176 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
for storage of bay, fodder, and feed. The whole 
should be enclosed with upright boards, battened 
on the joints, and the material will cost about $500. 
The timber in each bent, of which there would be 
25, is about 400 feet, and 9,000 feet of boards would 
be required for the walls. Two hundred and fifty 
dollars ought to pay for the labor of building, and, 
when finished completely, if at a cost of $1,000, it 
would be a remarkably cheap structure, consider¬ 
ing its usefulness and capacity. In the rear of the 
main building a pit should he provided for the ma¬ 
nure, as shown in the plan, which must necessarily 
go out at the rear. 
Post-hole Digger. 
we noticed a 
new post-hole 
which excel- 
we had pre- 
seen, for the 
ease and rapidity with 
which it could be 
worked. The digging 
with 
picks, spades, or 
shovels, is a manner 
of doing a work with 
the worst possible 
tools, nevertheless we 
no very good 
substitute for these 
inconvenient imple¬ 
ments, until the in¬ 
ventor of this ma- 
hit upon the 
very valuable idea, 
which he brought in¬ 
to practical use. With 
this digger, a hole 
may be made of the 
smallest size needed, 
without taking out 
more earth than may 
in use. ftfc necessary; the 
hole, in fact, may he made so small that the post 
may be driven into it, and so set very firmly. It 
consists of a double handle, made to open 
or shut upon a pivot, with a scoop or round 
pointed half-round shovel upon each half. 
When closed, it appears as at figure 2, in 
which condition it is forced into the ground 
by repeated thrusts, in the same manner 
that a pointed bar may be driven. When 
sufficient earth has been loosened to make 
its removal necessary, the blades are pres¬ 
sed into the loose earth, and then brought 
together by opening the handles, as at fig¬ 
ure 1, when the earth held between them 
may be lifted out and deposited on the 
hank. This is repeated until the hole is 
deep enough. Holes can be dug in any 
kind of soil, amongst stones, in coarse 
gravel, or in earth that is saturated with 
water, or even under water. The tool may 
he used for sinking or cleaning wells, for 
making holes for setting plants or trees in 
gardens, as well as making post-holes, and 
many made with long handles are in use 
for setting telegraph poles, for which holes 
7 feet deep are required. It is known as 
the Eureka Post-hole Digger, and its novel¬ 
ty and plainly apparent utility made it a 
Fig. 2. 
conspicuous object of curiosity for a small 
crowd of people at the Centennial, where it was 
very vigorously worked by its exhibitor. The 
length of the blade is 9 inches, the whole length of 
the tool is 5 feet, the weight is 9 pounds, and it is 
obvious that no stooping is necessary in using it. 
A Useful Clod Breaker. 
There are many clod-crushers in use that are 
more or less effective, but some of them require 
for their construction materials which are not 
always easily procured. One for which the stuff 
can be found almost anywhere, may be made of 
planks fastened together by cleats, as shown in the 
CLOD-CRUSHER (SHOWING UNDER SIDE). 
engraving. The planks should be thick and heavy; 
three inch oak planks would not be too heavy. They 
may be six or eight feet long, and the floor three or 
four feet wide. The forward ends of the planks 
are beveled upon the under side, to enable it to 
ride over the surface easily. The cleats are fast¬ 
ened underneath by carriage bolts, and consist of 
narrow strips, placed about a foot apart. When 
the crusher is drawn over a cloddy surface, the 
edges of the strips either crush the lumps, or drag 
them up and cause them to roll underneath the 
heavy planks, by which they are broken up. This 
drag may be used for covering seed sown broad¬ 
cast, leveling drills, covering com, and for many 
other purposes which will suggest themselves. It 
may he drawn either way if both ends are beveled. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
BT L. D. SNOOK, TATES CO., N. T. 
A Bar Fence.—V arious forms of post and board 
Fig. 1.— PANEL OF A BAR FENCE. 
fences are in use, hut that shown in figure 1 has 
several good points, and is not open to any serious 
objections. Common fence posts are used, and are 
either set or driven ; when 14-foot hoards are used, 
the posts are placed 13 feet apart, from centre to 
centre. Short inch hoards, four or five inches 
wide and about four feet in length, are nailed with¬ 
in two and a quarter inches of the side of the post 
by three large nails, from 41 to 5 inches in length, 
which is readily done by placing a block of that 
thickness between the post and the strip attached 
to it, while the nailing is being done. The bars or 
fence hoards rest upon these 
nails. A sectional view is 
given in figure 2, showing 
how the boards rest upon 
the nails. The advantages 
of this fence are its cheap¬ 
ness ; that any one section 
is easily removed, for pass¬ 
ing through with a team, or 
6tock, etc.; that, should the 
posts heave, they are readily 
driven in the proper position 
without the danger of split¬ 
ting the boards or breaking 
the nails; and, should a post 
or hoard rot or be broken, 
another can be substituted 
without much inconveni¬ 
ence. [In place of the nails 
suggested by Mr. Snooks, 
we would rather use half-inch holts or spikes, 
which would be very much more durable.—E d.] 
Watering Places for Stock on Level Land. 
—It is frequently the case that there are under¬ 
drains of living water passing through level fields, 
Fig. 2.— END VIEW. 
r. 3.—TAKING WATER FROM UNDERDRAIN. 
in which there is no water available for stock. In 
such a case, a simple plan for bringing the water to 
[May, 
the surface is shown in figures 3 and 4, in which is 
shown an underdi'ain of stone or tile, a pipe of one 
or two-inch bore of wood or tile, and about 15 feet 
in length, is laid level with the bottom of the drain, 
and connecting with a box one foot or more square, 
sunk into the ground. If the soil be soft, the box 
is surrounded with stones as shown. A low place 
or small hollow at some point along the drain is se¬ 
lected for the watering box, or, should the land be 
Fig. 4.— THE WATERING PLACE. 
nearly level, then with plow and scraper an artificial 
hollow is soon made at any point desired. Two 
fields may be thus easily watered by making the 
box two feet in length, and placing it so that the 
fence will divide it. 
How to Level with Square and Plumb-line.— 
The common carpenter’s square and a plumb- 
line may he made to serve as a substitute for the 
spirit level for many purposes on the farm or else¬ 
where, when a level is not at hand. The manner 
of getting the square in position to level a wall, 
for instance, is shown in figure 5. A piece of 
board, three feet in length, having one end sharp¬ 
ened, is driven into the ground for a rest; a notch 
is made in the top of the stick large enough to hold 
the square firmly in position, as shown in the en¬ 
graving. A line and weight held near the short 
arm, and parallel to it, will leave the long arm of 
Fig. 5.— manner of levelling a wall. 
Fig. 6.— MEASURING A SLOPE WITH A SQUARE. 
the square level. By sighting over the top of the 
square, any irregularities in the object to be leveled 
are readily discovered. A method to find the num¬ 
ber of feet in a descent in the ground is illustrated 
by figure 6. The square is placed as before di¬ 
rected ; then a sight is taken over and along the 
upper edge of the square to a pole or rod placed at 
a desired point. The point on the pole which is 
struck by the line of sight shows the difference be¬ 
tween the levels of the two places. This method 
will he found applicable in laying out drains, where 
a certain desired fall is to be given to the ditch. 
