138 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
and are intended to be of canvass, after passing 
through the floor, so that they may be turned to 
one side and out of the way. These rooms need 
not be more than 7 or 7‘| a feet high. From the 
thrashing floor, two shutes, or trap doors com¬ 
municate with the floor below—one near the 
stairs for cut hav, etc., one near the litter bay, 
through which bedding may be thrown down at 
the rear of the cows, while the ventilator is 
also used as a shute, and through it, long hay is 
Fig. 4.— PLAN OF BARN-CELLAR. 
thrown down, falling in the passage-way between 
the horse stables and the cow mangers. This ven¬ 
tilator ( V) is 3 x 3 feet square, and extends from 
the cattle floor out through the roof of the barn. 
The plan of the cattle floor (fig. 3) needs little 
explanation. The stairs at e are hinged and 
may be turned up and fastened, so that a cart 
can be driven, or backed under them, to dump a 
load of green fodder upon the floor' or one of 
muck to be thrown through the trap door / to 
the pigs. The feed-box d is movable. Near 
the end of the barn, where the horse and ox 
stalls are, the shed for wagons, carts, tools, etc., is 
supposed to be placed. At & a hydrant and 
water-trough is placed. One corner of the horse 
stable may be partitioned off for nice harness, 
etc., if desired. In the cellar plan, fig. 4, a root 
cellar is provided, also a floor where steaming 
apparatus may be set up. Here the “ working 
hogs ” are to be kept, and either shut off from the 
manure, or allowed to range over it, and given 
the range of the barn-yard besides, if that be de¬ 
sirable. This cellar is accessible to carts or 
wagons through three 8-foot doors, and it is light- 
T $ 
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1 
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Fig. 5. — SECTION OF BARN. 
ed by windows in these doors, and by others in 
the ends. The ground of the barn-yard slopes 
towards the cellar, and the water is collected in 
a tank to be pumped through a hose over the 
manure whenever it gets too dry, or too hot. 
Fig. 5 represents a cross-section of the barn, and 
shows the framing and slope of the ground. 
Wooden Shoes for Horses. 
Much labor would be saved in gathering the 
hay crop upon salt marshes and on reclaimed 
swamps, if horses could be used for mowing, 
raking, and carting. It often happens that the 
farmer has several acres of this soft land, where 
the crop costs all it is worth to gather it. He 
must mow, rake, and move the grass by hand, 
or let it rot upon the ground. "We recently saw 
a wooden shoe that completely remedied this 
difficulty. It was made of stout oak board, one 
inch in thickness, 10 inches long, and 8 broad, 
and rounded at the corners. Fig. 1 shows 
the bottom of the shoe. A cleat is fastened 
across each end to prevent it from splitting, and 
to give additional strength to the shoe; this 
should be fastened either with stout screws 1 3 | 4 
inches long, or with wrought iron nails driven 
through and clinched upon the upper side. An 
iron strap is fastened across the middle of the 
shoe to receive the shanks of the strap going 
over the hoof of the horse, which are held in 
place by screws and nuts. Fig. 2 shows the 
upper side of the shoe. The horse should be 
rough shod, and places should be cut into 
which the toe and heel corks will snuglv fit. 
Fiy. 1.— UNDER SIDE. 
Fi<r. 2.— top op shoe. 
-SHOE FITTED. 
In fig. 3 the hoof is shown as it stands upon the 
shoe. An iron strap (fig. 4) is fitted to the hoof, 
and the shanks pass through the plank and are 
fastened with a nut and screw. This shoe is so 
simple in its construction that any one accus¬ 
tomed to the use of car¬ 
penters’ tools can make 
the wooden part of it, 
and a blacksmith can 
furnish the iron straps 
and screws. A common 
monkey-wrench will be 
needed to put on the 
nuts, and to tighten 
them, if they get loose. 3- 
Aset of shoes made of good white oak will last 
a great many years. It will be seen that the 
shoe enlarges the lower surface of the hoof 
about four times. It is found in practice that a 
light horse, weighing, say 900 lbs., shod in this 
way, can go upon any soft land, where a man 
could walk, with safety. If the horses 
are very heavy, or the land very soft, 
the shoes must be enlarged. These ar¬ 
ticles had been in use upon the farm 
where we saw them, some ten years, 
and so manifest were their advantages Fig. 4. 
that they had been adopted by all the farmers in 
the neighborhood who had occasion for them. 
