58 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
cold ; aud even then there was no perceptible 
difference in the amount of cream raised, nor 
in the time required for it to rise. 
Whenever the water i3 running in the tank it 
Fig. 2. — GROUND PLAN OF CREAMERY. 
remains at all seasons at about the same tem- 
perature (58'), and the milk in the cans is en- 
tirely immersed in the water, the cans being 
covered, with only a lj-inch hole for ventila- 
tion. The influence of the air on the very 
small surface of the mine is not enough to make 
5t materially colder — even if this would be a dis- 
advantage, which I doubt. The result is that, 
so far as the rising of the cream is concerned, it 
makes little or no difference whether we are 
working in the dog-days or in the dead of winter. 
Being satisfied of this fact, and having 
noticed that the discussion of the merits of the 
deep-can system is being actively agitated in 
the agricultural papers, I propose to say nothing 
more about it unless some new and noteworthy 
fact presents itself; but assuming that there is 
no question as to the advantage of the system, 
shall proceed to devise the best means for carry- 
ing it out under different circumstances. The 
plan set forth in the accompanying engravings 
is the one which will probably be applicable 
to the greatest number of cases. It is intended 
for level land, where water can be obtained 
only from wells, and where there is no fall to 
carry away the drainage. 
Fig. 2 is the ground plan of an underground 
tank, some 10 feet long and 8 feet wide, the 
Fig. 3. — LONGITUDINAL SECTION. 
water-tank at one side being 10 ft. long, 3 ft. 
wide, and 2i ft. deep. This is separated from 
the passage way by a mason-work partition, 
the lower part of which is widened to form a 
step high enough to facilitate the handling of 
the caus in the tank. This tank is large enough 
for thirty cans 8 in. diameter and 25 in. deep. 
At the far end of the passage a well is dug deep 
enough to insure a good supply of water in the 
' driest weather. 
Fig. 3 shows a longitudmal section of the 
house, with steps approaching it, windows for 
ventilation, etc. The window marked e need 
only be put in in cold weather. Double win- 
dows should be provided for three sides, none 
on the south. The door, which should be in 
the east end, need not be double. The ceiling 
should be plastered to inclose an air space 
under the roof— to keep out both heat and cold. 
Fig. 1 shows the construction of the working 
parts more clearly. The building is mainly in 
the ground, and its walls of course must be 
built of stone or brick. The wind-mill (sup- 
ported in a stout cross-timber) need not be 
large; the smallest size that is made of any 
good mill will answer for the work. All that is 
necessary is to have a slight stream running 
whenever the wind blows ; but, of course, the 
more the better. This will be often enough to 
keep the water fresh. The water may be made 
to enter the tank at the end nearest the pump, 
and overflow at the other end, running along a 
gutter in the floor and back into the well. The 
drawings are made to a scale, aud the dimen- 
sions given will indicate the other measurements. 
A Halter-Knot.- 
HALTER-KNOT. 
-Howard Hawes, River- 
side, Ct., sends us a 
drawing of a knot 
which will not slip, and 
is perfectly safe for ty- 
ing halters or fasten- 
ings for horses in the 
stable. It is one also 
that is very easily un- 
tied, which is not its 
least recommendation. 
We give an engraving 
from which the mode 
of making the knot 
may be learned. A 
little practice with a 
string will soon enable one to tie it. 
Sugar-Beets for Cattle Feeding. 
In October last we saw, on the farm of Mr. I. 
M. Mackie, at Great Barrington, Mass., a field of 
sugar-beets of remarkable size and uniformity. 
They were of a variety originally obtained from 
the Patent Office by the Hon. Henry Lane, of 
Cornwall, Vt., and by him brought by careful 
selection to their present perfection. 
We were so much struck with the superiority 
of this beet that we applied to Mr. Lane for 
further information concerning its history. We 
gather the following from bis letter on the sub- 
ject, and from an address delivered by him be- 
fore the Vermont Dairymen's Association. In 
1858 he received from Washington three varie- 
ties of sugar beets. They were carefully grown, 
and the variety called "Imperial Sugar-Beet" 
was found to be much superior to the others, 
and to any other beet that had been seen in the 
region. It at once supplanted all other varie- 
ties in use among his neighbors, and it has been 
so much improved by Mr. Lane that he claims 
that it yields " with greater certainty, a greater 
amount of food per acre than any other root, at 
less cost, of better quality than the turnip, near- 
ly as good as the carrot for young stock, and 
better for milk, ready to feed by the first or mid- 
dle of October, aud keeping sound through the 
winter until late in the spring." Our own ob- 
servation of Mr. Mackie's crop, and his opinion 
of the feeding value of the root, lead us to ac- 
cept Mr. Lane's estimate as a just one. 
It is recommended that this beet be sown very 
early iu the spring (if possible by the middle of 
April)— as soon as the land is fit for work — on 
strong, heavy land, free from stagnant water. 
He claims that the amount of the crop is (in 
his latitude) just about double its amount on the 
first of September, and that all the growth we are 
able to secure by that time will be doubled be- 
tween then and harvest time. Whether this idea 
is correct or not, there is no doubt of the profit of 
early sowing. The land should be rich and ad- 
ditional manure should be used in the drill. The 
drills should be 30 inches asunder, and the 
plants stand 18 inches apart in the row, being 
singled to this distance as soon as they have put 
forth the second pair of rough leaves. After 
this they are to be thoroughly worked with the 
horse-hoe, and once by hand, before the leaves 
begin to cover the ground. They will be ready 
for harvesting by the middle of October, and 
they should be well dried before beiug taken 
into the cellar or dumped on the ground. 
The usual yield per acre, iu Vermont, is from 
28 to 32 tons, but 40 tons have been growu. Mr. 
Lane says, in his address : " Without going into 
details, I estimate the cost of labor after the 
manure is applied, at $40 per acre ; the use of 
the laud and manure $40 more, making a crop 
of 1,000 bushels per acre, cost 8 cents per 
oifs'n.&, which I think is a fair average cost." 
Forty tons of these beets would be equal, in 
feeding value, to ten tons of good hay, without 
allowing for their good effect on the appetite 
aud health of the animals feeding on them. 
Drain-Level. 
A subscriber sends us a sketch of a drain- 
level, which we illustrate. It is a very useful 
implement, and easily constructed. It consists 
of a parallel-edged board, seven or eight feet 
long, with a J. affixed near one end, which 
supports a pendulum. A scale is marked on 
the board at the foot of the pendulum, whereby 
its motions are noted. When the board is per- 
fectly level the foot of the pendulum marks 0. 
When the board inclines either way it varies 
accordingly. A handle is fixed to the end of 
the level, which serves to hold it in position 
when in use. In case it is not wished to lay 
out the bottom of a ditch to a very accurate 
grade, the mere movement of the pendulum to 
the left, when looking at the scale or index, will 
show that the grade is downwards. But if ac- 
curate measurement is desired, it will be ueces- 
DKAIN-LEVEL. 
sary to make the instrument in proportion, and 
mark the index carefully also with a propor- 
tionate scale. Thus, if the bottom of the level 
is six feet long, and the J, fwo feet high, an 
elevation of the hinder end of the instrument 
of half an inch would be equal to a grade of 
ohe inch in 12 feet, or one iu 144, or eight inches 
in 100 feet, and would cause a deviation from 
the perpendicular of the pendulum of one sixth 
of an inch; a grade of 1G inches in 100 feet 
would cause a deviation of one third of an inch. 
If such close measurement is desired the instru- 
ment will have to be carefully made. For or- 
