benefit from stable manure, it must first be 
saved iu the proper manner and then be ap¬ 
plied so that the growing crops can derive the 
largest amount of benefit therefrom. I have 
tried commercial manure, and while a con¬ 
siderable benefit can be derived—and that, 
too, in a short time and with very little labor 
in applying—yet the benefit is only for a short 
time. 
Liquid manure can be applied, but the ben¬ 
efit lasts generally only for one season, while 
a good application of well rotted stable man¬ 
ure, that has been saved so that all the valu¬ 
able properties are retained, thoroughly in¬ 
corporated with the soil after it has been 
plowed or spaded up, will confer a benefit for 
a number of years. 
AV bill 1 in some eases it may be advisable to 
purchase ami use commercial fertilizers, and 
such can be used very profitably, yet it is im¬ 
portant to impress upon the farmer that every 
means should be first taken to save all that 
can possibly bo secured on the farm. This is 
the most valuable manure, aud until one has 
secured and applied ail this I consider it un¬ 
necessary to purchase anything else. 
Miller Co., Mo. n. j. shepherd. 
HUSKING—JACK, 
James R. Adams, of Wayne Co., N. Y., 
sends us the design for the excellent husking- 
jack shown at Fig. 329. He has used it five 
Fig. 329. 
seasons, and likes it well. It seems to ns like 
an excellent implement, although we have not 
used it. Our illustrations show how it is made 
better than we can describe it. To use it, 
place it beside the shock, as shown at Fig. 329. 
Pull the shock over into the middle. Two good 
seats are thus left. When the shock is parti¬ 
ally finished, let each mau take hold of the 
side-arms and raise them to the position 
shown at Fig. 330. The weight of the men 
Fig. 330. 
will hold the jack in position. When the 
shock is all husked,tip the jack over and carry 
to the next shock. It works just as well on 
the burn floor, aud one mau can handle it. 
Dimensions: width, 30 inches; bight of seats, 
18 inches; length of side-arms, 33 inches. The 
jack should be put together with bolts, and the 
legs braced with iron braces. Persons who 
find it uncomfortable to kneel or sit on the 
damp grouud, will be greatly pleased with 
this jack. 
A CHEAP HAMMOCK. 
The hammock shown at Fig. 328 is cheap, 
easily made and exceedingly comfortable. 
not keep in such a tight place, and he asks ad¬ 
vice. 
R. E, D’s plans are first-class, and if he car¬ 
ries them out to completion he will have a su¬ 
perior barn, and if I were to suggest any 
change it would be to match the inside board¬ 
ing as well as the outside. So long as proper 
ventilation is provided for, a barn cannot, be too 
warm. The sole object in housing stock is to 
keep them warm. The temperature of their 
bodies must be kept at blood heat (98“/, or 
they will soon become diseased, and as the 
only way nature has provided for doing this 
is by the combustion of a portion of their 
food in their breathing apparatus, and this 
consumption will he in proportion to the ex¬ 
posure, it. follows that when in warm quar¬ 
tern much less food will he used in this way, 
and the surplus will go to the increase of body 
or the production of milk, meat or wool Any 
man who provides for any stock, quarters 
in which frost is ever seen, is simply 
wasting a portion of the hay and grain 
given, aud if he has ‘’brains enough to think,” 
must know that lumber and buildiug paper 
are much cheuper than bay or grain. I keep 
thermometers hanging in every part of my 
barns, and when I find any of my thermome¬ 
ters below 55°, I begin to look about to see 
where the heat gets out aud the cold gets in. 
Cold is like a “thief in the night,” aud soon 
steals away all the profits of wintering any 
class of stock, and the wise stockman will as 
jealously exclude the cold as he would the 
thief. 
