366 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 30 
When I first introduced thoroughbred Jerseys in 
this community, everybody wanted to “speak” first 
for their calves, thinking that I would be silly enough 
to sell them fine stock for the price of scrubs. They 
know better now. It takes all the magnetism of a 
$20 bill to draw away a live calf, and even then the 
magnet must be applied before the calf is more than 
two months old. At that age, unless it be sold, or I 
want to keep it myself, I veal it at an average return 
of about $10. This pays me better than increasing 
competition without getting adequate compensation 
myself. Human nature is pretty much the same the 
world over. If T. 0. wish to make a margin over and 
above the price ordinarily paid, let him, by careful 
selection and management, produce a herd of en¬ 
viable individuality, and if, at any time, he have more 
such cows than he cares to keep, he will find pur¬ 
chasers waiting for them. Breed may sometimes be 
at a discount, but individual merit always commands 
a premium. j. c. senger. 
Virginia. 
Short-horns or Devons Are Best 
I, for one, have experimented in that line for nearly 
30 years. My circumstances were limited. I first 
brought Short-horns from Kentucky ; 1 thought those 
not suitable, as the butter was lacking. Some years 
after, T invested $1,500 in purebred Devons; they 
filled the bill as to quality of milk, butter and beef, 
but they lacked quantity. Next I invested in IIol- 
steins ; they lacked everything but blue milk. The 
greatest drawback in buying purebred cattle, is the 
roguery' practiced on buyers. There are some fine 
Devon cows, but three-quarters of the cows I bought 
were gross misrepresentations. I had Devon cows, 
while fresh, that would not make three pounds of 
butter per week on good pasture and a fair grain 
ration. If a farmer of limited means could buy good 
Devons, I believe that, from the amount of feed they 
take, and care they require, they are the most profit¬ 
able breed. One objectionable feature in the Devon 
is that the calves are small, and they are slow to 
mature. As to selling purebred cattle at paying 
prices, that depends on many conditions. From my 
experience with four herds of purebred cattle, I would 
say to any man of limited means, “ Short-horns all 
the time”—that is, for a combination. The calves are 
large, and mature quickly. The cows are fairly good 
milkers, and many are fairly good butter cows. But 
look out for the breeders ; they are like tree peddlers ; 
they will tell you all kinds of things. 1 don’t say 
this of all of them ; but I have learned some things 
after an experience of 30 years, and an investment of 
$3,000. No man can build up the all-purpose herd, 
conditions and circumstances are so different on 
ordinary hill farms, and if the farmer wish milk, 
butter and beef of superior quality, and can get the 
best Devons, he will not feel disappointed. I think 
that no other breed keeps on so little feed, but the 
quantity of the product is not large, be it milk, butter 
or beef. m. s. cruel. 
York County, Pa. 
Success with Ayrshire Cattle. 
I believe that a farmer of limited means can make 
a success of dairying, and will try to give some points 
to show this. We keep purebred Ayrshire cattle. 
Although some grades are as good for milk, they or 
their calves do not sell as well, neither are they as 
good for exhibition at fairs, which is a good place to 
advertise and sell stock, and is also quite profitable in 
this locality. When we started, we bought five calves, 
four heifers and one bull, paying $25 apiece for them. 
One of the cows we have yet in our dairy ; she has 
raised nine heifer calves. These cattle have strong 
constitutions, and are free from disease, which is 
one of the first requirements of a dairy cow. They 
give good messes of milk, of good quality, testing from 
4 to 5 % per cent with a Babcock tester. We have 
often had cows in our dairy that gave 50 pounds of 
milk a day. They are easy keepers, and pay well for 
the amount of food consumed. I usually milk cows 
to within four weeks of calving. I now have 50 head 
of purebreds. f. n. c. 
Cherry Creek, N. Y.. 
A Plea for Dutch Belted Cattle. 
