horse in advance of his partner is bad in prin- 

 ciple ; it is an unequal division of labor, the fore- 

 horse being compelled to do more than his share 

 of the work, which, under any circumstances, is 

 always heavy enough. The balks of the above 

 set of harrows ■were made of wood in order to 

 ensure extraordinary lightness ; but, for general 

 purposes, I prefer those made of iron, the 

 weight of which can be increased to any rea- 

 sonable degree without adding much to their 

 substance. This is important in working tena- 

 cious clays, which, by adhering to the common 

 clumsy wooden balks considerably increase the 

 labor, and at the same time impede the proper 

 execution. 



In an experiment made between a pair of 

 wooden harrows and a pair of iron ones, con- 

 structed on the same plan, having the same num- 

 ber, and precisely the same disposition of the 

 teeth and frames, although those of iron were 

 found to be 20 lbs. lighter than those of wood, 

 yet the former worked decidedly better and 

 steadier than the latter; in fact, the iron har- 

 rows cut into the land, while those made of 

 ■v\oud rode, or rather danced, on the surface. — 



Next, as to the length and position of harrow- 

 teeth. The common plan is to set them spring- 

 ing a little forward, and gradually increasing m 

 length from the fore to the hind row. There is 

 no advantage in this, but the contrai-y ; for. if 

 the action of harrows so constructed be carefully 

 examined, it will be found the reverse of what 

 it ought to bo — the hind part will be thrown up, 

 and the fore teeth, short as they are, will have 

 to do all the work. In .some experiments made 

 with harrows, the fallacy of the idea, that an in- 

 equality in the length of the teeth was es.sen- 

 tial to the proper working of harrows, was 

 made evideill. For this purpo.se, a harrow con- 

 structed on the old-fa.shioned plan of unequal 

 and {springing teeth, was reversed, putting the 

 longest teeth in front ; the whole of the teeth 

 then pointing backirard instead of forward. 

 Nothing could \\ork better ; there were no 

 chucks and snatches, but all went on smooth- 

 ly and steadily. I do not, from this circui.^- 

 stancc, recommend haiTOws to be so construct- 

 ed, but have no doubt that each harrow .should 

 have all its teeth of equal length, and they 

 should stand perpendicularly from the frames. 



GANG OF HEAVY IRON HARROWS. 



I ! ! I : : I I ! I ! I : i 



The above engraving of iron harrows is in- 

 troduced to show the form in which they are 

 usQally made ; they are used in gangs of three. 



four, or five, as may be required to suit the 

 lands on which they are used, and may be 

 made to any weight required. 



[Ransome'a " Implements of Apiculture " 



THE MAKING AND USE OF CAPONS. 



FRENCH METHOD OF FATTENING FOWLS. 



Is It not unaccountable, Mr. Editor, that in 

 this age, which has acquired the name of ntili- 

 tarian, such slo\v progress should be made in 

 the practice and economy of mnking, using and 

 eating Capons ? In a certain County in Mary- 

 land, where the writer first "saw the light," one 

 faithful old woman slave of his grandmother pos- 

 sessed the art of caponizing fowls ; but with her, 

 alas ! the secret expired. Even with her, it 

 was only put in u.se so far as to provide a parent 

 who could carry about and protect from the 

 (f253) rJS 



weather a double brood of young ones, leaving 

 the natural mothers to return to the work of 

 procreation, after having been shut up a few days, 

 just long enough to drj- up their tears and forget 

 that they had been robbed of their progeny— 

 the process of oblivion being as short lived with 

 some two legged mothers, as with "other some." 

 This reference, by-the-by, Mr. E dilor, to my 

 old grandmother's negro capon-maker is one of 

 the writer's most youthful reminiscences of de»r 

 old Calvert County in Maryland. 



