140 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
Cheap Home-Made Bag Holder. 
- — • — 
A subscriber to the Agriculturist whose com- 
munication and address have been mislaid, sent 
a sketch and description from which the above 
engraving is made. It represents a cheap 
and apparently very convenient bag holder. To 
make it, take a two-inch plank block, 12x18 
inches ; bevel the sides half an inch, and with 
stro:ig screws fasten to it two flexible uprights 
of half inch board, each 6 to 8 inches wide, as 
shown in the engraving. To use it, the top of 
the bag is folded over about three inches, and 
placei 1 over one upright, the two are sprung to- 
gether so that the fold ma}' be placed over the 
other one, and it is thus held distended. The 
uprights are long enough to allow the bottom 
of the bag to rest upon the block. Where the 
bags are of uniform length, this will answer 
every purpose. We would suggest that to 
accommodate bags of different lengths, two 
short uprights might both be fastened to the 
block, and then two flexible strips be fixed to 
slide up and down in staples fastened to the 
outside of the stationary uprights. 
*-* — ^a^ — 1-~ 
Progress of Flax Cotton Manufacture. 
Some progress lias been made towards secur- 
ing the desirable end of being able to work flax 
upon cotton spinning machinery, as is seen in 
the establishment of several factories. As yet, 
however, the enterprise cannot be deemed wholly 
successful. In consideration of the importance 
of this industrial interest, the Legislature of 
New-York, on the 22d of April, 1862, appropri- 
ated $2000 bounty for "machinery to test 
the experiment of manufacturing flax cotton, 
to be expended under the direction of the State 
Agricultural Society." The Society has recently 
rendered a report of their proceedings in the 
matter. The investigation was made by a coni- 
mitttee consisting of Hon. Ezra Cornell, Messrs. 
Samuel Campbell of New York mills, A. Wild 
and B. P. Johnson of Albany and J. S. Gould 
of Hudson. Only two competitors for the 
State bounty appeared, viz. : the Lockport, N. 
Y., Flax Cotton Company, and Mr. C. Beach, 
of Penn Yan, N. Y. After examining their 
processes, the committee submitted the fol- 
lowing resolutions, which were adopted : 
Resolved, That in the judgment of this Society 
no such advance in the perfection of machinery 
to test the experiment of manufacturing flax 
cotton has been made as to warrant the Society 
in awarding any portion of the sum appropriat- 
ed by the Legislature, at the present time. 
Resolved, That the Society will keep the exe- 
cution of the trust reposed in them by the Leg- 
islature for the present in abeyance, under the 
hope that such valuable improvements may be 
effected in the coming year, as may justify the 
Society in awarding the whole or some portion 
of this amount to any such successful inventions. 
Resolved, That the committee be requested to 
continue their investigation during the year, at 
such time and in such manner as may, on con- 
sultation with the President and Secretary of 
the Society be deemed most advisable. 
Resolved, That the entire sum of two thousand 
dollars, appropriated by the State as aforesaid, 
now in the hands of the Treasurer of the So- 
ciety, be deposited by him in one of the trust 
companies of the city of New York, where it 
may draw interest until it shall be required for 
the purpose designated by the Legislature. 
Resolved, That the proceedings of the Society 
be presented to the Honorable Legislature." 
(Signed) B. P. Johkson, Secretary. 
The committee say in addition : " We are fully 
convinced that the reduction of flax fiber to flax 
cotton is practicable. Alreadj' great strides to- 
wards the accomplishment of this have been 
made, as we think, in the right direction. We 
feel confident that nothing is needed but intel- 
ligent and persevering efforts, to achieve a 
triumphant success. We deem it desirable in 
the highest degree that the Legislature should 
continue to offer a reward with a view of stimu- 
lating and encouraging the activity and ingen- 
uity of inventors." The continued demand for 
cotton substitutes is inspiring inventors in every 
direction, and it is to be hoped that ere long 
their efforts will furnish us again with some 
material for clothing, produced at the North, 
less costly than cotton at 40 cents per yard. 
An Effective Mole Trap. 
