18G0. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



403 



for public favor deserve a consideration. We 

 are frequently asked whether India rubber or gut- 

 ta percha will not give an unpleasant taste to the 

 water conveyed through them. This may be the 

 case for a few days or weeks, but we do not think 

 it will continue for any length of time. These 

 materials are both used to a great extent for pur- 

 poses where metals have been found unsuitable, 

 and we do not know that this objection has been 

 proved against them. The natural elas-ticity of 

 these substances is sufficient to allow them to ex- 

 pand and contract under the action of heat and 

 cold, under almost any form of manufacture, so as 

 to prevent all danger from bursting on account 

 of freezing. Were we about laying a pipe for 

 our ov/n use, we should use one or the other of 

 these materials. 



The India rubber pipe made by the Boston 

 Belting Company possesses several valuable qual- 

 ities. A section of the pipe shows its construc- 

 tion to be as follows : Cloth heavily coated on 

 both sides with rubber, is wound round some 

 three or four times, and coated again on the in- 

 side and outside with pure rubber. This makes 

 the thickness of the one inch pipe, about three- 

 eighths of an inch, and having cloth for its basis, 

 obviates all liability to flaws and weaknesses in 

 its manufacture. It can be bent with ease into 

 curves of small radius, making the labor of lay- 

 ing it upon uneven surfaces and around angles 

 no more difficult than upon a level and straight 

 course. The pipe seems to have nearly the same 

 degree of elasticity in cold weather as in warm, 

 so that there need be no resort to artificial heat 

 when laying it in cold seasons. The gutta per- 

 cha pipe possesses some of these qualities, but 

 its sensitiveness to heat makes a great objection 

 to its use. It also becomes very rigid under the 

 action of severe cold, so that in our opinion there 

 is danger of its being fractured at such times. 

 It can never be safely exposed to the action of the 

 sun or fire, and can never be used for conveying 

 hot water. Its extreme lightness, and the ease with 

 which it can be jointed when necessary, are much 

 in its favor. Chemists have pronounced in favor of 

 both these materials, as far as imparting any del- 

 eterious properties to the water is concerned, and 

 both are worthy of trial from any one about lay- 

 ing a pipe for conveying water. 



The cost of these two materials varies but lit- 

 tle. The one inch rubber pipe costs twenty-four 

 cents, the gutta percha tvv^enty-five cents per foot, 

 the former warranted to stand 200 pounds pres- 

 sure to the inch, the latter tested to fifty pounds. 



The cement pipe spoken of above, costs about 

 twenty-five cents per foot for two inch pipe, when 

 laid. But the pipe to be used,— wood, cement, In- 

 dia rubber, or gutta percha,-"to secure the desired 

 ends, and at the same time consult economy, must 



depend somewhat upon circumstances. To se- 

 cure entire satisfaction, the object to be gained 

 should be first fully understood ; and we believe 

 that the material which will most fully supply the 

 requirements of the case, whatever it may be, and 

 whatever its first cost, will prove to be the most 

 economical. 



For the Neio England Farmer. 

 FIGURES, AND A FARM. 



Mr. Editor :— The problem of "P. J.," in the 



monthly Farmer for March, so far as the figures 

 have to do with it, is not a difficult one to solve. 

 But the question, "Will said farm ever be paid 

 for, from the farm ?" I will answer, by saying, if 

 he has been able to meet his annual payments 

 and annual interest promptly through the hard 

 times that farmers have met from 1852 to 1860, a 

 reference to the following figures, showing the 

 amount of each yearly payment of principal and 

 interest, will give him high hope of success. 



1852. 1853. 1854. 1855. 1856. 1857. 1858. 1859. 

 Principal, $200 100 ICO 100 100 ItO 100 100 

 Interest, 129 123 117 111 105 99 93 



Total, 



$200 229 223 217 211 205 199 193 



1860. 1S61, 1862. 1863. 1864. 1865. 1S66. 1867. 



Principal, $100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 



Interest, 87 81 75 69 63 57 51 45 



Total, 



$187 181 175 169 163 157 151 145 



1868. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 

 Principal, $100 100 100 100 100 160 2,350 

 Interest, 39 33 27 21 15 9 1,449 



Total, $139 133 127 121 115 159 3,799 



"P. J," will notice that he will have paid 

 $3,799, principal and interest, in 1873, $1,449 of 

 which is interest, April 1, 1860, he will have 

 paid of principal $1,000 ; interest, $864, 



I like the reply of Ed. Emerson to "C. L, W,," 

 in relation to the 9.^ acre firm, and he might 

 have added among his other arguments against a 

 small farm, that the expense of the family is the 

 same on a small as on a large farm. Let me 

 have plenty of "elbow room" to farm it profitably. 



Goshen, Vt., March, 1860. o, w. D. 



APPLES FOR FEEDING, 



For cattle, sweet apples are found to be an ex- 

 cellent substitute for roots — promoting both 

 growth and health. 



For swine, nothing equals an apple pie, either 

 for relish, or for fattening power. The pig is not 

 very dainty about his pie, however. If you mere- 

 ly cook the apples, and stir in a little bran, he 

 won't refuse the dish ; substitute shorts, or corn- 

 and-cob-meal, or ground oats, or buckwheat, and 

 it will suit his palate, and pile on the fat amaz- 

 ingly. And, for finishing up a piece of pork, an 

 apple pudding, thickened with good corn-meal, 

 is as far ahead of hard corn as the corn is of raw 

 pumpkins. 



Pork made with apples is sweeter, and quite as 

 free from shrinking, as the "corn-fed," 



But to the question — "Would it be profitable to 

 raise sweet apples for feeding to cattle or swine?" 



Altogether so — unless the apples will bring in 

 market much more than they cost to feed the hu- 



