150 
AMERICA::! AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
staple, with a long iron hook, is fastened into 
one end of cross pieces, one upon the right, 
and the other upon the left side of the post, 
as shown in the engraving. After the post 
has been put into position, the hooks are 
turned upon it and driven into the upper 
side of the post, thus securing it firmly. The 
great difficulty in boring bar posts is in hold¬ 
ing them from turning or twisting ; by such 
1 a simple frame, with its hooks, this is over¬ 
come, and a man can do good work rapidly. 
moves up and forward.” [The latch, catch-pin 
and position of all the parts are sufficiently ex¬ 
plained in the accompanying engraving.—E d.] 
A Stump Puller. 
We have recently published a number of 
stump pullers, but still receive new devices 
for facilitating the important and by no means 
PULLING STUMPS WITH LOG AND LEVER. 
easy work of clearing the land of stumps. 
“ A. B. K.,” Porter Co., Ind., sends a sketch 
from which the engraving has been made. 
A stout lever, 8 or 10 feet long, is set up by 
the stump, and the foot chained fast to it. A 
chain being fastened to the upper end of the 
lever is carried to a log placed 10 or 12 feet 
from the stump. The log prevents the chain 
from swinging up and hurting the horses. 
A wagon may be used in place of the log by 
loading the rear end with stones, and hitch¬ 
ing the chain to the hind axletree. Care must 
be taken to keep the team on a straight line 
with the chain, or the wagon will be upset. 
A ^elf>€losing: Gate Latcli .—“ R. 
W.,” writes : ‘ I enclose a sketch of a self¬ 
closing latch for a farm gate, that I have con¬ 
trived and used for 
some years with sat¬ 
isfaction. Springs 
are unreliable, and 
often break, gravity 
does not act with 
sufficient promptness 
to secure a latch, 
that is weighted, 
from the recoil of a 
slam. This latch I 
never saw fail to 
catch in the fiercest 
“blow.” It is inex¬ 
pensive. The curved 
tail must be thin 
enough and suffici¬ 
ently soft to admit 
a spring gate latch, of bending, either by 
a pair of large pincers or a hammer, just 
so as to adapt it to the passage of the pin 
bolted through the front style of the gate. 
As the gate closes the latch lifts and the tail¬ 
piece advances. The catch-pin cannot possi¬ 
bly move out unless the whole end of the gate 
Management of Lambs in Spring. 
As a rule it is best to begin to wean lambs 
as soon as they can be»tempted to eat—when 
four or five weeks old. A separate enclosure 
should be made for them, to which the sheep 
cannot gain access. This may be an ad¬ 
joining yard, and in it place a long trough 
upon or near the ground, in which bran and 
oatmeal should be scattered. The practice of 
feeding the lambs should be continued after 
the ewes are turned out to pasture, and if 
they can have the exclusive run of a part of 
the pasture it is all the 
better for them. Such an 
arrangement can be made 
by having gaps in the fence, 
which the lambs are not 
slow to discover and use. A 
few small gates or “lamb 
creeps ” may be made in the 
fence to let the lambs 
through, and at the same 
time entirely prevent the 
sheep from passing. It 
should not be overlooked 
that any extra care given 
to lambs in early spring will 
have its influence through 
all their lives, making them 
stronger and better. At the 
same time, good care to the 
a relief to then - dams, which 
sheep husbandry. 
lambs means 
is an important point in 
Fig. 1.— BIT FOR SUCK- 
An Illustration of the Value of Illustra¬ 
tions—Self-Sucking Cows. 
The request, “ Everybody Send Some¬ 
thing,” was made in February, asking our 
readers to send us descriptions and sketches 
of any labor-saving devices, contrivances, 
etc., for the benefit of many others. To il¬ 
lustrate the matter we described a simple de¬ 
vice for stopping cows from drawing their 
own milk. “It was merely a short bit of 
iron pipe—a piece of gas-pipe open at the 
ends.... put across the mouth of the cow, 
and the two ends fastened to the horns with 
a stout string, etc.”. ... It would seem as if 
this simple device was 
there so fully de¬ 
scribed, that an en¬ 
graving of it was un- 
ing cow. necessary to make it 
any clearer. But from our letters it is very 
evident that the gas-pipe prevention is new to 
many, and imperfectly understood. “ Please 
send me the number that has the description 
how to stop a cow from drawing her own 
milk, with a piece of iron pipe.” Evidently 
this was written by 
one who had read 
“ Everybody Send 
Something,” and wish¬ 
es the engraving rather 
than the description of 
the device. This is 
but one of many ex¬ 
amples of the great 
value of an engraving 
over mere words in conveying ideas. The 
space occupied by a single well-executed il¬ 
lustration may give at once more real, accu¬ 
rate information than five times the same 
Fig. 2.- 
-BIT IN POSI¬ 
TION. 
space in print. We request those intending- 
to send us information about some device, to 
keep in mind this fact, and, so far as possible, 
make sketches, even of the roughest kind, to 
accompany the description. It is gratifying 
to note that many have taken the hint and 
are sending sketches of farm and garden im¬ 
plements, household conveniences, etc. If 
all are not thanked individually by letter, it 
is for lack of time. To those who wish to 
learn more of the device for the sucking 
cow, we give the accompanying illustrations. 
Do they need any further description ? 
A Mill for Hen Manure. 
Mr. B. O. Beitel, Northampton Co., Pa., has 
a useful home-made machine for bringing 
hen manure into a form to be used, which 
he describes as follows : “I constructed a box 
Fig. 1. —SIDE VIEW OF MANURE MILL. 
2 feet long, 8 inches wide, and 12 inches high.. 
A cog-wheel and pinion—the gearing of an 
old fanning mill—was purchased for a trifle. 
I made a shaft of ’/«-bich iron, and keyed it 
on the pinion. A cylinder of wood about 8 
inches in diameter by 8 inches long was 
turned out and spikes, or large nails, driven 
into its circumference. This cylinder was 
put into the box, the sides being cut down to 
admit the shaft.” The construction of the 
mill is shown in side view in figure 1, and a 
view looking down into the hopper is given 
in figure 2. Mr. B. writes : “ This machine is 
of great value, as it breaks up the hard lumps 
Fig. 2.—HOPPER AND GRINDER OF THE MILL. 
in the hen manure, which otherwise would: 
not be available in applying it. I take the- 
manure from the coops at frequent intervals,, 
put it in barrels, and keep it m a dry place. 
Towards spring I take it out, and run it 
through the machine, mix it with equal parts 
of road dust, and apply to the corn in the hill. 
I hope this device will be of use to those who, 
from the difficulty of bringing their hen 
manure into a proper condition to use upon 
their fields, have let it go entirely to waste.” 
Colorado Potato Iteetle. —The wide 
experience that the American farmers have- 
had with this pest should teach them that 
much depends upon the prompt and early 
application of the remedy. The best method 
of using Paris Green, or London Purple, is 
with water. The ways of applying this are 
various.but none better than with a sprinkling 
pot with a fine rose, keeping it well stirred^ 
