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THE ' RSJRAL NEW-YORKER. 
looting royalty became, unprofitable, and a few 
suits were actually commenced in the courts. 
These were promptly met by the farmers, who 
required the prosecutors to give bond for the 
costs. To tills date, no trial has taken place, 
and it is probable the prosecution of the suits 
will not be continued, as the plaintiffs are cer¬ 
tain to be beaten. They have not by any 
means given up the idea of collecting royalty 
from all those who use the slide gate, but they 
have dropped the Lee patent, and propose to 
persecute the farmers with an entirely differ¬ 
ent patent, viz.: the Teel patent, the right of 
which the same parties claim to have bought. 
THE TEEL PATENT. 
not only covers the ordinary slide gate, but it 
covers hll gates that open by sliding back to a 
balauced position and turning one-quarter 
around; consequently it covers the Lee gate, 
and all those who paid the Ypsilanti firm for 
the right to use that gate, must still pay 
them for the right to use the Teel gate, before 
they actually have a legal right to use the ordi¬ 
nary, or in’faet any gate that is opened in the 
manner described. 
Fig. 5 is an exact copy of the drawing of 
Teel’s gate, published in the Patent Office re¬ 
port for 1863. and the following are the descrip¬ 
tion and claim as allowed by the Patent Office. 
“No. 40777.—A. C. Teel, ©f Girard, Macou¬ 
pin Co., Ill.— Improvement in Farm Gate9.— 
Patent dated December 1, 1803.—This panel of 
fence is to bang upon strips attached to the 
neighboring panels, that it may be pushed iu 
half the length of a panel and then swung one- 
quarter round so as to make an opening the 
length of a panel. Claim —The suspending of 
the gate A on strips d, d attached to posts C 
DC D at the ends B, B, of the fence, substan¬ 
tially as shown, to admit of the sliding of the 
gate and the turning of the same for the pur¬ 
pose of opening aud closing it as herein set 
forth." 
The figure show s only the plan of the gate, 
and one letter, C, is evidently misplaced, but 
despite this, the patent secures to A, C. Teel all 
the essential features of the slide gate. Fig. 6 
is an isometric draw ing of Teel’s patent gate 
with the letters C and C' in tlieir proper places. 
When an inventor can prove that the specifi¬ 
cations do not. cover his whole invention, the 
Patent Office aJlows him to restate the specifi¬ 
cations, under the name of a “Reissue.” A 
reissue does not extend the time of the patent, 
but after it is once granted, its specifications 
replace those of the original patent. July 2d. 
1807, A. C, Teel took advantage of this law' and 
obtained a ’* reissue,” of which the following is 
an exnet copy: 
“2667.—A. C. Teel, Girard, III.— Farm Gate 
Patented December, 1st, 1803; Reissued July 
2d, 1867. 
Claim,—First the hanging or suspending of 
a gate in such a manner that it will have a com¬ 
bined sliding aud swinging movement in the 
opening and closiug of the same, the gate sli¬ 
ding from a closed position or state to a cen¬ 
tral balanoed state, and then swinging while in 
a state of equipoise to an open position, and 
closing from an open position by swinging 
around in a line with the gate-posts and sliding 
to a closed state, substantially as shown and 
described. Second, the placing of the gate¬ 
posts C' D C' D , in such a relative position 
with each other, aud constructing and hanging 
the gate between them as to admit of the open¬ 
ing aud closing of the gate, substantially as 
herein set forth.” 
In the reissue there are two claims inde¬ 
pendent of each other, aud an infringement on 
cither claim or both claims may be prosecuted. 
The first is given without reference to a figure, 
aud covers all cases of gates that open by sli¬ 
ding back to a balanced position and then 
swinging open. The second refers to the pe¬ 
culiar arrangement of posts shown in Fig. 5 
and Fig. 6 (a mistake in the second claim 
makes it read posts C D C D', for posts C D 
C D —this is not material, however.) 
