Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1399 
■ - — — ■ ---- - 
Farm Mechanics 
Damp Dwelling House 
A large, old-fashioned but handsome 
stone dwelling on this farm is occupied 
by the owner only during the Summer 
months, and is in my care, unoccupied, 
during the Fall, Winter and Spring. 
There is a 7%-ft. cellar under the whole 
house. On the north the lawn slopes to¬ 
ward the house, leaving space for base¬ 
ment windows which are but 20 in. high, 
the top of the window frames being prac¬ 
tically on a level with the cellar ceiling. 
On the south the lawn is terraced away 
so that the kitchen and other doors and 
windows are of full size. In recent years 
there has been an increasing dampness in 
the cellar during the Spring months. 
Essex Co., N. Y. a. b. 
This question of dampness in unoccu¬ 
pied houses is a serious one, as a valuable 
property will soon be destroyed by it. It 
is often said that an unoccupied house 
goes to pieces much more rapidly than 
one that is used. There seems little that 
can be done to help in this case, however, 
other than giving the place as good ven¬ 
tilation as possible and keeping a slow 
fire in it during the Spring and Fall 
months, the dampest seasons of the year, 
and at such other times as conditions seem 
to warrant. The fire, by heating the air, 
causes air circulation through the house 
and the moisture is absorbed and carried 
away by the warm air. • 
If water comes into the cellar, a drain 
to catch the surface water on the side of 
the lawn that slopes toward the house, to¬ 
gether with eaves-troughs, if they are not 
already up, might be of some help by car¬ 
rying the surplus water away from the 
building, but this will not prevent the 
dampness. 
You state that the house has been un¬ 
occupied for the past 35 years, but has 
only shown signs of decay in the past 10 
years or so. It is probable that this pro¬ 
cess of decay has been going on all of 
this time, but, being cumulative, has only 
become noticeable in the time stated. In a 
fine property like this it would seem that 
the use of enough fuel to preserve it would 
be justifiable. R. H. S. 
Improving Damp Root Cellar 
I would like to know whether I can 
make dry a room in which I keep potatoes 
for seed. It is made with air-space walls, 
but the room is very damp, with cement 
floor. There is one cellar window on 
west side. I had thought by running a 
cold-air pipe to come in at bottom and one 
at top to take .out hot air it would make 
the room better. The house is closed in 
Winter. N. H. 
llarwinton, Conn. 
Potato storage houses should be well 
ventilated in order that the temperature 
may be quickly lowered immediately after 
storing by opening ventilators and win¬ 
dows at night, and during cool weather; 
and also to control the moisture content of 
the air in the storage house. This ventil¬ 
ation must be controllable, however, for 
it must be remembered that the only heat 
available to prevent freezing during the 
Winter is that stored with the potatoes 
and escaping from the ground of the floor 
and walls. This must be conserved, as 
the freezing point of the potato is between 
20 and 28 degrees. The United States 
Department of Agriculture by experiment 
has determined that the powdery dry rot 
is most effectively held in check by a tem¬ 
perature of from 34 to 35 degrees. As to 
the proper degree of humidity to maintain, 
little is definitely known. Madison Coop¬ 
er suggests a humidity of from 85 to 90 
per cent as about right for a potato stor¬ 
age room where the temperature is around 
33 to 35 degrees F. The moisture content 
should not get so high as to condense in 
a film on the tuber, nor should it be low 
enough to cause wilting and consequent 
loss of weight. 
The arrangement that you speak of 
should be a help in drying your cel¬ 
lar. To give the greatest ventilating ef¬ 
fect the outlet flue should extend above 
the highest point of the roof of the build¬ 
ing to give the wind an unobstructed 
sweep across it. In fact, the same pre¬ 
cautions to secure draft should be ob¬ 
served that would be observed in building 
a chimney; and the draft can be in¬ 
creased if desired by setting a lighted lamp 
or lantern at the base of the outlet flue 
to warm the column of air ascending in it, 
and thus making it. lighter and increasing 
the flow. Precautions should be taken as 
well to see that any of the roof water or 
surface water from outside does not find 
its way into the cellar. This can be taken 
care of by eaves troughs and ditching. It 
is scarcely necessary to add that the po¬ 
tatoes should not lie stored in too large 
piles or bins. They should be so ar¬ 
ranged that a circulation of air is pos¬ 
sible through them. This may be accom¬ 
plished by building ventilated partitions 
between the bins. r. ji. s. 
