‘Iht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
199 
Farm  Mechanics 
Conducted  by  Robert  H.  Smith,  of  the  Canton  Agricultural  School 
Canton,  New  York 
Concrete  Well  Curb 
Will  you  tell  me  the  right  mixture  for 
n  curb  30-in.  tall  and  3  in.  thick,  outside 
-12  in.,  to  go  in  a  well,  that  is  strong 
enough  to  be  moved  without  any  danger 
of  breaking?  Also,  will  you  tell  me  *he 
quantity  of  same  mixture  it  will  take  to 
iil!  curb  without  any  over?  Is  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  have  this  perforated?  If  so,  how 
can  it  be  done?  c.  p. 
Owings,  Md. 
A  mixture  in  the  proportion  of  one  part 
cement,  two  parts  clean,  well-graded  sand, 
ranging  from  fine  to  particles  that  will 
just  pass  a  ^4-in.  mesh  screen,  and  three 
parts  stone  or  gravel  ranging  in  size 
from  *4 -in.  to  %  in.,  will  make  a  solid 
job.  If  gravel  is  used  for  the  aggregate 
it  should  be  run  over  a  V±-in.  mesh  screen, 
using  that  which  passes  the  screen  as 
sand  and  that  retained  by  the  screen  as 
stone,  and  then  recombining  in  the  proper 
proportion.  Bank-run  gravel  almost  al¬ 
ways  contains  an  excess  of  sand,  and 
varies  widely  in  the  proportions  of  sand 
and  stone  content,  making  it  unwise  to 
use  it  in  a  job  of  this  kind  without  screen¬ 
ing.  Use  light  woven  wire  as  reinforce¬ 
ment  in  each  section  of  the  curb. 
As  to  quantities  of  materials  required, 
this  cannot  be  figured  exactly  for  so 
small  a  content,  as  it  will  vary  with  the 
character  of  the  sand  and  stone  used. 
However,  it  will  require  roughly  1%  bags 
of  cement,  3%  cu.  ft.  of  sand  and  5  cu.  ft. 
of  stone. 
Perforations  will  not  be  necessary.  Set 
the  lower  length  of  curbing  on  a  bed  of 
clean  gravel,  and  make  a  gravel  back-fill 
up  to  the  top  of  the  water-bearing  strata 
in  the  well.  The  water  from  these  water¬ 
bearing  strata  will  work  down  the  gravel 
-back-fill  and  up  beneath  the  lower  sec¬ 
tion  of  curbing,  as  well  as  through  the 
joints. 
least,  of  deepening  the  well.  If  soil  con¬ 
ditions  are  right,  sand  or  gravel,  a  drive 
point  can  be  used  on  a  length  of  pipe  and 
driven  into  the  well  bottom  until  a  water¬ 
bearing  stratum  is  reached,  and  the  pump 
coupled  direetly  to  the  upper  end  of  the 
pipe.  Or  again,  a  well-boring  outfit  sim¬ 
ilar  to  a  post-hole  auger  can  be  used  if 
soil  conditions  are  right,  and  a  well  bored 
and  cased  up  in  this  way.  The  first  men¬ 
tioned  method,  drilling.  I  think  would  be 
found  the  most  satisfactory,  however. 
I  would  suggest  that  you  write  your 
Congressman  for  Government  Bulletin 
147,  “Water  Supplies  for  the  Farmer.” 
This  is  an  excellent  bulletin  and  describes 
in  detail  a  number  of  ways  of  sinking 
wells. 
Water  for  Irrigating 
I  have  been  planning  installing  a  rant. 
I  want  it  for  irrigating.  How  should  it 
be  installed  ?  MRS.  II.  A.  s. 
Lambert,  Mont. 
