510 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
November, 
Polled Cattle. 
There was a fine exhibition of Polled Angus cat¬ 
tle at the show of the New York State Society this 
year at Rochester. In previous years, the Red 
Polled Norfoiks and Suflolks have been exhibited. 
The former are essentially a beef-breed, while the 
latter combines milk and flesh. Within a few 
years past, the Angus, which are a black, Scottish 
breed, occasionally marked with white, have been 
introduced upon the plains with most excellent 
results. As we have before stated, the grade ani¬ 
mals are almost uniformly hornless, and of a tract- 
ability and docility which surprises the cow-boys. 
A few lots of steers, which have come to market, 
delight the drovers and butchers by keeping up in 
weight. They are less nervous, less given to bully¬ 
ing, and can hardly do one another any harm if 
they wish to. The shrinkage of beef is due largely 
to the horns, which are uncomfortable to the 
wearers in crowded cars, dangerous to drivers, and 
to the other animals carried. It is bad enough for 
fat steers to be so crowded and jammed for a jour¬ 
ney across the Continent in narrow cars, but if 
they are not crowded, so that they can hardly move, 
they would soon use their liberty to punish their 
neighbors for being in their way. The Polled cattle 
paek closely, travel quietly, and shrink but little. 
We present an engraving of a fat Angus heifer, 
shown at the Islington Fat Cattle Show in England. 
She illustrates the characteristics of the breed, 
smoothness, depth, breadth, fineness of bone, and 
a minimum amount of the waste parts. She would 
be nearly a perfect parallelopipedon of flesh, if her 
head and legs were removed from her body. 
Good Stone Troughs or Tanks. 
Harvey Richardson, of Orange County, has shown 
us an unpatented stone water-tank, or trough, of 
his own construction, which appeared so neat, ef¬ 
fective, and readily constructed by almost any one, 
that wc made a sketch of it. These troughs may 
be of any length, width and depth desired, ac¬ 
cording to their position, use, and the size of stones 
available. Here are the figures of the one sketched : 
The two side pieces are flagging stones, six feet 
long and twenty-seven inches wide. The bottom 
piece is four feet ten inches long, two feet wide ; 
and the two end pieces, two feet long, twenty inches 
wide, or high. These stones were all a little under 
two inches thick. Five rods, of three-eighths inch 
round iron, have flat head on one end, and screw 
and nut on the other; or, there may be simply a 
screw and nut on each end ; they must not extend 
out to be in the way. Five holes are bored or 
drilled through each side-piece, which is easily 
done with brace and bit in ordinary stone. The 
middle hole is four to five inches above the bottom 
edge, so that the rod through it will lit under and 
partially support the bottom stone. The end rods 
arc about four inches from the ends of the side- 
pieces, and stand clear of the end stones in this 
case so that the dipper handles hang upon them ; 
but they may run against the end stones. When 
setting up, the stones being placed nearly in posi¬ 
tion, newly-mixed hydraulic cement is placed in all 
the joints, and the rods screwed up firmly. The 
mortar squeezed out in tightening the rods is 
smoothed off neatly, so that when hardened the 
whole is almost compact solid stonework — if good 
water lime be used. Almost any flat stones will 
answer, if the edges of the bottom and end-pieces 
be dressed and a somewhat smooth groove be cut 
in the side-pieces for them to fit into or against. 
The mortar will fill up any irregularities. A little 
grooving will give a better support to the bottom- 
piece and the ends than the simple cement and 
small rods. It will be noted that the side-pieces 
extend down, like .sleigh-runners, leaving an open 
space below. A hole can be drilled in a lower edge 
to let out the water in hard freezing weather, and 
be stopped with a wooden plug. Such tanks will 
keep water purer than wood, and last a century or 
longer, if not allowed to be broken by freezing. 
Any leakage can be quickly stopped by draining off 
the water and applying a little cement mortar where 
needed. When flagging or other flat stones are 
plentiful, the work and cost would be little, if any, 
more than for wooden tanks. They can be set in 
the ground if desired. The iron rods need paint¬ 
ing, or covering with asphalt, to prevent rusting. 
Plant Trees on the Roadsides. 
