A COW DEPOT, ETC. 
205 
through a small pipe. Or if it be objectionable to 
use a large pipe, let a supply fountain be made 
near the ram, by emptying the water brought from 
any distance and raised to its greatest head. The 
friction is thus limited to what is accumulated in 
the short distance in its passage from the fountain 
through the supply pipe. The rain will work un- 
der a fall not exceeding eighteen inches, though 
but a feeble power is acquired under so small a 
head. 
These rams are made entirely of metal ; and those 
recently constructed are of the best materials, not 
liable to get out of order, and are admirably de- 
signed, being light, compact, and portable. They 
are of several sizes, and by the use of an adjuster 
they can be adapted to streams of different capaci- 
ties. The most ordinary sizes will suit springs or 
rivulets, which furnish any quantity of water be- 
tween four and eighty quarts per minute. Where a 
larger quantity is required than can be supplied by 
one of the largest machines, it is better to increase 
the number of rams, rather than enlarge them on 
the present principles of construction. 
(a) In answer to the inquiries relative to the 
water ram, in our April number, the following has 
been received, which is precisely the information the 
public need. We repeat our request, that such 
of our intelligent readers, as have water rams in 
use, will answer the questions, as propounded at p. 
121 of the current volume : — 
The following is a correct statement of a water 
ram I have had in successful operation for the last 
six months; — 
1 . The fall from the surface of the water in the 
spring is 4 feet. 
2. The quantity of water delivered, per 10 mi- 
nutes, at my house, is 3i gallons, and that dis- 
charged at the ram 25 gallons. Thus nearly one 
seventh part of the water is saved. 
3. The perpendicular height of the place of de- 
livery above the ram is 19 feet, say 15 feet above 
the surface of the spring. 
4. The length of the pipe leading from the ra.m 
to the house is 190 feet. 
5. The pipe leading from the ram to the house 
has three right angles, rounded by curves. 
6. The ram is of Douglass' make of a small size. 
7. The length of the drive or supply pipe is 60 
feet. Its inner diameter one inch. 
8. The depth of water in the spring over the 
drive pipe is six inches. 
9. The inner diameter of the pipe, conducting 
the water from the ram to the house, is three 
eighths of an inch. 
I consider it very essential that the drive or sup- 
ply pipe should be laid as straight as possible, as in 
the motion of the water in this pipe consists the 
power of the ram. V. H. Hallock. 
North- East Centre, N. F., 
April 2d, 1849. 
Six Qualities of a Fool. — By six qualities 
may a fool be known — anger without cause ; speech 
without profit, change without motive; inquiry 
without an object ; putting trust in a stranger ; and 
wanting capacity to discriminate between a friend 
and a foe. — Arab Proverb. 
NEW ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF WIRE FENCE. • 
A correspondent in the " Massachusetts 
Ploughman" suggests the expediency of erecting 
wire fences for the sides of highways, instead of 
stone and other kinds of fence. The snows, ho 
thinks, would not find sufficient shelter behind it 
to lodge and form drifts, but would be swept on as 
though no fence were there, by reason of which 
no blocking up, nor breaking out roads would often 
occur, unless caused by other objects. 
The suggestion is a good one ; and if judiciously 
carried out, doubtless, those places on all high- 
ways, noted for their bleakness, where the winds 
blow the snow from some distance over the plains, 
and when any obstruction lies in the way, they are 
apt to accumulate to an unreasonable depth, would 
be kept free from drift, and consequently save much 
inconvenience and expense. Let the experiment be 
tried. 
A COW DEPOT. 
We do not know a more promising business in a 
moderate way, for a person who would be strictly 
honest, than the establishment of a depot, near this 
city, for the reception and sale of good milking cows. 
Scarcely a day passes in the spring of the year, 
that we are not asked over and over again, ** Where 
can I get a good family cow V 
When applications have been very urgent, we 
have occasionally undertaken to procure an animal 
or two ; but the result always was infinite trouble, 
and occasionally disappointment ; for we know 
few things in which there is more cheating. Go to 
the honest farmer and he will tell the truth about 
his cows; hut generally speaking, when this class 
of men get good milkers, they know their value 
too well to be willing to part with them, except at 
large prices. The only resource, then, for a supply, 
is among the professional cow dealers, whose char- 
acter occasionally for lying and cheating, has be- 
come more notorious in this community than that 
of the horse jockies. 
The cow jockies'' tricks are innumerable, but as it 
would take a volume to relate them in full, we 
shall content ourselves for the present by giving 
the detail of a few, only, of such as are more gen- 
erally practised. 
They put a young calf with a cow that is either 
farrow or that has calved several months, and then 
sell her for a new milch cow. They do the same, 
also, to a cow that has the habit of shedding her 
milk, so that this vice cannot be detected when any 
one calls to look at her. They let the cow go a 
day or more without milking, which makes hor 
bag very full, and she then looks like a good milk- 
er. After this, they only draw away a quart or 
two at a time, and when you call to look at her, 
they will tell you she was clean milked the night 
or morning before, when, perhaps, she had scarcely 
been touched for thirty-six hours. This is a very 
painful and dangerous trick to be practised on the 
pooT animal, and deserves the severest reprehension. 
They will frequently feed the cow more or less 
with her own milk, which, of course, soon adds 
largely to the mess she would naturally give. 
They also feed still-house slops in large quantities. 
These greatly increase the quantity of the milk, 
hut detract in an equal ratio from its quality. 
