*^ 
 
 Knowledge of Agriculture 
 
 H E 
 
 RlKti 
 
 FORTCOVINC: 
 RECX)RD PBDiTlNO HOCbE. 
 
PATRICK BURKES 
 
 Knowledge of Ageiculttjre 
 
 IK tSB 
 
 ElaHTEENTH DISTRICT OF NEW YOKK, 
 
 A "3 
 
 'cidob'-^ 
 
 FORT COVINGTON, N. Y., 
 RECORD PRINTING HOUBE, 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18t4, hf 
 
 PATRICK BURKE, ' 
 In the Office of the Librarian of CongreeSi at Waehington, 
 
 c,^^? 
 ^^"o 
 
 Fort Covington Printed by W, jE. iManisn* 
 
I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 N 1859 I rented out my place which I had in Brasher, and 
 that same year I attended the Agricultural Fair in Canton. 
 I saw a great many things at the jb'air: the showmeu, the trotting 
 horses and many other things, and I heard some very good music; 
 but I did not learn anything about hovr farm work ought to be 
 done although I listened very attentively to the agricultural ad- 
 dresses. I have noticed a great failure in the covering of drains. 
 I called upon Mr. Solomon Walrath to see if be knew more than 
 I did about draining. Mr. Walrath is a good farmer ; he received 
 a premium from the State Fair 'for under<lraining ; I told him I 
 oime to liim to liud out whether he or I knew tue most about 
 uuderdraining. I told him if he knew more than I did I would 
 be willing to acknowledge it, and he said he was willing to do the 
 same ; but on coming to the real statement of the case he did not 
 know how to drain his own land, to say nothing of laying down 
 rules for others to drain land, which fact he acknowledged, and hia 
 acknowledgement was printed at the time and is in print yet in 
 the files of the St. Lawrence RepuhUcan, in Ogdensburgh. I^ 
 also, saw many stables where the cattle were improperly 
 cjired for, and so filthy that they had to be cleaned off before 
 being milked. There is no liquid as easy tainted as milk, but 
 when a cow is dripping with filth the milk cannot be clean. 
 Women are accused a thousand times for making a bad quahty of 
 butter when the fault lies with the men ; for a good quality of 
 butter cannot be made out of dirty, tainted milk. Every farmer 
 ought to have good, pure water in the first place, and good stables 
 and the cows well cared for in the second ; and, in the third 
 place, a good cellar ; and if he has those three things, and his 
 cows are well fed, Winter and Summer, his butter will be of the 
 btst quality. 
 
 In order to have good, comfortable feather beds it is necessary 
 to keep gpese, and one of the greatest difficulties in raising geese 
 is the choking of the goslings by the xjolly-wags ; and though the 
 women are often blamed for not taking proper care of them, in 
 reality, the fault lies, again, with the men. For if the land wiis 
 properly drained there would be no filthy pond holes, nor leaching 
 water to harbor these p( )lly-wags. 
 
 I received three Patent Rights: One for "Improvements for 
 stabling Cows," granted on the 9th day of October, 1860 ; the 
 secuud for an "Improved method of setting posts, 
 
the 14th day of Soi>tP.tober, 1861 ; and the third for *• Improve* 
 tlieiit ill h^>^^-1)('l)s," grantod on thi' 10th duy of Febrnury, 1874. 
 I thought at tliat time that I Wouhl procure engravings and have 
 a book printed explaining these methods, but I have been unable 
 to obtain the engravings, and I am now going to try and explain 
 how the Avorlv ought to be done without tliem ; and I trust that 
 tlie matter will be so fully explained as to render the aid of 
 tjngravmgy un necessary. 
 
 I have not commenced my Patent Eights in order to make one 
 cent out of any man dishonestly. I liave, however, seen that 
 there was great need of improvement in these things. 1 h&xe, 
 Avhile attempting to give the puV)lic the benefit of my knowledge 
 Upon these and other pointfi-, sim^jly protected myself in order to 
 Secure a fair compensation therefor. By my methods, posts can 
 be kept iirin in nil kinds of soil and climate, and cattle can be 
 kept as neat and clean while stabled as while gracing in the open 
 field ; and the swine can be kept clean and comfortable. In a 
 few years two of these Patent Kiglits will become public property, 
 bnt, at the same time, no pefaon will have a right to explain in 
 book, pamphlet or newspaper for the period of twenty-eiglit 
 Veal's, from the 19th day of February^ 1874, any of the methods 
 herein described. 
 
 Any farmer piuxihasiug this pamphlet will be entitled to use the 
 \vitkin Patent Rights upon liis own farm, but no other. 
 
 2^ec<essitt/ is ihv her/mmn'g of Intent ton, God is the author qf 
 l4i(/e^ml^^ wid Aqrlcitlturc is Ute Motkar 
 of all Arts.'* 
 
STABLING 
 
 TN l.*egarcl to tlie st ble. In the first place there should be two 
 '*" sleepers, about fourteen inches apart, laid lengthwise the 
 stable unslerueatli the middle of the first -^r hjwer floor. A trough or 
 - ppout, made out of logs or planks should then be nailed in beUveen 
 these sleepers the whole length of the stable. The plank of the 
 first or lower floor should then be laid from each side so as to 
 project slightly over the edges of this trough or spout. One end 
 of the trough or spout should be about three inches lower than 
 the other, in order to carry the liquid off under the wall into a 
 cistern or other receptacle, where it can be saved for future use. 
 This spout should be covered with plank perforated with two inch 
 holes, abut two feet apart, to keep out frost and to allow the liquid 
 to run into the spout. This plank should not be fastened down, 
 but left so that a man or boy can remove it in order to clean out 
 the spout when necessary. By running this spout into a vat or 
 cistern the liquid can be saved and made of great benefit, for by 
 mixing it wirh soil or ditching on other refuse Ifandy, it would 
 maU'e the best of top dressing and would enrich any kind of crojj. 
 
 My invention consists in making the raised bed or floor ui3on 
 which the cow lies moveable, by placing the same upon rollers, 
 and in perforating this moveable floor, for the purj^ose of allow- 
 ing urine, &c,, to pass through it, instead of depending upon the 
 inclination of the floor to carry f)if the licpiids, I am thereby 
 enabled to make the ground floor of the stable tight and solid to 
 prevent cold air from entering through the floor to tlie injury of 
 the cattle, and at the same time to conduct off the liquid from the 
 cows bed, wi;;hout allowing it to run over the surface of the same. 
 
 To enable those, skilled in the art, to fully understand my 
 invention I will proceed to descril>e its construction and opera- 
 tion : Tlie stable may be constructed in any s'litalde mJmner 
 adapted to various requirements and circumstances, but the floor- 
 ing of the stable should be solid and built so tight as to prevent 
 the circulation of air through the same, this may be done in any 
 desirable manner. The manger is made with slats in front, 
 between two of which the cowl's necks are secured while feeding. 
 An inclined board prevents the cow from losing her feed by 
 pushing it out of the way. This manger is built up from a .solid 
 impervious floor, through whiclj neither air nor water will pass, 
 with the bottom board of the manger raised some distance from 
 the Hoor to admit under it the second oj upper floor. This upper 
 
