978 
C/jc  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Chemistry  of  Hay  Preservation 
(Continued  from  page  070.) 
to  inflame,  the  mass  may  char  itself  so 
that  the  food  value  is  largely  lost. 
So  the  question  arises,  and  in  a  wet 
season  such  as  this  has  been  in  the  East¬ 
ern  States,  becomes  rather  insistent,  as  1o 
the  possibility  of  adding  anything  to  the 
hay  which  would  help  to  preserve  it. 
Salt,  lime,  and  charcoal  are  oftenest  used. 
Of  these  the  salt  would  act  by  taking  up 
the  excess  water,  and  discouraging  the 
germs,  which  cannot  live  in  brine.  The 
lime  would  take  some  water  if  it  was 
“quicklime,*'  that  is,  caustic  lime,  and 
some  carbonic  acid  gas  at  any  rate,  but 
it.  is  hard  to  see  how  it  would  do  much 
good,  since  it  does  not,  like  the  salt,  add 
to  the  flavor,  and  so.  indirectly,  to  the 
food  value,  of  the  hay.  The  charcoal 
would  act  by  absorbing  gases  only,  and 
so,  if  plenty  of  the  fresh  article  was  used, 
might  reduce  heating.  Of  the  three,  the 
salt  seems  to  have  most  iu  its  favor.  But 
nothing  can  take  the  place  of  intelligent 
care,  which  will  consider  the  condition  of 
every  load.  And  a  sudden  shower  can 
ruin  it  all;  that  is  part  of  the  widely 
followed  and  entirely  legal  gambling 
business  commonly  called  farming. 
THE  NEW 
u  mmmn 
!■  BR  3h.p.  $66 
6h.p.$119 
All  F.  O.  B.  Factory 
Effective  April  20, 1916 
Fairbanks-Morse  quality— service — depend¬ 
ability— at  a  popular  price,  tells  the  story. 
More  than  rated  power 
and  a  wonder  at  the  price 
Simple  —  Light  Weight  -  Substantial  —  Fool¬ 
proof  construction — Gun  Barrel  Cylinder  Bore 
—  Leak  proof  compression  —  Complete  with 
Built-in  Magneto.  Quick  starting  even  in  cold 
weather.  Low  first  cost —  low  fuel  cost  —  low 
maintenance  cost.  Long,  efficient,  economical 
“power  service.” 
on  skids 
BUILT-IN 
MAGNETO 
Some  Reminiscences  of  Inventors 
The  article  by 
Sweet  Corn  Fodder 
Mr.  Proctor  in  a  recent  number  of  Tiie 
It.  N.-Y.  interested  me  in  several  ways. 
First  because  the  orchards  1  have  were 
nursed  and  financed  into  hearing  with 
sweet  corn  and  strawberries,  at  a  period 
when  few  grew  strawberries,  and  the 
Wilson  was  the  standard  of  profit.  This 
was  before  most  farmers  and  gardeners 
had  come  to  know  that  sweet  corn  not 
only  is  a  profitable  crop  to  grow  for  ears, 
but  has  a  side  line  value  for  soiling. 
Every  season  I  plant,  a  succession  of 
sweet  corn,  the  forage  of  which  gives  a 
large  amount  of  succulent  feed  for  horses 
and  cows  from  the  middle  of  duly  until 
frost  in  late  September.  Second,  it 
brought  memories  of  long  ago,  when  I 
was  a  scholar  at  a  school  in  Northwestern 
Connecticut  in  the  Winter  of  ’54-*55.  a 
boy  of  14. 
A  VtELAr.H  Machine  Sir  or. — It.  was  at 
Sharon,  a  nice  little  village  then  and 
now,  and  in  a  valley  a  mile  from  the  main 
street  was  a  machine  shop,  where  a  va¬ 
riety  of  things  were  made,  mouse  traps, 
pepper-box  revolver  castings,  monkey 
wrenches,  and  malleable  harness  hard¬ 
ware.  The  shop  was  owned  by  a  middle- 
aged  man  named  Hotchkiss,  and  the 
mechanical  genius  of  the  place  was  his 
next  oldest  son.  Andrew.  This  son  was 
horn  without  any  legs  part  way  to  the 
knees,  and  the  limbs  developed  a  scrofu¬ 
lous  condition,  and  becoming  running 
sores,  pretty  near  sapped  the  life  of  the 
boy.  Being  unable  to  get  around  much 
the  boy  turned  his  attention  to  inventing 
and  to  reading.  The  harness  snap  made 
of  bent  wire  with  a  welded  end  was  his 
invention  ;  also  the  common  wire  mouse¬ 
trap.  When  I  first  became  acquainted 
with  Andrew  in  October,  he  had  a  brass 
foil r- pounder  cannon  iu  a  lathe,  and  was 
giving  it  a  rifle  boro. 
