4 : 64, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
eggs or larva; are in the plants, and they will de¬ 
stroy these plants next summer. But allthe wheat 
is not affected. If not more than one-fourth of 
the plants are attacked, the field of wheat would 
Fig. 1.— A POST AXE. 
next summer present a sorry appearance. And yet 
there are three-fourths of the plants uninjured. 
Now, can not we stimulate these remaining plants 
by top-dressing with manure, and so cause them 
to spread and tiller until they cover the ground ? 
The first year I was at Rothamstead, Mr. Lawes 
had some wheat that was so thin on the ground, 
and so poor, that he thought of plowing it under. 
Instead of doing so, he top-dressed it with some 
Peruvian guano or sulphate of ammonia, and hoed 
the land between the drills. The wheat commenced 
to grow and tiller, and turned out a splendid crop. 
In regard to hoing wheat, I feel certain that the 
operation would be highly advantageous, not merely 
in cleaning the land, but in encouraging the growth 
of the wheat. And it is a curious fact that while 
good, effective wheat-hoeing machines have been 
extensively used in England for over thirty years, 
none of them have yet found their way to this 
country. I believe one of these wheat-hoes was 
brought to our World’s Fair, in New York, in 1853. 
But the time had not then arrived for their intro¬ 
duction. At the Centennial, I do not think any of 
these English wheat-hoes were shown, but we had 
an American machine on exhibition, which may yet 
find favor with our farmers. The real difficulty of 
the machines is simply this, our wheat drills do not 
have a steerage attachment. We sow straight or 
crooked, just as we guide the horses. The English 
Fig. 2.— VERMONT FLOOD GATE. 
drills, where a wheat-hoe is intended to be used, 
have a simple apparatus for keeping the drill coul¬ 
ters or tubes exactly straight, even though the 
horses deviate a considerable distance from the true 
line. Admirable as onr drills are in other respects, 
it is impossible to use them to advantage for nice 
work, such as drilling mangel-wurzel, turnips, on¬ 
ions, etc., or for drilling wheat that is to be hoed 
with a machine. The tubes or coulters are not suf¬ 
ficiently rigid. They often swerve an inch or so, 
first on this side, and then on that. I have in years 
past frequently alluded, in the American Agricultur¬ 
ist ., to this subject of hoeing wheat. We shall make 
little progress in the matter until we have drills, the 
coulters of which are strong enough and rigid 
enough to push a clod out of the line. In addition 
we shall also require a steerage , attachment. 
With these, wheat-hoeing by machinery is an easy 
matter. That the operation will be beneficial to 
the land and to the crop, there can be no doubt. 
Hints and Helps for Farmers. 
A Home-made Post Axe.— “H. G.,” Cheshire, 
Ct., sends a sketch of a home-made post axe. It is 
made of an old partly worn out axe with a narrow 
blade. This is drawn out by a blacksmith into 
the shape shown at figure 1 and tempered. It then 
answers all the purposes of an axe for holing posts. 
Flood Fences and Gates.— “W. W.,” Essex, 
Yt., describes a flood-fence for use across streams 
which are subject to freshets. The fence consists 
of posts set in the bank of the stream, and these 
posts are furnished with iron staples driven into 
them in places where the rails should be fastened. 
The ends of the rails are bored with half-inch holes, 
and are wired through the holes by pieces of fence- 
wire to the staples as shown in figure 2. The panel 
is laid down stream, the other ends of the rails be¬ 
ing laid up as an ordinary worm fence ; the lowest 
rail rests upon a stone or a post in the centre of the 
stream. In a freshet, the rails are loosened at the 
center of the panel, but are held by the wires and 
float, leaving the stream open. In case the stream 
is wide, a number of these panels may be made. 