A GATE TI1AT IS NOT AN INFRINGEMENT. 
There is a modified form of the slide gate 
which is not an infringement on Teel’s patent. 
This is shown iu Fig. 7. This form of a gate 
is preferred by Mr. H. D. Plati to ihe ordinary 
slide gate. It is seen that it slides back only 
far enough to disengage the ends of the gate 
from between the posts A B' aud then swings 
around, or it can be pulled out and set on one 
side. The arrangement of the posts may be 
somewhat modified, but the arrangement shown 
in Fig. 6, is patented by claim second in Teel’s 
reissue and lienee cannot he used without in- 
fringiug. 
ROYALTY 
must be paid for every infringement up to the 
time the patent expires, December 1, 1880, un¬ 
less the patent can he rendered void. If it can 
he proved that A. G. Teel was not the original 
inventor of the slide gate, the United States 
Courts will declare the patent invalid. Sec. 24 
of the Patent Laws already published, states 
that if any invention has been in use two years 
prior to application for patent, the patent will 
ne invalid. It Is extremely probable that the 
gate was in extensive use prior to 1861 In this 
.country. If that point can be proved, the Teel 
patent is worthless. Again, any publication in 
this or foreign countries describing the inven¬ 
tion prior to Teel’s application for a patent 
(probably Aug., 1863), would be sufficient to in¬ 
validate the patent.. Any oiil who possesses evi¬ 
dence of itB use prior to 1861, or of publication 
prior to 1863, would render m Ueriul service by 
informing Mr. H. D. Platt of Ypsilauti, or the 
writer of this article, of the Character of his in¬ 
formation. 
It may be remarked, in conclusion, that there 
is in possession of the organization to resist 
the payment of t his royalty, reliable evidence 
of its use prior to 1861, but no evidence of 
printed description previous to 1804. More 
proof of its early use, though probably not 
needed, is still very much desired. 
Michigan Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. 
-» +-■»- 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Mr. Fulton, of Orange Couuty, who has 
been a subscriber to the Rural for twenty-live 
years, has recently purchased a yearling Jersey 
bull aud he inquires if he shall put a ring in 
his nose, as lie has heard that the Jerseys are 
Inclined to lie ugly. Putting a riug in a bull’s 
nose does not of itself make him kind or pre¬ 
vent him from becoming vicious. It is only an 
aid iu handling him. The proper aud import¬ 
ant thing to do La to break the bull when young, 
aud have him in subjection. He should he 
halter-broken and taught to mind like an ox. 
When a year old, put a ring iu his nose and 
lead him with a stout halter attached to it. 
This will do for ordinaly occasions, but under 
other circumstances lie should he led by a 
strong staff. Balls should never be trifled 
with, or fondled about the head. No one 
should ever be allowed to touch their horns, 
however young they may he. They should not 
he approached in front, a hull does not like it. 
After serving a cow lie should he immediately 
driven away, and the person in charge should 
always have a long, strong stick in his baud. 
Precautions are always wise in the manage¬ 
ment of bulls. They are especially dangerous 
when a cow la iu heat iu their vicinity. 
We do not think Jersey hulls are any more 
iuclined to be vicious than those of other breeds. 
They are ofteu petted more than others when 
young, and ibis makes them more liable to in¬ 
jure their attendant. It is all very well to play 
with a calf’s horns and have it jerk its head 
around and play hack when it s ears arc pulled; 
hut when the horns get louger, and the tendons 
of the ueck get stronger, the same habit is 
likely to continue aud the former pet may 
strike a blow or make a push with in* head, 
which will do damage, and then if lie is struck, 
it is the hull of it, to fight hack. Wlum a bull 
is uot fooled with, lie will hold his head straight 
forward when a person is passing about him. 
