400 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



St:PT. 



BEVOLVING -WHEEL RAKE 



We insert the above cut of "Cogswell's Revolv- 

 ing Wheel Rake" for two reasons : 



1. To place before the reader who wishes to 

 procure a horse rake, some idea of the construc- 

 tion of this one, better than he can gain by a mere 

 explanation in words, — and 



2. To promote the interest of an inventor who 

 is willing to "warrant" that his machine shall "do 

 the work easier and better than any other rake in 

 the market." 



We have never seen this rake, and, of course, 

 can say nothing of its merits ; but we should be 

 glad to test it in a quiet way in our own fields. 



The proprietors say : 



The rake can be mounted on common carriage- 

 wheels, and has a spring seat for the driver. It 

 has wooden teeth, which cannot injure the roots of 

 the grass, and can be easily replaced if broken. 



It comes directly before the driver, which is a 

 decided improvement over any other, obviating 

 the necessity of looking backwards. 



It works with a lever, which is so constructed 

 that the driver with one hand can raise the rake 

 full of hay over any obstruction to the height of 

 two feet. 



It is warranted to rake hay and grain, and is 

 well adapted to the roughest fields, and will not 

 scrape up any dirt or stubble. It leaves the hay 

 in good order to put up, and can be operated by a 

 lad sixteen years of age. 



Feeding Oats to Horses. — The same quan- 

 tity of oats given to a horse produces different ef- 

 fects according to the time they are administered. 

 I have made the experiments on my own horses, 

 and have always observed that there is in the 

 dung a quantity of oats not digested, when I pur- 

 posely gave them Avater after a feed of oats. 

 There is, then, decidedly a great advantage in 

 giving horses water before corn. There is anoth- 



er bad habit, that of giving corn ana nay on their 

 return to the stable after hard work. Being very 

 hungry, they devour it eagerly and do not masti- 

 cate ; the consequence is, it is not so well digest- 

 ed and not nearly so nutritious. When a horse 

 returns from work, perspiring and out of breath, 

 he should be allowed to rest for a time, then giv- 

 en a little hay, half an hour afterward water, and 

 then oats. By this plan water may be given with- 

 out risk of cold, as the oats act as a stimulant. 



A PENMAN ON PENS. 

 What a pen is to be made of is still unsettled. 

 The quill, the steel pen and the hard-nibbed gold 

 pen, have their several advocates, and are largely 

 used ; but still every one complains that he is not 

 suited ; nothing that is good and cheap lasts. 

 Various contrivances have been adopted for keep- 

 ing steel and corrosion apart. Pens have been 

 galvanized on Davy's plan for protecting the ship's 

 copper, but not with good effect. Washes of all 

 kinds have been applied ; the latest we have seen 

 being of gutta-percha, with the very improper 

 name of the gutta-percha pen. Glass has been 

 tried, but has not come into use. A correspond- 

 ent inform us, that he strongly suspects that sim- 

 ple gold, without any hard nib, is the true mate- 

 rial. When his nibs have come off, whether by 

 wear or accident, he grinds the gold ends in an 

 unskilful way into something like a practical form. 

 He thus produces a rough pen, which is so dura- 

 ble that he thinks the manufacturers would do well 

 to turn their attention to the imitation of a quill 

 in gold. The metal is to be excessively thin, and 

 our correspondent suspects that the best imitation 

 of a quill would require so little gold that a pen 

 might be sold for a shilling. This pen, he thinks, 

 would last for six months, at least, even in the 

 hands of a reviewer. At any rate, it is worth 

 while to repeat, from time to time, the complaint 

 that the world, in this prodigiously puffed and 

 loudly lauded nineteenth century, is still without 

 a pen. — London Athenaeum. 



