8 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ January, 



good results for general use as the waj' I was 

 taught wlien I first went to be apprentice. 

 The method was as follows : Break the glue 

 up small, put into an iron keetle, cover the 

 glue with water and allow it to soak twelve 

 hours; after soaking boil until done, which 

 will be when some is raised upon a stick and 

 allowed to fall back into the keetle it falls 

 without rattling. After the glue is boiled 

 surticieiitly jiour into an air tight box; leave 

 the cover off until cold, then cover iip tight. 

 As glue is required, cut out a portion and 

 melt in the usual way. E.xpose no more of 

 the made glue to the atmosphere for any 

 length of time than is necessary, as the atmos- 

 phere is very destructive to made glues. We 

 used to make a quantity sultieient to last 

 about a week. Never heat made glue in a 

 pot that is subjected to the direct heat of the 

 fire or a lamp. All such methods of heating 

 glue cannot be condemnc^d in terms too 

 severe. 



Do not use thick glue for joints or veneer- 

 ing. In all cases work it well into the wood 

 in a similar manner to what painters do with 

 paint. Glue both surfaces of your work, 

 excepting in the case of veneering. Never 

 glue upon hot wood or use hot cauls to veneer 

 with, as the hot wood will absorb all the 

 water in the glue too suddenly, and leave 

 only one very little residue with no nature in 

 it whatever. The following extract is made 

 from Mr. L. D. Gould's "Carpenters' and 

 Builders' Assistant and Wood-Workers' 

 Guide," published in 1874. Under the article 

 "Adhesion of Glue, " he says : "Mr. Bevan 

 glued together by the ends two cylinders of 

 dry a.sh wood, one-fifth of an inch in diameter 

 and about 8 inches long. After they had 

 been glued together twenty-four hours they 

 required a force of 1,260 pounds to separate 

 them, and, as the area of the cylinders was 

 1.75 inches, it follows that the force of 715 

 pounds would be required to seimrate 1 square 

 inch. In remarking further, Mr. Bevan tried 

 the lateral cohesion of some dry Scotch fire- 

 wood. The force required to separate the 

 wood was 562 pounds to the square inch; con- 

 sequently, if two pieces of tliis wood had 

 T)een well-glued together the wood would have 

 yielded in its substance liefore the glue. For, 

 in a subsequent experiment, made on solid 

 glue, flie cohesive force was found to be 4,000 

 pounds per square inch, from which it may be 

 inferred that thea]iplication of this substance 

 as a cement is susceptible to improvement." 



I quite agree with Mr. Bevan about it being 

 susceptible to improvement. 



Pattern-makers in foundries usually under- 

 stand and use their glue to better advantage 

 than cabinet-makers. Pattern-makers re- 

 quire their glue joints to stand the efiects of 

 the damp .sand, and not to draw out at the 

 joints and leave a mark in the sand, or fall to 

 l)ieccs. They use the same kind of glue as 

 cabinet-makers, but the general run of the 

 cabinet-maker's joints will hardly bear a 

 damp alm>3splierc, much less being placed in 

 damp sand. 



Oil or otlier like ingredients are not re- 

 quired in thegluc toeftectthe end, but simply 

 water. What a mine of wealth for the dairy- 

 man if milk was afiectcd by water the same 

 as glue is ! There would be no danger of our 

 receiving our milk too tliick if water made it 

 stronger. Why, then, sliould cabiuet-makers 

 be so blind to their best interests and pcrsi.st 

 in using their glue thick. The only way I 

 can account for it is that they have' become 

 liabitually carele.ss. 



A short time since I required a board five- 

 sixteenths thick for an experinieut I was 

 trying with some cement. At the time I 

 required it I was unable to obtain a ))iece 

 wide enough, so I glued two pieces together. 

