462 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[Novembhr, 
in the first enthusiasm of his discovery of the Shad- 
hatching box, prophesied that he could make shad 
so plenty in the Connecticut at Hadley Falls, that 
he could drive a horse and buggy across the river 
upon the backs of the shad ! But then he had all 
the water in the river and in the ocean to work 
with, and a fertile imagination. Trout can not live 
through the summer in water much above 60° F. 
temperature, and a pond of an acre supplied by an 
inch pipe of spring water would probably reach 80” 
in the summer heats. Trout can be hatched in a 
very small stream of spring water. The difficulty 
lies in keeping them through the hot weather. The 
pond in question is quite too small for black bass. 
They must have lively running water, large mill- 
streams or ponds of twenty acres or more area, to 
make the raising of them a paying business. As a 
rule, it will only pay to stock rivers and ponds, es¬ 
pecially those with hard bottom, with black bass. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
To Fasten a Pig in a Wagon or Sled.— When 
it is desired to carry a pig in a wagon box, the ani¬ 
mal may be secured in the manner described by 
Fig. 1.— MANNER OF ARRANGING THE ROPE. 
a correspondent in Kansas, as follows : Make a 
loop in a doubled rope, and put it around the 
throat; carry the rope over the head, and fasten it 
around the body behind the fore-legs, leaving the 
two ends free over the shoulders. The pig being 
lifted into the wagon is held down by fastening the 
ends of the rope in any safe manner, so that the pig 
can not jump over the sides of the box, and is 
compelled to stay in the middle. The method of 
arranging the rope is shown at figure 1. If the pig 
is made to lie down, it can not rise when fastened, 
and there is no danger of it hurting itself. 
A Portable Fodder Rack.—A friend from In¬ 
diana sends a sketch of a portable hay and fodder 
rack for feeding cattle and sheep while the weather 
is suitable for out-door feeding, which can easily 
be moved from place to place. The size can be va¬ 
ried to suit the choice of the builder. The one 
here represented is 20 feet long, Si feet wide at 
bottom, and 4i feet wide at top, and 5 feet high. 
This size will hold a small wagon-load of hay. The 
Fig. 2. —THE FODDER RACK. 
runners upon which the rack rests are 3 feet long, 
31 inches thick, and are pinned fast to the sills 
with 1-inch wooden pins. The sills are 2 by fl¬ 
inch stuff, and placed broadside upon the runners. 
The top rails are 2 by 4-inch, and set edgewise. 
The cross pieces are 2 by 4-inch, and are bolted 
to the sills and top rails by 1-inch bolts. The 
siding is 1 by 6-inch plank, 5 feet long, and is 
nailed to the sills and top rails. The sills and rails 
should be of hard-wood, with boards placed in 
the bottom for a floor, shown open in the engraving. 
A Leaf Rake.—L eaves are valuable litter. If 
used for no other purpose, they should be gathered 
and kept as bedding for farrowing sows or for 
lambing ewes. There is no softer, warmer, dryer, 
or safer bed for young animals than leaves. They 
Fig. 3.— A LEAF RAKE. 
are also valuable for manurial purposes, and where 
a sufficient supply can be obtained, the straw may 
be used for fodder. To gather the leaves readily, 
a long-headed rake may be used, and as the ground 
is rough the rake should be made strong. ' A hick¬ 
ory stick 11-inch thick will serve as a handle ; the 
head may be of pine or willow if it is strengthened 
with bolts, as shown at figure 3. The teeth should 
be of hickory or white oak. Unless the teeth are 
thick and strong, and the head strengthened by 
bolts, either or both are liable to break when used. 
A Bag Holder. —To enable one man to do the 
work previously done by two, may be as useful as 
to cause two blades of grass to grow where one 
grew before. A labor-saving contrivance of this 
kind is shown at 
figure 4. It is a 
bag holder, and 
consists of a plat¬ 
form resting up¬ 
on rounded and 
smooth runners, 
and having a 
standard at the 
rear. This is 
notched as shown 
in the engraving, 
and has a forked 
arm pivoted by a 
bolt at the top. 
This arm has a 
cross-piece about 
the middle, upon which are two small hooks turned 
backwards, and a brace which fits into a rack on 
the standard. When the holder is not in use, the 
arm is let down; while in use, it is supported by 
the brace. The bag is held by the hooks and by 
the edge being turned over the ends of the arm. 
Fig. 4.—A BAG HOLDER. 
A Floating Bridge, or Pontoon. 
A “ subscriber,” New Haven, Conn., has a farm, 
through which runs a river 200 feet in width ; to be 
Fig. 1.— LONGITUDINAL SECTION. 
able to cross this river, will save a roundabout 
journey of two miles over a hilly road ; he wants a 
floating bridge to enable him to save this expen¬ 
sive journey. This is a case typical of many, and 
may be remedied by the small expense of building 
a pontoon bridge. This may be made as follows. 
