412 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
amount of butter which a large herd of cows 
may be made to yield, I have always been 
ready to concede to him the merit of being a 
thoroughly good, practical farmer, and have 
regretted, more than once, my inability to 
study his practical operations. He has recently 
visited Ogden Farm, during my absence, and 
writes me the following: 
“ I was well satisfied with my visit. We ate 
of your butter, which is delicious, but I do 
not like your way of malting it as I do my own. 
I always think more of our little dairy, than 
any I have seen, although your method of 
heating is superior to mine, and I will adopt 
your plan. Your barn is a good one—the best 
I have seen—although the open spaces behind 
the cows must be very bad. In winter there 
must be a furious draught in it. Your crops 
of potatoes and turnips are not up to mine. 
Nor is your plowing. Please adopt better cul¬ 
tivation throughout, as there are many looking 
toward you for their education. Your stock 
bull I think is splendid in every respect, 
although I would like a lighter color. Your 
calves tempt me to offer for 3 of them $100, 
each, [he picked out my best three, for which 
I ask $175, each.] Your cows I must congratu¬ 
late you on ; they are the best throughout that 
I have seen, that is, for so many, far better than 
I expected from hearing from your visitors— 
which makes me think visitors often do not 
know what they are talking about. I was 
much pleased with my visit, and trust you will 
excuse me for writing you the impressions your 
farm made on me throughout. I hope you 
will put on your farm better plows, and bigger 
horses, and employ better plowmen, and not 
let the face of a weed be seen on the O. F.” 
To be entirely frank, I fear we are more open 
to Mr. Crozier’s rebuke, than entitled to his 
compliments. However, as we only plow 
about 8 acres a year, and as deep plowing is 
not suited to our soil. I fear it would hardly 
pay us to make the radical change he suggests; 
we must also plead guilty to the weeds he hints 
at—the more shame to us—the land is rich, and 
while its natural tendency to grass keeps our 
meadows clean, we do have more rag-weed in 
our fodder corn than is respectable, and I have 
as yet been able to devise no way to get rid of 
it profitably. Ido not like our open barn-floor, 
and should not repeat it if we were to build 
anew, but as the cellar is closed bottle-tight in 
winter, we have no perceptible draught. 
On the whole, perhaps because I realize more 
thoroughly than a casual visitor does, what our 
drawbacks are, I am glad to have been let off 
with so mild a criticism. 
An enthusiastic farmer in Mass., says: 
“There ought to bewmillions more sheep in 
New England than there are to-day. I believe 
it is the most economical, and only practicable 
means of restoring the fertility of the soil. 
Why does every English farmer think sheep 
husbandry a necessary part of his plans ? and 
wherein are we in New England differently 
situated? I would like to see that inquiry 
answered by you in print. The objections are 
aogs and fences.” 
Probably the true reason for the neglect of 
sheep complained of, and one that is much 
more effective than dogs and fences, is the very 
important one of Custom. English farmers 
keep sheep very largely because they have the 
habit of keeping them; our farmers in New 
England have never been in the practice of 
keeping them to any very great extent. The 
dog and fence difficulty is quite as prominent 
in England as here, perhaps the fences are on 
the whole better, but the dogs are, if anything, 
worse, and a large proportion of the flocks are 
kept on outlying land, where fences and dog- 
laws are almost unknown. 
Probably the reason why we do not keep sheep 
more extensively than we do, is because we 
have not learned how important they are, and 
how easily they may be kept in a systematic 
way and under proper care. In the more highly 
farmed parts of England, where, as everywhere 
else, sheep are considered indis¬ 
pensable, hurdles are largely used, 
and the flocks are sufficiently large 
for the services of a shepherd to be 
profitably employed. The best ser¬ 
vices that could be rendered toward 
the encouragement of keeping sheep 
here, w T ould be by beginning with 
the recommendation of hurdles. 
