454 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
lopes. It being well established that meat can 
be thus shipped either from Texas or Colorado 
to eastern markets, it is to be hoped that the 
transportation of live cattle, with all its cost to 
the owners or consumers of the meat, and all its 
misery to the poor beasts, may in time be made 
unnecessary. 
A Self-Supplying Peed Box. 
In the accompanying illustration is shown a 
feed-trough for poultry or pigs, in which a 
large stock of feed may be kept so as to offer a 
continuous supply. It consists of a square or 
oblong box, with a trough upon each side, or all 
around it, as seen at fig. 1. The box is raised 
a few inches above the ground, by the projec¬ 
tion of the ends downwards. Spaces are cut in 
the sides, half an inch wide, and several inches 
Fig. 1. —FEED BOX IN USE. 
long, by which the grain escapes into the troughs. 
The floor of the box is made of two sloping 
boards, as shown by the dotted lines, by which 
the grain is made to fall towards the troughs. 
A broad-eaved roof is placed above to shed the 
rain. The box is filled by inverting it and 
opening a small door, shown in fig. 2, through 
which the grain is poured until the box is full. 
This contrivance will be found of great value 
Fig. 2.— BOX INVERTED FOR FILLING. 
in promoting the health of poultry, by ensuring 
a regular supply of clean food. Grain scattered 
upon the ground is likely to be picked up along 
with much filth and other matter, and frequent¬ 
ly, without doubt, the ova of injurious parasites 
thus find their way into the bodies of the fowls. 
Where fowls are kept clean and cleanly fed, 
they are free from disease. “Gapes,” pip, roup, 
and other disorders are in a great measure the 
results of uncleanness or infection thus engen¬ 
dered, and the fouling of the food or water by 
the filth of the yards, or that from the fowls’ 
feet, is, without doubt, the most common 
cause of the ills of the poultry yard. In giv¬ 
ing fowls a constant supply of food, there is no 
danger that they will over-feed themselves ; on 
the contrary, it is when fowls are irregularly 
fed that they gorge themselves. 
Horse Clothing. 
A great many more horses are prematurely 
worn out by neglect than by hard work. Cold 
kills more than work 
does. Sudden chills, 
when they are warmed 
up by severe exercise, 
ruin numberless horses. 
In how few stables can 
a good set of blankets 
be found ? These are 
always seen in the 
stables of valuable 
horses, but rarely else¬ 
where. But a cheap 
horse feels and suffers 
from sudden changes as 
much as a costly one, 
and humanity calls for 
proper care of such a 
one as much as for any 
other. Nor should the 
lap-robe, or the buffalo- 
robe, with which the 
driver protects himself, 
be used to cover the 
horse while he stands 
for a short time. This 
conveys the disagree¬ 
able smell of the ani¬ 
mal’s not always clean skin to the clothes, 
from which it is plentifully evolved and 
diffused when a warm room is entered. 
The horse should be provided with blankets 
for its special use. These need not be costly, 
and may be easily made at home. A pair of 
coarse, heavy brown wool blankets, costing $5, 
will make a very serviceable suit of horse 
clothing. The clothing should be made in two 
parts, one to cover the back from the withers 
to the crupper and reaching beneath the belly, 
and another to cover the neck and throat; both 
should be lined with gunny cloth to strengthen 
them. The neck and chest of a horse are very 
sensitive parts of the animal, and need ample 
protection as well as the body. The body 
clothing should be made of two pieces, cut so 
as to admit of two gores; one short narrow one 
upon the rump, and one longer wide one at the 
withers. These should be cut so that the 
blanket fits smoothly to the curve of the back, 
else it will not lie in its proper place, but will 
slip down and gather in wrinkles in the middle 
of the back. A saddle piece of stiff cloth 
should be stitched upon the blanket, and two 
slits worked in it upon each side, through which 
the girth is placed to retain it in its place. Two 
straps and buckles should be stitched in front 
to fasten the blanket close upon the chest, and 
it should be bound with a broad strip of 
colored flannel. The throat-piece should be 
| carefully cut to fit the neck, and be made low 
enough to lap over the blanket for several inoli- 
es, as is shown by the dotted line in the illus¬ 
tration. A strap is fastened to go across the 
forehead to hold the covering in its place, and 
others are attached by which it is fastened 
beneath the throat. This part of the clothing 
should be bound and trimmed to match the 
blanket. These coverings should not be worn 
in the stable, but only out of doors, when the 
horse is exposed to cold winds, or when it is 
standing after having been warmed by -work. 
No stable should be so exposed as to make it 
necessary to blanket a horse when within it. 
Stables should be tight and warm, and ventila¬ 
ted in such a manner as not to throw cold 
drafts upon the horse. Pure fresh air in the 
stable, although it may be of a low tempera¬ 
ture, will so invigorate the circulation of a 
horse that no protection beyond its own natural 
covering will be needed, even in the coldest 
A. SUIT OF HORSE CLOTHING. 
! winter weather. It is when brought put from 
the still air of the stable into the cutting winds 
that the animal needs covering, or when a care¬ 
less driver leaves him steaming, after a brisk 
drive, standing in a December snow-storm, 
while he is warming himself before a hot stove. 
Hungarian Farm Tools. 
In many things the agriculture of Hungary 
greatly resembles our own, and occasionally 
we find a useful hint from observing their ways 
and methods. At the Vienna Exposition of last 
Fig. 1.— HUNGARIAN SEED-COVERER. 
year, a large number of Hungarian farm imple¬ 
ments were shown, and amongst them, the two 
which are here illustrated. Figure 1 is a seed 
coverer for use upon fields that have been sown 
broadcast. The soil previously plowed, har¬ 
rowed, and sown, is worked over with this im¬ 
plement, drawn by horses or oxen. Its action 
is easily understood. The seed is covered, as is 
