278 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
grade (three-quaiters or seven-eighths) Jersey, from a 
really good native cow by a Jersey bull, from good milk 
and butter stock. Such a cow may be expected to yield 
a pound of butter a day, on an average, for nine months 
in the year, or about 2S0 pounds of butter a year. We 
have had several such cows that, have done better than 
that. The best dairy book is Flint’s Milch Cows and 
Dairy Farming, price $2.50. For general dairy purposes 
the Ayrshire, Short-horn, and Dutch breeds, and their 
grades or crosses are highly valued. 
Sales ©f SSaort-liomis. —The sales of 
Short-horn cattle which have occurred during the past 
month have amounted to 370 head, for an aggregate of 
$178,300. Of the six herds disposed of, four were sold at 
Dexter Park, Chicago, which from its central position in 
the vicinity of the Union Stock-yards, has become a fa¬ 
vorite locality for both sellers and buyers. The sales at 
Dexter Park were not so well attended as former ones. 
The sales were as follows: by 
L. W. Towne.29 cows for $20.095; average, $624. 
.11 bulls “ 2,390 ; average, 218. 
J. P. Sanborn.43 cows “ 19,950 ; average, 454. 
..10 bulls “ 1,685 ; average, 168. 
Avery & Murphy.63 cows “ 39,140; average, 621. 
.12 bulls “ 11,045 ; average, 920. 
J. R. Shelby.78 cows “ 29,235; average, 375. 
.12 bulls “ 1,440 ; average, 120. 
The herd of Chas. Lowder was sold at the State Fair 
Grounds, Plainfield, Ind., for very low prices. 
46 cows brought $7,700 ; average, $171. 
19 bulls “ 2,045 ; average, $107. 
General S. Meredith & Sons’ sale was held at Cambridge 
City, Ind., and very good prices were obtained; over 2,000 
persons were present. 
42 cows sold for $41,140 ; average, $980. 
11 bulls “ “ 2,835; average, 257. 
Two cows, Mazurkas, were bought by an English breeder 
for $5,600. Mr. A. J. Alexander, of Kentucky, has sold 
at private sale to go to England, two cows of the Duchess 
family for $35,000, and one Duke bull for $12,000. 
Patent Machines. —“ J. T.,” La Crescent, 
Minn. No person may lawfully make any patented im¬ 
plement even for his own use, without a license from 
the owner of the patent. 
—- - 
"Walks and Talks” Correspondence. 
No Pat Required.— “ C. A. D.,” of Mass., asks me 
several questions, and says: “ please answer and send 
price for your trouble.”—The Agricultunst pays me for 
my trouble in answering these questions, and “ C. A. D.” 
pays the Agriculturist when he subscribes for the paper. 
But to the questions: The first is in regard to 
Hens in the Orchard.—” I have got two orchards, 
half an acre each, trees 15 to 20 years old. Keep 300 
hens. Would you fence in the orchards and keep the 
grass out, and let the hens run in them If this was a 
convenient arrangement I should certainly do so. But I 
should not do it simply for the purpose of enriching the 
land. The food you furnish the hens will enrich the 
land just as much as if it was fed to sheep or swine—and 
no more. The insects which the hens catch on the wing 
would be so much gain, and if the hens pick up worms 
which would otherwise leave the orchard, that is a gain 
also. Otherwise I think the hens are no better manure- 
makers than cows, horses, sheep, or swine. 
Manure from a Slaughter-House.— “ C. A. D.” 
lives five miles from a slaughter-house “ where they kill 
hogs and make some very good manure. They take the 
offal and the heads, and cook them for the oil, and what 
is left they sell for $6 per cord. If you were going to 
use it, would you work it up with vitriol I think not. 
I should draw out my barnyard manure in the winter to 
the field where I intended to use it, and draw the slaugh¬ 
ter-house manure at the same time, and put them togeth¬ 
er in a pile. Make the pile 7 or 8 feet wide, and 6 feet 
high, being careful to build up the sides straight, so that 
the heap shall be nearly or quite as wide at top as at the 
bottom. Tf possible finish the heap up to the desired 
bight every day. and not spread it over a long heap where 
it will be likely to freeze before morning. The slaugh¬ 
ter-house manure will greatly favor fermentation, and 
you can use it in this way to great advantage. Turn the 
heap when necessary. The soil below the heap will not 
be frozen, and you can dig up a foot or so of this soil 
and mix it with the manure, or put it on top. I have 
been using several large heaps of manure this spring for 
root crops and for potatoes, which were drawn to the 
field last winter and piled—it was in capital order. But 
be sure and keep the sides up straight, and not drawn in 
like the roof of a house. In the latter case the wind and 
frost will go through the narrow top and freeze it solid. 
If well built it will ferment slowly all winter, and be in 
prime order for use in spring. 
“How would you use the Blood?”— Add it to the 
heap of manure. It is a rich fertilizer, and will greatly 
aid the fermentation of the manure. There is no danger 
from excessive and injurious fermentation in the winter. 
In fact the difficulty with cow manure is to get it to fer¬ 
ment at all, and to keep out the frost from the heap. 
