THE CULTIVATOR. 
47 
i_========================== 
n the hope that the attention of some one who has 
bestowed more thought on this subject than I have 
done, may favor us with his views through the Culti¬ 
vator, and that the result may be a plan superior to 
any now in use, both as regards economy in space, 
utility and convenience. 
One word as regards long or unfermented manure ; 
let the advocates of fermented or rotted manure make 
a careful trial of equal quantities, and mark the re¬ 
sult ; my belief is, that at least one moiety of the fer¬ 
mented is lost in decomposition above ground. 
Respectfully your obedient servant, 
E. COWLES. 
49 feet. 
h h h h Ti h h 
10 feet 
E 
c 3 ft. 
c 
18 by 30 
13 ft. 
18 by 35 
D 
F 
D 
c 3 ft. 
3 ft. c 
B 
E ^ 
a 
^ E 
o 
o 
r—1 
r*H 
h h h h h h 
a, a, a, stable doors ; B, barn door; c, c, c, c, spa¬ 
ces for feeding cattle, and in the place of mangers; 
D, D, bays for hay and grain; E, E, E, stables ; F, 
barn floor; g, g, windows; h, h, h, h, h, h, h, h, h, h, h, h, 
h, ventilations for s^le and throwing out manure ; 
tn, door at the entrance of space or alley. 
Smut in Wheat. 
Judge Buel, —It has long been a desideratum to 
find a preventive of smut in the wheat crop; this 
year’s experience has, in many instances, proven that 
brining and liming , as suggested in the “ Cultivator,” 
is not a certain preventive ; at least it is certain that 
several farmers in this neighborhood, who prepared 
their seed wheat by soaking in brine, and adding as 
much lime as would adhere to it, found the crop smut¬ 
ty at harvest. It seems to be generally believed, that 
if wheat is harrowed in while it rains or snows, it will 
prove a smutty crop; experience has confirmed the 
fact in several cases this season, that have come to 
my knowledge. May not the secret after all be, that 
after duly prepared, the wheat be dry when sown and 
got in'? Capt. Daniel Green, of this town, prepared 
wheat as above; about half of the seed after prepared, 
was kept till quite dry, before sown; the other moiety 
was sown while still moist; the latter when harvested 
was smutty, the other wholly free of it. 
Your obdt. J. HATHAWAY. 
Rome, January, 1838. 
Remarks. —Notwithstanding these exceptions, the 
rule, that salt and lime are a preventive of smut, holds 
good, and can be attested to by thousands. We suspect 
either that the pickle was weak, the lime effete, or the 
steep not kept long enough upon the seed. Smut is a 
parasite. Its seeds adhere to the kernel. Salt and lime 
destroy their vitality. It is possible, that by sowing in 
wet weather, the salts may be so abstracted, as to ren¬ 
der them ineffectual in killing the seed of the smut. But 
seed should be always harrowed in when neither rain 
nor snow are falling. The seed of the smut might have 
been in the soil, or in the bag in which the moist wheat 
was taken to the field; and if the former, the rain may 
have contributed to bring it in contact with some of the 
seed.— Conductor. 
Poultry House. 
Orange co. Va. Willow Grove, Jan. 18th, 1838. 
Dear Sir,—I have enclosed you a drawing of a 
poultry house, and as you justly remarked in your last 
number of vol. 4, of the Cultivator, although, super¬ 
ficially viewed, of comparative insignificance, it is 
certainly a branch of rural economy, which may be 
made to contribute largely to the economy and com¬ 
fort of every family. And should you think it worth 
a place in your valuable paper, you may have it in¬ 
serted. 
Many of your subscribers in this section of country 
would be glad if you would have a drawing of the most 
approved ox yoke, with directions how to have it made 
and ironed on the best plan. 
Respectfully yours, &c. W. D. CLARK. 
Explanation of the Cuts. 
A, the door; B, the entrance for the fowls; C, C, 
C, the openings underneath the lattice or mitered 
[Fig. No. 21.] [Fig. No. 22.] 
JJ 
• 
' 
ZZT' 
A 
nn; 
c 
It—:: rZ: 
i 
— . -rl 
Front Side. 
floor where the fowls roost; D, six inch opening to 
admit air; E, the ground floor made of dirt, elevated 
above the surface one foot, with boxes for the poultry 
to lay and set in, 
or more properly [Fig. No. 25.] 
a room for the 
poultry to set and 
lay in, to be in¬ 
creased with tiers 
as they may be re¬ 
quired ; F, steps 
for poultry to go 
to room to roost; 
G, G, G, G, G, G, 
boxes for nest; H, 
lattice or mitered floor for the litter from poultry to 
fall through, and room for the poultry to roost in ; (i,) 
d round hole one foot in diamater, for fowls to pass 
to roost; J, J, J, lattice windows or blinds, three feet 
wide, three feet six inches deep. I have used the 
poultry house, of which the above drawing is a repre¬ 
sentation, for about eight years, and can testify that 
it is preferable to any known in this section of coun¬ 
try, and many of my neighbors have thrown away 
their old houses, and have built after my plan. The 
roost for the fowls should be often renewed, and al¬ 
ways of sassafras, as the smell of that wood is delete¬ 
rious to the vermin on poultry. The floor in the set¬ 
ting room should be kept sprinkled with lime, and the 
litter from under the house taken away weekly. 
Weight of Dutton Corn, in Indiana. 
Respected Friend, —Having been desirous of as¬ 
certaining the best corn for the middle western states, 
I called last fall on J. M’Donald, of Allen county, la. 
to examine his Buel, or Dutton corn, and saw him 
shell and weigh a bushel. The weight was 69 pounds, 
and the product of an acre about 45 bushels. This is 
decidedly the heaviest grain that I have ever seen. 
