582 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 5, 
up to 100 pounds by hand. These pumps can be oper¬ 
ated by gasoline engine, motors, windmill, etc. When 
we use a windmill we put on a regulator so that the 
pressure in the tank will thrown the mill out of gear. I 
have also sill cocks on my house, so I can water the 
lawn. I have sold 15 of the outfits in the last 14 
months, and you can rest assured that they are all right. 
If you have any friends who wish to install such 
plants, if they will send me the size of the basement 
and where the w r ell stands from the house, and where 
they want the fixtures in the house, I will gladly send 
them a drawing of what they need. If these plants are 
installed correctly they will never freeze in the Winter. 
Kansas. c. d. shake. 
I have had a pneumatic tank in the cellar of my house 
for a little over two years. Water is pumped into it by 
means of a windmill force pump, which 1 formerly 
used to pump water into an elevated tank. 1 replaced 
the elevated tank with this pneumatic tank, and am 
very glad I made the change. I did not have to change 
my pump, but simple ran a discharge pipe from the 
underground discharge to the pneumatic tank in the 
cellar, instead of running it to the elevated tank. Front 
the pneumatic tank I have a pipe running to my kitchen 
and bathroom, and a branch pipe to the barn. This 
branch pipe furnishes water for about six head of stock. 
The water from this stock hydrant has never been 
colder than 40 degrees, even in the coldest Winter wea¬ 
ther, with the mercury below zero. Generally the water 
is delivered at a temperature of about 50 degrees, both 
Summer and Winter. I have had no trouble from rust 
or frozen pipes. My well is an open well, with water 
about 35 feet below the ground. The tank has a device 
for furnishing the air automatically, so that no air 
pump is necessary. The windmill is regulated auto¬ 
matically, and stops pumping when GO pounds pressure 
is reached. I have a hose connection in my attic and 
another in my yard for protection against fire, and can 
throw a stream of water over the top of the house 
without any trouble. J. G. H. 
Illinois. _ 
MORE ABOUT CEMENT BUILDING BLOCKS. 
Their Cost Compared With Lumber. 
Can you give me any definite and trustworthy information 
respecting cement blocks as used for building purposes? I 
would like to know cost as compared with lumber; what 
proportion of cement to use with sand in making blocks; 
whether blocks are impervious to water, so a building would 
not be damp. Where are they being used? g. ii. t. 
Southold, N. Y. 
Cement blocks, if made properly, and good cement 
and clean sharp sand are used, are imperious to moisture, 
and make perfectly dry buildings. The kind in use here 
are 8x8x16 inches in size, and are hollow. The block 
is made of three or four parts sand to one part Port¬ 
land cement faced with two parts sand to one of 
cement. Some are three parts sand to one of cement 
throughout. Two concerns make these blocks for sale 
here. One charges 10 cents each and the other eight 
cents for them. 
The Coliseum at our county seat, Brazil, is built 
of these blocks; it is a large building that seats 2,000 
people. Many store rooms and dwelling houses also 
are built of them. The town of Carbon in our county 
w'as substantially built, with brick buildings, some of 
them three stories high. A few weeks ago fire destroyed 
practically the entire town; scarcely two bricks were 
left one on top of the other. The bank building was built 
of cement blocks, and was in the center of the fiercest 
fire. The doors and windows were destroyed, but 
otherwise the building was uninjured. The best infor¬ 
mation obtainable makes the cost a little more than 
lumber, but less than that of common red brick. The 
main things are good Portland cement and sharp, clean 
sand, and not more than three parts of sand to one of 
cement. R- 
Clay Co., Indiana. 