Jersey cattle are naturally timid and nervous 
aud must he gently treated. Knocking and 
cracking around a bull of this breed is offen¬ 
sive to him. When young he will try to run 
away, hut w'lien older he will naturally assert 
the rights of his bullship, aud pitch in for a 
fight. Break the hull thoroughly to miud at 
the word, and then always afterwards he gentle 
bnt firm with him, and do not cross his nature, 
aud uot one in a hundred will be ugly. This 
has been our experience. 
If a hull does got ugly, put a strong rope 
around his neck with a slipping noose aud 
keep it on. lie will never tighten it but once, 
and afterwards will stand quiet. If he is likely 
to choke to death at first, loosen it a little. We 
had a hull wear a slipping uoose for four 
months, aud although this was all the fasten¬ 
ing he had. lie never made it tight after the 
first tussle, w'lien he choked down aud gasped 
fur breath. 
James says, “ the new plan is the best,” aud 
he can now do the chores in half of the time 
it took him before. A box of meal is now 
standing in one corner of the sheep pen where 
the old sheep are, aud a dish is in it, so that he 
eau feed their meal without its taking a half 
minute. The same is true of the calves, and 
the bran for the cows is handy by. This is bet¬ 
ter than running to the granary every time a 
meusureful of feed is wanted. 
Mi'. Riley says his ruta-hagas were all necks, 
and are so strong they cannot eat them. This 
is because the sued was poor, that is, it was 
raised from imperfect turnips, or perhaps they 
were left standiug iu the ground all winter. 
All vegetables, when thus left, will run out. 
To bring good seed w hich will produce perfect 
roots, the vegetables designed for grow mg the 
seed, must be taken up in the fall, kept Healthy 
all winter, and then he reset iu the spring. The 
stem of a rnta-baga is much ranker in flavor 
than the root itself, and where there is a pre¬ 
ponderance of stem, or “ neck,” the turnip 
will invariably be strong in taste. 
Webb’s Imperial Swede is the purest aud best 
variety we know of. Ours were free from 
necks aud of choice flavor. We have sold a 
number of barrels for table use, enough to 
equal the whole cost of the crop. Those we 
sold brought 75 cents a barrel. 
Mr. Callaghan says he “ don’t believe, in 
eating rotten apples all of the time," so he 
picks out the sound ones and lets those that are 
specked and partially decayed go to the pigs. 
He used to keep sorting them over and eating 
the specked ones, and by the time the first lot 
was gone another was ready, and so he had 
nothing but poor apples. Now he reverses the 
rule, aud begins with the best aud has the best 
all of the time. This is more comfortable, to 
say the least. The more apples are disturbed, 
the faster they will rot. 
cfatm OEnmontjb 
HOW TO APPLY MANURES. 
W r M. .1. FOWLER. 
Scattering manure on the surface in fall and 
winter ; plowing under barnyard manure in 
spring ; applying hen manure and gypsum; 
drilling commercial fertilizers icilh seed ; 
need of thoroughly pulverizing (he soil. 
Successful tanning depends so largely on 
making the soil rich that the best modes of doing 
this are necessarily matters of the first import¬ 
ance. The most natural mode is to apply ma¬ 
nure on the surface and let ra ins and snows car¬ 
ry its substance to the roots of plauta. I am 
not sure yet that we have bettered this plan. 
But long ago it was discovered that, decaying 
manures lost some of their ammonia by evap¬ 
oration, and it was naturally supposed that un¬ 
less this decomposition occurred in the soil, 
this ammonia was wasted. Hence the general 
practice, until within a few' years, of getting 
manure under ground ub quickly as possible. 
But W0 have learned other facts about manure. 
