1872 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
17 
no less. If our sod is such a one as rve lately 
saw cut from a pasture on a farm in Eastern 
Pennsylvania, the plow must necessarily go 
seven or eight inches beneath the surface before 
enough soil can be obtained wherewith to make 
a seed-bed. The average crop on this farm is 
over 100 bushels of shelled corn per acre. And 
the secret, if there is any, is in this sod. Why 
should it be doubted ? Compare the sods re¬ 
presented in figures 1 and 2, and compare 100 
bushels against the average corn crop. It is a 
simple example in proportion: as sod is to sod, 
so is corn to corn. And by this we may 
learn what a heavy sod will do. 
Blasting and Breaking Rocks. 
There are many localities in the East where 
stone is too valuable to waste, and yet where 
the land is too valuable to remain occupied or 
encumbered with it. At the West stone is less 
"abundant, but what there is is valuable for many 
uses. Making foundations for buildings, walls 
for barn-yards, fences for fields, and protecting 
walls for bank's of streams liable to be washed 
away, are all uses for which stone is valu¬ 
able. We give some directions for breaking up 
the largest rocks which a farmer is likely to 
meet on his farm. This is most easily done by 
blasting. A few ounces of powder is sufficient 
to reduce to*“sizable” fragments a rock of 
several tons’ weight. To do this, let a hole be 
Fig.l.— TOOLS FOR BLASTING AND BREAKING ROCKS. 
drilled in such a part of the stone that the re¬ 
sistance to the powder will be as near as pos¬ 
sible equal on all sides. A little examination 
and judgment will show where the hole should 
be placed, and in which direction it should be 
bored. Then take the drill (a, fig. 1), which is 
of octagonal steel, one inch in diameter (Amer¬ 
ican steel made at Pittsburg is to be chosen in 
preference to the more brittle and costly Eng¬ 
lish steel), on which the blacksmith has fash¬ 
ioned a “ bit,” shaped as in the cut (fig 1), and, 
holding it with the left hand, strike with smart, 
light strokes on the head of the drill with 
the mallet (b) held in the right hand. After 
each stroke the drill must be turned one eighth 
round. The eight sides of the drill furnish a 
guide for this. When the hole has been worked 
dry two or three inches deep, water may be 
used to soften the rock, taking care to use only 
just so much as to keep the powdered rock in a 
state of soft mud; a little and often is the rule. 
To keep the water from splashing, a round 
piece of leather is used, large enough to lay over 
the hole in the stone, with a hole in the center 
of it to admit the drill. A cloth is laid on this, 
and wound loosely round the drill, and prevents 
all slopping over. The mud is taken out of 
the hole when necessary with a “ swab-stick,” 
which is a piece of sapling, the end of which is 
battered up so as to make a sort of mop. This 
is dipped in the hole, and the mud whieli ad¬ 
heres to it as it is withdrawn is jarred off. When 
the hole is sufficiently' deep it is cleaned out 
with the swab, dried with some perfe«tly dry 
sand thrown in, and swabbed out dry. It is 
now ready for the blast. The powder used is 
coarse blasting powder. The quantity to be 
used greatly depends on circumstances, learned 
only by experience. It is better to use too little, 
and do it over again, than use too much and 
blow out the top of the stone only, and spoil 
all the work. The object is to break the rock 
into a few large fragments, and not all to “flin- 
>s 
Fig. 2 .— BLAST READY TO FIRE. 
ders.” Then about two inches of powde^will 
be sufficient for a rock that requires a hole two 
feet deep. The powder being poured out of the 
can into the cup which covers the top of the 
neck of the can, and which should be about 
three inches deep, is poured into the hole, a 
piece of fuse long enough to reach 
from the powder about a foot out 
of the hole is cut off the roll (which 
is seen in its proper place on the 
powder-can), and one end put to 
the bottom of the powder. The 
powder is gently pressed down 
with the small end of the swab- 
stick, and dry sand is poured on to 
it until the hole is filled. The point 
of the swab-stick is thrust into the 
sand to “ tamp ” it, so that the pow¬ 
der may be confined. The loose end of the fuse is 
split with a knife for half an inch to expose the 
powder, and when the tools are removed into a 
place of safety a match may be applied. It 
will be advisable to retire to a safe distance, 
where the effect of the explosion may be viewed. 
If everything is just right the stone will fall 
apart with a dull, dead sound, and no fragments 
will fly. If too much powder is used, a great 
noise will be made, but little good done. 
Smaller stones may be broken with the ham¬ 
mer and the wedge and feathers. With the 
chisel end of the hammer (d) a shallow groove 
is made across the stone where the fracture is 
wanted, with a small drill three or four holes 
six inches deep are drilled, wedges ( c) are placed 
in the holes with the feathers on each side of 
them between the stone and wedge, and they 
are driven gradually, with light, steady blows, 
on one wedge after the other, in regular 
order, until the stone breaks, when the split 
will he found straight and smooth enough for 
any sort of rough farm-work. 
Tools for Cutting’ Ice. 
Cutting ice is a very simple operation, and 
requires only such tools as any farmer can com¬ 
mand. All that are necessary are a common 
cross-cut saw, properly arranged, an ax, and a 
board on which to draw the blocks out of the 
water and into the sled or wagon. Ice-tongs 
may be used with advantage, but they may 
easily be dispensed with. An ordinary cross-cut 
saw of small size may be used by taking off tlio 
socket for the handle at one end. In the other 
socket a handle may be fitted which will be 
handier to use if it is set in at right augles to 
the blade of the saw, as iu fig. 2. To start cut¬ 
ting, first make a hole with the ax large enough 
to start the saw, and cut strips eighteen inches 
wide. These may be cut across into squares 
with the ax, first cutting a slight channel in 
the direction in which the ice should break, 
Fig. 3.— GETTING OUT ICE ON THE FARM. 
