42 
Oie RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
January 11, 19io 
Constant Clean Skimming 
with Fixed Feed Separators 
Even if you had the arm of a Hercules you 
could not make fixed feed separators skim 
clean 365 days in the year. But a ten year old boy, 
with practically no effort, can get every bit of 
butterfat with a Sharpies Suction-feed Separator. 
With a Sharpies, it is not a question of strength or 
guesswork, as no matter how you turn, the Sharpies 
skims clean. 
SHARPIES 
SUCTION—FEED n 
Cream separator 
n 
Skims clean at any speed 
99 
The Sharpies is more than a ma¬ 
chine—it is a simple scientific 
principle that no other separator 
in the world can use. It is the 
only principle ever invented that 
absolutely guarantees clean skim¬ 
ming at all speeds and at all times. 
Write for catalog to nearest 
office, addressing Dept. 12 
SHARPLES SEPARATOR COMPANY, West Chester, Pa. 
Sharpie a Milkers are ased on half a million cows daily 
Branches: Chicago San Francisco 
■ I'Mitiiiwi'i 11 iivimim 
T oronto 
DC-82 
PIGS v 
PATRIOTISM \ 
AND PROFIT 
By PROFESSOR FREDERICK C. MINKLER 
Ex- Livestock Commissioner of the State of New Jersey 
is the most readable book on swine ever 
written and the only complete manual on 
the “mortgage lifter” for anything like the 
low price of $1.00, at which price the 
book was published in May, 1918. 
We have now a new heavy paper edition 
at a low price. 
Send 56 cents tor a copy, 
delivered to you, postpaid 
The Advanced Agricultural Publishing Company 
2-N West 45th Street, New York 
ReadingBoneFertilizer 
Quality Service Satisfaction 
Always look for our trade mark (as shown 
below) on the bag. It means protection to 
you. Hundreds of farmers in the East have 
come to recognize it as the mark of honest, 
square fertilizer goods and methods. 
(This trade mark means quality) 
Reading Bone Fertilizer Co., Reading, Pa. 
Ask your Write for 
dcater for booklet and 
Reading 
Bone further 
Fertilizer. information. 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Farm Mechanics 
Trouble with Icehouse 
Can you give me any information in 
regard to construction of icehouse? I 
have a building being used as one that 
was evidently intended for some other 
purpose when constructed. There is a 
concrete walL about one foot thick and 
three feet high at the bottom, on top of 
which is built a framework of 2x4 sided 
up on both sides, leaving air chamber of 
four. Tefet. The concrete wall projects in 
about six inches, so that in filling with 
ice there is not as much space for saw¬ 
dust at bottom as there is after the top 
of wall is passed. Bottom is ou hard, 
gravelly soil. The trouble I have is that 
the ice does uot keep, but melts very 
rapidly from bottom. No air can Teach 
it there, but it has good circulation over 
top. Can anyone tell me why ice will 
not keep? S. m. g. 
Medina, N. Y. 
The problem of keeping an ice supply 
is one of vital interest to the farmer and 
with the advantages to be secured by its 
use and the comparative ease and cheap¬ 
ness with which it may be stored it is 
surprising that the country ice harvest is 
not greater than it is. While there are 
many conditions that affect the keeping 
of ice, such as the location and shape of 
the icehouse and the material from which 
it is built, the chief factors are good 
drainage, sufficient insulation, close pack¬ 
ing and overhead ventilation. 
The lack of at least one of these factors 
is the probable cause of the melting in 
the case mentioned by S. M. 6. and as 
the gravel soil mentioned should furnish 
a reasonably good drainage it would seem 
probable that the lack of insulation was 
the principal cause. Heat passes through 
concrete much more freely than through 
wood. This fact cau he readily noted in 
any village having stretches of wood and 
concrete walks. After the first fall of 
snow in the Fall the concrete walks will 
be thawed clean, while the plank walks 
will retain their snow because the ground 
heat passes up through the concrete easily 
to melt the snow upon it, but is checked 
by the plank, even though it is only about 
half as thick. 
The above is given to show that the 
outside heat can pass in readily through 
the concrete wall at the base and because 
this wall projects into the building the 
sawdust or shavings insulation is thinner 
at this point, consequently the heat pene¬ 
trates easily to the ice pile and as it 
melts it settles down from above, making 
the melting a steady process throughout 
the Summer. The remedy in this case 
would be to make the ice pile smaller, so 
that there could be at least a foot of dry 
sawdust or shavings between the ice pile 
and the concrete wall. A layer of saw¬ 
dust equally thick should he spread on 
the floor and if in previous years it has 
been noted that the drainage is insuffi¬ 
cient the floor should be dug out and 
some tile laid in covered with clean gravel 
or cinders. Care should be exercised in 
forming the ice pile, chipping the cakes 
until they fit closely together, and filling 
all remaining spaces with ice chips or 
snow, making the pile as compact as pos¬ 
sible. This prevents internal air cur¬ 
rents from the ground up with its at¬ 
tendant loss by melting. 
