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Bural Architecture.

Barn for Seventy-five to a Hundred Acres.

This barn stands on a slight declivity, and is so constructed that a wagon may be driven through it, obviating the necessity of backing out. Its size is forty-two by sixty feet. (Its capacity may be increased to any extent by greater length.) The main floor is lighted by a long horizontal window over each double door; the trapdoor for straw turns down, and buttons up under the girth; if desired two more may be placed outside the ventilators. A smooth planed shoot below allows the straw to slide freely in the root and straw cellar below, and a cart load of roots is dumped down this shoot. Roots will keep fine

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ly if a foot of straw is first thrown down, then several | be discharged through a tube into a wagon below. The feet of roots, then a few additional feet of straw or chaff smaller ones may have the bottoms raised eight inches to protect them from freezing.

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FIG. 2.-PRINCIPAL FLOOR.-A. Trap Door and shoot for straw and chaff.-G. Granary.-V. V. Ventilators and hay shoots.- S. Stairs to basement.

There are two ventilators at the side of the bay, through which hay is thrown down into the feeding passage below; the mode of constructing these shafts is already described. A third is placed over the passage in the horse stable, for the purpose of ventilation only. They are made to unite at the ridge of the barn by extending them up next to the roof, as shown by a section in fig. 3. This bay contains 960 square feet, and will hold about forty tons of hay, or two tons for every foot of rise, when the hay is well settled; and if one of the ventilator shafts is marked in feet outside, the owner may see at any time nearly how much he has on hand. A fixed ladder for ascending it may be placed

Fig. 3.

near A.

above the floor, with an opening and slide in front of each, and a recess beneath, so that a half bushel may be placed under the opening and filled in a moment, with little labor. The granary being on the corner of the barn, with the barn floor on one side and the tool room on the other, is less liable to be entered by rats, than if surrounded by concealed passages.

All the space over the granary, tool rooms and horse stables, may be filled with nnthrashed grain, besides the poles or platforms extending across the ends of the space over the floor.

A slate and pencil should always hang in the granary, to keep reckonings, register orders, &c.

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FIG. 4. BASEMENT.-A. A. A. A. Boxes or pens for calves and cows with calf, 6 by 10 feet each.-C. C. Cisterns under the wagon-way or abutments, from which water for cattle may be drawn through a cock.

The plan of the basement nearly explains itself. The mode of filling the root room has been already described. There are a number of sliding board windows in the rear of the cow stalls, for throwing out manure, and over a part of them glass windows for admitting light. It will be observed how accessible the roots, straw and hay are in front; and that the manure in the rear is easily drawn off by a cart, without the necessity of resorting to the wheelbarrow, except it be in cleaning the cow and calf pens.

The

The Horse Stable is 13 by 30 feet, and contains five single stalls, each four and a half feet wide, and one double stall seven feet wide, for a team to feed when in harness, and readily accessible through the wide stable door. One or two small trap doors allow the attendant to cast the cleanings through to the manure shed below; and a There are over 3,000 square feet of surface on the roof, cast-iron drainage plate, slightly concave, set with holes, the form of rain, affording five or six barrels daily for and about 2,000 barrels of water fall annually upon it, in allows all the liquid to fall on the manure heap, which, if watering cattle, if watered by it all the year round. necessary, should have an amount of absorbents, such as cisterns should, therefore, hold not less than 500 barrels. straw, sawdust or coal ashes, sufficient to prevent waste. (This size will not be needed, if there are other supples This stable is well lighted with three small glass windows. of water-or if the herd is not large enough to consume Next adjoining this stable is a room, 10 by 13, for hold-80 much.) If these are each twenty-five feet long and six ing all coarse tools or implements connected with the farm; and next to this is a smaller room for the smaller tools, which need not occupy but one side, while the other may have a work bench and vice.

The Granary is 12 by 13 feet, and contains five bins, which will hold over 600 bushels. The rear and larger bin may contain mixed grain for cattle and horse feed, and

well built, of masonry and water-lime, and arched over feet wide, they will hold this amount. They should be the top like a stone culvert, so that there will be no danger of the embankment falling in. A good well in the middle of the passage, with a pump, would obviate the necessity of these cisterns.

The cost of this barn, built with rough boards, would be about $800 or $900; planed and painted, $1,100 to $1,200.

