92 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
that will make a sheep as secure as a cow in the 
remotest pasture upon the farm. Then we can 
have cheap mutton whether wool is protected 
or not. We earnest!}- hope that lhi.3 mattermay 
SIC SEMPER CANIEUS. 
bo taken up for discussion in our farmers' clubs, 
and agricultural societies, and that measures 
may be taken to secure efficient legislation, and 
mete out exact justice to our dog population. 
Failing in this, we suggest a resort to cold 
lead, hemp, strychnine, anything that will abate 
the crying nuisance. Connecticut. 
[Our artist lias caught our correspondent's 
idea, and illustrated the "hemp." — Eds.] 
Willows and Withes. 
Mr. W. G. Waring, of Tyrone, Pa., writes : 
" Having had occasion lately to use a great 
many long, strong withes, and becoming fatigued 
with the necessary twisting, we contrived a little 
machine for doing it, which works with such 
ease and completeness that we think a descrip- 
tion of it will be welcome to very many. In an 
evening liour, by the warm fireside, we can com- 
fortably prepare enough to use the next day, and 
in superior condition for quick, secure work. 
We use them for binding fodder, straw, bags, 
bundles of trees, roots, brush or poles, and for 
connecting portable fence panels and gates, etc. 
The machine is very simple. In fig. 1, a is a 
piece of hard seasoned wood, as thick as a broom 
handle, and four or five inches long. It is fitted 
into a carpenter's brace as a bit. A hole is 
feored into the end two or three inches deep, and 
then burned into a triangular form with an old 
gaw file. The brace and bit are then fitted across 
the top of the V of one end of a saw-horse, us- 
ing two staples of wire or hickory to keep it in 
place, and thebultofawillowrod is dressed with 
three cuts of a knife, so as to nearly fit the tri- 
angular hole in the wooden bit, into which it is 
then inserted. A strip of board as long as the 
willies is laid with one end resting on the tie- 
piece (i) of the saw-horse, and the 
other end resting upon a stool. While 
a boy sits on the horse end, 3^011 sit on 
the stool ; this steadies all. You take 
the small end of the withe in your 
hands, as in fig. 2; the boy turns, and 
that end will immediately be twisted. 
The hand a advances as the twist- 
ing progresses, and the bend which 
it gives to the rod aids the twist 
to splinter, and makes the rod easy to 
hold. The boy now places Ms hand 
at a, and continues to twist, while you 
use your right hand to knot the small 
end b into a loop, as in fig. 3, securing 
it by passing the point through the 
, loop, as seen under the thumb. The 
withe is now, completed, and, much 
sooner than described. You may pull 
it out of the bit, and then lay it aside 
to untwist; or, if you wish to preserve 
the open form of the loop, convenient 
for inserting the butt end when tying, 
and also to keep the cord-like form 
of the withe, you must have at one 
side a piece of plank nearly as long as 
the withes — at one end a little upright 
pin on which you string the loops 
successively, while the boy sticks the 
butt into a hole in the other end of the 
plank to prevent untwisting. If you 
have warmed the rods before twisting, 
either over the stove, or more equally, 
and without danger of scorching, by 
standing them, excepting two or three 
inches of the butt, in a vessel (like 
a piece of tin spout-tube), filled with 
hot water or steam, then they will re- 
tain their twist perfectly when taken 
off the plank in the morning, and they may be 
carried on the pin to the field like a string of 
fish. They will be found exceedingly handy and 
pleasant to use. The loop form is most useful 
for drawing loose bundles into compact bales, 
and the tying is done by simply grasping the 
butt end, which has been passed through the 
loop and drawn tight, giving it three or four 
twists, sweeping round so as to produce a kink 
just at the loop. That ties the knot, and it is 
secured from opening by merely slipping the butt 
into the bale as at d, fig. 4 If it is to be opened 
soon, a large loop (c) affords means of doing it 
quickly and conveniently. To connect gates, 
fences, etc., or for rings around calves' necks to 
hold them by, the withe is woven into a ring like 
1. — WITHE-TWISTER. 
a basket handle without forming a loop. To 
tie large shocks of corn fodder, two withes can 
be spliced in a second by passing the point of 
each through the loop of the other. A dried 
withe can be used again if soaked awhile. 
"No ties equal these for security and quickness 
of application, and a rod or two of ground — good, 
deep, moist soil — should be planted with the sorts 
of willow that yield the cleanest, lougest,toughest 
rods, and these should be cut down every fall, 
to secure a growth of strong annual sprouts. 
"The pleasantest willow to use, on account 
of its leathery softness and smoothness, clean 
shoots, and bright varnished bark, is the Var- 
nished Willow (Saliv decipiens). The foliage is 
handsome, and the growth erect ; shoots clean 
and long. The Goat Willow (S, caproa) yields 
TWISTING THE WITHE. 
very strong withes, of moderate length. The 
leaves are large, broad and dark, sometimes al- 
most round. The Beveridge, Comewell, and the 
strikingly beautiful variety called Kilmarnock, 
(a drooping variety), are Goat Willows. 
" The Russell Willow, and the tall White or 
Gray and Yellow Willows are of strong growth, 
and are used for a great variety of purposes, as 
charcoal, from which crayons and gunpowder 
are made, tan, boards for barrows and carts, 
turners' and coopers' work, handlesxfor hoes and 
Fig. 3.— LOOPING. 
rakes, hedge stakes and hoops, as well as withes, 
and they grow on any soil ; whereas some wil- 
lows do not thrive on dry soil. For tying young 
shoots of vines, or espalier trees, the little twigs 
of the Yellow Willow or S. mtellina are supe- 
rior and very neat. They can be tied like a 
shoestring, and are fit to use as early as August. 
These willows branch much, and having the 
curious quality of snapping or breaking off at 
the base, they do not yield very long rods. 
Cuttings of all the willows grow freely in deep 
mellow soil, kept clean and moist by a liberal 
mulch of old leaves, tan, 
or chaff. They should 
be set early in April, 
five inches deep to se- 
cure constant moisture 
without being watered, 
the base pressed firm- 
ly down into the sand 
or mellow mould, and 
only one or two buds 
exposed above ground. 
The cuttings are easily 
kept in damp sand in a cellar, or out of doors." 
[Our correspondent adds that, in his own ex-- 
perience he has found it tantalizing to learn 
about things, and have no hint how to procure 
them. In this case, though some of these 
varieties are common in swamps and moist- 
grounds, yet if any one wants such as he de- 
scribes, the lad whose hands are figured will 
procure them for a small fee. — Ed.] 
Fig. 4. — BUNDLE. 
