1858 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
verted into a carriage or wagon-house ; hay-houses, as 
proposed, or sheds in their place, would afford comfor¬ 
table protection from north and west winds. I suppose 
the main barn to be built of stone at least as high as 
the third floor, except in front; the overshot may be of 
frame, on pillars level with the granary floor, or its ends 
may be a continuation of the barn walls. The above 
general plan, varied in size and details, receives the 
general sanction of the practical farmers of Chester 
county. 
New and Convenient Harrow. 
Editors of Co. Gent. —Good plows are conceded to 
be indispensable in farming operations—a bad one no 
good farmer can afford to use. Next in importance to 
a good plow, in putting the soil in a fine tilth, is a good 
Harrow. We ha ve one, in rather general use here, 
which is considered much better than the common tri¬ 
angular harrow, less expensive than the “ Geddes,” 
and another kind, if I recollect right, described in some 
of the back volumes of “The Cultivator, and more¬ 
over allowing the use of a b&w, without which such im¬ 
plements are rather awkward to walk after. I will give 
you a rough draft* and description, from which you 
can perhaps form an idea. The frame should be made 
of good white oak—3 by 3 will be heavy enough, as it 
is easy to add a little weight when the ground requires 
it. The cross piece, (a b) 3 by I £ inches, need not be 
let into the frame, but should be secured in its place 
by four screw bolts; morticed tennons are at the points 
c and d. About 24 teeth are sufficient, and the two 
upper ones, as shown in the figure, should be inserted 
low enough down to have a space of about one foot be¬ 
tween them, that there may be no clogging with large 
corn stabs—(you don’t have them large in the Norths 
I believe.) At the point of the harrow, a strong iron 
should be well secured and curved, so as to elevate the 
point some 9 or 10 inches above, and a ring inserted. 
This will give a level draught, and will aot require the 
traces to be much longer than for plowing. An iron 
bow is preferred by some as more durable. Wood is 
preferable on some accounts, and if used, sockets should 
be inserted a few inches from the ends of the harrow, 
and secured there with small bolts, allowing them a 
little play. There should also be holes drilled through 
the upper end of the sockets, so as to admit of small 
rivets to pass through them and the ends of the bow, 
which will hold it firmly to its place. As there are no 
teeth inserted in the cross-piece, this harrow is not lia¬ 
ble to clog, and the teeth can be so arranged that they 
will not run after each other. 
There are many farmers who use this kind of har¬ 
row, and no other, for harrowing corn, and where the 
rows are wide enough to admit it, no better need be 
used. In that case, a few of the central teeth are 
drawn, and the horses walk astride of the row. Length 
of harrow, 8 feet; width, 6 feet. C. Salem Co., N. J. 
We have made the annexed drawing from this rough 
sketch, as nearly as we could understand it. Eds. 
Draining by a Practical Man. 
Messrs. Editors —Let me give you my method of 
draining for the last three years, and in that time I 
have laid, and caused to be laid, 12,000 rods of drain, 
at a cost from 18f to 50 cents per rod, and to my know¬ 
ledge never had a failure. It costs a little more to dig 
a drain on my plan than with the aid of a ditch-digger 
or plow, but when it is done it is well done. Deny it 
who can I It is a drain, and will remain a drain as 
long as its outlet is kept open. 
I commence in this way: If I have a large job, and 
have to have it done by a certain time, I employ men 
enough men enough to do it. I furnish each man with 
two spades, one shovel, a crumber , (which is a peculiar 
shaped hoe about one foot long, two and a half inches 
wide, and turned up an inch on each side,) and a drag, 
(which is simply a strong potato grub,) to fill in the 
drain with. 1 lay out each man a certain lot of drains 
to dig, with directions not to lay the tile in until I see 
it, if there is not much descent. Then each man com¬ 
mences on his own drain, with a spade about six inches 
wide and fourteen inches long, taking out a spit ten 
or eleven inches wide and fourteen inches deep, or ac¬ 
cording to the evenness of the surface; then with the 
shovel clean out the crumbs or loose earth; then go 
over the same again with the same spade, about one 
foot deep and six or seven inches wide at the bottom, 
and with the same spade clean out the bottom, (or a 
garden spade is better to clean out the bottom.) Now 
I am two feet deep in the shallowest plaee, six or seven 
inches wide, but that is too wide to lay in the tile, es¬ 
pecially two-inch sole tile or even three-inch, and not 
deep enough ; but this is a short branch drain and two 
inch tile is large enough. I want them put in so that 
they cannot get misplaced in any way; and I want 
them three feet deep, too; so into the muddy, wet 
drain I go—(one or two inches of mud and water in it 
—the descent is so small and the drain so wide it will 
not clear itself)—with my curious long narrow spade, 
flat on the back and rounding on the front, with a 
step on the socket to shove it down with, twelve or 
thirteen inches long, four inches wide at the top, and 
two and a half at the bottom; with this tool I take out 
the other foot, two and a half inches wide at the bot¬ 
tom and as even as a plank, and with the crumber be¬ 
fore named, I clean out the crumbs and mud every six 
feet I dig, so that I have never to go in the bottom of 
the drain. Well, my drain is dug ten rods long, three 
feet deep in strong clay land, eleven inches wide at the 
top, two and a half at the bottom, and as straight as 
a line, and only five inches fall, quite plenty ; and it 
is only four o’clock, so I have plenty of time to finish 
it before six. and I did not commence until seven in 
the morning; then I lay my tile along the side of the 
drain, and if possible commence at the upper end ; lay 
in the tile downwards, walking straight along upon 
them to get them to the bottom, as they fit so tight; 
by the time I get them all laid in, it is fifteen minutes 
to five, and it would take the reader of this article the 
noxt hour and a quarter to raise out every other tile, 
but I can fill the drain up with ease in that time, so I 
complete my drain in ten hours — that is a rod in an 
hour—at thirty cents per rod, $3 a day. Pretty large 
pay, but remember the broiling sun on my head, the 
mud and water in my boots and up my legs; it is 
pretty tough; but if you won’t give thirty cents per 
rod for such a piece, don’t be afraid; don’t let that 
stop you from draining; probably somebody will do it 
for less. With my seven men and myself, we can cure 
the wettest swamp out of doors, if there is a quarter 
of an inch descent to a rod and a good outlet, and we 
don’t mire nor stick fast. Geo. Alderson. Albany. 
