302 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
potash, phosphoric acid, and uitrogen, which is re¬ 
moved in a clover crop, is returned in manure or its 
equivalent, or if the crop is plowed uuder, then there 
is no loss in any sense, but on the other hand an 
accumulation and concentration of available plant 
food, especially of the nitrogen, which the clover 
plant secures from that great store-house of this 
element—the atmosphere. It is well said that, “ clo¬ 
ver seed is the best manure that a farmer can use.” 
A Smoothing Plank for Seeding to Grass. 
In seeding to grass, alone, the harrow ridges are 
apt to cause the seed to come up in rows, unless 
the surface is smoothed over before the seed is 
Fig. 1.— SMOOTHING PLANK. 
sown. To avoid this, we have found a smoothing- 
plank, drawn over the ground, the best and easiest 
method. The plank is 12 feet long, 2 inches thick, 
and 12 inches wide. Holes for clevises are made 
as shown at figure 1, so that the plank may be drawn 
squarely or diagonally across the ground. A draft 
chain may be fastened to the clevises, to which one 
horse may be hitched. A strip 2 inches wide and 
thick is bolted under the plank, which helps the 
smoothing effect. This plank may be made into a 
corn or root marker by adding runners, which are 
placed at proper distances on the bottom. 
A subscriber sends a description, with sketch, of 
a smoothing plank which will operate well upon 
Fig. 2.— SMOOTHING MACHINE. 
heavy and rough ground. This is made of a series 
of planks, six feet long, fastened together and ar¬ 
ranged as shown at figure 2. A seat may be pro¬ 
vided upon which the driver may ride, his weight 
adding to the effectiveness of the smoother. 
How to Box and Ship Calves. 
Farmers who wish to improve their stock find it 
more profitable to buy calves, and wait for them to 
grow, than to purchase mature animals at a much 
higher price. But there is the difficulty that a 
three months calf is quite too young to be shipped 
as freight, without being carefully boxed, conse¬ 
quently there is now a large business done in sell¬ 
ing calves, which are boxed, and sent safely for 
thousands of miles, from the East to the farthest 
West, and from the United States to many distant 
countries. Now that the true significance and value 
CALF BOX. 
of a good pedigree is well understood, one may 
safely purchase a young animal whose descent from 
excellent parents is known, with but a small risk of 
disappointment. It is true that, in rare cases, a 
young animal may not develop all the good quali¬ 
ties of its parents ; but then it may just as probably 
surpass them, and generally it will, at least, equal 
them, so that the chances may be taken without 
much risk of disappointment. In boxing a calf 
or any other small animal for shipment for long 
distances, the box should be sufficiently roomy, 
but not large enough to permit it to turn around or 
even to attempt it, lest it might become fastened 
and injury result from its struggles to free itself. 
For a calf of three or four months, a box 5 feet 
long, 3'feet high, and 2 feet wide, will be about the 
right size, and it may be made as follows : Four 
stout posts, 2x2 and 3 feet long, are used for the 
corners, strips 9 inches wide and 1 inch thick are 
nailed around these at the bottom ; the other strips 
are 3 inches wide, leaving a space of G inches between 
them. There are four strips and three spaces. 
Diagonal braces arc put in to strengthen the frame, 
if necessary. The bottom is boarded tightly, and 
the top is closed by three cross laths securely 
screwed down. At the front the upper three strips 
are made into a door fastened with leather or other 
hinges, and a staple and a hasp, so that it may be 
opened to water or feed the calf. When live ani¬ 
mals are shipped by express, the carriers engage to 
furnish water, and give whatever feed is sent with 
them. A bag of cut feed and another of meal, 
should be sent with each box, with plainly marked 
directions how to give it. It will also be prudent to 
send a pail with each box, in which the feed and 
water may be given to the confined calf. 
Seeding to Grass in Autumn. 
It is hardly safe to follow a strict rule in any agri¬ 
cultural practice. Where a farmer owns his land, 
and can do as he pleases with it, there are times 
and circumstances in which he may do some things 
which are unusual. The best cultivation is that 
which produces from the soil, the greatest possible 
yield, with the least expense. It may be that in 
doing this, we set at defiance all the supposed rules 
of “ good husbandry,” so called ; but in agriculture, 
as in other affairs, “circumstances alter cases.” 
