1 % 
THE RURAL HEV/-YORKER 
Ft® 4 
•when out of condition on account of a rough 
passage, then the prices realized would be at 
least $15 per bullock more than we are able to 
obtain under the compulsory slaughter regu¬ 
lations for which there really is no justifica¬ 
tion any more than in the case of Canadian 
cattle. No case can be cited of British cattle 
becoming infected with any contagious disease 
by importations from the United States—not 
onel 
But, to return to the question of the quality 
of our beef: one essential requisite is blood, 
that is, the cattle must be of the proper sort 
to make good flesh, and then we must have 
grass, corn and maturity. There is a craze in 
favor of forcing cattle to a condition of 
extreme fatness at the earliest ages, as al¬ 
ready mentioned, because it is assumed from 
experiments made by extravagant feeding 
and care, such as the general farmer can not 
afford, that stock fed at the earliest ages is 
the most profitable. A great fat-stock show 
in the West, acting upon this assumption, 
disqualifies from competition all the cattle 
over three years of age; and yet with glaring 
inconsistency animals that are ripe for the 
butcher and taking prizes as such in the class 
under one year old, are allowed to compete 
the next year in the class under two, and the 
next in the class under three years! It is 
surprising that among a people so intelligent 
and so practical such classifications should be 
established. What justification is there for 
the “Baby Beef” class? Veal, that is, the 
flesh of a well-fatted calf at the age of four to 
eight weeks, has a tender delicacy which 
makes it highly relished by connoisseurs, 
while at six to 18 months the flesh is neither 
veal nor beef. It is without the rich juices 
and high flavor of matured beef, while it has 
nothing of the tender delicacy of the flesh of 
the young calf. . 
The influence of this forcing system as en¬ 
couraged by such classification as the above, 
is seriously detrimental in more respects than 
one. In the first place, it is self-evident that 
whenever an animal is fat enough to be enti¬ 
tled to the honors of a “Fat Stock Show,” it 
should go to the butcher, and can not be prof¬ 
itably kept for another year. The gain that 
it will afterwards make will continue to di¬ 
minish, and will be less in proportion to the 
amount of food consumed. In the next place, 
the quality of the beef will be seriously im¬ 
paired. Upon this point 1 quote from a letter 
recently received from a gentleman of the 
highest attainments in animal physiology and 
pathology. In answer to a request, he wrote 
me in regard to the point now under discus¬ 
sion, a description of the changes produced in 
the muscular system by fattening, as follows: 
“Fattening when not carried to excess causes 
a fine fiber, with not too much connective fi¬ 
brous tissue. The fat accumulates between 
the fibers, causing atrophy of some, and hence 
the superabundance of fat, causing a less num¬ 
ber of fibers to the fascicules than in the lean 
meat. . . . My idea of getting fine eating 
beef is moderate exercise; enough to have the 
fibers keep themselves in muscle substance,but 
not enough to thicken the membraneous 
substance (as in the case of the work¬ 
ing ox), food enough to build this 
and just surplus enough to produce a 
moderate amount of fat outside the muscle 
fascicules, but not within them. . . . The 
membraneous surroundings of the fibers lose 
their substance through the pressure upon 
them of the intiltered fat. . . . Excessive 
fattening destroys the muscle substance and 
leaves only the membraneous covering of 
each fiber.” 
1 have seen a bullock carry off first honors 
at three successive annual exhibitions, whose 
flesh was in the condition here described, the 
fat so invading the substance of the muscles 
that the flesh was soft and £oily—a condition 
generally designated as mere “blubber.” 
Delaware, O. 
SHELTER FOR STOCK IN KANSAS. 
Many farmers as they settle on these beau¬ 
tiful prairies seem to forget the lessons 
learned even in the more sheltered East, where 
stock need shelter, and how much more so 
in this open country where the wind has an 
almost unbroken sweep. This is brought forci¬ 
bly to mind to-day, as we are passing through 
a storm period, the worst of the present sea¬ 
son, the thermometer registering a change in 
15 hours from 40 degrees above zero to 10 be_ 
low, and a further drop in the next 24 hours 
of five degrees with a strong wind blowing 
and the air full of fine snow. Now the se¬ 
verity of the cold is nothing unusual for al - 
most any portion of the North, and is much 
less than that in many places; but it is nearly 
to the limit for “Sunny Kansas,” and if man 
and beast were well housed nothing would be 
thought of it and no serious inconvenience 
would be felt. But shelter in many cases is 
what is lacking and the yearly cry of suffer¬ 
ing goes up,and though generally exaggerated 
we wish that the result might be the inaugu¬ 
ration of a much needed reformation. 
