1879 ] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
somi' precaution should be used. Over feeding is 
productive of more disease than scanty feeding, 
and when calves are known to be in a luxurious 
pasture, it will be wise to give them an occasional 
purgative of an antiseptic character. Sulphite of 
Soda is an excellent alterative, and may be given in 
one dram doses with some Epsom Salts at intervals 
of a few days; once a week for instance, will 
benefit as a preventive of this disease. 
Plowing From ths Inside of the Field. 
There is but one reason why plowing should not 
be done from the inside of the field, and that is,the 
imaginary difficulty in “ coming out right.” There 
are several points in favor of this method : When 
a field is plowed, beginning at the outside, there is 
always a dead furrow running from each corner to 
the center; besides this, the team is obliged to run 
out, and turn upon the plowed land at every corner, 
making a broad strip which is much injured by the 
t reading, especially if the. laud is clayey and rather 
moist. By beginning at the middle, all this is avoid¬ 
ed : the horses turn upon unplowed land, and the 
soil at each plowing is thrown towards the center 
of the field, as it should he. There is no difficulty 
in finding the center of the field from which to be¬ 
gin the plowing. Suppose we have a rectangular 
field like the one shown in figure 1; any person who 
can measure by pacing, is able to find the middle of 
the ends, A 1) and B C\ the points STand L. From 
K, pace towards L, a distance equal to one half 
A D , which gives the point E. Also the same dis¬ 
tance from A, towards K, giving F, and the work 
of fixing the central point is done. Bun a furrow 
from A and I) to E, and from Band Oto F; these 
define the corners and assist in the turning of the 
& ’ ~ ' C 
Fig. 1.— PLAN FOR RECTANGULAR FIELD. 
plow. The plowing then begins by back-furrow¬ 
ing from E to F; plowing on the ends as soon as 
possible. After the work has progressed for a 
time, as far as indicated, for example, by the dot¬ 
ted lines, O, It, 1, J, pace from the furrow to the 
outside (see dotted lines), at or near each end of 
the furrow, as a correction, and, if necessary, gauge 
the plow until the furrow on all sides is equally 
distant from the boundary. When the field is of 
irregular shape, it is not difficult to begin in the 
center and plow outward—in fact, this system is of 
most importance here, because all the short turning 
in the middle of the field, incident to the irregu¬ 
larity of the field, comes on unplowed ground. 
In figure 2 we have a piece of very irregular 
shape. From a 
point on A JD, 
at right angles 
to B, pace the 
distance to B, 
and place a 
stake at the 
middle point, A’. 
In the same way 
determine the 
point F on the 
line N 1). In a 
line with E, F, 
measure from K 
a distance equal 
to M II (I the 
PLAN FOR IRREGULAR FIELD. eu]ar 
distance across the end of field), and also in 
like manner determine the point F —which gives 
the central line, E F. The plow should be ran 
from the four corners, as in the first case, to make 
the corner lines. The plowman will use his judg¬ 
ment, and plow only upon the lower portion at 
first., until the plowed land takes the shapp 
Fig. 1.— FASTENING FOR STANCHIONS. 
O, It, T, J, when the correction is made. From this 
time on the furrow runs parallel with the bound¬ 
ary, and the work continues smoothly to the end. 
The “Census-Mail” is Coming. 
Next year will he 1SS0 ; and when the uumber of 
the year ends in a cypher; there is a great ingather¬ 
ing of all sorts of statistics. In other words, the De 
cennial Census is taken by the United States Govern¬ 
ment. At some time during next year the home of 
every farmer, and of every other person, will be visit¬ 
ed and the occupant called upon to give concise 
answers to a long list of questions. In'order that 
these answers may be accurate—for the value of 
J;he census depends upon its accuracy—every farmer 
should write down, while it is fresh in his mind, 
the number of acres of wheat and other grain grown 
this year ; the yield, etc., etc., the number of head 
of live stock, the products of the dairy, and in fact 
all the results of this year’s farming, and have them 
ready for the day when the facts are to be gathered. 
It is to the interest of the farmer that the census 
be accurately taken ; so let each one be prepared be¬ 
forehand, and not be forced to give hasty guesses 
upon such important matters. There are peculiar 
people, not to say “ crooked sticks ” in the world, 
though we are glad to believe that these, though 
they exist among farm¬ 
ers, are not especially 
numerous. Yet even 
among farmers there 
will be those who regard 
the questions put by the 
census-taker as an im¬ 
pertinent inquiry into 
their private business, 
and either refuse to re¬ 
ply altogether, or to 
give blind and evasive 
answers. Such persous 
should know that the 
census-taker is an of¬ 
ficer of the General 
Government, and re¬ 
presents, for this pur¬ 
pose, the will of the 
people as expressed in 
a law passed by both 
houses of Congress. 