In my opinion, T. O. can make no better selection 
of breeds than the Dutch Belted. A man with very 
limited means can make more money with purebreds 
than with scrubs ; though, to be sure, in this line of 
business, as in all others, money helps to make money. 
I know less about the Devons than about any of the 
other older breeds, but my impression is that they are 
just what he doesn’t want. In regard to the Dutch 
Belted cattle, I speak from the poor man’s standpoint 
and from experience. I have a small dairy entirely 
of this breed, and have never had any difficulty in dis¬ 
posing of the calves at paying, though not fabulous, 
prices. These cattle are of good size, very hardy, 
easy keepers, persistent milkers, They will give as 
large a quantity as, and a better quality of milk than, 
the Holsteins. In addition to the foregoing charac¬ 
teristics, which make them the ideal moneymakers, 
their striking and attractive uniforms make them at 
once the pride of their owners and the envy of all 
who see them. g g. gibbs. 
New T Jersey. 
CIVIL ENGINEERING FOR BOYS ON THE FARM 
Part I. 
How to Make a Level. 
There is one application of the civil engineer’s 
w’ork, that is so plain, simple and easy to learn, and 
of such frequent use on the farm, that I concluded to 
describe it in a few articles in The R. N.-Y. Many 
farmers have some wet ground on the farm, that is of 
little value without draining. They would like to 
know whether or not it can be satisfactorily drained, 
A LEVELING TUBE AND HOW TO MOUNT IT. Fig. 116. 
and if it can, what is the best way to drain it. To 
determine that accurately, levels must be taken, 
which is the work of an engineer. But any one else 
can very easily learn to do it, and a boy who has been 
through decimal fractions in arithmetic, and has a 
little gumption in the use of a saw, plane, and bit, 
can make his own instruments, and in a short time 
learn to take levels accurately enough for laying out 
drains, or for any similar purpose. 
The Leveling Instrument or Level. —The sur¬ 
face of a body of water like a lake, when at rest, is a 
level surface, and any line along the surface of the 
water, or parallel to it, is a level line. Water when 
free to do so, always settles with its surface at a per¬ 
fect level. Advantage is taken of this property of 
water and other fluids, to make a cheap level which, 
in principle, is perfectly accurate. The essential 
thing in such a level is a tube tight enough to hold 
water, and having the ends turned up something like 
a letter U. When such a tube is held horizontally, 
with the ends pointing upward, if filled nearly full of 
water, the water will rise to exactly the same height 
in both ends of the tube. If the ends of the tube are 
i 
rvwJT'- 
-^ 
_ 
MAKING A WATER TANK. Fig. 117. 
of clear glass, and the water is colored, so one can 
see it plainly, a sight along the two surfaces of the 
water will give a true level line. One can get some 
rough levels with such an instrument, without any 
other attachment to it. Simply stand up straight, 
and raise the level in the hand, to the height of the 
eye. Everything that can be seen in range with the 
water surfaces, is on exactly the same level as the 
eye. One can sometimes tell by that alone, whether 
he can drain a wet place or not; but generally he will 
want the tube to be mounted on a staff, or some kind 
of a stand, to hold it firm and steady in its place, 
when using it. A simple and effective way of 
mounting it is to have the main part, of the tube made 
of tin, with a spindle of large wire attached to it in 
the middle, see Fig. 116. Then all that is needed is a 
plain, straight staff sharpened at the bottom to stick 
into the ground and a hole in the top for the spindle 
to set into, see Fig. 116. Any tinner will make such 
a tube for a few cents, and any one can putty in the 
glass ends. Pieces of glass tubing may be procured 
at the drug store, or one can use glass vials with a 
hole in the bottom, for that purpose. 
If the tube be long enough so that the turned-up 
ends are about two feet apart, it will give better re¬ 
sults than a shorter sight will. A still larger tube 
would be better to sight by, but it would make the 
instrument clumsy to handle. To attach the spindle 
to the tube, use a piece of No. 6 or 8 wire for the 
spindle, and bend one end of it around the middle of 
the tube, so that it will fit close, set it just right to 
hold the tube in its proper position, and solder it to 
the tube. If the side of the wire which is next to the 
tube, be filed down fiat, it will fit and hold better. 
