1020 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 25, 1917, 
Farm Mechanics 
A Safe Chicken Coop 
Some years ago, for the want of a 
good, safe chicken coop, I lost 16 young 
chickens in one night. They were de¬ 
stroyed by a skunk getting into the 
coop where they were fastened. After 
that I determined to have a skunk-proof 
box, and I suceeded. The principle is 
shown in picture below. 
Any box that is not too small can 
be easily converted into such a chicken- 
holder. One end or side of the box 
is entirely removed; also a small strip 
from the top adjacent to what is to be 
henceforth the front. This is to allow 
the door or slide to slip into place and, 
besides, leave a small space for ventila- 
Safe Chicken Coop 
tion, and which space should not be 
large enough to allow an aniniijl egress. 
It will also be necessary, perhaps, to cut 
a notch to allow the “handle” to .pass 
down when the coop is closed. A cleat 
is nailed on each side near the front suf¬ 
ficiently back to permit the slide being 
inserted. A few laths are nailed on the 
upper front, and a short piece of like 
stuff on the lower edge, so as to form a 
groove to retain the slide. Two slides are 
made; one for day use and the other for 
night use. The photograph shows them 
so well that a description is not re¬ 
quired. 
A board floor may be attached; I 
found it better not to have any, as then 
the coop could be put on the grounl 
or on a wooden platform, as deemed 
necessary, but either one should be 
used, as if set on soft earth an animal 
would be likely to dig under and get into 
the coop and injure or kill the in¬ 
mates. w. A. Pin'AL. 
California. 
Water Tank from Old Silo Staves 
It is an easy matter to make a 'square 
or oblong water tank from silo staves, 
provided the staves are straight and 
true. If they are warped and twisted, or 
out of condition in any Avay, it is more 
difficult. Cut tAVO pieces just the out¬ 
side length of the tank. Then cut two 
more just the inside width, and lay all 
four in the form of a rectangle, on a 
level, solid jloor. Toe-nail them togeth¬ 
er to hold them in place, and smear them 
Avell with pitch. Then cut four more 
pieces, but alternate the respective 
lengths, so that the side pieces shall be 
of the inside length, and the end pieces 
be of the outside width, thus breaking 
joints, and spike well to the first four. 
Smear these v^ell Avith pitch, add an¬ 
other set of staves, but alternating the 
lengths so as to break joints and spike in 
place. Continue spiking the staves to¬ 
gether, until you have a tank as deep as 
is desired. Then spike the bottom in 
place and turn the tank over and set 
upon a good foundation. Be careful to 
make good joints, and to use plenty of 
pitch, and to see that the tank is not 
thrown out of place by the action of the 
frost. If these precautions are observed 
the tank will last a lifetime. I helped 
to build one using 2x4 scantlings instead 
of staves, that was in perfect condition 
after 25 years of use, and for all that I 
know to the contrary, is still doing good 
service after another 15 years. If it 
does leak, throw a little cornmeal into 
the water. The current aauU carry the 
meal into the crevice where it will lodge 
and swell, and thus effectually prevent 
further waste. 
To make a round tank requires spe¬ 
cial tools w’ith Avhich to fit the bottom. 
cut the grooves and get an accurate bevel 
on the staA'es. and is no work for an 
amateur. But a cement tank will give 
better satisfaction than either, and, as¬ 
suming that the staves have a fair market 
value, and that sand and graA^el are avail¬ 
able, will cost less. The best way to 
keep the water from freezing is to .set a 
heater in the tank and keep the Avater 
Avarm. If this is not desirable a box 
may be built around the tank, leaA’ing 
a space of six or eight inches w'hich may 
be filled AA'ith sawdust. The cover should 
be made double Avith an air space in the 
interior. 
