1060 
FARM ENGINEERING NOTES. 
Foaming of Road Tar. 
W. OMt. 'Washington, Md .—What will 
prevent road tar from foaming when 
heated? It is shipped in barrels to be 
used on roads, and is very thick. We 
empty it from the barrels into a tar pot 
and it is heated by fire. Before it will 
heat to the degree we want it, the tar will 
foam and run over the pot. 
Ans. —The cause of foaming in any 
substance is that gases are evolved in 
the substance and they cannot escape 
because the substance is so viscous or 
thick. That is why water just bubbles 
and molasses foams. The only way to 
prevent the foaming is to assist the gas 
to escape from the bubbles. This is 
generally done by stirring continuously. 
Another way is to thin down the ma¬ 
terial with any liquid that mixes well. 
In the case of road tar, perhaps turpen¬ 
tine would be as satisfactory as any¬ 
thing. 
Marsh Gas. 
C. O., nicksville, N. Y .—Some time ago 
I dug a hole on my grounds called “ttib 
hollow,” evidently an old river bed. Shortly 
after I was attacked by a very nasty head¬ 
ache which lasted for hours. I thought of 
having inhaled poisonous matter. After a 
few days I dug deeper up to five feet. The 
result was the same again—bad headache. 
Then I called in our well-digger. lie dug 
till he found damp gravel. He declared at 
once that the gravel smelled like “rusty 
iron.” One morning, there being plenty of 
dew and moisture in the air, I noticed a 
strange odor coming from the earth. It 
had similarity to the smell of hot iron 
being cast into cold water. Have I at last 
found a mineral deposit? Will you advise 
me to sink a shaft? 
Ans. —Your trouble was caused by 
the poisonous gases in the ground, 
probably “marsh gas” or “methane,” 
which is formed during the decomposi¬ 
tion of vegetable matter. This would 
also account for the smell resembling 
“rusty iron,” as the iron is caused to 
rust by dampness and only gives off an 
odor when it is real damp. The ground 
formation is not that of a mineral de¬ 
posit as, in the East, coal and iron are 
only found in rock strata. 
A Water Still. 
Will you tell me how to build a still, 
suitable for distilling water for drinking 
and for chemical purposes in my own home? 
I would like a still capable of delivering 
from one to two gallons per hour. What 
kind of storage tank would be best for 
distilled water for drinking? c. a. P. 
Burlington, N. J. 
A water still consists merely of a kettle 
in which to boil water and some additional 
COWENCIN& COIL 
1?HE RURAh NEW-YORKER 
means for collecting and condensing the 
steam. The condensed steam is the 
distilled water. A device for distilling the. 
water, such as is shown in Pig. 435, will 
be found to be satisfactory. The amount 
of distilled water per hour depends, of 
course, on the amount evaporated by boil¬ 
ing and the size of the condensing surface. 
The large pail has a hole punched in the 
side for the nose of the ordinary kettle. 
The cracks around the nose are packed 
with any handy material, such as a wick- 
ing. If the connection is to be permanent, 
the pail and kettle may be soldered to¬ 
gether. Then the inside pail is kept filled 
with cold water. The steam condenses on 
the cold surface of the inside pail and 
runs down the sides. 
A more common form of still is shown in 
Pig. 434.' This is the ordinary commer¬ 
cial still which in a one or two-gallon size 
retails at about $5. Here a dome is fitted 
on the top of the kettle, if it is not already 
that shape, and a pipe led off and coiled 
up in a second tank, which is kept full of 
cold water. The steam condenses in the 
coil and may be drawn off at the faucet 
as distilled water. For the coil use % or 
%-inch copper tubing and bend it into a 
coil about 10 inches in diameter. In bend¬ 
ing it, fill the pipe with sand and plug up 
the ends, so as not to “kink” the pipe. 
Ten or 15 feet of the tubing will probably 
give you a gallon or more of water an 
hour. ‘ Be sure to buy tubing, not pipe, as 
the former has thin walls, which makes it 
better for cooling purposes. For storing 
distilled water for drinking, a glass or 
glazed porcelain vessel is best. R. R. C. 
Waterproofing Shingles. 
I have recently had a poultry house 
shingled, but owing to improper workman¬ 
ship it leaks very badly. On page 911 
R. P. C. speaks of using water glass for 
waterproofing floors, walls,_ and to a less 
extent on the exterior of buildings. Do you 
believe that would answer the above pur¬ 
pose? R. m’k. ' 
Eden Park, R. I. 
Soluble glass is only valuable as a water¬ 
proofing liquid with stone, concrete or 
plaster construction, or where small pores 
are to be filled up or glossed over. It 
would not be suitable for your poultry 
house under the conditions as you state 
them. You cannot stop the bad leaks per¬ 
manently unless you take off the shingles 
and put on a layer of tarred paper under 
them, then putting the shingles back. Of 
course, plugging up the cracks with putty 
or some similar substance will do for 
a while, or you can tack a layer of tarred 
paper on the inside of the roof. This, 
however, is only a temporary makeshift. 
u. p. c. 
