all under cover. I have got it and it did not 
cost nearly as much as a separate barn would. 
But, most important of all, perhaps, t wanted 
the new barn arranged so as to save every 
particle of the manure, both, liquid and solid. 
This will be accomplished without great ex¬ 
pense. I had tight floors and gutters in the 
old: hut there was some waste in the yard, as 
well as exposure of stock. The manure was 
always neatly piled, and hundreds of times I 
have been out and cleaned up the yard, or 
shoveled up around the pile when it looked 
like raiu, so as to prevent loss. But, in spite 
of all, the lodged wheat and rotten potatoes 
on the ground below showed conclusively that 
some fertility got away. 1 have even found 
it in the drainage water from the tile drains. 
This leak had to bo shut off in the new barn. 
To do it a corner between the tool house aud 
maiu baru, opening to the south and east, was 
roofed over. For a trial we covered a space 
30 by 34 feet with a tin roof, at an expense of 
ouly $100. The doors of the cow stable, horse 
stable and rear doors of the tool house are 
under this shed. No manure will get. away 
now. There will be no longer lodged crops 
behind the barn aud rich drainage water go¬ 
ing iu to the brook, wasting fertility that the 
poorer hills need 
Even with all the care we used to take iu the 
yard, 1 believe we will make 20 per cent, inter¬ 
est on the cost of the roof, yearly. And then 
the convenience of having this large shed close 
to the horse stable, to run tools under when 
in a hurry, duriug the summer! Every visitor 
says: “That shed is the best part of the barn. 1 
To prevent over heating of the manure we 
will spread it evenly all over under the shed, 
and let stock trample on it freely. Of course, 
•there will be water iu the shed; but there 
won’t be any mud! The stock can get exer¬ 
cise and not tie exposed to storms. The more 
they are in the yard the better, as there will 
be less manure to wheel out—no waste any 
way. In the winter this shed will be inclosed 
by planks put in between the posts, around 
the outside: so no manure will be in sight: in 
fact the surroundings of the barn may be 
kept as neat aud tidy as the lawn before the 
house. With very little trouble the barn aud 
yard may be so arranged aud eared for as to 
be a thing of beauty, instead of an ugly blot 
ou fair nature’s face. In the spring, after 
the manure is out, the planks wili be taken out, 
leaving the shed open for driving under, it 
is high enough so a load of hay will go in. 
Now, friends, 1 have said enough; see how 
all this looks in the picture, Fig. 4Uf>. What 
you see cost uie about $1,700, we doing some 
of the painting aud simpler work ourselves 
and using some timbers from the old barn. 
The buildiug laces the north with a total 
frontage of 116 feet. It is 60feet to the top of 
pole. A small open yard will be fenced off lo 
the east of shed. 
Ground-plan and fall descriptions in my 
next. t. b. TERRy. 
Summit Co., Ohio. 
&\)t ijfrti5m.au. 
QUALITY OF BEEF vs. QUANTITY. 
HON. T. C. JONES. 
Lessons of long and wide experience; efforts 
and aims of carl}/ improvers; “ quality ” 
paramount in choice href cattle in the opin¬ 
ion of the (fallings and other early breed¬ 
ers ; recent change of opinion and prac¬ 
tice; what constitutes gualiiy; hide and 
hair as indications; difficulties in judging 
good “handling;' 1 ' 1 smallness of bone; other 
characteristics of “ quality .” 
The Rural New-Yorker, having ex¬ 
pressed the opinion that the cattle growers of 
the United States ought to give more atten¬ 
tion to the quality of the beef ibey produce, 
instead of devoting all their skill and charac¬ 
teristic enterprise to the matter of quantity— 
mere bulk—aud the properties of early matur¬ 
ity, hardiness, etc., best calculated to secure 
the largest results in this direction at the 
smallest cost, appreciating the importance of 
the question to the great agricultural interests 
of the country, T propose to contribute to its 
discussion the results of a careful study as 
well as a wide observation of the practice of 
men engaged in the cattle growing industry, 
for more than a third of a century, coupled 
with a practical experience of my own,as well 
as a knowledge of the history of the Improve¬ 
ments effected in this industry from the earli¬ 
est period of its history. 
More than a hundred years have elapsed 
since systematic efforts were made to improve 
the quality of the live stock upon British 
farms; or, perhaps, it would he more accurate 
to say that we have no reliable history of such 
efforts being made before the period indicated. 
