318 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
can to correct these things. It has decided that 
each entry shall consist of one pair only, and 
that each pair, except of turkeys and pea-fowls, 
shall be exhibited in coops 2 feet iu width, 
2 feet iu depth, and 2^ feet in higkt, perpendic- 
ularly slatted on the front, and provided with 
boxes and cups for food and water. "We pre- 
sume that these coops might be divided so as 
to accommodate two pairs of bantams, or small 
ducks, but they are none too large to show off 
a fine cock and hen of any of the larger breeds, 
and barely large enough for geese. 
The most tasteful and convenient exhibition 
cages we have ever seen, were of wickerwork, 
and the space allowed by the Society, viz.: 2x2 
feet on the shelf, and 2'| 2 feet high, would be 
abundant for such a basket-work coop. Any 
basket weaver could make one in a short lime, 
and with little explanation. A good size aud 
shape would be 18 inches in diameter at the 
base, the sides 20 inches high, flaring to exactly 
2 feet in diameter, outside measure, the top com- 
ing to a point with a handle upon it, so that the 
whole bight should be not more than 2'[ 2 feet. 
The willow rods forming the sides should stand 
up and down, 2 inches apart, and the top should 
BASKET-WORK COOP. 
be formed of the same rods bent and drawn to- 
gether. Unless the rods are very stiff, they will 
need a narrow baud woven around the middle 
to prevent their being spread apart. The bot- 
tom is movable, aud may be made of a round 
piece of board, or of basket-work, which is 
much lighter, covered with a piece of floor oil- 
cloth, or canvas, for cleanliness. There need 
be no door, the birds and their food being 
put in from beneath. The bottom is pin- 
ned in securely when the coop is moved. 
Would it not be well for Agricultural Socie- 
ties to take some uniform stand in regard to the 
manner in which birds should be exhibited? 
If the size of coops adopted by the American 
Poultry Society is right, then let it be generally 
adopted and the rule strictly adhered to. 
Thorough Draining— The Secret of Suc- 
cess in a Nutshell 
The present practice in regard to thorough 
draining has not been arrived at simply by the 
reasoning of engineers and physicists, but by a 
long course of practical experiments, guided by 
sound philosophy. If any man says that open 
drains are good enough, we can now show him 
in thousands of cases that covered ones are 
vastly better ; if one claims that 2-foot drains 
are deep enough, we can refer him to farms 
where 2-foot drains gave place to 3-foot ones, 
with a great increase of good results, and where 
keepmg pace with the march of ideas, the use 
of 3-foot has given place to that of 4-foot 
drains. Stones, wherever used, and no matter 
what the necessity for getting rid of them, give 
way to tiles — for the whole cost of digging, lay- 
ing and filling 4-foot tile-drains on auj T ordinary 
land is not so great as the handling of the stone 
alone, as stone drains are usually made ; besides 
this, their shallowness, liability to fill up, and 
the fine harbor they present for vermin, ensure 
their condemnation. Nevertheless, a badly laid 
tile drain is worse than a stone one. So true is 
this, that we can name an excellent Connecti- 
cut farmer of large means who had tiles re- 
placed by stoue drains, at a heavy expense, and 
who rejoices now in much better drained land 
than before, with fewer stoppages and trouble 
from imperfect drainage. The reason was that 
the tiles were poorly laid and much too near 
the surface, so becoming filled with roots at some 
places, and deranged by receiving surface water 
at others, they failed adequately to drain the land. 
There are places where drains must be laid 
shallow, not more than 20 or 30 inches deep. 
For such spots, wherever the roots of grass 
might cause obstruction, we prefer to use hrusli 
drains, for they last a long time, are no more 
likely to fill up than stone ones, are cheap, and 
easily dug out and mended, if repairs are needed. 
