THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
4SSS 
puts the balance upon the wrong side; to be 
sure, the wasted food helps to swell the man¬ 
ure heap, and is thus returned to the soil; but 
the same food, though not making so large a 
bulk, will add very nearly as much value to 
the heap after having been through the di¬ 
gesting machinery of the sheep, with the 
added virtue of being much more finely di¬ 
vided, and therefore in a more available 
form. 
No animal, man not excepted, more fastidi¬ 
ously insists upon clean food, in a clean recep¬ 
tacle, than sheep; this is particularly so when 
they are being highly fed. Meu will become 
so accustomed to untidy surroundings as to 
eat unsavory food with unclean hands and 
from dirty dishes; but not so with the sheep; 
put the most tempting graiu in a trough in 
which a dirty foot has been placed, or in 
which a sheep has trodden, and it is refused, 
even to hunger and the falling away in flesh. 
Hence we see how important a feature of the 
sheep-fold is the feeding rack. In our sheep¬ 
feeding experience, we have tried many 
forms of racks for holding both hay aud 
grain, aud have found that the style to lie 
used depends upon the purpose for which we 
feed; a rack well adapted to feeding mature 
sheep may bo worthless for lamb-raising. 
After trying many elaborate aud expeusive 
racks, we have never found one which, all 
things considered, pleased us so well for feed¬ 
ing vourling lambs or full-grown sheep as the 
one shown in Fig. 153. It is cheap aud easily 
Fig. 153. 
cleaned, while the sheep cannot crowd each 
other away from the feed or put their feet 
into the grain or hay. It can be made of any 
convenient length, and if not more than 18 
feet long, will not need more than three sets 
of posts or legs. The figure shows the rack 
cut iu two near the middle posts. The posts 
are two iuehes square and 30 inches long, and 
are held together by two cross-pieces each be¬ 
ing four inches wide, one nailed firmly at the 
bottom and the other at the top, as shown. 
The bottom board is eight inches wide, the 
front notched to fit about the posts, and come 
eveu with their front sides. The back edge is 
beveled, so as to take the slanting board under 
its edge. The slauting board is 12 inches wide 
cut to fit the back posts and passing under the 
bottom board, which is to be firmly nailed to 
it as well as to the cross-pieces. The front 
has a board six inches wide nailed to the front 
edge of the bottom board and also to the 
posts. It has also a board four iuehes wide 
nailed to the top of the posts, leaviug a Teed- 
iug space 16 Inches wide, which is divided by 
strips, three inches wide, nailed perpendicu¬ 
larly to the two boards 15 to 18 inches apart, 
according to the size of the sheep to be fed. The 
ba:k has two boards, each six Inches wide, or 
one 12 inches, nailed to the posts and also to the 
upper edge of the slauting part of the bottom. 
It also has a board four inches wide nailed at 
the top of the posts. The ends are made as 
shown in cut, except that all the boards are 
cut off flush with the posts, and a board, as 
wide us the feeding trough is high, is nailed 
on, forming the ends of rack and trough, lu 
this ruck are fed hay, grain ami roots, and any 
soiled food or dirt is easily cleaned out with a 
broom or wooden shovel made for the pur¬ 
pose. 
While this trough is perfectly satisfactory 
for large sheep, it is not at all adapted for 
ewes uud lambs, as the little fellows would be 
continually in and running over the hay and 
other food, fouling them so the sheep would 
not oat. For feeding these the rack shown iu 
Fig, 154 we have found most excellent. It is 
Fig. 154. 
made by placing two troughs side by side, the 
boards forming their outer sides being 10 
inchos wide, the iuuer 12 inches, and put to¬ 
177 
gether so that the narrow board passes by and 
is nailed to the wider ones. These troughs 
are supported on rests cut to fit from two- 
inch planks, the narrowest place being sir 
inches wide. 
The posts, or legs, are two by four and 36 
inches long, beiDg boarded up on one side to 
form an end. The rests are nailed to the in 
side of these posts; to the inside of the posts 
at the top, on each side, is nailed a hoard 12 
inches wide. From these boards to the 
troughs are nailed upright strips inches 
wide and the same distance apart, the strips 
being put on alternately on each side. The 
lower ends of these strips rest in a crease 
formed by the edges of the troughs standing 
side by side, aud are nailed to the edges of the 
troughs. Under the center is a rest, and in 
place of a set of poets or legs, which would be 
in the way of cleaniug, a strip is put across 
the top and a brace on each side, the front 
one only being shown. 
All leaves or fine portions falling from bay 
as drawn through the rack, fall into the 
troughs and are eaten. When wanted for 
grain or root feeding the troughs are quickly 
cleaned out with a broom or small paddle 
made on purpose. In this form neither sheep 
nor lambs can get into rack or troughs to soil 
the food. From our cuts and very plain des¬ 
criptions any one should be able to construct 
either style, and we are sure they will be 
pleased with them. 
<L\y Srinue-ljcriJ. 
PIG SEPARATION. 
COL. F. D CURTIS. 