More Grass and less Wheat.— This is what a young 
farmer in Cumberland Co., Pa., wants. He has bought a 
farm of 150 acres, two miles from a railroad station ; 
large bank-barn and other buildings, for $5,000. The 
land was all limed 12 years ago. He can buy lime at 8 
cents a bushel. The rotation previously adopted on the 
farm was, 1st., corn on two or three year-old clover sod. 
2d., oats. 3d., wheat. 4th., wheat again. 5th., clover. 
Average yield, wheat 10 to 12 bushels, oats 20 bushels, 
corn 20 to 25 bushels per acre.—This will not do at all. 
There is no profit in such farming. Lime and clover 
must be the basis of improvement. Give up the second 
wheat crop. If the land is foul, I should try how it 
would answer to “fall-fallow” a clover sod and sow it 
to oats the next spring, and seed down with clover. Bar¬ 
ley would be better than oats, and with lime so cheap, it 
would seem not a difficult matter to raise barley on a 
fall-fallowed clover sod dressed with 100 bushels of lime 
per acre. Such treatment ought to give 40 bushels bar¬ 
ley per acre, and a grand crop of clover afterwards. A 
clover sod, pastured until June, or July, might be broken 
np, and the surface soil thoroughly worked afterward 
four or five inches deep, with a cultivator and harrow. 
Then lime it and sow wheat, and seed down with timothy 
in the fall, and clover in the spring. If the land is 
thoroughly worked and limed, I should not only expect 
a fair crop of wheat, but a good crop of clover after¬ 
wards. Clover sometimes fails on clover sod, but it is 
generally because the land is not well worked. By rais¬ 
ing more grass or clover, you can keep more stock, and 
if you get good stock, you can afford to buy bran and 
oilcake, and thus make rich manure, and then you are 
through with your difficulties. 
Clover for Hogs. —“T. A.,” Hawk Point, Mo., 
writes: “I have six acres of clover and six acres of oats. 
Will this keep 30 pigs, which are intended for fall mar¬ 
ket?”—I suppose Mr. A. intends to let the pigs pasture 
on the oats as well as on the clover. I have had no ex¬ 
perience with oats as a pasture for pigs. I should think 
it would be better to confine the 30 pigs to the 6 acres of 
clover, and feed them corn in addition. The corn should 
be fed regularly, say morning and night—and always at 
the same hours. If fed irregularly, the pigs will be look¬ 
ing for it all the time, and will not eat much clover.' If 
you feed the corn in the ear, I would take it to different 
parts of the field, and not feed every day in the same 
place. The corn would be better, I think, if shelled and 
soaked in water for 24 hours before feeding. 
Sending Stock by Express.— “D. S.,” Ind. The 
express companies charge more for carrying live stock 
than for ordinary merchandize. For a box of pigs weigh¬ 
ing less than 100 lbs., they charge double the regular 
rates ; for a box weighing over 100 lbs., one and a half 
the regular rates. Thus from Rochester to Indianapolis, 
the regular rate is $3 per 100 lbs. For a pair of 2-months 
pigs, weighing, with the box, 85 lbs., the charges would 
be $5.10. For a trio of pigs weighing 115 lbs., the ex¬ 
press charges would be $5.17. Sliced mangels make ex¬ 
cellent food for them on the journey, as they furnish 
both food and water. I have shipped several hundred to 
different parts of the country—some to Texas, Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Mississippi, etc., and never lost a pig on the 
journey. I have no fault to find with the express com¬ 
panies, except that they charge more for stock than for 
dry goods. For a year or more the American Express 
Co. carried my stock at the same rates as ordinary mer¬ 
chandize, but the U. S. Co. objected to their doing so, as 
being contrary to an agreement between the two compa¬ 
nies. Both companies now charge alike, there being no 
competition; but they take excellent care of the stock, 
and carry them through on their fastest trains. The 
stock often reaches its destination two or three days be¬ 
fore a letter mailed at, the same time. On the whole we 
have not much to complain of. 
Map of a Farm.— John Landreth. Manitowoc, Wis., 
in answer to some questions of mine in regard to his 
farming operations, sends me a printed map of his farm. 
It is a capital thing to have. The fields are all numbered, 
and the length and breadth are noted on the map, with » 
the nnmbei of acres. 
Getting out Stones.— Mr. L. is trying, like myself, 
to free his land from stones. He draws them four miles 
to the harbor at Manitowoc, getting pay for them, and 
drawing back a loa^l of manure. This is a good thing to 
do, too. Mr. L. tolls me of a plan which I shall try to 
get adopted on my own farm. He says: “In plowing 
last fall we strapped on each plow handle pieces of shin¬ 
gles two inches wide, and whore a stone was struck, and 
could not be moved by the plow, a shingle was stuck in, 
marking the spot, and a man with spade and har follow¬ 
ed at intervals and brought them to light. In this way 
our land to-day is clean, and not a stone or stump to be 
seen on 110 acres of last fall’s plowing, and our gang- 
plow, drill, and other labor-saving implements can be 
safely used.” 
