578 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 4 
affected the laboring men who came in contact with 
his estate. 
No feeding experiments are now conducted at 
Rothamsted, but a bunch of Welsh cattle are fed for 
beef. In addition to the field experiments, ordinary 
farming operations are also carried on. 
Sir John is now about 83 years old, yet I never saw 
so active a man before for his years. Two of us ac¬ 
companied him through the fields in the hot sun, and 
he led the way at a good pace for a man of 35. My 
companion, at times, tried to shield him from the 
burning sun with an umbrella, but he laughed at the 
notion. He has a son, perhaps 42 years old or so, who 
lives at home with him, and two grandsons, one the 
child of the son, the other of a daughter. At the 
dining-room table, I noticed that he ate very simply 
and sparingly, though there was a great variety at 
hand. I remarked that perhaps he had to be very 
careful of his diet, to which he replied, “Not at all. 
I have always eaten freely of what I wanted.” To 
Sir Henry Gilbert he gives great credit for the success 
attending the work at Rothamsted, yet Sir John, by 
the generous use of his private funds, has made this 
work possible. One can but wish that these two dis¬ 
tinguished Englishmen may live to celebrate their 
centennials by a jubilee, with many to help them for 
the event. 
HOW MUCH FERTILIZER ON POTATOES? 
In The R. N.-Y. of August 14, the remarks of N. 
Hallock on the quantities of fertilizers per acre for 
potatoes, are of interest to me. He assumes with his 
neighbors that 1,000 pounds are the maximum quan¬ 
tity to be applied per acre. I would hardly agree 
with him that 1,000 pounds per acre would prove in¬ 
jurious to the crop in a dry season, if the fertilizers 
were composed of the right materials. What is con¬ 
sidered a maximum crop of potatoes on Long Island ? 
Here, in New Jersey, we should consider 200 bushels 
per acre a good yield, and 100 bushels per acre a 
minimum yield in an off season. Assuming that we 
should reach a maximum yield of 300 bushels per 
acre, where would 1,000 pounds of fertilizer be in 
comparison to the yield ? It is generally understood 
that, under the most favorable circumstances of a 
crop season, only one-half of the elements of the 
fertilizer applied would be available. Take what the 
fertilizer represents in plant food, then take 300 
bushels of potatoes per acre, and see by comparison 
how far 1,000 pounds of fertilizer have tended to pro¬ 
duce that crop. I use this illustration to prove, as I 
believe, that a yield of 300 bushels of potatoes per 
acre largely depends on the previous condition of the 
soil. I question whether it would be possible to obtain 
that yield by any quantity of fertilizer on very poor 
soil; yet to secure a good yield of potatoes, it does 
appear to me that 1,000 pounds per acre should be the 
quantity applied. If the season is favorable, it tends 
to help out on a maximum crop. I am sure that, if 
the season is unfavorable, the larger quantity applied 
will tend to increase the yield. 
The different yields based upon quantities applied 
as mentioned by Mr. Hallock, I would consider as 
misleading. Those neighbors may grow potatoes 
under varying circumstances of soil, and largely vary¬ 
ing in productiveness, hence their difference in the 
yield. We frequently notice variations in yield in the 
same field owing to peculiar texture of the soil, and 
all treated and fed alike. I believe that the maxi¬ 
mum quantity of fertilizer applied is always the 
safest, as we do not know what our season is to be. 
The practical use of fertilizers is a problem to most 
farmers, and I do not know of anything in our busi¬ 
ness in which we exercise so little reasonable discre¬ 
tion. d c LEWIS. 
Middlesex County, N. J. 
WINTERING 75 SHROPSHIRE EWES. 
WHAT PENS AND HACKS ARE BEST ? 
One of our readers in Dauphin County, Pa., wishes to winter 
about 75 Shropshire sheep for early lamb raising. He has an 
excellent range of early and late pasture. He wishes to know 
what shape and size of pens he should build in order to handle 
this number of sheep to the best advantage, and what racks and 
mangers will be best for this purpose. 
