1879.] 
AMERICAN AGrRICULTURIST. 
139 
though the tool by which it is used may bo patent¬ 
ed. A correspondent sends us his method, which 
is as follows : Lay the square upon a piece of board 
of the width of the 
rafter, so that the half- 
width of the building in 
inches is marked on the 
blade, and the pitch of 
the roof on the tongue 
(see figure 3). Mark the 
pattern on the board, 
Fig. 4. loop of cord. aU( j £j iet , measure the 
distance between the marks in inches aud frac¬ 
tions, which will represent the number of feet in 
length the rafter should be from heel to point. 
This plan can not be interfered with by any patent. 
A Horse-Brusii of Corn-Husks— “ J. M.,” of 
Burlington, N. J., sends 
his method of using the 
back of an old horse- 
brash, by filling it with 
strips of corn-husk. It 
makes so useful a brash 
that we think it would 
be worth while, if no 
old backs are at hand, to 
make it anew through¬ 
out. Whether an old 
Fig. 5.— HUSK IN PLACE. 
back or a new is used, the method of operating 
is the same. The engravings, 4 and 5, show but a 
part of a back with a 
few holes, to give the 
I method of working, 
j Bore the back as full of 
half-inch holes as prac¬ 
ticable ; have a stout 
0 cord, and some strong 
° husks shredded -into 
strips half an inch or so wide. To begin, pass the 
cord down through the hole a aud up through 6, 
fig. 4; tie in a tight knot; then, with a button-hook 
or a hooked wire, pull the 
cord down through 6, 
again, to form the loop c; 
now take a small bunch 
of the stripped husk, put 
it half-way through the 
loop, pull on the cord, asd 
this will bring the tuft of 
husk into place, as in fig¬ 
ure 5; pull down the cord 
through c, fig. 5, to make 
another loop, put in the 
husks and pull them into 
place as before. Continue 
in this manner until the 
__ holes are all filled, and 
p.j 0 . g make fast the cord. Trim 
the ends of the husks 
evenly, to make them about li 
inch long, and fiuish by putting on 
a strap for the hand, as in figure 6. 
This makes a most useful stable 
brush to remove mud from ahorse 
or other animal, and excellent to 
give a thorough rubbing down 
after performing a hard day’s work. 
Repairing Wooden Pumps.— 
Mr. L. D. Snook sends his method 
of making repairs of a kind often 
necessary in the spring. Wooden 
pumps, whether suction or chain- 
pumps, often become crippled dur¬ 
ing the winter by the freezing of 
water within the log during an un¬ 
usually cold spell. If it is desired to 
remove the log-tubing from a well 
for this or other purpose, it is most readily done as 
shown in figure 7. A slip-noose is formed in one end 
R 
r 
Fig. 7. 
the lower part of upper section is within a foot or 
two of top of platform, when, by quick moves to 
■ Fig. 8.—patch on pump. 
of a small linked chain, B , and slipped down over 
the first section and half way down the next, when it 
is drawn tight. The log is then raised bodily, until 
Fig. 10.— fish trap. 
the right and left, the upper section maybe loosen¬ 
ed and lifted off, and as there are usually but two 
more sections, they may be pulled up and removed 
without separation. To aid in removing the chain, 
when the pump is lowered again after repairs, a 
strong twine is attached to the noose, as shown at 
B. By pulling the string tight and loosening the 
chain a trifle, it may be easily slipped upwards and 
off. If a section cracks by freezing, remove it 
from the well, let it dry, and calk the seam with 
tow or fine wool; over this lay several thicknesses 
of dry cotton cloth, and upon this nail a strip of 
tin, as shown in figure 8. If. the leak is a bad one, 
a double row of nails should be used. Paint the 
tin to prevent rusting. Thi method of stopping a 
leak is cheap and more efficacious than having an 
iron band shrunk upon it by the blacksmith. 
