282 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
are mostly broken up. They are then thrown under foot, 
making good bedding and are crushed so that they make 
a good absorbent and do not give much trouble in the 
manure. One of the most important features in this way 
of fastening is that the cows are comfortable. The prac¬ 
tice of keeping cows in the stable night and day, summer 
and winter, is becoming more common, consequently they 
should be as comfortable as possible. When this method 
is employed, if a new cow or heifer is introduced, the 
others do not have to be moved to give her a place where 
she will not be afraid, as is the case in stanchions. Each 
has an equal chance, and when a cow has learned her place 
she will remember it much better than if moved occasion¬ 
ally. All my early experience in fastening cattle was 
with stanchions, but I am not prejudiced in their favor. 
It is claimed that there are fewer accidents with stanch- 
Fig. 81. 
ions, which may be true as compared with those caused 
by tying with ropes; but during 30 years’ experience with 
chains I have never had a serious accident. 
Crawford County, Pa. luther gates. 
I have always used the Y-chain, for it has always seemed 
the most humane device for fastening cattle. The chains 
are fastened to the front board of a low manger. I have 
had some that slid up and down; but the cows would 
put their front feet into the manger, so I discarded that 
mode of fastening. Tying in stanchions is barbarous, 00 
my mind. I have bought cows that had been fastened in 
stanchions and when I got them in my stable they did not 
know how to get up properly. They would get up like a 
horse, on the front feet first; but after a time they would 
get up in the right way. I do not know that I have ever 
noticed any difference in the yield of milk when the cows 
were fastened in different ways; but sometimes I imagine 
that they do better when not tied but allowed to be loose 
in box stalls. The noise about stanchions is an objection 
to them in my mind. G - M - 0RRI8, 
Meadville, Pa. 
Stanchions. 
I use stanchions for all cattle, and 1 have never used 
anything else. But I think I would like the Smith swing 
stanchion ” quite well, as it gives more freedom to an ani¬ 
mal. allowing it to lick itself and to lie down in a natural 
position. B - K * 
St. Johnsbury, N. Y. 
My father and I, since we began farming 20 years ago, 
have fastened our dairy cows in stanchions. We have used 
no other device, but have seen cows fastened by a ring, 
chain and post. The chain was fastened to the cow’s horns, 
and the ring slipped up and down on the post at will. It 
may be argued by some that the latter is the most com¬ 
fortable mode of tying cows, and this I will not deny; but 
when asked which method I prefer, I say the stanchion 
every time. Some of my reasons for this preference are as 
follows : In the first place, if the stable room be limited, a 
much larger number can be accommodated in stanchions 
Fig. 82. 
than by the use of any other device. In a stanchion a cow 
can be kept in a space of not more than three or four feet, 
whereas, if she were tied, she must have a stall and take 
up perhaps five or six feet. Cows fastened in stanchions 
can not back up and lie down in the manure during the 
night; but if properly bedded will keep clean. Then again, 
this method is simple and very handy, each cow being fas¬ 
tened in a moment, and the cows cannot possibly get Ioobb. 
When once the stanchion is shut, the cow is there to stay. 
Some may say that a cow to do well should be so fastened 
that she could lick herself ; but with good care and a little 
carding this objection is not good. I have never noticed 
any change in a cow’s milk yield on changing the mode of 
fastening. H * 81 
Little Utica, N. Y. 
I use the regular stanchion, with one side stationary, the 
other ready to drop back and open to receive the cow s 
head; then it is shut and fastened with a latch. I am a 
builder as well as a farmer and have nut up several large 
barns, and in most of them I have put common stanchions 
which have given perfect satisfaction. The manger is 
tight except six or seven inches under the cow’s neck, and 
she cannot get the hay or feed under her feet. Cows fas¬ 
tened in this way seem perfectly contented and happy, and 
when out are very desirous to get back, and with proper 
feeding they will do better than if fastened in any other 
way that I have ever tried. Twenty years ago, when I 
came on this farm, I found one stable containing 10 cows, 
with gates between each pair. The gates opened toward 
the door, and were hung to the manger, and when open, all 
the cows turned towards the outside door, and to put them 
up, we had to commence at the farther end of the stable, 
put in a cow, shut the gate, and so continue till the last 
one was in. I did not like it. The cows did not keep as 
clean as in stanchions and did not seem to be as contented. 
