1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
hydrangeas, roses, fuchsias, crape myrtles, pome- 
granates, lantanas, and similar deciduous plants; but 
these do not need the cutting back that geraniums do. 
There are many plants of an evergreen character, 
which are often grown in pots, and which do very 
well if but kept from freezing. Among them are the 
rubber plant, pittosporum, Magnolia grandiflora and 
M. fuscata, gardenias, Indian azaleas, camellias, car¬ 
nations, oranges, laurels, araucarias, sweet bays and 
the like. In close cellars, there is so little evapora¬ 
tion that, were it not that it is advisable to have fresh 
air admitted on warm days, no water at all would be 
required. As it is, but just enough to keep the leaves 
from withering, will be sufficient, probably but two 
or three times through the winter. 
In cellars in which the modern heater has been in¬ 
troduced, it is not so easy to keep plants dormant, as 
it is so much warmer there. Still, there is, usually, 
a corner quite cool, often near a window, through 
which the outside air feeds the draft. In these 
warmer cellars, great care is required in watering. 
The soil dries faster than it does in the other cellars, 
which renders a little watering necessary. But it 
must be very little, or the plants will begin to grow, 
which is not desirable until spring comes. If the soil 
about the geraniums be placed firmly about the roots, 
they will need but little water, even in the warm cel¬ 
lar. The Hydrangea Ilortensia will remain nearly dor¬ 
mant in such a cellar till towards spring. It must not 
have much water, or it will make a long, weak 
growth a good deal ahead of the time to plant 
it out of doors. The warm cellar is a good place 
for dahlias, cannas and Caladium esculentum 
roots, as they are likely to rot in a cold and 
damp atmosphere. They should be placed in 
a box, and covered with quite dry earth, which 
will keep them from shrinking. Those who 
prefer to leave their roses and hydrangeas out 
of doors all winter, can do so safely, if they 
will bend them to one side, and cover them 
with about six inches of soil. 
Pennsylvania. joskph mekuan. 
WINTER STORAGE FOR GARDEN CROPS. 
ROOTS, ONIONS, SQUASH AND CELERY. 
It is a great help to the market gardener, to 
be able to carry his crops over winter so that 
they will keep well, and be easy to get at when 
wanted, nere is the way we manage : Beets 
and mangels will keep in any pit that is deep 
enough to keep the frost out, and may be piled 
up four feet deep at the peak in a pit four or 
five feet wide. Last spring, we had more than 
we could sell, so, before the frost went out of 
the top of the pit, a load of straw was thrown 
loosely over it, and during the drought this 
summer, when feed was scarce, the pit was 
opened and our cows fed on beets of the pre¬ 
vious season’s crop until after the September 
frost. One point in putting up beets to keep, 
don’t cut the tops too closely, one-quarter of 
an inch is near enough, and mangels the same. 
Of the mangels, we found the yellow ones a 
little the best keepers. 
While turnips will stay out, and grow bigger, 
better, and sweeter, through the early frosts, 
still they are so exposed that a severe cold snap 
will spoil them. Turnips are pitted about the same 
as beets, except that the pits are a little narrower, 
and not quite so deep Ruta-bagas require still 
warmer quarters, and it is best to give them some 
ventilation ; somehow, they absorb more heat, and 
when confined, are more likely to spoil. Parsnips 
and carrots should have pits not over three feet wide, 
and should not be piled over three feet deep at the 
highest point. 
