88 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
one whose feet are always dry. The donkey 
who had his bag of salt lightened by swim¬ 
ming a river, advised his companion who 
was loaded down with a sack of wool to do 
the same, and having no more sense than a 
man or woman, he plunged in, and in a mo¬ 
ment the wool absorbed the water, increased 
the burden many fold, and bore him to the 
bottom. 
SLEEP. 
There is no fact more clearly established 
in the phosiology of man than this, that the 
brain expends its energies and itself during 
the hours of wakefulness, and that these are 
recuperated during sleep; if the recupera¬ 
tion does not equal the expenditure, the brain 
withers—this is insanity. Thus it is, that in 
early English history, persons who were 
condemned to death by being prevented from 
sleeping, always died raving maniacs ; thus 
it is also, that those who are starved to death 
become insane ; the brain is not nourished, 
and they can not sleep. The practical infer¬ 
ences are three : 
1st. Those who think most, who do most 
brain work, require most sleep. 
2d. That time “ saved ” from necessary 
sleep, is infallibly destructive to mind, body 
and estate. 
3d. Give yourself, your children, your 
servants, all who are under you, the fullest 
amount of sleep they will take, by compell- 
ling them to go to bed at some regular, early 
hour, and to rise in the morning the moment 
they awake of themselves; and within a 
fortnight nature, with almost the regularity 
of the rising sun, will unloose the bonds of 
sleep, the moment enough repose has been 
secured for the wants of the system. This 
is the only safe and sufficient rule ; and as 
to the question how much sleep any one re¬ 
quires, each must be a rule for himself; 
great Nature will never fail to write it out to 
the observer, under the regulations just 
given.—Hall’s Journal of Health. 
MOVING A SULLEN OX. 
Noticing in the Stock Register for August, 
an extract headed “ How to move a Sullen 
Ox,” it brought forcibly to mind my little ex¬ 
perience in that matter. When a boy, I 
frequently had the management of oxen, 
one of which was at times particularly sul¬ 
len, or laulky, as we then termed it, and my 
ingenuity and wit were put to the test to de¬ 
vise some means to induce the stubborn 
animal to drive. At last I hit upon a plan, 
as the sequel will show, which effectually 
accomplished my purpose, and cured him in 
a measure of his hanging back propensity. 
On a certain day in winter I was sent 
hauling wood with the oxen and sled. My 
road led over a bridge, and up a short but 
quite steep hill. Having arrived at the foot 
of the hill on the bridge,* with a load, my 
team came to a dead stand still, and, as coax¬ 
ing and whipping proved of no benefit, I 
bethought me of procuring the services of 
the “ old tom cat," and applying him. I 
found tabby quietly sleeping on the hearth, 
and taking him in my arms, quickly re¬ 
traced my steps to the oxen. My purpose 
was to apply the cat to the back of the ox 
and draw him backwards by the tail. I did 
so ; but no sooner had the ox felt the claws 
of the feline monster enter his hide, than I 
found myself turning a back somerset thro’ 
the air, off the bridge, with a propelling force 
I was powerless to withstand, accompanied 
by a tremendous squall from the poor puss. 
I brought up, or more properly down, some 
twelve feet below, in the bed of the stream, 
amid snow and water. Without waiting to 
contemplate my situation, I extricated my¬ 
self and repaired to the scene of my exploit 
on the bridge. But lo ! neither oxen, wood, 
nor cat were to be seen ; all had mysterious¬ 
ly disappeared—but, as I subsequently found, 
the oxen brought up all safe in the wood- 
house, with the load of wood. 
Ever after when the old ox took it upon 
him to sulk, I had only to show him the cat, 
and a pinch of the tail would make him 
straighten himself for very life. But I was 
extremely careful to keep out of reach of 
his heels. 
Thus much for my experience in moving a 
sullen ox. w. 
IRON AND LEAD PIPES FOR CARRYING 
WATER. 
“ A Farmer ” wishes to lay down a pipe 
for conveying water to his house and barns, 
from a spring half a mile distant, and in¬ 
quires whether iron pipe is not better and 
cheaper than that made from lead. He does 
not state the size of the pipe desired nor the 
make of the ground in which the pipe is to be 
laid. We will, however, make a statement 
or two, which may be of use to him and 
others. 