For the man of limited means who is here 
building up a house and farm from the very 
foundation, much can be said in extenuation: 
but some kind of shelter is in the reach of 
every one, and no more stock should be kept 
than can be absolutely made comfortable. 
But for the man able to own 50 to 100 head 
of cattle and as many hogs, what can be said 
in the way of excuse for the fact that on his 
hundreds of acres of land, there is no more 
shelter than is afforded by a hedge, or a few 
hundred trees of an artificial grove. 
With most farmers in the newer States the 
question of shelter, like many others, is settled 
by asking “Will it pay?” and thinking if they 
can just get the stock “through the winter” 
they are all right, forgetting the great loss in 
weight and the increased amount of feed re¬ 
quired. Laying aside any other view of the 
question than that of “pay,” I think, if rightly 
investigated, that it will be found that shelter 
for farming stock will pay largely. Coming 
on to a farm with but little shelter on it for 
stock, and having only means to secure the 
barest necessities of life, a comparative fail¬ 
ure of crops means much to a newcomer; and 
if the 25 head of growing cattle are to help 
“lift the mortgage,” shelter in a cheap way 
must be provided that they may be com¬ 
fortable and the shortage of the crops be 
made up as far as possible. So in my case, 
a building 50 x 20 was built at a cost of $50. 
It has not much architectural beauty, for it 
wasn’t built for that. Crowded? Yes. 
Everything from pigs and chickens up are 
inside. It ought to be warmer, but I hoped 
that the series of cold winters was over, and 
the barn must be “improved,” but it is a 
great improvement on the south side of wire 
fence as a place for shelter. J. m. r. 
Conway, Kansas. 
£1 )t ptntllt u liavt). 
•POULTRY SHOW, BOSTON, MASS. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
Boston the best Eastern city for exhibitions; 
novelties', improvements in incubators', a 
fowl-stuffing machine, j 
Boston is beyond all question the exhibition 
city of the East. Exhibitions which are held 
here, especially those relating to agriculture 
are usually very successful and have a wide 
influence among the farmers of New Englaud. 
The poultry show held in the Mechanics’ 
Building from January 12 to 18 was no excep¬ 
tion to this rule. It was a fine exhibit, well 
attended and it will have a great influence 
upon the poultry interests of the country, or 
at least of New Englaud. 
A novel feature of the exhibition was a 
number of octagonal cages elevated, say, 
three feet above the floor. In these coops or 
cages the leading varieties of fowls and pig¬ 
eons were shown. They could be seen to ex¬ 
cellent advantage, and I have no doubt such 
cages will come into general use for exhibi¬ 
tion purposes. The novelties were ferrets. 
Guinea pigs, Angora rabbits, pea-fowls, wood 
ducks, pheasants, and geese swimming about 
in miniature ponds. In the long lines of coops 
specimens of almost every variety of fowls 
from the diminutive Bantam to the massive 
Asiatic were shown. The number and excel¬ 
lence of the white fowls seem to prove that 
the boom in White Dorkings, Wyandottes and 
Plymouth Rocks is of more importance than 
admirers of some of the older breeds are dis¬ 
posed to admit.! 
The incubator men were out in full force, 
and a number of new machines of apparent 
merit were exhibited. I noticed that water 
tanks and reserves of dry air seem to be tak¬ 
ing the place of electricityJand the thermo¬ 
static bar as heat regulators. The “Leader,” 
for example, has an air-chamber placed inside 
the room and outside the hatcher. By this 
means as the temperature of theroomchanges 
the cut-off of the lamp is operated upon in¬ 
stantly. If the room becomes cooler the flame 
is increased before the temperature within the 
egg-chambar becomes affected, and vice versa. 
An air-chamber is also placed within the case, 
which is also very sensitive to the changes of 
temperature. This works within ‘in the 
machine in precisely the same manner as the 
other works outside, or, in other words, each 
counteracts the other and an unvarying de 
gree of heat is obtained. 
“The Border City” is another new machine. 
The regulation is obtained by an air tube in 
the egg chamber attached to which is a flexi¬ 
ble pipe passing through the wall of the ma¬ 
chine and connected to the arm of a lever 
through the agency of a cup filled with mer. 
cury, which acts as a seal; so the expansion 
and contraction of air in the tuba are utilized 
to move the lever that increases or diminishes 
the flame of the lamp as the temperature in 
the egg chamber may demand. 
