214 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[June, 
German. It appears that there were five American-built 
machines entered—three mowers and reapers, one mower, 
and one reaper. These were entered by C. II. McCormick, 
Chicago; Clipper Mowing and Reaping Machine Co., 
New York ; W. A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine 
Co., Iloosick Falls, N. Y.; J. G. Perry, Kingston, R. I., 
(Mower); Seymour, Morgan & Allen, New York, (Reaper). 
The prizes awarded were a Gold Medal to McCormick, a 
Gold Medal to the W. A. Wood Co., and a Bronze Medal 
to Perry. The decision of Paris in 1887 is not an “ apple 
of discord”—for though important and creditable to 
those concerned, yet no decision is given concerning the 
rival claims of the two machines, which, as we under¬ 
stand it, divide public favor in Europe, and the decision 
certainly will have very little influence in favor of these 
machines or against their competitors here, and which 
were not represented in Paris. The two parties who 
take gold medals are the only American Mower and 
Reaper manufacturers who have made especial efforts to 
secure an European Market for their machines — having 
for years had agents there, having there taken out 
numerous patents, and having put themselves promi¬ 
nently before the European public in various ways. 
Weigis yowl* Milk. — “ G. R.,” Orange 
County. “Three pailfuls a day,” is a very indefinite 
statement, and may mean twenty-five, or thirty-five quarts, 
beer measure. In all statements of the yield of milk, it 
is best to give the weight. Accurate knowledge is of 
great importance to the dairyman. He should know just 
how much each cow gives in the flush feed of summer, 
that he may determine what cows it will pay to keep, and 
what should be turned off' in the fall for beef. With a set 
of Family Scales in the milk-room, a pail may be weigh¬ 
ed in a second, and the result notod in a book kept for 
the purpose. Weighing, too, everyday, wouid enable one 
to determine whether' extra feed paid. The farmer might 
get rid of guess work, and know just what he was about. 
Self-Milking Cows. — The importance 
of stopping at the very beginning any tendency in a cow 
to suck herself, need not be dwelt upon. The habit, once 
fixed, is an exceedingly jjreat disadvantage, and such 
cows, occurring near cities, usually “ tie up ” at some 
milk stable where they are kept constantly tied. Mr. E. 
A. Conkling recommends the occasional application of a 
solution of aloes to the cow’s teats, and says its efficiency 
is confirmed iu his own experience. “R. W.,” of 
Ingersoll,. recom¬ 
mends a simple bit 
of board inserted 
in the nose, as 
shown in the on- 
graving. An oval 
hole, 3 inches long 
and 2 inches wide, 
is cut iu the mid¬ 
dle of the long 
side, and near the 
edge of a 4x6x fl¬ 
inch oak board; 
then the thin side, 
which should be 
about)* inch wide, 
is cut out just 
enough to allow 
the broad, gristly 
nose to be crowded through. The hole must be large 
enough to fit loosely, and tlVe ends which enter the nostrils 
rounded'so'as hot'to'serape'or hurt the sldtt. The appli¬ 
cation of aloes might cute a base takeii early, but we are 
confident it would not help an inveterate sucker. The 
other contrivance does not prevent eating; ,• andgihough 
we think it would stop-most cows .sucking, yet; applied 
to one of some ingenuity and with long teats,- we doubt its 
efficiency. We give the explanation and engraving her 
cause the cure is so easily applied, and will, no doubt, he 
of avail in many cases. In case the nose-jewel should be 
caught in any thing, it would, probably tear out, or one 
side wonld split off, and the cow get no serious harm. 
I® 
'ffH 
I’islt Ponds.. —Dr., A. Thornburg,,, .Georgia. 
There is no doubt about your, makiug fish multiply, if 
your springs are copious enough to keep the water running 
through the summer. The pond would be too small for 
salmon, and probably too. warm. in summer for trout. 
Stock with the best fish in your neighborhood. One 
kind is enough, gee Dr. Garlick on Fish Breeding. 
What Calve* to Raise, —“Dairyman,” 
Norwalk, Conn. We find thi large-milk producers) for the 
supply of our towns and cities are decidedly in favor of 
raising their own cows. They may cost a little more, hut 
they mere than pay for the expense, in the quantity and 
quality of the milk they yield. The difference between 
an average and au extra milker is fully one thousand 
quarts of milk in a season, worth sixty dollars, or half 
the price of an extra cow. The calves to raise are the 
heifers of your best milkers, sired by a thorough-bred 
bull of good milking stock. This matter is so well un¬ 
derstood, that dairymen, who have their eye-teeth cut, 
will give any reasonable price for a cow who has such a 
pedigree. It is satisfactory and profitable to raise one’s 
own cows, and see the steady improvement of the breed. 
