216 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[JUNE, 
graving, fig. 1, which can be made by any me¬ 
chanic, and which is capable of making 300 
tiles per hour. It is a wooden box divided into 
two compartments; in the rear one there is an 
upright post by which the machine may be 
bound to a tree or a firmly planted fence-post. 
A lever is hinged to the upper part of this up¬ 
right post and is attached to a plunger which 
fits into the forward compartment of the box. 
At the front of this compartment the dies, 
shown at fig. 2, are fastened into an opening. 
The clay, already tempered and worked until 
tough and plastic, is shoveled into the box; 
the plunger is brought down 
by the lever and the clay is 
forced by the pressure through 
the dies. The tiles thus mold¬ 
ed are run out upon a table 
which rests upon rollers, and 
which moves forward with 
the tiles. A fresh supply 
of clay is put into the box, the plunger is again 
brought down and the tubes of clay make an¬ 
other move forwards. When the table is filled 
a frame upon which fine brass wires are 
stretched is brought down upon the tiles and 
cuts them into proper lengths. The dies are 
made of an iron plate, the central core is held 
in its place by a bent crossbar of iron. Vari¬ 
ous dies, of course, are needed to suit the differ¬ 
ent sizes of the tiles. The inside of the die- 
plate is shown at fig. 2. 
As the tiles are cut they are picked up by a 
boy with the pronged holder seen lying upon 
the ground near the machine in fig. 1. The 
prongs should be as long as the tiles and should 
fit them closely, so as to prevent any injury in 
removing them. They are carried upon the 
holder to a level drying ground or are placed 
upon racks to dry. When dry they are laid 
up in a kiln to be burned. 
Poultry Farming. 
There is something alluring in doing things 
upon a large scale. The desire to possess a 
thousand fowls has enticed many men to go 
into poultry farming as a special business, and 
indulge in dreams of an easy and comfortable 
business if not of wealth. Unfortunately in 
nearly every case which has come to 'our 
knowledge, there has been failure, at first dis¬ 
appointment, then disgust and sickness of heart 
from the hope deferred, rather than from any 
inherent impossibility of keeping a thousand 
fowls as easily as a hundred. It would seem 
as though a person who could successfully 
manage one small flock could manage several 
with equal success, but in reality few persons 
manage a flock of a hundred fowls with com¬ 
plete success. There are deaths, sickness, 
min, losses of eggs, hidden nests, and the loss 
of broods, depredations of hawks, owls, skunks, 
or cats, and all the other ills from which poul¬ 
try suffers by reason of neglect or want of skill [ 
in the great majority of small flocks; but be¬ 
cause of the small value involved nothing is 
thought of these losses. We always hear, how¬ 
ever, when a man fails in his endeavor to man¬ 
age a poultry farm. 
The cause of the fre¬ 
quent failures is not the 
impossibility of suc¬ 
ceeding, but the want of 
the care, skill, and pa¬ 
tience necessary for suc¬ 
cess. With these quali¬ 
fications, a suitable lo¬ 
cality, and a proper ar¬ 
rangement of buildings, 
we know of no reason 
why poultry keeping 
for eggs and chickens 
should not be made 
profitable with the use 
of a moderate capital. 
We know of a case in 
which it was successful so far as it was carried, 
and have no doubt that it might have been 
indefinitely enlarged with equal success. For 
the information of those who have requested 
such information, we describe the plan. 
The farm was a tract of cheap land, rough, 
hilly, and with too many large stones in the 
soil for cultivation. There was some young, 
second growth of timber upon the liill-side and 
a spring broke out near the foot of the hill. 
Excavations were made in the bank and log 
houses built therein, all but the front being 
covered with earth. The houses were 18 feet 
long by 12 wide, and about 6 feet high to the 
eaves. The roof was of rough boards, and a 
large ventilator was placed in the center of it. 
The arrangement is shown in the accompany¬ 
ing engraving. The soil, of coarse gravel and 
very dry, was left to form the floor of the 
house. Roosts for one hundred fowls, and 
boxes for nests were put in each house, and in 
the space of twelve feet or thereabouts left be¬ 
tween the houses, some places were fitted for 
nests with logs and earth. The houses were 
whitewashed inside and outside. The water of 
the spring was brought in a half-inch lead pipe 
near to the houses and ran into a trough. Two 
hundred hens were kept in the two houses with¬ 
out any trouble, and were free from lice and all 
disease when we last saw them. They had a 
range over seventy-five acres of ground, which 
was only partly in a 
poor sod, the rest being 
gravel or sand with a 
plentiful growth of 
blackberries and dew¬ 
berries. Corn, barley, 
oats, and wheat screen¬ 
ings were used for 
food, and the young 
man who owned and 
ran the farm was well 
satisfied that he could 
add more houses year 
by year until his hill¬ 
side was fully occupied, 
and still succeed. The 
warmth of the under¬ 
ground houses kept the 
hens laying through a 
greater part of the win¬ 
ter when eggs were 
selling at a high price. 
The fowls were com¬ 
mon native ones which 
were purchased from 
the neighboring farmers, but they were all pul¬ 
lets of the previous year. To this fact as well as 
to the care and tact with which they were man¬ 
aged, the success was probably in a great measure 
due. To the numerous inquiries now before 
us relating to this business we would say, that 
if some such plan as this were followed upon a 
piece of cheap land near a village or city which 
would furnish a market for fresh eggs in the 
winter at not less than twenty-five cents a doz¬ 
en, and for early chickens at not less than 
twenty-five cents a pound, with proper care, 
close attention, a watchful eye, and quiet pa¬ 
tience with the wayward flock, a reasonable 
profit might be made out of a small investment. 
Unloading Corn-Ears. 
“ J. S. B.,” Nebraska City, describes a plan 
of unloading corn-ears which we illustrate in 
two engravings. The labor and thb time re¬ 
quired to unload a large crop of corn-ears,with 
the help of a common scoop shovel only, are 
very great, and some means are needed whereby 
UNLOADING COBN FROM WAGON-BOX. 
a whole load may be elevated and emptied into 
the crib. The following plan of doiDg this is 
described by “ J. S. B.” Where there is a 
double corn-crib, several hooks are fixed to the 
rafters at their junction at the peak of the root 
A set of blocks and tackle is suspended to 
Fig. 2. 
DIES. 
HILL SIDE POULTRY-HOUSE. 
