1876 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
107 
Fig. l v 
Sonietlalira*;’ ;? Sn>«[ t IN’ails. 
A nail is one of those small things that we could not 
well spare, yet very few men who use them, know or 
think how they are made, or how they should be used. 
We think it is one of the things that every boy should 
know about, and it may interest the girls too, for they 
sometimes have to drive nails, and if they learn that 
there is a right and a wrong way, it will be all the better. 
Not very many years ago all the nails we used were made 
by hand, with hammers on anvils. Each 
one was beaten out slowly from a long, 
thin iron rod, by men, or women, who 
worked at an anvil, which had a small 
forge at its side, where the rod was heat¬ 
ed. The red-hot end of the rod was beat¬ 
en out to the proper shape, and was then 
laid across a small, sharp cutting-bar, fix¬ 
ed on the anvil, and by a smart blow 
from the hammer, the rod was nearly cut 
through at just the place to make the 
nail of the right length. The pointed 
piece was then put into a small hole in 
the anvil, made to fit it, and was broken 
oil' from the rod by a twist. The end of 
this little piece, which stuck up above 
the hole, was then beaten into the right 
shape for the head, by a few quick blows 
of the hammer, and the nail was finished. 
A spring was then struck with the hammer, which jerked 
the still red-hot nail out of the hole, and it fell on to the 
floor, where each one helped to make up a very small 
pile in the course of a day’s work. Just 
think how slow this must have been, and 
how many heatings, poundings, cuttings, 
twistings, and all that, it must take to 
make a pound of nails i Yet in this slow 
manner all the nails that were used years 
ago were made. Most of all the nails 
used in this country were made in Eng¬ 
land, where a great number of women 
used to work at nail-making, and more 
than that, these women had hundreds of 
boys and girls to help them. If we had 
now no other way of making nails than 
this, they would not bo as cheap as they 
are. The nails we use are made by ma¬ 
chines, which cut them from a plate of 
iron, and stamp the heads upon them 
very quickly. Did you ever visit a nail 
factory?—It is a very noisy place, for 
the clanging of the iron plates, as they are turned over 
and over, the craunching of the jaws, which cut off the 
nails from the plates, and clash of the dies, which form 
the heads, all going on at once from fifty or a hundred 
machines in one room, would prevent you from hearing 
a word that was said. Those who have become used to 
the noise, do not mind it, but you would only see the 
lips move, and could not hear a word. A nail machine is 
very small, but very strong, and is not much larger than 
the table of a sewing machine, or a small desk. The 
machines are mostly fed by boys, each of whom sits up¬ 
on a high stool in front of his machine. At his right 
hand is a small bench, where he has a supply of pieces 
of iron plate, cut of a proper size for the sort of nails he 
is making. Watch the 
boy. You see that he 
takes one of the pieces of 
iron, which is shaped like 
that shown in figure 1, in 
a pair of pincers, which 
are kept closed tightly by 
an iron ring slipped over 
the handles ; he lays the 
iron upon a block in front 
of him. Now notice the 
machine. At the end of 
the block a cutting-jaw 
works up and down very 
rapidly. As soon as the 
plate is put under the jaw 
—snip 1—a narrow piece 
is cut off in an instant. 
The shape of the pieces 
cut off is shown in 
figure 1. It is there seen that these pieces are not of 
even width, but are wider at one end than at the other, 
but that two pieces laid together bring the cut straight 
again. But these pieces must be cut off so that the wider 
ends are all laid one way. To do this, the boy turns the 
plate over on the block, as soon as a piece has been cut 
off, and this turning has to be done as quickly as the 
cutting-jaw comes down, which is quicker than one can 
easily count. But these pieces shown in figure 2 are not 
yet nails. As each piece is cut off, it is seized by a pair 
of jaws, and held, while a die at the side gives it one 
single blow upon the wide end. and forms the bead. As 
soon as this is done, the jaws open, and drop the nail in¬ 
to a tray, from which it slides into a box under the boy’s 
Fig. 2. 
