1518 
‘Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Inclination of Chimneys 
Why is it that all brick chimneys lean 
toward the east? I don’t refer to tall 
round factory chimneys, but those on 
dwellings. The older the chimney the 
more it leans. Some lean apparently 10 
degrees from perpendicular. Is it due to 
unequal expansion, exposed to the hottest 
ray of the afternoon sun on the west side? 
Several whose attention I have drawn to 
the phenomenon seem to agree with me, 
but I would like to be further enlightened 
on the subject. W. S. 
Elmhurst, N. Y. 
It is a well-known fact that the elm 
and pine trees growing in exposed places 
have most of their branches on the east 
side and usually lean to the east as well. 
This is said to be due to the force of the 
prevailing winds. If is also said that a 
plumb-bob suspended in the Washington 
Monument will describe a circle as the 
sun swings around from the east, through 
the south to the west, due to the ex¬ 
pansion of the stonework on the side 
facing the sun. There are many peculiar 
phenomena not well understood at work 
in this world, and this leaning of the 
chimneys may be due to one of them. 
I would expect though that this condition 
is not as general as you think, and the 
ones that do lean, it would seem to me, 
do so because of defective building and 
not from the causes mentioned. 
While it is not good building practice, 
the chimneys of many houses do not ex¬ 
tend clear to the basement, but are sup¬ 
ported on a bracket-like arrangement just 
below the attic floor. Furthermore, to 
secure a convenient place to connect the 
stovepipe, chimneys of this class are not 
always built straight down, but are run 
at an angle through the attic. This 
slanting construction, together with the 
insecure foundation furnished by the 
bracket and the natural sag of the build¬ 
ing as it grows older, is likely to cause 
the chimney to lean, though I see no 
reason why it would not be as likely to 
lean north, south or west as cast. 
R. H. S. 
Well Water with Iron Flavor 
I am having trouble with a lift pump 
(anti-freeze) that I have in a well. Two 
and a half years ago it was installed and 
worked all right till this year. Now the 
water has a flat irony taste, and I cannot 
tell why unless it be the pump. The well 
has a concrete cover, and the cylinder is 
(> ft. below surface of cover. In Spring 
the flood sometimes covers this cylinder. 
The sides are concrete for 4 ft. down, so 
no stirface water can enter. At present 
time iron pipe which was galvanized when 
put in is slightly rusty. Can you suggest, 
from what I have said, what might be the 
cause? I can see no cause for the change 
in the water, unless it might be the water 
in the pump' mixed up with the rust. 
Little Britain, N. Y. T. R. A. 
It seems probable that your conclusion 
as to the cause of the “irony” taste men¬ 
tioned is correct; it is doubtless due to 
the pump. I think it very likely that 
this taste comes from the inside of the 
cylinder and fittings. When an iron 
pump that has been in service for some 
time is taken up the bucket and inside 
of the cylinder heads are often rusted 
badly, and unless the cylinder is a brass 
or porcelain-lined one a portion of this is 
often coated with rust as well. This 
rusting is of course worse in some well 
waters than others. The water standing 
in the cylinder from the time pump is 
used to another becomes tainted and 
colored with this iron rust. It is nothing 
serious, however, and pumping and throw¬ 
ing away a pail or so before water is 
saved for use usually corrects the trouble. 
Lining the well as you have with conc-x-ete 
for a short distance down from the top 
will not entirely prevent the entrance of 
surface water. Unless conducted away, 
washings from the curb will work down 
beside this concrete wall and enter the 
well beneath it; also unless the ground 
slopes from the well, as it should, surface 
water will gain entrance in the same way. 
Removing the earth about the top of a 
well and packing in puddled clay with a 
surface sloping from the well, providing 
adequate drainage around the edge of 
this clay apron, and then covering with 
the top soil is in connection with a tight 
covering a good way of protecting a well. 
R. H. s. 
Manure Storage Pit 
I am about to erect a manure storage 
near the cow barn; expect to have be¬ 
tween 50 and 00 head of stock, including 
horses, and want this storage about 60 
feet from the cow stable, made of con¬ 
crete. bottom and sides to be 3 ft. or 4 ft. 
high to hold at least 100 loads of manure. 
Can you give me a plan? How should 
the bottom be arranged? Is it best to 
back the spreader into the pit, and should 
there be a low spot for drainage, or will 
the horse manure, litter, etc., absorb the 
liquid? I expect to put a roof on it. 
Ravena, N. Y. g. e. w. 
In these days of high-priced fei-tilizers 
stable manure is well worth saving. A 
well-known authority states that the year¬ 
ly value of cow manure for 100 lbs. of 
live weight, in terms of nitrogen, phos¬ 
phorus and potash, is $28.07. Aside 
from this, which is the chemical value 
only, is the bacterial value. Stable 
manure has a quickening and livening 
effect on soils, increasing their humus 
content and adaptability to plant growth 
and gives a lasting benefit, not obtained 
by the use of chemicals alone. This 
makes its value hard to determine in 
dollars and cents. In addition to this, 
the values quoted are from experiments 
made when the value of fertilizing ele¬ 
ments was less—they are selling at the 
old rate—so that at the present time even 
the chemical value would be considerably 
in advance of that quoted. 
