386 
37* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 1, 1924 
Digs Bee: 
Kills the 
eeds 
Makes a Fine Seed Bed 
All Sorts 
John Deere-Syracuse 
Spring-Tooth Harrow 
This harrow’s sharp - pointed, 
penetrating teeth work the seed 
bed from the bottom to the top, 
tearing out the underground roots, 
steams and weeds, bringing them 
to the surface. 
It is a non-clogging harrow—the 
frame between the sections has a 
small opening in the front which 
widens toward the rear—there is 
no loading or choking at this point. 
The frames are also slightly raised 
at the rear inner ends, and the 
teeth are spaced so that trash nat¬ 
urally works toward the center and 
through the opening. 
Both you and your horses will 
appreciate this harrow—it has di¬ 
rect draft—no side motion. 
Frames, tooth bars and teeth 
are highest quality steel—extra 
strong and durable. Teeth have 
no bolt holes to weaken them. 
Your John Deere dealer can fur¬ 
nish any number of sections you 
require; also tractor hitch. 
Get ahead and keep ahead of the weeds by using 
a Syracuse Spring-Tooth Harrow. Write today for 
free booklet describing it. Address John Deere, 
Moline, Ill., and ask for Booklet DJ-637 
. IQ HNITDEERE 
Filtering Cistern Water 
I have noticed several articles on filter¬ 
ing cistern water. It should be under¬ 
stood that brick is not a filter, only a 
strainer. A cistern of water which is fil¬ 
tered at the time of filling will not remain 
sweet for a long time, but will need to be 
filtered as used. 
'y Perforatedplate Perforated plate 
Side of Cistern \ 
are of low voltage they are -a source of 
much trouble from short circuits and 
grounds, particularly . on account of the 
large current capacities invariably pres¬ 
ent. E. PURDY. 
New York. 
<o 
6 
Countrywide Produce Situation 
Potato stocks moderate. They are 
LIGHTEST IN THE WEST. OUTLOOK 
fairly good. Western apples hard 
TO SELL. 
The government’s January report shows 
that the great potato shipping States 
have about 20,000,000 bushels fewer po¬ 
tatoes left to sell than last year—some 
25 per cent less. The comparative de¬ 
crease is wholly in the West. This is 
why the December rise began at Chicago 
where was felt the earliest effect of the 
rather light supplies in Montana and 
Wisconsin. 
GROWERS HAVE POTATOES 
There is nothing for growers to shout 
over. The remaining supply is well below 
the tremendous holdings of a year ago, but 
it is still the second largest supply in five 
years. Growers have over seven-eights 
of them. Dealers have bought only spar¬ 
ingly for storage. Plainly, the dealers 
have not yet seen much indication of 
profit in holding potatoes this season. 
Ups and downs of prices in February 
THE TRADE MARK OF QUALITY MAUI tAMQua pi 
UUn/L/ I !▼! r 
V t 
V, 
WATER PUMPS WATER 
Upon nearly 20,000 farms, Rife Rams are pumping water 
steadily without expense to their owners. These Rams use 
the force of falling water from streams or springs to pump a 
RIFE 
Hydraulic 
RAM 
Rif E 
RAM 
r®T 
Your Tractor Will Pull a Papec 
A NY small gas engine, developing 4 h. p. or 
„ better, will pull an R-10 Papec. A Fordson 
or other light tractor will keep an N-13 or L-16 
comfortably busy. If you have a heavy tractor, and a big U 
crew, the K-19 Papec will handle all the corn you can x 
bring to it. 
Papec sales are steadily increasing. This calls for tre¬ 
mendous output and our especially equipped factory is kept 
busy 12 months a year—making nothing but cutters. It is 
the world's largest exclusive cutter factory. It gives you reallquality at 
rock bottom prices. Your dollars buy more in a Papec. 
