DEC 20 
844 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
can he no question as to the priority of the 
association formed in Chicago on November 
14, and, finally, that whatever has been done 
to secure legislation for the protection of the 
cattle Interests of the country was done by 
the men who formed that organization. 
Chicago, Ill. _ 
3niJu5l’l Societies. 
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FARMERS’ 
CLUB. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
The old American Institute Fanners’ Club 
was once recognized as amODg the great 
agricultural educators of this country, and its 
reports were sought utter and copied far and 
wide; but for several years it has had no in¬ 
fluence, and but few people have been aware 
of its existence. It has now been reorganized; 
new men have been placed in control, anti an 
effort is to be made to have it again placed in 
its former position. Ur. F. M. Hexumer, one 
of its former most active members, has been 
made president, and the first meeting since 
the reorganization was held at the Cooper In¬ 
stitute, on Tuesday, December 9tb, 1884. The 
room was crowded to fts full seating capacity 
with earnest, intelligent people. 
The president, in opening the meeting, 
spoke of the former Influence of the Club for 
good, and said New York, beiug the center of 
a vast, rich agricultural country, was pre¬ 
eminently the place for a successful farmers’ 
club; that the necessity for correct and scien¬ 
tific agricultural knowledge was never so 
great as at present; tlmt to profitably manage 
a farm requires as much brains, business 
energy and careful supervision as to manage 
any of the great enterprises of tie day; that 
the successful farmer must be progressive, 
must be thoroughly posted on ail agricultural 
subjects and on science; that agricultural 
science is but a compilation of agricultural 
facts. He was in favor of having agriculture 
and horticulture taught in the public schools, 
that the youth might thus become familiar 
with the elementary principles underlying all 
prosperity. 
A letter was read asking what is the best 
dressing for lawns, and when the best time to 
apply it. S. E. Todd answered that stable 
manure bos too mauy weed seeds. He would 
use bone dust, ashes and plaster, though both 
w heat-bran and corn-meal are good applica¬ 
tions. Mr. E. Williams preferred any good 
brand of commercial fertilizer to barn yard 
manure. Mr. J. T. Lovett said that in his 
part of New Jersey (Little Silver) murl had a 
wonderful effect. The president bad seen no 
effect from the use of marl, but had from the 
use of commoicial fertilizers. But whatever 
is used on the lawn, must be made very fine. 
Mr. James Wood, of Mt Ki»ko, Westchester 
Co., N. Y., delivered an address on “Sheep 
Husbandry Near New York.” He said a very 
important question to those owning land near 
large cities, and especially New York, is what 
to do with it to derive a profit from it. Mar 
ket. gardening and small-fruit growing are 
both so systematized and go well understood 
by professionals, that the farmer cau scarcely 
hope to compote with them. So, most of the 
land within 50 to 75 miles Is devoted to the 
raising of milk for city consumption. No 
other business requires such dose attention, 
and when the milk is put in cans and sent to 
the city the trouble has only begun. The 
dealers, as a rule, area bad lot, and happy is 
the farmer that, sooner or later, is not swin¬ 
dled. Even where the producer cau market 
his own milk, the competition is so close that 
the profits are exceedingly small. The selling 
price of ordinary farm lands within 75 miles 
of this city are much lower to-day than 50 or 75 
years ago. 
The solution to the question of what to do 
with our lands he thinks answered in sheep 
husbandry. His expei ience proves that it can 
be made profitable, especially so in the pro¬ 
duction of early lambs for the shambles. We 
all know r the extremely high prices of early 
lambs, and w e must follow the practice which 
the Euglish have adopted, of marketing most 
lambs before they are one year old. Tlie 
great bug-bear to sheep-keeping is the dog 
nuisauce, und even this cau be overcome by 
putting the sheep every* night in dog-proof 
yards. These yards can be made of galvan¬ 
ized wire screening, five feet high, made of 
No. 15 wire, the mesties 2\<i inches square, und 
it is no more work to drive the sheep into 
these inclosures than to drive up the cows for 
milkiug, nor in fact, half as much, because 
the sheep learn iu a few days to come there of 
themselves, it being their nature to seek the 
same fold or spot to lie down night alter 
night. Dogs always attack sheep in the Dight, 
and if placed in these inclosures at night, 
they are safe. The best time for the lambs to 
be dropped, he has fouud to be in February. 
