THE RURAI> NEW-YORKER 
1109 
Farm Mechanics 
A Talk on Potato Sorters. 
There have been a good many requests 
from people for descriptions of potato 
sorters. The larger growers do not at¬ 
tempt to sort by hand, although the 
smaller growers may still do so. The 
business of preparing sorters has grown 
with the development of potato growing. 
Some men of an ingenious turn of mind 
The Hoover Potato Sorter. Fig. 421. 
ern tier of New York counties, where 
potato growing is largely carried on. 
'I'lie potatoes are shoveled or emptied 
right into the hopper, and as the machine 
is operated the larger-sized tubers are 
carried up so that they drop over into 
the barrel or sack. No. 2 potatoes drop 
through the top belt and are carried 
through to another sack, while No. 3 po¬ 
tatoes drop out through small holes. 
These belts not only pass onward but 
have a sagging motion, which shakes the 
dirt and trash out of the potatoes. 
Fig. 424 shows the Thompson sorter— 
a large machine used in Colorado and in 
the large Western fields. There are va¬ 
rious sizes of this. The one shown is 
the large size, which can be hauled right 
into the field for quick work, and which 
if need be can be operated by power of 
a small gasoline engine. 
have developed sorters of their own, and 
some of these homemade machines do ex¬ 
cellent work. Not long ago we printed a 
picture of one of these homemade de¬ 
vices as a sample of others. Manufac¬ 
turers of agricultural implements have 
put out quite a number of these machines 
—some of them very useful indeed, and 
The Trescott Grader. Fig. 422. 
we shall show pictures of the more prom¬ 
inent of these sorters herewith. 
Fig. 421 shows the Hoover sorter. As 
will be seen, this consists of a slatted 
cylinder. The potatoes slowly work 
down through this cylinder as it is 
turned over, and the smaller-sized ones 
drop down into the first basket, while 
those too large to go through the space, 
The Boggs Sorter and Grader. Fig. 423. 
pass on to the other basket. As will 
be seen, these machines are really sizers 
rather than sorters, as of course, they 
do not separate the scabby or rotten po¬ 
tatoes, but simply separate the tubers by 
their size. 
Fig. 422 shows the Trescott grader— 
a machine very popular in Western New 
York, and quite largely used by potato 
and vegetable growers. It will be seen 
The Thompson Sorter. Fig. 424. 
from the picture how this machine oper¬ 
ates. The potatoes are put into it, the 
crank is turned and the tubers pass over 
the grader dropping out into various 
sizes. It is said that this machine is 
also used for peaches, pears, tomatoes, 
and onions, and also for beets, as it oper¬ 
ates gently and does not bruise the fruit. 
Fig. 423 shows the Boggs sorter and 
grader. This is popular along the South¬ 
Cement Sidewalk. 
I put in a sidewalk using the follow¬ 
ing mixtures: For the foundation I used 
gravel which contains about two parts 
sand and four parts small stone. I 
mixed the 2-4 with one part cement, for 
the surface. I used a little over three 
parts coarse sand and one cement. The 
walk was slow to dry, but is hard and 
dry as stone now. It rained nearly every 
day, and perhaps that was the reason it 
dried slowly. I used the best cement. 
What is your opinion in regard to my 
mixture? s. q. 
Pennsylvania. 
The success of your concrete job will 
depend upon the character of the mate¬ 
rials used and the care with which the 
work was done. With reasonably clean 
sand and gravel, a one-two-four mixture 
should make an excellent foundation for 
the walk. For surfacing, a one to two 
mixture is commonly used though with 
clean, sharp sand one to three should do 
equally well. It will not be as light in 
color as though more cement were used 
but should be as durable. The frequent 
wetting and slow drying were advantage¬ 
ous, and, if your sand, gravel and cement 
" eie °f good quality and were properly 
mixed, you should have a permanent and 
satisfactory job. M B D 
Septic Tank. 
i ■ wan you give me any information as 
to how to build a septic tank, its ad¬ 
vantage over the cesspool; the type of 
sou required for the overflow, and proper 
distance of construction from a well water 
supply? 2. In killing several sotting hens 
recently and preparing them for cooking 
we have found well-developed egg yolk 
such as would be found in a laying hen 
only these yolks are hard as though boil¬ 
ed, and the hens did not lay. What is 
the cause of this? Is it improper feed¬ 
ing or housing conditions? s m p 
Port Chester, N. Y. ‘ 
1. The advantage of a septic tank over 
a cesspool is that it renders its contents 
innocuous so that they never endanger 
health through pollution of the soil. Sep¬ 
tic tanks may be constructed in any type 
of soil, though the more open the soil 
the more easily and cheaply is the efflu¬ 
ent from the tank disposed of. The tank 
may be built as near a well as may be 
necessary, but the overflow should be as 
far away as practicable and never near 
enough to permit its being carried into 
the well through seepage or the move¬ 
ment of surface water. While theoret¬ 
ically a cesspool can never be absolutely 
safe, since no one can know all the con¬ 
ditions existing beneath the surface, they 
are sufficiently safe in fairly open soils 
to be entirely practicable in country dis¬ 
tricts where they can be dug a consid¬ 
erable distance from any well. Except 
in soils of limestone formation, 200 feet 
from the nearest well may be considered 
a reasonably safe distance for a cesspool. 
For a complete discussion of septic tanks, 
with plans and dimensions for building 
them, you are referred to bulletins upon 
the subject published by the State Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture at Ithaca, N. Y. These 
are free to residents of the State upon 
application. 
2. I do not know the cause of the con¬ 
dition which you describe, but think it 
not unusual. m. b. d. 
“If fishes knew enough to live in the 
ground instead of the water,” remarked 
Frank, “they could get all the worms they 
wanted without hooks in them.”—Harp¬ 
er’s. 
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