136 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
An Improved Root-Slicer. 
G. R. Dykeman writes us that lie has made 
•what lie thinks an improvement on the root- 
slicer figured in the American Agriculturist of 
January, 1872, page 16. The cutter is mounted 
IMPROVED ROOT-SLICER. 
on a frame similarly to that in the engraving 
referred to, and the wheel is of similar shape; 
but it has a pulley on one side by which it can 
be run by a strap from a horse-power, and the 
cutters are not knives, but sharp steel chisels 
three eighths of an inch square, and projecting 
half an inch from the face of the wheel. One 
of these cutters is shown at a in tho annexed 
engraving. Tliey are driven ill from behind, and 
as the point3 are worn they may be taken out 
and ground sharp, and replaced and driven to 
the proper position by means of a punch. 
There are 144 of these cutters in the wheel, and 
they are confined to a space of nine inches 
around the face of the wheel. This is not 
necessary, except when a pulley is affixed to 
the back of the wheel for the strap of the 
horse-power. The cutters may lie placed all over 
the face of the wheel if desired. A guard-board 
is fixed below tiie frame to prevent the pulped 
roots from being scattered about, and to guide 
them into the box placed beneath the cutter- 
frame to receive them. The roots are finely 
pulped, and are safer to feed when in this shape 
than when cut into slices, as it is impossible for 
any animal, however small, to be choked with 
a fragment. The wheel used by our correspond- 
ent is 3 feet 4 inches in diameter, and made of 
four thicknesses of inch-boards nailed together. 
The cost is very smali, and its utility lie has 
found to bo very great. 
Burning Stumps. 
A "Reader" sends us a plan by which he has 
cleared off a great many large stumps very 
cheaply and easily. Hi« way is to bore a hole 
STUMP BORED FOR BURNING. 
from the top of the stump to the bottom with a 
two-inch auger. Another hole is bored from 
the bottom downwards to connect with the first 
hole. Fire is put into the lower part of the 
stump, which is fed by the draft of air drawn 
by the upright hole, and the heart of the stump 
burns away, leaving a mere shell, which is 
readily knocked to pieces. The writer states 
that many stumps which lie has thus burned by 
this method have had a great portion of the 
large roots consumed far into the ground. "We 
give a figure of his plan from the drawing with 
which he has favored us. 
New Style of Milk-Pans.— A dairy farmer 
of Chester County, Pa., has had made four milk- 
pans which are sufficient to serve for his dairy 
of oue hundred cows. They each measure 12 
feet in length by 4 feet in breadth and 6 inches 
in depth. They are double-bottomed, with a 
space of one inch between the bottoms, which 
is divided into four compartments lengthwise, 
through which a stream of water is made to 
pass up and down, and keep the milk cool or 
warm, as the case may be. The owner of these 
pans, Mr. Enos Bernard, claims not only to have 
less labor in handling his milk and cream, but 
also to procure a large proportion of cream from 
the milk by their use. When the cream is 
skimmed off from the surface, the milk is drawn 
off through pipes in the bottoms of the pans. 
Wooden Gearing. 
The construction of gearing for farm machin- 
ery is often made an unnecessarily costly busi- 
ness. For all such light work as churning, 
hoisting, pumping, etc., wooden gearing is suffl- 
WOODEN GEARING. 
ciently strong, and is much cheaper and less 
noisy in operation than iron. We give an en- 
graving of a pair of geared wheels which would 
be found serviceable for the purposes here 
mentioned. Their construction is very simple, 
and is sufficiently shown in the engraving with- 
out further description. The material may be 
yellow pine, except for the cogs and pins, which 
should be of hickory or hornbeam (sometimes 
called iron-wood) or of some other tough wood, 
well seasoned. 
Swiss Cattle. — Switzerland is a very small 
country, a mere patch on the map of Europe 
and a pile of rocks and mountains besides, yet 
the Swiss people export four million dollars' 
worth of cheese every year. But the Swis3 
cows are good milkers, else they could not do it. 
It pays to keep good stock, as well as to make 
the best possible cheese from the milk. 
Driving Fence-Posts. 
On one occasion the writer desired to erect a 
board-fence around a field which was free from 
stones, and he pro- 
ceeded on the fol- 
lowing plan: The 
line of the fence 
was laid out per- 
fectly straight, and 
small stakes were driven into the ground 
sixteen feet apart. A sharp wedge-shaped 
pointed crow-bar was procured, with which 
holes were punched in the ground where 
each stake was placed. By working the bar 
back and forth in the ground, the hole was 
made large enough to fit the post closely, and 
two feet and a half deep. 
The post was pointed very 
evenly on each side (fig. 2), 
so that it would drive 
straight. The top was bev- 
eled so that it would not 
split in driving. A trian- 
gular stool (fig. 3), with three 
legs three feet long, and a 
heavy beetle completed the 
outfit. The beetle (fig. 1) 
was made out of a piece of 
soft maple, fifteen inches 
long, cut from a small tree 
about a foot in diameter. 
The bark was trimmed off, \ 
and the edges were beveled 
off about two inches; a 
handle of ash two inches ' 
thick was put through the , 
beetle, and was 
down so as to be an inch \ 
and a half thick one way - 
and two inches in another. " 
This prevented it turning 2.-driven post. 
in the hands when striking with it. When 
the posts were all ready to be driven, a man 
held one of them with the point in the hole, 
while another mounted the stool and drove it 
down with the beetle. With a little care, the 
man who held the post kept it upright and in a 
line with the rest. As the posts were driven, 
two men followed nailing on the boards. These 
four men completed a five-hoard fence around a 
square ten-acre field in one day and a half, 
making tho la- 
bor equal to 
six days' work. 
Had the holes 
been dug, the 
job would have 
taken at least 
four timc3 as 
long. The cost 
of the labor 
was less than 
ten cents a rod; 
the men were 
good mechan- 
ics, or it would have cost much more, their 
labor at two dollars and a half a day being 
probably twice as cheap as common labor at 
half that rate. In addition to the superior rapid- 
ity and cheapness of the work, the fence 
was much firmer than it could possibly have 
been had the holes been dug for the posts. 
Fig. 3. — STOOL. 