6 
 
 floor is made up of two timbers rnniiing longtudiiially and con- 
 nected to two cross timbers, then these are supported upon four 
 ©r more rollers. The perforations are made with a two inch 
 auger. The end of this movable floor is passed under the floor of 
 the manger and secured in a fixed state by a pin, which passes 
 down through the lower timber that forms part of the front 
 frame of manger. The part of the movable floor that projects 
 under the manger has several holes bored through it, so that the 
 floor may be drawn out or pushed further in and fixed by the pin 
 according to the size of the cows. The next thing is, when the 
 planks of the second floor is laid for the cows to stand on, they 
 ought to be laid eight inchi-s higher than the first floor. Tie 
 gi'oove behind the cows ought to be 2^ feet wide and 8 inches 
 deep, and the walk behind the grove ought to be three feet wide 
 and the same height as the second floor, where the cows stand. 
 My plan is to have this second floor cut in sections wide enough 
 for two cows to stand upon, each section acting independently of 
 the rest. These sections being made into stalls, and two cows 
 of the same size should be tied in each stall. If he wishes to do 
 it, a man can tie up as mimy cows in a stable by this plan as if 
 there were no stalls. You can tie each cow close to this partition, 
 and one of them can be messed without being disturbed by the 
 other. My plan is to let the short floor to rest on rollers, or scant- 
 ling so as to run the upper or short floor under the manger and 
 make it short or long according to the size of the cow, and this is 
 the reason for having two cows in each stall. There are some 
 people who prefer giving a full or incline to the short floor where 
 the cow stands and lies ; but this floor ought to be even. A cow 
 always seems to have the fore-jjart of her body the lov/est when 
 she choses her own bed in the field, and, that if her head is up 
 hill her horns are an incumbrance. If preferred, a stake with an 
 iron ring in can be used so as to tie the cow ^vith a chain, either 
 by the horns or neck. Milch cows, or young stock want a chance 
 to twist their heads to lick themselves ; but cattle that are put up 
 to be fattened for beef ou?ht nevwr be allowed to lick themselves, 
 for, wherever they lick, the spot turns black. My reason for 
 having the gi'oove behind the cows so deep is this : If it was 
 shallow the cow, in stepping back, would step into it and drag the 
 manure over the floor ; besides, a farmer mig]\t be called away on 
 urgent business and, perhaps, would not have time to clean tiis 
 stables until the next day, but his cows would not sufifer by this 
 neglect. The short floor that the cows stand on ought also to be 
 bored with a two inch auger in several places, to allow the liquids 
 of the table to run into the spout in the uiuh^r floor between the 
 two sleepers meiitiont-il in the first pjirt. A man's own judgme'ut 
 will tell him that tliin-e is a great deal of dilference in a cov.' going 
 out, dry and clt^an on a cold day, or g<nng out wet, dirty and 
 treml)iing with c^ihl. This method wliieii I have described will 
 ai)ply to horse stabjes as well as cow stables. When the stalJ.sare 
 made in the horae stable lor eiich horse to stand on, there ought 
 
to be two two-mch scantling under the short floor ; a notch oudit 
 to be cut in the scanthng, that is, behind the huraes, on the side 
 that rests on the lower floor. The planks in the stall could be laid 
 in nalves. so that one half might be lifted up to allow of the und«^r 
 floor being cleaned out, should a.iy dirt chance to gatluu- there. I 
 behove the floor would be just as strong by being fixed in this 
 way. This would be but little trouble, as it W(.uld nut be neces- 
 Baij to Clean this under floor more than once or twice a year, 
 and, by keeping the floor under the horses clean and dry, anyone 
 can see how much it would save, in a year, in the bedding of the 
 herses, and how much labor would be saved in keeping the hors.^a 
 clean. I have seen light colored horses that had to be washed 
 before they could be taken out of the stable. Hog-pens also 
 ought to be fixed so as to be dry, I mean where a hog sleeps I 
 
 T'lf ""^I"^ ''''^- '"'*^^^'''' ^^""^ ^1'^ fi^^f^ ''^^^ Wocks under the sills 
 and the floor raised aliout two feet from the ground, and eveiT 
 chance lor the frost to come up under the cows, and the stable 
 could to be cleaned only l)y using an axe w chop up the manure. 
 Ui course, it stands to reason that cattle must suffer in such a stable. 
 Ihey will eat double the qunntity of hay and provender, and come 
 out poorer m the Spring than cows kept in a warm, improved 
 stable. Cattle that are cold, wet and dirty cannot be kept with- 
 out losing flesh Every stable ought to be well underpinned and 
 double boarded and sixteen feet wide from the head of the cattle 
 to the back wall of the stable. If the barns also were double 
 boarded the hay would be much better preseiTed and more pak- 
 tiibie for catt e and consequently lubt longer. 
 
POSTS 
 
 TN this I am goiug to explain liow to set posts for fences in nny 
 -*- aoil or climate without being heaved out by frost, and also to 
 keep them from rotting and decaying, for, I am convinced, they 
 will keei3 sound many years longer s(H according to my plan than 
 they will by being set the usual way. Some people think that if 
 they set the posts deep enough so that the frost won't reach 
 down to the bottom of them that tliey are safe ; but thifeisnot so, 
 it is the water that settles arouiKl^ the post and freezes thut heaves 
 them up in the Spring, and every time the post moves up the 
 eayth settles under tiie post, and this goes on year after year, 
 until it tumbles altogether. I hnve seen people sharpening the 
 bottoms of their posts, and when they would come up drive them 
 down again. They put me greatly in mind of OTinigan, when 
 they knocked his eye out and then knocked it in again. Of 
 course, when wood is wet one part of the year and dry the other 
 part, it will soon decay. In my plan this difficulty is done away 
 with, as I dig a drain wliere I am going to set the posts ; the 
 loose soil to be thrown out on one side of the drain and the sods 
 taken of from th*> top, if any, are to be saved, and when the sub- 
 soil is reached to throw it out on the other side. When a man 
 gets his drain dug deep enough there, ought to be a gradual 
 descent, so there would be no lodge in the drain. The drain 
 must commence to be laid at the upper end, and follow the des- 
 cent, and the man who lays tlie drain should have a hoe and shov- 
 el to keep the drain clear ahead of him as lie i^roceeds. My plan 
 of laying a drain is this: to stand a stone up on edge, at one side 
 of the drain, and then to place a fiat stone against it, in a sloping 
 position, then the post should be cut according to the incline in 
 the stone so that the post would be perpendicular. If flat stones 
 are not convenient, cobble stones v.ill do just as well by placing 
 the small end downwards, and a fiat stone can be placed under 
 each i)ost. In absence of the flat stone a piece of a board will 
 do. ^ It is plain that by liaving the thick end of the stone upwards 
 it will for)n an arch for the water to run throng ; then over this 
 arch it should be Avell packed with small stones, or broken stones, 
 they should be packed in such a manner that there would be no 
 chaiice for any of the surface soil to Avork in between them. In 
 laying the cobble stone, when there are no fiat stone, on coming 
 to where the post ought to be put there could be a stone laid on 
 each side of tlie drain, and then a stone laid across on the top of 
 
them find fclu- postn set on tbnt. Miirfm DoyicVrote ;igiTai deal 
 about farinino- in li'eland, England and Scotland ; lie travelled 
 also in France, and he says that clay soil has its failure, just as 
 we liaVe ourselves, tn one pLice you will find a vein of sand and 
 close to it a vein of gravel, and a man must nnderstMiid draining 
 perfectly to manage in such a case. It seems to me that Doyle 
 n< ver knew how to manage such a case himself, or he would ex- 
 plain it to his readers. It is true that very fine sand will work 
 into a drain nearly where the water will come ; if a man chances 
 to come across any of thos ■■ veins of fine sand in the course of his 
 drain he nuist throw out considerable of the sand, and dig the 
 place lower than the rest of the drain, then he must throw in 
 BOiue stones, then some sods of wild grass and lay those on the 
 bottom of the drain, over the stones, with the grassy surface 
 down, and when he is near the level the sod ought to have the 
 green part np. If the vein of Siind rnns across the drain he must 
 throw the sand out on each side and leave a space on each side 
 to be filled up with .-.ods in a 'ike mannert, at the bottom of the 
 drain. These sods will admit; the water, but no sand or gl'ftvel can 
 ♦ ever work through. When the drain is finished and the po«t-s 
 set they can be made stationaiy with some stones, then these 
 stones ought to be covered over with cedar htii'k wild glfci^ss 
 shavings or straw, whichever is nearest at hand. But care must 
 be taken to have the small stones completely covered the whole 
 length of the drain, and over this bark or straw, or whatever it may 
 happen to be, put some of the top sods with the green side under 
 and the loose soil may be put in, and care must be taken to fill 
 the drain up with the surface soil until it will be level with the 
 top of the ground. If there is any depth of sand in it the drain 
 must be laid and covered, either in gravel or clay, before reach- 
 ing the feaiid, and if this is done you have nothing to do but to 
 set your post on something level and fill up the drain as 
 de CA'ibed before — with the loose soil. Then the subsoil taken 
 out from the bottom of the drain should be scattered over the 
 top evenly. I have dug a great many open ditches and drains 
 for covering both in England and Wales, and also in America^ 
 and I never yet saw tho plac<i where the subsoil was spread over 
 tin; top but that place would give the best crop of any spot in the 
 field, no matfer what kind of soil the bottom of the drain might 
 happen to be, any clay, that will ♦lissolv-'^, will cnHcl* any soil 
 that it is spread over, especially sand. There is no drain that 
 ought to be left open at the upper end. At the lower end of 
 every drain there should be a box constructed of two-incli plank, 
 from three to six feet hmg, and wide and high enough to allow 
 its bring cleaned out with a lioe. This box should be cut througli 
 tlie top plank, about four inches from the end, to admit tlie 
 grate. The sides and bottom of this box should be groved inside 
 to conduct and steady the grate. This gra.te should be made, 
 the top and bottom piet;es of heavy strap iron, at least half an 
 inch wide, the bars of small rod iron or t>f tjoar'se wire, set cioso 
 