Driving a Dug Well 
Could a drive well be driven into a dug 
well, and how would you manage to drive 
the pipe so that it would not bend? Our 
well is now 30 ft. deep, but we are only a 
few rods from the river, and when that 
gets low the well goes dry. We thought if 
we could drive 30 or 15 ft. lower it might 
remedy that and that it would be purer 
and better water. What kind of a pump 
should be used? The well is outside; 
would like to pump into the house, some 
30 ft. away. f. w. c. 
Simonsville, Yt. 
Driven wells are frequently good yield- 
ers, and the water is usually good ; safer 
to use than the water from a dug well, as 
there is little opportunity of contamina¬ 
tion entering from the top. Dug wells 
have been supplemented in this way, by 
driving a pipe in the bottom, but the suc¬ 
cess of the enterprise, as well as the suc¬ 
cess of any driven well, depends upon the 
ground formation through which it must 
pass, and the character of the stratum 
that it finally penetrates. The earth 
above must be such that the point can be 
driven through it, and the point must 
finally penetrate a water-bearing layer of 
sand or gravel if the well is to be success¬ 
ful. This can be determined by experi¬ 
ment only, unless there are other driven 
wells in the vicinity. 
Driving the pipe in the bottom of so 
deep a well presents some difficulties, but 
none that is insurmountable. As the well 
is a dug one, there is probably room in it 
for a man to turn the pipe as it is driven 
down, and if this is the case a couple of 
parallel guides may be arranged in it be¬ 
tween which a heavy weight may slide. 
This weight may be worked from 'the top 
and allowed to drop on top of the pipe, 
which must, of course, be fitted with a 
drive cap. If this is not possible, the use 
of heavy pipe and a timber guide through 
which the pipe passes about half way 
down the well will probably prevent bend¬ 
ing. After driving until a water-bearing 
stratum is reached the well should be de¬ 
veloped by slow, careful and steady pump¬ 
ing. too rapid pumping at first tending to 
clog the strainer. If it were desired, a 
tee with valve could be fitted to the drive 
pipe, which will also act as the suction 
pipe after attaching the pump, arranged 
to open from the top so that water could 
be pumped from the dug well by means of 
the same pump if desired. 
As you wish to pump water to the 
kitchen 30 ft. away, you will need a force 
pump with an underground discharge. 
This will need to be arranged with its 
cylinder within practical suction distance, 
35 to 20 ft. or less, of the water surface in 
the well. The shifting of a lever at the 
surface will then permit pumping either 
from the spout direct or to the kitchen, as 
it is wished. It will not be possible to ob¬ 
tain water by the use of a hand pump in 
the kitchen, because of the depth of the 
water in the well, or rather the distance 
between the surface and the water. You 
will find much of interest and profit in 
Farmers’ Bulletin 941, “Water Systems 
for the. Farm Home,” obtainable through 
the United States Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, or through your Congressman' 
B. H. s. 
Improving Cesspool 
We have here water running into the 
house, with a toilet room fully appoint¬ 
ed ; with cesspool about 100 ft* from the 
house and about 7 ft. lower than latter 
(on a descent). This cesspool is 15 ft. 
deep and 12 ft. diameter and is laid up 
with loose stone, just as a well would be. 
The trouble is that this cesspool becomes 
often filled up. and has to be pumped out. 
when, .at the time of its making, the ex¬ 
pectation was that it would be automatic 
in carrying off what flowed into it. I 
hold that this pool is just like a well, and 
exactly in the same manner as latter col¬ 
lects water, so that very much more water 
gets into it from the surrounding ground 
than any liquid from the house. What do 
you think of this? What would you sug¬ 
gest to make use of what there is here so 
as to have a geuuine septic tank ? c. R. 
Ulster, I’a. 
If this cesspool has been dug below the 
natural water level of the ground in its 
locality, it has, of course, become a well: 
or, even if not, it may have tapped a vein 
of water flowing from a higher source. 
The character of the soil may also have 
to do with the difficulty experienced; a 
cesspool works well only in open soils 
which permit of free seepage through 
them; a pit in clay might be watertight. 
A septic tank of concrete would solve your 
difficulty, or. it might be practicable to 
transform this cesspool into a septic tank 
by carrying the entrance pipe to beneath 
the permanent water level in the pit and 
a similar one out upon the lower side and 
continuing it as a line of drain tile laid 
beneath the surface of the ground. This 
line of tiles should be laid with open 
joints to permit of seepage through them 
and with but a very slight grade so that 
the fluid contents of the tank would not 
immediately rush to the lower end instead 
of seeping out gradually all along the line. 
