296 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
you can find time to go on with the plowing. 
But the earlier it can be done in the fall the 
better will be the condition of the laud. It .is 
very desirable to cross-plow before winter. 
Horse-Powers. 
There has been much discussion as to the 
most economical horse-power. Without enter¬ 
ing into the merits of the question in a mechan¬ 
ical sense, which involves many considerations, 
we would merely say that having tried and 
used both the lever and the railway power, we 
believe that for general use the railway power 
is the simplest and best, and that almost any 
well-built rhilway power now made and in use 
will be found a handy and economical thing to 
have around the barn. Some of its advantages 
are that the weather, whatever it may be, need 
not interfere with its use, that it is always ready, 
that for light work, as cutting feed or cleaning 
grain, one horse may be used, and that it is 
easily moved about. The chief objections to 
railway powers are, the seeming danger to the 
horses in case anything gives way, and also the 
seeming severe work on the team. But both 
these are more imaginary than real. With a 
pretty large acquaintance with them, we never 
had or heard of an accident in their use, and 
although we confess to feeling a dread of some¬ 
thing happening, yet no accident has occurred, 
and with the precautions we have learned to 
take there does not seem to be any possibility 
of it. Perfect safety may be secured by the 
following methods: Let the horses have all the 
harness on when they are put in, fasten the 
breast-chains on to the rings of the harness, and 
let them pass through the rings on the breast- 
of keeping a dangerous strain on the belt to 
obviate slipping. Should the belt break or fly 
off, the pulley drops and brings the brake into 
immediate action, and the machine can not by 
any possibility run away. If these precautions 
are taken, there need be no fear of any acci¬ 
dent occurring in the use of these horse-powers, 
and the chief objections to their use are re¬ 
moved. With reference 
to the excessive labor 
of the team, this is quite 
a gratuitous alarm. The 
horse walks up an ele¬ 
vation of a foot and a 
half in ten at the rate 
of two miles in an hour, 
or something over that, 
and thus, carrying no 
load but merely his own 
weight up that ruoder 
at[e elevation, if he 
weighs a thousand 
pounds, he performs the work of a standard 
horse-power, and this with greater ease than 
in any other method we know of. 
log which connects with it.' In laying the logs, 
the end of one should be driven into the en¬ 
larged bore of the other. A little tar may be 
used to get a close fit if the pipes are to be used 
for conveying water; if for drains, the ends may 
be left loosely connecting, and stones packed 
around the joint. A coating of hot tar given 
when the logs are thoroughly dry will make 
HORSE-rOWER with safety-brake and 
bar at a in the figure, and straps from the 
breeching'may also pass through the rings on 
the side. The horses then could not in any 
case leap out, nor can they back out even if so 
disposed, and should they under any circum¬ 
stances whatever endeavor to back out, .the 
platform shown at the rear of the machine 
will allow them to do so without injury. This 
platform should be made of two-inch plank, 
and should be attached to the machine by 
means of a bolt passed through the sills at the 
rear of the machine, and shown by dotted lines. 
It will be found very convenient for the passage 
of the horses in and out, and in a very short 
time they may be so trained as to walk up and 
back out by word of command and without 
handling. The only real danger consists in the 
effects of a breakage of the belt or machinery, 
or the slipping off of the belt. This is provided 
for effectually by an arrangement of the brake. 
An arm which carries a pulley is fixed to the 
arm of the brake-block. The pulley (shown 
sit b) rests on tiie belt, and serves when all is 
right us a tightener, and prevents the necessily 
To Bore Wooden Drains or Water-Logs. 
“ G. F.,” Rochester, Ind., asks how to bore 
drain-logs eight or ten feet in length. He has 
a quantity of spruce poles of which he wants to 
construct water-pipes. For this purpose a frame 
should be constructed as shown in the figure. 
It consists of a series of trestles firmly placed 
on the ground, or they may be connected toge¬ 
ther by a strip nailed along the ends of the tres¬ 
tles so that they are kept in position. Each 
trestle has a pair of stakes fixed on the top, be¬ 
tween which the logs 
are placed and keyed 
fast with wedges. The 
boring tool is an auger 
of tw T o or three (or 
m ore if necessary) 
inches in diameter, 
fixed on to a long iron 
rod — half-inch or 
three quarters thick 
would be sufficiently 
strong—and at the 
end of the rod a 
double-crank handle 
is welded. This tool 
platform. rests on trestles fur¬ 
nished with guides to keep it exactly in po¬ 
sition during the boring. When the tres¬ 
tles are placed in position and the log keyed 
fast, the boring tool is then carefully placed in 
line each way with the center of the log. A 
line, similar to a carpenter’s chalk-line, should 
be used for this purpose, and it depends on the 
care with which this is done whether the bore¬ 
hole keeps the center of the log or not. 
When all is accurately placed, the work is 
commenced and continued until the middle of 
the log is reached, when it is turned end for end 
and bored from the other extremity. This is 
always advisable, as it very much lessens the 
risk of the auger running out of line. When 
the logs are bored, they should be peeled and 
seasoned before using. An excellent method 
of doing this is to put them for a few days into 
a creek or pond, where they will become thor¬ 
oughly saturated with water, and on drying 
afterwards for a few weeks they will season 
rapidly. To fit them together, one end should 
be brought to a taper, and the other end bored 
out with a tapering reamer to fit the end of the 
BORING A WATER OR DRAIN LOG. 
them more durable, and an iron ring driven 
over the end which receives the point of the 
connected log will prevent it splitting when it 
comes to swell in consequence of being satu¬ 
rated with water. 
Farm-Mills. 
We have had several inquiries about farm- 
mills for grinding coarse feed for stock. There 
are but two kinds of these mills used—viz., 
those with steel plates to form the grinding sur¬ 
faces, and those with burr-stones. The former 
kind does very fair work, but occasionally the 
plates need replacing, and as soon as they be¬ 
come worn the work is badly done. Such mills 
are largely advertised in the agricultural papers, 
and are relatively cheaper than the stones, but 
they are not so durable, and not easily kept in 
such good order as the stone mills. The cost 
for a liorse-power steel mill is not far from 
$50, and one of this price will grind from five 
to ten bushels per hour. The burr-stone mill 
will cost about double this amount with all the 
fittings complete, but one can be got up very 
much cheaper by purchasing a pair of what are 
called country stones—which are of native 
manufacture, and cost less than half the price 
A FARM-MILL. 
of French burr—and having them framed and 
mounted by a country millwright or miller. 
We give an illustration of such a mill, which we 
have used very satisfactorily, and which, run by 
two horses, has chopped fifty bushels of oats 
and corn in a day with great ease. The stones 
were country stones, and were hard enough to 
