1884.] 
AMEEIOA^f AGEIOULTUEIST. 
283 
A Threshing Flail. 
The engraving shows a simple flail, which works 
easily, and wears much longer than the wooden 
connection usually employed. The loop, a, is made 
of a piece of thick, hard leather—a piece of an old 
harness tug, ora strip of sole leather is good. The 
leather is cut about an inch and a quarter wide, and 
formed into a loop with the ends lapping as shown 
at 6. A hole is made through the lapped ends, to 
receive a round-headed bolt. This bolt has a pin¬ 
hole, c, at its lower end. The bolt is now driven 
into the handle d, and the pin e inserted, which 
-holds the bolt in place. A piece of tough leather 
A SIMPLE FLAIL. 
thong,/, is put through the leather loop a, to unite 
the two parts of the flail. This loop a swivels on 
the bolt b. This is firmly fastened in the handle. 
Live-Forever as a Weed. 
Several of our troublesome weeds are escapes 
from cultivation, as may be conspicuously seen in 
the Wild Parsnips and Wild Carrots. These are 
degenerate useful plants, and the Toad-flax (iwan'a 
vulgare)^ is a quite too common example of an or¬ 
namental plant that has gone astray. This showy 
plant was cultivated by our grand parents, as 
“ Butter and Eggs.” A Mr. Ranstead had it in his 
garden near Philadelphia, and the plant is known 
in Pennsylvania as ‘‘Ranstead Weed.” Live-for¬ 
ever is another ornamental plant, that has escaped 
and become a weed. Mr. “ J. E. B.,” Little Palis, 
N. Y., sends a specimen of a weed known as Live- 
forever, and wishes to know about the plant, and 
how to get rid of it. Live-forever, as a weed, is of 
comparatively recent occurrence. It is a species 
of Stone-crop (or Sedum). Its numerous stems 
form a clump, which, when in flower, is quite 
handsome. We can remember when it was grown 
in gardens for its beauty and as a curiosity. A 
well established clump has numerous fleshy stems 
a foot or more high. The ovate leaves are very 
thick, and each stem is terminated in mid-summer 
by a large, flat cluster of light-purple flowers. 
The stems are very tenacious of life. A full-groivn 
:shoot, fastened by,a pin against a window sash, 
instead of wilting will go on and perfect its flower 
cluster and bloom from the nutriment stored up 
in the thick stem. While this peculiarity of the 
plant made it an interesting one, its strong hold 
upon life, and the fact that every fragment of the 
stem in contact with the soil, will strike root and 
forma new plant, make it very formidable as a weed. 
In many places where it has gained a foot-hold 
it shows every disposition to stay. Its reproduc¬ 
tive powers are so marked that breaking up the 
old plants by plowing or digging only increases 
the trouble, as every stem, or fragment of one, will 
■form a new clump. European works upon agricul¬ 
ture do not mention Live-forever as a specially 
troublesome weed, yet in this country it has in 
many places established itself, and its eradication 
is already a serious problem. The subject was 
brought to the attention of onr readers several 
years ago. One correspondent then reported suc¬ 
cess with smothering the plants, placing upon 
them small heaps of manure, or covering them 
with bog-hay, or whatever would exclude light and 
air. A few clumps can be thus treated, but where 
the plant, sis in some cases, has taken possession 
'Of the ground, smothering is not easily practised. 
With this, as with all other weeds, “ resist the be¬ 
ginning” is the true method. The farmer should 
know all plants by sight. Those not known 
to be. of use may be regarded as enemies. If 
upon the first appearance of a stranger, he is 
questioned as to his objects, much trouble may be 
saved. Let those who have successfully extermi¬ 
nated “Live-forever” report their methods of 
dealing with this W’eed. The pest is increasing. 
Patents, and Patent Laws- 
That the farmer who, finding a design for a gate in 
the American Agriculturist, or other journal, has built 
one from it, should feel aggrieved when someone 
subsequently calls upon him and demands a royal¬ 
ty, is not at all surprising. Another farmer has 
read that the patent on the driven-w'ell is not valid, 
puts down the tubes for such a well, and soon finds 
himself obliged to pay a royalty, or to stand a suit at 
law. He of course feels that he has been wronged, 
and looks upon all patents as frauds. These gates 
of different kinds, and the driven well, are but ex¬ 
amples. There is scarcely any other device used by 
the farmer, even if of his own invention, for which 
he may not be called upon to respond—honestly it 
may be, but often dishonestly—for an infringement 
of somebody’s patent. Such cases have occurred 
so frequentlj', especially in the Western States, that 
farmers—and we do not wonder at it—have be¬ 
come exasperated. They have now, through their 
granges, clubs, and other associations, made them¬ 
selves beard’ by their members of Congress, in 
their demands for relief. As a consequence, bills 
have been introduced, looking to the abolishing of 
the patent office. Hasty legislation is undesirable 
at all times, and would be especially unfortunate 
in the present case. While general attention is 
called to the matter, the present is a good time to 
revise our patent law’s, and endeavor to remove 
their objectionable features. Our present system, 
liable as it is to abuse, is vastly better than none at 
all. In agriculture alone, the patented inventions 
have been of a benefit that can not be computed. 
