EXCELSIOR 
41 Park Itmv, New York. 
H2 lliilTulo H«., Rochester. 
NEW YORK CITY AND ROCHESTER, N. Y 
#.1.00 PER YEAH. 
Hnjrle No., Eight Ceuta 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, DEG. 3,1370 
| Entered according to Act Of Congress, in the year 1870. by I). I). T. Moons. in t-he office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.) 
I begin to feed as follows :—One pint of oats 
a day with a couple of quarts of sweet ap¬ 
ples. This is sufficient to keep it in a thriv¬ 
ing condition while running out. Then 
when I bring it in for the winter, I give it a 
warm stable with ground floor anti sufficient 
room to exercise, also a plenty of line hay. 
Then I give one pint of oats twice a day, and 
sweet apples. When I don’t have apples I 
most, two days, which, if taste and judg¬ 
ment is used, will prove lobe a sightly addi¬ 
tion to the attractions of a country home, 
and a useful adjunct to the farm, its contents 
being invaluable in sickness. Such an ice¬ 
house would prove also convenient as a re¬ 
frigerator on a large scale, preserving food of 
various kinds and the products of a diary.— 
Scientific Amrican. 
nutr lepartwMt 
ijural 5ird)itfdnr£ 
orsenutu 
KANSAS LANDS DEFENDED, 
WEANING COLTS 
A COUNTRY SCHOOL HOUSE. 
I consider that it is but just and right 
that you give space in the Run At New- 
Yorker for this reply to the injustice 
done this section of country 
by F. K. Sinmwoon’s arti¬ 
cle, page 470, Vol. XX. As 
lam a citizen of that part 
of the country which lie 
_ —. wishes to let the people 
know is not, fit for agricul- 
' tural purposes, and of its 
lack of water, its droves of 
crickets destroying whole 
fields of wheat &e., &c., I 
wish the privilege of inf'orm- 
' • " - ing the young farmers of 
New York State that Mr. 
- SnER wood’s article i^ 
base falsehood so far as/ 'da 
jjjjSfetife? whole section is concerned; 
for at least two hundred 
miles west of the Missouri 
and how much further I 
cannot tell, as T have been 
SjM" only about that distance 
west; but I am satisfied 
=. that no portion of country 
under the sun is better cul- 
Pjs|L k£sjj§ culated for an agricultural 
country than this if we only 
had transportation for our 
) crops, to carry the products 
i y/' of our farms to market at 
v-'-i’ ^ reasonable rates; and as 
proof of my statements take 
r* a »y ot °nr county papers, 
l examine tlie market reports, 
" V and H«y person can see that 
ImrapTM -^1 the soil must produce large 
IL'iAyijLd r crops, or how could corn 
sell from 25e. to 530c. per 
bushel; wheat, 50c. to GOc.; 
. oats, 80 c. to 40c.; potatoes, 
25c. to 50c.: hay, $4 to $0 
3 -per ton, &c., with a 
good supply of almost 
everything that a new coun¬ 
try is blessed with ? 
Mr. Sherwood cannot produce as much 
per acre at Wyoming, N. Y., of com, wheat, 
oats, rye, potatoes, melons, pumpkins, or 
any crop suited to his section of country 
and t his as we can here, and put the same 
amount of labor on an acre, without fertil¬ 
izers of any kind. 
1 believe that I have seen thousands of 
crickets and millions of grasshoppers hun¬ 
dreds of miles east of this to where there ara 
dozens here, and in no place in the world is 
t here to be found better springs and streams 
of fresh, cold water than here. 
I do not know much about Salt Lake 
Valley, but we need no more irrigation hero 
than does Mr. Sherwood in New York. 
The only true statement in Mr. Sher¬ 
wood’s article is in regard to our grazing 
country, which cannot he surpassed ; but 
surely he had forgotten that there must he 
good soil to produce good grass, or how 
could the country he fit for grazing purposes ? 
And if the. soil is good, which is a fact, what 
is to hinder this from being a good agricul¬ 
tural country? I can see nothing; and tbe 
last live years have proven that bis state¬ 
ments arc utterly false in regard to ibis sec¬ 
tion of the plains. 
In conclusion, I would say to the young 
men of New York State that there are thou¬ 
sands of acres of prairie claims yet. to be 
' taken, some with coal on, some partly in the 
great Salt Marsh, and plenty, without either 
1 coal or salt, of splendid upland, rolling 
prairie to be bad without, expense further 
than that Of locating, homesteading or pre- 
, empting and living on them.—G. W. Beebe, 
Salt Marsh, lie,public Co., Kan. 
As it is getting tbe time of year to wean 
suckling colts, I will give my plan and ex¬ 
perience. I take tbe dam from the colt and 
AVe give herewith a perspective view and 
ground plan of a frame Country School- 
House, engraved expressly for the Rural 
New-Yorker, by permis¬ 
sion of Geo. E. AVood- 
WARD, the publisher of 
“ School-House Architect¬ 
ure,” from lithographs in 
said work. This work con- _ 
tains full descriptive draw¬ 
ings in plan, elevation, sec- _ . 
tion and detail, with speci¬ 
fications by the Architect, 
Samuel F. Eveleth. 