When scattered over the surface in fall or win¬ 
ter, evaporation is very slight and very little 
ammonia is given off. Most manures are 
largely composed, so far as value is concerned, 
of mineral elements, lime, potash and phos¬ 
phates, which canuot evaporate aud must leach 
downward. Much even of the ammonia bus 
been changed to nitric acid aud, united with 
some base, has become a soluble nitrate. The 
manure applied on the surface of the soil in 
the fall is, before spring, brought directly to 
the roots of plants. .Much of it indeed has 
been carried down so deeply that we need the 
long tap-roots of clover to bring it again to 
the surface. Under all the circumstauces, put¬ 
ting manures on the surface, except on very 
steep side-hills, involves less Loss than using 
them iu any other way. 
Much of the barnyard manure in spring is so 
coarse that for convenience in planting aud 
cultivating hoed crops we plow it under. The 
roots of corn will reach it readily and with lit¬ 
tle loss. The following spring after partial 
decomposition, the ground is plowed aud the 
manure again^hrough( to the surface. But it 
is often found that the benefit of the manure is 
quite as great ihe second season as the first. 
Probably instead ot leaving the coarse manure 
until spring, it would pay hotter to haul it out 
and spread it on the soil as made, during the 
winter. The soluble parts will be thoroughly 
incorporated with the soil, and the remainder 
may be turned under the furrow as before, to 
decay aud become soluble. 
An important advantage is gained iu having 
some manure in close coutact with the seed to 
give the plant a vigorous growth from the start. 
Manuring in the hill by lmud is a tedious and 
expensive work ; but even this will often pay. 
Hen manure thoroughly pulverized and diluted 
with three times its weight of gypsum, Is ex¬ 
cellent. for cither corn or potatoes. The object 
iu mixing with gypsum is twofold: first, to 
weaken it so that the manure Mill not burn the 
sprouts of the seed, and, second, that the gyp¬ 
sum, or sulphate of lime, may absorb the am¬ 
monia of the hen droppings and become sul¬ 
phate of ammonia, one of the most powerful 
stimulauts of plant growth. Sulphate of am¬ 
monia is worth six cents a pound as plant food. 
Much of the effects of gypsum as a fertilizer 
are probably due to the fact that it always ab¬ 
sorbs more or less ammonia from decaying 
matter in the soil aud possibly, under sOme cir¬ 
cumstances, from the atmosphere. I always 
advise the use of gypsum with nearly every 
kind of seed, for this reason. 
The good effects of manure in contact with 
the seed often far exceed the presumable ad¬ 
vantages from the manure itself. In other 
tvords, a little rich lood at the beginning of the 
growth of a plaut promotes its vigor and ena¬ 
bles it to forage more vigorously in other parts 
of the soil. Concentrated manure also makes 
soluble some of the fertility loeked-up iu the 
soil which it touches. A [spoonful of guano 
will make fertile from three to live times that 
amount of soil. Of course, to this extent ma¬ 
nuring iu ilio hill helps the plant to more rap¬ 
idly exhaust the soil; but this is uot really a 
disadvantage. All cropping is exhaustive and 
it is only objectionable when the product 
will uot supply or purchase enough manure to 
keep the soil up to its original standard of 
richness. 
The most frequent use of manures with the 
seed is in the application of commercial ferti¬ 
lizers by the drill. This is now the common 
practice with our best farmers, and its advant¬ 
ages are so numerous that it must become much 
more general. The benefits of manures, how¬ 
ever applied, depend largely upon theaftei cul¬ 
tivation and thorough, pulverization of the 
soil. I have rarely seen lumpy, cloddy laud, 
however rich,produce a good crop; but I have 
ranch more frequently seen good crops on com¬ 
paratively poor land well cultivated. We know 
that the elements of fertility must be present 
to make a crop: hut on heavy land a groat deal 
af cropping can be done if the soil is kept in 
good mechanical condition. The first sign of 
sterility iu a clay soil, is when the vegetable 
matter wastes and the surface hardens and 
bakes. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
-» ♦ ♦- 
SAVING MANURE IN THE STABLE. 
