122 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



and put clown a one and a quarter inch cement 

 pipe and warrant it good and sufficient. 



The water has now been running through it 

 nearly five months, and it has not yet burst, al- 

 though it did break through some two or three 

 imperfect places which Mr. Strong promptly re- 

 paired. (It was his first job.) 



The result is, I have full confidence in the aque- 

 duct, and have no doubt in recommending it to 

 the public as a good thing. Mr. Strong is a high- 

 ly respectable citizen, and what he says or agrees 

 to do, may be relied upon. 



As to the cost, I can only say that I have sold 

 the pipe taken up for old lead, and made a profit 

 of nearly one hundred dollars, and have got a 

 better aqueduct than before. N. B. Safford. 



White River Junction, Vt., Feb. 14, 1863. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ON MAKING AQUEDUCTS. 



In the Farmer of Feb. 14, 1863, information is 

 asked for about laying down an aqueduct. "Can 

 I lay down cement ?" is the inquiry. Yes, you 

 can ; it is safe, costs about 50 cents per rod, where 

 there is no pressure. Where there is 50 to 75 

 feet, $1,25, and it can be laid for all prices between 

 the two, according to the pressure, on hard pan 

 soil. If the hole is two-inch it will cost some 

 more. I have laid one-inch hole, but thought that 

 S. Stanford, of Irasburgh, would want two-inch 

 hole to supply twenty-five families. I have laid 

 it to one village of eight families ; I did not have 

 any reservoir ; I guaged the water at every house, 

 and it works very well. The pressure was 60 

 feet or more. There is no trouble if cement is 

 good. I am now making cement tubes to set in 

 houses ; they hold fifteen or eighteen pailfuls ; 

 they are made of cement and sand and \nll never 

 rot out; they.are made round, like a barrel, and 

 the outside straight and smooth, so that they can 

 be painted any color. JosiAH Converse. 



Bakersfield, Vt, Feb., 1863. 



Care of Boots. — I have had three pairs of 

 boots for the last six years, and I think I shall not 

 require any more for the next six to come. The 

 reason is, that I treat them in the following man- 

 ner : I put a pound each of tallow and resin in 

 a pot on the fire ; when melted and mixed, I warm 

 the boots and apply it hot with a painter's brush, 

 until neither the sole nor the upper will soak any 

 more. If it is desired that the boots should im- 

 mediately take a polish, dissolve an ounce of wax 

 in a teaspoonful of lampblack. A day or two af- 

 ter the boots have been treated with the tallow 

 and resin, rub over them this wax and turpentine, 

 but not before the fii'e. Thus the exterior will 

 have a coat of wax alone, and shine like a mirror. 

 Tallow or grease becomes rancid, and rots the 

 stitching and leather ; but the resin gives it an 

 antiseptic quality, which preser\es the whole. 

 Boots and shoes should be so large as to admit 

 of wearing cork soles. Cork is so bad a conduc- 

 tur of heat , that with it in the boots, the feet are 

 always warm on the coldest stone floor. — Mechani- 

 cal Magazine. 



According to a recent article in a magazine, 

 nearly one-third of the women of England never 

 marry, and three mMlions of females are thrown 

 upon their own exertions for support. 



DWARF PEARS. 



Wm. Bacon, of Richmond, Mass., one of our 

 soundest writers on horticultural subjects, thus 

 speaks ef his experience with dwarf pears, in the 

 last HorticvMurist : 



It is now ten years since we commenced the 

 culture of the pear as a dwarf on the quince. At 

 that time much was said to discourage the idea of 

 success in the business, and since then there has 

 not probably a year passed, but that this method 

 of fruit growing has been eulogized by its friends, 

 and anathematized by its enemies. 



We have patiently heard and read the argu- 

 ments in the case on both sides of the question, 

 all along during those ter -'ears, and, like a Dutch 

 justice of olden time, who, as the story runs, in a 

 certain trial gave "both sides the case," we sup- 

 pose both may be right in their experience, (we 

 do not say practice.) Yet, while the aforesaid jus- 

 tice concluded the constable should pay the cost, 

 we fall back on our individual experience, and say 

 that, with us, the trees have paid all costs, includ- 

 ing expense of themselves, land rent, preparation 

 of soil, after culture ; indeed all the care bestowed 

 upon them a hundred fold, and promise, if we do 

 fairly by them, nothing more, to continue their 

 remunerative labors for years to come. 



He states, in the same article, that he had found 

 them quite as hardy as the standard pear, al- 

 though he had met with some losses which his 

 more matured experience would prevent in future. 

 He does not regard dwarf pears as either a failure 

 or a humbug. 



Maine Dairies. — Secretarv Goodale, in his 

 last report, gives special consideration to the dai- 

 ries of Maine. He informs us that we manufac- 

 ture enough butter for home consumption, though 

 not always of the best quality ; but in the matter 

 of cheese we are sadly at fault. Indeed, we im- 

 port two millions of pounds, or a thousand tons, 

 annually, costing $200,000 at 10 cents per pound. 



After a thorough investigation of the subject 

 the Secretary declares that our pastures are as 

 good as other States possess, our cows as good, or 

 may be made as good, but we fail in our knowl- 

 edge and practice of the art of making cheese. 

 If we will only, as we must, improve ourselves in 

 this art, at the same time improving our stock of 

 cows, we may, if we Avill, manufacture all the 

 cheese we consume and save the $200,000. By 

 all means let us stop every leak. Let not Maine 

 be drained of her wealth for the enriching of her 

 sister States. — Portland Advertiser. 



The Ost Deutsche Post mentions a strange cus- 

 tom which prevails in Northern Bohemia. Every 

 betrothed bride, however rich she may be, is 

 obliged to go and beg in the neighboring villages, 

 for the feathers necessary to make her bed. She 

 goes on those peregrinations, which sometimes 

 last several days, in full dress and accompanied 

 by a poor woman. Every one gives her a friend- 

 ly reception, and she always carries back an am- 

 ple provision of feathers. 



Col. Isaac King, of Palmer, Mass., realized 

 last year $475 from the wool and lambs of eighty 

 ewes. 



