74 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
spring of animals concerning whose ancestry 
they have full knowledge. This gives value to 
those records of the sires and dams of animals, 
running back several or many generations, which 
are called Pedigrees. The facts above stated 
account for the great value attached to horses 
and neat cattle for breeding purposes which in 
addition to symmetry and beauty of form have 
excellent pedigrees. Whoever breeds from such 
stock feels sure that the progeny will, accord¬ 
ing to certain laws, be like the parents. 
The influences of climate, food, treatment, and 
the purposes for which animals are raised and 
employed, all’ affect more or less uniform changes 
in the animals of any country where these in¬ 
fluences have prevailed. The result is, that in 
each of the old countries where there has been 
but little change or importation of animals, the 
neat cattle, for instance, possess definite charac¬ 
ters which mark them as distinct races. The 
same is true of sheep and swine in a marked de¬ 
gree, and of horses also very much in the same 
way, except that as horses have so much wider 
range than other cattle, the different races are 
separated more distantly, or by barriers hard to 
pass. So we find in Arabia, where horses are 
used under the saddle and valued and bred for 
speed alone, a race of fleet running horses. In 
New-England, on the contrary, saddle horses 
have gone very much out of use. The gait 
sought is the trot, and fleetness is also highly 
prized. We find there a class of horses bred for 
those ends, now becoming possessed of distinct 
traits and likely soon to be recognized as a defi¬ 
nite breed, distinguished primarily for fleetness in 
the trot. The cows of Ayr have been bred for 
milk. Those of Jersey for cream. The Tees- 
water and Durham cattle (from which sprung 
the improved Short Horns) for beef. The same 
holds true of other kinds of animals. 
Individual characteristics as well as those of 
the race, are communicated to the offspring, but 
the former less surely. When certain peculiari¬ 
ties are transmitted for several generations they 
become grafted upon the race, or rather upon 
the particular family in which they occur. When 
there are valuable traits or qualities, the value 
of the animals possessing them is increased. And 
an animal has still greater value if it can be 
proved that he draws his blood through a long 
line of such ancestry, because it is then certain 
that he has the power to impress the same char¬ 
acteristics upon his progeny. This, then, is the 
reason that pedigrees are so important, and that 
so much pains are taken to have them recorded 
in herd-books, turf registers, etc., and also to be 
sure that they are true. To give value to an an¬ 
imal its pedigree must be true, and show no mix¬ 
ing of the blood of different breeds, or of ill- 
matched families of the same breed, and exhibit 
a line of ancestry distinguished for the qualities 
which it is desired to have in the offspring. 
Making Poultry Profitable—The Items. 
In the February Agriculturist (article “Poultry 
and Pork,”) may be found the results reported 
by Mr. J. 0. Thompson of Staten Island. How 
he accomplishes these results he states as follows: 
The Hen-House. —Mine is a lean-to—10x16 
feet—10 feet high on the rear and 8 feet front, 
facing the South. A barn stands on the East 
end; a shed on the West end, with a glass front, 
for a shelter and feeding place in cold and wet 
weather. The roofs of both project three or 
four feet, which keeps the ground dry in front 
and about the entrance. The back and front of 
the house are lined, or double boarded, and the 
front has three glazed sashes—furnished with in¬ 
side shutters—a ventilator 16 inches square is 
placed in the roof, with a valve hung at the bot¬ 
tom, to close, more or less, as may be required, 
in cold and stormy weather. 
Roosts. —A frame is made and hung to the 
rear of the house, which can be set at any de¬ 
sired inclination; the roosts are placed length¬ 
wise on the frame, ladder-like, about 18 inches 
apart. As all fowls seek the highest roosts, 
these are filled first, and others in succession. 
This brings them close together in cold weather. 
In warm weather the frame must be leveled to 
make them scatter on all the roosts, and keep 
cool as possible. The floor being concreted, it 
is easy to clean, keeps out rats, and makes it 
dry. Under the ro#sts I place fine charcoal (a 
poor plan to use charcoal— Ed.) or dry earth, or 
muck, to absorb the droppings; a few shovelfuls 
added each day keeps the house free from any 
bad odor. The rest of the floor should be cov¬ 
ered with saw-dust, dry earth, chaff, or cut 
straw, for, in cold weather, hens like to keep 
their feet dry and warm. Neither coal nor wood 
ashes should be put in the house, as they act on the 
manure, and decompose the uric acid, thus wast¬ 
ing ammonia, and making the house offensive. 
For Nests —Use butter or lard tubs (which 
can be had at the grocer’s for 6 cents each) 
set on shelves at the ends of the house, one to 
two feet from the floor—portable nests (with 
glass nest eggs) are best. They should be often 
cleaned and supplied with fresh straw or hay. 
The grease on the tubs is a remedy against 
lice. [A good idea.—E d.] Greasing the 
roosts at all the places where they touch the 
frame, and in fact, the inside of the house and 
roosts, with any kind of soft grease or fish oil, 
is certain to destroy them, as they cannot live 
a moment in grease. A paint brush or white¬ 
wash brush can be used for applying the grease, 
which should be done early in the Spring, and 
, again in Summer, if it appears to be required. 
