10 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[Jakuaey, 
liquid rneiisure of 253 giillons, .-md is also used lo des¬ 
ignate a large cask. Ton is written for quantities by 
weight. Though both are derived from tlie same Anglo- 
Saxon word, tile distinction in spelling is a convenient 
one, and is sanctioned by good usage, 
for Sliccp Feeding;. — 
Thos. B. Powell, of Ontario Co., N. Y., writes: “Last 
winter I made a box for feeding grain to sheep, which I 
like well. It holds about half a bushel, is about 26 inch¬ 
es long on tlie bottom and 23 on the top; the back end 
square, the front sloping. The front end lias a projection 
or guide (g-,) on 
the lower end to 
run in and clear 
the trough; back 
of this is a par¬ 
tition or false 
front (p.) still 
more slanting, the top of which is 5 inches and the bottom 
3inches from the front. In it, in the middle of the lower 
part, is cut a hole 2 inches wide and about 3 or four inches 
high. Over this is a slide (sj for opening or closing the 
hole. Through tlie bottom, back of the guide, close to 
the front, is cut another liole, 2x3 inches in size. About 
half of the top should be covered, as shown in the sketch. 
To use it, take it by the back end in one hand, the other 
holding the slide, and shove it along in the trough open¬ 
ing or closing the slide and raising or lowering the back 
end as may be needed. For oats the hole may be larger.” 
Is tliere any CJoocl in Corn Coi»s ?— 
“J. W. H.” —For our own use we never would grind corn 
and cobs together. We believe cobs of ripe corn are 
often productive of bad results ; but those of soft corn 
and nubbins do contain some nutriment and are not so in¬ 
jurious, nor difficult of digestion. There is a vast deal 
of steam and water power wasted in grinding cobs, but 
we presume, were the facts known, this would not com¬ 
pare as 1 to 10 with the power wasted in digesting them. 
C}rnin>bin Tentilators. — Every Grain- 
bin should have ventilators in the bottom. Those of the 
style figured are easily made and put in. A bin 12 feet 
long and 4 wide, should have three ventilators. They 
may be made of sheet-iron punched full of small holes, 
or of fine wire-cloth, 
bent Into a conical form. 
A sheet of iron is cut in¬ 
to semi-circular pieces, 
of about two feet radius : 
the lioles are punched, 
the pieces are run be¬ 
tween tinners’ rollers 
and the edges riveted or 
locked together like 
stove-pipe. The bottoms are turned to form narrow 
flanges for nailing them to the floor. Holes are then 
sawed in the floor and the ventilators nailed over them. 
It is not necessary to make the holes in more than half 
the diameter of the ventilators. 
Subsoil Flow. —“E. B.,” Lyon Co., Kansas, 
inquires where he may obtain one of Alapes’ Subsoil 
Plows?” We cannot tell; and if we could we would 
not recommend such a plow as has formerly been sold 
by tliat name. The form of that plow is decidedly objec¬ 
tionable, as it does not raise the subsoil sufficiently high 
to eflfect good pulverization. The share is so thin that it 
runs through the ground, pressing through, and not 
breaking up its solidity. On page ISl of the J griculturist 
for 1863 is an illustration of the best form of subsoil plow 
now in use. The cost is $10.00 lo $15,00. 
Mow to Catcb Horses.— Horses ought 
lo be trained when colts, to be easily caught. Wlien a 
horse Is incorrigibly bad lo catch, never turn him loose 
without a halter headstall on. Then, always carry some 
oats, roots, meal, salt, sugar, or something else that he 
likes, and after he has tasted a few times, take hold gent¬ 
ly of tlie halter. Whipping or any tiarshness immediate¬ 
ly after a horse is cauglit, makes a bad habit wor.se ; 
but even If hard to catch, reward him when caught. 
i^tripping'.— J. F. ISIalcc’s Queries. 
