4=56 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
Fig. 1 shows the east side of the bam (the 
down-hill side), with the cart entrances to the 
manure cellar and wagon shed. The hight of 
this story is about eight feet in the clear. Fig. 
2 shows the arrangement of the cellar, which, 
aside from the usual appliances of a farm barn, 
has a steam-boiler for cooking hay, etc. Fig. 3 
is the main floor, containing six box-stalls, and 
stabling for ten cows. The cow-room, which is 
ceiled on the walls and overhead with var¬ 
nished pine, and has its windows protected by 
green blinds, is—without being extravagant or 
main cut. When the other fore leg has been 
completed, commence at the heel of the hind 
leg, go down over the cap of the hock joint, and 
down the back of the buttock to the first split. 
When the hide is loose and spread out, it will be 
seen that there are no such irregularities in its 
contour as if the cuts had been made down the 
inside of the legs, as is often done. 
“fancy”—very neatly and perfectly adapted to 
its uses. The mangers are of “Cottam’s Pat¬ 
ent,” much used in England, consisting of two 
iron feed-tubs, with an iron water-trough between 
them for each pair of cows. A low partition 
separates each double stall from its neighbor. 
The box-stalls are fitted with rocking mangers, 
which move back and forth through the parti¬ 
tion, so that feed can be supplied from 
the passage way. This barn is a capital 
model for any amateur, small, or “fancy” 
farmer to follow, as it has all the con¬ 
veniences needed, and none of the orna¬ 
ment that we too often see on barns of 
its class. It is good, cheap, and useful. 
How to Strip a Hide. 
The Milk-Mirror in Jersey Cows. 
A correspondent at Hannibal, Mo., writes that 
he has been studying some Jersey 
herds near that place, and finds 
the milk-mirror or escutcheon 
very poorly developed, and often 
entirely lacking. He asks whether 
the absence of the milk-mirror is 
characteristic of the breed, and 
whether the lack is, in their case, 
an objection. The writer of this 
has paid a good deal of attention 
to the question of the milk-mirror, 
and has especially observed its 
formation in Jersey cows. The 
result is a conviction that in at 
least nine cases out of ten—as 
uniformly as in any other breed— 
their quality as milkers is clearty 
indicated by this sign, and he 
would not think of buying a 
Jersey heifer or cow in which the 
escutcheon was not at least fairljr 
developed. If any modification 
system were to be made in 
of Guenon’s 
applying it to the Jersey breed, it would be, 
perhaps, in attaching less importance to 
the upper part of the escutcheon, and more 
to that which runs out over the thighs—but 
even this we are not sure of. As a rule to live 
by, we believe in buying a Jersey with a good, 
full Guenon escutcheon, and no other. That 
*-r.’ 
Almost every farmer has occasion, at 
least once a year, to take the hide off 
either a beef or a mutton, and some farm¬ 
ers take hides off animals that are neither 
beef nor mutton, now and then. In any 
case there is a right way t® do this which 
is worth knowing. A hide properly strip¬ 
ped off is nearly square, but oilier wise is far 
A 
SHED | 
ROOM FOR 
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Fig. 3.- 
EAST FRONT. 
-PLAN OF FLOOR OF MR. SARGENT’S BARN. 
from that shape. To proceed properly, ltfy the 
carcass oil the back, run a sharp knife from the 
chin down along the belly in a straight line to the 
root of the tail. The knife should have a sharp 
point and be inserted edge upwards beneath the 
skin, when it should be ru-n steadily along. Then 
commence at the split of the hoof on the fore 
foot and run the knife down over the knee in a 
straight line to the brisket where it meets the 
there should exist anywhere a whole herd of 
Jerseys with defective escutcheons is an indica¬ 
tion of the injurious effect of “breeding for 
color.” Essential qualities, like large milk- 
veins, well-shaped udders, and full escutcheons, 
are overlooked, and breeding animals are se¬ 
lected which have nothing to recommend them 
but “solid color and full black points.” Of 
course, the men who are accomplishing this 
unfortunate result are innocent of any intention 
to do harm, but unless something is done to 
check their folly the Jerseys, as a breed, will 
lose their reputation as large butter-makers. 
We could show our correspondent more than 
one herd of Jerseys, and large herds too, in 
which a defective escutcheon is a rare excep¬ 
tion, and we will pit them against any breeds 
in the country for the quantity of butter made. 
- -—»©<—-—► — .■ 
Drying Up Cows. 
The common idea that it is necessary to dry 
off a cow two or three months before calving, is 
really not only an erroneous but a very unprofit¬ 
able one. A cow in the dairy is not an animal 
in a state of nature. She is as artificial a pro¬ 
duction as the improved carrot or turnip which 
she eats, or the oil-calm which is fed to her. 
And if this is so, and her milking capacity has 
been artificially built up flu 1 beyond that origin¬ 
ally consistent with her natural condition, why 
should we stop in our work at a certain point 
and not continue it as far as possible ? We have 
known more than one occasion when a cow 
was milked up to the period of calving, and no 
injury occurred either to her or the calf. It is 
true that the changed condition of the cow 
needs some change of treatment. There is a 
greatly enhanced demand on her physical re¬ 
sources, but this change comes on so gradually 
that we can not tell the exact moment her milk¬ 
ing powers should be suspended. Certainty not 
necessarily two months any more than three 
or four months previous to her coming in again. 
The gradually changing condition of the cow 
must be gradually met and all will be well. We 
lately saw a fine Ayrshire cow which had just 
dropped a calf when at the Illinois State Fair, 
and she was in very high condition, so much so 
that an ordinary farmer, having a cow in sim¬ 
ilar condition, would fear for her safety. We 
also saw a fine Jersey cow, on another occasion, 
which the owner assured us was milked the 
evening previous to her calving, and the calf 
seemed to have suffered nothing in consequence. 
In fact it is doubtful if a cow is not in a much 
safer position when thus constantly milked. It 
is within our experience that garget has oc¬ 
curred before calving, and that cows often 
need to have the milk drawn from them, 
sometimes for some days previous to this event. 
Then, if all this is true (and we think most 
experienced men will coincide with us), why 
should not the cow be utilized as much as pos¬ 
sible ; why should she not be permitted to pro¬ 
duce milk as long as she will, and w T hy should 
we be at so much pains to dry up our cows ? It 
is certain that injury is sometimes done to cows 
by improperly drying them off, and when we 
sometimes read of farmers being advised to take 
such and such precautions in this matter, we are 
led to think that they are not only making gra¬ 
tuitous trouble for themselves, but are throwing 
away a source of profit. That there is a change 
occurring in the common idea in this respect, is 
proved abundantly by the fact that a cow which 
will milk continuously, is looked on as something 
above the common. And why, while we are 
improving our stock in this direction, should 
farmers be advised to adhere to a practice which 
produces a contrary effect ? 
-- i —• «■- 
How Much does a Quart of Milk Weigh ? 
—It has now become almost universal with 
dairy men who handle large quantities of milk, 
to estimate it by weight rather than by meas¬ 
ure. The reduction to quarts is made by diyid- 
