504 
THE; KUKAb NEW-YORKER 
FARM ENGINEERING NOTES. 
Gasoline and Kerosene Engines. 
In view of the fact that gasoline has 
nearly doubled in price and will go higher, 
and that coal oil is so much cheaper, it 
seems to me, that if there was some way 
to change a gasoline engine at a small 
expense, in order to use coal oil, it would 
greatly benefit the owners of gasoline en¬ 
gines. Some makers of engines advertise 
that their engines will run with coal oil a*; 
well as with gasoline. They make the 
statement that within a year or two, gaso¬ 
line will be so high in price that it will be 
too expensive to use in ordinary engines. 
Illinois. c. h. 
As has been stated in these columns a 
number of times in reply to questions, the 
trouble with kerosene as a fuel is that it 
is much harder to vaporize than gasoline 
and, further, it deposits much more soot 
in the cylinder unless conditions arc per¬ 
fect and this is more troublesome. Almost 
any gasoline engine may he started on gaso¬ 
line and then run on kerosene after the 
engine is warmed up, particularly if ti.e 
exhaust pipe of the engine passes near 
the carburetor, so as to warm it and heat 
up the entering air. To run the engine on 
kerosene as a fuel it is not necessary or 
advisable to attempt to change the engine 
in any way but, instead, purchase a device 
for kerosene to take the place of a gasoline 
carburetor. These are called vaporizers or 
generators and are usually fastened to the 
CONCRETE CULVERT. 
exhaust pipe in such a manner that the 
kerosene is sprayed against the hot pipe 
and so vaporized, after which it is drawn 
into the cylinder with the proper propor¬ 
tion of air. They may be purchased of any 
engine dealer directly or secured through 
your local automobile agent or hardware 
merchant. it. p. c. 
Freezing Ice in Block. 
Would it not be feasible to freeze water. 
In pans or molds for storage in an ice 
house? I have a brook of fine water about 
700 feet away at an elevation above my 
storage house of 25 feet. i. s. a. 
Connecticut. 
It would be entirely feasible to freeze 
water in pans during the Winter and store 
same in the ice house for Summer use. 
Large pans would be needed, and a good 
many of them. The water should not only 
freeze but also stay out for some hours 
after freezing to get thoroughly solid 
throughout. a. p. c. 
Salt to Clean Chimney. 
Early this morning, a farmhouse In 
this neighborhood burned to the ground, 
cause, soot burning out in chimney. Such 
a thing happens often, and if there is a 
sure preventive, people ought to know it. 
A few days ago, I lirst heard of this: 
“Put a handful of salt on your fire once a 
week and soot will not collect in chim¬ 
ney or in stove, and the chimney will 
never burn out; the stove will do better 
service.” I have for years put salt In stove 
when chimney was burning and found it 
would soon quell the roaring; the soot 
burned slower, chimney kept cooler, and, of 
course, less danger. Perhaps some of your 
readers may have had experience with 
salt as a preventive and will give an opin¬ 
ion on it. D. a. K. 
Vermont. 
Putting salt, usually coarse salt, on the 
fire or pouring it down the chemney on 
the burning soot, Is a very common way 
of extinguishing chimney fires. It is per¬ 
fectly reliable and works well. It will not, 
however, prevent the formation of Hoot, no 
matter how frequently it is done. The ac¬ 
tion is similar to that of the patented fire 
extinguishers, and similar to the action of 
water, too. That is, what happpens is the 
shutting off of the supply of oxygen from 
the burning carbon by surrounding the 
carbon, or filling the chimney, with another 
gas in which the carbon will not burn. 
R. P. C. 
Trouble With Ram. 
A. O. R., on page 30!>, wants to know 
what the trouble is with his ram, viz.: 
After draining it it works all right for a 
while, and then quits pumping, although it 
goes through the motion. I have handled 
hydraulic rams of different makes for a 
good many years, and at times had same 
experience as A O. R. Making a guess at 
long range, I think that the trouble with 
Ids ram Is that the air leaks out of the 
air-chamber. If it is a cast-iron air-clmm- 
ber there may be a pinhole or sand hole 
near top, or tins air works out with the 
water through discharge pipe. Pumps un¬ 
der certain conditions will do the same. 
