1877 .] 
AMERICAN AG-RIOULTURIST. 
465 
falls into the box or barrel underneath. The cross 
piece is fixed to be lifted out when desired. 
A Barn Basket.— “ W. S. L.,” Okahumka, Fla., 
describes a home-made basket or box for use in the 
barn or in gathering crops. It is made of two pieces 
of light board, 12 inches square, for the ends, fast¬ 
ened together by laths 16, 18, or 20 inches long, for 
the bottom and sides. These are securely nailed. 
The handle consists of a piece nailed to each end, 
and connected by a light bar, as shown in figure 
8. This box is quickly made, and will be found 
very handy for gathering many crops in the field, 
as it may be made to hold exactly one bushel, half 
a bushel, or auy other definite quantity, by chang¬ 
ing the size.—To hold a bushel, which is 2,150 
cubic inches, the box may be scant 20 inches long, 
*12 inches wide, and 9 deep, or scant 18 inches long, 
12 inches wide, and 11 inches deep. For half a 
Fig. 8 .—CONVENIENT BARN BASKET. 
bushel, scant 18 inches long, 10 inches wide, and 6 
deep ; or 15 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 8 inches 
deep. For a peck, 10 inches long, 9 wide, and 6 
deep; or 8 inches square, and scant 8i inches deep. 
The Close Breeding of Poultry. 
Many questions are asked by poultry breeders 
relative to the selection of breeding birds. There 
is a lack of information, as well as a strong preju¬ 
dice, in regard to what is known as close breeding; 
that is, breeding from closely related animals. 
Many people consider this to be injudicious, and 
hurtful to the progeny, though ample experience 
has shown this idea to be erroneous. If any inju¬ 
rious effects have followed close breeding, they 
have resulted from unwise, or utterly improper mat¬ 
ing. The art of breeding for a distinct purpose is 
not easily learned. A certain natural aptitude, and 
long experience, are necessary for success in breed¬ 
ing. There are many points to be considered, and 
a very complete acquaintance with the materials 
used, is indispensable. There are numerons prece¬ 
dents, which might be quoted, to show that all our 
most valuable families of live stock are most close¬ 
ly bred. A most noted Short-horn cow was de¬ 
scended, for six generations, with the same sire in 
each. This is closer breeding than is possible with 
nearly all poultry breeders, for a cock is rarely kept 
in any yard for six years, his natural life not being 
long enough. As regards poultry, it is true that 
our most valued breeds have originated from single 
pairs, and must necessarily have been closely bred. 
In our own experience, which is neither short nor 
narrow, we have found the second generation of 
chicks from the same cock, to be far better than the 
first, and if we were breeding for feather or quality, 
we should by all means totally ignore relationship, 
provided the required points were present in the 
birds to be mated. In case of the Plymouth Rocks, 
for example, we consider it absolutely necessary 
for success, in securing a permanent and strongly 
marked breed, to mate related birds, because then 
we can be sure of their antecedents. If we pro¬ 
cure eggs from a breeder who has mixed the blood 
of his flock, we get chicks of all colors, light, dark, 
and even black, with black legs. This has happen¬ 
ed to us the past season, as has also the contrary, 
with eggs from fowls that have been closely bred 
in the same yard. Wherever we find a flock even 
in color and size, we may be sure that there has 
been close breeding, and from these we may expect 
good chicks. This valuable breed, (the Plymouth 
Rock), has yet to be established. We hear of 
breeders desiring to start anew, being dissatisfied 
with the material now to be procured. To such 
we offer the advice, to take the best they can get, - 
choosing well-marked birds from such yards as 
they know to have been closely bred. Then retain 
the cock so long as his services are successful, if it 
is found that his chicks are of the right kind ; and 
select from these for breeding such as are found to 
possess the points that it is desirable to perpetuate. 
A Nest for Egg-eating Hens. 
