1903. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
755 
CEMENT WATER TANK, 
Some time ago I saw an inquiry in regard to how to 
make a cement water tank. Having just finished one 
for stock water, which I think is going to prove quite 
satisfactory, I will tell how it was made. In the first 
place, I had a pine tank made of pine staves, hooped 
with iron hoops. This tub had become badly rotted 
and needed something new to take its place; I con¬ 
cluded to make a new tank of Portland cement or con¬ 
crete. The old tank was inside of a house 10x16, with 
walls 18 inches high and same thickness; house was 
double boarded, with building paper between, shingle 
roof and eight feet at eaves; wall was faced on out¬ 
side. The water supply came from a windmill about 
10 rods from tank. Water came in through the bot¬ 
tom with a float valve which shuts water off when 
tank is full and then pumps inside my barn. I made 
the new tank just inside the walls of house, five 
inches on bottom, four inches gravel and Portland 
cement, six to one, one inch Portland and sand, two to 
one. The sides are 10 inches at bottom and six inches on 
top, which makes the tank 8x10x2 1-6 feet high. I had 
to build a crib for both outside and inside. The earth 
* 
was dug out to a depth of three feet and filled in 
with cobblestones pounded in solid. The tank has 
covers with lids to shut down in cold weather. The 
house has also doors to shut up. It has to be quite a 
cold snap to freeze much when all is closed. 
Cortland Co,, N. Y. itoMEu j. nitowx. 
BORINC WELLS IN VIRGINIA. 
On page 706 R. P. L. inquii’es about drilled 
or driven wells. Our town is supplied with 
water from artesian wells. The wells are about 
158 feet deep. I have seen these wells bored 
and piped, everything complete, in about seven 
hours’ time, the work being done by seven men. I 
will try to describe the way it is done. The drill we 
use is about two inches broad at the point, and is 
fitted to a %-inch pipe. At the part of the drill whei'e 
the round steel is worked to a flat there are two %-inch 
holes, one on each side of drill. In using this drill 
there is a stream of water forced down through the 
%-inc,h pipe and out through the %-in( h holes in 
drill. The water takes up the soil that the drill 
loosens, and carries it to the surface. Usually we 
bore down until we come to a stratum of rock, as we 
term it. but really it is a stratum of shell. ^V^len we 
strike the shells we take out the drill pipe and put 
down a l^-^inch pipe until it rests on this stratum of 
shell. We then put in a smaller drill and drill 
through the shell, where we find the stream of water. 
We have a well like the one 1 have just described 
that has been running without intermission for the 
last nine years. The pump used in boring this well is 
a 4x6 double-acting force pump. The %-inch pipe is 
cut into six-foot lengths for convenience In handling. 
There .’s a T-shaped handle that screws on top of the 
%-inch pipe with a universal joint on top of handle. 
The pump is connected with the handle by rubber 
hose. A tripod about nine feet high, having block and 
fall attached, is located over well. The fall is at¬ 
tached to a T-shaped handle. Two men work the 
fall, pulling the pipe up a few inches and letting it. 
fall while the man at the handle turns it around so as 
to cut a round nole. Four men work the pump. The 
hole is cut very rapidly. In case we strike quick¬ 
sand we have to lake out the %-inch pipe and in.sert 
a casing pipe to cut off the sand. I think R. P. L. 
could use this method of cutting so that he could get 
his five-inch casing pipe down. Bore the hole until 
the sand begins to bother, then remove drilling pipe 
and drive down casing pipe as far as it can 'oe 
driven without injuring pipe; then put in drilling 
pipe and continue or repeat until casing pipe shows 
sufficient head of water. In regard to the lifting of 
water out of well, I think that a force pump at the 
bottom of well, with piston rod coming up to the sur¬ 
face. will be the only practical way, as it will be im¬ 
possible to get the Water up by suction. j. u. o. 
West Point, Va. 
More About Pumps and Wells. 
