1881,] 
59 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
A Place for Farm Tools. 
Every tool upon the farm should have its 
place when not in use. A well-arranged tool- 
house is not only gratifying to the eye, but it 
also tells a story of forethought, care, and 
thrift, that all enjoy. Often a farmer cannot 
afford a separate house for the tools, but this 
does not preclude having a suitable place for 
them. The sides of the carriage house or 
bam may often be so arranged that all the 
small farm implements, such as shovels, forks, 
hoes, rakes, axes, etc., etc., shall have a place 
for holding them securely and be easy of 
access. The accompanying engraving shows 
how the space between the studs may be 
utilized. Two cross-pieces of inch board are 
put in, one near the floor, and the other about 
three feet above. Holes are bored in these, 
and all small tools are inserted by their 
handles. Shelves can be put in above the 
upper ends of the implements, and on these 
other tools may be stored. Hooks and pins 
are convenient, and the side of the room 
should be abundantly supplied with them. 
If wooden ones are used, let them be strong, 
and fastened securely to the studs, so as not 
to break down when the tools are hung up. 
This season of comparative leisure is the 
best in which to fit up a tool-house, or the 
sides of a room that can be used for the stor¬ 
ing of the smaller farm Implements. With 
good tools in working order and at hand, the 
farmer is fore-armed for his work. We hope 
all will be ready with their farm implements 
for the spring campaign that is soon to open. 
Ensilage.— This subject is now exciting 
much interest among American farmers, es¬ 
pecially in the Eastern States. There is no 
question that green com stalks, and other 
fodders, can be kept in silos, and that they 
are eaten with avidity by farm stock, when 
removed in the green state in mid-winter. It 
is established that the ensilaging of fodder is 
practicable when it is desirable to get the 
greatest number of tons of food from the 
smallest area of land. Stock feeding in a 
system of intensive farming calls for some 
such method of preserving fodder. Many 
important points in ensilaging remain to be 
settled, and we caution one and all to not 
adopt the method largely until the whole 
ground has been thoroughly canvassed. 
Those who have built silos and are now feed¬ 
ing their contents are enthusiastic, but many 
of their statements are unintentionally col¬ 
ored by their ardor. The 
item of cost is frequent¬ 
ly distorted, and the 
statement of tons pro¬ 
duced per acre is faulty. 
The superior value of 
the green fodder over 
the dry, of the same 
kind, is not so thorough¬ 
ly established by exact 
experiments as is de¬ 
sirable. One great need 
at present is a cheap 
form of silo for a few 
tons of fodder, easy of 
access, and suited to 
keep one cow. We en¬ 
joyed a recent conversa¬ 
tion on this subject with 
a leading Connecticut 
farmer who had the 
Cranberry fever a few 
years ago, and lost 
$30,000 by it. He said, 
“I am willing to look 
into this ensilage in the 
most thorough manner, and shall adopt 
it as soon as I see it is safe and profitable.” 
It is well for all to take the same course. 
Hanging a Beef. 
Killing a single beef on the farm is an 
awkward work as compared with the ease 
and neatness allowed by the appliances of a 
modem slaughter-house. When one man 
does it alone, as he often must, he finds his 
hands full. The stunning by a blow with an 
axe, or a rifle bullet, the blood letting, and 
the skinning, one can do very well, but string¬ 
ing up the carcass is difficult. If performed 
on a bam floor one man may do it with a 
rope and tackle. Figure 1 shows a plan by 
which one strong man can swing a small 
beef clear, without rope or pulleys. Two 
stout poles are fastened to the ground by 
their larger ends and secured to a third one 
at the top by a strong rope, small chain, or 
Fig. 1.—TEIPOD METHOD OF HANGING THE OAKCASS. 
a wooden pin. The first two poles have a 
“resting pin” driven in each, high enough 
to clear the carcass when the gambrel rests 
A PORTION OF A WELL-ARRANGED TOOL-HOUSE. 
upon the pins, as shown in the engraving. 
When ready to hang the carcass the hind 
quarters are blocked up as high as possible; 
the gambrel inserted in the hocks, is laid upon 
the pins, which are lowered by moving the 
Fig. 2.— A SECOND METHOD OF SUSPENSION. 
hind pole back. The gambrel is then raised by 
pushing the hind pole upwards. A stout pin 
may be inserted for a handle if desired. If 
the ground be frozen and slippery, it is best 
to cut a series of small notches in the surface 
for the foot of the rising pole to catch in, and 
prevent accidents as the carcass is raised. 
For the benefit of many thousands of 
newer readers we re-introduce a plan we gave 
over ten years ago. 
Two strong poles, 15 
feet long, are placed 
against a building as 
shown in figure 2. Two 
crotched poles 5 feet 
long, and two 7 or 8 
feet long are provided, 
the ends being sharp¬ 
ened. By using the 
lever and simple sling 
shown in figure 3, and 
first the short and then m 8LmG _ 
the long crotches, the 
gambrel with the carcass can be quickly and 
easily raised, one end at a time, by one man. 
Making Straw Mats.—It is almost 
impossible, at least in the Northern States, to 
properly manage either a hot-bed or a cold 
frame that is used for growing plants, without 
some covering for the glass. Various substi¬ 
tutes have been proposed for the straw-mats, 
such as gardeners have used for generations, 
but there is nothing that we have met with 
at all equal in efficacy to these old-fashioned 
affairs. There are various methods of mak¬ 
ing them, but one given in the American. 
Agriculturist in April and May, 1875, is vastly 
superior to any other that we have seen, and 
allows of very rapid work. As the two 
articles, with several engravings, would oc¬ 
cupy a page, we cannot properly reproduce 
them, and it will be well for those who have 
inquired about making straw mats to procure 
the numbers referred to, as the price will be 
saved several times over, in the first day’s 
work. The chief difference between the 
method there given and the old one is in 
using a double frame, the two halves of which 
are hinged together. The frame being opened, 
the straw is carefully laid upon one half ; the 
other half is shut down and fastened to hold 
the straw in place. Instead of tying, as in 
the old method, the straw is sown together, 
using strong twine and large wooden needles. 