If a coAv is kept in a AA'arm stable, is 
Avell-fed and w'ell-nourisked, is giving a 
fair quantity of milk, and is watered 
twice a day, she will require from 12 to 
16 gallons a day. If the temperature of 
the stable is at zero, or below, and the 
COAV is fed upon hay alone, watered but 
once a day and with ice-cold water, she 
will manage to exist with only three or 
four gallons. From these figures an es¬ 
timate of the necessary size of the tank 
can be calculated. c. 0 . o. 
Pumping With Compressed Air 
Some time ago I wrote about pumping 
water with air under pressure. I Avent 
ahead Avith my air pumping scheme, and 
Avill giv'e you an idea of my success. The 
well oA'erfloAA's thi’ee or four feet above 
the ground level and is a tAVO-inch cas¬ 
ing 45 feet deep. This casing stands 
up in the air about 18 fe‘t to a tee con¬ 
necting Avith the supply tank. The cas¬ 
ing is also continued up in the air, past 
the toe, for about eight feet. I had an 
air compressor and 150-gallon tank on 
hand Avhich I run up to 40 or 50 pounds 
pressure. From the air tank I lead an 
old spray hose doAvn from the top of the 
casing to the bottom of the same, and 
gradually turn on the air. I have been 
busy mixing Bordeaux to keep the new 
big sprayer going so cannot be exact, but 
think the outfit delivers between 500 gal¬ 
lons and 600 gallons an hour. I have 
not yet concluded just wdiat amount of 
air is most economical. The Avater stops 
coming when the pressure drops to 20 
pounds or so. We put a piece of copper 
tube in the end of the air hose and bent 
it back on itself so that the air .shoots 
up toAvards the surface. 
Can some readers give me an idea how 
much pressure to nse. and how to best 
get the air at the tee disengaged from 
the water so as to do aAvay Avith shov¬ 
ing blocks of air along the 20-foot con¬ 
nection to supply tank? At present 150 
gallons (Winchester) at 40 pounds will 
pump about 100 gallons of water by the 
time the pressure goes to 20 pounds. 
What should I get? JOHN buchanan. 
Nova Scotia. 
Farm Business 
A Woman Farmer’s Hay 
I have a fine field of Alfalfa, first year, 
not any Aveeds, very heavy- 'I had it cut 
and cured in the field. As I have given up 
my poultry plant, owing to high price of 
feed, I have sold my Alfalfa to a neigh¬ 
bor, but cannot set price, and Avill ask 
you to tell what it should be per ton. I 
had it cut and cured and they will use 
their team and carry it across the road. 
Should the hay, being freshly cut, make 
a difference in price? E. L, p. 
Nothing more than a good guess could 
be given in such a matter. In Northern 
NeAV Jersey the general rule in buying 
standing grass is to pay about one-third 
of its final value as hay before the grass 
is cut. For example, if dried hay is 
worth $21 a ton, the buyer aa'Iio kneAV 
his business aa’OuM plan to giA'C .about $7 
a ton for the grass in the field, and he 
would have to be a good judge of a crop 
in order to estimate it before the grass 
Avas cut. Probably a fair rule wmuld be 
to say that the standing grass is worth 
about one-third of the final price, and 
that the labor of cutting and curing it 
is worth another one-third. In this case 
the labor of hauling it from the field and 
putting it into the barn or stack Avould 
figure out another one-third. While this 
Avould not always be entirely accurate it 
is probably as fair a basis as could be 
made in figuring. This final A-.alue does 
not mean fresh hay taken from the field, 
but the A’alue of the dried hay after it 
has been cured or gone through this 
state in the mow. There would be a 
shrinkage of about 14% from the hay 
as taken from the field before it Avas sold. 
Figuring on this ba.sis a Avay to operate 
would be for the owner to have the crop 
cut, thoroughly dried, and raked up into 
AAundrows or cocks. If there Avere scales 
in the barn each load could be weighed 
as it w’ent into the barn or one fair sam¬ 
ple load could be Aveighed and that load 
taken as the standard. It .should be a 
fair load, and about all the horses can 
handle. When the hay is in the barn you 
Avould have a total Aveight of the fresh, 
then deduct 14% from that and figure 
the balance as well-cured hay. Then t.akc 
the value of hay in that community at 
the barn and alloAV two-thirds of its 
Amlue to the owner and one-third to the 
party who hauled it out of the field and 
put it into the barn. That is a reason¬ 
able Avay of figuring such a sale. If there 
is any better Avay we would like to have 
our readers tell us about it. 
