^ RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
749 
Filtering Rain Water 
Will you give mo advice and informa¬ 
tion about cisterns? Is rain water pure 
enough for drinking purposes after being 
filtered through a brick wall? The 
method recommended to me was to lay up 
a brick wall partition across the end of 
the cistern from which the water is 
drawn. If this is not a safe method of 
preparing rain water for drinking pur¬ 
poses, can you suggest a good one? 
Gwynedd Valley, Pa. H. c. E. 
All drinking water is rain water, and 
rain water being distilled water, is pure 
and safe for any use; that is, if it has 
not been contaminated in its passage 
through the ground to wells and streams 
or in the cisterns or other storage reser¬ 
voirs in which it. is kept. Since it is im¬ 
possible, however, to drink the water as it 
comes from the clouds, contamination 
after it reaches the earth must be guarded 
against, and cisterns are peculiarly liable 
to contamination from the fact that water 
enters t'hem after washing roofs and gut¬ 
ters, and sometimes after accumulating 
filth of various kinds from the surface of 
the ground over which it runs before find¬ 
ing its way into a cistern. This being 
the case, every precaution should be 
taken to have the water entering a cistern 
pure when it enters. A shunt should be 
arranged to turn the first water from a 
roof after a dry time into some other 
channel, admitting the water to the cis¬ 
tern only after the roof has been washed. 
Roof gutters should also be kept clean 
and free from leaves, the droppings of 
birds, etc. A porous brick wall arranged 
as you suggest will filter the cistern 
water for a time, but all porous filters 
become gradually clogged and useless, so 
far as keeping out! disease germs is con¬ 
cerned; in fact, they become breeding 
places of germs when their pores are 
filled. This will do no harm if disease 
germs are kept out of the cistern, but 
such filters should not be considered a 
protection against disease-contaminated 
water. m. b. d. 
A Suction Cistern Cleaner 
I noticed the inquiry on page 592 for 
a suction cistern cleaner. The diagram 
shows a suction cleaner based upon the 
simplest of theories. I take it that the 
pipe 
Lock Nats 
7 rid Washers 
cleaners, who say that they clean the 
cisterns by suction. They often charge 
from $1 to $2.50 for the job. By having 
the tinner make one of these cleaners 
one need never be afraid of using the 
water from a cistern, as the operation is 
done very completely. If you are doubt¬ 
ful, clean the cistern with one of these, 
and then clean it out by removing the 
water. You will be convinced. Extra 
short lengths of pipe are very convenient, 
especially if you have several wells or 
cisterns not of the same depth. 
Erie Co., O. J. ir. w. 
Gasoline Engine in Well-digging 
On page 294 I note a request for re¬ 
moving dirt in digging a well by gaso¬ 
line power. Accompanying is a rough 
hoisting hay, taking half a ton at a load. 
The most important feature is a pair of 
good, strong bents and timber well an¬ 
chored or guyed back by wire cable to a 
large stone buried three or four feet under 
ground. A good, strong barrel and a 
bail put on about two-thirds its actual 
height will do if a regular steel bucket is 
not available. 
A one-inch rope of good quality will 
be strong enough. You must allow 
double the amount, of rope from hay- 
track to the bottom of the well and the 
distance single from well center to en¬ 
gine pulley. A cavel such as used on 
steamboatS*should be used instead of reg¬ 
ular belt pulley. Take two wraps on the 
cavel with the rope and hold the loose 
end of the rope in the hands till the 
bucket trips the carrier automatically, 
which will then carry the bucket to the 
lower end of your bent for unloading. 
The rope can be used to haul the bucket 
About Using a Shearing Machine 
Don't buy a shearing machine with the 
idea that, until you have learned how, 
you can shear a sheep as handily as you 
can clip a horse. 
Don't buy a machine with too wide a 
blade—one that will cut a 2%-inch swath 
is wide enough. 
Don’t expect your 12-year-old boy or 
girl to turn the crank and then be sur¬ 
prised if they decide, when they grow up, 
not to stay on the farm. Better belt it 
up to the electric motor or little gasoline 
engine, and have a happier boy and girl, 
to say nothing of the better, steadier 
power. 
Don’t set the knives too tight; they 
will heat and dull much more quickly. 
Adjust them, one notch at a time, until 
they cut cleanly. New knives, when ad¬ 
justed properly, will not heat, and one 
can turn the shaft with the thumb- and 
forefinger. 
Don’t expect knives to stay sharp and 
give good satisfaction unless you use lots 
of oil; give them a squirt of good machine 
oil twice on each sheep, or every five 
minutes. Properly handled, a set of 
knives should shear 75 to 100 sheep with¬ 
out grinding. c. E. perry. 
New York. 
Harnessing the Gasoline Engine to the Well Digging Job 
sketch of an equipment I have used in 
the sinking of mine shafts for coal. The 
only difference is that we used the trucks 
of a mine car on top of the timbers in¬ 
stead of the regular hay track and car¬ 
rier. We use the same equipment for 
and carrier back to place by hand, or by 
power, by putting a pulley where the 
cavel is on the framework, and using a 
longer rope properly erected. This will 
give you good service. L. j. HUE. 
Pennsylvania. 
Farm Cold Storage for Meat 
I should appreciate your advice as to 
how to build a small cold storage house 
in which to hang meat that is killed on 
the farm, if such a plan is possible. In 
view of the fact that when one tries to 
sell meat, to a dealer, he is usually offered 
prices below quotations, and then must 
pay more than twice the price when pur¬ 
chasing in the nearest village, I think a 
cold storage house would prove very 
desirable. G. T. 