'/ 
Fig. 3.—WRONG WAT TO 
DRIVE A If AID. 
feet, and as soon as one nail is let go, the jaws take hold 
of another piece. All these motions of the machine, and 
the boy who feeds it, are made so nearly together, that 
one who stands by, can notice no difference in the time 
when each is done. The nails, you will see, are made 
very rapidly, 200 or 300 in a minute ; it is very wonder¬ 
ful, to see them drop out all finished. A boy we knew 
went to visit a nail fac¬ 
tory, and when asked 
what he saw said, “ A 
big machine that kept 
biting off pieces of 
iron, and spitting out 
nails.” In some fac¬ 
tories the plates are 
turned by the machine 
itself, and all the boy 
has to do, is to put fresh 
plates in the pincers, 
when the others are 
used up. All sizes of 
nails are made in this 
manner, from the large 
20-penny or 40-penny 
spikes, used in build- 
Fig. 4.— RIGHT WAY TO 
DRIVE A NAIL. 
ing the frames of houses, to the carpet-taclc, or the 
“ sprigs,” used in making children's shoes. If you ex¬ 
amine a cut nail, you will see the sides where it is cut 
off’. You will also notice that the nail tapers from tne 
head to the point, and on this account there is a right 
way and a wrong way to use it. If the nail is driven in¬ 
to the edge of a board, with the cut sides across the 
grain, as shown in figure 3, the fibers of the wood are 
separated, and the board will split ; or, if the nail hap¬ 
pens to go in, it can bo drawn out very easily. But if 
the nail is driven in with the cut sides in a line with the 
grain, as in figure 4, the fibers of the wood are broken 
and bent down, and the board does not split. If the nail 
is drawn out of the board, the bent fibers are drawn up 
with it, and hold the nail so firmly that it is not easily 
pulled out. So then, the way to make a nail hold fast, is 
to see that is driven in the right way. 
If some one was to ask you what is a 20-penny or a 
10-penny nail, few of you would know what to say. 
These are the names by which we know one size from 
another. A shingle nail is a 3-penny; a fence nail is an 
8-penny, and so on up to the very large 40-penny ones. 
But how came these names to be used ? When nails 
were made by hand, those who made them were paid so 
much a thousand for making them. For small nails, 3 
pence, (English money), was paid, and for the larger 
ones, 8 pence, 10 pence, and so on, according to the size. 
These nails then became known as 3-penny, 8-penny, or 
10-penny, and we know them by the same names still, 
although they are not made so now. Cut nails are brit¬ 
tle, and when bent will break, but if you should want to 
bend or clench them, all you have to do is to heat them 
red hot and leave them to cool slowly in some hot ashes, 
or some of the black dust of a blacksmith’s forge. This 
is what is called “ annealing,” and makes them tough. 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-Bos. 
BISECTED EASTERN CITIES. 
1. Very angry and to deliver. 2. Contest between na¬ 
tions and a cutting instrument. 3. Harbors, and a part 
of the body. 4. Part of a tavern and human beings. 5. 
A fruit and a pile of grain in the field. 6. Water im¬ 
pregnated with alkali, and a home of wild beasts. 7. A 
vessel and a weight. 8. A sack, and a familiar name for 
a certain relative. Isola. 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
The initials name one of the United States, and the 
finals a Territory. 
1. An American river. 2. A town in New Zealand, 
3. One of the United States. 4. A European Capo. 5. A 
river of Spain. Italian Bot. 
pi. 
Frhitt si trebte hant na auntiny. 
CROSS WORD. 
My first is in brown but not in black, 
My next is in loss but not in lack, 
My third is in horse but not in cow, 
My fourth is in yet but not in now, 
My fifth is in shoe but not in boot, 
My sixth is in rifle but. not in shoot, 
My seventh is in rain but not in snow, 
My eight is in yield but not in flow, 
My ninth is in blow but not in tap, 
My tenth is in bed but not in nap. 
My whole is a town you may find on the map. 
M. Jennie H. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 33 letters: 
My 1, is a bird. 
My 2, 3. 20. 5, is hoary. 
My 0, 7, 8, 9, is a bundle or bale. 
My 10, 11, is a pronoun. 
My 12, 24, 14, is a case or receptacle. 
My 15, 30, 32, 18, denotes nearness. 
My 19, 16, 21, 4, is a prime number. 
My 23, 13, 25, 22, 27, represents a number which oc¬ 
curs twice in twenty-four hours. 
My 28, 29. 20, 31, 17, 33, is a covering. 
My whole is a sentence that contains every letter 
of the alphabet. Alpha Beta. 
SQUARE VtORD. 
1. An instrument of music. 2. The exterior of seed. 
3. A plant found in the southern states. 4. What’s em¬ 
bodied when you plead. Sphinx. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN TIIE JANUARY NUMBER. 
Double Acrostic.— W—indlia—M Wilson, Moskwa. 
I— ny -O 
L— uca — S 
S— uffol — K 
O—gema—\V 
N—esliib—A 
Charade.— Rainbow. 
Concealed Vegetables.— 1. Tomato. 2. Kadisb. 3. Po¬ 
tato. 4. Bean. 5. Spinach. 6. Onion. 
Rhyming Answers — 1. Tin. 2. Linn. 
Fin. 6. Bin. 7. Shin. S. Din. 9. Sin. 