Under this condition it would he the same 
as if there was no air-chamber, and when 
the “ram” from the momentum of the 
water in the drive-pipe takes place by the 
spill valve closing, the whole column of 
water iu discharge pipe (water being non- 
compressible) would have to move instantly. 
A ram will not do this, and is not sup¬ 
posed to. Under normal conditions when 
the air-chamber is full of air, the water 
will he discharged into air-chamber and 
compress the air. The latter will then ex¬ 
pand and force the water up through dis¬ 
charge pipe. This explains why his ram 
will work all right for a while after it 
has been drained—thus getting air into 
air-chamber—and later stop pumping. 1 
would advise A. O. It. to take his air- 
chamber off and after getting it thoroughly 
dry on the inside to apply a coat of hot 
pitch or tar on the inside to render air- 
chamber absolutely airtight. If this does 
not overcome the trouble put a gate valve 
on discharge pipe close to ram so he can 
easily and quickly drain the ram. If no 
provision is made for doing so tap a half- 
inch hole (or %) near bottom of air- 
chamber to drain air-chamber, or use a 
bicycle pump—any way to get air Into air- 
chamber. 
This hint may apply to several others 
who have stated their troubles with rains 
in The R. N. Y. during the last few 
months. There is one ram made which by 
a very simple contrivance automatically 
forces some air Into air-chamber at every 
stroke, keeping the air-chamber full of air, 
while the surplus air adds buoyancy to the 
water in discharge pipe, decreasing tnc 
back pressure, and without diminishing the 
amount of water pumped. 
Arizona. chak. ehlig. 
Water Fails in Warm Weather. 
I would like some information concern¬ 
ing a water supply that comes from a well 
about ten feet deep. There is an Iron pipe 
laid from the bottom of the well to the 
bathroom of a farmhouse and does good 
work, but in warm weather it stops. Then 
late in the Fall it will start of its own 
accord and run again. Can you tell me 
HANDLING DRY WELL. 
why it will not run in warm weather, and 
what should he done in order to have it 
run all the year around? h. j. m. 
Pennsylvania. 
Probably your difficulty is due to the 
well getting low in Summer and then, as 
it tills up again in the Fall, the height Is 
sufficient so that the water will run to 
the bathroom. The only remedv Is to In¬ 
crease the height of the water in the well 
during the Summer season. This can he 
done by decreasing the capacity of the well. 
Suppose you make three or four barrels 
water tight, weight them and sink them 
in the well, ns shown by the sketch, the 
water will rise in the well and you may 
lie able to get it high enough so that the 
water will run In the bathroom all Sum- 
met. You should note how high the water 
is when the water runs properly and have 
the barrels large enough to raise the 
water to that height. r. p. c. 
Experience With Syphon. 
On page 235, L. C. P. gives advice about 
syphons. I would like to give my experi¬ 
ence in this line, i have a spring a little 
more than 1000 feet from the house, and 
about 30 feet above the level of the house 
top. There Is an Inch and a quarter pipe 
running from the spring to the house, 
having two hydrants and a branch to ten¬ 
ant house. The spring well is 15 feet deep, 
and the pipe enters four feet from the sur¬ 
face aud goes down to within a foot of 
the bottom. The pipe has a foot valve at 
the bottom acting to hold the water in the 
pipe. At the bend of the pipe where it 
comes out of the well there is a tank 11 
inches in diameter by 30 inches long with 
a pet-cock In the top to let air out. The 
pipe In the cellar of the house can be con¬ 
nected to a force puiup, and when the pot- 
cock Is open the pipe and tank can be 
pumped full of water. Then by closing the 
pet-cock the syphon, being full of water, 
works well until the air has accumulated 
in the tank sufficiently to enter the pipe 
running to the house when it can again be 
pumped up from the house. This arrange¬ 
ment has worked perfectly six to eight 
months at a time and is simple and most 
efficient. Anyone having trouble with a 
syphon by putting a large tank on the high 
part of the pipe and a foot valve can 
overcome the difficulty. He sure to have 
all joints airtight and the pet-cock espe¬ 
cially tight. It is a good plan to put 
wax or tallow In the top of pet-cock to 
assure of It being airtight. This has been In 
six years and given perfect satisfaction. 
