434 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 3 
horse fell to eating hay from the side of the mow, and 
pulled considerable litter beneath his feet. Suddenly 
we heard something pop, and on looking toward the 
horse’s head we saw him drop a blazing match from 
his mouth. It fell into the litter at his feet and 
straightway began to blaze up in the dry stuff. Of 
course we quickly put it out.” 
It is the unexpected that happens. Here was a 
source of fire so strangely anomalous that, had it 
occurred when no one was near, its true origin could 
h rdly have been guessed at, and very likely it would 
have been called the work of an incendiary, with the 
sure result of accusing an innocent person with a 
heinous crime. Yet it really happened. The heavy 
incisors of the horse, closing sharply upon the match- 
head ignited it, when he quickly dropped it in the 
litter at his feet. So much for the match. 
Other tires may have been started in the same or in 
a similar manner. Who has not stepped upon a match 
on the bard floor and been startled by its sudden 
ignition? Who has not, when scratching a match, 
seen a fragment fly away and set something on fire at 
a distance ? These flying fragments are not always 
observed at the time, and the slow beginning of its 
little fire may not be noticed ; but in a few hours, 
the awful work of the mysterious fire-fiend is ac¬ 
complished. 
1 might add to this account a long list of instances 
in which fires were known to start in decidedly queer 
and unthought-of ways ; but this seems enough and, 
no doubt, will set some to thinking on the subject. It 
will be noticed that the fires mentioned originated 
from three sources—the pipe, lantern and match. 
So strongly am I impressed that there is much in¬ 
excusable carelessness on the part of many who daily 
and nightly go out and in our barns, that I want to 
preach a little sermon on the subject. So, line up be¬ 
fore me, boys and hired men, and owners of barns, 
and hear what the preacher saith. I shall take as 
my text, “ Behold how great a matter a little fire 
kindleth.” In matches, we find the primal source of 
nearly all our fires. They are made to ignite easily. 
Boys and men often carry them loosely in their 
pockets. Pockets sometimes have holes in them. 
Boys roll and tumble upon the hay, and matches fall 
from their pockets. Men reach in their pockets for a 
match and a sliver on one draws another out, and it 
falls unobserved to the floor. Sometime after that, 
the sharp hoof of a cow, or the iron-armed foot of a 
horse treads upon it and the fire is started that roasts 
the poor brutes alive and entails a loss upon the 
owner and his family that years cannot efface. No 
one saw it done and its origin is a mystery for all 
time. Boys, hired men, and owners, beware of the 
match in the barn. If you must carry matches at all, 
have a good secure match-safe. That is my firstly. 
My secondly is: Look out for the lantern. Never 
leave it lighted in the barn while you go away. Take 
it out of doors and place it in some conspicuous place 
where its light can always be seen. Have secure 
hooks in the barn where it is always hung. When 
walking along the stable in the rear of the line of 
cattle, never carry the lantern on the side next to the 
cows. If the cow kick, she will certainly hit the lan¬ 
tern and spatter the oil around on yourself and the 
surrounding objects. It will be sure to blaze up and 
be almost impossible to extinguish. 
My thirdly is for him who uses the pipe. Possibly 
the pipe has its place. I’m not going to discuss that 
question now. But certain I am of one thing, and 
that is, its place is not in the barn. It were better in 
the house, but I am going to let your wife decide that 
matter for you. and 1 want yqu to listen to her advice, 
lie who habitually smokes becomes careless both with 
his pipe and his matches. He often smokes with his 
pipe bottom side up, he frequently lays it down with 
a fire in it, and he is forever knocking out the little 
ball of ash in the bottom of his pipe when there is 
considerable fire there. Keep the pipe out of the barn. 
My lastly is this : Let every owner of a barn who 
values his buildings, who has a humane heart for his 
dumb creatures securely fastened in their stalls, let 
every man, I say, do as every business man in the city 
does, where there is much danger from fire, post up 
notices in several conspicuous places, ‘‘NO SMOKING 
ALLOWED IN THIS BARN ” a u Phillips 
Ohio. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Usk ok Hay Caps. —About 10 years ago, I made 200 
hay caps out of heavy muslin two yards wide, making 
a cap six feet square with a loop at each corner to tie 
the rope, about 12 inches long, to the stick. I con¬ 
sider it one of my best investments. I use them only 
when rain is feared. Grass well teddered with one 
day’s sun, and well cocked in large cocks, will stand 
a storm of three days without material injury, while 
uncovered cocks are soaked from top to bottom. I 
always use them in curing clover, green oats for hay, 
and Hungarian grass. I take care of them, and think 
they will last several years longer. No paint or oil is 
needed. The cloth, when drawn over the cock, forms 
a perfect umbrella. w. m. 
