Oic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1151 
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i Farm Mechanics 
Unusual Plowing Methods 
II<'ro is an illustration of the way 
things sometimes travel about the world 
inside The U. N.-Y. family. A reader 
who lives in the Republic of Panama 
sends us a catalog from a French manu¬ 
facturer, and calls attention to some re¬ 
markable looking tools which are offered 
for sale by this Frenchman. For instance, 
the picture at Fig. 528 shows a form of 
plow which is advertised for use on nar¬ 
row and level fields. As will be seen, 
this plow is pulled back and forth by a 
cable which runs on a windlass at either 
end. The object in this case, we under¬ 
stand, is to keep the horses off the plowed 
land, so as to prevent their tramping it, 
as they would do in regular plowing. It 
st>ems, however, like a gi-eat waste of 
labor to operate four horses on this single 
require a good earth covering for pro¬ 
tection, and perhaps would need some 
artificial heat during the coldest weath¬ 
er. The various cement companies have 
complete plans of root cellars and other 
farm buildings which they gladly send 
to any inquirer. k. n. S. 
A Homemade Sundial 
The drawing accompanying shows an 
interesting and instructive sundial that 
is easily homemade at no expense what¬ 
ever. It is a dial that shows the angle 
of the sun’s rays, and shows why it is 
hot in Summer, mild in Spring and Fall, 
and cold in AVinter, all on account of the 
inclination of the earth’s axis. It shows 
the reason of the lines and great cir¬ 
cles of the earth. In short, it teaches 
A French Plow Operated by Windlass. Fig. 528 
plow, and such a tool would not be likely 
to find large .service in this country. 
Another picture, at Fig. 520, is also 
taken from this catalog, and shows an 
implement which is apparently being 
(piite extensively used on the larger farms 
of France. In this case the plow is 
hauled by means of a cable attached to 
the tractor in front. 
Storage Cellar of Cement Blocks 
Is it advisable to build a storage cel¬ 
lar 10x15 of cement blocks, and later 
bank it with earth, almost covering it? 
There is a cement block plant near, and 
it would seem that I could build it that 
way cheaper than to purchase lumber for 
forms and pour cement into them. I 
wondered whether the moisture or water 
would go through between the blocks. 
Bangor, Me. c. a. d. 
As far as heat insulation goes the 
cement blocks w'ould probably be b('tter 
than a solid monolithic wall, because of 
the air spaces which tney contain. There 
might be some trouble, though, through 
moisture in this case both through the 
blocks and the mortar joints between 
them. Sometimes in the effort to secure 
a big output from a cement block ma- 
Tractor Plowing in France. Fig. 529 
chine too dry a mixture is used. This 
permits the blocks to be handled easily 
and quickly, but results in a porous block, 
easily water-soaked, because the material 
composing it does not pack as densely as 
it would were it made up wetter. To 
overcome this difficulty one cement com¬ 
pany advises painting the outside of the 
wall—the s'de from which the water will 
come—with a bituminous coat, such as 
coal tar pitch, or two or three coats of 
l)araffiu applied hot may bs used' for 
the same purpos<>—waterproofing. 
Unless the blocks can be obtained very 
cheaply it is doubtful if you would gain 
anything by their use. The lumber for 
forms need not be expensive, and may be 
used in lining up the inside of the 
storage bins, permitting a circulation of 
air about them. After the forms are 
built the cellar can be poured very rap¬ 
idly, w'hile the use of blocks calls for con¬ 
siderable skilled labor. 
In your climate such a cellar would 
many things of interest regarding the 
sun that is the source of all animal and 
vegetable life. 
Take a building that stands “square 
with the world.’’ Drive a 20-penny 
si)ikc into the southeast or southwest 
corner, so it will project out to the east 
or west about three inches. On Dec. "21, 
at “high noon,’’ take a square, set the 
long side against the building at the 
point B. Sight over the short arm so 
that the arm of the square, the 20-penuy 
nail, or spike, and the center of the sun 
are in a straight line, and drive a little 
nail at the point B. On March 21 
(noon) drive a nail at C, and on June 
21 a nail at D. Then with a straight¬ 
edge and a marking brush draw the lines 
A-B, A-C and A-D. Then you will have 
something that will be interesting to you, 
and all your friends who see it. The 
teacher of every district school should 
especially have such a dial on the school- 
house. It will prove interesting, make 
people think, who see it, and be In¬ 
structive in many ways, 
Minnesota. w. t. i.a.ncly. 
Deepening a Well 
On page 10(iS, C. Ai. L. tells of his 
well which needs to be dug deeper, and is 
advised to take out the stone wall in or¬ 
der to dig it deeper. Perhaps he can 
avoid some work and save some time if 
he will follow a plan which I saw car¬ 
ried out in my boyhood , days. - On the 
farm where I was born there was a 
well .‘10 feet deep, which had been stoned 
up by an English stonemason who took a 
great deal of pride in his work, and 
who built a W'all which was almost per¬ 
fectly smooth inside. AVhen it became 
necessary to dig the well deep(>r. imstead 
of taking out the wall, ho hung it up so 
as to be able to dig under it. lie put 
two heavy timbers across the top, and 
several heavy iron bars under the wall at 
the bottom and connected the bars and 
timbers with heavy rods and chains, and 
then dug the well six feet deeper and 
stoned it up to the original wall. The 
wall is still in place, and as good as it 
was 50 years ago. j. m. drew. 
Minnesota. 
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I 
giasg. Boc^ coa^ri , 
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I am !ntercst.;d in the use of explosives for th« 
purpose before which I mark X. RNK 
_ Stump Blasting _ Tree Planting 
_ Boulder Blasting _ Ditch Digging 
Subsoil Blasting Road Building 
Name. 
Boulders 
Those 
Get 
I? 
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