34^ 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
out frequently with a pail of water and a handful of 
ground gypsum (plaster) should be thrown into it 
every day. By these means, and occasionally wash¬ 
ing the floor and gutters, the stables may be kept 
sweet and clean. There will remain then only the 
impure air from the lungs and bodies of the ani¬ 
mals to be carried off by the ventilators. These 
should be arranged so that no cold drafts can oc¬ 
cur. A number of 
small openings are 
preferable to one 
large one. The 
ventilators may be 
placed in the roofs 
or the walls. They 
should be made 
with movable 
laths, so that they 
can be closed in 
stormy weather 
sufficiently to keep out rain or snow, and yet 
permit foul air to pass outward. Fig. 3 shows 
a roof-ventilator, and figs. 4 and 5 others for the 
walls. It is sometimes very convenient to place 
the last-named over the window, in which case it 
Fig. 4.— SIDE VENTILATOR. 
may be included in the same frame with the win¬ 
dow, at a saving of expense. Windows are not 
good ventilators at all times, unless they are pro¬ 
vided with lathed shutters, as they allow of a strong 
draft of air, which is as likely to blow inward as 
outward, but if a ventilator, as here described, is 
placed over every window, then every need is well 
provided for. These ventilators may be opened or 
shut by means of cords. It will be obvious that 
the wall ventilators should be placed as near the 
ceiling as possible. Abundant spaces covered with 
wire-grating ought to be made in the doors or 
walls near the bottom, to admit fresh air. 
A Feed-Box for Poultry. 
In successfully keeping several hundred fowls at 
a time, we found it to be both economical and con¬ 
venient, to have a supply of food always accessible. 
At the end of the season there was no more corn 
charged in proportion to the number of fowls, than 
in feeding in the ordinary manner. Of several 
kinds of feed-boxes and troughs that were tried, the 
one here illustrated was found to be the best. One 
of its important features is its capacity for accom¬ 
modating a large flock. If made of boards, 16 feet 
long, one box is large enough for 150 fowls. When 
the food is always ready, the fowls do not all want 
to feed at the same time, and 100 can feed at once 
at a trough of this length, with some crowding, 
though not more than is usual in feeding fowls in 
large flocks. Another good feature is its cleanli¬ 
ness, the food cau not be fouled by being tramp¬ 
led and trodden upon, and in feeding fine food, 
none is wasted. Crushed boiled potatoes and meal 
or other soft food may be fed as well as corn, and 
the food is protected from rain and snow. The 
trough is raised upon feet about three inches from 
the ground. On each side is a foot-board, nine 
inches wide, and the feed-space is six inches wide ; 
thus two boards, twelve inches wide, will form the 
bottom. The trough may be two or three inches 
deep, or more, if thought desirable. The feeding- 
spaces are made of square pickets, one inch thick, 
with the edges rounded off smoothly, and a foot 
long. One 6ide of the cover is hinged, so that it 
can be raised in filling the box, and fastened with a 
hasp and peg when shut down. For convenience of 
removal, a small wheel may be placed at one end, 
and a pair of handles at the other, so that it is in 
reality a sort of wheelbarrow, which can be moved 
from place to place. If some little trouble is taken 
to dress the lumber, and put the trough together 
neatly, and to paint it, it will make a very neat ad¬ 
dition to the poultry yard, and will be much more 
durable than if left rough. 
-—Cm—- 
Eve for Winter Pasture.— An early sown 
crop of rye will furnish a valuable winter or early 
spring pasture. The cost would be as follows. 
Plowing one acre, seed two bushels, harrowing or 
drilling, and if necessary some fertilizer. Really, 
the whole cost will be the seed, because the labor 
will be well expended on the land. A portion of 
this cost will be returned in the manure left upon 
the field by the cattle pastured. The return will 
be at least equal to the value of one ton of hay per 
acre, which will be a handsome profit. In addition 
to the value of the feed gained, the condition of 
the stock will be greatly improved by a healthful 
change of feed at a time when it is much needed. 
What is left of the crop after it has been pastured, 
will be valuable to plow under, and the ground 
will be in an excellent condition for a spring crop. 
Does Pork Pay in New England. 