Thus, it may be desirable to get a field into grass 
as early as possible, and it is generally supposed 
that it is necessary to seed down with a foster crop, 
as wheat or rye in the fall, or barley, and perhaps 
oats in the spring. But while this is the custom, 
there is nothing imperative about the rule. Grass 
and clover may be sown early this month, with 
every probability of success. Something, of course, 
will depend upon the w-eather ; for if it is dry for a 
few weeks after the sowing, the germination may 
be so late as to seriously risk the loss of the seed. 
For this reason it is best to sow some sheltering 
crop with the grass and clover, by which these may 
be protected during their earliest stages of growth 
and weakness. Perhaps nothing else answers this 
purpose so well as white turnips. These grow 
quickly, and the broad 
leaves shelter the 
ground from the heat 
and keep it moist, thus 
greatly fostering the 
young grass. The tur¬ 
nips, besides doing this 
valuable service, will 
furnish a large amount 
of green fodder for late 
fall or early winter 
feeding. Three hun¬ 
dred bushels per acre, 
is not at all an unusual 
yield of turnips, when 
grown in this way. It 
is not desirable to have 
the roots very large,nor 
the tops very broad, 
lest the grass and clo¬ 
ver, instead of being 
protected, may be 
smothered. The clo¬ 
ver will become sufficiently large to resist the 
frosts, and as soon as the turnips are pulled, which 
should be done early, the grass and clover thicken 
up very rapidly, and often cover the ground before 
it is frozen for the winter. Then a top dressing of 
fine manure will be of great benefit, and in the 
spring the growth will be very rapid. When the 
soil is in good condition, and can be made very fine 
and mellow by repeated harrowings, it may be safe 
to sow the seed alone, and trust the chances for a 
good catch. For this method, the seed should be 
liberally applied. If Orchard-Grass is sown with 
Clover, 21 bushels, (21 lbs.) of the former, and one 
peek (15 lbs.) of thelatter peracre, will be sufficient. 
If Timothy is sown, a peck (12 lbs.) should be used 
Fig. 2.— A CORN SHOCKING HORSE. 
with the same measure of Clover. If the soil is low 
and moist, a bushel (13 lbs.) of Red-top peracre, will 
be desirable to take the place of half the above 
mentioned quantity of Timothy. If Kentucky Blue- 
Grass is to be sown, a bushel(12or 13 lbs.) peracre 
is a proper quantity, mixed with Timothy and Clo¬ 
ver. For a pasture, nothing can surpass a mixture 
of 8 lbs. of Red-top ; 8 lbs. of Kentucky Blue-Grass ; 
13 lbs. of Orchard-Grass ; 6 lbs. of Timothy, and 8 
lbs. of Red-Clover. This produces an herbage that 
gives an early and late, as well as a good mid¬ 
season growth ; the different grasses coming in suc¬ 
cession ; as one fails it is followed by another. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
Fastening for Stanchions.— “ C. F. A.,” Gran¬ 
ville Ferry, N. S., sends a sketch of a wooden spring 
used by him as a self-acting catch for cow stan¬ 
chions. The shape of the spring is shown at «, 
fig. 1, and it is affixed in the manner shown below. 
As the movable stanchion is pushed up, the spring 
is raised, and when it is in place, the latter drops 
behind it and holds it closed firmly and safely. 
A Corn Shocking Horse.— “F. A. P.,” Dudley, 
Mass., sends a drawing of a corn shocking horse, 
provided with a rack for holding a bundle of straw 
for bands, which is something novel, though the 
horse itself is not. The horse is used in the ordinary 
manner, by setting up the corn against the cross¬ 
bar at the end, which is movable in a hole bored 
through the pole. The bar is drawn out when the 
pole is to be moved for the next hill. The straw' 
lies upon the rack made by the pins, a, a, figure 2. 
The legs of this horse are 21 feet long for short 
corn, and proportionately longer for taller corn. 
A Timber Drain.— 
“ A Subscriber ” sends 
his method of making 
a cheap drain of timber. 
This is made by plac¬ 
ing short pieces of 
stout plank, diagonal¬ 
ly, across the ditch, as 
shown in figure 4. In 
place of plank, pieces 
of round timber split 
in halves, will answer 
a good purpose, and 
if the ditch is partly Fig. 4- A timber drain. 
filled with small brush of pine or hemlock, the 
drain will be durable enough to pay for the labor. 
Fastening for Feed-Box. — “ J. T. MeL.,” 
Fig. 1.— FASTENING FOR 
STANCHION. 
