1876.] 
AMERICAN AGrRICITLTTJRIST. 
377 
divided, so as to keep different varieties separate. 
Being made of strips, thorough ventilation is se¬ 
cured from the bottom upwards. When a larger 
quantity has to be stored, the bins are made on the 
plan shown in figure 2, in which strips are used as 
before, but the bottom is made sloping forwards, 
Fig. 2 .— SECTION OF POTATO BIN. 
and a number are made which fit into each other, 
eo that they can be piled up, as shown in figure 3. 
The bottom bin is placed upon legs, which raise it 
from the ground. When the bottom one is filled 
with potatoes, another bin is placed upon it, rest¬ 
ing upon short feet at the corners upon the ends of 
the posts of the lower bin. The bins are thus 
locked together so that they can not be pushed out 
of place. Any number may be used that may be 
Fig. 3.— SECTIONS PILED TOGETHER. 
found desirable. To remove the potatoes as they 
may be needed, the front of each bin is made to 
open upon hinges placed at the bottom. The front 
may be dropped down altogether, or only partly 
opened, when the potatoes slide down to the front. 
By having a movable spout, the potatoes may he 
guided into bags held to receive them. The doors 
at the front are fastened by means of a staple and 
a pin of wood, as shown. 
--=■ ---lOB---► «--- 
Unloading Corn in the Ear. 
Several correspondents have seni us descriptions 
and sketches of a plan for unloading corn from a 
wagon-box, which is an improvement upon the 
method described in the American Agriculturist for 
August. It is as follows; an addition is made to 
the wagon-box, as shown in the engraving. This 
ATTACHMENT TO WAGON-BOX. 
is movable, and is fastened, when in use, to the 
sides of the wagon-box by hooks, as shown in the 
illustration. When the corn is to be unloaded, this 
addition is hooked on to the box, the tail-board is 
removed, and space is provided for scooping up of 
the corn ears. When the com is unloaded, the 
piece is removed, and may be hooked on to an¬ 
other wagon, the same piece thus serving for 
several. This is now a seasonable contrivance, 
and is very easily and cheaply made. 
A Pen for a single Pig. 
Many persons living in country towns, and who 
have gardens from which there is considerable 
waste produce, find iteeonomi- 
cal to keep a pig which will 
consume the garden refuse, as 
well as that from the house. 
In the country the “poor 
man’s pig” is a means of sav¬ 
ing several dollars each year, 
from what would not only go 
to waste, but would in time 
become a collection of offen¬ 
sive matter ; and with those 
who—although not poor—still 
study economy in their do¬ 
mestic arrangements, a yearly 
supply of bacon and a pair of 
hams that cost next to nothing 
never come amiss. If it were 
not that from neglect and mis¬ 
management the pig-pen is 
generally a blot upon the rural 
homestead, a sink of filth, and 
a source of foul odors, the 
keeping of a pig would be 
quite unobjectionable even in 
a garden. But the pig itself 
would never have hecomc 
possessed of the disagreeable 
character which it now has, had it been given a fa¬ 
vorable opportunity of distinguishing itself as an 
animal loving cleanliness rather than filth, and had 
it been provided W'itli a clean, convenient pen, and 
clean wholesome food and drink. The fact is that 
a pig-pen, instead of being all that is disagreeable 
and disgusting, may be kept neat and free from bad 
odors, and indeed inviting in appearance, if the 
proper care is taken of it. There would then be no 
fear of infection from eating pork, and the meat 
might be made as wholesome and inviting as the 
flesh of poultry, which, if permitted, are as general 
foragers among filth, as pigs ever are. To remove 
all objection against keeping a household pig, there 
must be provided a proper pen of ample room, of 
solid materials, and which can be kept perfectly 
clean, well aired and free from vermin. The refuse 
must be frequently removed or deodorized by the 
admixture of dry earth. A plan for such a pen is 
here given. Figure 1 shows the elevation. It is 
ten feet square on the floor, and eight feet high to 
the eaves, the frame is made of light timber as fol¬ 
lows : sills 4x6, joists 2x6, floor two-inch plank, 
studs 2x4, the plates of 1x6, rafters 1x6; the 
roof is of boards, covered with Johns’ Asbestos 
roofing, and the walls of inch boards, battened, or 
of clap-boards. There is one door and one window 
at the front, and a venti¬ 
lator in the roof. There 
is an open yard floored 
with plank at one side, 6 
feet wide, leaving a door 
at the front which falls 
down and makes a plat¬ 
form for the first entrance 
and the final exit of the 
pig. The floor should be 
caulked tightl-y with tow 
or strips of cloth, such as 
“ carpet rags,” and satu¬ 
rated with pine-tar put 
on hot. The building 
is raised a foot above the ground, by which it 
is kept dry and free from vermin. The yard is 
boarded up tightly for about four feet, and at 
the side there is an opening three inches wide 
through which the litter and refuse is pushed with 
a scraper. The floor of the yard is made to slope 
slightly towards this opening, and should be kept 
covered with dry earth from the garden, which, 
when returned to it, would be a rich fertilizer. If 
a plenty of earth is used, there will he no offensive 
smell, and the pig will he found remarkably neat 
in its habits, keeping the inner apartments clean. 
If otherwise, the floor should be scrubbed with 
water and a broom, and a pailful of water should 
be thrown over the pig as an occasional hath. The 
floor plan is shown at figure 2. The door opens in¬ 
to a feed-room where the feed-bin and a half tub 
for mixing feed may be kept. The feeding-pen is 
at the front, and the sleeping-pen at the rear, and 
Fig. 1.—VIEW OF PIG-PEN. 
this opens into the yard by a swinging door, which 
shuts of itself, and is shown at figure 3. At fig. 4 
is shown the arrangement of the feed trough. A 
Fig. 2.— GROUND PLAN OF PEN. 
sloping hoard guides the food into the trough 
through an opening in the partition from the feed 
passage, and a strong frame of cross bars is hinged 
to the partition and 
rests upon the trough, 
by which the pig is kept 
from rolling or lying in 
it. Such a pen, neatly 
built, and white-wash¬ 
ed, will cost about §20 ; 
and two days’ labor of 
any man or boy handy 
with tools, will be 
sufficient to complete 
it. If a half-floor is 
put up over head, just 
within reach, it will 
serve as a store-room 
for some garden tools TE0CGH - 
and the usual “odds and ends” of a garden. 
Preparation for Soiling Cattle. —It can not 
be doubted that soiling may be profitably carried 
on, especially upon dairy farms, although the prac¬ 
tice involves extra labor. It is by labor only that 
the raw materials of the world are made useful, and 
the more labor that is judiciously expended upon 
anything, the greater the value of the result. If 
twenty cows can be kept upon the produce of 
twenty acres, by the extra work of one man, whose 
labor costs $200 for six months, there is clearly profit 
in employing the extra man. If 100 cows can be 
kept on 100 acres by the labor of five men continu¬ 
ously employed throughout the season, the result¬ 
ing profit would clearly be greater than in keeping 
Fig. 3.— swinging gate. 
