14 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January. 
ing is nearly, if not quite, 100 years old. 
The present proprietor has lived there nearly 
80 years, and fully enjoys his quiet life. 
A large rail fence surrounds the building, 
and neither he nor his family have found it 
necessary to erect a gate or bars. This prim¬ 
itive mode of living, he argues, saves him a 
great deal of the wear and tear of life. Miss 
Susie's home is a quarter of a mile away—it 
is one of the best houses in the county. We 
may some day present a picture of it in the 
American Agriculturist, as showing how 
well-to-do people of Jackson County enjoy 
life. Mr. D. has the best barn in the county. 
A Good Stone-Boat. 
A stone-boat is shown in the engraving 
which is very convenient for drawing plows 
and harrows to and from the field, also 
stones, stumps, etc. The boat is 8 feet long 
A GOOD STONE-BOAT. 
and 3 wide, made of two strong oak planks, 
2 inches in thickness and 18 inches wide. 
The front board is fastened to the planks or 
runners with four bolts; pieces of boards, 
4 inches wide, for a border, are secured to 
the runners by bolts around the edge. 
For Each Section, Its Own Murrains. 
They have the Texas fever among cattle, 
and their own maladies among horses and 
swine at the West. These are enough for 
them to take care of, and they ought not to 
complicate matters with pleuro-pneumonia, 
foot and mouth disease, rinderpest, etc., 
which we get from Europe, and that may 
easily be shipped westward with the numer¬ 
ous herds of thoroughbred cattle, calves, and 
other stock constantly moving thitherward 
by rail, by water, and on foot. So far, we 
have done our duty well by placing embar¬ 
goes and drawing lines about diseases which 
they have not passed. Is it not fair that the 
West should do the same? We may now 
appeal to the Government with some hope 
that efforts will be made to stop diseased 
cattle, horses, and swine coming this way, 
but the Cattle Commissioners must be backed 
up by public opinion, both at the East and 
the West, or their efforts will come to naught. 
Pleuro-pneumonia is probably more easily 
carried by calves than in any other way. 
The great dairy, and especially butter, re¬ 
gions, produce many calves, but make little 
veal. They have a little milk at first, then 
skim-milk, and soon are turned out to grass. 
Just as soon as they can travel, they are 
bought up, and drift Westward, where pas¬ 
turage is cheap, and where beef raising or 
cow raising is a prevalent industry. Disease 
in one of these calf-herds will be scattered 
broadcast. The dealers are men of little 
principle in such matters. If they have 
reason to suspect disease, they drive quietly, 
and on bright nights, sell low, and are away 
before it is really known that harm is done. 
Take care what you buy, is the translation 
we would give to the common quotation, 
“ Caveat emptor .” Every man with a large 
herd ought to establish a private quarantine 
on his own farm, and keep every newly pur¬ 
chased animal away from all others of its 
kind for weeks — one month is probably 
enough—to be assured that no contagious dis¬ 
ease is present. So much of our wealth, and so 
great a part of the income of the whole coun¬ 
try depends upon our live stock, that sweep¬ 
ing murrains, such as have at times visited 
other parts of the world, would be terrible. 
Pure-Bred Stock. 
As a rule pure-bred stock is not the most 
profitable for farmers to keep. Many who 
have tried to breed a herd of pure blood 
animals have failed. The cost to begin with 
is large. The writer recently visited a herd 
of Jersey cattle, some of the cows in which 
had cost many hundreds of dollars. The 
product in flesh and milk from these animals 
is not so much over that of the grade cow as 
to warrant the prices paid. The management 
that such close bred stock requires is much 
greater than that of grade stock; that 
is, crosses between the pure blood and the 
native stock. Pure blood animals and herds, 
like the one above mentioned, are of value 
as breeding centers, from which the great 
mass of common stock can be built up. At 
a low estimate the value of the grade pro¬ 
duct can be raised $ 15 or $20 each, the first 
season. It may be that a farmer with a large 
herd of grades thus produced can afford to 
keep two or three pure blood animals for 
further improvement of the herd, but in 
many cases it will ba better to replenish the 
pure blood from one of the centers of such 
stock. It is a national blessing that “fancy 
farmers,” as they are sometimes called, are 
pleased to make such large investments in 
pure blood stock, for by this means the sup¬ 
ply of any breed is kept up. It would be a 
calamity if from any cause these carefully 
managed herds should all be broken up and 
scattered. It is through them that the whole 
live stock of the country is to be improved by 
a gradual process of grading. In this im¬ 
portant work the less fortune-favored stock- 
raisers may find a profitable field of labor. 
