284, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
does. It has a thick, triangular head, and a 
body continuing quite thick to near the tail. 
The general color is light brown with transverse 
bars forked on the sides, -which gives an appear- 
ance as of crossing diagonal lines ; beneath it is 
flesh-colored, spotted and blotched more or less. 
The fangs and poison are similar to those of the 
rattlesnake, and like it also, if a fang is broken 
off, another will grow to supply its place. 
" Chunkhead" and "Deaf Adder" are common 
names. It frequents low and moist places more 
than the rattlesnake. 
The Use of Machinery Upon the Farm. 
♦ 
One of the most cheering indications of the 
times is the rapid introduction of improved im- 
plements in husbandry, especially of those that 
are moved by horse-power. In this matter the 
West is far ahead of the East, and the grain 
growing districts greatly excel the dairy regions. 
Corn, where it is grown upon a large scale, is 
now very generally cultivated by horse-power, 
without the use of the hand hoe. Five times 
cultivating is much better than three times hoe- 
ing, and much cheaper. Some drill in their 
corn, one kernel in a place .and one foot apart, 
by a horse drill, and claim that they not only 
do the work at much less expense, but get a 
much larger crop. There is no hand labor about 
it until you come to the harvesting, and even 
this, we anticipate, will soon be done by machin- 
ery. Potatoes are cut, dropped, and covered, 
cultivated and dug by horse-power, and, we 
think, will soon be bagged and binned iu the 
same way. "Wheat is put in by the horse drill, 
and cut by the horse reaper. The hay harvest 
is now all secured by horse power. These ma- 
chines are not indeed universally introduced, but 
their economy is so apparent, and the)' put the 
hay and grain harvests so completely into the 
power of the farmer, that no man can long afford 
to do without them. The manufacture of these 
machines has become a vast business, giving 
employment to tens of thousands of men, and 
the demand for them is constantly increasing. 
They are a powerful argument for the clearing 
out of stumps and boulders, and for making the 
rough ways smooth. The man who clings to 
the time-honored tools, and the good old ways, 
will be badly beaten in the market. 
--> «i» .-» 
Ox- Yokes— How to Make Them, 
Mr. E. O. Shultz, of Oconto Co., Wis., fur- 
nishes some directions about yoke-making, ac- 
companied with a model, which we picture 
in fig. 1. He writes: "There is no need of 
having an ox's neck so sore as to require treat- 
ment, or to stop his work, if we have a yoke 
that is fit for a team to work in. There is not 
one man in ten that can make a yoke. Any one 
can make a stick with holes bored in it, no mat- 
ter how, so that a pair of bows can be put in. 
There is no place where oxen are made to draw 
so hard as they are in the lumber woods, and I 
1. — ox YOKE. 
The oxen can suffer the consequences. If there is 
a law against cruelty to animals, this is one case 
which should be investigated. I have made a 
great many 3'okes, and any one who has used one 
of them, comes to me if he wants another. 
Fig. 2. — YOKE MARKED OUT. 
have not seen a single ox laid up, and have 
heard of but very few that were sore enough to 
require treatment, where my yoke was used. 
Not being able to make a sketch of anything 
so that it can be understood, I have resorted to 
cutting a small model which corresponds with 
a finished ox-yoke, and will show you the prin- 
ciple, the main thing being the shape of the neck. 
I make them all of the same size and shaoe, 
(with the slight variation in breadth and depth 
noted below), and I have yet to see the pair of 
oxen that one will not fit. I will give you my 
plan and I think it will benefit some, at least, 
of your subscribers to follow it. 
Yellow birch is about the best timber you can 
use. Find a log large enough to split, in order 
Fig. 3. — TOEH MAKKED OUT. 
to work the heart out, as such an one will not be 
so liable to check in seasoning' ; square it 8 x 10, 
then lay your yoke out, (as in figs. 2 and 3). Be- 
ginning where the staple is to come, measure 11 
inches each way, then 9 inches,and then 8 inches, 
on each side, making in all 56 inches. Be sure and 
bore your holes with three-quarters of an inch 
slant to the foot, to each hole, and you will have 
no bother iu getting a well shouldered bow iu. 
Work the neck out so that the holes will come 
even on the under side, say like this, (fie. 4), not 
Fig. i. 