A little more brains are needed on some 
farms. When a man leaves his breeding sow 
in the pen with other hogs uutil she has her 
young, and he loses all of the little ones, he 
lacks intelligence or forethought. When he 
leaves her there until a few days before her 
time to farrow, he is just so far stupid and 
runs a proportionate risk. The proper thing 
to do with a breeding sow is to keep her by 
herself, in a roomy pen, where she mav be 
fed suitable food, and be kept clean. A great 
mauy pigs are lost every year on account of 
dirty teats, which get sore, aud then the old 
one will not let the pigs suck, aud then they 
die. The sow should be petted, scratched a 
little and talked to, and made friendly by 
these simple and commonsense means. She 
must be by herself to admit of this special at¬ 
tention, and these little attentions count; not 
in time, for it only takes a minute or two for 
a lesson, but they count when the young come, 
and in making the dams tame and mauage- 
able. A gentle and tame mother will make 
her offspring the same, and such animals are 
worth twice as much as the wild and un¬ 
governable ones. 
Sows left in the pen with others are liable 
to get jammed or struck in the sides, and then 
the uuborn pigs may be killed or injured and 
abortion may follow, or the young may be 
made weak and die after being born. One 
dead pig in the womb will cause fever and in¬ 
flammation aad perhaps desti*oy the whole 
litter, and injure the sow very much. Some¬ 
times she will die, and if she recovers it may 
take u whole season to do so. A blow or jam 
may kill one pig and cause all of this trouble. 
A sow needs food differeut from that fed to a 
lot of hogs, or at least, differeut from that 
usually fed to them. She wants light food 
and a variety, and when by herself she cau 
get it without any struggle or risk, provided 
her owner has the wisdom to give it to her. 
There should be some preparation for the 
farrowing. The pen should be clean. A 
new-born pig will soon get chilled or tired out 
nllounderig around in a lot of wet or filth; 
very little boddiug should be in the peu, espe¬ 
cially if it is fresh straw, or the pigs will get 
tangled in it. By “very little” is meant such 
an amount as could he put into a bushel bas¬ 
ket. Pigs are fond of their home, and are 
always attempting to get back to old quarters, 
when changed, until they become accustomed 
to the new. A quiet and contented spirit is 
desirable in a breeding sow; the opposite 
makes trouble when the little ones come. 
When this kind of annoyauce and worry can 
be largely avoided by thought and care lie- 
forehand, why not exercise these available 
means and have the benefitl 
T. D. CURTIS. 
rennet (Continued.) 
In preparing reuuet for cheese-making, 
great care should be taken to cut off the ends, 
or knobs, aud any fleshy portions, as these 
parts are liable to be tainted. So all bad¬ 
smelling or discolored rennets should be re¬ 
jected. A bad odor indicates taint, which 
may prove very injurious, aud a dark or red¬ 
dish color indicates that the stomach was in¬ 
flamed or diseased wbeu the calf was killed, 
This is very liable to be the case with butchers’ 
rennets, the calves going so loug without eat- 
iug that the stomach gets inflamed. The 
stomach of a calf five to eight days old is con¬ 
sidered best. At that age the stomach takes 
on healthy and vigorous action, while the calf 
is not old enough to have eaten other food 
than milk, which might change the quality of 
the gastric juice. It has been the general 
practice to soak rennets in whey, but this 
should never be done; a weak brine made of 
pure salt—none better than the best American 
—is best. Add one pound of salt to 20 pounds 
of pure water; if not pure, boil, skim, and let 
it settle before putting the rennets into it. 
.Soak, rub. pound, and wring the rennets to 
get the strength out of them; then to the 
liquid add enough salt to make a saturated 
brine. If prepared only as fast as used, a stone 
jar is a proper vessel to keep the preparation 
iu. If a wooden vessel is used, every time 
rennet is taken ouc rub pure salt on the side, 
exposed by the lowering of the liquid, before 
they have time to dry. This will avoid the 
tainting of the wood in hot weather. The 
Canadian method of preparing rennet is a 
good one: In the latter part of Winter or early 
Spriug mauy cheese-makers provide them¬ 
selves with a barrel and pounder similar to 
what is used by the washer-woman. The ren¬ 
nets are soaked in a weak brine, made as just 
indicated, and then pounded in the barrel and 
run through a clothes wringer. Afterwards 
they are hung out to freeze. Then they are 
again soaked, pounded, and wrung. This 
operation is repeated until all the strength is 
removed. As much salt as the liquid will dis¬ 
solve is added to it, when it is carefully strain¬ 
ed and settled, and the pure liquid is put into 
a tight barrel or other tight vessel, to exclude 
the air, and is put into the cellar or other cool 
place until wanted. This is rennet prepara¬ 
tion for the coming season, and is always 
available. If properly made, it may be equal 
to the extract found iu the market. But if 
one has not the skill, or has other remunera¬ 
tive labor to do, I think it would be better to 
buy and use renDPt extract furnished by some 
reliable, manufacturer, who can make It in a 
wholesale way quite as cheaply aud of more 
even strength, than can the cheese-maker iu a 
small w ay. But of late there is a good deal of 
complaint about the extract sold by dealers. 
