298 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
as all the lambs would have come in to sell 
early at the highest prices, but for a disastrous 
raid by the village dogs at an unguarded mo¬ 
ment which all but destroyed the whole flock. 
But this disaster only exemplifies more clearly 
the point we desire to show, which is, that the 
greatest care (even against such a contingency 
as an attack by dogs), gives the greatest profit. 
It is during the winter season, that the most 
care and skill are needed, and but little success 
can be had without a good sheep barn. Such 
a barn, having many conveniences both for the 
flock and their owner, is here illustrated. It 
consists of a barn, shown at figure 1, about 20 
feet wide, 10 feet high from basement to eaves, 
and as long as is desirable. This is intended 
to store the hay or fodder. The posts, sills, 
and plates are all 8 inches square, the girts and 
braces are 4 inches square, the beams 2 x 10, 
are placed 16 inches apart, and are cross-bridged 
with strips, 3 inches wide. The hay is piled 
inside, so that a passage-way is left over the 
feed-passage below, in which there are trap¬ 
doors. The hay is thrown down through these 
doors, and falls upon a sloping shelf, which 
carries it into the feed-racks below, (see fig. 2), 
The basement under the barn is 8 feet high, 
and is of stone on three sides; the front is sup¬ 
ported by posts, 8 inches square, and 8 feet 
apart. Between each pair of posts a door is 
hung upon pins, (fig. 3,) which fits into 
grooves in the posts, so that the door may be 
raised and fastened, so as to close the upper 
half of the space between the posts, or held 
suspended half way, leaving the whole open, 
or be shut down and close the lower half, or 
be removed altogether. By this contrivance at 
least half the front of the basement must be 
left open, whether 
the sheep be shut in 
or out. The floor 
of the basement 
should be slightly 
sloping from rear to 
front, so that it will always be dry. Fig. 4_sliows 
the plan of the basement. The feed-passage is 
shown at c ; the stairway to the root-cellar at b , 
and the root-cellar at a. Fig. 2 gives a section of 
the whole barn. The hay-loft is above, and the 
passage-way and the doors are seen, by which 
the hay is thrown down to the feed-racks be¬ 
low. The sloping shelf, by which the hay is 
carried into the feed-racks, is shown. Below 
the feed-rack is the feed-trough for roots or 
meal. A door shuts off this trough from the 
sheep at the front, while the feed is being pre¬ 
pared, and when it is ready, the door is raised, 
and held up by a strap or a hook to the feed- 
rack. The feed-rack is closely boarded behind, 
and this back part, which is in the feed-passage, 
slopes forward to the front, so as to carry the 
hay forward to the bottom. The front of the 
rack is of upright slats, smoothly dressed, two 
inches wide, and placed three inches apart. 
The boards of the feed-trough are smoothly 
dressed and sand-papered, and all the edges 
arc rounded, so that there is nothing by 
whicn the wool may be torn or rubbed off 
from the v 'm’s necks. will be seen by this 
arrangement, that there is no dangerous thing 
by which a sheep or a lamb might be hurt, or 
place where it can get into mischief. The root- 
cellar is at the rear of the basement, and i3 
reached by the stairs already mentioned. After 
having tried several different plans for sheep 
barns, we think this combines more con¬ 
veniences than any other we know of. A barn, 
large enough to accommodate 100 sheep, may 
be built for $500 to $600, and the yearly in¬ 
terest on this sum would alone be paid several 
times over in the saving of lambs, that would 
be lost without such shelter and conveniences. 
On Siphons and Water-Pipes. 
The failures of siphons when used to carry 
water long distances over a rise of ground, are 
mainly due to two causes, viz., the admission 
of air into the pipe and an excessive friction, 
PUMP ATTACHED TO A SIPHON. 