The present mowers, reapers, headers, threshers 
and a host of other farm machines, would never 
have been in use, could not the inventors have been 
able to patent them. One must be short-sighted, 
who can not see that patents have done much to 
advance our agriculture. Our patent system is 
open to abuse, and no doubt has been made use of 
by swindlers. That this is the case, is not so much 
the fault of the patent laws a.^ of the farmers them¬ 
selves. If the farmers of every township, or school 
district, had an association, the members of which 
would make common cause against all frauds who 
claim to have patents on the commonest farm de¬ 
vices, and instead of compromising these claims, 
could contest them, this would usually be the last 
of them. When our Patent Rules are revised, and 
the present seems a good time for doing it, we 
would suggest that much of the trivial stuff that is 
now patented, be rejected altogether. The present 
rule seems to be, to give a patent to everything 
that has not been patented before. A farmer may 
have used a simple device for many years, some 
sharp fellow' coming along sees it, and procuring a 
patent, may prevent the farmer from using his own 
invention, unless he pays a royalty. Abuses of this 
kind are not rare ; they should be made impossible. 
At present a patent is worth nothing to the inven¬ 
tor, until he has been at the expense of defending 
it in the courts. The government should keep 
out all the trivial stuff, and allow' patents for 
only really useful and important inventions, and 
having once granted a patent, and taken pay 
for it, should defend it in the courts without 
cost to the inventor. A treaty, which has been 
made by representatives of our own, European 
and South American Governments, has been pre¬ 
sented to the Senate. The nations in this union 
or league, agree that a patent granted in any one 
of these countries, shali be valid in all the others. 
This scheme seems to be favorable to our own in¬ 
ventors. But the people have something to say, as 
w’ell as inventors, and before concerning ourselves 
with our foreign relations, let us have patent laws 
that are acceptable to farmers and others at homo, 
and not be open to the abuses at present possible. 
The Farm Workshop. 
The farm workshop should be conveniently lo¬ 
cated as to both house and barns. Some of the 
operations to be performed therein will require 
the use of a fire, more particularly so in the win¬ 
ter, and therefore place the shop so that the strong¬ 
est prevailing winds will carry all sparks away from 
other buildings. The size, character, and style of 
the building will vary with the means and taste of 
each builder. In length, it should give ample room 
for a board sixteen feet long, and wide enough to 
accommodate a good work-bench, leaving room to 
run a wagon in alongside, with plenty of space on 
each side to work at any part to good advantage. 
The flight should be at least eight feet to the eaves, 
and the roof may be either flat, span, or lean-to, as 
the builder desires, only it must be W’aterproof. 
The elevations and plan, figures 1, 2 and 3, show a 
building twelve by twenty feet on the ground, and 
eight feet high, which will give plenty of room for 
all ordinary work. To build this will require about 
eight hundred feet of one-inch lumber, eight feet 
long, for sides and roof; two pieces two by six, 
twenty feet long; two pieces two by six, twelve 
feet long; eight pieces tw'o by four, twenty feet 
long; four pieces two by four, twelve feet long, 
and eighty feet flooring for doors. The windows as 
shown in figures 1 and 2, are of eight by ten glass. 
Figure 4 shows how the sills and plates are placed. 
The siding, eight feet long, running up and down, 
is nailed firmly to the plates and sills. The gables 
are covered with lumber, lapping down over the 
ends six inches. The roof boards, eight feet long, 
run up and dow'n, and are nailed securely to the 
plates, the ridge, and pieces betw'een. 
The roof should bo covered with a sheathing of 
tarred-paper and shingled, or what is preferable, 
with a roofing of asbestos, which, if laid according 
to directions, will give a firm, lasting, and fire-proof 
roof. The sides may be simply battened, or what 
is far better, covered with a water-proof sheathing, 
battened and well painted. The extra cost of the 
sheathing will be repaid many times in comfort in 
cold, wet weather. The doors are made of flooring, 
having battens firmly fastened on with wrought 
nails, and hung with heavy straji-hinges. The large 
door should be hung to swing outwards, and can be 
fastened by bolting a piece of two by four scantling 
on the front edge. The small door can swing in¬ 
ward and be provided with a strong lock and a latch. 
There should be four or five boards nailed firmly 
to the under side of the plates and center-piece, as 
shown at a in figure 4. These may be of any width, 
the wider the better. Place a board through the 
center, and another midway each side of this; 
they will prevent the sides from being pushed 
apart by weight on the I'oof. Nail three or four 
boards from the center-piece to the ridge pole. The 
space under the roof can be utilized for storing 
odd pieces of lumber, etc., where it will season 
thoroughly, and be convenient when wanted. 
Figure 3 shows the location of the work-bench a, 
foot-lathe 6, anvil c, forge d, and the coal barrel c. 
