1884.] 
AMEEIOAS AGEIOULTUEIST, 
529 
Withes. 
There is something untidy in the general appear¬ 
ance of withes. They are not ornamental certainly, 
but are often exceedingly convenient and useful 
as temporary expedients. In mending fence for 
example, nails cannot be used, and a good withe 
well placed makes the fence firm and substantial. 
We have been in the habit of twisting the rod, of 
which the withe is made, so as to start the fibres 
of the wood nearly its whole length, and then using 
it like a band of straw, or anything else, drawing 
it as tight as possible with the hands. A newly 
arrived immigrant has shown us a better way. He 
makes a strong loop on the small end, as shown in 
figure 1, either with the twigs into which the rod is 
usually divided, or by twisting the rod upon itself. 
When placing the withe in place, he passes the 
butt-end through the loop, and pulls it tight, as a 
noose. If convenient, he places one foot against 
the loop and pulls with all his might. Then he 
holds It tight by bending it slightly, and, with both 
Fig. 3.— WITHE IN PLACE. 
hands, giving a crank-like motion to the withe, 
(fig. 8), he twists it until it kinks, which it does 
close to the loop, and then he tucks the loose end 
under the body of the withe, as shown in figure 3. 
How to Exterminate Wild Carrots. 
The rains of the summer were uncommonly fa¬ 
vorable for the growth of the wild carrot, and the 
meadows have been white with the “ lace flowers,” 
as ladies sometimes call this pest. A good farmer, 
having been very watchful for two years in ex¬ 
tracting every plant of wild carrot from a hundred 
acres of meadow, finds the search this year noth¬ 
ing but a pleasant “walkover.” Some folks are 
arranging for a severe two years’ course of educa¬ 
tion in this particular. We doubt if two years 
will be effectual with meadows that have long 
been given over to this plant. The seeds are 
numerous and hardy, living in the soil for many 
years, and waiting a chance to sprout. The land 
cannot be cleaned in a year or two, unless it lie 
fallow, and by repeated harrowing five or six crops 
of the young plants are killed in a season. If there 
are only a few scattering plants, pulling up by the 
roots may answer the purpose. On some fields, 
when the carrots are about as plenty as the grass, 
pulling is out of the question. It would cost about 
as much as the land is worth. The plant is a bi¬ 
ennial ; the root dies after bearing seed, and mow¬ 
ing close to the ground is just as good as the pull¬ 
ing. If not cut close, it will sprout, and send up 
blossom shoots, and make seed three or four times 
in a season. The only effectual treatment, aside 
from the plowing and harrowing, is to prevent the 
seeding of the plant, by either pulling or mowing 
it as frequently as it may be found necessary. 
We took in hand about three acres of meadow in 
the spring of 1882, that received the wash of neg¬ 
lected fields on two sides, and that of the roads 
on the other two, the road-sides blooming with 
wild carrots. Each season portions of the mowing 
have been top-dressed with stable manure, etc., 
which has greatly stimulated the growth of clover 
and grass, as well as the weed. The first season 
the wild carrots were not very plenty, and were 
pulled. As the ground had been neglected for 
many years, there was a great increase of grass, as 
well as of carrots, the result of the manure. The 
carrots were cut twice in tlie following year, and 
none allowed to go to seed. The present season 
most of the grass has been cut twice, and all the 
carrots, and early in September there was a vigor¬ 
ous third crop of carrots in full bloom, ready for 
the scythe. The third cutting prevented the 
plants from seeding this season. Whoever under¬ 
takes to clean his meadows of wild carrots, must 
surely enforce the laws against their seeding. 
Swine-rarming, 
We are more and more impressed with the value 
of hogs on the farm. Many farmers make their 
cows the main feature; the buildings are con¬ 
structed with reference to their management, and 
the rotation of crops is fixed to promote the same 
end. We also have farms devoted to horse-breed¬ 
ing, and whole sections of country where sheep¬ 
breeding is the leading industry. To make these 
different branches of husbandry a specialty, is the 
right course for success. In the great corn districts 
of the West, hogs are raised in large numbers, but 
we are forced to say, from observation, that it is 
generally corn, more than care, which gives the 
business its degree of success. Often enough corn 
is wasted if fed with care to fatten the entire 
stock. The western hog does not fill the entire 
place for which he was designed. He is simply a 
condensed corn-crib, with a great many rat holes. 
