1869.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
413 
ed, throw a few fence posts on top of that. We 
give herewith a picture of a coupling used and 
recommended by Mr. R. T. Smith, of Ulster Co., 
N. Y. In introducing it to our notice, Mr. S. 
writes : " There is many a little device scarcely 
thought of b3 r those who make use of it, which, 
if it were hung out where people could see it, 
might prove the very thing which some one had 
Fig. 1.— HARROW COUPLING. 
been long needing to cleai the briers out of his 
path. So, I say to whoever knows of a good 
thing, put it out in plain sight where every one 
can see, copy, and use it." [This is good doctrine, 
and where can anything be put in plainer sight 
than in the pagesof Hie Agriculturist?] "This 
coupling is better than the common hinge or rod 
coupling, because it allows freer play of all the 
parts when at work on uneven ground, and be- 
cause it allows the harrow to be folded together 
for storing or 
transports t i o n. 
The coupling 
rods are of five- 
eighths inch ( s | 8 - 
in.) round iron, 
extending across the harrows. The coupling 
seen in the figure consists of a hinge-pin, fasten- 
ed by a nut and washer, and working freely, in 
a perpendicular slot three inches long. The part 
having the hinge-pin upon it is shown, detached, 
in lig. 3. There are shoulders or collars upon 
the rods, which bear against the harrow beams, 
and the rods are furnished with nuts and wash- 
ers upon the opposite ends. The rods near the 
joints are bent up so as to bring them as high 
as the top of the barrow, to facilitate folding." 
[Double nuts on the hinge-pin would be better.] 
Cool Cottage Attics. 
Cottages or houses of considerable pretensions 
in regard to size and style, yet built upon the 
cottage plan, are often very agreeable upon 
the ground floors, but most uncomfortable in 
the chambers. The roofs may be lined with 
cork chips to keep out the heat of the sun, but 
this is expensive, and after all the best non-con- 
ducting medium is an open air space. Mr. A. B. 
SECTION OP ATTIC. 
Allen, who edited the American Agriculturist 
nearly 30 years ago, sends us the accompanying 
sketch and description of his cottage attic. He 
writes in substance: " By airing the attic story 
of my cottage according to the above plan, it 
becomes the coolest room in the house, even 
when the thermometer rises to 103°, as it did 
this summer, in the shade, on my north veran- 
da. It is also free from that disagreeable, close 
garret smell, which attics usually have in hot 
weather. The top window sash can be let down 
13 to 18 inches ; this airs the space well be- 
tween the ceiling of the room and roof. This 
space is open over the whole from east to west, 
and as there is a window at each end, of course 
it has a good chance to air. There is an open 
space on each side of the room to the eaves. 
At each corner is a door 3 ft. by 4 ft. opening 
into this space. Hot days we throw these doors 
open, and thus have a current of air all around 
the south and north sides of the attic as well as 
overhead. The space here is used to store 
trunks, etc. The attic rooms are 8 ft. high." 
The hint thus thrown out may be made use 
of by those occupying or building houses having 
the modern French roofs These are deservedly 
popular on account of the spacious attic cham- 
bers they admit of, though the tendency is to 
make the top so Hat and the pitch below the 
break in the roof so steep that they are often 
any thing but handsome. If a free circulation 
of air can be secured between the ceiling and 
the roof and between the side walls and the 
eaves, they may be made cool and comfortable 
in hot weather, and the air spaces will prove 
an effective defence against the cold of winter, 
preventing the escape of warmth just as they 
arrest the penetration of the heat of the sun. 
"Tieing" Rafters. 
Rafters are subject to very unequal pressure, 
and unless well " tied," roofs are strained. 
RAFTERS BOLTED TOGETHER. 
Great drifts often pile up on one side of a roof; 
heavy winds press with the force of tons ; and if 
a roof is strained and yields in the least, it is liable 
easily to become insecure. Tie-beams are those 
which cross between opposite sides of a roof and 
hold them together, forming with the rafters a 
triangle which is perfectly substantial, unless 
something breaks. These tie-beams are often 
in the way when one wishes to utilize the space 
immediately below the roof. The accompany- 
ing diagram is a suggestion by one of our sub- 
scribers of a means of obviating the difficulty. 
He proposes to bolt the tops of the rafters to- 
gether in pairs, and were every pair to be thus 
bolted, especially if they had a width of six 
inches, a roof of small size would be a very 
substantial one. Larger roofs would still re- 
quire more or less tieiug, according to the 
length of the rafters and the size o( the build 
ing. There is, of course, no necessity that the 
bolt should be entirely concealed— it might ex- 
tend below the joining of the lower edges of the 
rafters: yet it should be remembered that long 
rods for tieing roofs are undesirable, because 
they are subject to expansion in warm, and con- 
traction in cold weather. Instead of the bolt 
proposed, a piece of board might be substituted, 
securely nailed or pinned to the rafters, and en- 
croaching but a few inches upon the space be- 
low them. If, however, as in some ornamental 
structures, it is desirable to show the rafters, 
concealment of the bolts would be imperative. 
The Hawk Nuisance. 
Whatever may be said in favor of crows, we 
never heard an argument in favor of hawks of 
any kind. Yet among our native hawks are in- 
Fig. 1. — WIRE HAWK TRAP. 
eluded some of the most beautiful of our birds. 
When small birds, young rabbits, etc., are plen- 
ty, hawks arc not very troublesome; but as soon 
as the young birds have grown and become 
wary, and the more when the migratory birds 
have gone southward for the winter, the depre- 
dations of hawks begin with vigor and fre- 
quency. Late chickens fall an easy pre)-. Cold 
weather sharpens the appetites and increases 
the danger of losses from hawks. When spring 
comes, hawks are again active and destructive, 
until the young of other birds and animals 
tempt them to more secure and secluded hunt- 
ing grounds. Mr. R. T. Smith, of Ulster Co., 
N. Y., writes us about a method which he prac- 
tices for trapping hawks, which strikes us as 
efficient. He says of it: " To make a first- rate 
hawk trap take an inch board 13 inches square, 
and round it ; get fifteen or twenty fence wires 
a foot or fifteen inches long, and set them in the 
board, spreading or radiating, the exposed ends 
being sharpened, as shown in the figure. The 
center wire should stand straight. In setting it, 
put some dirt and grass over the board, and tie 
a noisy chicken to the center wire. Do not pol- 
ish the wires, and have them pretty close togeth- 
er. Place the trap where the hawk will see it, 
and when he makes aswoop for the chick, you 
will have him." 
This trap certainly has the merit of being a 
common-sense arrangement, for it is easy to per- 
ceive that a pointed wire a foot long would be 
hard to see, looking directly down upon it. 
It is well known that if a hawk is scared and 
back to find it, when it may be trapped or shot. 
The best trap for this case would probably be a 
noose laid around the dead chicken, attached to 
a bent pole, fastened down by a string and peg, 
which would be loosened by the least attempt 
to remove the chicken. The noose must be in- 
dependent of the string holding the pole down. 