In the winter season hens frequently acquire the 
habit of eating eggs. Sometimes this vice becomes 
so confirmed, that several hens may be seen wait¬ 
ing for another one to leave her nest, or to even 
drive her off, so that they may pounce upon the 
egg, the one that drops it being among the 
first to break it. In this state of affairs there is no 
remedy, except to find some method of protecting 
the egg from the depredators. The easiest way of 
doing this is to contrive a nest in which the egg 
will drop out of reach. Such a nest is shown in 
in the engraving. It consists of a box with two 
sloping false half¬ 
floors ; one of these 
being depressed be¬ 
low the other 6uf- 
ciently to make a 
space through 
which the egg can 
roll down to the 
bottom floor. A 
door is seen in the 
6ide of the nest, 
through which the 
eggs can be remov¬ 
ed. The sloping half-floors are shown by dotted lines. 
Upon the back one, close to the back of the nest, a 
glass or other nest-egg is fastened by a screw or by 
cement. The false floors maybe covered with some 
coarse carpet or cloth, and the bottom floor with 
some chaff or moss, upon which the eggs may roll 
without danger of breaking. If the eggs do not 
roll down at once, they will be pushed down 
by the first attempt of a hen to attack them. 
SAFETY NEST. 
Plowing Gear for a Kicking Mule. 
A correspondent asks for a plan for hitching a 
mule which has a habit of kicking when harnessed to 
a plow, but which goes very well in shafts. Kicking 
is a vice which sometimes belongs to horses as well as 
mules, and the following expedient has been found 
effective in curing it. Take a pair of light shafts 
from a wagon, or make a pair, and fit to the end of 
it a bent strap of iron, as sho.wn in the illustration. 
When the mule or horse is hitched into the shafts, 
the end may trail on the ground, and the beast 
may be exercised with the shafts alone. When 
used to these, the bent bar is fastened to a plow 
by means of a clevis, and any difficulty there 
will soon be overcome. This device has been used, 
not only for plowing, but for drawing a stone boat, 
railroad cars, and other similar vehicles. 
A Leaf Fork. 
“ B.,” Statesville, N. C., sends a very timely and 
useful plan for making a fork to gather leaves—a 
work that is now seasonable and to be recommend¬ 
ed. The fork, shown in the engraving, is made of 
tough ash, with 10 teeth, similar to the fingers of a 
cradle, three feet long, and slightly turned up. The 
head into which the buts of the teeth are inserted, 
is 30 inches long. A light cross bar of tough wood 
is fastened to the teeth, about 8 inches from the 
head, by means of copper wire and a light screw to 
each finger. A handle is provided and fixed in its 
proper place, being flattened somewhat to keep it 
from turning in the hand. The handle should be 
braced by two strong wires. With such a fork 
leaves may be loaded very easily and rapidly. 
The Treatment of Kicking Cows. 
It is safe to say that a kicking cow is not natural¬ 
ly disposed to this vice, but has been made vicious 
by some fault of her owner. There are few men 
who possess sufficient patience and kindness to so 
manage a cow, from calfhood until she comes to 
the pail, that she will be kind and gentle under all 
circumstances. There are nervous, irritable cows, 
that are impatient of restraint, which are easily and 
quickly spoiled when they fall into the hands of an 
owner of a similar disposition. One who is kind 
and patient, and who has an affection for his ani¬ 
mals, is never troubled with kicking cows, unless 
he has purchased one already made vicious. Un¬ 
fortunately, few persons are gifted with these rare 
virtues, and therefore, there are always cows that 
have to be watched care¬ 
fully at milking times. 
Cows sometimes suffer 
from cracked teats, or 
their udders may be ten¬ 
der from some concealed 
inflammation, and they are 
restless when milked ; so 
that, now and then, in the 
best regulated dairies, 
there will be cows that 
will kick. Many devices 
have been recommended 
to prevent such cows from 
exercising this disagree¬ 
able habit. Different meth¬ 
ods of securing the legs 
have been tried. The best 
plan that we have heard 
of, or have tried, is the 
cow-fetter of Mr. H. J. Sadler, of Warren, Ohio, 
which is here illustrated. This fetter is fastened 
to the cow’s near leg, by means of the strap in the 
center, the curved portions embracing the front of' 
the leg above and below the hock. It will be per¬ 
ceived that, while the cow can move her leg to some 
extent, and is not hobbled, as when the legs are 
tied together, yet she can n.ot lift it to kick, or to 
put her foot in the pail. We have seen this “ fet¬ 
ter” tried upon a cow that had very sore cracked 
teats, and that kicked furiously when milked, but 
with the fetter she was unable to kick or hinder 
COW FETTER. 