Paterson, N. J. 
A Strawberry Barrel. —I made a strawberry bar¬ 
rel last spring—see Fig. 18G. I took up some soil 
with the roots, and the plants are yielding quite a 
crop. I got nearly a quart of berries to-day (June 12) 
The probability is that 
some varieties will do 
better than others 
under this method of 
culture, and I would 
like to hear through 
The R. N.-Y., opinions 
of strawberry experts 
on the matter. In mak¬ 
ing the barrel, and 
with earth on the 
roots, a person will 
find some trouble in 
getting the foliage 
through an inch hole. 
I did until the happy 
thought struck me to a strawberry barrel. Fio. 186. 
roll the leaves and 
stems in thin cardboard, then put through the hole 
and slip the cardboard off, thus getting them through 
easily, quickly and with no bruised foliage. 
Fleming, O. s. w. H. 
R. N.-Y.—Our own strawberry barrel was not filled 
until late in September. Parker Earle plants were 
used—dug with the Richards’s transplanter, and put 
through the holes from the inside. Absolutely no 
protection was given during the winter, and only 12 
plants lived—all of them on the south side of the 
barrel. This spring, young plants were put in the 
holes by making a ball of mud around the roots and 
pushing in from the outside. These have nearly all 
lived and have given a fair crop of fruit. Mr. Kevitt 
took great pains with his barrel and gave it the best 
of care, but was unable to save the lower plants on 
the barrel. They seem to have suffered from lack of 
moisture. 
A MANURE SHED FOR A BANK BARN. 
WHAT PENNSYLVANIA FARMERS THINK OF IT 
We have a good, substantial bank barn on our farm, such as 
are mostly seen through the fertile valleys of eastern Pennsyl¬ 
vania, and with it the ordinary open barnyard for the manure 
pile and straw stack. I have in mind the erection of a shed for 
the covering of the manure, so as to prevent leaching and conse¬ 
quent loss. Is the idea a good one, and would you have any sug¬ 
gestions as to its erection, or any points in its favor or against 
it? Or could you tell me anything particular in its construction ? 
Quincy, Pa. D. M. w. 
Uncovered Manure Means Loss. 
1 believe that the practice of keeping manure under 
cover is a good one. My experience with stable 
manure convinces me that the uncovered manure pile 
is a source of loss to the farmer. Neither would I 
advise the keeping of manure in a shed until it 
becomes heated and dried. Lst it accumulate until 
enough is gathered for a day’s hauling, then draw to 
the field. Concerning the building, there are but few 
in this locality. While attending a farmers’ institute 
in an adjoining county last winter, I saw quite a 
number of manure sheds. These were really a part 
of the barn. Frames were erected about 25 feet from 
the front of the barn, made high enough to have the 
roof a continuation of the barn roof proper. The 
barn floor also extended even with, and same width 
of, the shed. The upper story of the shed was used 
for hay, grain and storage for implements ; the lower 
part was inclosed with siding and doors, making 
shelter for stock, manure, vehicles, water and feed¬ 
ing racks. This, to my mind, is the most economical 
shed. The principal objection is dark stables. But 
if the barn bridge does not extend the whole length 
of the barn, light may enter from the rear, and serve 
as a means of ventilation also. I am inclined to think 
that a manure Bhed should be attached to the barn. 
Belleville, Fa. j h. p. 
The Cows Made Comfortable. 
Almost all the bank barns in southeastern Pennsyl¬ 
vania now have an “overshoot” for straw above, 
and shelter for stock and manure below. When the 
custom was to keep most of the manure over summer 
for the wheat field, the careful farmers would pile 
the manure from the yard under the shed as soon as 
the stock was turned out to pasture in the spring 
One load of the manure made under the shed was 
easily worth two of that made outside. When I came 
into possession of this farm, the shelter for stock and 
manure was a stone bank barn 00x40 feet, double 
decker, with straw house 20 feet wide on the south 
front, and wagon house 20 feet wide oa the east end. 
These were open under, except on the outer end of 
each, which was walled up. These furnished partial 
shelter for the stock and manure. 
