AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
385 
1879.1 
than sound com. The northern com is thought to 
•contain more oil than that of southern growth. 
Old com should always be used for this purpose. 
The new com keeps them too loose. In feeding, 
only so much corn should be thrown out as the 
Thirds will eat up clean. Take a little time to feed 
them, and study asthetics, as you watch the iri- 
Fig. 1.— END AND SECTIONAL VIEW 
descent hues upon the glossy plumage. There is 
nothing more charming upon the farm in the whole 
circle of the year, than a hundred or two of these 
jichly bronzed turkeys feeding near the corn crib. 
Ton can afford to enjoy the disappearance of corn, 
while the turkeys are increasing in weight. Dreams 
of a full wallet at Thanksgiving and Christmas will 
not. barm you as you look on this interesting sight. 
A Pig-Pen and Tool-House. 
Having occasion to build a pen for a few Berk- 
-shire pigs, the writer arranged the upper part for the 
■storage of small tools, seed sowers, and cultivators. 
This was done by making an upper floor 7 ft. high, 
■open over the passage way, as shown in figure 1, 
-which is a section of the inside of the building, and 
providing at the end of the passage a stairway by 
which the upper floor is reached. The larger tools 
are taken up through a door at the end of the 
building. The pen itself has some conveniences 
which may be worth mention here. The plan of it 
Is given at figure 2. The pens are arranged on one 
side of the passage, with doors opening into it, so 
as to reach across it and close it when necessary. 
It is thus easy to get access to each separate pen or 
6 
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b 
llA- 
f/Y- 
/ a; 
mini mu. 
Fig. 3.— THE GROUND PLAN. 
from one to another. The doors swing both ways, 
either igto the passage or into the pen as shown at 
<x \ swing doors, at b, b, give access to the yards 
The pens are provided with ordinary troughs. 
Another Flood Fence. 
The weak point of a fence is where it crosses a 
stream; a sudden freshet washes away loose rails, 
A FLOOD GATE. 
and a gap Is left through which trespassing cattle 
isoon find a passage. Many devices have been 
previously described in the American Agriculturist, 
.and a new one is sent by a correspondent, W. W. 
Tliis is self-acting, when water rises high enough, 
it opens, and when the flood falls it closes again. 
It may be made of rails, bars, or fence strips. 
A Brush Cutter. 
Mr. G. W. Carter, Leslie, Reno Co., Kansas, 
sends us the drawings of “ a handy machine for 
the poor Kansas settlers, that have to burn corn¬ 
stalks and brush.” The machine consists of a 
frame for holding the brush, made of four pieces 
of timber, in shape and position like those of a saw- 
buck. At one end a heavy cast-steel knife is fasten¬ 
ed by one end, and is worked by a long wooden 
lever at the other, as shown in the engraving. The 
end of the trough, along which the knife passes, 
should be faced by an iron plate. The machine is, 
in fact, a very strong form of the old knife machine 
for cutting straw. We are sorry that our Kansas 
friends are obliged to practice such extreme econ¬ 
omy in the matter of fuel, but so long as it is de¬ 
manded from the scarcity of timber, we are pleased 
A CHEAP BRUSH CUTTER. 
to extend the knowledge and use of any instrument, 
that will render that economy easier. This Brush 
Cutter is not patented, and can be made by any 
one, with a little aid from the blacksmith. 
Piping Stone Drains. 
—»&■*- 
While it is admitted that tile drains are the most 
economical and effective for all extensive farm 
drainage, there are small jobs of drainage upon 
almost every farm remote from tile works, that can 
be quite as well accomplished by the use of stone. 
This is especially tine where surface stones are 
abundant, and the drains are made in order to dis¬ 
pose of the stones. The common objections to 
stone drains are the greater amount of earth that 
has to be removed in making the ditches, and their 
greater liability to be interrupted by the infiltration 
of earth during heavy rains. The primitive method 
of making stone drains, still followed on many 
farms, is to dump the stoues directly from the cart 
tail into the ditch, without any attempt of making 
a duct at the bottom for the water. This answers 
for a few years in some soils, and then becomes 
useless. A culvert at the bottom is a great im¬ 
provement, and much more durable. But this is 
liable to be broken up by the washing of the water 
at the bottom and sides, especially if there is a swift 
current. One effect of drainage, even in clay and 
hard-pan, is to disintegrate the soil down to the 
water line, so that it is carried off into the drain, 
the stonesjit the sides are gradually displaced, the 
caps of the drain fall in, and the duct is interrupted. 
In draining swales and side hills, where there is a 
rapid fall, it is exceedingly difficult to construct a 
stone drain that proves durable. We recently 
visited a Quinebaug farm, in eastern Connecticut, 
where we fouud a new style of piping, that met all 
the conditions of an effective stone drain. The 
drain was about sixty rods long, and bad been in 
operation twenty years. The object was to drain a 
swale, and to bring water into a barn-yard for the 
convenience of stock, especially in winter. The 
drain was about three feet deep, and in its passage 
from the fountain head to the barn, passed over a 
gravelly knoll, with a very loose subsoil, which for 
a few days absorbed all the water. By degrees it 
brought down clay enough from above to make a 
compact bottom, and carry the water to its point of 
destination. The bottom of the drain was paved with 
stones. The piping consisted of flat stones set edge 
wise, inclining together at the top, so as to leavw 
four distinct ducts at the bottom of the drain. Tim 
flat stones were so laid as to break joints, and to 
interrupt the rapid flow of the water. The spaces 
between the sides of the drain and these flat stones 
were packed firmly with stones, and covered with 
stones of the smallest size, gathered from the sur¬ 
face of plowed fields. The top of these stones 
was packed as closely as possible, and covered to 
the depth of a foot with sods and soil- The advan¬ 
tage of these several ducts at the bottom of the 
drain is that the water is compelled to flow slowly, 
and there never can be any displacement of the 
stones from the washing of the sides. If the filling 
in of the drain about these duets is properly done, 
there never can be any infiltration of the soil that 
will not be immediately carried off by the flow of 
water beneath. This drain, built twenty years ago, 
has been in perfect working order, without any re¬ 
pairs, ever since. Besides performing its office as 
a drain, and greatly improving the wet land on 
either side, it provides an abundant supply of pure 
water for cattle all the year around. In the saving 
of labor, and thrift of cattle, it has paid large divi¬ 
dends upon its cost every year. Connecticut. 
A Portable Folding Fence. 
A portable folding fence or hurdle, which has 
many useful points, is illustrated in the accompany¬ 
ing engravings. (This is the invention of one of the 
Editors of the American Agriculturist, and is not 
patented.) It has two or three upright pieces and 
four bars, (fig. 1), the bars are fastened to the 
stakes by I-inch carriage bolts, in such a manner 
that the panel will shut up much as a parallel 
ruler closes, when desired. As the bars are placed 
on alternate sides, the fence folds very closely, tak¬ 
ing up the space of two bars only, (fig. 3), instead 
of four, as would be the ease if they were all on 
one side. The fence may be thus easily removed 
from place to place, and may be used on a hill side, 
(fig. 3), as well as on level ground. It may either 
Fig. 3.— FENCE ON SIDE HILL. 
be wired to stakes, or the stakes may be driven 
down between the alternate bars, by using them of 
the same thickness as the upright pieces. 
The Cost of Milk.—The present price of milk 
is very low, averaging one cent per pound, and in 
many eases less than that. Milk can be produced 
at .hat price only under specially favorable circum¬ 
stances and on cheap land. Where land is worth. 
