1914. 
'I' I-I EC KUKALi NKW-YORKEK 
107 
CRITICISM OF CONCRETE MIXER. 
I would like to offer a little criticism of that 
barrel concrete mixer which It. I*. C. recommends to 
I 1 ’. M. H. on page 43. From my experience in mix¬ 
ing concrete I should say that the whole thing was 
decidedly impractical. For convenience cement is 
handled almost wholly in hags, and experience has 
taught me that it does not pay to mix it at one 
time, less than a one-bag hatch; cement being 
packed closely in bags and barrels, when we try to 
divide the original package we do not get the divi¬ 
sion very accurate. One-lmlf or one-third means 
almost anything to the ordinary laborer. Take a 
one-bag batch of a standard 1-2-4 mixture, and it 
contains around 6.6 cubic feet before mixing, and 
around 4.5 cubic feet after mixing. This would till 
the barrel up pretty well when first put in, and as 
mixing progressed would settle considerably. A 
batch of this size would weigh over 600 pounds 
when mixed. Now let us start at the bottom of 
this thing and work up. Is that hinged bottom 
going to be strong enough to hold 600 pounds, and 
fit snug enough to prevent the water from running 
out and taking much of the fine cement with it 
before mixing is completed? I hardly think so. 
Anything as heavy and dense as concrete is going 
to stir mighty hard in the bottom of a barrel, and 
I venture to predict that with a pulley of relative 
size, as shown in cut, and with one bearing only, 
as shown, there will be a balk. It seems to me 
that the pulley would be somewhat in the way when 
putting material in mixer. As near as I can figure 
it, the top of that barrel will he around five feet 
from the ground, and this would make filling a 
slow and tedious job, especially if the 
wind were blowing your way when 
putting in cement. 
R. I*. C. says: “After every batch 
is mixed and dumped, the whole ma¬ 
chine should he washed out before the 
next hatch is mixed.”’ I agree with 
him that this would l>e necessary, and 
this very fact helps to make the whole 
thing impractical, as it would con¬ 
sume too much time and water. In 
the majority of cases where concreting 
is done around the farm water is not 
found on tin* job superabundantly, 
but has to he carted from a greater 
or less distance, and therefore costs 
money. Home-made mixers are not 
as a rule very satisfactory. They 
have to be made strong and braced 
much to stand the strain, and the 
final cost in time and money is much 
more than at first calculated. F. M. H. 
would better let his engine rest under 
the shed and make a mixing platform 
10x12 feet, using either square edge or tongued and 
grooved stuff. Do not use ship-lap. Nail a 2x2 
strip around edge to prevent waste, and set level. 
Get three or four iron wheelbarrows and some 
square-pointed shovels, and I will guarantee that 
the same gang of men will mix more concrete in 
v day, and do it easier, than they can with any 
home-made machine mixer, even if it does run with 
power. I have been “through the mill” both ways, 
and have paid for my experience. 
Rhode Island. mauhice e. kent. 
The party of the first part further agrees that the 
party of the second part shall be his exclusive agent 
for the sale of the produce herein mentioned. 
The party of the first part further agrees that he 
will not contract for the raising and sale, or sell or 
contract to sell any tomatoes with or to any catmer 
or preserver during the term of this contract. 
The party of the second part agrees to act as agent 
for the party of the first part and to receive and sell 
the said produce at the best obtainable price, either 
to a cannery or in the open market and to make re¬ 
turns to the first party of the full amount of the net 
price received for said produce, less the commission 
established by the by-laws of the said second party, 
within ten days after the receipt thereof by the party 
of the second part. 
It is further agreed that all produce marketed at 
canneries shall conform to the standard and conditions 
as set forth in the contracts made between said can¬ 
neries and the party of the second part, and that the 
party of the first part shall grade and pack all produce 
sold in the open market in such manner as shall be 
prescribed by the party of the second part. 
