Show yav r i r 2 IMPROVED DITCHING PLOW inventor who thinks he has pro elded an effective machine A recent invention provides an am proved ditching plow especially adapted for digging tiling sewer ditches or draining ditches the de vice la ot very simple construction and capable of effective service in any character of soil it Is especially adapted to be drawn by a traction en alne or capstan says scientific amer lean As shown in the engraving it comprises a beam A which extends forward and with an upward alon from the cleaner B the latter Is triangular in shape being provided with two diverging wings the pur pose of the cleaner Is to travel over the surface of the ground and remove the excavated material from the edges of the ditch the beam A Is hinged to the cleaner BO as to provide for a certain amount of vertical motion be low the bean and forming an angle therewith Is a blade C provided with a cutting edge at its lower end which the plow in use beaves to enter the earth more or less deeply as the plow Is drawn forward and carry the excavated material to the surface at its forward end this blade Is braced by means of a support D which Is fasted to the learn A at the forward end of the beam A la a clevis bar E which Is secured at its upper end to draft bar F extending to the rear of the beam A in this clevis bar are a series of apertures aper tures adapted to receive a link ta which a pulley block Is connected this block serves to receive the cable that is passed to the windlass or drum of the traction engine tor the purpose of drawing the car forward owing to the lightness of this plow it may readily be loaded upon a truck and transported from place to place THE HORSE OR MOTOR what kind of force for plowing shall be used on the ordinary farm the animal Is still of greater service than any me force the steam plow Is good on the large area but the man of small means and having under his control a small farm will depend on the horse or the ox the mule or the cow which kind he shall use must be governed by the conditions under which he works it may be ang to those living on the prairies of the west to learn that even oxen are still used for the work of plowing but on hilly stony land the ox Is still valuable for a plow animal the fact that he Is slow makes him the more valuable tor when the plow t moving among stones and roots it better that it move slowly than rap idly but on the lands of the west says the farmers review a fast moving animal Is needed ano the ox Is outclassed the same variations apply to the use of plows drawn by electric motors and tc greater plows driven by steam some experiments have recently been made in germany to determine at just what point the steam plow is more va bable than the plow drawn by horses or oxen the conclusion is reached that it Is impossible to make an estl mate in the report the cost of power machinery tor plowing ana cultivating small arms Is said to be prohibitive but where farmers owning large areas can operate cooperate co and buy a steam plow this Is declared to be a matter of economy LOW BARN FLOOR TRUCK will prove convenient for moving heavy barrels boxes etc A hand truck tor use on the barn floor where heavy barrels and boxes demand occasional movement can bo made after the method shown in the accompanying illustration this plan consists of nothing more than taking two about two feet long and connecting them by mortising mor in two and ad cantors castors to each of the four cor ners any one who adopts such a plan says the prairie farmer will find that it Is a good convenient article use a line the farat rows of the garden should always be laid out by a line to make them perfectly straight and if a hand drill la not used a garden marker with three or tour legs Is very convenient if the rows should not run north and south because it admits of the suns rays better on both sides of the small plants ys FREEZING OF WELLS reason why the deep ones cause more trouble than shallow ones throughout many of the northern states the freezing ot wells and pumps causes much trouble and the greatest difficulty Is experienced in keeping some of the wells open for use during the winter strangely enough the shallow open wells alvo less trouble than the deeper drilled or double driven wells in which the inner or pump tube Is carried below the out er casing the determination ot the cause of the freezing and of means for its prevention Is ot so great practical importance that a study of the subject has been made by one ot the geologists of the united states geology leal survey the freezing of wells Is practically confined to districts where the air tern pera tures frequently go considerably below zero and where the materials penetrated are either porous or con tain actual openings and passages through which the air can circulate A recent investigation of the wells of maine a large number of which are in granite slates and other compact close grained rocks discovered no in stances of deep freezing in minnesota north dakota and nebraska on the other hand large numbers of wells penetrating porous deposits or cavernous lime stones freeze every win ter in wisconsin and michigan freezing though less common occa nally occurs and also in iowa mis bourl kentucky and indiana many ot the simpler devices adopted to prevent freezing are complete fall ures while others are partially sue the inherent difficulty lies in the construction of the well the following suggestions are made by the geologist in open wells where air obtains access through the soil and at the june alon of curb and cover a cement cover should be tightly fitted to the curb and the curb itself should h coated with cement for some distance below the surface in drilled or double driven wells the current ot cold air drawn in at periods of high barometer between the outer and inner casing near the surface and passing out in a porous bed at the bottom above the water level will cause freezing it the water Is pumped so that it stands in the inner tube above the lower end of the outer casing and a long continued current of such cold air may cause freezing of the ground water about and in the well tube for this condl alon says the farmers voice it Is sug bested that the space between the out er and inner tube near the surface b packed with some impervious material A filling of cement resting on an improvised plug Is probably the bosl effective the home made rag pack ing sometimes used la too porous to serve the purpose the same treatment la sugg ested for wells with leaky casings for delv en wells passing through rocks porous enough to permit the passage of large currents of chilled air during periods of high barometer and for wells in which the outer casing ends in some cavern or open passage that Is the space between the well tuba and the pump tube near the surface should be tightly plugged with impervious ma terdal about some wells the ground crevices through which the air lates are so numerous that immunity from freezing can be obtained only by plugging the space about the pump tuba from top to bottom with cement A ROCK SKID one made from fork of tree will do effective service A rock skid may be made similar to that shown in the accompanying allus by cutting a fork from a tree the completed skid and nailing six inch boards across each end the rock Is placed in the space C BITS FOR THE FARMER probably one halt of the value of all barnyard manure made in the united states is lost through neglect of it or of not knowing the best methods for handling and using it in the united states much of the farm land needs tiling even the land that Is not subject to being over flowed every particle of barnyard manure should be gotten under the surface of the soli if possible as in that way the land gets the most out of it eighty acres 0 good land Is enough to keep a good farmer busy more in tact than many farmers can farm well the hand cultivator or wheel hoe Is a tool that Is almost indispensable in the garden much work can be pushed now that would be a drag if held till spring draco up how to keep down the weeds germination of weed seed Is prevented by keeping the soil well pul by frequent stirring hence it frequently cultivated pr hoed the moisture will be conserved and weeds killed it Is a difficult matter to cul the garden too much because stirring the soli admits of air and heat which aids the work of the bacteria in the soli making the plant food more aballa as |