THE

WARD CASES

Those who have attempted to cultivate green-house plants in rooms, have met with two serious One is

drawbacks.

the liability to become coated with dust, and the other is the dryness of the uir, which is greatly increased by stove heat. For these reasons there are but few plants that will endure for a long time in common living rooms. To obviate these difficulties, the Ward Case has been constructed. It consists essentially in covering the plants with glass. This protects them from dust, and by confining the moisture which is constantly exhaled by the leaves, gives them a humid atmosphere. It also assists materially in equallizing the temperature, and shielding from the effects of the sudden changes which may occur in the room. For these reasons, the care of the plants in these cases, is much diminished.

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Fig. 1 represents the section of a small and simple case -made by covering a cast iron vase of plants with a large

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appearWhen kept

in a room subject

Fig. 4. to occasional cold below freezing, the proper temperature may be maintained by the following contrivance. Let the pots stand on an iron or copper tray, (the pots being supported, if heavy, by iron bars,) beneath which is soldereda convex round piece of sheet copper, so as to form a flat boiler beneath the tray. A tube through the tray above admits filling the boiler and allows the escape of the steam; a small tube and cock below allows the water to be drawn off. A lamp placed under the boiler heats the water, and keeps the plants sufficiently warm.

ROME BEAUTY APPLE.

This Ohio variety, as many of our readers know, is remarkable for its fair and handsome appearance, while it has but moderate flavor. It has already become famous for market in many places. W. W. Rathbone, of Marietta, states in the Ohio Farmer, that its fault, if there be one, is "its constant overbearing "-that it "bears itself to death"-that trees often produce fruit the third year from grafting on yearling seedlings;-and that now, "after bearing monstrous crops almost annually, men are unreasonable enough to complain that the fruit is not so large as formerly, and that the trees do not grow so thriftily, without having a particle of extra feed." He says that Maj. Putnam merely plowed his Rome Beauty orchard, and that they have uniformly presented an exceedingly thrifty appearance. No tree, he asserts, makes so thrifty, handsome upright growth. As a consequence of their great productiveness, the main limbs become covered with pendant twigs, with protuberances at their extremities. A portion of these should be cut away in order to thin the crop. This variety sold last year in the New Orleans market for $5.50 per barrel, when Roxbury Rsusets would bring but $3.00.

[For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] To Keep Rabbits from Trees in Winter. Two years ago I found the rabbits gnawing my choice trees severely. I had seen several remedies recommended, such as tying on strips of lath, bark, wrapping with straw, &c. But I thought some kind of a wash would be much cheaper, and less work to put it on. I took a small quantity of tobacco and made a strong tea of it; then a thick lime white wash, and stirred in the tobacco. With a brush or swab, a man can wash 1,000 in a day. It proved a remedy with me. My rabbits, although uncivilized, are too nice to chew tobacco. If storms wash off the mixture, wash them again. It does not cost much, Answer to J. T. Cook of Md. S. FOTSER.

A PRODUCTIVE APPLE.-Among all autumn varieties, there is probably nothing equal in productiveness to the Hawthornden. It is a fair fruit, and on account of its fine culinary qualities, is one of the most profitable trees for planting on limited grounds, for family supplies.

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RULES FOR TREE PLANTERS. The following rules are so self-evident to men of experience, that they seem almost like axioms; and yet they are continually broken by novices in setting out orchard and fruit gardens:

1. If the roots of a tree are frozen out of the ground, and thawed again in contact with air, the tree is killed. 2. If the frozen roots are well buried, filling all cavities before thawing any at all, the tree is uninjured.

3. Manure should never be placed in contact with the roots of a tree, in setting it out, but old finely pulverized earthy compost answers well.

should be clean and mellow; or if any crops are suffered, they should be potatoes, carrots, turnips, or other low hoed crops.

[For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] Spanish Chestnut---French Chestnut---Castanea

vesca.

EDS. Co. GENT.-I noticed in your last paper an article from Mr. WYNKOOP of Catskill, under this heading, inti mating as something new, that he had succeeded in growing this fruit. He also says his tree is a graft from a Spanish tree on the native stock, which he thinks has in a measure acclimated the fruit." It is now 60 years since, in my childish rambles across the grounds between my father's house and that of my grandfather, I used to fol5. A small or moderate sized tree at the time of trans-low a path within sixty feet of which stood two lofty and planting will usually be a large bearing tree, sooner than wide spread Spanish chestnuts, rising to the height of over a larger tree set out at the same time, and which is check-40 feet, and each covering a circle with their lowest ed necessarily in growth by removal.

4. Trees should always be set about as deep as they stood before digging up.

6. Constant, clean, and mellow cultivation is absolutely necessary at all times for the successful growth of the peach tree, at any age; it is as necessary for a young plum tree, but not quite so much so for an old one; it is nearly as essential for a young apple tree, but much less so for and old orchard; and still less necessary for a middle aged cherry tree.

