1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
379 
Discouragement often comes from this cause. 
Another reason why young fanciers are dis¬ 
couraged is that they make a poor selection of 
the kind, best for them to keep. They select a 
variety that will fly like pigeons, and so destroy 
the garden; or they try to make heavy fowls 
roost six or eight feet high, and they bruise 
themselves and “bumble” their feet in flying 
down, and so get sore and lame. Yet another 
cause for discouragement is in attempting to 
keep several kinds pure. The result is, almost 
invariably, unless poultry breeding is entered 
upon as a business, or at least as an important 
part of farming, that before three years pass, 
all are running together promiscuously. 
We advise every body that can do so to keep 
fowls, and to make a fancy of some particular 
breed. Nine out of ten ought to keep but one 
pure breed. All the cocks of the yard should 
be of this kind. When careful bree'ding is at¬ 
tempted, the cocks should all be separated from 
the hens, and towards evening the hens driven 
into separate enclosures, that each cock may be 
placed with his own hens. When they have 
gone to roost, they must again be separated. 
This course will be beneficial to the hens, be¬ 
cause they will have a free run all the time, 
while it will be no less beneficial to their mates. 
The breeds most likely to give satisfaction, 
where the winters are cold and the breeder is a 
novice, are Light Brahmas, Colored Dorkings, 
Cochins of any color except black, Houdans, 
and Guilders. To these we add, if ability to fly 
is no objection, Leghorns, and Dominiques. 
After a few years’ experience, breeds will com¬ 
mend themselves to the fancier, according to his 
facilities and the fashion of the time. For there 
are always prevailing fashions amoDg poultry 
fanciers, and these govern the value of fowls 
and the estimation in which they are held. The 
following breeds, while they require careful 
breeding, may be highly recommended as al¬ 
ways useful and valuable: Dark Brahmas, 
Games, Black Spanish, all of the Hamburglis, 
all of the Polands, all of the French fowls, es¬ 
pecially the La Fleche, and not omitting the 
Crevecoeur. To meet with success as a breeder 
of Bantams, one must be a first-class fancier in 
the full meaning of that word—which, as we un¬ 
derstand it, is one who brings to bear upon the 
rearing of breeds, which he fancies, all his skill 
and care, and all the knowledge he can gain, 
without regard to whether it pays or not. 
- -=«-<———- 
Make tie Pigs Fat. 
Pigs are scarce and pork is likely to command 
a good price. A well-fatted pig brings at least 
two cents per pound more than one with bare 
kidneys and thin sides.- Eight bushels of corn, 
with ordinary pigs, that have nearly attained 
their growth, should give us at least 100 pounds 
of growth.- At 10 cents per pound, live weight, 
the present price for fat pigs in Chicago, this 
would give us one dollar a bushel for the corn. 
But this is not all. If we sell a pig not half fat, 
weighing say 250 pounds, we should get only 8 
cents per pound, or $20. Keep this pig two 
months, and feed it eight bushels of corn and it 
should then weigh 350 pounds and bring, with¬ 
out any advance in prices, 10 cents per pound, 
or $35. In this way we get $15 for 8 bushels 
of corn, or ll.ST’^per bushel. 
During October, fattening pigs should be 
pushed forward as rapidly as possible. It is 
poor economy to feed them on nubbins, or 
soft, immature corn. Better give such corn to 
the cattle or to milch cows. But if it must be 
fed to the fattening pigs let them at any rate 
have one or two meals a day of sound corn. 
And take pains to induce them to eat as much 
as they can digest. The chief points in fatten¬ 
ing pigs are: Comfortable quarters, a constant 
supply of -water in a separate trough, regular 
feeding, and undisturbed sleep. As to how long 
it will be profitable to continue the fattening, 
we know of no better test than the amount of 
food consumed. A two hundred pound pig 
that is doing well will eat at least a bushel of 
corn a week—and if he eats more and digests it 
you may be pretty sure he is growing rapidly 
and is paying well for his feed; but as he gets 
“ filled up ” he will eat less, and so long as this 
is due to his being more quiet and contented, 
and to sleeping more, it is little or no disadvan¬ 
tage, but when it arises from loss of appetite, or 
impaired digestion, there is little profit in keep¬ 
ing him longer. A three hundred and fifty or 
four hundred pound pig, that cannot be induced 
to eat more than three quarts of corn meal a 
day, must be gaining very little and had much 
better be killed and put into the pork barrel. 
Inland Water-Carriage in a small way. 
Railways have thrown canals-quite out of 
fashion the world over, yet every political econ¬ 
omist know r s that of all means of transportation 
of heavy goods, water-carriage is by far the 
cheapest. It is also the slowest. It may be 
used inland on rivers, brooks, canals, and lakes. 
