1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
IT 
A Log Boat. 
A convenient boat for dragging logs is 
•shown in fig. 1. The runners, d,d, are 2 by 6 
inches and 44 feet long; the plank is 2 by 
9 inches, and 34 feet long. A mortise is 
made at h for the chain to pass through. 
The cross-piece c, is 4 by 7 inches and 34 feet 
long, and worked down to 44 inches in the 
.middle. Notches are cut into the cross-piece 
-4 inches wide and two inches deep, to receive 
'the scantlings, e, e, 2 by 4 inches, and three 
feet long, which are fastened down by strong 
bolts, as shown at the dotted lines, /,/. The 
two bolts in front, b,b, go through the scant¬ 
ling, plank and runner, while the bolts, g,g, 
pass only through the plank and runner. 
It will be more convenient to load the logs 
by horses, as shown in the illustration, fig. 2. 
The boat is raised with its upper side against 
the log. The chain is fastened to the cross¬ 
piece at a, with the large hook, and the other 
end is put around the log, under the runner 
and cross-piece at b, and pulled through be¬ 
tween the runner and scantling at c, when 
the end of the chain, d, is fastened to the 
•whiffletree. As the team is started, the 
Fig. 2.—LOADING THE LOGS. 
boat tips over, with the log on top. Loosen 
the chain from the two-horse evener, and 
pull it back through the runner and scant¬ 
ling at c, and through the hole. C. W. Y. 
Turnips as a Farm Crop. 
BY COL. F. D. COTiTIS. 
Yery few of the farmers of this country 
appreciate the value of turnips as a farm crop. 
Some chemists estimate them to contain 
ninety-five per cent of water, leaving only 
five per cent of flesh-forming material; and 
out of this small part they deduct a portion 
as woody fibre, only good to help fill up the 
stomach of an animal. I am not prepared to 
^dispute the correctness of this analysis, but I 
do take issue with the conclusions that tur¬ 
nips have no greater value as food than may 
be indicated by the chemist’s figures. Turnips 
have possibly a mechanical value, as they 
may aid in the digestion of more concentrat¬ 
ed food, such as corn meal, when fed with 
it. Perhaps the fault is to be found in the 
fact that the ninety-five per cent of water is 
put down as worthless. In the economy of 
nature this veiy water may prove of more 
importance than has been ascribed to it. I 
have found that raw turnips will not only 
sustain life, but cause hogs to thrive when 
fed nothing else. I do not mean when fed a 
large quantity, but an amount, which, ac¬ 
cording to the chemist’s tables, would be 
such a small per cent of the actual food that 
starvation would be expected. Sheep and 
cattle will fatten on them, with very little 
hay. The credit cannot be put down to the 
hay, but must be carried over to the turnips. 
If I understand the British system of making 
mutton, it is mainly, and sometimes entirely, 
by the use of turnips. The sheep are con¬ 
fined by hurdles on the turnips, where they 
help themselves, until the crop within the in¬ 
closure is exhausted, when they are moved to 
a fresh lot. Knowing 
the real value of tur¬ 
nips, and how easily 
they may be converted 
into meat, why should 
not the American farm¬ 
er avail himself of the 
opportunity, and not 
rely so exclusively upon 
com. Every farmer should have a turnip 
patch, the larger the better. The crop can 
always be made supplementary to another 
on the farm, and is so much clear gain. 
How Farming in Colorado Pays. 
BY WM. E. PABOR, EDITOR “COLORADO FARMER.” 
It was customary in some quarters, a few 
years ago, to argue that farming could not 
be profitable in Colorado, save under ex¬ 
ceptional circumstances, and with a high 
priced market. But, as a writer in the Den¬ 
ver “Rocky Mountain News,” as far back as 
1873, said, “there has been enough of success 
at farming in Colorado to prove the contrary; 
not only that farming can be successfully 
carried on here, but that it can be followed 
with a larger and more certain annual profit 
than in any other part of the United States.” 
