454: 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
December, 
in this plan. It will be seen that the four large 
rooms have windows in two of their sides, affording 
the most certain and satisfactory means of ventila¬ 
tion known.—Flues are also provided adjoining each 
room in which registers are put, for use in the more 
severe weather. Provision is made for the escape 
of the air from between the ceiling of the second 
story and the roof.— 
Five strong tin 4-inch 
tubes, with funnel 
covers, are inserted in 
the deck of the princi¬ 
pal roof ; four of them 
are placed 3 feet behind 
the chimneys, and one 
near the rear, connect¬ 
ing with a flattened tube 
leading directly from 
the bath room... .The 
following Intimate 
of the quantities of ma¬ 
terials and labor, of 
their several kinds, and 
their cost, embraces 
everything necessary to 
the completion of the 
house, excepting the 
appliances for. heating, 
which may consist of a 
furnace, fire-place heat¬ 
ers, or open grates, as 
shall be best adapted 
to the location. In this 
Fig. 6.— SECTION OF 
FRAME. 
vicinity, -where hard coal is the chief fuel, we would 
suggest a furnace, placed in the cellar, with large 
pipes arranged to convey warm air to the different 
parts of the house. In localities where bituminous 
coal is used, the open grate gives good results, and 
is exceedingly cheerful in appearance. There are 
ranges and parlor stoves constructed to burn soft 
coal successfully, and it is undoubtedly possible 
that heating furnaces maybe adapted to the use of 
the same fuel. 
Estimate of cost: 
80 yards Excavation, @ 25c. per vard.$80.00 
60,000 brick (complete), @ $10 9 1000.. ... 600.00 
.120 feet Slone Sills and Coping, & 30c. per toot. op.00 
1,000 yards Plastering principal, com’e, @ 30c. per yard oOO.OO 
120 yards Plastering ceiling of cellar, (com'e), @15 c.. 18.00 
4703 feet Timber, ® 2c. per foot.... *>.26 
viz. 2 Sills, 4x8 in. x28 ft. long. 4 Hips, 3x6 in. x 14 It. long. 
68 Beams,3x8 in.xlo lt.l’g. 1 Heck Tie, 3x8 in.x 138l’K. 
34 Beams. 3x8 in. xS ft. l’g. 1 Deck Plate, 3x6 In., 188 lg 
4 Beams, 3x7 in. x 16 ft. long. 1 Main Plate, 3x8 in. x 139. 
9 Beams, 8x7 in.xlO ft. l’g. 1 Tower Plate, 3x8 in. x 34. 
4 Girts, 4x6 in. x 28 ft. long. 4 Tower Posts, 4x6 in. x 14. 
1 Brace. 3x5 in.x 30 ft. long. 1 Piazza, 3x7in. x 220 ft.J’g. 
100 rough plank Batters, @ 25c. each —. 25.00 
300 Wall Strips, 2x4x12, @ 12c. each. . 43.20 
30S Hemlock Boards, 10x13, 1.5 18c. each. 5o.44 
250 Mill-worked Flooring Boards, 9-in. @ 30c. each— i5.00 
130 Furring Strips, 1x2x13, @ 5c. each. .6.50 
3i squares of Tin, @ $8.50 per square.. . .2b3.o0 
16 Windows, 1st story and tower, (complete)@$16 each 2oG.OO 
12 Cellar Windows, (complete), @ $S each . 96.00 
13 Dormer Window-, (complete),® $20each. 260.00 
Cornices, principal and deck. 130.00 
Piazza Stoop and Wing finish (except tin) (complete). 300.00 
Finial on Tower. 6-06 
Stairs, (complete) $100.00; 3S Doors, @ $10 each (co’e), 480.00 
Finish in Closets.25.00 
Mantels and Shelves, (of marble)—. 100.00 
ltsnge, (with elevated oven and water back). 80.00 . 
Plumbing and Gas-pipes.220.00 
Nails and Anchors. 27.10 
Painting, $100; Carl age, $30.v 230.00 
Carpenter’s Labor, not included in the completed w ks 2a0.00 
Total cost, complete.$ 1,000.00 
Science Applied to Farming—XII. 
By Prof. W. O. Atwater, Wesleyan University, 
Middletown , Conn. 
Value of’ Salt-Marsli and Bog Hays.—How to 
use them economically.—Inquiries Answered. 
Along our sea-board are many thousands of acres 
of so-called salt-marshes, and in the interior are 
still larger areas of low, wet lands, on which very 
large quantities of hay of an inferior quality is 
annually gathered. The opinions of farmers as to 
the value of such forage, are widely different. 
Perhaps I shall best answer a number of inquiries 
as to the composition and feeding value of these 
hays, by comparing some of the most important 
ones with various qualities of upland hay and 
straw. This has been made possible by some late 
investigations of Prof. Storer, of the Bussey Insti¬ 
tution, the agricultural department of Harvard 
University, the thoroughness and usefulness of 
whose researches can hardly be over-estimated. 
