238 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 14, 1920 
under their charge. Inspectors are hired who can¬ 
vass the State, picking up samples from wagons, 
trains, stores, etc., unknown to the seller. These 
samples are then tested and if found below the 
standard, a warning is usually issued, and if a sec¬ 
ond test, taken after the warning, is no better, a fine 
is levied. In Massachusetts, the fine for the first 
offense after warning ‘is not more than $50, for sec- 
ond offense not less than $100 or more than $200, and 
for a third offense a fine of not more than $200 or 
imprisonment for not more than 90 days. During 
the Summer months few Holstein herds will produce 
milk up to the State standard, and this necessitates 
keeping some Guernsey or Jersey cows along with 
them, or the adding of some cream to the milk. How¬ 
ever. most of the milk That is found below the stand¬ 
ard on the market has had water or skim-milk added 
to it. or has had some of the cream removed. The 
adulteration of milk is not nearly 9s common as 
under the old pooling system used before the coming 
of the Babcock test or lactometer, but every once in 
a while someone is caught “taking a chance.” 
HOW TO IDENTIFY WATERED MILK.—Nor¬ 
mal milk has a fat test ranging from 3 to 6 per cent, 
and a lactometer reading ranging from 28° to 40°. 
The normal relation between the per cent fat and 
lactometer reading in milk is shown in the following 
table (Brown and Ekroth) : 
Percent fat 
3 0 to 3 25 
3.25 to 3.50 
3.50 to 4 0 
4 0 to 4.5 
4.5 to 5.0 
5.0 to 5.5 
5.5 to 6.0 
Lactometer reading 
2S to 30 
30 to 31 
31 to 32 
32 to 33 
53 to 33.3 
33 3 to 33.6 
33.6 to 34 
Working on these figures and knowing that adding 
water to milk lowers the per cent fat and lowers the 
lactometer reading, it is quite easy -to tell whether 
milk has been watered, and knowing that skim-milk 
lowers the fat and raises the lactometer reading, a 
skimmed milk sample can usually be detected. 
Examples— 
(1) L = 34°, % fat = 2.5% skimmed 
(2) L = 25 % fat = 2 4% watered 
(3) I, = 32 % fat = 3.9% normal 
No. 1 is skimmed because the lactometer reading 
is too high for the per cent fat. If normal, this sam¬ 
ple should test about 5%. No. 2 is watered because 
lactometer reading and fat test are below for any 
normal milk. No. 3 is normal because the lactometer 
reading is within,the range given, and the fat test is 
practically the one that belongs with this lactometer 
reading. Of course, some leeway has to be allowed. 
For example, a normal sample might have a lac¬ 
tometer reading of 32 and a fat test of only 3.5%. 
This would appear to be slightly skimmed, but would 
not concern us so long as the milk was up to the 
State standard. Frequently certain cows are found 
to be “freaks” and a normal relationship does not 
exist between the per cent of fat and solids not fat 
In their milk. Hence, it can be seen that the milk 
from all cows in the herd should be mixed together 
before it is bottled or canned. h. f. j. 
Piping Water to Stable 
I have a large spring 55 1-ods from my barn, with a 
fall, as near as I have been able to estimate, of about 
10 or 12 feet, which I would like to pipe to my stable. 
The maximum amount of water needed daily is 400 gal¬ 
lons. How fast would it flow through a %-inch pipe, 
a 1-ineh pipe or a U/t-inch pipe? Would it run so 
slowly as to be very liable to freeze? How deep would 
it be necessary to lay the pipe? Would the pressure be 
great enough to operate automatic drinking cups? 
Would it be better to install a hydraulic ram to force 
the water to an elevated tank? I should suppose, con¬ 
sidering the amount of water wasted by a ram, that it 
would flow faster by gravity, even with a very slight fall. 
Norwich, N. Y. F. w. 
Q uantity of water delivered.—T he 
quantity of water flowing through pipes as 
small as those cannot be estimated exactly. How¬ 
ever, experiments have been worked out which per¬ 
mit getting the approximate quantity of water that 
may be expected when the head or fall is known as 
well as the length and diameter of the pipe \ised. 