A Good Sheep Rack. 
The sheep would better be divided into two or more 
flocks, and according to hardiness, size and strength. 
If kept together, the larger and stronger sheep in¬ 
variably crowd and injure the weaker ones. A suit¬ 
able rack can be made according to the plan shown in 
Fig. 239. This rack may be 20 to 24 inches wide, if 
placed against the wall, or three feet wide, if de¬ 
signed for use on both sides; in the latter case, it 
should have a division placed lengthwise in the center, 
the bottom board 12 inches wide, opening 12 inches, 
top board six inches, width of opening six inches, 
width of slats eight inches, which should be placed 
not as shown, but on the outside of the bottom and 
top-board. A floor space equal to a building 32 x36, 
or 15 square feet of floor for each sheep, is the smallest 
advisable spice ; they would better have 20 square 
feet of floor per sheep, though too large pens allow 
too much freedom and opportunity for the lambs to 
play, in which case they do not fatten as fast as when 
kept quiet. In Fig. 239, a is a board 1 inch thick, 12 
inches wide, placed 20 inches from the wall, e ; b is a 
2x4 scantling; c the bottom of the trough; d a 
board 5 inches wide to support the board 4 inches 
wide which forms the bottom of the inside rack, /; 
(j the slats 8 inches wide and 6 inches apart; / is the 
inside rack hung with hinges made by nailiDg slats 
1% inch wide, 3 inches apart, which may be turned 
back when grain or roots are being put in the bottom 
trough. 
We take up our sheep about two weeks earlier than 
is customary, in order to keep them out of the cold 
rains, and in order to shear them and have the wool 
start sufficiently to protect them by the time cold 
weather (the last of November) sets in. The pens 
should be inclosed on all sides, the walls made tight 
with paper or straw, at least warm enough so that 
only on the coldest nights will the temperature in the 
pens fall below the freezing point. Of course, proper 
ventilation should be provided. The lambs should be 
dropped either in December or January, and after the 
ewes become mothers, they should be fed heavily 
with milk-producing foods, and the lambs should have 
access to a variety of concentrated foods according as 
tastes give evidence of desires. When the lambs are 
yeaned, small troughs in one end of the pen, protected 
by slat-work from the large sheep, should be provided 
for the lambs. See Fig. 240. Much of the success 
will depend upon the skill of the shepherd. 
I P ROBERTS. 
Put in Four Pens. 
The shape of pen is not very essential, although I 
prefer those nearly square. I would put 75 Shrop¬ 
shire ewes in not less than four pens from 18 to 20 
feet square—20 feet is best—with a sufficient amount 
of rack room, so that they will not be crowded in 
eating. If the pens be 20 feet square, and the divi¬ 
sions between pens be made by racks, making 40 feet 
of eating space to each pen, it will be ample. If by 
“ early-lamb raising” is meant “ winter lambs ”, then 
there should be attached to each pen an annex, say 
4 x 20 feet, into which the lambs can go at will, and 
in which there will always be fresh food accessible, 
and into which, of course, the ewes cannot get. No 
matter where or how this is connected with the main 
pen, only it must be where the lambs have free access 
to it. 
I have found nothing in the way of racks quite 
equal to the one shown in Fig. 241. The posts, A, A, 
are of 2x4 stuff, about three feet long. B is the bottom 
board, eight inches wide and 33 inches long, and of 
any good hard wood. It has a cleat two inches wide 
nailed on the inside as shown by the dotted line near 
the top. This is to support the ends of C, C, which 
are eight inches wide, and constitute the bottom of 
the troughs for holding the grain that is fed. G, G 
are pieces three inches wide, to which C. C are firmly 
nailed, and the ends of which are nailed to the posts, 
A, A, and form the front side of the grain trough. 
D, Dare boards each 10 inches wide, and having the 
lower edge chamfered to fit on the top of C, C, consti¬ 
tuting the back part of the grain trough, and to the 
top of which the slats of the hay rack, E, E, are 
nailed at the lower end. These slats, E, E, are 2% 
inches wide, and go on alternately one on each side. 