10 
 
 eiion^h to prevent rats, mice, frogsf gy other sucli things from 
 getting into the drnin. The bottom bn^r of this gmte shoukl be 
 wider thnii the top })ar, so a.« to prevent its being pulled out en- 
 tirely. Tliis grate is set in so as to allow its being rpdsed to clean 
 out the mouth of the d]-aiu with a hoe when necessary, and to be 
 kept in place in order to prevent the frtt(5 and mice and other 
 vermin from furrowing into the sides of the drain, which, if they 
 were allowed to do, would, in a few years, utterly destroy it. The 
 grove in the bottom plank should be cut deep enough to allow 
 tlie bottom bar of the gi-ate to sink, the top of it on a level with 
 the surface of the plank, and thus allow the sediment to pass by. 
 There should be a few furrows plowed each side of the fence 
 after the drain is finished, and the posts are set and all done, it 
 ought to be fixed off with a shovel and give tlie ground a descent 
 from each side of the fence ; this will keep the posts from coming 
 up or rotting, as there will be no water around them, and it W'ill 
 drain the land as well as secure the fence. Of course there are 
 some clay farms that have no stone with wliicli to lay drains. In 
 this land, the drain ought to be dug do^^n as deep as a man would 
 w-ant to aet his posts, when he has dug down this far he can com- 
 mence and dig one-half of his drain six inches lower than where 
 he is going to rest his posts, then he can procure an instmmeul/ 
 like the one used by carpenters for cleaning out four inch 
 mortises. It should be turned up on each side, rounding so that 
 a man could run it along tliis lower j^art of the drain and clear 
 out a kind of a groove in the clay with it, as large as he wo^ild 
 wish a runway for the Avater, then cut green, tough sods and lay 
 them across this groove with the green mde down, or timber 
 could be made to serve instead of sods, and the timber would 
 never sink down in tliis narrow groove and the water would have 
 plenty of room to run. The English farmers think that the sod 
 of wild grass will last as long as tile. There are bogs about 
 fifteen miles from Liverpool called Kainfairth Mosses. They cut 
 the turf in this bog, and the farmers buy it for draining purposes. 
 It is very soft when first cut : they dry it like biicks, and when 
 it is dry they lay their drains with it. Now, when this ditch, 
 which I have described, is tilled in there should not be any clay 
 put into it. People that are used to draining and know the 
 benefit of it always drain their land when they break up their 
 greensward, so they can fill theii- drain with the surface soil, for 
 if clay or loam is put in it will hold the snrface waters and not 
 allow it to leach through ; besides, there are some clays that will 
 dissolve like lime, and if there is the least hole it will find its way 
 into the bottom of the drain. This, any man can see when he is 
 Walking along the road. If there is one inch of a fall in the clay, 
 it will crumble and fall away lik slack lime. If the stuff is put 
 in as I have given directions the waters will leach through and 
 the drain will dischai-ge clear Water. The outlet of every draiu 
 should always be kept clear so as to allow a full pass:ige of water 
 out of it. 
 
11 
 
 I 
 
 STONE FENCES. 
 
 have seen a grea<; many stone fences made through the coun- 
 try, yet never saw a wtone fence built out of round stone on 
 any kind of good soil that became wet but what the stone wall or 
 fence would tumble down. The end of the stones, towards the 
 middle of the fence, always sink downwards, and then the fepce 
 gives out from the bottom. I cut a deep drain, then laid a stone 
 wall, I had to cut part of this drain seven feet deep, where there 
 were rising ground, or knolls, but I did not have to dig much of 
 it that depth. I had to dig part of it this depth in consequence 
 of some low land that was above, in order to drain it and to 
 allow the drawing of drains from other parts of the field where 
 the land was lower, and to have the water emptied out of these 
 side drains into this drain and run under where I intended to 
 have the fence. I laid this drain as I have explained in my plan 
 of setting posts, with stones laid up again the side of the drain 
 and a flat stone leaned up against it in a sloping position. I 
 laid the drain all the way through in this manner. I filled the 
 drain level with the ground with stones and I built my stone 
 fence on top of this. 
 
 In 1859 I hired out my place, and the man that rented it had a 
 a great haying bee. He had something like fifty or sixty men. 
 They examined the dram that I had lail unier the stone wall and 
 they all said it could never be improved by any man. I thought 
 so myself at that time, but, after all, there was a failure in it. 
 When the frost came in the winter and froze the sides and then 
 thawed out in the spring the sides crumbled and worked through 
 into the bottom of the drain and choked it. If I had covred my 
 drain when I laid it first and filled it in with bark or straw and 
 surface soil, as I explained in my plan of setting posts, the drain 
 would have remained clear. It need not be filled with soil any 
 more than a foot or eighteen inches, but care must be taken to 
 always put in loose soil, and after that the stones until on a level 
 with the surface of the ground, then take a line and lay the foun- 
 dation of the wall. The middle of this wall should be packed 
 well with stone, that is put in the outside courses of this fence 
 should be well supported at the inner end with small stones, so as 
 to keep them from drooping in. If a man commences a wall in 
 this way and builds but one foot high the first year, he can build 
 it according as he plows his land picks off the stones, and by 
 doing this he will have a p .ace to draw the stones, which are a 
 
12 
 
 great deal boHor than putting tlieiii up in hoaps. If a stone fiance 
 ia manaj^ hI iii tliiw way there will bo no failure in it, and tlie land 
 Avill bo drained at tiu; aame tinu\ If the .stones are gocxl building 
 «tones, 8o nuich the better, for it Avill then be a very easy matter 
 to build a handsome fence over such a place as this, and it at ill 
 never cave out nor in. It would not be advisabh^ to bring many 
 cross drains into the drain undta- the stone fence, because the old 
 Siiying is that "the constant drop ^^■ears the stone," and it is 
 better to bring the water into ditferent drains than to bring too 
 much water iuto one. The work would be safer. 
 
13 
 
 HAYING. 
 