7. To guard against mice in winter with perfect success, make a small, compact, smooth earth mound nearly a foot high, around the stem of each young orchard tree.

8. Warm valleys, with a rich soil, are more liable to cause destruction to trees or their crops by cold, than moderate hills of more exposure, and with less fertile soil-the cold air settling at the bottom of valleys during the sharpest frosts, and the rich soil making the trees grow too late in autumn, without ripening and hardening their wood.

9. The roots of a tree extend nearly as far on each side as the height of the tree; and hence to dig it up by cutting a circle with the spade half a foot in diameter, cuts off more than nine-tenths of the roots; and to spade a little circle about a young tree not one quarter as far as the roots extend, and call it "cultivation," is like Falstaff's men claiming spurs and shirt collar for a complete suit.

10. Watering a tree in dry weather affords but temporary relief, and often does more harm than good by crusting the surface. Keeping the surface constantly mellow is much more valuable and important or if this cannot be done, mulch well. If watering is ever done from necessity, remove the top earth, pour in the water, and then replace the earth-then mulch, or keep the surface very mellow.

11. Shrivelled trees may be made plump before planting, by covering tops and all with earth for several days. 12. Watering trees before they expand their leaves, should not be done by pouring water at the roots, but by keeping the bark of the stem and branches frequently or constantly moist. Trees in leaf and in rapid growth, may be watered at the roots, if done properly.

13. Young trees may be manured to great advantage by spreading manure over the roots as far as they extend, or over a circle whose radius is equal to the height of the tree, in autumn or early winter, and spading this manure in, in spring.

14. Never set young trees in a grass field, or among wheat, or other sowed grain. Clover is still worse, as the roots go deep, and rob the tree roots. The whole surface

branches of fully 30 feet or more in diameter. These were then in full bearing, and long remained so, until in the formation of new streets my father had them felled. Franklin street, in Flushing, now covers their site. The Father of the Hon. J. W. Lawrence of this place, obtain. ed some trees from my grandfather, Wm. Prince, one of which is still standing, and produces great crops. My father, Wm. Prince, urged specially upon our countrymen the culture of this tree on an extensive scale, either by planting the seedling trees, or by grafting it on our other native species, which can be done as readily as grafting an apple. During his life, and up to this time, there have never been less than 500 to 1,500 of this tree on hand in our nurseries, and they have been widely, but very sparsely disseminated. They have many varieties in France, and in the third edition of the London Horticultural Society's Catalogue, published in 1842, there are 20 varieties enumerated. These distinct varieties can only be perpetuated by grafting, and of the Devonshire there named I received some grafts from the Secretary of that Society about 20 years ago, and we have been of late years eating the fruit from the only grafted tree of this kind that ever grew in America. Being an English variety it is more hardy than either the Spanish or French.

When it is considered that these trees are so superabundant in their crops of fruit that the vast quantities grown in middle and southern France and in Spain constitute a large proportion of the food of the poorer classes during a portion of the year, and that it is the cheapest of all diet in these countries, it will be perceived how important is the general culture of so estimable a fruit among us, and how wrongly its culture has been neglected.

The Madeira Nut.

most important tree, whose general culture has been even While discussing this subject I recall to mind another more neglected-Juglans regia, usually called Madeira nut, or English walnut, neither of the two latter names being at all applicable, as the tree is a native of Persia, the native land of the Peach, Nectarine, Apricot, and of the Vitis vinifera, the parent of all the foreign grapes. It is now just 54 years since I accompanied my father to the residence of Mr. Halleck, at Great Neck, on this Island, a most staid Quaker gentleman, the grandfather of MajorGeneral Halleck, who has just been appointed Commanderfrom Oneida county, his present homestead. Near his in-Chief of the northwestern army, who, however, hails house stood a Madeira nut tree, from which he then received an annual revenue of $40, the green nuts selling at $1 per hundred for pickles. My father had also a lofty and very ancient tree, much older than himself, from which w. Lawrence has now a tree in his garden here, the crop he sold the green nuts at the same price, and Judge E. of green fruit from which sells annually for $35 to $45.

Flushing, Nov. 30, 1861.

WM. R. PRINCE

HORSE-CULTURE OF GARDENS.

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MESSRS. EDITORS-By giving an article in THE CULTIVATOR, upon kitchen garden culture by horse-power, suitable for the farmer or market gardener, you would oblige your humble servant and other subscribers. A. F.