Relative Cost. —The manufacturer’s prices 
in New-York are about as follows : 
For iron pipe, having an interior diameter 
or bore of 4 inch, 104 cents per foot; £ inch 
bore, 13 cents per foot; 1 inch bore, 17-1- els. 
per foot; 1£ inch bore, 26 cents per foot; and 
for li inch bore, 32 cents per foot. These 
pipes are made of wrought iron, in pieces 10 
to 12 feet in length, and are supplied with 
coupling screws upon the end of each piece. 
For lead pipes of all sizes the charge is 
now 8£ cents per pound. Lead is one cent 
per pound higher than a few months since, 
owing to the great war demand. Lead pipe 
varies greatly in thickness, thus : a pipe 4 
inch internal diameter is made of the follow¬ 
ing weights, 4 lb., £ lb.,1 lb., li- lbs., 14 lbs., 
1£ lbs. and 2 lbs. per foot. Lead pipe of 1 
inch interior diameter is made weighing 14- 
lbs., 2 lbs., 24 lbs., 3 lbs., 4 lbs. and 4£ lbs. 
per foot. The lighter weights are too thin 
for conveying water, being chiefly used for 
gas pipes in protected situations, withjn the 
walls or ceilings of buildings ; for example, a 
lead pipe 1 inch in diameter, and weighing 2 
pounds per foot, the thinnest practicable for 
conveying water, costs twice 8£ cents, or 
174 cents per foot, which is just the cost of 
an iron pipe of the same diameter. A com¬ 
parison of the above figures shows that lead 
pipe of any diameter may be selected of 
such thickness as to exactly equal the cost 
of iron pipe of the same size. 
Relative value of Lead and Iron Pipe .—In 
all exposed situations, where pipe is liable to 
bruising iron is preferable, if there be no se¬ 
rious objection to its use. Iron rusts more 
readily than lead. This property does not 
injure it for conveying dry gases or pure wa¬ 
ter, but spring-water generally contains acids 
of some kind, which will more rapidly cor¬ 
rode or rust iron than lead. Most of the 
compounds formed in the corrosion of lead 
are washed, while iron-rust is generally in¬ 
soluble, and there is danger of its filling or 
clogging iron pipes. The thick reddish 
“ scum ” observed upon the surface of many 
sluggish springs, is the rust of iron washed 
out from the soil. A soluble sub-oxide is 
first formed in the soil, which is changed to 
the insoluble red oxide when it comes to the 
air. The water conveyed in pipes is gener¬ 
ally charged with air, so that this red oxide 
would be formed within them, especially if 
there is not a sufficient current of water to 
keep them clear. 
One advantage possessed by iron over lead 
pipes is, that while the salts formed by the 
corrosion of lead are poisonous, the salts of 
iron are comparatively harmless, especially 
if the water has been for sometime exposed 
to air. 
When carefully laid under ground, lead 
pipes are far more durable than iron; the 
former often lasting fifty or a hundred years, 
while the latter sometimes rust through in 
five or six years, or less. Old iron pipes are 
of little value, while old lead pipe xvill sell for 
one-half or two-thirds its first cost. Lead 
pipe is more conveniently laid down, as it is 
easily bent around large stones, and to fit 
any irregularities in the soil. 
Everything considered, lead pipe is to be 
preferred to iron for conveying water or 
gases under ground, even when it is required 
to be of such size and thickness that the first 
cost will be considerably higher. 
Painting Farming Implements. —A great 
saving may be made by keeping implements 
constantly under shelter when not in use. 
But this is nearly impossible; and besides, 
many of them must of necessity be exposed 
during their employment, to many days of 
hot sun and occasional showers. It is there¬ 
fore very important to keep them well painted. 
As a general average, they will last twice as 
long by the protection of a coat of paint, re¬ 
newed as it is worn off. 
A learned writer says of books : “ They 
are masters who instruct us without rods or 
ferules, without words or anger, without 
bread or money. If you approach them they 
are not asleep ; if you seek them they do 
not hide ; if you blunder, they do not scold ; 
if you are ignorant, they do not laugh at you.” 
A New Fence. —The Lowell Advertiser 
says that the Rev. Mr. Gates recently mar¬ 
ried Mr. Joseph Post to Miss Martha Rails 
Difficulty of achievement stupifies the 
sluggard, advises the prudent, terrifies the 
fearful, and animates the courageous. 
Everything is ominous to the superstitious. 
