the articles; both 
these will answer for small quantities, and are use¬ 
ful auxiliaries in drying by the sun, but require 
frequent attention, to prevent the fruit from being 
■cooked as well as dried. All the patented dryers 
are constructed upon the principle of passing a 
continuous current of heated air over the sub¬ 
stances to be dried, and the means of effecting this 
present a great variety. During the late war we 
visited an immense establishment for drying vege¬ 
tables for the army. In this rooms were arranged 
with racks for holding a series of shallow trays— 
merely a wooden frame with coarse cotton cloth 
tacked on for a bottom. Near the floor was a series 
of pipes through which steam circulatsd, to supply 
the heat, and openings were made to lot in cold 
air below the pipes, and above were others to let 
out the air after it had passed over the trays. The 
dryers offered for sale have a stove for wood or 
coal, to heat the air, trays to hold the fruit or other 
matters, and ventilators above. These being the 
requirements, it will not require a great amount of 
inventive skill for any one who wishes to dry fruit 
or vegetables, to construct something which will 
answer the purpose. Many years ago, having sud¬ 
denly to preserve a large amount of sweet-corn by 
drying, where there was no dryer obtainable, we 
converted a room into a dryer. An ordinary cylin¬ 
der stove was set near the door, and the pipe run 
across the room, about two feet above the floor, to 
the chimney. Trays were made by tacking some 
discarded tin roofing to strips, and some horses 
knocked together to hold them directly over the 
pipe. The door being taken off and replaced by a 
temporary shorter one, allowed cold air to enter 
near the floor, and a window at the opposite end of 
the room was let down at the top, to furnish an 
outlet. The arrangement, even during a long storm, 
worked in a most satisfactory manner. An illustra¬ 
tion more to the point, is furnished by Mr. F. Mal¬ 
colm, Ont., Canada, who at a very little expense, 
extemporized a fruit dryer in his wood-shed, which 
has worked so satisfactorily for two years, and is so 
simple and cheap that he wishes others to have the 
benefit of it, and sends a sketch, giving a cross 
section, or as it would appear with the front re¬ 
moved. Mr. M. does not give any dimensions, ex¬ 
cept for the trays, but that is a matter that will 
vary with circumstances ; we say that all he wishes 
to show is the principle UDon which it is built. The 
enclosure is made of tongued and grooved boards, 
and protected from fire by lining exposed parts 
with brick and tin. A box stove is used for the 
heater, the pipe from which rises horizontally back 
to the rear of the dryer, turns upon itself, and then 
upward to the outside of the dryer and of the 
shed. This doubling the pipe gives increased heat¬ 
ing surface, and saves fuel. Eight trays are used ; 
these are 2 ft. 4 in. wide and 3 feet long; these go 
in pairs, end to end, consequently the dryer is 6 feet 
long on the inside. These trays slide upon cleats 
attached to the ends of the dryer, which are not 
shown in the diagram, nor is a central support 
which is provided for holding the ends of each 
pair. Though Mr. M. does not say so, we infer by 
the arrows showing the direction of the air current, 
that the bottoms of the trays are of slats ; at all 
events, that would be found a great advantage. 
There is at each side a door running the whole 
length, to allow the trays to be put in and taken 
out; this door turns up, and is held in place by a 
hook, as shown at the right hand side of the dia¬ 
gram. An opening at each side next the floor ad¬ 
mits the cold air, and outlets are provided above 
the doors for the exit of the air. The lower open¬ 
ings should be provided with covers, or shutters, 
by which the flow of air may be regulated. In 
the front of the dryer is a door through which the 
fire is fed and managed. As to the capacity of 
such a dryer, Mr. M. says : “ There are eight trays, 
and it requires about 7 bushels of apples to fill 
them; in 24 hours the apples may all be put into 
two trays, leaving the other six to be filled; by 
working in this way, a family may peel and core 
about 5 bushels every evening. With a moderate 
fire the apples will be dry in 48 hours.” In this 
and other dryers, a high temperature is not of so 
much importance as a free circulation of air, hence 
the ventilator, or exit, should be sufficiently large. 
As soon as air is heated, its capacity for moisture 
is increased, this passing over the fruit quickly 
takes up moisture from it, and passes on to the 
outlet to allow a fresh and, so to speak, thirsty 
portion of air to come and take up its share of 
moisture. Besides more certain drying, without 
chance to spoil, a dryer turns out a much hand¬ 
somer product than can be made in the open air, as 
light is excluded, and the fruit remains much 
lighter colored. Knowing the principle involved 
in the construction, and by the aid of such hints 
as are given by Mr. Malcolm, no one should find 
any difficulty in constructing a fruit dryer. It is 
not necessary to built it in a shed, as one may be 
put up by itself with a roof over it, which should 
project all around sufficiently to allow of operating 
in wet weather. Indeed it is much safer to have 
it quite detached from the dwelling, as woodwork, 
exposed as this would be, to a high temperature 
for many days or weeks, becomes so thoroughly 
dry, that it will be very inflamable ; care is required 
in this respect, whatever wooden dryer may be 
used. If small articles, like berries or green corn 
are to be dried, the bottoms of the trays may be of 
some loose fabric, or preferably of wire cloth, made 
of wire thoroughly tinned. 