The Maynards, the Ceilings, Masons, etc., 
BE® % 
gave groat attention to the properties of early 
maturity in their rattle as an all-important 
matter to insure satisfactory profits; but they 
also laid great stress upon the ‘‘point" <>l 
“quality,” a term used iu a technical sense to 
designate certain characteristics of hide aud 
hair, etc. (as will he hereafter explained), 
which, iu their judgment, indicated good 
feeding properties and a superior quality of 
flesh. 
In the view of these early improvers, these 
characteristics were not only desirable, but 
indispensable in the breed lug animal; so much 
so that whatever perfection of form or weight 
of flesh the animal might possess, it was not 
entitled to commendation if it lacked in the 
characteristics technically termed “quality.’ 
Previously there had bceu a variety of cattle 
with wonderful development of lean flesh, and 
a great prominence of buttocks, concerning 
which it was observed that they were always 
fleshy but never fat,' The flesh was of a dark 
hue, tough mid of inferior flavor. With the 
advance Of thespirit of improvement this type 
became universally unpopular, and a standard 
of gualiiy as an indispensable factor in the 
excellence of liigh-easte breeds became every¬ 
where established. 
The most enterprising, if not the most skill¬ 
ful, of these early improvers was Charles Col¬ 
ling who. it is said, received instruction from 
Bake veil, who had been an acknowledged 
leader in the improvement of sheep and 
another variety of cattle, the Long-horns, 
now become almost extinct, 
Mr. Charles Colling, with his brother Rob¬ 
ert, began his career about 1730, ami after the 
most brilliant success that history records of 
any man in the same department of live-stock 
breeding, at the end of about 30 years sold out. 
his stock and retired from active business, j 
Now it is related of this man, the acknowl- 
edged leader of the great improvement in cat- j 
tie of that period, that some years after his 
retirement, when referring to the fascinations 
of his old vocation, he said that if he had the 
use of his fingers, that is, if he were able to 
judge of the quality of cattle, he would not 
despair of being able to establish another 
herd. 
Now were the Codings and the other lead¬ 
ing breeders of their day right, in attaching 
such paramount importance to quality? Were 
Thomas Bates, .Jonas Whitaker, Christopher 
Mas in and other immediate successors of the 
Ceilings right in insisting, as they all did, 
that no auimal was lit for Service as a breeder 
it of objectionable quality? 
But every intelligent nml impartial man fa¬ 
miliar with the practice of breeders of the 
fame race <>£ catile in our day. must admit 
that their practice is materially different on 
the point we are now considering from that of 
their distinguished predecessors. At the pub¬ 
lic sales, iu the show-yards, and in the selec¬ 
tion of breeding stock, quality seems now to 
be regarded as of little ei usequenee. Form, 
size, color, aud liigh style, with a fashionable 
pedigree, determine the question in judging 
of the comparative excellence. 
Before proceeding further In this discussion, 
it will be necessary to deline more particularly 
the outward characteristics which constitute 
what we call “quality.” The flrst and the 
most important of these is what the old breed¬ 
ers called the “handle”—a good beast was in 
their view, in all conditions, whether fat or 
lean, a good ‘"handler. That is to say, it 
must have a hide elastic and pliable, uot too 
thick, a< such hides are generally hard and 
inelastic, indicating an unthrifty feeder and 
bud quality of flesh--nor too thin, or what is 
generally denominated “papery,” indicating a 
delicate constitution and "flabby” flesh. Now 
to good hide we must have hair; “huu-, milk 
and beef” was the maxim of the old breeders, 
even before the days ot the Ceilings. The 
hair, besides indicating vigor of constitution 
and a thrifty grower , and valuable ns a pro¬ 
tector against the vicissitudes of the weather, 
was also by its texture an indication of the 
quality not only of the beef, but of the milk as 
well. 
We must have an abundant coat of long 
hair of line texture. Bueh a Coat upon the 
yielding, elastic hide gives, when the hand is 
placed upon it, that pleasurable sensation we 
cull a “mellow f.el,” To judge of this point 
requires practice and ft natural rapacity for 
what is really a most important art. If the 
animal is in moderately good flesh the task is 
not so ditlirult after a little practice; and, 
observing the points we have noticed, the ques 
tion of the excellence of the •‘handle” may be 
easily determined. But if we have uu ani¬ 
mal in low condition, the hide, though nut 
hard, will uot have the mellow “feel” that is 
produced by the well-tilled, fat-bearing tis¬ 
sues underneath, though if the quality is good 
we should have no difficulty iu raising the 
hide on the hip joints If the beast is “ripe,” 
bard-fat as it is called, especially if made so 
ou grass, as the best beef always should he, 
there wili be a solid feel which may be mis¬ 
taken for hard “handling.” We had an in¬ 
stance of this in the judging of cows in the 
breeding class at the late Ohio State Fair, 
where a heifer of the most unexceptionable 
hide and hair, having, in accordance with the 
prevailing practice of Iraining cattle lor ex¬ 
hibition, been made “hard-fat,” was denied 
first honors on the ground that shh was not a 
good handler. 