The other notion—that hay will not keep 
iu tight mows—is equally absurd. There is 
only one real ageut of decay, oxygen, and if 
we exclude that we prevent all injury to our 
hay. Moisture assists the union of the oxy¬ 
gen with the starch, sugar and woody fiber of 
the hay, and when we cure the grass suf 
ficiently to drive off the most of this we can 
put it into stacks or have it anywhere oxposed 
to the air and it will take no harm. If, on 
the other hand, we had receptacles entirely 
air-tight, we could put the grass when first 
cut and full of juice into them, and by 
treading it down solid, and then excluding the 
air could keep it any length of time in good 
condition. This is what is done to a certain 
degree in the silo, and this is what should be 
done as much as possible in our bai ns. When 
single-boarded, and with cracks between the 
boards, air is as freely admitted as though 
the hay was in stack, and if put up with much 
moisture, whether in juice or external wet, 
the oxygen attacks the carbohydrates, and 
this generates heat, and this only increases 
the rapidity of action of the oxygen while tho 
current of air all around drives heat and 
moisture towards the center. The result is 
that a large proportion is nearly or quite 
ruined. When the barns are made as tight as 
possible and are kept tightly closed, but little 
air can gam access, aud consequently but 
little oxygen reaches the hay, while what 
little heat is generated rises gradually and 
evenly through the mow and the hay slowly 
dries out with no injury. The fact is, the 
A CHEAP HAMMOCK. Fig. 328. 
There should be at least one hammock on 
every farm. Swung under the trees or in 
other shady places, they form very centers of 
comfort. Thu one shown iu our picture is 
made of old barrel staves, strung upon ropes 
whicli pass through holes near the cuds of the 
staves, the staves being placed several inches 
apart or close together, as desired. One rope 
or two, with one or two sets of holes, may be 
used. When but one rope is used, the holes 
are liable to split. A soft blanket or mattress 
placed on tho staves, renders this hammock 
exceedingly comfortable. 
TliiiedmT, 
BUILDING BARNS. 
CAN THEY BE TOO WARM? 
Tue Rural’s good friend, R. E. D., Tioga, 
l a., is going to build a bam, nud proposes to 
first side it with second-quality lumber, 
putting boards on the roof. Then cover 
the whole with building paper and over this 
put first-quality matched lumber for sides, 
and good shingles for roof; but his carpenter 
and the neighbors are fearful he will overdo 
the “warmth business,” and that his hay wil* 
tighter the barns, the less danger of injury, 
and the greoner the hay can be put in, the 
better the quality in Winter or Spring, 
It is an old-fogy notion that, barns cau be 
made too warm or tight, aud the sooner far¬ 
mers are educated above it the better. 
_ J. s . WOODWARD. 
(Tl)c JtjaiXsimin. 
RELIEVING CHOKING COWS. 
* 
To-day a valuable Ayrshire heifer got a 
small turnip down her throat and could move 
it neither up nor down. After working some 
time, but failiug to remove it, I procured the 
appliance shown at Figs. 332 and 333, and re- 
13 §3 
fUi-X, 
Fig, 332. 
moved it in a very few moments, and the 
heifer is all right and doing nicely. 
The appliance consists of a piece of heavy 
Winch rubber steam pipe or hose, about six 
feet long, with a wooden pusher fastened in 
each end. See Fig. 332. This wooden pusher 
is about ■lit’ inches long and projects beyond 
the hose about 2 ’.^ inches, tapering up to 1% 
inch at one end and l’-£ inch at the other, 
turned out concave or hollow at the large 
end. There is also a jaw-holder made of one- 
f half-inch iron rod with a wooden 
handle attached, shown at Fig. 333 . 
When a cow is choked, place her 
tender jaw in the opening at b, and 
her nose at «. This will hold her 
mouth open and give j'ou a ehauce 
to work the rubber pipe through the 
Fig. 333. hole, c. Let one or two men hold 
the jaw-holder and her head firmly, 
while some one puts the rubber pipe with the 
wooden pusher down tier throat through the 
hole, c, until it reaches the obstruction; an¬ 
other man places his hand on her throat and 
guides the pusher, so it will not slip by the ob¬ 
struction, which is pushed down into the 
stomach. 
The jnw-holder is 5.1 .j inches across by 12 
iuehes high; the oblong hole, e, for ilie pusher 
is 43^x31^ inches. This home-made device 
may be an old one, but I have never seen one 
like it before. The pqie is quite limber, but 
stiff enough to do all the pushing necessary. 
