76 1 
1892  THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKEft. 
Our  readers  know  that  iron  pipe  is  now  made  so 
that  it  absolutely  will  not  rust  though  buried  in  the 
ground  and  kept  constantly  filled  or  partly  filled  with 
water.  A  thin  coating  of  magnetic  oxide  is  formed 
on  the  iron  through  which  the  “  rust”  cannot  eat  its 
way.  We  have  often  wondered  how  this  important 
fact  of  science  came  to  he  known,  and  asked  Mr.  W.  T. 
Wells,  the  inventor  of  the  process,  to  tell  us.  Here  is 
his  story: 
“  This  is  a  case  which  well  illustrates  the  truth  that 
we  should  not  overlook  unusual  occurrences,  but 
should  investigate  and  find,  if  possible,  ‘  the  reason 
why.’ 
“  Early  in  1884  I  built  the  second  furnace  in  this 
country  to  make  rustless  iron,  having  secured  a  license 
from  The  Bower-Barff  Rustless  Iron  Co.  Soon  after 
getting  the  plant  in  operation,  I  discovered  that  al¬ 
though  the  processes  were  very  valuable  when  prop¬ 
erly  and  carefully  carried  out,  nevertheless  there  was 
a  large  element  of  uncertainty  in  the  results  obtained. 
This  was  due  mainly  to  the  difficulty  experienced  in 
keeping  the  fire-brick  furnace  absolutely  air-tight  and 
damp-proof;  consequently,  I  set  to  work  to  so  improve 
the  processes  that  I  could  always  obtain  the  uniform 
and  perfect  oxide  coating  desired. 
“  About  this  time  we  had  a  hand-car  which  we  used  to 
transport  work  to  and  from  the  depot,  some  distance 
away.  This  car  was  usually  kept  on  a  private  siding 
or  switch  which  leads  to  our  works  from  the  main  line 
of  railroad.  One  day,  as  a  heavy  car  of  coal  was  being 
switched  to  the  works,  the  brakeman  lost  control  of 
his  car  and  it  crashed  into  the  hand-car,  completely 
demolishing  it.  Some  days  later  I  had  the  wheels  and 
axles  of  this  car  put  into  the  furnace  in  order  to  heat 
them  red-hot  and  then  straighten  the  axles.  Upon 
their  cooling,  I  noticed  a  very  handsome  coating  of  the 
magnetic  oxide  on  some  parts  of  them.  This  caused 
me  to  work  and  experiment  in  an  entirely  new  direc¬ 
tion,  the  result  of  which  was  that  I  discovered  that 
steam  in  the  presence  of  carbonic  oxide  gas  would 
oxidize  hot  iron,  forming,  at  one  operation,  the  black 
or  magnetic  oxide  of  iron.  This  is  a  fact  which  was 
then  unknown  to  chemists. 
“  The  great  saving  in  heat,  time  and  trouble,  and  the 
uniformity  of  the  results,  at  once  made  my  process  a 
very  valuable  one,  and  it  is  now  generally  recognized 
as  the  best  known.  Having  obtained  patents  for  it  in 
this  country,  Canada  and  Europe,  the  Bower-Barff 
Rustless  Iron  Company  purchased  them  for  a  very 
large  sum,  thereby  combining  all  the  best  processes 
for  making  rustless  iron  under  one  control.  The 
Bower-Barff  Company  is  now  issuing  many  licenses 
for  the  use  of  the  processes,  and  the  rustless  iron  busi¬ 
ness  is  fast  assuming  large  proportions.”  w.  t.  wells. 
THE  JAPAN  GOLDEN  RUSSET  PEAR. 
This  was  found  in  an  importation  of  trees  from 
Japan.  Its  rampant,  though  sturdy,  dwarfish,  heavy 
growth,  with  dark  greenish-brown,  glossy  wood  and 
large,  luxuriant  foliage  was  so  distinct  from  anything 
with  which  we  were  familiar  that  we  were  at  once 
impressed  with  its  wondrous  vigor  and  beauty,  and 
anxiously  awaited  its  fruiting,  feeling  assured  that  if 
such  a  healthy  growing  tree  should  produce  a  desir¬ 
able  fruit  it  would  be  a  valuable  acquisition.  Nor  did 
we  have  long  to  wait,  for,  remarkable  as  it  appeared 
in  vigor  and  beauty  of  tree,  it  was  none  the  less  re¬ 
markable  in  fruiting,  and  when  two  years  of  age  and 
only  three  to  four  feet  high,  it  was  heavily  laden  with 
beautiful  golden  russet  pears,  which  were  found  to 
be  crisp,  juicy,  sweet,  pleasant  and  unsurpassed  for 
canning,  cooking,  etc. 
