1881.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
359 
call attention to a great evil of tlie present 
time, I submit them to you. 
The evil to 'which I refer is for every man 
to rush to the Legislature and attempt to 
procure a statute for remedying small diffi¬ 
culties which, in the nature of things, are a 
part of progress, and which time only can 
cure. It is useless to try to cure petty evils 
by statute which will only be aggravated the 
more they ate legislated upon. Let any man 
ask himself whether or not he would petition 
the average legislature to provide by statute 
what crop 1 e should raise, what manure he 
should use, what breed of stock he should 
buy, and bow much he should pay for it, 
whether or not he should ensilage his fodder; 
or who he should trade with, and on what 
terms ; or what wagon he should use, and 
how much he should pay for teaming—in 
short let him consider that he may be as sub¬ 
ject to meddlesome legislation as any one, 
and perhaps he will doubt that the average 
legislator is competent to operate a railroad. 
A Device for Sharpening Fence Posts. 
Mr. G. F. Caughton, Appanoose County, 
Iowa, sends a sketch and description, which 
shows a device for holding fence posts while 
they are being sharpened. It consists of a 
post driven firmly into the ground, bearing 
A DEVICE FOR SHARPENING POSTS. 
two poles 12 or 15 feet long, with their 
ends crossed and held to the post by means 
of a chain—the opposite ends resting on the 
ground. The post to be pointed is placed 
upon a sharpening block with its upper end 
resting in the forks made by the crossed ends 
of the long poles, chained to the upright 
post, as is clearly shown in the engraving. 
Tlie Care of tlie Hand. —Many per¬ 
sons, especially farmers, neglect their hands. 
Hard work will, of course, make the hands 
hard, but they need not on that account be 
untidy. A black line at each finger nail is 
not a mark of a “ working man,” so much as 
it is of a negligent one. No matter what his 
occupation, one should no more come to the 
table with dirty hands, than with a dirty face. 
To keep the hands in good order a brush is a 
necessity. A “nail brush” may be bought 
for a very small sum, and no matter what 
may be one’s work, he can, by the use of this, 
keep his hands in very good condition. Rub 
the brush across the soap and scrub the 
finger nails, not only at the end, but at the 
base where they join the flesh, and if there 
are any other parts of the hands that need it, 
give them a scrubbing also. The daily use of 
a nail brush, and a careful paring of the nails 
before they get long, will enable the hardest 
worked farmer to keep his hands in a com¬ 
fortable condition. The greatest trouble with 
the hands is from a splitting of the skin at the 
base of the nails, causing what are called 
• • hang-nails this may be avoided by a little 
care. At each washing of the hands, and 
after they have been dried upon the towel, 
. push the skin downwards away from the 
base of the nail, by using the end of another 
nail; that is, use the thumb-nail of the right 
hand to dress the nails of the left, and vice 
versa. The comfort that results from well 
kept hands is sufficient reason, not to mention 
neat appearance, for properly caring for them. 
A Windmill for a Farm Shop. 
Mr. Gustav A. Michael, Montgomery Co., 
Pa., writes : “In answer to your request of 
some months ago, I send a few' rough 
sketches of a windmill 
which has been adjust¬ 
ed for doing shop work, 
as boring fence-posts, 
etc. I constructed the 
mill myself, and at a 
cost of not over five 
dollars. The windmill 
w'heel was made as fol¬ 
lows : I selected one of 
the large wheels from 
an old horse-pow'er, and 
removed the rim so that 
only the hub portion 
and the spokes were 
left. These were bevel¬ 
led off, and the wings or 
fans of the mill wheel 
were fastened to them 
by means of screws. 
The wings are 4 feet 
long, 20 inches broad at 
the upper ends, and 6 
inches at the bottom, so 
that the wheel measures 
8 feet in diameter. The 
gearing house, fig. 2, is 
made of 2 by 6 inch 
oak plank mortised to¬ 
gether. Two large holes, 
for the adjustment of 
the shafts, the lower and larger, 5 inches in 
diameter, and the upper 3 inches, are cut 
somewhat to one side of the middle of the 
gearing house, so that the windmill may 
balance more perfectly upon the shaft, and 
therefore turn easily to the wind. Tlie shaft is 
a one-inch iron rod obtained from an old mow- ! 
ing machine. There are two cog-wheels in the \ 
gearing house, by means of which the power 
and motion are transmitted from the wind- I 
mill wheel to the shop below. The beam j 
upon which the turning shaft rests runs 
through the middle of the upper portion of 
the shop, and is of oak 5 by 5 inches in 
diameter. There is a gearing wheel on the 
lower end of the shaft that is 11 inches in 
diameter, and connects with another 2 feet 
in diameter, which 
is fastened to the 
upper portion of the 
shaft bearing the 
auger, or other tool, 
to be used. The 
motion and general 
action of the mill 
is governed by a 
brake. There is also 
a lever by means of 
which the auger, 
etc., is raised or lowered when at work. 
When posts are being bored they are placed 
upon a carriage provided with four wheels, 
which can be readily moved along as desired. 
I intend to arrange this mill as soon as time 
permits to give power for sawing wood, 
grinding tools, pumping water, etc., etc.” 
The windmill is shown in position, with 
the interior of the shop in view, in fig. 1; 
the gearing house with the arrangement for 
shafts is shown in fig. 2, and the carriage and 
stand for holding the work are given in figs. 
3 and 4 respectively. 
Every farmer, from necessity, is more or 
less a machinist, and we have advocated from 
time to time that all should, if possible, have 
a shop in which they can do their work of 
repairing farm implements, and even of 
making new ones as they are wanted. There 
WINDMILL AND INTERIOR OF SnOP. 
is no doubt but that the wind could be util¬ 
ized at a trifling cost as a source of power in 
doing much of the important work connected 
with a farm shop. If one can afford the 
outlay, and it is not veiy great, required to 
Fig. 3.—CARRIAGE FOR HOLDING POSTS. 
purchase any of the many windmills now 
offered by the makers, he would no doubt 
have a more satisfactory wind engine than 
any he could make. But, as our correspond- 
Fig 4.— THE WORK-STAND. 
ent shows, those who do not care to buy a 
windmill, and there are many such, need 
not be deprived of the use of wind-power. 
The Corn Cril). —The average corn- 
crib is not what it ought to be, either in size 
or security from vermin. Much of the labor 
of the year may go for nothing, save to feed 
a swarm of mice, if precautions are not taken 
to keep these little pests from the corn-crib. 
At this season, when the crib is usually empty, 
means should be taken to clear it of mice, 
Fig. 1. A 