It  is  impossible  to  tell  you  anything 
definite  in  regard  to  your  problem  be¬ 
cause  of  the  small  amount  of  information 
sent  me.  A  ram  can  be  used  for  pump¬ 
ing  water  for  irrigating  purposes  if  there 
is  sufficient  water,  and  it  is  possible  to 
obtain  the  nroper  amount  of  fall  between 
the  source  of  water  supply  and  the  point 
where  the  ram  is  to  be  placed.  There 
must  be  at  least  2%  to  3  ft.  fall.  The 
smallest  ram  requires  a  flow  of  about 
three  gallons  per  minute  for  operation, 
and  this  would  be  much  too  small  a  quan¬ 
tity  to  attempt  irrigation  unless  in  a  very 
small  way  in  watering  a  garden.  If  the 
water  is  to  be  used  for  drinking,  it  would 
be  best  to  collect  it  by  a  system  of  under¬ 
ground  galleries  or  drains,  similar  to  tile 
drains,  than  to  attempt  to  store  it  in  ar 
open  broad  and  shallow  -m>l.  It  will  be 
cooler  and  less  affected  by  growths 
peculiar  to  standing  water. 
Piping  Water  from  Spring 
I  am  planning  on  piping  a  large  spring 
on  hillside  to  house  and  barn  for  water 
supply  sufficient  for  family  purposes  and 
care  of  50  head  of  cattle,  horses  and  milk 
house.  It  is  a  large,  never-failing  spring, 
located  approximately  100  rods  from 
buildings,  with  approximately  200  to  225 
ft.  fall.  About  95  per  cent  of  the  fall  is 
within  the  first  50  rods  from  the  spring, 
which  is  quite  steep  hillside.  I  wish  to 
pipe  the  water  into  the  house  and  dairy 
barns  and  milk  house,  using  faucets  that 
can  be  shut  off.  'What  size  and  kind  of 
pipe  would  you  advise  for  this?  w.  o. 
Norwich,  N.  Y. 
The  conditions  that  you  outline  will 
require,  roughly,  a  supply  of  water  ap¬ 
proximating  1,000  gallons  daily.  The 
quantity  will  depend  largely  on  whether 
the_ spring  water  is  used  for  cooling  alone, 
or  in  connection  with  ice,  the  better  way. 
With  a  pipe  line  of  1.700  ft.  in  length 
and  a  fall  of  200  ft.,  a  flow  of  eight  gal¬ 
lons  per  minute  could  be  expected.  This 
would  make  a  sufficient  supply  if  storage 
was  provided  at  the  buildings,  but  owing 
to  the  fact  that  there  would  be  certain 
periods  of  the  day  when  the  use  of  water 
at  barn,  milk  house  and  dwelling  com¬ 
bined  mighj  be  greater  than  this,  it  would 
be  better  to  use  a  larger  pipe  if  no 
storage  is  to  be  provided,  and  the  water 
used  directly  from  the  spring.  An  inch 
and  one-quarter  pipe  will  furnish  water 
about  twice  as  fast  as  the  inch  size,  while 
about  three  times  as  much  may  be  ex¬ 
pected  from  the  1%-in.  size.  Aside  from 
the  difference  in  the  cost  of  the  pipe 
itself,  there  would  be  very  little  difference 
in  the  cost  of  the  two  lines,  as  the  cost  of 
laying  is  about  the  same  for  each. 
Galvanized  iron  pipe  is  the  kind  most 
generally  laid  in  installations  of  this 
kind,  and  gives  good  service  under  most 
conditions.  A  spring  located  as  you  de¬ 
scribe,  and  with  a  flow  of  the  quantity 
and  quality  that  you  suggest,  will  make  a 
very  valuable  water  supply.  Bulletin 
No.  141.  obtainable  from  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  D.  G., 
through  the  agency  of  your  C’ongresman, 
will  give  you  some  valuable  hints  in  re¬ 
gard  to  farm  water  systems. 
Dry  Well  for  Cesspool 
I  have  two  wells.  One.  hand-dug, 
alongside  of  dwelling  house,  about  60  ft. 
deep,  and  often  goes  dry.  The  other, 
about  100  ft.  away  from  first,  and  about 
80  ft.  deep,  is  drilled.  This  does  not  go 
dry,  and  supplies  water  for  drinking  and 
all  purposes.  If  I  use  the  hand-dug  or 
dry  well  for  a  cesspool,  will  there  be  any 
danger  of  contaminating  the  drinking 
water  in  the  deep  well?  c.  p.  M. 
