O O O 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
November, 
Farm Gates. 
Few things give more character to 'he general 
appearance of a farm, than a handsome gate at 
the entrance. “ A man is known by the company 
he keeps ” is true in reference tohis gates, fences, 
and outbuildings. If these are in good form and 
repair, there is evidence of taste and thrift, and 
a favorable opinion is formed of the proprietor. 
Said a valued friend, “ Show me good fences, 
gates, outbuildings, with fields free from brush, 
nriars, and weeds,and I will show a good farmer.” 
A plain, well-made gate, in keeping with its sur¬ 
roundings, is usually the most pleasing, but there 
is generally room for at least one gate, in the con¬ 
struction of which there may be taste and skill 
displayed. No stereotyped form would be desir¬ 
able. Merely as a specimen of what may be 
done, and as suggestive of other forms, we pre¬ 
sent herewith a sketch of a gate emblematical 
of the farmer’s profession.—It is not a fancy 
sketch merely, for the original, from which this is 
drawn, stands at one of the entrances to “ Wod- 
enethe,” the picturesque and unique residence of 
H. W. Sargent, opposite to Newburgh, on the 
Hudson river.—It is constructed of wood, and 
every part of it, even to the latch, is the repre¬ 
sentation of some implement used in agriculture. 
These are weapons with which the virgin soil 
can be made to yield up its golden treasures, and 
fill the granaries and barns, and the home with 
luxuries from its rich store-house. The spade, 
mattock, and hoe, have been praised in song. 
“ It was not the sword that won our best battle, 
Created our commerce, extended our trade, 
Gave food to our wives, our children, our cattle ; 
But the queen of ail weapons—the spade, boys, the 
spade.” 
And thus we might sing of all the various im¬ 
plements, which the cultivator of the soil should 
feel are his weapons, and have an honest pride 
in using them. The above figure can be easily 
imitated, and the implements of the cultivator be 
made of the various curiously formed branches of 
trees that abound in our forests. We hope ere 
long to see more of our farmers with these gate¬ 
ways, thus fashioned in tasteful, rural style. 
When we see homes ornamented and beautified, 
we have the best evidence that such a home is 
permanent., and that happiness is found within. 
’Tis then the cultivator feels that there’s a richer 
reward than money can give for labor, for he has 
found the aim of life, happiness—and he beholds 
“ Yellow sheaves from rich Ceres the cottage had 
crowned, 
Green rushes were strewed on the floor ; 
Tlie casement’s sweet woodbine crept wantonly round, 
And decked the sod seats at the door.” 
Gates should always be substituted for bars at 
every entrance much used. Test this by figures: 
To let down and put up bars requires at least two 
minutes more time, than to open and shut a gate. 
Allowing the gate to be passed twice a day for a 
year, or once a day for two years, and there is 
a loss of more than two whole days to the farmer 
and his team, and men with him. This would 
certainly more than pay for a gate. Another has 
estimated the ordinary loss of time by a man and 
team equivalent to 6£ days a year, which would 
pay a large interest on the cost of the best gate. 
Self-opening and self-shutting Gates have ex¬ 
cited not a little interest of late, and at least a 
dozen forms have been patented. It is very con¬ 
venient to be able to drive up to a gate, which 
will open at your approach, and close after you. 
Some of these are operated by a kind of crank 
which the wheel passes over before and after go¬ 
ing through. Others are opened and shut by 
weights, set in motion by a string which hangs 
so as to be pulled by a person in a carriage or on 
horseback. [We have seen at this year’s Agricul¬ 
tural Exhibitions at least three forms, which are 
simple, cheap, and perfectly practicable. Illus¬ 
trations and descriptions of one or more of these 
will appear in the Agriculturist shortly. —Ed.] 
Spring side. C. N. Bement. 
- m * - 
Simple mode of Suspending Slaughtered 
Animals. 
There are a great number of little convenien¬ 
ces in use here and there through the coun¬ 
try, but not generally known. We are always 
on the watch for such items, and have published 
many of them, but we greatly desire our readers 
to assist in this work of collecting and scatter¬ 
ing more widely a knowledge of how the sim¬ 
plest operations are performed. Our artists are 
always ready to develop the least hint given. 
Please let us have a hundred such for the coming 
volume. A rough sketch, or description even, is 
usually all that is necessary. Here is an exam¬ 
ple. A subscriber, (James Darlington,) says he 
found in common use in Saratoga County, 
N. Y., a method of hanging up a beef carcass 
when slaughtered, in the absence of a tackle or 
other convenient apparatus, which he rightly 
thinks is not generally known. From his notes 
sent to the Agriculturist we make the following 
engravings and description : 
Fig. 1. 
In fig. 1, B is a beam or joist in the barn or 
other out-house. From this two ropes are let 
down, having a short loop or noose in the lower 
ends. The loops are brought round the gambrel G, 
and two small levers, L, L, thrust in as shown in 
the cut. It will be seen that simply turning these 
round will wind the ropes around the gambrel G, 
and shorten the suspending cords with great 
power. With barrels, or other supports to stand 
upon, these ropes can be wound up to the beam. 
The amount of force required will of course de¬ 
pend upon the size of the gambrel G, and the 
length of the levers L. 
Fig. 2. 
In fig. 2 the carcass is shown drawn up by 
winding the rope, and is held at the desired hight 
by throwing a rod across behind the ropes and 
before the levers. The power, it will be seen, is 
very great, as the short arm of the lever is only 
half the diameter of the gambrel, and the long 
arm two, three, or four feet. A man, with a boy 
to handle the lever at the other end, may readily 
raise up the largest animal. We are obliged to 
Mr. Darlington for this useful hint, and again re¬ 
quest our readers in all parts of the country, to 
send us as many such suggestions as they can. 
-—-•——«©——-. 
Carrying Power by Compressed Air—A 
Novel Proposition. 
We have been much interested in a recent ap¬ 
plication by Messrs. Debain, Botton & Zellier, to 
the authorities of Paris, for permission to lay 
down iron pipes to introduce compressed cold 
air. They propose to construct outside of the city 
an immense engine to compress air into pipes. 
These pipes are to lead to all parts of the city, 
like gas and water-pipes. Wherever power is 
wanted for driving machinery it will only be ne¬ 
cessary to tap the underground pipe and let the 
compressed air escape through an engine, just as 
condensed steam is used. By means of a simple 
stop-cock, this air may be let out in small quan¬ 
tities to blow the fire in a blacksmith’s furnace, 
or in a stove or grate. This plan appears feasi¬ 
ble, and if practicable, will do away with a mul¬ 
titude of furnaces, and the annoyance of smoke, 
and the disasters resulting from the explosions of 
scalding steam. We may soon be printing the 
Agriculturist by air-power, generated up at Har¬ 
lem, or over in New-Jersey, or out on Long 
Island, instead of the huge boilers that now stand 
in close proximity to the press that prints these 
letters upon this page.—We shall see. 
That “Mule Race.” —Our readers will not 
soon forget that picture of a mule race, we gave 
in last year’s Agriculturist, and the proposed im¬ 
provement upon modern agricultural races at 
“ Fairs viz. that the competitors should each 
ride another man’s beast, and the prize should be 
given to the last in. Of course, each man would 
push ahead as fast as possible, so as to have his 
own beast, riden by another, come in last. We 
see by various exchanges and letters, that the 
hint has been pretty widely acted upon this year. 
About the best affair of the kind occurred at 
Wheeling, Va., where one little brown mule 
wouldn’t go at all for coaxing, or whip, or kicks 
and, of course, received the prize of $25. 