On page 706 a question about wells is asked and 
answered. H. C. S. says; “Water may^ be raised 
from a well 70 feet deep, provided the water pressure 
is sufficient to raise the water to within 28 feet of the 
top.” Frofti this I infer that, unless the w’ater of its 
own pressure rises to within 28 feet of the top. an 
ordinary hand-pump cannot be used. Having had oji- 
portunity to know something about pumps, 1 venture 
to give a little additional information. Our well is 
71 feet deep. The water is never more thai 12 feet 
deep in the well. AVe have whal is I'alled a double¬ 
action force pumi) with two cylinders, one at the bot¬ 
tom, the other near the top of the well. 'Plie pumit 
fo’'ces a steady stream of water, and a 10-year old 
child can work it w’ith ease. The pump, alone, with¬ 
out the necessary pipe and rod, cost $10. The total 
cost of well and pump was $104, The lower 46 feet 
of the well is solid limestone. It is cased through the 
clay down to the rock. By lowering the cylinder to 
within 28 feet of the bottom we could use a lift pump 
with one cylinder, costing $4 or $5. but it wmuld be 
hard to operate. I, too, should advise R. P. L. to 
have a drilled well. Any experienced well-driller can 
drive steel casings as he proceeds if the quicksand in¬ 
terferes. w. w. s. 
West Virginia. _ 
FEEDING MEAT TO HENS. 
The meat we feed to hens comes from butchers in 
the shape of meat scraps. I have had no experience 
in feeding the whole carcass to hens. I see no ob¬ 
jection to it. however, if the animal was a healthy one 
and the meat is fed in a fresh condition. The disad¬ 
vantage would be that it would be liable to spoil be¬ 
fore the whole carcass could be used. We have a man 
near here who feeds dead horses in Winter and with 
good success. Last Winter he had 160 fowls—mixe 1 
pullets and hens—and they laid in January 1,180 eggs, 
in February 1,675, in March 2,490 and in April 2,116. 
They were fed horse meat. He tried to keep the meat 
before them all the time. He kept the carcass frozen 
and cut off a large section once in a while. The grain 
fed was wheat principally. Those 160 hens were all 
kept together at night in a pen 10x24 feet, or less 
than two square feet floor space per fowl. 
I don’t know that I can give the “best” combination 
of grain to feed with meat. Several combinations 
may be fed with good results. Bran, wheat and corn, 
with raw meat, will give good results. In Summer 1 
would prefer oats to the corn. I would feed a bran 
mash once a day and two different kinds of grain a 
day, the price of the grain governing the relative 
amount of each kind of feed. In addition, of course, 
they would need green stuff and grit, and above all, 
regular and good care. In regard to quantity of meat 
A WTIOLESALE THRASHING JOB. PiG. 281. 
to feed, 1 would say 10 to 20 pounds a week for IPO 
hens, the larger amount when they are laying well, 
and the smaller when not laying. If fresh meat is 
kept before them all the time, they should also have 
all the grain they will eat at the same time, other¬ 
wise they will eat an excess of meat. And after all is 
said and done, the result will depend largely on the 
hen herself. .i.vmes drydkx. 
Utah Exp. Station. 
WHY APPLE BARRELS ARE HIGH. 
In a general way it is due to the increased cost of 
limber. Cooperage material up to, say, a year ago, 
had not advanced with other lines of lumber. It is 
now up in line with them. A great proportion of the 
men engaged in manufacturing barrel material have 
little capital, and on a rising market in timber a year 
ago bought very sparingly, the result being that very 
little barrel stock was made last Winter, and even 
where manufacturers had capital, weather conditions 
in Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada were very un¬ 
favorable for getting out stock. The result of these 
conditions was that for the first time in the history 
of the trade barrel stock could not be bought during 
the past AVinter or Spring cheaper than the previous 
Fall. Country coopers, who are also usually men of 
small means, failed to see that conditions were chang¬ 
ing, and therefore bought little stock because it was 
dear and of course even where they had the room— 
and most of them have none—made up no barrels. 
A special reason for the scarcity of bai*rels is that 
the past season has been very wet in the Northwest, 
making it impossible to dry staves and heading fast 
enough to meet the demand. Hoops are compara¬ 
tively plentiful and cheap, because they can be cut 
light from the log. Another trouble which the bar¬ 
rel maker has to eonteud with, but which really ap¬ 
plies to every season, is the reluctance of growers to 
buy barrels before they are ready to use them. They 
are never sutre that they will have any apples, and 
they do not know whether they will ship them them¬ 
selves or sell them on tbe tree although they could in¬ 
variably get more for the apples if the barrels were 
on hand, or they could often sell the barrels at an 
advance to the apple buyer. 1 knew six months ago 
that present conditions were inevitable, and in June 
last, when my storage was full. I told my customers 
what was coming and asked them to take some pro¬ 
portion of the barrels they would need, both for their 
own advantage and thus to give me more space. The 
price was then 34 cents. Only one of my numerous 
customers bought at that price. Barrels now selling 
for 40 to 50 cents are less profitable than those that 
were sold two months ago for 35 cents. In many cases 
middlemen who handle barrel material are taking a 
very unfair advantage of the situation and are putting 
a price upon stock that is beyond reason. 
