380 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[October, 
than a hundred of these parasites were imbedded. 
Fig. 0 is an accurate drawing—half life size—of a 
fluke taken from a deer’s liver in Minnesota, by 
Mr. Joseph Batty, formerly connected with the 
Agriculturist , and an experienced naturalist. Nu¬ 
merous other specimens were sent by him to the 
Smithsonian Insti¬ 
tute, at Washing¬ 
ton, for preserva¬ 
tion. The fact 
that this parasite 
abounds, should 
be a caution to 
owners of sheep to 
be on the lookout 
for its appearance 
in their flocks. The 
present season hav¬ 
ing been more than 
„ usually rainy, has 
system™ been a favorable 
one for its increase 
in low grounds, and it is probable that during the 
coming winter we may experience more thau usual 
trouble from this cause. Fortunately we have an 
unerring and timely symptom of the disease in the 
absence of the usual red color at the corner of the 
sheep’s eye, and beneath the eyelid. When the sheep 
is seen to be ailing, and this sign is perceived, the 
above remedy should bo administered without 
delay, and the sheep should have some extra nutri¬ 
tious food, linseed-cake meal being the best. 
Fig. 6.—FLUKE 
FROM A DEER. 
To Raise Old Fence Posts. 
To remove old fence posts in the easiest man¬ 
ner, there is required a bar or lever six or eight 
Poultry-Keeping as a Business. 
There is more fascination than profit in poultry- 
kepping for those who know hut little about it. 
The work seems to be very light, the fowls are sup¬ 
posed to be docile and easily managed, and the 
general idea is that 
there is nothing to do st 
but scatter some corn 
upon the ground two 
or three times a day, 
and gather the eggs and 
market the fowls as 
fast as they grow fat. 48 BS5& 
The numerous letters 
we receive, asking for 
information about poul¬ 
try - keeping and the 
profits of it, are in great 
part from persons who 
possess this idea. For Z 
instance, one corre¬ 
spondent asks how 
many fowls will sup- gpt 
port a family of six 
persons, as though it 
was a matter of figures, 
and only necessary to 
procure a certain num¬ 
ber of fowls and a 
sented, will he fatal to success. Upon the char¬ 
acter of the ground will depend greatly the kind of 
buildings needed. A building suitable for a flock 
of poultry kept for business and profit, where the 
available ground is of small extent, is shown in our 
illustration. The building of which this is a sketch 
is in the center of a plot of land of less than two 
Fig. 1.—POULTRY HOUSE FOR RAISING CHICKENS FOR MARKET. 
METHOD OF LIFTING FENCE POSTS. 
house, and start them laying eggs and producing 
chickens to secure a permanent income. Now it 
is quite safe to say that any person who knows so 
little about the trouble and risks of poultry-keep¬ 
ing as this, would fail in it and lose his money, un¬ 
less he should start with a dozen or two fowls, and 
go through an apprenticeship to the business. For 
a certain class of per¬ 
sons poultry-keeping 
is a very appropriate 
business, and may 
he made profitable. 
Those who are pos¬ 
sessed of plenty of 
patience and perse¬ 
verance,kindness and 
gentleness of disposi¬ 
tion, a scrupulous 
love of order and 
cleanliness, a habit of 
close observation and 
quick perception, and 
a ready tact in finding 
out the cause when 
anything goes wrong, 
and in quickly re¬ 
medying it, will gen¬ 
erally succeed in 
keeping poultry, 
feet long, and furnished with a hook at one end. 
Then backing up the running gear of a wagon from 
which the box has been removed, near the post, 
the lever is laid across the hind axle, and hooked to 
a link of a short chain w r ith a ring at one end, 
which is looped around the post as low down as 
possible. To get a long purchase, the operator 
may stand on the reach of the wagon, and then, by 
throwing his whole weight upon the bar, the post 
may generally be raised so far out of the ground at 
once, that it can he lifted the rest of the distance 
without the use of the lever. If this is not the case 
the loop of the chain is to be slipped down lower 
on the post, and another lift will bring it up. A 
bottom-hoard may be placed on the wagon, which 
will give good standing room, and then the posts 
may be loaded as soon as they are drawn out of 
the ground, and removed. The annexed engrav¬ 
ing illustrates this method very clearly. 
Procuring Winter Feed. —At this season a 
forehanded farmer may profitably lay in a stock of 
feed for the winter. Bran, mill-feed, or even brew¬ 
er's grains may be bought in quantities very cheap¬ 
ly, as occasion may offer. The grains may be heap¬ 
ed in a field, covered first with straw, and then with 
earth, just as roots are pitted, in which condition 
they may be kept in good order until spring 
while those not so endowed will generally fail, and 
should never attempt it. Again, one must be able 
to justly appreciate either the difficulties or ad¬ 
vantages of his location, 
such as the character of 
the land and its surround¬ 
ings, the ’ supply of food 
and the available mar¬ 
kets. It would be folly 
to keep fowls on the 
borders of a forest or the 
margin of a swamp, on 
account of the vermin 
which such places shel¬ 
ter ; it would be a great 
advantage to be located 
near a number of summer 
boarding - houses, where 
there is a good demand 
for eggs and chickens, or 
near a large city, where 
early plump chickens sell 
sometimes for 75 cents a 
pound, and where cheap 
food in the shape of vari¬ 
ous kinds of offal can be procured. A want of 
knowledge how to seize upon all the advantages 
that may offer, or to avoid all the difficulties pre¬ 
acres, which is divided into two portions, one be¬ 
ing in grass and the other cultivated with fodder 
corn, rye, potatoes, or other crops. The house has 
two entrances, front and rear, so that the fowls 
may be turned into either part of the plot. It con¬ 
sists of a central building, with a wing upon each 
side. It is built of boards, and covered with Johns’ 
asbestos roofing, which has the effect of discourag¬ 
ing the presence of 
lice by its strong 
tarry odor. The 
central apartment 
has three roosting 
poles on each side 
of the middle pas¬ 
sage. From this 
apartment there 
are holes leading 
to rows of nests in 
the side apart¬ 
ments. These are 
appropriated for 
sitting hens, and 
for a room for 
packing eggs and 
2.—interior of poultrt 
HOUSE. 
a hospital for sick fowls, which are separated from 
the others until they are cured. When a hen is 
found sitting at night, she is shut off from the cen¬ 
tral apartment, and the nest opened to the side 
one. Above the central part of the building is a 
loft for keeping pigeons. The crops raised are for 
food or shelter for the chickens, and to encourage 
Fig. 1.— CATCHING A SHEEP. 
the presence of insects, upon which the young 
chicks may feed. Sheltered by the rows of corn¬ 
stalks, or the stalks of rye or potatoes, the chicks 
