318 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
brown above and bright buff beneath. It is 
common along the shores of the Columbia 
River, where it lives upon the seeds of the 
pines, acorns, etc. The Red-Bellied Squirrel, 
No. 8, is medium-sized, with a long, slender 
tail. The back is light gray, and the under 
surface of the body of a bright, reddish-brown 
color. It is a far western species. A common 
squirrel in the South is the Carolina Gray, 
No. 9, which is smaller than the Migratory 
Gray, is rusty gray above and white beneath ; 
it does not vary in color. No. 10, the Downy 
Squirrel, is a little stouter than the Common 
Red, light chestnut-brown on the upper sur¬ 
face, silver gray below. This most beautiful 
squirrel is found in the northwestern portion 
of North America, along the sea coast, several 
degrees beyond the Columbia River. The 
Richardson’s Columbian Squirrel, No. 11, is 
smaller than the Common Red, rusty-gray 
above, whitish beneath, with the end of the 
tail black. It is sometimes called the “ Small 
Brown Squirrel,” and is an inhabitant of the 
Columbia River region. No. 12, the Chipping 
or Ground Squirrel is one of the smallest and 
most interesting of squirrels ; its beauty of 
coloring—being striped with black and yellow 
upon a brownish orange background—and its 
lively habits give it, as Audubon says, the 
place among quadrupeds that the wren holds 
among the feathered tribes. It has a wide 
geographical range, and makes its presence 
known, wherever found, by its rapid move¬ 
ments and sharp chip, chip, chip ! 
A Trestle Rail Holder. 
Mr. J. W. Doudner, Belmont Co., O., sends 
a shetch and writes : ‘ 4 thinking that many 
of the readers of the American Agriculturist 
may have fence posts to straighten, and other 
small pieces of timber to hew, I send a de¬ 
scription of a device which I have used three 
years for that purpose. It is both cheap and 
convenient. It not only holds the timber 
squarely, but answers for a trestle also. Al¬ 
most any one with the ordinary tools can 
make it. Take a piece of 4 by 6-inch scant¬ 
ling, and 5 feet long, and construct a tres¬ 
tle about 22 inches high ; make two mortises 
down through it, near the center, one 14 by 
4 inches, and the other 14 by 12 inches, leav¬ 
ing a space of 3 inches between them. Make 
a pair of jaws as shown at a and b, in the ac¬ 
companying engraving. They should be 2 
feet long and 4 inches wide. The piece, a, 
may have a shoulder on the back and over 
A CONVENIENT RAIL HOLDER. 
the breast, but must fit squarely into the 
smaller mortise. The jaw, b, should move 
easily in the large mortise and have a hole in 
it for a pin 10 inches from the top end, for it 
to slide upon, and to prevent it from drop¬ 
ping through the mortise. Each jaw should 
have four iron teeth to prevent the timber 
from turning. Provide two keys, c and d, 
each one 5 inches wide and 2 feet long; 
these are to be placed in the larger mortise, 
with the jaw b, first boring three holes in d, 
in order that it may be raised or lowered by 
means of a pin, thus accommodating the 
holder to the size of the timber.”—With the 
aid of the accompanying engraving, the whole 
construction of this rail holder is made clear. 
A Tether for a Horse. 
Mr. Edwin L. Ake, Polk Co., Ga., describes 
his horse tether as follows: ‘ 1 Select a post a, 44 
feet long, sharpen one end so it can be driven 
in the ground, and place an iron band on the 
other to keep it from splitting. Bore two 14 
inch holes, the one 8 inches, and the other 24 
inches, from the top of the post. Obtain two 
pieces, b, b, 8 inches long, bore an inch hole 
through each near one end, and shave the 
other ends so as to fit in the holes in the post. 
A piece, c, 8 feet long, is made to fit in the 
holes of the pieces described above; cut a 
place around it to keep it from slipping 
through, and so it will extend a foot above 
the top of the large post. A pole, e, 12 or 15 
feet long, is mortised 3 feet from the end, to 
fit on the top of piece c. Make the mortise 
long enough, that the pole can work up and 
down easily. Attach a weight at e; it should 
be heavy enough to keep the other end from 
falling to the ground when the horse is hitched 
to it, thus preventing the horse from getting 
entangled in the rope. This tether is very 
simple, and easily made, and I like it better 
than any other. It can be quickly moved 
from one place to another.” 
