172 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[Mat, 
and two poles hinged at the rear, which, when 
not in nse, are turned down and lie against the 
sides at the bottom of the wagon. These pro¬ 
ject about G feet above the frame, and, expand¬ 
ing on the same angle with the body, are about 
8 feet apart at their tops. At each end of the 
body outside and near the bottom there is a 
windlass, shown enlarged at fig. 2, having holes 
through which the hay rope is passed, and 
other holes to receive a short hand-lever. 
The hay is built up above the level of the 
tops of the stakes, b , b, and is so laid on as to 
considerably overhang the iron points in front, 
which reach so far 
into the compressed 
Fig. 2. WINDLASS. j oad as tQ preyent 
its shifting sideways. The half ropes are 
then passed over the load lengthwise, one 
lying near each side of the load. Their ends 
are secured in the holes of the windlasses and it 
is then drawn as tightly as possible, one lever 
being left in each windlass to prevent its turning 
back. This is an excellent vehicle for carrying 
cither manure or sea-weed, and its body may be, 
with little trouble, replaced by a more convenient 
box for carting earth, spreading dung, etc. 
A Good Home-made Harrow, 
Thorough pulverization of the soil, especially 
upon the surface, is of vastly more importance 
than cultivators are generally willing to admit. 
If-once harrowing is very useful, how does any 
one know that a second and third harrowing 
are not j ust as useful ? The fact is, any one who 
tries it will be surprised at the obvious improve¬ 
ment in most crops on spots in the field sub¬ 
jected to extra harrowing. Some harrows will 
do nearly twice the work that others will with¬ 
out taxing the team perceptibly more. Mr. A. 
L. Curtis, of Little Hocking, Ohio, sends us a 
sketch from which the engrtiving is 'made, and 
writes: “ The mass of farmers still follow the 
old ‘A’-harrow, which their ancestors for gen¬ 
erations back used, aud -which will accomplish 
less for the amount of draft-labor than any 
other tool which is used by the agriculturist. 
Having long felt the want 
of something which would 
do more work and do it 
better, I made several dif¬ 
ferent kinds of barrows, 
and at last the one shown 
in the accompanying 
sketch. This proved a 
complete success. It is 
4’[ 2 feet long, 4 J | 2 feet 
across the front end, and 
spreads to 6*| 2 feet at the 
rear end. The frame is 
made of the best white 
oak; the bars being 3 
inches wide by 2 ! | 2 thick. 
There are 36 teeth, 8 1 1 3 
inches long, by 3 !| 4 ths of 
an inch square. The 
hinges should be bent up about an inch high 
where they are bolted together, which allows 
the sections to fold together at the hack when 
necessary to lift it into a wagon or upon a drag. 
Bolts with nuts should be used at every joint, 
as pins will work out. The team is attached 
by a common 1 stretcher,’ hooked into the ‘eyes’ 
in front. If farmers want a harrow which is 
worth three of the old style, and is not hard for 
the team, they may, if they please, try this 
plan, which is free to all, not being patented.” 
Do Turkeys Pay? 
Turkeys do not pay the careless farmer, who 
has no place for them to lay or hatch, and no 
range or roost for them. The eggs get chilled, 
the nests are broken up by vermin, or, if the 
eggs hatch, the young ones are exposed to the 
long cold storms, and the most of them die. 
Fall comes, and the flock is barely doubled. 
This does not pay. But a good stock and care¬ 
ful handling pays about as well as anything on 
the farm. We give the balance sheet of a Con¬ 
necticut farmer, to show how the thing may be 
done. He had 8 turkeys, from which he raised 
101 birds. He sold 98 of them, weighing dressed, 
1,426 lbs., at the close of the year, for 27 cents a 
pound, making $385, and the remaining three 
he valued at $9, making the gross proceeds of 
the flock, $394. He fed to them 110 bushels of 
corn, worth $165, and the dressing cost $10, 
making $175. This gives $219 profit, if we 
reckon the feathers and manure as au offset to 
the attendance. This is a handsome item in the 
operations of the year. It does not take a great 
deal of labor to raise a flock, but a little timely 
attention must be bestowed every day during 
the spring, which is the critical time with them. 
After the chicks are two months old, they re¬ 
quire less care than any other kind of poultry. 
The nests should be sheltered, and for this 
an old barrel, covered with brush, is better 
than a more expensive and tidy covering. 
If you can make them think they are stealing 
their nests, it is all the better. By a little time¬ 
ly attention they can be made to lay and rear 
their broods near the house. The eggs should 
be brought into the house, to guard them from 
frost, and be turned half way over every day, 
until the hen is ready for them. Make a pen of 
boards about a foot high, in some sheltered 
sunny spot, for the young brood, and keep them 
there until they can fly over. Feed chopped 
eggs, liver, or some fresh animal food, with the 
scalded hominy. Have a roost of poles in some 
sheltered spot, aud as soon as they incline to 
forsake the shelter of the mother, train them to 
mount the poles. They will soon come home 
as regularly as the chickens to their roost, and 
much labor will be saved in looking after them. 
Turkeys, like other farm crops, are profitable 
according to the attention bestowed upon them. 
-- •>- -- 
Grinding Mowing Machine Knives. 
Grinding mowing machine knives takes two 
persons, and it is tedious work at that. The 
farmer must generally do it himself, or see his 
knives spoiled, and it is often a serious tax upon 
his time. This has set the wits of inventors at 
work, and they have suggested and patented a 
number of ingenious devices for aiding in this 
necessary operation. We have examined many 
plans, but have seen none yet which will dis¬ 
pense with the common 
grindstone, or holding 
the knive bar in the 
hands. Preferences may 
be in favor of the flat, 
or of the -faced grind¬ 
stone; a good grinder 
can use either, but we 
doubt if one side of 
two sections can ever be 
ground well at the 
same time. It is very 
important to have a rest 
for the bar, so that the 
angles of the ground 
surfaces on the different 
sections shall vary as 
little as possible. Mr. J. 
H. Burr, of County 
Lambton, Canada, de¬ 
scribes to us a very simple rest, of which we think 
it would pay every farmer to make one or two 
before the mowing season. He uses a very large 
stone with a short crank arranged with a drip¬ 
ping- water pot, to keep it uniformly wet. The 
stone lias a flat face, and the short crank makes 
it easier to give it a rapid motion. The Rest is 
represented in the accompanying sketch. It is a 
post two inches square, and five feet high, hav¬ 
ing wooden pins set in one side, two inches 
apart, mortised into a two-inch plank, one foot 
square. The rest may be set conveniently near 
the stone, and the one who holds the knives 
can have a seat. In use it takes the -weight of 
the bar off from the arms of the grinder. 
When the sections are ground on one side, the 
rest is shifted to the other side of the stone, and 
they are ground upon the other edges. The 
labor being so much reduced, and the rest giv¬ 
ing so much accuracy to the grinding, Mr. B. 
thinks even bright boys of fourteen years can 
do the work very well after a little practice. 
The Outlets of Under drains. 
It is shameful to see expensive underdrains 
allowed to fall into disuse through neglect. 
During the first few years after drains are laid, 
there is always some silt entering at the joints, 
more or less according to the care with which 
the tiles were originally laid, and according to 
the character of the soil. Almost always this 
silt is of so light a character that any constant 
flow of water will keep it gradually moving to¬ 
wards the outlet, and prevent its accumulating 
to au injurious extent. But if, in any part of 
the drain, the tile is, to use a professional term. 
Fig. 1.— PENNSYLVANIA HAY WAGON. 