The hurdle is the true missionary 
for the dissemination of the sheep 
keeping doctrine; with its aid sheep 
are easily confined to small areas, 
which they thoroughly depasture, 
and are with little labor moved 
to fresh ground. In this way do we 
not only insure the uniform feeding of the land, 
but we have placed within our reach the very 
best means for the equal distribution of manure, 
the sheep being fed with grain or other food 
not grown upon the land to which they are 
confined. 
Hurdles in England are usually made of 
rough poles, scarcely larger than stout bean¬ 
poles, often tied together with willow withes, 
and so light that they are easily handled. Their 
cost is slight, and the labor of removing them 
is but trifling. 
should be dressed smoothly, which will make 
the draft easier. 
The Emptying of Water Stored for Irri¬ 
gation. 
There are many small streams which might 
be used for irrigation, were it not that their 
volume is so slight that their water would have 
too little force and volume to cover any coa» 
siderable extent of land. In countries whC'l® 
How to Build a Snow-Plow. 
The snow-plow here illustrated.is built so as 
to be fixed upon the forward part of a double 
sled. The frame is made of 4 x 4 oak scant¬ 
ling, and is similar in form to a double mold¬ 
board plow. One runner is fixed to the for¬ 
ward part, at such a distance below the edge of 
the plow as to raise it to clear obstacles .such as 
stones or frozen mud which may be in its way. 
Four inches would probably in general be a 
safe distance. The hinder part of the plow 
rests upon the sled as shown in the engraving, 
MARKER OF MAKING A SNOW-PLOW. 
and is bolted to it. A long tongue is fixed into 
the place of the ordinary one, and is fastened 
to the front of the plow by an iron strap, 
which is bolted to the frame. The hinder por¬ 
tion of the plow may be covered over with 
boards, and a seat fixed firmly upon it. When 
it is used, it is best to load it as much as possi¬ 
ble. The sides of the plow are made of half- 
inch oak or basswood strips, steamed and bent 
into shape. The outer surface of these strips 
OUTLET TO A DAM. 
irrigation is largely practiced, such streams are 
not allowed to lie idle, but their water is stored 
up until enough has accumulated to overflow 
the land with good effect. The contrivance 
adopted for this is very simple and inexpen¬ 
sive, and might easily be applied to many cir¬ 
cumstances existing in America. The accom¬ 
panying illustration will show the arrange¬ 
ment. A portion of the bank or dam, by which 
the water is held back is shown. Leading 
through the bottom of it is a pipe L, properly 
protected by a grating at its upper end, which 
serves to empty it from time to time. The 
mouth of this pipe at M, is closed with an in- 
dia rubber ball, or some similar device, fitting 
its orifice, and fastened to a board I, which 
stands vertically in front of it, being hinged at 
K. This board is held in its vertical position 
by EF, the end E, being formed in the shape of 
a basin, capable of holding a considerable quan¬ 
tity of water, and the end F, having a counter¬ 
poise of stone or wood sufficient to return it to 
its horizontal position when it has been tilted. 
Through the upper part of the dam is placed 
the pipe C, also protected with a grating at B. 
The end of the pipe B discharges into M 
When this is filled, it becomes heavier than the 
counterpoise II, and 
is tilted, withdrawing 
its support from the 
board I, which is 
forced back by the 
pressure of the water 
in the pipe L , and is 
held out of the way 
so long as the stream 
through A has suffici¬ 
ent velocity to coun¬ 
teract the force of the 
counterpoise. Wire... 
the pond or resorvok' 
is emptied — that Is, 
when the stream through L has stopped flow¬ 
ing,—the counterpoise raises E, and forces the 
board I back to its place, and stops the mouth 
of the pipe. To prevent water flowing over 
the dam, in case of any disarrangement of the 
apparatus, the pipe leading from B has a second 
opening on the face of the dam. 
By this arrangement the small amount of 
water at command is collected until its quanti¬ 
ty is sufficient to irrigate the whole field. 