The gables of the icehouse should be 
open, permitting thorough ventilation be¬ 
tween the roof and the ice pile, but these 
openings should be shaded so that the 
direct sun is not allowed to beat in upon 
the sawdust covering of the pile. If 
these four features, drainage, insulation, 
close packing and ventilation, arc at¬ 
tended to, ice can be safely kept in almost 
any kind of a shelter. K. H. S. 
Power from Compressed Air 
I wish to obtain information regarding 
the practical possibility of using com¬ 
pressed air, piped from 50 to 150 feet 
from engine and air pump, as power for 
operating milking machine, churn, sepa¬ 
rator, etc. Do you know of any such 
power use, and its general cost and plan 
of operation? ^ h. b. 
East Aurora, N. Y. 
I have never seen compressed air in 
use in farm practice for any purpose other 
than pumping water, and have not been 
able, through several letters of inquiry, 
to find any manufacturers making com¬ 
pressed air eugines for farm use. My 
opinion, though, would be that its appli¬ 
cation to farm use in the way suggested 
would be impractical. It presents several 
difficulties. Compressed air is very hard 
to confine, and calls for quite an expen¬ 
sive equipment of engines, pumps, etc. 
This is all on the producing end. On the 
power end, or application end, I do not 
see where anything is to be gained, either. 
A compressed air engine to operate a 
cream separator, churn or other light 
machine would cost as much as or more 
than would a gasoline engine for the same 
purpose, aud the only possible objection 
that I can see to the use of the latter 
would be the odor, which could be over¬ 
come by beltiug the engine to a liue shaft 
and placing a partition between the en¬ 
gine and the machines being operated. 
The milking machine, of course, is oper¬ 
ated by atmospheric pressure, aud is 
worked by exhausting the air from one 
side of the valves by means of suitably 
placed piping, and an air pump or ex¬ 
hausting pump, which may be placed at 
any poiut convenient—compressed air 
not being used at all. To my mind, 
if a system of individual motors 
was desired to operate the various ma¬ 
chines about the farm, and objection was 
made to the use of the gasoline engine, a 
central generating plant wired to electric 
motors at the points desired would be 
more economical and efficient than the 
one outlined; furthermore, it could be 
used for lighting, if electric lights are 
not already a part of the farm equip¬ 
ment. B. H. s. 
Ventilation for Cistern 
I am about to cover two wells and a 
cistern with cement, and wish to know if 
it is best to leave some ventilation, more 
than there will be with the iron pump. 
If so, what, how, and how much ventila¬ 
tion to give? w. H. H. 
Brighton, Ill. 
I know of no object gained by ventilat¬ 
ing the opening of a well, but the water 
of a cistern taken from roofs contains so 
much foreign matter that it rapidly be¬ 
comes foul unless frequently replenished 
or aerated. For that reason I should not 
seal the mouth of a cistern with concrete, 
but should leave a good-sized manhole 
through which the water could easily be 
reached, aud by means of which the cis¬ 
tern could easily be Cleaned. This man¬ 
hole could easily be raised a few inches 
above the surface of the concrete cover¬ 
ing and protected by a grate of heavy 
woven wire or of iron. This would admit 
air to the cistern and aid somewhat in 
keeping its contents fresh. SI. B. D. 
Improving Rusty Range 
I have a steel range that has been in 
use for about three years. The top and 
also parts of the sides and nickel are 
rusting, the top being the most affected. 
I have used different kinds of oils, such as 
paraffin and vaseline, but none seems to 
help only while using, as they burn off. 
What do you advise? L. T. 
Delaware. 
I have talked with several hardware 
men, also my sister, who owns such a 
range. They tell me very little can be 
done, except to avoid dampness. Build 
a fire in it sii—oient to warm it twice a 
week at least in hot weather, and wash 
with a slightly oily cloth (any household 
grease free from salt) when cleaning. 
Use some good commercial cleaner on the 
nickel. If the rust continues too badly, 
I would suggest an application of a coat 
of sheet-iron paint, such as is used for 
stovepipes, though only as a last resort, 
as I would not like the looks of it so 
well as the plain steel, and I would uot 
put it on the griddles or center of the 
stove. 
Cast iron is easier to care for, espe¬ 
cially if it is polished. Another objection 
to steel ranges is that they are not stand¬ 
ard, and if repairs are needed it is usually 
hard to get parts, impossible many times. 
My sister had all sorts of trouble because 
the shaker was broken and none other 
would fit. She used it a long time at 
great inconvenience, and when new grates 
were needed the stove, a very expensive 
one ($75, I believe, when stoves were 
comparatively cheap) had to be discarded 
entirely as the company had gone out of 
business. However, they are fine looking 
stoves, very convenient, good heaters, etc., 
so long as the parts can be secured. A 
neighbor whose house burned down last 
January at break of day, temperature 20 
degrees below zero, saved their range, 
though it had a new hot fire in it, because 
it was steel and not so easily breakable. 
It was yanked out of doors in a way that 
would have put a cast-iron stove on the 
junk heap, but came out all right, minus 
a drying rod. M. G. F. 