Should the chain of a chain-pump break and both 
ends fall out of reach, they can be picked up with 
an affair like that shown in figure 9. An iron bent' 
in the form there shown is attached to a pole of 
sufficient length to reach the bottom of the well. To 
put on a chain without removing the tubing, lower 
one end down inside of the tube, and with this 
hook pick up at the bottom the end thus lowered. 
Fig. 11.— device to prevent self-sucking. 
Self-sucking Cows. —A reader sends a method 
of preventing cows from sucking themselves. It 
consists of a stout rod of tough wood fastened to 
the halter and to a ring on a cireingle or strap 
buckled around the body behind the shoulders, as 
shown at fig. 11. The strap between the rod !o the 
head-stall, is about 13 inches long, and leaves the 
head free to graze or feed,but not to reach the udder 
to suck. Other devices are given in former volumes. 
A Fish Trap. —“ J. P. R.,” Osage Mission, Kan¬ 
sas, asks how to make a fish-trap for small streams. 
One method is shown at fig. 10. It is a box with 3 
sides only, and open at the front, with a bottom 
made of narrow strips one inch wide, and a quarter 
or half an inch apart. There are two sloping 
frames of laths made in the same manner as the 
bottom, fitted into the box as shown in the engrav¬ 
ing. The trap is set at the point of a low < shaped 
dam, or bank of stones, or brush, by which the 
water is raised so as to flow over the edge of the 
slatted frames, and pour through the bottom of 
the box into the stream below it; 10 to 13 inches is 
high enough for this purpose. The fish descend¬ 
ing the stream, being led into the trap by the con¬ 
verging lines of the dam, pass with the water over 
the slatted frames, and fall into the box behind 
them, where they remain until they are taken out. 
The trap should be visited two or three times a day 
to take out the fish. At certain seasons of the 
year, when migratory fish pass down the streams, 
these traps take every fish, and their use is illegal 
in some States, on account of their destructiveness. 
Caponizihg—How it is Done. 
- — 
Strange as it may seem, we have met with a num¬ 
ber of ordinarily intelligent persons who supposed 
a Capon to belong to a distinct race of fowls, as do 
Games, Bantams, etc. For fear that others may 
have a similar notion, it may be well to say that a 
Capon is an altered male fowl, and bears the same 
relation to other fowls that an ox does to a bull, a 
wether to a ram, etc., and may be produced from 
any breed of fowls. A capon brings in market 50 
=1 
Fig. 1.—HOOK. 
per cent more than an ordinary fowls, and often 
double the price of common male birds ; besides, a 
— l 
Fig. 3.—TWEEZERS. 
capon will reach double the weight of a common 
fowl at the same age. As there is no difficulty 
IT 
Fig. 3.— FORCEPS. 
whatever in capouizing, and the instruments cost 
very little, the practice might become, very general. 
Having practised the operation for several years, 
the writer can truly say that by using no more care, 
aud with no more skill than are needed in operating 
upon a male pig, not more than one out of 30 or 
40 fowls need be lost. For several years the writer 
has operated ou from 12 to 30 fowls each year, and 
the loss during that time 
has not been more than 
five or six birds in all. The 
operation is best perform¬ 
ed upon chickens about 
3 months old, although it ^ 
will succeed, if carefully 
, ... ’ . ., Fig. 4.— SPRING HOOK, 
done, with the majority 
of fowls when they are 10 or 12 months old. As 
with many other operations, this is one that can be 
learned most readily by seeing it done, and we ad¬ 
vise those who would undertake it to procure in¬ 
struction wherever it is available. Still, if one has 
a little confidence, he will meet with success if the 
directions here given are carefully followed. In 
the first place, a table is needed in which a few 
screw rings are inserted at convenient places; these 
are furnished with broad tapes, by which the bird 
Fig. 5.—OPERATING TABLE AND POSITION OF FOWL, 
is securely held during the operation. The besl 
plan for a novice is to kill a bird aud operate upon 
that first, in order to learn the position of the parts. 
