176 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
A Western Cattle-Barn. 
Several requests have been made for a plan of 
cattle-yard, barn, and sheds for a stock farm. 
We visited a farm in Illinois last season where 
we saw a barn and sheds very well adapted to 
this purpose. Tire barn was appropriated whol¬ 
ly to hay and grain ; the yard was spacious, and 
Larger stumps, up to 8 inches, may all be pulled 
out by using a block and tackle. Blocks of three 
sheaves should be used, and a rope sufficiently 
strong for the purpose. A hitch should be taken 
upon the largest stump, and all those around it 
drawn out, when another large stump may be 
chosen to hitch to. In the Agriculturist for 
Sept. 1871, page 338, is a cut of a stump-puller 
A WESTERN CATTLE-BARN. 
surrounded on three sides with sheds, either 
closed or open, in which the stock was kept. A 
neat fence closed in the front. The barn was 
raised three feet from the ground and rested on 
posts of brick-work. The space thus gained 
was used as a shelter for those hogs which had 
the run of the yard. The yards were well lit¬ 
tered with straw and the remains of the corn- 
fodder which had been fed to the stock, by 
which means a large quantity of manure had 
been accumulated. Eighty head of stock—cows 
and steers—had been fed the previous winter in 
this yard, and the sheds were occupied when we 
visited the place with several head of cattle just 
taken off the pastures to fatten. The plan 
here given is equally well adapted to a large 
or small farm, as it may be extended at will to 
accommodate any required number of cattle. 
which is powerful enough to take out stumps 
two feet in diameter, but the method here figured 
will be found effectual for smaller stumps. 
Sheep-Rack for the Field. 
We have heretofore spoken of the benefit of 
pasturing fields with sheep. Often a poor field 
bars reaching from it to the sides, made of light 
laths, are fixed to the top of the trough to pre¬ 
vent the sheep from jumping into it. Its 
hight is regulated by the size of the sheep. 
Fodder-Corn—Planting. 
A PORTABLE SHEEP-RACK. 
How to Pull Small Stumps. 
A subscriber writes: “ How shall I go to 
work to pull the stumps on 15 acres of land ? 
They are from two to eight inches in diameter. 
What machine do I require?”—No machine. 
may be much improved by turning in a few 
sheep and feeding them therein. In this case 
some supply of grain is necessary for the sheep, 
and useful to the land. We give a cut of a 
movable trough adapted to this purpose, which 
may be taken to any part of the farm or wheeled 
to any poor spot in the field where it is desired 
METHOD OF PULLING SMALL STUMPS. 
Stumps of two to four inches may be pulled 
out by a yoke of oxen, by hitching the chain at 
the top of the slump, and taking two or three 
turns around it, so as to get a twisting pull upon it. 
to get a quantity of manure. It is a common 
trough of boards, mounted on a pair of wheels 
at one end, and furnished with legs and a pair 
of handles at the other end. A bar, with cross¬ 
The time for planting corn for fodder (for the 
main crop) is the same as for the grain crop. 
The land, enriched and prepared as directed in 
an item on page 127, in April, should now be 
made thoroughly fine, clean, and smooth. One 
plowing, and repeated harrowings just before 
planting, will leave the soil fresh and loose, and 
will give the crop a fair start with the weeds. 
The rows should be marked out 3 feet apart 
(if possible north and south). Abundant light 
and air are necessary to the perfect development 
of the plant. We were once advised by a farmer 
friend to plant our crop in drills, 10 inches apart, 
because this would cause the corn to shade the 
ground completely, and obviate necessity for 
weeding. At the end of that season the friend 
who had advised it, said he was satisfied that 
“fodder-corn was a humbug, and not fit to feed 
to a decent cow.” The advice had come to us 
after we had already planted at three feet, and 
the reply to our friend was, that we considered 
the corn-fodder we were then using the best 
butter-making food we had ever had. Later 
experience and observation have confirmed the 
belief that the quality of corn-fodder depends 
more on ventilation and light to the very ground 
than even on the 
richness of the 
soil. Probably a 
heavier weight of 
crop is produced 
at three-foot in¬ 
tervals than at 
anything less, 
owing to the 
greater hight and 
better development of the plants. No doubt the 
best variety of corn for this use is some rank¬ 
growing sweet corn, but as the seed of this is cost¬ 
ly and often difficult to procure, we have settled 
on what is known in the market as “ Western 
mixed,” a yellow, dented, “ horse-tooth” corn, 
which produces a large crop; and develops a 
good proportion of saccharine matter in the stalk. 
We use about four bushels of seed to the acre. 
This may be strung along the row by hand, or, 
better, planted by an Emery drill planter, set to 
discharge at its fullest capacity. If the land is 
tolerably free from stones, our advice would be 
to plant fully two inches deep, and then run a 
Thomas smoothing harrow over the field, just 
as the corn first begins to break ground. Tliis 
will make the surface light and fine, and wiH 
destroy an immense number of weeds that would 
soon give trouble. An acre of corn planted in 
this way on thoroughly rich ground may, if the 
cutting is commenced early enough for a second 
growth to follow, be depended on for the chief 
support often cows during the two driest months. 
Digging Post-Holes. 
The labor of digging post-holes is the chief 
cost of setting up a fence. This can be econo¬ 
mized by using the proper tools. Fig. 2 is a 
post-auger (shown without handle) which is an 
improvement on any we have seen. We pro¬ 
cured one from B. K. Bliss & Sons, N. Y., and 
found it on trial to be excellently adapted for 
the work. It penetrates the ground easily, 
working its way as a common auger does in 