Protecting Outlet of Drains. 
BT L. D. SNOOK, TATES CO., N. T. 
One of the greatest annoyances in under¬ 
draining is the trouble arising from the out¬ 
let becoming choked or filled up by the 
trampling of animals, the action of frost, 
or even of water in times of freshets. This 
Fig. 1.—END OF TILE-DRAIN. 
trouble is quite successfully overcome by 
the arrangement as shown in fig. 1; it con¬ 
sists of a plank, ten or twelve inches in 
width, and five or six feet in length, with a 
notch cut in one side, near the center. 
This plank is set upon edge at the outlet of 
the drain, with the notch directly over the end 
of the tile, and is held in position by several 
stakes on the outside, with earth or stone | 
thrown against the opposite side. This plan 
is best for all light soils, while for heavy clay 
land the one shown in fig. 2 is just as 
good, and in most cases will prove more du¬ 
rable. It consists of two logs, eight or ten 
inches in diameter, and from three to ten feet 
in length, placed parallel with the drain, and 
about six inches apart; the whole is covered 
with plank twenty inches long, laid cross¬ 
wise. Flat stones will answer and are more- 
lasting than planks. The whole is covered. 
Fig. 2. —LOGS AT END OF DRAIN. 
with earth, at least eighteen inches in depth %. 
two feet or more would be better, especially 
if the soil is to be plowed near the outlet. 
Farm Gates. 
Have as few farm gates as possible. Each 
one is an expense in its construction and sub¬ 
sequent care. It never pays to make a poor 
gate. The frame should be constructed of 
hard and lasting wood, with the slats of light 
but durable material. This gate needs thor¬ 
ough bracing with strips of wood, or better, 
rods of iron, which run from the bottom of the 
latch and to the top of the hinge-end. A gate 
thus braced cannot sag, as it is impossible 
for it to get out of the rectangular form. 
When finished, a gate should be painted. 
The farm gate should be wide enough to per¬ 
mit the free passage of loads of hay and 
grain, field rollers, and harvesters. 
A most important point is a large, durable 
and well-set post, upon which the gate is to 
be hung. The liinge-post should not be less 
than eight inches square, and set at least 34 
feet deep. The earth needs to be rammed 
firmly around the post. A first-class gate is 
expensive at the outset, but needs very little 
attention afterwards for several years. 
Caring for a, Horse Harness.— 
The average harness in the rural districts is 
poorly cared for, and short-lived. Not in¬ 
frequently it is hung in the horse stable ex¬ 
posed to the ammonia generated from a pile 
of fermenting manure. The stable may be 
furnished at odd spells with bedding or ab¬ 
sorbents of some kind, but these are not 
promptly renewed, and there is great waste 
of the most valuable constituent of manure. 
The harness has the benefit of the ammonia, 
and the effect is about the same as washing 
it with lye. The harness rots, cracks, and 
without frequent oiling comes to grief at 
an early date. The safer way is to have a 
place for the harness in the carriage house, 
or some building outside the stable. If the 
stable alone is available, it should be kept free 
from the smell of ammonia by the constant 
use of absorbents, sawdust, sods, road dust, 
straw, or refuse hay. A harness properly 
cared for and kept clean and pliable will last 
twice as long as one that is neglected. It is- 
much cheaper to spend ten cents for neat’s- 
foot oil, once in three months, than fifty 
cents for mending at the harness maker’s.- 
