8 
AMERIOA^T AGRIOIJLTURIST. 
[Januaet. 
Mending Eubber Boots and Shoes—Dis¬ 
solving India Rubber. 
For many years we liave bad, at the approach of 
■winter, a number of inquiries about mending India 
rubber boots and shoes, and they have begun to 
come this season. In cities, the large stores for 
the sale of rubber goods of all kinds sell a cement 
for mending rubber articles. Where this can he 
procured it is cheaper to purchase than to under¬ 
take to make a cement. Pure, or virgin rubber, 
i. e., rubber that has not been “vulcanized,” 
which is very far from pure—is more or less soluble 
in various liquids. Pure ether, chloroform, pure 
turpentine, benzole, naphtha, and some other 
liquids, especially bisulphide of carbon, either 
cause the rubber to swell up into a soft jelly, or 
dissolve it altogether. When exposed to the air, 
the liquid evaporates, and the rubber is left more 
or less in its natural condition. To use any of 
these compounds, including that sold (usually 
rubber dissolved in turpentine), the edges of the 
patch, and portion of the shoe, etc., should be 
freshly cut, where it Is to be applied. Kubbingthe 
surface with sharp sand paper will often answer 
instead of cutting, the object being to secure per¬ 
fectly clean and fresh surfaces at the junction. To 
make sure of a good job, the surfaces are often 
covered with the cement, and allowed to dry ; then 
a fresh application of cement is made and the patch 
carefully adjusted to its place. It is necessary to 
avoid touching the fresh surfaces. The parts 
should be held closely together after cementing, 
by placing weights on them or by some other de¬ 
vice. For home make, bisulphide of carbon is the 
most ready solvent for the rubber. The same 
difficulty is found here, as in buying the cement, it 
is only sold in cities and in large places. One part 
. of virgin rubber, cut into thin slips, is to have six 
or seven times its weight of bisulphide added to it. 
The solution will, in time, take place in the cold, 
but more rapidly with the aid of heat. Place the 
materials in a glass or tin vessel, and set this in an¬ 
other of hot water. Keep the inner vessel from the 
bottom of the other by two small sticks. The 
bisulphide of carbon is very volatile and danger¬ 
ously inflammable, and this should be kept in 
mind in working with or handling it near afire or a 
liglit. Being so volatile both the sulphide and the 
cement should be closely stopped. Our corres¬ 
pondent, “ J. W.,” Harford Co., Md.,asks : “How 
can rubber be melted ?” Eubber melts at a high 
heat, but is of no use in this condition as a cement. 
Bracing End Fence-Posts. 
Mr. J. Bartlett, Oshawa, Ont., sends us a sketch 
and description of a mode of bracing the end posts 
of wire fences in wet, soft land. The post is set 
down three to four feet, according to the softness 
of the soil, and any irregular stone bedded against 
it, as shown in figure 1. The piece, c, is notched in 
near the foot of the post, or held by a strong spike, 
or better by a bolt, and the horizontal piece, d, 
nailed on. The upper fence-wire is given a turn 
around the top of the post, brought over through a 
notch in c, and fastened to the stone by a turn or 
two around it. The operation is seen at a glance. 
[This will answer where stones of proper size are 
available near such land. It has the advantage of 
allowing for the contraction and expansion of the 
wires, even though the projecting arms and stone 
may be in the way, and unsightly. If the end post 
be in the corner of a lot, it may be better to brace 
the next post to it, and let the stone hang down 
close along the wires.—Another method for using 
the same materials is shown in figure 2, where the 
weight-stone is placed in the soil, with brace resting 
against it. This does not provide for contraction.] 
The “CaMe Pull.” 
What the race track is to many agricultural gath¬ 
erings, the “ cattle pull ” is to not a lew New Eng¬ 
land fairs, and well it may be. The go-ahead W’est- 
erners are ill content with slow ox-teams ; the 
more speedy horse, and machinery worked by 
horses, better suit their broad plains and iheir 
ideas. On the great pastures a steer is looked upon 
for the amount of round and sirloin steaks he will 
furnish, the dollars he will balance on the scales ih 
the cattle pen and slaughter yard. Imagine a Maine 
boy telling his Western friend that his steers had 
gained six inches in girth, and earned their living 
while doing so ! To the latter, the idea of a steer 
being compelled to earn his board is scarcely com¬ 
prehensible. But in much of New England, espe¬ 
cially among the pine trees of Maine, working oxen 
are appreciated, and at the shows dispute the claim 
to public attention with the fast horse that absorbs 
so large a share of admiration in other sections. 
Hence the “ cattle pull ” is a feature in most agri¬ 
cultural exhibitions at the far East. It is a novel 
and interesting sight to one witnessing it for the 
first time—the level sward set off by a rope, and 
surrounded by an eager throng of anxious farmers 
discussing the points and merits of a favorite yoke 
of oxen, attached or to be attached to a drag 
weighted with tons of granite slabs. The question 
to be decided is, which oxen, or whose, is to carry 
off the palm, by moving the ponderous load the 
greatest number of measured feet and inches—in 
other words, which breed, what strain, what feed¬ 
ing and care,what training, have produced oxen that 
can supply the most strength when put to accurate 
comparative tests. The trials are of single pairs, 
and with several teams to show.how they will pull 
together, an important point often. 
