256 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
tory. Further than this, the sheep husbandmen of 
this country must pay more attention to mutton : in¬ 
stead of being quite secondary, it should be of equal 
importance with wool; and when it is so considered, 
and breeding is conducted accordingly, the price of 
wool will no longer determine the absolute profits 
or losses of the business. Mutton production has 
been greatly neglected by our sheep farmers, but 
on the lower prices of wool, we trust it may take its 
due prominence, as the demand is increasing, and al¬ 
ways brings a relatively high price. As in all cases 
“the best, pays the best,” it is the business of far¬ 
mers to choose that kind of sheep which will give 
the most and best wool, the highest quality of mut¬ 
ton, and which are sure and prolific breeders. Even 
in the far West, where wool should pay handsomely 
at 25 cents a pound, and where pasture is the cheap¬ 
est, it is found to pay the best to infuse pure blood 
into the flock, thereby producing superior wool. 
How much more then should Eastern w'ool growers 
find it to their interest to improve their flocks so as 
better to meet the present difficulties. 
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1. POST & PLANK LADDERS. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
Barn Ladders. —Our frequent correspondent, 
L. D. Snook, of Yates Co., N. Y., sends some de¬ 
vices for barn ladders, 
which, although not al¬ 
together new, may be 
fresh to many young 
farmers. Figure 1 re¬ 
presents two kinds of 
these. That upon the 
right hand consists of a 
plank fixed to the side 
of the building where 
needed, in which a suf¬ 
ficient number of alter¬ 
nate holes are cut, as 
shown, to serve as steps. 
Another method is to 
insert pins into a post of 
the frame by which the 
ascent to an upper floor 
can be made with ease. 
Or a ladder, as indi¬ 
cated at figure 2, may 
be affixed to the frame. 
Stone Gatherer and 
Clevis. —J. L. Douglas, 
of Belleville, N. J., sends a sketch of an implement 
for gathering stone and mellowing the ground (see 
fig. 4), which is made as follows. A plank 8 inches 
wide at each end, and 12 inches wide in the center, 
and three inches thick, is cut in the shape shown. 
Holes 8 inches apart are bored, and teeth, made as 
at figure 6, are fastened therein. The plank is 
secured fo a tongue, 
and strengthened with 
braces bolted at each 
end. Handles are affix¬ 
ed to guide the imple¬ 
ment when in use. The 
whiffle trees are pro¬ 
vided with screw eyes 
and rings (fig. 5) at each 
end, where they are 
protected by broad 
bands of iron to pre¬ 
vent splitting. The 
implement,when drawn 
over the ground,gathers 
any stones that will not 
pass between the teeth, 
and can be made to 
leave them in rows so 
as to be easily picked up 
for removal. The teeth 
Fig.2.-LADDER IN FRAME. ^ ^ p]acesby 
means of nuts in the screws at the upper ends, a 
washer being placed beneath each nut to protect 
the wood. At figure 3 is shown a clevis suitable 
for a plow, harrow, or stone-boat. It is provided 
with a swivel hook, fastened by a nut and screw. 
A Spring Latch for a Gate — Gate Posts.— 
•“O. B.,” Brumfield Station, Ky., sends these items: 
The latch shown at figure 8 is made of hard-wood; 
is 2 feet long, 3 inches wide for 5 inches of its 
length where it enters the post, and one and a half 
inches wide for the rest. 
It works between the 
upright bars of the gate, 
and is kept in place by 
pins passing through 
these, and seen at P. 
The other end works 
between short pieces 
fastened to the level 
bars of the gate at T. 
The spring, S, is made 
of locust or other tough 
timber, and is fastened 
to the two lower bars. 
A pin, marked 1, re¬ 
ceives the force of the 
spring, and another marked 2, prevents the latch 
from going too far. The catch should be made 
of a piece of liard-wood 4 inches wide, 6 inches 
long, and 11 thiclr, beveled at one end for half 
an inch. A mortise is cut in the post, an inch 
from its front edge, 1 inch wide and deep, and 
4 inches long. The pin, 2, is placed so that 
the latch will enter the post I of an inch. The 
wood of the post between the catch and the mor¬ 
tise, is cut away with a chisel, and given the same 
HANDY LATCH. 
n 
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Fig. 4.— DOUGLAS’ STONE GATHERER. 
slope as the catch. This is shown at figure 7; the 
piece added to the post being shown by the dark 
shaded portion. An arrangement of gate posts, 
whereby any danger of sagging of the gate is 
avoided, is shown at figure 9. The blocks, A, and 
the sill, P, which is aided by the wedges, W, hold 
the posts rigidly, and enable them to support the 
weight of the gate. 