Procure li-inch spruce or pine planks 12 feet long ; 
of these construct a pontoon 24 feet long, and 12 
feet wide, laying the planks crosswise. The lon¬ 
gitudinal section will be in the form shown at fig¬ 
ure 1. The interior is shown at figure 2. This is 
strengthened by a longitudinal bed-piece through 
the center, to which the planks are fastened with iron 
screw bolts. Three pairs of knees, (fig. 3), will 
serve to strengthen the sides, and as a place to 
which to bolt the side planks. The joints are made 
as tight as possible, by calking with hemp, and the 
outside and inside are thoroughly coated with pitch. 
The vessel is divided by three partitions, into four 
Fig. 2.—THE INSIDE OF BOAT. 
parts, which lessen the risk of leakage. A hole 
is cut through the deck into each division, 
through which a hand-pump may be inserted, when 
it is necessary to clear out the water. The deck is 
supported by a middle partition over the center 
bed-piece. A pair of posts should be fixed on 
each side, made so as to carry a tie-bar, to which 
the horses should be well secured. The wagon 
should be securely blocked before and behind, lest 
the horse may at any time become restive. The 
bridge may be drawn over by means of a windlass, 
fixed upon it, and upon which a few turns of a rope 
may be taken ; this rope will pass through a pulley 
attached to a post on each bank 
of the river. A pontoon of this 
size, two feet deep, would have a 
carrying capacity of over 12 tons, t 
and one a foot deep, would sup- I 
port 8 tons, including its own Fig. 3. 
Weight, which would be about a ton and a half: 
It would in fact support a team and loaded wagon 
even when the boat was filled with water, al¬ 
though it should never be put to such an extremity. 
The Benefits of Sugar-Beet Culture. 
We have frequently referred to the advantages 
promised by the culture of sugar beets for the 
manufacture of sugar. But a great industry does 
not grow, blossom, and become fruitful in a year, 
or in a few years. Yet its final success is hastened 
by the ease with which the raw material can be 
procured. If sugar beets were now grown as 
..plentifully as potatoes, sugar factories would be as 
onjimerous as starch factories. It was the abundant 
.(supply of potatoes that temped the starch man¬ 
ufacturers to build their factories, and offer a steady 
market for the farmers’ produce. Let sugar beets 
once become a staple product of our farms, and the 
only obstacle to the establishment of avast business 
in sugar making would be removed. Sugar beets 
can be made profitable for feeding, and not only so, 
but the effect of the culture upon our system of 
agriculture can not fail to be so advantageous as to 
invite farmers to adopt it, if but for its own value 
alone. Root culture implies good farming, for 
with poor farming one can not grow roots. Roots 
may be grown upon poor land, by using the proper 
fertilizers and methods of culture, and there is no 
better method than this of working up the soil to a 
good condition. For if one grows a quantity of 
roots, these must be fed, and they can not be fed 
without making a large quantity of manure; further, 
they can not be fed with the greatest profit without 
the addition of some concentrated food, and that 
involves rich as well as abundant manure. Besides, 
in using roots and meal as a daily ration for cattle 
or sheep, it is found that straw will be consumed 
with avidity; in fact, it makes an excellent sub¬ 
stitute for hay, and uses up profitably a waste pro¬ 
duct that is generally used only for litter. An idea 
is prevalent that root culture is costly. It may be 
at first under certain circumstances; as upon a 
poor soil and one foul with weeds, and especially 
under careless management. It may be made cost¬ 
ly when, by neglect at a critical time, the whole 
crop is lost by being buried in weeds. But that is 
not the fault of the crop, but of the management. 
The seed for an acre of ground costs $6; that is, 
for Sugar Beets, which may be grown closer than 
Mangels ; 12 lbs. of seed being needed for an acre ; 
the cost of cultivation need be no more than for a 
crop of potatoes. The yield will be of considerably 
greater value than that of potatoes, reaching, under 
favorable circumstances, 800 bushels per acre, or 26 
tons. For feeding, the sugar-beet is worth more 
than double the quantity of mangels, as it contains 
more than twice as much solid matter, so that 25 
tons per acre is equivalent to as large a crop of the 
grosser mangels, as can be expected under the 
most favorable conditions. The direct profit is 
then attractive enough to induce farmers to raise 
Sugar Beets merely for feeding purposes, while the 
indirect profit arising from the improved condition 
of the soil, gives a respectable return in addition. 
When the culture of Sugar Beets then becomes 
general, there will doubtless be no lack of capital 
to work them into sugar, any more than there 
would be to operate a silver or a gold mine that 
might be discovered on a man’s farm. It is the 