Artificial Manure for Corn in Ohio. 
— An Ohio writer asks : “ Will it pay to use concentrat¬ 
ed manure of any kind on coni, on strong clay loam ? 
If I could raise enough more corn to pay for such manure 
I would use it, for I like to raise good crops, even if it 
pays no better. And the next crops would he likely to 
pay.” That is the right feeling. If twenty dollars worth 
of manure will give you twenty dollars worth of extra 
erop, it will pay well. The land will he cleaner, and the 
extra crop enables you to make an extra quantity of ma¬ 
nure, and there is scarcely any concentrated manure (we 
think of none, except nitrate of soda and sulpliatG of 
ammonia) that does not leave something in the ground 
for the next crop. The trouble, however, is to get a 
manure that will pay on corn the first year. We have 
never yet found such a manure. Plaster, at $5 a ton, will 
pay on corn, and this is the only concentrated manure 
that has paid us, on ordinary Western New York land. 
Bone-dust, if genuine, will pay well in two or three 
crops, provided you can get it for $20 or $25 per ton. 
Mutton as Manure.—“M. S. II.,” of 
Warren, Ohio, writes: “I would like to have you advise 
me what to do with a few loads of the remains of sheep, 
that wore butchered here last fall for their hides and 
tallow. After the tallow was taken out, the soap makers 
took what they could get, and now the remains, bones, 
flesh, and ashes, are all mixed up together. Is it worth 
drawing three miles, and if so, how can I use it to the best 
advantage on onr soil, which is a strong clay loam ?” We 
would spread the leached ashes and the finer portions of 
the animal remains on grass land.; The solid animal 
matter, if there is any, we would break up aud make into 
a compost with nmclc, or soil of any kind. Turn it two 
or three times, and by next fall it will make a capital top¬ 
dressing for grass, or excellent manure for wheat land. 
42©at* as Milkers. — “ C. S.,” Westerly, 
R. I. Any of your Irish fellow-citizens would inform yon 
that goats’ milk is exceedingly wholesome, and raised at 
much less cost than that of the cow. The great objec¬ 
tion to the goat is its lawless habits, when allowed its 
freedom. If kept tethered, as it may easily he, it is as 
orderly as the horse or cow. It will eat much herbage 
that is rejected by the larger animals, and may be of great 
service in clearing up brush pastures, and destroying 
briers and Canada thistles. A good animal will yield 
from two to four quarts of milk a day for ten months 
in the year. The milk is much used in Europe, and is 
considered more wholesome than that of the cow. 
Tl»e True Way to EuricSi Taratl, 
except in the vicinity of largo cities, is to depend on 
home resources. Along the sea-coast we can use fish 
manure, or Peruvian guano, superphosphate, etc.; hut in 
the interior, say for instance on a “ strong clay loam ” in 
Ohio, it will not pay to send com a thousand miles to the 
Atlantic cities, and take back manures to grow it with. 
Feed the grain on the farm, and send us nothing but beef, 
pork, wool, etc. On such a soil, “ tillage is manure.” 
Cultivate the corn thoroughly. Consider it a summer- 
fallow crop. Decrease the area of grain crops, and in¬ 
crease the area of clover. Never sow a wheat crop, or 
barley, or oats, without seeding it down with clover, even 
if it is to lie but one year. Plow under the clover, or feed 
it out on the farm, and do your best to make “Ohio oil¬ 
cake” become a very scarce article in the English market. 
Profits of Egg Raising.— We have re¬ 
ceived from ‘#A- P. N.,” of Newtown, L. I., an account 
of his poultry yard, which we must abbreviate, in order 
to find room both for it and for the lessons which it 
teaches. The account extends from February to Decem¬ 
ber, 1867. Two hundred fowls, fifteen of which were 
cockerels, were kept. The egg account runs from 1305 in 
February, worth $60, and 2S43 in March, worth $100, to 
6S6 in December, worth $34.30. The greatest number laid 
ill any one month was in March, above stated ; the least 
ifit November, 655. The greatest number of eggs laid in 
one day was 117; the least, 14. The price of ftosli eggs, 
received during the period named, was from 35 cents to 60 
cents a dozen. No day of the eleven months passed with¬ 
out some eggs being produced; and no month passed with¬ 
out the production of eggs, the value of which exceeded 
the cost of feed consumed. The principal feed was wheat 
screenings, corn, and pork-scraps. The fowls were fed 
as much grain as they would eat up clean, twice a day; 
and were supplied with lime and cracked oyster shells. 