The show of brooders was large, but no 
new principle of especial merit was noticed. 
By far the most interesting thing about the 
show was the Gaveuse-Martin French stuffing 
machine for artificially fattening fowls. A 
registering apparatus indicates the amount of 
food forced into the duck, goose or capon" 
The fowls are fed regularly at stated inter¬ 
vals for 20 days, the quantity being gradual¬ 
ly increased from day to day. It is claimed 
that this method not only increases the 
weight of the fowls, but improves the quality 
of the flesh. If it will do what is claimed for 
it, it is certainly a great improvement in the 
business of raising fowls for market. 
J. H. G. 
PITHY POULTRY PARAGRAPHS. 
Dead Fowls in Winter.—W hen any fowls 
die in winter and the ground is too hard-fro 
zen to allow of their being buried, farmers 
should not throw them over the fence into 
the adjoining lot,as is so often done; but they 
should put them into a box or barrel where 
other poultry cannot get at them, till the 
ground is thawed enough to allow a hole to 
be dug, but no longer, and so avoid spreading 
disease. 
Feed Regularly. —In very cold weather 
I frequently see farmers feeding the hens for 
the first time in the day near noon. This 
keeps them too long without food to continue 
laying as they should. 
During Damp Weather the dust bath 
must not be forgotten. It will sometimes get 
wet and will not then be used,to the detriment 
of the fowls’ health. It is of no use except 
when perfectly dry. It is to the fowls for 
cleansing their bodies what water is to the 
human being. 
Beef Scraps. —The best way to provide 
animal food for hens in winter is a problem 
that perplexes some people, as some are not in 
a position to obtain just what they want. 
Haslets (that is the inwards of a beast, espec¬ 
ially of a hog, such as the heart, liver, etc.) 
are the best. When these cannot be had, 
there are two substitutes—beef scraps as sold 
by the poultry supply dealers and pork graves 
(the sediment of melted tallow) from pork 
butcheries. The first is nearly all grizzle, 
very hard, broken into small pieces and dust 
for some reason I could never find out. 
The poultry do not care much fob it. 1 find 
the best way to feed it is to sift it, putting the 
flour into their soft feed, and feeding the coarser 
bits either dry or soaked. Now if one wants 
to find out which of the two—the scraps or 
the graves—the birds like best, let him get 
some pork-scrap cake, such as is generally 
sold. Chop some of it up dry, or soak it in cold 
water till it drops apart, and feed either to the 
hens. How delighted they are with the scrap- 
cake, running away with pieces as though 
they had found something very valuable, 
prating and making things merry all around, 
which they do not with the beef-scraps. They 
will eat the latter, but there is no comparison 
as to which they like best. Their preference 
is not due to the fact that it is pork, for they 
are just as delighted with any other meat 
served in the same way. I feed the beef- 
scraps, but hold them in reserve till some 
other meat food runs short, for they are 
valuable as they can be sent anywhere. 
Sheep’s Haslets can be bought in the 
shambles barreled, in winter, and if they are 
kept outside in a shady place they will 
keep all winter. 
Clover Hay cut up short, steamed or 
moistened, will answer better than nothing 
when cabbages and other vegetables run 
short. 
fklb ClOrpS, 
SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 
A light sandy or gravelly soil best; prepar¬ 
ing the ground; manure; hot-beds for 
sprout growing; temperature and mois¬ 
ture; sprout .raising and handling; setting 
out the sprouts; cultivation of meet pota¬ 
toes; digging; keeping over winter. 
The land best suited for growing sweet 
potatoes is a dry soil three-quarters sand, with 
a coarse, open sub-soil. The next best is a 
gravelly loam provided always that the sub¬ 
soil is open. I find it useless to attempt to 
grow Sweet potatoes of good quality on a 
damp soil, no matter how good it may be in 
other respects. It can scarcely be too dry, 
and the plants are hilled up, so that the vines 
will act as a mulch as little as possible. 
