

SUCCESS
comes to the man who so works that his efforts will bring the most and
the best results -- not to the man who simply works hard. It is the
know-how, things-to-do-with and economy that count. Labor-saving
machinery has revolutionized many a trade and industry. It has made
farming an industry and a science of possibilities undreamed of and
unattainable a hundred years ago. But it is not enough for the modern
farm to be equipped with the best tools and machinery that shops and
factories turn out, to know how to use them and keep them in repair.
There are many handy devices, not made in any factory and not sold in
any store, that every intelligent man can make himself, which save
money and labor and time. Inventive men are constantly contriving
simple but valuable things to meet the needs of their own practical
experience. We are all the time hunting after and gathering these
ideas. Now we are putting a lot of the best ones into this book. We are
trying, by words and pictures, to explain clearly just how to make each
device. Everything described is tried and practical. Some are old, many
are new, all are good for the purpose intended. They represent the
practical, successful experience of farmers and other wide-awake
workers all over the United States.
This book is broader
than its title. The overflow of good measure includes a valuable
chapter on the steel square and its uses. Nowhere else has this subject
been handled in a way so easily understood, with confusing mathematics
cut out. We especially commend this chapter to our readers. We also
present some good house and barn plans, that will be appreciated by
those who contemplate building.
In addition to the direct benefit to be derived from doing what the
book tells how to do, we have in mind the larger purpose of education
toward putting more thought into our work and doing what we have to do
the easiest, the cheapest and the quickest way. Out of it all, we trust
our readers will make progress toward greater prosperity, greater
happiness and greater usefulness.
The Farmer's Workshop --
Running the Grindstone --
A Homemade Anvil --
Making a New Tool --
How to Make a Shaving Horse --
A Convenient Farm Horse --
A Wire Splicer --
Serviceable Homemade Level --
To Make a Handle Stay On --
A Tool Box Requisite --
Soldering
Lumber Rule --
The Brace Rule --
The Octagon Scale --
The Miter Box --
Truing the Square --
Making a Straight Edge --
Rafters --
Stair Stringer --
The 47th Problem of Euclid --
The Rule of 6, 8 and 10 --
Angles --
Plotting Angles
The Step-Saving Dumb Waiter --
Rack for Preserves --
Transforming a Washstand --
Homemade Dresser --
Kitchen Window Cabinet --
To Let in More Light --
A Barrel Cradle --
To Protect Baby from Hot Stove --
A Box for Clothes --
Scoops from Tin Cans --
A Homemade Folding Table --
A Homemade Butter Worker --
Home Cheesemaking --
Cutting the Curd --
Pressing and Curing --
Washes While Reading --
Tread Power in the Dairy --
A Lamp for Cooking --
Hot Water All Night
How to Cut Bread Even --
Homemade Water Cooler --
Keep Food Cool in Summer --
A Cooler Dummy --
An Outdoor Closet --
Homemade Refrigerator --
Iceless Butter and Milk Cooler --
A Ventilated Pump Platform --
Cleaning a Well --
Dog Power for Pump --
Filter for Cistern Water --
A Handy Water Filter --
Delivering Mail by Trolley --
Beauty in a Barrel --
Storage Bin for Vegetables --
An Inexpensive Cellar --
Clothesline Up and Down --
A Clothes Horse --
A Toilet Closet --
Revolving Cellar Shelf --
Water Supply for Farmhouse --
Installation and Operation --
Experience with Water Supply System --
Warning Against Fire --
Where to Hang a Fire Ladder
A Handy Feed Basket --
Make the Horse Eat Slowly --
Stalls Better than Stanchions --
Good Ties for Cows --
Handy Calf-feeding Device --
Management of Kicking Cows --
A Handy Milking Stool --
The Ever Ready Stool --
Cheap Milking Stool --
Keep Stools Clean --
A Useful Stock Cart --
How to Stake out Stock --
Feed Box for Field --
Cheap Sheds of Straw --
Feed Trough for Sheep --
A Novel Feed Rack --
A Wheelbarrow Sheep Trough --
Packing the Fleece --
Easy to Handle Heavy Hogs --
Heating Water for Hog Killing --
A Farm Slaughterhouse --
Keep Pigs out of Feed Trough --
Movable House for Breeding Sows --
Well-arranged Hog Lots --
Handy Pig Catcher --
Stairs for the Barn --
Hang Up the Lantern --
Arrangement for Weighing --
A Barn Windlass --
Grain Box Easy to Empty --
Easily Constructed Grain Bins --
A Convenient Barn Truck --
Takes a Man's Place --
A Handy Bag Holder --
A Corn Husking Rack --
A Homemade Feed Cutter --
Saw Root Cutter --
