Homemade Contrivances and How to Make Them: 1001 Labor-Saving Devices for Farm, Garden, Dairy, and Workshop by Skyhorse Publishing (April 1, 2007) (First published in 1899)

There has been a recent spate of re-published early 19thC Do-it-yourself books. Its a wonderful eye opener to me, I love old technology, history and ingenuity and that is what this book is all about. By the title you can see it is aimed at those living on the land - or who are aiming at self sufficiency in some way. A lot of this stuff is not relevant for me but some is, but in any case it sure is a good read.

There is a lot of advice on animal husbandry like how to ‘extricate a mired animal’ and ‘how to hang hogs’, and more advice on tools and workshops like making a ‘mitre box’ and ‘a convenient ice hook’, as well as appliances for the garden, the home, the orchard and so very much more. This is a fat book with small writing and illustrations, there is a lot of information packed into it.

And despite the age of the technology in the book, many of the ‘contrivances’ are still relevant today. For example ‘Barrel strawberry culture’ is an experiment in growing strawberries on the outside of a barrel and it says it is perfect ‘if one has only a small city or village lot’. First you need a wooden wine barrel, and you need to bore holes all over it and insert a drain pipe then fill with soil. Then plant the strawberry plants into the holes and over the top. - A great weekend project for anyone who loves strawberries. There is a great little ‘convenient nest for hens’, with good advice for keeping poultry - it say “Hens as a general thing are remarkably self willed and obstinate”. There are plans for making a simple ‘paper plant protector’, and a ‘protected plant label’, which consists of a wooden stake, with a wooden label screwed over the top which can be swung outwards.

There are whole chapters on building and fixing a variety of fences, on keeping and slaughtering all manner of animals, but the main section and my favourite is the farm conveniences with a huge array of small and large inventions to make life easier in and around the farm. Lots of very sound advice including sun shades while working in the garden, “many a severe headache, and a restless night after an exhausting days work in the harvest field, might be prevented by the use of some simple precautions”. Part of managing a farm in 1899 included managing ‘night soil’ and how to go about this is explained in some detail, including “making use of it very conveniently”.

This really is a wonderfully enlightening book, with some terrific and fun projects for the garden or farm today.

The image of the strawberry barrel came from the site the back road home, which has some wonderful excerpts from the original 1899 book and lots of advice on farming and gardening and building.

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