I have tried hitching cows by the head with ropes, but 
have discarded the practice for the above reasons. I have 
tried keeping calves in stanchions and in loose stalls, and 
have always had better success with those wintered in 
stanchions. As for the effect on the flow of milk of chang¬ 
ing from one mode of fastening to another, I have never 
been able to detect any difference or change except in a 
single instance where the cow — a new-comer became 
home-sick, when there was a falling-off in the milk yield, 
but when she became contented with her lot she gave her 
usual mess of milk. Last season I put up a barn 30 by 08 
feet and 24 feet high with an annex 16 by 80 feet on one 
side. In this I put Smith’s patent self-adjusting swing 
stanchion and Bridlebaugh’s patent folding manger. The 
owner thinks they are perfect. He has used the common 
stanchion, but thinks the self-adjusting preferable. I 
also put up another barn 30 by 52 feet and 20 feet high. In 
this I put common stanchions and a folding manger. The 
owner said to me last week that they were perfect and 
could not be bettered. With my experience in using and 
building the different devices for fastening cows, were 
I to build for myself to-day, I would put in common 
stanchions. Fastened in this way, cows keep cleaner than 
when tied in any other manner, and seem to enjoy life 
Fig. 84. 
better. Keep them free from lice, feed them regularly and 
with proper rations, let their food and drink be easily ac¬ 
cessible, be quiet and gentle with them indoors and out, 
and they cannot help doing well, and when the door is 
open they will go of their own accord to their proper 
places. A cow should always occupy the same stall and 
have the same neighbor, and no change should be made 
except for good reasons. c - M - L * 
Broome County, N. Y. 
THREE FARM CONVENIENCES. 
We show this week cuts of some of the devices seen at 
the farm of Isaac Hicks & Son. They are not exact repro¬ 
ductions, but are as nearly such as our artist could draw 
from imperfect descriptions without seeing the imple¬ 
ments, and are sufficiently accurate to show the principles 
of construction. These are all home-made. Fig. 83 repre¬ 
sents what is called a tow-cart. It consists simply of two 
broad-tired wheels and an axle-tree to which a tongue is 
fastened solidly, and a seat for the driver, and is used for a 
variety of purposes. 
Fig. 84 shows the structure of a silage cart. It is about 
16 or 18 feet long; the axle-tree is six feet long, and on the 
underside are bolted, close to the wheels, two strong bed- 
pieces, approaching each other to a distance of perhaps a 
loot apart at the front end. Boards are nailed across these, 
each alternate one coming out flush with the bed-pieces, 
the others projecting some distance. A ladder behind to 
Fig. 85. 
hold the load in place, completes the rack. Two small, 
broad-tired wheels are used. When needed for use,the narrow 
end of the rack is chained under the tow-cart which has 
high wheels, giving the appearance of a wagon'with the 
front and hind wheels changed about. The rack is but a 
foot above the ground, and the alternate short boards 
allow a person to walk close to the center of the load to 
deposit his armful of corn or other fodder. This renders 
the handling of heavy silage corn a comparatively easy 
matter. In unloading, the wagon is driven alongside the 
cutter, and the unloading is easily accomplished. There 
are many purposes for which such a wagon might be used 
about a farm in moving heavy materials which can be 
loaded on a high wagon only with difficulty. I be whole 
rig can be constructed by any one having ordinary me¬ 
chanical ingenuity. The Messrs. Hicks have a large silo 
may: 3 
built of brick in the form of a round cistern, 16 feet deep, 
but they do not use it, as the milkman to whom they sell 
their milk refuses to purchase it if they feed silage. 