This business basis may possibly answer where 
corn is cheap and land requires no fertilizer, but 
in the largest portion of this country corn is not 
so abundant that the farmer can afford to waste it, 
or is land so rich but that it can become more pro¬ 
ductive. Hogs should be made a factor of improve¬ 
ment on every farm. We should have swine farms 
the same as dairy, horse, and sheep farms, with the 
fields and buildings adapted to them. Hogs should 
be fed in the fields, with a rotation in their feeding 
grounds, the same as in crops. In this way, in a 
few years, the whole farm can be gone over, and 
every field enriched. The farmer who keeps a few 
hogs shut up in a pen or confined in a small yard, 
or the one who confines his hogs year after year in 
the same field, do not live up to their privileges in 
swine-breeding; they rarely manifest the skill, or 
even the business shrewdness of the breeders of 
other stock. Any class of animals producing a great 
amount of food for the human family, should 
receive fair consideration. There is room here for 
solid missionary work, both in improving the 
condition of the pigs and of the people. 
A Grood Eation for Hens. 
We have frequent warnings against the perils of 
feeding hens too much Indian corn, from people 
who affect poultry wisdom, and write for the agri¬ 
cultural papers. Where one hen suffers from ex¬ 
cess of corn, we venture to say, ten suffer from too 
little. Too little feed is the besetting sin of the 
rural districts. We live there and happen to know; 
people grumble because they get only six or seven 
dozen eggs a year, change breeds often, make 
crosses, and thus their yards swarm with all sorts 
of barnyard mongrels, as a poor substitute for full 
rations. Nothing but feed in the hopper will make 
hens grind out the eggs. If corn was dangerous, or 
narrow quarters, for thirty light Brahma hens, we 
should have found it out this summer. Early in 
May, after the garden stuff began to come up, we 
shut up the hens in an old building about fifteen 
feet square, without floor, and with sides and roof 
of unscrupulous ventilation. It was a legacv of 
past generations, and had worn itself out as a 
carriage house many years ago. It is a standing 
witness that ventilation is good for fowls. The 
rations have been corn, given three times a dav, 
kept in a box, generally about Six quarts a day, a 
little more added when the box was found empty, 
broken clam shells kept in another box constantly 
on hand—a part of the skim-milk and butter-milk 
from one cow, a pail of water from the pump evei’y 
morning, and a run of an hour before sunset upon 
the lawn, where there was an abundant supply of 
grass Two applications of kerosene, from the 
lamp filler, to the perches, have kept the fowls 
from lice, and the health of the flock has been re¬ 
markably good. The egg production has been 
abundant, and if there has been any danger in a 
constant supply of corn, the hens have not found 
it out. The eggs have been well fertilized, and the 
chickens strong and healthy. The theory of feed¬ 
ing has been that we get the most profit from fowls 
when we give them all they can eat, and a sufficient 
variety of animal and vegetable food. Milk has 
been the main supply of the former, and com of 
the latter. We have come to the conclusion that 
there is a call for reform in poultry keeping. Too 
much liberty and low feed is bad for hens. T. B. 
A Fixed Boom Derrick. 
Where there is much handling of heavy barrels 
or sacks, as at a cider mill, one man, with some 
simple, mechanical contrivance, can easily do the 
work of two or three, working by main strength. 
A boom derrick, figure 1, hung high, so that the 
weight shah oe ilf^ed from the ground ordinarily, 
when the derrick swings horizontally, is very con¬ 
venient. A post is banded, and has a strong dowel 
at each end. The lower dowel is set in a stone 
fixed in the ground, close to the building where it 
is to be used, the upper one in a strong oak cleat 
bolted to the building. At the hight of about five 
or six feet from the ground, an eye-bolt passes 
through the post, and another is fixed at the top. 
The boom is fastened to the lower eye-bolt by a 
three-quarter inch hooked iron, attached as shown 
in figure 2, while the other end of the boom 
has a band with two eyes. This boom is a spar or 
pole, stiff enough to bear the strain without doub¬ 
ling up or breaking, and may be ten or fifteen feet 
long. The end of the boom is raised or lowered by 
a pair of single pulleys, or by a double-block tackle, 
which will exert much greater power. When the 
weight is lifted, as out of a cellar way, it may be 
swung around over a wagon, and lowered into it. 