*' C. C.,” of Foxcroft, Me., writes in answer to the queries 
of Mr. Blake (page 366, December Agriculturist) ;is fol¬ 
lows;—1 h;ivc ticen a milker for more than forty years, 
and all that time have noticeil that nearly all cows, as the 
flow of milk ab;itcs at the eml of the grazing season, fail 
to yield all the milk continuously to the hand of the 
milker. If this condition of things is a “habit,” allied to 
vices sometimes observed In cows, I think It one tliat we 
shall never sec abated. For more th;in twenty years I 
have had “a way of my own” lo get over the difficulty 
without any tax on my patience. It is to sit down to 
cow No. 1 Just ns though notliing was to liappen but a 
speedy milking. I draw the milk from all the teats, and 
when it ceases to flow readily, I move to cow No. 2 and 
treat her in the same manner. At the end of one or two 
minutes I return to cow No. 1 and find the milk well 
down in the udder and reaiiy to be drawn quickly. When 
done, I find cow No. 2 equally re;idy to be milked, and 
thus milk two cows well in less time than one could be 
by a continuous operation. If but one cow were to be 
milked I would do something else, after drawing the first 
milk, and before finishing — In reply lo the other inquiry 
of J. E. B., I think it best, more agreeable to the cow, as 
well as easier to the milker, to milk all the teats equally 
—changing the hands often, so as to relieve the pressure 
from all parts of the udder evenly. 
Farmers’ CIuIbs.— Where the farmers and 
others interested in tlie cultivation of the soil, fruit-rais¬ 
ing, etc., (and who is not?) can be induced to meet 
socially (or even formally) for a free discussion of agri¬ 
cultural topics, great good alwttys results to the whole 
district. There is probably no man in the town who does 
not thiidc he knows how to do some things better than 
any body else. Why not get together and each tell his 
way, ills notions, the results of his experiments. If one 
knows so much now that he is sure he will not learn 
anything, then it is cruelly selfish for him to stay at 
home, for he might do a great de:tl of good ; and if one 
does not know quite so much as that,—then he will g-et 
good if he goes. Well managed Farmers’ Clubs are rare. 
The Concord Farmers’ Club is one, however, as we 
judgeby hearsay evidence. They circulate a printed pro¬ 
gramme for this winter’s work, (if such pleasant employ¬ 
ment may be so called) which gives the name of the 
member at whose house such meeting is to be held, from 
Nov. 9th to April 19th, with tlie subjects for discussion at 
each meeting, addresses and essays to be presented, etc, 
As'B'icsiltaaral Colleg-es.—We have many 
inquiries about Agricultural Colleges and must answer 
them in general terms. The only institutions of this 
kind in actual operation are those of Pennsylvania and 
Michigan. Of the former we liave had but little knowl¬ 
edge since the death of its former president. Dr. Pugh, 
and know nothing about it beyond what our readers can 
learn from a circular, which can be obtained by addres¬ 
sing the President of the College, Center Co., Pa, It hap¬ 
pens that we know rather more about the Michigan Col¬ 
lege, being well acquainted with its president and most 
of the faculty. We know that it presents unusual facil¬ 
ities to the industrious student, and that it deserves to 
have a much larger number of students, than It h.as yet 
received. Those from other States are admitted, but were 
the institution properly appreciated by the people of 
Michigan, there would be no room for tlie students from 
abroad. An advertisement of the Michigan College ap¬ 
pears this month. For those who desire to delve deeper 
in the sciences wliich underlie the principles of good 
agriculture, the courses of instruction at the Slieffield 
Scientific School of Yale College, the agricultural de¬ 
partment of which has received the “ Agricultural Col¬ 
lege Fund,” are unsurpassed. Prof. Geo. J. Brush 
(New Haven) will respond to requests for information. 
A Kraiicla UiOg-diain. —The illustration 
here given represents a very convenient and useful chain 
for hauling timber or logs on the ground. Each piece is 
about three feet long, atlaclied to a strong ring of an 
elliptical form. The other ends are provided with 
“dogs” of the form 
shown, which are driven 
into the siiies of a log or 
stick of timber, when it is ' —— 
to be hauled upon the 
ground. AVhen a chain 
is wrapped around a 
log, it makes the draft much harder than if there were 
no chain beneath it, besides, when a chain cannot easily 
be put around the log, as it rests on the ground, a branch 
chain will be found very convenient. The branch cliain 
may be fastened near the lower side of a log, and thus 
require less force to haul it, than when one chain is used 
especially if the hitcli is on the upper side of the log. 
l^ew Aorlfi State Cl»eese Maniirac* 
twrerst’ Association.—The third annual meeting of 
the New York State Cheese Manufacturers’ .Association, 
will be held at the City of Utica, on Wednesday and 
Thursday, January lOlli and 11th, 1866. The number of 
persons engaged in cheese dairying in New A’ork alone, 
and who are directly or indirectly connected with the 
association, is more than 20,000, and it is believed the 
meeting will be the largest and most interesting that has 
ever been heretofore held by the farmers of the State on 
any special branch of industry. Delegations are expect¬ 
ed from the Eastern and Western Slates and from the 
Canadas, and subjects of vast importance to dairymen 
arc to be discussed and acted upon. The annual address 
wiil be delivoied by X. A. Willard, A.M., of Herkimer 
County, Wednesday Evening. January 10th. Reports 
from 400 factories, and a huge number from private 
dairies, are expected, of operations the past season, and 
various subjects of interest to dairymen will be discussed. 
