1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
297 
The Esquimaux Dog. 
Ia all arctic countries the dog is a most valuable 
domestic animal, as it is the only one that can be 
used for transportation ; in those regions, where 
there is almost no 
vegetation, only car¬ 
nivorous animals can 
be kept, and the dog 
is the ouly one of 
these that has been 
domesticated and 
trained to work. It 
is a notable fact that 
the dogs of savage 
and partly civilized 
peoples, show a very 
strong resemblance 
to the wolves of those 
countries, and so 
nearly related are the 
Esquimaux dogs to 
the Canada wolf, that 
it is difficult to find 
any certain marks of 
distinction between 
them. A pure white 
Esquimaux dog, re¬ 
cently imported, at¬ 
tracted considerable 
attention at one of 
the English dog 
shows, a few months 
ago, and had its por¬ 
trait, which is here 
reproduced, published in “ The Country,” as the 
finest specimen of its kind that had been seen in 
England. These dogs are usually brindled, and a 
pure white one is regarded as of especial value. 
The following are the measurements of this re¬ 
markably fine specimen : Hight at shoulder, 2 ft. 6 
in.; length from center between shoulder blades to 
center between ears, 1 foot; from latter point to 
end of nose, 11 in. ; length from shoulders to set¬ 
ting on of tail, 2 ft. 7 in. ; length of tail, 1 foot 
4 in. ; measurement round head just behind ears, 
2 ft. ; just above eyes, 1 foot 8 in. ; at point of nose, 
10 in. ; his girth measured fairly tight, not outside 
the hair, 3 ft.; his weight is 120 lbs. Like other 
Esquimaux dogs, this one does not bark, but when 
angry or hungry, 
gives a howl precise¬ 
ly like that of the 
wolf. This animal is 
very tame, following 
its master, and show¬ 
ing no signs of its 
wild nature, which 
may be due to the 
fact that it is well 
fed. Among the Es¬ 
quimaux the dogs are 
scantily fed, and re¬ 
ceive no other caress¬ 
es than those given 
by the end of a six- 
foot seal-skin lash ; 
but notwithstanding 
they are hard work¬ 
ed, and brutally treat¬ 
ed, they are much 
attached to their 
masters. The chief 
distinctions between 
these dogs and the 
wolf, are that the 
wolf has a more 
oblique eye than the 
dog, and that it car¬ 
ries both head and 
tail down in running, 
while the dog runs 
with head up, and the tail curled over the back; 
yet Dr. Kane states that he has had in his teams, 
dogs which had all these wolfish characteristics, 
and that he has more than once mistaken a pack 
of wolves for the dogs of a party of Esquimaux. 
That the Esquimaux dog is very closely related to 
the wolf, is shown by the fact that they will breed 
with wolves, and it is said that the Indians cross 
their dogs with the wolf, to improve the breed and 
increase their courage. These dogs are not only 
used to drag the sled, but on journeys during the 
the American redstart .—(Setophaga ruticilla.) 
short summers they serve as pack animals, and carry 
a load of 25 or 30 lbs. fastened across their shoulders. 
The American Redstart. 
One of the handsomest of our smaller birds is 
the Redstart, which begins to arrive in the northern 
states about the first of May, and commences to 
build its nest about the first week in June. The 
nest is generally placed on a small tree, about eight 
or ten feet from the ground, and is composed of 
fine strips of cedar bark, wild grape-vine bark, 
grasses, and the like, and is altogether a neat af¬ 
ally laid, of a beautiful cream-white, marked with 
reddish-brown and pale-lilac spots. The birds 
frequent woods, orchards, and pastures, and their 
beautiful colors and vivacious movements enliven 
every spot where they abound. Their note is a 
shrill cry of chee-we-ca, uttered at frequent inter¬ 
vals. They dart about 
like the fly-catchers, 
and seize insects 
while on the wing, 
snapping them up 
with a noise like that 
of shutting a small 
pair of scissors ; they 
also work industri¬ 
ously among the foli¬ 
age of the trees and 
shrubs, and destroy 
many insects. The 
Redstart has received 
several systematic 
names, but the one 
accepted by our or¬ 
nithologists, is Seto- 
phaga ruticilla. The 
bird is about five and 
a third inches in 
length. The male 
has its head and neck 
black, with bluish re¬ 
flections; the sides of 
the breast, lower 
wing coverts, and 
tail feathers, except 
the two middle ones, 
of a beautiful orange- 
red ; the abdomen and lower tail coverts, white; 
bill brownish-black. The female is different in 
color, for where the male has orange-red, her color 
is yellow, besides she is brownish-olive above, and 
whitish-yellow beneath. This bird stays in the 
eastern states through the summer, and about the 
middle of September begins its southern migration, 
at the end of which month it may be looked for 
in vain. The beauty of the plumage of the Red¬ 
start, and the havoc it makes among insects and 
their larvas, should entitle it to protection. 
the ESQUIMAUX OR WOLF DOG. 
fair, with its interior constructed with considera¬ 
ble skill, and its exterior disguised by lichens and 
other materials, glued on with the saliva of the 
birds. It is hollowed deeply and lined with threads 
of grape-vine bark, hair, etc. Four eggs are usu¬ 
Traveling Thrashing Machines.—I t is a ques¬ 
tion worthy of consideration, if it is not more 
economical, as well 
as more convenient, 
for a farmer to own 
his horse-power and 
thrashing machine, 
than to hire one of 
the largo machines 
which go from place 
to place to work. The 
cost of thrashing by 
one of these, is per¬ 
haps equal to one- 
tenth of the crop. It 
is attended by con¬ 
siderable extra ex¬ 
pense in providing 
extra hands, or extra 
teams, and there is 
some waste in doing 
the work in a hurry. 
The labor is excessive 
while it lasts, and 
there is, moreover, 
the cost of boarding 
hands and horses. 
For a crop of 1,000 
bushels of grain, the 
cost will amount to 
over $150. With a 
two-horse-power ma¬ 
chine, costing $275 to 
$350, this work can 
be done in five days, without hurry, inconvenience, 
or loss, and often without extra help. The horse¬ 
power will also serve other purposes, which will 
thus reduce the cost attached to the thrashing. 
Upon farms that have 500 or more bushels of grain 