J. Buel. JUSTUS WRIGHT. 
2d Mo. 26, 1838. 
Sheep-Husbandry. 
Weybridge, Vt. March, 1838. 
Sir, —As much labor is bestowed in raising of wool 
within the circulation of your valuable paper, it is quite 
proper its patrons and wool-growers should now and 
then note a hint on sheep husbandry. 
I do not expect in this communication to give gene¬ 
ral information to all interested in the subject, but if 
I have not learned some of the first rules of a good 
shepherd, it is not for the want of an opportunity. 
I frequently hear it observed that sheep will de¬ 
generate where they have for a length of time been 
bred and kept on the same farm. To my satisfac¬ 
tion I have seen this proved otherwise. 
My father was first in obtaining a flock of one of five 
hundred in this part of .the state, and this flock and 
increase was summered on the same pastures suc¬ 
cessively forty-five years without shifting the ewes, 
and no sheep more robust were reared in this sec¬ 
tion of country ; however, there was no breeding in- 
and-in, bucks were changed every year or two. 
No animal is more nice in the selection of its food 
than sheep, and by giving them a sufficient choice, 
and free access to water throughout the year, the dis¬ 
order generally attributed, and so fatal to sheep, call¬ 
ed, “ grub in the head,” would rarely appear in our 
flocks. 
Thin sheep in the month of July and August will 
take sudden colds, and viscid matter discharge at the 
nose within two hours after being exposed to rains 
or cold winds ; in this phlegm the grub-fly deposits 
his eggs, at the same instant the sheep may be seen 
to cast up its head, and draw the larvae into the nos¬ 
tril, where it becomes a grub. Those in good con¬ 
dition will throw them out in the spring without any 
material damage. Sheep in good condition also may 
be killed by the grub, where full feed is not at all 
times allowed them to form the proper juices, which 
are secreted for their support; they will immediate¬ 
ly gnaw into the brain, which terminates in death.—• 
The shepherd that gives his flock sufficient forage, 
water, and exercise, will rarely be frequented by any 
raging distemper, except the scab and a foot rot, which 
spread by innoculation. 
No animal needs water more than sheep : when 
fed on dry hay, without water, they do not receive a 
supply of the gastrick juices to promote the diges¬ 
tion in the stomach, soon loose their appetite, and 
are thrown into a fever. 
Those in high condition will do tolerably well on 
snow, but to oblige ordinary and poor sheep to melt 
snow would be as proper as for a weakly person to 
resort to the same restorative to quench thirst. To 
confine them in small yards through the winter brings 
on a fever and general debility, which would be ob¬ 
viated by giving them exercise ; one very essential 
point. 
If they cannot otherwdse be accommodated than in 
small yards, I would recommend a mound to be raised 
across the middle of it, so high that when they run 
over, those on the opposite side cannot be seen, wdnch 
stimulates them to follow, one after another over this 
ridge,—when if the yard was level they would scarce 
move out of their tracks. 
Respecting the rearing of lambs, I do fully agree 
with your correspondent, Mr. Daniel S. Curtis, in 
his communication in the 2d volume, 7th page. 
Yours truly, SOLOMON W. JEWETT. 
J. Buel. 
Yokes for Oxen. 
Juliustown, Burlington co, N. J. Jan. 9, 1838. 
Sir,— In a retired place, I occasionally come across 
quotations from your valuable paper, and endeavored 
to get it; but it is not a month since I succeeded in 
obtaining the fourth volume of ten numbers by the 
mail. An article in the last number on “ Working of 
Oxen,” put me upon recommending through your pa¬ 
per, a mode of training and working them, which I 
have practised with unequivocal advantage for many 
years: it is, to give to each beast a separate yoke, 
with chains, or traces with a few' links at the head, to 
hitch to a hook, two of w'hich should be hung in an 
eye at each end of the yoke, as per figure 26. 
[Fig. No. 26.] [Fig. No. 28.] [Fig. No. 27.] 
The chains, or traces, hitch to a wdnffle-tree on 
the tongue, the same as for a pair of horses. No 
back-strap is necessary ; and to loose the ox requires 
only to unhook the traces at the yoke, and throw them 
back on the tongue or cart. 
For sustaining the tongue of the wagon or cart, 
figure 27, gives the form of a supporter, with four 
chains of four or five links, which attach to the for¬ 
ward hook on the ends of the yoke. The tongue, and 
the staple to steady it, must be on the top of this sup¬ 
porter, wdiere a good iron plate for it to rest on, and 
to wear against the hold-back, will add strength and 
durability. Bits for the mouth, with straps to buckle 
behind the horns, and a coupling strap, are necessa¬ 
ry ; but by no means put blinds. 
Oxen, bulls, or cows, trained to harness of the 
above description, may be directed in their course 
with lines, full as w 7 ell as horses ; singly to take a 
plough, or cart, for which there should be a separate 
yoke with tugs, and I am of opinion, founded on expe¬ 
rience, will perform from ten to fifteen per cent more 
work, than in the old method of a double yoke. This 
gives them, when vicious, or worried a little, the pow¬ 
er of quarrelling, by crowding or hauling; singly 
yoked, they are accommodated to the road, be it wdde 
or narrow-, sandy or irregular; they can straddle a 
log or hole without confinement to each other ; walk 
freer, and consequently faster, and with less fatigue. 
Cattle designed for work should be bridled early, 
and led about kindly ; a small yoke should be put on 
them at a stage when they can be firmly managed by 
a rope attached to the bridle bit, which, with its 
straps, should be always strong ; thus they may be 
rendered exceedingly tractable, much more so than 
horses are generally. 
The principal use of oxen, (and bulls, which are 
stronger and hardier, and by early training are also 
made more peaceable,) in the heavy labors of agricul- 
