I 860 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
43 
Teaching Swine good Behavior—A new 
Hog-Trough. 
In the scale of manners, swine stand at zero, 
so that to call a person “ swinish,” leaves little 
more to be said in respect to his behavior. But 
the pig's disregard of etiquette is not altogether 
his own fault; he has never been taught better. 
From his “ tenderest years ” he has been allowed 
to “put his foot in the trough,” and 
fight for his dinner. But he is ca¬ 
pable of better things. A young 
friend once taught a pig to walk at 
a respectful distance from the pail 
while it was carried to the trough, 
where he would stand very watch¬ 
ful and very wishful, but not offering 
to approach, until the pail was emp¬ 
tied, and he was invited to help him¬ 
self.—A subscriber to the Agricul¬ 
turist, Mr. C. H. Lilienthal—who, 
although conducting a very largo 
business in this city, still finds time 
to superintend a flourishing farm 
—wishing to have every thing done 
in order, has contrived an appara- f\ 
tus well adapted to secure good be- 
havior in the pig pen at feeding k 
time. The engraving given be¬ 
low we have made from a model, 
which he exhibited at our office. He 
disclaims any patent, and hopes 
everybody who likes it will appro¬ 
priate the pattern without “ fee 
or reward.” It is made in two sep¬ 
arate sections, a, and b. The lower part, b, re¬ 
sembles an ordinary plank trough, made by join¬ 
ing the edges of two planks at an angle, and nail¬ 
ing a piece of plank on each end. An upright 
strip, having its lower end sharpened, is fastened 
to each end of b. These are to be driven into 
the grotmd to hold the trough steady; they also 
■verve to keep the upper section in its place, by 
t/jeans of an iron pin inserted through the top, as 
seen in the cut. In the upper section, a, the end 
pieces are about a foot high ; boards, the length of 
the trough below, are framed into these, inclining 
towards each other, so as to leave an opening of say 
an inch between them at the bottom,thus forming a 
kind of open trough, or funnel, through which the 
food is poured. Short upright boards with deep 
notches cut to receive the upper trough, are 
mer, by any one having very little skill in the 
use of tools. The extra labor and pains required 
to make such a trough, will be fully compensated 
by the ease with which each pig can be kept in 
place. There is also a gain in the weaker ani¬ 
mals being permitted to enjoy their meal without 
the molestation by which they are often kept 
lean and hungry. The trouble of keeping back 
the hungry crowd is also in a measure avoided. 
nailed diagonally across its -lower part, their 
edges being joined, so that when the whole is set 
on the part b, alternate compartments are form¬ 
ed, each large enough to receive an animal’s head 
only. It will rest more firmly, if the lower 
edges of the ends of the cross pieces are beveled 
slightly to fit a little way down into the sides of 
the lower trough. Theopening in the upper trough 
being narrow, apples, potatoes, etc., which might 
choke the pigs, are kept from passing through 
until chopped fine with a spade or other imple¬ 
ment. The contrivance is ingenious, cheap, and 
portable, and can be made with a saw and ham¬ 
Bremen or Embden Geese. 
[The following article with the illustration, was pre¬ 
pared for the Agriculturist in December, but crowded out 
of the January number. While making up this page we 
chance to notice in a recent number of a Western journal 
a somewhat similar article by the same writer, but with¬ 
out the accompanying illustration. This can only be 
accounted for by the conjecture, that the writer must 
have supposed the article would not appear in the Agri¬ 
culturist, and therefore sent it to another journal.— Ed.] 
The common grey or mottled goose has hither¬ 
to, with but few exceptions, formed the general 
stock of this country. The degeneracy occasion¬ 
ed by breeding in-and-in, with neglect of proper 
attention when young, have in many instances so 
reduced their weight at maturity, that they fall 
short of a Brazillian or Muscovy drake; and a 
corresponding depreciation of the flesh in both 
texture and flavor, is the consequent result. 
The ganders are usually white, or have a pre¬ 
ponderance of that color, while the geese have 
various shades of ash-grey and dull leaden brown 
mixed with it; a preference is often expressed 
for those that have no white whatever, excepting 
only on the lower part of the body. 
