74 
FES 4 
horse power for cutting feed and shelling corn 
on a farm. We have horses and may as wel 
use them. But steam is getting to be very 
cheap. I can get a new two-horse power en¬ 
gine for $150. The petroleum engines are 
splendid for those who only want light power; 
they are automatic and no chimney is needed. 
Just light a match and steam is up almost as 
soon as you can turn around. If one wants to 
use wind power on such a farm as mine, the 
mill should be put on top of a cupola, the 
machinery being beneath on the barn floor. 
One may be able to shell corn and cut feed by 
wind power when the wind blows; but 
thrashing demands a steady, uniform power, 
for good work. Our 12 or 15 horse power en¬ 
gines get the grain out cleaner than the old 
horse powers used to. 
Yes, the entire foundation of the barn,in the 
ground and out, is of hollow bricks. They 
can be used almost wherever stone can. My 
house cellar is built of them, and I would not 
trade them for the best cut stone, as the cel- 
Fig. 30. 
lar is drier and cleaner than one with stone 
walls. The manufacture of. these hollow 
bricks and tiles is getting to be a great indus¬ 
try. Manufacturers make corner bricks and 
bricks for laying a bay window foundation of 
just the right angle; window caps and sills, 
pavement bricks and lighter ones for side¬ 
walks, tile plates for floors and roofs, and 
even ceilings in city buildings are now being 
made of tiles, to make them fire-proof, instead 
of iron. We have fine houses in this county 
built of them, as well as shops and mills. 
They are doubtless made in or near Chicago, 
as well as in other places. Our Wisconsin 
friend can write to Camp & Thompson, Cuy¬ 
ahoga Falls, Ohio, and probably learn from 
them where the nearest factory is to him. I 
bought mine of the above firm. The home 
demand is so great that they can hardly fill 
their orders. 
Having used the covered barn-yard and 
horse stables with absolutely water-tight 
floors, for some months now, I can honestly 
say I am just delighted with both. I have 
just been wheeling out manure from the horse 
.StEB.VlEYI 6\'Pvi&L? 
Fig. 31. 
stalls, that has accumulated for a month, be¬ 
ing kept always dry on top with straw, and it 
was almost as heavy as fresh cow manure. 
It is certainly worth double the ordinary light 
horse manure made on a floor with cracks in 
it. I wheeled it out under the shed and spread 
it around evenly. The roof overhead and the 
tramping by stock will prevent all loss from 
leachiug or evaporation, until it can go on 
the ground in March. My land is so rolling 
that it would be unwise to draw out manure 
on it during winter. Then it was icy outside 
and I let my idle horses out in the covered 
yard, one at a time, to run and kick up, with¬ 
out any danger of their slipping. I finally 
put in a good pump and had water drawn in¬ 
to this shed from a well 130 feet distant. Our 
days of mud in the barnyard, and of leaching 
manure piles, and of horses suffering for exer¬ 
cise because the ground is too soft or too slip¬ 
pery to let them out, are over. 
Summit Co., Ohio. 
THE NORTHWEST OF CANADA AS A 
RANCHING COUNTRY. 
PROFESSOR J. P. SHELDON. 