 T road i:i one of the ap;ncnltiiral papers whore tiie leading men of 
 ^ one of tiie agricultural societies went to view a fiirm. The 
 farmer told tliem tliat he never st(>od on either his hay mow or 
 hay stacks while gathering in his hay crop. I nevei- coi-ild see 
 liow that man bnilt his haystacks without having some one on top 
 to lay the hay x^i'opt^i'lj- Perliaps he used a balloon. What 
 would that farmer say were he to see a horse on the top of a stack, 
 tramping the hay, and yet this is no uncommon thing in England. 
 The horse is raised on to the stack by a derrick or block and 
 tackle, similar to the way in which material is raised to the top of 
 a building. The horse is blindfolded in some manner to prevent 
 his becoming dizz> when th^.* stack gets too higli. I have seen 
 stacks, near London, on top of which many men Wcre employed to 
 receive the hay as unloaded, spread it around evenly and to assist 
 the horse in tramping it down. Home of these farmers would 
 have three or four teams unloading at the same time. In this 
 way it is claimed that the stack is built firmer nnd better, for if 
 the hay was unloaded all on one side of the stack it would give 
 out on the opposite side, the hny being packed harder on the side 
 that received the hav than on the other. In ord<u' to have a stack 
 stand firm the hay should be unloaded at each side. In this coun- 
 try people prefer green hay to any other. But in tlu' Liverpool 
 markets you could not sell a load of gi-een hay in a twelve montli. 
 They would not buy green hay. When there is any sap in tlie 
 hay it sweats and turns a brownish color. When hay is brown 
 witiiout being masty it is in the best condition. The manner in 
 which they manage to keep their hay clear from must is, they 
 make use of a tube or pipe about three feet high and the same m 
 diameter, furnished with two luindles near the top. When they 
 •commence to fill the mow or louild the stack this tube is set in the 
 middle of the space and the hay is built up around it. When 
 the hay is even with the top of this tube it is raised up by mejins 
 of these handles and the hay is built up around it again. This 
 leaves a shaft running from the top of the stack to the bottom, 
 iiato which the bad gases and foul air will gather and be conduct- 
 ed o&, leaving the hay to cure without becoming musty or foul. 
 A farmer of judgment can easily tell wliether more of these shafts 
 are wanting, and how many according to the size of the stack or 
 mow. Musty hay is ackno'wledged to be the greatest cause of 
 
14 
 
 b eaves in horses wherever it is fed. Hay should always be cut in 
 the sap. 
 
 There are men who, at our Agricultural meetings, talk, whether 
 they know anything or not, aud I read of one of tliese who said, 
 lie would as soon believe that a lizard would turn into a bird and 
 fly to the top of a tree, as to believe that chess or darnel would 
 grow where it was not sown ; 1 ut chess will grow where it has not 
 been sown. A piece of fallow ground, part of wliich was high 
 ground, and part covered with pond-holes, was sown to winter 
 wheat. On the high ground the crop was good, sound grain, aijd 
 in and around these pond holes it was heavily mixed with chess. 
 The wheat used was perfectly clean, and the ground had never been 
 seeded before. How then did this chess spring up. My opinion 
 is that chess will grow wherever the land is not properly drained. 
 
 '4 
 
15 
 
 FIELD DRAINING 
 
 TT/'HEN a farmer is commencing to drain a field, the fii-st thing 
 ' ^ to be done is, to dig a deep ditch at tlie lower end of tlie 
 field, this ditch should be dug some inches deeper than he calcu- 
 lates to hh,ve Ins main drain. A.f ter this ditch is fii lished,, the main 
 drain is cut from this ditch to the upper end of the field. People 
 often make a great mistake by bringing too much Wiiter into one 
 drain. To avoid this, people ought to cut s<3veral parallel ninin 
 drains. This would enable the water to be divided mcn-e equally. 
 Then there should be a head drain, cut along the upper end of 
 the field, then there should be cross drains to carry the water into 
 those main drains, the fall from those cr,oss draiiiH; until the main 
 drains shoidd be gradual, an inch or two is fall enough. Some 
 people bring the cross drains into the main drain at both sides 
 directly opposite one another; but it is a better plan not to bring 
 them in exactly opposite. My reason for this is the laud on one 
 side of the main drain, might' be very springy which would occa- 
 sion a greater flow of water and choke the mouth of the drain 
 drain oj/posite. As a general thing, people, dig all the drains in 
 in a field, before, they commence laying any of them. It is often 
 the case that there are sag holes, at the foot of a hill, where the water 
 spnngs up, some people cut their head drains under these sag 
 holes, by doing this, these sag holes can never be prc^^erly drained. 
 The head drain ought to be cut above these sag hol(\s along the 
 top of the field. If the main drain or any of the cross drains come 
 across those soft places, the drain should be dug some two or 
 three feet deeper and filled with stones packed down close until 
 they come nearly level witli the bottom of the drain, then get sods 
 of wild grass which is easily procured in such a place as this, lay 
 those sods on top of the stones with the grass side down and when 
 it is just level with the rest of the drain; lay the last sods with the 
 grass side up, then you can lay it eitlier with tile or stone across, 
 let it be remembered when a inan is di.'ging his drain, to throw 
 the h)ese soil on one side and the sub-soil on the other. Where 
 I have helped to drain in England, they generally do their draining 
 just after ploughing up the green-sward in the field they intend ^d 
 to drain. The first drain they lay, is the drain at the upper end of 
 field, when that is laid they commence to lay the main drain 
 down towards the bottom. When a man is laying a drain he 
 Bhould have a hoe and shovel and keep his drain perfectly clean 
 as be goes along. I have heard a great many people say that tho 
 
16 
 
 snrust way to lay a drain is to lay a stone up against the side of 
 tli<^ drain if it is six inches thick it will be thick enongh then get 
 fi fin t stone and let one end of it rest on the stone Avhich ifi laid 
 ugidnst the side (^f the drain and let the other end come in contact 
 with the other side of the drain in a standing position and then 
 fill those np level Avith small or broken stones and a man must 
 make snre and secnre his drain with plen+y of small stone, over 
 this so as not allow any of the surface soil, working down into his 
 drain. When a man does go to the expense of draining, it should 
 be done right, or not at all. I have S(h^u people breaking stones 
 for drains as they break them for macadamized roads, and filling 
 up the drain with th^se a foot or fifteen inches in depth, I have 
 a' so seen people drawing cinders from a l)last furnace and fillii g 
 111) til e drains v.'ith them, if thore is no flat stone, round stoi e 
 c >uld be used instead, by placing them in the bottom of tlie drr n 
 with thr small end down, but there should be enough broken fur 
 to fill the drain to the depth of five or six inches, tbis wonld save 
 a great deal of labor, not having to break all the stones for the 
 bottom of the drain, as these round sto)ies take up a g<.od depth 
 of the drain, and the drain in my opinion would be better laid in 
 this mannei-, because there is more chance for the water to run 
 l-.etween tliose stones, then if they were l)roken a man x3ught to 
 have his cedar bark, shavinc^s, wild grass or straw, wdiich ever it 
 may be, and cover his drain as he goes along to i)revent any 
 sediment from the top getting into his drain, the next thing to be 
 done is to lay sods with the grass side down, on top of this straw, 
 bark or shavings. If it is green-sward, just ;ifter being ploughed 
 and sods ar(; ccmvenieatly plenty, drains might be filled with them 
 lo a level with the surface of the ground; if not, fill in with the 
 loose surface soil, and then spread subsoil evenly over the field. — 
 Do not use any of the heavy snl)8oil to fill up the drain, for if thia 
 tliis should be"put in ]t wanld hold the surface Avater, as well as 
 ever, and not allow it to sirik into the drain. I have seen ^irface 
 jvater turning corn, wlieat and other crops yellow and retarding 
 its growth aft(»r a he;ivy fall of rain. It would be well to reinmber 
 that the farmer ought to measure the distance between hie cros-i 
 drains, Thev do in Englnid, in most cases, for, when a "planner 
 walks ahmg the foot of hi^; field, ho. will see if the main drains. 
 nio in good working order, or not, and, if lie sees a fivihu'c in any 
 of them he c m take his spade, and not varry six inche;'. from 
 where* he ought to dig and will soon find out the failure, and 
 wliere it is. "if a man is laying a drain in clay land when he has- 
 his ni;iin drains cut, and his cross drains also, he can get an in- 
 s'rument made in the shape of a gouge tiiat a r'.ar[>enter uses to 
 dress out niortisces with, he c.iiii h.ijre this tu]-ned up at the handle 
 and the handk> should be about four or live and a-half feet_ ^-^-^^^S, 
 so a man can use it conveniently, and he ^.au cut a groove in the 
 bottoui of the drain about three i\\n\ 0)ie-hali or four inclu>s wide 
 wide and the sajiie in deptli, then eov(T over the top of this, witlj 
 wild gi-ass or split cedar, if there is any ton>enitiit. I once aiiK^ft 
 