A, 
V//Y Wall 
TOP VIEW 
Something like 40 years ago a friend 
was having a bouse built here and, as bis 
business called him away, be asked me to 
look after the job, which I did. The un¬ 
derground cistern was made large enough 
to hold 100 barrels and was filled only in 
the Winter—no Summer water was ad¬ 
mitted. After it was cemented a stone 
and mortar wall was laid along one side 
for a distance of 8 ft., 1 ft. from the side 
wall and 1 ft. high, and extended across 
one end to the side wall, closing it up. 
One foot from the closed end a perforated 
galvanized iron plate w r as put in parallel were due mainly to weather which kept 
to the end wall, thus making a place 1 ft. back shipments for awhile, hut they soon 
lu i-ue cim » . , caught up with the return of mild 
square into which the pump pipe en i . weather. Demand is good. Reports from 
At the other end of the 1-ft. wall another the great markets show large increases in 
perforated galvanized plate was placed, supplies received this year and last year 
Snace between these plates was filled as compared with the preceding five years, 
space ut-iwee i Another condition that has tended to sus¬ 
tain prices for good stock is the rough 
quality of the year’s crop in Michigan, 
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. 
Inspectors throw out so many that ship¬ 
ments may total less than expected. Prob¬ 
ably the Spring increase of shipments will 
not be so great as usual because many 
shipping sections have kept active all 
through the mild Winter. 
A bag of 100 lbs. of No. 1 potatoes sells 
for 70c in Idaho shipping sections, around 
$1 in AYisconsin. Minnesota, and Mich¬ 
igan ; about $1.50 in Maine and Western 
New York. It brings $1.25 in Chicago 
and about $2 in Boston or New Ybrk. 
These prices are 30 to 50c higher than a 
year ago. If the rest of the crop moves 
out at about this level, holders could hard¬ 
ly feel disappointed in view of the suf¬ 
ficient supplies in sight in the shipping 
sections. 
with pulverized charcoal to the full height 
of the 1-ft. wall, and the whole covered 
with cemented stone. From this you will 
see that all the water which came to the 
pump was freshly filtered. After nine 
years the owner thought it might be that 
the charcoal needed to be changed, but, 
on uncovering a place he found it as 
sweet as when put in. Some years later 
I was at the house in the beat of Summer 
and I found the water as cold as I could 
well drink, and as sweet and clear as any 
water I ever tasted or saw. The sketch, 
shows the arrangement of filter. 
B. 
part of the water into the houses, stables, feed lots and Irrigation 
systems. They work night and day, winter and summer. 
A Rife Ram cannot blow down; there is nothing to get out of 
order. It needs no coal, gasoline or other fuel. Costs nothing to run 
and requires practically no attention. Wherever conditions permit 
its use, the Rife Ram is by far the most economical water system 
to be had. Someone near you uses a Rife Ram and will verify this. 
Our experts will advise you fully how to install and use the Ram. 
This service is yours for the asking. If you have a stream or spring 
with a flow of 3 gallons per minute and a fall of 3 feet, we can save 
you money. Write for particulars. 
RIFE ENGINE CO. 
West and Cedar Sts. New York City 
One-compartment Septic Tank 
Is a one-compartment septic tank a 
success? If so how big must it be for a 
family of six? I am located on side hill, 
and land is gravel. Would it be neces¬ 
sary to put cement bottom in tank? Is 
there anything that can make cement 
waterproof in making a cistern? 
Lockport, N. Y. N. J. M. 
Yes, a single compartment septic tank 
is all right and one with inside dimensions 
of 6 ft. in length, 4 ft. in width and 5Y 2 
ft. in height would be sufficiently large 
for any family. Without a watertight 
bottom.' you could not have a septic tank, 
since this must hold the liquids entering 
it until the solids have decomposed and 
are carried away in the outflowing liquid. 