In regard to the cost of the blocks in comparison 
with lumber, if the blocks are manufactured by the 
owner of the property, and no profit to figure in, the 
finished building would cost just about the same, and 
possibly a little less than if built of lumber. If the 
blocks are bought on the open market, with the manu¬ 
facturer’s profit added, which profit is usually about 
100 per cent, the cost of the finished wall would be 
about the same as if of ordinary common brick, but if 
the blocks are made by the owner the cost would be 
much less then brick bought in the market. As a gen¬ 
eral rule the proportion used is one part of Portland 
cement to five parts of sand and gravel. When the 
blocks are first made they are inclined to absorb mois¬ 
ture, and in fact they require moisture in order that 
they may obtain their final hardness. They continue 
to get harder and harder and more impervious to 
moisture as they get older, so that blocks as much as 
one year old are sufficiently non-absorbent for all prac¬ 
tical purposes, and if it is desired that they should be 
impervious to moisture from the beginning they could 
be coated with a solution of waterproofing material. 
You will understand that brick, stone, concrete and all 
forms of masonry will absorb moisture to a certain 
extent, but concrete, when well made and cured, is 
perhaps the most satisfactory form of masonry that can 
be constructed. the pettyjohn company. 
Terre Haute, Ind. 
A good cement block building will cost a small sum 
more than than one built of good lumber, but of course 
it is much more durable. It does not require painting 
NEW “FADELESS" FLOWER. NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 246. 
See Ruralisms, Page 586. 
from time to time, and is far cheaper in the end than 
a wooden building. It costs less than a brick building. 
The proportion of cement necessary to mix with sand 
and gravel depends more or less upon the quality of 
the sand and gravel which can be used, as good sharp 
sand which will cut when rubbing between the hands 
and fine gravel requires less cement than poor material. 
The proportion usually used is five or six parts of sand to 
one of cement. In regard to blocks being impervious to 
water will say that no machine should be used on 
which blocks cannot be faced with a finer material than 
used in the body of the block. The best machines are 
so constructed that a facing of half inch, of one to one 
or two to one can be used, the rest of the block being 
made of the coarser material. This makes a block which 
is impervious to water. 
Rochester, N. Y. atlas cement machine co. 
Stone sold from the stone yard and constructed into 
buildings by contractor's would cost as compared with 
wood 10 per cent greater. For farm use, if molds or 
machine were purchased and the labor done on 
the farm, the cost would be practically the same as 
wood. The proportions of sand and cement vary ac¬ 
cording to the method used in making stone. With the 
dry process in which clear sand and cement are used the 
proportion is four parts sand to one of cement. That 
class of machine known as the “face-down” machine, 
in which the face is made on the bottom of the mold, 
and properly graded concrete in the backing, a propor¬ 
tion of five and even six to one can be used. With the 
wet process a proportion of seven parts of gravel to one 
of cement will make good stone. To make a building 
constructed of cement stone impervious to moisture it is 
necessary to make the block of a correctly proportioned 
concrete, thoroughly tamped in order to eliminate the 
voids or space in the block through which the moisture 
would pass. We find this impossible in the dry process, 
but find in the wet process we can make blocks which 
are practically impervious to moisture. In our local 
work we guarantee all buildings constructed of our wet 
process stone to be frost and moisture proof. 
Grand Rapids, Mich. k. dykema & son. 
WHITEWASH OR CHEAP PAINT. 
I rebuilt my barn, using part dressed pine and part rough 
oak weather boarding. Is there any kind of whitewash 
that would do for the whole barn, as I cannot paint the 
rough oak? g. m. 
Harrison, Ohio. 
The so-called cold water paints are the only cheap 
prepared substitute for paint. I have used them for 
inside work only. They are all right for the place. 
Where I have seen their use on outside work they have 
not, after a short time, looked well. We make a white¬ 
wash for inside work th„t causes people to ask me, when 
they see it, what kind of paint we use. It is made of 
lime and salt only. The secret is in the preparation. 
Use only fresh lump lime, slake with boiling water just 
what you want to use at one time, or not more than can 
be applied while still hot. Do not use too much water 
nor too little, just enough to make perfect slaking. Be¬ 
fore using add one-fotn'th as much salt as lime at the 
start, and apply while hot, rubbing it into the wall as 
you would paint. Do not try to get it too thin; it will 
spread all right when hot if the consistency is like paste. 