In this, as in everything else, there are dis¬ 
honesty and cheating. 
£lje Clpiarimr 
BEE-KEEPING AS A SPECIALTY. 
As an encouragement to farmers and others 
who add bee keeping to their other pursuits. 
Prof. A. J. Cook, in a receut number of the 
Rural, mentions the suoeess that his brother, 
assisted by his sons, has had in keeping bees. 
To me it appears that the evidence given in 
this report is in favor of bee-keeping as a 
specialty, and that the Professor's brother is a 
specialist. He neglects his farm rather than 
his bees, and makes mere money from the 
latter. The Professor savs that his brother 
paid considerable attettion to securing the 
information necessary to the successful man¬ 
agement of bees. Here is where many fail. 
Modern bee keeping, with its movable comb 
hives, honey extractor, comb foundation, 
section honey boxes, separators, reversible 
frames, artificial swarming, wintering prob 
lems. etc , etc., etc., requires a large amount 
of study and practice—more than a man al¬ 
ready engaged iu some occupation capable of 
absorbing all his thought and care, will 
usually fiud it profitable to give. 
Bee-keeping and farming do not coalesce, 
for the reason that the busiest time with bees 
comes in “haying and harvesting.” Of course, 
a farmer may havesous, who, becoming inter¬ 
ested in bees, learn how to manage them and 
make a success of the business; but it should 
be noticed that the success of Mr. Cook and 
bis sons is exceptional, and liable to mislead. 
Since 1 engaged in bee keeping, eight years 
ago, 28 persons living within two miles of my 
place, witnessing my success, have “invested 
in bees.” Many weut into the business quite 
extensively; bought bees, transferred them to 
movable comb hives, Italianized them, bought 
au extractor, 6moker, honey knife, comb- 
foundation, suctions, etc., etc., and of 
all these 23 neighbors who thus thought 
to either make money, or to “raise honey 
enough for their own use,” not one now 
owns a bee. The only one who ever made 
| any clear profit at the business has uow 
dropped both bee-keeping and farming and 
gone to the city as a book-keeper; while the 
majority of the others expended enough 
money, to say nothing of the time, to have 
bought from two to ten times as much honey 
as they ever obtained. w. z. Hutchison. 
gtttpUmettte and paftuneni. 
THE GIBBS PATENT “IMPERIAL” 
Steel, Cast, and Chilled PLOWS. 
manufactured by 
BUCHER, GIBBS & CO., CANTON, 0. 
S. R. NYE’S 
Sg- ITS LEADING .MERITS AJtE “t* 
That it will not sera toll your ground. Needs no ad¬ 
justment, but will r»ke clean nn all surfaces. Will 
not scatter at the ends. Will form a windrow in 
heavy or green grass. Is easily held down while at 
work. It nas the simplest, most durable, as well 
as convenient, dumping device of any rake in the field. 
BELCHER & TAYLOR AGR’L TOOL CO. 
BOX 75 CHICOPEE FALLS, MASS. 
KEMPS MflNURF SPREADER 
* PULVERIZER 
COMBINED, 
L.rlroUarwl tmveatlow — _ _ .. 
If the Age > **>r ©ewt- ©f laWr. 
As » slue ©f the Mw.nr©. all 
nt manure, broadcast or In drLL in one-tenth 
IDEAL 
A NEW DEPARTURE 
WIND MILLS 
Thrown in and out of wind I _ 
revolving the pump rod. doing ' 
away with all levers, pulleys, ohnins and 
wires peculiar to all other mills. Has a 1ILAU 
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Simple, strong, and Durable, fully M ar- 
mined. **- LITE AGENTS WANTED. 
STOVER MP8G0. v S£S3S. Tb 
ALL RIGHT 
^rtvrr^MSelt'-feed STRAW A 
HAY CUTTER 
The best In the world. 
rile Itaise is Steel, and tempered,and 
is fastened to Ictcs with three bolts, 
and can be easily taken oil to sharpen. 
The length of cut is regulated by the 
-ever to w},>. V. t|w- km:.- is bolted. 
The higher the leert is tuised, the 
"longer it will • til I re guaranteed. Send for 
circulr which will Iv- mailed FREE. 
piTWAUk U VC1I INK CO.. Columbus O. 
VAPORATINS FRUIT 
Kail treatisr an improved 
methods, yields, profits^ 
and general statistics, 
AMERICAN MANTG CO. 
1 (’Box P) WAYNESBORO. PA. 
CONCAVE & CURVED 
^seed pota to knife 
Will Cut to one or more eyes and 
not tnjut-B tho vital tissues. 
I jr Illustrated Circular showing 
I structure and directions for cut- 
I ting. Satisfaction guaranteed, 
PRICE 35 CTS. 1'ost Paid. 
Humphrey Bros 
WaKEMAN, 
Huron Co. 
Cut a thin slice from Ohio, 
center of Potato, hold 
up to light and see feeders 
as in small cut. 
KING A CO., Oweyot N. Y.» make the best 
StO Single Harness In the world. Oak Leather, 
Hand-make, no machine stitching.| (Send for Descrip¬ 
tive Catalogue. 