After cyphering on the pork question for the last 
five years, we have found so little profit in good 
years, and so much loss in bad, that we had pretty 
much settled upon the policy of no pork at all upon 
a New England farm. We have no abhorenee of 
swine’s flesh, and shall probably continue to favor 
the baked pork and beans, the boiled dinner, the 
codfish cakes, the fried fish, the spare-ribs, and 
other good dishes of which pork is the glory, unto 
the end, whether the pig is raised in Illinois or in 
our own stye. Looking at the question in a purely 
economical view, we do not think it pays us to 
raise pork to sell. As a matter of private opinion, 
which we should not like to have published outside 
of the Agriculturist family, we think we have lost 
money on every pound of pork we have sold for 
the last five years. It may possibly pay to keep a 
pig or two to utilize the wastes of the family and 
as a matter of esthetics to raise your own pork for 
delicate white lard, and pink slices to broil and fry, 
and for one’s own ham and sausage, but not be¬ 
yond. To raise pork for the general market, brings 
us into competition with the prairies and the Mis¬ 
sissippi Valley, where corn is grown for twenty 
cents or less a bushel. Whole hogs well fattened 
are put down in our village markets every winter 
for about six or seven cents a pound inconsequence 
of this competition of the west, and this does not 
give over fifty or sixty cents a bushel for our corn, 
which is a good deal below the market price. We 
have outgrown the necessity of fattening pork, and 
relying upon the sale to raise money to meet farm 
expenses. We can raise other things that pay 
much better, because they are free, comparatively, 
from the competition of the great west. Butter 
still pays fairly, and a very nice article pays still 
better. It is not difficult to make a style of butter 
that will command fifty to sixty cents a pound sold 
to regular customers every week, in the village or 
city market. The same roots and meal that makes 
pork will make butter. Milk pays better still, 
either sold wholesale in the city, or peddled in the 
village. Raising poultry pays better. Many of our 
farmers raise large quantities of turkeys, geese, 
ducks, hens, and eggs, and the sales run from three 
to six hundred dollars annually. Chickens and 
turkeys brings from two to three times as much a 
pound as pork, and it costs but little more to make 
a pound of poultry than a pound of pork. Sheep 
pay better than pork. With a good sheep pasture 
the returns from a flock for lambs, mutton, and 
wool, are very satisfactory, and the labor is light. 
Raising blooded stock—herd-book animals, horses, 
sheep, and cattle—pays better, if one understands 
the business. Grazing and fattening cattle is a 
good business, and brings up a farm with very little 
labor. We have a class of farmers who make this 
a specialty, buying three and four-year-old steers in 
the spring and selling in the fall. Such farming 
pays well, and fruit farming, and these specialties 
are growing every year with an increasing town and 
city population. If we will study the home markets 
that are springing up in the older states, and aim 
to supply them, we shall make more money and 
raise less pork. New Englander. 
-—as, o- <»—- 
Horse Feed-Troughs. 
Many horses have a disagreeable habit of wasting 
their feed by throwing it out of their mangers in 
the search for the best portions. To prevent this, 
when cut feed is used, the feed-trough may be 
made with cross-bars,as shown in fig. 1. The bars 
prevent any violent jerking of the head in the effort 
to scatter the feed, which cannot be thrown out. 
This trough is well adapted for a loose box. A 
door may be cut in the front of the box or stall, 
opening inwards, which will prevent the horse from 
pushing it open, and a cord maybe affixed by which 
it can be opened and kept raised when desired. A 
hay-trough, furnished with a similar preventive, is 
shown at fig. 2. This is a common form of manger, 
and the grating seen inside is a frame made of iron 
rods, about half an inch thick, which moves upon 
hinges at the back. It may be raised to put in the 
hay, and when let down lies upon the hay, and pre¬ 
vents it from being thrown out. We saw this last 
Fig. 1.— FEED-TROUGH FOR HORSES. 
described arrangement in the very complete barn 
of Messrs. Rei6ig & Hexamer, of New Castle, N. T. 
This barn was fully described and illustrated in the 
Agricultural Annual for 1867; it is worthy of study, 
as it possesses many valuable conveniences. 
-— --- . — - — 
Small Butter Packages. 
The market price of a commodity depends very 
largely upon its quality, appearance, and the con¬ 
venient form in which it is presented to the pur¬ 
chaser. This is especially the case as to dairy pro¬ 
ducts. Butter is exceedingly perishable, and if 
handled or disturbed in the marketing, its value is 
greatly lessened. Dairymen do not seem to know 
this fact, if we are to judge by the way their butter 
comes to market for distribution by retailers. A 
large class of consumers need small packages, 