and ranged together over an acre of ground. They were 
housed in three separate apartments, not well construct¬ 
ed, offering cold comfort only in bleak winter weather; 
with properly constructed and warm apartments one-third 
more eggs might have been laid during the months of Feb¬ 
ruary, November, and December. Mr. N. says, he would 
warn every one not to engage in this business on a large 
scale, without experience and a taste for it, in other 
words, a delight for it, greater than for any other pursuit; 
for the constant care and persevering attention absolutely 
necessary to success will he given by only a few persons. 
The great profit of egg raising lies in having the hens 
lay when the market price for eggs is high. To seenre 
this, a good portion of the hens should he yonng. Liberal 
feeding is absolutely essential. Animal food should he 
accessible summer and winter; and pork-scraps is as good 
an article as can he generally obtained. Warm, light 
quarters in winter are essential also to success. 
Shape of Trout Ponds. — “ Salmo” 
writes: “It is much the best plan to build trouf ponds 
long and comparatively narrow. Trout brooks in their 
natural state do not shape themselves into broad squares 
or circles, in which three-fourths of the water is nearly 
stagnant, like some of the artificial ponds that we see. 
It is a pretty safe principle, we know, to imitate nature as 
closely as possible in onr artificial cultivation of natural 
products, and this principle is certainly never more true 
than in its application to fish culture. I would therefore 
recommend,as the result of both reflection and experience, 
to build trout ponds long and narrow—say in the propor¬ 
tion of 1 rod by 4 — so that there may be something like 
a current flowing directly through, and that the tront 
may know whether they are heading up stream or not.” 
Grind-Stone for Mowing- Machine 
Knives.—It is an awkward thing to grind mowing 
machine knives on a 
common grind-stone, yet 
one may he easily dress¬ 
ed so as to be very con¬ 
venient forthis purpose, 
and yet not seriously in¬ 
jured for most other 
uses. The accompany¬ 
ing engraving shows a 
stone which has had the 
original edges taken off 
and brought to a Y-shap- 
ed edge, giving two 
grinding faces. The ex¬ 
act angle between these 
faces is immaterial ; one 
of 45 degrees is conven¬ 
ient. Care must he taken 
not to grind too much on the edge of the stone, or it will 
soon he ronnded off and the angle will be lost. The best 
stones for this purpose are rather narrow ones, of a Arm 
hut not hard texture, with sharp grit, and of even quality. 
Bo careful in grinding not to widen the bevel of the 
knives, as this gives a weaker edge, dulling quicker, and 
more liable to injury from striking stones or sticks. 
Market Fairs. —“A M. S.,” Putnam Co., 
N. Y. These fairs are as much needed in this country as 
in England, and would be productive of quite as great 
benefit, both to seller and purchaser. Private sales give 
the speculator a very great advantage over the producer, 
lie studies the crop prospects, which are much better 
known in the centers of trade than in any limited agri¬ 
cultural district. A market fair in every county or con¬ 
venient local center wonld bring a large number of buy¬ 
ers and sellers together, and enable men to compare 
views, and fix fair prices. Some attempts have been 
made to append sales to the annual fairs of agricultural 
societies, bnt very little dependence is yet placed upon 
these occasions to dispose of the products of the farm. 
IVhere there are permanent fair grounds, and buildings 
for the protection of stock and other farm products, the 
most expensive preparation for a fair is already made. 
Chester "White Swine. — “H. T. S 
Angola, N. Y. If we take the popular vote upon the host 
swino for farmers’ use, it is unquestionably in favor of 
the Chester Whites. At the great State fairs of Michigan, 
Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, last fall, there were 
more of this brood in the pens, than of all others 
united. At Pittsburg the only impression left upon the 
mind in the pigpens was Chester Whites. They are well- 
proportioned animals, grow rapidly, and make excellent 
pork. Whether they will make more pork out of a given 
quantity of food than the Snffolks is a question we should 
like to see decided by accurate experiments. Many breed¬ 
ers prefer the Snffolks, hut the popular verdict is as we 
have stated. The Chester Whites are widely distributed, 
and animals for breeding can he had at moderate prices. 
