ment. It will be doubtless on the market ere 
long. 
I and a neighbor propose to put up two stacks 
to illustrate the system here, and will duly re¬ 
port results. 
There is one great point in favor of ensilage, 
rough, useless, wild grasses that cattle won t 
eat green, and must be pretty hungry to eat 
as hay, will make silage which they will de¬ 
vour with avidity. I have seen this repeatedly. 
Berrien Co., Mich. I. northcott. 
SILAGE FOR SHEEP AND HORSES. 
PROFESSOR A. J. COOK. 
In a recent number of the Farmers’ Review 
my esteemed friend, Professor W. A. Henry, 
of tho Wisconsin State University and Ex¬ 
periment Station, expresses the opinion that 
silage is not as good for sheep and horses as 
for cattle. I should much like to know why 
he thinks so. Surely there is nothing in the 
physiology of these several kinds of our do¬ 
mesticated animals on which to base any such 
conclusion. Sheep and horses respond as 
readily to succulent food in spring as do cat¬ 
tle. From my observation, and from my 
study of "She anatomy and physiology of the 
horse and sheep, I should expect as valuable 
results in feeding silage to them as to my cat¬ 
tle. I acted on this suggestion the past win¬ 
ter, and I have been exceedingly pleased with 
the result. The horses and sheep look well, 
and the fall colts have grown wonderfully. 
Moreover, I have never had such excellent 
success with my lambs as I have had this 
spring. Last spring 1 purchased 20 good 
grade Merino ewes of my nearest neighbor. 
He kept about as many. I have, up to date, 
14 nice, sprightly lambs, and only two died. 
My neighbor has barely saved one-fourth of 
his. Now this may not be wholly due to si¬ 
lage; yet neither he nor I can give any other 
reason. I believe it is quite as de¬ 
sirable to feed silage to horses and sheep as to 
cattle,and I shall double my silo capacity this 
summer, that I may feed even more silage 
next winter. The past winter my cattle, 
horses and sheep had one half ration of silage 
from December to April. Next winter I hope 
to give them three-fourths from the time they 
are shut up till grass comes in May. Of course, 
in commencing to feed we must watch closely 
and if we see any derangement of the diges¬ 
tion we must feed lighter. Especially true is 
this of young sheep. My brother who has 
paid out a considerable sum of money for feed 
this winter, said to me yesterday: “You can 
rejoice over your silo, for without it, instead 
of ample feed, as you have now, you too 
would have been paying out hundreds of 
dollars for feed.” And it was the truth. 
DEVICE FOR RAISING HOGS. 
Ijhavk seen the same device at butchering 
that F. W. Corbin speaks of on page 28(5, and 
I like his way better than sliding hogs up a 
pole or on a rail with one end in a tree or tied 
to a crotch, but I like my plan better. I take 
three scantlings or pine poles 16 feet long, and 
bore an inch hole through the top end and put 
through it a three-quarter-inch bolt long 
enough to slip on a swivel pulley between each 
scantling, making two at the top for one be¬ 
low. Then I tie a half-inch rope in a clevis 
on a pulley marked^ A in Fig. 186, the other 
half in diameter. G is a piece bolted on one 
pole. Bore a hole in each for the shaft to rest 
in. The hook at F hooks under the gambrel 
and is wide enough so as to hold the hog s legs 
apart so he can be lifted up square. The ben¬ 
efits of this machine are many. One can kill 
where he likes and the device can be used in 
the barn or shed to dress beef. One can lend 
it to his neighbors. It cau also be used to raise 
animals with broken limbs, or to lift large 
stones or any heavy weights. One can weigh 
hay with it if he does not possess scales, and he 
can hoist dirt out of wells while digging, etc. 
Byersville, N. Y. wm. a. g. 
A HANDY CREAM STRAINER. 
market. Our farm horses can be selected 
from the less salable results of these two lines 
of breeding, the less stylish roadsters, or the 
lighter weights from the draft breeding. 
There is no need of little horses with us, and 
horses weighing less than 1,100 pounds are not 
in demand. JOHN M. true. 
Sauk Co., Wis. 
Fig. 186. 
I often see it recommended to strain cream 
before churning. I have done so for years, 
and have often wondered how other folks man¬ 
aged the straining. I use a square of dairy 
cloth spread over the top of my barrel churn, 
and fastened on, as shown at Fig. 185, by four 
Fig. 185. 
J? MY 
staple tacks—one for each comer of the cloth 
—driven into the churn. The corner of the 
cloth i» threaded down through the staple and 
then brought up and tucked through between 
the cloth and the churn just above the staple. 
It is put in in less time than it takes to tell it, 
holds securely, and can be taken out by an 
outward pull on the strainer cloth above the 
staple. A - c - c> 
o vs crnan 
RAISING HORSES. 
end through the pulley B and back down 
through pulley A, then up pulley C, then down 
to the shaft with a crank on it. This gives 
one man power enough to raise a 1,000-pound 
hog, drawing him up in the center, then dress¬ 
ing him while on the pulleys, and after he is 
dr^fesed swinging him over on one of the hooks 
at D. and by putting in two hooks in each 
pole six hogs can be hung and the seventh 
left on the hoisting pulley, and even three or 
four hooks may be put in each pole. The 
shaft E. may be an iron rod one inch and a 
I consider the raising of good horses, one 
of the most remunerative lines of our live 
stock industry. I prefer to breed the grade 
Fercheron or a cross of our best bred roadster 
mares, of good style and action, with the 
larger type’of our American-bred road horse. 