17 
 
 di*ain in the bottom of a clay cellar, the bottom of which waff 
 grooved out in the form of a V, narrow at the bottom and wider 
 at the top, and this groove was covered with thin bark. It liad 
 lasted 30 years. If a man is draining in sand with a clay bottom, 
 just as soon as he reaches the clay he ought to dig deep enough 
 in thi8 clay to lay his drain without laying it in the sand. There 
 IS always plenty grass where draining is needed, and if a man 
 meets with any veins of sand in his draining he should be careful 
 to stop them with sods of wild grass. This will allow the water 
 to come through, but not the sand. If any of the surface soil 
 works from the top into the drain it is soon choked up. It is a 
 poor soil that does not form a turf sod when it is greensward, and 
 sods IS the kind of stuff a drain should be filled up with, if pos- 
 sible. If the drains are managed as I have described, when a 
 plowman goc.^s to plow he will lay liis lands in such a manner that 
 the water will follow the plow, and. as soon as it comes to these 
 cross drains it will disappear and go into the main drains and the 
 main drains discharge clear water, and that is a great deal better 
 than to have the best of the surface soil carried away by the water 
 into ponds, rivers, ditches, or along roadsides. I l\eard a man in 
 Brasher say that draining was of no benefit to clay land. He said 
 that if he were to dig a hole 2i feet deep, fill it with water, and 
 then dig another near it leaving it emptv, the water would not 
 run from one hole to the other. Now, I will leave the question to 
 any man who may chance to read this, if this hole would come in 
 proximity with or over one of these main drains which I have de- 
 scribed, would not the water be speedily carried off. Another 
 man sfiys he can dreain with sand in clay land, but both of these 
 men labor under a mistaken idea, and would lead other people 
 astray if they knew no better than to attempt to be guided by such 
 suggestions. I have seen sand so fine that water would di-ain 
 through very slowly, and I am of the opinion that it would not 
 drain through at all. To remedy this I hare seen people go into 
 a gravel pit and taking a screen made of edgings, and " throwing 
 the gravel against it so as to separate the sand from the gravel. 
 They take particular care not to have any sand among the gravel, 
 then they will draw and fill the drain with this gravel to the 
 depth of twelve or fifteen inches, and then cover with the surface 
 soil as before. If fine sand were allowed to remain in the gravel 
 the action of water would tend to collect in some one spot, and 
 thus choke the drain and make it a failure. No grain whatever 
 will start to grow until such time as the right lieat is in the 
 ground, and on any clay or good soil that is covered with water 
 in the Spring, and retains it until the sun dries it up, instead of 
 growing to its natural growth ; it becomes shrivelled and dry, 
 where, if the land, instead of being covered with water and kept 
 cold all Spring, had been dry and mellow, the crop would have an 
 early start before the drouth of Summer could have affected it. 
 As soon as the crop covers the gi-ound it draws moisture from the 
 Bubaoil. One acre of land worked and taken care of properly is 
 
IB 
 
 Wottli five Acres but half worked. If a man should throw his coat 
 pD the ground, the warmest day in Summer, when the dust in 
 flying in every direction, when he comes to take it up in the eve- 
 ning he will find the gi'oond under the coat moist. There is no 
 drain that is open but should bo secured at the open end in this 
 manner, whicli I mentioned in another part of this work, to keep' 
 out rats, mice, and all other things which might work up into the 
 drain and injure ii. 
 
 i 
 
x^ 
 
 WELLS. 
 
 rpHERE is nothing more Important or requisite In the making 
 -*- of butter than good, pure^"^holesome water, and perhaps therd 
 is nothing so little understood as the proper management of wells. 
 There is hviug at Brasher, St. Lawrence County, in this State, a 
 pump maker by the name of Hall. His agent sold a pump to & 
 farmer residing in the same town, the fanner giving in payment 
 his note, payable some time in the future. Before the note camd 
 due the farmer sued J. Hall for damages, because, as he said, the 
 pump spoiled the water in his well. There was a jury on the case 
 and one witness swore that he drank of the water before the pump 
 Wiis put in the well and that it was good ; he swore, aLso, that he 
 drank of the water after the pump was put in, and it was not fit 
 either for man or beast to drink. Then the pump was pulled out 
 and he swore that he drank the water afterwards and it was good, 
 and he also declared that the pump spoiled the wator. The jury 
 disagreed, and each party had to pay their own cost. These same 
 jurymen were well iaformed, but neither the jury, lawyers, or the 
 justice could tell where the failure really was. The Justice waa 
 Mr. Edgeton, of Brasher, and he is spoken of by everyone as an 
 upright, honest man. The pump was made out of tamarac, and 
 the gum that exudes from the tamarac is considered wholesome 
 to chew, but is used also as a medicine. No man, of course, has 
 any suspicion that the witness perjured himself, because he bB- 
 lieved it was right, and, as fav us he could see, it was the pump 
 that spoilerl the water. I procured a copy of the minutes of the 
 trial from Mr. Edgeton at that time, and they are now in my 
 possession. I beUeved that, instead of the pump spoiling the 
 water the water spoiled the pump. When a man has decided to 
 dig a well ue generally chooses the driest season of the year. As 
 he digs down the soil changes from one kind to another, and there 
 is not a change of soil but that there is a runway for water be- 
 tween the different soils, no matter if he were to dig down 
 fifty feet. After the well is finished these runways continue to 
 ruQ in the same manner as the well was dug, except when the 
 water in the well is low ; then only those that are lower than the 
 surface of the water will continue to nin, and as the wattu- in the 
 well rises they all resume their flow. Of course, the surface water 
 is the first vein of water met with in digging a well, yet it is very 
 seldom that this runway is ranniug when he is digging the well. 
 It is ^uly after a heavy raiu iwid the ground -a batur-dtfi-l ^^^^ 
 
20 
 
 water that tlio surface veins are in running order. There are 
 many things that go to render wells and springs impure and 
 unwholesome, such as dead animals and carrion of all t inds which 
 are allowed to lie and rot on the ground or in the ground, hog- 
 pens, stables and privys, the substance of which is absorbed by 
 the surface water, while the ground is saturated after a heavy 
 rain, and in the course of events is carried by this surface vein, 
 running into the well. When the well was low, before this rain, 
 all the foul gases and sediment settled in the bottom of the well, 
 and as quick as the water raises in the well it takes its course iu 
 these runways as it did before the well was dug ; and while this 
 water is taken up with a pail or bucket it tastes well enough, 
 although the foul gas and sediment are yet in the bottom of the 
 well. But as quick as a pump is put into this well the gas and 
 sediment in the bottom spoils both the pump and the water. It 
 is about 14 years since this law-suit took place to which I referred, 
 and it has been argued and talked about by a great many people 
 since, and I never heard any two that could agree or come to any 
 Batisfactory explanation as to the reason why the water should be 
 good before the pump was put in, and bad while it was in the 
 well. And this is not the only well. There are thousands all 
 over the country in the same situation. Now, it is no diiference 
 where a man digs his well if he knows anything about it, he can 
 secure his well in such a way that he will have good water. After 
 the well is finished he sliould dig a drain around the well, and he 
 must be sure not to lay it in the surface soil but in the first gravel 
 or hard pan he comes to. If that is done and covered as I have 
 heretofore described and have it meet around the well, and then 
 run it from the well in order to draw the surface water away. In 
 making the platform over the well he should have it project over 
 the drain, so that every drop of water, or anything which may be 
 spilled around the well be carried off in this drain. It is plain to 
 anyone that no filth or dirt can get into the well by following this 
 plan. There is no land in the world but has different kinds of 
 gas, and when a w^ell is first dug these gases settle in the bot- 
 tom, hence a pump sliould not be put in such a well for at least 
 five or six weeks after being dug, and even then the woll should 
 bo pumped dry and well cleaned out, and they should be cleaned 
 two or three times at the first. Some people aver that when a 
 platform is mad« over a well and the pnmp put m, that there is 
 no circulation of air to and from the well, and that without this 
 the water is apt to become foul. To remedy this evil a hole can 
 he cut in the platform, twelve by eighteen inches, over w'aich a 
 box, made for the occasion out of inch boards, a foot or moreSiin 
 height, can be set. This box or crib should be perforated at tlie 
 sides and ends to within four inches of the platform, the perfora- 
 tions being made wdth an inch auger. This box should cover the 
 platform so as to prevent accidents, or leaves and dirt from getting 
 into the well. This would allow the air to circula^"e freely. Thrre 
 is 110 di"ink so welcome to t-ho thirsty as a drink of good pure 
 
21 
 
 water, and unless the wells are kept clean it will be impossible to 
 assure it at all times. If the wells are fixed and managed as I 
 bave described people will have fewer foul wells, and the quality 
 of butter will be greatly improved. 
 
