1680 .] 
507 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Culverts under Roadways. 
Culverts are arched passages for water under a 
‘roadway. Figure 1 is a bridge, though a very small 
one. Timbers are laid from one pier to the other, 
and planks are spiked upon them and cover the 
ends. The piers may be laid up of the roughest 
stone, and in the rudest way, or of nicely faced and 
angled stone, as shown in the engraving. This is 
■the simplest and easiest way a brook can be taken 
under a road ; but the planks rot and the timbers 
give out. There is danger of horses stepping 
through, and there is every now and then the neces¬ 
sity for new planks or timbers. Culverts are much 
better for all small streams, and last indefinitely, if 
well made. The simplest form is really about as 
much a bridge as a culvert; see figure 2. The same 
simple piers are spanned by rough, more or less 
flat stones, long enough to reach solidly from pier 
to pier. The cracks between them and any irregu¬ 
Fig. 1.—A SMALL BRIDGE. 
larities are levelled off with broken stones, and the 
roadway carried over at any desired hight. When 
flat stones, large enough, cannot be procured con¬ 
veniently, concrete culverts may be easily made. 
A very good form is shown in figure 3. Pier walls 
:are laid exactly the width and half the hight, of 
lime or flour barrels, or even sugar hogsheads. 
Then a line of barrels is laid snugly end to end 
between the piers, and a concrete of cement, mor¬ 
tar, and gravel, 
is spread upon 
them to the 
depth of four to 
six .inches, if 
the cement is 
Very strong and 
good, or to a 
greater depth if 
it is not so 
good. In laying 
Fig. 2.— a simple culvert. on the concrete, 
it is well to go 
-along one 6ide first, and to set small stones iu the 
floft surface, which tend both to keep the cement in 
place until it sets, and to give solidity to it. This 
-protection of stones is especially valuable upon the 
4op in case the covering of earth or gravel forming 
Fig. 3.— FORM OF CONCRETE CULVERT. 
the road-bed is likely to be worn away. Figure 4 
Is a lengthways section of the crown of the arch, 
showing how the shape of the barrels causes a suc¬ 
cession of depressions, which give an additional 
strength. This makes an excellent culvert. After 
'Fig. 4.— lengthwise section of crown of arch. 
a week or two the barrels must be removed, for 
should a freshet occur, the pieces might break 
.away, and form an obstruction which might do 
damage. The flatter an arch the weaker it is, 
and the material must be proportionately stronger 
or thicker. Figure 5 shows a flat arch, made by 
spanning between the piers with sticks of timber, 
Fig. 5.— FLAT ARCH MADE ON CURVED FRAME WORE, 
to hold a round log or other support of de¬ 
sired thickness—say ten inches or a foot. Round 
or split poles are sprang over this, and the ends 
brought into position by straight poles nailed or 
lashed to the timbers near the ends. The surface 
is made as nearly uniform as possible as to curva¬ 
ture, and covered with flags or leaves, so as to make 
a surface which will hold the cement. A coat of 
this should be applied at the outside along the 
piers, and then, as it grows stiff, farther and farther 
up. The whole arch should be covered with a coat 
two or three inches thick, left rough, and when 
this has hardened, the whole thickness of concrete 
is laid on as solidly and compactly as possible. If 
well made, it will form a lasting arch. The tim¬ 
bers may be sawed in two after a while and taken 
out; the log of course will fall, and the rough¬ 
ness of the under side will be no detriment to the 
usefulness of the structure.—Figure 6 is a similarly 
constructed arch, but not arched on the under 
Fig. 6.—STRAIGHT-SIDED ARCHWAY. 
side, where straight sticks are used in construct¬ 
ing a foundation upon which to lay the concrete. 
Something about Soldering. 
Milk pans, pails, and many other tin household 
utensils, will get leaky and need repairing. Bits 
of rag and splinters of wood, etc., give temporary 
amendment in certain cases ; but the only perma¬ 
nent method is to use solder. A soldering “ kit” 
consists of a soldering iron of copper, weighing 
about 12 ounces; aflat 10-inch file, rather coarse ; 
a scraper, and a 3-square file, ground to three scrap¬ 
ing edges for an inch from the point. A bottle 
of soldering fluid will also be required, and a little 
rosin and some sal-ammoniac. Last, and not least, 
a few sticks of solder. Directions for soldering: 
The “Iron” must first be tinned, that is, covered 
with a thin coat of solder. To do this, heat the 
Iron somewhat above the melting point of solder. 