New York. 
R. N.-Y.—There are several questions 
about this. Has anyone developed a good 
farm cold storage? 
^ff^sSave Fifty Dollars I 
MujLlP ill A Better Soreaderl 
ill A Better Spreader 
„ THe „ 
J\ationai 
Chief’ 
Low - Down—Light - Draft 
All-Steel Beater and Main Frame 
You don’t have to pay a big price for a good spreader. You can of course—but why do so, when for $175.00 
you can buy as good a spreader as any made? The “National Chief’—combines the best features of the best 
spreaders and in addition it has many practical improvements not found on any other make. 
Based on the prices asked for other spreaders, the “National The “National Chief” is practically indestructible. It is 
Chief” should sell for no less than $230.00. And it would be sturdily built with full length angle-steel truck, sills and main 
well worth the price. Yet we ask only SI 75.00, because that is all a good spreailcr frame — rigidly cross-braced and trussed. This steel construction prevents warping and 
need cost the consumer when it is sold by the logical route — direct from shrinking. It keeps no vine parts always in proper alignment and prevents binding, 
factory to farm. With ordinary use this spreader will last a lifetime. 
Return-type Roller Bearing Apron — Automatic Force Feed 
Common flap Valyc 
A Simple Cistern Cleaner 
writer wants to clean his cistern without 
removing the water. This cleaner con¬ 
sists of a metal can of convenient size, 
one eight or 10 inches in diameter aud 12 
to 20 inches high is preferable. In the 
bottom of this is a common flap valve, 
such as is used in pumps. This is at¬ 
tached at one point with rivets. In the 
top of this can is attached a small pipe 
secured to the can by means of lock nuts 
and washers. In operating this cleaner 
the operator’s thumb is placed over the 
pipe opening and the can placed into the 
cistern, resting upon the bottom of the 
cistern. The air in the can prevents the 
water from entering the can as long as 
the thumb is kept over the top of the 
pipe. Remove the thumb, and the water 
will rush into the can, carrying the dirt 
with it. When full the valve closes and 
keeps the sediment and water in can. | 
Take the can from the well, empty by 
liftiug valve, and repeat. By repeating 
the operation and by placing the edeaner 
in a different place each time the cistern 
may be completely cleaned. In case that 
the cistern is quite deep, or that it con¬ 
tains a large amount of water, it may be 
necessary to place a pipe cap on the end 
of the pipe instead of placing the thumb 
over the end. 
This is one type of “suction” cleaner 
that is used by the professional cistern 
Two features — the friction less return-type apron 
tunning on a bed of roller bearings, and the roller bear¬ 
ing beatei—combine to make this the lightest draft 
spreader and the easiest on the team. Easy to load— 
only 42 inches to top of box any place . 
Automatic force feed cleans box out thoroughly. 
Steel encased, dirt and dust-proof worm gear apron 
drive, runs in oil bath—noiseless, powerful, durable. 
Eliminates all the undesirable features of the ratchet 
drive. 
Cut-under front trucks—spreader turns in its own 
tracks. Spreads 4 'j. 8, 11, and 13 loads per acre. 
Deflector type wide-spread attachment—uses no extra 
powet—$10.00 extra. The "National Chief” pulver- 
Dust-Proof Worm Gear 
Apron Drive — Runs in 
a Bath of Oil 
tv.es the manure and spreads evenly and economically. 
It will please ycu bexer than a.ty machine costing 
25 Co more. 
30 days’ field trial. Sold under our positive guaran¬ 
tee of "satisfaction or money refunded.” If after 30 
days’ trial you do not feel that we have saved you at 
least $50.00, return it and get every cent of your 
money and all freight charges. 
Cash price $175.00. Easy payment price $1S3.6S— 
$91.85 down and $18.36 monthly. Your order and 
check for $91.85 will bring you this sprradcr. Write 
today for descriptive circular and our "spring Farm 
Bargain Supplement”. 
Write To-day for this 
Circular 
„ 3 $. 
If it is for the Farm, you can Buy it for Less at 
This trade-mark on an 
t mplement is a positive 
guarantee that the 
quality of the tool is 
unsurpassed and that 
the price paid was a 
fair one. 
The “National Chief” Manure Spreader is only 
one illustration of how Farm Implement Head¬ 
quarters can help you cut down the “high cost of 
farming.” On this device alone we can save you 
at least $50.00. We carry over 350 items on 
which we can save you just as much proportionately. 
The quality of every article is high: the prices 
which we ask are low. Our savings are possible 
not through lowering the quality, but through 
lowering the cost of getting the implements into 
the hands of the ultimate consumer. We do this 
by our “Short Line” methods of buying and sell¬ 
ing—direct from factory to farm—by establishing a 
Farm Implement Headquarters or central distribut¬ 
ing point where farmers can purchase implements 
at prices as near as possible to actual factory cost. 
That we have found a practical way to handle im¬ 
plements at the minimum of cost is proved by the 
remarkable values which we offer. 
If you do not have one of our catalogues, you 
should get one at once. A postal will bring it. 
Maiional Fari^^quipmeni (j°* 
DEPARTMENT O 96 CHAMBERS V STREET NEW YORK CITY^^’lNC. 
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