Self-Binding Harvesters.— There is never a 
need for a thing but it comes to our hand through 
the skill of the inventor and the enter¬ 
prise of the manufacturer. The develop¬ 
ment of the immense plains of North¬ 
west Minnesota as a wheat-growing 
country, opened up a demand for a self¬ 
binding harvester, and the almost im¬ 
mediate supply of several different effec¬ 
tive machines, gave a great impetus to 
wheat - growing on a gigantic scale. 
Fields of thousands of acres in extent 
are now frequent, and one Minnesota 
farmer is operating 76 of these ma¬ 
chines the present season, the total 
capacity of which will be 1,500 acres per day. This 
is farming on a grand scale, cnly possible by the 
fortunate coincidence of immense tracts of fertile 
level land, and 'harvesters of this complete char¬ 
acter. The moderate cost of these machines, how¬ 
ever, should induce their use on smaller farms, or 
Fig. 5. 
their ownership by persons who will harvest grain 
on contract, the same as threshing is done. 
Canning Fruits and Vegetables. 
The process of putting up ordinary fruits in self¬ 
sealing glass jars is now so simple and well under¬ 
stood, that it is practised in al¬ 
most every family. Those who 
readily succeed with peaches, 
pears, the various berries, etc., 
find that when they try tomatoes, 
green corn, and other vegetables, 
in the same manner, they fail al¬ 
together ; and as the season ap¬ 
proaches, we receive numerous in¬ 
quiries about canning these ar¬ 
ticles. There is no secret about 
canning corn, peas, tomatoes, etc., 
but the trouble is that the pro¬ 
cess is not one that can well be 
performed by women, and with the 
ordinary appliances of the house¬ 
hold. The treatment required by 
these make tin cans necessary, 
and involves a long boiling after 
they are sealed up. The Oneida 
Community, celebrated for the Fig. 6.—TOOTH, 
excellence of their products, 
long ago published freely every step of their pro¬ 
cess, and others have given accounts of the meth¬ 
ods, and the more there is known about them, the 
more evident it becomes that the canning of cer¬ 
tain articles is a distinct branch of manufacture 
that can no more be readily introduced into the fam¬ 
ily than shoemaking or weaving. The general rou¬ 
tine is, to fill tin cans vdth the article to be pre¬ 
served, and to solder tight. The cans are then 
placed in a boiler of water, or in a tank which can 
be supplied with high-pressure steam, and kept at 
the temperature of the water or steam for a certain 
length of time. This operation is called in the trade 
“processing,” and much of the success depends 
upon the length of time 
each particular article is 
“processed.” Some years 
ago we went through a can¬ 
ning establishment with its 
proprietor,who kindly show¬ 
ed us every detail of pre¬ 
paring aful putting up. At 
last we reached the great vat, 
where hundreds of cans 
were being boiled in water. 
“How long are these -cooked here?” we asked. 
“ Ah, that is our process ! ” was the reply, and that 
was the only secret we found about the whole es¬ 
tablishment. Some manufacturers, instead of cook¬ 
ing the cans in water, use a strong brine of salt, or 
of chloride of calcium, either of which boils at a 
much higher temperature than clear water, and in¬ 
sures a more thorough cooking. Green corn is one 
of the articles about which the most frequent in¬ 
quiry is made, and is one which gives the regular 
canners more trouble 
than any other. The 
corn is cut from the 
cob, and the cans fill¬ 
ed. In some establish¬ 
ments the cobs are 
boiled in water, and the 
liquor thus obtained is 
used to fill up the cans 
so that there may be 
no air spaces among 
the kernels ; others use 
a weak syrup of sugar 
and salt, to fill up with. 
The cans are then 
soldered tight, leaving 
a vent-hole, a mere 
pin-hole, in the cen¬ 
ter of the cover, open, 
and “processed,” i. e. 
set in a vat of water, 
_,. o and boiled for two 
Fig, 3.— CLEVIS. t' i . ,, 
& hours. Each can is then 
taken out, set upon a bench with a sudden jar, to 
Fig. 7.— MORTICE 
FOR LATCH. 
