424 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
ly digested food, winter and summer, and this can 
only be done in the cultivated sections of the 
country, and by improved methods of farming. Let 
us be encouraged to push forward the good work 
with vigor. Let us underdrain, let us kill weeds, 
let us manure, and let us raise larger crops, and 
feed out a greater proportion on the farm. This is 
to be the improved American agriculture of the 
future. We could hope for no better prospect. 
The details of the system will depend on circum¬ 
stances, and may well be left to the intelligence of 
our thinking, working farmers. All that is needed 
is a conviction that improved farming will pay— 
and I think we need have no doubt on that point. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
Fastening for Swinging Doors. —L. M. St. 
John, Canajoharie, N. Y., sends the sketch of a 
fastening for a swinging 
barn-door, shown at fig. 
1. The center-bar is 
made of a piece of bard 
wood, lv inch thick, and 
3 inches wide at the 
ends, tapering gradu¬ 
ally from the ends to 
the central part of the 
door. They are made 
to slip loosely through 
iron staples on each 
batten of the door, and 
are joined together by 
halving the ends, and 
putting a bolt through 
them, and also through 
the narrow end of the 
guide which lies be¬ 
neath them. The latter 
is fastened to the door, 
as shown in the engrav- 
N. 
I ' I 
Fig. 1.— FASTENING. 
ing, by a rivet or screw which permits it to play back 
and forth. When the central points of the bars and 
the guide are pushed to the right or left, the ends of 
the bars are made to project beyond the door, and 
engage with the straps or mortises made to receive 
them. The bars are then firmly held in place by the 
guide, as shown by the dotted lines. The advan¬ 
tages of this fastening are that it is always in place ; 
i6 easily opened 
and shut, and when 
frozen fast at the 
_ „ bottom, the power 
Fig. 2.-FIG-TROUGH. Qf the fogg^-joint 
easily loosens and draws the end. The door is also 
fastened at the strongest place, and cannot spring 
open ; the bar will hold without slipping, although 
the mortises should become worn, and although it 
should be but slightly caught, because the guide 
holds it rigidly. The ends, too, are entirely out of 
the way when the door is opened, and if it should 
blow to, they will not drop of themselves. 
An Iron Pig-trough.—I n looking over a cata- 
Fig. 3.— WAGON-JACK—DOWN. 
Iogue of the New York Plow Company, we find an 
iron pig-trough mentioned. Having some time ago 
Fig. 4.— WAGON-JACK—RAISED. 
used similar iron troughs, we found them very du¬ 
rable, and very cleanly, and far preferable to wood¬ 
en ones of any kind. The trough referred to is 
shown at figure 2, and can be procured at a 
cheap enough rate to make them generally used. 
An Improved Wagon-jack.— A reader of the 
American Agriculturist sends a drawing of a wagon- 
jack, which speaks for itself. It is shown at figure 
3, as down, and at fig. 4 as raised. As seen by its 
structure, the weight is thrown over the center of 
the pin, or pivot, so that the jack can not come 
back, and no fastening for the handle is necessary. 
A Case for Carrying or Keeping Eggs. 
Eggs are the most fragile of things, and to be 
carried or even stored safely, they need to be pack¬ 
ed in the most careful manner. Many devices have 
been used for this purpose, but although some of 
them have been found available for business pur¬ 
poses, none of them have been adapted to domes- 
Fig. 1.— EGG CARRIER COMPLETE. 
tic uses for the storage of eggs. A “SafetyEgg- 
carrier,” devised and patented by A. R. Sprout, of 
Lycoming Co., Pa., here illustrated, seems to meet 
both of these requirements in the most effective 
Fig. 2.— SINGLE TRAY OF EGG CARRIER. 
manner. Figure 1 shows the box, with the trays, 
of which it contains eight, and holds altogether 
36 dozen eggs. The eggs are held in place by 
means of pins inserted in the bottom of each tray, 
and forming a circular supporting wall around each 
egg, as shown at figure 2. Some soft material is 
wound around each pin, forming an elastic pad¬ 
ding by which the eggs are held firmly and secure¬ 
ly. The trays, when filled, are placed in the pack¬ 
age, one above the other, the bottom of one form¬ 
ing the cover of the one below it; the lid of the 
box holds all tightly in place. Small holes are 
bored through the bottom of each tray, the small 
end of each egg rests, and is thus held in the posi¬ 
tion, which is the best for long and safe keeping. 
Each tray of eggs may be inspected at any time, by 
holding it to the light to determine their soundness. 
For household use, each tray forms an independent 
receptacle for eggs ; the package or box being pro¬ 
vided only for the purpose of the shipper or dealer. 
Stove for a Poultry-House. 
A simple and safe method of warming a poultry- 
house in winter, is as follows. With a few bricks 
and common mortar, build up a wall in the shape 
of an oblong rectangle, twice as long as it is wide, 
leaving an open space in the front about a foot 
wide and the same in hight. Lay upon this wall, 
when 18 inches high, so as to cover the space within 
the wall except about 6 inches at the further end, a 
piece of sheet-iron. Build up the wall over the iron 
another foot, and then build in another sheet of 
iron, covering the space enclosed all but a few 
inches at the front. Then turn an arch over the 
top, and leave a hole at the end for a stove-pipe. 
The stove thus made will appear as at figure 1, and 
a section of it as at figure 2. A small fire made in 
the bottom at the front, will then heat this stove 
very moderately, the heat passing back and forth, 
as shown by the arrows, will warm the whole just 
sufficient to make the fowls comfortable, and there 
will be no danger of injury to their feet by flying 
up upon the top, as it will never be hot if a moderate 
fine only is kept. The stove will be perfectly safe, 
and may be closed by a few loose bricks laid up in 
front, through which sufficient air will pass to keep 
the fire burning slowly. Ordinarily a fire need 
only be made at night during the coldest weather. 
How to Build a Boat-house. 
Having in former numbers described different 
kinds of boats, we now comply with several re¬ 
quests and describe a 
house in which to safely 
keep a boat. Any kind 
of a house that is large 
enough may be used, if 
provided with the need¬ 
ed fittings named below. 
Where the level of the 
water is liable to little 
change, the house need 
not be raised much 
above the surface of 
the water, but the floor 
may be make so low R 1 _ PLAII OF H0USE . 
that one can easily 
step out of the boat to the floor. Of course there 
should be a channel made in the center of the 
house, deep enough to float the boat when loaded. 
The plan of the floor is shown at figure 1, with the 
boat in the center. The floor should be protected 
by a light railing around it, (see fig. 2), to prevent 
accidents from slipping when the floor is wet. 
Where the water level changes, the house should 
be raised on posts, or bents, as may be necessary to 
keep it above high water. A hanging ladder, that 
may be drawn up, is provided for use at low water. 