 I read an account in 1859, in the Albany WeeJcli/ Journal, of two 
 men that engaged to clean out a well. One of them became dis- 
 couraged and refused to go down, but the other man went down 
 and in fifteen minutes he was buried beneath thirty-two feet of 
 debris, the well having caved in. This sad accident, though 
 allocking, is not the only one on record. I liave never, since that 
 time, noticed any statement made as to where the failure in that 
 well existed. When a man sets out to dig a well let him digit 
 seven feet in diameter. That leaves two feet all around for the 
 wall and three feet for tlie inside of the well. The stones being 
 set, thus wedging will prevent the well from caving inwards. To 
 prevent caving outwards the space behind the well should b^^ veil 
 packed with small stones or gravel, and this should be done u; the 
 well is being built. With a well built in this manner it is o.ii. of 
 the question that a stone should give way. The well in qut Nlion 
 was dug, for the most part, through a strata of sand, and xjeriaps 
 in a very dry time, and the well was very improperly staye^l at 
 the back. When the rains came the surface water carried the sand 
 with it. This continued until the support at the back gave way, 
 allowmgthe stones to become loose, and the consequouvie was 
 that the well caved in and the man lost his life. If, in digging a 
 well, a man should come across such a vein of sand the wall should 
 be braced so as to bind both inwards and outwards as far as the 
 sand extends. As sand will come in at most points where water 
 will, he should proceed as laid down in Field Draining, by pro- 
 curing sods of wild grass, and place them between the wall and 
 the sand. Th(.\se sods will not spoil the water, but will allow it to 
 run into the well witliout carrying the sand with it. Some people 
 imagine that clay will do as well as sods, but this is a mistake. 
 Most clay will dissolve like lime and be carried into the well as 
 sand. Moss filled in the interstices of the stone will also help to 
 keep sand from running in. It is to be hoped that men will be 
 more careful in constructing their wells so that no such accident 
 as this should again happen, as this poor man was caught in a 
 worse place than they at liall's Eun, for they could and did run 
 awayj while he, poor fvUo-v, co^ild ::'>'■ 
 
t^ii 
 
 TBEES. 
 
 T noticed in the Weekly Sun of March 25th, 1874, some r«mark 
 -*- about the usefulness and value of trees. Tlio writer recom- 
 mended that they be set out along the roadside as a preventative 
 against winds and storms, and with him 1 full/ agree. Were you 
 to stand on the top of a hill in England and make a survey of the 
 Burrounding country, you would imagine that it was nearly all 
 woodland, yet an inspection of these farms would reveal the fact 
 that no necessary land was taken up by trees. They are set 
 out along the roadsides and all the fences on the farms, and they 
 add not only to the liability from damage to the crops by storm 
 or wind, but to the beauty of the scenery, ani are a source of 
 comfort, not only to the farmer but to his cattle as well. In 
 Hildon Parish, Buckinghamshire, Eng. , the workingmen boast 
 that within no other two miles square in England can as much 
 live oak be found. It is no trouble to load either hay or grain in 
 these fields, and the comfortable shade in the heat of the day, a 
 luxury unknown to many, very many of the cattle upon our open 
 fields and prairies. The writer in the Sun goes on to say that 
 there is no better way to combine utility with profit than by 
 planting these trees. They draw fully one-half of their sustinance 
 from the roadside, and by a little good management may be made 
 to draw the most therefrom. It would seem that, from these 
 remarks, some are afraid that if these trees were planted and 
 allowed to grow they would rob the plow-field of some of its 
 strength, and so they would unless care was taken to prevent their 
 roots from striking out into the field. Th e roots of large trees 
 will run out a long ways if allowed to grow, and perchance in soil 
 that would otherwise produce excellent crops of whatever was 
 sown ; since the trees were planted and their roots had taken 
 possession of tiie ground, would produce but inferior crops. 
 
 I had the following inserted in the St. Lawrence County papers 
 80) ne years ago : 
 
 *' On my way to an Agricultural Fair, I saw a man at war with a 
 Balm of Gilead tree, the roots of which had taken possession of 
 Lis cabbage garden. It had taken stronger posaessicm than ever 
 Napoleon did of the sod of Austria. This man would remind you 
 of the Irishman who went to cut fat pine that had been buried 
 eighteen feet beneath tlie bogs of Allan, in Ireland. evcT since the 
 days of Noah's flood. I asked him why he did not take the pre- 
 CAiiUiihi W ^t*■.'^>^-^.- +2r-i iiyrx^ .it tl^a tu- -> - '.-•...when he 
 
23 
 
 planted it/ He said it was impossible for a person to do this i»-- 
 less he would cut the roots with an axe. Now, if anybody knows 
 how to do it, it is no trouble at all. 
 
 [Signed] PATRICK BURKE." 
 
 If a man says he can do a thing and then cannot, he should be 
 set down as an imposter. After the trees are planted along the 
 fences it is but little expense or trouble to plow a trench between 
 the trees and the adjoining fields, then get a spade or shovel and 
 square out the bottom of this trench to the depth he requires j 
 the most of the dirt should be thrown up against the fence and 
 around the trees. If it is fixed as it should be it could be 
 mown as well as any other part of the field. It is plain to any 
 man that the roots of these trees will run along the fence, but 
 never cross this trench. If they come to tVie edge of the trench 
 they will turn up, but never cross it or take root on the opposite 
 side. I care not if the trench was only a foot wide. The roots 
 of these trees growing along the fence will bind in one with 
 another, all along the fence. The most dangerous time for trees 
 to be blown down is in the Spring when the frost is leaving the 
 ground, and it Js plain that those trees having their roots en- 
 twined have more power to resist the high wmds than when 
 standing separate. They should be planted far enough apart to 
 allow apple trees to be set out between them, and by having this 
 trench dug and kept clean there should be but little dampness 
 among the roots of the trees. It is not natural for an apple tree 
 to do well in wet soil. A man could rise up in the morning, and 
 travel until sundown in Warwickshire, Gloucestershire or Oxford- 
 shire, in England, and you could see nothing in the field because 
 of trees along the fences, until >ou come to a gate. After harvest 
 they gather all the apples and bring them to the mill and make 
 cider of them, and it is no uncommon thing for a farmer to have 
 1,000 barrels of cider in his cellar. The cat said when it eat the 
 bagpiper that it was both meat and music, and a man that would 
 drink a gill of this cider would say that it was both meat and 
 drink* 
 
u 
 
 TKENCHING AND SUBSOILINiG. 
 
 1 HAVE read in some of the Agi'i cultural papers, that in irencli" 
 •*■ ing a garden a person should avoid bringing the subsoil to 
 the top. It is my opinion that the writer thereof never did sub- 
 soil a garden and that he knew nothing about the subject in any- 
 way. When a garden is beginning to grow foul it should be 
 trenched and subsoiled. Tlie fir.st thing to do is to take a strip 
 11u> full width of the garden and two and a half feet wide, then 
 take the upper half of this and plnce it in a pile by itself ; then 
 remove the lower half, putting it in a separate pile. This trench 
 should be about two feet deep. Now your trench ia 
 cleai- to begin with. Take another strip the same width and cut 
 it a.s deep as you think there is any foul stuff, throwing it into the 
 first trench until within two or three inches of the top. Manure 
 should have been drawn on the ground beforehand, and when 
 you have raised your first trench as high as just spoken of, spread 
 some of the manure on and fill the remainder of the trench with 
 the subsoil of the second. ^ Your second trench is now clear for 
 coniuiencing work upon the third. Continue on working one 
 trench after another until you come to the last trench, and then 
 what was taken up first out of the first trench should be put in 
 the bottom of the last trench, and then the subsoil from the first 
 trench should, be put in to raise it the right height for the 
 manure. By doing this it wiP enable the manure to be near 
 enough to the surface, so that any crop which may be put in can 
 liave the benefit of it. I have heard people say that any weed 
 which is Vuried iriue inches and the manure on top, as I have 
 described, will never grow. 
 