While nothing equals a pit for long storage in good 
order, they are inconvenient, and should not be opened 
except to empty them. In our own practice, we use 
root cellars adjoining our wash room, for the storage 
of all kinds of roots up to February 15 ; after that, 
we empty the pits, a load at a time, into the cellars ; 
in this way, we combine the storage value of the pit 
with the convenience of the cellar. In filling the cel¬ 
lars, we mound up the turnips, beets, ruta-bagas, 
horseradish, etc., on one side, the same as in pits. The 
parsnips and carrots are corded up, like stove wood, 
not over two feet wide the whole length of the other 
side ; they will take no hurt piled up four feet high, 
in this way, as the air penetrates everywhere. We 
have an aisle the whole length for convenience and 
ventilation. The roof of the cellar is double-lined 
with building paper, with an air space of six inches 
between the boards. Our cellars are between our 
greenhouses—see page 733—and the same wall answers 
for both. We have ventilators every 10 feet, and the 
thermometer is kept as near to the freezing point and 
not freeze, as possible. 
For salsify, we open a furrow with the plow, going 
up and back twice, and deepening with a spade ; then 
the roots are straightened, stood up just as they grew, 
packed in tight and the earth pressed tightly against 
the tips, but not over them. Of course they freeze 
some, but not to injure them. We usually have some 
parsnips and salsify out for the spring trade. 
This is a great onion section, but little attempt is 
made to keep them. As soon as dry, if a market can 
be found, they are shipped. Several hundred car¬ 
loads are shipped from this point every fall. Most 
that are kept here are kept in pits, and outdoor 
cellars. The best plan tried so far is a building, built 
on purpose, with double walls and roof, and the build¬ 
ing filled with shallow shelves ; the onions are spread 
about four inches deep, tops and all, and about once 
a week a man goes all through them with a hand rake 
and keeps them stirred up. The temperature is kept 
as near the freezing point as possible, without frost ; 
but if they freeze, they are kept so till wanted, and 
thawed out as used. 
Hubbard squashes require a steady, dry tempera¬ 
ture, not too cold, and they keep better on racks, not 
more than three or four squashes deep. Every winter 
garden should have a small dry room or kiln where, 
in wet weather, a hundred or so bushels of stuff, 
could be properly dried, with a high temperature for 
a few hours. 
The celery is now stored for winter in large trenches 
raised above the level of the muck, and the muck 
ROSA WICllURAIANA. Reduced. Fig. 253. 
See Ruralisms, page 795. 
drawn up against it higher and thicker as the winter 
advances. Care is taken not to cover the tops until 
very severe weather comes; then the muck sides being 
raised high enough, a board is laid over the top, and 
earthed over till the celery is wanted for market. 
The great object of the celery men after getting it 
well blanched, is to keep the tops green for ornament, 
and so the top of the trench is kept off as long as pos¬ 
sible to avoid blanching the whole length. 
It is a great advantage to have the root cellars and 
pits convenient to the wash-house, and for the first part 
of the winter, the root cellar where one can stand up¬ 
right is a great convenience. When one comes home 
from a stormy morning’s marketing, it is a great com¬ 
fort to know that everything needed for the next 
day’s load, is under cover ; that it will not be neces¬ 
sary to flounder ’round up to the waist in snow, crawl¬ 
ing in and out of root pits, to get what little is needed. 
The crops mentioned, together with the lettuce, 
parsley, radishes and mint from the greenhouse, 
make up a very good variety for the gardener’s winter 
loads ; but there are other crops like spinach and 
winter kale that, could they be kept under cover, 
could be sold to advantage. But how to keep them, 
is the question. w. h. woodhams. 
A copy of The Business Hen, in cloth (price, 75 cents), 
is given as a premium for one new subscription. Why 
not renew your subscription for next year now ? Get 
in ahead of the rush which always comes at the end 
of the year. If you want a watch or a sewing ma¬ 
chine, we want your order. 
791 
A WELL-BRED HYDRAULIC RAM. 
IT CARRIES WATER AROUND A CORNER. 
Probably never before in the history of this genera¬ 
tion, have so many people been taught to appreciate 
the value of an abundance of pure water as in the 
drought just past. I know of a number who had 
trouble with their wells. They were so fortunate, 
however, as to have unfailing springs on their farms, 
at such a distance from the house, though, as to make 
carr} ing the necessary water quite a job. I want to 
tell how I made use of a hydraulic ram. 