Mode op Feeding. —I give only sound gram; 
no other should be used. A variety is not ob¬ 
jectionable. My standing dish is wheat screen¬ 
ings ; this is always by them, in a box slatted up 
at the sides for the purpose, as a feeding box. 
In Winter scalded corn meal or ground corn 
and oats is given to them warm in the morn¬ 
ing; but the main food must be hard grains. 
They must be well supplied with finely cracked 
oyster shells, gravel and mortar, and green food 
in Winter. Mine consume two or three heads 
of cabbage daily. They get the scraps from the 
table, scrap meat, etc. In Summer, grass, let¬ 
tuce and cabbage are furnished daily in abund¬ 
ance—they will consume a great quantity. 
Yard Room. —The permanent yard is 50x50, 
opening into a grazing and rambling lot of 50x 
100, also used as a plum orchard. The fence is 
only 5 feet high, and by feeding well and clip¬ 
ping the feathers on one wing, there is no trouble 
in keeping them at all times within the yard. 
Setting the Hens. —To insure good healthy 
chicks, the hens should be set in March, and 
certainly not later than April. By having port¬ 
able nests, when hens desire to set, and become 
fixed in the habit, in the setting season, they 
can be supplied with eggs, (the date of setting 
marked on them in ink or pencil,) and anynum- 
ber of nests moved to a room for the purpose, 
which must be kept closed, and well supplied 
with food and water. The nests may all be set 
side by side, for if the hens should all leave their 
nests at once, to feed, when they return they 
will each take a nest, although they may change 
places. This arrangement insures their setting 
steady, as they are not compelled to wander off 
for food, but return quickly to the nest, and keep 
up the warmth of the eggs, and thus bring out 
strong chicks. By setting a number at one 
time, if some hatch half broods, they can be put 
together with one hen. When a setting hen 
looks pale about the head, it is evidence she is 
lousy; clean and wash the nest, grease the hen 
under the wings, on the back and rump, wash 
the eggs in warm water, and return to the nest. 
[Better transfer to a new, clean nest.— Ed.] 
Treatment op Chicks.— When first hatched, 
they must be fed on bread soaked in milk; 
after three or four days, feed with cooked or 
scalded Indian meal, three times a day; but 
finely cracked corn, or wheat screenings, should 
be always within their reach; also clean water. 
The hens with chicks should be kept in coops 
for several days, the coops kept dry and clean, 
and placed in sheltered places. With such 
treatment not five per cent, of chicks will be 
lost. In conclusion let me say, the secret of 
success with fowls is this. They must be young , 
well fed, and cared for, and small numbers, 12 to 
25. pay much better in proportion than large 
flocks. j. c. T. 
What does it Cost to Keep a Horse? 
We would be pleased to receive for the Agri¬ 
culturist some brief accurate statements, going to 
show the average cost of keeping a horse for a 
year in different parts of the country. As the 
market value of grain and hay varies greatly, 
it will be best to give the average amount of 
each kind of food consumed by two or more 
horses. As a guide we present the following 
items from an English Farmer’s Note Book. 
The table gives the yearly average for 6 horses, 
during a period of 8 years. 
Average Yearly Expense of each Horse. 
bushels of Oats, (a) 62%c. .$40.31 
1 tun of Hay in Spring... 15.00 
2 tuns of Straw and Chaff, fed in Winter. 10.50 
9 weeks Pasturage in June and July. 9.00 
Harness and Shoeing . 5.25 
Average yearly loss by age and death...... 25.21 
Annual Cost per horse.$105.27 
This is estimating at English prices for food. 
The horses were valued at $110 each. During 
the 8 years 11 horses were lost by various dis¬ 
eases and accidents, making a total loss of $1,210, 
or $151.25 per year, or $25.21 on each horse. 
As 11 new horses were purchased during the 8 
years, it is probable that the stock was as good 
at the eqd as at the beginning of the period; but 
about $8 should be allowed for the annual in¬ 
terest on the value of each horse. Each horse 
averaged 258 days of farm work in the year. 
Merely for example, let us make out two similar 
tables for this country, taking the same amount 
of food, but substitute one tun of hay for the 
two tuns of straw and chaff, and allow four 
months pasturage. 
Yearly Cost of a Horse in more expensive Localities. 
64 bushels of Oats, ® 40c .$25.60 
2 tuns of Hay, ® $14. 28.00 
17 weeks Pasturage, (a) 50c. 8.50 
Harness and Shoeing. 5.00 
Annual Loss per horse. 25.00 
Interest on Value. 8.00 
Total Cost for a year, say. $Jooioo 
Yearly Cost of a Horse, in less expensive Localities. 
64 bushels of Oats fa) 20c.,..$12.80 
2 tuns Hay, (a) $8. 16.00 
17 weeks Pasturage, (a) 25c. 4.25 
Harness and Shoeing. 5.00 
Annual Loss. 20.00 
Interest on value at say $100. 7.00 
Total Cost for a year, say.$65.00 
As above hinted, these tables are not given 
as accurate, but merely as a form for the guid¬ 
ance of such as may be disposed to fhrnish 
more definite information from their experience. 
