1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
17 
is left, to appearance, and we are assured by a 
farmer accustomed to plowing UDder green 
crops, that not enough of value is left to pay for 
turning under. This we doubt, but we do be- 
lieve much besides water is actually lost. 
The action of freezing and thawing in clayey 
and heavy gravelly soils is different ; while it des- 
troys a portion of the organic matter in them, 
which, however, is not of such importance to 
them as to lighter sandy soils, it comminutes 
the particles, renders clods friable, and brings 
a larger portion of the inorganic part into a 
fit condition to be appropriated by the plant. 
The beneficial action of frost is not due to 
its holding the soil in a frozen state, but to the 
act of freezing; consequently, thawing is almost 
as useful as freezing to the soil, and this useful 
action takes place most in moderate weather. 
In cold winter weather it is best for the soil to 
be covered with snow, which is well called " the 
poor man's manure," for the alternation of 
freezing and thawing is not altogether arrested 
by the covering of snow; while, if the ground 
is bare, the high winds of winter scatter great 
quantities of the finest particles of the soil. 
Fig. 1. 
Field Rollers. 
Repeated inquiries have been addressed to 
the editors of the Agriculturist for information 
about making Field Rollers. There are several 
ways in which rollers may be and are made by 
fanners, but, when it is practicable, we think it 
far better to buy iron ones, of several sections, 
constructed so as to be loaded as heavily as is 
desirable. The simplest home made farm roller 
is a hard-wood log, which ought to be barked, 
thoroughly seasoned under cover, and dry; then 
smoothed and made cylindrical ; then the centres 
of the ends being found, one-inch iron axles 
having square points should be driven into 
holes cut with a chisel, and should be further 
securely held by iron collars fitting the axles, 
and having two or three arms several inches 
long let into the wood, flush and spiked on. The 
roller should be two feet or more in diameter, 
and about six feet long. If longer it is harder 
to turn. It is set in a simple hard-wood frame, 
and it may be drawn by a chain, like a stone 
boat, or have a pole attached ; in which case 
the pole must be strongly braced to the frame. 
After the roller is finished it should be painted, 
especially on the ends, with hot 
pine pitch as long as it will ab- 
sorb it. If treated in this way 
these rollers are durable and 
tolerably good. They may be 
made double, like the one to 
be described, if sufficient pains 
be taken to hang them well. 
Abetter form of roller is made 
of plank. Two or three circular 
frames of boards are made to 
nail the planks to. They should 
be of but three thickness of 
plank, and it matters not what 
the thickness of the planks is, as 
weight is a desirable quality. 
Figure 1 shows two thickness of 
plank, and figure 2 the end of 
the roller after the outside 
planks are put on. It will be 
seen that two planks cross each 
other in the centre of the heads, 
and that in these square holes are 
cut for the axle. The heads must be securely 
nailed. In nailing on the planks which form 
the surface in making a double roller, the inner 
heads are set in from the ends to give space for 
a wider bearing for the axles than the single 
plank would otherwise afford. Iron axles are 
used which are made of square bars of iron hav- 
ing their ends made true and rounded by a 
smith. They are inserted and keyed in place. 
The dimensions of the roller may vary. The 
one shown in figure 3 is supposed to be 2'| 2 
feet in diameter and 3 feet 11 inches long. 
The frame is best made of three-inch hard- 
wood sticks, in the forni 
shown in figure 4 The rear 
pieces may be somewhat 
lighter than the front ones 
if desirable, but weight is a 
good thing. They are put 
together by mortice and ten- 
on and bolted. The center 
piece is an iuch and a quarter oak plank, six 
or eight inches wide, having pieces bolted to 
each side for bearings for the journals. The 
outside journals have their barings under the 
beams, a piece of wood be- 
ing bolted on to hold them 
in place. The beams have 
holes bored in them and 
reamed out for oiling. Care 
must be taken in banging 
the rollers that they stand 
even. A little change in 
position of the journals will 
cause them to roll unevenly and draw to one 
side or the other. The tongue is bolted to the 
forward beams of the frame as shown, and two 
boxes are made with slanting sides to, fit into the 
spaces between the beams of the frame, one to 
go in front and the other behind. These are for 
holding stones to weight the roller. The 
Fig. 2. 
Fig. 3. — ONE-SECTION OF DOUBLE FIELD ROLLER. 
weighting should be done when the team is 
not attached, so that it may be easily equalized. 
The engraving (figure 4) represents the frame 
of a roller having the following dimensions : 
Width of track, 8 feet ; width of frame, 9 feet; 
length of frame, 5 feet 8 inches ; distance be- 
tween inner beams of frame, 2 feet 8 inches. 
D- 
CJ 
Fig. 4.— FRAME FOR TWO-SECTION FIELD ROLLER. 
The place which the roller would occupy in the 
frame, is indicated by dotted lines; and the space 
on each side between the frame and ends of the 
sections is to allow their insertion and removal. 
((3 
The Cord-Grass or " Spartina." 
» 
The materials used in making paper are nu- 
merous. We have linen and cotton in the shape 
of paper rags, but the supply from these sources 
was long ago found to be inadequate. There 
have been numerous inventions for using the 
fibre of basswood and other soft woods, as well 
as for the cane of the 
Southern States. Fibres 
from these sources 
have more or less help- 
ed to supply the great 
demand for paper 
stock. Lately, the "Es- 
parto," a curious grass 
growing on the shores 
of the Mediterranean, 
has been largely used 
in England, and to 
some extent in this 
country, as a paper 
making material. As 
yet we know but little 
of its cultivation, but 
we believe experi- 
ments are being made 
with it in the Southern 
States. Meanwhile, 
one of our native grass- 
es lias come into notice, 
the Cord -grass, or 
"Spartina cynosuroides. 
This, which is shown 
in the engraving, ia 
abundant along our 
fresh-water rivers and 
lakes, especially at the 
North, and actual ex- 
periment has shown 
it to be a valuable 
paper stock. In a re- 
port to the Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture, 
Mr. Jas. Woodruff, of 
Quincy, 111. , says : " It 
is much superior to 
straw, yielding, when 
properly treated, a 
much stronger, longer, 
and softer fibre, and a 
much larger percen- 
tage of stock. Its cost, 
delivered at my mill, 
during the past two years, has been about $5 
per ton." Mr. W. says that experts who have 
worked the two consider the Cord-grass a 
better material for paper than the "Esparto." 
There are doubtless many hundreds of acres 
of otherwise unavailable land that might be 
devoted to this grass, ami the matter is 
worthy the attention of both paper makers and 
those who have land adapted to its culture. 
CORD-GRASS. 
Breeding the Mink. 
In response to a call for information in regard 
to the breeding of the Mink, several letters have 
been received ; the most explicit of which, from 
D. C. U., North Tunbridgo, Vt., is in re given : — 
" I purchased one female and her litter of five, 
two males ami four females in all, and con- 
structed a building of rough boards;, ten by four- 
teen feet, for a minkery. It had a floor tight 
enough to prevent the escape of the animals; 
was properly ventilated, and divided into fix 
apartments, one of which is au ante-room into 
which to step from the outside and close the 