Green Corn for Market 
The present food shortage suggests the 
advisability of adopting some general 
utility crop that can meet the demand in 
one Avay if it fail in another. We find 
nothing' better suited to this plan than 
SAA'cet corn; any that doesn’t sell green 
makes excellent coav feed, and the de¬ 
mand for milk, butter and beef is usually 
good. Last year I had the earliest SAveet 
corn in this section, and the quality was 
such that it sold like hot cakes on the 
street market at the nearest Summer re¬ 
sort toAvn, though it Avas White Mexican 
and the mai’ket prefers Golden Bantam. 
My start of this seed Avas purchased 
from the best seedsman I knoAV, but was 
a little late for the midsummer market, 
probably because it was raised in a differ¬ 
ent climate. That year, however, I saved 
my OAvn seed and planted the home-grown 
article last year. My garden is tile-drained. 
I alAvays have it Fall-ploAvcd; it had been 
harroAA'cd thoroughly, and Avas in fine 
condition Avhen I made my first planting 
of corn May 12. I fertilized quite liber¬ 
ally in the hill with hen manure, but ap¬ 
plied no other fertilizer. Successive 
plantings Avere made at inteiwals of two 
AA’oeks for a month or more, but the 
AA’eather continued cold and backward for 
so long, and Avas so hot Avhen it did Avarm 
up, that there Avas very little difference 
in the maturity of the entire patch. By 
August 19 I had so much on hand that 
Ave took an automobile load to market, 
though I had intended it for home use 
only. 
It has alAA'ays been claimed by the local 
truckers here that it is useless trying to 
compete, in point of earliness, Avith the 
groAA'ers from the Great I^akes, because 
their season is enough earlier than ours 
to enable them to place any product on 
the market at least tAvo weeks ahead of 
us; hence a surprise was in store for me. 
I found the Lake dealers selling Golden 
Bantam to a crowd hungry for green 
corn. The market price was 15c, and I 
immediately offered mine for that price, 
but the fii’st woman who looked at it told 
me at once that it Avas easily worth 20c, 
and she Avould be glad to pay 25c, which 
she insisted upon doing. All the other 
corn on the market was in the “blister” 
stage, and several people bought a second 
supply of mine as soon as they discov¬ 
ered it, after they had already purchased 
a quantity of “blisters.” I was greatly 
surprised, too, at the cordial, friendly re¬ 
ception accorded a new huckster by the 
older ones, as well as by the very general 
Avillingness of the buyer to pay all a 
thing appeared to them to be worth, 
Avhether or not the oAvner kneAV enough 
to charge a fair price. All the pessimists 
in the country should nave been on the 
street some of those mornings; it would 
have done them good. “I’m not pessi¬ 
mistic myself, but I naturally supposed 
almost any buyer Avould “do” me if he 
could, Avhereas I found that A'ery few in 
the entire season showed any such pro¬ 
pensity. 
From seven roAvs 80 feet long I sold 53 
dozen ears at an average price of 24e per 
dozen—nothing but the smallest ears 
going as loAV as 15c. When packing my 
load I graded carefully, so that all ears 
in the same grade were uniform in size. 
It paid w'ell, and the customers liked to 
know that all fared alike, and that they 
all got just AA'hat they paid for. 
Noav York. jrns. K. M. anuerson. 
The Latest from Albany, N. Y. 
The leghslathm muddle at Albany in¬ 
creases. The pretense in agricultural 
and market legislation of the past year 
is clearly revealed. One bill after an¬ 
other has been presented, rejected, com¬ 
promised, fixed up by leaders and again 
rejected by the members from rural dis- 
stricts. The bills all aim at political ef¬ 
fects. All lack sincerity and efficiency. 
