364 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 21, 1920 
SPRAY ALL 
Frails and Vegetables 
There is scarcely any fruit or vegetable that in¬ 
sects and diseases do not attack. Worms and bugs, 
blight and rot are serious enemies of most garden 
crops and fruits. Tomatoes, eggplants, cucum¬ 
bers, squashes, cabbages, beans and potatoes; ap¬ 
ples, pears, quinces, grapes and berries all have 
their insect enemies and are attacked by fungous 
diseases. Disappointing results are almost certain 
unless they are properly sprayed. The “one best 
spray” for fruits and vegetables is 
RCO. U. S. FAT. OFF, 
fFAOC MARK MraiSTSRCO 
It kills all leaf-eating worms and bugs, prevents blight, rot 
and other fungous diseases, and keeps the plants green and 
growing until frost. It gives the leaves a rich, healthy green 
color and makes strong, sturdy, vigorous plants that will yield 
to the utmost. 
PYROX costs little for the good that it does. It is easy to use—simply 
mix with cold water and spray. It sticks through wet weather and dry. _ It 
gives lasting protection. Make your garden produce more. Keep it in a 
healthy, thriving condition right through the season. Protect your trees 
and vines and produce fruit that is clean and sound, free from insect and 
fungous damage. 
Remember, Pyrox is a powerful fungicide. Twenty years of actual farm 
use have proved it the most effective remedy against serious fungous diseases. 
It contains the essential copper,— in proper quantity and in most active 
form for greatest fungicidal value. It often succeeds where other fungi¬ 
cides fail. The poison insecticide in Pyrox is chemically blended with its 
copper fungicide, and increases the effectiveness of both. 
Get your supply of PYROX early. See your dealer and be sure that he 
has it in stock. Write today for the new PYROX book. 
BOWKER INSECTICIDE COMPANY 
43-A Chatham St., Boston, Mass. 
1002 Fidelity Bldg., Baltimore, Md. 
712 Conway Bldg., Chicago, 111. 
SPLITDORF 
Each charge of gasoline 
has a given amount of power 
And unless every ounce of power is exerted on the piston 
head, your engine will not develop its rated horse power. 
Splitdorf Peened Piston Rings positively prevent leakage 
between the piston and cylinder walls. They seal the firing 
chamber. They give you all the power you pay for when 
you buy your fuel. 
Learn the true value of the piston ring to all farm equipment 
operated by the internal combustion engine. Send for booklet, 
"The Story of the Piston Ring." It's yours for the asking.’ 
SPLITDORF ELECTRICAL COMPANY 
W WARREN STREET. NEWARK. N. J, 
Farm Mechanics 
Old Auto Engine for Power 
I have an opportunity to buy an engine 
from an old model auto (4 cylinder) from 
a garage man. lie put it in good repair 
and guarantees it to run all right. Will 
it do the work that I shall require it to 
do, such as sawing wood, silo filling and 
the various uses that an engine can be 
put to on a farm. Also, will the consump¬ 
tion of gasoline differ from other engines'? 
Sherman, N Y. h. c. 