File one side of the bevelled portion smooth, and 
touch it immediately with rosin and soldering fluid, 
and then with solder, and wipe smooth with a rag. 
File and “ tin” the remaining portion. When done, 
the surface should be completely covered with 
solder. Another way is to heat the iron nearly to 
redness, and rub it upon the sal-ammoniac with 
solder in contact, when no filing will be necessary. 
This tinning must be repeated whenever the thin 
coating of solder is removed by over-heating of the 
Iron, which is quite likely to occur. Now to 
the work. Wherever it is desired to attach solder, 
the parts must be clean. If the surface is not 
already bright and clean, it must be made so by 
appropriate means. Here the scraper will generally 
be of use. Having scraped the surface, apply with a 
6tick some of the soldering fluid, or, instead of sol¬ 
dering fluid, some rosin, to the parts to be sol¬ 
dered. Meanwhile the iron has been heating in the 
cock stove ; not too hot, for then the solder is too 
fluid and you cannot pick up a portion with the 
point of the iron. Take the iron from the fire, 
wipe with a rag, or dip momentarily into a weak 
solution of sal-ammoniac. Touch the iron to the 
solder; if the heat is right, a small portion adheres, 
and is placed upon the spot where it will do the 
most good. (The tendency to use too much solder 
should be guarded against.) If the iron is not hot 
enough, warm it some more. The iron must remain 
in contact with the place where the solder is to 
stick until the surrounding parts are at the temper¬ 
ature of melted solder. With the above utensils 
and directions almost any person can mend a milk 
pan or ordinary utensil, though there would be 
much of soldering still to learn. Old tomato cans 
would be good to practice" on until the art is 
acquired. D. S. L. [See Feb. number, p. 67 .—Ed.} 
Living Posts for Wire-Fences. 
Persons often inquire if living trees are not avail 
able as posts for wire fences. They certainly may 
be used, but there is great objection to fastening 
the wire directly to the trees. We give two en¬ 
gravings ; figure 1, 
showing how it may 
and ought to be done, 
and figure 2 giving 
the result of fastening 
wire or ribbon fencing 
directly to the trees. 
The proper way is to 
nail on a white oak 
strip, and it is best to 
use green wood, for 
after oak becomes well 
seasoned and dry, it 
will be almost impos¬ 
sible to drive staples 
into it—to this the wire 
may be attached, and 
no injury will ordi¬ 
narily be done to the 
tree. The growth of 
the tree may tend to 
deflect the fence a lit- Fig. 1 . — wire fastened 
tie from the true line, to strips. 
and in that case the 
strip may probably be started carefully and taken 
off free from the tree and nailed on again where 
desired. It might be worth while to saw off a 
portion of one end of the strip and only shift the 
top or bottom wire. That would of course be de¬ 
termined by the situation and appearance of the 
fence. If fastened di¬ 
rectly to the trees, the 
bark soon closes over 
the wire and any shift¬ 
ing is impossible, with¬ 
out cutting into the 
trees, making ugly 
wounds, or cutting off 
the wires and leaving 
them in the trees, 
where, years hence, 
the pieces will be like¬ 
ly to be discovered by 
the woodcutter, and 
would try equally his 
own temper and that 
of his axe. Neither is 
it best to nail fence 
strips directly to trees 
when “living posts” 
are used for strip 
Fig. 2.— overgrown wire. f ence . It is much bet¬ 
ter to nail to perpendicular strips attached to trees. 
Cure for a Baulky Horse.— We have cured 
incipient baulkiness by persistent gentleness, never 
overloading, always starting evenly, and easily, 
gradually increasing loads, and patting and praising 
the animal after a good pull. This resulted in & 
complete cure, whether it would cure a chronic 
case or not we cannot say, but it ia worth trying. 
