1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
239 
A New Recording Dynamometer. 
With the increase of agricultural imple¬ 
ments comes the necessity for knowing the 
relative power required to operate them. One 
can not know from mere inspection of sever¬ 
al mowers, reapers, pulverizers, etc., which 
will accomplish its work with the least out¬ 
lay of “ horse-flesh.” To ascertain the actu¬ 
al power expended, various Dynamometers 
have been invented : this rather long name 
is, like Thermometer, Barometer, etc., from 
Greek words, which in this case mean power 
measurer. The various forms of dynamome¬ 
ters show the power expended by interposing 
a spring of some kind, coiled or straight, be¬ 
tween the power—the horses, oxen, or other 
animals—and the machine to be drawn. It 
will be evident that a dynamometer, the 
scale of which is to be watched, will give 
very uncertain results, and one that will re¬ 
cord its observations is vastly preferable. The 
THE BALDWIN SELF-REGISTERING D 
self-recording implements heretofore, have 
operated by clock-work, which made the 
original cost too great, and, from the compli¬ 
cation of parts, the chances of derangement 
were vastly increased. In the Baldwin Re¬ 
cording Dynamometer, all clock-work is dis¬ 
pensed with, the machine being exceedingly 
simple in its structure, and throughout of a 
thoroughly practical character, which can 
not be disarranged in any ordinary working. 
Such an implement is now in demand by Ag¬ 
ricultural Societies, who use it, or should do 
so, in all competitive trials of implements, 
and by makers of implements and others, 
and a self-recording dynamometer of moder¬ 
ate cost, which can be operated by any per¬ 
son of fair intelligence, meets the demands 
of all such. As shown in the engraving, the 
singletree forms a part of the instrument, 
and the coil-spring is forward of the single¬ 
tree. By this arrangement the relative po¬ 
sitions of the horses and the implement are 
not changed, allowing the angle of draft to 
remain the same as when ordinary whiffle- 
trees are used. In testing the draft of plows, 
harrows, and other implements, in which no 
pole is used, this is an important point. As 
the draft is applied, all the movements of the 
spnng are transmitted directly to a pencil, 
and traced on a flat piece of card-board. 
This card-board is attached to a sliding plate, 
which has a slow movement at right angles 
to that of the pencil. The plate is moved by 
means of a screw and grooved band-wheel. 
The screw has twenty threads to an inch, 
and the wheel a circumference of one foot. 
This grooved wheel is made to revolve by 
means of a small cord, about the size of an 
ordinary fishing line, 100 feet long. This 
is wrapped once around the wheel, and one 
end attached to a peg fixed in the ground. 
The balance of the cord is wound on a reel, 
which is carried in the hand of the operator. 
As the implement advances over the ground, 
each foot travelled causes, the wheel to make 
one revolution, and consequently one revolu¬ 
tion of the screw, thus moving the card-board 
plate one thread, or y 20 th of an inch. A steel 
scale is furnished with each instrument, the 
graduations representing pounds. This scale 
is made direct from each spring, and shows 
how far that is mov¬ 
ed by a given force. 
"We thus have the 
movement in one di¬ 
rection on the card¬ 
board, representing 
pounds of draft, 
which are measured 
with the steel scale, 
and the movement in 
the other direction 
representingdistance 
over the ground in 
feet, measured by a 
scale ‘/ 2 oth of an inch 
to the foot. The ac¬ 
tual draft in pounds, 
measured by the steel 
scale, at each foot, or 
each five feet added 
together, and divided 
by the number of 
measurements, gives 
the average draft. 
The diagram, traced 
by the pencil on the 
card-board,shows the 
actual working of the 
implement under trial. By reference to the 
engraving it will be seen that the instrument 
has but one spring, one screw, one wheel, 
and one sliding plate. These, which are the 
moving paints, are all large and substantial, 
and in plain sight. It is impossible for the 
operator, or any other person, to change their 
relationship to each other, or in any way to 
make the instrument show a false record. 
The weight of the Dynamometer is but lit¬ 
tle more than that of ordinary whiffletrees. 
Hay-Caps—Prepare Now. 
Caps or covers of cloth for the hay in cocks 
are of great service. A cap a yard square is 
large enough to cover the top, and a part of 
the sides, of an ordinary hay-cock. In mak¬ 
ing the caps it is best to. buy yard-wide brown 
cotton and cut it into yard lengths or squares. 
The rough edges should be hemmed and the 
corners turned over and stitched, thus mak¬ 
ing a loop for the insertion of the cord for 
fastening. The manner of using the caps is 
shown in the engraving. A supply of wooden 
pins will be required—one of these being 
thrust into the hay through the loop of 
cord at each of the four comers of the cap. 
To economize in the number of caps the 
hay may be gathered into large cocks, that 
are well rounded out at the top. If made 
with care a dozen or even fewer cocks may 
METHOD OF APPLYING HAY-CAPS. 
contain a ton of hay and be thoroughly 
protected through a heavy storm by the 
use of caps, that cost but a few cents a 
piece. As they last for a number of sea¬ 
sons, and may be used on grain as well as 
hay, it pays well to have a good supply of 
these hay-caps to save the hay and grain, 
etc., from the severe damage of hard rains. 
A Home-made Clod Crusher. 
Mr. J. J. Rogers, Chatham Co., Wash. Terr. r 
writes : “I made my first Clod Crusher—the 
first one in this region—six years ago, and 
now the farmers here could not do without 
it. We run it over gram as soon as it is har¬ 
rowed in, but the principal use is with the 
potatoes. When they begin to show through 
the ground we run the spike harrow over 
them, and afterwards the clod crusher, which 
covers most of the potato tops with earth 
again, and pulls up and kills every weed that 
lias started. It saves more than one-half the 
cost of raising the crop.” The construction 
A WESTERN CLOD CRUSHER. 
of the crusher is shown in the engraving 
here given. Two planks, 5 feet long, and 6 
inches wide, make the “runners.” The un¬ 
der edges of these are cut zigzag to receive 
the cross-pieces, which are spiked upon them 
with the “ runners ” 4 feet apart. The cross¬ 
pieces are 4 in number, and made of l'/Vinch 
plank, 6 inches wide and 6 feet long ; with a 
cross-bar for attaching the whiffletrees and a 
seat for the driver, the crusher is complete. 
The weight upon the implement should be 
gauged by the condition of the soil—the 
lighter and looser the soil the less the weight 
required to keep it properly at work. 
Good Kiiles to Follow. —Ricardo had 
two famous rules for acquiring wealth: 1, 
Cut short your losses ; 2, Let your profits run 
on.” These are very general statements, and 
therefore embrace many special rules of 
