MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
concrete, so that it is water-tight; it con¬ 
nects with a flue adjoining the smoke flue in 
the kitchen chimney : it extends a few 
inches forward of the seat and about two, 
feet int o the tool-room, where it has a cover. 
The floor of the tool-room is of concrete, is 
on a level with the floor of the vault and a 
little above the ground level. The coal ashes 
from the range and furnace arc sifted in a 
close box in this room. A box of ashes is 
kept in the earth closet, with a tin scoop 
therein, and whoever has occasion to visit it 
throws into the vault a Bmall quantity of 
ashes before leaving. H’ more is needed it 
can be supplied from the tool-room. We 
is uj 
17 _ IJ 
F 
Mlent r FLOOR, 
have now occupied the house fourteen 
months, and are entirely satisfied with the 
working of our plan, which ia simple and 
efficient, the ashes acting as a complete ab¬ 
sorbent and deodorizer. 
Eftftth closets need not be a failure, if com¬ 
plicated machinery is avoided, and plenty of 
dry material is used ; this latter point is 
essential, and cannot well bo secured by 
machinery. Dry muck and dry earth are 
good ; wc use coal ashes because we have it, 
because it is already dry, and because it is 
efficient. I do not dry and use it again, as 
has been recommended, but remove the con 
t'*nts of the vault from time to time directly 
to the compost lieap. It is just as easy to 
dry fresh earth as to dry that which has been 
used, and whore material is abundant, this 
course is preferable. 
Cess-pools and sink drains we have none. 
They may save some steps at first, but they 
increase sickness and doctors’ bills in the 
end, and the sufferers do not dream what 
is the matter. My sinks are tight, and re¬ 
ceive no water but the drippings of the 
pump. All slops and waste matter from 
the house go to the compost heap, where are 
deposited the contents of the vault and the 
weeds from the garden, and which is cov¬ 
ered with earth or coal ashes when neces¬ 
sary to deodorize. We thus sumo a large 
quantity of valuable fertilizing material for 
the garden, and avoid the poisoning of the 
tdfidil dfrop. 
ALFALFA IN CALIFORNIA. 
• - 
S. Jewett, Bakersfield, Cal., writes to the 
Rural Press his experience with Alfalfa, 
which will interest all Rubai. New-Yorker 
readers. He says :—My experience has been 
limited, having only commenced last year, 
and sowed 80 acres, P.0 of which got a good 
set, and this year 350 acres. Our land is a 
sandy loam, made by the washings of Kern 
River, and is covered by scrub willows which 
have to bo dug out and the land leveled, 
which costs us about $35 per acre to clear 
and seed. 
We had 20 acres prepared in January, 1872, 
on wliich we iii-st sowed 12 sacks of barley 
and harrowed in thoroughly, then sowed IS 
of alfalfa seed to the aero and rolled in. A 
portion of the seed was not covered, and the 
birds picked that up, and a portion was so 
near the surface it did not sprout, as the sur¬ 
face for one-half an inch was quite dusty. 
That portion of the seed that got clear to 
moist earth came up well, also the barley at 
the same time. When it was up about an 
inch and still white, and iu its most tender 
state, we had a white frost and had them 
every night for a week; we thought of 
course it would kill the alfalfa, ns every one 
said it would, but it did not; it grew and 
flourished. 
EFFECT OF CLOSE GRAIINO. 
In May, we cut and sold the crop on <>ne 20 
acres for $1,000, not weighed but estimated 
at 75 tons loose liay, hauling it about one 
mile afterwards; mowed it oner and then 
pastured it until February so dose Iy that 
the field looked like a dust l>ed and the 
knowing ones said we had killed it out; not¬ 
withstanding all this, it came out this last 
spring in such a condition ai to satisfy any 
one that it can not be graze* close enough to 
injure it. 
We hadapieoe of two acres that 1,500sheep 
camped on for three weets until not a ves¬ 
tige of the alfalfa could be seen, and that 
came out this last spring aa well as any. 
COVERING HE SEED. 
I was satisfied that tolling in the seed, also 
brushing it in, on ou" land would not do ; 
since then have harrowed it in and find that 
we get a better, stsrnl, and it takes a third 
less seed. 
If the ground moist when the seed is 
sown, or if there is a good rain soon after 
sowing, brushing in would do. 
Some prefer to sow the alfalfa alone with¬ 
out grain. It loe.9 well cither way. 1 pre¬ 
fer to sow link a sowing of barley with the 
alfalfa, as it protects it from the sun, and 
3 ’ields more the first cutting than if sown 
alone. 
EFFECT OF IRRIGATION. 
By irrigating before cutting, the alfalfa 
will not dry out nor wilt while the crop is 
being removed. 
I think a great many of the failures attrib¬ 
uted to frost are caused by the seed being so 
n,°ar the surface that it dries out before the 
root reaches moisture. 
ALFALFA FOR SHEEP. 
I have had but little experience in feeding 
alfalfa fifty, having had pasture enough with¬ 
out the hay. 
