The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-03-16
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

STA BLING CATrLE.-A letter from
Samuel Fuller, of Grand Rapids, the
other day sent the editor of the
Detroit Free Press ona tour of investi-
CATION. This was the essence of the COM
munication:
81 am banker, but have been farmer,
and pretty good one. have visited
some Of the best farmers in this country
and New England, and have taken
particular interest in the management OF
cattle in stables. l have not seen 50
satisfactory an arrangement as has been
shown me to-day IL beats everything, in
Guiding the Agricultural College, and
yet it is the simplest thing in the world.
Come aud see it. 1t is worth your
WHILE"
While in Grand Rapids the other day
the Free Press correspondent called upon
Mr.. Fuller and visited the stables of o.
the city.
Mr.. Van Buren, has sixty fine cows,
which he cares for in basement stable
of good height and ventilation. He
bitches them in rows by ropes, which
gives them some freedom of movement.
There are no stalls, but each animal
is allowed about four feet and half of
space.
The animals are allowed to run out in
yards for time each forenoon, the length
varying with the severity of the weather.
While out they are fed with few corn
stalks scattered evenly over considera-
BILE surface of ground. At one o'clock
they come in to feed upon straw, which
is deliberately provided for them in the
boxes, and a portion of bran and meal
mixed, or sweet malt The straw they
pick over, and what is left goes under
them for bedding.
While milking, each COW is fed sepa-
rately SO as to eat while the milk is being
drawn from the udder. We were assured
that the amount of this feed was gagged
according to the demand for milk. Mr.
Van Buren, claimed that he could by
judiciOus feeding any time increase his
daily supply sixty quarts. His COWS all
knew their places perfectly we'll, and un-
der his system it only required the work
of two men to milk and perform all the
work necessary in connection with tins
herd of sixty cows.
This was very we'll, but nothing ex.
traordinary. The thing to elicit remarks
anu WOluSTUlcIlU was tlldt
stable Of cattle there was no Odor of ma
nure, everything was neat and clean.
There was noeXcremcntiOus matter upon
the launches and sides of the cattle, and
the "smell of the barn." rs it is often
called which almost universally accom-
panies the milk of winter, was not to be
detected in the milk from this dairy.
And this was all due to his method of
managing the manure, which to many
nice farmers would seem the height of
shiftlessness. All the manure from this
herd of cattle for the entire winter lies
under them. Abundance ofstraw is fur
nished and the manure is covered and
packed down by the cattle into hard
mass. Then there is no chance for " fire
fang" from over fermentation, but every
bit is perfectly preserved for future use
in the best possible condition. Mr.. Van
Buren, said he should clean his stables
once this winter, then they would last
till spring. He should draw it di-
rectly upon the land where it was needed,
thus saving the cost of handling so many
times.
This method commended itself for
many reasons-its cheapness, neatness,
to the stock.
There may be some drawbacks.
Scientific men may not think this the
best way to handle the manure, but con-
sidering the value of labor we wish
the system might be more generally fol-
lowed.
POSSIBILITIES OF WHEAT CULTURE.
Although the average yield of this cereal
for the last few years has not probably
exceeded fifteen bushels per acre, there
is really no valid excuse for a rate of pro-
duction SO ridiculously low. While some
farmers in nearly every section of the
country seem to find difficulty in get
ting even as high as fifteen bushels per
acre, it is we'll known fact that others,
even in the same localities, succeed in
getting from twenty to thirty bushels,
and u few as high as forty or fifty bush
els. These facts clearly prove that there
is a possibility in wheat culture that some
farmers know how to reach, and others
do not. 1t is stated by III. S. b., in the
Country Gentleman, that fifty bushels of
wheat per acre is crop possible for all
farmers. This is unquestionably claim
ing too much. But there is no reason to
doubt, and it would not be difficult to
show, that yield of thirty bushels is
fairly within reach of the
average farmer. The writer above
cited informs us that neighbor of
his recently obtained fifty-fve bushels.
1t is his opinion that it pays well to cul-
tivate wheat in drills, at an extra cost Of
four to six dollars per acre. The other
items of cost he estimates at eighteen
dollars and fifty cents, which, with the
extra cultivation charged at six dollars,
makes twenty-four dollarsand fifty cents.
The manure is not included in this esti-
mate, but is offset by the value of the
straw. This, on yield of fifty bushels,
brings the cost per bushel down to fifty
cents, which. at market price of one
dollar and twenty-five cents, leaves a
margin of seventy-five cents per bushel.
THE WAY TO CAPTURE HAWKS AND
OwLs.-Most hawks, especially such as
prey upon fowls of any sort, usually light
on the top of some bare pole, post, or dry
tree. A farmer writes that he has sue
ceeded in taking about twenty hen hawks
in steel trap, by setting the trap on the
upper end of square pole some twenty
feet high, with the butt end firmly
planted in the ground. Edward Gay
lord, of Iowa, writes in relation to cap
turing owls:
When l suspect the owls are about to
commence their mischief l get stick
suitable for the place, and fasten small
steel trap fiat on the top, and set up some
three or four feet above. If an owl comes
anywhere near he will be very sure to
settle down in the trap with as much
calm and as graceful an air as an owl
is capable of putting on. This is a trait
in the owl quite peculiar to himself. He
seldom pounces on his victim the first
thing, like other birds of prey; but frs.
comes slowly along, and settles down on
some conspicuous site near the victims
and takes very calm and cool survey of
all the surroundings. AS soon as all
things appear to him to be favorable, he
quietly let's himself down ameng the
fowls, hoping to induce some one of their
number In hv off mr. droD down from