While used auto engines are sometimes 
utilized in this way, I would not expect 
the practice generally to give good satis¬ 
faction. Where the service is light they 
may give satisfaction, but where the work 
demanded of them is heavy, trouble may 
develop. While the auto engine is a good 
engine for its purpose, it is not designed 
for the heavy grinding service of farm 
work. It is just like taking a race horse, 
a thoroughbred, and hitching him to a 
plow. He may be a spendid horse, hut 
can hardly be expected to give satisfactory 
service plowing. The auto engine is com¬ 
parable to the race horse; it is built for 
speed and comparatively light work. It 
is not what is termed a heavy duty en¬ 
gine. It is true that the horsepower is 
rated as high, but under the conditions 
for which it is designed it is seldom called 
upon -for anything like its rated horse¬ 
power, and then only for short periods 
of time, as in climbing a hill or some¬ 
thing of that nature. In farm service the 
load is usually continuous and heavy, 
causing trouble with the engine. Another 
feature arguing against their use is the 
absence of an adequate cooling system 
for stationary ^service. While the engine 
is rushing along the road* as the motive 
power of an n»to large quantities of air 
arerlrawn through the radiator, and while 
standing and still under full* load this is 
not possible, hence when ai* auto on* ine 
is used in this way more cooling surface 
must be provided, either by increasing the 
quantity of water or the speed of the fan, 
or both. The absence of a governor also 
makes the addition of one or hand regu¬ 
lation necessary on most jobs. As repairs 
are needed it will be found that fittings 
for engines of this class cost considerably 
higher than repairs for the ordinary farm 
engine. Facilities for belting from an 
engine of this type are not good, as the 
engine was designed for another type of 
service, and while I cannot say definitely 
about the consumption of fuel while car¬ 
rying a given load I would expect the 
farm engine to be somewhat more eco¬ 
nomical, as they are usually designed to 
carry a somewhat higher compression 
pressure. Taking it all in all. unless one 
is mechanically inclined and either already 
has or can buy at a very reasonable price 
such an engine, I would advise against 
its use. I think it probable that a new, 
more simple and sturdier farm engine de¬ 
signed for the purpose for which it is 
used would give far less trouble. When 
an engine of this size is being used there 
is usually considerable help on hand, and 
trouble at such a time, with its consequent 
idle help, is a pretty expensive thing.. It 
only takes a short time to make up quite 
a difference in original purchase price. 
B. II. S. 
Power from Small Stream 
We have a dam with 6-ft. head and 
a 12-18-iu, stream of water available. 
With a modern wheel what horsepower 
would it develop? K. B. 
Flaleottville, N Y. 
Your letter does not contain sufficient 
\ information to enable me to give you a 
| definite answer concerning the power that 
you might expect. Water does work be¬ 
cause of its position and weight. Energy 
is released- when it falls, as is the case 
with any falling body, and if this energy 
is harnessed by a suitable wheel, useful 
work is the result. Water weighs about 
62.5 lbs. to the cubic foot, therefore to 
know the weight of water that is available 
for power service, the discharge of the 
stream must he known. This can be 
found by multiplying the area of the cross 
section of the stream by the velocity of 
flow. 
You speak of a dam with a 6-ft. head 
and a 12 to 18-in. stream of water avail¬ 
able. If by this you mean that the water 
is sufficient to fill a 12 to 18-in. circular 
opening at the bottom of the dam under 
this head, something might he told of tile 
quantity of water available, but. if you 
mean that the stream is 12 to 18-in. wblo 
i above the dam, nothing can be told with- 
I out the velocity is known. 
Computing your available nower on the 
first basis and assuming a circular open¬ 
ing 12-in. in diameter will issue with 
a velocity of around 2 3 ft. per second, or 
a discharge of about 108 cu. ft. per min¬ 
ute. With a 6-ft. fall this amount of 
water should develop, theoretically, about 
1.25 horsepower. In practice not more 
than one-half to three-quarters of this 
amount should be expected, as it is not 
possible to utilize all of the fall, and 
where the head is low, as in this case, a 
greater proportion of the full has to be 
sacrificed to rid the wheel of waste water, 
etc., than is the case where the fall is 
greater. Unless by means of my suppo¬ 
sitious case I have met your conditions. I 
Would advise that you write to some of 
the various water wheel companies ad¬ 
vertising in the reliable farm papers and 
obtain their catalogues. These will give 
you complete directions, too long to be in¬ 
cluded here, for making weir measure¬ 
ments and gauging exactly the flow of the 
stream. Once knowing this, the power 
that may be obtained is easily computed. 
it. IT. 8. 
Using Water Power 
We have a stream with fall of approxi¬ 
mately 12-1.3 ft. in 650, and contemplate 
using pipe along present course of brook, 
to a small station at the low point, which 
would seem to he cheaper than building a 
10-ft. dam. Volume of stream varies ac¬ 
cording to season from about .3-in. pipe 
capacity to, at present, 12 to 14 in. A 10- 
ft. dam could he made about 100 ft. above 
the location of generator house and piped 
to wheel, which would shorten the above 
proposed plan by around 550 ft. of pipe. 
