1879 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
263 
atmosphere unfavorable to decay, or probably to 
the existence of those germs which are known to 
produce nitrification. In nitric acid we have the 
nitrogen in a perfectly available form as food, un¬ 
der the most favorable circumstances. It is possi¬ 
ble that almost the whole of the nitrogen applied in 
Fig. 1.— clip open. Fig. 2.— clip closed. 
a manure might be taken up by the crop during the 
year of its application, but in our experiments we 
do not on an average recover more than 50 to 60 per 
cent, yet there is no accumulation of this substance 
in the soil, and after a wet winter but little remains 
for future crops. 
Salts of ammonia are rapidly converted into ni¬ 
tric acid in the soil, but when it contains much or¬ 
ganic matter, possibly a small portion of the salts 
of ammonia may enter into combination with this 
organic matter, and become available to vegetation 
at a later period. Of the various organic substances 
containing nitrogen, some, such as dried blood and 
rape cake, are almost as active as ready formed 
ammonia ; while shoddy, leather, and some others, 
yield up their nitrogen very slowly. 
It is evident that, other things being equal, the 
nitrogen which is recovered most quickly in the 
crop must be the most valuable to the farmer, for 
the interest of capital upon a manure which leaves 
a residue unrecovered twenty years after it lias been 
paid for, is no slight charge. One of the most in¬ 
teresting and important questions at the present 
time, is to ascertain how much of the nitrogen in 
these various forms of greater or less activity, is 
ultimately recovered by vegetation, or, in other 
words, under which form of application is there the 
greatest loss by drainage or other causes. 
It is evident that an answer to this question rep¬ 
resents a problem of extraordinary difficulty when 
we consider how long a period must elapse before 
some forms of manure yield up their nitrogen, but 
still I venture to think that the examples I have 
given above, will thfow some light on the subject 
of the query, “what becomes of the nitrogen not 
recovered in the crop,” put by the author of the 
article in the Report of the New Jersey State Board 
of Agriculture. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
A Clip for Driving Oxen.—T he clip here de¬ 
scribed will be found of use for breaking and train¬ 
ing young steers or bulls, and for controlling unruly 
oxen. It is used in Texas where the wild untamed 
Fig. 3.— CAVE FOR ROOTS. 
steer is easily controlled, and by its help those 
lively beasts are made to expend their energies 
usefully in breaking the tough prairie, and in 
plowing, instead of goring each other or their 
drivers. Lines are attached to the clips and the 
oxen are thus driven like horses. The clip is shown 
opened at figure 1, and closed at figure 2. It is 
kept closed by means of a spring shown in the 
engraving. Any ordinary blacksmith can make one 
of them from the drawings which are here given. 
A Cave for Roots. —In visiting a neighboring 
farmer recently we saw a cheaply constructed, but 
very good root house, which was made as follows : 
An oblong cellar was dug 21 feet long, and about 
12 feet wide and 3 feet deep. This was planked up 
around with slabs from a saw mill and roofed over 
with the same material. The sides and roof were 
covered with the earth thrown out of the cellar, 
and were then sodded over, appearing as shown in 
the annexed engraving, fig. 3. The door was 
double, and steps were provided to descend to it. 
The whole was probably made without the expendi¬ 
ture of any money except for nails. For such a 
cave it is not necessary to dig into a hill side ; the 
north end, however, should be protected by extra 
covering. Out-door cellars of this kind are often 
the only kind that the pioneer can provide, and they 
will frequently be found useful on older farms. It 
is vastly better to provide a cave like this for 
roots than to store them in the cellar of the house. 
Unless on loose, sandy, or very dry land, special 
care should be taken to have all water conducted 
away, either by good, deep drains, or by grading 
the surface around to carry rain-water to a distance, 
or by both of these methods, if necessary. 
A Self-Supporting Wagon Jack.— A Wagon 
Jack that is self-supporting and needs no chain or 
fastening, is shown in the annexed engravings, the 
sketches for which are contributed by S. C. Chase, 
of N. H. It is so arranged that when loaded the 
weight is supported without fastening the arm ; its 
construction is easily seen from figure 4, which 
shows it raised, and fig. 5, in which it is seen open. 
A Safety Halter.— The habit of pulling at and 
breaking the halter is frequent with horses, both in 
the stable and when tied to a hitching post. It is 
not difficult to cure this habit by using a halter 
made expressly for this purpose. A description of 
such a halter is given by a correspondent as fol¬ 
lows : It is made of stout harness leather, in the 
same manner as a common halter, excepting that it 
is provided with two chin straps, which are con¬ 
nected with a strong iron ring. The tie-strap is 
passed through this ring, as shown in fig. 6. 'When 
the horse is tied, the nose-band is tightened in pro¬ 
portion to the force with which the tie-strap is 
pulled, and the pressure over the nostrils stops the 
breathing, or interferes so much with it, that the 
horse is soon obliged to abandon his efforts to 
break the fastening. 
A Poke for Breachy Cattle. —“ J. D. W.” 
sends a description of a poke for preventing breachy 
cattle from jumping fences. It consists of an in¬ 
verted bow fastened, as shown in fig. 7, into a heavy 
bar of wood, by which it is secured around the 
neck. A second-bow is fixed to the bar at such an 
angle that it remains suspended over the nose. This 
bow is provided with a few short, sharp spikes. 
When the bieachy animal approaches a fence with 
Fig. 6.— safety halter for a horse. 
a design to jump it, and raises its head for the pur¬ 
pose, the bar will bring the spikes against the muz¬ 
zle and give a strong hint of the impropriety of 
the action, which is effective to prevent jumping. 
Something About Drainage. 
Before one can decide as to the propriety of 
draining land it is necessary to know the effects of 
a superabundance of water in the soil. Mistakes 
are made in draining, and money invested in tiles 
and ditches often wasted. Some land has even been 
injured by drainage, and it is as wrong to sup¬ 
pose that all land needs to be underlaid with drains, 
as to believe that drains will cure all the evils which 
result from the bad management of land. Open, 
porous soils ; sandy loams with sandy or gravelly 
subsoil; or gravel loams with sandy or gravel sub¬ 
soil ; or a hard-pan subsoil that can be reached and 
broken up by the subsoil plow ; all these may be 
considered as being naturally drained, and not 
needing artificial draining. Soils that are very com¬ 
pact, whether clay or peaty ; or shallow soils resting 
upon clay, need to be drained. The effect of an 
excess of water in the soil is to make it hard and 
compact, and unproductive ; although filled with 
the elements of plant food. Excess of water of 
course prevents the access of air, and hence it keeps 
the soil cold. In fact the larger the amount of veg¬ 
etable matter there is in a wet soil, the nearer it 
approaches to a peat swamp, and it becomes sour, 
heavy, cold, and unprofitable to work. The addi¬ 
tion of more manure to a soil in this condition will 
not mend its character; the only remedy is to remove 
the water, when the changed nature of the soil will 
at once become apparent. The expenditure of 
money in drains, under these circumstances, is well 
made, and an energetic farmer can afford even to 
Fig. 7.— poke for cattle. 
borrow money to make the needed improvements. 
The materials and size of the drains are worthy of 
study. Porous tile is the best material. If well 
burned, tile is practically indestructible. The di- 
