138 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[April, 
deliver it right into the city markets when desired. 
When, in ancient times, New England occupied a 
higher level, a vast mass of surface soil was, by 
glacier action, slid out, so to speak, upon the sandy 
bottom of the ocean. Dig down far enough any¬ 
where upon the Island, and you will strike the 
original ocean Sand bed. In some places this im¬ 
ported soil is hundreds of feet thick ; in others only 
a few feet, and occasionally only a few inches. The 
last named spots are too leachy to retain moisture 
or fertilizers for profitable culture. But the great 
mass of the Island has a fair depth of good soil, 
and there is a large amount of good land awaiting 
the skill and labor of active and intelligent culti¬ 
vators. Thousands of thriving homes will ere long 
be found where now there is a comparatively sparse 
population, and a considerable portion of the occu¬ 
pants are devoting their attention to gathering the 
products of the adjacent waters rather than the 
products of the soil. Some of these lands are still 
obtainable at a low price, much below that asked 
by speculators a few years ago. One only needs 
skill enough, or the advice of those who do have it, 
to avoid the extreme shallow soils referred to, in 
order to secure good land at very reasonable prices. 
Except as to the peculiar formation named, the 
above remarks apply to portions of New Jersey, 
Connecticut, and Eastern New.York. The con¬ 
tinued growth of this city, which is doubtless soon 
to be the great, commercial Metropolis of the world, 
will enhance the value of these lauds by furnishing 
a demand for all that can be produced upon them. 
Hew Dairy Appliances. 
■-- 
Of the newer aids and helps towards perfect 
cleanliness in the dairy, we have the milking pail 
and the strainer, described below. It is a rather 
startling consideration that so many new contriv¬ 
ances should be continually introduced for the sole 
object of providing for cleanliness. It is a fact, 
nevertheless, that some provision for forcing clean 
practices upon dairymen is absolutely needed. With 
a plain, open, ordinary pail, milk maybe drawn with 
perfect freedom from all disagreeable matters, even 
.so much as a hair. If the cows are carded and 
Eig. 1.— MILK-PAIL WITH STRAINER. 
cleaned before they are milked, there may be no 
need for strainers upon the pail, or for strainers so 
arranged that foreign matters can not pass through 
them. But the fact is, many farmers and dairymen 
can not be induced to keep their cows clean, and 
therefore means must be provided to preserve the 
milk from contamination. Figure 1 represents a 
tin milking pail provided with a conical funnel and 
a wire gauze strainer above it. The milk is drawn 
into the strainer, and passes through it free from 
any accidental hairs, or other impurities, into the 
funnel, and thence into the pail. (A portion of 
the cover is cut away to show the funnel—of 
course, the real cover is entire.) If any restless 
cow upsets the pail, the milk will not be lost, be¬ 
cause it can not 
flow olit unless 
it is nearly Ail¬ 
ed, and then 
only a small 
quantity will es¬ 
cape at the 
worst. After a 
few trials with 
this pail, we 
conclude that 
while a neat and 
clean milker 
may not need it, 
yet it will be 
handy for him 
to have in case 
of accident, and 
Fig. 2.— PYRAMIDAL STRAINER. cal e ~ 
less milker may 
do well to have one and use it always. The same 
remark will apply to the strainer, shown at flg. 2. 
This consists of a seamless bowl, shown at the top, 
a conical strainer of wire gauze which screws into 
this, a second strainer of coarser gauze which flts 
over tie first when it is needed, and a ring upon 
which the strainer may rest when in use. The pur¬ 
pose of the conical strainer is to prevent clogging 
of the gauze by sediment as this falls to the bot¬ 
tom, remaining in the rim, and does not pass 
through the cloth. This is a useful contrivance, 
and is the chief peculiarity of the strainer, and from 
which it takes its name of More’s Pyramidal 
Strainer. The second and coarser strainer is used 
when, from any cause, the double straining may be 
thought advisable. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
An item in the “ Basket ” for January last, which 
was headed “ Send us Sketches for Engravings,” 
has had two very pleasant results ; it contained a 
general request to those having any contrivance or 
appliance that they found useful, to forward us 
sketches, that we might illustrate and make known 
the same to a million other readers. The two pleas¬ 
ant results are: the receipt of a large number of 
such sketches, as the profusion of small engravings 
in last month’s paper and the present number bear 
witness, and the manifestation of a willingness on 
the part of our readers to help one another. 