In the case mentioned the fall seems to be a little 
bit indefinte, as I note that you ask in what way 
the total fall may best be measured without the 
use of a surveyor’s instrument. If this is the case, 
the fall that you have may be a great deal more or 
less than you suppose, as the amount of slope is 
somewhat difficult to estimate with accuracy by the 
eye alone. With the bends, elbows and extra lengths 
of pipe used within the barn, it is probable that the 
entire length of the line would be approximately 
1,000 ft., while the fall is given as approximately 10 
ft. Using these figures and referring to friction 
tables it is found that a ^-in. pipe under these con¬ 
ditions should deliver water at the rate of 1.24 gal¬ 
lons per minute, or 1,800 gallons daily. Under the 
same conditions a 1-in. pipe could be expected to 
deliver water at the rate of 2.36 gallons per minute, 
or 3.400 gallons daily, while the lj^-in. pipe should 
carry water at the rate of 4.36 gallons per minute, 
or 7.000 gallons daily. If the spring has the eleva¬ 
tion which you think, I would expect it to operate 
successfully with automatic drinking cups, the only 
pressure necessary being sufficient to cause tlie*water 
to flow into the bowl of the cup when the valve is 
opened by the cow’s nose. 
OVERHEAD STORAGE TANK.—For a number of 
reasons, however, I would expect the use of a sup¬ 
plementary storage tank on the floor above the stable 
to be a big advantage. It would provide a storage 
place for five to 10 barrels of 'water right at hand; 
in other words, it would move a part of your spring 
directly into your barn. Suppose a 1-in. pipe were 
used to carry the water from the spring, and under 
the conditions given this would probably be the best 
size. The friction tables show that this should de¬ 
liver water at the rate of better than two gallons 
per minute. This amount is more than ample to 
meet your daily requirements, as it provides some¬ 
thing like 3.400 gallons daily, but should all of your 
cows or even a number of them try to drink at 
once it is apparent that the capacity of the 'pipe 
would be exceeded. If a small tank, costing $15 to 
$20, were installed overhead water would flow more 
rapidly from it at these times, because of the shorter 
length of pipe through which it must pass, and the 
cows would be provided - with water as fast as de¬ 
sired, leaving the tank to fill up when they had fin¬ 
ished drinking. Also, if the tank is surrounded by 
a tight wooden partition at a distance of eight to 10 
inches from the tank, and the air from the stable 
allowed to circulate up around the tank, the water 
will be warmed somewhat before coming to the cows. 
Levels should be taken and the top of the tank 
Method of Obtaining Water Level. Fig. 66 
Water level at barn is obtained by adding the distances 
between lines of sight where intercepted on poles, as 5x3 
in this case, and subtracting from this amount the dis¬ 
tance between the first line of sight and the water level 
in the spring. First line of sight is 2 ft. above the 
water level, therefore second line of sight being 5 ft. 
below the first, is 3 ft. below the water level, and so on 
with -each in turn until the barn is reached. 
placed a few inches above high-water level in the 
spring. No float will then be necessary to prevent 
overflow, and the water will always stand at the 
same level in the tank that it is in the spring. If 
the spring it not high enough to permit this over¬ 
head tank its level may possibly be raised somewhat 
by building a tight curb around it. 
USING A RAM.—In regard to the use of a ram, it 
might be possible, if the house is situated above the 
barn, to place a small bulkhead tank in the house 
attic, piping the water direct from the ram to it, 
and permitting the overflow to escape and supply the 
tank at the barn. In this way the house would al¬ 
ways have a supply of fresh spring water for drink¬ 
ing purposes, and the barn would be supplied as well. 
Or, if desired, the ram could be used to operate a 
hydro-pneumatic system, giving water under pres¬ 
sure. The proportion of water that a ram will de¬ 
liver varies very much with the conditions under 
which it is forced to work. As an approximate aver¬ 
age it might be said that the ram would deliver 
about one-seventh of the water passing through it. 
MEASURING FALL.—The fall can be quite ac¬ 
curately measured with an ordinary carpenter’s 
level. Choose a rock or other solid support about 
midway between the spring and building, and after 
pointing the level toward the spring bring it to a 
true level position by the use of wedges under the 
low end. Have a helper stand at the spring holding 
a straight stick, as a 10-ft. pole, upright in the water. 
