300 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
of each bolt. A belly-band is buckled around the 
animal’s body. This harness is very light and easy, 
and there is nothing about it to chafe or worry 
the bull. The harness 
for plowing or culti¬ 
vating, consists of the 
same yoke and bow, 
and a pair of draft 
chains, shown in fig. 3, 
which hook into the 
rings on the yoke. A 
broad leather band pass- 
_. , es over the animal’s 
Fig. 1.—YOKE AND BOW. K ,, , 
° Dack arranged as to 
length to suit his hight, and to allow the chains to 
hang in the line of draft, without pressing on the 
back. There are rings on the lower ends of the 
chains, by which they are attached to the hooks of the 
whiffle-tree. The length of yoke should be adapted 
to the size of the bull, but should not be so long 
as to give too much room between the shafts or the 
draft chains, nor so short as to allow them to chafe 
the animal’s sides. In working a bull it is best to 
use gentleness with firmness, and to avoid irritating 
Fig. 2. —BULL HARNESSED. 
or worrying the animal, so as to provoke his tem¬ 
per. The same harness may be used to work cows, 
for there are many cases in which they may be 
worked to advantage as well as a bull. A yoke of 
Dutch cows were exhibited at the New England 
Agricultural Fair, of 1873, which had done all the 
plowing and hauling of a 30-acre farm, without 
(gJgsssossSE*,'; 
Fig. 3.— PLOW HARNESS. 
failing in the least in their milk, and without any 
injury whatever to their calves. If this can be 
done in one case, it is worth considering if it may 
not be done in other cases with equal profit. 
Chicken Coops. 
The constant stream of enquiries which are made 
respecting the diseases of chickens and fowls, 
shows that something 
is wrong in their treat¬ 
ment. Poultry gener¬ 
ally suffer from pre¬ 
ventive ills. It is al¬ 
most useless, and rare¬ 
ly ever worth while to 
treat sick poultry. A 
chicken is hardly worth 
the trouble required to 
physic it, and nine out 
of ten die in spite of all 
the treatment that can 
be given them. Poultry- 
are naturally subject to 
very few diseases. If 
kept clean, not over fed, 
not cooped up close, 
kept from foul putrid 
food, supplied with 
clean water regularly, and have abundant pure air 
in their roosting places, they live and thrive without 
any trouble, except in rare cases. The fatal disor¬ 
ders, which result from ill-treatment, cannot be 
cured by medicine. It 
is too late. The mis¬ 
chief has been done 
when the first symp¬ 
toms appear, and the 
best procedure is gener¬ 
ally to kill the diseased 
fowls, and save the rest 
by sanitary measures. 
The foundation of the 
various poultry diseases 
is generally laid while 
the young chicks are in 
the coops. There they 
are crowded in a con¬ 
fined place, which is fre¬ 
quently damp and un¬ 
clean. They are shut up 
close at night in these 
impure quarters, or they are allowed to go forth 
early in the morning, while the grass is wet with 
dew, and become chilled. Some die and some sur¬ 
vive to live unhealthily 
and die finally of roup 
or cholera. To prevent 
these troubles, the 
chickens while young, 
should have the very 
best of care. The coops 
should be so made as to 
secure cleanliness, dry¬ 
ness, ventilation, safe¬ 
ty, and to control the 
movements of the 
chickens. A coop of 
this character, which is 
very convenient in use, 
is shown in the accom¬ 
panying illustrations. 
It is not costly, and it 
will pay to use it for 
common chickens. It is 
portable, having handles by which it can be lifted 
while closed, and moved to fresh clean ground. It 
therefore secures cleanliness, as ground that has 
been occupied by a number of chickens for a few 
days, becomes foul and unwholesome. It is also 
provided with a floor-board or drawer, which can be 
withdrawn every day, and cleaned. If this is sup¬ 
plied with fresh sand or earth daily, the coop will 
be kept clean and sweet, and the manure dropped 
may be preserved for use. It secures dryness, 
because it is raised from the ground by feet at the 
comers, and is covered with a broad sheltering 
roof. It has good ventilation, even when closed, 
by means of the wire gauze at the front, and by 
holes in the ends, which should also be covered 
with wire gauze. It is safe; no chicken can be 
killed in moving it; it is shut up at night, so that 
no rats nor weasels can enter, and the chicks cannot 
roam abroad when the ground is wet. The move¬ 
ments of the hen and chickens can be controlled 
with facility, as the roof is hinged at the peak, and 
opens to admit or remove the hen. The door at 
which the chickens go in or out, and when closed 
is secured by a button. Twice in the season the 
Fig. 2.— REAR VIEW OF COOP. 
coops should be white-washed with hot fresh lime; 
which will keep them free from vermin. Figure 1 
shows a front view of the completed coop, arrang¬ 
ed for two hens. Figure 2 gives the rear view 
with the floor withdrawn, to be emptied and refill- 
Fig. 3.—EARTH DRAWER. 
ed. Figure 3 shows the shape of the movable 
floor. In fig. 4 is a section of the coop through the 
middle, showing the manner in which it is put 
together. There is economy in using such a coop 
Fig. 4.— SECTION OF COOP. 
as this, as one hen, when well cared for, may be 
made to bring up two or three broods together, and 
the hens discarded as mothers go to laying again. 
the front is hinged, and when opened, is let down 
to the ground, and makes a sloping platform upon 
Harvesting Castor Beans. 
In some of the western states, the Castor Bean is 
a convenient and profitable crop. While the plant¬ 
ing and cultivating are not more expensive or 
troublesome than for a crop of corn; the chief 
trouble is in harvesting the crop, which, ripening 
irregularly, makes it necessary to go over the field 
at least four times, to prevent a considerable loss 
of the beans. These repeated passages through the 
field must be provided for in planting, and some 
proper arrangement must be made for gathering 
the beans. Some planters leave a space of six feet 
between every four rows, in which to pass back and 
forth, and then use a sled, such as is shown in the 
accompanying illustration, to collect the beans as 
they ripen. The sled is drawn by one horse, and 
carries two common dry goods boxes, into which 
the spikes are thrown as they are cut; afterwards 
they are carried to the “ popping yard.” When the 
spikes have turned to a dark green color, or the 
lower pods on the spike are ready to burst open, 
they should be gathered at once. Those spikes 
which still have the light bloom upon them, are not 
ready for harvesting, and should be left to ripen for 
a few days longer. If they are cut before they are 
ripe, the beans will be light and imperfect, and not 
fit for planting or for sale. Before the whole crop 
is ripe, it will be necessary to go over the field four 
