■Uhe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
659 
urance 
MOTOR  COMPANY,  DETROIT,  MICHIGAN 
Write  to  Dept.  25  for  our  catalog  giving  detailed  specifications  and  our  booklet 
“22,000  Miles  Without  Stopping.” 
Tell  us  how  practical  farmers  make 
hay-caps.  They  are  often  needed  in  wet 
weather,  especially  for  clover  or  Alfalfa. 
s.  J. 
I  have  tried  all  sorts  of  schemes  for 
making,  and  all  sorts  of  sizes  for  hay- 
caps,  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  those  I  made  last  season  are  the 
cheapest,  and  all  in  all  the  best. 
Buy  ordinary  unbleached  muslin  about 
40  to  42  inches  wide.  Tear  it  off  so  as 
to  have  the  pieces  square.  Don't  go  to 
the  expense  of  hemming  it,  but  oh  each 
corner  attach  by  a  good  strong  cord  and 
a  slip- noose,  a  good-sized  washer.  A 
half-pound  washer  is  sufficient  for  weight 
and  the  advantage  of  the  flat  wrought 
iron  washer  is  that  the  caps  will  pack 
better  when  laid  flat.  A  slip-noose  al¬ 
lows  the  weights  to  be  removed  in  the 
Fall,  and  the  caps  washed  and  ironed 
and  put  away  for  the  next  year.  The 
cost  is  for  the  cotton,  the  washers,  and 
the  string.  The  labor  can  be  furnished 
practically  without  cost,  as  it  can  be  done 
by  the  men  at  odd  times  or  on  a  rainy 
day. 
I  am  in  the  habit  of  putting  my  Alfal¬ 
fa  into  small  stacks  and  therefore  a  cap 
36  inches  square  is  large  enough,  hut  most 
people  recommend  a  larger  cup,  and  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  when  these  I 
am  using  wear  out  1  shall  make  the  new 
lot  42  inches  square.  My  cups  36  inches 
square  cost  me  seven  cents  a  yard,  and 
the  washers  cost  me  by  the  keg  a  cent  and 
one-half  a  pound.  Cotton,  washers,  and 
string  with  a  l'easonahle  amount  allowed 
for  labor  will  bring  these  caps  about  ten 
cents  apiece  and  I  can't  see  why  they 
are  not  just  as  good  as  heavy  canvas 
caps  which  I  formerly  used,  and  which 
cost  me  36  cents  apiece.  c.  M.  .r. 
Connecticut, 
"With  regard  to  making  hay-caps,  there 
is  not  much  trouble  about  this  matter ; 
the  size  most  often  used  is  36  to  40  inches 
square,  and  heavy  unbleached  muslin  is 
being  used  more  than  any  other  material. 
It  should  be  purchased  in  the  proper 
width  so  it  can  simply  be  torn  into  the 
desired  size  and  would  then  require  only 
two  heins.  I  believe  that  most  people 
are  not  attempting  to  waterproof  it  but 
waterproofing  is  entirely  practical,  al¬ 
though  it  adds  perhaps  five  cents  each  to 
the  cost.  It  is  also  necessary  after  water¬ 
proofing  to  keep  the  caps  away  from  mice. 
When  waterproofing,  paraffin  is  fre¬ 
quently  used  as  the  principal  ingredient. 
It  is  heated  to  the  melting  point,  and 
mixed  with  a  small  amount  of  warm  gaso¬ 
line.  The  cloths  are  dipped  into  this 
mixture  and  then  put  through  a  clothes 
wringer.  Handling  the  gasoline  and  keep¬ 
ing  it  warm  is  necessarily  dangerous.  I 
think  the  proportion  would  have  to  be  de¬ 
termined  by  experiment  a  little,  but  my 
recollect  ion  is  that  about  one-fourth  gas¬ 
oline  is  somewhere  near  the  correct 
amount.  Waterproofing  serves  one  desir¬ 
able  purpose  iu  preventing  mold  in  the 
cloth.  As  to  the  weights,  sometimes  a 
string  is  bedded  iu  a  ball  of  cement ;  this 
ball  weighs  perhaps  one-half  pound  to 
one  pound,  One  of  these  strings  is  at¬ 
tached  to  each  corner  of  the  cap.  An¬ 
other  method  used  is  to  place  eyelets  in 
each  corner,  then  have  a  heavy  piece  of 
wire,  about  eight  gauge,  with  a  ring  bent 
at  one  end.  Place  the  cap  on  the  hay  and 
shove  this  wire  through  the  eyelet,  direct 
into  the  lmy.  This  method  will  hold  the 
cap  quite  satisfactorily,  and  I  believe 
fully  as  well  as  the  weights. 
Ohio.  CIIAS.  B.  WING. 