Oneida, N. Y. e. b. b. 
BROWN SWISS CATTLE. 
We claim that the Brow n Swiss Cattle can¬ 
not be excelled for hardiness and for combined 
milk aud beef qualities. They have been bred 
for generations iu a mountain region, and 
inured to cold aud storm to a remarkable de¬ 
gree. They have never been injured by 
“fancy feeding.” Imported animals refuse to 
eat grain whoa first brought to America. 
They have been carefully bred for years for 
milk qualities in a country remarkable for its 
dairy goods. They cannot be beaten for beef. 
Calves are larger aud stronger than those of 
any other breed I have seen. They grow well. 
This breed is worthy of general attention. 
Washington Co., N. Y. j. b. eldredge. 
Sljccji i)itsImnt)nj. 
ENGLAND’S FOREIGN MUTTON SUP¬ 
PLY. 
New Zealand has virtually the foreign 
mutton trade of England iu its hands. During 
the past year 778,000 head of frozen New 
Zealand sheep were landed iu London, while 
only 803,000 native sheep were penned there. 
When the trade commenced, two or three 
\ ears ago, the mutton was considerably better 
than it is now. The meat used to be full of 
flesh; now it is often too full of fat. If New 
Zealand shippers are anxious to preserve the 
trade, they are warned to pay more attention 
to this point, as a large proportion of fat in 
the carcass is unprofitable to the consumer. 
Frozen lamb and oven kidneys find ready sale. 
Australian mutton is less esteemed, and the 
condition of the shipments has been far from 
uniform. The frozen mutton trade of the 
Argentine Confederation and Bouda Oriental 
is also increasing, as the enormous flocks there 
are being graded up. Until lately sheep were 
raised there almost exclusively for wool, pelt 
and tallow. Whenever sheep go up in 
England, large importations from North Ger¬ 
many, Holland aud the Netherlands soon 
knock down prices. The meat supply of the 
U nited Kingdom last year was 1,825,000 tons.or 
112 pounds to each inhabitant: the home pro¬ 
duce amounted to 74.0 per cent, of the whole; 
the United States supplied 10 . percent; Europe 
5.3 per cent; the colonies, 3.7 per cent, and 
South America .4 per cent. 
feeding lambs. 
In feeding lambs in cold weather a bottle or 
a flat flask is a handy tool. Wo find no trouble 
in thus fuelling hungry lambs. If we let them 
stay at the sheep baru aud tug away at then- 
mothers, whether they get enough or not 
they soon become a nuisance when taken to 
the house. When left with the sheep they 
learn to eat hay aud other foods in a short 
time. I put a quill through the cork of the 
bottle, and then attach an ordinary gun nip¬ 
ple. The nipple must be tied to the cork to 
prevent the lambs from pulling it away. My 
little daughter feeds lambs with this arrange¬ 
ment successfully. N u 
Goshen, Pa. 
age weight was 1,192 pounds, were selected 
for the purpose of ascertaining the quantity 
and value of their solid and liquid droppings. 
In order to have normal conditions the food 
used was the same in quantity and quality as 
had been fed during the Winter. As every¬ 
thing consumed and produced by the cows 
was weighed, it was au easy matter to get at 
the food cost of a quart of milk. The food 
consumed iu three days aud its market value 
in the bam at the time are set forth below:— 
clover hay at SS.OO perron a 19 
•1 In corn stalks at *U> ■ per ton”;” " " m 
J cot ton-seed meal at Sr.’t no per ton. 59 
41 Ik corn meal at $2<i.uo per ton 55 
41 lb malt sprouts at $ I4.U0 per ton....” ” 29 
S2.CU 
A ield of milk of three cows, three days, 285 
pounds—133,5 quarts, at I t, cent. -§2.00. The 
cows were fed and watered twice daily. 
