1909. 
WIND OR GASOLINE FOR POWER. 
Good Argument for Gasoline. 
About four years ago I was determined to have 
some farm power for cutting corn fodder, sawing 
wood, grinding grain, shelling corn, cutting green 
bone for the hens, etc., and first began to investigate 
the windmill. I figured that when once installed the 
cost of power would be almost nothing. I wrote to 
a number of manufacturers of mills, and read their 
plausible arguments in favor of the windmill, which 
made me very anxious to have one. I 
also went on a windy day about eight 
miles to see such an outfit. The man 
showed me how it worked; he hitched on 
to.it the feed cutfer and cut some corn 
fodder and the work pleased me very 
much. I asked the farmer a good many 
questions in regard to the windmill, but 
he said that if he would have to do it 
over again he would buy a gasoline 
engine. This man did a great deal of 
grinding grain for his cattle, and he 
said often he ran out of ground grain 
and had no wind to run his mill. At 
any rate by this time I thought the wind¬ 
mill was the power for me, and finally 
purchased a $50 second-hand 12-foot 
power mill and put it on our barn about 
45 feet from the ground. With this 
mill I worked about two years, cutting 
corn fodder, shelling corn, grinding, etc., 
but I soon had regrets; wished I had 
not bought a windmill. One day while 
I was away from home I ordered my 
hired man to cut corn fodder, which he 
did, and while I was returning home at 
about sundown I noticed before I was 
quite home that the windmill was run¬ 
ning at a terrible and dangerous speed, 
and of course thought that something 
was wrong. The swivel ring had slipped, 
and the man could not pull it out of 
gear. Well, what should I do? In 
such a storm it was not safe to crawl 
up to the wheel, and certainly very un¬ 
pleasant. I managed to pull it out of 
gear by getting up in the tower with a 
long iron rod to which the blacksmith 
bent me a hook. I reached up and 
caught the swivel ring and pulled it out of gear. We 
had it stopped now, but how could we fasten it? We 
had to climb up in the storm, cold and rough, with a 
heavy rope and tie the wheel. To let a wheel run for 
a night in such a storm was impossible; the foot gear 
was right at the hay mow, and it might get hot from 
running so fiercely and set the barn on fire, or do 
other damage. When I look back at that time when 
I was tying the mill with a rope in that storm at 
night it makes me shudder. It was a very trying ex¬ 
perience, and might have been much worse. 
Then several other times I had much trouble. 
SOME PONDEROSA TOMATOES. Fig. 30. 
Twice the vane broke down, then also I had to tie 
it fast to keep it from running till I had the vane 
fixed again, which was done on a calm day. Again, 
the power from a windmill in Pennsylvania is very 
irregular; when it does run, sometimes the mill runs 
so that you get almost scared away, and then the 
next moment it slows down. The way I understand 
in the Northwest a windmill may be all right. They 
say that the wind is so steady that if you throw your 
hat against a wall toward which the wind blows it 
would stay at the wall by the pressure of the wind. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
This is my experience and opinion of the windmill, 
but I will also give you same of the gasoline engine. 
Last Winter I purchased a two horse power engine at 
public sale for $70. It was second-hand, but as good 
as new. It is a traction at that, homemade, with grass 
mower gear. It makes *wonderful power, and every time 
I use it I like it better. It is always ready, whether 
it is wjndy or not, and is a strong steady power. 
I have never used it a whole day, but I think I can 
easily cut about 500 or GOO bundles of corn fodder in a 
day I use it to saw wood, cut meat when butchering, 
grind bones, oyster shells, grain, turn grindstone, etc. 
I can give it almost any speed and power. I think 
with about two quarts of gasoline I could run it 10 
hours for light work, such as turning grindstone, and 
for full power, such as for cutting corn fodder, two 
gallons would run it a day. This is one point in favor 
of the small engine, small amount of gasoline. With 
proper care I think the life of the engine is long. Not 
so with the steam engine; soon it takes new flues, etc., 
which rust through; nothing to rust on the gasoline 
engine. I use dry batteries, and only to start engine, 
then put switch on dynamo. This is a good point I 
think to use a dynamo, as it saves lots of batteries. I 
use about four cells of batteries; have a pump to force 
water through cylinder to cool it, which is another good 
point. The faster the engine runs the hotter it is apt 
to get, and hence the necessity of a pump to make 
water flow fast. I pay 14 1 /> cents per gallon for 
gasoline. Of course there is some variation in ex¬ 
pense under different conditions. c. R. B. 