Rolling Coulter Plow.— Mr. L. speaks very highly 
of the large-rolling Coulter Plow, and also of Crossley’s 
Gang Plow. I am not acquainted with either, but have 
never yet had a Gang Plow that was satisfactory. I 
have one which does not draw true, and the result is that 
the last plow takes a very narrow furrow. It is made of 
cast-iron, and there is no way to change the line of draft. 
Growing Ruta-Bagas.—“ A. F. G.,” Barry Co., Mich., 
has eight acres of laud, two of which are occupied with 
the house and gardens. Of the other six acres, one acre 
is good strong land, and the rest sand aud gravelly clay. 
He finds ruta-bagas and onions his best paying crops, 
and he wants me to tell him how to mauage to grow 
ruta-bagas. Last year he sowed three acres and kept the 
land clean, but owing to the drouth had only 100 bushels 
per acre. He can buy 50 loads of manure in town, and 
keeps one horse and one cow.—Onions will do well every 
year on tiie same land, provided it is well manured and 
kept clean. But ruta-bagas do better in rotation with 
other crops. Still, they can be grown year after year. 
In such a case, I should plow the land in the fail after 
the turnips were off, and draw out the manure in the win¬ 
ter and pile it in the field, and to each load or ton of ma¬ 
nure add 100 lbs. of bone-dust scattered on, or slaughter¬ 
house manure, or, instead of this, sow 300 lbs. of super¬ 
phosphate of lime in the drills at the time of sowing the 
seed. If you must confine yourself to these two crops, 
onions and turnips, I think it would be well to make the 
land very rich for onions with well-rotted manure, and 
then sow turnips on this land the next spring, using 300 
His. of superphosphate to the acre—and if possible drill 
it in with the seed. The superphosphate will give the 
young plants a rapid start, and soon push them out of 
reach of injury from the little black beetle. You ought 
to raise from S00 to 1,000 bushels per acre. Sow in rows 
20 inches apart, and thin out to 10 or 12 inches in the row. 
Value of Bran for Manure.—“A. B. F.,” Colum¬ 
bia, Conn., writes: “When speaking of bran in ‘ Walks 
and Talks,’ what quality do you mean ? We have in our 
markets a very coarse quality called ‘ shorts ’ ; a very fine 
grade called 1 white middlings,’ which is nearly or quite 
as heavy as corn-meal, and costs the same. Then there 
are intermediate grades, differing in fineness and price. 
There is one grade which looks like shorts, ground over 
and made fine. [This is precisely what it is.] What I 
wisli to know is which of these grades you mean when 
you say bran in speaking of the value of manure made 
from different kinds of food?”—Mr. Lawes gives the 
composition and value of these different grades of wheat- 
bran as follows: 
Wheat Bran. . . 
Coarse Pollard. 
Fine Pollard. 
Wheat... 
Oats. 
Corn Meal. 
Peas. 
Clover Hay. 
Wheat Straw.. 
Linseed Oil-calce. 
Decorticated Cotton - Seed 
Cake. 
Feb Cent. 
Manure 1 
. of food: 
i 
'5 
sis 
Acid 
Phos- 
me. 
3 
£ 
Isa 
£<© c 
i 
© 
£ 
©•( 
sr 
s 
g 
86.0 
0.60 
7.95 
1.45 
2.55 
$14.59 
86.n 
6.20 
7.52 
1.40 
2.58 
14.36 
86 0 
5.60 
6.44 
1.46 
2.60 
13.53 
85.0 
1.70 
1.87 
0.50 
1.80 
7.08 
86.0 
2 85 
1.17 
0.50 
2.00 
7.70 
88.0 
1.80 
1.13 
0.35 
1.80 
6.65 
84.5 
2.40 
1.80 
0.96 
3.40 
13.39 
84.0 
i .50 
1.25 
1.3(1 
2.50 
9.64 
84.0 
5.00 
0.55 
S. 65 
0.60 
S 2.68 
88.0 
7.00 
4.92 
1.65 
4.75 
19.72 
89.0 
8.00 
7.00 
3.12 
6.50 
27.86 
It will be seen from the above that there is little differ¬ 
ence in the manurial value of the different kinds of bran. 
The wheat itself is only worth about half as much for 
manure as the bran, and wheat flour would be still less 
valuable. Wheat has been so low the past winter, and 
coarse grains and bran so high, that the millers have been 
making “white middlings” with an unusually large 
quantity of flour in them. These would not he as valu¬ 
able for manure as the ordinary shorts, canaille, shipstuff, 
and other grades of bran. As a rule, the feeds best for 
manure are not the most nutritious—at least I think so. 
Some people would have us believe that bran is more 
nutritious than flour, but such is not the case. It is, 
however, far better for manure. * * * “ When speaking 
of cotton-seed meal, do you mean that which is decorti¬ 
cated, or that which contains ail the hulls ? ”—I mean the 
former, unless otherwise stated. The manure from a ton 
of cotton-seed itself, after being ground and sifted, is 
worth $13.25; that from undecort.icated cotton-seed cako 
$15 75. In grinding cotton-seed and sifting it for food, S 
per cent of husk was removed. Mr. Lawes found it a 
rich and valuable food for stieep, in connection with 
fodder, etc. For the sake of comparison, I have included 
some other common foods in the table above. 