The garden should have an unoccupied strip of land at each end, ten or twelve feet wide, for the horse to turn upon. The rows of vegetables should extend in drills across the garden, so that the horse may pass from one end to the other without interruption. Potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots, peas, asparagus, cabbage, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, and all the larger plants or vegetables which require some space, may be thus planted in driils and cultivated by horsepower with common plows or cultivators, if the drills are two to four feet apart, according to the size and nature of the plant. The smaller may be in double drills. With an implement like Garrett's horse-hoe, (figured and described on p. 145 of Thomas' Farm Implements,) which dresses out with great accuracy several rows not over a foot asunder, at one passing, nearly all the smaller

vegetables might be thus treated without difficulty. Probably one of Alden's thill cultivators, which may be guided with accuracy, might be fitted so as to dress at least three drills at once, by leaving vacancies between the teeth for the rows. Where one horse is used, it is necessary to dress either one, three, five or more rows, in order that the horse may walk in the middle.

The accompanying figure, (fig. 1) represents a country place with the house nearly at the center, a pear orchard on the left, ornamental grounds on the right, and back of the latter a garden laid out with

an express view to horse culture, the rows which extend across being currants, gooseberries, dwarf apples and dwarf pears. The latter may be omitted, or if planted should be either a rod or more apart, so as to allow vegetables to grow between, or else eight or ten feet apart with no vegetables.

YARD

BARN

Fig. 2.

On a smaller scale, or for a village garden, the same end may be attained with a more finished and picturesque arrangement as shown in the second plan, a sufficient space being left at each end unplanted, so that with the walk added, the horse may turn about without treading on the vegetables.

For field culture, intended for extensive marketing, the same course is to be pursued in every respect, but the importance in this case of cultivators that shall take several rows at once is very obvious.

Fig. 1.

[For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] THE NORTHERN SPY.

This apple was planted quite extensively in Wisconsin Its habit as a tardy bearer not being a few years ago. understood by planters, after waiting, as they thought, a suitable length of time for a show of fruit, began to denounce it as unsuited to the climate. It was not strange that doubts were felt concerning this, when so many of the old popular eastern sorts had disappointed western culturists. Many trees, however, are now fruiting, bearing moderately at six to eight, and profusely at eleven years from planting. We should give the Northern Spy a place a place even in quite a small list of sorts for general cultivation in the northwest.

The trees of the Northern Spy in my orchard this fall, before I left Wisconsin, were perfectly beautiful, and were greatly admired. I have several barrels of the fruit in my cellar here as fresh and hard as when gathered. The tree is quite hardy, and makes a fine growth in our western soil.

Here in Ohio it is planted a good deal. In the northern part of the State it does finely. About Columbus, and further south, it scarcely can be reckoned among the long keepers, ripening, as it does, in early winter. Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 20, 1861.

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A. G. HANFORD.

[For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] THE OLIVE TREE---Olea Europea.

In your last number I notice some comments, descriptive of this tree. It is so hardy that it will withstand the winters of North Carolina, and there are some quite extensive plantations of it in the Southern States. The product, however, even in Italy, is not such as to render its culture very profitable, and there is more "olive oil," so called, obtained from one of the hog pens of the west than an extensive plantation would produce. By far the greater portion of the "olive oil" imported is made from lard exported from this country to France, the two voyages imparting to it a decided improvement. W. R. PRINCE.

THE FRUIT-GROWER'S SOCIETY of Western NewYork, will hold its next annual meeting at Rochester, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 1862, at 11 A. M. By order of the C. P. BISSELL, Sec'y.

If you do good, forget it; if evil, remember & repent of it. Council.

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The

BREEDER.

[For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.]

BEST SHEEP FOR FEEDING.

I find your "Inquiries and Answers" one of the most valuable parts of your paper, and would ask-1. Which is the most profitable breed of sheep to buy to feed for mutton ?-2. Is a Leicester or SouthDown worth more by the pound, LIVE WEIGHT, as a stock for feeding, than a Merino, all being in similar condition ?--3. When, and in what manner, shall I commence feeding a flock of Merinos, intending them for sale in March or April?-4, What kinds and quantity of grain (and roots. if any.) should be given at the time of highest feeding?5. What is the value of oil-cake as compared with corn-or in other words, when corn is worth 30 cents per bushel, as it is here now, what. should be paid for cake? You published last spring a communication from S. Edwards Todd, Esq., giving his mode of fattening cattle, but I have seen no such detailed statement as to sheep. "G." Oakland Co., Mich.-COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Nov. 14.

