96 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
Hints and Helps for Farmers, 
A Combined Anvil and Vise. —It is rarely that 
we meet with so useful and ch^ap a tool, as the 
combined anvil and vise shown at figure 1. Ou the 
farm there is almost daily use for it, in the shop it 
will be in constant requisition, and in the house 
Fig. 1.— COMBINED ANVIL AND VISE. 
the smaller sizes will often be found handy. 
When we can have two good tools in one, without 
depriving either of any of its value or effect, there 
is a gain. An anvil and a vise have a natural 
relation to each other, and it is a happy instance of 
ingenuity that has united these in one tool. The 
makers are the Richardson Manufacturing Co., of 
Worcester, Mass. The smallest size weighs 14 lbs., 
and the largest 40 lbs. 
A Corn Harrow.—" J. R.,” Livingston County, 
Illinois, sends us a sketch (fig. 2) of a harrow 
of his own make, with which he has harrowed 
com very successfully. It is made in three 
sections, the bars are 14 inches apart, each sec¬ 
tion is separate, and moves independently, so 
?ihat one can be lifted and freed from obstructions 
Fig. 2.—A USEFUL CORN HARROW'. 
without touching the others. This enables the 
harrow to ride over rough ground without missing 
the hollow places. The long bar is of 2 x 4 inch 
timber, and 12 feet long; the short bars are of 2 x 21 
inch timber, and are 51 feet long. There are 60 
half-inch steel teeth. The harrow will cover 3 rows 
of corn at a time, and has been used last season 
for harrowing the young corn four times. The 
same correspondent also sends a sketch of 
A Field Roller. —A very good field roller may 
be easily made at this season, when timber is being 
cut, from a but-log of an oak-tree, in the form 
shown at figure 3. The log need not be a very large 
one, because the frame, in which it is mounted, en¬ 
ables it to be loaded to any reasonable extent, and 
the driver may ride upon it, and thus add to the 
weight. A roller will be found very valuable in the 
spring, when repeated frosts heave the ground, and 
throw out the winter grain. It may also be used 
with advantage during an open winter, when the 
ground is dry, to press back the plants, that have 
been lifted by a thaw, into the soil again. But it 
should never be used when the soil is wet. 
Digging Ditches.— Having been engaged the 
past winter in clear¬ 
ing and draining a 
piece of swamp land, 
for the purpose of 
having the ditches 
shaped properly, and 
of the proper size, w r e 
furnished the work¬ 
men, who were dig¬ 
ging by contract, by FRAME - 
the rod, with a frame made of laths, and of the 
exact size of the section of the ditch. This was 21 
feet w T ide at the top, 14 foot wide at the bottom, 
and 2 feet deep, and a drawing of it is shown at 
figure 4. To level the ground, 
after the brush had been cut 
and burned off, we had a 
heavy hoe made in the shape 
shown at figure 5. This tool 
was very effective in cutting 
the roots of brash, the tus¬ 
socks of grass roots, and level¬ 
ing knolls into the hollows. 
Fig. 5. —hoe. The 0 p en winter has been 
very favorable for such work, and by the use of this 
hoe, the ground is leveled and put in good order 
for seeding with grass, very quickly and cheaply. 
Work for Bad Weather. —Our ingenious cor¬ 
respondent, L. D. Snook, of Tates Co., N. T., sends 
us a number of sketches of useful devices, which 
will furnish both matter for consideration, and 
work for the wintery March days for those who find 
it desirable and convenient to make any of these 
handy contrivances. At figure 7 is a movable 
picket fence, which consists of panels made as 
shown in the engraving, and fastened by wires to 
short posts driven into the ground. Figure 6 
represents a very convenient device for holding 
firewood, while it is being 6awed with a cross¬ 
cut 6aw. The long piece of wood is placed in 
the bed formed by the cross-sticks, and is firmly 
held while each length is sawed off. The stakes 
should be placed as far apart, as the length 
of a piece of stove-wood, so that the cut can be 
made between each pair. A cover for a watering 
trough is shown at figure 8, which is devised to 
Fig. 6.—holding wood for sawing. 
prevent the fouling of the water by trespassing ani¬ 
mals. The cover is made of a board strengthened 
by cross-cleats, and hinged at each end to the 
trough. A handle, made of hard wood, and two 
feet long, is fastened to the upper side of the cover. 
When this is pressed down with the foot, 
the cover is raised, as shown by the dot¬ 
ted lines, and the stock can be watered. 
If necessary, a slot is cut in the cover, to 
avoid interference from the spout of the 
pump. When the animals have been wa¬ 
tered, the handle is released, and the 
cover falls by its own weight. 
Pattern for a Cheap Iron Gate.— = 
“S. H.,” Belleville, Ohio, wants a pattern 
for an iron gate for barn yards, to be hung 
upon stone gate-posts. At fig. 9 we give 
a very simple wrought iron gate, which 
would be serviceable, durable, and cheap. 
It is made of bars of iron 14 inch wide, and '• 
a quarter of an inch thick, bent as shown 
in the engraving, and having holes through which 
the bars of half-inch iron are passed. The bars are 
secured at each end by nuts and washers, or they may 
be riveted. A diagonal brace is fastened in the same 
way, and this may be drawn up, to raise the gate, 
if it should sag, by turning the nut at the upper 
end. Wrought iron hinges, and latch, are provided. 
Castor Pomace —A Rich Compost. —We have 
recently turned over one of the richest compost- 
heaps we have ever made. It consists of castor-oil 
pomace, manure from the poultry-house, sods from 
road sides, mud from ditches, and earth from the 
surface of a yard in which cows have laid at nights 
during the summer. One ton of the castor pomace 
was procured from a mill at St. Louis, and this was 
found so strong that it was quite sufficient to raise 
a very active fermentation, and a great heat in more 
than twenty times its bulk of other materials. The 
heap has been turned twice, and each time the heat 
has arisen, and an excessively strong smell was 
given off, until several inches of fresh earth was 
thrown upon the heap. It is now in fine condition 
for top-dressing, or the heap of at least 20 tons will 
Fig. 7.— PORTABLE PICKET FENCE. 
make a rich fertilizer for 20 acres of corn at the 
rate of one ton per acre, applied in the hill. The 
whole cost of castor pomace, and freight, from St. 
Louis, amounted to 818, (bags included), the other 
Fig. 8.— COVER FOR WATERING TROUGH. 
materials have cost only a little labor, so that one 
dollar a ton will cover the actual cost. We estimate 
the value of the compost as at least five times that 
of an equal weight or bulk of ordinary stable ma¬ 
nure, which would cost not less than $2 per ton. 
Reclamation of a Salt Marsh.— Reclaimed 
salt marsh is valuable land for meadows, as well as 
for cultivated crops. Some of the most fertile 
fields in existence were formerly useless salt marsh¬ 
es, or overflowed land. By drainage and freshen¬ 
ing, the rich soil is fitted to bear any kinds of crop. 
To encourage this profitable work of improvement, 
the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of 
Agriculture offer some handsome prizes, varying 
from $500 to $25, for the best reclaimed tracts of 
salt marsh from 100 to 5 acres. The work may be 
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Fig 9.—AN IRON GATE. 
begun at any time, but must be finished by 1881, as 
the prizes will be awarded November 1st of that 
year. Particulars may be learned of E. N. Perkins, 
Secretary, Pemberton Square, Boston, Mass. The 
entries must be made by April 1st, 1878. Much 