There  is  a  possibility  of  the  water  in 
the  drilled  well  becoming  contaminated 
through  the  use  of  the  dug  well  as  a  cess¬ 
pool,  and  for  this  reason  it  should  not  be 
so  used.  Furthermore,  the  location,  so 
near  the  house,  would  be  bad  for  a  cess¬ 
pool,  anyway.  A  septic  tank  can  be  ar¬ 
ranged  at  a  small  outlay  which  will 
handle  the  sewage  more  satisfactorily 
and  in  a  more  sanitary  manner.  Com¬ 
plete  plans  and  specifications  for  a  sep¬ 
tic  tank  can  be  obtained  from  Cornell 
University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  for  a  small 
sum.  and  with  them  as  a  guide  any  car¬ 
penter  or  handy  man  should  be  able  to 
build  the  forms  and  pour  the  concrete 
for  a  tank  of  this  kind. 
Building  Plans 
Deepening  a  Well 
Several  readers  are  inquiring  about 
building  plans  for  barns  and  other  build¬ 
ings.  When  planning  a  new  construction 
or  alteration,  it  is  a  good  idea  to  rule  a 
sheet  of  paper  both  ways.  Let  each 
square  represent  a  square  foot.  Be  sure 
to  consider  that  walls  take  up  space,  and 
allow  for  them.  I  remember  instructing 
a  civil  engineer  to  co-operate  with  the 
cheesemaker  and  prepare  plans  for  a  but¬ 
ter  and  cheese  factory.  The  plans  looked 
nice  on  naper,  but  before  ordering  the 
concrete  walls  to  be  erected  it  occurred 
to  me  to  ask  these  gentlemen  how  much 
space  each  piece  of  machinery  required. 
It  developed  then  that  one  room  intended 
for  three  machines  would  just  accommo¬ 
date  one.  Often  have  I  seen  plans  drawn 
by  people  planning  a  home  for  themselves 
or  a  barn  with  no  allowance  for  walls, 
and  the  resulting  houses  were  misfits. 
F.  II.  N’. 
I  have  a  14-acre  farm  and  a  well  about 
22  ft.  deep.  This  well  goes  dry  every 
Fall,  and  I  am  without  water  every  Win¬ 
ter  until  Spring,  when  water  comes  in, 
but  there  is  never  more  than  4  or  5  ft. 
of  water  when  the  water  comes  in.  The 
well  is  about  400  ft.  from  the  house. 
Could  I  dig  this  well  deeper  to  get  water 
during  the  Winter  months,  and  what 
would  be  the  best  way  to  obtain  it? 
Roseland,  N.  Y.  J.  F.  b. 
Undoubtedly  your  best  way  of  securing 
a  water  supply  from  this  well  would  be 
to  hire  a  well  drilling  outfit  and  drill  in 
the  bottom  of  the  old  well  to  a  depth 
where  a  supply  of  pure  water  would  be 
assured  for  the  entire  year.  This  could 
be  cased  up.  insuring  that  no  surface 
water  would  enter  it,  and  you  would  be 
reasonably  sure  of  an  abundant  and  safe 
water  supply.  This  would  also  be  the 
most  expensive  method  in  first  cost,  at 
Keeping  Water  for  Hens  from  Freezing 
On  page  25  W.  W.  S..  Blandburg.  Pa., 
asks  what  is  the  best  way  to  keep  water 
for  hens  from  freezing.  I  had  tin1  same 
trouble.  Early  last  Fall  I  purchased  a 
fpuntain  that  operates  on  the  same  prin¬ 
ciple  as  a  thermos  bottle,  and  it  is  very 
satisfactory.  I  have  had  no  frozen  water 
this  Winter.  It  is  absolutely  safe.  The 
only  objection  I  find  is  that' only  two  or 
three  chickens  can  drink  at  one  time ;  but 
as  it  does  not  freeze,  I  think  they  all  get 
enough.  mbs.  j.  h.  b. 
Ohio. 
A  VERY  small  boy  was  standing  in  the 
middle  of  a  country  road  with  a  large 
shot  gun  when  a  stranger  came  along, 
stopped,  and  asked  :  “What  are  you  hunt¬ 
ing,  little  man?”  “I  dunno,”  answered 
the  little  fellow ;  “I  ain’t  seen  it  yet.” — 
Everybody’s  Magazine. 
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