If in reasonably open soil, this line of 
tiles would probably need to be from 25 
to 50 ft. in length, and might well end u 
a small pit filled with stones. To act 
efficiently as a septic tank, however, the 
cesspool should be sufficiently tight to hold 
water, or should be made so. m b. p. 
I 
Wouldn’t you like to clear $1900 
in such a short time? It’s a nice 
comfortable amount—you can do it 
just as well as Mr. Uvaas did. The 
work is everywhere about you, 
waiting for some one with a 
find L/ Daid^^on a 
r ofe* $£**»*&*& 
as j?® ziian con 
«e.V£ e 
- ' *22®. 
*2) 
With, one helper you can dig more ditches 
each day than can fifteen men by hand. You 
make a perfect ditch at one cut. Farmers 
want traction ditching—it’s better, can be 
done quicker and at less cost. When they 
know you have one, you’ll be kept busy; you 
won’t have to look for work, it will come to 
you. Many Buckeye owners have six to twelve 
months' work ahead. $15 to $20 daily is the 
net average earnings of hundreds of Buckeye 
owners. Here is a proposition that will give 
you a standing and make you a big profit each 
yean Send for Free Book 
A book of solid facts, tells how others are 
coining money, how they get the work, how 
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book, you can make big money too. 
THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DITCHER CO „ 
462 Crystal Ave. # Findlay, Ohio 
•Ail-; 
/•; 
tOW ER's 7 
ftSH 
REFLEX 
SLICKER 
is the wet weather 
service uniform for 
the regular men 
who make eveiy 
day count. 
Look for the 
Reflex 
A.J. Tower co. 
Boston Mass — EstablishedI8J0 
titlL. 
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BY USING 
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Easy to use; efficient; economical; kills 
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Write for free booklets on the Care of 
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ANIMAL INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF 
PARKE, DAVIS & CO. 
DETROIT, MICH. 
$QO Buy* the New Butterfly Jr. No. 2) a , 
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close skimming, durable. 
NEW BUTTERFLY 
Separators are guaranteed a life-tlme^^Lj 
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Money refunded if not satisfactory 
THE MOORE BROS. ALBANY 
NEW YORK 153 Hudson A 
Here Is an amazing bargain offer 
from the Oldest and Largest 
l House selling Direct from the 
\ Shoe Market of the World: 
t These handsome, sturdy. Dress 
Shoes, built solid full of 
\wear, genuine Oak 
V Leather soles, for only 
’ $4.29. Send check or 
^ money order and your 
. size will come to your 
l home at once. Examine 
k this tremendous value 
at our risk. Your 
money back double 
quick if you say so. 
t Guam n 
k Your money back 
L if you can match 
k this value at 
less than$8 
apair. 
v 
POSTAGE FREE 
Black Dress Shoe 
S.v. profits. Buy direct 
from Factory Ho.dqusrtorS. 
BOSTON “MAIL ORDEB‘"Hb 7 jSE t “D , apt 7 H- 4 , BOSTON, MASS. 
I enclose $4.29 for which send, all charge, prepaid and on ap¬ 
proval, my pair of your men's business dress shoes— my money 
Pack if I want it. I nak nothing. 
Name. 
Size. 
Address 
I DIGESTER TANKAGE ! 
FOR HOGS 
| Write for prices, feed- 
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I IDEAL RENDERING CO. 
NORTH WALES, PA. 
Wanted— A Practical Farmer “Xp 
tilizer salesman during the fall and winter months. 
Must furnish good references and be well acquaint¬ 
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Eastern New York. ADV.. 5849, care Rnral New-Yorker 
1 DA Fine White Envelope* Neatly Printed with your 
1 vfv return name and address on corner, postpaid, only 
oc. Samples free. A, 1IOW1E, Printer, BEEBE. VT. 
dust Think-180 Acres MS,'. ?Sft 
<1,000 worthTools, $250 worth Hogs. $100 worth Poul¬ 
try, estimated 100 tons of Hay and $1,000 worth Lum¬ 
ber, good two-story House, practically new, two 
Baras, one 100x30, one 30x40, good ones, all grain on 
tarrn. laud lays good, 2 miles to Railroad Station. 7 
miles to city (Corning), Only * 9,000 for all: half 
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Don't wait if you want this great Bargain. 
HALL’S FARM AGENCY, 33 Market St.. Corning. N.Y 
The Farmer His 
Own Builder 
9} fl. Armstrong Roberts 
A practical and 
handy book of all 
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information from 
concrete to carpen¬ 
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For sale by 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 W. 30th St.. N. Y. 