The  Japan  Golden  Russet,  unlike  the  Keiffer,  Le 
Conte,  and  other  oriental  pears,  is  very  late  in  bloom¬ 
ing,  and  thus  escapes  the  late  frosts  so  disastrous  to 
the  others  in  some  sections.  It  has  borne  an  enor¬ 
mous  crop  every  year,  having  no  off  years.  The 
season  of  1890,  following  the  very  warm  winter,  when 
all  other  varieties  failed,  Keiffer  not  excepted,  the 
Japan  Golden  Russet  produced  its  usual  heavy  crop. 
Its  bearing  propensities  are  so  great  that  the  fruit 
hangs  in  great  masses  and  clusters,  and  should  be 
thinned  to  attain  the  best  size.  The  abundance  of  its 
thick,  leathery  leaves  enables  it  to  endure  great  heat 
and  drought,  and  will  particularly  adapt  it  to  hot, 
dry  climates  and  parched,  sandy  soils  where  the 
European  varieties  do  not  succeed.  Nor  has  it  ever 
been  affected  by  blight  or  insect  enemies  in  any 
respect. 
It  also  matures  its  wood  so  perfectly  that  it  would 
require  intense  cold  to  injure  it.  The  leaves  are  very 
large,  velvety  and  abundant,  measuring  six  to  eight 
inches  in  length  by  three  or  more  in  width,  of  dark- 
green  color,  so  that  it  is  a  beautiful  tree  indeed.  On 
account  of  its  short,  dwarfish  habit,  it  is  nicely  adapted 
to  planting  in  small  grounds  or  for  orchard  planting, 
as  the  trees  can  be  set  close  together.  The  fruit  is  of 
a  handsome,  uniform,  perfect  flat  or  apple  shape,  so 
that  it  has  been  suggested  that  it  may  be  a  hybrid  be¬ 
tween  the  apple  and  pear.  It  is  of  good  size — eight  to 
ten  inches  around — and  of  a  beautiful  golden  russet 
color,  ripening  in  September  and  October,  and,  al¬ 
though  it  is  not  of  high  quality  for  eating  out  of  the 
hand,  its  many  other  desirable  features  recommend  it 
for  planting  both  for  market  and  family  use.  I  inclose 
a  few  leaves  showing  the  size,  shape,  color,  etc. 
WM.  PARRY. 
|  The  leaves  sent  were  about  six  inches  in  length  by 
three  in  breadth,  finely  and  sharply  serrated.  A  pic¬ 
ture  of  this  pear  will  be  found  on  our  first  page.—  Ei>s.] 
A  SUCCESSFUL  POTATO  DIGGER. 
I  recently  went  down  to  Mr.  E.  F.  Dibble’s  farm  to 
see  the  Hoover  potato  digger  in  use,  and  came  away 
well  pleased  with  its  work.  For  years  people  have 
been  looking  for  a  cheap  one  or  two-horse  potato 
digger,  which  will  take  out  all  the  potatoes,  shake 
the  dust  from  them,  separate  stones  from  potatoes, 
pull  off  the  tops  and  throw  tops  and  weeds  on  one 
side,  and  leave  the  potatoes  in  rows,  but  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  this  variety  of  operations  cannot  be  success¬ 
fully  performed  by  a  light,  plow-like  machine. 