The ground is plowed and harrowed as for 
other potatoes. The plot is then marked out 
with a three-runner sled lengthwise and then 
crosswise at right angles, the runners being 
set 80 inches apart, thus making the crossings 
80x30 inches. We now take a one-horse plow 
and strike or open a furrow about six inches 
deep one way across the plot. At the cross 
ings we put about four quarts of rather coarse 
stable manure (that made from corn-stalks cut 
with fodder-cutter and placed under the 
horses for bedding, is the very best) in the 
furrow and with a potato fork hill-up until 
the top of the hill is eight or 10 inches above 
the level of the ground. The plot is now 
ready for receiving the sprouts. Sometimes 
it is desirable to plant in rows. Then we 
mark with the sled, as previously described, 
one way only, running the plow through each 
line, and filling the furrow with manure 
which is covered with the plow by throwing 
a furrow on top from each side. 
For producing the sprouts, we select a place 
on the south side of a building or tight board 
fence, and open a pit. (For sprouting a bar¬ 
rel of potatoes it should be 14 inches deep six 
feet wide and nine feet long). A frame for three 
sash, 3x6 feet, is fitted on the excavation as 
for other hot-beds, About April 10, the pit 
is filled with hot manure that has previously 
been well worked over and well wet so that 
no fire-fanging will take place. After the 
manure has been placed in the pit it must be 
tramped down solid and smooth. Now sift 
on sand to the depth of one inch and rub it 
down smooth and level. Put on the sash and 
let the bed warm up a little. One day’s bright 
sun is generally sufficient. 
The potatoes to be sprouted should be of 
medium size. Split them through lengthwise, 
laying the flat sides on the sand,pressing them 
down firmly. They should be as close together 
as they will lie without touching each other. 
Then sift on sand, just enough to keep them 
in place, scarcely covering them. Then place 
on the sash and let them remain in that con¬ 
dition until they have begun to sprout freely. 
A chalk line should be drawn around the in¬ 
side of the frame 2 % inches above the tops of 
the potatoes, and the bed should be filled up 
to the line with sifted sand. Give no water 
until the sprouts begin to push through this 
the last covering,and then sparingly. Twelve 
quarts of warm water will be sufficient 
for the first watering. Care must be taken, 
for if the bed is made too wet the potatoes are 
sure to rot. The sash should be covered at 
night, and a uniform temperature should be 
kept of, say, 80 or 00 degrees as nearly as pos¬ 
sible. If the bed is started and managed in 
this way there will be good, strong plants by 
the first of June, and this is the time at which 
I prefer to begin setting the sprouts. When 
they are to be taken from the bed, wet the 
sand well with water from a watering pot; 
place the fingers of one hand on top of the pota. 
to to hold it in place while the sprouts are pull¬ 
ed off with the other. If they are planted in 
hills, we set one sprout in the top of each hill, 
putting in the plant down to about the first 
leaf, pressing the earth firmly about the roots. 
If the sprouts are planted in rows, set them 
in the top of the ridge 15 inches apart. Before 
the sprouts are set the roots should be pud¬ 
dled in clay about the consistency of cream. 
If care is taken in setting the sprouts and the 
cut-worm does not trouble them, the loss of 
the sprouts set out will not average over five 
per cent. 
The after cultivation is similar to that of 
other kinds of potatoes with the exception 
that the sweets must be kept well hilled up or 
the vines will mulch the ground and retain too 
much moisture, thus making the potatoes 
soggy when cooked. 
Sweet potatoes should be dug with a potato 
fork, especially those te be kept for winter use. 
When dug, put them in a dry place, and let 
them remain there until they have done sweat¬ 
ing; then place them carefully in barrels, scat¬ 
tering a little air-slaked Jime over them as 
they are placed in the barrels. Remove the 
barrels to a dry, warm room in the house. A 
room over the kitchen through the floor of 
which the stove pipe runs up I have found to 
be one of the very best places in which to keep 
sweet potatoes. I have kept-them in this man¬ 
ner until the following April, with a loss of 
less than a quart to a barrel. If they are left 
in the ground until the frost has struck the 
vines, the latter should be cut off at once, as 
the frosted vines are likely to cause rot in the 
potatoes. james perkins. 
Somerset Co., N. Y. 
RAISING SWEET POTATOES. 
Light, sandy soil is best adapted to sweet 
potatoes. Plow and pulverize it well; then 
with a one horse plow, strike out furrows ‘3)4 
feet apart one way, not too deep. Then give 
a liberal dressing of fine manure or compost 
on the furrow and cover by plowing a heavy 
one-horse furrow each way, which, if properly 
done, will form a ridge 10 or 12 inches high 
and about 18 inches at the base. When you 
are ready to set out the plants, rake the top 
