1914. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Farm Management. 
Tools for Small Farms. 
Could you start some discussion as to 
what implements would be necessary for 
a small farm, 40 to 60 acres, where one 
intended keeping a few cows, 200 or 300 
hens, some hogs and maybe a few sheep. 
The object would be to have an orchard 
of eight or 10 acres, and most of the land 
in Alfalfa and clover, and to seed a cover 
crop every time there was a possible 
chance. One could not afford to have 
all the implements one sees recom¬ 
mended ; a sulky plow, because one can 
do better and deeper work, a weeder (an 
implement that I think has been over¬ 
looked), a spike-tooth harrow and a disk 
(and while on this subject, what advan¬ 
tage has a cutaway over a disk?) and 
several others. I would hire grain cut 
and rent a spreader as I don’t believe 
$200 or $225 tied up in this would be 
a paying investment. I know you like 
to get at the root of things, and I do too, 
but I don’t see how a small farmer work¬ 
ing three horses (one of which he might 
rent) can afford to be buried under the 
mass of implements that some of them 
have. I would rather do without some 
of them and have water in the house, 
steam heat, a gasoline engine and some 
of the conveniences that go to make life 
pleasant and work easier (I mean the 
everyday work). II. H. 
Indiana. 
R. N.-Y.—Let ns consider the discus¬ 
sion started. This is a good part of 
farm management, for an idle tool eaten 
up by rust is as bad as a useless horse 
standing still in the stable. Let us have 
a full discussion of this point. 
Sewage Disposal. 
By Col. 'Waring’s system for the sani¬ 
tary disposal of sewage by siphonage, it 
is claimed that the solids liquefy and 
pass freely through the distributing pipes, 
etc. llow long a period does it require to 
dissolve the solids and can the result be 
hastened by the use of chemicals? Can I 
add a dissolvent solid sewage to hasten 
the fluid character, so it would run off 
through drainage? a. f. 
Litchfield, Conn. 
If, as I presume, you refer to the sys¬ 
tem of sewage disposal by means of a 
septic tank, this should be large enough 
to hold at least 24 hours’ accumulation 
of sewage from the house which it serves, 
and preferably larger. The solids in such 
a tank are liquefied by bacterial action, 
the amount of time required being varia¬ 
ble, and dependent upon the character 
of the solid matter; ordinarily, several 
days being required. As the solids be¬ 
come liquefied they flow away with the 
fluid contents of the tank. I know of 
no chemical which would hasten this 
action, and none is needed, as the very 
principle upon which the tank works is 
based upon liquefication of the solids in 
sewage by bacterial action. I judge that 
your vault is not constructed on the 
true septic tank principle. M. B. D. 
Equipment for Unloading Hay. 
With regard to the questions on page 
128 by J. F. T. I would say that having 
used both, I prefer the steel track to 
the wooden. The cost differs but little, 
and both work equally well, but the steel 
track is practically indestructible, and 
should any breakage occur a section is 
easily replaced. A reversable combina¬ 
tion car can be obtained that will carry 
the hay to either mow without removing 
the car from the track, and which can be 
used with either of the different types 
of forks, or with the slings. It is neces¬ 
sary to go up to the track to place the 
rope through the pulley at the end of 
barn whenever the direction is changed, 
and a ladder built permanently to the 
end of the barn is probably the safest 
way to reach the track. However, I 
offer the following suggestion : While the 
mow is full place through the end pulley 
a light rope or sash-cord long enough for 
both ends to reach nearly to the floor. 
When the mow is empty one end of the 
light rope or cord can be attached to the 
end of the hay-fork rope, and the latter 
pulled over through the pulley. 
The best kind of fork to use with clover 
hay is the grapple fork. This fork has 
curved tines which come together like 
ice tongs, and hold the hay very firmly. 
These tines may be of various lengths, 
and run from four to eight in number, 
the latter handling tne finest material, 
even manure. 
The sling is about the most satisfac¬ 
tory way of unloading hay or grain that 
you can imagine, as the slingful is taken 
up clean and dropped in the mow as it 
lay on the wagon, making the labor of 
spreading around much easier. The 
sling can be adjusted for any length of 
rack, and will handle any kind of hay 
or grain, loose or in bundles. It may be 
locked to the car at any height from the 
rack to the track, and taken to the mow 
at that height, thus lessening the dis¬ 
tance for the horses to travel, and the 
height for the hay to drop; quite an item, 
as a slingful often weighs from 800 to 
1.000 pounds. The load is usually taken 
off in three slingfuls, and due to the heavy 
weight, it is advisable use a somewhat 
heavier track and car with the sling than 
with the various forks. The sling has 
the disadvantage of taking a little more 
time in loading, and in hanging lower 
from the track, so that the mow cannot 
be filled quite so full as with the forks. 
However, the first is more than balanced 
by the speed with which the load can be 
taken off, and by using the combination 
car a fork can be substituted to put in 
the last load. 
Last season I put in 75 tons of Alfalfa 
with a gasoline engine and hoisting ma¬ 
chine, and found it very satisfactory. 
The hoist has two drums on the same 
shaft, one hauling the hay up and along 
the track, and the other returning the 
car to the stop over the wagon. The 
hoist can be operated from the wagon, 
the whole operation of unloading being 
done by two men. It will probably re¬ 
quire an engine of at least six horse¬ 
power. I used a two-cycle eight-horse 
engine, and at the moment when the fork¬ 
ful was pulling loose from the load the 
engine had just about all it could handle. 
New Jersey. i. l. o. 
Clarifying Vinegar. —If you have 
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color try putting about a teaspoonful of 
cream of tartar to each half gallon of 
vinegar. s. T. w. 
Trees Grow Faster 
in Blasted Holes 
Trees planted in blasted holes averaged 1207 inches new 
'growth the first year; trees in spade-dug holes grew only 
'555 inches, the New Jersey Experiment Station found. You' 
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^stronger-rooted trees when you plant them in holes blasted with^ 
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RN-F14 
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Address. 
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