The horse for farm or market should be strong¬ 
boned, well muscled and round-bodied, not 
too tall, and he must have good feet. He 
should be of good spirit, without being nerv¬ 
ous or fretful, and should have a good square 
trotting movement as well as a rapid walk 
He should weigh from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds’ 
Dark colors are preferable—black, brown or 
bay—and a good iron-gray is allowable. I 
would prefer two horses weighing from 1,300 
to 1,400 pounds for a farm team, to three 
horses weighing 000 or 1,000 pounds, because 
tho two are more cheaply kept, make a team 
more conveniently handled, and their power 
is better applied to machinery. They also 
require less outlay for harness and other ap¬ 
pliances for work. Our horse-raising farmers 
find their work quite as profitable as other 
leading farm industries. We raise grade 
Percherons, which find a ready market at the 
farm, at three or four years of age. After 14 
years of breeding in this line we have no sur¬ 
plus stock. These colts, counting interest on 
investment in dam, service of stallion, feed of 
dam until the colt is weaned, and cost of 
feed for colt till three years old, cau be raised 
for less than $100 per head, and will readily 
sell for from $150 to $200. An equally care¬ 
ful computation of the cost of raising a steer 
would show that it costs as much to raise a 
steer as a colt. 
We handle our colts for continuous thrift 
and early maturity. We use good hay and 
corn fodder, oats and wheat bran; give a run 
of commodious yards during the day, and keep 
in stables at night. No special training or 
handling is given except that bitting is essen¬ 
tial in fitting the heavy colt for the farm or 
market. 
1 do not believe in the production of “gen¬ 
eral-purpose horses” but would breed for a 
special purpose, indicated by the requirements 
of the market, and the work contemplated. 
We find a sale for all the good, stylish, high- 
stepping horses, weighing from 1,150 to 1,800 
pounds, we can produce for carriage teams. 
The heavy horse is always in demand, and the 
heavier he is the higher price he will bring in 
l)uMvam'vn). 
RAISING EARLY LAMBS. 
« - 
SECRETARY J. S. WOODWARD. 
That the same old question which has wor¬ 
ried and vexed every man who has attempted 
the raising of winter lambs for market—how 
to get early lambs early—has not yet been 
settled, is evidenced to me by the scores 
of letters constantly being received, of which 
the following inquiry by Mr. Oliver, of New 
Jersey, is a sample of a half dozen which I have 
received in double that number of days. 
“If ewes that have had lambs this season, 
are not allowed to associate with the males 
until June, 1889, will they be more likely to 
have lambs in November, 1889, than if al¬ 
lowed to breed again early next spring?” 
The natural breeding period of most breeds 
of sheep seems to be'the spring, and it is diili- 
cult to induce the ewes in large numbers to ac¬ 
cept the males at any other than the proper 
season. Whether this is the result of long 
practice until it has become a habit, or whether 
the state of the weather has an influence upon 
the system is an unsettled point. I am in¬ 
clined to believe it is largely the latter, as I 
understand that sheep from the northern hemi¬ 
sphere taken to Australia or other southern 
countries soon change their habits and breed 
mostly in their spring (our fall) months. But 
that the habit can be modified or changed in 
northern countries by long custom is proven 
by the sheep of Dorsetshire, England, which, 
as a rule, breed in the late fall or early win- 
ter. 
My own experience has shown that the 
course proposed by Mr. Oliver, instead of hav¬ 
ing a tendency toward the production of very 
early lambs, would work exactly the reverse. 
The ewes would most likely become quite 
fleshy, and in that condition would not come 
in season until much cooler weather than 
those carrying less flesh. In fact, I have 
found that the habit of early lambing becomes 
fixed, as it were, by the practice. That is, a 
ewe that has bred a winter lamb during the 
past winter is very much more likely to ac¬ 
cept the male in season to produce an early 
lamb next winter than one selected promiscu¬ 
ously from the flock, and especially more so 
than one that for any cause has failed to 
breed. So marked have we found this 
characteristic that we now select several hun¬ 
dreds of the best ewes from our winter breed¬ 
ing pens to carry over for very early lambing 
next season. In this t way we were able last 
winter to securQ over 200 lambs before the 1st 
of January, and wo were also able to put fat 
lambs into the market on the second day af¬ 
ter last Christmas. 
Just How to Get Early Lambs is the 
important question that all would like to solve, 
and no one more than myself. Each year the 
market is opening earlier and earlier, and the 
supply later is more nearly equaling the de¬ 
mand, and thus greatly reducing prices, so 
that the very early ones fetch the big money 
now. Whether we can so breed and “educate” 
our native ewes as to make it certain that we 
can have plenty of lambs ready for a Christ¬ 
mas market, I very much doubt. Sometimes 
I have thought I had found the valuable se¬ 
cret, but I have later learned that “there is 
many a slip between the cup and the lip.” 
