1260 
<lht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Farm Mechanics 
Conducted by Robert H. Smith, of the Canton Agricultural School 
Canton, New York 
Crack in Cement Cistern 
Last Fall we put in a concrete cistern 
16x1(5x7 ft., the larger part of which was 
in the ground on all sides except one. 
The nails were made 1in. thick and 
well protected from freezing all Winter. 
Early this Spring the outfit was in per¬ 
fect shape, but about .Tune a crack showed 
across one side, about 14 ft. long, a foot 
from bottom, and the width of a knife 
blade. Water has never been let in ex¬ 
cept a little on bottom that carne in roof. 
We are ready now to connect to spring 
and fill. How can this crack be treated 
so as to make cistern watertight? 
Hector. N. V. h.b.n. 
You do not mention the use of rein¬ 
forcement in the construction of this cis¬ 
tern. and it is probable that it failed be¬ 
cause of this lack. It is likely that the 
crack developed between a batch of con¬ 
crete that was wholly or partial!) dry 
and fresh concrete that was just put in. 
This sometimes happens, The placing 
of concrete in a job of this kind should 
be continuous if possible, as a poor union 
may result between batches as outlined 
above. It can be repaired by setting up 
a form within the cistern about 4 in. from 
the wall. Fill this with a mushy mixture 
of concrete, proportioned as follows: One 
part cement, two parts sand and three 
parts gravel or stone. Wire mesh rein¬ 
forcement should be used in tbis, and the 
material well joggled into place. Clean 
the old wall thoroughly with wire brush 
and water, and spread on a thin coat of a 
paste made from clear cement and water 
before placing the concrete in the effort 
to secure a bond with the old wall. 
R. II. s. 
Windmill for Sawing Wood 
Some time ago I was riding 'Through 
the country and I saw two hoys sawing 
cordwood with a windmill. It was a 
homemade one. Will some of your read¬ 
ers tell me how it was made, and how it 
was rigged? J - D - 
East port. Me. 
Of course we cannot tell you how that 
particular machine was made. "V ery 
likely ii was some homemade affair. Sev¬ 
ern 1 renders have written about utilizing 
wind power for this purpose, but the plan 
is not common. We would like to have 
those who have succeeded in harnessing 
the wind tell us how they did it. 
Pipe Line from Cistern 
I intend to run a 2-in. water line for a 
hand force pump for greenhouse 40 ft. 
away from the cistern, and a (i-ft. drop in 
the cistern. Would a baud force pump 
work with a l’j-iu. pipe on pump and 
on 2-in. line? I got 2-in. pipe for it. 
Lewiston. N. Y. c. A. 
Your question as submitted is not en¬ 
tirely clear to me. as I am in some doubt 
as to just how yon intend to place the 
pipe. However, it you mean that you 
will have 40 ft. of 2-iu. pipe extending 
from below the water level in the cistern 
to within 0 ft. of the pump, and that the 
pump is to lie connected to the end of this 
by means of 0 ft, of I’j-in pipe, the out¬ 
fit will work satisfactorily, provided other 
conditions arc right. In fact, the lW* 
iu. pipe would he large enough for the 
entire 40 ft. 1 would not advise stopping 
down to an inch size where the pipe en¬ 
ters the cistern. TbA pump would still 
work if installed this way. hut it would 
be likely to work hard and give poor 
service. 
Water from Lower Level 
I am going to build a house on a small 
farm. The spring on this farm will be 
about 50 ft. from the house, and is about 
10 fl. lower down hill from house. Spring 
gives about thr»e gallons of water a min¬ 
ute. Is there a way of getting running 
water from this spring into the house? 
College Point. N. Y. -mrs. ii. n. 
If the stream furnishes a flow of three 
gallons per minute a small hydraulic ram 
,an he installed below it which will pump 
water to the house. This ram should 
Siipplv 10 to 15 gallons per hour, and the 
water could he arranged to discharge into 
a small tank, holding a barrel or so, in 
the attic. The rain would be left running 
all of the time, and an overflow pipe ar¬ 
ranged in the tank to take care of any 
excess of water that might be pumped, 
and prevent the tank from overflowing. 
With this arrangement a limited supply 
of water would always be available for 
quick drawing, while because of (lie small 
uuantity held in storage it remains cool. 