This is probably a legal and an enforceable con¬ 
tract if both parties sign it. but it is such a one¬ 
sided affair that a farmer should think twice be¬ 
fore binding himself to all the provisions of this 
contract and get in exchange merely some one to 
act as his commission merchant—with no provision 
on behalf of the farmer to discontinue sending 
produce where the company fails to remit or is 
unsatisfactory in other ways. An examination of 
the contract discloses that: 
The company promises and agrees: 
1 . 
o. 
able 
sums 
To act as agent. 
To receive and sell produce at best obtain- 
price. 
To make returns 
to farmers within 
of net price less comrnis- 
10 days after receipt. 
l’HE KING ROAD SCRAPER IN OPERATION. Fig. 47. 
The farmer promises and agrees: 
1. Plant and raise to marketable size and deliver 
the fruit, etc., named. 
2. Deliver at proper season. 
Deliver at time and place directed by eom- 
3. 
pany. 
4 . 
tract. 
5. 
6 . 
any 
7. 
To deliver all the produce mentioned in con- 
CONTRACT FOR PRODUCE. 
Will you let me know whether the inclosed con¬ 
tract asking that party of first part sell tomatoes to 
party of second part only is a legal contract or not? 
The canners have drawn up similar contracts in years 
past, and I would like to know whether they can hold 
them or not. p - 
The contract mentioned seems to he an agree¬ 
ment for marketing or handling crops. We print 
sections of it below, as many similar contracts are 
drawn up in this one-sided manner.- In a coopera¬ 
tive society of farmers, where control was in the 
hands of trusted people, such a jug-handled agree¬ 
ment might perhaps be considered, but it gives all 
the advantage to the people who handle the goods 
and none to the producers: 
For and in consideration of the promise and agree¬ 
ment of the party of the second part to act as agent 
for the party of the first part in a manner and under 
terms and conditions hereinafter stated, the said party 
of the first part hereby promises and agrees to plant 
or sow, raise to a marketable size or condition and 
deliver during the year 191.at the proper season, 
at such time and place as the party of the- second 
part may direct, all the produce of the following: 
.Acres Corn. 
.Acres Peas. 
.Acres Beans. 
.Acres Cherries 
.. .. . .Acres Tomatoes. 
.Acres Table Beets. 
.Acres Strawberries 
.Acres Red Raspberries 
.Acres Black Raspberries. 
.Acres . 
Makes company exclusive agent of sale. 
Not to contract to raise and sell tomatoes to 
canner or preserver. 
Not to sell any tomatoes to any canner or 
preserver. 
S. To make his produce for canneries conform to 
requirements of a contract between third parties, to 
wit: company and canneries. 
9. To grade and pack market produce as pre¬ 
scribed by the company. 
Contract fails to state: 
1. What company’s commission will be. This is 
governed by its by-laws, and may be as high as 25 
pei cent, for all the farmer knows. 
2. Wha. is to be done with the produce raised 
by farmer and not acceptable to company as too 
small, etc. Farmer cannot sell this to anyone as 
contract calls for “all the produce.” 
3. What the advantage to the farmer is in 
promising all these things on his part for the priv¬ 
ilege of merely having a company act as his com¬ 
mission agent. 
4. What will happen if the 
make returns within ten days, 
deliver the goods. 
5. What will happen if the company does not 
seek nor obtain the highest market price. What 
remedy has the farmer? 
TUNING UP A DRY CELL BATTERY. 
Will you toll me what is used and in what propor¬ 
tions in a dry battery to make it react? Also bow 
much zinc, copper and vitriol or sulphuric acid shall 
I need in a 10-gallon grayity battery? What voltage 
would it give? IIow much could I expect from the 
reacting dry battery? i. a. b. 
Pennellville, N. Y. 