The Invitation is here Repeated, 
and with emphasis. Recent experience has shown 
that numbers, if they know that such are welcome, 
are ready to send 
the results of 
their ingenuity 
in the way of 
| labor - saving - 
and-lielping con¬ 
trivances, and 
we would say te 
all, that we wish 
to make this 
column what its 
heading indi¬ 
cates, one of real 
helpful hints to 
farmers. Though 
we shall use 
such illustra¬ 
tions in other 
parts of the pa¬ 
per, it is intend¬ 
ed that the most 
important shall 
appear iu this 
column. Do not 
refrain from Fjg. q,— safety swill-barrel. 
sending a device 
because it is simple, and “ one that any one would 
think of.” It is the very simple affairs—those 
that, when once seen, make us wonder why we 
didn’t think of them—that are generally the most 
useful and those that most need to be known. Do 
not withhold a sketch because you can not draw. 
Any one who can write his name can make such a 
sketch that, with proper measurements marked 
upon it, will be understood, and a few lines often 
give a clearer idea of an affair than a long descrip¬ 
tion. Don’t hesitate because your sketch is rough 
and rude: it will come to us confidentially, and our 
pencil, with the aid of our artists and engravers, 
will put it in proper shape for the public eye. We 
wish to make this 
The Farmers Own Column, 
to which each one can contribute, feeling that he 
is helping his brothers, and to which each one can 
come, to see what his brother farmers are doing to 
help him. With thanks to those who have Hinted 
and Helped, let us all do so still more freely. 
A Box for Salt. —Our correspondent, L. D. 
Fig. 2.— SALT-BOX FOR CATTLE. 
Snook, Yates Co., N. Y., sends us a design for a 
stationary salt-box, which may be attached to the 
fence, and allows stock at pasture to help them¬ 
selves to salt at will, and at the same time protect 
the salt from loss by rains, or one may be placed 
in the barn-yard, where the animals can reach it. 
The box, as shown in the engraving (fig. 2), is a 
Fig. 3.— MEASURE FOR RAFTERS. 
foot high and seven inches square, with a door 
swingiug inwards and hung at the top. The bot¬ 
tom of the box may be hollowed out, for the better 
reception of the salt. Where there are many ani¬ 
mals, it is better to have several boxes, as this will 
prevent interference. If the door is fastened open 
for a few days, until the animals learn the locality, 
they will soon learn to push it open themselves. 
A Safe Swill-barrel. —The ordinary slop-bar¬ 
rel is a fatal trap to fowls, which, tempted by the 
contents, are lured into it and drowned. It also 
freezes in the winter when exposed without pro¬ 
tection. A contrivance for covering it and for pre¬ 
serving it from frost is shown at fig. 1. It consists 
of a box built around the barrel, leaving a space of 
a few inches, which is filled with chaff or cut straw. 
The box has a shelf near the top, upon w'hich the 
dipper may be kept, and is covered with a lid, to 
prevent fowls from getting into the barrel. The 
lid should be so made that it cannot be left open. 
Contrivance for Measuring Rafters. —The 
method of measuring rafters recently described in 
these columns, seems to have been patented, though 
it has been in use, to the writer’s knowledge, for 
over 25 years. That it is patented, will necessarily 
prevent carpenters and others from making use of 
the contrivance, lest they may be annoyed with a 
law-suit, or a claim for royalty, but the method it¬ 
self is not subject to a patent, and can not be, al- 
