213 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
end, is pulled ; this passes over a pulley, and raises 
'Ihe hinged joint of the connecting-rod, as shown 
by the dotted lines, and closes both the doors. By 
having the sides and roof of the hood glazed, it 
will make a very good skylight, and serve as a sub¬ 
stitute for windows, which are not always desirable 
in stables; a diffused light coming from above be¬ 
ing better than direct light from the sides. 
-MO n -^- u - 
A Hew Method of Fastening Tugs. 
The ordinary buckle-fastening for tugs is very 
inconvenient, and difficult to open, or take apart, 
when necessary. A fastening that is equally as se¬ 
cure as the buckle, and that can be loosened in an 
instant, would be very desirable for tugs, traces, 
and other parts of the harness, that become stiff by 
long usage and want of cleaning and oiling. Such 
a fastening has been introduced by the English 
harness makers, and has been recently described by 
the English Saddler’s Gazette. It is very simple, 
and can be readily applied to a tug or a trace. It 
consists of a sliding loop, either of metal or leather, 
passed on to one of the straps, and on the other 
strap one or more pins, which fit into holes in the 
first strap, similar to those made for the ordinary 
buckle. When the two straps are 
brought together, and the pin or 
pins inserted into the boles, the 
sliding loop is drawn over the 
joint, and bolds it firmly to¬ 
gether. Figure 1 shows the 
manner in which this is done; 
the lower strap, B, being shown 
in separate parts, and the upper 
one as joined together. Figure 
2 represents a shaft-strap detach¬ 
ed. When fastened, the pin is 
placed in one of the holes, and 
the loop is slipped over it, thus 
securing it firmly and instan¬ 
taneously. By the use of this 
method of fastening harness, much time may be 
saved, and incase of a fall of ahorse, the harness 
may be loosened very quickly, as, however great the 
strain upon the straps, the moment the loop is 
slipped from over the pins, the straps fly apart at 
mice. This prevents the necessity for cutting har¬ 
ness in case of accidents. These pins and loops 
can be readily made, and to prevent the loop from 
dipping, there should be a small spring fixed in¬ 
side, which presses upon the side of the straps. 
They may be attached to all parts of the harness, 
wherever buckles are used. 
Fig. 2.— STRAP. 
The Victoria. Colony, Kansas. —Mr. George 
Grant, of Victoria, has recently returned from Eng¬ 
land, accompanied by twenty-one persons who have 
purchased homes in the colony. These are all pos¬ 
sessed of ample means to make substantial im¬ 
provements and to stock their farms, of at least 
MO acres, with sheep or cattle. A like Number are 
to follow in a few weeks. Mr. Grant has brought 
with Mm a bull and five cows from the Short-horn 
herd of Queen Victoria, in whose honor the colony 
and town has been named, and who has signified 
her appreciation of the compliment by giving Mr. 
Grant special facilities in selecting the choicest an¬ 
imals from her herd. Some pure bred Polled Angus 
and West Highland cattle are also on the way from 
Scotland to Victoria. The cattle will be taken to 
the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, before 
they are sent to Kansas. The success of Mr. Grant’s 
enterprise is now assured, and his experiment of 
establishing pure bred herds of cattle and flocks of 
sheep on the western prairies, has met with entire 
success. We leam that during the past winter ev¬ 
erything at Victoria has progressed very favorably, 
Hanging for Sliding Barn-Doors. 
No door is so convenient for barns, or stables, as 
one that is hung upon rollers, and can be pushed 
to one side, occupying practically no space, and 
being entirely out of the way. Such doors cannot 
blow shut, or open, as hinged doors will do in gusty 
days, to the ruin of the hinges, if not of the doors 
themselves, and frequently to the injury of the 
farm animals which may be in their vicinity. Bot¬ 
tom rollers are objectionable, as they will become 
clogged by the snow in winter, or with litter at all 
times. The doors should always be hung by means 
of rollers or wheels attached to the upper part, 
and these should run upon a rail of hard wood, or 
what is preferable, of iron. Figure 1 shows the 
manner of fastening the rollers to the door; a, a, 
represents a part of the upper frame or batten, and 
b, 6, the boards of the door; c, c, is the strap of 
strong iron, which is fastened to the door by two 
bolts, and to which the roller wheel d, d, is also 
bolted. This roller runs upon the rounded edge of 
the bar or rail e, e, which is bolted to the wall of the 
building, at a sufficient distance from it to permit 
Fig. 1.— HANGING A ROLLER. —Fig. 2. 
