1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
427 
deprecate it vigorously. As we have shown, this 
view of it is unwarranted, and if by any local ordi¬ 
nances of the city, the business should be interfered 
■with, it would be a serious disadvantage to the 
Orange County farmers, and to the poor citizens of 
New York as well, who would then be deprived of a 
cheap but wholesome milk, and be obliged to pro¬ 
cure their supply from the suppressed swill dairies, 
which would soon appear again when the demand 
for cheap milk should arise. Pure skimmed milk 
is infinitely better than the diseased and poisonous 
product of these swill dairies, and the trade in 
wholesome skim milk, provided the article is sold 
on its own merits, and for exactly what it is, is one 
to be encouraged, rather than one to be denounced.^ 
Reeding" Large or Small Animals. 
Abundant experience, if such proof were neces¬ 
sary, shows that there is more profit in feeding the 
larger breeds, than there is with the smaller breeds 
of animals, whether for meat or milk. Of course, 
Shere are exceptions in this, as in all general rules; 
the small Jersey cow, for example, which is ex¬ 
pected to produce an exceptional product of highly 
colored and finely flavored butter; but this does 
not affect the rule above stated. It is only neces¬ 
sary to consider that, when we feed two animals of 
700 lbs. each, we have to supply the demands of 
two sets of breathing, circulating and muscular 
apparatus, which are considerably more extensive 
and expensive than those of one animal of 1,400 
lbs. This is true of every animal that we feed, 
from the fowl and pig, up to the cow and fatted 
steer. Ten small Merino sheep, weighing 80 pounds 
each, will cost much more to feed than four Cots- 
wolds of 200 lbs. each, or five of 160 lbs. each. Be¬ 
sides the gain in feed, we have also a large advan¬ 
tage in the less proportionate amount of offal in 
the fewer large animals than in the larger number 
of small ones. Where flesh and milk are the ob¬ 
jects in view, this consideration ought to have 
great weight in the selection of stock to be kept. 
The choice, of course, will be restricted by the op¬ 
portunities for keeping the stock, for it will not 
pay to keep Shorthorn cows upon a pasture where 
only small active cattle can pick up a living ; but, 
where other things are equal, this consideration 
should be well weighed. Just now, there is open¬ 
ing up a large opportunity for feeding stock for 
beef, which many farmers will very soon find a de¬ 
sirable one to seize upon, in choosing animals for 
feeding, then, they will find it to their profit to se¬ 
lect such large breeds as the Shorthorn, or Here¬ 
ford, where their locality admits of it; and where 
it does not, they will certainly labor under the dis¬ 
advantage of preparing for market an article which 
can neither sell for the highest price, nor can be 
produced at the lowest cost. Further, there is 
another advantage in marketing the largest amount 
of product in one package, so to speak, for animals 
of 1,500 to 1,600 lbs. can be sent to market at less 
proportional cost than the same weight in the form 
of animals that are one-half or one-third smaller. 
The Bronze Turkey. 
All things considered we place the bronze turkey 
at the head of all the breeds of this domesticated 
bird. The white, buff, black, slate, and other va¬ 
rieties, all come from the wild turkey of our woods 
and prairies, which still exists in considerable num¬ 
bers in the newer States and Territories. Occasion¬ 
al specimens of the wild bird, generally old gob¬ 
blers, are captured, which equal the heaviest 
weights of the farm-yard, but the average of the 
wild birds is much lighter than the average of a 
well-bred farm flock. Tire bronze breed is the 
smallest departure from the wild bird in respect to 
color, and a decided improvement upon it, both in 
color and size. Nothing can exceed the brilliant 
plumage of a bronze cock-turkey, in his second or 
third year, and the females are hardly less attrac¬ 
tive. The dirty snuff-color, which marks the wild 
birds, is entirely bred out of them. This lustre of 
the plumage, assimilating to that or burnished 
gold in the sunlight, has made the bronze variety a 
great favorite with all admirers of fine poultry. 
About every thing known to the arts of the breed¬ 
er has been done for the bronze turkey to bring the 
stock to its highest perfection. They are the 
Shorthorns of the poultry yard. They have been 
bred especially for size for a long time, and when 
we select stock from a flock of thorough-bred 
birds, we have certain qualities fixed in them, 
which are reproduced in their offspring. They 
are uniformly beautiful in plumage, and heavier 
than birds raised from the common stock. The in¬ 
creased cost of the breeding stock is paid for in 
the larger average weight of the turkeys slaughter¬ 
ed for the markets at Thanksgiving and Christmas. 
The standard weights for adult birds of the bronze 
variety, fixed by the “ American Poultry Associa¬ 
tion,” are, for males, twenty-five pounds ; for fe¬ 
males sixteen pounds; but these weights, in well- 
bred flocks, are often reached in the first year, and 
adult pairs of 45 to 50 lbs. are not uncommon, and 
60 to 65 lbs. are sometimes, though rarely, reached. 
It pays to breed, invariably, from the best stock. 
Standing Water. —Water is life-giving so long 
as it is in motion, its presence is fatal to vegetation 
when it is stagnant. Provision for the rapid re¬ 
moval of water that may come upon the fields, 
should not be neglected before the ground freezes, 
or is covered with snow. This is peremptory for 
growing crops, and advisable for stubble land, for 
water left to percolate slowly through the soil, will 
dissolve out from it, and carry off, much soluble 
fertilizing matter; all the nitrates, which are so 
valuable, being the first matter that is thus lost. 
Leaks in the Barn. 
