Postcard from the Past: Water Barrel on Wheels

Handy device for use in the garden and orchard

Here is the sketch of a handy wheel barrel, suggested by a Prairie Farmer correspondent. He writes he finds this arrangement handy about the garden, orchard or farm buildings.

It is useful whenever a man desires to fill a barrel and move it without help. For instance, in carrying water to the garden, one man is able to do as much with this cart, practically, as might be done with a horse, barrel and stone boat.

A good idea of the method of construction may be secured by referring to the cut. At a point just above the middle of the barrel, a hanger projects. This is the small side of an “L,” the longer side being flattened out and bolted to the side of the barrel. This hanger is set in the top side of a “T.” The main portion of the “T” forms the basis for the attachment of the handle sides while the other prong extends downward and bends outward for the axel.

The handles may be made in any method convenient, but those in the cut show a good plan. At the ends, a handle is mortised in, while the middle is supported by the two curved braces bolted together in the middle, of which projects the rear rod of the ground support.

The above comes from the Dec. 19, 1907 issue of The Saratoga Sun.

Weather and crop summary

The weather during the week in Wyoming was favorable for the growth and development of irrigated grains, hay, beets, potatoes and other crops, and it permitted the almost uninterrupted pursuit of alfalfa harvesting, which is now generally advanced. Light local showers were numerous, but amounts of precipitation were insufficient to benefit crops noticeably, so reports a June 1916 issue of The Saratoga Sun.