A Problem in Pumping. 
Can you give me information in regard 
to pumping water from a spring that is 
950 feet from my house and 00 feet lower 
than the house? Most of the rise is in the 
first 400 feet from the spring. I have 
been told that I could draw water with a 
pump, by putting check valves in the pipe, 
but my informant has not seen it done. 
Can I lay a pipe from the spring to the 
house and have pump in the kitchen? If 
so, what size of pipe would be best to use, 
what kind and size of pump, how many 
check valves would be needed, and what 
elevation from one check to the n;xt one? 
A pump placed at the spring would force 
the water up all right, but it is not con¬ 
venient to have it there. G. E. w. 
Roseland, N. C. 
You cannot get the water from the 
spring to the house by placing a pump in 
the house, under the conditions as you 
have stated them. Check valves in the 
pipe would be of no use. The friction of 
9o0 feet of 1-inch pipe delivering six gal¬ 
lons per minute, say, would be equivalent 
to a loss of head in the pipe equal to 
about 30 feet. Add this to the 60 feet 
depth you already have and that would 
mean a total head of about 90 feet. No 
suction pump can pull water more than 30 
feet up from the surface of the water to 
the pump cylinder because the atmospheric 
pressure of 15 pounds per square inch will 
not sustain a higher column than that. 
This is the reason why in deep wells the 
pump cylinders have to be put away down 
below the surface of the ground. 
A Pumping Problem. 
I have a spring 500 feet from and about 
60 feet below my barn. I would like to 
put in a pump and power about 10 rods, 
165 feet from and 28 feet above the spring, 
as it would be much more convenient than 
to put it directly over the spring. Would 
this be likely to work well? If so, would 
a one-inch pipe from spring to pump and 
three-fourtlis-inch pipe from pump to tank 
be right, or should one-inch pipe be used 
throughout? This size costs eight cents 
per foot here. What is it worth in mar¬ 
ket? w. G. 
Litchfield, Conn. 
The size of the pipe from pump to tank 
can be anything you like, as the only dif¬ 
ference that would make is that it would 
take more power to pump the same 
amount of water through a small pipe than 
through a large pipe. The size of the pipe 
from pump to spring is very important, 
however. In the first place, water can be 
lifted by a pump 32 feet, theoretically. 
Practically, however, due partly to the im¬ 
possibility of obtaining a perfect vacuum 
and also to the roughness of the fittings, 
etc., it can only be lifted about 30 fjpet 
from supply to cylinder. However, the 
friction of 165 feet of one-inch pipe, de¬ 
pending on the velocity of the water flow¬ 
ing through it. amounts to a loss of head 
of three or four feet, so that with that 
length of pipe and that size, the pump 
cylinder cannot be more than about 25 or 
26 feet above the spring. If it must be 
October 12, 
28 feet above the spring, use the next size 
larger pipe. 
The market price of pipe varies continu¬ 
ally, but eight cents a foot for black pipe 
is high. It is not so very bad for galvan¬ 
ized iron. In the market at present one- 
inch black pipe can be bought at retail for 
about five cents, while galvanized is about 
seven cents. A difference of a cent a foot 
will be found depending on the nearness of 
a supply house. 
Kerosene and Concrete; Lime and Manure. 
1. Will kerosene oil soak through con¬ 
crete? 2. Will air-slaked lime or unslaked 
lime put in the gutters in cow stable injure 
the quality of the manure? a. b. c. 
Carmel, N. Y. 
1. Kerosene oil will soak through con¬ 
crete in time and will discolor it. 2. The 
lime will combine with the manure to some 
extent and will set free some of the nitro¬ 
gen in the form of ammonia, thus consider¬ 
ably reducing the value of the manure a3 
fertilizer; R. P. C. 
Treatment of Cement Cistern. 
Can you tell how to treat a newly ce¬ 
mented cistern so that the water is fit to 
drink? w. T. C. 
Foster, O. 
The usual practice is not to coat the 
cement cisterns at all. After the cement 
thoroughly hardenss, the water is all right. 
Many times drinking water is led from a 
considerable distance through cement pipes 
not coated on the inside, and the practice 
is not objectionable. Unless the water is 
pretty pure and free from traces of acids, 
etc., anything you put on would be eaten 
off in time and taken into the water. Fin¬ 
ish up the inside real smooth with fairly 
neat cement and you will have no trouble. 
r. p. c. 