Concrete is made waterproof by proper 
proportioning, mixing and placing. It is 
not necessary to add any special sub¬ 
stance for that purpose. Use clean sand 
and broken stone or gravel, in proper 
proportion, a 1 :2:4 mixture of cement, 
sand and gravel is a suitable one for most 
farm purposes and for making a septic 
tank, mix thoroughly while dry and then 
add enough water to make the mass of 
“quaky“ consistency, put in place, tamp 
and complete operation without allowing 
any portion of the structure to set before 
another part is added, unless proper pre¬ 
cautions for making a union between old 
and new are taken. You will find instruc¬ 
tions for building septic tanks in previous 
issues of this paper and in a bulletin is¬ 
sued by the New York State Agricultural 
College at Ithaca. N. Y. M. b. d. 
Write for catalog and 
U. S. Gov’t Bulletin 
“Making and Feeding 
Silage.” They tell how¬ 
to make your silo pay 
bigger profits. Both free to 
siloowners. 
Fire From Short Circuit 
An item on page 1241 relates to auto¬ 
mobile fire resulting from short circuits 
on the storage battery circuits. The 
writer knows of a number of fires caused 
by short circuits or heavy grounds on 
storage battery circuits of cars standing 
in garages. Not very long ago I stepped 
out of my car in a large service station 
late in the evening. On this particular' 
occasion the roads were very wet and the 
car was drenched. For some reason I 
walked around my car, and while doing 
this heard a noise like air escaping from 
a tire. Examination showed all tires to 
‘be in good condition, but the noise per¬ 
sisting. I continued the search for the 
source of same, and soon found a -wet 
ground on the storage battery feeder, 
which was already smoking. 
I might mention that I am an elec¬ 
trical engineer and expert of wide experi¬ 
ence, and have had considerable to do 
with storage batteries, and know that 
while as a rule storage battery circuits 
THE WEST IS STRUGGLING 
The West is struggling to sell the re¬ 
mainder of the great boxed apple crop. 
They have succeeded in exporting more 
than three million boxes and have cap¬ 
tured many new markets. But they .have 
some apples left with the outlook rather 
hopeless for any price equal to fair cost 
of production. 
It is reported that many farms are for 
sale in the box apple region, as well as 
throughout the Northwest, at prices about 
equal to the mortgage, sometimes less. 
Reports from the land agencies and banks 
show in cold facts and figures the terrible 
strain that has been endured by Western 
farming interests the past three years. 
Eastern apples cost less to produce and 
probably show’ a fair net to the grower 
on basis of city prices around $4 per 
barrel. Best standard grades of apples 
from New York and Michigan sell in 
Chicago market at about the same price 
per bushel. That is, Northern Spys at 
$6 per barrel may be compared with boxed 
Winesaps at $2 per box. The Spy often 
tops the market for Eastern apples. It 
is an excellent variety in the cool climate 
and rather heavy soil., for which it is 
adapted. It needs cultivation to obtain 
good fruit, and also some patience until 
it is ready to bear full crops. 
RED ONIONS SCARCE 
Yellow onions sell from $2-$2.25 per 
100 lbs. in producing sections, and mostly 
at $2.25-$2.75 in the cities. The situation 
is rather quiet but with no special fea¬ 
tures except the scarcity of red onions 
which the Southwest seems to w r ant at 
any price. Probably the heavy supply of 
Spanish onions is the main reason why 
with a lighter crop, the price of onions in 
general is no higher than a year ago. 
Cabbage markets have been weak under 
the increasing supplies of new 7 cabbage 
from Texas and Florida. A few growlers 
in Western New York still have cabbage 
to sell and are receiving around $20 per 
ton, which is exactly the prevailing quo¬ 
tation for Texas cabbage as sold by grow'- 
ers. Of the two regions, there is mostly 
satisfaction in Texas because the cost and 
risk of the cabbage crop is considered 
greater in that section than in the best 
Northern cabbage regions. E. b. f. 
“Do you think the new .sheriff can stop 
gambling in Crimson Gulch?” “Shouldn’t 
he surprised.” answered Cactus Joe. 
“First thing he did was to bet $500 he 
could.”—Washington Star. 