Fig. 
thus, (fig. 5), then shape it both ways alike, so 
that whichever way the yoke lies on the neck 
there shall be no lump or ridge. The model 
will show you how it should be ; make yokes 
just like it, and I wan-ant there will be no sore 
necks. For a yoke to draw on a chain, the stick 
should be 8*| o x 11 inches, and the yoke will not 
roll up on their necks ; to use on a tongue, 8 x 10 
is the right size ; if oxen draw very high, make 
them S'la x 12 to draw on a chain, and 8 x 11 
on the tongue. The holes should always be 
made as I have stated above." 
Large Fields Wanted. 
One of the great nuisances in the New Eng- 
land States and in the dairy regions generally, 
is the small size of the cultivated fields. One, 
two, and three acre lots are common, and ten 
acre lots and upward, are rare. In many cases 
the cost of fencing has been much greater than 
the cost of the land, and the keepiug up of these 
fences is a large tax upon the farmer, and the 
principal labor of repairs comes in the spring, 
when he is most busy. The fences are always 
in the way of plowing and cultivation, and of 
no particular advantage in pasturage, the chief 
argument for them. We see no reason for any 
more divisions iu the arable part of the farm 
than there are crops in the rotation. The per- 
manent pasture and woodlands might come 
under a different rule. In the grain districts 
recently visited, we were struck with the large 
size of the fields, even on two and three hundred 
acre farms. Fields of twenty, thirty, and even 
fifty acres, are not uncommon. This feature 
adds beauty to the landscape, as well as facili- 
tates the cultivation. We are coming more 
and more into the use of machines and horse- 
power in the cultivation and harvesting of our 
crops, and this only makes the fences a more 
iutolerable nuisance. We want a clean sweep 
for the grain drills, the cultivators, the mowers 
and reapers, the tedder's arid rakes that are 
ready to relieve aching human muscles. The 
kindest thing that could happen to the average 
dairy farm would be to have three-fourths of its 
fences quietly sink out of sight. Fortunately, 
most of these farms need draining, and the 
stones are needed to help carry off the super- 
fluous water. 
Future Prospects of Cotton in the South. 
— • 
Those who have held that " Cotton is King," 
now that the king is dethroned, seem deter- 
mined that he shall not be even a citizen among 
us. They prophesy evil of the plant, and ad- 
vocate the growing of other crops in the Cotton 
States. " Let us raise the cereals and the meats 
that we consume at home, and let the world 
take care of itself. If we grow cotton, let it be 
only in such quantity as we can manufacture 
at home." This outcry of disappointed ambi- 
tion is veiy natural and very foolish. The vin- 
dictive feelings of a people will have very little 
to do with the crops they raise. These will be 
governed mainly by commercial considerations 
Men will raise that by which they think they 
can make the most money, whether it accords 
with their political views or not. We cultivate 
land to get ahead in the world, and to sustain 
our families, and not to build up or demolish 
political theories. It is the best economy for 
the commonwealth and for the individual that 
every locality should raise the crops for which 
it has the best natural or acquired facilities. The 
new lands in the north-west will grow wheat 
very largely, because it pays better than any 
thing else. In the valleys of the Susquehanna 
and its tributaries, they will follow the rotation, 
corn, oats, wheat, clover, and timothy, because 
these crops suit the soil and climate, and pay 
better than dairy farming. Iu New York they 
will raise butter and cheese. About our large 
cities, they will follow truck farming. In the 
cotton belt, they will continue to grow cctton 
for the same reason. Tiie plant flourishes there 
better than in any other region where it has 
been tried, and can be raised most economically. 
When men can make from fifty to a hundred 
dollars per acre by putting iu this crop, they 
will not plant corn and oats to get half as much. 
Men will follow dollars rather than dogmas in 
their industries. We expect to see cotton flour- 
ish in the South more extensively than ever. 
With all the destruction of the war, a very large 
capital is still invested in lands, gins, gin-houses, 
presses, and sheds, and the people have the re- 
quisite skill to raise and send it to market. The 
plantations may gradually grow smaller under 
the new order of things, but the old crops, with 
some slight variations, will be continued. Last 
year, with an almost unparalleled drouth and 
other hindrances in the matter of deficient capi- 
tal and disorganized labor, nearly two millions 
of bales were raised. With favorable weather, 
at least three millions of bales would have been 
sent to market last year. Within a very short 
period, we expect to see the old time cotton 
crops greatly exceeded. "Violent partisans may 
waU because thereof, but they cannot help it. 
