256 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
seams are calked with tow and pitch so as to 
make it water-tight. If made nine feet long, 
four feet wide, and sixteen inches deep it will 
float with a ton of muck. It should have a 
ipair of runners beneath it, so that it may be 
isadily drawn upon the ground when out of 
the water. At each side there should be a hook 
®r eye to which a chain may be fastened. A 
strong eye should also be fastened on one side 
and at the bottom, into which the chain hook 
may be placed when wanted. All these are 
shown in the engraving. To commence the 
digging, the boat is hauled up to the edge of 
the swamp and loaded with muck, which is 
drawn to the place where it is to be piled. The 
heap should be as close to the swamp as possi¬ 
ble, as, being so full of water, much labor is 
saved by hauling the muck home after it has 
Med for a few months. As the muck is dug 
now be deepened two feet more by commencing 
at the place of beginning and proceeding as 
before. The muck may be dug from the bank 
of the ditch with long-handled shovels if the 
bottom is not dry. By and by, as the ditch is 
deepened, the water 
will flow into the 
deep part and leave 
the shallow portion 
dry enough to work 
in. When one ditch 
is completed another 
may be dug, and in 
this manner a very 
wet swamp may be 
rendered dry enough 
for a meadow. The 
marl from the bot¬ 
toms of the ditches 
will make an excel¬ 
lent dressing for the 
surface of the swamp 
as soon as it is drain¬ 
ed. By excavating a 
pond in the lowest 
portion of the swamp 
and taking the supply of peal or marl from 
it, the water may be collected there and the 
swamp in a measure drained. When the boat 
is to be unloaded it may be drawn to the place 
where the muck is piled to dry; the hook of 
the draft chain is placed in the eye at the side, 
and the oxen or 
horses can easily up¬ 
set it and dump the 
load. By reversing 
this method the boat 
is restored to its origi¬ 
nal position. A pair 
of mud “ pattens ” 
will be found very 
useful when work¬ 
ing in the swamp. 
They are made, as shown in figure 3, of half¬ 
inch boards in strips 2t or 3 inches broad for 
the bottom pieces and narrower ones for the 
two side pieces. A strap or leather passes 
across the toe of the boot and another buckles 
like the strap of a skate across the instep. 
With these one may stand or work upon very 
soft mud without sinking in it. In walking 
Big. 1.—DITCHING A SWAMP. 
Tig. :i .—boat for getting out muck. 
had engraved. He says this pattern, although 
very similar to that described in the Agricul¬ 
turist of February, 1873, is better than that in 
some important points. The ends of the yoke 
are stronger, and less liable to split when made 
from this pattern than from the other, and 
Fig. 1 .—top view of yoke. 
neater in appearance. The bows are also better 
supported. This yoke is make from a block 
8 x 10 inches thick, and preferably of basswood, 
cherry, or butternut, when used for light work, 
but where heavy work such as lumbering is 
done, soft maple should be used. The length 
of the yoke of which this is the pattern was five 
Fig. 2.—SIDE VIEW OF YOKE. 
feet two inches, but the length wfill vary ac¬ 
cording to circumstances. The distance be¬ 
tween the bow-holes at the top is eight inches, 
but for light oxen the holes should He made to 
suit the bows, and the bows should be made to 
fit each ox just as a collar is made to fit ahorse. 
When making a yoke, it is best to cut out a 
piece of board the exact shape of the pattern 
shown at figure 1 and lay it on the block to 
mark out by. The dotted lines show the 
amount of the chamfer upon the edges of the 
yoke. The portion between the bow-holes 
should be rounded off to very much the shape 
of the ball of the thumb, which is the most 
suitable to fit the neck of the ox. 
■■■ -»-«-— ■ 
A Prairie Stable. 
A “New Subscriber” writes us from Platt 
Co., Nebraska, and although he does not 
live in a sod house, he compliments us upon 
our representation of one. He, however, has a 
sod barn, and wants to know how he may 
thatch it with long prairie grass. Very oppor¬ 
tunely we have a communication from another 
of our friends upon the Nebraska prairies, de¬ 
scribing his plan of building a sod barn, which 
Fig. 3.— mud patten. 
m.%, ;g£ko&s are laid down and pegged to the 
ground? for a tramway, to enable the boat to be 
easily-pushed into the swamp, which should be 
done by means of a hand-spike. By and by 
the muck will have been dug away sufficiently 
to allow the boat to float. Then the ditch is 
lengthened out until it is carried across the 
swamp. When the boat is loaded it is poled 
towards the landing-place with the hand-spike. 
H the ditch has been dug two feet deep it may 
with these “pattens” it is 
necessary to carry the feet 
wide apart, or a closer ac¬ 
quaintance with the mud may 
be made than would be agree¬ 
able. The value of muck 
alone as a fertilizer is apt to 
be overrated. We can not 
agree with Dana in his “ Muck 
Manual,” that a mixture of 
muck, salt, and lime is equal 
to barn-yard manure. This 
compost lacks some of the 
most valuable constituents of 
well-saved stable manure. But 
as a basis for a manure pile, or as an absorbent 
in place of straw, we have found it to be very 
valuable, and the ease with which it is spread 
in the field is one of its great advantages. 
With a plentiful supply of muck on hand one 
may use all his straw for feed, and thus greatly 
extend his resources. 
- - I » ■ 
An Improved Ox-Yoke. 
J. S., Philippi, Jefferson Co., Pa., sends us 
two drawings of an ox-yoke, which we have 
o © 
* a 
• » 
6 0 
Fig. 1.— POSTS for prairie stable. 
we here give with illustrations. His plan is as 
follows: Set four rows of heavy posts in the 
form shown at figure 1. For a stable 20 x 30 
feet, five posts are set about 8 feet apart in 
each row. The first row, a, is 7£ feet from the 
next row, b ; from b to c is 5 feet, and from c 
to d is 7£ feet. The outside rows should be 6 
feet high in the clear, the inside rows 71 feet. 
The posts are then joined at the top, length¬ 
wise of the building, by strong plates. These 
may be laid in natural forked timbers or be 
firmly pinned to the posts. Rails are then laid 
about two inches apart upon the plates. Extra 
. r{ 
i! I i|J 
©I 
