1878 .] 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
217 
The former is preferable, as one is not obliged to ap¬ 
proach very near to the bull to secure the hook. 
The forms of staff and the head straps here illus¬ 
trated are used by Mr. Woodward, of Tewkesbury, 
England, and are well worth adopting here by those 
farmers and breeders who do not already use either 
these or equally good substitutes. The illustra¬ 
tions of the head straps and staves are reproduced 
from the London Agricultural Gazette. 
Grinding Tools. 
The useful effect of many tools depends greatly 
upon the exact grinding of their edges to a proper 
DEVICE FOR GRINDING MILL-PICKS. 
bevel. A cold chisel, for instance, requires an edge 
of a certain bevel to cut hard metal, and one of a 
different angle for softer metal: the harder the 
work to be cut, the greater should be the angle 
formed by the edge, and the softer the material, 
the more acute the edge. The same rale is to 
be observed in wood-cutting tools. But there are 
no tools which require more exact and careful grind¬ 
ing than mill-picks, and the first business of a mil¬ 
ler is to know how to grind his picks. Upon this 
depends the dress of the stones, and the quality of 
work turned out by them. The illustration repre¬ 
sents a small grindstone for sharpening picks, 
which is run by means of friction -wheels covered 
with leather, and provided with a gauge for setting 
the pick at a variable angle to the stone. This 
gauge has been recently patented, but is so service¬ 
able as to be worth a moderate fee for its use. It 
consists of a series of steps raised upon a slotted 
plank, which is screwed upon the frame of the 
grindstone. By means of the slot and a set screw, 
seen below the pick, the gauge cau be set for tools 
of different lengths, and each step causes the tool 
set in it to be ground at a different angle. 
*—-— --n«czs> -0^0 oac*—-- 
A Nose-Bag for Horses. 
When field work commences, it will be found 
very convenient and economical, to have a pair of 
NOSE-BAG FOR A HORSE. 
nose-bags for each team, i:i which a light feed may 
be taken to the field, to be eaten during a few 
minutes’ rest in the forenoon. When doing hard 
work, frequent light feeds are much better for the 
team, than a few heavy ones. A horse has rarely 
sufficient opportunity in a hasty dinner-time, to eat 
enough food, and a full meal will interfere with his 
work, or his work will interfere with the proper 
digestion of a full meal, and either is injurious to 
the animal, A nose-bag for field use is shown 
in the accompanying engraving. It is made of 
canvas, with straps of leather; the straps being- 
made in the shape of a head-stall. To enable the 
horse to reach his food, without resting the bag on 
the ground, a cord is passed through rings in the 
front band, and attached to the saddle. When the 
horse reaches out his head, to procure the food, the 
bag will be drawn up by the action. 
Open Links. 
R. C. Davis, of Philadelphia, sends two samples 
of open links, which he thinks superior to that 
illustrated in the American 
Agriculturist of December 
last. One of these (fig. 
1) is made of l-inch iron 
rod, and w-hen used to 
connect a broken chain, is 
simply closed by a blow 
from a hammer or a stone. 
There being no rivet, the 
link is not weakened in 
any way. Figures 2 and 
3 show another link, made 
of malleable cast iron, in 
two parts, which are fast¬ 
ened together by a rivet 
in the center. The link is 
seen open at figure 2, and closed at figure 3. A 
few of these links may be carried in the pocket, 
and are ready for instant use in case of an emer¬ 
gency. The last mentioned links arc kept for sale 
at the hardware stores, and are known in the 
trade as Kirk’s links; the first named may be 
Fig. 2. kirk’s links. Fig. 3. 
made in a very short time by a blacksmith, or any 
farmer who has a workshop and a portable forge. 
Relief for Bog-Spavin and Thorough-Pin. 
Bog-spavin, and thorough-pin, which are in reality 
the same disease, differing in position only, and 
that very slightly, may be considered as incurable. 
But like many chronic disorders, they may be very 
much relieved by proper methods. They are caused 
by an inflammatory condition of the synovial mem¬ 
brane of the hock joint, and are chiefly located in 
the vicinity of the junction of the bones of the leg, 
or the capsule between the tibia and the astragalus. 
This inflammation may be primarily caused by 
sudden shocks, or by continued strains from hard 
work, and the troubles are common amongst those 
horses which are of a lymphatic constitution, soft 
boned, or hereditarily subject to scrofulous or in¬ 
flammatory conditions. They are also found lower 
down the leg, in which case they are the result of 
inflammation of the sheath of the tendons. They 
do not always cause lameness, except when the 
horse is first brought from the stable, and after a 
short time the stiffness may pass away. At other 
times there is great heat and tenderness in the 
parts, and the animal is decidedly lame. The best 
treatment is by cold applications and pressure upon 
the part. Blistering, which is sometimes resorted 
to, generally increases the trouble, and may cause 
a permanent thickening of the tissues, and a stiff 
joint. Pressure is best applied by a sort of truss, 
or strap, provided with a single pad in case of spav¬ 
in or wind-gall, or double pads in case of thorough- 
pin, which is simply a 
spavin or wind-gall, so 
placed that the liquid 
which is gathered in the 
sac or puff, may be press¬ 
ed between the tendons 
or joint, and made to ap¬ 
pear on the opposite side 
of the leg. In this case 
it is obvisuslv necessary 
to apply the pressure 
upon both sides of the 
leg, and a double pad 
strap will be needed, of 
the form shown in the 
engraving. A common 
bread leather strap, lined 
with flannel, or chamois 
leather,to prevent chafing, 
is used; pads of soft leather, stuffed with wool, 
are sewn to the strap, and at the exact spots where 
the pressure is to bear, discs of several thicknesses 
of soft leather or rubber, are affixed. The pads 
must necessarily be made to fit each individual case, 
as success will depend upon their properly fitting 
thelimb The pads should be worn continually un¬ 
til the swelling disappears, and meanwhile, at least 
twiee daily, the parts should be bathed for some 
time with cold water, and cloths wetted with cold 
water, with which a small quantity of ether has 
been mixed, should be bound around the parts, 
and the pads buckled over them so tightly as to ex¬ 
ert a considerable pressure. Absolute rest is neces¬ 
sary while the animal is under this treatment. 
An Automatic Ventilator. 
The objection to fixed ventilators in roofs of barns 
and stables is that they require to be closed in 
stormy weather, when they are most needed. A 
self-acting ventilator, one that will close itself up¬ 
on the side from which the storm beats, and open 
itself upon the other side, and will change as the 
wind may change, will do away with the only ob¬ 
jection to these necessary adjuncts to the stable. 
Such a ventilator is here illustrated. It consists of 
a lengthened hood, which may be placed upon the 
peak or the side of the roof, the top being louger 
than the bottom, and projecting at each end as a 
protection against storms of rain or snow. A door 
is hung by hinges at the top at each end, and open¬ 
ing outwards only. The doors are connected by 
means of a rod, jointed in the middle by an ordi¬ 
nary hinge, fastened on the upper side. This rod is 
of 6uch a length that both doors cannot be closed 
at the same time, but when .one is closed, the other 
is pushed open. The effect is, that w'hen the wind 
blows in at one end of the hood, the door at that 
end will be closed, and the other door opened, 
leaving a passage for the escaping air from the 
stable. If the wind changes, the position of the 
doors will be reversed, and the air passage will be 
clear continually. The action of this ventilator is 
shown by the arrows, one of which indicates the 
direction of the wind outside, by which one door is 
closed, and the others show the direction of the 
AUTOMATIC VENTILATOR. 
escaping air. When it is desired to close the ven¬ 
tilator, the cord, shown with a small weight at the 