Sight to the pole and have the helper mark the point 
on the pole where your line of sight intercepts it, 
also mark e point where the surface of the water 
stands on ihe pole and measure the distance between 
the two marks. The line of sight will be an amount 
equal to the distance so measured above the surface 
of water in the spring. Now turn the level toward 
the barn, and after again levelling up as before have 
the assistant mark the point on the bam where the 
line of sight intercepts the wall. Now as the water 
surface at the spring was a certain distance below 
this line of sight, measure down a distance equal to 
this from the upper mark secured on the barn, and 
the remaining distance will represent the .fall or 
vertical distance between the surface of the water 
at the spring and the ground level at the barn. 
Where the distance is too great to permit this 
method the same principle can be used, and the dif¬ 
ference in elevation secured by taking a series of 
readings between poles held by an assistant as indi¬ 
cated in the sketch. Where much levelling is to be 
done it pays to buy a tripod head and set of level 
sights. These can be secured from most of the mail¬ 
order houses and from some hardware dealers, and 
with a level so equipped very satisfactory work can 
be done. _ ...... 
DEPTH OF PIPE.—In regard to the depth to 
which the pipe should be laid, much depend upon 
conditions. Unless some care, as covering with 
strawy manure or cornstalks in the Fall could be 
given the line, it would probably be unsafe to lay it 
less than from 3% to 4 feet deep. Stones are a 
much better conductor of beat than is dry earth, 
and if the soil carries any amount of stones they 
should not be put back around the pipe, as they will 
carry the heat away from it and permit it to freeze 
or, as we usually think of it, the frost will follow 
them through. Extra depth and precautions should 
be taken also if the pipe line passes beneath a road 
or other place where the soil is likely to be packed. 
For the same reason where the line passes through 
the foundation, it should not be laid in contact with 
the stone, but an opening made large enough to let 
the pipe through and still keep it away from the 
stone. Valves should be placed where the water can 
be shut off and the line drained if for any reason 
repairs become necessary. r. h. s. 
Problems of Asparagus Culture 
A N INCREASING CROP.—Unless all signs fail 
the very near future is going to see a greatly 
increased acreage of asparagus on the sandy soils 
of South Jersey. The soil and climatic conditions 
are favorable, and markets are close. As more 
growers take up with this crop, many of our present 
problems will be satisfactorily solved, just as many 
other problems were solved in the past. Years ago 
many truckers tried asparagus, and gave it up, be¬ 
cause it took the time of regular help just at the 
season when the crops required most attention. Now 
growers have special helpers, usually Italians, who 
look after the cutting and bunching of asparagus, 
doing jit all on a piece-work basis, and it does not 
interfere with the regular hands, who can proceed 
with the planting of other crops. 
PROBLEMS OF THE INDUSTRY.—Asparagus 
rust threatened the industry at one time. Now it 
seems that by cutting the beds until about July 1 
the spores of rust left from the previous year will 
have died off, and the beds suffer little if any injury. 
The late cutting is not nearly so injurious as an 
attack of rust would be. Problems relative *to pack¬ 
ing, shipping, etc., were solved, but we still have 
some other pretty big ones to tackle. 
ADDING HUMUS.—To my mind one of the big¬ 
gest is that of adding humus to the old asparagus 
beds. Manure is now, or at least soon will be, un¬ 
available. Winter cover crops cannot be grown ex¬ 
cept in young beds, as the asparagus crowns in old 
beds are so near the surface a plow cannot be used 
to turn under the cover crop without serious injury. 
Some growers are using cow peas, sowing them be¬ 
tween the rows in midsummer. This takes some 
moisture from tile asparagus, and checks the growth, 
but the claim is made that the slight check in growth 
is more than made up later, when the cow-pea vines 
are cut into the soil for the asparagus to feed upon. 
DIFFICULTIES OF OPERATION.—The method 
of adding humus would, I believe, meet with quite 
general favor if the dead vines and old asparagus 
brush could be cut into the soil in a satisfactory 
manner. Just now it seems quite a task unless the 
crowns are well down so the cut-harrow can be set 
rather deep. Where the crown are near the surface 
a cut-harrow set only shallow will often do much 
damage. In anticipation of this disking performance 
some throw a high ridge on the row when the cow 
peas are sown. This gives more soil to work with 
the following Spring when the disking is done, and 
is quite an advantage.from that standpoint. But in 
a dry season this ridging would waste the soil 
moisture, and some think it encourages the crown 
to grow to the surface quicker than it otherwise 
would. On many farms, because of the difficulty of 
doing a satisfactory job of disking, the asparagus 