Before attomnting to install a ram, how¬ 
ever. you should make sure that there is 
sufficient flow of water from the spring 
to operate it, This can he done for catch¬ 
ing the water for a timed interval and 
actually measuring it. and unless this is 
done one is very likely to misjudge the 
quantity of water flowing. If after meas¬ 
urement you find that the water .simply is 
not sufficient to drive a ram properly, you 
can install a small hydro-pneumatic sys¬ 
tem in file basement of the house. The 
pump may be driven with a small gasoline 
engine, the distances as given by you per¬ 
mitting the use of a shallow well typo 
pump in this way. If electric current is 
available, one of the many automatic 
pumps can be put in. These start, from 
the release of pressure caused by the 
opening of a faucet, and continue to run 
until the pressure is again reached after 
closing the faucet, opening and closing 
the faucet being all that is required to 
start and stop the pump. 
The Pig or the Dog 
This article was suggested by the pic¬ 
ture of the hog and the Tittle girls. Ilenry 
Field sent it to show how his little girl 
uses a spotted Poland China hog for a 
pet or playmate. Our criticism was that 
such big hogs are dangerous companions 
for children. We have known several 
cases where such animals threw down 
and trampled little ones who happened to 
be near them. These hogs were not ugly 
and did not cause this injury purposely: 
they were clumsy and hungry and when 
they saw their food coining they pushed 
aside anyone who happened to be in their 
way. We have had hogs on the farm that 
were naturally ugly. They would kill and 
eat chickens or small animals, and have 
been known to attack the men. That is 
why we never enjoy these pictures of chil¬ 
dren riding on big hogs or standing alone 
beside them. 
But Henry Field comes back and 
argues that the hog is cleaner and less 
dangerous than the dog. lie thinks a 
dog is a "semi-domesticated wolf.” and 
read what he says about Eastern and 
Western hogs: 
I am willing to admit that a hog is not 
a parlor ornament. l>wt back of it all. you 
must understand that here in Iowa the 
hog is counted as a substantial and re¬ 
spectable citizen, and there is very much 
the same difference in the attitude toward 
him that there is difference in the atti¬ 
tude of bankers towards farmers in the 
West and in the East. 1 have always 
understood that in the East a farmer is 
very much looked down on by city peo¬ 
ple and bankers. Probably hogs are con¬ 
sidered the same way. Here in the West 
both farmers and hogs are considered 
eminently respectable and necessary mem¬ 
bers of society. As you suggest, it’s a 
good deal in the treatment and compan¬ 
ionship they have had. 
He says the pig shown in the picture is 
“Emmy Lou.” She has always been a 
pet. and all her ancestors for generations 
have received kind treatment and had a 
chance to keep decent and clean. It is 
true that the Western man's idea of a 
hog is different from that entertained by 
the ordinary Eastern farmer. The West¬ 
ern hog, and especially a pedigreed ani¬ 
mal, surely has a chance, lie is re¬ 
spected as an important citizen, and we 
have no doubt that generations of such 
kind and considerate treatment give him 
something of what you may call charac¬ 
ter. As for making him a children’s pet, 
however—well, we haven't come to that 
yet. We prillt with the hog picture an¬ 
other of a hoy and his dog. Which do 
you prefer? 
Pumping Water from Spring 
I have a spring of good water which I 
wish to put in my house and barn, but 
do not know just how to go at it. Spring 
V iends 
is not large enough to run a ram. My 
idea was to put a cistern below spring 
ami force it t<> the top of hill in another 
cistern, and pipe to buildings from that, 
making cisterns hold about 100 barrels and 
building them out of concrete. Would 
that he practical? What kind of pump 
would he required? Could I have the 
pump at the buildings and draw the 
water? f. s. 
Naples. N. Y. 
As the practical suction distance of a 
pump is about a 20-ft. lift, it would be 
impossible for you to install an ordinary 
pump at the house and draw water from 
the spring 60 ft. below. The ordinary 
shallow well pump would have t<» he in¬ 
stalled at the spring, or. at least, near 
enough to it to he within the suction dis¬ 
tance of it. 
The pump at the spring could he oper¬ 
ated by a windmill or other power, and 
the Water forced to a cistern, as you sug¬ 
gest. at the top of the hill. The system 
as outlined, however, is open to some 
objections. The fall from tin* top of the 
hill to the house and other buildings is 
so little that voVy little pressure would 
bo secured at the house faucets, and the. 
flow would be slow. Then. too. the water 
would have to he stored in considerable 
quantity, especially if a windmill were 
used for power, and would be likely to be 
warm and unpalatable. The last objec¬ 
tion could be lessened somewhat by plac¬ 
ing the storage tank below ground or 
burying it, if the small drop that you 
October 21, 1922 
have to your buildings, from the crest of 
the hill will permit, it. 
There is a form of air pump that will 
permit the installation of the power plant 
at the house or other convenient outbuild¬ 
ing. The power plant consists of a small 
engine, air compressor and air storage 
tank. The compressed air is stored in 
the tank and piped to the source of water, 
where it operates an automatic pump. 