They are 16 inches long, with the top ends lying flat 
on the top boards, F, F, and firmly nailed to them 
with wire nails clinched on the under side. F, F are 
12 inches wide, and rest on and are nailed to the tops 
of the posts, which are cut on a slant to fit as shown. 
Pieces of two-inch stuff should be cut, and one nailed 
on the cleat at each end that is to hold the ends of 
C, C, and also one should be put every four feet into 
the angle made by the boards, D, D, and these boards 
should be well nailed to each of these. 
Instead of using the boards C and G to form the 
bottom and front of the grain trough, we used to 
make these racks with C put up, making the troughs 
V-shaped ; but these are not so good, especially where 
ensilage is fed. Neither are they quite so desirable 
for feeding grain alone, for the reason that, with 
them, a “ hog sheep ” will shove its nose along, push¬ 
ing the grain all up into piles, and then stand and eat 
it, getting more than is good for it, and robbing those 
more timid and which need it more. With the flat- 
bottomed trough such sheep cannot do this. 
If these racks are 10 or more feet loug, they should 
have a tie across in the middle, which may be made of 
slat stuff with each end nailed to a cleat of the same, 
which can be nailed across the boards, F, F. All the 
lumber for these racks may be inch stuff except as 
mentioned previously. With this style of rack, the 
lambs cannot get into and run over the fodder and 
grain, and it is the only one in which they cannot. 
No highly-fed sheep will eat any food over which 
the lambs have played hide and seek. 
j. s. WOODWARD. 
FEEDING BEANS TO LIVE STOCK. 
The cultivation of the bean in western New York 
has long been considered one of the most profitable 
branches of farm industry, not only for its value for 
commercial purposes alone,which by many is deemed 
of sufficient importance to continue its cultivation 
from year to year, but it is also being demonstrated 
that the profits may be largely increased by properly 
utilizing both the straw or vines and the cull beans; 
these are to be procured in large quantities, and are 
held in high regard as a proper food for sheep, swine 
and dairy stock. The entire loss of the clover crop 
the past year occasioned many farmers more fully to 
appreciate the value of bean vines for sheep feeding 
than ever before. Being rich in nitrogen, they 
should be fed not oftener than once daily, alternat¬ 
ing with clover hay (if available) wheat or oat 
straw, etc. For breeding ewes, we have practiced 
feeding in this manner, with oats and bran equal 
parts fed once a day as a grain ration, with appar¬ 
ently good results, though it has been a question 
with many as to whether this is a safe course to 
pursue ; but it is now being generally conceded, I 
believe, that, by proper management, no serious 
effects are likely to follow. 
While it is now the common practice thus to dis¬ 
pose of the vines, comparatively few have learned 
the value of the cull bean as a suitable food for 
swine. Mr. A., a resident of an adjoining town, evi¬ 
dently a farmer of much sagacity and forethought, 
informs me that he has been feeding quantities of 
such beans to hogs quite successfully for a number 
of years. “ I assume that you are feeding more than 
are obtained from your farm”, I said. 
“ Yes, I buy them in large quantities at the bean¬ 
picking houses, where there are always cull beans 
obtainable during the sorting season.” 
“At what price do such beans usually sell ? 
“In small lots, the price last season was $5 per 
ton, but for larger amounts they could be bought 
cheaper. The 20 tons that I fed during the past 
year cost $3 per ton.” 
“ What is your method of preparing them for feed¬ 
ing to hogs.” 
“ They are first carefully run through the fanning 
mill, which removes much of the loose dirt, small 
stones, etc., when they are ready to be cooked in a 
two-barrel kettle, after which the ordinary swill from 
the kitchen, consisting of sour milk, dish water, etc., 
is added, and all are thoroughly mixed.” 
“The addition of meal for fattening purposes is 
found to be of advantage, is it not ?” 
“No, for the boiled beans alone are found to be 
very rich in nutriment, and I have thus far deemed it 