Fig. 85 represents a cart for spreading liquid manure, 
not such a one as is now in use, but more like one that 
would be made were another required. The one now in 
use consists of three casks of the size of ordinary oil bar¬ 
rels, but a preferable device like the one illustrated, con¬ 
sists of only one holding from 150 to 200 gallons. As shown, 
the cask is mounted on a frame-work of sufficient strength 
to sustain the weight, this being supported by an axle-tree 
and wheels far enough apart to allow the cask to rest be¬ 
tween them. The cask has an opening at the top (not 
shown in the cut) for pumping the liquid in, and at the 
bottom an opening closed with a valve controlled by the 
driver, which allows the liquid to escape into a pipe (an or¬ 
dinary pump-log was used) which conducts it to a V- 
shaped trough, perforated with numerous small holes, 
through which it is spread as the cart is driven over the 
field. Here the tow-cart is again brought into use, the 
manure sprinkler being chained to the underside of the 
axle-tree in a manner similar to the silaue cart. The liquid 
manure is collected in a large cistern to which it is con¬ 
ducted from the stables through a cement gutter. From 
this it is pumped into the cart without any inconvenience. 
The odor is, perhaps, not quite so agreeable as that of the 
ottar of roses, but the whole of the work can be done with¬ 
out soiling the hands or the clothing. Mr. Hicks told of 
one of his neighbors who, convinced of the value of 
liquid manure, had utilized a cart for spreading it, dipping 
it up with pails, and allowing it to trickle out from the 
raised end-board after the field was reached. He regarded 
such a dirty job as this sufficient cause for a strike on the 
part of a hired man. The large cistern had been emptied 
but a few days before our visit, the liquid being spread 
upon the meadow laud. Mr. Hicks considers this the most 
valuable part of the manure, and if he were to build 
another cistern he would build a much larger one. 
HAY AND ENSILAGE STACKER. 
WE show at Figure 86 a portable stacker recently pat¬ 
ented by Mr. D. H. Talbot, of Sioux City, Iowa. As will 
be seen from the picture, the stacker is a conical drum of 
considerable weight fastened to a pole at the center, so that 
it will easily revolve about it. As the hay or fodder is 
placed on the stack, the heavy drum is hauled around, 
pressing the stack into a compact form. Mr. Talbot has 
this to say about his stacker : 
“ Thus far I have had but little experience in the prac¬ 
tical working of my hay and ensilage stacker and com¬ 
pressor; but I have had enough to be convinced, after some 
close tests during the past three seasons, that such a ma¬ 
chine is required to assist in making cheap fodder and to 
do away with the expensive silo, and further, that during 
Fig. 87. 
the harvest time the long haul from the field to the silo cau 
be postponed until a season of more leisure. I have tried it 
upon Hungarian and millet only, and these became dry yet 
mellow fodder of a dark green color, cattle eating all 
clean. 
Until it has been further tested, I would not wish to 
speak too highly in the machine’s favor. As shown in the 
cut, it is supposed to be moved one way only ; this is not 
correct, for the shoe at the point of the cone, when rightly 
made, will permit the reverse movement, thus pressing the 
whole of the stack after loading the machine evenly. The 
cone or drum is also made like large wheels so that a de¬ 
vice of any length can be made. This form has also the 
advantage of being in sections, so that it could be more 
easily lowered piece meal from the stack.” 
CONVENIENT FARM CARTS. 
Prof. L. H. Bailey, describes, in the American Garden, 
the two vehicles represented at Figures 81 and 88. Fig. 
81 represents a handy wagon, with a combination fruit- 
box and truck. The body projects over the wheels, giving 
a very large surface for the handling of crates, boxes, 
barrels, etc. The wheels are three feet in diameter with 
2>£-ineh tires. The body is four feet eight inches by 12 
feet. This wagon cau be used either with thills or a pole. 
Prof. B. calls the vehicle shown at Fig. 83, a handy cart. 
It is really a platform hand-cart, so firm that it can be 
used in the field as a table upon which the sorting and 
weighing of experiment crops may be done. A three-foot 
wheel with a wide tire is used. The body of the cart is 
provided with a border an inch higher. 