25 
 
 CELLAKS. 
 
 npiHERE are few farmers that are fortunate enough to have a 
 -^ building site so that there is a fall for the water from each 
 side. The most of them have their houses built so that one part 
 of their cellar is four or five feet deeper than the surface on the 
 other, this causes the dampness from the surface of the soil to 
 come to the cellar wall and keep it wet continually. Some of 
 them lay their cellar walls without lime or plaster of any kind for 
 about four feet high, then they lay it with mortar for the 
 remainder. When they commence they lay the bottom of the 
 wall with the largest stones they have ; then, when they lay their 
 drains from the cellar, they have the mouth of the drain open, so 
 that rats and mice can come up the drain into the cellar. Begin- 
 ning the wall in this way, leaves holes between those large stones 
 80 that the rats and mice get under the wall and make runways 
 for themselves, and work along until they get up on top of the 
 ground. Very often a man will lose aU. of his potatoes on account 
 of these runways by the frost getting into the cellar through these 
 runways ; yet, perhaps, the farmer would not be aware of the way 
 in which the frost came into his cellar ; often the rats and mice 
 destroy a drain so as to occasion back water, malcing the cellar 
 damp and foul. I don't care how careful or industrious a house- 
 keeper is, she can not have pure milk and nice fresh butter in 
 such a damp, foul cellar. Now, to save all this trouble, it would 
 be but httle more expense to dig the cellar eighteen inches 
 larger all around than it is intended to build the cellar wall. A 
 drain should be laid all around the outside of where the wall is to 
 b« laid. Then, when at the place where the drain leading from 
 the cellar commences it should be dug a little lower than the 
 other ; then the top of this drain should be covered with large 
 flat stones. A cellar wall, to be right, should be laid in mortar 
 from the foundation. When this drain is laid great care should 
 be taken to prevent the surface soil from working through, it 
 should be packed well with small stones after being laid, and if 
 there are none at hand small enough, they should be broken. 
 Then cover them over carefully with cedar bark, shavings, straw 
 or wild hay, and cover this with sods of wild grass, with the grass 
 side turned downwards ; and after the cellar wall is built, if it 
 could be got at, the remainder of the drain should be filled, level 
 with the surface, with black muck. It would not take much, and 
 there is but very few farmers but L --^ ' lack muck on their farms. 
 
26 
 
 It. is plain to anyone tliat wliatevcr water comes from the npper 
 land will be taken away in this drain, instead of keeping the ceUar 
 damp and foul, and it also keeps the cellar wall from giving away. 
 I have known of buildings falling on account of the bad founda- 
 tion. Some people lay it to the masons when H is not their fault 
 at all. For I have seen every course of stones bound in the 
 middle, and yet the wall gave way. When the cellar drain is 
 laid, if there is much of a fall from the cellar, it need not be laid 
 any further than it can be covered well. It is no difference 
 whether the dram is laid with stone or tile. The mouth of the 
 drain should be protected by box and grate as described in Field 
 Draininc: to keep out rats, mice and other vermin. By having 
 the drain thus protected no water will remain in it to freeze, 
 and form a neucleus for frost in the cellar. People that have wet 
 cellars now, the best way for them to do is to dig a drain all 
 around, within one foot of th« cellar wall, until it is brought out 
 to the drain which goes from the cellar, and it should be low 
 enough so that it can be laid even with the cellar floor and then 
 cover it as I described before. This drain must be dug all around 
 the cellar within one foot of the cellar wall, inside the cellar ; 
 when this dram is filled up level with the cellar floor and covered 
 he should, if flags are not at hand, break up stones and fill in this 
 foot of space between the cellar drain and the wall. If this was 
 done and a rat should get in through the cellar door or windows 
 it could never work in under the cellar wall. When the cellar 
 is damp every drop of milk that falls on the floor causes a foul 
 smell. A farmer should have a separate cellar for his milk and 
 butter ; they should neder be kept in a cellar with pork, fish, 
 potatoes, and such like stuff. I have seen cellars, that if a tub of 
 butter was to be kept in it two or three weeks, let it be ever so 
 fresh and sweet when placed there, it would taste old. There 
 should be plenty of good, pure air in a cellar where milk and 
 butter are kept. To have the cream rise well and to keep the 
 butter sweet and fresh the windows can be fixed on the outside 
 so as to exclude the rays of the sun from the cellar. It is not a 
 good plan to have too much light. A twilight is allowed to be 
 the best for a milk cellar. This light could be produced by 
 shading the cellar windows in such a manner as to obtain air and 
 but little light. The English ppople do not have as low places 
 for their milk as we have, for their Summers are not as warm as 
 ours. ^ I never saw a place for milk in England but tliat the floor 
 was laid either with flags or flat stones, made for the purpose. 
 They sprinkle their cellar floors with cold water and mop it out 
 jiist as regular as any room in their house. As for their butter,- 
 they do not tub it and keep it as we do here, for what they chum 
 one day the day following they take to market. I do not think 
 it should be considered very expensive to lay a cellar floor with 
 tile if it makes the cellar any better, and I think the majority will 
 agree that it is better than a clay bottom, if it be only to enable? 
 a person to mop it out and keep the cellar clean and fresh. 
 
27 
 
 KAIL, AND THE HANDLING OF MANURE* 
 
 ^JiHERIl ore tlioitsanda of peop"!e employed annnally picking 
 J- kail or wild mustard out of \vheat, oats and other crops. I 
 have heard farmei's say that they would give hundreds of dollars 
 to be rid of it. 1 believe it never can be done away with in the 
 fields. It must be killed in the barnyard. First, there is no 
 farmer that has kail in his land but should clear out a space in hi3 
 barnyard, and then pile up all the nicinure in a heap on this clear 
 Bpot, mixing cow manure, horse manure, and all kinds of litter 
 and straw together. He should be careful to clean about his bam 
 door, where the threshing is done, and the barnyard ; it also 
 should be thoroughly scraped and cleaned out with a hoe, and all 
 the stuff that is scraped up should be put into this heap of 
 manure. Care should be taken not to put it on the outside of the 
 heap, but into the middle of it. When the manure is all thro\vn 
 together water should be thrown on the heap. Then it will fer- 
 ment, and after it heats and ferments none of the seeds which 
 were in this heap of manure will grow. If it rots or steams too 
 fast water should be put on to keep it from steaming, as the 
 Bteam takes the strength out of the manure. Some farmers 
 scrape np all the slush in the barnyard and throw it around on the 
 outside of the heap of manure, and then smooth it off with the 
 back of a spade or shovel, this should not be done because it pre- 
 vents the air from mixing witli the manure and it will not rot, 
 unless it comes in contact with the am I have heard many 
 farmers say that it is better to keep the manure under shelter, 
 that they could tell by it smelling so strong, and at the same time 
 the strength of the manure is steaming away. I defy any man to 
 mention an instance where he has ever noticed any noxous weed 
 growing out of a large heap of manure. Some people will leave 
 manure in for a year, thinking that by so doing they will stop the 
 breeds from growing, but at the same time the manure is not much 
 better than good soil. I have seen horse manui-e that had been 
 kept under cover and it was so white that it was valueless, becaue 
 the strength had all steomeed out of it. Some will say that it is 
 some work to pile up the manure and fix it as I have described, it 
 is some work, true enough, but it is work that will pay. It is 
 true that God gives us the means of making a living, but it is 
 true, also, that we should work for it in the best way we know 
 how. Our climate is cold here, and when we throw out the 
 manure it is mixed with frost and snow, and if it is it will not 
 
28 
 
 lose any of its strength until the Spring of the year. If it is 
 managed as I have described, two years manure is better than 
 three years, when allowed to rot over a year. There is not a 
 county from Liverpool to London, Eng. , but I have been in, and 
 worked for farmers. I lived there for twenty-one years, and those 
 farmers never had any fear of their manure spoiling in the winter. 
 They managed the manure as I have described Their weather is 
 warmer in winter than ours. Now, our small farmers in this 
 country are unwilhng to Summer-fallow any of their land for fear 
 of losing a year's crop from the piece of *land which should be 
 plowed. If they would plow it early in the Spring and then drag 
 it and before it went to seed, buchwheat could be sown. If the 
 farmer should object to buckwheat it could be sown to corn. If 
 buckwheat should be sown after the crop was harvested and taken 
 from the field, the grown should be dragged directly, and then 
 the seed of the buckwheat remaining in the ground would grow 
 and the Winter frost would kill it, and by that means the buck- 
 wheat would be exterminated, and the kail, also, remaining in the 
 ground would spring up and be killed by the frost. If sown to 
 com there is the same need of dragging. I have known farmers 
 that bought very little hay, and that very little contained seed 
 enough of the white daisy, so that their pastures and meadows 
 are covered with it now. If the manure had been managed aa I 
 have described it would put a stop to all this damage. 
 
