520 
15he  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  25,  1910. 
cA\ QUALITY 
A  Farm  Water  Supply 
the  whole  length  of  the  field,  the  short 
turns  being  all  done  away  with. 
New  York.  h.  e.  cox. 
Where  a  dairy  is  operated  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  general  farming  an  abundant 
and  constant  water  supply  is  of  first  im¬ 
portance.  and  fills  a  prominent  place  in 
general  economic  farm  management. 
Often  this  can  be  obtained  on  many 
farms  where  there  are  small  springs  that 
have  formerly  been  considered  of  no 
value,  but  rather  a  detriment  to  the 
fields.  This  supply  can  many  times  be 
obtained  by  gravity.  On  a  farm  of  this 
character  in  Western  New  York,  the 
water  supply  was  obtained  from  a  deep 
well,  the  pumping  being  done  by  wind¬ 
mill  power.  The  supply  was  abundant, 
but  for  some  reason  tl^e  water  was 
charged  with  impurities,  while  a  number 
Water  Connection  for  Spring 
of  small  springs  on  the  farm  had  been 
running  to  waste,  no  attempt  having 
been  made  ever  to  utilize  them  even  for 
pasture  use.  This  farm  consisted  of  sev¬ 
eral  hundred  acres.  On  the  last  tract 
purchased,  there  was  one  field  on  which 
there  was  an  area  of  about  an  acre  that 
was  overgrown  with  cat-tails  and  water- 
grass,  quite  a  jungle,  and  a  great  draw¬ 
back  in  cultivating,  and  cropping  the 
field.  A  small  stream  of  water  was  run¬ 
ning  from  this  most  of  the  year.  These 
conditions  were  caused  by  two  small 
springs  that  discharged  their  water  over 
the  tract.  This  laud  was  drained  and 
the  springs  connected  up  to  a  single  pipe 
line,  which  was  allowed  to  run  one  sea¬ 
son  so  as  to  test  out  the  supply  before 
extending  the  line  to  the  buildings,  near¬ 
ly  4.000  feet  distant. 
As  the  water  was  of  the  purest  and 
the  supply  warranted  the  expense,  the 
line  was  the  next  season  installed.  As 
there  was  a  fall  of  16  feet  to  the  pro¬ 
posed  reservoir  and  the  water  would  al¬ 
ways  be  flowing,  the  trench  was  only  dug 
two  feet  in  depth,  most  of  this  being  done 
with  a  machine  suited  to  the  purpose, 
making  quite  an  item  of  economy  on  the 
job.  One-inch  galvanized  iron  pipe  was 
used  for  the  whole  4,000  feet,  excepting 
about  200  feet  at  the  spring  end,  where 
114 'hi oh  was  used. 
The  grade  from  the  spring  was  heavy 
for  about  two-thirds  of  the  distance; 
there  it  crossed  a  small  valley  and  up 
to  a  slope  to  the  500-barrel  reservoir. 
This  pipe  line  is  always  full  of  water 
from  the  outlet  in  the  reservoir  to  the 
The  method  of  connecting-  up  the 
springs  is  one  I  have  worked  out  and 
used  on  many  spring  jobs,  and  has 
proved  to  be  of  great  practical  value. 
After  the  springs  are  all  gathered  to  one 
main  by  laterals,  using  ordinary  drain 
tile  for  the  Purpose*  I  carry  the  main  a 
few  rods  beyond  the  juncture,  using  four- 
inch  sewer  tile  for  this  latter  distune.*, 
the  last  length  having  a  “Y”  outlet.  This 
is  laid  o  its  side,  or  at  an  angle  “f  35 
deg.  to  act  as  an  overflow.  The  service 
pipe  enters  the  end  of  the  sewer  pipe 
through  a  copper  plate  arranged  for  the 
purpose,  a  little  dam  of  clay  is  placed 
against  this  plate  so  that  all  the  water 
must  pass  through  the  service  pipe  or 
back  up  if  it  comes  too  fast,  and  pass 
out  through  the  overflow  described.  This 
overflow  connects  with  a  line  of  drain 
tile  which  again  connects  with  a  regular 
drainage  system.  In  this  way  the  ex¬ 
pensive.  unnecessary  and  unsanitary  cis¬ 
tern  usually  placed  out  at  the  spring  is 
eliminated,  while  the  whole  field  is  re¬ 
deemed  and  the  waste  part  transformed 
into  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  field 
for  crop  production. 
What  has  been  accomplished  by  this? 