Another Flood Gate, of which a plan is sent 
by “ W. H. M.,” Tolersville, Va., serves the same 
purpose ; it is a permanent structure, and when dis¬ 
placed by a freshet, comes back again into its po¬ 
sition as soon as the water has passed off. It is 
shown at figure 3. It has been in use since 1866, 
and is found all that could be desired, as after a 
Fig. 3.— VIRGINIA flood gate. 
rise of water, it is unnecessary to see that the fence 
is made good. It is also perfectly hog-proof. It 
is described as follows : A is a large beam, used 
as a foot-way at high water; B, B, are posts 
planted in the banks of the stream, and connected 
with the "beam A, which is at the high water mark; 
0, O, are pieces of 2x3 oak scantling; hinged to the 
beam A; at B, is a stout pole placed just below the 
surface of the water on the down stream side of 
posts B, (being below the water it is not seen), 
against which the gate rests at low water; E, E are 
abutments of boards nailed to posts B, B; F, is 
inch hoards nailed close together, to the uprights 
C, 0. When the stream is high, the gate is lifted, 
and all trash or floating stuff passes through with¬ 
out hindrance. When the water falls the gate 
rests as before on the foot pole. 
Screen for a Fish Dam. —Many farmers own 
streams of water which they would stock with fish 
if they could prevent loss at time of freshets. A 
method by which this may be done is illustrated at 
figurg 4. A number of bent iron rods are placed 
in holes bored in the plank at the top of the dam. 
To these rods a piece of fine iron netting is fasten¬ 
ed by wires. The rods are curved inwards so that 
leaves or floating substances, which may gather in 
the screen, are caught and held as the water rises, 
leaving a clear space beneath them for the water to 
escape. Fish that would otherwise escape over the 
dam are obstructed in their passage by the curved 
screen, unless the water rises above it, which it 
Fig. 5.— triangular harrow. 
will not do if the screen is made sufficiently long 
and wide. A screen bent in this way may also 
be used to prevent fish escaping up stream. In time 
of high water the floating matter will pass over the 
top, while the fish, following the lower part of the 
stream, will find their upper passage barred by the 
curve of the screen. 
A Triangular Harrow.— “B. R.,” Freedom, 
Ill., sends a drawing of a triangular harrow, which 
he has found very cheap and useful. This, shown 
in figure 5, is made of 3x3 oak or maple scant¬ 
ling, fastened together with bolts. It has teeth of 
J^-inch square iron. The engraving shows its con¬ 
struction very plainly. The principal cost in mak¬ 
ing this harrow' is for the teeth. 
A Cheap Farm Gate.—“A n old subscriber” 
favors us with a description of a cheap and useful 
farm gate for a field or garden, and one that may 
be made quite ornamental by choosing proper ma¬ 
terials, such as red cedar poles, or irregularly crook¬ 
ed laurel stems, which may be found in many lo¬ 
calities. It is shown at figure 6, and is made as fol¬ 
lows : take poles four or five inches thick, one 4i, 
and another, 5i feet long; bore 2 inch holes at pro¬ 
per distances-apart, into these holes insert smaller 
Fig. 6.— a cheap farm gate. 
poles for the bars, and wedge the ends securely. 
Set the gate posts, having the chief post first well 
placed in the ground. Bury a block of red cedar 
at the foot of this post, and bore a large hole in it, 
burning it out with a hot iron to clear the wood. 
This will make it last longer. Trim the hinge post 
of the gate to fit the hole in this block, which 
serves'for the lower hinge, and prevents sagging. 
For an upper hinge, sharpen the upper end of the 
hinge post, and bore a piece of plank or timber to 
fit the point. Point the end of this latter piece; 
bore a hole through the gate post; insert this 
sharpened end and wedge fast. When a latch has 
been provided, the gate is finished, and all without 
the cost of one cent for purchased materials. 
A Home-made Cobn-Shelleb.— “ J. M. M.,” 
Waterhouse, Neb., describes a method of shelling 
corn, which we have illustrated at figure 7. A box 
or barrel is procured, and a cross piece of stout 
plank or scantling is fitted upon it. A number of 
blunt-headed nails or spikes, are driven into this 
cross piece, leaving the heads projecting a quarter or 
half an inch above it. To use this machine a person 
is seated at each end of the cross-piece, and each 
grasping an ear of corn, he rubs it upon the project¬ 
ing spikes, quickly shelling off the grain. The grain 
