1873 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
377 
best esteemed Auvergne cheeses are those | 
which are made ou the spring feed at home be- i 
fore the cattle are driven to the mountains for I 
the summer. The cellars used are underground, 
with no opening save a door to the north. 
-- . -- -- 
Stacking Corn-Eodder. 
Considerable care is required to stack corn- 
fodder in such a manner as to prevent waste. 
It requires not only to be put up so that it is 
safe from the weather and the ravages of ver¬ 
min, but that a part may be taken down for use 
without exposing the remainder to damage. In 
the ordinary stack the fodder is taken from the 
top, and when a part is removed for use the 
rest of the stack is left without covering. A 
stack built upon the ground immediately be¬ 
comes the prey of innumerable rats and mice, 
by which it is not only cut up and destroyed to 
a large extent, but w’hat is not directly destroyed 
is so soiled as to become almost unfit for use. 
Now that the value of the corn-fodder is be¬ 
coming more widely recognized, means are to 
be taken to preserve it more effectively. In 
very rare cases is there room beneath the barn 
roof for it, and it is necessarily stacked out. A3 
we have pointed out, the making of such stacks 
as can not be removed for use at one time is 
objectionable, as is also the plan of making a 
quantity of smaller stacks by which a muoh 
greater proportion is exposed to injury. A long 
stack, built in sections, which will contain the 
whole supply, is preferable to any other plan 
that we have tried. It may be built along the 
north side of the barn-yard, or 
any other exposed side, and 
made to serve as a valuable 
shelter. By setting posts in the 
ground, as shown in the engrav¬ 
ing, and placing beams or poles 
upon them with a loose flooring 
of rails as a foundation, the 
double purpose may be served. 
The open bottom giving free ac¬ 
cess for air will tend to ventilate 
the stack, and if an opening be 
made, either by placing a few 
rails fastened together in the 
center or by placing the bundles 
a few inches apart in the center, 
there will be no danger of the 
corn becoming yioldy. The posts 
should be dressed smoothly so 
that vermin can not mount 
them, and if they do succeed in 
gaining a temporary occupation 
it will be soon terminated if a 
cat is allowed to range around 
the premises. The space be¬ 
neath such a stack may be made 
useful, instead of being a hiding-place for unclean 
beasts and for hens to lay where their eggs are 
lost. The stack is to be built so that the bundles 
of fodder do not bind lengthways, and that it may 
be opened at one end and taken down piece-meal, 
as indeed it is put up. Each day’s supply may 
then be thrown down, and no part of the stack 
can be exposed long enough to become injured. 
Preserving Roots in Heaps. 
It is probable that the cultivation of roots 
would become more general if the handling of 
such a bulky crop could be rendered easier than 
it is generally found to be. As they are too 
tender to stand the severe frosts of our winters, 
roots must be carefully protected; and the pro¬ 
tection of a crop which under good cultivation 
may reach from 500 to 1,000 bushels per acre 
is no light task if they are to be carted to a cellar 
for storage and removed therefrom for use. But 
it is quite unnecessary 
that a cellar should be 
provided for them. As 
cellars are generally 
built beneath the dwell¬ 
ing-house, and are also 
used for the preserva¬ 
tion of the milk and but¬ 
ter, and as roots give ofF 
naturally a strong odor, 
which is often by reason 
of the inevitable decom¬ 
position of some parts of 
them very offensive, a 
cellar is in every way an 
unfit receptacle for any 
large quantity. The con¬ 
venience and health of 
the family inhabiting the 
dwelling above are unfa¬ 
vorably affected, and butter in such a place ac¬ 
quires a disagreeable scent and flavor. Roots 
should therefore never be stored in the cellar 
beneath the house; but in pits, which is a 
method very much more convenient and equally 
safe. The pits may be made in the field where 
the crop is harvested, or they may be made in 
a yard or field near the barn. A slightly ele¬ 
vated spot should be chosen which will be dry 
at all seasons. On this the roots should be 
heaped in a pile about six feet wide at the bot¬ 
tom and four feet high, sloping to a point at the 
top, as shown in fig. 1. The heap may be made 
of any length, or the roots may be put in 
several heaps. We last year saw one of these 
pits 1,000 feet long, which contained nearly 
15,000 bushels of mangels. 
The roots ought not to be put up until they 
have dried somewhat, nor should they be cov- 
Fig. 1.—BUILDING A ROOT-HEAP. 
ered with earth until there is imminent danger 
of frost. There is then much less danger of 
heating and decay than when they are covered 
up before they become dry. The straw cover¬ 
ing should be a foot thick. A foot of straw 
and three inches of earth is better than a foot 
of earth and three inches, of straw. The straw 
should be laid on straight and evenly so as to 
shed rain. It should be gathered closely at the 
top for the same purpose. The covering of 
earth, which should be free from stones, should 
be about six inches thick, and should be laid 
on compactly and well beaten down. At spaces 
of about six feet apart there should be wisps of 
straight straw placed upright and projecting 
through the earth covering. These are for ven¬ 
tilators, and serve to carry off the moisture and 
heat from the roots during the sweating or fer¬ 
mentation which they are sure to undergo to 
some extent. One of these pits may be opened 
at any time during the winter in moderate 
Fig. 2.— COVERING nEAP WITH EARTH. 
weather, and when a stock of roots sufficient to 
last a week have been taken out it may be 
closed again, taking care that it be cb.ne as 
quickly as possible. 
■t i " ~ ] '3 .. i u 
Reclaiming Salt Marshes. 
Great progress has been made in the last few 
years in reclaiming salt marshes, especially in 
the neighborhood of large towns and cities. 
All that was anticipated by the early experi¬ 
menters in this work has been more than real¬ 
ized. They are shown to be not only the best 
grass lands in the world, but well adapted to 
almost all the crops usually grown in a market 
garden for the supply of a city population. 
The plan of an impervious core for dikes, in¬ 
vented by S. B. Driggs, to protect embankments 
from borers, has been successfully applied to 
the Newark marshes, and about 4,500 acres 
have been redeemed from the water. This land 
cost the company about $105 per acre, and is 