the free movement of the roller and the door. The 
doors should be made in halves, opening to the 
right and the left. The lower edge of the door 
should traverse a groove made in the door sill, and 
it would be a great help if a few small friction 
wheels were provided in the sides of the groove, 
upon which the door would impinge as it traversed 
back and forth. Figure 2 shows a section of the 
door, the reference letters being the same as in fig¬ 
ure 1, and also the manner in which the straps em¬ 
brace the door and the roller. This method of 
hanging doors is recommended by Mr. R. Scott 
Burns, an English agricultural eugineer and archi¬ 
tect in a communication to The Country, and we 
doubt not will commend itself to farmers in this 
country as being both substantial and convenient. 
Our correspondent, L. D. Snook, of Yates Co., 
N. Y., sends us a few bints about barn-doors upon 
rollers, which are appropriate here. He writes as 
follows: “ One objection to barn-doors upon roll¬ 
ers is, that they do not shut closely; this is over¬ 
come by nailing a vertical strip, figure 3, B, three 
inches wide, to the outside edge of one of the 
doors, and projecting an inch and a half over the 
other door; this prevents a direct air current from 
entering the building, and should be attached to 
the door on the side from which the heaviest storms 
come, and nearly all snow and rain will be ex¬ 
cluded. Three-inch strips, E, E, E, E, an inch and 
a quarter thick, are nailed on the inside of the 
door, as shown, four connecting strips or arms, T, 
A" | T ~ TS . <r -r | e 
j /i, ~ 
JS 
Fig. 3.— SECTION OF DOOR. 
T, from 8 to 12 inches wide and 1 inch thick, are 
used to nail the. doors to. The usual practice is to 
use parts Tand E of the same thickness, and if the 
door warps but a ‘/ 16 of an inch, it wilD.-ub against 
the side of the building when in use. If the strip 
E is half an inch thicker than the part T, the door 
will move freely. For doors already in use, that are 
warping, the appliance as shown in figure 4 is sug¬ 
gested. A firm scantling, M , is bolted to each side 
of the door at S, S, and will bring it into good run¬ 
ning order again if sprung outward, if the reverse, 
a bolt should be attached to the middle with the 
nut outside. Matched siding is preferable for 
boarding up as far as the door runs, battens are 
liable to become loose, and the door soon shatters 
Fig. 4.— SECTION OF DOOR. 
or knocks them off entirely. A vertical strip, 
three inches wide and half an inch thick, is nailed 
against the door post outside, which is immedi¬ 
ately in contact with strip E when the door is 
closed. Large sized rollers are preferable for 
heavy doors, as they last longer and run easier. 
--—« €* « qr »—- 
Draining Wet Meadows. 
There are many pastures and meadows which re¬ 
quire partial drainage, but do not necessarily need 
a regular system of tiles, which might cost more 
than the value of the land when drained. Drain¬ 
age is often necessary, but there are cases in which 
thorough work is neither needed nor possible. 
Meadows often have wet spots of a few square 
rods, caused by springs which come to the surface, 
and these overflowing, spoil the surrounding sur¬ 
face for a considerable distance, and we are often 
asked how to drain such spots at a reasonable ex¬ 
pense. The following plan is suggested as applica¬ 
ble to many such cases : Figure 1 represents a num¬ 
ber of wet, swampy spots in a field. From each of 
these a sub-drain is dug, to a central drain, which 
may either pass through the whole field in such a 
direction, or in such various directions, as to con¬ 
nect the sub-drains, and gather the water into one 
main drain. At each spring or swale, a well should 
he dug, the bottom filled with stones, and the up¬ 
per part with gravel, and from these wells the tile 
drains may be laid, as shown at figure 2, conveying 
the water into the main drains, which should lie of 
tile of sufficient capacity. That the water of the 
drains, which is generally the best and purest spring 
water, and flows continually, may be utilized, shal¬ 
low wells or pits may be sunk on the course of the 
main drain, wherever they may be desired for wa¬ 
tering stock. The _ 
well may be made as 
shown at figure 3. It 
should be sunk a few 
feet deeper than the 
drain, and may be fil¬ 
led with large stones 
and gravel. The sides 
may he curbed with 
boards to prevent the Fig. 2.— drain. 
earth from falling in, 
or the well may be stoned up, and the drain on 
one side will remove the overflow. A pump may 
be put into the well, and a movable cover placed 
