1805.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
343 
experiment, usiug one foot of straw at one end 
of .my field. The potatoes were almost all 
frozen, while those escaped which were covered 
with two feet of straw. The preceediug autumn 
I used only a foot of straw and the potatoes 
were not frozen, but the straw was fine, having 
been used before, and the abundant snow kept 
tlie cold from penetrating. There is no risk in 
using 3 feet of straw well trodden down (old 
straw is preferable). Blake a good furrow on 
each side of the field to carry off the water, and 
connect the furrows across at the upper part of 
the field. There is no danger if the eartli is 
dry when you plant, and is not too much trod- 
den. They are more difficult to dig than those 
planted in spring, but there are more of them." 
Binding^ the Shocks of Corn Fodder. 
After the ears have been husked, and the 
stalks bound in sheaves, and set up in round 
shocks, it is difficult to bind them as tightly as 
the tops should be to turn rain well. To facili- 
tate this operation, we have been accustomed 
to use a shock binder, represented by the figure. 
This consists of a strip of hard wood (.-I), 30 
inches long, 1 inch tliick, and 4 inches wide. 
At each end of -4, an inch hole is bored for a 
rope (C), about 11 feet long, and 'I, of an inch 
in diameter. A knot 
in one end prevents 
it slipping through 
the hole. A wind- 
lass (B) is made of 
a piece of hard and 
tough wood, 3' |a 
feet long, turned or 
shaved round, and 
pointed, as repre- 
sented by tlie figui'e. 
The largest part of 
the tapered portion 
of the windlass 
should be 1' [2 inches iu diameter, made to turn 
easily, but fitting closely in a hole in the middle 
of the piece A\ the crank should be about one 
foot long. In use, put the piece, A, against 
the side of the shock where it is to be bound. 
Thrust the windlass through the hole iu the 
same, and horizontally into the stalks. Then 
carry the end of tlie rope around the shock, put 
it through the hole iu the end of A, wrap it 
around the end of the crank and wind it up un- 
til tight enough. Fasten the crank with a oord 
to the cud of A, and bind the shock with a 
straw band, which will hold the stalks after the 
rope is removed, although it would not be strong 
enough to draw them up as tiglitly as the rope 
will. Two or three other bands should then be 
put on above this, which can be drawn up 
sufficien;ly tight without the windlass. 
Storing TJnthreshed Buckwheat. 
Sometimes buckwheat cannot all be secured 
before the middle of November, or even later. 
The weather is so luifavorable that it is im- 
practicable for some farmers, with tlieir limited 
helpers, to thresh more than a small portion of 
their crop, before long storms of rain,, and some- 
times snow, will interrupt threshing in the field. 
Wlien tliere is an abundance of barn room, as 
soon as the straw is sufficiently cured and dry, 
a good way is, to get in, in one day, much more 
than can be threshed, to put it in a mow, or 
hay loft, and let it remain tlicre till a cold, freez- 
ing day in winter, when the grain will thresh 
perfectly well. Should there be a few bunches 
which are not cured sufficiently to be put in a 
large mow, tlicy should be pitched on a scaffold 
over-head, where tliey will cure without injur- 
ing the grain. The better way, however, is, to 
sort the stooks or bunches in the field, leav- 
ing those that are not thoroughly cured for the 
top of the mow, or one load may be put in 
on poles, or timbers resting on the large beams 
of the barn. As tlierc is a much larger quan- 
tity of succulent matter in buckwheat straw 
than in the straw of other grain, the middle of 
the bunches must be examined carefully to see 
that the straw is well cured, or the mow will 
heat and spoil the grain. Wlien there is not 
barn room, buckwheat may be stored in long 
stacks, say 10 to 13 feet wide, covered with a 
roof of boards slanting only in one direction. 
When a mow or stack is more than ten feet 
wide, if there is any apprehension that the 
straw will heat, a number of ventilating holes 
should be made in various parts of the mow. 
This may be done by placing barrels where 
ventilators are required, which may be drawn 
upwards half their length, as often as tlie sur- 
face of the mow is even with the top end of the 
barrels. Shonld the mow rest on a tight floor, 
a board maybe taken up, a hole sawed through 
it, or several 3-incli holes bored, through which 
a current of air may rise iu the ventilators, and 
thus carry away the dampness that would ac- 
cumulate in the middle of the mow. 
Breeding Trout. 
