1879 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
4,63 
want of material that has kept back enterprise in 
this line; the men and the money are always ready 
to develop any staple and profitable raw material. 
A Weighing Box and Attachments. 
Mr. “R. L. M.,” Washington, Pa., sends us 
sketches of a method of home weighing, which he 
Adds very convenient and describes as follows : 
A farmer, with a few hogs or sheep to sell, often 
feels at a loss for proper scales with which to 
weigh them, in order that he may tell the buyer 
the exact weight of the lot, or, if to be weighed 
elsewhere, for his own satisfaction. I send you a 
rough sketch of a weighing box that may be used 
with a common steelyard beam of not more than 
350 lbs. capacity. We have been using one on the 
farm for several years, and find it very convenient, 
as it has many times saved us the trouble of driv¬ 
ing stock 3 or 4 miles to large scales that may not 
be as accurate. The sides of the box are 3 by 5 
feet, and may be made of pine or poplar strips of 3 
inches wide and 4 inch thick ; the gate, A, is of the 
same material. The corner posts should be of oak 
(as it holds the nails better), 2 by 3 inches and 3 
feet long. The floor is fastened in by notching a 1 
by 2-incb piece on the 6ides of the posts, B, at the 
lower end, and nailing or screwing tight. Strips, 
C, C, are nailed to the sides, and half-inch holes 
bored in them at the dots, into which stays are 
fastened to keep the bottom from springing down 
or breaking through. The floor should be made of 
i-inch oak or 4-inch pine boards. The bails, Z>, are 
made of f-inch iron-rod, 7 feet long, bent in middle 
and put through holes in the top of posts B, and 
turned up a little to keep them in. These bails 
may be fastened with a heavy iron ring at the top, 
Fig. 2. Fig. 3.—LEVER AND attachment. 
which serves to hook the beam in and keeps the bails 
from straggling. A place must be provided to hang 
the box and means for lifting it, beam and all, after 
the stock is put in,asitis hardly possible to get hogs 
or sheep to go into a swinging box. The way we lift 
ours is by a lever and pins, which works very well; 
one man can lift 1,000 lbs. with ease by this means. 
If there is no place more convenient, plant the post 
.ffnear some building, 8 feet above the ground and 
the same distance from the building, insert the end 
of the joist 1 into the building, and mortise it upon 
the post. The joist should be 4 by 6 inches, as a 
hole for the rod i^has to be made in it. To make 
the post H, nail a 21 feet by 6 inch board on each 
side of the joist i, then cut two boards 6 inches 
shorter, to sit on top of the joist inside the others. 
Then place a 2 by 2-inch block between the boards 
and the top, and nail all together. This leaves a 
2-inch space in which the lever works. The lever 
O should be made of 2 by 34-ineh oak or hickory, 
and as long as desired. Then get a 4-inch rod, 24 
feet long, made as shown in figure 2, put it up 
through a hole in joist /, and fasten into the lever 
with the staple and bur, as shown at figure 3. In 
the post H, 3 inches from the bottom and 1 inch 
from the edge, bore a 4-inch hole clear through, 
then 3 inches higher another, and so on, as shown 
by dots at figure 3. Get two iron pins to fit these 
holes easily ; then, by raising and lowering the 
lever by me*ns of the long arm, and moving the 
pins, the load is raised. Make notches in lever O 
to keep the lever from slipping. A lumber wagon 
may be so placed that the lever may be worked by 
a maD standing in it, a step-ladder, or some other 
object, may be used, if found more convenient. 
A Farm Cart. 
While there are different kinds of farm carts, we 
have not yet hit upon the Gart— i. e., one that meets 
with general approbation. The writer, having 
much work for a cart, has designed one which is 
intended to do all the work of the farm more easily 
than a wagon or any other cart. For the carriage 
of manure, of fodder-corn, green clover, or other 
soiling fodder, for hauling roots and such work, a 
cart is needed with a low body, that can be 
turned around in its own length to back, or even 
turn, in a manure cellar or on a bam floor. All this 
can be done with this cart, and when hay, straw, 
or green fodder is to be loaded, the fore and hind 
racks maybe put on, and greatly increase its capaci¬ 
ty. With 4-inch wheels, this cart can be drawn, 
when loaded, over plowed ground or muddy roads, 
and scarcely sink below the surface. The cart body 
consists of a frame 8 feet long, 34 feet wide, and 14 
inches deep, thus holding, when heaped, about a 
cubic yard and a half of manure, or as near as pos¬ 
sible one ton. The frame is made of 4 by 3 timber 
for the top, and 2 by 3 for the bottom, sides, and 
cross-bars, and is covered 
with bass-wood or willow 
boards on the bottom, the 
front, and the sides near 
the wheels. The rear end 
is closed when desired 
by a sliding tail-board. 
