528 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
How to Make a Cheap Fountain. 
During the dry, liot summer afternoons, a 
fountain, be it ever so small, playing near 
the porch, gives a cooling and refreshing 
effect that is not outdone even by a flowing 
spring. Flowering and other plants grow 
luxuriantly around a fountain, and this alone 
is sufficient to fully compensate for its cost. 
Then why not have one, and contrive it 
now, when you have the spare time ? 
There are hundreds of farms upon which 
the required buildings are already erected, 
and only the necessary fixtures are needed 
light cover to shed rain should be placed 
over all. This must be done, to prevent the 
frost from bursting the brick-work, etc. 
F. G. 
Fig. 1. —SECTION OF BUILDING WITH TANK AND PIPE. 
to make everything complete. Figure 1 
shows how the tank may be placed in a 
milk-house, smoke-house, or other building. 
It may be made square or oblong, of two- 
inch pine plank, and should be painted in¬ 
side and out, or pitched like a boat. It may 
be filled from the well with an ordinary 
force pump, the water being elevated 
through hose or lead pipe. From the tank 
the water is conveyed to the fountain 
through iron or lead pipe—iron is best. A 
screw plug should be inserted at a, to stop 
the flow of water when necessary. The tank 
should be large enough to hold water for a 
week’s flow. It need not run all the time ; 
only mornings, afternoons, or evenings— 
whenever it is beautiful to look at, or is 
needed for the plants. Figure 2 shows how 
the fountain is constructed. It is made of 
brick, laid in cement, and then cemented 
smooth on the inside. The pipe through 
which the water is thrown may be simply a 
pointed piece of composition pipe, reaching 
just above the water, or a fancy iron or enam¬ 
elled affair, two to four feet high. It should 
have a screw top, to regulate the size of the 
jet. A jet about the size of a knitting-needle 
will be quite sufficient, except in the event of 
lawn parties or other extra occasions, when 
something brilliant is desired. A tile is laid 
all around the base of the brick-work, as 
seen in fig. 2, and off to some convenient 
outlet. If desired, the overflow may be 
conveyed through another iron pipe to 
the pig-pens, or wherever water is needed. 
The bottom of the “pool” may be covered 
with white gravel, one or two large stones 
being added, with a few sun-fish, and groups 
of ferns, callas, pansies, and a Caladium 
esculentum set on the border. The plants 
will make an extraordinarily large growth, 
and should not be planted too closely to¬ 
gether. If the pump is a good one, it will 
require less time and trouble to fill the tank 
for this fountain, than to carry water and 
thoroughly sprinkle one ordinary flower bed. 
In the fall the tank is emptied, the fountain 
dried, cleaned out, filled with straw, and a 
Breeds and Crosses in Poultry. 
There are many flocks of highly profitable 
fowls, as egg producers, so mixed up that it is 
almost impossible to tell the foundation stock, 
and many fine-looking flocks of thorough¬ 
bred fowls do not pay expenses. The fact re¬ 
mains, however, that unprofitableness is not 
so much the fault of the birds as of their 
owner. Mere breed makes 
much less difference than 
many suppose, especially in 
the weight of eggs laid by each 
hen during an entire year. 
The Leghorn fowls, the White 
variety in particular, are noted 
as great layers, and have well 
earned this reputation. Some 
prefer the Brown, considering 
it handsomer, but this is a 
mere matter of taste. We be¬ 
lieve the Leghorns will, under 
similar treatment, produce 
more eggs than any breed, or 
combination of breeds, now 
known, taking the year to- 
They may not be so large, or weigh 
gether. 
as much, yet, as eggs sell by the dozen, there 
are more dozens in the same weight to sell 
than with eggs of the Brahmas and Cochins. 
One of the best crosses for eggs, the offspring 
being superior winter layers, is obtained by 
crossing Light Brahmas with Game fowls. 
These crossed with the common hens of the 
barnyard stock,will generally produce fine lay¬ 
ers. The hens should be carefully watched, and 
what they need to keep healthy. Regularity 
in feeding and cleanliness must also be ob¬ 
served strictly and constantly. D. Z. E. 
Fig. 2. —CROSS-SECTION OF FOUNTAIN. 
if they frequently fail to do their duty, replace 
them with better ones. Hatch very early, so 
as to get the pullets to laying in the fall and 
winter, and keep no hens over two years old. 
A superior food for laying fowls is whole 
wheat or good wheat screenings and cracked 
wheat. When bought, it pays best to get 
sound wheat, as all of it is suitable for food. A 
second, or even a good third quality of wheat 
should be purchased, the amount fed being 
governed greatly by the condition of the 
birds and the severity of the weather. A little 
experience and care will soon determine this 
point. The hens must not, however, be con¬ 
fined solely to this diet, but have occasional 
feed of meat(cooked and chopped fine),scalded 
corn-meal, buckweat, whether they have 
full liberty or not. Some kind of green food 
should be given daily,if the hens cannot gather 
Sand as a Safeguard against Melon-Bugs. 
In a change of base, last spring, we left 
behind our frames covered with mos¬ 
quito netting, to cover the melon and 
squash vines. The seeds were planted at 
the usual time, and we never had a better 
stand of plants. It looked a little like Para¬ 
dise to see the Marblehead squashes growing 
for three weeks, without the sign of a bug a- 
round them, every leaf perfect. The bugs 
struck us about the 20th of June, the three 
species that infest them all at once, and com¬ 
menced their ravages. A successful grower 
of watermelons suggested sand as a remedy. 
A load of fine sand was brought and im¬ 
mediately applied, about a peck to each hill, 
around the young plants, an inch deep or 
more. The bugs did not all leave at once, 
but the nuisance was so far abated, that the 
young plants were saved, with the usual ap¬ 
plication of wood-ashes upon the leaves. 
The philosophy of the action of the sand, 
seems to be this ; the instinct of the injuri¬ 
ous bugs leads them to burrow in the earth, 
immediately around the stems and on them,, 
especially the common Squash-bug (Coreus 
tristis,) well known by its strong odor. They 
lay their eggs in patches upon the leaves, 
where they are easily crushed between thumb 
and finger, but their place of retreat is at the 
base of the stems. These bugs prey upon the 
stems, as well as the leaves, and later in the 
season, if left to themselves, they will cut off 
the stems, and the vines will suddenly die, 
perhaps with half grown fruit upon them.. 
The sand is very slippery, and does not favor 
their burrowing, and they 
seem to quit in disgust. 
On examining the squash 
stems, about the middle of 
July, when they were thin¬ 
ned out to four plants in a 
hill, we found none of the- 
stems marred by these in¬ 
sects, and not one of these 
bugs was visible. A few 
of the Striped-bugs (Gale- 
ruca vittata,) and the- 
Speckled-bug, lingered, but 
not enough to check the- 
luxuriant growth of the- 
squashes, watermelons, and 
nutmeg melons, promoted, 
by the abundant moisture 
of late and oft-repeated 
rains and continued warmth. The sand, in 
this case, has worked admirably. 
Wl»»t Crops to Raise. —In deciding 
upon the crops to be grown it is necessaiy to 
consider their respective market values, and 
grow those most in demand. If to be carried 
far, it is economy to condense the products 
by making more meat, wool, etc., and less 
grain. The peculiarities of the soil must be 
considered, and the kinds of crops selected 
that will grow to the best advantage. The 
kind and number of farm animals to be pro¬ 
vided for must not be overlooked in the sys¬ 
tem. There must be an adjustment of the 
crops to a systematic rotation, that there may 
be saving in labor, and an opportunity for thor¬ 
ough tillage. This implies that each farmer- 
must determine for himself the crops to raise.. 