Tile pump starts and stops automatically 
at the opening and closing of a faucet at 
the house or other part of the line, the 
Dump running as long as the faucet is 
open, and stopping when the faucet is 
closed. This system relieves the necessity 
of storing water; compressed air only is 
stored, and this is used to operate the 
pump as outlined above. Costs can best 
ho determined by securing local prices. 
Measure distances accurately, so that the 
quantity of pipe necessary can he deter¬ 
mined. A study of catalogues will give 
you I lie sizes required for your installa¬ 
tion. and with this data at hand you can 
get reasonably close to the cost of ma¬ 
terials. 
Attaching. Pump Jack to Windmill 
I wish to attach a pump jack to our 
windmill when there is no wind. IIow 
heavy a pump jack is needed, as the well 
is 150 ft deep, using the tractor on it? 
Plainfield. N. ,T. o. s. 
If your windmill handles (his pump 
successfully when the wind blows, an 
ordinary jack will be sufficiently strong, 
to operate the pump. Pulley sizes will 
have to he .selected so that the pump does 
not make over 10 strokes per minute, and 
the connecting arms will have to he fast¬ 
ened to the pump rod at such a point that 
the bucket does not hit at either the top 
or bottom end of its stroke. The con¬ 
necting arms are bored to provide for this 
adjustment, and when first installing the 
jack can be turned over by hand to see 
that it is free to run before betting up to 
the engine. The tractor will he a very 
wasteful source of power for operating a 
small pump like this. Probably not over 
one-qnnrtej* to one-half horse power will 
he required to operate the pump, and it 
would la 1 better to purchase a light en¬ 
gine of from one to two horsepower to 
do this work, rather than using the 
tractor. 
Concrete Floor in Living Rooms 
TVc have a hollow tile building, which 
we are about to convert into living apart¬ 
ments. The building has a concrete floor 
throughout Is there a paint or prepara¬ 
tion that could be put over this floor? 
This floor is in perfect condition. 
Matawan, N. J. mrs. c. s. 
This floor can be made very attractive 
by the use *>f one of the heavy inlaid 
linoleums. This material, when properly 
cemented down, makes a durable and san¬ 
itary floor, resilient to the tread, and if 
the proner colors are selected a beautiful 
floor as well. Some of the solid colors 
make beautiful floor when rugs of har¬ 
monizing colors are used, as when using 
hardwood. 
Concrete from Soft Coal Ashes 
I frequently see questions in your col¬ 
umn in regard to using coal ashes in mix¬ 
ing concrete, and notice that your expert 
always says you cannot do it. He ap¬ 
parently makes no distiin n between 
the ashes from hard and soft coal. The 
ashes, just as they come from the fur¬ 
nace (without sifting t from the soft coal 
we get here in New England makes a 
gOtid substitute for sand or gravel. I 
made a walk in 190,S, using one part ce¬ 
ment to five of ashes, and it is still in 
good condition. ^Yhether the ashes made 
from the lignite coal of the West would 
do I cannot say. d. e. 
New Hampshire. 
It is possible to use cinder in making 
concrete; in fact, the cinders or clinker 
obtained from soft coal, when properly 
sifted, is sometimes used as aggregate in 
innking reinforced concrete because of its 
lightness and fire-resisting qualities. 
There is so much difference in coal ashes, 
however, that it is not safe to advise their 
use, for in many eases it might result in 
failure. The walk referred to as being 
built in 100S might have failed had the 
traffic over it been heavier. D. E. used 
soft coal ashes, which doubtless consisted 
largely of clinker, the ash being large!’’ 
lost iu handling. If they had been 
screened and combined with the proper 
proportion of sand the resulting concrete 
would have been stronger. 
However, the use of coal ashes is some¬ 
what risky mid should not lie advised un¬ 
less the character of the cinders and the 
use to which the concrete js to lie put are 
known, as well ns the care that will be 
exercised in proportioning, mixing and 
placing. A piece of work built of con¬ 
crete is permnneiil if properly made of 
good materials. Cement has been stand¬ 
ardized so that practically every case of 
failure is due to the use of poor aggregate 
or improper proportioning, so why take 
chame.s by using an aggregate that is so 
variable in quality and which may spoil 
the whole piece of work? It. II. S. 
A (tool) old lady said to her nephew, a 
poor preacher: “James, why did you 
enter the ministry?” "Because, aunt. I 
was called,” he answered. “James,” said 
the old lady anxiously, “are you sure it 
wasn't some other noise you heard?”— 
Credit Lost. 
The Tilt, Emmy Lou, mid Her Mislrexs 
.1 Pair of F 