The whole performance has degenerated 
into a test of wits, and a play for per¬ 
sonal or factional advantage. To the 
credit of rural representatives they have 
so far resented the attempts to induce 
them to vote in opposition to the Avishes 
of their con.stituents. 
While no more commissions are 
needed and no neAV Iuaa-s demanded by 
the people, if any member proposed a 
bill sincerely di'aAvn in the interest of 
all the people of the State it Avould re¬ 
ceive i-eady support, and no effectiA’c or 
important opposition to it could develop. 
A bill to repeal the three commission 
laAVS passed at the regular session Avith 
a few plain amendments to the depart¬ 
mental laAA'S to restrain speculation and 
a suitable appropriation Avould meet 
prompt approval from the producers and 
consumers of the State. It is strange 
that no leader at Albany has sought 
faA'or and popularity through a real sin¬ 
cere service to the people. 
Farmers haA’e made their pf)sition 
clear on the subject. They have protested 
in no uncertain Avay against legislation 
to clothe individuals Avith autocratic 
poAver. They understand motives and 
they hate pretense. They knoAV that the 
State no more needs another commis¬ 
sion than their Avagons need five Avheels. 
If they do not succeed in making them- 
seh^es understood now, they will speak 
again when there Avill be no possibility 
of misunderstanding their meaning. 
Legal Questions 
Disposal of Property by Will 
I have a farm, the deed is to me and 
my heirs forever. There is a mortgage 
against the land. Can I make a will and 
diAude the land among.st our children? 
M^e have nine children, six of them 
groAvn. The father does not care any¬ 
thing about them only for the work they 
do. We haA'e one boy who has been in 
a State institute. I Avant to Avill him 
four acres of the best part of the land 
so if he should lose his mind he will 
have enough to keep him. Can I will 
my husband one-third and divide the 
rest among the children so my husband 
cannot break the will? e. b. h. 
Ohio. 
On your death your AvidoAver is en- 
doAved of an estate for his life in one- 
third of your real property. Ilerneniher 
this is only for his life, and is not as 
valuable as if he oAvnod it in fee simple. 
This right of his you cannot take away 
by Avill. But subject to this you may 
dispose of the remainder of your prop¬ 
erty by Avill in any Avay you wish among 
your children. It would probably be bet¬ 
tor if you gave the property you Avish to 
go to the son in the institute to a trustee 
to hold in trust and pay the profits over 
to him. It Avill be the Avisest thing for 
you to see a trustAVorthy local attorney 
to prepare your Avill. 
Foreclosure of Mortgage; Dower Rights 
in Entailed Property 
1. Can a mortgage bo foreclosed and 
property sold if the face value of said 
mortgage has been paid in interest in 
the State of Ncav Jersey? Can I be com¬ 
pelled by law to renew said mortgage? 
This mortgage is for ,$2,500, and the in¬ 
terest has overrun the principal. 2. Can 
a wife be cut out of entailed property? 
If not Avhat is her share? This prop¬ 
erty ia left to her husband by his father, 
and then to the children. MRS. B, 
1. It is one of the misfortunes of our 
present land mortgage system. It does 
not matter how much has been paid in 
interest if the terms of the mortgage 
have not been met and the principal 
amount is due, it may be foreclosed. 
Y’ou cannot be compelled to renew this 
mortgage, but it will probably be fore¬ 
closed if you do not. You must either 
pay the mortgage, renew it, or have it 
foreclosed. 
2. If property is left to a man (hus¬ 
band) for his life, and then to his chil¬ 
dren, the man’s wife would have no in¬ 
terest in it Avhatever. On the husband’s 
death the property would immediately 
vest in the children. It is only in prop¬ 
erty owned ab.solutely (and not for life 
only) by the husband that the wife has 
a dower interest. 
