Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-05-03
The Drag.

have just come in from the field where
] have been helping my hired man start "a
colt 10 work The work we were doing was
dragging a clover field, for the wheat stub
BILE was quite heavy on it and some weeds
had grown up now that the weather is dry
aud the weeds brittle the drag will break
them up and will loosen the stuhhle so that
the horse rake will gather most OF it, and
our hay will he much freer for this going
over As ] saw what good thing a drag
was to get a colt accustomed 10 the harness
in drawing and remembered how much
good drag had done me for many years
and how many farmers there are who have
never used one, ] determined to talk
about it to the great Stockman family
What is plank drag How is it made ,
A plank drag is what its name implies
boards or plank fastened together to be used
in levelng land aud making the surface fine
and mellow 1t may be made Of any dc
sired size, and So cheaply that the farmer
can afford 10 have several. | always keep "A
small one about four feet square, made Of
inch boards, to use with one horse in the
garden My two-horse drag is simply three
pine plank, y feet long, one foot wide and
two inches thick, bolted TO two pieces Of
lX4 scantling l bevel the under side of the
sNhullluE al lue lIbuls 50 ~ 10 Ildht Lllt
first plank curve up little, as it will drag
easier and not clog, but in boiling the plank
on to the scantling begin at the rear, SO as to
have the lap right The plank should lap
ON to each other four inches 1t will take
about eighty feet Of lumber four nine inch
carriage bolts and dozen good spikes u
make one of this size, and a man can make
it in about half an hour If turned edge
wise in the shade when not in use one Of
these will last for eight or ten years. On
farms where four horses are kept it pays
to have drag sixteen feet long and made
With four plank a foot wide and then hitch
a team to each end With such drag
thirty acres or more can he gone over in a
day, for each half mile Travelled covers an
acre.
drag of this length should have four
pieces Of 4X4 scantling to bolt the plank to
IN order to Stiften it. After twenty years
experience in the use Of both roller and
drag, if l could have but one would take
the drag and yet y serviceable roller will
cost ten times as much as the drag and does
but about half as much work in a given
time. Like most farm implements. iudg
ment and common sense must be exercised
in its use a drag will not pulverize very
hard, dry clods, for it has not sufficient
weight but if used on fresh plowed land,
or Just at the right time after "A rain it will
give better seed-bed than the roller, for it
levels off ridges, fills hollows and mellows
the surface without packing the land 1t i.
the best implement to precede the wheat
drill that | have ever used and it alsC
leaves the best seed bed for grass and clover
or any fine seeds.
! have for many years used it to smooth
off the oat fields and feel quite sure that
have added several bushels to the acre hy
its use. 1t is also an excellent thing for tn,
potato field, for we usually cover our potatoe,
with the pillow, which leaves an uneven sur
face, and the drag used ten days or so after
planting will not only level the land so vol
can work close to the young plants. but ais,
kill many weeds generally use the dras
on the corn fields after planting so as t,
smooth them off and enable US to cultivat,
close to the corn. Another convenience,
/ connected with the drag is that stone
stumps or roots can be put on it and takei
to the side Of the field
The best way to hitch to the drag is t,
put two clevises told pillow clevises are a
good as any to the front edge some six fee
apart and fasten chain to them with enough
slack so that it will he two or three fee
] from lut lIdE Wnell lne horses hIdW. III
will make the drag run steadily. while i
YOU hitch too near the middle it will give j
a see saw motion. To use 12-foot drag
with the driver riding on it. will require
good team, and under some circumstance
it is better without weight for instance, il
covering grass or clover seed.
First drag with weight on the drag t
smooth and level the land, and then SOW an,
cross drag after the seed is sown withou
any weight on the drag. prefer to cove
millet, buckwheat, oats and rye with tn
/ drag rather than the harrow, as think the,
all do best near the surface, and if the LAM
| is put in good condition with the harrow
and the seed sown and covered with tn
drag, it is put in at a uniform depth and al
starts at about the same time. ANY quick
maturing crop, such as oats, millet and buck
wheat, needs fine seed bed, and believ
that a drag will pay for itself in putting il
| five acres of any of these crops Try one
| you farmers who have never used planl
/ drag, and after using it one season you vii
wonder how you ever managed to farm
without it Waldo +. Bro,cH in StOcLBnR