Here and there may be seen 6tables and barns 
with broken windows, loose boards, holes in the 
roofs, or doors and windows that gape open, and 
refuse to shut closely. Through these openings the 
cold air and rain will leak in, and the warm air will 
leak out. Such leaks as these are disagreeable to 
see, and are uncomfortable to the occupants of the 
buildings. But these are by no means the whole 
of the affair. The worst of it is, that through these 
leaks the farmer’s profits disappear, very silently, 
it is true, but not the less steadily and constantly. 
While his cattle stand and shiver in the cool, sharp 
nights, or steam under the penetrating rain-storms 
or snow, with every shiver there disappears a quan¬ 
tity of the fodder from the barn, as well as some of 
the milk from the cows, some fat from the steers 
and the pigs, some wool from the sheep, and some 
eggs from the poultry. The farmer looks and won¬ 
ders. He complains that the cows are rough, that 
“ there is no good in the feed”; that the pigs do 
not fatten as fast as they should, that there are no 
eggs, and the hens are eating their heads off. Well, 
an animal can not use up all its food in keeping 
warm, and at the same time make milk, fat, wool, 
or eggs. These are made from food, and from only 
the surplus of the food, after the bodily wants and 
needs are supplied. In the Polar regions, a man 
needs six pounds of fat meat, and the same of 
bread, for his daily meals, while an East Indian 
needs but a pound of rice for a day’s subsistence. 
When working in the northern woods in the depths 
of winter, with the thermometer far below zero for 
weeks at a time, the lumberer eats with relish huge 
lumps of clear fat pork, with his daily two pounds 
of bread and liberal messes of bean soup ; food of 
this kind would sicken a man, were he to look at it 
in the harvest field. All this food goes to make up 
the waste of heat from the body during the exces- 
[ sive cold. It is precisely so in the barn, or in the 
j pig-pen. If these are kept so warm that water 
will never freeze in them, much less food is need¬ 
ed by the animals than if the air is far below a 
freezing temperature; and if the temperature is 
comfortably warm, less food still wilt be required. 
So wherever a stream of cold air, snow, or rain, 
pours in upon the cattle, or when they are misera¬ 
ble and uncomfortable, a stream of wasted food 
pours out all the time through the leak. Now is 
the time to stop these leaks. A board here and 
there; a good glazed window in place of a broken 
shutter; warm, dry litter in place of a foul wet bed; 
a tight roof and a plastered or double-boarded ceil¬ 
ing, all these are actually worth more than an extra 
portion of food to an animal, because, although 
when cold and chilled it eats the more, yet it thrives 
poorly; while if well housed, it will keep 6leek 
and thrifty upon comparatively moderate feeding. 
The Langshan Fowl. —Some time ago we in¬ 
troduced to the notice of our readers the Langshan, 
a variety of fowl that had been recently imported 
into England from a part of the Chinese Empire. 
Since then, further experience with these fowls 
has given them a favorable reputation, and we see 
it noticed in the English papers that they are prov¬ 
ing to be very early layers, and excellent table 
fowls. A correspondent of the “London Live 
Stock Journal ” reports, that he has had eggs from 
pullets only 41 months old, which is remarkable, 
even with the most precocious specimens of the 
breeds noted for early laying. An importation of 
these fowls has been made by Mr. Edward A. 
Samuels, of Waltham, Mass., and if the reputation 
they have made in England, is maintained in this 
country, we expect them to become very popular. 
■- ■ ' 1 11 CT - 
Cross-bred Sheep.— At the New York State 
Fair there were exhibited some sheep bred from 
common Merino ewes and a Cotswold ram. The 
fleeces of the first cross measured five inches in 
length, and the wool was as fine as the Merino, and 
as easily combed as that of a Cotswold. The wool 
of the second cross, as long as that of the pure 
Cotswold, was still as fine as Merino wool. The 
carcass of the cross-bred sheep makes excellent 
mutton, and is nearly as heavy as the pure Cots¬ 
wold. We have frequently alluded to the advan¬ 
tage of this cross, and the interesting example 
shown at Rochester, proves how useful and profita¬ 
ble a farmer’s sheep it would be. The farmer’s 
sheep is undoubtedly the cross-bred. 
The Arrangement of the Stack Yard. 
It is unnecessary to provide costly barns for the 
storage of crops. This is an avoidable expense that 
is a burden upon many farmers. For the shelter of 
cattle, light, comparatively low and cheap buildings 
only, are needed. In reality, the costly, heavy 
timbered barns may be easily dispensed with, and 
in many cases the basements beneath them are ex¬ 
tremely unhealthful for the animals kept in them. 
If crops of hay and grain can be 6tored in stacks 
in the damp, rainy climates of European countries, 
they can easily be 60 kept here. As an instance of 
how this maybe done, we give an illustration of the 
stack-yard of a well known farm. These stacks are 
chiefly grain, some being hay, and some thrashed 
6traw. In making stacks it is advisable to adopt 
the shape of those here shown. What is worth do¬ 
ing, is worth doing well, and the contents of a'.badly 
made stack will almost certainly be damaged or 
spoiled. The cover of the stack may be made 
weather proof without 
the troublesome thatch¬ 
ing sometimes used; all 
that is necessary to be 
done, is to protect the 
top by straw, or coarse 
hay, laid on regularly, 
each layer overlapping 
the lower one so as to 
shed rain. The cover 
should be fastened 
Fig.2.— frame for stack, down with hay bands or 
straw ropes, or where 
there is not time to spin these, loose spun, cheap, 
tarred, hempen rope may be used instead, and 
will last many years if well cared for. The stack 
yard should be close to the stables and thrashing 
barn, and should be well fenced to keep out tress¬ 
passers ; poultry of various kinds will be found 
more mischievous in this respect than large animals. 
To keep out vermin, there should be properly con- 