Tou see the committee man mount the load, and 
he calls out so as to be heard by the vast throng, 
“These cattle are owned by John Martin; girth, 
seven feet; weight of load, eight thousand five hun¬ 
dred pounds.” At the word, the animals, as if con¬ 
scious of their importance, and that their own 
credit and that of their owner is at stake, put forth 
giant efforts. “Fifty-six feet, four inches,” is an¬ 
nounced. Half a dozen men add their Weight to 
the load. “ Twenty-three feet, nine inches,” is re¬ 
corded.—Another yoke takes its turn, but not yet 
trained to pull at command, and when unhitched, 
the load has not advanced an inch. 
At last autumn’s fair of York County, at Buxton, 
Me., an old dispute was to be settled between 
two farmers’ yokes, one of which had been victo¬ 
rious at the N. E. Fair, and the other at the Eastern 
Maine State Fair. Both yokes were Buxton cattle; 
both girthed seven feet three inches, and never 
had “St. Julius,” or “Jay Eye See” more ardent 
adherents than these bovines. The enormous load 
of over FIVE tons (10,500 lbs.) was to be pulled 
over a grass stubble by a chain. The record of 
the victors was ; Twenty-four feet in twenty pulls ! 
Who Owns a Boy’s 'W’ages? 
“ W. B. K.,” Otsego Co., N. Y., inquires : “If 
he hires a young man under age, paying his wages 
as earned, has the father a legal right to collect the 
amount from him, when he has not given notice 
that he claims his son’s wages ?”—This is an im¬ 
portant question, as many minors are emyloyed 
upon farms, and we submitted it to our legal 
contributor, who replies in this wise: The law 
writers say that the parent, being under obligation 
to support, care for and educate bis minor children, 
he is entitled to their custody and the value of 
their service (2 Kent’s Comm., 194; 1 Blackstone, 
153). The Courts have several times confirmed this 
view (7 Mass., 145; 15 Mass., 272; N. H., 28; 15. 
N. H., 486 ; 4 Mason, 380). But this right hangs 
by a rather slender thread. If the minor has been 
“ emancipated,” or, as we commonly say, “his time 
has been given him,” then he is entitled to hia 
earnings, can sue for them if necessary, and they 
should be paid to him, which discharges the debt 
(6 Cushing, 458; 8 Cowen, 84; 3 Barbour, 115). 
This emancipation may be brought about by a writ¬ 
ten instrument, or by a verbal agreement, or by the 
conduct of the parties. (Shouler’s Domestic Kela- 
tions, 368, and case there cited). The parent’s cast¬ 
ing his child off or leaving him to shift for himself, 
forfeits his right to his earnings, and the Courts are 
liberal in granting such children the right to their 
wages, and thus encouraging them to earn an hon¬ 
est living themselves. (See many cases cited in 
Shouler’s Domestic Kelations, p. 870). A parent’s 
consent to the marriage of a minor, works an eman¬ 
cipation, for the reason, it is said, that in such cases 
the minor needs his earnings to support his own 
family. This alleged reason would seem to be just 
as forcible if the marriage were without parental 
consent, since the family would need supporting 
just as much ; but a Court in Maine thought other¬ 
wise, and gave to the father the young benedict’s 
earnings, leaving the poor wife without a penny 
(24 Me., 531; 18 Texas, 367). A parent absconding- 
to parts unknown emancipates the minor chiid,. 
and cuts off a right to his eaniings (2 Metcalf, 92). 
Emancipation may result from misfortune (15 N. 
H., 490), as when the parent, becoming a pauper, 
is unable to support his child. This extreme doc¬ 
trine, however, was only asserted on the ground 
that, if the parent received the child’s wages the 
latter would himself become a pauper. If a parent 
authorizes the employer to pay the minor, or the 
minor to receive the wages, payment to the latter 
is legal. Such authority may be implied from cir¬ 
cumstances (10 Barbour, 300 ; 19 Pick, 29.) Amer¬ 
ican Courts favor such arrangements between fath¬ 
er and son ; they are in the spirit of our free insti¬ 
tutions. A N. Y. Court, following a Mass, deci¬ 
sion, held that if a son goes out and contracts his 
services on his own account, with the father’s, 
knowledge and without objection from him, the 
payment to the son cuts off the father’s claim (16 
Barb., 300 ; 2 Pick., 202). Another Massachusetts- 
case went so far as to imply that unless the father 
notified the employer that he claimed the son’s 
wages, the employer may suppose authority has 
been given the son to collect his own wages (15 
Mass., 273). New York and some other States- 
provide by statute that payment to a minor will be 
valid unless the father gives notice to the employ¬ 
er that he claims the minor’s wages, within a cer¬ 
tain time after the hiring. In New York State it. 
is thirty days.—The above meets the case of our 
inquirer, and in that instance renders the father’s 
claims worthless, unless, perhaps, the boy had run 
away from home, and the father did not know of 
the hiring. But not all the States have such stat¬ 
utes, and in those which do not have them the doc¬ 
trines above set forth are presumably in force. It 
is, however, safe to advise all parents to give 
prompt notice of any claims to minor children’s 
wages, and all employers to ascertain from the 
parents of non-emancipated children how their 
wages shall be paid, if they would avoid all possi¬ 
bility of having to pay twice. [This is an interest- 
ingtopic, and the above will answer several inquiries- 
that have been made from time to time.— Eds.] 
