62 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
TJseful Articles. 
BT D. X. IVAN'S. JR., GERMANTOWN, PA. 
Sled and Clod Crusher.— One of the 
most useful things on the farm, is herewith 
illustrated. As a sled, it is useful in hand¬ 
ling logs, large stones, stumps, etc., while 
Fig. 1.— A CLOD CRUSHER. 
harrows, plows, and other heavy implements 
can readily he taken thereon. When invert¬ 
ed, the heavy cross-pieces crush the clods 
very nicely. If the clods are unusually 
hard, or the sled too light, put on some 
“ballast,” in the form of large stones. If 
made of hard-wood, as it undoubtedly should 
be, it is generally heavy enough for a clod- 
crusher without an addition of freight. Al¬ 
most everyone, with the requisite material and 
tools can soon make one of these machines; 
it does not require much mechanical skill. 
It should be made of oak, well seasoned, 
and 2 by 6 inches in size. The runners 
should be between 5 and 6 feet long. Four 
or five cross-pieces of the same size piece of 
wood, and the same kind, should be cut 
about 2 feet long. On the upper edge of the 
runners, V-shaped notches should be cut, 
to receive them, as shown in the engraving. 
Exercise Wire, for Chained Dogs.— 
Many persons have no room for their pet 
dog to exercise in. Sportsmen often have 
one or two hunting dogs, which they use 
during the gunning season, but which must 
be kept on the chain almost continuously, be¬ 
tween seasons, to prevent them from being 
Fig. 2.— EXERCISE WIRE FOR DOGS. 
lost, or stolen, or getting into mischief. The 
device given in the engraving, figure 2, 
will be found useful in exercising dogs. 
Two solid posts may be planted 20 feet apart, 
near the dog house, and projecting about 6 
inches out of the ground. Twenty feet is a 
good average distance. A stout wire may be 
stretched tightly between and fastened to 
these posts, first slipping the end of the wire 
through the last link of the dog’s chain. The 
dog is fastened to the chain, and soon learns 
how to use his comparative freedom. Old tele¬ 
graph wire is a good thing for the purpose, and 
instead of slipping the wire through the link 
of the chain, a stout (/) hook may be made to 
fasten the chain loosely to the wire, as it will 
not wear out so quickly, the friction being 
very great while the animal is in motion. 
I-argr Ulanufactiiring-. — Flour 
Ahead.— The reader may know some great 
manufactory, say of cotton, or reapers, or 
plows, that turns out a hundred thousand 
dollars worth of products, ten times over, 
every year! Let him imagine, now, five 
thousand three hundred and seventy other 
just such establishments. Their combined 
products would only equal in value what is 
annually made up in 67 varieties of manu¬ 
factories, in our own country, excluding 
gas-making, work on fish products, mining, 
steam railroad machinery, petroleum refin¬ 
ing, and some others.—In figures, these man¬ 
ufacturers are worth $5,369,667,706, ($107 for 
every man, woman, and child in the United 
States)—employing 2,738,950 persons. Flour 
making (value $505,161,712) excels all others, 
followed by slaughtering and meat packing 
($303,562,413). These chief articles of food 
amount to nearly one-sixth of all manufactur¬ 
ing. Next come iron and steel, $296,557,685; 
lumber sawed $233,268,729; foundry and ma¬ 
chine shops, $214,331,668; cotton goods, $210,- 
950,383; men’s clothing, $209,538,460;.boots 
and shoes, $196,920,481; woolen goods, $160,- 
606,721; sugar and molasses refined, $155,- 
484,915; leather tanned, $113,340,617; and 
malt liquors, $101,058,388. 
Winter Agricultural Gatherings. 
The winter meetings of the State Agricul¬ 
tural Boards, as organized and carried on in 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and several 
other States, are among the most attractive 
and profitable means for the improvement of 
our farmers. Much is learned from conversa¬ 
tion with practical farmers and their discus¬ 
sions on these occasions. The theories and 
experiments that we find upon the printed 
page, have been run through the laboratory of 
the soil, and tested under new circumstances, 
and with brighter side-lights. We meet the 
most intelligent men of the profession, men 
who have brought culture and brains to their 
calling, as well as large capital. There are 
some things that must be settled, to our 
own satisfaction at least, before we invest 
money in them, and we cannot find a better 
place to settle them,than in conversation with 
the men who have made the investments, and 
thoroughly tested them. Just now the ensi¬ 
lage fever is prevalent, and the discussion is 
very lively pro and con. Many are almost per¬ 
suaded to build a silo. It will pay to see the 
man who has run a silo for two years, and 
proved that this sort. of fodder makes more 
and better milk and butter than does the 
same material cured and sheltered in the or¬ 
dinary method. By all means, get out to 
these winter meetings, and “prove all things, 
and hold fast to that which is good.” 