Corn Smut (Ustilago Maydis). 
Eveiy farmer is familiar with the appear¬ 
ance of “ Smut ” in Indian Corn. It does not 
always attack the grain, as it appears on the 
tassel, upon the stalk, and even upon the 
leaves. Wherever it is found, there is a 
swelling of the parts, a spongy and un¬ 
natural growth, and later, this, when broken 
open, shows the Smut, a vast assemblage 
of microscopically small grains, the spores, 
or reproductive bodies of the Corn Smut 
Fungus, which botanists call Ustilago May¬ 
dis. Like other grain smuts, it is a minute 
parasitic plant, the portion of -which, 
corresponding to the root in other plants, 
lives in the tissues of the corn, causing 
an abnormal growth to be produced. It 
is not well known just how and when the 
smut plant begins its work upon the corn; 
it may be that the spores are planted with the 
grain and germinate and grow as the corn 
plant increases in size. Some who have given 
much study to these microscopic fungi, are 
of the opinion that the spores float in the air, 
and coming in contact with the corn, germi¬ 
nate and grow upon the surface, sending 
their fine threads, which answer to roots in 
higher plants, into and through the tissue of 
the corn stems and leaves. Whatever may 
be the method of entering the corn, the para¬ 
site robs it of nourishment for its own rapid 
growth, and after a time begins the work of 
producing a vast number of spores by means 
of which the smut plant is perpetuated. 
The grains are the parts that most frequently 
become “smutted,” though it is not uncom¬ 
mon to find other parts affected in the same 
manner. The grains first become of unusual 
size, gradually turn of a dark color, and soft 
throughout, and finally the covering breaks, 
when the ripened spores are exposed as a dry 
dusty powder. It is well known that smut¬ 
ted corn is unwholesome for live stock, seri¬ 
ous results having followed the feeding of 
smutted fodder. The fact that a preparation 
made from it is used in medicine shows it to 
have active properties. It is used medicinally 
in place of Ergot, another parasitic fungus 
frequently found on rye, and it may be in¬ 
ferred that, when eaten in large quantities, 
Corn Smut may produce abortion in cows, 
as Ergot, or “ Spurred Rye” has been known 
to do in many instances. Whatever may be 
its effects, they are never for good, and all 
smutted corn should be excluded from the 
feed of farm animals. The quickest and best 
way to rid a field of smutted corn is to pass 
through it so soon as the “ disease ” makes its 
appearance, and gather all affected portions 
and bum them. In this way the millions of 
spores are prevented from being spread broad¬ 
cast over the neighborhood, and the means 
of continuing the pest much diminished. 
3 
3 
3 
3- 
3 
Jjsa. 
Fig. 1.—GATE 
HINGE. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
A Good Gate Hinge. —“F. B. L.,” Nich¬ 
olas Co., Ky., sends a sketch of a useful Gate 
Hinge. A side view of the ^ 
gate post with the hinges is 
shown in figure 1. The bolts 
for the posts pass through 
the post and are fastened 
securely to their places by 
nuts. There should be two 
washers to each bolt, one on 
each side of the post, to keep 
the nuts from cutting into 
the wood on the one side, 
and the head of the bolt 
from being drawn .through 
too far on the other. The 
bolts passing through the gate frame re¬ 
quire only one washer and nut. The washer 
and nut of the upper bolt are on the front, 
edge of the frame, while the lower bolt has 
the washer at the back, or side towards the 
post. A gate, after it has been hung for some 
time, will usually sag to some extent. The 
advantage'of this form of hinge is this: if 
the nut on the upper bolt is drawn up tighter, 
the front end of the gate will be brought from 
the ground and to its proper position again. 
A Hingeless Gate. —The same gentleman 
writes : “We have an improvement on the 
gate described on page 471 of the Nov., 1880, 
American Agriculturist. Put the main piece 
in the middle of the gate, instead of the top, 
and it will balance better. This gate is very 
cheap and convenient.” Fig. 2 shows its plan. 
