1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
irrigation, being much colder, and holding less fer¬ 
tilizing matter in solution or suspension. Mr. J. 
W. Sanborn, of New Hampshire, says that his 
father’s farm has been irrigated for twenty-live 
years, and that while the land is not rich, and the 
product, even with irrigation, not remarkable, 
they think highly of the practice, and find it quite 
profitable. No fertilizers of any kind have been 
used for thirty-five years, yet the productiveness 
of the land is maintained. The area irrigated is 
about one hundred acres, being all that lies below 
the level of the stream. The reservoir is a fifty- 
acre pond, artificially constructed for the purpose, 
and lying three-quarters of a mile away from the 
irrigated land. The water is conveyed in smooth 
channels cheaply made, mostly by the plow. The 
system is rather crude, and not carefully arranged 
in its details. The water is first discharged on the 
highest land, being let out from the main canals at 
intervals, as needed, flowing over the ground in 
thin sheets. Other canals run parallel to the main 
ones, catching its water and distributing it again. 
There is no irrigation in the autumn, and latterly 
the ponds and streams have been used during the 
winter for milling. The irrigation begins as early 
as convenient in the spring, and different parts of 
the land are irrigated and left dry alternately. 
During my absence in Europe, the liquid manure 
works at Ogden Farm, described a few months ago, 
have been completed so far as the discharging gut¬ 
ters are qoncerned. We must wait for heavy rains 
for water enough to start the flow needed to indi¬ 
cate the level or course over the land at which these 
are to be made. It will probably be some months 
before the system is complete, as it is yet quite un¬ 
certain what amount of water we shall have at 
command. 
A correspondent in Oswego County, New York, 
asks for advice as to the disposition of his liquid 
Inanur.e, and whether it would be safe to apply it 
directly to growing crops. There is no question 
ihat it would be perfectly safe to apply the con¬ 
centrated liquid manure collected in his tank di¬ 
rectly to the soil on which his crops grow, but it 
tnay well be too strong to' be safely showered over 
the leaves, especially in dry weather. The best 
course would be to turn into the tank a sufficient 
amount of roof water, or of surface wash of the 
barnyard to dilute the contents. If some mechan- 
cal arrangement can be devised, (similar to my 
own), for handling the liquid by wind-mill and 
gravitation, then the dilution should be as great as 
possible, and its result, within reasonable limits, 
vould doubtless be increased in almost exact pro¬ 
portion to the quantity of liquid used, no matter 
(low large a proportion of water it may contain. 
In reply to this correspondent’s question about ap¬ 
paratus for cooking feed, I would say that I know of 
no improvement on the systems already described. 
From a mass of letters describing the perform¬ 
ances of pure Jerseys, and of grade Jerseys, I select 
one concerning a half-breed, whose sire was a Jer¬ 
sey bull, and whose dam a native cow. She was 
five years old when she calved, April 5, 1875. Dur¬ 
ing one week, one month after calving, she gave 
99'/ 4 quarts of milk, from which there was made 13 
lbs. 15 3 /4 ozs. of butter, being lib. of butter to 7 l / l0 
quarts of milk. Her second trial was for one week 
four months after calving. She then gave 8O 1 /^ 
quarts of milk from which there was made 12 lbs. 
3>/ 4 ozs. of butter, being 1 lb. of butter to 7.07 
quarts of milk. During the first trial she had two 
quarts of buckwheat middlings and four quarts of 
wheat shorts with cut hay. She went to pasture 
May 31, and had no grain up to the time of the sec¬ 
ond trial, but during that week she had a “little 
grain in mashes and slop.” The cow weighs 1,120 
lbs. Her owner is confident that her success is due 
to her Jersey blood. 
The following enquiries come from a farmer in 
Northern Ohio, and as similar questions are often 
asked, I judge that the subject will have general 
interest. The writer has lately bought a dairy 
farm of 150 acres, old, neglected, and run down, 
with the buildings and fences out of repair. He 
wishes to bring it to a high state of cultivation 
with as little delay as possible, and to keep a dairy 
of choice milkers, and raise grade swine. He has 
a thoroughbred short-horn bull, from good milking 
family, and thinks of buying a Berkshire or Essex 
boar to cross with Chester White or native sows, j 
Will sell milk to a factory in summer, and send it j 
to Cleveland in winter. He suggests soiling for 
the sake of the manure, giving in addition to the 
green forage, some form of grain food. He contem¬ 
plated building a large basement barn, but con¬ 
cluded to patch up the old buildings and make 
them answer as long us possible. His soil is a 
heavy yellow clay; land in the vicinity is worth 
$50 to $100 per acre, according to improvements; 
butter averages 30 cents per pound ; milk, 2 cents 
per quart in summer, and 4 cents in winter ; beef 4 
to 5 cents, (gross); hay, $12 per ton ; oats, 40 cents 
per bushel, and other grains in proportion. Under¬ 
draining costs about $35 per acre ; horse manure, 
$1 per wagon load; muck, 25 cents, to be drawn 
four miles. He has understood that rye as a green 
soiling crop checks the flow of milk, although cows 
are fond of it. Wishing to know what course to 
follow to get the best return from a dairy, while 
constantly improving the productiveness of the 
farm, he asks specifically the following questions: 
1. Will it pay me to underdrain my farm, taking 
into consideration the value of land, markets, etc. 
2. For quantity of milk, and beef after a few years 
service as milkers, had I better purchase native 
cows or thorougli-breds to cross with my short¬ 
horn bull, and what breed, or am I right in having 
a short-horn bull ? 3. What rotation shall I prac¬ 
tice in crops, and what crops shall I grow for soil¬ 
ing? 4. How can I bring up the productive capac¬ 
ity of worn-out fields the quickest ? 
I can only answer these questions very briefly. 
