1863 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Q05 
Tlie farm gate illustrated above, the descrip¬ 
tion of which was communicated to the Agri¬ 
culturist, by 1ST. Hine, Atlantic County, N. J., 
possesses some excellent features. It is a modi¬ 
fication of the well-known, old-fashioned bal¬ 
ance gate. The construction will be readily un¬ 
derstood by reference to the illustration. The 
beam or pole A, of suitable length, turns on the 
post E, being held in place by a 2-inch pin ex¬ 
tending through the beam. The uprights, B, 
2x3 inches, pass through mortises in the middle 
of the beam, and are pinned fast. The slats, <7, 
are of boards of any desired width, securely 
fastened to the uprights with wrought nails 
clinched. When the gate is closed, the smaller 
end of the beam rests in a slot or mortise in the 
post at E, or a strip of plank with a suitable 
notch for the purpose may be pinned to the post. 
A narrow strip, G, hanging from a pin at If rests 
over the end of the beam, to hold it in place: 
this is turned aside when the gate is to be open¬ 
ed. The gate may be balanced by placing 
weights upon the short end of the beam, at /, so 
that a very small amount of force will turn it. 
It opens in either direction, can be easily lifted 
over snow drifts, and what is of great import¬ 
ance, the weight of the gate can not draw the 
supporting post out of perpendicular. 
The Barometer as a Weather Indicator. 
Careful observations through many years and 
in different countries, have established the fact 
that a change in the weather is generally fore¬ 
told by the barometer. Recently some persons 
have endeavored to throw doubt upon the value 
of this instrument as an indicator of the weath¬ 
er, but until we can see their written observa¬ 
tions and a record of the state of the weather at 
each observation, we shall continue to believe 
with the majority of meteorologists—especially 
as our own experience coincides with theirs. 
That the barometer, properly understood and 
observed, will in the great majority of cases, 
foretell a storm, we are confident—not from a 
few observations, but from watching it for sev¬ 
eral years, and in different climates. One thing 
which has brought the instrument into disre¬ 
pute is the practice, followed by many makers, 
of marking upon their scales “fair,” “ change,” 
“rain,” etc. Persons finding that the mercury 
seldom indicates the weather according to these 
markings, have given up the instrument as al¬ 
together unreliable. The value of the barometer 
(unlike the thermometer) does not consist in 
showing where the mercury stands, but in 
showing the change which takes place iii its 
bight from one time to another. It is the rise 
and fall of the mercury which is to be observed, 
and the extent of this varies in different sea¬ 
sons, and in different localities. To derive any 
benefit from the barometer, it should be ob¬ 
served at fixed periods—(7 A. M. and 2 and 9 
P. M., are the usual ones)—and the observations 
recorded. It may be stated, as a general rule, 
that if the column remains for a long time at 
one particular bight, we may expect a continu¬ 
ance of the present weather, be it good or bad: 
if the mercury suddenly falls, a sudden change 
of weather, but of short duration, may be look¬ 
ed for: a gradual sinking of the mercury, for one 
or more days, foretells a long continued storm, 
and during a storm, a rise in the column shows 
the approach of fair weather. To show the cor¬ 
respondence between the bight of the mercury 
in the barometer, and the state of the weather, 
we present two diagrams, which are actual tran¬ 
scripts of the records kept at the office of the Ag¬ 
riculturist. This manner of recording matters lia¬ 
ble to fluctuation, was described on page 44, 
February No., and presents the barometric 
variations to the eye in a striking manner. 
In each diagram the perpendicular lines indi¬ 
cate the days of the month, while the horizon¬ 
tal ones mark the liiglit of the mercury; each 
line represents ten-hundredths of an inch. The 
notes upon the state of the weather are given, in 
condensed form, at the bottom of the diagrams. 
During the month of February, the fall of 
rain and melted snow amounted to 7.04 inches. 
The mercury in the barometer, on the 5th, rose 
to the highest point reached in 30 years. As a 
fall nearly always succeeds a rapid rise, upon see¬ 
ing the mercury going up so rapidly, we confi¬ 
dently looked for the fall and rain, which came 
plentifully on the 6th. It will be noted tiiat 
every considerable depression of the mercury, 
was accompanied by rain. It fell suddenly on 
the 19th, and reached the lowest point for the 
month. A heavy rain occurred at the same 
time, commencing with N. E. wind on the 18th, 
and ending on the 20th. The variation from 
the extreme rise to the lowest fall was an inch 
and-a-half, which is greater than the average. 
Farmers well know that May was a dry 
month. There was less than half an inch of 
variation in the barometer up to the 30tli, and 
less than four inches of rain, the most of which 
fell in the first half of the month. The track 
is the most even one for a whole year, though 
several rain falls occurred, some of which were 
not very clearly indicated by the barometer. 
The mercury began to fall on the 28th, and con. 
tinued to sink until the 31st. We had fine show¬ 
ers the 30tli and 31st. Our engraved record for 
May only includes 28 days to correspond with 
the month of February. It is only where the 
barometer is frequently watched, that its use is 
manifest. We conceive that it would be both 
interesting and profitable for the farmer’s son, 
to keep an accurate record, not only of the ba¬ 
rometer, but of the thermometer, and the state 
of the weather also. It is a matter of great in¬ 
terest, to compare one month with another, and 
one year with another. Our special premium 
now puts it within the power of most persons, 
to secure a reliable instrument on very easy 
terms. (See page 224 of this number.) 
RECORD OP THE BAROMETER FOR MAY, 1863. 
1 234 5 678 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 