The best breeds he finds for this purpose 
are common grade Canada or Ohio ewes 
crossed with pure bred Shropshire, Oxford¬ 
shire, Hampshire or South Downs in the 
order named. He finds no profit in lambs 
dropped so lute as not to get Into 
market till the rush of Western lambs 
knocks down prices. The sheep should 
have dry quarters; but he is not so particu¬ 
lar as to their being warm; for while no 
amount of dry cold injures a sheep, cold and 
wet combined are fatal. The sheep should 
have plenty of good hay through the Winter, 
with a liberal supply of roots, Aberdeen 
Turnips, rutabagas and mangels to be fed at 
different seasons in the order named. Roots 
should not be fed before lambing, as they are 
of too cold a nature, and tend to injure, if not 
destroy, the foetus [That has not by any means 
been our experience.—E dr]; but after the 
lamb is a week old the ewe may have all she 
can eat, together with a daily feed of grain. 
He has fed silage in an experimental w ay, and 
is much pleased with It where sheep are kept 
comfortably wurtn. The lambs should be 
marketed at 50 pounds weight, and each year 
the older ewes should be fattened and replaced 
by younger ones. 
Aside from the profits realized on the sales 
of lambs, mutton and wool, sheep are very 
beneficial in keeping down weeds and bushes, 
and in enriching the land. In fact, you could 
tell a farm, on which sheep had been kept, 
miles away by the extra luxuriance of its 
crops, and the owner by his better appearance. 
Mr. Battersby thought sheep the most particu¬ 
lar and difficult stock that could be kept; 
they are so likely to be neglected; and neglect 
results in scab, ticks, and loss generally. Mr. 
Wood—“Neglect is fatal to any business; at¬ 
tention must be given, if we would succeed, 
hut no more is needed in keeping sheep than in 
conducting any other business.” 
Mr. J. T, Lovett showed a fine collection of 
Japan Persimmons; also some crosses between 
the Japanese and the nallve sorts. All this 
fruit Is handsome, to say the least. The next 
meeting will be held at Room 24, Cooper 
Union, Tuesday, December 23, at 1.30 P. M. 
Mr. A. S. Fuller will talk on neglected trees, 
and Mr. E. Williams on pruning the grape. 
'Ircljitfdurf. 
A CONVENIENT BARN. 
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hay, and also the stock necessary to consume 
that amount during Winter. In Fig. 523 we 
6how the plans of the different stories. Fig. 1 
is the upper floor, which has in one end a 
granary, marked A, 10 feet square, and parti¬ 
tioned mto bins, as shown: B, B, are the hay 
mows, each 17x100 feet. The driving floor is 
16 feet wide, and can be used for storing farm 
tools, except during hayiug time. Fig. 2 is 
the main story; A is the floor, 12 feet wide; 
B is a mow 10 feet by 82. This slopes up and 
constitutes a part of the mow above. C shows 
the horse stables with live stalls, each four 
feet wide; I) is a cupboard for harness; E and 
F are cattle stables capable of holding 32 head 
of stock. G Indicates two large pens or stalls, 
in which cows can run loose; H, bins for 
muck and sawdust, to be used for bedding; I, 
cellar stairs; J, pump. Fig. 3 shows the cel¬ 
lar; A, manure and hog yard; B, sheep pens 
sufficient for 50 sheep; C, rack for feeding 
sheep; D, walk, or alley; E, stairs; F, storage 
room for implements, or a part of it can be 
used for a root cellar; G is the cistern, The 
figure* give the dimensions, and the arrange¬ 
ment of the parts can, of course, lie changed 
to suit each man’s convenience. 
Htiscel latte crus. 