The other characteristics of superior quali¬ 
ty are the tine structure of the bones us seen 
in what that, great authority Youatt says he 
deems of so much importance that without 
it. “he would reckon auv beast almost valu- 
less, namely: small bones below the knee.” 
Then we should have a light, well formed 
head, tine neck aud throat. The flesh should 
be laid on evenly over the whole carcass, 
(accumulations of fat in lumps about the tail, 
etc., indicating an absence of the fat. hearing 
tissues in the substance of the muscles), giving 
what is called the marbled appearance to the 
meat which is a sure indication of line flavor 
and quality. The eye should have the expres¬ 
sion of spirit with good temper and intelli¬ 
gence. It will be observed that we have not 
undertaken to give all the characteristics of a 
good bullock, but only such as indicate excel¬ 
lence in flesh and feeding properties. 
The intelligent observer of our cattl shows, 
and of the sales of high bred stock, need not 
be told how little weight these characteristics 
of superior quality have in determining the 
question of excellence. Hence the pertinence 
and importance of the inquiry propounded by 
the Rural New-Yorker— Why is it that our 
cattle growers do not give more attention to 
the quality of the beef they produce?—to which 
I shall devote some observations in another 
contribution. 
Delaware, O. 
♦ 
FOREIGN SALT IN THE DAIRY. 
T. D. CURTIS. 
A merican dairy salts less pure than Lnglish: 
amount of impurities vary; the reason 
why; brines of different sections; why 
chemical purification is unreliable; re¬ 
bates on foreign salts for packing ex¬ 
ported meats; dairymen and others en¬ 
titled to “free' salt; tariff' amendment 
needed. _ 
It is a well-known fact among leading dairy¬ 
men that American dairysalte are not as pure 
anil reliable, nor of as uniform grain, nor m ns 
;ood condition for the use of the dairymen as 
tie host English salts. This is no fault of the 
American manufacturer, but is due to natural 
•auses, which can be overcome only at great 
•xponso and risk, attended with a greater or 
css degree of uncertainty. All the American 
vrines thus tar discovered are very impure, 
ind not to be compared as regards quality 
ivith the English brines. \V hile the latter 
•on tain no ingredients that cannot be elimi¬ 
nated by careful aud skillful handling in the 
manufacture, the American brines are so im¬ 
pure that they must be subjected to chemical 
purification before salt can be made of them 
pure enough for use in first-cluss dairy goods. 
This chemical process of purification is both 
expensive aud uncertain, if m»t dangerous to 
the quality of the suit. The brines vary in 
the amount of impurities they contain, not 
only in different wells and districts, but in dif* 
ferent seasons of the year, aud iu accordance 
with the amount of brine used. Those of 
Syracuse, N. Y., range Jrom 35 to 45 gallons 
of brine to make u bushel of salt. This vari¬ 
ation of strength is due to the fact that natu¬ 
ral brines are formed by the water that leaches 
through the soil, dissolving the underlying 
bed of salt and carrying with it whatever it 
takes up from or washes out of the soil as it 
passes tnrough it. These beds of salt are sup¬ 
posed to have been originally bodies of salt 
water which have dried up. The crystallized 
salt resulting, of course, contains all the im¬ 
purities held by the water at. the time of crys¬ 
tallization. Hence, rock salts are by no means, 
save in exceptional cases, as pure as popularly 
supposed. On the contrary, they are very 
impure. Where the brine is made (as in the 
Genessee, N.Y., region), by forcing water into 
the borings, and thus artificially, as it were, 
producing the brine, it contains not only the 
impurities of the rock salt dissolved, hut all 
that are contained in the wuter that is forced 
into the borings. Hence these brines are very 
impure. The natural brines of the Ohio V’al¬ 
ley and of Goderich, iu Canada, and Saginaw, 
in Michigan, are highly charged With injuri¬ 
ous impurities. 
