Homesteading 



in the use of the " sweep " on a ranch, helped 

 us in its construction and showed us how to 

 use it. We brought out from town three planks 

 twenty feet long, and bolted them together in 

 such a way as to be hauled along the ground 

 on their flat side. To the bottom of these we 

 nailed some short pieces, to run along the ground 

 something in the nature of teeth. At the ends 

 and in the centre we fixed uprights to carry a 

 rail to keep the gathering bunch of hay in front. 

 A chain is attached at each end of the imple- 

 ment, to which a team can be hooked in such 

 a way that it can swing round and draw either 

 the ends or the whole affair backwards or for- 

 wards. With this tool immense masses of hay 

 can be drawn together and jammed tight to 

 form a foundation, when a few planks can be 

 placed in an inclined position against the sides, 

 and great heaps drawn on to the lower layer. 

 With two mowing machines, a rake, and the 

 sweep, six of us put up about a hundred tons 

 of hay in, a fortnight. It should be noted that 

 the strips forming the teeth project a few inches 

 on each side of the bottom plank, so that, when 

 the teams swing round, the back of the imple- 

 ment becomes the front. 



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