1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
517 
old neighbors say, and was laughed at by some as 
a “ book farmer,” burying his work and money. 
We estimate that the work, if done now with hired 
help, would cost from twenty-five to thirty-three 
dollars per acre. Call it forty-two dollars, and it 
would still anually pay fifty per cent on that in¬ 
vestment. Both fields pay the same taxes per acre. 
Why doesn’t the owner of field A treat his land 
in the same way? He tells us “he can’t afford it; 
has no money to spare, is poor ” (aud will con¬ 
tinue to be). If he borrowed the money, the in¬ 
crease of crop would in two or three years repay 
it. If he sold half his land to the owner of B, 
who would like to buy it, and put the proceeds 
on the rest, he would do “farming that pays.” 
Digging Muck and Peat. 
A dry fall often furnishes the best time in the 
whole circle of the year for procuring the needed 
supply of muck or peat for absorbents in the sty 
and stable. The use of this article is on the in¬ 
crease among those farmers who have faithfully 
tried it, and are seeking to make the most of home 
resources of fertilizers. Some who have used 
muck only in the raw state, have probably aban¬ 
doned it, but this does not impeach its value. All 
that is claimed for it, in “ Dana’s Muck Manual,” 
published several years ago, has been proved sub¬ 
stantially correct, by the practice of thousands 
of our most intelligent cultivators, in all parts of 
the land. There is considerable difference in its 
value, depending somewhat upon the vegetable 
growth of which it is mainly composed, but almost 
any of it, if exposed to the atmosphere a year be¬ 
fore use, will pay abundantly for digging. This 
dried article^ kept under cover, should be con¬ 
stantly in the stables, in the sties and sinks, and 
in the compost heap. So long as there is the smell 
of ammonia from the stable or manure heap, you 
need more of this absorbent. Hundreds of dollars 
are wasted on many a farm, eiery year, for want of 
some absorbent to catch this volatile and most val¬ 
uable constituent of manure. In some sections 
it is abundant within short distance of the bam. 
The most difficult part of supplying this ab¬ 
sorbent is the digging. In a dry fall the water 
has evaporated from the swamps, so that the 
peat bed can be excavated to a depth of four 
or five feet at a single digging. Oftentimes 
ditching, for the sake of surface draining, will 
give the needed supply of absorbents. It will 
prove a safe investment to hire extra labor for the 
enlargment of the muck bank. It helps right 
where our farming is weakest—in the manufacture 
of fertilizers. It is a good article not only for com¬ 
post with stable manure, but to mix with other ferti¬ 
lizers, as butcher’s offal, night soil, kainite, ashes, 
bone dust, fish, rock weed, kelp and other marine 
products. Dig the muck now and have it ready. 
Legislation against Wild Carrots. 
Connecticut has a stringent statute against suf¬ 
fering wild carrots to grow along the highways 
running through farms, and we hear with great 
satisfaction that some transgressors in this matter 
have been prosecuted this year, for tolerating the 
nuisance. What is the use of having laws against 
any nuisance unless they are enforced ? The object 
of the law is to eradicate this pestilential weed, 
one of the worst the farmer has to contend with, 
and to protect the careful husbandman who keeps 
his own fields clear of the pest. He needs protec¬ 
tion. His careless neighbor may put him to large 
expense and damage his hay crop, and increase the 
cost of every hoed crop, simply by neglect. If he 
leaves the carrot to mature its seeds, the dried 
umbels are carried away by the winds, Thus spread¬ 
ing the pest. The water along the road side washes 
the seeds through the culvert, mixed with road 
dust, into adjacent fields. The grass in the 
highway belongs to the adjacent land holder, and 
the law very properly holds him responsible for 
what he grows with his grass. The careless 
farmer may not freely damage his neighbor. 
A Convenient Corn Crib and Granary. 
Herewith is represented a plan of a Corn-crib 
and Granary twenty by thirty feet on the ground, 
with ten feet posts. The corn-crib part is fourteen 
by twenty feet, with a drive-way through the mid¬ 
dle, eight feet wide. The corn-crib is five feet wide 
below and six feet at the top, eight and a half feet 
from the floor, and will hold about six hundred 
and thirty-four bushels of corn. The long side-box 
upon the floor is twelve inches wide and very con¬ 
venient for removing corn. There is room over the 
drive-way and granary for storing about one thou¬ 
sand bushels of corn. Figure 3 shows the arrange¬ 
ment for taking the corn out of the crib ; figure 4 
is a cross-section of the same. 
