Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-06-16
Odd Jobs on the Farm.

NIX. I.DIIOR:-l am not uluCu Vi
writer, but l am cue of the
farmers who believe in doing odd jobs
on the farm instead of running to the car
penter or blacksmith every time little
repairing is needed. / want to add my
mite to f. II. DIS, in answer to the arti-
Gle taken from the Land and Home.
was born and brought up on farm; have
lived on one ever since. We have good
deal of machinery of one kind and another
on our farm. Our blacksmith bill amounts
to from S25 to $50 year for repairs, etc,
10 say nothing about the time spent in 60
ing to the shop and the many times having
to leave the job, causing another trip,
when ten minutes would have done the
work ut home if the farmers had had the
proper tools. Father used to grumble a
good deal because the blacksmith bill was
so large. told him there was only one
way to stop it, and that was to do it our
selves, but he thought it was too much OF
AN undertaking. so the matter rested for
while, until took the farm to carry on
and had half of the bills to pay. was
determined to shorten the blacksmith bill,
if | could not stop it wholly Gas then had
no idea of doingl. l swapped n shot gun
for blacksmiths vice; | had previous to
this got small vice and set Of dies and
taps for making bolts and nuts, which II
ound saved quite an item in the black
smith account. Having got along SO far,
| next made me a portable forge, got n
pair of tongs. blacksmith hammer, what
IRON thought needed, a set of tools for
shoeing horses and fifty pounds of coal.
After little practice | made my cold
chisels, punches, extra tongs etc. l used
a heavy piece of iron for an anvil at first,
but | found that | could not fit horse
shoe or make ring or staple very well on
that, SO l got small anvil, -one that
weighs one hundred pounds. The result
Of it all is that now " go it alone" For
the first three years did not attempt TO fit
Il new shoe-l suppose more from tmidity
than anything else, but for the last three
years | have done all of our blacksmithing
and we do not have any lame horses
caused by bad shoeing, as we frequently
had before did it myself.
The idea that farmers ought not TO dc
any such work is all nonsense. | believe
that most of our farmers might do theil
odd jobs, if they would only think so and
set themselves about it, and by SO doing
save dollars and dollars that might be
used in furnishing good books and maya
zines, newspapers, etc. Every fnrmel
ought to furnish good reading matter fo
his family, and if he would only do II little
more of this "odd job work he might dc
so by the wayne would not have to do bu
II very little backsmithing himself ut the
present prices that blacksmiths charge tc
furnish his family with all Of the Gerry JCS
reading that could be had
Would it not be Just as reasonable t
say that IL farmer ought not to run NOW
ing or threshing machine or his wife ;
sewing machine, but get Il machinst to dc
it, as he could do it better-probably
Why Mr.. Editor, is it supposed that tn,
farmers of these broad United State
haven't any brains? | did not happen t.
see the article in question from "LaHd az
HOn1c," but wonder if the writer was no
graduated from "West Point during it
present administrator and never saw
farmer.
1t does not require any great genius, Il
you think, Mr.. Editor, to do two-thirds o
the repairing needed on our farms, and
shall not yet believe that our farmers ar
such blockheads that they could not will
a few dollars worth of tools do much o
their own repairing which they now hav,
to run to the shop with. There are Away
some that will cry it down and tell yol
that you ought not to spend your tim,
fooling around in that way, but " you vii
most always sometimes notice that the,
are the kind of people who sit in the shade
while you are raking your hay waiting fol
you to get through with your rake so tina
they can borrow it, us their own has go
same teeth broken out. There are in thi
town, within a radius of five miles, fou
farmers who do most of their own black
smithing; two of them do all Of their owl
and some of their ncighbors.
have said nothing about carpentering
as | take it for granted that most of the
farmers have tools to do most Of thei
work in that line-I mean such us repair
ing farm implements. | might enumeratt
many little things Il farmer could anC
ought to do, under the head of "odd Jobs,
but this article is already too long and
will leave it for future article, and
will then give list of tools necessary 70
a farm blacksmith shop, together witt
their cost. \ FARMER.
Grand ISLE VT, !
May "a, 1880.
That's all right, Bro Farmer. You"com
out strong,"a as Mark Topley says,on black
smithing, and are one of the kind who ca
and should do it. Do you as well men
and make YOUR sleds, carts, wheclbarrow
scrapers, drags, etc, mend your harnesses
tap and patch your boots, solder pals an
pans, etc.P Any man who can do 700
job in any or all these lines should do
when he can with less cost than the regl
ular mechanic, but there's no use talkin:
some mel can't do much at mechanic
and Il neat job from their hands would |
costly, if not impossible. Much obligt
for your article, Bro. Farmer, it's lust SUI
as we want, and remember the promise
the last part of it. BY the way, did "
l. not omit one job the farmer should do
Il write more for their paper; good pla
common sense talk, just such as thu
d would give neighbour