The  Hotchkiss  Gun. — I  was  a  nat¬ 
ural  mechanic,  and  spent  part  of  every 
Saturday  visiting  the  shop,  and  became  a 
kind  of  pal  of  Andrew,  who  was  then  I 
suppose  about  28.  At  this  time  thG 
Crimean  War  was  being  waged,  and  as 
much  interest  was  manifested  in  it  as  is 
now  in  the  great  war.  My  uncle,  in 
whose  family  I  lived,  took  the  Tri-weekly 
Tribune,  and  this  in  every  issue  printed 
several  columns  of  letters  from  the  seat 
of  war.  When  it  came  my  turn  to  read 
the  paper  1  devoured  every  word,  little 
thinking  that  in  a  few  years  I  should 
take  a  personal  part  in  a  war  which, 
when  compared  with  the  Russian  war 
would  make  the  latter  appear  like  a  small 
riot.  The  siege  of  Sebastopol,  in  which 
thousands  of  round  cannon  halls  were 
wasted  in  a  sort  of  hit-and-miss  way,  was 
then,  in  progress,  and  thoughtful  invent¬ 
ors  in  Europe  and  America  were  revolv¬ 
ing  in  their  minds  the.  matter  of  making 
halls  which  would  tit  rifle  bores  and  have 
the  accuracy  of  the  squirrel  rifle.  Andrew 
Hotchkiss  solved  the  problem  by  making 
a  ball  with  a  shank  that  tapered,  and  a 
heel  piece  also  with  a  shank.  They  were 
connected  with  a  lead  ring.  The  cir¬ 
cumference  of  all  three  just  nicely  fitted 
the  bore  of  the  cannon,  but  upon  dis¬ 
charging  the  lieel  plug  was  driven  into 
the  lead  ring,  and  forced  it  into  the 
grooves,  thus  not.  only  conserving  the  en¬ 
tire  strength  of  the  powder,  but  giving 
the  ball  a  spiral  motion  that  carried  it 
straight  to  the  mark.  The  cannon  was 
finally  completed,  and  one  beautiful  In¬ 
dian  Summer  afternoon  iu  early  Novem¬ 
ber  the  piece  mounted  on  a  dandy  car¬ 
riage  was  trailed  to  the  hanks  of  a  small 
lake  known  as  Mudge  Bond,  and  aimed  at 
a  sheet  across  the  lake  at  the  base  of  Ray 
Mountain.  The  gun  was  a  four-pounder 
and  the  missile  was  acorn-isbaped,  with  a 
tapering  shank,  and  the  size  of  a  small 
teacup.  The  follower  was  like  a  five- 
pound  weight  with  one  side  smaller  than 
the  other,  making  the  outer  edge  a  bevel. 
While  loading  the  cannon,  Andrew,  who 
Go  to  the  dealer  —  see  the  features  that 
make  the  new  *'Z"  the  one  best  engine  “buy” 
for  you.  When  you  buy  an  engine  from  your 
dealer  you  deal  with  a  local  representative  of 
the  manufacturers.  He  stands  behind  the 
engine  he  sells.  He's  responsible  to  you.  He's 
at  your  service  to  see  that  you  are  satisfied. 
FAIRBANKS,  M0RSE&C0., Chicago 
All  Fairbanks-Morse  dealers  sst!  "Z"  engines 
on  a  zone  carload  low  freight  basis.  It  you 
don't  know  the  local  dealer — write  os. 
EVERY  SIZE  A  BARGAIN.  2,  3.  4,  6,  S, 
12, 16  and  22  H-P.  Kerosene,  Gasoline,  etc. 