3. Kin. 
4. Pin. 
5. 
Cross Word.— Florida. 
Transpositions.— Reed, deer. 
Numerical Enigma.— Hearth and Home. 
Pi.—That Nature gives her handmaid, Art, 
The themes of sweet discoursing ; 
The tender Idyls of the heart, 
In every tongue rehearsing. 
Thanks lor letters, puzzles, etc., to Cecilia, T. F. D., Frank 
Nichols, R. W. Moore, Myra A. II., Isola, Carrie D. A. 
Ronkonkoma, Mary. 
answers to tiie geographical rebus. 
1. Grampion Hills. 2. Newcastle. 3. Poland. 4. West 
Indies. 5. Persia. 0. Manchester. 7. Spain. 8. Canton 
City. 9. Turkey. 10. Cambridge. 11. Hayti. 12. Borneo. 
13. Gibralter. 14. Buffalo. 15. Tom Bigbee river. 16. Milan. 
17. Shanghai. 18. Baltimore. 19. Lyons. 20. United States. 
So many have sent correct answers to this rebus: that the 
editors say that they cannot afford the room to publish their 
names; they are so crowded. 
Send communications intended for Aunt Sue , to Box 111, 
P. O ., Brooklyn , N. ¥., and not to 245 Broadway. 
Tiie Cii'eat Clion-ltake, 
Fanny and Ransom and Will sat on the edge of the 
piazza, one summer afternoon, all three feeling very 
cross. The fact was, they could not think of anything to 
do, and that, you know, always makes little folks un¬ 
happy. Fanny would not so much as look a* poor Major 
who was pawing and growling over a stick, and looking 
up now and then to see if she would not join the fun. 
She even pulled her big sun-hat over her eyes, so that 
she might not see him, and was just about to say some¬ 
thing cross when Ransom exclaimed: “ Let’s go a’fish- 
ing!” — “Fishing 1” said Will. “Where? in the 
brook ? ” And Fanny forgot to be cross, and pushed her 
hat up to listen_“Brook! No, that’s no fun, the fish 
are so little there. We can fish off the dock.”_“Down 
at the river? But mother won’t let us,” cried Fanny.... 
“We needn’t tell her,” said Will, “she won’t care as 
long as we don’t go with the Simpson hoys.”_“She 
might,” said Fanny, doubtfully....“ Oh, come on!” 
cried Ransom, “ what are you afraid of? I won’t let you 
get drowned.”_“I’m not afraid of being drowned,” 
said Fanny. “ Come, let’s get the fishing rods and lines.” 
Fanny loved her mother, and did not wish to he dis¬ 
obedient, hut their mamma had never posilively forbid¬ 
den their going to the dock, and it would be such fun I 
Just then Major gave a short bark, and ran around the 
corner of the house. Of course, all the children ran after 
him, wondering what he could have seen, hut nobody 
was there, and they concluded it was only one of Major's 
capers. All seemed quiet; mamma was upstairs busy in 
her room, the cook scrubbing the kitchen, and James— 
no one knew where he was—at the stable, probably, So 
the children went very quietly, got their rods and lines, 
and keepiug out of sight as much as possible, started off 
through tiie long grass of the orchard for the river road. 
But they had gone only a little way before they heard 
mamma calling: “ Children, children, come hack to the 
house.”... There was no help for it; so hack they went, 
very slowly, for it was up-hill, and besides they didn’t 
want to go back.“ Where were you going,” she 
asked, as they came into her room_“Fishing.” said 
Ransom, not very boldly_“Not to the river I ” ex¬ 
claimed his mother. The children looked guilty, but 
said nothing. “ Now I am really grieved,” said mamma 
sadly. “ I did not think you could do what you know 
would displease me. I could hardly believe it when 
James told me.”_“ James ! ” cried Will, “ how did he 
know ?”....“ He must have been listening when Major 
harked that time,” said Fanny — “ Mean, horrid thing !” 
exclaimed Ransom, indignantly — “Children,” said their 
mother, “ if you had been talking of what was right, you 
would not have cared if you were overheard. You have 
yourselves to blame, not James. Now I shall take away 
.your fishing rods, as yon cannot be trusted with them, 
and keep them until I think you can obey my wishes.” 
The children went down-stairs very soberly, and seat¬ 
ed themselves again on the piazza. 
“I think James is just as mean as he can be; I hate 
him!” cried Ransom, his black eyes flashing — “He 
always spoils our fun,” said Will, in a choked voice, 
while large tears rollfed down his cheeks ...Major came 
up to the little fellow, wagging his tail in sympathy, and 
was just going to lick his face, when the grating of 