Another way to fix the tube which does not require 
the aid of the tinner, is to get a piece of rubber tube 
about two feet long, with two pieces of glass tubing 
about four inches long, and make one continuous tube 
of them by slipping a glass tube into each end of the 
rubber. They should fit close together so as to make 
a watertight joint. By taking such a tube, and hold¬ 
ing it with the glass ends up, and filling it full enough 
of colored water, so that it can be seen plainly in both 
ends, one can use it to get levels with by taking one 
end in each hand and holding them far enough apart 
so that he can get a good sight along the water sur¬ 
faces. 
As one will not be likely to hold it steady enough 
in this way, he will need to have the tube attached to 
something to steady it. It may be attached to a cross 
bar made of a piece of board of the right length about 
an inch wide at each end, and a little wider in the 
middle. A hole just large enough to admit the tube, 
is bored edgewise through the board near each end. 
The ends of the tube are put through these holes so 
that the glass shall project two inches above the cross 
bar, and is fastened there. If the hole be just the 
right size, the rubber part of the tube where it slips 
over the glass, will fit close and hold it tight enough 
to place ; otherwise some putty will be needed to 
fasten it. A large wire nail driven straight down 
through the middle of the cross bar, will serve for a 
spindle—see Fig. 116. A button or washer as thick as 
the rubber tube, should be slipped into the spindle 
for a buffer between the cross bar and staff. When 
moving about, the ends of the tube may be corked up 
to prevent the water from spilling, but when in use, 
both corks must be taken out, or the imprisoned air 
will prevent the water from settling to a true level. 
The water must have absolutely free passage from 
end to end of the tube, and then it will give an abso¬ 
lutely correct level. frank iiodgman. 
Michigan. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Making a Water Tank. —I see in The R. N.-Y. 
directions for making a water tank. Why not cut the 
pieces square, and each pair of the same length ? That 
would save one third the time in making, and save 
fitting every end piece. I make them the same as one 
would make a penstock or flume for water to run to 
a water wheel. See Fig. 117. s. p. k. 
Brushton, N. Y. 
Feeding Potatoes to Cows. —I feed raw potatoes 
to cows with excellent results. Six quarts of good, 
clean potatoes is my ration for a large cow, twice a 
day, and four quarts of ground grain twice a day, 
consisting of two parts of wheat bran, one part of 
corn meal, and one-eighth of cotton-seed meal, all by 
measure ; this gives a very rich and thick cream. 
With me, each cow has a small tub in the manger, and 
the potatoes and grain are fed in it, while the cow is 
tied. In 20 years of experience, I never had a cow 
choke. Of course, if they are fed with whole potatoes 
when loose in the yard, with cows chasing each other, 
one must expect trouble. I do not think that a cow 
in milk, if she be a good butter cow, will take on any 
extra flesh from feeding raw potatoes. I never had 
any experience in feeding boiled potatoes to cows. 
South Manchester, Conn. h. f. g. 
Walnut Leaves and Fleas. —When I made this 
my abode, I suggested that the public building 
be underpinned all around, and that green walnut 
leaves be liberally scattered over the floor. The fleas 
disappeared as if by magic. Many a building has 
since been freed of the pests by the use of walnut 
leaves for a few days. They are much cheaper than 
sticky fly paper, and apparently much more effective. 
What becomes of the fleas, I do not know, neither do 
I particularly care. The walnut leaves seem to dis¬ 
pose of them all, which is rather more than can, 
probably, be said of fly paper, unless this be used very 
lavishly, which would involve considerable expense. 
The rooms may be used with more satisfaction when 
using the walnut leaves, than with fly paper lying all 
about, and showing no more respect for your best 
clothes than_for_the fleas, Virginian. 
