1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
599 
LEGHORN PULLETS VS. “MONGRELS.” 
There has been much argument to show that well-bred 
poultry is more profitable than “scrubs.” By “well- 
bred’’ fowls we mean those of some definite breed, well 
selected through a number of years by some definite 
standard. By “scrub” is mean the ordinary barnyard 
fowl—a mixture of various breeds—in-bred, and raised 
without any particular care. A good comparison of 
such poultry was made at the West Virginia Experi¬ 
ment Station. The facts are given in Bulletin 102. 
The character of the breeds and their feed and care are 
described as follows: 
In the Summer of 1904 50 young pullets, which were 
typical of the common mixed stock of the country, were 
bought from farmers living in the vicinity of Morgantown. 
A few of them showed traces of Barred Plymouth Rock and 
Light Brahma blood. Two or three resembled Barred Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks in color, but were provided with a crest, and 
the rest of them were of various colors. They were allowed 
to run at large until Fall. Then they were divided into 
two lots, and placed in the laying houses provided for 
them. Fifty Single Comb White Leghorn pullets of approxi¬ 
mately the same age as the mongrels were selected and 
placed in two similar houses. The general plan of conduct¬ 
ing the experiment was as follows: The feed was carefully 
weighed for each lot and placed in covered boxes in the 
houses. The actual feeding of the fowls was entrusted to a 
little colored boy, who, it is believed, gave the fowls at 
least as careful attention as they would have received on 
the average farm. lie was instructed to feed only what 
the fowls seemed to require, but as lie was naturally a 
liberal feeder it is probable that a portion of the time the 
fowls were somewhat too fat for best results. They were 
fed whole grain scattered in litter in the morning and a 
mash at night. 
The following table gives the amount and value of 
the year’s food required for a hen. In a general way 
we have claimed that a bushel of wheat will provide a 
year’s food, and the estimate is not far wrong. We 
seldom have the figures stated more concisel-: 
MONGRELS. 
Cornmeal at $1.25 per cwt. 7.2 lbs.$ .091 
Wheat bran at 1.20 per cwt. 1.7 lbs.O20 
Ground oats at 1.40 per cwt. (5.5 lbs.091 
Gluten feed at 1.275 per cwt. 3.4 lbs.043 
Beef meal at l.so per cwt. 3.9 lbs. 070 
Middlings at 1.20 per cwt. 5.6 lbs. .067 
Corn at 1.05 per cwt. 19.8 lbs.207 
Oats at 1.25 per cwt. 1.8.6 lbs.232 
Milk at .005 per qt. 20 qts.100 
Total cost .921 
WHITE LEGHORNS. 
Cornmeal at $1.25 per cwt. 7.2 lbs.090 
Wheat bran at 1.20 per cwt. 1.6 lbs.019 
Ground oats at 1.30 per cwt. 6.4 lbs.089 
Gluten feed at 1.275 per cwt. 3.4 lbs.043 
Beef meal at 1.80 per cwt. 3.8 lbs.068 
Middlings at 1.20 per cwt. 5.6 lbs.067 
Corn at 1.25 per cwt. 17.1 lbs.179 
Oats at 1.25 per cwt. 15.9 lbs.198 
Milk at .005 per qt. 20 qts.100 
Total cost .853 
The total amount of food consumed by the mongrels per 
head, without taking into consideration the skim-milk, was 
66.8 pounds, and for the Leghorns 61 pounds, and the total 
cost of food at the prices given in the table was $0,921 and 
$0,853 for the mongrels and Leghorns respectively. 
The next table shows what the pullets did in return 
for their food. The Leghorns began laying first, and 
averaged over 20 each more than the “mongrels.” They 
also consumed less food. 
Price Mongrels. Leghorns. 
Month per doz .Eggs Value. Eggs Value. 