- -iv- 
Trees may be planted at any time before the 
ground freezes solid, or as soon as it fully opens in 
spring. Early spring would be preferable on some 
accounts ; but if left until then, the hurry of work, 
often delayed by cold and wet weather, is likely to 
interfere. It is better, therefore, to get every 
hardy tree possible into its permanent growing 
place now. And every year it is delayed is no tri¬ 
fling loss. A hundred trees can be set at a cost of 
ten to twenty dollars, or for almost no cost, if one 
has spare time and the feaplings arc easily availa¬ 
ble. These may in ten to fifteen years grow to 
be worth three to ten dollars apiece for needed 
timber and fuel, or for the fruit or nuts produced. 
It would be greatly to the advantage of the 
country, its climate, and its beauty, if the sides of 
our public highways generally were planted with 
trees that furnish shade and ornament while grow¬ 
ing, and supply at no distant period wood for va¬ 
rious purposes. Some years before they mature 
sufficiently to be cut down for use, new plantings 
alternating with the older trees'ean be coming for¬ 
ward to take their places, or slow and quick-grow¬ 
ing varieties may be set, so that when the latter are j 
removed the former will be large enough to soon 
fill the gaps. It is desirable, however, to have to¬ 
gether those that somewhat resemble each other in 
form at the top. We have in mind a broad street, 
ninety feet wide, where twenty-five to thirty years 
ago various oaks were set, thirty to forty feet 
apart, ten feet from the outside, and between 
these, in a line with them, quick-growing maples 
were planted. Recently the maples were all re¬ 
moved, furnishing a cord of wood apiece, with 
considerable useful timber, and the oaks now 
stand in two beautiful rows. 
The French give more attention to roadside trees 
than any other people. We remember to have rid¬ 
den hundreds of miles in Southeastern France, 
where in every direction the country roads could 
be followed, as far as the eye could see, by the 
double rows of trees—which there were largely the 
Lombardy poplar. From recently published sta¬ 
tistics, we learn that there are in all France eigh¬ 
teen thousand seven hundred and fifty miles of 
public roads, of which over seven thousand miles 
(forty per cent) are bordered by trees, and over 
four thousand miles are now being planted. On 
the remaining portions the soil or other circum¬ 
stances do not allow continuous borders. The 
total number already planted is nearly three mil¬ 
lions (2,678,603)—most largely elm, poplar, acacia 
(locust), plane, ash, sycamore, and lime trees, but 
with many fruit, nut, and mulberry trees. A 
stranger, having the official records with him, 
could almost decide what Department he was trav¬ 
eling in, by the kind of trees along the road. He 
would find the nut trees, especially the chestnut, 
most in vogue in Ain, Ailler, Aube, Gironde, and 
eight or ten other Departments ; the apple-tree, in 
Cote d’Or and Marne ; the mulberry, ?n the East¬ 
ern Pyrenees, Haute Marne, etc. ; the cherry, in 
Doubs, Indre, Jura, Landes, etc.; the pear, in Euro 
and Marne ; the service tree, in Haute Loire, and 
so on, throughout the whole territory. 
As to loss of land from spreading roots and from 
shade, if planted a few feet from the fence, the 
roots can be kept from the crops by a deep furrow 
along the inside of the fence every year or two, 
and the shade will not be a serious detriment— 
none at all from trees on the south side of roads 
running easterly and westerly. Those on the 
northerly side of the road furnish a very desir¬ 
able shade to animals in the adjoining pastures. 
A Cleaner for Horses’ Hoofs, 
The engraving herewith given shows a simple 
and convenient implement for removing stones and 
other substances from between the frog and the 
ends of a horse’s shoe. Its value for this and 
other purposes will be quickly appreciated by every 
driver and horse owner. When not in use, the 
hook is turned within the loop of the handle, and 
the whole is easily carried in the pocket. The en¬ 
graving shows the implement open, two and one- 
half times reduced in size. If horsemen keep this 
cleaner within easy reach, it will often serve a 
good turn, and be of greater value than a pocket 
cork-screw. An editor of the American Agricul¬ 
turist has found one of these contrivances, im¬ 
ported from England, of so great benefit, that the 
Publishers have caused them to he manufactured 
in this country. We will mail one, post-free, to 
every new subscriber of the American Agriculturist 
who sends us the subscription price, SI.50 a year. 