Every farm lias its particular needs, and 
every farmer his particular notions as to what 
a barn should be, and how it should be ar¬ 
ranged and constructed. Of course, a grain 
or truck farm of 50 acres requires a barn en¬ 
tirely different and differently arranged from 
one for a dairy or hay farm of one, two or 
more hundred acres. In planning a barn, we 
should first study the requirements of the 
situation and the amount of money it is desir¬ 
able to invest iti the building. The cost of a 
barn does not. depend so much upon its size as 
upon it* finish; and while we do not object to 
tine finish and good look*, where the owner 
can afford the expense, we would not recom- 
Bot Fly on Horse?* — Mr. R. L. Lang 
writes us that, turpentine, coal-oil and vine¬ 
gar, equal parts, well shaken together, and 
rubbed on the eggs of the hot fly on horse’s 
legs, will utterly kill them after about three 
applications. This is a safe and easy remedy 
to apply, and every horse should be treated, 
and it is much better to kill these pests than to 
have them get into the horse’s stomach. 
substance to be used with knowledge an 
judgment. It should never be mixed with old 
manure in a heap at all, or with fresh ma¬ 
nure unless it is in the compost heap, where a 
large proportion of earth, soda, or plaster is 
used; and these will act as absorbents of any 
ammonia liberated, or nitric acid formed by 
the action of the lime. But in properly con¬ 
structed compost heaps lime acts as an active 
agent to produce a rapid decomposition of the 
mass, and quickly prepare it for use in the field. 
Also, when lime is spread upon newly manured 
soil, its action Is not wasteful, because the soil 
at once absorbs the ammonia that is liberated 
and holds it until it is finally prepared for the 
use of the crop. 
Lime is a food, and an active provider of 
food at the same time. It thus gives the plant 
what it has in itself, and all that it can draw 
from the soil as well. In this lies at once its 
usefulness and the danger of using it. If a 
farmer uses it to drag from bis field all the 
fertility contained in it, as be would drag a fish 
pond with a net, or spend from his pocket with¬ 
out returning to It, then he injures himself by 
exhausting bis land; but if he gives manure, 
plows under clover, feeds more stock with his 
enlarged crops, and returns to the soil the food 
supplies ho has drawn from it, then he uses 
this valuable fertilizer in a profitable manner, 
and will find It the most remunerative ma¬ 
nure he cau use for the money spent in it. The 
usual price of lime at the kiln is from 10 to 12 
cents a bushel of 80 pounds when fresh 
burned, or half that price for slaked or 
waste lime. The former is the cheaper. 
Barn Plans. Fig. 523. 
mend any one to get in debt to put an elabo¬ 
rate cornice or a fancy cupola upon his barn; 
make it substantial, warm, and provide for 
good ventilation, and no matter how plain it 
is, stock cau be kept at a minimum cost. 
Mr. J. K. Lane, of Prospect, Maine, sent ns 
the plans of a barn which we have engraved, 
and the elevation of which is shown at Fig. 
522, (p845.) It is 50x100 feet, with 20 foot 
posts. It has two floors beside the cellar, and 
Is capable of holding from 125 to 140 tons of 
The Use of Lime as a Fertilizer.— 
Henry Stewart remarks, in the agricultural 
columns of the Times, that the best time to 
apply lime is in tbe Fall, for the reason that it 
is more easily dissolved in cold water and is 
then the more actively effective. It is also a 
more convenient season for the work than any 
other. The manner of using it is to draw tbe 
lime as fresh us possible from the kiln and 
drop it in tbe field, in heaps of one or more 
bushels, a certain number of feet apart, this 
depending upon the quantity to be used per 
acre. Thus fqrspreading the following quan¬ 
tities, the sizes of the heaps, and the distances 
apart will tie as follows; 
40 bci-liels per oc-rc U a barbel 38 feet apart. 
50 bushels per acre Is a bushel SO feet apart. 
60 bushel* per acre Is a bushel 27 feet apart. 
80 bushels per aero Is 2 bushels 88 feet apart. 
120 bushels per acre Is 2 bushels SO >eet apart. 
lOObushcU per acre la 2 bushels 27 feet apart. 
The table may be easily carried on up to 300 
or more bushels by a si mple process of addition 
to the size of the heap. This method isehoseu 
because at 33 feet apart tbe heaps are easily 
and accurately spread by casting the lime 
with a long handled shovel l&K feet, or one 
rod, in every direction, and 16>£ feet is au 
easy cast with such a shovel. The lime having 
been drawn and dropped in the field, is left 
until it has absorbed from the air or has re¬ 
ceived from the rain enough water to reduce 
it to a fine powder. It is then air-slaked, and 
should be evenly scattered without loss of 
time, because more water would make it 
pasty, and it could not be evenly spread in 
that condition. The best way to apply it iu 
the Spring is on the plowed ground or upon 
meadows during tbe present or next month. 