First,  a  water  supply  on  which  it  would 
be  difficult  to  place  a  money  value.  Sec¬ 
ond,  a  tract  of  land  formerly  a  detriment 
to  the  farm  is  turned  into  a  valuable  as¬ 
set,  and  third,  the  labor  and  expense  of 
plowing  and  cropping  that  field  has  been 
reduced  in  a  marked  degree,  for  now 
there  are  straight  furrows  and  drill  rows 
Thinning 
page  1S3.  that 
Farm  Notes 
APPLES. — It 
is  noted  on 
Mr,  Mitchell  mentions  the 
time  needed  for  Summer  thinning  of  fruit. 
We  consider  that  it  is  very  difficult  to 
thin  our  fruit  properly  in  the  Winter  by 
his  method.  One  is  very  likely  to  leave 
the  fruit  “bunchy.”  Also  men  using 
eight-foot  prunors  are  apt  to  leave  many 
proving  seed  corn  is  to  select  it  in  the 
field  before  cutting.  Why  should  not  the 
same  apply  to  the  selection  of  beau  seed? 
As  ordinarily  used  it  takes  about  four 
times  as  much  seed  for  an  acre  of  beans 
as  it  does  of  corn,  but  a  good  bean  plant 
would  furnish  fully  as  much  seed  as  an 
ear  of  corn.  The  time  necessary  to  se¬ 
lect  an  ear  of  corn  would  not  be  much 
different  from  the  time  taken  in  picking 
out  a  good  bean  plant.  It  is  probable 
that  careful  selection  of  seed  in  this  way 
either  for  the  whole  planting  or  for  a 
seed  plot  would  d<»  much  to  improve  the 
bean  crop  of  the  country. 
i o > five :  •  1  ->•.»  Jrow  ■ 
j try. 
w  4- - 4-*-**r*  t 
J  H  ».  i  t-Cax  .Qrdimfic  K  r- 
Diagram  of  Equipment  for  Connecting  Spring 
long  stubs  in  the  trees.  It  does  not 
seem  to  us  that  Summer  thinning  is  very 
costly.  Those  apples  must  be  picked 
some  time,  and  it  takes  no  longer  to  pick 
and  drop  them,  in  Summer  than  it  does  to 
pick  and  then  handle  them  half  a  dozen 
times  in  the  Fall  when  every  minute  is 
needed  to  care  for  the  good  fruit. 
Hand  Selection  of  Bean  Seed. — 
Writers  are  practically  agreed  that  the 
oulv  way  to  make  much  headway  in  iin- 
Muskrats. — It  is  true  (page  193) 
that  the  teeth  of  muskrats  are  similar 
to  those  of  the  beaver,  but.  so  are  those  of 
the  rat.  and  no  one  who  is  well  posted 
will  accuse  the  rat  of  being  a  strict  vege¬ 
tarian.  It  seems  to  be  certain  that  musk¬ 
rats  eat  mussels  when  they  can  get  them, 
and  they  have  been  accused  of  catching 
fish.  It*  is  hard  to  prove  tin's,  just  as  it 
is  hard  to  prove  that,  they  catch  wild 
ducks.  A.  c.  w. 
Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Tank  for  Watering  Stock 
same  level  in  the  pipe  line  back  on  the 
first  slope.  A  hydrant  is  placed  on  the 
line  in  the  valley  for  field  use,  while  an¬ 
other  is  placed  at  the  highest  point  on 
the  line  as  an  insurance  against  obstruc¬ 
tion  by  an  air  lock. 
Two  houses  and  three  barns  are  sup¬ 
plied  with  water  from  this  reservoir,  the 
fall  to  the  large  dairy  barn,  where  50 
cows  are  kept,  is  about  15  feet.  At 
least  SO  head  of  cattle  and  horses  are 
kept  on  this  farm,  so  it  will  be  seen  that 
a  great  amount  of  water  is  used.  There 
are  other  small  springs  in  the  fields  that 
are  furnishing  water  for  the  cattle  while 
they  are  out  ou  the  pasture.  This  water 
system  has  been  in  operation  five  years, 
and  only  twice  in  very  dry  seasons  has 
it  been  found  necessary  to  force  water 
to  the  reservoir  from  another  source,  and 
this  for  a  short  time. 
radley’s 
F  ertilizer  s 
(THE  WORLD’S  BEST  BY  EVERY  TEST ) 
This  crop  was  grown  on  old  pasture  land  by  Edward  H. 
Williams ,  Jr.,  on  Bradley's  Fertilizer  alone,  and  yielded 
about  300  bushels  per  acre.  Send  for  1916  prices  and  terms. 
THE  ;  ,iERICAN  AGRICULTURAL  CHEMICAL  COMPANY 
v  92  STATE  STREET,  BOSTON.  2  RECTOR  STREET,  N.  Y.  -  — 
“V.  ”  BUFFALO.  BALTIMORE  AND  PHILADELPHIA 
