368 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
Save Your Straw. 
Our favorite rack is made by setting 14- 
foot posts 4 feet in the ground 8 feet apart. 
The poles for these posts should be about 6 
inches through at the top end. The rack is 6 
feet wide. At the top of the posts, along the 
sides and across the ends, we spike on a 2 by 
6-inch piece to stiffen the rack and hold the 
posts in place. Just above the surface of the 
ground, we spike a 2 by 6 cross-piece at every 
pair of posts. Oh these, boards or poles are 
laid to keep the straw from the ground. The 
cross-pieces should be well spiked, as they 
must serve to keep the posts from spreading 
at the top. There must be no cross-pieces 
A RACK OR FRAME FOR STRAW. 
above these, except at the end of the 
rack. If put high up in the middle of the 
rack they will prevent the straw from set¬ 
tling down when eaten out from below. The 
object in having the rack so narrow is to 
allow the cattle to reach nearly to the center 
from each side, so that the straw will con¬ 
stantly settle down within their reach. Ten 
inches above the floor we spike on another 2 
by 6-piece clear around, and 16 inches above 
this, still another is spiked on, making a 
space through which the cattle can pass their 
heads. The space, between the lower piece 
and the floor answers for sheep to reach 
through. On many small farms this rack, 
30 or 40 feet long, would hold all the straw. 
On large farms it might be filled several 
times during the winter from the main 
stack, which could then be fenced to keep 
the cattle away from the straw entirely. 
Avoid Farm Mortgages. 
Mortgages are necessary and beneficial in 
•civilized society, but there are unpleasant 
features about them. They often enable a 
man to accomplish what he could not other¬ 
wise do, and they also often involve a man 
• who would have been otherwise successful. 
They often enable a man to get out of trou¬ 
ble which he could not otherwise avoid, and 
they perhaps equally often make miserable 
a life which would have otherwise been hap¬ 
py. It is easy to get them on to the farm, 
but it is not always so easy to get them off. 
Farm mortgages are about the best invest¬ 
ment that capital can find. Investors gen¬ 
erally like them. They partake of the na¬ 
ture, permanence, and other substantial 
qualities of real property, but are relieved 
from many of the burdens imposed upon 
land. One investment company in New 
York City has upwards of $20,000,000 in 
farm mortgages, mostly on Western farm:?. 
The money draws seven per cent and up¬ 
wards, and is obtained in Europe at four per 
cent, so that the annual profits to the invest¬ 
ment company are about $600,000. There 
are perhaps a dozen such companies in New 
York City alone, and there are private in¬ 
vestors, now that money is plentiful, all 
over the country; so that there is no lack of 
opportunity to get mortgages on farms. But 
so hard are they to get off that, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that investors will not gen¬ 
erally loan more than a third or a half of the 
value of the security offered, a broker who 
deals largely in farm mortgages, recently 
said to the writer that, as a rule, mortgages 
are not paid. That is to say, when a farm 
is once mortgaged, it in a majority of in¬ 
stances remains so for a long time. If one 
mortgage is paid, another is made to raise 
the money. If it is foreclosed, it is very rare 
that anything is paid back to the farmer. If 
it is sold, it often continues to be traded 
around until it gets into the hands of some 
one who uses it in buying the land, and so it 
gets “ satisfied.” 
Money at seven per cent will double in ten 
years if the interest is kept invested. If the 
farmer carries a mortgage of say $5,000 for 
thirty years, it will cost him, at seven per 
cent, about $35,000 for the use of the $5,000. 
This enormous figure, obtained by computing 
interest at seven per cent on the amounts 
paid, is no more than a fair estimation of the 
cost of such a mortgage, for the farmer can 
doubtless always invest his money in some¬ 
thing which will yield him seven per cent. 
Therefore :—1. Do not mortgage the farm 
unless it seems absolutely necessary. But, 
as a general rule is less valuable than a par¬ 
ticular one, it may be well to specify, by add¬ 
ing : 2. Do not mortgage to build a fine 
house. By so doing, you will have to pay 
money for an investment which does not 
bring money. 3. Do not mortgage the farm 
to buy more land. Where there is absolute 
certainty that more can be made out of the 
land than the cost of the mortgage, this rule 
might not apply. But absolute certainty is 
rare, mistaken calculation is common. 4. Do 
not mortgage the farm unless you are sure of 
the continued fertility of its soil. Many 
persons borrow with an expectation of repay¬ 
ment based on an experience of the land’s 
virginity only, which, on failing, may leave 
the land less productive, and the means of 
repayment thus be removed. In this way 
trouble begins which may result in the loss 
of the farm. Keep very clear of mortgages. 
Remedy for a Kicking Cow. 
Mr. “ T. H. C.,” Cortlandt Co., N. Y., has a 
fine young cow, naturally timid, that 
through ill-treatment acquired the habit of 
kicking while being milked. Mr. C. tried 
several remedies commonly used in hamper¬ 
ing kickers, but without success. Finally 
the following was effectual in breaking the 
bad habit: Take a strap five feet long with a 
buckle on one end. Double the strap nearly 
in the middle; place the loop thus made 
around the left hind leg above the gambrel, 
and slip the two ends through the loop, 
drawing it tight. Place the ends of the strap 
around the other leg above the gambrel, and 
arrange the longer end around the double 
strap between the legs; buckle it tight to the 
shorter end, thus bringing the legs as close 
together as natural. The cow can stand 
easy, but cannot lift either foot alone, or pull 
it out of the noose. The same method was 
tried on a young heifer in breaking to 
milk, and proved generally satisfactory. 
Useful Farm Devices. 
Mr. “H. R.,” New Columbia,Union Co., Pa., 
sends us sketches of useful articles for the 
farm. Figure 1 represents a contrivance for 
Fig. 1.— CORN STUBBLE BREAKER. 
breaking down cornstalks. The log should 
be about 12 feet long, so as to take three 
rows of stalks at a time. A chain, a, is fas¬ 
tened about two feet from the ends of the 
log. A stout pin, b, is driven in near each 
end to catch such stalks as may be leaning 
down. Autumn, when the sap in the stubble 
is frozen, is the best time to use the imple¬ 
ment, as then the stalks will snap off easily. 
Figure 2 shows a method of conveying wa¬ 
ter from the well at the house to the barn- 
Fig. 2.— UNDERGROUND WATER TROUGH. 
yard by means of pipes laid underground. 
The pump is at d, and b is a trough to con¬ 
vey the water from the pump to the pipes. 
Two “ Jacks.” 
A jack, simple in construction and easily 
made,is shown at the right. (See illustrations.) 
The upright post can be attached to the lever 
by a leather tacked over the top by an iron 
hinge, ora mortise and bolt. The axle can be 
held in place and prevented from slipping by 
wooden pegs in the lower part of the lever. 
A strong jack is shown at the left hand. 
The lever moves in a slot, or mortise, in the 
top of the post, and also on the end of 
the post which goes under the axle. When 
the axle is elevated, the pin in the end 
of the lever should be directly above the one 
in the post, which will prevent its falling 
back. The lever under the axle should be 
three inches square, and of hard-wood; the 
handle end, one inch thick, running from an 
inch and a fourth wide at the small end, to 
five inches at the upper end. Pegs in the 
lower end will keep the axle from sliding 
down after it has been properly raised. 