For outside work, if I wanted to use so cheap a mate¬ 
rial, I would add as much Portland cement as there was 
salt, and apply in the same way. This would stand for 
awhile. If you have milk use skim-milk instead of 
water in the same way after the first slaking, and this 
will have a tendency to harden. Be sure hot water is 
used, and the application made at once. If people only 
knew how quickly and cheaply this work was done, sta¬ 
bles, pens and every animal compartment would be 
coated. A whitewash brush with a short handle is best 
_ H. E. C. 
SOME ASSERTIONS ABOUT BUTTED GLASS 
Use of Patent Glazing Strips. 
If you would send to manufacturers of greenhouse lumber 
you would find yourself "way off” as to the proper way to 
use butted glass. The glass Is simply laid flat with edges 
together and fastened with cap bars and screws. No putty 
or Z strips are used. The Z glazing strip invented by Mr. 
Gasser, of Cleveland, O., was used on lapped glass, and I 
have never seen It used for butted glass. I have a roof 
(quarter pitch) which is flatter than it should be, on which 
the glass is butted, and not a particle of water drips 
through. I would glaze in no other way. The sash bars 
are channeled in the sides, and any water which stops 
at the points runs sideways until it strikes the bar, and 
is conducted down to a drip groove or trough at the plate. 
In a high wind a good deal of cold air is driven under 
lapped glass, and the Gasser strip was to prevent this and 
slipping. With butted glass the wind climbs the roof and 
does not enter, but probably a little warm air escapes from 
the inside, although very little tobacco smoke issues. 
Ohio. L. B. PIEKCE. 
There are doubtless a number of men in this country 
who honestly believe that butted glass is preferable 
for the roof of a greenhouse, and apparently this cor¬ 
respondent is one of that small minority. But after a 
continuous experience in greenhouse building and 
greenhouse work of over 30 years I am unable to agree 
with his conclusions, or rather assertions, for some of 
those statements do not seem to be clearly proved. I f 
ro putty or lead is used in glazing with butted glass, 
why should the Dillon Greenhouse Mfg. Co. offer in 
their price list “White lead for glazing butted glass” at 
a certain price per 100 pounds? The Gasser zinc strip 
was made especially to be used as a filler between the 
joints of butted glass, so as to cover some of the un¬ 
avoidable irregularities in the glass, and was not in¬ 
tended to be used with lapped glass, because there is no 
necessity for any such appliance in the latter case. The 
statement that “any water which stops at the joints runs 
sideways until it strikes the bar, and is conducted down 
to a drip groove at the plate,” does not entirely agree 
with the statement that “not a particle of water drips 
through,” and seems to confirm the contention of the 
lapped glass exponents that there is excessive leakage 
from butted glass. And finally it is said that the wind 
does not enter, but “probably a little warm air escapes,” 
from which it would seem that the greenhouse in ques¬ 
tion must contain something that nature abhors, name¬ 
ly, a vacuum. If butted glass were the best and most 
profitable method of glazing would it not be promptly 
adopted by such extensive growers as Reinberg in the 
West and Dreer or Henderson in the East? 
_ w. II. TAPLIN. 
A TEXAN TALKS.— I cannot but love and admire The 
R. N.-Y. for the good it is doing and has done In the past. 
Apple eating is a grand thing; it means better health for 
our people and less demand for strong drink by those eating 
the apples. Yes, that parcels post must come, and if our 
farmers will but demand it Congress cannot refuse, but will 
grant it. As to the IT. S. Senate, it could hardly afford to 
oppose a measure meaning so much good to the great ma¬ 
jority of our people. Now, I, for my part, expect to ask 
every candidate for Congress on the stump to declare him¬ 
self as regards the parcels post. It will never come unless 
we demand It in vigorous terms, because the “boodle money” 
of the express companies will be enough to prevent action 
as long as the people remain indifferent. With us in the 
South express charges are outrageous. A piece of hardware 
I ordered recently from Chicago, weighing only seven pounds, 
cost me a dollar charges t.o get here. 
Texas. j. w. stecbenrauch. 