The hay was fed dry, the corn-stalks were 
cut, damped aud mixed with cotton-seed meal, 
corn and sprouts in the afternoon of the day 
preceding that on which they were fed. Of 
necessity, the cows were allowed no exercise 
in the covered yard, and their yield of milk 
was 8jpounds less tlian on the three days 
preceding those of the experiment. The food 
of each cow cost, per day, 22 2-9 cents. The 
manure of each cow per day, at commercial 
' a lues at the time, computed according to 
Wolff’s tables, was worth 1GI£ cents, 
I, P. ROBERTS. 
Cornell University, Ithica, N. Y. 
A GOOD JERSEY GRADE. 
In the hunt for the “general-purpose cow,” 
never overlook the Jersey grade. I have'a 
half-blood Jersey six years old, fourth calf, 
fresh April 12. She was sired by the Jersey 
bull “Buckeye.” I gave her a fair test She 
had for feed fair pasture, nine pounds of bran 
daily, five weeks previous to and during the 
test, also six pounds of corn meal three days 
before and during the test. Her record was as 
follows: 
w52Su^SS- pou . Dd8 ‘ | ou s«*’ 
Thursday, “ 27th, “ 43 6 •• 
Friday. •* 38th. “ 37 •• i 
Saturday. •* 29th. “ 10 “ n 
Sunday. '• Snh, •• as •• i •• 
Monday, “ 31st, “ 3S ■* fi •< 
' 2ffiD«nidsQounces. 
Butter churned from above, 15 •• 3 •• 
A ou cau see that this feed was not ’’forced.” 
The milk was rich enough for anybody. 
Where do you go to find a butter machine of 
this capacity so cheap! p. o’c. 
Youngstown, 0. io. 
COST OF MILK. 
Some time since the Rural mentioned the 
fact that we had produced milk at IX cent per 
quart. 1 am asked to give the kind, quantity, 
proportions and prices of feeds needed to pro¬ 
duce such milk. I give them below:— 
In March, 1884, three cows which had been 
in milk about five mouths, and whose aver- 
SELECTENG THE BREED OF SWINE. 
There is no better time than during the 
summer growth of swine, or during the an¬ 
nual fairs, for the intending beginner to 
select a breed to a< there to, Itnoav not be to 
his interest to grow very large swine; but it 
certainly is to every man’s interest, not only 
to select a breed, but the specimens of a breed 
that will grow to a fair marketable size at au 
early age. The color, as in cattle, is mainly a 
matter of fancy, for, while it may not be 
denied that some swine are liable to ailments 
of the skin, that do not commonly affect others 
having the hair aud outer coating of the skin 
differently colored, yet the color cuts uo figure 
iu hxing the fattening tendency or in deter¬ 
mining the quality of the flesh. By examining 
different herds of breeding swine, and the off¬ 
shoots of those that are being fed for mar¬ 
kets, the latter on some farms being made up 
of the leavings—such as did not meet the de¬ 
mands for breeding purposes—as these are 
upon grass, depending mainly upon this for 
sustenance, one cau make a better estimate of 
the value of a given herd, as ’’self-tenders,” 
than w here* they are kept up iu close quarters 
aud fed ou rich food prepared from grains, oil 
cake meal, etc. 
Then again, it is an aid of no mean impor¬ 
tance in making selections, to be able 
to look over a lot of brood sows having 
thoii litters with them, as in this way we are 
enabled to see 9 hat the tendencies are in 
breeding ; that is, whether they are inclined 
to bring good littere as to numbers, aud good 
also in the matters of growth, form, and 
tendency to fatteu promptly. If one will 
keep an eye out for pointers that will aid him , 
he will get these by observing a not unusual 
sight namely ; that a portion of the sows so 
fine-looking themselves, are followed by one 
or two good pigs, another not so good, and a 
puny rout. These are some of the advan¬ 
tages secured by visiting herds in the Sum¬ 
mer, as one cau then most easily trace family 
characteristics, iu the matter of prolifickness, 
not only of the older sows, but of the offshoots 
of those that hav e been put to breeding. There 
is a natural tendency to variation iu all kinds 
of domestic animals, and swine stock coining 
into breeding so early and maturing so 
rapidly, it is not unreasonable to expect strik- 