The  farmers  of  by-gone  days,  who  swung  their 
cradles,  raking  and  binding  their  bundles  by  hand, 
probably  dreamed  of  an  ethereal,  sulky-like,  one- 
horse  mechanism  which  would  cut  and  bind  to  per¬ 
fection  ;  now,  after  many  years,  the  inventive  genius 
of  hundreds  of  bright  minds  has  combined  to  produce 
a  heavy,  three-horse,  complicated  machine,  which 
probably  will  never  be  replaced  by  anything  much 
lighter  as  a  general-purpose  binder  to  work  in  all 
kinds  of  grain,  sometimes  lying  in  all  shapes  and 
directions.  One  pair  of  hands  will  swing  the  cradle, 
rake  up  the  bundles,  and  tie  the  band,  but  a  binding 
machine  is  not  possessed  of  human  intelligence,  and 
there  must  therefore  be  a  special  mechanism  for  each 
of  the  separate  operations  of  cutting  the  stalk,  knock¬ 
ing  it  over  evenly,  carrying  along  and  elevating,  even¬ 
ing  the  ends,  packing  in  a  bundle,  tying  and  cutting 
the  twine,  and  throwing  off.  So  the  evolutions  of  the 
potato  digger  have  brought  us  a  heavier  machine — 
unexpectedly  heavy  perhaps.  It  is  not  true  that  a 
potato  digger  that  will  operate  in  soil  in  all  conditions 
as  to  texture,  moisture  and  rockiness,  or  weediness, 
in  potatoes  with  green  tops  or  dead,  that  will  drop 
the  weeds  and  tops  at  one  side  and  leave  the  potatoes 
in  a  row,  all  on  top  of  the  ground  with  the  dirt  shaken 
off,  must  of  a  necessity  be  a  combination  of  a  number 
of  different  mechanisms.  The  Hoover  does  the  work 
I  have  described. 
Mr.  Dibble  is  a  careful  farmer,  but  there  are  some 
seasons  when,  and  some  spots  where  weeds  will  grow 
but  the  Hoover  brings  up  weeds  and  all,  and  separates 
the  potatoes  from  them.  Sometimes  it  clogs;  in  a 
weedy  field  a  bunch  of  grass,  tops  or  weeds  may  clog 
the  plow-end,  and  must  be  cleared  away;  sometimes  a 
stone  gets  wedged  in  and  stops  the  elevator  and  has 
to  be  pried  out,  but  this  is  an  infrequent  occurrence. 
The  plow  and  lower  end  of  the  elevator  are  on  a  level, 
the  plow  runs  under  the  hills,  the  dirt,  potatoes  and 
all  are  carried  up  the  elevator  which  shakes  constant¬ 
ly,  most  of  the  dirt  falling  through  before  the  pota¬ 
toes  reach  the  top  ;  they  then  fall  into  another  shaker, 
and  finally  are  deposited  behind  the  machine,  while  a 
set  of  revolving  forks  force  off  the  grass  and  tops,  if 
any,  into  a  carrier  which  deposits  them  at  one  side  of 
the  machine.  The  digger,  I  have  said,  sometimes 
clogs,  but  who  has  seen  the  binder  or  the  thrasher 
that  does  not  clog,  or  the  plow  which  always  scours, 
or  the  tool  of  any  kind  that  never  breaks.  A  person 
who  has  examined  the  machine,  but  who  has  never 
seen  it  work,  might  think  it  lacked  durability.  Just 
the  reverse  is  true.  It  stands  a  wonderful  amount  of 
“banging,”  being  built  almost  entirely  of  steel.  It 
is  intended  to  stand  great  strains  when  a  stone  sud¬ 
denly  stops  in  the  elevator.  I  do  not  own  one,  nor 
am  I  interested  in  the  sale  of  any.  My  impressions  of 
it  were  obtained  by  following  it  a  few  times  around  a 
“land.”  It  digs  every  potato  and  was  working  in  a 
field  of  Rural  New-Yorker  No.  2.  Bought  at  the 
Farmers’  Alliance  prices,  the  manufacturers  would 
not  reap  large  profits  on  diggers. 
Mr.  Dibble  was  going  to  Buffalo  on  the  next  day, 
having  but  few  colleagues  in  the  defense  of  the 
farmers  of  the  State  against  the  opposing  host  at  the 
Canal  Convention.  He  opposes  the  saddling  of  a  $2,- 
000,000  appropriation  (which  would  grow  to  $5,000,000 
without  doubt)  upon  the  taxpayers  of  the  State  for 
canal  improvements.  It  is  possible  that  the  canal  has 
acted  as  a  cheapener  of  railroad  rates  in  this  State, 
improvements  might  make  them  still  lower,  but  it 
seems  enormously  unjust  to  require  property  holders 
of  New  York  to  pay  for  the  improvements  of  which 
the  great  West  is  to  get  the  benefit,  by  enabling  it  to 
bring  its  products  in  still  closer  competition  with 
those  of  this  State  :  moreover,  the  efficacy  of  such 
improvements  is  doubtful,  as  long  as  the  elevator 
trust  robs  boatmen  of  their  just  dues,  and  is  driving 
them  out  of  their  occupation.  A.  r».  WARNER. 