No one should undertake the drainage of 
farm lands without thoroughly understanding 
the principles on which good drains act, and 
are made. "We have prepared a diagram to 
illustrate these principles. It is a section of the 
ground, crossing a drain, showing the drain tile 
(C) laid in collars at a depth of 4 feet, with a pack- 
ing of clay (E) well rammed down above it, to pre- 
vent surface water finding its wa}' downwards 
tOithe tile, and any water entering from above. It 
shows the level at which water (W) stands in the 
ground,and the drops of water {D) trickling down 
through the soil and blending with the water of 
the soil at the level of the drain. "Were there 
no drain there, the water level would rapidly 
rise until it reached the surface, but as fast or 
almost as fast as it rises the drain carries it off. 
The upper part of the filling of the drain trench 
(B) is porous and permits the rain to enter, but it 
is stopped and the water turned off to either side 
by the clay-filling, or hard-rammed soil below. 
Water which rises into the tile can bring with 
it but little silt, but that which flows downward 
into it brings, of necessity almost, sand and much 
fine silt. How absurdly wrong, then, is the prac- 
tice of filling-in the lower part of the trench 
• "-It 
BKATNrKG DIAGRAM. 
directly above the tiles or stones with loose ma- 
terials such as swamp grass, sods, shavings, etc. 
If the drain be properly constructed, it is al- 
most an impossibility for the occurrence to take 
place which we have figured at F, namely, for a 
passage to be formed for surface water down to 
the tile. To obviate all chance for anything of 
this kind, before the loose filling of the upper 
part of the trench becomes compacted and like 
the rest of the soil, no surface water should be 
allowed to stand or flow over the newly laid 
drains for a year at least, if it is possible to pre- 
vent it, but if impossible, then the trench for its 
entire depth should be filled with well rammed 
earth, and the filling raised some inches above 
the surface. Surface furrows on each side of 
the drain are effective, if they carry off the water. 
We should really wrong our readers did we 
close an article on draining without alluding to 
that most excellent book by Col. G. E. Waring, 
Jr., which was issued the past summer from the 
press of Orange Judd & Co. We regard the fact 
that water should always enter the drain from 
below, and that it does so in all good drains, as 
the vary foundation of successful drainage. 
In this nutshell is the secret of success. Col. 
Waring's book is full of just such "nuts." 
Hexamer's Wide-Pronged Hoe- 
■ — • — 
Dr. Hexamer, (Tteisig & Hexamer, Ivy Hill 
Nurseries, New Castle, N. Y.,) has such a sure 
way of making his investigations aud coming at 
his facts, that we accept his results with almost 
the same confidence we would have in our own. 
He makes use of expensive labor, and the mouth- 
WIDE-PROXGED nOE. 
ly pay-roll is so large as to lead him to employ 
his men to the very best advantage. The prob- 
lem was, what tool to place in the hands of his 
laborers for hoeing out between rows of straw- 
berries, or other small fruits, root crops, nur- 
sery stock, etc. The common hoe is a slow, 
hard, old-fogy tool, and, of course, its use out of 
the question. The potato hook, or pronged hoe, 
with round prongs, good, but not sufficiently 
rapid for the outla} r of strength, yet vastly su- 
perior to the hoe for the same purposes, except 
after weeds have grown large, which ought rare- 
ly or never to occur. After having made nu- 
merous experiments with tools made expressly 
for him, he decided upon the implement of 
which we present an engraving. The six teeth 
or prongs are eight inches iu length, the outer 
ones being ten inches apart, which is the width 
of the actual cut. The prongs are square, of the 
best steel, and inserted in pairs into a malleable 
iron head, in which they are firmly wedged. 
They are delicate, but very strong and elastic. 
The tool is used by a man walking backwards. 
It stirs the soil thorough]}' more than a foot 
wide, and from two to four inches deep, killing 
all small weeds, lifting out stones of small 
size, removing weeds, and all obstructions as 
effectually as a rake. Ou light soil, it is as easi- 
ly worked as a hoe, and on heavy soils, if dry 
enough to work at all, very much easier. It is 
safe to say, that a man with one of these can do 
several times as much work as with a hoe. 
We think it will prove more useful as a potato 
digger, in light soils, on account of its breadth, 
than the implement made for the purpose. 