The axles are fixed to 
the frame, as shown pjg ^ AXLE fastening. 
at figure 1, and pass 
through the middle side posts under the upper side 
bar and a wide iron strap, which embraces the top 
of the frame, and passes under the bottom, as 
shown in the engraving, being screwed by bolts to 
the timbers. The wheel being the same size as an 
ordinary wagon wheel, viz.: 4 feet; this brings the 
bottom of the cart body to within one foot of the 
ground, and in loading, the lift is only a little more 
than two feet from the ground. The saving of 
labor and the effect of work are thus greatly in¬ 
creased, a man being able to load twice as much, 
with the same force, into a cart of this kind, as into 
a vvagon box four feet high. The rear end of the 
cart may be provided with a roller, fitted into the 
rear posts, which serves to ease the unloading of 
the cart when it is tipped, the rear end then easily 
moving over the ground as the cart is drawn over 
the field when unloading manure. But as the cart 
body is so low there will rarely be any need for tip¬ 
ping the cart. To enlarge its capacity, there are 
movable racks fitted before and behind, as shown 
at figure 2. The cost of two of these carts is not 
more than that of a wagon, and may be less, if 
economy is exercised in making them. The shafts 
may be bolted to the sides and so arranged that the 
cart can be tipped over when the load requires it. 
The Clover-Root Borer— (Hylesinus trifolii). 
The importance of Professor Riley’s work during 
his brief stay with the U. S. Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, is evident from his Report for the year 1878, 
so full of valuable information for the farmer. A 
new enemy to the Clover crop is figured and de¬ 
scribed by him, and to whom we are indebted for 
the accompanying engraving. The insect is a small 
beetle, and does most of its mischief, while in the 
grub or larva state, by boring into, and eating out, 
the center of the larger roots of the Clover-plant, 
though the flower-stalks do not escape when the 
plants are badly infested. In Central New York 
the insect was so abundant that the plants were 
entirely eaten off, and of course the crop proved a 
failure. The beetle is not new to science, having 
been known in Europe for many years, where it 
has been thoroughly studied and described, the ac¬ 
counts of the insect given abroad are confirmed 
by Professor Riley’s recent investigations here. 
The insect is shown in the engraving in all three 
stages, larva (&), pupa (e), and adult or perfect in¬ 
sect (d), all of which can be found upon the Clover 
at any time during the growing season. “ The in¬ 
sect,” says Prof. Riley, “ hibernates in any of these 
three stages, and 
continues propa¬ 
gating as soon as 
spring op'ens, the 
beetles issuing 
from the ground 
and pairingduring 
the early spring 
months. The fe¬ 
male then instinc¬ 
tively bores into 
the crown of the 
root, eating a pret¬ 
ty large cavity, 
wherein she de¬ 
posits from fourto 
six pale, whitish, 
elliptical eggs.” 
The galleries made 
by the grab are 
shown at a, a, a, at 
the ends of which 
the larvae assume 
the inactive pupa 
state. It is during 
the second year 
of the Clover-crop that the Root-borer is most in¬ 
jurious, and this suggests the only remedy which 
has as yet been found, namely : plowing under the 
Clover after the first year, in all localities where the 
pest is observed. If the insect proves as destruc¬ 
tive, generally, as it has in some localities, a total 
withholding of the Clover-crop for a few years may 
be found necessaiy. Professor Riley has observed 
certain animal parasites which prey upon the Hyle- 
sinus, and they may in time rid us of this pest. 
Branding Cattle. —Tanners complain, and 
with reason, of the damage caused by the reckless 
use of the branding iron upon Western cattle. 
Branding may be a necessary cruelty, but that it is a 
painful operation cannot be doubted, as the brand¬ 
ing irons must penetrate to the fle6li, to make an 
indelible mark. But leaving out of the question 
the humane aspect of the case, and regarding only 
the practical question of the danger to the hide, it 
might be suggested that some other spot than the 
flank or broadside might be chosen as the place for 
the brand. This is the most valuable part of the 
hide, and damage there, seriously reduces the value 
of the leather. The Sandwich Islands furnish a 
few hides for the American market, and the brand 
upon these is placed on the leg above the hock. 
This does not materially injure the hide, and a 
brand there, will be as plainly seen by a cow-boy at 
a “ round-up,” as one on the flank. Perhaps some 
other method of marking cattle might be invented, 
that would avoid the necessity for the painful 
branding. There are seven colors that cannot be 
mistaken, and it might be a practical innovation to 
mark cattle with these, as sheep are marked upon 
the wool, choosing different parts of the body, as 