Location of Canadian cattle ranches', terms 
of ranch leases: areas of leased ranches ; 
character of the country, improvement of 
stock and conditions ; northern extension 
of stock ranching ; horse-ranching; north¬ 
ern Manitoba and Assiniboia ; increase of 
cattle , sheep and horse breeding in the 
Canadian Northwest', the dairy industry 
growing. _ 
The Canadian cattle ranches have hitherto 
for the most part been confined to the foot¬ 
hills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta be¬ 
tween the Canadian Pacific Railroad and the 
United States’ boundary line. This is a sec¬ 
tion of country whose dimensions are, rough¬ 
ly speaking, some 80 to 100 miles wide by 
about 150 miles long, containing from seven 
to nine millions of acres, more or less. About 
one-half of this area, no doubt the best part 
of it, and probably all that is good enough for 
ranching, has been taken up from the Do¬ 
minion Government, in about 100 separate 
leases. These leases run for a period of 21 
years at a rent of one cent an acre for the 
earlier and two cents an acre for the later 
ones, with the option at the end of the term of 
purchase of 10 per cent, of the land, for $5 an 
acre. This provision as to purchase was prob¬ 
ably introduced as an encouragement to 
lease-holders to build homesteads, 'and make 
improvements around them. Some of the 
companies have two or more leases; for in¬ 
stance, the Northwest Cattle Company has 
two leases, covering about 140,000 acres; the 
Cochrane Cattle Company two, covering 133,- 
000 acres; and the British North American 
Ranch Company two or more covering 189,000 
acres. There are 16 leases which 'cover, each 
of them, upwards of 100,000 acres; asd the 
rest run from less than 100,000 down to 5,000 
acres.These ranches are not all confined to 
cattle, for some of them carry horses too, and 
there are also horse ranches pure and simple, 
and sheep ranches too, though not many of 
either. All of them have been stocked for the 
most part with quadrupeds purchased in the 
United States, and some of them are run by 
Americans who have migrated from the 
States into this northern country. 
This' foothill country is of course rolling 
and broken in configuration; it is almost en¬ 
tirely bare'of trees and almost’ entirely bare 
of scrub, save where the land is inferior, but 
it is well watered almost everywhere, and is 
covered with herbage which is varied and 
nutritious. The elevation is from 3,000 to 
4,000 feet above sea level, and the climate 
is tempered by the Chinook winds. It is not 
a “Bunch Grass” country, the sward being 
tolerably even, and the surface fairly smooth. 
South of the High River I noticed wild flax, 
wild vetch and lupin among the grass, and 
there is plenty of the smaller kind of sage 
bush” scattered all about. In the month of 
September last there was a good store of 
grass, which was “curing” successfully where 
it grew, and large quantities of hay had been 
put up for the winter. In this respect the 
severe losses last winter from starvation and 
cold have taught the ranchmen prudence, and 
it is not likely that any of them will venture 
to face a winter in the future without having 
a good support of hay to fall back upon in 
case of emergency. When traveling through 
this countr/ three years ago, I ventured to 
predict that it would be found expedient to 
have a supply of hay large enough for the 
worst sort of winter that may reasonably be 
expected, and already my suggestion publicly 
made, has been extensively adopted. The ob¬ 
ject of the ranchers has been to improve the 
breed and quality of their cattle, as well as to 
increase them in size and number; and as for 
the earlier ranches-the Northwest Cattle Com¬ 
pany’s ranch, for instance—this has been ac¬ 
complished by the use of superior blood of 
Short horn, Hereford and Angus character, 
the first-named predominating. 
Land is now being taken up for ranching 
purposes to the north of the Canadian Pacific 
Railroad, and before long Calgary will be 
the center instead of the Northern limit, as it 
has hitherto been, of the great cattle industry. 
There is a prevailing belief that cattle will be 
found to do well almost as far north as Ed¬ 
monton, and even in the more favorable por¬ 
tions of the Peace River Country, This, how 
ever remains to be proved; yet, as the isother¬ 
mal line runs across the great prairie in a 
northwesterly direction, the climate for a 
long distance north of Calgary will presuma¬ 
bly be found tolerably suitable for live stock_ 
—certainly for horses, probably for cattle. In 
any case, there is said to be plenty of hay 
land, sufficient water, and no end of shelter 
among the hills and the bluffs of trees. Horse 
ranching will probably make considerable 
progress, because the equine quadruped can 
“rustle” for itself more successfully in winter 
than its bovine rival can do; and while it is 
just as easy to raise horses as cattle on a 
ranch, horses can take better care of them¬ 
selves in various ways, and are worth more 
dollars when they arrive at maturity. They 
do not, for instance, fall a prey to cayotes, 
lynxes, and other carnivore while they are 
young, to the extent that cattle do, because 
they are hardier and fleeter of foot. Sheep 
do well in the ranching country throughout 
the summer, and even in winter they can be 
preserved without insuperable difficulty, but 
it is obvious that they need close watching be¬ 
cause, being feeble folk, they fall easy victims 
to marauding beasts of prey. 