In t his city, V. B—a milk-man stables during 
the winter a herd of cows numbering, last win¬ 
ter 116. As he enlarged his barns during the 
summer, I presume the number will he greater 
this winter. All these cows are kept in one 
room. The stable is a basement with ground 
floor. It is cleaned only as suits Mr. V. B’s 
convenience. When T visited it. last wiuter, 
the'aecuinulation was not lees than one foot in 
depth over the whole floor. There was no 
stable odor. I u’ish to emphasize this point. 
The cows were remarkably eleau. Not one in ten 
had any mark of manure on her quarters or 
about her udder. This condition of things 
was brought about by giving the cows pleuty 
of straw bedding. Enough of the solid excre¬ 
ment M r as pitched under the forefeet and cov¬ 
ered with straw, to cause the animals to stand 
level. The same gentlemen keeps his horses 
in ordinary or box-stalls in the same way, that 
is. lie gives them plenty of bedding and removes 
t .elr manure at his convenience. 
In this way every particle of manure both 
liquid and solid, is saved under cover. It is not 
only the cheapest, hut the best and cleanest 
M ay to keep cows or horses. I have kept a 
single cow in that way, and though I cleaned 
ti e stable iu mid-winter only and again iu 
spring, yet the cow was clean, the stable sweet 
aud the milk clean and sweet. My hovae sta¬ 
ble—I keep a single horse—was cleaned July 
1. and again Oet. 1. this summer, without iu 
the interval causing any inconvenience lroin 
smell nr heatiug. I have uot cleaned my stable 
during the cooler months for some time, and 
during the heal of the past summer I tried very 
successfully the experiment of leaving the 
manure in it. I care for my stable with the 
help of a ten-year-old grandson, and never 
hear a M-ord from my family about the smell 
of the stable being imparted to my clothing, 
This plau gives the animals a soft, dry bed— 
a cushion to stand or rest on. The cows being 
clcau, are not troubled with inflamed udders 
which are frequently caused by wet and con¬ 
sequent cold. When funning I spent much 
time, money' and labor to save manure aud to 
keep clean stables, clean cows and clean horses, 
and after having spent years in the endeavor, 
I find tliis the cheapest aud simplest plan to 
accomplish the end. I commenced my read¬ 
ing of agricultural papers many years ugo and 
from that time to this have read a great deal on 
the subject of saving manure, I have dug cis¬ 
terns aud diains . have dug out my barnyards 
so that they M ould hold water—and waded 
through them—have devised plana for pump ■ 
iugand delivering liquid manures; have cleaned 
stables and washed cows’ hag‘9; pitched filthy 
straw aud cornstalks through a 15x15 luch 
hole in the stables, and I have lived to find it 
was worse thau useless labor. I hope the 
coming generation will not be as foolish as I 
have been, hut will show their sense by fol¬ 
lowing Mr. V. B’s plan. s. L. r. 
Grand Rapids Mich. 
- ♦♦♦ - 
LIME AND FARMERS’ LIMEKILNS. 
BY A WESTERN FARMER, 
Lime as n Fertilizer. 
Thf, value of manure is no longer a doubtful 
subject to a Western farmer. Farmers iu the 
Western Stales, excepting possibly those who 
are now for the first time breaking up new 
prairie in Kansas, Nebraska, or Minnesota, 
arc now compelled to look almost ae closely to 
their manure supply as the. most impoverished 
Eastern farmer. Among manures we must in¬ 
clude what in contra-distinction are known as 
fertilizers, ami lime is the most important al¬ 
though the most common of these. There is 
no other mineral that is more plentiful thau 
lime. It is found almost everywhere in the 
West. From Western New York to (lie Mis¬ 
souri River, theundurly iug rock is almost every¬ 
where limestone, ami it is curiously true that 
the application of lime is equally effective on 
limestone land as upon clays aud sandy loams 
where no lime is to be found. 
There is no cheaper fertilizer than lime. 
When used upon soils rich in vegetable matter 
hut which have been exhausted by continued 
cropping, it restores them at once through its 