Manure is wasted after production by 
fei-mentation and leaching. The first of 
these wastes, fermentation, is pi-actieally 
impossible to conti*ol entii-ely. To fex*- 
mentation and heating is due a consider¬ 
able loss of nitx-ogen. While as stated it 
cannot be controlled entirely it can be 
controlled to a certain extent by com¬ 
pacting and wetting—-keeping the pile 
damp. It is said that the Freneh have 
a sump in their manure pits to which 
the liquids drain, and that these liquids 
are then pumped over the pile, using 
this method as check to fermentation. 
To leaching also is due a considerable 
loss, as the colored liquid draining from 
a manure pile will indicate. The Ohio 
station found that in manure exposed 
three months, from January to April, 
there was a loss of 38 per cent. The best 
method of preventing these losses is to 
get the manure directly on the ground 
fi-oin the stable; there is little waste 
then .as the ground is usually in con¬ 
dition to absox-b it. Under certain con¬ 
ditions. however, this is impossible, or at 
least a difficult and therefoi-e costly thing 
to do, and a manure stoi-age of some kind 
is necessary. 
The usual storage provided has been a 
concrete pit, approximately square, and 
from 3 to 4 ft. deep, one end being graded, 
not steeper than one foot in four, and 
cleated to permit the horses getting a 
grip on the slope when hauling out the 
loaded spreader. This shape is the most 
economical in the matter of concrete and 
is well adapted to conserving manure. 
It is, however, expensive to construct 
fi-om the standpoint of excavation, and 
is not handy to use, as most of the load¬ 
ing has to be done from the rear of the 
spreader. Practically all farms are 
equipped at the present time with litter 
carriers, and the manure pit should be 
adapted to secure the maximum service 
from them. With this end in view a 
long, narrow concrete floor with the car- 
i*ier track running down the centre makes 
a good arrangement. This floor should 
be built on a grade with or only slightly 
above the ground surface at the edges, 
and is better made with a wall like a 
stx-eet curb, 6 to 9 in. thick surrounding 
it. and extending into the ground 1(4 to 2 
ft. The inside is dug out like a shallow 
V trough, 6 in. to a foot deeper at the 
October 11, 1919 
centre than at the edges, and should be 
provided with an evenly gx-aded drain 
down the centre, providing free escape for 
any surface water that might find its way 
under the floor. The surface should be 
carefully graded and tamped, being sure 
that a firm foundation of solid earth or 
gravel is provided for the floor to rest 
upon. Hard packed manure or similar 
material may appear firm, but will de¬ 
compose in time, leaving the floor slab 
unsupported. 
The floor should be laid in squares, free 
from the curbing if one is used, and to 
withstand the heavy traffic of the 
spreader should be from 5 to 0 in. thick. 
A mixture of one part cement to 2% 
parts clean, well-graded sand and five 
parts crushed rock or pebbles makes a 
good floor. About 15 square feet will 
be needed for each cow if the manure is 
to be stored for any length of time, but 
if for short periods only less space will 
accommodate. Where arranged for a sin¬ 
gle track. 12 ft. makes a satisfactory 
width, and using this width a length of 
75 ft. would be indicated for the 00 cows 
mentioned. This narrow shallow con¬ 
struction is very handy, as the spreader 
can be driven in crosswise at any point, 
and the manure loaded from the side. 
Neither does it present a sharp grade up 
■which the horses must pull the spreader. 
The floor may be made more compact 
bv building it square or nearly so if de¬ 
sired, and supporting two or more carrier 
tx-acks over it arranged to connect by a 
switch with the ti-ack leading fi-om the 
stable. In either case a roof may be pro¬ 
vided if wanted. While it is usually best 
to supply sufficient absorbents to take up 
the liquids, the floor may be graded to a 
sump at one end, and all excess collected 
here, from which it may be removed with 
a pump. r. h. s. 
The Perfection is 
the Milker with the 
Downward Squeeze 
Like the Calf. 
Louis Mether says: 
“The Perfection is the 
best rig ever invented.’ 
iROP in at Louis Mother’s Farm round about milking time some 
day and you’ll find him out in the barn with his neighbors 
around him watching his Perfection Milker do the work, h very 
man who knows Mr. Mether knows about the success of his Perfec¬ 
tion and wishes he had one, too. One Perfection in a community 
always brings many others as soon as folks see what a labor saver 
it is. “I cannot say enough for the Perfection Milker. It is the 
best rig ever invented,” says Mr. Mether. 
"You can use the Perfection two times a day the year ’round, and it never 
balks or refuses to work on Sunday night like some hired men do. I have used 
my Perfection for one year now and it has never failed yet. There is some one 
here nearly'every night that wants to see the Perfection and stay for milking time. 
The Cows Like It 
When it’s late at night and the cows are hot and restless, it’s mighty easy to 
get mad and kick a cow or milk her hastily and hurry away. The Perfection is 
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"I had one cow that cut her teat all to pieces in the fence and the only way I could 
milk her was with the Perfection. I have one double unit but I am thinking of 
enlarging my dairy by Fall. With the Perfection I can milk as many cows as I 
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Names, Addresses and Catalog Sent Free 
We will gladly send you names and addresses of Perfection owners. Write 
to them yourself and see what they tell you about the Perfection. We will also 
send free a copy of "What the Dairymant Wants to Know,”—the great book that 
answers every question about milking machines. Write today. 
Perfection Manufacturing Company 
2115 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota 
Ml 
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