1. An old dry battery which has run down is not 
worth bothering with, for there is nothing that will 
give it a new life for long enough to pay for work¬ 
ing on it. Frequently, however, if you are stuck 
wtih the old batteries and can’t get any more, while 
you must have current, heating the batteries will 
make them work a short time. For example, if 
you are caught out in a motor boat and the bat¬ 
teries run out, heating them over the exhaust might 
liven them up enough to make the run in. The 
battery originally is made in any one of a dozen 
ways. There are a couple of hundred patents on 
dry batteries. One of the simplest constructions is 
to line a zinc cylinder with a thin layer of paste 
made of the following: 'Three parts plaster of 
Paris; one part sal ammoniac; one part zinc chlo¬ 
ride; one part flour; two parts water. The voltage 
of the dry battery will be about 1*4 volts. Suspend 
a carbon free from the coating on all sides and 
fill the space around it and between it and this 
paste with the following mixture: one part sal 
ammoniac; three parts manganese peroxide; one- 
tenth part powdered charcoal; four parts powdered 
charcoal. Small amount of water. 
2. I cannot imagine what you would use such a 
large gravity battery for. It would give the same 
voltage as one of the ordinary one-half gallon size. 
The voltage of any battery is entirely independent 
of its size. One the size of a thimble 
will give the same voltage as one the 
size of a barrel. The capacity of the 
larger one is greater, however. That 
is, you can draw the same current for 
a much longer time. If you want to 
get a higher voltage, it will be neces¬ 
sary to make a number of batteries. 
Each battery will give a voltage of 
about one volt (more exactly 1.08 
volts), and if. say, six are connected 
"in series,” that is, the zinc of one to 
the copper of the next, the voltage 
will be six times as great. If the six 
zincs are connected and the six cop¬ 
pers are connected, the voltage will be 
only one volt, but. the effect will be 
the same as though there was but one 
battery six times as large as any one. 
This is known as “parallel” or “mul¬ 
tiple” connection. The zincs and cop¬ 
pers may he any size. The copper 
keeps getting larger but the zinc is 
gradually eaten up. The copper is 
placed at the bottom and the zinc at the top. Cop¬ 
per sulphate crystals are placed in the bottom of 
the jar and water added to cover the zinc. The 
water is usually slightly acidified with a few drops 
of sulphuric acid. About a pound of crystals to a 
gallon of water will give a good solution. After 
allowing the battery to stand short-circuited for a 
time, it will be found that the top of the liquid is 
light colored. It has become zinc sulphate because 
the sulphuric acid has attacked the zinc. The di¬ 
viding line between the zinc sulphate and the cop- 
pet sulphate should be kept about half way between 
the copper and the zinc. If it falls lower add 
crystals and water, after taking out a little of the 
zinc sulphate. If it goes higher either short-circuit 
the battery for a little while or add a drop or two 
of sulphuric acid. r. p. jc . 
company does not 
Farmer must still 
Most of the farm credit plans are rightly based on 
the proposition of enabling a man with some property 
to use it for credit. But where does the tenant farmer 
or man without property come in? 
SILICATE OF SODA IN CISTERN. 
In your issue of December 6 you recommend solu¬ 
tion of silicate of soda wash to remedy leaks in a cis¬ 
tern. Will you inform me whether the silicate of soda 
affects the water for drinking purposes, or is likely to 
cause rusting of the inside of iron supply pipes con¬ 
ducting the water from the cistern to the house? 
Smithtown Branch, N. Y. j. & p. 
Silicate of soda is not soluble in cold water, and 
will have no effect on drinking water nor on the 
iron supply pipes. It is readily dissolved by acidi¬ 
fied water, however, and is quite frequently found 
in mineral waters used for drinking purposes. In 
moderate quantities it does no harm and, in fact, 
is prescribed for certain ailments. I find that the 
waterproofing of a cistern already built is a diffi¬ 
cult one to solve. Nothing is permanently success¬ 
ful, but all of the waterproof coatings are of some 
value. The remedy, of course, is to make the job 
of a first-class, rich concrete mixture well worked 
over and carefully laid. Building a concrete cistern 
requires especial care in preparing and mixing ma¬ 
terial. r. p. c. 