Yfe can, in fact, hardly have a steady flowing 
stream so small that it may not be so widened 
and deepened, that upon prevailingly level land 
it can not be used as a canal for flatboats and 
dug-outs. We associate with the word canal 
the idea of an artificial river, 30 to 100 feet wide, 
and capable of floating boats of several hundred 
tons’ burden. A ditch eight feet in width, two 
feet deep, and half a mile long, connecting a 
farmer’s barn-yard with his meadows at a dis¬ 
tance, is just as much a canal as is the Erie; 
and there is hardly any limit to the service such 
a canal might be to some farmers. We have a 
farm in mind where such a ditch might be 
dug nearly a mile long; and while it would 
serve to drain the extensive meadows it would 
pass through, it would come at its lower ex¬ 
tremity within eight rods of the farmstead, and 
might be filled in half a day at most seasons. 
This canal would probably require one lock, as 
the fall in the entire distance would be about 
six feet. Locks interpose but little difficulty 
when there is plenty of water. They involve, 
it is true, delay; but the small quantity of water 
necessary to float the boats ordinarily used makes 
it a small matter. On some of the canals in 
Germany, empty boats are drawn by a horse 
around the locks on rollers when the water is 
low. When locks are required, the canals are 
usually wider and the boats shorter and broad¬ 
er than otherwise. This is also necessary wdien 
very bulky loads will usually be put upon the 
boats; for it is easy to see that a very long and 
narrow boat would not carry a load of hay so 
w r ell as one of grain or manure. Yet when 
they can be used, narrow ones are preferred, 
because they require s® much less labor to draw, 
row, or pole them at a moderate rate of speed. 
Not only might such canals be of great use 
on many inland and tide-water farms, but near 
our seaboard cities great quantities of vegeta¬ 
bles might be easily transported to market, and 
return loads of manure obtained; two men 
only being required to manage a large boat, 
and the power of a single man on the tow-line 
being sufficient to draw six or eight tons at a 
comfortable rate of speed,—say two and a half 
miles an hour. One horse will draw upon a 
canal, fifty to seventy tons, two and a half to 
three miles an hour, as easily as he can draw 
1,700 or 1,800 pounds upon wheels. A strong 
boat that will carry six or eight tons will cost 
not nearly so much as a common farm wagon. 
Locks may be made a little wider and longer 
than the boats used, so that they will never 
bind, and should have plank sides and bottom, 
well caulked, and be packed around the outside 
of the lock with a puddling of clay uniformly 
moistened and well rammed beneath and around 
the channel. There should be a single door or 
gate, opening up stream, to close each end, and 
these gates may have a flap of rubber around 
their edges as a secure packing to prevent leak¬ 
age; and there must be small gates to let the 
water in and out previous to opening the great 
gates. Locks are rather expensive, but need not 
be a serious obstacle if other things favor a canal. 
The Muck Mines, 
"We shall lose one of the great blessings of the 
drouth if we fail to work the muck mines. On 
many farms these are laid bare for only a few 
weeks in the year, and then extra help should 
be employed to get out a large quantity for fu¬ 
ture use. We have tried this muck so long and 
so thoroughly, and derived so much benefit from 
it, that we shall make no apology for frequent 
allusion to it. We are fully persuaded that any 
farmer, who has one of these mines of peat or 
muck upon his farm, can make no better use of 
his capital than by working it. If he should get 
two or three years’ stock on hand—a thousand 
cords or more, it will pay a good interest upon 
the investment. It is all the while improving 
by exposure to the atmosphere, and will be more 
valuable in the sties, stables, and yards. Well- 
cured muck alone is a valuable top-dressing for 
the meadows. It starts the grass earlier, it ab¬ 
sorbs ammonia from the rains and snows, and 
helps to protect the grass-roots in the winter.— 
It absorbs moisture, and is one of the best safe¬ 
guards against drouth for sandy and gravelly 
loams. Some samples of peat contain more am¬ 
monia than stable manure, and furnish large 
stores of plant food. We have rarely known a 
farmer who once got started in the use of muck, 
that did not continue. It is the little muck, 
like learning, “that is a dangerous thing.” 
Chestnuting—The Chestnut-Tree. 
Many a reader will stop as he sees the fine 
engraving of a nutting party, which Mr. Perkins 
enables us to give on the following page, and re¬ 
call the time in which he participated in such a 
scene. How vividly all presents itself in mem¬ 
ory; the fine air of the clear autumn morning; 
the golden burs of the chestnuts shining against 
the dark green leaves; the pleasant “ -woodsy ” 
smell; the climbing and beating the trees; the 
gathering the nuts; the pricking with the burs; 
the young companions—and all that go to make 
up a happy day at chestnuting. Leaving the pic¬ 
ture to tell its story of a nutting frolic, we say a 
word in favor of the tree itself. The chestnut 
is neither the best of timber, nor the best of 
fuel, but it is valuable for both these uses. For 
fencing it answers an excellent purpose, and its 
lumber is now in great request for interior fin¬ 
ishing. Its wood makes a valuable charcoal; its 
fruit is always in demand, and brings a good 
