me 



GARDEN MACAZINE 

 READERS* SERVICE 



This department will help in dealing with general con- 

 ditions. It cannot render personal professional service 



December, 19 15 



Discoloration of Cistern Water from New Shingles 



We have recently had the house on our farm re- 

 shingled with red cedar shingles, and the rain water 

 in the cistern is now so stained that it is almost black 

 and absolutely unfit for use. Is there any paint or oil 

 that would be the proper thing with which to cover 

 these shingles? — E. A. K., New York 

 ■ — This coloring of the water in the cistern is due to 

 the tannin and coloring matter in the shingles and will 

 gradually disappear. It can be cured, however, by 

 applying a coat of boiled linseed oil. 



An Incineration for Garbage 



Is there any receptacle made for burning garbage 

 in which either oil or gasolene can be used? We are 

 in the country and have no gas,— R. K. D., New York. 

 —None of the small incinerators for burning garbage 

 use any other material than gas. Experiments have 

 been made in order to provide an incinerator for farm 

 houses and places where gas is not available but they 

 have not been successful. A good deal of the waste 

 material can be burned by digging a slight depression 

 in the ground at a safe distance from the house and 

 burning the garbage in this. The refuse that the fire 

 will not dispose of can be buried in the ground. 



Caen Stone 



Is "caen" stone a composite material or is it a quarry 

 stone? Is it expensive? — Mrs. D. F. R., Penna. 

 ■ — Caen stone is a quarried stone of very soft texture 

 used largely in France. It comes from quarries near 

 Caen, in Normandy. The softness of the texture en- 

 dures only for a short time after the stone is quarried, 

 thus permitting it to be worked to advantage while 

 soft; but it would probably be impracticable or at 

 least very expensive to secure the real article in this 

 country. It is frequently imitated in cement, the 

 joints being shown by a fine white line representing 

 the mortar. We would suggest that you write to the 

 Moravian Tile Co., Doylestown, Pa., in regard to prices. 



The Exact Meaning of Mulch 



What is the exact definition of a mulch, and what is 

 considered the best mulch for a hardy border for winter 

 protection? Should the soil be enriched during the 

 winter with, perhaps, cow manure? — D. B. J., Colorado. 

 — A mulch is a covering for the ground. Anything 

 that is put on the ground to protect it or plants against 

 changes of temperature during the winter is a mulch. 

 An ideal mulch is one that is light and dry and does not 

 pack heavily; for example, we would mention forest 

 leaves or long straw litter from a stable. The question 

 of the material is unimportant; anything that will act 

 as described is suitable. For a hardy border use a 

 dressing of thoroughly spent manure, not too heavy, 

 covering the border further with branches of evergreen 

 trees so far as is practical. The mulch must not heat 

 but keeps the ground beneath it from alternate freezing 

 and thawing. Therefore, put on the mulch after the 

 ground has frozen. We would not put cow manure on 

 a hardy border during the winter. It packs too tightly. 



Frost Proof Storehouse for Potatoes 



What is the best and cheapest method of construc- 

 ting a frost-proof warehouse, one story, for the storing 

 of Irish and sweet potatoes. I have a house in mind 

 having a storage capacity of 25,000 to 50,000 bushels 

 50 lbs. to the bushel. My idea is that as cheap and 

 efficient a house as any might be built of concrete 

 blocks, using narrow, hollow blocks for an outer wall 

 and the same for an inner wall, with an air space be- 

 tween the two walls. The materials could be pur- 

 chased, also a suitable concrete block machine and the 

 same made right on the ground. On the other hand 

 lumber here is cheap and close at hand. — R. B., Arkan- 

 sas. 



■ — A successful storehouse for potatoes is made with 

 a bottom of concrete, the walls of grout coated on the 

 outside and inside with cement to prevent moisture 



soaking through. They are eight feet high, eighteen 

 inches wide at the bottom and ten inches wide at the 

 top. The plates which are used for sills and set on 

 these walls are chambered an inch and a half both on 

 the outside and inside. These pieces are filled with 

 cement to keep the cold air out. The sleepers, on 

 which the floor is laid, are six inches square. These 

 are boarded on top with a double floor with tar paper 

 between, and single boarded underneath, thus giving a 

 dead-air space of six inches. The rafters are nine feet 

 long, coming up nearly perpendicular, giving more 

 storage space. The second rafters are fifteen feet long, 

 forming the roof. In making a storage house for 

 potatoes it is necessary to keep the temperature as low 

 as possible without freezing, the air as dry as possible 

 and where the potatoes can be kept dark. For your 

 purpose we should judge that you would find either 

 the concrete or the wooden house satisfactory, but 

 personally we favor concrete, for when it is used the 

 house does not need to be constantly undergoing 

 repair. We would advise having the air space as 

 suggested and ventilation devices such as open parti- 

 tions can be used to good advantage. The Colorado 

 Agricultural College built a cellar sixty by eighty feet 

 at a cost of about $1,150. Piled five feet deep and 

 with the driveway filled this would hold about 19,200 

 bushels. It is estimated that the cost of a cellar will 

 be from 7 to 30 cents per hundred-weight of potatoes 

 stored, depending on the permanence of the structure. 



Waterproof Cement Paint 



The stucco on my house absorbs water quite freely; 

 what is the best waterproofing material to apply? — 

 M. F. L., Virginia. 



— The best thing to do is to paint the stucco with one 

 of the waterproof cement paints. It would be advis- 

 able to choose a color as nearly as possible like the 

 present color of the stucco, in order to prevent a patchy 

 appearance when the paint, in the course of several 

 years, begins to wear off. 