We turn our lambs into the alfalfa in Au¬ 
gust and September after weaning, chang¬ 
ing from one field to another as fast as eaten 
out. 
There is generally double the loss among 
15th of August until the 15th of February for 
2,000 sheep more. 
Natural pasturage can be had in most parts 
of the State, six months in the year, during 
the time of cutting the alfalfa hay. 
In preparing land for alfalfa seed, it is very 
essential that it should be in the best of 
order, and when it has to be irrigated, should 
be level, or nearly so, thus saving much time 
and trouble in irrigation. 
After plowing aDd harrowing the ground 
thoroughly, we use a leveler of the following 
kind : 
We take a plank tan feet long, three inches 
thick, one foot wide, and nail or screw a saw- 
plate on the lower edge in front to keep from 
wearing. Then bore a hole near the center 
of the plank, at each end, to pass a chain 
through to hitch to. On the back side, we 
have two more holes, three feet apart, a 
little above the center, to drive in stakes 
four feet long. On these stakes, near the 
plank, we nail a board for the driver to sit 
on. 
This leveler will handle more dirt than a 
half-dozen scrapers, and has the advantage 
over the scraper of turning over and unlock¬ 
ing itself aa soon as the driver jumps off of 
it. 
The stakes at tac back keep this plank in 
the right position, inclining backward 
slightly. 
The «me is soon coming when every stock¬ 
man will see the necessity of having his field 
of alfalfa for wintering use. 
CHICKEN CHOLERA AGAIN. 
I WOULD like to link W. T. Alan, Green¬ 
ville, Pa., if he is certain that it was salt that 
cured his chickens' Or were they not going 
to quit dying of their own accord ( Three or 
four years ago ours commenced dying at a 
grand rate. Some days a dozen would die. 
We doctored them with sulphur and other 
stuff until we were tired, and then quit. 
After a while the chickens quit dying with¬ 
out the medicine. Last spring they com¬ 
menced dying again. Wo did not give them 
any medicine, but every morning we buried 
all that were dead, and they quit dying 
again after two or three dozen had died. 
We could not blame any tiling for curing 
them. Suppose we had fed them coffee- 
grounck or something else of the same char¬ 
acter, then we, too, could have published a 
wonderful cure for the much dreaded chick¬ 
en cholera. A physician iu Terre Haute 
gives his chickens a small dose of strychnine, 
and that is his greut cure. So it is with a 
great muuy. They each have their pet cure; 
but I think that when it comes to the test 
they will find that tt ere is no cure except 
that which nature has. I think people had 
better give their salt to their cows, so that it 
will not be entirely lost. I hope Mr. Alan 
will not add salt as a cure to his. list of salt 
and its uses. L. Parke. 
-- 
“RUMPLESS” FOWLS. 
A breeder by the name of Arey, in Pe¬ 
nobscot Co., Me., is reported to have bred 
them expressly for their laying qualities, 
without regard to color. He says they are 
great layers and splendid table fowls, of 
medium size. They dress more showy than 
any other fowl, the hinder parts being more 
plump and round, without projection for 
lambs after weaning until new feed starts, , tail, as in others. He says, also, the original 
TRANSVERSE SECTION OP CORNELL BARN. 
well by absorption from privies and cess¬ 
pools, and the poisoning of the atmosphere 
of the house bj the effluvia from either; 
thus saving the inmates from typhus fever, 
etc., etc. r. d, vv. 
East Orange, N. J. 
-- 
ARCHITECTURAL NOTES. 
Painting Shingle Poofs. —“ N. G.” is in¬ 
formed that an excellent way to paint shin¬ 
gle roofs (at least those who have practised 
it so assert.) is to lay on a course of shingle 
and paint all the surface that is visible and 
then lay on another course while the paint 
is yet green and paint as before, and so on 
until the roof is complete. 
than among all the balance of the flocks. By 
putting them into alfalfa this loss is saved, 
and tlie lambs make much larger sheep and 
have a greater growtli of wool than they 
would have if kept in the usual manner. 
Forty acres is a very good-sized field. In 
hot weather sheep could graze it down every 
ten days t( » advautage. 
The feed should not be allowed to get over 
ten inches high before grazing it—if higher it 
is tramped down and the growth is retailed ; 
the shorter it is the better the sheep like it. 
We kept 8,000 lambs during the months of 
September and October, on 125 acres of al¬ 
falfa, also kept 1,000 ou eight acres eight 
days and it was not fed close. Since then 
we have grazed on the 125 acres 1,400 sheep 
and 20 horses. 
It is estimated in the Eastern States, where 
they feed nearly six months in the year, that 
25 tons of hay will keep the sheep during the 
winter of six months, or twenty tons when 
some grain is fed. 
On that basis, S,000 sheep cau be kept six 
months on the hay from 150 acres, by cutting 
three times, provided it yielded two tons at 
a cutting, and leave the grazing after the 
ones obtained by him (from the Provinces) 
were of a reddish-brown color, something 
like the Brown Leghorn ; legs rather light 
colored; bodies yellow ; combs single. He 
further says they were first introduced into 
this country by the Dutch, in a Northwest¬ 
ern State, (Wisconsin,) called there Dutch 
water-fowls or falls. 