The table below gives the average results of a num¬ 
ber of Prof. Storer’s analyses of marsh hays, and 
witli them, for the sake of comparison, the compo¬ 
sition of several sorts of hay and straw, which, in 
lack of analyses made in this country, are taken 
from European sources. 
Table 19. 
^1 
o o 
S £ 
KINDS OF HAY. 
§2 1 
100 Pounds contain 
, Ash 
°<§ 
a. Salt Hays. 
Better quality mixed (1).. 
8.2 
7.1 
84.7 
Black Grass (2). 
8.7 
5.2 
86.1 
Kush Salt Grass (3). 
8.6 
6.7 
84.6 
Coarse Salt MarshGrass(4 
15.9 
1U.4 
73.7 
b. Fresh Marsh Hays. 
Boa; Hay (5) cut in .lune.. 
7.4 
6 3 
86.3 
Bog Hay, cut in August... 
8.2 
5.5 
86.3 
c. VariousHays&Straws .6 
Best Upland Hay. 
16.0 
7.7 
76.3 
Medium quality Hay. 
14.3 
6.2 
79.5 
Poor quality Hay. 
14.3 
5.0 
80.7' 
Oat Straw. 
14.3 
4.0 
81.7 
Winter Wheat Straw. 
14.3 
4.6 
81.1. 
Organic Sub¬ 
stance consists of: 
|5^ 
Il!l| 
5 32 7 
.8 33.2. 
.6 33.3 
.1 29.4 
9 33.8' 
9 33.4 
5 19.3 
,7 26.3 
5 33.5 
.5 42.0 
.0 44.0 
u,o e 
S S. R 
V BIS 
& 
41.6 
43.8 
44.9 
36.7 
40.4 
43.5 
40.8 
41.6 
88.2 
34.2 
32.6 
2.9 
2.3 
1.8 
2.5 
2.2 
2.5 
2.0 
2.3 
1.5 
2.0 
1.5 
(1) Mixture of Spike Grass, Brizopyrum spicatum, and 
Sea Spear Grass, Glyceria maritime s; growing on brackish 
marshes.—(2) Juncus Bulbosus.—(3) Called also Red Salt 
Grass, Spartina Juncea.—ti) Called also “ Sedge,” Spartina 
stricta.—t5) Carex stricta.—(3) From European anylyses. 
A comparison of these figures will recall the 
familiar fact, that all these kinds of hay and straw 
contain the same kind of ingredients, but in differ¬ 
ent proportions. They all consist of water, mineral 
matter, or ash, and organic substance. Tiie organic 
substances consist of albuminoids, which contain 
nitrogen, and crude fiber (woody-fiber, cellulose), 
other carbo-hydrates (sugar, starch, gum, etc.), 
and fatty matters, which contain no nitrogen. As 
we go down from the best qualities of hay, to the 
poorer qualities of hay and straw (in c ), the pro¬ 
portion of albuminoids and fats decreases, while 
the crude fiber increases. The better qualities of 
salt hay, (a), correspond very closely with the 
poor quality hay. The fresh bog-liay is somewhat 
better than the European “poor hay,” while the 
inferior salt hays staud between this and straw. 
The Actual Reeding value of these Hays 
depends not merely upon their percentage of albu¬ 
minoids, carbo-hydrates, etc., but on the amounts 
of each of these ingredients which are actually 
digestible and nutritious. The digestibility can be 
learned only by feeding trials with oxen, cows, 
sheep, etc., such as have been described in former 
articles, (see April number). No such trials have 
ever been carefully made in this country, and we 
are left to hope for the time when Experiment Sta¬ 
tions will be established here for the study of such 
questions. Very fortunately for our purpose, how¬ 
ever, many hundreds of feeding trials have been 
made in the European Stations, in which the diges¬ 
tibility of various foods, by different domestic ani¬ 
mals, has been tested. It is found, for instance, 
that if such hay as that designated as “ poor quali¬ 
ty hay” in the table, about 45 per cent of the albu¬ 
minoids, and I of the fats, as an average, will be di¬ 
gestible, while the amount of digestible earbo- 
nydrates will not vary far from the figures for 
“■other carbo-hydrates ” in the table. If we as¬ 
sume then, that as large a part of each pound of 
albuminoids, fats, etc, would be digestible in the 
marsh hays, as in the European “ poor quality hay,” 
the amounts of digestible material in the various 
hays would be as below. 
Table 20. 
KINDS OF HAY 
(AND STRAW). * 
100 Pounds Contain 
Org 
ics 
stai 
e 
e 
an- 
ub- 
ice. 
Cl"— 
5 s 
The 
ible 
sul 
cone 
a 2 
-O O 
^ 55 
di{ 
org 
)star 
iists 
eo 
6 — 
.0 e 
*c; 
7 est-S ■ 
inic SSii 
tee g°=e 
SJI’ 
:o>a i 
•S "21? 
$ 
ffU- 
2|s.§ 
l§|l 
gel* 
° ».© 
a. Salt Hay. 
168. 
Bis. 
R)S. 
Tbs. 
ms. 
Better quality mixed.. 
84.7 
■15.9 
3.4 
41.6 
0.9 1:12.9 
$ .82 
Black Grass. 