My house is situated on the crest of a ridge running 
north and south, and sloping at right angles on either 
side. Toward the west, near the bottom, and quite a 
distance from the house, is a bold spring. Hut it 
makes one puff to carry water up the steep hill. To¬ 
ward the east, the land slopes more gradually. About 
300 feet from the house, I found a “ wet-weather 
spring,” at the time all but dry. The ground around 
it was more or less miry, even at that season The 
surroundings led me to infer that water must be 
plentiful at no great depth, and needed only a free 
outlet. For a considerable radius, I dug down to a 
solid bottom, and made a ditch to carry away surface 
leachings. Next, I began to dig a hole about four 
feet in diameter. As I dug deeper, the moisture rap¬ 
idly increased. At a depth of three feet, I had sev¬ 
eral good “boils” at the bottom. The next morning, 
I found the hole full, and a clear little stream 
of water flowing from it through the ditch. For 
months, this was our source of water supply, 
and we did not much mind carrying the water 
until the wet winter came. 
1 found that, by running a pipe 120 feet still 
further from the house, making a total of 320 
feet, I could get a fall of six feet, more than 
necessary to operate a hydraulic ram with an 
adequate supply of water. I ordered the neces¬ 
sary outfit, and built a frostproof structure for 
the ram. By the time this arrived, the weather 
was much drier, and my flow of water gradually 
diminished. When all was ready, I started the 
ram. In a short time my wife called to me 
that the water was running at the house. I 
hastened to see the pleasant sight, and arrived 
just in time to see the last faint trickling from 
the end of the pipe. Returning, I found that 
the ram had stopped, because the small amount 
of stored up water had been consumed, and the 
natural flow of the spring was not sufficient to 
keep the inch feed-pij)e filled. 
I then built a cemented rectangular wall, 
12 x 14 feet, around the spring, and covered this 
with a roof of loosely laid wide planks to ex¬ 
clude trash. The water would rise in this en¬ 
closure to a given height during the night, after 
which the pressure would prevent its ascending 
any higher. The ram was always started at 
about five o’clock in the morning, but would stop 
between three and four in the afternoon, the 
water running low by that time. The water de¬ 
livered at the house during running hours, was 
many times more than we had any possible, 
even extravagant use for. 
I was not satisfied during the summer months 
not to have fresh water as late as bed-time with¬ 
out going for it. So within my wall 1 dug out a 
space 10x12 feet, and several feet deeper than my feed¬ 
pipe. I removed the strainer from this, put on an elbow, 
hole down, next a piece of pipe three feet long, and 
replaced the strainer. The water rose to its customary 
height. When the water above the main pipe was 
consumed, the short addition acted as a siphon, and I 
had a ram both lifting and forcing water at the same 
time. Thereafter, we could revel in water and waste 
it, too, without the slightest pangs of regret. Not 
counting my own labor, the total cost was 334.99. 
Wasn t that a paying investment ? Thousands of 
farmers would profit immensely by a similar plan. 
Virginia. j. o. senger. 
"A TEST CASE" FOR ENSILAGE. 
A neighbor has just completed filling his silo 
(November 8) ; if the ensilage come out in good con¬ 
dition, I shall consider the question, “When to fill the 
silo,” practically settled. Fill at any time when one 
is ready ; at odd spells, when other work is not press¬ 
ing. That is the way the filling was done at his silo. 
Filling began October 12, and was finished in one day 
less than four weeks ; two or three days sometimes 
intervened between the periods of filling. The corn 
was cut at the time of ripening, with a corn harvester, 
and nicely shocked ; it was as beautiful corn stover 
as I ever saw, and a part of the ears were broken off 
and husked. As the stalks were cut and elevated, a 
small stream of water was allowed to run on the 
elevator, winch saved the work of carrying water to 
the top of the 3o-foot silo, and it ffas more evenly dis« 