WITTE  ENGINE  WORKS,  ISSfaSW’ 
MAKE  YOUR  OWN  CONCRETE 
Save  $5 
to  $10 
pel-  day 
Requires 
Dniy  a  2  H.P. 
engine. 
Weighs 
only 
400  lbs. 
Dnrai  I 
86-in.  I 
Dumps] 
Glean 
Full 
Length 
T  POWER 
MIXER 
*Q50  . 
CUDtTON  POWER  BUTCH  MIXER 
Strongest,  simp  lent,  capacity*  low-priced  Ce¬ 
ment  Mixer  evwr  Unuri  ntpaeity  nine  cubic  feet. 
Mixes  Concrete.  Ktxsd  trcrtfljg&r,  etc.  Guaranteed 
to  sAtisfv  or  Moiniy’  K*-!  uudod.  Iia.no  MiXttUOF  kame  fat 
•nail  for $19 .60.  nir.ioirr  BKhTAto  ok  am.  ouh  rnoDtwnp 
nomlsiiTOe  book  ConercrtL' ill  Uic  Country"  in*«i  with  each 
mixer.  I 
Silo  Specially  Mffl.  CoH  614  2d  St.,  Clinton,  lows 
UNLOAD6^ 
ALONE  km 
quicker  than  a  man  can  un¬ 
hitch  and  hitch  .■  team.  Not 
nnlyfnr  hnyhul  for  liiadingand 
unloading  grain,  coal,  fertiliz¬ 
er,  machinery,  etc.  You  can  sate 
Iwo-lbirds  of  work  ami  lime  with  an 
Cost  lc.  a  load.  Operates  easily,  quickly  and  safely 
c  n-  i  AN  Kpci'ial  rniiley  l  or  your 
Free  Circulars  jjjj  "ngintts.  Guaranteed 
fib  /  \ijaL— ,  Ireland  Machine  &  Foundry  Co. 
22  Stale  St.,  Norwich.  N.  Y# 
Also  tnfgre.  drug:  sawn,  wood 
lVn'  "j  '".Lx. flaws,  saw  umJ  shingle  mills. 
COND1T  HORSE  HAY  FORK 
Combines  the  good  features  of  the  Harpoon  and 
(1  rapple  without  their  drawbacks.  Write  for  iln- 
scrilHioji  and  reasonable  price.  Money  returned  if 
nut  satisfied.  C.  DcH.  COND1T,  Boonton,  N.  J. 
A  ftll#  il  C  COVERS.  Waterproof 
11  1#  ^3  Tarpaulins,  Waterproof 
-  Ilay  Caps.  WHOO  in.,  at  low 
prices.  Good  Canvas  Wagon  Covers,  Txl2  ft,,  $2.80, 
prepaid.  Boat  and  Stack  C.civers.  State  size  required. 
VV.  TV.  Stanley,  r>0  Plnircti  St.,  Now  York  City 
BOOKS  WORTH  BUYING 
The  Rose.  Parsons . 
Plant  Diseases.  Massee . 
landscape  Gardening,  Maynard 
Clovers,  Shaw . 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER, 
WEST  30th  ST.,  NEW  YORK, 
July  15,  1910. 
operated  from  n  wheel  chair,  gave  me  the  The  Vineland  Egg-laying  Contest 
projectile  to  hold,  nml  thus  it  came  about 
that  I  had  iu  my  hands  the  first  Hotch-  Another  egg-laying  contest  is  to  be 
kiss  projectile  ever  fired.  Started  this  Fall  at  Vineland,  N.  J. 
A  Successful  Projectile. _ It  was  While  located  at  Vineland  this  contest 
difficult  to  sight  a  short  biuity  cannon  will  be  under  the  control  of  t he  State  Ex- 
the  first  time,  but  Andrew  hit  within  periment  Station  at  Now  Brunswick,  and 
three  feet  ol  I  he  center,  and  afterwards  this  fact,  will  insure  an  honest  contest, 
arranged  his  sights  so  his  aim  was  closely  well  developed  and  carried  out. 