Experiments with Onion and Clover. 
It is very frequently the case that different 
varieties of seeds or plants are tested in alter¬ 
nate rows on the same ground or some fer¬ 
tilizer is tested by using it on rows alterna¬ 
ting with those treated in the ordinary man¬ 
ner. A slight difference in the yield of the 
alternate rows is attributed to the use of 
different seeds or the special fertilizer. In 
1881, my assistant selected five rows of Yel¬ 
low Danvers’ onions. These were fourteen 
inches apart, and were contiguous rows of the 
same length running across the patch of 
ground which had been used several years 
for onions. The rows were selected because 
they seemed to be of uniform quality and 
productiveness, and had been treated in the 
same manner. 
The 1st row yielded CJ bushels. 
The 2d row yielded 5} bushels. 
The 3d row yielded 6 i bushels. 
The 4th row yielded - 1 | bushels. 
The 5th row yielded 5 bushels. 
If rows 1 and 3, alternating with 2 and 4, be 
compared, we get a yield of 13 and 10y 4 
bushels respectively, in the proportion of 
nearly 127 to 100, which is a very large differ¬ 
ence. In case these alternate rows had been 
sown with different lots of seeds, or had been 
treated with a variety of fertilizers, this dis¬ 
agreement in yield might have very likely 
been attributed to the .wrong cause. This 
large variation is now attributed to accident, 
such as is likely to occur in any experiment 
where small plats or short rows are compared. 
Bees on White Clover. 
In the spring of 1882, a student at the 
Michigan Agricultural College covered eight 
young heads of white clover with paper 
sacks. The sacks were tied to stakes to 
keep the clover in a natural position. Eight 
similar heads near by were marked at the 
same time. Of the heads covered 
5 yielded no seeds. 0 I 1 yielded 1 seed. 1 
1 yielded 1 seed. 1 | 1 yielded 3 seeds. 3 
Total. 5 
The eight heads of the same age left un¬ 
covered, yielded from twenty-five to thirty- 
five seeds, a total of 236 seeds. W. J. Beal. 
A Convenient Garden Tool. 
BT EBEN E. REXFORD. 
Every one who does much work in the- 
garden, knows that one of the most con¬ 
venient tools he uses is the hoe. More 
work, better work, and a greater variety of 
it can be done with this one implement, 
in the hands of a good gardener, than with 
all others. At least such has been the ex¬ 
perience of the writer. But with the ordi¬ 
nary wide-bladed hoe I have had occasion to 
find fault more than once. I believe in keep¬ 
ing the soil loose among vegetables, as much 
as I do in keeping down weeds, and when 
there are no weeds to be pulled, very often 
the soil between such vegetables as grow 
close together will he allowed to become 
packed on the surface. As long as there are 
weeds to be pulled, the soil is loosened 
more or less, if there is the proper amount of 
weeding done, but later in the season the 
weeds give up trying to grow, and then the 
vegetables suffer 
most. An ordi¬ 
nary hoe is often 
unhandy to use 
in the garden- 
bed. There is 
danger -of injur¬ 
ing the vegeta¬ 
bles, and the work 
is unsatisfactoiy. AN 0LD HOE CUT ■ D0WN> 
I took a hoe from 
which a corner had been broken, and by 
a blacksmith’s assistance, made an instru¬ 
ment for garden use, shown in the engraving. 
It is very convenient, and I use it in prefer¬ 
ence to the ordinary hoe, in places where the 
latter could be used conveniently. Such a 
hoe allows work between close-growing vege¬ 
tables, and the soil can be stirred to the depth 
of the blade much more readily and thorough¬ 
ly than with a hoe of which the blade is of 
the ordinary width. This implement is also 
very convenient for use, when transplanting 
vegetables. Weeds can be removed from the 
side of a plant by using the sharp point, and 
thus much hand-weeding can be done away 
with. The newly cut edges of the hoe 
should be made quite sharp to be effective. 