which greatly retards the current. The readi¬ 
ness with which a very small imperfection in 
the inner surface of a pipe will retard the flow, 
may be estimated when we learn that a mere 
scratch in the discharge nozzle of a steam fire- 
engine pipe, so small indeed as to be overlook¬ 
ed by the workmen who finished it, was suf¬ 
ficient to reduce the throwing power of the 
engine from 200 to 150 feet. This surprising- 
effect of so small a cause could hardly be be¬ 
lieved, were it not vouched , for by so accurate 
a man as Professor Tyndall, at a recent lecture 
on “ Liquids ” at the Royal Institution of Lon¬ 
don. We can not wonder, then, that in the 
passage of water through 1,500 feet of half-inch 
pipe, the flow should be altogether arrested by 
the friction, and not even a drop be discharged 
at the lower end, except at intervals. It is, 
therefore, necessary, when small sizes are used, 
to exercise great care in selecting pipe for the 
conveyance of water, and in place of the com¬ 
mon lead-pipe to use the tin-lined pipe, the in¬ 
ner surface of which is very smooth. This re¬ 
tardation of the flow- in a siphon may cause air 
to enter the pipe, but a considerable quantity 
of air is always dissolved in water, or mixed 
with it, and in flowing through the pipe some 
of this air separates from the water, and gathers 
at the highest part of the curve, and as soon as 
the quantity collected is sufficient to fill the 
pipe for even an iuch of its length, and the 
continuity of the stream of water, is broken, 
the current is disturbed, a constant 
gurgling of the air in the pipe is 
heard, and very soon the stream 
stops running. This is the chief 
difficulty complained of by several 
correspondents, who have asked 
for a remedy for the trouble. The 
remedies are, first, in procuring 
pipe for a siphon, that kind should 
be chosen which has the smooth¬ 
est surface inside. Second, in laying the 
pipe it should be carefully straightened, and 
no sudden curves be made in it; nor should 
any parts of it, that may have been accidentally 
damaged or squeezed out of shape, be allowed 
Fig. 3.—door. 
CL 
iiiiunpmi 
Fig. 4. —PLAN OF BASEMENT TO SHEEP-BARN. 
to remain, but they should either be brought to 
their proper form, or be cut out and the pipe 
joined again. It must be remembered that if 
the sides of a pipe are squeezed together, the 
capacity of the pipe is reduced less or more, 
according to the amount of flattening, and if 
one part an inch long is thus reduced in size, 
the capacity of the whole pipe is reduced. 
Third, in making the short bends at either end 
of the pipe, which may be necessary for any 
purpose, the greatest care should be exercised 
to avoid flattening the pipe. A perfect bend 
may be made by pouring fine sand, made dry 
by heating it in an oven, into the pipe, until 
the part to be bent is completely filled. Then 
a perfect bend may be made without reducing 
the diameter of the pipe in the least. The dry 
sand may be very easily run out of the pipe 
afterwards. Fourth, after all these preventive 
measures have been carefully applied, and the 
pipe is laid, a method of removing the air may 
be used as follows : a piece of the pipe should 
be soldered near the lower end, and a common 
brass-tap fitted to it. A chamber is to be made 
in the ground, to contain this upright piece of 
pipe and tap. A screw is also soldered to the 
end of the piece of pipe, by which a small 
double-valved syringe or pump, with a dis¬ 
charge for the water, may be attached. When 
the presence of air is suspected or known in 
the pipe, this small pump is screwed on to the 
end of the upright piece, the tap is opened, a 
plug is fitted into the end of the water-pipe, 
and the small pump rapidly worked. The 
greatly increased flow brings down with it all 
the air that may have collected in the upper 
part of the pipe, the plug is removed, the tap 
shut, the pump unscrewed, and all goes well 
again. The proceeding occupies less time that 
is needed to describe it. The method is here 
illustrated. The engraving shows the cham¬ 
ber, with the arrangement of the pipe, tap, 
etc., and also the part of pump that is needed, 
which may be a very cheap one. 
The Outlet to a Swamp. 
BT GEORGE E. WARING, JR., OF OGDEN FARM. 
I have recently been employed to do the en¬ 
gineering of a piece of swamp draining in East- 
OUTLET TO A SWAMP-DRAIN. 
era Massachusetts, and as the case presents 
difficulties, which are very common, it will 
perhaps interest others to know how the work 
is being done. The swamp is in a “ pocket,” 
and was originally a pond. It was drained by 
a stone trunk-drain, about 900 feet long, much 
of which w r as twenty feet deep. To make such 
a ylrain at the present price of labor, would 
cost $1,500, as the digging was very difficult. 
The cost of making the huge stone-drain, which 
was many times larger than necessary, was so 
great, that distance was very important, and 
the straightest practicable line was followed. 
True to the nature of all stone-drains, this 
one, after twenty years use, has gone to the 