In Northern Manatoba and Assiniboia the 
country appears to me well suited to horse 
and cattle ranching, and I am asssured that 
the Saskatchewan country, away west in the 
direction of Edmonton,possesses qualifications 
equal in degree and similar in character. So 
far as I have seen the Northern country here¬ 
in indicated, I am satisfied that success is at¬ 
tainable with horse and cattle breeding on 
a large scale, specially with horse breeding. I 
have it on repeated and reliable authority 
that horses come out fat in spring, after win¬ 
tering as best they can on what they can find. 
Already horse ranching has obtained a foot¬ 
hold away to the north, and will probably 
spread into districts which are suitable else¬ 
where, and which at present are too far north 
of the Canadian Pacific Railway system. Be¬ 
fore long, however, these outlying lands will 
be penetrated by railways, and the Manitoba 
and northwestern road is pushing its way 
aiong in the direction of the Pacific Ocean. 
This northern country, so far as I have seen 
it, is tolerably well supplied with lakes and 
rivers, and the numerous willow bluffs give it 
a pleasing, park-like look, providing it at the 
same time with the shelter which is so neces¬ 
sary in winter time. 
The breeding of cattle, sheep, and horses 
is rapidly gaining ground in the Canadian 
Northwest, and there are small concerns to be 
found in various parts of Manitoba and As¬ 
siniboia. The low prices which have ruled 
for wheat during the past few years, have 
caused Canadian farmers to turn their at¬ 
tention to “mixed farming” and ranching, 
with grainraisingasasubordinateand subsidi¬ 
ary pursuit. Cattle breeding will cause cheese 
and butter making to develop, and already 
creameries and cheese factories are becoming 
fairly numerous in Manitoba. Dairying in 
winter, on account of the severity of the cli¬ 
mate, will be pursued under difficulties, but 
during the rest of the year the climate is fav¬ 
orable for this industry. I am, however, con¬ 
vinced that in many parts of the Northwest 
hay can be secured in plenty, and that other 
sorts of forage and also roots can be raised 
with tolerable ease. In any case this much 
has been attained, viz., that the Northwest is 
no longer regarded as fit only for wheat-rais¬ 
ing; and the old haunts of the buffalo are 
proving themselves suitable for domesticated 
live stock of the farm. 
Surrey, England. 
PAINTING.—V. 
BY AN EXPERIENCED PAINTER. 
RUSSET BROWNS AND SAGE GREENS. 
Priming; three coats of paint for outside 
wood-icork; importance of black; No. 3 
colors — russet-browns; raw and burnt 
sienna; colors for trimmings , blinds, 
roofs, chimneys, ceilings, etc.; 1 ‘‘Staining 
colorsf No. 4 colors—sage greens or 
greenish drabs; primings for this class. 
Before commencing on No. 3 class of colors, 
it is well to' say something of priming coats. 
Outside new wood-work should have three 
coats of paint. The first coat should be well 
thinned with raw linseed oil, never boiled. 
An old-fashioned plan is to use simply yellow 
ochre and oil; but I prefer using some white 
lead in most priming colors. It is a better 
foundation or body. If the colors are to be 
dark when finished, black, umber or red, and 
in some cases all of them may be used in the 
priming. The colors of the second coat should 
approximate more to the finishing colors so 
that the last coat will cover. It is only neces¬ 
sary to use the best expensive colors in the 
last coat, if the first coats are such that the 
last will cover on. Another thing needs to be 
understood before going further—the frequent 
mention of the use of black. It may seem 
strange to novices in coloring, but black plays 
a very important part in colors, most of the 
toning down and darkening being done with 
black—of course with care. In matching the 
most delicate tints in the Gobelin tapestries, 
it will be found that the least tinge of black is 
required to produce many of the exquisite 
shades; it just takes off what one may call the 
rawness or glare of the crude color. Black is 
used because when used lightly, it subdues or 
softens the color without destroying it. Umber, 
brown, or other dark colors used instead of 
black, make thq delicate tints muddy, except¬ 
ing such tints as require these colors for the 
desired effect; and for most dark colors 
black is used heavily. 