 At the time of doing it I had grave apprehen- 

 sions about it standing the severe ordeal 1 

 wLshed to subject it to. That piece of board 

 (wliite wood) was covered on one side with 

 stucco and the other side was covered with a 

 composition; the stucco and composition 

 were alternately .saturated with water, frozen 

 thawed out, and tlien dried before a hot stove' 



The board was subjected to this process for 

 two weeks, during which time it required to 

 be frequently handled. There were no battens 

 or any cross pieces whatever used, merely the 

 board itself, with the joint square and glued 

 with very thin glue. It went through all 

 that was required, and to-day the joint is as 

 solid as when it was first glued. 



In conclusion, let me earnestly request 

 every man who uses glue and who has read 

 my remarks, to give water a fair trial and of 

 the results I have no fear whatever. 



BOGUS HAVANA TOBACCO. 



The consumers of high jiriced Havana 

 cigars will be interested in the following ex- 

 posure of the kind of stuff of whicli some of 

 them are made. Some time ago a revenue 

 oHicer accompanied by a reporter of the U. S. 

 Tobacrn Journal, ascended the rickety stairs 

 of the dilapidated building at No. 5 (Jold 

 street, New York. This street is one of the 

 dark narrow down-town thoroughfares, lined 

 with half tumbledown and begrimed build- 

 ings, in which the scum of the mercantile 

 community^ takes up its abode and throws 

 out nets for victims. Arriving at the second 

 floor, the revenue officer and the reporter 

 halted and listened before a door apparently 

 leading to an apartment. Inside there was a 

 noise resembling that produced by the shaking 

 and rustling of tobacco leaves. A strong 

 smell of Valerian root and deer-tongue leaves 

 permeated the building. The officer suddenly 

 caught the knob of the door and tried to ojien 

 it. It was locked and the noise inside cea.sed 

 at once. After several unsuccessful efforts, 

 the officer threatened to sliatter the door, 

 when, finally, it was unlocked by a seedy and 

 hungry looking individual, whose face and 

 hands seemed to have been steeped in a brown 

 liquid. Without paying any attention to the 

 seemingly frightened inilividual. a thorough 

 examination of the place was made. The 

 justification for this proceeding rested it the 

 fact that information had been given to tlie 

 revenue oflicer that an Illicit tobacco factory 

 was situated in the building in question. 

 This proved to have been fallacious, as noth- 

 was found that went to show the correctness 

 of the report. But, however, a discovery 

 was made which will eventually bring to light 

 the band of couniverswho palm off California 

 tobacco for Havana to unsuspecting cigar 

 manufacturers. 



A large niunber of cases filled the apart- 

 ment. Here and there were huge piles of leaf 

 tobacco, all dripping wet, and from which 

 flowed little .streams of a nasty brown hue 

 and penetrating smell. A ]ionderous vat in 

 the rear was filled with the same liquid. 

 Around the place on shelves and screens was 

 strewn a mass of the tobacco to dry. A large 

 tobacco press was also there. Numerous 

 empty Havana bales, with and wiihonl the 

 cloth bearing the trademarks of renowned 

 importers, were hanging about the room. So 

 were little heaps of bast with which the 

 carots of Havana tobacco arr always tied 

 together. In a corner were several full bales, 

 which upon examination, revealed tobacco 

 pressed in carots exactly similar to the genu- 

 ine Havana. The tobacco, which had only 

 been recently packed into that shape, was 

 still damp and the corots were tied with the 

 bast in a somewhat bungling manner. The 

 huge piles of tobacco showed, beyond any 

 doubt, that it was of California origin, dark, 

 heavy and mostly short, though some large 

 leaves resembling Pennsylvania were found. 

 The cases were common seed leaf cases. Some 

 of them still contained leaf, but perfectly dry 

 and of lighter color than that in the wet con- 

 dition in the i>iles. 