Very  satisfactory  hay-caps  may  he 
made  by  buying  a  heavy  quality  of  cotton 
cloth  or  muslin  yard  wide  and  then 
tearing  it  into  squares.  To  the  corners 
tie  a  piece  of  strong  cord  about  two  or 
three  feet  long.  Instead  of  using  weights 
on  the  corner  strings  to  hold  the  cap  on, 
take  some  No.  7  wire  and  make  pins 
about  eight  inches  long  with  a  circle  bent 
at  one  end.  Fasten  the  caps  on  by 
stretching  tightly  over  the  hay  cock  and 
sticking  the  pins  in  the  ground  in  about 
the  way  you  would  set  up  a  tent.  I  do 
not  think  it  is  necessary  to  waterproof 
this  cloth  with  oil  or  paraffin.  It  takes 
two  men  to  put  them  on  advantageously, 
and  if  the  caps  are  always  dried  thor¬ 
oughly  before  storing  away  they  will  last 
for  several  seasons.  F.  W.  TAYLOR. 
New  Hampshire  College. 
I  must  report  that  for  several  years  we 
have  not  used  or  needed  any.  In  fact, 
our  great  need  has  been  to  get  water 
enough  to  make  a  hay  crop.  Several 
years  ago  I  made  some  hay-caps  of  heavy 
unbleached  muslin,  making  them  about  a 
yard  and  a  quarter  square,  according  to 
my  remembrance.  Part  of  them  were 
soaked  in  boiled  linseed  oil.  and  wrung 
out  as  dry  as  possible.  Both  the  oiled 
and  plain  were  effectual  in  preventing 
injury  to  the  hay  cocks :  the  hay  would 
become  slightly  damp,  just  under  the 
cap,  but  not  enough  to  cause  any  trouble. 
A  stone  tied  with  a  short  string  to  each 
corner  of  the  cap  kept  the  cap  from  being 
blown  off.  The  caps  have  become  lost, 
and  therefore  I  cannot  say  how  durable 
they  are.  If  we  should  have  wet  seasons 
again,  as  I  presume  we  may  expect,  I 
think  I  shall  make  up  some  more. 
Khode  Island.  H.  w.  it  BATON. 
Proverbial  Absent  Minded  Profes¬ 
sor  :  “Goodness !  That  clock  needs  fix¬ 
ing.  It  just  struck  one,  four  times.” — 
Lampoon. 
It  is  an  easy  matter  to  make 
claims  and  to  advance  opinions. 
It  is  a  simple  thing  to  appropri¬ 
ate  all  the  known  motor  car 
virtues  and  apply  them  to  any 
automobile.  Inexpensive  diver¬ 
sions  these,  and  there’s  the  chance 
that  some  one  may  be  impressed. 
We  haven’t  the  inclination  or 
the  temptation  to  submit  any¬ 
thing  but  facts.  For  we  have  the 
facts — convincing  and  significant 
facts — and  one  real  fact  is  worth  a 
legion  of  mere  beliefs. 
The  Maxwell  car  holds  the 
World’s  Endurance  Record — 
22,023  miles  without  stopping 
the  motor — 500  miles  per  day 
average. 
The  Maxwell  car  has  set 
numerous  records  for  economy  of 
gasoline — varying  from  21.8  miles 
per  gallon  on  the  World’s  Endur¬ 
ance  Record  run  to  36.8  miles  per 
gallon  on  other  runs  that  were 
planned  to  prove  the  economy 
rather  than  the  endurance  of 
Maxwell  cars. 
The  Maxwell  car,  on  account  of 
its  light  weight  and  correct  bal¬ 
ance,  always  gives  noteworthy 
tire  mileage — averaging  9,871 
miles  per  tire  when  setting  the 
World’s  Endurance  Record. 
These  are  facts — established 
and  proved  facts.  They  help  to 
make  up  Maxwell  value.  And 
when  considered  along  with  the 
physical  attractiveness  and  the 
same  complete  equipment  of 
much  costlier  cars,  the  result, 
Maxwell  owners  tell  us,  is  a  value 
that  stands  alone. 
It  is  this  value  that  is  responsi¬ 
ble  for  the  doubled  production  of 
Maxwell  factories.  It  is  this 
value  that  is  responsible  for  the 
40,000  sales  of  Maxwell  cars  that 
were  made  last  year  to  American 
farmers.  It  is  this  value  that  is 
responsible  for  the  good  will  and 
popular  favor  the  Maxwell  car 
has  earned. 
You  can  get  out  of  any  car  only 
what  is  put  into  it.  Service  and 
satisfaction  do  not  simply  hap¬ 
pen.  There  is  an  adequate  and 
powerful  reason  for  the  unques¬ 
tioned  leadership,  in  their  class, 
of  Maxwell  Motor  Cars. 
How  to  Make  Hay-Caps 