Government Whitewash 



What is the formula for Government whitewash, 

 which I have been advised to use on my farm build- 

 ings?— C. B., N. C. 



— The following coating for rough brick walls is used 

 by the United States Government for painting light- 

 houses, and it effectually prevents moisture from strik- 

 ing through. Take of fresh Rosendale cement, 3 

 parts, and of clean, white sand, 1 part; mix thoroughly 

 with fresh water. This gives a gray or granite color, 

 dark or light, according to the color of the cement. 

 If brick color is desired, add enough Venetian red to 

 the mixture to produce the color. If a very light color 

 is desired, lime may be used with the cement and sand. 

 Care must be taken to have all of the ingredients well 

 mixed together. In applying the wash, the wall must 

 be wet with clear fresh water; then follow immediately 

 with the cement wash. This prevents the bricks from 

 absorbing the water from the wash too rapidly, and 

 gives time for the cement to set. The wash must be 

 well stirred during the application. The mixture is 

 to be made as thick as it can be applied conveniently 

 with a whitewash brush. It is admirably suited for 

 brickwork, fences, etc., but it cannot be used to advan- 

 tage over paint whitewash. 



Gum on Cherry Trees 



I have a large Cherry tree that forks into three parts 

 about a foot above the ground. It is apparently 

 becoming diseased about the fork, emitting gum, the 

 bark coming off in spots and the wood decaying under- 

 neath. What would you advise me to do to save the 

 tree? — E. P., Iowa. 



— The Cherry tree may be suffering from the effects of 

 borers, or it may be affected with a peculiar physio- 

 logical disease known as "gummosis" but not very 

 well understood. On account of our insufficient knowl- 

 edge of conditions in this case we can only suggest 



that you cut out any diseased tissue and paint the 

 wound with some disinfectant in order to prevent the 

 entrance of destructive bacteria until new, healthy bark 

 has formed. Of course, such a fork is a rather undesir- 

 able condition in any tree, since it is very liable to 

 result in the splitting of the trunk and the breaking off 

 of one or more limbs. 



Tree Roots and Tile Drains 



Tile drain pipes from a septic tank run through my 

 garden about fifteen inches below the surface. A row 

 of Apple and Pear trees has been planted within five feet 

 of the pipe. Will the roots of these trees extend into 

 and clog the drain? — R. A. K., New York. 

 — Certainly the roots of the Apple and Pear trees 

 will extend as far as the drain pipes and probably three 

 or four times as far. Whether the fine feeding roots 

 will enter the tile will depend upon the relative amounts 

 of moisture supplied by them and the soil outside. 

 The difficulty you mention might be encountered. 



Double Glazed Sash in Greenhouses 



To what extent does the double glazed sash raise the 

 degree of heat inside a greenhouse without any auxili- 

 ary heating? — B. L., New York. 



—The double sash does not add heat to a greenhouse; 

 it simply checks radiation so that the house heats more 

 quickly and cools more slowly. The double glazing 

 merely conserves the heat. It must come either from 

 the sunlight or from artificial interior heating. The 

 layer of air enclosed between the two layers of glass is, 

 when dry (as it always is in cold weather) a non- 

 conductor of either the cold from without or the heat 

 from within. On a hotbed or a coldframe, where the 

 glass is within a few inches of the soil bed, the action of 

 the sun and the natural warmth of the soil provide 

 sufficient heat for such a small enclosure and it is held 

 tenaciously. In a greenhouse, with a volume of air 

 many times larger and an exposure correspondingly 

 greater the double glazing, while extremely helpful, 

 is not sufficient in itself. It becomes a matter of de- 

 gree. The double glazed house is heated faster and 

 cools more slowly. That is all. One of the fallacies 

 that the makers of double glazed sash have had to 

 combat is the idea that double glazing does away 

 with artificial heating. It does not; but double 

 glazing and a small kerosene heater are all that is 

 necessary to heat a 11x12 ft. house, even when the 

 weather outside is down to zero. With an extra heater 

 in reserve, even far colder weather need not be feared. 



Old English Type of Architecture 



We are building an English type two story and attic 

 house of dark red tapestry Flemish bond brick, with 

 half timbered cypress and stucco above. What color 

 should the cypress be stained and what plaster effect 

 would be best on the stucco? Roof is of flat green 

 tile. What tile would be suitable for sun-room floor; 

 also mantel tile for living room, mahogany shelf and 

 sides, room to be decorated in a neutral color with 

 mulberry hangings? — H. F., Ind. 

 — Practically all of this cypress half-timber con- 

 struction work is stained a natural creosote stain, 

 which is a sort of reddish brown. It is more effective 

 if kept very light and thin so as to show the grain of 

 the wood instead of making it nearer black, which is 

 occasionally done and gives too much contrast with the 

 plaster. With a red brick base and green tile roof I 

 would prefer to keep the color of the stucco a very light 

 neutral gray. The matter of the stucco surface — 

 whether it is to be fairly smooth or given some of the 

 marks of the float — is a matter of personal taste. I 

 think a little variation of texture is almost always more 

 pleasing. The tile for the sunroom might well be what 

 is called the square quarries in a dull red. The color, 

 however, would depend upon the furniture and the 

 scheme of decoration. For the mantel tile in the living 

 room I should think a very dull gray-blue tile, would go 

 well with the mahogany woodwork, neutral walls and 

 mulberry hangings. 