1904 Cents, laid. laid. 
November 14th. 30 6 $ .150 165 $ 4.125 
December . 35 39 1.137 269 7.846 
1905 
January . 35 149 4.346 260 7.583 
February . 30 170 4.250 335 8.375 
March . 20 761 12.683 919 15.316 
April . 20 820 13.666 858 14.300 
May . 20 598 9.966 733 12.216 
June . 20 521 8.683 563 9.383 
July . 20 505 8.416 574 9.566 
August . 23 425 8.146 421 8.069 
September . 24 447 8.940 452 9.040 
October . 28 283 6.603 248 5.786 
November 14th . 30 83 2.075 27 675 
Total . 4,807 89,061 5,824 112,280 
Average per hen. 96.1 1.78 116.5 2.24 
The mongrels produced eggs to the value of $l.7S and 
the Leghorns to the value of $2.24. If we deduct, in each 
case, the cost of food from the value of the eggs there 
remain balances of $0.86 and $1.39 for the mongrels and 
Leghorns respectively. If we take into consideration only 
the cost of the food consumed and the value of the eggs 
produced then the Leghorns gave 53 cents per head more 
profit than the mongrels. The mongrels gained in weight 
one pound per head more than the Leghorns. Valuing this 
at 13 cents per pound then the Leghorns gave 40 cents 
more net profit per ben than the mongrels. 
WELL OUTLET FOR TILE DRAINAGE. 
I wish to tile a field of 35 acres, and having no outlet 
without running my tile a long distance, .1 have been con¬ 
sidering the practicability of putting down a bored well to 
run the water into. I have read and been told that it would 
work all right and carry oft" the water, but never saw it 
demonstrated. Can it be done? Have any of your readers 
tried it, or seen it done successfully? It seems as though 
the subject might prove an interesting one to others beside 
myself. I would have to use an eight-inch tile, and would be 
glad to know how large diameter well it would take to carry 
off the water, I mean I would have to use eight-inch tile if 
the conditions were the same as if I were running the water 
over this long distance I speak of. If it could be carried off 
quickly in a well perhaps it might do smaller than if it 
had to go so far without a very good fall. h. e. 
Illinois. 
The plan that H. E. thinks of using will be a prac¬ 
ticable one tinder certain conditions. If the tubular 
well goes down to water in a gravel bed, and the water 
does not rise too high, that is above or up to what would 
be water line when the land is tiled, the land can be 
drained into this tubular well. But if water level in this 
well is above the desired outlet of the tile drains, the 
scheme is not a practical one, or if wet weather causes 
the water in the well to rise to the surface the drainage 
of the land into the well would be a failure. In drilling 
the well, if dry gravel is found that does not have water 
rise from it in wet weather, or if water is found that 
rises to a certain height in the tube, say several feet 
from the surface, and remains stationary through wet 
SUPPORTING TIIE FAMILY. Fig. 248. 
and dry weather, as much land can be tiled into it as 
desired, and it will disappear without perceptibly rais¬ 
ing the water in the tube. 
In one of the counties in northern Ohio it is the 
custom to put down tubular wells till they come to liv¬ 
ing water; the casing comes near if not entirely to the 
surface. A few feet of the top of the casing or tube 
is filled with holes. Around the top of this tube a well 
or round hole is dug of desired size; this is walled up 
and the tile drains out into it, the water escaping into 
the tubular well through the holes in the tube. This 
system is satisfactory where in use. The outlet when 
once secured is permanent and requires no care. 
Last Winter a friend bought a farm adjoining the 
village of Roxabell, O. On this farm there was a 
wet weather pond of about an acre that I think never 
gave a grain crop. The farmer adjoining next below 
A SATURDAY NIGHT OBSERVANCE. Fig. 249. 
said he could drain out through his land at his own 
expense. This would require about 60 rods of six-inch 
tile. This was bought and distributed along the pro¬ 
posed line of the drain, then the next landowner below 
gave notice of protest. A railroad line with stone cul¬ 
vert being the dividing line between the first and second 
farm, this stopned the drainage operations in that 
direction. By inquiry it was found that the water line 
in the wells in Roxabell was not affected by rainy 
weather. These wells are about 20 feet deep. In dig¬ 
ging them emht or 10 feet from the surface sand and 
gravel was found; this continued till the digging 
reached about 20 feet, when water was found that would 
rise two or three feet and remain at that stage wet or 
dry. The natural outlet to the pond was towards the 
south. After looking the ground over the owner con¬ 
cluded to sink a well to the westward of the pond 300 
feet distant in a rise in the land. By digging about 11 
feet he struck coarse sand or gravel, which contained 
water at that time. lie then cut a ditch to the pond 
from this well, and turned the water into the well. In 
a few days the water all disappeared down into the 
well. In a short time the bottom of the well was en¬ 
tirely dry, and has remained so since. The well was 
walled with six-inch tile, 10 tiers or courses. The out¬ 
let of the drain is above the second course, or two feet 
from the bottom of the well; the 300 feet of drain has 
eight inches fall, and is laid sufficiently deep for all 
practical purposes. Corn is now growing where the 
pond was. After the work has stood the test of a wet 
season and nroved itself, a part of the wall of the well 
will be taken out, a permanent cover placed over it, and 
this covered with soil, and farm work will go on over 
it as though there was no well there. The same farmer 
dug a well 17 feet deep on another farm, striking 
gravel and water, the water rising about two feet. He 
says he can outlet all the tile drains he wants to into 
this well, and the water will disappear. H. E. will 
gather from these instances the conditions necessary to 
make his desired undertaking a success. After the land 
is once drained and the tile working, a tubular well of 
the usual size, four to six inches, will drain a large 
area of land. The exact amount will doubtless have 
to be learned by test. At present I know 1 of no data 
that can be used in making such calculations. 
