236 



Popular Science Monthly 



patch, each seed-planting experimental plot 

 go to the central ofifice of the farm. It is a 

 corporation tradition that system shall be 

 sov'ereign — and it is in Oak Orchard 

 Valley. 



Naturally the new order of tilling — the 

 widespread use of the caterpillar tractor and 

 the "mule" — has brought about a new order 

 of barns. Oak Orchard maintains its own 

 machine-shops, lathes, smithies, gasoline 

 stores and maintenance-shops. The old- 

 style rambling barn does not exist. Nor 

 do they thresh their grains or their peas 

 in a shed. The pea-crop of the farm is 

 so large that several 

 different pea-viner 

 stations have been 

 established. The 

 vines are hauled to 

 the various sta- 

 tions and put 

 through special 

 pea-threshing ma- 

 chines, the peas 

 falling into tin 

 drawers which 

 are rapidly 

 hauled by "steel 

 mules" over to the 

 canning factory 

 which lies three 

 miles from the 

 muck- region — on 

 the railroad 

 track. The same 

 principle of speciali- 

 zation for the pur- 

 poses of efficiency has 

 led to the construc- 

 tion of a uniquely 

 designed building 

 known as the "Ordi- 

 nary Storage Cellar." 



It is intended for Oak Orchard's immense 

 root crops, such as potatoes and carrots, and 

 serves to keep the vegetables in perfect con- 

 dition until such time as the market is high 

 enough to assure a good profit. 



One of the hardest of unusual problems 

 that the big farm has had to cope with is 

 that of wind control. After experimenta- 

 tion a large number of light, temporary 

 fences — split-open fertilizer sacks strung 

 on wires which in turn were supported 

 by light wooden posts — were erected at 

 intervals of two hundred and fifty feet. 

 This form of windbreak, although ex- 

 tremely cheap and very easily erected and 

 removed, has proved very effective. 



A condensing attachment which converts the steam 

 issuing from the teakettle spout into distilled water 

 and delivers it into a receptacle as shown below 



snm 



A Simple Teakettle Attachment for 

 Condensing Water 



THE drinking water found in many 

 places is unfit for use because of the 

 presence of foreign substances such as clay 

 and earth in suspension, salts of various 

 kinds in solution, and innumerable organic 

 bodies which cause sickness and disease. 

 To purify such water by filtering is both 

 expensive and unsatisfactory. On the 

 other hand, no apparatus is available which 

 will distill water in an economical manner. 

 To fill such a want a 

 condensing attachment for 

 teakettles has been de- 

 signed by Eugene N. 

 Baldwin, of Joliet, Illi- 

 nois. It can be at- 

 tached to an ordi- 

 nary teakettle to 

 con dense the 

 steam issuing 

 from the spout 

 and to deliver 

 the distilled wa- 

 ter into a suit- 

 able receptacle 

 for use. 



The condenser 

 consists of an 

 aluminum tube 

 open at both 

 ends, with an air- 

 tight, water- 

 tight copper tube 

 mounted on top and 

 two flexible tubes and 

 a pipe for cold water 

 attached to the bot- 

 tom. In setting up 

 the apparatus the 

 aluminum tube is 

 placed over the spout 

 of the kettle, and the 

 flexible tube or hose 

 is attached to the cold water faucet. The 

 steam emerges from the spout, enters the 

 tube and, passing down it, is condensed by 

 contact with the walls of the tube cooled by 

 cold running water. The condensed water 

 flows into the receptacle where it is stored 

 until desired for use. The distilled water 

 may then be kept in this receptacle for a few 

 hours. By so doing, the "flat" taste that 

 the water has directly after being distilled 

 will be to a large extent removed. The 

 hardest water may be made soft and usable 

 in this way. Of course it must be kept 

 closely covered until used. 



