1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
97 
pearance shown in fig. 6. The engravings' figs. 
4 and 5, represent the upper and lower nippers 
Fig. 7. —LOWER NIPPERS OP AN 8-YEAR-OLD. 
respectively of a horse between 6 and 7 years 
old ; and figs. 6 and 7 of a horse about 8 years 
of age. 
A Question for Pig-Feeders. 
Z. F. Hopkins, Ill., writes: “We wish to 
submit to you for settlement the following 
question: Can shoats be fed with as much 
profit to the feeder as grown hogs? To be 
more explicit, A takes B’s pigs—say seven to 
eight months old—to fat on halves. Now, 
the question is, can A feed them with as much 
profit as though they were full-grown pigs ?” 
Remarks. —We would submit the question 
to our readers, remarking, at the same time, 
that if we understand the question aright, there 
can be no doubt that the full grown pigs may 
be fattened “ on halves” with the most profit. 
If A should give to B a 300-lb. pig, worth, say 
$15, to be fattened on halves, and to C a 200-lb. 
pig, worth $10, and they should be sold the 
next day, it is evident that B would get more 
for his food than C. B would get $7.50 for one 
day’s food, and C only $5. 
But if the pigs weighed alike, it is not such 
an easy matter to answer the question. One 
thing, however, is clear: the shorter time the 
feeder kept them, the more he would make. If 
he sold them the day liegot them, he would get 
half the value of the pigs for nothing. We 
presume there is, in practice, some restrictions 
in regard to this point. Let us assume that A 
has two litters of pigs, of ten each. Lot 1 are 
well-bred pigs, that have had good care, and at 
7 months old weigh 200 lbs. each. Lot 2 are 14 
months old, and also weigh 200 lbs. each. B 
takes them to fatten, and agrees 
to give them good care and all 
the food they will eat for ten 
weeks, and receive half the pro¬ 
ceeds of the pigs for his trouble 
and food. Which lot would af¬ 
ford B the most profit ? 
We do not know of any ex¬ 
periments that enable us to 
answer this question ; and if any 
of our readers have made such, 
we shall be glad to hear from 
them. Professor Miles, of the 
Michigan Agricultural College, 
put an Essex barrow pig, 11 
weeks and 6 days old,in a pen 
June 30, and fed it all the corn- 
meal it would eat for nineteen 
weeks, or until Nov. 10. At the 
commencement of the experi¬ 
ment the pig weighed 54’| 2 lbs. 
In the nineteen weeks it ate 409! 
lbs. of meal, and then weighed 
145112 lbs., or a gain of 91 lbs. In 
other words, 4 36 Ji 00 lbs. of meal 
gave 1 lb. of increased weight. 
At the same time he put in an 
adjoining pen a Suffolk barrow, 
11 months old, that weighed 204 
lbs. In nineteen weeks he ate 
796 1 L lbs. of meal, and then 
weighed S69 3 J 4 lbs., or a gain of 
16o 3 1 4 lbs. In other words, 4 8 | 10 
lbs. of corn-meal gave 1 lb. of 
increased growth. 
With the young pig, it required 
a ton of meal to produce 458 3 1 4 
lbs. of increase; and with the 
older pig, a ton to produce 417 3 1 4 
lbs. of increase. So far as this 
experiment throw's any light 
on the matter, therefore, a young pig will 
grow faster for the food consumed than an 
older one. And this result accords with the 
previous experiments made by Professor Miles, 
as given in “ Harris on the 
Pig.” There can be little doubt 
that, as a rule, young animals 
eat more food, in proportion to 
live weight, and increase faster, 
in proportion to the food con¬ 
sumed, than older animals. This 
system of fattening pigs “on 
halves,” though formerly not un¬ 
common with distillery men, is 
now seldom, if ever, practised in 
this State, and we should be glad 
to hear more in regard to it. In 
the case we have assumed, A 
furnishes a pig weighing 200 lbs., 
at 5 cents per lb., worth $10. B 
gives the pig ten bushels of corn, 
and makes him weigh 300 lbs., 
worth, at 7 cents per lb., $21 
A makes half a dollar a pig by the transaction, 
and B gets one dollar a bushel for the corn 
and half a dollar a pig for his trouble.— Eds. 
made of two-inch plank, bolted on to a frame 
in such a way that the lower front edge of each 
plank is raised a little higher than the rear edge 
of the plank which precedes it, and eight or 
nine inches from it. This is done in order to 
avoid clogging; and, for the same reason, one of 
the chains is made shorter than the other, so as 
to draw the implement in a slightly slanting di- 
CLODCRUSHER. 
rection. If not heavy enough it can be weighted 
with stones, or in unusually rough spots the 
driver can jump oh and ride. 
Turning a Compost Heap. 
The object of turning a compost heap is to 
break up the raw lumps, to reduce it to a fine, 
homogeneous mass, and to accelerate fermenta¬ 
tion. All admit the importance and advantage 
of the operation, but many are deterred from 
its performance by the labor and expense. 
Are there not many cases where these can be 
greatly reduced by the use of the plow', as 
show'll in the annexed illustration? We have 
a large heap of peat and manure, but should 
not object if it was much larger. There is a 
layer of peat and then a layer of manure. Fer¬ 
mentation proceeds but slowly, and we wish to 
hasten it. To do this the heap must be turned, 
and we call in a yoke of cattle, a large, revers¬ 
ible plow, and a couple of men to aid us in the 
operation. We put in the plow and turn over 
a furrow. It is not model plowing. But do 
not be discouraged. It will save a good deal of 
hard work. The oxen will break down the side 
of the heap, and the trampling serves to mix 
the manure more intimately with the peat, while 
the plow, following, turns it over. If you have 
to go over it several times, it will do all the 
A Cheap Clod-Crusher. 
A correspondent of the Agriculturist favored 
us with a sketch of a simple implement he had 
constructed for crushing clods and smoothing 
rough land. We have mislaid his description,but 
no one will have any difficulty in understand¬ 
ing how to make and use the implement. It is 
TURNING A COMPOST HEAP. 
more good. Three-fourths of the work can be 
done by the plow; but it is well to have a 
couple of men to throw up the loosened mass 
iuto a neat heap, taking pains to break up all 
the lumps and mix the manure with the peat. 
If the work is not as neatly performed as our 
artists have represented it, do not abandon the 
undertaking. You cannot stir the heap too 
much. You cannot trample it too much, pro¬ 
vided the plow stirs it up again. Even in a large 
heap of manure, unmixed with peat or soil, we 
have used a plow with a sharp coulter to 
help in turning over and mixing the manure. 