If the moles would confine their sapping and 
mining operations to the fields, they might be 
spared in consideration of their usefulness in 
destroying grubs and other troublesome insects. 
But we have learned by costly experience that 
in the garden and ornamental grounds they may 
become an intolerable nuisance. Last year we 
published in the Agriculturist, page 141 (May No.) 
the best of over twenty designs for mole traps 
sent by different parties. A correspondent 
writes that upon attempting to construct a sim- 
ilar one, not being much of a carpenter, he 
found it too difficult for him. He finally con- 
trived the simple modification shown below, 
and found it to work well. His trap wassprung 
fourteen times, and he secured fourteen moles. 
In the engraving, the plank (P,) 8 to 12 feet 
long, has a hole in the lower end which passes 
over a pin driven into the ground, to hold it in 
place. Three or more stout wires, very sharp, 
are inserted an inch apart on each side of the 
end of the plank. The pairs of wires should be 
about 9 inches apart. A stone or other weight, 
S, is added to bring it down forcibly. A com- 
mon figure 4 (f)is placed under the plank, with 
the trigger lying across the mole track. When 
setting it, the track is flattened with the foot, 
where the trigger is to rest upon it. The plank 
should have a fall of 12 to 15 inches. The mole 
in passing, in either direction lifts the trodden 
ground and the trigger resting upon it, and 
is instantly pierced by the descending points. 
•-« ««« r-m, 
Another Improved Bow-Pin. 
A subscriber to the American Agriculturist 
sends the accompanying design for a bow pin, 
which he considers an improvement on the 
one shown in Vol. XXI, page 300 (Oct. 1862.) 
It consists of a common wrought iron hinge, 
with one side fastened to the yoke, so that the 
other part will rest over about one third of the 
hole through which the bow passes. A taper- 
ing notch is cut in the side of the bow, as shown 
in the engraving. This arrangement allows the 
bow to pass upward, lift- 
ing the loose part of the 
hinge ; on its return, the 
hinge catches in the 
notch, and holds the bow 
fast. It is veiy conven* 
ient for yoking shy cattle, 
which will sometimes 
start while the pin is be- 
ing inserted. By having 
the pin thus fastened to the yoke, there is no 
danger of its being lost, a decided advantage. 
Hints on Raising' Indian Corn. 
In the cultivation of corn there is no stereo- 
typed method, absolutely better than others, for 
every time and place. What may be best in the 
garden, may not be required in the field. What 
answers well in the small fields of New England, 
may not be needful in the thousand-acre lots of 
the West. Northern modes may not be exactly 
suited to the South. One can not and need not 
manure as highly at the West as at the East. 
Owing to the high price of labor at the West, 
one must use more horse power and less hand- 
labor than at the East. Yet some things are the 
same everywhere. Everywhere, corn is a rank 
feeder, and wants an abundance of food. Where 
the land is in a state to admit of it, the roots will 
run from three to five feet in quest of nourish- 
ment. Hence the need of good land and good 
tillage. This tillage should mostly precede the 
planting of the corn, for the too frequent dis- 
turbance of the ground after the roots have got 
established in it, breaks the surface roots, and 
seriously injures the plants. 
As to the best manures for corn, that from 
the barn yard stands first. By this we mean 
not only the simple excrements of all kinds of 
stock, for these alone are not enough. The 
quantity may be doubled, and the quality hardly 
diminished, by using absorbents to soak up and 
save the liquid parts and the gases of the pure 
dung. What these absorbents are, we have 
often mentioned, such as muck, peat, sods, straw, 
tan-bark, leaves, saw-dust, etc. Yet sometimes, 
the dung heap and compost give out before the 
crops are all fed. In such cases, the farmer 
must use with discretion such fertilizers as gyp- 
sum, ashes, poudrette, guano, bone-dust, dis- 
solved bones, etc. Let him be specially careful 
in the use of guano, hen-dung and night soil, 
and other concentrated manure, or he will spoil 
his whole crop. They need to be mixed with 
several times their own bulk of soil before ap- 
plying them near the seeds or roots of plants. 
In preparing the ground, much pains should 
be taken to plow well, and to mix the manure 
thoroughly by careful harrowing. It is surpris- 