Bethel, Pa. 
An Argument for Wind. 
J. E. H., page 915, wants to know about pumping 
from that well away into a tank in the barn, and 
talks about using a gasoline engine for the same. 
Now, if I had that proposition to solve on my own 
account I would do it in this way. As the well is 
only 20 feet deep I would at some convenient place 
dig a false well, just deep enough to operate the 
pump, and from this a trench below frost to the well 
under the porch, and put in an V/^-inch suction pipe 
from well to pump in false well and over each well 
put a concrete platform. Instead of using a gasoline 
engine for pumping I would erect a windmill for that 
purpose. Why use a windmill in preference to the 
engine? In both cases he has to secure pump, pipe 
and tank in his barn, so no difference in cost of 
these. He can buy a gasoline plant for pumping for 
$37.50 and can buy a windmill and tower for same 
purpose for about $68 or $70; say it will cost him 
twice as much as the engine for comparison. His 
windmill will cost him only the oil and oiling, and 
say six per cent for interest and sinking fund, which 
will be ample to pay five per cent for the interest 
and keep mill in repair as long as he lives. This 
would be $4.20 interest and 80 cents for oil, making 
whole cost $5 per year. To run engine will require 
gasoline and storage batteries and at least 10 times 
the care and attention of the windmill. For gasoline 
63 
and storage batteries he will hardly get off for less 
than twice what it will cost for interest and wear on 
windmill, and his engine won’t last one-fourth as 
long as the windmill. If he gets a gasoline rig for 
other purposes and uses it for pumping, then the 
gasoline used and batteries needed and care making 
connections and disconnecting the same will still 
make the windmill by far the most economical way 
of securing a water supply. Only provide ample 
storage for the water and nothing can compare with 
a windmill for cheapness. The fact is, the wind will 
blozv anyway, and with no expense to 
us, and while the foolish man stands 
and works the pump handle or pays his 
good money for an engine and for gaso¬ 
line to run it, the wise man provides the 
harness and hitches on to the windmill 
and makes that do his work. 
J. s. WOODWARD. 
CORN FOR THE SILO. 
On page 2 I noted the letter concern¬ 
ing Eureka corn from Ross Bros. Co., 
and their request for evidence on green 
corn vs. manure. If nine years’ ex¬ 
perience with corn and silos is of any 
value, I shall be pleased to give it. Dur¬ 
ing this time I have fed from 10 to 50 
head on silage, Alfalfa and other hay, 
and various grain feeds. I have weighed 
each cow’s milk every milking and kept 
a close record of weights of grain and 
hay fed daily. I have raised Eureka 
corn, likewise Cuban Giant, Pride of 
the North, Huron Dent, Mortgage 
Lifter, Evergreen. Country Gentleman 
and several varieties of flint. I have 
finally adopted the Learning as giving in 
this locality the largest combined yield 
of mature stalks and ears. It averages 
13 feet, and has yielded as high as 20 
tons of green fodder per acre. I would 
hardly be willing to take the trouble to 
harvest and cut into the silo any field 
of immature corn; that is, corn on 
which the ears had just begun to form. 
I want the kernels glazed. Mr. Comp¬ 
ton says the cows do not need this 
grain. Many feeders say it passes the 
animal undigested; however, it seems 
to make animals fat and sleek, even though 
some of it does show in the droppings. I once 
filled a silo, beginning with immature corn 15 feet, 
mature corn heavily eared five feet, matured sweet 
corn, ears all removed, five feet. I weighed each cow’s 
milk daily and grain and hay ration closely esti¬ 
mated. Result: on mature sweet corn with grain 
and Alfalfa, fair yield; on mature flint corn well 
eared, grain-and Alfalfa, gain of two to three pounds 
milk per cow; immature corn, no ears, grain and 
A VINE OF PONDEROSA. Fig. 32. 
Alfalfa, loss of five to six pounds milk per cow. 
Moreover, when feeding silage from immature corn, 
the cow’s health seems less vigorous; hair becomes 
rough and appetite more freaky. The smell of the 
silage is less sweet and wholesome, and although I 
never had a sample analyzed, the evident content of 
acid is much larger. Rather than silage immature 
corn I would stock it and feed it as dry cured 
fodder. If I want corn to grind I raise flint corn, 
break off the best ears and put stalks and nubbins in 
the silo with the Learning. j. R. benton. 
Oneida County, N. Y. 
VITIS SERIANAEFOLIA. NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 31. 
See Ruralisms, Page G8. 
