.10- 



C OBSTRUCTION AND HANDLING OF THE BRUSH DRAG 



A brush drag which will save considerable time and labor in hauling 

 brush from the orchard can be constructed from heavy hog fencing. Th» drag 

 is constructed by tying together three 18 to 20' sections of "No. 9^ wire" 

 hog fencing. The., sections are tied together by weaving a piece of heavy 

 wire, such as telephone wire, around the outside wire of each section. Three 

 sections of hog fencing will make a drag about 9 feet wide. Attach a log 

 9 to 12" in diameter to each end of the drag. A short chain is fastened 

 around the middle of each log, so the drag can be hauled from either end. 



Brush can be easily piled on this type of drag, and it will have a 

 full load at about the time the pile is too high to load easily. The real 

 saving in time and labor comes in unloading the drag. A long 3/4" rope is 

 tied to the rear end of the drag and brought up over the load and hitched 

 to the tractor. Unhitch the drag from the tractor and start up with the 

 rope hitch. The load of brush will then be rolled up into a compact pile, 

 and the drag will be pulled free and clear of the brush pile. 



This drag will slide along quite easily on a heavy frozen sod, but 

 it may bog down if the orchard is very muddy, and of course it may get hung 

 up on stubs or similar obstructions between the tree rows. However, these 

 disadvantages are offset by the ease with which the drag is loaded and un- 

 loaded when compared to a truck or wagon. 



Telephone wire 





wmm m ^ 



>v Hog fencing 



Chain 



— W. D. Vfeeks 



New M imeographed Circulars. A new publication on Brush Pushers will soon be 

 available. Sketches and copy were submitted for mimeographing a few days ago. 

 For those individuals living in towns where the growing of currants and goose- 

 berries is permitted, a new mimeographed circular on that subject will also 

 be of interest. 



How Soil Thaws, It is not very generally known that the thawing of a frozen 

 soil in spring proceeds more rapidly from below than from above. In a thoro^^gh 

 study of the effects of various ground covers on freezing and thawing, as com- 

 pared with a bare soil in Kansas, soil heat was found to be about 3 times as 

 efficient as that of the air, in reducing the thickness of the frozen layer. 



