The RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
755 
Farm Mechanics 
By Robert H. Smith 
Keeping Water Out of Cellar 
I sun about to put a cellar under my 
house on the farm. About. 100 ft. from 
the house there is a small stream, and 1 
am afraid water will get in cellar. Will 
it. be possible for me to build a cement 
wall that will keep out. the water? 
Roulette, Pa. 1 . \v. a. 
Whether or not the water from this 
stream will bother you depends very 
much upon the contour of the land and 
the character of the subsoil. Usually, 
however, the movement of ground water 
is toward a stream, rather than away 
from it, so at this distance I would ex¬ 
pect more trouble from soil water sur¬ 
rounding the Cellar than from the stream 
itself. 
The walls can be made practically 
waterproof by the application of a 
coating of coal tar or other bituminous 
compound mopped on liot and covered 
with tar paper. This is a rather expen¬ 
sive and difficult undertaking, however, 
and should be attempted only as a last 
resort. A concrete wall, if carefully laid 
and of a comparatively rich mixture, not 
leaner than one part of cement, two of 
clean well-graded sand and four parts of 
screened gravel is usually practically 
watertight, and unless conditions are bad 
will usually be found satisfactory as far 
as water resistance is concerned. The 
101!) Year Hook of the Department of 
Agriculture contains a long article on 
"Dry Cellar Construction” which should 
be of interest and profit to you. ft can 
be obtained by application to your Con¬ 
gressman at Washington. 
Muddy Well 
Can you advise me wlmt to do with 
my well ? When I took this house, three 
months ago. there was about <TTn. of water, 
very muddy looking. We have nearly .1 ft. 
of water now, but it is so dirty we cannot 
use it. 1 have had the well cleaned out 
and a bottom of pebbles put in, but it does 
not help . The well digger said it was a 
fine well, with clay bottom, and cannot 
understand why the water does not. get 
clear. Can you suggest anything that 
would help? i). j. c. 
Lakewood. N. J. 
The. waiter of clay wells is sometimes 
cloudy due to the number of clay particles 
suspended in it. These particles are so 
small that they settle very slowly, if at 
all. This cloudy condition may perhaps 
be helped somewhat by the addition of 
lime water, as this tends to gather the 
little particles together, making a large 
enough group so they will sink. Clay on 
suspension is indicated by a milky np- 
pearaice. Mr, Fuller, specialist in un¬ 
derground water*, recommends the use 
of one grain of aluminum sulphate in each 
gallon'Ilf water, or the same material ap¬ 
plied at the rate of 1 lb. per 7,000 gal¬ 
lons of water, or one ounce per cubit foot, 
as a means of lessening turbidity. In 
any event, the proper thing to do would 
be to submit a liberal sample of water to 
your State board of health and have it 
tested and treatment recommended. It 
may be found that the water is not fit 
for drinking because of surface contami¬ 
nation. 
Filter in Cistern 
I am contemplating building a filter 
in a cistern Sxl2 ft. (round shape). 
Mow large a filter is required? What 
amount of material and what should be 
used? j. E. k. 
Southfields, N. Y. 
A filter can be built in this cistern by 
the construction of a two-course brick 
wall, dividing the cistern into two parts, 
'•'he down spout can be arranged to dis¬ 
charge into one of these, and the pump 
arranged to draw water from the other 
compartment. 
The brick partition should he made of 
porous brick and the water reaching the 
pump will filter through it. In laying 
this partition up In an old cistern, it may 
he necessary to chip a groove down the 
sides to anchor the partition to the wall. 
The partition should be made of porous 
brick, and from 12 to 14 bricks will he 
needed for each square foot of wall w hen 
made two courses thick. A cement mor¬ 
tar mixed in the proportion of one part 
cement to two parts clean, well-graded 
sand should be used, and will require 
about one sack of cement for each 1fi(! 
bricks. This mortar should be mixed up 
a small portion at a time, as it quickly 
makes its initial set after being wetted, 
and after being retempered for use ir is 
not so stroug. 'Phi* bricks should be wet 
also before being laid. In some cases 
single walls of brick are laid up to about 
4 in, apart, and the space between filled 
with sand. 
Write your Congressman at Washing¬ 
ton for a copy of Farmer’s Bulletin No. 
041. It is obtainable for the asking, and 
describes clearly a number of types of 
filters that may be more adapted to your 
requirements than the one .mentioned 
here. The filter described will need at¬ 
tention after a time, scrubbing the walls 
down with a wire brush and exposing the 
clean surface after they have become 
covered witd the impurities taken from 
the water. 
B OB white Sure Death Fly Killer 
will keep your cows free from flies. 
It will also knock dead every fly it hits. 
We guarantee it to kill flies, not merely 
to drive them away like sprays made 
of crude carbolic acid or creosote. 
Bulletin No. 1067 issued by the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture. 
Bob White Sure Death Fly Killer is 
patented. A small quantity is all you 
will need to use because it is 100% 
active. 
What our Guarantee means 
Satisfaction to the user or money 
will be refunded. 
Bob White Sure Death Fly Killer 
was formerly known as Morgan’s Sure 
Death Fly and Insect Destroyer. It 
is the same article that already has 
thousandsof friends among-Dairymen. 
Bob White is not a poison. There is 
no danger of tainting milk. We also 
guarantee Bob White not to blister or 
irritate the cow or to stain or mat 
the hair. 
Uncle Sam stands behind the state¬ 
ment that flies can reduce the output 
of milk from 40% to 60 %. See Farmers 
B°B WHITE CHEMICAL CORPORATION 
39 Broadway, New York City 
SURE DEATH 
FLY KILLER 
Bob White 
Louse and Insect Destroyer 
T/'lLLS lice on cattle and poultry without danger of 
AV injury either to the animal or to the person applying 
it. Can be used on little chicks with perfect safety. 
Also valuable for lice and other insect pests on plants. 
Other Hob White Preparations — 
Bob White Udder Balm 
B-K Disinfectant 