The common goose, however, having no dis¬ 
tinguishing features, either in form or plumage, 
beyond the inferiority of the one and the irregu¬ 
larity of the other we may now pass on to the 
Bremen or Embden Geese, which have usually been 
called Bremen geese in this country from the 
name of the place whence they were im¬ 
ported. English writers call them “ Embden 
Geese.” They were originally from Holland, and 
the appellation “Embden” was derived from 
the town of that name in Hanover. Beyond their 
great size, and the uniform clear and spotless 
white of their plumage, we are at a loss for any 
sign of a specific difference between these and 
our ordinary common goose. In figure they are 
alike, and the bill and legs are of the same yellow 
and reddish hue. 
Utility is the one object to be regarded with all 
varieties, even to the comparative exclusion o' 
the color of their plumage, save only so far as is> 
requisite in indication of the breed. Great siz® 
and weight, early maturity, and hardihood ir 
their youth, are the points that mainly concern 
their owners, and render the settlement of ac¬ 
counts a satisfactory proceeding. 
In these points the writer claims pre-eminence 
for the Bremen or Embden variety. One of thei; 
advantages is this, that all thr 
feathers, being perfectly white, theii 
value, where many are kept, in 
greater in the market than is evci 
the case with “ mixed ” feathers. 
In weight too, these birds hav* 
an advantage over all others, with 
the exception of the African 01 
Hong Kong. All white poultry arc 
considered to “ dress,” that is 
pluck, of a clearer and better ap¬ 
pearance than colored birds. Thr 
quality of the flesh, too, is very dif¬ 
ferent from that of any other variety. 
It does not partake of that dry char¬ 
acter which belongs to the othei 
and more common kinds, sut if 
tender and juicy as the flesh of a 
wild fowl. Owing to the quiet 
domestic character of the Bremen 
geese they lay on flesh rapidly ; 
they never stray from their home, 
the nearest pond and field satisfy¬ 
ing their wants, and much of theii 
time is spent in a state of repose. A n 
objection to the Bremen geese is 
their inclination to commence laying at an earliet 
period than this northern latitude favors, which 
is in the latter part of February or first of 
March. They sit and hatch with more certainty 
than common geese ; and frequently rear two 
broods in a season, the young ones proving as 
hardy as any with which I am acquainted. The 
Bremen goose has prominent blue eyes, is re¬ 
markably strong in the neck, and the feathers 
from near the shoulder to the head, are far more 
curled than is seen in other birds. G. N. Dement. 
Springside, Dec. 1859. 
Why the Hens do Lay? 
Mr. Editor : In the January Agriculturist, you 
have pretty well answered Mr. Angell’s quest ion 
“ Why (his) hens don't lay.” I have a neighbor 
whose hens do lay, though he uses no patent 
“ hen-persuader and his fowls are the common 
old fashioned biddies—of which he keeps, on an 
average, only eight or ten. The first year after 
buying his stock, he had one hundred and five 
and a half dozen eggs (1266), besides forty-two 
chickens. By taking good care of the latter he 
reared every one of them. 
As he cultivated no land that year, he had to 
buy nearly all the food for his poultry. Next 
winter they laid eggs quite regularly, all through 
the cold season. He used simply these measures 
* A subscriber not long since wanted a description ol 
the “ hen-persuader,” so often referred to in the papers. 
We believe it was the invention of a facetious editor ol 
the Springfield Republican, who proposed to construct a 
nest with a spring trap door underneath. When the pul¬ 
let lays an egg, it of course drops through, and the dooi 
closes again. Poor biddy, on looking round, sees no re 
suit of her effort, and down she sits and lays another egg 
and so on. The editor aforesaid was in ecstacies at first , 
but he afterwards condemned his own invention, for he 
put a valuable pullet upon the “persuader” one morn 
ing, and forgot her for a week, when on gding out he 
found nothing but a few feathers—the pullet pad lu,id her 
self all away ! So he tells the story. 