86.1 
47.6 
3.9 
■13.8 
0.8 1:15.8 
.84 
Rush Salt Grass. 
84.6 
47.6 
2.1 
45.0 
0.6 1:22.1 
.78 
Coarse Salt Marsh grass 
73.7 
39.7 
2.2 
36.7 
0.8 1:17.6 
.68 
b. Fresh“meadow ” hay 
Bog Hay, cut In June.. 
86.3 
45.6 
4.4 
40.5 
0.7 1: 9 6 
.90 
Bog Hay, cut in August 
86.3 
47.4 
3.1 
43.5 
0.8 1:14.7 
.84 
c. Hay<tstrarc.Europ'n 
Best Upland Hay. 
76.3 
54.5 
9.2 
43.1 
1.2| 1: 5.0 
1.34 
Medium quality Hay... 
Poor quality Hay. 
79.5 
47.4 
5.4 
41.1 
0.9 1: 7.9 
1.00 
80.7 
38.8 
3.4 
3-1.9 
0.5, 1:10.6 
.75 
Oat Straw. 
81.7 
39.9 
1.8 
.37.4 
0.6 1:29.9 
.62 
Winter Wheat Straw... 
81.1 33.1 
0.8 
31.9 
0.4l 1:41.1 
.50 
Let us bear in mind, that while the figures for the 
European products are based on direct experiment, 
those for the American ones are not. Still the lat¬ 
ter are probably not far out of the way. Notice 
how in c the digestible albuminoids fall from 9.2 
lbs. in 1U0 pounds of best upland hay, to 3.4 lbs. 
in “poor quality” hay, and to only 0.8 in wheat 
straw. There is likewise a decrease in the other 
digestible ingredients. 
Marsb linys compared with Upland Hays 
and Straw. 
Taking digestible substance, as a whole, the 
marsh hays generally stand between the “medium ” 
and “ poor ” quality hay, in the table above. It 
should be noted, however, that in Table 19, the 
European products are given with more water than 
ours; with the same proportions of water the 
marsh hays would stand lower in comparison. As 
regards the proportion of digestible albuminoids, 
the most valuable part of the food, the early cut 
bog-hay stands higher, and the better quality salt 
hay about on a par with “ poor quality ” European 
hay. The late cut bog-liay and the black grass, are 
somewhat, and the coarse salt grasses considerably 
inferior to the “ poor quality ” hay, the salt gras¬ 
ses being little better than straw. 
Money Value of Marsh Hays. 
The work of the Farmers’ Experiment Stations 
in Europe, has shown that a pound of digestible 
albuminoids, or of starch, or sugar, or fat, is worth 
about as much in one kind of ordinary fodder as in 
another ; and so, assuming the value of a pound of 
one of these in one food, we can calculate its value 
in other foods. This mode of reckoning is now very 
common in Germany. Thus in table 20, (taken from 
a standard German work), a given quantity of “ me¬ 
dium quality” hay, say 100 lbs., being worth $1, then 
100 lbs. of best upland hay is worth 81.34, and 100 
lbs. of wheat or rye straw are woitli 50 cents. Thus 
computed, the values ®f the salt hays range from 
68 to 84 cents, (table 20). Those who question the 
high value assigned to these marsh hays, and to oat 
or wheat straw, must bear in mind that they have 
these values only when rightly used. The marsh 
hays, like the straws, lack (albuminoids) nitrogen. 
To get their full value we must feed with them 
such nitrogenous foods as oil-cake, bran, malt- 
sprouts, etc. 
How these conclusions are supported by both the 
most advanced science and the most successful 
practice, and how the materials may be profitably 
mixed and fed, I have not space to show further 
here, but will do so soon. 
Ogden Farm Papers.—No. 70. 
BY GEORGE E. WARING, JR., 
One can hardly be surprised at the wide-spread 
interest that seems to have been awakened by the 
reference made in these papers to the question of 
irrigation. Among many encouraging letters re¬ 
ceived from different parts of the country, several 
give important testimony as to the use, and value 
of the systems as practiced here. 
A correspondent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, spent 
last spring in Southern California, where the aver¬ 
age rainfall is less than one-third of what it is here, 
and where it seldom rains at all from the first of 
March to the first of December. “ They rely upon 
irrigation exclusively, and have yet in use the very 
primitive system introduced by the Spanish mis¬ 
sionaries. Yet with this they are able to cut eight 
crops of alfalfa every year, and they cut each time 
from a ton to a ton and a half per acre. I was shown 
a field that had produced such crops for twelve years, 
and the alfalfa was as luxuriant then as when they 
commenced. So too with forest trees, vines, and 
plants of every description, their growth and fruit¬ 
fulness is something wonderful.”—It is considered 
by these farmers, that much of the fertilizing effect 
of the irrigation is due to the high temperature of 
the water, and to the fertilizing material accumu¬ 
lated during the flow of the water from the rains 
over the surface before it reaches the streams. The 
natural fertility of the soil is said not to be great. 
Water from Artesian wells is far less valuable for 