They were in use by all the owners of a large 
reclaimed salt marsh, and the facility they 
afforded for gathering the crop, had added very 
much to the value of the land. To owners of 
marsh lands these shoes will be invaluable. 
Hints on Turkey Raising. 
The southern part of New London county, 
Conn., is famous for its turkeys, and the manner 
of raising them is thus described by “A Na¬ 
tive ”: “ Ten or twelve hens with a gobbler is 
a good stock, and if there is a good range for 
them, this number may he kept with very little 
more trouble than a trio. Birds from 2 to 4 
years old will bring much stronger chicks than 
yearlings, and give much better results. But if; 
from any cause, last year’s hens are kept, let 
them be from the early broods. The late broods 
should all be sent to market. It is a great point 
to make the hens all lay near home, and for this 
purpose it will pay to yard them for a few days 
when they commence laying. They are thus 
much more easily protected from foxes, skunks 
and vermin, and are much more likely 
to keep together in one flock. When the 
young ones are large enough to go to the fields, 
make houses or shelters for them to lay in, and 
if possible, have them several rods apart, so that 
at hatching time the turkeys will not be able to 
hear the peeping of their neighbor’s chicks. 
This will sometimes make a sitting turkey so 
uneasy that she will abandon her own eggs. If 
nests are made near one another the hens should 
be set at the same time, so as to come off togeth¬ 
er. This is also desirable in case of failure of a 
part of the eggs to hatch. Two broods maybe 
given to one mother to the number of 18 or 20 and 
the other hen will very soon begin to lay again. 
The eggs should be carried in at night, if frost is 
threatened, and be returned to the nest again in 
the morning. The heat that they receive from 
the birds while laying, and the turning that they 
get is said to have a favorable influence upon 
them and to make them hatch better. There is 
a difference of a day or two in the hatching of 
a fresh and an old egg, although they be of the 
same clutch. The old bird is inclined to accom¬ 
modate her movements to the strongest of her 
family, and the weakest are frequently left be¬ 
hind and lost. When they come off, confine 
from one to three broods in a pen from 10 to 15 
feet square, made by setting up wide boards 
edgewise, so that the jmung ones cannot jump 
out. The old ones will not wander far from the 
pen, and in about a week the chicks will be 
able to clear the boards, when they may be 
safely left to go with the hens. In storms they 
should be sheltered. Give a little food at first. 
Indian meal is too fine, and frequently kills 
them. Get eftrn cracked at the mill on purpose, 
and increase its size as the chicks grow. Wheat, 
buckwheat and oats are good for them when a 
few weeks old. Feed, also, at first, with some 
kind of fresh animal food. Chopped liver and 
beef, boiled eggs and curdled milk are good. 
The success of the turkey crop depends mainly 
upon the first month. They should be brought 
home to the poultry yard every night. For the 
first three weeks a boy or girl should be em¬ 
ployed to watch them, keep away hawks and 
other enemies, and see to the stragglers. Not a 
few chicks are lost in the grass and perish be¬ 
cause they lose the sound of the mother’s voice. 
One child can watch the broods of a dozen hens, 
and keep them in the same range—a great deal 
of trouble later in the season. For, if they be¬ 
gin to feed together they will naturally take the 
same course every morning, and all the turkeys 
will be found near together when they are 
sought at night, if they should fail to come of 
their own accord. If fed every night they will 
rarely fail to make their appearance when the 
cows come for milking. A pasture is the 