The plan given is drawn 
l-16th of an inch to the 
square foot. This house has 
but one floor and room for 
pupils of both sexes, and is 
intended for fifty-six chairs 
and desks. But, for the 
luck of space, wo would 
give the specifications com¬ 
plete. They are found in •• Wz 1 
tlio above-named work, 
which is for sale at this 
office. Price, $10. AVo 
state this fact because wo 
know we shall be asked the 
question which It answers 
by many of our readers. 
AVo admire the design 
there is great need (al- gu - ^4 T&g 
though there has been great jffl) 
progress in school archi- vlp>.y 
tecture the past ten years) 
of increased attention to 
the comfort and health of 
children in the erection ^E=g|^g |||gjg 
and furnishing of country & 
school houses—the People’s 
Colleges of America. 
A CHEAP ICE-HOUSE. 
A family ice-house need 
not be an expensive struc¬ 
ture. It may be built cheaply, subserve 
its object excellently, and add to the at¬ 
tractions of a homestead by beiug a sight¬ 
ly object. A building of twelve feet 
square and eight or nine feet high, is suffi¬ 
cient. for the wants of the most exacting 
family. It may be a frame building, entirely 
above tbe surface of tbe ground, and better 
if supported on posts elevated a few inches, 
to be certain of good drainage. Built of 
joists two by three inches, with an outer 
boarding, having inside another series ol 
uprights, also boarded, from six to ten 
inches removed from the outer shell, with a 
solid floor of plank, the space between the 
two walls filled with tan, sawdust, straw, or 
chaff, and a roof of good pitch, the ice-house 
is complete. A drain for water should he 
made from the floor, and the pitch of the 
roof filled with straw, hay, or some similar 
dry, porous material. On the roof should 
be a ventilator, the top defended from the 
rain or snow. The ice should be packed in 
one solid mass, the sides not reaching the 
inner walls of the building, but allowing a 
space of from six to twelve inches all 
around. The top of the ice should be cov¬ 
ered with straw and the doors should he 
like the skies of the building, or double doors 
should be made, one in the outer and the 
other in the inner wall, Plant morning 
glories or any climbing plant around tbe 
building and induce them to creep up the 
walls and over the roof as an additional de¬ 
fence against tbe fervid sun of summer. 
Two workmen, if not practical carpenters, 
can put up such a building in one, or at 
BLINDS ON DWELLINGS 
Tai.king upon this subject, hitherto con¬ 
siderably discussed in the Rural New- 
Yorker, Mrs. Etta Moore of Iowa asks if 
those who advocate no blinds “ would have 
us live without any curtains to the window, 
either? For they must surely know that it 
matters little what kind of cur¬ 
tains are used for shade, they 
will keep out more light and 
air than the blinds universally 
used now. Or will they say that 
no room ought to have shade 
at tbe windows? If so, wind 
are we to do in the morning, 
when we want to wash dishes, 
or sew, or do anything by an 
east window ? or in tbe after¬ 
noon, when we have our house¬ 
work done and want to sit in 
a west room? I rather think 
all ladies will say, with me, 
they would think as much of 
their own comfort as of tbe 
fading of the furniture and car¬ 
pets, when they adjust, the slats 
of the blinds to keep the sun 
out. And 1 think, too, that 
there are very few women who 
read tbe Rural Nrw-Y'orker 
but have common sense enough 
to know when to keep shutters 
closed or curtains down." Another corre¬ 
spondent asks some one to say wluvt is the 
best color for both outside and inside blinds; 
and in naming tbe color also give the color 
which the house or room should be. 
VVurts, Tumors, Jfce. 
AVauts and tumors on horses 
and other animals may be 
speedily removed by binding 
on a folded cloth, well satu 
rated with the ley from hickory 
ashes. Keep them moist a few 
days, and they will disappear. 
Ashes, say one part to five of 
corn meal, wet and bound on 
as a poultice, will destroy and 
heal the wound.—s. w. J. 
Piazza 
Piazza 
School room 
*_Cataract of ilie Eye. 
C. B. Kauffman, Dexter, 
Iowa, writes:—“Can you or 
any of your readers give me a 
remedy or cure for a film or 
scum growing over a horse’s 
‘ye? An early answer will 
oblige.” Wc have never known one to he 
cured except by a surgical operation, per¬ 
formed by a skilled occuliat. 
-- 
Rocking TniL.--A correspondent asks some 
one tor tiie best mode of dockiutf a horse’s tail. 
Porch 
Porch 
GnOUND FLAN. 
give grain gradually. Oats are preferable, 
not so likely to produce fever as other grain. 
The colt must be looked after. At this 
time of year the grass is getting frost bitten 
and dry, and not much nutriment in it. Then 
