56 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
so that the first day it needs no food, the next 
day but little, and it is only on the third or 
fourth day that the little things experience real 
hunger when deprived of food. This period 
comes sooner in cold than in warm weather, 
and quicker, too, if they are not properly 
brooded. It is absolutely necessary to keep 
chickens warm and dry. They should have 
clean coops, and a clean, dry, sunny run. These 
requisites are very conveniently provided by 
using hot-bed sashes in the manner shown in 
tire accompanying engraving. Three large 
Fig. 1. —CHICKEN-RUN AND COOP. 
hot-bed sashes cover a space of about 72 square 
feet, abundantly sufficient for four clutches. The 
frame on which the sashes are laid is made of 
2 x 3-inch stuff, and supported by stakes driven 
into the ground at the corners and such other 
points as may be needed to give firmness, and 
the frame is nailed through to these posts. The 
slant given to the sashes need not be more 
than one foot in the six feet, the rear posts being 
therefore 18 or 20 inches high, and the front 
ones 6 or 8. Boards are placed between the 
coops and at the ends, and earth or litter is 
banked up and packed firmly against them. If 
the coops open at the back, it will be found 
convenient for cleaning them out, and removing 
the hen if necessary. Ventilation takes place 
through the openings in the peaks of the coops, 
which, however, should not be so large that 
chickens can fly up and get out. The chickens 
are fed and watered by slipping the sashes up 
or down, and it might also be convenient to 
have a pane of glass arranged so as to be re¬ 
moved at each end. A mat should be provided, 
to give shade in case the place gets too hot, and 
the sashes may be lifted a little at the upper 
end, to give freer ventilation. Thus the tem¬ 
perature may be perfectly and easily controlled. 
We indicate in the engraving two partitions; 
one crosses the middle of the space, dividing it 
into two equal, square parts; the other di¬ 
vides one of the squares in two equal, triangular 
parts. This gives the chickens of each coop 
18 square feet of space. A warm, shady shelter 
is easily made by laying a board against the 
front posts, as shown ir the accompanying dia¬ 
gram (fig. 2). This, if covered with warm ma¬ 
nure, packed above it, and covered with a 
layer of earth, will warm through and give 
a very pleasant place for the chickens to run 
under in cool weather. When the weather be¬ 
comes warmer the manure will have lost its heat. 
Salt-Muck.—Will it Pay to Dig it? 
For shore farmers, who have creeks penetra¬ 
ting their meadows, we have no doubt that salt- 
muck is one of the cheapest sources of manure. 
In an analysis made some ten 
years since by Prof. Johnson of 
Yale College, it was shown to 
contain 5.41 per cent, of po¬ 
tential ammonia, standing at 
the head of all the 33 specimens 
of peat and muck analyzed for 
the State Agricultural Society. 
This sample was taken from a 
ditch in Stonington, where the 
tide-water flowed daily, and 
was probably a fair specimen 
of what is now found in in¬ 
exhaustible quantities in the 
creeks all along our coast. The 
analysis was made on account 
of the very noticeable results, 
which followed its use, both 
upon grass and corn, in that 
town. This deposit is made up very largely 
of decayed marine plants, and the silt brought 
into the sea from fresh-water 
streams. River deposits and 
marine plants are well-known 
fertilizers. If the kelp and rock 
weed are so valuable in the 
fresh state they ought to be still 
more so when they have been 
rotted down in the water, and 
their bulk so much reduced. 
J. J. Day used it freely upon 
his meadow at Stonington, and the result 
was not only remarked upon the corn crop, 
to which it was applied, but upon the subse¬ 
quent grain and grass crops. The mud was 
raised by hand into a scow, and from thence 
carted upon the land. J. D. Fish, of the same 
town, has improved upon the method of raising 
it. He uses a steam derrick rigged like a com¬ 
mon mud digger. The mud is dropped from 
the bucket, immediately into the cart, and is 
driven off and dumped upon the meadow. After 
lying a few weeks to dry, the heaps are spread 
with a shovel. "We see no reason why the com¬ 
mon mud digger, used to deepen channels, 
could not be made available for this purpose. 
It could readily be taken into many of our creeks 
and the mud be dropped directly into carts, back¬ 
ed a little into the water. It would require of 
course a good many extra 
teams, and extra expense for 
help, but if it is worth only half 
as much as yard manure, it 
will pay abundantly. The 
whole surface dressed with this 
mud upon Mr. Fish’s farm 
this autumn was a few weeks 
after its application distinctly 
marked by the greenness of the aftermath. It 
is too early of course to tell what the next crop 
will be, but there is every indication that it will be 
abundant, and that the muck will pay for digging. 
---—So--- —- 
Manure in a bulky form is less liable to 
damage; it goes further; is better incorpo¬ 
rated with the soil, and it produces more 
effect than that which is more concentrated. 
Clod Crushers. 
As a rule, harrows and rollers, used one after 
the other, are the best clod crushers, but there 
are many soils which no reasonable amount of 
rolling and harrowing will bring into good tilth, 
which a good clod crusher would put in good 
shape with once going over. Clod crushers for 
such work, however, like the best rollers, arc 
not home-made articles. The common clod 
crushers, such as almost any one can make, are, 
nevertheless, fair substitutes for the roller in 
subduing land before it is sown with grain, and 
on some lands may even be used after grain is 
sown and harrowed. A clod crusher of very 
simple construction and which can be made in a 
few minutes is shown in fig. 1, which represents 
4 logs, about 10 inches in diameter at the largest 
end, and eight feet long, fastened together by a 
chain. This, having quite a large “bight” to 
hitch to, is run through holes bored about a foot 
from the ends of each log. The logs are fast¬ 
ened apart by keys put into the links, and should 
be separated about half their diameters. The 
keys may be rings or pieces of large wire bent 
so as not to slip out. Convenient forms are 
shown in figure 2. They must be made of wire 
strong enough to stand a heavy strain, so that 
if the implement runs against a fence, tree or 
stump, it will not break. The engraving shows 
sufficient length of chain behind to attach 
another log if desired. This makes a very good 
smoothing implement. It may be drawn even, 
or the clevis for attaching the horses may be 
at one side, in which case the earth will be 
more or less shoved to one side to fill dead 
furrows, etc. In figure 3, a form of clod crush¬ 
er is shown which is superior for smoothing 
Fig. 2.— WIRE LINKS FOR CLOD CRUSHERS. 
rough, irregular land. This also is made of logs 
about 10 inches in diameter, which are set in a 
frame, being morticed in, as shown in figure 4. 
In passing over little knolls and hummocks 
nearly the whole weight of the affair bears upon 
the highest points, and levels them down 
considerably. This clod crusher may be made 
either with or without teeth. If employed, they 
should be inserted at an angle of 45° to the mor¬ 
tice, and may be longer or shorter, according to 
the work to be done. They should, however, 
never be long or numerous enough to prevent 
the logs resting upon the ground. The opera¬ 
tion of the teeth is to crowd strawy manure out 
Fig. 3.— CLOD CRUSHER OF LOGS IN A FRAME. 