Such a dam would impound water to cov¬ 
er 1*4 acre .3 to 5 ft. deep. What kind of 
wheel would you advise, overshot or tur¬ 
bine? I am afraid that turbine at times 
of high water would be covered; then I 
presume it could not be operated. J. M. w. 
Paterson, N. ,T. 
Unfortunately your letter does not con¬ 
tain sufficient information to enable me to 
tell you the power that you might expect 
from this little stream. Water does work 
by virtue of its weight and position. A 
cubic foot of water weighs approximately 
62.5 lbs., and as this weight falls it re¬ 
leases energy. Consequently, to be able 
to tell the power that given stream is 
capable of developing, it is necessary to 
know both the fall and the quantity of 
water falling. You state that, the stream 
in low seasons would fill a .3-in. pipe. 
This in reality tells nothing, as the ve¬ 
locity is not given. To find the quantity 
of water flowing through a pine, both the 
velocity and the size of the pipe must be 
known. 
It is evident, though, that at certain 
seasons of the year at least quite a satis¬ 
factory little power eouhl be developed for 
light work, as the fall is considerable— 
12 to 14 ft.—enabling a small quantity of 
water to do considerable work. The exact 
amount of water flowing can be deter¬ 
mined by a weir, the construction and 
use of which will he found in any water 
wheel maker’s advertising matter if he 
makes a specialty of small wheels, or 
rather wheels for small powers of this 
kind. 
With so small a water supply it is 
probable that an overshot wheel would 
give you the best service, leading the wa¬ 
ter to it as you suggest. I would not ex¬ 
pert a turbine to be successful with so 
small a quantity of water as you imply in 
dry seasons. Even with the overshot 
wheel the use of a low dam might be ad¬ 
vantageous by impounding the water and 
permitting its list* for short periods at a 
rate greater than normal stream flow dur¬ 
ing dry seasons. The pond so formed 
might also prove profitable as a source for 
ice if a good quality could be produced 
and a market was available. Here in 
Northern New York it is one of our surest 
crops. R. n. s. 
Cinders in Concrete Blocks 
Have coal ashes any value for mixing 
with cement for making concrete blocks? 
I would use ashes from hard stove coal, 
chestnut stove or egg size. Have soft coal 
ashes any value for this purpose? ii. N. 
Methuen, Mass. 
finders, screened to remove fine ashes 
and dirt, are used in the making of con¬ 
crete for floors, low walls, etc., where no 
heavy pressure is to be withstood, but 
such concrete is more porous than that 
made from sand, gravel and cement, and 
aot suited to the making of blocks for 
building purposes. M. u. d. 
Breaks in Tile Pipe Line 
We have a six-acre artificial lake, the 
water supply for which is furnished by 
a pipe line a mile in length. 3'he pipe 
is of glazed 6-in. sewer tile. The lake 
is 14 ft. lower than the intake. At one 
point the line is .32 ft. lower than at the 
intake. The discharge is about 100 gal¬ 
lons per minute. We are much annoyed 
by breakings of the pipe, which occur at 
irregular intervals, averaging nerhaps one 
in two or three months. The cause of 
the breakings is quite surely condensed 
air. IIow can the difficulty be remedied? 
Branehville, N. J. a. n. r. 
We submit this for a discussion. Some 
years ago there was a similar discussion 
about the accumulation of air in a smaller 
pipe. That was remedied by tapping the 
pipe at intervals and putting in upright 
pipes which came above ground like a 
hydrant. The compressed air could be 
let off through these pipes. 
‘‘This pianist is charging me enough 
for a little music. I wonder how he fig¬ 
ures it, by the note?” ‘‘Dunno. He’s 
making a fearful racket” “I’ll say he is. 
Probably he charges by the pound.”— 
Judge. 