As to boxes, I believe they will be used in larger 
numbers from year to year, as lumber of a very poor 
quality can be used, but bo.x factories are and have 
been taxed to their utmost for months past to supply 
the demand for other products, so that this season at 
least little help can be given apple shippers. If read¬ 
ers who write for information regarding shipments 
and freight rates would tell where they are located 
as to county, and especially on what railroad, it would 
save a great deal of labor, and, what is of more im¬ 
portance sometimes, a lot of time. kobt. cui.lies. 
GIVE us A BETTER FUNGICIDE. 
Several months ago you had an editorial calling the 
attention of the scientific people to the fact that a 
substitute for Bordeaux Mixture was much needed. 
I have been looking every week as The R. N.-A’. 
came in, to see this subject renewed. AVhen you con¬ 
sider the enormous losses sustained by farmers this 
year on account of decaying potatoes, you cannot help 
thinking that this subject should receive the most 
careful attention of the stations. To the average 
farmer Bordeaux Mixture is not a practical remedy. 
He neither has the expensive gear to apply it nor 
the time to devote to it. It is easy to sit in a com¬ 
fortable chair at a desk and dictate letters to a pretty 
typewriter telling the farmer to spray his potatoes 
six times, but with every moment from 4 .A.. M. until 
dark filled and no help to be had, this spraying so 
many times is only for the specialist; the farmer 
simply cannot do it. It’s hard lines after a farmer has 
worked so hard to ])repare his lanrl and bought ferti¬ 
lizer, and to see the blight sweep down and destroy his 
crop. I feel confident that this subject would be 
taken up by some of the stations, if they could really 
get down to the facts, and realize how much a 
fungicide is needed. I hope you will persistently push 
it- F. C. CERTIS. 
Maine. 
MAKING OVER AN OLD DAIRY BARN. 
I liavo a. barn 30 x 50 feet which T wish to alter to ac¬ 
commodate 20 or 30 cows. There are no stables at present, 
in the center is a Itoor 1(! feet wide, with bays 17 feet 
wide on each side. The barn faces north. I was thinking 
of taking out the floor and putting IG stanchions along 
the 50-foot south side. I would like to have 20 .stanchions, 
or perhaps two rows running the long way would not be 
too much. I also wish to arrange for a .silo at the west 
gable. How can these changes best be made? c D b 
New York. ‘ ' 
These old barns are not easily rearranged to suit one’s 
convenience. If the room is needed, and it must be 
for the number' of cows mentioned, I should say the 
most satisfactory plan would be to raise the barn and 
put a stable under the whole building. This will not 
interfere with the capacity of the loft for hay and 
grain. The stable should be not less than eight feet 
in the clear. The 50 feet in length can be used in 
two different ways. First the stanchions could be 
placed acro.ss the short way and put in a double row 
of 10 in each, or a total of 20, with a drive between 
them. A total of 34 feet in wddth will be enough; 
six feet for a manger, four feet 10 inches for platform, 
15 inches for drop, and a manure drive of seven or 
eight feet. We shall then have a space in the end 
16 feet wide and 30 feet long that will make box stalls, 
or horse stalls. Or the stanchions can be placed the 
long way with a very narrow space between the rows 
of cows, through which a manure carrier could easily 
be used. I much prefer driving fn for the manure 
rather than using a carrier. ’The same movement 
that puts it into a carrier places it on the wagon. 
Building a stable under the wdiole barn makes pos¬ 
sible the introduction of sunlight over the whole sta¬ 
ble. Put in 36 square feet of window space to each 
5,000 cubic feet of air space. Arrange to build the 
silo on the east end; you will not then cut off any 
light. The south and w-est sides let in the sun, and 
should never be covered. Use the King system of 
ventilation so frequently described in these columns, 
and a cement floor. The cows will need bedding more 
freely than upon wood, but it is in every particular 
more satisfactory than plank; aUvays the same, no 
w^earing and consequent repair; all the liquids saved, 
which means a noticeable increase in fertility and 
crops in a few' years. The ch^inge that has taken 
place on a farm where this floor has been in use three 
years in crop growth is truly surprising. No matter 
how' tight the gutters there is sure to be waste in 
other parts which is all saved upon cement. In a 
40-cow dairy with four or five horses the manure made 
while the cows are being milked and eating the feed 
is equal to a v'^ry large load in tw'o days, Everything 
is saved. it. e. c. 