To Fi-eveiit Horses SlippingHown. 
—We have had a horse shoe engraved to show black¬ 
smiths how lo “fit up” shoes to prevent hor.ses slipping 
down on smooth and slippery pavements. The heel 
calks should be not less than 1% inches long from the top 
of the shoe to the end, and instead 
of being liamraered to an edge 
like an iron wedge, the ends 
should be fully % of an inch wide 
and broad as the width of the iron. 
The toe calks should be much stronger than when they 
are made only }4 an inch long. .A horse shod with such 
calks will rarely slip on pavement, nor at all on ice. 
Tlse Cattle Flagae or “ISiiacler- 
pest.‘*—Congress has very wisely and promptly passed 
a law (the first law of the session) forbidding all impor¬ 
tation of domestic animals from Europe. It is right. With 
so great Hanger threatening us we ought to take the 
promptest and most efficient measures. It will be no ev¬ 
idence of undue haste in passing this law, if subsequent 
consideration of the subject should, as it probably will, 
lead to an establishment of a rigid quarantine, wherever 
Toreign cattle enter the country. The distress and loss 
occasioned by this terrible “pest,” has not been exagger¬ 
ated. The losses by death being 80 to 90 in 100 of the 
cattle attacked, and not under the most skillful treat¬ 
ment from the first. Should the plague come liere, what 
we should do as we are without veterinary surgeons, it is 
easy to foretell—we should stand by and see the stock die 
in spite of our best efforts. It is well known that this dis¬ 
ease effects both neat stock and slieep, hence the word 
“cattle” in the law doubtless covers both. The act is as 
follows; 
An Act to prevent the spread of foreign diseases 
among the cattle of the United States. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and Hou.se of Representa¬ 
tives of the United States of America in Congress as¬ 
sembled, tliat the importation of cattle be, and hereby is, 
proiiibited. And it sliall be the duty of the Secretary of 
the Treasury to make such regulations as will give this 
law full and immediate effect, and to send copies of them 
to the proper officers in this country, and to all officers 
or agents of the United States in foreign countries. Sec, 
2. And be it further en:icted, that when the President 
sliall give thirty days’ notice, by proclamation, that no 
further danger is to be apprehended from the spread ol 
foreign infectious or contagious diseases among cattle, 
this law shall be of no force, and cattle may be imported 
in the same way as before its passage. Passed the House 
Dec. lull ; the Senate passed it unaltered, and it re¬ 
ceived the signature of the President December 16th. 
Southern Farming—Chances for good Men. 
As postal facilities extend over the Southern Sl.ates, we 
are constantly in the receipt of letters from our old 
subscribers and others, which, (however diverse may the 
views of the writers in regard to the vexed and important 
questions of tlie day, touching the political status of the 
Southern States and people, of all colors), breathe the 
same spirit of improved agriculture. We dispute with 
nobotly, who is in favor of better farming. Advancement 
and improvement in one. direction is close akin to that in 
every other. When we know that the whole South is 
sprinkled over with such men, anxious, now at least, to 
try fairly the experiment of more intelligent labor, and ol 
better systems of farming, we can have little anxiety for 
the future, whatever throes and pains may attend tlia 
new birth of half a continent. Surely we will do what¬ 
ever is in our power to aid men who write such letters as 
the following, lately received from Charlotte Co., Va.; 
* * * “I have unexpectedly been placed in 
charge of an estate of 3000 acres of fertile land, located 
as above, and desire to liave it cultivated to the best ad¬ 
vantage. I have determined to divide it into several 
farms, and my great need is intelligent and reli.able labor 
and educated and experienced superintendence. The 
Freedmen are attached to the place, and liave warm 
friendship for their late master, who is so diseased that 
he cannot attend lo his own business ; and I am anxious 
to spare no effort that will benefit them and make them 
good, orderly and liappy citizens. They do not now know 
their rights or duties and must be instructed in them 
gradually, and I believe will be most easily informed as 
to them by seeing honest, industrious :ind steady laborers 
fr(>m some of the Nortliern Stales, working tvilh them or 
in their vicinity, will learn from them that the interests of 
employer and employees are identical, and tliat good 
order, and a clicerfui obedience to lawful orders, are 