JOHN M. JAMISON. 
RUST-PROOF WATER PIPES. 
Do yon know anything of Bowers-Barff process of rust¬ 
less coating for well pipes? Can you give me the address 
where pipes treated with the above can lie had? Our well 
water contains acid that will take olf the galvanizing on 
pipes in about one year’s time. I am anxious to get pipes 
that are perfectly rust proof. p. h. u. 
Valley View, Fa. 
The Bowers-Barff process is an expensive one, and so 
far as I know it is not used for coating metals for 
coarse use. It is applied to gun barrels and work of 
that class. It is doubtful if there is anything 
on the market in the shape of suitable water 
pipe which will withstand the corrosive action 
causing the trouble. There is a wrought-iron lap- 
weld pipe used in water service, that is more dur¬ 
able than either the galvanized pipe or the untreated 
pipe, known as “kalameined.” The kalameining con¬ 
sists in “incorporating upon and into the body of the iron 
a non-corrosive metal alloy largely composed of tin.” 
The surface thus treated is not cracked by blows or by 
the bending of the pipe, as may be the case where gal¬ 
vanizing has been the treatment. We cannot say that 
the water might not corrode this pipe as rapidly as it 
would the galvanized pipe, and it may be that the best 
which can be done is to resort to some coating, like an 
asphalt paint. There is, however, an almost insuper¬ 
able difficulty in applying such paints so as completely 
to cover the surface, especially if the pipe is at all rusty. 
The difficulty is that very minute air-bubbles between 
the grains of rust or dirt become entangled under the 
surface of the paint, and then with a change of tem¬ 
perature the air may expand and “blow out,” leaving 
tiny holes through which the water may enter and be¬ 
gin the corrosion, which rapidly spreads under the 
paint, rendering it inefficient. The most promising sug¬ 
gestion that I could make would be to procure a piece 
of iron pipe or a piece of conductor gipe just large 
enough to let the well pipe telescope inside of it easily, 
closing one end of the pipe and placing it in some con¬ 
venient position so that the well pipe could be lowered 
into it its full length. Then on some bright, hot, sunny 
day, when the pipes placed in the sun would become 
very warm so as to force out of the surface coating 
of the pipe as much of the adhering air as possible, 
lower it slowly into a bath of asphalt or acid-proof 
paint, placed in the pipe referred to in sufficient quantity 
to permit the section of the well pipe being completely 
immersed. In this way the pipe will be painted com¬ 
pletely inside and out. Both the pipe and the paint, 
to secure the best results, should be as hot as it is 
safe to use it. To lower the sections into the bath it 
would probably be necessary to drive a plug into one 
end of the well pipe to tie to, a hole being bored through 
the plug which will permit the air to escape readily 
from the inside as it is lowered into the bath. If the 
pipes could be treated in this way to a bath of melted 
asphalt we think it would effectually protect them, but 
this is difficult to do on the farm. A simpler way to do 
the coating might be to use a length of eave-trough, 
provided with ends, so as to form a horizontal bath 
into which the sections could be laid. In this way the 
outside surface could be thoroughly brushed while un¬ 
der the paint so as to secure the thorough expulsion of 
all air from the surface, but T doubt if the inner surface 
of the pipe could be as thoroughly painted as by the 
other method. f. h. king. 