 THE END, 
 
 .1 
 
 A 
 
ADDEFDVM. 
 
 H' 
 
 HOG-PENS. 
 
 'OW to build a hog-pen to prevent the hogs from freezing to 
 death in winter; to prevent their death being caused by the 
 filth aud steam in summer; and to prevent the sow from crushing 
 her young against the wall when she lies down. 
 
 In building a new hog-pen, the sleepers should be laid crosswise 
 the build ing, the two sleepers nearest the center being laid about 
 twelve or fourteen inches apart, in order to place a spout between 
 them, si milar to that described in the *' Stabling of Cattle;" the 
 other sleepers being laid at regular distances as in other floors. — 
 
 The floor should slant slightly towards the center in order to 
 carry the liquid into the spout. It should be perfectly tight to keep 
 out the cold. A second floor should be laid over this; this floor 
 should be set on four inch scantling, the scantling laid lengthwise 
 the pen. The boards or planks should be narrow, and not laid 
 tight; but so as to allow the liquid to pass through to the lower 
 floor. The plank that covers the spout should be fastened with 
 hinges to allow being lifted when it becomes necessary to clean 
 the spout. But if you do not wish to save the liquid,the under 
 floor is not needed, but a drain should be dug underneath the 
 foundation, tlie same as for cellars, t(»jiarry off tlie liquid and pre- 
 vent its becoming stagnant under the 'pen. If the under floor is 
 done away with, the second floor in the sleeping apartment 
 should be made perfectly tight, and the floor in the eating apart- 
 ment should be made as described for the upper floor, aud in 
 fact but one floor is absolutely necessary, as experience proves 
 thiit the floor in this apartment is always dry and that the wet 
 an<l filth gather in the eating room. A partition should be run 
 across^ the pen, about one third of the distance from one end, in 
 order to provide a separate sleeping apartment tor the hogs. It 
 should be furnished with two doors opening in oppo.^ite directions. 
 In patting up the partition and setting the do(;rs a 2x4 scant- 
 ling shouM be laid al >ng the floor, flat s^de down, and a second 
 fixed as high as you want your partition, (the paitition need 
 uot be as high as the ceiling unless desired.) Your door frames 
 should be made of 2 x 4 scantlino; — or heavier if desjred — the 
 side post running from tlie floor to t)ie upper scantling. In set- 
 ting up the frames, the foot should be placed one side of the 
 bottom scantling, and the top on tiie opposite side of the upper 
 scantling. Tiiis will give the door sufficient incline to shut to of 
 its own weight, and the hog can easily open it by pushing agai 
 
 \ 
 
ADDENDUM. 
 
 it. Bemember, however, that the door for entering the sleeping 
 apartment should slant in an opposite direction to that by which 
 the animal goes out into the eating room. Now case your door 
 frames with inch stufi, hang them on hooks ; to insure strength, 
 these hooks should be long enough to pass through frame and 
 casements, and ^o receive a nut on the opposite side. By having 
 them open, one in each direction, it gives the hogs a chance to 
 pass from one apartment to another at will. The frames should 
 be made and the doors hung before being fastened up. A two- 
 inch plank, 6 or 8 inches high, should be set into the door frames 
 to allow the door to shut against, and to prevent their clogging 
 with the sediment. To prevent the possibility of the doors open- 
 ing so far as to remain open or s\ving back against the partition, 
 they should be set one at each end of the partition in such man- 
 ner that they will swing up against the wall. This plank 
 should be sat in such a manner that it can be taken out at such 
 times as the sow may be heavy with pigs, or in lieu thereof, a 
 slanting platform may be placed on each side of the door in order 
 to allow her to step over the plank without injuring herself. To 
 make it warm the wall of the sleeping room should be bricked up 
 with soft brick to the height of four or five feet. It should be 
 boarded up again inside the brick. If the bnck is not at hand 
 saw-dust, tan-bark, or a coarse cement placed between the two 
 tiers of boards will answer the purpose ; or tar-paper mav be used 
 in the usual manner. 
 
 To prevent the sow from crushing her young against the wall, 
 slats two inches wide and two and a half feet long, cut from a two 
 inch plank should be placed all around the sleeping apartment, 
 except where the doors come, twelve or fifteen inches apart. The 
 feet of these slats should be placed abou c eighteen inches from the 
 wall, the tops should rest against tl)e will. They should be firm- 
 h' nailed to their place. The top of the sleeping apartment should 
 be air and water tight and furnished with ventilators that the 
 temperature may be regulated as necessity required. 
 
 Old pens can be easily altered to suit the plan for the new. 
 
 V 
 
w 
 
\ 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 J 
 
 002 586 291 
 
 B E ao M M E N I) A T I O N B 
 
 THE following recommendations have been given Mr. Burkb 
 in favor of his " Improvement in Hog-pens," the patent up- 
 on which he now holds, and which is described in the within 
 
 pages : 
 
 Stephen Daily, of Biasher, says : — 
 
 "I believe it is the best plan of a i^en I ever saw, both keeping 
 tiie bed free from wet and dampness, and the pen so warm du- 
 ring the cold weather that there is no danger of the little pigs 
 freezing to death in the winter. The sleeping division is so ar- 
 ranged as to prevent the sow from crushing the little pi^. Fi- 
 nally, I believe it worthy the attention of all farmers, and would 
 ask that everyone give it a fair examination, 
 
 STEPHEN DAILY. 
 
 We the undersigned, have examined Mr. Burke's patent, and 
 fully concur in the foregoing statement. 
 
 A. F. MAKTYN, Secretary St. Lawrence County Dairymen's 
 Association. 
 
 E. F. TUPPER, Trcas. E. H. 80UTHW0RTH. 
 
 THOS. ANDREWS. S. W. ELDRIDGE. 
 
 R. D. HILL. WILLIS SHATTUCK. 
 
 THOMAS HARDIN. 
 
 Mr. Timothy Lyons of Stockholm says: — 
 
 "I went to Brasher and saw the first hog-pen ever constructed 
 .ifter Mr. Burke's patent. I have examined it thoroughly and 
 liave since had one cons tructed on my own premises. I am fully 
 satisfied that it is the best in the country, and any man within 
 ten miles of my place, that will come aud examine it and is not 
 saiiyficd that it is all it is claimed to be, I will pay him for 
 liis time. It is ray opinion that I will save in th/e fattening of 
 my hogs this fall, three times wiiat it cost me to build the Sleep- 
 ing division," 
 
 The Courisr & Frcc.um, Potsdam, N. Y., says : — 
 " The pen is very warm, wliich not only keeps the animals more 
 comfortable, but makes the cost of keeping much less than in 
 cold pens. Those who have seen or used these pens unite in say- 
 ing that they are the most comfortable residences for swine ever 
 conptnicted. " 
 
 Mr. John Wagstafi of Stockholm says: 
 
 1 have examined the hog-pen and find it dry, warm, and coriv 
 fortable, and the best plan of a hog-pen ever invented; also I 
 agree with the Canton Dairymen's Association when it acknowl 
 edges that it surpasses anything that they have ever seen for con- 
 venience, durability, and comfoit, and further; *'I expect to save 
 three times more in their feed, than it cost me to build those d' 
 visions." V ,