154 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May 
THE FARMER’S NOTE BOOK. 
Gin for Loading Logs and Stone. — I noticed a 
communication in one of the numbers of the Cultivator 
for last year, containing an inquiry for a machine with 
which one or two men could load large stone, on a 
wagon. As no one has responded to that inquiry, and as 
1 have a gin for that purpose, I thought it not improper 
to transmit to you for publication, a diagram and de¬ 
scription ol it. 
I constructed one of this kind of gins, a few years 
since, for the purpose of loading saw-logs on a wagon, 
and I found it to be a machine of great utility , for this 
and for other purposes; and especially for hoisting large 
stone high enough to place them on a wagon. It is a 
machine of great mechanical power, simple in its con¬ 
struction, and can be handled and worked by one man 
with great facility. As a portable gin for loading large 
stone, for lifting stone from a quarry, for loading timber 
on wheels, and for many other purposes, I think it can¬ 
not be surpassed. 
The shears, or “ gin poles,” as some call them, are 
fourteen feet in length, and supported at the top by an 
iron bar eighteen inches long, tnade fast in the shear 
which has the windlass attached to it. The other two 
shears “have an inch and a half hole near the top, into 
which the iron bar enters when the shears are erect. 
The holes must be large, so that the lower ends of the 
shears may be placed at some distance asunder. You 
will see by the cut, that the slack rope of the tackles, 
winds on the windlass, which is turned by wooden bars, 
which are thrust into holes near the end of it. A few 
notches, are cut in the windlass, into which a follower 
drops, to prevent its turning backwards. 
If it is desirable to apply more power, a system of cog¬ 
wheels, with a crank on the shaft of the smallest one, 
may be placed where the windlass is. (I once at¬ 
tached a couple of cog-wheels to my gin; and with it a 
lad could elevate a ton or more with ease.) 
When I load saw-logs with this gin, if the tackle rope 
is strong enough, I hitch the chain near the middle of 
the log, and back the wagon under it. If it is very 
heavy, elevate one end, and let it rest on the forward 
part of the wagon, while the other end is raised high 
enough for the hinder part of the wagon to pass under; 
and to be coupled to the fore part. To unload a log, 
place two rails on the wagon, one on either side of 
the log, and pry up the forward end, and lay a roller 
on the two rails under the log, and push it off the hind 
end of the wagon. In order to load large stone, elevate 
them high enough to back the wagon under, and let 
them drop on it. If the stone are not very large, a sin¬ 
gle rope, passing over the upper pulley and to the wind¬ 
lass, is sufficient. A gin constructed in this manner is 
very useful in elevating earth, when digging a well, 
and also to let down stone for the wall. 
My gin cost me $2.50, besides half a day’s work, 
making it. Tackle blocks, $1.25. Rope, 75 cts. 
Iron bar to support the upper ends, and the timber, 50 cts. 
Thus you will perceive that this gin is 11 multum in 
parvo,” in every point of view. With it one man can 
perform wdiat ten men could not without it; and if you 
consider it worthy of a place in your paper, it is. at 
your disposal. S. E. Todd. Lansing, Tompkins Co.. 
N. Y., 1847. . 
Insect in Clover Seed. —After a great deal of 
search, I have found the clover seed fly. and herewith 
enclose two of the insects between two small pieces of 
mica. I hope they will attract the attention of some 
entomologist. I have examined them with a micro¬ 
scope, with the intention of having a drawing made 
from them; but finding it more difficult than I expected. 
I solicited the aid of Mr. Withered, Prof, of Chemistry 
and Mathematics in the Ithaca Academy. He examined 
the fly, and found it a different species from any he had 
seen before. 
The insect eats the clover seed in the fall and latter 
part of summer. I have known the seed that ripens 
with the first growth of the clover, almost eat up by it. 
At the time it was mowed it appeared to be well filled, 
with seed. Some seasons they destroy from one-third 
to one-half of my crop. The worm commences its work 
on the outside of the seeds,, and eats all but the part that 
is next to the stem, so that if the chit of the seed is left 
it will grow, although it may not be more than a fourth 
part of the seed. 
The way I detected the fly was this: About the first 
of October last, I rubbed out some seed by hand, and 
selected some which I knew had worms in it, and put it 
in a small vial, over the mouth of which a paper was tied, 
with small holes made through it, and hung the vial up 
in the room. The flies began to hatch out about the 
first of February. When they first appear they are 
almost white, but as they become older they turn brown. 
Those I send you were three or four days old when they 
were put under the microscope. Their natural shape 
may have been somewhat altered by pressure between 
the pieces of mica. I regret that I could not send them 
to you alive. Henry Brewer. Enfield. Tompkins 
Co N. Y. March 1, 1847. 
The insect forwarded by Mr. Brewer, is too much 
mutilated co enable us to form any useful .conclusions 
from an examination of it. We are inclined to think it 
is different from anything we have before seen; but 
we can form no idea of the manner in which it attacks 
the clover-seed. We would thank Mr. B. to send us 
some seed which has been eaten by the worm, and at 
the proper season, some which has the egg in the seed, 
that we may see the insect in all its stages.— Eds.] 
American Agricultural Books. —In the Decem¬ 
ber number of Mr. Downing’s usually candid and libe¬ 
ral Horticultural Magazine, I find an article which 
speaks in so depreciating a manner of what have seemed 
to me meritorious publications, that I am induced to 
take up a little of your room for the purpose of inqui¬ 
ring into the merits of the case. The article in ques¬ 
tion is a review of Mr. Allen’s “ American Agriculture.” 
This book I have not sen, but am ready to believe 
all the good that is said of it. The passage which 
attracted my attention is the following; 