It is needless to recount the many and many 
experiments I have tried, and laughable to 
read the scores of letters received from friends 
and well-wishers with valuable suggestions. 
At least half a score offered to sell me the 
precious information; but so far I have in¬ 
sisted on being initiated before I paid for the 
secret, and in every case found I had tried the 
same thing, often years before. Although so 
far I have done fairly well in this line, I am 
convinced it has been more by accident than 
by the use of systematic knowledge. My only 
advice to these seekers after light is to select 
such ewes when possible, as have dropped 
lambs early the previous year, feed well and 
put them with active, untiring males of some 
of the Down breeds. Hampshires I now think 
the best of all, and the malesishould have good 
care and plenty of food, but not that of a fat¬ 
tening nature. 
Will it Pay to Castrate the Rams 
when they are to be marketed at not exceed¬ 
ing eight weeks old, ask several of the Rural 
subscribers? Most emphatically, yes. For a 
longtime I noticed that the ewe lambs “died 
better,” that is, had a larger caul and heav¬ 
ier kidney than the rams of tho same ages. I 
also noticed that the rams were always rest¬ 
less and annoying not only each other but the 
ewes also, and it occurred to me whether this 
did not only reduce the visible fat of the rams 
but prevent the ewes from showing as well as 
they otherwise would; and this past winter I 
made some careful experiments to test this 
matter. The result was that while the ewes 
running with the wether lambs were better 
than those running with the rams, the wether 
lambs opened with a better caul and kidney 
than the ewes. So it will certainly pay to 
emasculate the rams. It will pay in increased 
weight at the same age and also in greater 
fatness and consequently better appearance. 
The operation should be performed as soon as 
the lamb has stood up and got a good square 
pull at the teat and under no circumstances 
should it be delayed beyond the second day. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
POULTRY NOTES. 
The best thing to put in front of chicken 
cojps at night in hot weather is a front made 
of slats of common laths about half an inch 
apart, with a stone placed against it to keep 
it in position. This will keep out enemies and 
allow good ventilation. 
There is singular difference in opinions re¬ 
garding feeding young chicks. While some 
advocate giving them no water, others say 
give them only dry grain. What the poor 
little creatures suffer from these experiments 
no one can tell. If there was any chance of 
the chicks surviving any length of time, we 
should soon have some one recommending 
plenty of fresh water—but no food. Any 
one of ordinary observation will easily observe 
that no matter how much cracked grain is 
given them, chicks relish soft food greatly, at 
least twice daily. There is no doubt it is vei y 
good, and that it is the best feed for them. 
Keep the nests in the poultry-yard clean 
and attractive for the hens, or they will 
“steal” their nests, or rather they will lay out 
in the bushes and weeds, and many eggs will 
be lost to the farmer during summer. 
After a coop has been used for one brood of 
chicks, do not use it for a second one without 
giving it a coat of whitewash inside, oi a 
sprinkling of petroleum or kerosene. To do 
this takes but a few minutes, and by this 
means all germs of disease are destroyed. 
In warm weather have the coops for chicks 
well ventilated; when a board is put in front 
of the coops to keep out vermin at night, al¬ 
ways leave an opening at the top for plenty of 
air. There is not any danger ot minks or 
other enemies getting in at the top. They 
generally enter on or near the ground. 
Nothing tends more to engender disease in 
chickens than filth in coops. Yet many peo¬ 
ple let the hen and chicks remain in their 
filth in the pent-up coops, till disease is devel¬ 
oped. All tho coops should be shifted when 
they have no board bottoms, or cleaned out 
every two or three days. 
Gapes should be watched for, so that the 
ailment can be combatted in its early stage. 
At first the symptoms are very light, the 
chickens may be noticed opening their mouths 
but a little, and they seem to have a slight 
difficulty in breathing, lifting their heads but 
slightly. If taken at this stage, when the 
worms are very small, a little pill of gum-cam¬ 
phor will generally effect a cure. At the 
same time lard, in which a little crude carbol¬ 
ic acid has been mixed—just enough to make 
an odor—may be rubbed very sparingly on 
their heads and under their wings. 
New places for cooping the hens should be 
selected every year. Tho stock always do bet¬ 
ter on new ground, being less liable to dis¬ 
ease. If there is not room enough for chang¬ 
ing the places, the ground should be spaded 
or plowed and hay-seed should be inked in 
to make it better for walking over; it may be 
rolled. __ 
Market early cockerels that are not wanted, 
as soon as possible. They will sometimes sell 
for as much for early broilers as they would 
l fetch two months later. 
When a number of chicks are being hatched 
from time to time, keep the colonies of about 
the same age together. They thrive better 
than when all sizes aud ages are mixed up on 
the same places. _ 
Old nests that eggs have been hatched in, 
should be cleaned out as soon as vacated, for 
sanitary reasons. 
If you are hatching chicks of different 