Your Last and Only Chance to Get 
The Country Gentleman 
{The Oldest Agricultural Journal in the World ) 
for over three months for 25 cents 
T HIS is absolutely the last notice of our offer to send you The COUNTRY GENTLEMAN every 
week from now until February 1, 1913, for 25 cents. Never again in the history^of THE 
COUNTRY Gentleman will such a trial offer as this be made. We make it now not to “boost 
our circulation temporarily. We do it because we feel confident that if you read this great 
improved farm paper for fourteen weeks, it will itself prove to you that you need it all the 
time as personal help in the problems of your farm. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN is the oldest 
agricultural journal in the world. It was bought a year ago by the greatest periodical pub¬ 
lishing house in the world. Here is the result: It has been issued for 80 years; yet in this 
last year 300 per cent, more farmers than ever before have begun to buy it. We want you 
to find out why 60,000 farmers did this. We get and print up-to-the-minute and down-to-the- 
ground information and advice on agricultural problems, local and national. Our experts are 
men in the field, the dairy, the orchard. They write sound common-sense, and they write it 
clearly. To give you their practical experience we spend $75,000 a year. We believe you 
want the benefit of all this. You can try it for fourteen weeks for only 25 cents. 
A Master Fanner and 
Fifty Farms 
In the Genesee Valley, New York, one 
man owns some fifty farms—over 10,000 
acres in all, rented at $2 to $4 an acre. 
Much of this land fifteen years ago re¬ 
turned only seventy-five cents an acre— 
some of it, nothing at all. Now it is all 
on a paying basis. 
How this master farmer manages this 
enormous estate, and aids fifty tenants 
in making a profit, is told in one article 
of our series on successful farmers. It’s 
the story, not of a fad, but of a money¬ 
maker. So with all this series. 
Wiped Out By Fire 
In New York State alone there were 
5800 farm fires last year. They caused a 
loss of $1,500,000. Most of them could 
have been prevented. We shall print a 
series of articles on fire prevention and 
protection, covering (1) What farm fire 
losses represent; (2) Howtoguard against 
fire; (3) How to put it out if it starts; 
(4) The best kinds of insurance on build¬ 
ings, crops and livestock impartially 
compared; (5) Actual facts about farm¬ 
ers’ mutual insurance companies that 
have worked. These articles will show you 
in a practical way how to strengthen 
your protection against fire. 
What is Your Money Crop ? 
If your farm were big enough, and the 
soil, climate and market conditions 
varied enough for 30 crops, you would 
like to have 30 experts—one for each. 
But the cost would be too great. Most 
successful farming communities center 
attention on a single crop adapted to 
the locality. 
We are printing a series on “The 
Money Crop” written by 30 experts. 
Each article will show the essentials in 
business management, soil, climate and 
capital, and the returns which may be 
expected. 
Women’s Cares, Comforts, Clothes and Cooking 
Our departments for women appeal directly to the woman 
in the country. They include four regular features, all ably 
written. (1) Practical Talks by a country woman of exper¬ 
ience on problems of the hired man and hired girl, training 
of children, pin-money, etc. (The Country Gentlewoman ); (2) 
Foods and Cooking, country dishes, pleasing new recipes from 
East and West, preserving and canning; (3) The Rural 
Home—its furnishings and decorations; (4) Sewing—how to 
make clothes stylish yet practical—embroidery, laces and 
knitting ideas. 
How Are Crops and What Are They Worth ? 
What crop to grow? When to sell it? These questions de¬ 
termine profits on most farms. The Country Gentleman 
employs a national ’expert on crop reports to write a weekly 
department on The Crops and the Markets, giving the changes 
in prices and the market demands. Also, there are special 
articles telling how to put each crops on the market in prime 
condition so as to get the maximum price. No farmer who 
reads this department regularly, and supplements its with a 
local newspaper, can be ignorant of when and how to mar¬ 
ket his crop to get the greatest returns. 
OFFER S5Xty thoUSand m ° re farmers t ! ian a y ear a S° are^already buying The Country Gentleman jit 5^cents a 
OlAiy LliCJUSiXllAJ. rainioio cxxc*** u. j --YY-~ » j i j 
_copy, or $1.50 a year, the regular price. If you knew The Country Gentleman as they do you would 
be glad to pay that amount and more for your subscription. 
You know our other publications, The Ladies’ Home Journal and The 
Saturday Evening Post. We want you to know Tiie Country Gentleman. 
The Curtis Publishing Company never gives premiums, bonuses or clubbing offers. 
But it is good business for us to get The Country Gentleman into your hands. 
You will judge for yourself. * 
In order to give you a fair chance to see with your own eyes that it is every¬ 
thing we claim, we will send it to your home until Feburary 1, 1913, for 25 cents. 
This one-half reduction in price is 6olely a trial offer for new subscribers. It 
will never be repeated. 
Fill in and send the coupon opposite (or, if you wish to save the paper in 
which this is printed, write us a letter, giving clearly your name and address, and 
enclosing 25 cents). 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 
I 
J 
! 
CUT OUT—MAIL TODAY 
The Country Gentleman, 
Independence Square, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Enclosed please find 25 cents, stamps or coin (Canadian price 
40 cents). Please send The Country Gentleman to the address 
below until February 1st, 1913, beginning with the next issue. 
Name- 
Town - 
State- 
