FARM IMPROVEMENTS 283 



ers in every case. The operation of the stock law saved the 

 farmers $150,000,000 in New York, and $90,000,000 in Missouri. 



About the only use remaining for hedges is for windbreaks and 

 for ornamental purposes on lawns and parks. 



Gates. No farm is complete that is not properly supplied with 

 gates that lead from one field to another and that can be opened 

 without dismounting when traveling on horseback. The front 

 gate leading from the public road to the lawn should be so arranged 

 that it can be opened by a mechanism of levers, ropes, and pulleys 

 without the driver's getting out of his wagon or buggy. 



Such gates can be ordered from the factory through the local 

 hardware dealer, but if the farmer has a mechanical turn, he can 

 easily make such a gate himself. If the gate is to be made of 

 wood, it will be found best to get some light material like white 

 pine, so that the weight of the gate will not pull off the hinges or 

 cause the gatepost to lean out of position. The gateposts should 

 be of white oak or cedar and must be at least a foot square at the 

 top and considerably larger at the bottom. The post to which the 

 gate is attached by its hinges should be set three or four feet in 

 the ground and firmly anchored. 



Farm mechanics treats of the making of the necessary farm 

 conveniences; the building of walks, driveways, and small bridges; 

 the construction of cisterns, water tanks, compression tanks, and 

 water troughs; the digging of ponds and lakes; constructing silos, 

 ice houses, and other outbuildings; the setting up, care, and man- 

 agement of machinery; blacksmithing; the management of steam 

 and gasoline engines; the management of stoves and furnaces; 

 farm drainage; and other kindred subjects. Boys will find that 

 their work in manual training will be of inestimable value to them 

 in after life on the farm. Often a whole day's work is lost on the 

 farm because some simple pieces of ironwork in the machinery 

 used has been broken or lost. In many such cases the young 

 man who has had a course of ironwork in his manual training 

 exercises could repair the breakage in a few minutes and but little 

 time would be lost. The same young man could easily construct 

 an ice box, make a clothes rack, a self-adjusting clothes line for 

 the laundress, and many other necessary conveniences. His 

 knowledge of blacksmithing would enable him to sharpen the 