Canandaigua, N. Y. u. t. H. 
THE WATER WIZARD. 
A Pretty Good Humbug. 
In reply to Mr. ,T. S. Woodward's "Hum- 
bug of locating water witli a peach limb,” 
I would say : I live on a high aud dry 
hill. We had to drive our stock about one- 
quarter of a mile to water, which was a 
very hard job sometimes in the Winter, and 
took a good deal of valuable time to water 
our horses iu Summer. I heard ol’ the 
peach sprout deal and tried it. I found 
a place above my barn that Indicated hits 
of water. It had four leaders In diffei'cnt 
directions. One started south under a shed 
and into the barnyard, where a good well 
would be very valuable. I got a well driller 
to tome so I could prove what I had 
found, lie set up and drilled eight feet and 
struck rock, drilled nine feet in rock and 
struck water. He drilled three feet more 
and I told him lie would better pump it 
out and see what we had. lie said we 
would pomp It out by hand and we went 
at It, hut he got sick of that and started 
his engine and pumped about one-lialf day 
and said he guessed 1 had all the water i 
needed at the present, and if I ever needed 
any more he would come back, but I have 
not been obliged to call on him. That was 
three years ago. We have had one very dry 
season since. He put 11 feet of casing iii 
the well, cost complete with pump $37.25. 
We are watering 23 sheep, nine head of 
cattle, six horses, besides the water for the 
house, and we have two neighbors who pat¬ 
ronize our well through the dry weather of 
the Summer. My neighbors’ wells run from 
100 to 257 feet deep. Call it a humbug 
if you like, hut it is the best one that I 
ever got hold of. c. I*. STANTON. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. 
Finding Water With a Forked Peach Tre#. 
On page 378 J. S. Woodward is puzzled 
about the "peach tree stick” as a water 
(log. Neither do I believe in this humbug. 
Nothing in it except the money the wiz¬ 
ards may get from ignorant people. Old 
Mother Earth is full of veins and arteries; 
one could scarcely tap the surface of her 
body anywhere to a moderate death with¬ 
out bleeding it. Here’s an Incident to 
match yours. When I was a hoy in the 
early days of Monroe Co., Ohio, 70 years 
ago, our merchant at Stafford (a very in¬ 
telligent man), called one of those wizards 
to locate a site for his well. He figured 
all over the lot carefully, and set his peg 
at the hack end. saying, “Here is the only 
chance for water on the premises.” “All 
right,” said the merchant, “hut here is the 
place where I want my well,” and ho dug 
it close to his residence a resonable depth, 
and it became known to everybody that he 
had the host well in town. It was had 
news however to the faker. If the wizard's 
theory Is true, then there is no certainty 
in our system of weights, for should our 
scales happen to he placed over one of those 
“veins',’ down 20 or 30 feet in the ground, 
where the gravitation twists the hark off 
the “stick,” your basket of butter for mar¬ 
ket would weigh entirely too much, and 
when your chicken merchant weighs your 
poultry out at the chicken house over’one 
of those “drawing” veins he would get the 
worst of It. 1 wonder at any sensible peo¬ 
ple taking stock In this climax of humbug- 
gcry. There arc many other tilings equally 
fallacious, some of which I have personally 
tested during the Inst 65 years to my en¬ 
tire satisfaction. Notably, planting pota¬ 
toes “by the moon,” building worm fence 
“by the moon,” laying boards on the grass 
at different times “In the moon,” putting 
shingles on roof at different times "in 
moon,” to sec which staid In place best. 
My experience In all the above has con¬ 
vinced me that there is no trutli in any 
of tlie claims made for them. 
Ohio. G. It. MATSON. 
A Culvert Bulletin. —Many of our 
readers are greatly interested in road work 
with concrete. Bridges and culverts are 
being made and many other uses for con¬ 
crete work have developed. All such parties 
should obtain Bulletin No. 45 from the 
office of Public Roads, Department of Agri¬ 
culture. Washington. This is entitled 
“Data for Use in Designing Culverts and 
Short Span Bridges." It gives just the 
information which road builders are after. 