The granary is sixteen by twenty feet; the in¬ 
side is boarded up with planed aud matched maple 
boards. It has six bins five by six feet (five 
feet high in front and six feet in the rear), which 
will hold about seven hundred and ninety-two 
bushels of grain ; or one hundred and thirty-two 
bushels in each bin. The bins are made of maple 
boards, planed and matched. The alley, a, is three 
and a half feet wide and runs to the back part of 
the granary. There is room in front from e to/, 
five feet wide, for the fanning mill, platform scale, 
bag holder and truck, grain measures, bags, 
scoops, etc. The floor of the granary is of one 
Figs. 3 and 4.— views of the corn bins. 
and a quarter inch maple planks, planed and 
matched. The floor of the corn-crib is of one 
and a quarter inch red oak planks, unplaned and 
matched. The door at i is convenient when carry¬ 
ing the corn to the granary as it is shelled. 
Selecting and Fattening Cattle. — In se¬ 
lecting cattle for fattening, choose those which 
“handle” well. A soft skin, and silky coat, 
not coarse or wiry, are the good indications of 
fleshing easily. Consider the “ build ” of the ani¬ 
mal, as whether the flesh put on will be where the 
choicest cuts are obtained. This implies a full 
round rump, thick sirloin and broad shoulder. For 
feed, use at this time of 
year, turnips, pumpkins, 
beets and the like, in small 
quantities if available. 
Though not particularly 
fattening of themselves, 
they put the system in 
good condition for a course 
of fattening rations, which 
is highly desirable. A 
good daily ration to begin 
on, for each one thousand 
pounds weight is : hay 
thirty pounds ; roots fifty 
pounds ; meal ten pounds ; 
but this must necessarily 
be somewhat variable. 
Feed regularly and water 
freely, at least twice a day. 
As a rule it is better to 
keep fattening stock in the stall most of the 
time, and as quiet aud comfortable as possible, 
allowing for sufficient exercise. In winter it is 
important to keep the stables well ventilated. An 
animal cannot thrive and fatten when these simple 
precautions are ignored. A properly fattened 
animal will sell with profit at any time. 
Rats and Mice. 
We are often asked the best way of catching 
these vermin, especially rats, which are more diffi¬ 
cult to manage than mice. The best treatment 
with both is, to keep them out. In building a 
house, the possibility of their entering should be 
kept in mind, and the precaution of properly 
cementing the cellars should be taken. In old 
houses, where these creatures have made them¬ 
selves at home and found run-ways for many years, 
the task is more difficult. Yet here, care is needed 
to keep them out. With ingenuity and patience 
all that are in a house may be trapped. When 
the house is once free of them, it will not remain 
so long unless precautions are used to prevent rats 
and mice from entering. They come in through 
open doors and windows much more frequently 
than by burrowing. When once within an old 
house they find abundant hiding places, and often 
passages from one part of the house to another 
made by their predecessors. Still much may be 
done to circumvent them. All visible holes 
through partitions and doors should be stopped by 
pieces of tin. Old fruit cans, with the solder 
melted off answer for the purpose. The tin may 
be cut with a pair of old shears and tacked over 
the holes, first punching with an awl places for the 
tacks. Where there is a hole through plastering, 
or between stones of the cellar w r all, these may be 
effectually stopped with Plaster of Paris mixed 
with coarsely broken glass. They can not work 
through this. It is well to make a study of the 
ways of these animals and follow them up. Of 
course, after interfering with their runs and holes 
as much as possible, it is desirable to catch those 
that are in the house, as poisoning is not advisable 
in the dwelling. Even the most wily and cunning 
old rat may be caught, if his suspicions are over¬ 
come by food in a trap arranged not to spring. 
After he has learned to feed in the trap regularly, 
it may be set. When a rat has been caught, the 
trap should be soaked in v'ater for some days, else 
others will avoid it. Trapping rats requires tact. 
In a large orchard there will be many barrels of 
fruit which will not sell for enough to pay the 
freight, and its profitable disposal is often a prob¬ 
lem. Some may be fed out, and a portion may be 
used for drying. An orchardistof our acquaintance 
finds converting them into vinegar, the most profit¬ 
able use to make of all poor apples. They should 
be pressed before there is decay among them. 
