The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, January 5, 1920, Page 5

o - Makmg and Several Methods Available for Farmers on the Prairie—A Convemence Savmg Ice on the Farm and a Money Saver in the Dairy E during the summer is a sim- . ple problem for the farmer liv- ing within driving distance of natural sources of supply. He can store it himself or obtain it from other farmers or deal- ers if he wishes to pay their prices. But to many a farmer on the prairies it is a real knotty problem, frequently solved by going without. The sacri- fice is particularly hard for those having dairy products to han- s dle. A South Da- kota agricultural expert estimates that the farmers lose $400,000 a year in that state on their cream and butter from lack of ice. The ice problem on the pondless farm, however, can bz met with meth- ods that pay under cer- tain conditions. Ice for pond area could be even smaller because ice 12 inches thick could be cut twice at least. And a sec- ond harvest might be possible in states even further south. The pond should be a little over three feet in depth in its effective area to allow for freezing nearly to that depth. When the ice freezes to the ground, the cutting of it is difficult and the ice is contam- inated with the bottom material. Where the making of a pond is impracticable, the farmer might be able to apply part of the system used in making artifi- cial ice. The ice factory freezes the water in cans of the desired size by applying the right amount of cold. TInstead of using artificial means the farmer can simply set his cans out where is noticed when an ordinary pailful of water freezes. The bulging and cracking can be prevent- ed by tying discarded pasteboard cartons down into the water some distance. As the water freezes the ice takes up the extra space. Any other meth- od to allow for expansion would do the work. Again this objection may be overcome by freezing a few inches of water at a time. Specially made tanks might be a good invest- ment. A sheet iron can 12 by 18 by 28 inches long will make a 200-pound cake of ice about 10 inches thick. A very few such cans filled and frozen frequently throughout the winter would give an ice supply for the farm. A tinsmith can make three cans of this size out of two sheets of metal 89 by 96 inches. MAKING ICE BY A SIMPLE METHOD The disadvantage of the bulging and cracking is probably not great enough to warrant the trou- ble in overcoming it. When a layer of the cakes is laid down in the icehouse, they can be set up- right and the whole top of the layer leveled off with small pieces of cracked ice well tamped down. The less there is of air space between the cakes the better the ice will keep. o dairy products, for pre- serving foods and for iced foods and drinks in the height of summer is worth considerable trouble. And then there is the occasional sick- . room demand. Some iceless farmers might be able to make ice ponds sufficient for- their needs by damming a brook or by pumping water into a natural or artificial depression. In the latter case it is well to select a spot having clay subsoil. The area required to supply the farm is less than one might naturally suppose. AMOUNT OF ICE FARM WILL NEED Thirty-five square feet of ice one foot in thlck- ness will produce a ton of ice. A little less than 24 square feet is needed for 18-inch ice. If the ice is to be used for dairy purposes only, 1,000 pounds per cow should be stored on the assumptxon that 500 pounds of this will be available when ice is needed. Thus 20 cows would require 10 tons of ice, or what could be obtained from a rectangular space 25 feet by 14 feet. In North Dakota, Mon- sawdust. tana, Minnesota and probably South Dakota the - 7 PROPORTION AL BY A. B. GILBERT F WE had elected our congress by proportional representation for the last 10 years there would be no need for the presi- dent’s conference of capital and labor. This conference, which failed almost before it started, was an admission that congress is not representative of the dif- ferent interests of the nation. It was an indict- ment of our political methods. Had congress been representative, on the cther hand, it would long since have solved the pressing problems which this. conference could not soive and which are now worrying all intelligent Amer- icans. One side alone can not settle a dispute un- less, indeed, autocracy reigns and one element in ‘the population can not legislate for the whole. Out of the 531 members of the nationai house and senate, 323 are lawyers, and few citizens need any enlightenment as to who and what nearly all these lawyers represent. The Aarmers there, including the “joy” farmers, number only 18, and labor has less than a dozen members. Uncamouflaged business is represented by 14 bankers, 44 labeled business men and 17 manufacturers. Cross section of icehcuse holding 21 tons, built of concrete about half below ground. It has shingle roof, shutter ven- tilators at each end and a roof ventilator. A 12x12 (inside measure) icehouse requires 63 bags of cement, 515 cubic yards of sand and 11 cubic yards of gravel or crushed rock. Sawdust one foot thick is all the insulation required. Flax chaff is said to be an excellent substitute for Flax straw or ordinary straw may be _ used, but with less satisfactory results. Jack Frost can reach them. They should be raised somewhat from the ground, for the ground always emits some heat in cold weather. Another and more simple method of keeping ice until the beginning of summer, at least, is to dig a good-sized hole in the ground—perhaps &5 feet deep and 12 feet wide by 12 feet long, and fill this hole with water gradually during the winter. If the earth is loose, precautlons must be taken to keep it from caving in. This hole should be in a place where trees or buildings will shelter it from the spring sun. The top should be cov- ered with sawdust or straw and then boards or other material to shed the sprmg rains. Such’' a pit would hold 15 tons of ice, and probably five to six tons would be available for summer use. Water even five feet down in the earth freezes slowly, how- ever, and this method might not be practica- The problem of getting a ble south of North smooth cake of Dakota and Mon- ice by this meth- tana, except in od involves some difficulties. The ice manufacturer uses cans of the shape he wishes the ice to be and then he allows room for expan- ~ cold winters. Sawdust is the best insulator. If sawdust can not be obtained, flax chaff can be substituted or even flax straw. Straw generally sion of the wa- heats somewhat ter to prevent < . *in the summer that bulging and NORTH FRONT when a little cracking which Outside view of same icehouse showing ventilators. damp. REPRESENTATION—WHAT IT IS the district. Thus a workingman might vote his first choice for a labor candidate, but he would rather see the farmer representative win than a conservative. second choice. The business man who votes for a conscrvative first might prefer the farmer to the labor candidate and he would indicate this in his second choice. By the plan used in counting the votes, the first choice votes are rarely effective in electing more than one candidate. The second, third, fourth and sometimes the fifth choices are effective in electing a candidate. THUS IF THE VOTER FAILS TO GET THE REPRESENTATIVE HE WANTS ON HIS FIRST CHOICE, HIS BALLOT IS NOT EN- TIRELY USELESS AS-AT PR&SENT. His sec- -ond or third choice will help elect a legislator. It will be noted from what has been said that proportional representation can be applied only to legislative bodies like congress, state legislatures and city councils. There can be only one president, one governor, one state auditor, and unless we change our constitution considerably we must con- tinue to have as the administrative official the can- didate who gets more votes than any other candi- date. The United States is about the only important (Continued on page 13) Let us see how proportional representation would make congress representative. Instead of sending one man from a district, three or more would be sent. That is, the district would be larger. Under the present system any group or faction which gets more votes in the district than the next strong- est group gets the congressman, or if there were three in the district would get all three. But under proportional representation each large group or interest” would get representation according to its voting strength. The strongest group. might get two and the next strongest one, or if there were three groups, like farmers, city workers and busi- ness men, nearly evenly divided, each would get a congressman. The system by which this result is achieved is simple in operation, not merely in theory but as found in practice in many parts of the world. One essential point has already been mentioned: Sev- eral representatives must be elected from one district. No plan could prevent bare majority rule in a district from which only one man is chosen. Another vital point is the allotment to the voter in this district of only one first choice vote. After his first choice the voter can indicate a second choice, a third choice, a fourth choice, etc. The number of choice votes the voter has depends on - the number of representatives to be elected from PAGE FIVE So he would give the farmer his .