It is a safe assertion to make that four an¬ 
nual crops out of five can be successfully 
raised in the State, and this is as good an 
average as ought to be asked for, or is found 
elsewhere. The area of arable land is not so 
large as to induce ruinous competition at 
home, and the distance from the grain-pro¬ 
ducing districts of other States and Terri¬ 
tories is great enough not to shut out com¬ 
petition, but to make the competing price a 
fair one for the farmer. A constantly in¬ 
creasing mining interest is a guarantee of 
a ready market for all that can be produced. 
At one of the Colorado Farmer’s Institutes, 
held a year or two ago, it was asserted that 
wheat could be raised for fifty cents per 
bushel. Others put the figure at sixty-five 
cents. The profit in farming here, as in other 
places, lies concealed in many little things of 
which no account is taken. In the wastes of 
the farm vanish many per cents that might 
be added to the general aggregate of profits. 
The Foot-hills, as they are called, to dis¬ 
tinguish them from the higher ranges that 
tower west of them, are in reality mountain 
chains, only of lesser magnitude. They com¬ 
mence when the plains have reached an alti¬ 
tude of between four and five thousand feet 
above the level of the sea, and running 
parallel with the main ranges back of them, 
lift their heads from three to five thousand 
feet high. Here flourish the pine, cedar, 
aspen, and birch. In the valleys, and small 
parks they enclose, vegetation is very thrifty. 
The hay-producing qualities of the soil in 
these parks is simply wonderful. In some of 
them the tourist sinks knee deep in grass 
that has flourished and faded, grown and 
perished, season after season, until the sur¬ 
face, for miles, is one vast treacherous morass 
of decayed vegetation, into which it is almost 
impossible to venture with safety. 
These, and there are thousands of such 
places scattered through the mountain region 
of Colorado, are to be the herdsmen’s and 
dairymen’s Eden of the future. Here, shel¬ 
tered from the storms and the winds of the 
hills that surround them, they can grow, 
without irrigation, abundant harvests of 
barley and potatoes. Here their sheep and 
cattle can have prolific pasturage, and the 
towns springing up along the lines of new 
railroads, and the miniug interests that are 
so rapidly developing, will demand from 
them and from the farmers on the slopes 
lying eastward toward the prairies, all that 
they can produce, at good paying prices. 
A Shipping Box for Poultry and Small 
Animals. 
There is nothing which so much adds to 
the attractiveness of fine stock, especially 
poultry, as neat shipping boxes. Most of our 
common boxes are from the nearest grocery 
store; and, while such boxes may do very 
well, when properly remodelled, they too 
seldom are altered in appearance, or improv¬ 
ed in style. Herewith is given an illustra¬ 
tion of a box which we have used with great 
success, and is worthy the attention of poul¬ 
try breeders through the country. It can be 
employed with equal success for shipping 
young pigs, dogs, etc. For poultry, half¬ 
inch planed pine can be used for top, slats, 
sides, and bottom, with inch stuff (of pine) 
for the ends. For pigs and pups, inch pine 
should be employed for the ends; half-inch, 
with cleats, for the bottom, and the sides; 
top pieces and slats should be made of some 
tough and strong material, as half-inch oak, 
or ash, common stuff. A very good size, for 
general use, is 18 inches long, 12 inches wide, 
and 16 to 18 inches high at the highest point. 
The slats should be about 2 inches wide, and 
placed from 2 to 3 inches apart. The shape 
of the top of the box gives plenty of light, 
while the top board, which is about 4 incb./A 
wide, makes a fine place on which to attach 
the shipping tags, and to write the address, 
etc. Where it is desired to make the bon 
extra strong, use inch cleats inside. About 
C inches up each side must be solid (no slatsA 
to prevent the birds or animals getting their' 
feet or legs out while in transit. For slior'is^ 
journeys, it is well enough to have, for poul¬ 
try, a skeleton box, covered on all sides with 
coarse, strong muslin, and slats on the top, 
but for extended trips and rough usage, the 
shipping box described herewith will bo 
found the best. The size given will hold a 