Fig. 2.—FOLDING LADDER. 
Laws carry with them a penally for their viola¬ 
tion and evasion; those who resist the examina¬ 
tion of tlie “ Ceneus-Mau ” may get into trouble. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers and 
Mechanics. 
Fastening for Stanchions. —A subscriber sends 
us a method of fastening stanchions by means of a 
key, shown at figure 1. This is drooped down behind 
the stanchion when it is closed, and holds it firmly 
in its place ; when the stanchion is opened and the 
block is turned out, it is held in its place by a strap 
of rawhide. The strap is fastened so that when the 
stanchion is shut, the block is drawn over by the 
movement of the stanchion. 
A Convenient Ladder. —A ladder that will fold, 
such as is very convenient about the farm buildings, 
is shown at figure 2. Two ladders, one 8, and one 10 
feet long, are hinged together, so that 2 feet of the 
longer one projects beyond the end of the other. 
The ladder may then be changed into a step-ladder. 
Wh -n a long ladder is wanted, the Iwo parts are ex¬ 
tended and held together by rings slipped over (lie 
joints, or they may he wrapped with pieces of 
rope kept purposely for it When not in use, it 
may be folded and put away in a small space. 
Plow Boats. —Half a dozen plow or tool boats 
may find constant use on a farm, or even where 
there is only a large garden or country plot. They 
serve every purpose of a wheel-harrow and are 
more convenient. The writer lias several of them 
in use on his farm, and not even a cultivator is 
taken from the tool-house except it is on one of 
them. Thus tools are saved from damage, and the 
roads arc not cut lip. To make a boat, two pieces 
of 2-ineb plank, 5 or 6 feet long and 0 inches wide, 
are cut, with half-round ends and notches in one 
edge as shown at figure 3. Cross-pieces are spiked 
upon these, and strips of board are nailed upon the 
cross-bars as shown at figure 4. A sled or boat of this 
kind can be used for carrying plows, harrows, and 
other implements, bags of fertilizers, seed, barrels 
of piaster or lime, and other similar tliiugs to any 
part of the farm. A steadfast rule that every tool 
Fig. 4.—the flow do at completed. 
taken to the field shall be branch!. home at night, 
will be more easily obeyed if plow boats are used. 
Wooden Boxes for Machinery. 
—- 
Where slow motion only is required, or where 
machinery works in water, there is no other kind of 
box better than one of wood. The wood best fitted 
for this use, is the root of hard maple or yellow 
birch. The grain of these roots is twisted, the fibres 
are tough, and if the grain is placed endwise to the 
bearing, the resistance to wear will be found greater 
than that of metal boxes, for driving shafts for 
horse powers, threshers, fodder-cutters, pumps and 
other machinery where the motion is not over 230 
or 300 revolutions in a minute. Where the motion 
is greater, wooden boxes lined with Babbitt metal 
may still he used ; so that for any purpose what¬ 
ever, in an emergency, or for regular use, a supply 
of well selected and prepared wooden boxes might 
be kept on hand, wherever machinery is usedout of 
easy reach of a foundry or machine shop. The 
timber should be selected for its gnarled arrange¬ 
ment of fibres, and seasoned slowly under cover, 
but in an airy place. It should then be sawed into 
squared blocks of the proper size for different uses, 
and steeped in crude petroleum or sperm oil, until 
thoroughly saturated. The blocks may then be put 
away for use, in a dry place, or kept in the tool- 
chest. The blocks are first roughly sawed out, leav¬ 
ing the trimming to be done afterwards. The hole 
is bored of the 
proper size for the 
shaft, being cen¬ 
tered truly and 
bored from each 
end, leaving it a 
little smaller than 
the shaft for a 
tight fit (see fig. 
1). When this has 
been done, the 
block can be. oiled 
and put away. When finally prepared for use, the 
block is squared up truly,and sawed exactly through 
theeenterof the shaft-hole, (fig 2), and is then sand¬ 
papered to fit its place. As the boxes wear, the 
inner surface is dressed by planing or rubbing upon 
a sheet of sand-paper until the bearings are again 
Fig. 1. wooden boxes. Fig. 2. 
