PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 373 



which have been contributed to the Sanitary fair. It is a mode of drying 

 a washing of clothes far more convenient than the one in common use by a 

 line stretched upon posts. The line is all fixed upon arms which are 

 attached to a post, and hoist up and down and revolve, so that all the line 

 can be hung full in a snowy or wet time from one stand point, and then the 

 •whole hoisted up in the air, out of dust or danger, and where they dry 

 quicker than upon a straight line. It is worthy of attention from all 

 housewives. 



Economical Horse Feed. 



Mr. B. C Cavess}', Collinsville, 111., says that he keeps his horses in 

 good working order with three feeds a day of cut straw, mixed with two 

 quarts of wheat bran and four quarts of corn meal. 



We should think that he might. This would be twelve quarts of meal 

 and six quarts of bran, eighteen quarts, weighing twenty-four pounds per 

 day. The hard-working car-horses in New York are kept in order upon 

 thirteen pounds of hay and seventeen pounds of meal per day. 



A Good Grafting Cement. 



One pound of rosin, five ounces ninety-five percent alcohol, one ounce 

 beef tallow, one tablespoonful of spirits turpentine. Melt the rosin over a 

 slow fire, add the beef tallow, and stir with a perfectly dry stick or piece 

 of wire. When somewhat cooled add the turpentime, and last the alcohol 

 in small quantities, stirring the mass constantly. Should the alcohol cause 

 it to lump, warm again until it melts. Keep in a bottle. Lay it on in a 

 very thin coat with a brush. In a room of moderate temperature the wax 

 should be of the consistence of molasses. Should it prove thicker, thin it 

 down with alcohol. It is always ready for use; it is never affected by heat 

 or cold, and heals up wounds hermetically. ^ 



Ditching Machines. 



Mr. J. B. Frisbie, Baldwinsville, Onondaga county, N. Y., wants "a ditch 

 or drain digger that can be worked by horse power, instead of and at less 

 cost than a ' son of Erin,' with a pick and spade, at 35 to 40 cents a rod. 

 We want a machine, simple, strong and durable enough to make a drain 

 from two to four feet deep, wide enough on the bottom to lay from two to 

 six-inch tile; one that will dig in a hard, gravelly, stony undersoil, that 

 requires a pick when dug by hand, to work it up so that it can be shoveled. 

 There may be such a machine, but it has never been my good fortune to 

 see or hear of one. If there is no such machine, who will be the man to 

 try his ingenuity, for the want is becoming more urgent with every year, 

 both on account of the scarcity of laborers and the continued increasing 

 •wetness of the soil; for lands that fifteen or twenty years ago would bear 

 good crops of wheat or corn, now, owing to the cold dampness of the soil 

 and want of under-draining, they fail entirely, or are at least no more than 

 half of what they formerly were, although the land may be bountifully sup- 

 plied with manure. Now, it is evident that underdrains are what we must 

 have for successful cultivation, and on an economical scale, if possible, in 