From certain facts it could be inferred that 

 one G. Reis-sman, who does a leaf business 

 and other certain kinds of business at 228 

 Pearl street, is the .seller of this tobacco to 

 various parties, who are repacking this .stuff 

 in Havana shape and sdl it for the genuine 

 article. The real value of this tobacco is but 

 four or five cents a pound. But as in an 

 artificially colorec} and flavored state it re- 



sembles Havana, the swindling repackers pay 

 from 20 to 80 cents per pound for it, and 

 dispose of it at from 90 cents to SI. 10. This, 

 last figure has actually been paid by a Toledo 

 cigar manufacturer, who, though, in time dis- 

 covered the fiaud and returned the tobacco. 

 The individual in charge of the establish- 

 ment at 5 Gold street preserved utter silence 

 during the examination of the place, notwith- 

 standing several attempts to olitain some clue 

 as to the owner of the tobacco. The landlord 

 of the building also refuses to divulge the 

 name of the lessee of the second floor, but 

 other steps will be taken which very soon 

 will break up this and other establishments 

 of the kind and bring the guilty parties to 

 light. 



A CARD IN THE INTEREST OF QWAIL. 



; Tlie winter, though an unusually severe 

 I one for quail, has not been of a character to 

 I exterminate them. A large number (thou- 

 i sands) were caught and housed before the 

 ! snow-falls, and those not caught were gener- 

 j ally lo ke4 after and fed by the farmers. 

 Reports from a number of sources show that 

 about three-fourths of the birds not housed 

 have l)een saved, the remainder falling victims 

 ! chiefly to hawks. Sportsmen very generally 

 ! have taken the interest of quail in hand, and 

 I few of them but have birds enough to turn 

 [ out to more than replenish what have fallen 

 before their aim through the hunting season. 

 It is to these, and to farmers that have housed 

 quail, that we wish to say a few words, as to 

 the manner of turning them out to secure the 

 best results. The best methods are simple 

 and not new, yet failure to apply them is apt 

 to defeat the end desired — the maximum in- 

 crease of the stock. When the spring is fairly 

 ojien, say in April, they should be loosed in 

 liairs, one pair, or not more than two pairs, 

 in a place, at the same time. Tills is to 

 avoid "packing," or the habit these birds are 

 liable to, when several of them are together 

 and not mating aud breeding, either from 

 uneven distribution of the sexes, or from the 

 cocks quarreling. The best place is where 

 there is bog meadow and brush, either or 

 both, or the best available cover. It is very- 

 important to place some food where they are 

 turned out, else they will surely "run" or 

 migrate several miles. If these directions 

 are observed, each pair will turn out two 

 broods of about a dozen each, if the season be 

 ordinarily favorable. A full or unevenly 

 mated bevy, for the reasons given, would 

 be liable not to multiply. As hawks are 

 the greatest enemy of the quail, and have 

 no recognized utility, their destruction will 

 be a strong protective measure. But tlii.s Is 

 easier said than done, as many a hawk 

 hunter has found out. They sometimes can 

 be got within gunshot if on horseback, but as 

 a rule they are .slirewder than the crow, who 

 cannot separate the rider from the hor.se. 

 A certain plan, and one not generally known, 

 is to note where the hawk settles toward 

 evening. It will be either in some isolated 

 tree or a wood. Let him be until dark. 

 Then, with a coal-oil torch, he can readily be 

 discovei'ed, and shot. 



Farmers, we regret to say, through the 

 depredations of irresponsible hunters, have 

 come to look upon all sportsmen with enmity, 

 whereas the farmer and the sportsmen are 

 natural allies. The latter will join with the 

 farmer against any depredator, any shooting 

 out of the regular season and against any 

 unlawful methods of destruction. He will 

 join with him in any plan to increase and 

 "protect birds. When localities through mis- 

 fortune become depleted of quail, it is sports- 

 men or their association that import new 

 stock and put up their giuis until the locali- 

 ties recover. Hence, we say that farmers 

 should discriminate. It may not seem ea.sy 

 to do this, Init it can be approached to. Let 

 them join together and prosecute all that 

 shoot (and there are enough of them) before 

 the lawful season opens. The penalty is now 

 SIO for each bird so shot or had in possession. 

 Let them exact that a sportsman shall ask 