Several years ago, I filled in the corner left open at 
the south end of the wagon house and east end of the 
straw house, and added 18 feet to the front of the 
straw house, making a shed 80 x 38 feet on the south- 
side of the barn, which, with 30 feet of walled in 
yard in front, made the daytime range for the cows. 
This seemed none too much for 15 to 20 head of 
horned stock to be comfortable in. In the winter of 
1895 I decided to remove the horns to see whether 
the cattle could be confined to the shed safely. This 
proved so satisfactory that, early last winter, I 
closed up the front and east end of the shed, putting 
in all the windows of 12 panes of 7 x 12 glass ; there 
was room for 25 in all. After this was done, the cows 
were turned out day and night, only staying in the 
stable long enough to eat their feed of ensilage and 
meal and to be milked. Fodder and hay were fed to 
them in cribs in the yard. 
On warm days, we raised the windows for ventila¬ 
tion. The cows scarcely knew of the change of 
weather outside, surely it did not have any influence 
on the flow of milk. The cows were sleek and con¬ 
tented, and got through the winter without ever hav¬ 
ing a manure stain on them. The manure did not 
have a drop of rain touch it. This, I think, is the 
best-paying investment I ever made. The extra win¬ 
ter eggs we get from the hens having the range of 
the yard with opportunity to go out when they wish, 
will, in a few years, pay the cost of closing in. At 
times, last winter, when the wind was whistling, and 
the mercury hovering close to zero outside, I have 
looked at the cows contentedly chewing the cud, and 
thought I would try to get a photograph to show 
their contentment. edward t. Ingram. 
Chester County, Pa. 
All the Goodness Left In. 
There need be no question about the value of a 
large shed at the barn for the protection of the ma¬ 
nure and stcck. If there is no shed, the cows ought 
to be kept in the stable most of the time, and the 
manure hauled to the field as fast as made. Hauling 
manure in winter through snow drifts or rain and 
soft ground, is not a good practice for this latitude. 
The very best plan is to have sufficient shedding to 
cover all manure wheeled from the stables, with 
some open yards besides. I have at my barn an open 
shed about 70x 50 feet. The bottom is somewhat 
dish-shaped, so nothing will waste from the manure. 
The gutters behind the cows are water-tight; also 
the wheelbarrow, and with the bottom of the shed 
as mentioned, there is no loss of liquids. By spring, 
the manure is four feet deep in most of it. The 
ground slopes from the stables so there is no uphill 
wheeling. This manure never burns, it is too wet; 
a hole sunk in it to the bottom would soon partly fill 
with the liquid manure. I have more shedding for 
the protection of the cows, and running spring water 
under cover, and the Buckley basins in the stable. 
The south side of the yard is partly open to the sun. 
The cows are shut in the yard in December, and are 
not allowed to roam over the fields in winter. 
Part of the large shed mentioned has storage for 
straw, and is arranged to fill readily from the barn 
floor when thrashing. D M. W. says that he has an 
open barnyard for “ manure pile and straw stack.” I 
should think that he needed a new building pretty 
badly, one to hold that straw, cover the manure pile 
and shelter his stock. It should be closed on all sides 
but the south, or so as to keep out the cold northwest 
winds. Most of our barns are built on south lying 
ground, with an open shed or straw house on the 
south side over yard, the ground sloping from the 
building. This is a nice sunny place for the cattle, 
but a bad place for manure from the stables, as the 
liquids would soak away, and the pile be in the way. 
A better plan is to have the manure shed L shaped 
on one end to the main barn, and built on the west 
side of the yard, being then a better protection from 
the wind. b. shakblkss. 
Chester County, Pa. 
Build a Shed for Chemicals. 
Manure such as generally seen in the barnyards of 
Pennsylvania, composed of straw, refuse stover, and 
all stable cleanings, will require the ordinary rain¬ 
fall to keep it at a proper moisture for decomposi¬ 
tion ; a roof would be detrimental to this class of 
manure. However, there should be great care that no 
water from roofs, or any other source, be allowed to 
run on and leach through it. Manure composed mostly 
of stable droppings, if to be kept a length of time, 
can be kept under cover, if kept moist with water or 
stable drainage ; if not kept at the proper moisture, 
it is far better to pile in a compact heap outside. A 
covered barnyard invites an unprofitable condition 
to the farm ; it should never be the question, how to 
store manure, but how to apply it, always remem¬ 
bering that manure is worth more when first made 
than it will ever be worth again, and should be 
applied direct from the stables, or at the earliest pos- 
