1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
57 
and bored from each side, meeting in the cen¬ 
ter. The auger should be two inches diameter. 
After the holes are bored, they should be 
burned with a hot iron and made smooth. The 
yoke is then laid out 3i inches thick in the cen¬ 
ter between the bow-lioles, and 6i inches thick 
in the aenter between the two bows, where 
the ring is placed; the ends are beveled off, and 
lines of proper curvature laid out between the 
points marked. This is shown in fig. 1. The 
yoke may be fashioned either with a jig or band 
saw or a foot-adz, and should then be finished up 
square and true from the face-side with a draw¬ 
ing-knife. It should then be laid upon its back 
and 4i inches marked off at the center for 
the width, as in fig. 2, cutting off about 11 inch 
on each side. The ends are then tapered off, 
and where previously beveled, are now rounded. 
The bottom or inside of the yoke is now to 
be rounded, by first taking off a broad cham¬ 
fer and then rounding up 
smooth, the top to be left flat 
and square, except a broad 
chamfer around the edge of 
the yoke. The bows are 
28 to 30 inches in length 
and two inches in diameter. No staple is to 
be used, but a broad strap, which goes around 
the yoke, having screws cut on the end, and a 
plate held down by nuts screwed over it, as in 
fig. 3, clasp the yoke and strengthen it. In the 
bottom of the strap is placed two pieces of cast- 
iron (also shown in fig. 3) which have a flange 
upon the edge and four slight projections upon 
the top, for which small holes are bored in the 
yoke, the two pieces are so formed that when 
placed together they have a hole in the middle 
in which the ring is inserted; the strap is placed 
around them and put upon the yoke, and the 
nuts upon the top screwed tight. Such a yoke 
is much stronger and better than when a staple 
passes through it. 
Sheep on the Plains. 
The raising of sheep mainly for their wool, 
is undoubtedly destined to make an exceeding¬ 
ly increased growth in the future. Millions of 
acres of land on the Western plains will within 
the course of a few years be dotted over with 
Fig. 1.—SEMICIRCULAR SHEEP-SHELTER. 
hundreds of flocks. Everything there is favor¬ 
able. The climate is dry and exhilarating, 
the soil is dry and porous, the herbage is short, 
sweet, and nutritious, aromatic plants which 
are healthful for sheep abound, and the only 
--difficulty which has hitherto presented itself, to 
interfere with the complete success of those 
who have experimented in this business, has 
been the sudden snow-storms which have over¬ 
whelmed the flocks when unprotected against 
the unlooked-for contingency. Eastern farmers-- 
and in fact all the country 
east of the Missouri River 
may now be called east— 
will find their profit in 
keeping the heavier bodied 
sheep which will furnish 
both wool and mutton. These large sheep, 
kept in small flocks as a part of the mixed 
agriculture of the smaller farms, will not 
only be more profitable than the smaller fine- 
wool sheep, but will be more suitable in every 
way. For them the hardy Cotswolds or South- 
Downs and their grades, and in a few cases, 
where the necessary tact and experience for 
success are available, the heavier but more deli¬ 
cate Leicesters and Lincolns, will be found the 
more suitable breeds. For all these sheep, rich 
pastures, carefully cut and cured clover-hay, 
roots, with some additional feed in the shape of 
grain, or oil-cake meal, are needed; and winter 
Fig. 2.— CONCENTRIC SHEEP-SHELTER. 
pasture is altogether out of the question, ex¬ 
cepting in the south, where but little snow falls, 
and where winter feed in the shape of sown rye, 
mustard, rape, or roots, is provided. These 
sheep with their open fleeces require protection 
from storms, and substantial buildings must be 
erected for their accommodation. All these costly 
necessaries are out of the question where sheep 
are kept in large flocks for wool alone. That 
such flocks must be kept to furnish the fine and 
medium wools we want for our home manu¬ 
factures is absolutely certain, and everything 
shows that the location for such an industry is 
found in Western Kansas, and further south 
and w r est still. A commencement has been 
made with a certain degree of success. The 
loss caused by the severe snow-storms for which 
shepherds were not prepared, lias been the only 
drawback so far of any consequence. The ex¬ 
tent of the business in its very commencement 
foreshadows an immense increase so soon as 
experience is gained, and the precise conditions 
of success are known. During summer there is 
smooth sailing and all goes well. In winter 
there is plenty of feed self-cured on the ground, 
and shelter only is necessary to protect the 
flocks from the storms, which are excessively 
violent on these exposed open plains. Hay can 
be put up at a nominal cost, and in any desired 
quantity wherewith to tide over the intervals 
during which these storms rage furiously. Or¬ 
dinary buildings arc out of the question, not 
only from want of material, but for want of 
funds wherewith to erect them. We have now 
before us several letters from dwellers ou the 
Plains, seeking advice as to the way iu which 
they may secure the needed shelters. For them, 
and others in the like predicament, we propose 
a system of shelters which we think will meet 
their wants. Such shelters are common in 
European countries where sheep are kept in 
exposed situations. Mountain pastures and 
bleak and exposed “downs,” exactly similar, 
except in extent, to our prairies, are always pro¬ 
vided with them. To them the sheep instinct¬ 
ively repair in time to escape the severe storms 
which sweep across their bleak pastures. The 
black-faced Highland sheep and the Cheviots 
would have to abandon their pastures if they 
were not thus protected. 
From each shelter the sheep-paths diverge in 
every direction, and the frequency with which 
they are used is shown by the depth to which 
these paths are worn through the tough sod. 
Long before the threatening sky shows storm to 
be near; iu fact, while the shepherd is still un¬ 
suspicious of danger, the flocks come trooping 
over the broad moors, showing their apprehen¬ 
sions by their noisy bleatings. There they re¬ 
main snugly sheltered from the driving tem¬ 
pest of snow or sleet behind the lee of the friend¬ 
ly walls. These walls are sometimes of a sim¬ 
ple half-circle in shape, and consist of stones 
roughly laid up, or of sods cut from the pas¬ 
tures and piled up five feet high. The outside 
of the curve is always placed toward the north 
or north-west, the direction from which the pre¬ 
vailing storms blow. Where the flocks are 
small, a few of these are sufficient, scattered 
about in convenient and accessible places, gene¬ 
rally where the configuration of the ground 
gives additional shelter, as, for instance, on the 
southern slope of a hill, or where a grove helps 
to break the force of the storm. Figure 1 shows 
oue of these semicircular shelters. Figure 2 
shows a more elaborate one, suitable for larger 
flocks, and is also designed to protect from 
storms from whatever direction they may come. 
This consists of two half-circles, w1*h entrances 
flanked and protected by other walls, so that 
the flock is safe on all quarters. Very often an 
inner circle is built, which agaiu adds to the pro¬ 
tection and increases the amount of cover. 
There are many other designs chosen for these 
shelters, all, however, on the same principle. 
Figs. 3 and 4 show the ground-plan of some of 
these, and the variety may be endless. Simple 
