212 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
Farm Sleds for Winter and Summer. 
In some parts of the country there is a con¬ 
stant use made of sleds in summer, and very 
■wisely, we think, as we always advocate the 
employment of animal labor to save hand labor 
when it can be done economically. But even if 
one does not intend to do any sledding upon 
bare ground, the sled pattern here presented 
is worthy the attention of farmers now, because 
they may take the leisure and rainy days of the 
present and coming season to have the stuff 
sawed and put together before snow. The plan 
was sent to us by Mr. H. D. Smalley, of Stark 
Co., Ohio, who says it is much in use, and 
very popular among farmers in his vicinity. 
Fig. 2.—TOOL-SLED OR TOOL-BOAT. 
Hiv.S. writes: “It is so easily made that 
any farmer can make it; and I will guarantee 
that after one rveek’s using it, he will not 
be willing to be without one on his premises. 
The runners are sawed out of sound hickory, 
the crooks coming out of the but of the log, in 
the same manner as stone-boat plank are sawed, 
except that they must have a little more crook, 
Fig. 3. —BOX EOU TOOL-SLED. 
say G inches in a length of 10 or 12 feet. Their 
width is 5*|a or G inches, and their thickness 2 
or 2'| 2 inches; the beams are made of G x 6 oak 
scantling. The first beam is set 20 inches from 
the crook, pinned to the runners with inch pins, 
set diagonally and drawing a little, and wedged 
on the under side of the runner. The roller- 
gudgeons enter 3-inch blocks, bolted to the tops 
of the runners with two bolts each. No raves are 
needed. The stake holes are bored slanting 
through the beams, and so as to miss the inside of 
the runners; otherwise they will fill with dirt. 
Advantages:—It i3 so low, a man using skids 8 
feet long can rollon an ordinary saw-log with a 
handspike, thus saving unhitching aud hitching 
his team; it is not liable to upset when loaded; 
will not cut in in crossing soft places; when 
there is but little snow, not enough to run an 
ordinary sled, a team can draw a heavy log 
with ease ; it is not so liable to break in cross¬ 
ing uneven places; and passes over obstructions 
easily. In short, its superiority is so manifest, 
that it needs bnt a day’s trial to establish it.” 
This sled, of universal, summer 
and winter utility, so to speak, 
leads to the consideration of 
Summer Sleds .—There are a 
multitude of uses to which a 
light sled can be applied 
throughout the year, and the 
additional labor imposed upon 
the horses is very little. We 
give herewith a sketch of a 
tool-sled, or drag, which is an 
improvement upon one the 
writer has in daily use, and not 
gunlike one described in the Ag¬ 
riculturist for May, 1866, but 
lighter. It is eight feet long, and three wide. 
The runners are two four by four scantling, or 
other pieces of hard wood, though red cedar 
will do. There is a floor of inch boards, and 
l‘| a x 3-inch raves nailed upon these. One-inch 
oak pins arc used to fasten the parts together, 
and three or four carriage bolts on each side 
are an additional security. These should pass 
through runners,boards, 
and raves, the heads be¬ 
ing well sunk in the 
runners, and the nuts on 
the top provided with 
washers. The sled is 
drawn by hitching the 
team to a clevis in the 
front, or better to a sort 
of bale—an iron rod, 
bent at a right angle, 
and attached to both 
runners. We transport 
upon such a sled, or 
“ boat,” plows and har¬ 
rows, potatoes for plant¬ 
ing, •fertilizers in bags 
or barrels, and any sgn- 
ilar things. It, is pro¬ 
vided with four stakes, like a cart. Fig. 3 shows a 
box which fits upon the top of the rave, and is 
held in place hy strong cleats, which enter the 
stake staples. This addition converts the tool- 
sled into a very different affair. It is a handy 
thing with which to gather up the stones in a 
mowing lot, to haul compost or manure upon 
plowed ground, for manuring in the hill or 
drill, aud to distribute drain tiles along by the 
drains. Without the box, and simply with the 
poles, it may be used for moving fencing stuff, 
bean poles, bog hay, brush, aud many other 
bulky things. This tool-boat will be found 
especially useful when men and horses are to 
be gone all day, to carry food and fodder, be¬ 
sides the tools, and almost any farmer having 
one will make one or two of different sizes. 
----»CM - -- 
Doors for Manure Cellars. 
It is very important, when manure is received 
in a cellar directly under the animals, especially 
if there are openings in the floor through which 
much air could pass, that the door by which the 
cellar is shutoff from the outer air should be so 
tight as not to admit strong cold drafts. The 
accompanying engravings show how a cart door 
to a cellar may be made tight, and yet so light 
as to be easily managed by one person. Per¬ 
pendicular swinging doors, owing to their lia¬ 
bility to sag when made of large size, are objec- 
Fig. 1.— DOOR TO MANURE CELLAR. 
tionable. In fig. 1 the door is represented as 
closed. It is made in two parts : a, the upper 
section, is hung on strong hinges from the top 
of the frame, and 
swings inwards, 
where it maybe fast¬ 
ened in a horizontal 
position, as shown in 
fig. 2, which repre¬ 
sents a section of the 
same door. The part 
b is a movable low 
door, resting upon a 
chestnut sill, and fit¬ 
ting tightly into rab¬ 
bets in the side post. 
The top of b and the 
bottom of a are so 
rabbeted as to form 
a tight joint, and to 
have their surfaces 
flush with each other. When a is shut down 
against b, it is fastened in its place by a wooden 
button, c. Both halves of the door a and b 
are secured to the jambs of the door with hooks. 
SECTION OF DOOR. 
Covers for Wells. 
The water of our wells is often contaminated 
by dead animals, such as mice, moles, toads, 
etc., falling into it. This may be, in a great 
measure, if not totally, prevented, by a good curb 
set upon a stone or cement base. A more con¬ 
stant source of impurity, though not so disagree¬ 
able, is the falling in of leaves and such things, 
together with the dust and small particles of 
grass, wood, seeds, and insects. This can only 
be prevented by a cover, which, if it must be 
lifted by the hand, gives so much additional 
trouble to the persons who draw the water 
that they are apt to fasten it open, and it is al¬ 
most never closed. To obviate this trouble 
several plans have been proposed. One of the 
simplest is that herewith figured. It is a slight 
modification of a plan sent to the American 
Agriculturist by Mr. V. Devinny, of Denver, 
Colorado Territory, and applicable to any well 
from which water is drawn by the bucket. It 
consists of a light cover made of matched half 
or three-quarter inch stuff, fastened to a four by 
four cross-piece at the back part of the well- 
curb. This cross-piece has a gudgeon of oak 
or iron in one end,_and the other end is cylin¬ 
drical and grooved to run in a bearing upon the 
sill of the well-curb, and extending through it, 
(some of the boards of which are removed in 