DURABILITY  OF  DIFFERENT  WOODS. 
Many  people  are  familiar  only  with  the  growth  of 
building  lumber  around  them ;  hence  they  are  often 
deceived.  Yellow  or  Southern  pine  is  very  desir¬ 
able.  All  are  as  familiar  with  it  as  with  cedar ;  but 
it  has  a  perfect  facsimile  in  spruce  and  tamarack,  both 
very  perishable  woods  when  exposed  to  the  weather. 
They  can  be  used  to  advantage  only  for  inside  work, 
such  as  flooring.  Most  prairie  people  are  not  familiar 
with  hemlock  as  a  fencing  or  building  lumber,  but 
they  know  the  durability  of  black  walnut  and  poplar. 
While  the  Eastern  man  might  not  know  how  to  esti¬ 
mate  the  Western  product,  so  the  Western  man  buys 
the  Eastern  spruce,  tamarack  and  hemlock  lumber  and 
finds,  to  his  sorrow,  that  all  are  very  perishable,  even 
if  well  painted.  I  find  that  lumber  will  last  twice  as 
long  when  weather-boarded  straight  rip  and  down 
as  when  boarded  side-ways  to  the  weather.  A  great 
deal  of  sweet  gum  weather-boarding  comes  here,  as  do 
many  California  redwood  shingles,  both  strange  to  me 
as  regards  durability.  Farmers  should  know  of  the 
wearing  value  of  the  lumber  they  use.  Roofs  and  porch 
floors  are  invariably  laid  with  spruce  or  tamarack  in 
this  section,  while  the  builder  has  paid  a  top  price  for 
yellow  pine;  hence  the  sills  rot  out  in  three  years, 
owing  to  the  defective  covers. 
The  wearing  value  of  weather-boarding  is  in  the 
order  named  here:  yellow  poplar,  black  walnut,  white 
piDe,  sweet  gum,  hemlock,  spruce,  tamarack.  Hundreds 
of  buildings  here  are  40  to  50  years  old.  These  were 
weather-boarded  with  Indiana  yellow  poplar,  and  never 
painted,  but  they  are  still  in  a  good  state  of  preserva¬ 
tion.  The  days  of  black  walnut  shingles  and  weather¬ 
boarding  are  past,  but  lots  of  old  pioneer  buildings  of 
this  material  are  yet  in  fine  condition.  This  wood 
with  age  takes  on  a  moss  of  an  iron-rust  color.  The 
wearing  value  of  fence  post  timber  in  this  section  is 
about  as  follows:  red  cedar,  mulberry,  osage  orange, 
white  cedar,  black  locust,  white  oak,  Jack  oak,  black 
walnut,  ash,  hackberry.  o.  k.  lane. 
Vermilion  County,  Ill. 
BUSINESS  BITS. 
Kino  &  Co.,  Owego,  N.  Y.,  make  excellent  harness  and  do  a  very  large 
mall  business.  They  have  been  In  business  many  vears  and  have  a 
good  reputation  for  fair  dealing.  The  fact  that  orders  sent  them  by 
mall  have  received  such  prompt  and  satisfactory  attention  that  their 
business  has  Increased  from  year  to  year  Is  good  evidence  that  they 
are  fully  reliable. 
THB  'Reader”  from  New  Jersey  who  has  to  cut  fodder  for  10  cows 
can,  X  believe,  do  better  than  to  hire  his  corn  fodder  all  cut  up  at  once. 
A  durable  and  powerful  windmill  can  be  purchased,  together  with  a 
grinder,  shafting  and  pulley  for  $125,  which  will  not  only  cut  his  fod¬ 
der,  but  do  many  other  kinds  of  work  also,  such  as  sawing  wood,  pump¬ 
ing  water,  turning  the  grindstone,  thrashing,  etc.  It  Is  a  very  simple 
matter  to  erect  such  a  mill.  It  is  out  of  the  way  and  the  motive  power 
Is  cheap.  I  purchased  such  a  mill  a  year  ago  and  It  Is  giving  me  good 
satisfaction.  The  suggestions  relative  to  cutting  stalks  and  straw  to¬ 
gether  are  timely.  a.  wetmorb. 
