1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
17 
box should be kept in an apartment of the burn 
immediately over the steam-chest, which ar- 
rangement materially lessens the labor con- 
nected with cutting the feed and filling the box. 
Fig. 2 shows the proper relative situation of 
feed-cutter and steam-chest. A veiy convenient 
wagon is shown in fig. 3 for conveying feed to 
the stock, and when filled is run along the 
Fig. i. — STEAMER FOR HOG-FEED. 
feeding-alley, and the feed passed into the 
troughs with the four-pronged fork also shown 
in the figure. The capacity of the steam-chest 
will depend on the number of stock to be fed. 
About three bushels per head per day will be 
required ; but it is best to have the chest larger 
than needed at first, for the reason that stock is 
always increasing, more especially when this 
system of feeding is resorted to. The chest 
should hold enough for two days' consumption ; 
then, for 20 head, a box to hold 120 bushels 
will be needed. A bushel is equal to one and a 
quarter cubic (em, therefore, a chest 3 feet by 4, 
and 8 feet high, will be ample for 20 head of 
stock. It lias been found to pay very well to 
cook feed for 10 head, but not for less than that. 
The fodder when cut should be mixed evenly 
with the meal or bran to be fed with it, and 
thoroughly dampened before the steam is turned 
en. Unless it is dampened it will not cook 
readily by steam. If roots are used, the}' should 
be pulped and mixed with the cut fodder. For 
steaming meul, grain, or roots for hogs, a barrel 
mounted on trunnions, one of which is hollow, 
is the best arrangement. Such a one is shown 
in fig. 4. The barrel is hung in a frame built 
ever a table, the steam-pipe is passed through 
the hollow trunnion, and packed with india- 
rubber packing. A square opening is cut in the 
barrel to put in and take out the feed, which if 
it be meal or grain is always to be mixed with 
water when it is put in. During the cooking, 
it absorbs a great deal more moisture than can 
be supplied by the steam, and this must be pro- 
vided for. A solid body of moist meal or grain 
will not cook thoroughly without being stirred 
np, and this process is accomplished by revolv- 
ing the barrel occasionally during the steaming. 
Experience comes rapidly with practice, and it 
is surprising how soon the dullest laborer learns 
to understand everything that is requisite, and 
even to make improvements. 
It is necessary to avoid giving the feed to 
stock in too warm condition; a temperature of 
about 80 degrees should not be exceeded, and 
somewhat less would be preferable. We have 
not found it advisable to feed cooked feed to 
horses nor to sheep, although some successful 
feeders have done so, and approve of it. Our 
experience is that the practice is best adapted 
to the production of milk and flesh, but that 
animals from whom hard work is expected are 
rendered less able to perform it, and are sooner 
exhausted than when fed on dry feed. But we 
have found that horses troubled with the heaves 
are much improved by cooked food, and in many 
cases entirely cured. 
Combined Fire-Engine and Hose-Carriage. 
The risk of fires in country towns and villages 
and amongst scattered farm buildings is vastly 
increased in winter time, and the destruction 
occasioned is also greater from the absence of 
effectual means of preventing their spread. It 
is very seldom that a fire in the country is ex- 
tinguished until it burns out, for the reason that 
there is no cheap and handy fire-engine avail- 
able. We give below an engraving of a com- 
bined fire-engine and hose-carriage, which in our 
view meets exactly the wants of country resi- 
dents. In the country, a costly establishment is 
out of the question, and a light and portable 
engine which can be operated by a few men is 
what is needed. This is precisely what this 
engine claims to be, and what we are assured it 
is. Willi a weight only of 1,500 pounds, easily 
operated by 14 men, it does the same amount of 
work as GO men with an ordinary second-class 
engine. Its cost is about two thirds of that of 
the latter engine. The American Submerged 
Pump, the basis of this engine, lias saved during 
the past year $300,000 worth of property that 
wheel, if the fall is sufficient for an overshot 
wheel (or one which receives the water from 
above, as shown in fig. 1); if ihc fall is too low 
for such a wheel, and not over lour to eight 
feet, a breast-wheel, or an undershot when the 
fall is still less, may be used. Such a wheel is 
shown in fig. 2. 
Our present purpose is, in reply to requests 
from several 
corrcs poud- 
ents, to de- 
scribe the con- 
struction of 
these wheels. 
The one 
shown in fig. 1 
is the overshot 
wheel, suitable 
for falls of 
eight feet and 
over. It is 
shown in sec- 
tion, that is, 
cut through on 
the inside. To 
construct it, it is necessary to take pine boards 
(any other will do, but white pine is lightest and 
best), cut into pieces which put together will make 
the rim of the wheel. The rim should he twelve to 
eighteen inches wide, and made of two or three 
Fig. 1.— OVERSHOT VVUCEU 
FIRE-ENGINE AND HOSE- CARRIAGE COMBINED. 
would otherwise have been destroyed. We hear 
that it has recently taken the gold medal at the 
Moscow (Russia) exhibition over all other com- 
petitors.- We believe it to be the cheapest and 
the best of its kind, and in view of its necessity 
under the circumstances we have mentioned, 
thus present it prominently to our readers. 
Water- Wheels. 
The power of falling water is under favorable 
circumstances the cheapest possible power. It 
is constant, regular, inexpensive, and needs no 
costly attention. It might be utilized on many 
farms for churning, thrashing, cutting feed, 
pumping water, sawing wood, or grinding. The 
means whereby the power is utilized are so sim- 
ple that no skilled labor is necessary to provide 
them, unless great economy of power is de- 
sired. But generally the power is so ample for 
the needs that there is abundance to spare and 
the roughest kind of wheels and gearing alone 
will be sufficient. The first thing needed is a 
dam. The construction of dams was explained 
in the Agriculturist of October, 1872. The next 
thing is a spout to conduct the water on to the 
thicknesses of inch boards, nailed together with 
wrought nails clinched. They should be put 
together so that all joints are broken. The arms 
are mortised into the shaft or axle of the wheel, 
and the rims are bolted on to them. The shaft 
should be longer or shorter, according to the 
Fig. : 
-BREAST-WHEEL. 
supply of water and the power of the wheel. 
On the inner sides of the rims there are slots or 
grooves to be cut or shaped as nearly like the 
curved lines shown in fig. 1 as possible. These 
are to hold the sides of the buckets. The buck- 