(1.) In all probability it will, but try 10 acres and 
see for yourself. (2.) You will do much better 
with a Dutch bull, (what some fanciers call “ Hol¬ 
stein”). The largest milkers among native cows 
that you can find, will be the most profitable foun¬ 
dation for your stock, but it will help very much 
to buy one or two Dutch cows, and so hasten the 
infusion of Dutch blood, which, if well selected, 
will secure the largest quantity of milk. (3.) Oats, 
clover, and green com—depend on the latter from 
mid-summer until frost. Any good farmer in your 
neighborhood can give you better advice than I can 
as to your rotation. (4.) By top-dressing. 
Curiosities of Rifle Shooting. 
We make no pretentions to skill in the use of a 
gun. In early life, in a western wilderness, some 
practice with the old “flint-lock ” was essential, to 
protect the farm stock from wild animals, but our 
life has been too busy to allow much time to shoot¬ 
ing for sport; nor, except being present at the 
opening day of “Creedmoor,” have we participated 
in, or witnessed any of the recent rifle practice, 
save that of a small rifle association near our coun¬ 
try residence. So we write not professionally, but as 
an “ amateur ” in the fullest sense. . .Two months 
ago,when needing some physical exercise, combined 
with recreation, we purchased a “ Remington rifle,” 
(which, by the way, has proved itself an almost per¬ 
fect fire-arm), and after working at the writing desk 
until 3 or 4 p. M., we have, now and then, gone out 
with a few literary, professional, and business 
friends, to try our hands at the target, shooting 200 
yards on Saturday afternoons, and 1,000 yards when 
out on any other days. This has lead to brushing 
up the principles of “gunnery,” which were in¬ 
cluded in our regular course of mathematical stud¬ 
ies, thirty odd years since, and to examining some 
of the modern improvements, a few of which are 
noticed below.—Those wishing full details in the 
art, and science, of rifle-shooting, are referred to 
Col. Wingate’s Manual, noticed last month, (a very 
good book, by the way, supplied at $1.50 post-paid). 
We will give here only a few items, of general 
interest to all, and useful to those handling a gun. 
4:55 
Modern fire-arms are now generally loaded at the 
breech, by inserting there a cartridge, or metallic 
shell, containing powder, bullet, or 6hot, with per¬ 
cussion powder in the rim, (fig. 1), to be struck 
with the lock hammer; or with a percussion cap 
in the center of the 
rim, (fig. 2), which is 
struck by a pin driven 
JTig.i.-imi-rnm cartiiidgeT ^y the hammer^ 
hence called “cen¬ 
tral fire.” This charging is done so rapidly, 
i U la t a gun may be loaded and fired from fifteen to 
i thirty times a minute, not allowing for the time 
j used in sighting. The breech-loaders shoot quite 
as accurately as the slow muzzle-loaders,when new, 
and more so after much use, as the latter become 
more or less worn by the ramrod, etc., right at the 
muzzle, the part that gives the last direction to the 
ball or charge of shot_The percussion pow¬ 
der drives the fire all through the charge in¬ 
stantly, so that the aim is not lost while waiting 
for the powder to ignite through from the pan of 
the flint-lock_Coarse-grained powder is now pre¬ 
ferred, even for small arms, while for heavy ord- 
Fig. 2.—CENTEK-FIKE CAKTIUDGE. 
nance, cannon-powder as coarse-grained as chest¬ 
nuts, and even walnuts, is used. The kernels bum 
inward, and increase the force as the charge moves 
through the barrel_Instead of the old round 
balls, elongated conical bullets (fig. 3) are now 
generally adopted. These meet much less resist¬ 
ance from the air, in proportion to their weight and 
momentum. For example, the Creedmoor bullet, 
(fig. 3), weighing' 550 grains, (H ounces), may be 
considered as a rod, 4 ‘/ 10 oths of an inch in diameter, 
and li inches long, with 4 inch more in a cone, or 
rounded head. The same amount of lead in a 
round ball would be nearly 4 inch (.73) in diameter. 
A section through the long bullet contains only 
about one-seventh of a square inch (.152); while a 
section through the round ball measures nearly i 
of a square 
inch (booths), 
or nearly 24 
times as much. 
So, the round 
Fig. 3.—550 GRAIN BULLET—FULL SIZE. b a U> °J the 
same weight, 
would meet 24 times as much resistance from the 
air; therefore, with the same powder as for the 
found, the long bullet would fly nearly three 
times as far, while the conical or pointed end, 
and other reasons connected with the displacement 
of the air in larger quantity, adds much more to 
the effectiveness of the long bullet. Shooting is 
now done at half a mile with as much power and 
accuracy , as it could formerly be done at 30 or 40 
rods ....The best rifle bullets are “swaged,” that 
is, pressed in a steel-mold, which gives them uni¬ 
form shape and density, not attainable in casting 
melted lead in molds, audare carefully “ patched,” 
or wrapped with paper. They now have 1 ounce 
of tin to 15 ounces of lead, which makes them 
harder ; they thus retain their perfect shape better, 
lead the barrel 
less, and are not 
so likely to lose 
their form in the 
air.Another 
great improve¬ 
ment is in “ rifl- 
Fig. 4. —WIND-GAUGE SIGHT. ’ & UnS Of all 
sizes, even the 
heaviest cannon. Spiral grooves, like long screw- 
threads, are cut on the inside of the barrel. These 
spin the bullet on its longer axis, like a top. Any im¬ 
perfections of form, or difference in density on any 
part of it, which would send it out of a direct line, 
are rapidly turned in every direction, as itnuivis on¬ 
ward, and it thus keeps a true line. But tor this 
motion, it would turn around, and move “ butt-end 
foremost.” The Indian long ago kept his arrow 
point forward, and in accurate flight, by binding 