That  Big  Hay  Question.— There  are  several  ways  by  which  F.  T. 
C.,  of  Oregon,  can  take  up  the  150  feet  of  hay  rope  without  driving  the 
horse  150  feet  away.  The  following  would  suit  me:  make  a  reel  such 
as  our  grandmothers  used  for  reeling  yarn,  only  make  it  upon  a  very 
large  scale,  say,  about  the  size  of  a  power  sweep.  Place  the  horse 
Inside  and  let  him  reel  the  rope  around  the  sweep  upon  perpendicular 
pieces  placed  at  the  ends  of  the  arms  of  the  reel  or  sweep.  Put  the 
guide  pulley  to  guide  the  rope  on  the  reel  so  as  to  reel  the  rope  either 
low  enough  to  allow  the  horse  to  step  over  and  out,  or  high  enough 
so  that  he  can  pass  under  when  the  reel  Is  wound.  Have  a  hook  on 
an  arm  of  the  reel  if  the  rope  Is  reeled  low;  If  high,  putin  an  extra  arm 
In  the  shaft  with  a  hook  for  the  whiffletree  ring.  After  the  horse  has 
delivered  the  load,  unhitch  and  lead  him  to  one  side  while  the  oper¬ 
ator  returns  the  rope  for  another  forkful.  This  plan  saves  the  horse 
a  walk  of  150  feet,  and  the  dragging  of  150  feet  of  rope  back  also.  The 
man  who  operates  the  fork  can  be  near  the  horse.  If  desirable,  a 
weight  can  be  attached  to  a  rope  to  make  the  reel  unwind  Itself. 
LEON  MOORE. 
The  Oleomargarine  Laws.— Nobody  seems  satistled  with  these 
laws,  and  nobody  ought  to  be.  They  are  unjust.  What  right  have  we 
to  tax  a  man  for  preparing  the  fat  of  the  cow,  bull  or  steer  In  a  palat¬ 
able  form  to  be  eaten  on  his  bread,  while  he  can  convert  It  Into  tallow 
without  being  taxed,  and  can  freely  convert  the  cow  fat  in  cream 
Into  butter  ?  Millions  of  people  eat  fat  beef  and  find  nothing  unwhole¬ 
some  In  It.  Thousands  of  them  put  suet  Into  their  pies  and  think  them 
delicious.  People  fry  their  doughnuts  In  lard,  and  put  It  In  their  pie 
crusts,  and  shorten  their  biscuits  with  it,  and  esteem  it  wholesome; 
but  as  soon  as  a  man  Axes  It  up  in  shape  to  resemble  butter,  to  be 
eaten  on  our  bread,  It  must  be  taxed.  Why  not  tax  those  who  make 
the  butter,  especially  those  who  bring  In  the  nasty  compounds  of  but¬ 
termilk,  curds  and  grease  which  they  call  butter,  and  sell  for  that  at 
the  stores  ?  I  say  that  the  oleomargarine  laws  are  for  the  most  part 
class  legislation  of  the  meanest  and  most  unjust  kind.  What  I  think 
right  and  what  I  want  to  see  done  Is  to  have  laws  passed  and  enforced 
providing  that  all  kinds  of  food  products,  and  other  things  as  well, 
shall  be  sold  to  the  customer  for  exactly  what  they  are,  and  that  no 
poisonous  substance  shall  be  permitted  In  articles  of  food.  If  a  man 
wants  to  eat  tallow  on  his  bread  or  drink  pea-soup  mixed  with  his 
colfee,  it  is  his  own  affair  and  It  Is  nobody  else’s  business,  provided  he 
knows  what  he  Is  getting  when  he  buys  it.  I  am  as  strongly  opposed  as 
the  “  next  man”  to  all  sorts  of  counterfeits  and  frauds,  and  hence  ob¬ 
ject  to  the  sale  of  oleomargarine  as  butter;  but  Isn’t  the  sale  of  all 
classes  of  other  goods  subject  to  similar  abuse  ?  v.  hodgman. 
