178 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May 
influence of the parents on the offspring, and how evinced. 
These and many other unsettled questions, involving the 
first principles of breeding, would require almost a life¬ 
time to decide by experiments on the larger animals, to 
say nothing of the large outlay it would require, and the 
serious losses that might reasonably be expected to at¬ 
tend it. 
With all due value for the very important assistance 
rendered the agriculturist by analytical chemistry, I 
would sooner trust the practical experiments of the 
rabbitry, as to the value of the different kinds of food, 
than I would the analysis of the laboratory! And 
though one may prove, that a bushel of ruta-baga be 
little more or less than a pail of water, yet if the other 
showed me that turneps, as the principal food, with but 
two ounces of hay per day, to the rabbit, developed the 
animal frame by a healthy growth with an abundance 
of muscle and some fat, I should be strongly tempted to 
pour out the water, and pour in the turneps. 
I am inclined to think there is as much science, and 
perhaps interest, in breeding a “ carrier-pigeon” up to 
its highest capabilities as in breeding a race horse ; and I 
very much doubt if there is more care necessary or 
greater attention given to the purity of blood, the train¬ 
ing and running of the one, than is bestowed on the nice 
breeding, exercise and flight of the other ! Large sums 
of money depend, in the sporting world, upon the cour¬ 
age, speed, and bottom of both. 
Hardly is the celebrated “ Derby” over, and the win¬ 
ner proclaimed, when pigeons may be seen rising from 
all parts of the course, prepared to make another race 
of strengh and speed. These are watched, and bets 
made, as to which bird 11 will he off first ” with an in¬ 
terest but little less than that which had, but a few 
minutes before, been bestowed on the horses. The birds 
tower over head, wheeling round and round, enlarging 
their circles as they rise higher and higher, until, with 
unerring certainty, they have made good their point, de¬ 
cided on their course, and then, with astonishing veloci¬ 
ty, take a 11 bee-line” to their several destinations. At 
the club-houses, betting-rooms, printing offices, and lot¬ 
teries, members are waiting their arrival, watch in hand, 
and perhaps an express in the saddle, to take advantage 
of the first knowledge of the result to be brought by the 
fastest bird. 
To all this, I am well aware, the question will arise 
with very many of your readers— Cui hono'l and the 
conclusion as definitively follow— u It won’t pay.” Per¬ 
haps not ; and yet I believe that were the thing tried 
and a small club formed for the purpose of exhibition 
and experiment, that it would become, to its members, 
a source of much more interest than they could now 
suppose. As opportunities will now be numerous of 
purchasing rabbits from the best London breeders, I 
will give you the following names. Dr. Handy, just over 
Waterloo bridge; Mr. Payne, 142 White Chapel; Mr. 
Bailey, of the Star Coffee-house, Union street, out of 
Bishop’s gate; Mr. Webster, Pleasant Place, Stamford 
street Blackfriars road, over Waterloo bridge. From 
these breeders, other addresses can be obtained and stocks 
examined. Very truly yours, R. Morris , (formerly 
Butternuts,) Otsego county , N. Y., March, 1851. 
Plan of a Bam. 
Editors Cultivator —Accompanying this explaia- 
tion, I send you a draft of a dairy-barn. Though lot 
precisely after the fashion of any barn with which lam 
acquainted, it is on the same general plan of the celebra¬ 
ted Dairy-barn built by the Society of Shakers, at Rew- 
Lebanon, so much reduced in size and cost, however, as 
to bring it within the means of almost any thriving dairy¬ 
man. 
One side of this barn, it will be seen, has three floors, 
and the other two; the lower, which should be of stone 
when it can be obtained, is devoted to stables for 24 
cows, allowing a space four feet wide for each, with a se¬ 
parate manger for hay, and trough for slop or roots, be¬ 
fore each. The following figures serve as a key to the 
whole building, and its appurtenances. Whole size, 30 
by 52. 
End View. 
1. A cellar 8 by 15 feet, for roots. 
2. A hall, 8 feet wide, from which the cows are fed, 
&c. 
3.3. Stables—Platforms on which the cows stand, 5 
feet wide, slanting half an inch to the foot, from the 
manger. 
4.4. Floors, settled 4 inches below that upon which 
the cattle stand, into which all the excrement, either so¬ 
lid or fluid, is deposited, giving the animal a perfectly 
dry bed. This arrangement is indispensable to any good 
stable, either for cattle or horses. 
5.5.5.5. Doors, 5 feet wide. These may be arranged 
wherever the shape of the yard, or character of the land, 
renders it most convenient. 
6.6. Doors, intended to open into a shed over a vault 
made water-tight, for the reception of all the manure 
and litter. A wheel-barrow is used for carrying it to 
this end of the barn, where it is protected from the 
leaching, of heavy rains, and the liquid portion is retain¬ 
ed in the vault, where it should be mixed with coal-dust, 
saw-dust, plaster, muck, or some other substance capa¬ 
ble of fixing the volatile gases, and rendering it more 
pleasant to draw on to land. Too much care cannot be 
taken of the manure made on a dairy farm. 
c. Yault for manure, 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep, 
across which a bridge conducts to the hall. 