-- 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Awards Made by the Connecticut Poultry 
Society. —We are indebted to Mi-. Van Win¬ 
kle for the list of awards made at a recent 
exhibition by this Society. Its length illus¬ 
trates the extent and variety of the show, 
and, together with our limited space, will* 
prevent our publishing it. We are sorry for 
this, but it would occupy several columns of 
the Rural. Nearly every class and Variety 
of fowl, pigeons, rabbits, squirrels, Ac., seem 
to have been on exhibition. We shall retain 
the list for future reference, and perhaps 
further notice. 
Single Bird Premiums.— The Western 
New York Poultry Society, whose exhibi¬ 
tion is to be held at Buffalo, N. Y., January 
14-21, has abandoned the custom of offering 
premiums for trios of birds, and have issued 
a single bird premium list, thus placing eaeh 
bird upon ita individual merits before the 
committees. This seems a most sensible 
thing to do, but doubtless there are two 
opinions ou the subject, and we shall be glad 
to hear from those who dissent. 
White Holland Turkeys. —I see, in a late 
Rural, an inquiry about White Holland tur¬ 
keys. I have raised them for several 5 r ears 
and shipped some to different parts of the 
Union. They are a fine and perfectly white 
bird, and between the size of the common 
and the large Bronze turkey ; are thrifty, 
quiet and easily raised. Gobblers will weigh 
25 to 28 lbs.; hens, 16 to 18 lbs. They are fa¬ 
vorably received and in creasing iu numbers in 
this county.—Tuns. Wood, Chester Co., Pa. 
Chicken■ Cholera Remedy. —A Wood Co., 
O., correspondent says:—I took wild cherry 
bark and white oak bark, and boiled it very- 
strong. This I mixed with dough and fed 
them. I also gave tide ooze to them to drink 
in their water. In this way I cured all that 
had it, and no more got it. I think I never 
shall try anything else. The cherry bark 
works on the liver, and the oak stops the 
diarrhea. 
BEE PASTURAGE IN THE SOUTH. 
Dr. J. P. H. B., Augusta, Ga, writes to 
the North American Bee Journal:—White 
clover will grow and do well in most all por¬ 
tions of the South if the ground is well pre¬ 
pared and not too sandy or poor. Where 
shade trees are to bo planted in our yards or 
along our lanes or highways, it would be 
best to plant such as make good pasturage. 
The linden is a tree to be particularly recom¬ 
mended. This is a tree of quite rapid 
growth, fine foliage, beautiful appearance, 
and makes a good shade. It grows and 
thrives well iu middle. Georgia, and 1 have 
no doubt would do well in any portion of the 
South. Last season the writer sowed a plat 
of ground in buckwheat in the middle of 
July, which made a fair stand, but had it 
been sown in August or the first of Septem¬ 
ber it would have done better. My bees 
luxuriated on it aft long as it blossomed. My 
experience is against the opinion that has 
been advanced that buckwheat is worthless 
in the South as a honey plant. All honey- 
producing flowers, in every country, are 
liable to vary in the amount of their sac¬ 
charine secretion with the peculiarities of 
the season. Hence because a flower fails to 
yield its sweets one season, is no reason why 
it may not abuudantly do so the next. Cat¬ 
nip (N%pcfa catarta) is also rich in honey, 
and should be planted in every nook and 
corner, in all out-of-the-way places. 
The writer would suggest to all bee keep¬ 
ers to take notes of all plants that bees fre¬ 
quent, Note the time of commencement of 
bloom and the duration, also the approxi¬ 
mate increase of honey stored during the 
time such plants are visited by the bees. 
Observations of this kind, made as carefully 
as possible would do much to advance bee 
culture in the South. 
-M-*- 
N0TE8 AND QUERIES. 
Wintering Bees. —I remove the top of the 
hive and the honey boxes from above the 
movable frames, then fold a blanket three 
or four thicknesses and place It on the 
frames, and put the boxes and cap back as 
before. Then I cover the entire hive with 
several thicknesses of carpet, giving ventila¬ 
tion at the top, and leaving a smooth hole at 
bottom that the bees may pass out when 
the weather is fine, and also afford ventila¬ 
tion. 1 leave them on the summer stand.— 
H. Hyatt, Crawfordsville, Ind. 
Bee Frames. —Will some apiarian tell me 
if there is any width or shape of frame that 
the bees will not connect together, so that 
we can take out a frame without cutting the 
honey ? I have tried different widths, to no 
purpose. They will build the comb across, 
1 more or less, or connect it together. Any 
information will be thankfully received.— 
H. L. H., Lone Tree, Iowa. 
Bees Gathering Honey Dew. — I have 
noticed particular, but never a bee did I see 
gathering it, and 1 have talked with numbers 
of old bee keepers and have failed to find 
any one who has ever seen the sight, or see¬ 
ing anyone else that had seen it. But they 
all agree that when there is plenty of honey 
dew that it is a good honey season. 