A sample picture of a culvert is shown 
in first column. 
Agitating Compressed Air Sprayer.— 
I am getting a compressed air sprayer, and 
would like to hear from your readers who 
are using compressed air In regard to the 
agitating. Will the air agitate the mixture, 
or shall I have to put an agitator in the 
tank? CHAS. HANSON. 
Michigan. 
April 5, 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Puts a Stop to the “Hum” 
of the Humbug Roofings 
A roofing not much more expensive 
than tar paper is not much better—a 
cheap price means a cheap roof, no 
matter what the “eager” salesman tells 
you; he is looking out for his pocket, 
not yours. 
“Raintight” Rubber Roofing is com¬ 
posed of Trinidad Lake Asphalt —the 
Standard asphalt of the world—no 
other “Secret combinations” that sound 
“big” but mean little. Nature made it, 
and took her time about it. That’s 
why it lasts. 
Perfect Roofing is the same thing, 
but has a surface that’s as good as a 
fire insurance policy. Mica flakes are 
so deeply embedded into the asphalt 
while hot that it becomes part of the 
roof—and mica is fire-resisting (You 
can’t hum it) and besides, it is a non¬ 
conductor of heat or lightning. Any 
roofing would be burned if attacked by 
a fire from underneath, hut Perfect 
Roofing stands “on guard” against the 
fire from without. 
Perfect Rosin sized Sheathing and 
Perfect Tarred Felt are others of our 
specialties, and are all the name im¬ 
plies. 
If your dealer does not handle our roofing, write 
us for samples and booklets—it will pay you. 
Maurice O’Meara Co. 
448 Pearl St., New York 
GASH SBAGS 
Turn thorn into money. Wo buy thorn in any quan¬ 
tity, sound or torn, at n liberal price and PAY THE 
FREIGHT, Write for particulars. Reference : Citi- 
zon's Bank. I ROQVOIS HAG CO., 750 Hroad- 
wuy, lSuffnlo, N. Y, 
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I Easy to Load—Easy to Unload | 
— Only 42 inches high from ground to top of box at the rear wheels. Saves s 
EE that back-breaking lift, and makes it quicker and easier to load. 
g Apron Rims DOWN Hilfl. Being lower behind than in front, load travels S 
B downward. This gives much lighter draft and saves the horses where the jjfjj 
52 work would otherwise be hardest. You know it’s easier to haul a load s 
E down hill than up. 
Flying Dutchman 
Low Down Spreader 
Best for Man, Team and Land 
Easy to Handle. The box Is as long as any 
spreader built—yet the distance between the 
wheels Is from 25 to 50 per cent, less than on 
any other low down spreader. In barn yard 
or field, the Flying Dutchman Spreader is 
as easy to handle as a wagon. 
Wheels are Under the Load just where they 
must be if you wish to secure the greatest 
strength, ease of handling and lightness of 
?draft. Most of the weight being 
on the rear wheels gives abun¬ 
dant traction power without the 
extra heavy mud lugs used on 
other spreaders. 
Clearance. The endless apron 
has 18 in. clearance between low¬ 
est point and ground—6 In. more 
I than most others. A point 
f worth romembering. 
Look for the 
Fiyinit 
Dutchman 
Dealer 
All Steel Frame—Steel Wheels—Steel Beater. 
Apron runs on three sets of steel rollers— 
safely carries 4800 lbs. without sagging. No 
other spreader Is so strong and well-built. 
Simplest in Construction, one lever operates 
entire machine. An Inexperienced boy can 
managa it without any chance of doing harm 
to the machine. 
We also build the Moline Spreader whlsh is 
of the same construction, but with a Return 
Apron. 
Be sure to examine these Spreaders before 
buying any other. You will find a Flying 
Dutchmuu Dealer near you. 
Our illustrated Spreader Booklet will be sent 
free—if you write for it at once. Address 
S 
i 
3 
B 
Only B 
in. to B 
topofbox S 
_rear wheel 3 
(203) 3 
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