The article on trout breeding last month, in 
which our artist and engraver did themselves 
so much credit by the beautiful portraits, 
was, as it happened, brought to a very sudden 
termination. Nevertheless, it must have served 
to awaken interest iu many minds in this, which 
bids fair, in good locations, to become a very 
profitable industry. The observations which 
form the basis of the article in the last number, 
and of tliis, were made at an establishment of 
comparatively recent date, but j'et the success 
of which warrants all we have said. "We may 
add, that the ponds are well adapted to the 
sport of fly fishing, and this privdcge is let to a 
Waltouian Club, for a very handsome sum an- 
nually — the amount of fish which may be taken 
monthly being limited to a reasonable num- 
ber, and the sportsmen required to fish only in 
certain parts of the pond, and we believe re- 
stricted to fly-fishing. The income received not 
only covers all current expenses and improve- 
ments, but has already gone far towards reim- 
bursing the original outlay. This fact is 
mentioned that it may encourage private action, 
by the anticipation of a good income from this 
source, and also that clubs may take the matter 
iu hand and secure for their members and 
friends an agreeable and exciting sport, to say 
nothing of tlie hundreds of pounds of this most 
delicious fish that might find their way to 
market at 40 cts. per pouud, which is the pre- 
sent price iu this city. 
A particular description of the troftt is un- 
necessar}-. All fish of the genus Sabrio, of 
which the noble Salmon (Stihno salar) is the type, 
may be readily distinguished bj' tlie soft, fleshy, 
rayless fin between the dorsal or back fin and 
the tail. They are without exception excellent 
table fish, but in this respect none, not even the 
salmon, excels the brook trout (Snlmo fontiiuiUs) 
which is, in our opinion, the best of all fish. 
"We ought to say something of the enemies of 
the trout and of the trout breeder. First, poach- 
ers—these must be summarily dealt with, and if 
the law can not be brought to bear to check 
depredations, then with dogs, man-traps, etc., 
every man has a right to protect himself. Next, 
muskrats often do great mischief to the dams, 
embankments, and probably also to the fish, 
sluggish and benumbed by the cold in winter. 
Aquatic fowls of all kinds — ducks, and all the 
waders, snipe, herons, etc. — must be entirely ex- 
cluded from the breeding ditches. This at the 
ponds referred to, is done by covering tlie ditcli- 
es with brush ; lattice-work of laths answers a 
good purpose, and both afford that great desid- 
eratum, partial shade and seclusion during the 
breeding season. Eels are very destructive of 
the spawn and young fry, and they must be 
excluded from the ponds and reserves at all haz- 
ards. Doubtless, also, catfish, mudpouts or bull- 
heads, as they are variously called, would be 
almost equally injurious. Mr. F. lias found 
that certain water beetles catch and devour 
many young fish, and they are assisted by the 
larvrc of the dragon flics, and perhaps other in- 
sects which are common in clear streams. 
AVe may perhaps learn as well from our friend's 
mistakes as from his successes. It is quite im- 
portant that there should be natural shade 
upon the brooks and ponds during the summer, 
otherwise the water becomes warm and uncon- 
genial to the fish, and a certain rank vegetation, 
called Frogspittle, springs up in the shallow 
and warm parts. The most agreeable shade is 
that of forest trees, but unfortunately Mr. F. 
cut these all otT in clearing up and grading 
about his ponds, so that now he is temporarily 
supplying shade by moans of white water lilies, 
planted iu the shallow parts, and near the edges. 
By these he will probably gain both ends — viz. : 
shade and a cooler temperature, with the ex- 
pulsion of the frogspittle and similar plants. 
W I — J ^-^m^-^- i m 
Labor Saving— Labor Making. 
■ 
Labor saving implements were once thought 
to be destructive to the interests of the working 
man, just in proportion as they saved the 
drudgery of labor. This seems reasonable at 
first, but a little thought will correct the er- 
ror. How then do the farm laborers, thrown 
out of work by the introduction of improved 
implements, ultimately find work ? Plainly by 
the Increased amount of tillage which horse 
power, machinery and tools make possible in 
the country. In a section where all the soil is 
under cultivation of some kind, it will lead to 
more thorough systems of farming. In the case 
of our own country, it leads to the faster ex- 
tension of civilization westward, the rapid sub- 
jugation of wild lands, and the better cultivation 
of that already under the plow. For instance, 
the Western grain grower, who now devotes 
75 to 150 acres to corn and other grain crops, 
with the meager facilities of thirty j'cars ago, 
could not have managed one-fourth part that 
amount in a similar manner. This increase of 
agriculture, not only keeps good the original 
number of farm laborers, but creates a new de- 
mand for laborers in every other field of in- 
dustry. More ships and railroads are required 
for transportation, more manufacturing estab- 
lishments, more mechanics to construct these, 
and men to manage them, more miners, machin- 
ists, etc. In fact, the whole body politic thus 
receives vital refreshment from evciy really 
labor-sni-ing invention. This is a forcilile illus- 
tration of the fact that whatever fairly ad- 
vances the interests of one class, becomes a 
benefit to all classes in the community. 
