THE CULTIVATOR. 
Apri 
rod may run directly down and perform the necessary 
work. 
We have already spoken of the peculiar fitness of 
wind for pumping water, which is in the great majority 
of instances obtained from well3, and to- several other 
purposes where moderate force is needed. There is no 
doubt however, that by means of a heavy fly-wheel, a 
power might be accumulated sufficient for cutting wood 
with a circular saw, which might be attended by a sin¬ 
gle hand, and during strong winds, save the severe la¬ 
bor of the hand-saw. * 
On a future occasion we intend to furnish a simpler, 
cheaper, and perhaps better, but less compact plan for 
wind-power. —us*— 
Laborer’s Cottages. 
Eds. Co. Gent, and Cult. —Being about to under¬ 
take a small farm of T6 acres; and needing a hired 
man, I seized with avidity your idea of a small cot¬ 
tage for $250. But a carpenter tells me that nothing 
but a shantee can be built for less than double that 
amount. As I am ignorant in this matter, I am very 
desirous for your directions as to size, &c., and will be 
greatly obliged by such information in your next num¬ 
ber as would enable me to erect a dwelling for my man 
and his family. Cit. 
Carpenters, who have been accustomed to build 
“gentlemen’s” houses only, can hardly appreciate the 
simpler and cheaper wants of such men as labor by the 
day or month. A costly edifice for such as these, would 
be what they do not want, and what would be unprofit¬ 
able for their employers. We speak from actual per¬ 
sonal experience when we say that houses better than 
such men generally are able to rent or provide for 
themselves, have been erected for a sum considerably 
less than $250, containing three rooms below and one 
above stairs. We will here give a very simple detail 
of the mode of erection, leaving for a future occasion 
plans and more particular directions. 
The frame consisted of heavy scantling plates, sup¬ 
ported by perpendicular plank fastened with very large 
nails. The plank should be about an inch and a half 
thick, every piece being about of equal vidth, fitting 
closely at the edges, but neither planed nor matched. 
After the building is enclosed with these vertical pieces 
of plank, vertical strips of inch board about three inch¬ 
es wide are nailed over the joints between the plank, 
forming a neat battened exterior. Similar strips are 
then nailed on inside, and on these the lathing is 
placed for plastering. In other respects the house is 
finished in the ordinary way. The outside of the house 
being left rough or unplaned, receives two coats of the 
best lime whitewash, the color of which may be soften¬ 
ed by a small portion of Venetian red, umber, or 
ochre; and a repetition of a coat once in two years 
will keep up the good appearance, and preserve the 
wood from decay nearly as well as paint. Such a house 
will be warmer and more durable than the common 
studded frame and horizontal clap-boarding. We have 
actually built a neat cottage in this way, with four 
rooms, for $150, when lumber was rather cheap. It 
consisted of a central portion 15 feet square, with a 
chamber overhead, and a wing on each side 11 feet 
square for kitchen and bed-room,, the wings bracing 
the main building, and thus needing hut little timber 
for the frame. The eaves projected a foot, and were 
supported by neat bra diets. The windows had pro¬ 
jecting caps or hoods. Planted around with roses and 
other shrubbery, and flanked with evergreens, it pre¬ 
sented a very neat and attractive appearance. 
Liquid Manure—Hens—Blackberries. 
Eds. Country Gentleman —Of the few experi¬ 
ments I have been able to make with manures, I find 
none more successful, taking expense, saving of labor 
and results into view, than those which can be used in 
a liquid state. Its effect is very good on growing corn, 
either sprinkled all over or poured on to the roots. 
The kind I used was from the hen-house, about a 
quart to a tub of water. Almost any kind, in a liquid 
state, does well on fruit trees, poured on the ground 
round the trunk, or more effectually into a trench near 
the extremity of the roots; but with so limited an ex¬ 
perience it becomes me better fo recommend experi¬ 
ments to others than, to go further into details myself, 
and I hope some of your readers will follow out these 
•hints the coming season, if they are deemed of suffi¬ 
cient consequence, and let us know what kinds are 
best, what proportions, and the best time of applica¬ 
tion, &G. 
Hens. —With hen31 have had good success. I keep 
the common barn-yard fowl. The first year, an ave¬ 
rage of seven or eight hens, with their progeny, yield¬ 
ed one hundred and five and one half dozen eggs, be¬ 
sides 42 chickens, losing none of the latter. The eggs 
alone more than paid for the feed, most of which I had 
to buy, not raising any corn that season. They have 
layed freely during the past cold weather, and I think 
the true secret of successfully keeping hens, of any 
kind, is to feed them regularly, and ht them be com¬ 
fortable, having access to a warm dry cellar, at all 
seasons. Let the roosts be so placed; and the nests 
also, that they can walk from one to the other, or up 
and down, and not he obliged to fly. Have due re¬ 
gard to cleanliness and ventilation;: supply them with 
fresh water; give them pounded shells of oysters, or 
something of this nature, constantly; let the food be 
varied frequently; and keep but few, perhaps from six 
to ten. 
Blackberries —In a ramble last fall with the 
boys, in search of autumn fruits, we came upon a clus¬ 
ter of blackberry bushes, some two dozen or more, and 
I may say they were of the tallest kind. The sum¬ 
mer’s growth measured from ten to twelve and- a half 
feet in height from the surface of the ground; the 
bearing ones equally tall, having very good fruit. One 
of the hushes which I afterwards transplanted, would 
pass for a respectable litile tree, being about an inch 
in diameter. S. B. Sumner. Grantville , Norfolk 
co ., Mass., Feb. 9, 1854. 
Good Pigs. —Mr. A. Converse, of Butternutts, Ot¬ 
sego co , recently slaughtered two pigs a few days over ^ 
nine months old, which weighed, 850 lbs.—one of them 
weighed 348 lbs. 
