218 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMEK. 



July 



Water Drawers. — Within the past three years 

 an effort has been made to bring back to domes- 

 tic use the well bucket. 



" The bucket, the old oaken bucket, 

 "The bucket that hung in the well." 



Several ingenious devices have been gotten up 

 to effect the oSject, and the well bucket, or as it 

 is now christianed the "water drawer" is again 

 becoming familiar, not with the old curb and 

 high sweep, but with wheel and pulley and a 

 movable spout through which the limpid fluid is 

 pjured without further effort. A few days since 

 on going to the post ofBce we saw on the side- 

 walk a neat looking curb containing one of thefe 

 new fixings, and attracting the attention of a 

 large crowd. To our surprise we found it in 

 charge of a well known brother nurseryman, and 

 who is the inventor. We always knew that there 

 was genius in the craft, but as it is seldom put 

 to good use we were curious to examine his bant- 

 ling, which he calls the " Eclipse Water Drawer.'* 

 We had indubitable evidence, after diving into its 

 mysteries, which by the way were all plain, that 

 it did eclipse all others of its class, by the addi- 

 tion of a contrivance that he d the bucket in 

 place, without discharging, only as the operator 

 desired, and then either by the tumbler or pail 

 full. Well, this suits us, and we can again (when 

 we get the " drawer,") slake our thirst from the 

 rim of 



"The moss covered bucket, 



" The iron bound bucket, 



" The bucket that hangs in the well." 



Those curious to know more of this will ad" 

 dress R. W. Hunt, Galssburg. It is the best by 

 far that we have seen of 



*' The bucket that rose from the well." 



Freaks of the M.\ils. — To-day, July 10th, we 

 received a package of proof postmarked Spring- 

 field, June 23, 1860, directed to this office, and 

 forwarded from EfBngham July 8th, 1861. Is'nt 

 this phunny ? The package is not travel worn, 

 but has been well cared for. The supposition is 

 that the old postmaster could not read, and that 

 it had been waiting for the school master or a 

 change in the office. It may be that the direc- 

 tion, "Champaign," staggered the ofi&cial and 

 he put it in durance for fear that it might spill 

 out and spile something. Well, it is pretty weU 

 dried up at this time, and at least innocent of 

 spirits. We prefer the way the old negro dis- 

 tributed the mails, with a shovel, giving each 

 bag a proportion. In this way the matter would 



go, but to lock it up a whole year is some- We 

 thank our stars that it was not at the beginning 

 of Old Buck's administration, for then we should 

 have had to wait four years. The noble official 

 can have a leather medal on application. Doubt- 

 less one of the same kidney has part of the copy 

 for the February number in his charge, which 

 will come to light on a change in the offise. 



Mole Draining. 



In the June number we pretty fully discussed 

 the subject of mole draining, but the outs were 

 delayed, which we now supply. 



Figure 1. 



A is the outlet or open drain where the mole 

 drains commence and run up through the lands 

 to be drained. From ^ to i? is the main slough, 

 from which the laterals C lead off to the upland 

 or small depressions, as shown in Fig. 2. In clay 

 soils there is little difficulty in obtaining an abun- 

 dance of stock water by adopting the plan laid 

 down. In a broad slough one drain is not suffi-. 

 cieut, and more or less will be required, depend- 

 ing on the width and length of the drain. A hun- 

 dred rods, or perhaps more will do to run from 

 the outlet, but it is better to begin back to the 

 open drain than to load down the main drain with 

 too much water. From the want of air these 

 mole drains will not discharge as freely as the 

 tile ; and, to obviate this, some recommend air 

 holes or pipes running down at intervals of a 

 hundred rods. If these could be kept in good 

 repair it might be well enough, but this will not 

 often be done. The lateral drains can be made 

 with a smaller mole, which lessens the expense. 