MESSRS. EDITORS-Not having seen an answer to the above inquiries, I will briefly give the following as the result of my experience and observation :

Answer to question No. 1. Cotswolds, or crosses partaking largely of that blood, that can be made to weigh readily from 180 to 200 pounds and upwards.-2. Leices ter or South-Down preferred; Leicester the largest and best, standing next to the Cotswolds in my estimation for feeding.-3 and 4. Never had any experience in feeding Merinos; but to feed common sheep, or any of the longwooled breeds that I intended for the March or April market, I should give plenty of good hay and all the roots they would eat, with very little corn, until 1st or middle of January, when I should increase the corn gradually till they had all they would eat up clean at every feeding, and continue it until marketed; which to be profitable, (and that is what feeders aim at,) should generally be in thirty or forty days after the highest point in feeding is arrived at. Good feeders take on flesh rapidly, and unlike cattle, reach nearly their greatest weight very quickly; after which you do not get well paid for your feed, except perchance in the rise of the market.

Turnips are the only kind of roots I feed. They can be raised much cheaper, and appear better adapted to sheep than any thing else. I raise chiefly the English Globe variety, being larger and more easily raised and gathered than any other variety-five men and two teams gathered 50 wagon loads for me in one day this season. They have very large tops as well as bottoms, and grow mostly out of the ground, and can be removed readily with a gentle push of the foot. The tops furnish valuable food for stock. The size of these turnips may appear large to NewYorkers and New-Englanders; but my whole crop of this variety was estimated by many to weigh from three to five lbs., and many of them were on exhibition at the clerk's office for a long time, weighing 20 pounds and upwards each. Seed sown on sod ground without manure, broadcast, from 10th to 15th of July. So much for roots.

THE SHEEP OF LINCOLNSHIRE.

We have had engraved for this week's COUNTRY GENTLEMAN the portrait of an Improved Lincolnshire Sheep. The animal in question was bred by Mr. John Clarke of Long Sutton, an English agriculturist of much prominence, and was one of three to which the Royal Society's first prize was awarded. The engraving of the group, on steel, appeared in a recent volume of the London Farmer's Magazine; and the one of them, which we have selected as the subject of our illustration, stands in a position to show the characteristics of the sheep to pretty good advantage. There has been some inquiry for the breed of late years in this country, and where tried in Canada it has we believe succeeded very well.

[For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] STEAMING FOOD FOR CATTLE. The subject of steaming food for stock seems to be engrossing the attention of farmers in many parts of the country, especially in those places where hay commands a high price; and the results of those experiments which have been tried in a thorough and systematic manner, would seem to prove that in point of profit, it was preferable to the ordinary modes of keeping; more especially is this the case in keeping milch cows. During the past fall I had the pleasure of forming the acquaintance of Mr. H. H. PETERS of Southboro', Mass. This gentleman is largely engaged in producing milk for the Boston market, his herd of cattle consisting of about 60 thorough-bred Ayrshires, which is said to be the largest and finest herd of this breed of cattle in the United States. For two winters past, Mr. Peters has been experimenting in the dif ferent ways of keeping his stock through the winter, such as cutting, mixing and steaming the food for them. His apparatus for steaming food for stock is thus described in the Boston Cultivator:

"It consists of an upright boiler, such as is commonly used for working the ordinary elevating engines used on board ships and in stores. It is placed in one corner of the barn-cellar, and surrounded by fire-proof walls. The In answer to the last inquiry, I would say that I have smoke flue connects with a chimney on the outside, which fed more or less oil-meal every year for many seasons. It is carried above the roofs of the nearest buildings. The usually costs, delivered here, about $28 per ton. I feed fuel used is hard coal. There are two steam-vats, standvery little, when corn is cheap; never to sheep for fattening in two barns, which join at one corner, and form a ing purposes when it is below 35 cents, as at present, or right angle. The vats are on the floors where the cattle to cattle when below 40. Sheep do their own grinding, stand. Iron pipes carry the steam from the boiler to the hence no toll comes out of their corn.

Near Fort Wayne, Ind.

I. D. G. NELSON.

CURE FOR HOG CHOLERA.-A correspondent of a Western paper states that the following has been used in Kentucky with success:-One part madder, one part sulphur, one-half part saltpetre, and one-half part black antimony, mixed, and give one tablespoonful twice a day. As a preventive, give one tablespoonful a day.

vats. Besides these, gutta percha pipes are used to take the steam to the casks or tubs in which vegetables, oats, &c., are cooked. These pipes can also be put into the water, which is constantly running in and out reservoirs in the barns, and can be made to warm it to any degree that may be desired to make it agreeable or beneficial to the stock. The whole cost of the apparatus was $300. About 400 pounds of fodder is usually steamed in each vat at one time, and the vats are filled once a day, the

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