130 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



As the cart moves along, the scoop may be readily filled and as easily dis- 

 charged. 'As the scoop is formed of two parts jointed together, each part is 

 filled separately, therefore there is not such a large quantity of earth to be 

 forced backward, at once, while filling the scoop. The power required to 

 work common excavators is great, because of the great amount of earth to be 

 forced back in the scoop. 



Self-acting Barn Door Fastener. An upright bar of strong wood, working- 

 free in staples, is attached inside of the door, in two parts, with a small rack 

 upon each, working upon a pinion fast to the door. Lift up the lower part of 

 the bar, from the outside or in, and it rolls the top down and catches. Shut 

 the door and the catch is loosened the weight of the lower part of the bar 

 falls and rolls the pinion, turning the corresponding rack up, thus fastening 

 the door top and bottom. 



Machines for Husking Indian Corn. The annual production of Indian corn 

 is 600,000,000 bushels, nearly ah 1 of which is shelled by machinery; but the 

 husking is done by hand. The expense of husking is estimated at 5 cents a 

 bushel, or $3,000,000 a year! No less than 129 different patents have been 

 granted for shellers ; but for huskers, only four patents have ever been issued 

 two of which have long since expired. Not one of them is sufficiently prac- 

 ticable, we believe, to meet the wants of the community. 



Corn huskers are very much needed on every farm throughout the land. 

 Here is a splendid opportunity for inventors, and we hope they will not be 

 slow to improve it. Scientific American. 



Neio Plough. A correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune gives the following 

 description of a new plough exhibited at the recent fair of the N. T. State 

 Agricultural Society : It is what has been long sought for a perfect rever- 

 sible plough ; that is, reversible by shifting the beam instead of the share, so 

 as to obtain a side hill plough that works just as well one way as the other, 

 and just as well as any plough made to work but one way, turning the 

 furrow either right or left. Fifteen years ago, Barnaby & Moore, of Ithaca, 

 made a plough that was intended for this purpose, but failed because the 

 beam never stood hi the exact right position with the point, except when it 

 was set in the centre, and then it was simply a double mould-board plough. 

 Consequently, the plough was a failure and went out of use, notwithstanding 

 the flattering reception it met with at first. Every farmer felt how much 

 such a plough was needed, and this helped him to believe it had been 

 invented. 



Where Moore left off, A. Barton, a plain, poor, but thinking man, of Onon- 

 daga county, commenced, and has perfectly succeeded. His beam is attached 

 to the share by a strong but free joint on the underside, and the point of the 

 plough is attached to the point of a stiong coulter attached to the centre of the 

 beam, so that whichever way the beam is turned, right or left, the point goes 

 with it, and the beam sets exactly as though it was framed into the handle on 

 that side. It may also be set in the middle, and then is a double mould-board 

 plough, but its great value consists in its easy conversion from a right handed 

 to a left handed plough, without any more labor than lifting and shutting the 

 latch of a door while the team is turning. The point is of steel and self- 