It should never be plowed under, as it works 
downward very rapidly, and would soon pass 
below the reach of the roots. It should be 
harrowed in the soil along with the seed, and 
it will do no harm if tbe manure is covered iu 
at tbe same time, for reasons to be explained 
presently. It may be spread directly from 
the wagon, tbe heaps having been made upon 
the headlands or in an adjoining field in 
quantities of 100 or more bushels. 
The action of lime upon vegetable matter, 
as has been already stated, is to liberate am¬ 
monia from it and to produce nitric acid by 
hastening its oxidation or decomposition If 
mixed with decomposed manure, it rapidly 
drives off the ammonia iu vapor or gas, aud it 
rapidly changes the nitrogen of raw manure 
into very soluble compounds. Thus, if mixed 
with mauure, either old or fresh, without pre¬ 
cautions, it will soon deprive it of its most 
valuable properties. This is so well under 
stood that there exists among well-informed 
farmers a prejudice against the use of the lime, 
under the impression that it “eats up manure," 
“impoverishes the ground,’’and generally acts 
in a wasteful and prodigal manuer. It is well 
Omf tiila imnrpssiou exists, because lime is a 
Ensilage.— Dr. Voelcker, the justly distin¬ 
guished English chemist, contributes to the 
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society a 
valuable article on ensilage. In tbe course of 
this article be says that Mr. George Fry bus 
repeatedly directed attention to the impor¬ 
tance of allowing green food, when first 
placed iu a silo, to attain a temperature not 
lower than 125 degree?, and if possible as high 
as 150 degrees F,, before applying consider¬ 
able pressure by means of weights or a layer 
of sand. By this rise of temperature It 
passes through a process which he terms 
“sweet” or “hay” fermentation. From his 
entire observations, it would appear that the 
too rapid exclusion of air by weighting the 
silage as soon as it is put into the silo, prevents 
the green food from attaining a temperature 
of 125 degrees F., below which, in his view, 
sweet or hay-fermentation does not take place, 
but instead either lactic or acetic fermenta¬ 
tion. 
Good, well matured, green food will make 
first class silage if the process of ensilage is 
properly carried out. whilst innutritions, im¬ 
mature or over ripe woody grass or clover, or 
similar green food, by no kind of fermenta¬ 
tion or modification of the processor ensilage, 
can be possibly converted into a really good 
food. Ensilage may render such food more 
palatable and improve its physical condition, 
in consequence of which it may become more 
digestible, but it can never change it into 
really good and nutritious provender. 
In 1883. Mr. George Fry. of Cbobhatn, filled 
a silo with Trifolium iucarnatum, “ Rough 
Gras?,” and “ clover and Rye Grass,” between 
the 7th and 30th of June; the temperature 
recorded at the time of covering being 132 
deg. F., six feet from the surface; the silo 
was then weighted with 12 inches of sand. 
On July 11th, and again on the 17th, the 
cover was taken off, aud the silo was filled 
with Meadow grass sufficient to replenish the 
space caused by settLing; the temperature ob¬ 
served at these dates was 140 deg. F., at a 
depth of six feet. In another silo filled with 
clover and Rye-Grata and Meadow-grass be¬ 
tween June 30th and July 11th, after which 
the silo was weighted with sand, tbe recorded 
temperatures were, on July 7tb, 149 deg. F , 
and on July 14th, 158 deg. F. The resulting 
silage was free from acidity, sweet, and of an 
agreeable, fruity odor, much resembling that 
of good hay, and was eaten w'ith apparent 
relish by cattle, sheep, and horses. In filling 
silos, most writers on ensilage give directions 
which are based on Liebig's chemical theory 
of fermentation; they recommend the thor¬ 
ough consolidation of the green fodder as it is 
put in, the rapid filling of the silo, aud the 
covering up and weighting of it at once, in 
order to prevent, as far as possible, the ex¬ 
posure of the fodder to the oxygen of the at¬ 
mosphere, which is assumed to be the exciting 
cause of fermentation. Pasteur’s recent in¬ 
vestigations, however, have greatly enlarged 
our knowledge of the conditions which favor 
fermentation. He has shown that oxygen 
itself is not directly concerned in the process, 
but that certain living ferments and germs, 
generating various kinds of bacteria of fer- 
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