1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
409 
dispensing with strips altogether, can be 
made by placing posts 3 feet and 9 inches 
apart, and nailing the laths directly to the 
posts, widening the distance towards the top, 
as shown in fig. 5. I believe it to be an error 
to suppose that fowls must have nice grass 
runs. Two yards are recommended for each 
house, which the fowls can occupy alter¬ 
nately ; this allows the poultry to run in one 
yard, while vegetation is growing in the 
other for their benefit. This is shown in 
fig. 6.—Other points in relation to the man¬ 
agement will be given in another article. 
Mending Broken Tools. 
Fanning tools, such as shovels, rakes, 
forks, etc., that are much used, will often, 
through carelessness or accident, become 
broken, and with most men, that means to 
be thrown one side, as utterly useless. By 
exercising a little ingenuity, they could in a 
short time be fitted up to do service for sev¬ 
eral years. The head of hand-rakes often 
becomes broken at the point where the han¬ 
dle enters, and not unfrequently the handle 
itself is broken off where it enters the head. 
In either case the break is easily made good 
by attaching a small piece of wood to the 
Fig. 1.— A MENDED RAKE. 
head, by small nails or screws, as shown in 
figure 1. Should the head be broken where 
one of the bows passes through, it may be 
mended in a like manner, b. Shovels and 
spades, owing to the great strain to which 
they are often subjected, especially by care¬ 
lessly prying with them, crow-bar fashion, 
are frequently broken, and usually at the 
point where the wood enters the blade. This 
Fig. 2.— MENDING A SHOVEL. 
break, bad as it is, should not consign the 
broken parts to the rubbish pile, especially if 
the blade and handle be otherwise in fair 
condition. Remove the iron straps or ferule 
from the handle; firmly rivet a strip of iron, a, 
figure 2, on top of the handle, and a similar 
one underneath, to the blade and handle, as 
shown in the engraving. Other broken tools 
may be made to do good service by proper 
mending. L. D. S. 
A Wire Fence Strengthened. 
Hon. Leavitt Burnham, of Douglass Co., 
Neb., sends us a sketch of barbed wire fence 
attachment, which is in use in Western 
Nebraska, and successfully answers the pur¬ 
pose of a strengthener and stiffener. As it 
is readily seen by the animals, it also oper¬ 
ates as a guard to prevent stock running 
against the less visible wires, and receiving 
injury. It consists simply of rough strips of 
inch board, say three inches wide, extending 
from the base of the post's (set 8 feet apart), 
to a point on the top wire half way between 
the posts, and attached to the wires by staples. 
Its simplicity and easy construction make this 
addition to a wire fence worthy of trial. 
Tiie Laying Out oi' Grounds.— 
Friends occasionally write us, saying that 
their grounds comprise so many acres, and 
ask us to furnish a plan by which they may 
lay them out to the best advantage. Some¬ 
times these requests are accompanied by a 
sketch of the grounds in their present condi¬ 
tion. While desirous of aiding our readers 
in every practicable manner, we are obliged 
to decline all such requests, if for no other 
reason than that it is impossible for us to 
give the needed time to even make general 
suggestions in individual cases. Even when 
a complete map is sent us, it would require 
hours, if not days of careful consideration, 
to determine what seems to be the best plan ; 
this it is impossible to give to any one sub¬ 
scriber. Besides, were we 
to publish a plan suited to 
one particular place, it 
would be of little or no use 
upon any other. It is from 
the utter impossibility of 
meeting such requests, that 
we decline them. There are 
several works upon the lay¬ 
ing out of grounds, which 
discuss the general points 
to be observed. The best 
our friends can do is, to 
study such works, and apply their teachings 
to their own places. We give here one gen¬ 
eral rule to be observed: Make no road or 
path that is not needed, that does not lead 
to some point. Fix the points to be reached 
by roads or paths, and let these sweep by 
easy curves from place to place. There are 
many cases in which a straight road is pref¬ 
erable to a curved one, if so, make it. Use 
common sense in laying out grounds, as in 
all other matters, and do no unmeaning work. 
Always make a map of the grounds as they 
now are, and a plan of the proposed altera¬ 
tions, and work from measurement. 
Substitute for Picket Fence Posts. 
Mr. W. R. Sawyer, Conecuh Co., Ala., 
writes : “ I send you a diagram of a substi¬ 
tute for posts in a picket or plank fence. 
Take a piece of 
good hard-wood 
inch-board, one 
foot wide, and 
of the length de¬ 
sired for bight 
of fence; saw 
it diagonally as 
shown by the 
dotted line in 
figure 1. After 
sawing, turn the 
broad ends to¬ 
gether, thus giv-, 
, ^ 1.—BOARD. Fig;. 2.—POST, 
mg a base two 
feet wide. Place the cuts for the rail¬ 
ing of the fence, as shown in figure 2. 
Put a board underneath to prevent the end 
from sinking into the ground. I have used 
this substitute for fence posts and am very 
much pleased with it, as it is substantial, 
easily made, and moreover very cheap."’ 
A Convenient Hog Loader. 
Mr. “E. W. S.,” Huron Co., O., sends us a 
sketch of what hecallsa “ hog loader” and rack 
for taking hogs to market. The engraving 
shows the “ loader ” attached to a wagon, with 
the rack. The bed-piece consists of two pine 
boards, 6 inches wide by 9 feet long. These 
are fastened together by three cross-pieces of 
the same material, of proper length, so that 
the “bed” will just fit in between the sides 
of the wagon-box. A floor is laid on these 
cross-pieces, on which short strips of lath are 
nailed, to prevent hogs from slipping. At 
one end the sides are notched to fit on the bot¬ 
tom of the wagon box. There are two sta¬ 
ples on each side by which the sides are fast¬ 
ened on. The “rack” is made like an ordi¬ 
nary top-box, with the exception that each 
side is composed of three narrow boards about 
four inches apart, and nailed to three cleats 
(the two end cleats to be on the inside, and 
the middle one on the outside of the rack), and 
projecting down the side of the wagon-box. 
End-boards are made and fastened in like 
those of an ordinary wagon-box. For un¬ 
loading the hogs nothing but the bed-piece 
need be used, which, being light, may be 
easily thrown on and taken with the wagon. 
Silk Worm’s Eg-g-s. — Judging from 
the number of inquiries we received last 
spring, there are many who would experiment 
in raising silk worms, could they get the eggs. 
We would suggest to those who have eggs 
for sale that they make it known by adver¬ 
tising and do it very early next season. 
