118 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
such compost, are regarded as a good dressing 
for cabbages and onions. A less amount is 
required for ordinary crops. 
A Tether for a Horse or Cow. 
S. P. Orr, Jackson Co., Ga., 6ends us a 
drawing and description of a device for stak¬ 
ing out a horse or cow. As there is more or 
less danger of the animal’s becoming entan¬ 
gled, and thereby injuring himself by most 
of the methods I have noticed, I will give 
you a plan which will prevent this. Take a 
stout piece of timber, a, b, 3'/ 3 feet long ; 
fasten a ring at a, and one at c, 6 inches 
from the lower end. Take a pole, c, d, and 
make it long enough to extend back of the 
animal’s heels 3 or 4 feet, and fasten a ring 
to each end. An iron spike, /, with a ring, 
e, in the end, is driven in the ground. 
The irregular line represents a cord of any 
desired length. Fasten the rod, a, b, to the 
halter at a, with a leather strap, also c, d, 
to a, b, in the same way at c ; tie one end of 
the cord into the ring at d, and the other in 
the ring in the end of the iron spike. Tlio 
ring at c, 6 inches from the lower end, pre¬ 
vents taking up the cord, and thus entan¬ 
gling the animal. The end, b, will slide over 
it as the animal grazes. 
Gardening and Poultry Raising for 
W omen. 
There are many farmers’ wives and daugh¬ 
ters who would be glad to earn a few dollars, 
and to those, a leaf from my experience may 
be of service. Four years ago last spring, I 
obtained the use of a small plot of ground for 
a garden. Our family was small, and I did 
my own work, and had to work early and 
late. The cash proceeds were limited, but 
welcome, and our table, for the first time in 
years, was supplied with fresh vegetables. In 
addition to the above, I began in the spring 
with nine hens, and was able to credit them 
with $16.00 worth of eggs and dressed chick¬ 
ens sold, besides a good supply for our own 
table. It is profitable to raise a few early 
chickens to kill in August and September. 
Better results were obtained the next year. 
After deducting rent, cost of seed, and hired 
help, the clear profits of the small garden 
were $20.00 besides a supply for the table of 
both summer and winter vegetables. The 
gain in health and strength is not to be esti¬ 
mated in dollars and cents. With many, 
there seems to be a prejudice against such 
employment for women; as if it were in 
some manner vulgar and degrading. In my 
own case, the study necessary to insure suc¬ 
cess has had an educating influence, and 
strengthened a desire for more knowledge of 
a useful kind. Helen Palmer. 
Make a Stone Boat. 
A Stone Boat is a very convenient imple¬ 
ment on any farm, and when properly con¬ 
structed, may be used for many purposes. It 
is expensive to saw the boards out of a 
crooked log, and, when a few miles from a 
saw-mill, costs too much. Any farmer with 
ordinary mechanical skill can make a stone 
boat with a hand-axe, an inch-auger and a 
hand-saw. Cut a couple of small trees that 
will work three by six inches, or one large 
enough to split, with the necessary crook; 
hew out two runners three inches thick and 
six inches high ; turn them bottom side up, 
side by side, saw down in each, say 2 inches, 
6 inches apart; the first immediately back of 
the crook, the next one foot from the back end, 
and another in the center between. Cut out 
and put in cross-pieces 2 by 6 inches, and 
pin with wooden pins ; then cover the bot¬ 
tom with hard-wood plank, l‘/ 4 inch thick 
will answer ; pin to cross-pieces and to run¬ 
ners ; bevel the front ends. Take a 2 inch 
plank and pin it securely across the front,bevel 
off the lower front corner down to the plank, 
running lengthwise ; then cut a slot in the 
center of this front cross-plank sufficiently 
large to slip in a chain hook or link, and put 
in a toggle; turn right side up, and put a piece 
of scantling 3 by 4 inches across the back end, 
cutting half out of the scantling and half 
out of the runners and pin fast. The plank 
across the front end would be better put on 
with iron bolts. C. D. F. 
A Sheep Trough. 
Mr. L. M. Camp, Tate Co., Miss., sends us 
a drawing of a sheep trough. He writes : 
take two planks, 1 by 12 inches, 10 feet long, 
nail them together at the edges, V-shaped. 
For the ends and center support, cut three 
pieces, 12 inches long, from a 12-incli board, 
and nail one of these on each end and one in 
the middle, as shown in the engraving. Cut 
two pieces, 2 by 6 inches and 2 feet long, and 
in these saw a notch to receive the trough. 
Nail it securely from the inside. To prevent 
the sheep standing in the trough, saw off a 
A CHEAP GRAIN TROUGH FOR SHEEP. 
little of the upper corner of the end and cen¬ 
ter-pieces, and nail a piece 1 by 6 inches on 
these ends the whole length of the trough. 
Cucnmboi'>> Wiltiout a Garden.— 
The method by which an old lady managed 
to have a supply of cucumbers from her 
back yard, may afford a useful hint to others 
whose garden area is limited. A cask was 
placed in the corner, and partly, perhaps 
one-third filled with stones. Upon the 
[March, 
stones was a thick layer of stable-manure,, 
and upon this six or eight inches of soil. 
Two small boards tacked together to form a. 
trough were placed against the side of the 
cask and extended from its top to the bot¬ 
tom. The seeds were sown in the soil, and 
the washing water was poured in through 
the trough to keep the soil moist. The vines 
in time ran over and covered the sides of 
the cask, and some were trained along the 
fence. They bore in a manner seldom seen, 
in the usual method of growing cucumbers. 
Fence Posts and Frost. 
Fence posts cannot be prevented from ris¬ 
ing more or less in the spring, as the frost is 
coming out of the ground, but by the sim¬ 
ple contrivance shown below, the weight of 
the surrounding earth may be made to carry 
them back into their former position. The 
post-hole need not be dug any larger than 
usual. With a small garden trowel, or any 
POSTS WITH “WINGS.’ 
similar instrument, scoop out two places for- 
the small wings shown in the cut. Six inches 
from the lower end of the post cut the 
notches for the “ wings,” with the shoulder 
of the notch on the underside. Cut in about 
two inches, if the size of the post will admit; 
if a small post, one inch will answer. Before 
filling in with earth above the wings, be sure 
that the space is well filled beneath them, or 
the tamping will drive them out of position. 
Common four-inch battens, cut into pieces 
six inches long, make good wings. A nail 
should be put through the foot of the wing 
into the post, else it may work out of the 
notch by the continued action of the frost. 
I have also kept posts from being thrown out 
of position by spiking a piece 2 by 4 inches, 
1 foot long, to the post, 16 inches below the 
surface of the ground, as shown in the right- 
hand post in the engraving. W. D. B. 
A Use for an Old Hedge. 
“ J. W.,” Johnson Co., Nebraska, writes us 
that he is a recent settler in Nebraska. In 
the neighborhood where he bought his land, 
most of the farms are surrounded by Osage 
Orange hedges, set twelve or fifteen years 
ago. Experience has taught these farmers 
that it would have been sufficient to have 
enclosed a few acres for pasture, instead of 
surrounding the whole farm, as such an ex¬ 
tent of hedge is too expensive to care for, 
and is apt to be neglected. Some of the 
farmers are cutting up their hedges, while 
others cut back the overgrown trees to four 
feet in liight. Our correspondent, finding that 
he could have the Osage Orange brush from 
the hedges thus cut down, hauled enough to 
inclose three sides of a twenty-acre lot, there 
being a hedge on one side already. Using a 
crowbar to make the holes, he set the brush, 
first sharpened at the lower end, at every 16 
inches. The pieces, being set slanting, were 