Homemade Cabbage Cutter --
A Substantial Driveway
Feeding Dry Ground Grain --
Keeping the Water Clean --
A Watering Rack for Hens --
Drinking Fountain --
Folding Chicken Roost --
A Good Poultry Nest --
Two Coops from a Barrel --
A Box Chicken Coop --
A Low Poultry Run --
A Portable Chicken Coop --
A Homemade Brooder --
Movable Brooder House --
A Very Cheap Henhouse --
A Daylight Chicken Catcher --
A Simple Hawk Trap --
Scare Away Crows and Hawks --
Practical Hives and Hive Making --
Device for Extracting Beeswax --
Self-feeder for Bees --
An Iron Hoop Trellis --
Plant Supports of Barrel Hoops --
A Folding Trellis --
Easy Way to Pole Beans --
Trellis that Stands Alone --
Protecting Newly Set Plants --
Making the Hotbed --
Making Permanent Hotbeds --
Heat for Hotbeds --
Cold Frames and Their Management --
A Hand Garden Cultivator --
A Convenient Garden Stool --
Watering Seed Soil Made Easy --
Catching Owls and Hawks --
Moving a Large Tree --
Transplanting Trees --
Homemade Fruit Picker --
A Truss Ladder --
Orchard Ladder on Wheels --
Convenient Sorting Tables
Portable Hay Derrick --
A Wire Tightener --
Fence Wire Reel --
Safe Way to String Barbed Wire --
A Boxed Stone Boat --
A Homemade Road Roller --
An Old-fashioned Drogue --
A Ditching Scraper --
Bridge for a Small Stream --
Dam for Farm Pond --
Sowing Seed Evenly --
Berry Crate Carrier --
Handy Loading Device --
Rack for Hauling Fodder --
Pulling Fence Posts --
One Way to Pull Stumps --
Simple Land Measure --
Storing Water --
Getting a Supply of Fuel --
Simplest of All Camping Tents
Keeping a Gate from Sagging --
An Easily Opened Gate --
A Gate that Never Sags --
A Cheap Gate --
A Simple Farm Gate --
An Easily Regulated Gate --
Gate to Overcome Snowdrifts --
A Time Saver --
Keep the Gate Open --
Good Bars for the Farm --
Durable Floating Fence --
Fence Across a Stream --
Temporary Sheep Fence --
Fastening Heavy Doors --
Hold the Barn Doors Shut --
Fastening the Stable Door --
Homemade Door Latch
Important Points in House Building --
A Very Convenient House --
Building a Block House --
A Practical Round Barn --
A Well-Arranged Barn --
A Handy Small Barn --
The Farmer's Icehouse --
Location and Building --
Framing the Icehouse --
Ice and Milk Houses Combined --
Small Greenhouses --
Material for Construction --
Set Glass in Warm Weather --
Covering with Hotbed Sash --
Wire Fence Corn Crib --
How to Lay a Floor --
An Inexpensive Veranda
Concrete on the Farm --
Mixing the Cement --
Making Concrete Blocks --
To Operate the Machine --
Blocks of Different Shapes --
Another Style of Mold --
Regulating the Height of the Blocks --
Filling the Molds --
Mixing Cement for Brick --
Reinforcement for Concrete --
Making a Frostproof Cellar --
A Summer Cool Room --
A Concrete Smokehouse --
Laying a Concrete Floor --
Making a Concrete Walk --
Cementing a Cistern Wall --
Special Uses for Cement --
A Time-honored Handy Device
Freezing Ice in Blocks --
Saving the Seed Corn --
Rack for Seed Corn --
Drying and Keeping Seed Corn --
Weight Lifter --
Strong and Simple Wagon Jack --
A Jack for Heavy Wagons --
A Cheap Wheelbarrow --
A Wheelbarrow Cheap and Strong --
How to Hang a Kettle --
A Snow Plow --
Temporary Smoking Device --
Homemade Heater and Cooker --
Use for a Tough Log --
A Handy Wood Splitter --
How to Split Wood --
A Pulling Hammer --
Mounting the Farm Anvil --
Sorting Potatoes Quickly --
Handling Potatoes Easily --
Cutting Seed Potatoes --
Another Seed Potato Cutter --
How to Test Seed Corn --
Reading the Results --
Killing Insects in Grain --
Binding Pins for Hay --
Combined Drag and Harrow --
How to Handle a Rope --
Tying Some Useful Knots --
Carrying a Barrel Made Easy --
Harness Clamp
Substitute for Pipe Wrench --
Market Wagon Conveniences --
Carrying Butter to Town --
To Sharpen Scissors --
How to Paper a Room --
Choose Judiciously --
Paste and Tools --
Trimming and Cutting --
Hanging the Paper --
Practical and Economical --
The Farm Blacksmith Shop --
Why the Shop Pays --
Blacksmithing Not Hired Man's Work --
Horseshoe Lever --
How to Paint Tin Roofs --
Preserving Wood --
To Preserve Shingles --
To Render Wood Fireproof --
Fireproof Wash for Shingles --
Petrified Wood --
How to Season Wood --
Bleaching Wood --
Wood Polish --
Furniture Polish --
Size Stains --
Dark Wood Stain --
Red Stain for Wood --
Liquid Glue --
Cement for Metal and Glass --
Cement for Broken China --
Cement for Crockery and Glass --
Mending Glassware --
Armenian Cement --
Japanese Cement --
Roofing Preparation --
Fire Kindlers --
Mending Pipes with Water On --
To Join Water Pipes --
Welding Metals --
Grinding Tools