A Frost-proof Stable. 
It is entirely practicable, even in our northern cli¬ 
mate, to make stables frost-proof, while they are 
occupied with cattle. We all know that this can be 
done, by packing the sides with sawdust, tan-bark, 
sea-weed, straw, or other good non-conductors. 
But we visited a barn last winter in which it was 
done, by simple faithfulness in building. The sta¬ 
ble was immediately over the basement, and had 
for one of its sides the bank-wall. This was point¬ 
ed with cement. The other sides were made of 
tongued and grooved inch pine boards, and batten¬ 
ed, the lumber well seasoned, and painted. The 
windows and doors were close fitting, and there was 
no crevice left where the wind could creep through. 
The trap-doors, through which the manure was 
passed below, were perfectly tight. We were sur¬ 
prised at the agreeable temperature as we entered 
the bam on a bitter cold day. It seemed as if a 
stove or furnace must have been used in the build¬ 
ing. But the proprietor said that the animals were 
the only stoves in use, and the manure had hardly 
been frozen even in the zero nights. He spoke 
with great satisfaction of the economy of such a 
stable. It saves greatly in fodder. All the hay and 
'grain that are used to keep up animal heat in the 
open air in winter, goes, in such a stable, to the pro¬ 
duction of flesh, fat, and milk. The saving is 
about one-third the value of the fodder consumed. 
The flow of milk is kept up, and butter is made all 
through the season, when, on most farms, the cows 
are entirely dry. Animals fatten readily under such 
conditions, and can be sent to market when prices 
are at the highest notch. The manure goes, with 
the animal warmth in it, to the compost heap to 
help the fermentation of the mass beneath. The 
water is never frozen. It costs but a little more 
while we are building, to have the job thoroughly 
done. The investment is a security stock, and will 
never fail to pay dividends. Holes and cracks in 
the siding and floor are holes in the purse. Those 
who are building, or are about to build, will do well 
to consider these things. Connecticut. 
How to Treat Animals with. Broken Legs. 
BY DR. W. C. COLEMAN, LATROBE, PA. 
It is considered a very serious accident for a 
horse or mule to get its leg broken, and as a rule, 
when such an accident occurs, the animal’s life is 
sacrificed, unless it be occasionally, when much 
value is at stake. Various modes of treatmentfhave 
been suggested from time to time, the greater part 
of which have been attended with much trouble, 
and generally considerable expense, hence have not 
been brought into general use. It may be possible 
that the mode of treatment I am about to suggest, 
has been tried by others, but if so, I am not aware 
of its being extensively used, therefore I venture 
to offer the following on the subject. Of late years 
the “Plaster of Paris Dressing” as it is called, has 
been revived, after having been discarded for a long 
time, and with the present improved mode of ap¬ 
plying it, is considered one of the very best modes 
of treatment for fractures of human limbs, and 
especially when applied to the lower extremities. 
Its advantages have been fully tested, both in hos¬ 
pital and private practice, and the results have been 
the most satisfactory, where the ordinary precau¬ 
tions were observed. I have had some experience 
with this dressing, and have invariably had the 
most gratifying results ; a full report of two cases 
may be found in Penn. State Medical Association 
Transactions, 1875, and the Reports of Bellevue 
Hospital, N. Y., abound with cases which have 
been treated there within the past three years. 
I am not a veterinary surgeon, neither by educa¬ 
tion nor practice, but I have long seen the need of 
some efficient and practical way of treating the 
fractures of animals, especially those of horses, and 
having expressed my views on the “ plaster dress¬ 
ing ” as being applicable to both man and beast, a 
personal friend took occasion to test my sincerity, 
by calling on me to dress a fracture of a young and 
valuable mule, which had fractured the right leg, 
between the hoof and pastern joint. I applied the 
plaster by the usual method for fractures, by pre¬ 
paring my rollers in the following manner. I took 
six rollers, each two inches wide and six yards long, 
and while I unrolled them I dusted both sides with 
dry Plaster of Paris. I re-rolled my bundages quite 
loosely. This being done, and armed with a basin 
of luke-warm salt water, we proceeded to reduce 
the fracture by binding the leg at the knee- 
joint, and having two strong men ■ make ex¬ 
tension and counter-extension by pulling stead¬ 
ily in a direct line, and on finding the injured 
parts well in apposition, I applied a piece of 
U. S. blanket from the knee to the hoof, and with 
my roller well moistened in the salt water, began 
applying it in the ordinary way from below upward, 
at the same time keeping a close watch on my ex¬ 
tension and counter-extension. After the leg from 
the knee, and including the uppe* half of the hoof, 
had been thoroughly encased in this box of cloth 
and plaster, I directed the extension to be kept up 
until the plaster should be firmly set, and keep the 
leg flexed for the first twenty-four hours. This hav¬ 
ing been done, the mule received no further atten¬ 
tion, than to be kept confined to his stall, and the 
usual supply of plain-food and drink was given 
regularly, such as hay, oats, and corn, just in their 
whole form, and no medicine of any kind being 
used either externally or internally. At end of seven 
weeks the plaster dressing was removed, and the 
Union of the parts was complete, with no deformity, 
except a slight enlargement at the point of union. 