These tacts are mentioned to show why the 
Amcrieau dairy salts are so unreliable. It is 
next to impossible to so purify the brines iu 
the regular processes of manufacture as to 
make them pure aud trustworthy. As before 
said, the different brines contain different 
amounts of impurities—although usually of 
the same kind—and vary iu degree of im¬ 
purity at different times. Now the processes 
of chemistry require exactness. The differe nt 
ingredients unite in mathematical proportions. 
It will therefore ho seen that when an ingre¬ 
dient is added for the purpose of neutralizing 
any other ingredient contained in the water 
the amount added must be in exact proportion 
to the amount to he neutralized. Too little 
will fail to neutralize all the objectionable 
ingredients contained in the water, and too 
much will leave a surplus of the neutralizing 
iugredieut which is added; so that in the 
first case, some of Lhe original impurity is 
leTt, while in the other case, another impurity 
is substituted. There is generally an excess 
of neutralizing material added, and as this 
is usually of an alkaline character, the Ameri¬ 
can salts have an alkaline reaction, which is a 
great objection to dairy salt.. 
It will thus la* seen why our leading dairy¬ 
men have found American salts so unreliable 
and insist on having foreign salt to use in the 
manufacture of their dairy goods. The same 
may bo said of our packing suits. Foreign 
salts are preferred by most packers of meats 
aud fish; aud Congress has acknowledged this 
fact by giving these packers a rebate of the 
tariff on all salt used in meats and fish for ex¬ 
port. Now if foreign salts are so superior for 
use in mea's and fish for export, they must 
be equally superior for use in meals and fish 
for home consumption—and Americans are 
entitled to have their food just as well pre¬ 
served as that which is designed for the con¬ 
sumption of foreigners. 
It is claimed by some of the press that dairy¬ 
men who export goods arc entitled to the 
same rebate to which the meat and fish packers 
are. If so. the dairymen have not found it 
out and the use of foreigu salt among dairy¬ 
men is so scattering and Individually small iu 
amount that is known to be exported, that 
practically the provision for a rebate iu their 
case would not be available. "We export 
comparatively a small amount of butter: but 
a laige production of our cheese goes abroad. 
Possibly the ehetse-mnkers who make in large 
quantities in factories might, be benefited by 
the rebate if it applies to dairymen: but 
creameries could get no benefit, because the 
price of their butter is too high for the export 
trade, which demands 20 to 22-cent butter. 
Hence the only way to do justice to the dairy¬ 
man and to lhe consumers of dairy products, 
is to give them free salt. 
And why should they not have free salt? 
The attempt, to force our dairymen to use in¬ 
ferior salt by puttiug a “protective' tariff on 
the foreign article has proved a failure. Our 
best dairymen will have foreign salt, as long 
experience proves. The tariff has not im¬ 
proved the quality of American salt, or ma¬ 
terially increased its use. The revenue is not 
needed by the general Government which has 
an overflowing treasury; and if it was, the 
amount, of revenue collected on salt is little 
more than enough to pay the cost of collec¬ 
tion, although it amounts to quite a heavy tax 
on our dairy interests aud serves as a discour¬ 
agement to the use of the best material in the 
manufacture, of dairy goods. The difference 
m price between the American and the ior- 
eign article is sufficient protection, and will 
continue to he after the tariff is removed. It 
is now very positively expected that Congress 
will give the tariff an overhauling at theco’ii- 
ing session, for the purpose of reducing he 
revenue. Is there any good reason why the 
the repe al of the tariff ou dairy salt should 
uot be among its very first acts? 
HENRY MALES. 
Snow bad for hens; keep rats out of poultry- 
house; nightly inspection; disinfection ; 
out-door shelter. _ 
Durino the time snow lies on the ground do 
not depend on your fowls eating snow to 
queuch their thirst; they will do this if not 
properly supplied with water; but it often 
causes a looseness of the bowels and sickness, 
and prevents hens from laying. 
Now that poultry houses will have to be 
shut up closer to keep out cold, look in now 
and then at night to observe the sanitary con¬ 
dition of yqur stock when they are quietly 
settled on their perches. If your olfactory 
nerves are in fair condition, you can thus tell 
if the houses are too close or foul; or if a roupy 
bird is present, yon can detect it at ouee by 
its peculiar bad odor, ami remove it before 
further mischief is doue by contagion. 
It is good to throw a little air-slaked lime 
about the house, after cleaning out, and in 