For No. 3 order of colors we will take russet- 
browns, for which we use raw sienna and 
burnt sienna, varied with a little orange and 
a touch of black and sometimes blue. The 
addition and prominence of the burnt sienna 
bring a very rich class of colors, which can be 
varied immensely. There is little, if any, 
white in the dark shades: in lighter ones white 
is added by changing slightly one or more of 
the tinting colors—orange, blue or black. Sev¬ 
eral rich shades may be used on the same 
building and there is no end to the branching 
out on the different changes. 
With these shades for the body the trim¬ 
ming may be very dark bluish green, red or 
brown; with lighter body, a darker shade of 
the same color may be used. On the dark 
body, blinds a little lighter and brighter green 
look well; or deep red, or a very dark green- 
Roofs red, sashes black, or maroon. Chim¬ 
neys look well with a clear Venetian red. 
Cream color or orange chrome with white 
makes pretty ceiling colors. With these 
colors, some of the small prominent members 
may be red. There is room with these tints 
for a little more red than with the Nos. 1 and 
2. Orange combines well with these colors. 
It is also well to mention here that all these 
shades of paint that are made up principally 
with the colors usually called staining colors, 
such as the siennas and umbers, chromes and 
Prussian blue, are apt to run down on the 
work if made too thin. They must be kept 
rather thick, but carefully rubbed out on the 
work; for if left too thick they frizzle up and 
make the surface appear very rough. This is 
not so likely to occur with paints that have 
much white lead in their composition. 
No. 4 colors are a class of sage greens or 
greenish drabs. I ought to have said my Nos. 1 
and 2 colors are termed olives, and they differ 
from sage greens in being yellower, even if 
very dark. For body, lemon chrome yellow, 
raw sienna, and raw umber make a pretty 
color if the green which the yellow and black 
make is well-toned down with the umber; for 
variety a little black and the umber. These 
tints cover a range of neutral greens without 
end, but as bright green is a very unpleasing 
color for the body of a house, toning dowu 
must be well done for a pleasing effect. Green 
is a deceitful color on a small surface; it is apt 
to look much greener on a larger surface than 
it appears on a small sample. This is true of 
all colors; but I find more people deceived in 
mixing green than other colors. Irimmings 
in this class should be deeper shades of the 
same or russet brown; blinds dark red, very 
dark green, or brown. 
Cold Storage for Perishable farm 
Produce. —The recent articles on cold stor¬ 
age for potatoes and co-operation in general 
have set me to imagining what we are liable 
to have in the future. The creamery has 
shown what organization can do for the dairy 
business. If the creamery is possible, a cold 
storage house can be maintained. Potatoes 
could be held there for seed or for general 
keeping. Even eggs could be picked up from 
the farms during the summer, when they are 
too cheap to sell, and packed in cold storage 
until the fall and winter. With tomatoes, 
melons and other “truck,” the gain under this 
system would be greater than with other 
produce. Is it by means of such contrivances 
that American labor will “protect” itself? It 
looks so to me. c - H - 
Bergen Co., N. J. 
Coal Tar for the Curculio —Here is a 
simple and inexpensive remedy for prevent¬ 
ing the curculio from destroying plums: 
Put two or three pailfuls of gas or coal tar 
into a water-tight cask; fill the cask with 
water. After standing two or three days it 
will be fit for use. As soon as the plums are 
as large as B-shot, spray the tree with the 
water. After one or two rains spray it again, 
and so on until the plums are two-thirds 
grown. Fill the cask with water as often as 
needed. The last will smell as badly as the 
first, and keep all insects from injuring the 
plums, and also the foliage. This remedy I 
have used for a number of years with perfect 
success. w - B< N ' 
Oneonta, N. Y. 
Potato Experiments. —The potato scab 
causes a serious loss to potato growers. What 
can be done to prevent it? Farmers need to 