accurate.  A  livc-dollar  reward  was  of-  All  who  are  interested  in  this  matter 
tered  for  the  recovery  of  the  ball,  which  ought  to  send  to  New  Brunswick  and  ob- 
was  finally  earned  hy  a  man  who  spent  lain  a  copy  of  the  rillcs  and  regulations, 
two  days  on  the  job.  Bart  of  the  haul  There  are  several  new  features  not  yet 
band  still  stuck  to  the  cone,  but  the  disk  attempted  in  other  previous  contests.  It 
in  this  ami  succeeding  shots  dropped  in  is  to  begin  November  1,  1916,  and  con- 
t lie  lake  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  tinue  for  a  period  of  three  years.  As  our 
I  like  to  check  up  ray  early  memories  of  readers  understand,  in  the  other  contests, 
things  by  the  Encyclopedia,  and  I  find  pullets  are  entered  for  one  year  only  anil 
that  the  invention  of  the  Hotchkiss  pro-  are  then  taken  out.  In  the  Vineland  con- 
jectile,  which  played  such  an  important  test  several  new  features  are  to  be  intro- 
part  in  the  Civil  War,  is  credited  to  one  dueed.  and  various  questions  about  poul- 
Benjainin  Hotchkiss,  born  at* Watertown,  try  keping  are  to  be  answered.  One  fea- 
1  iitfhfield  Co.,  Culm.  This  must  have  lure  of  the  contest  will  be  breeding  exper- 
been  an  older  brother  who  with  the  intents  in  connection  with  the  egg-laying 
youngest  Son,  Fred,  brought  the  inven-  demonstration.  The  contest  is  carried  >>u 
Type  of  House  Used  in  Vineland  Egg-Laying  Contest.  Fig.  377. 
lion  to  perfection  after  Andrew’s  death, 
which  occurred  soon  after  he  had  fully 
demonstrated  the  value  of  his  invention. 
My  aunt,  where  I  was  attendng  school, 
became  a  widow  that  Spring,  and  the 
elder  Hotchkiss  n  widower  a  year  later, 
and  afterwards  they  married  and  visited 
my  father’s  family  in  Ohio  in  the  Sum¬ 
mer  of  1859.  The  old  gentleman  told  me 
many  interesting  facts  in  their  efforts  to 
establish  a  factory  and  get  war  depart¬ 
ments  of  different  nations  to  use  their 
ordnance.  1  may  say,  incidentally,  that 
my  aunt’s  marriage  made  me  by  courtesy 
a  cousin  of  these  inventors,  whose  work 
has  played  such  an  important  part  in  de¬ 
molishing  forts  and  slaying  soldiers  for 
nearly  sixty  years. 
Howf.'s  Sewing  Machine. — And  now 
let  me  go  back  to  what  I  started  to  write 
about  and  that  was  about  the  primitive 
sewing  machine  and  its  inventor  Howe. 
Tn  the  office  of  the  Hotchkiss  shop  at  the 
close,  of  181)4.  there  were  six  sewing  ma¬ 
chines  standing  on  a  table,  which  1  was 
told  were  built  for  one  Howe,  who  lived 
about  100  miles  north,  near  North  Adams. 
They  wore  nicely  finished  boxes  about 
seven  inches  high,  and  10  square.  On 
the  right  side  was  a  crank  with  a  three- 
inch  radius.  At  the  left  side  a  slender 
arm  projected  over,  under  which  the 
cloth  was  engineered  with  the  left  hand. 
The  perpendicular  needle  came  up  from 
underneath  while  the*  horizontal  one 
worked  in  the  surface  of  the  top,  aud  the 
arm  which  was  also  the  pressor,  had  to 
lie.  adjusted  very  nicely  to  the  thickness 
of  the  cloth  or  else  it  failed  to  make  con¬ 
nection  with  the  other  thread  and  thus 
missed  a  stitch.  There  was  no  regulated 
feed,  and  so  such  stitches  as  made  con¬ 
nection  were  long  or  short,  according  as 
the  motions  of  one  hand  tallied  with  the 
other.  After  recalling  these  incidents  of 
my  boyhood  1  again  consulted  the  En¬ 
cyclopedia,  and  found  that  Mr.  Howe 
lived  at  Spencer,  a  few  miles  from  Wor¬ 
cester.  in  the  center  of  the  State,  and  that 
he  made  his  invention  in  1840,  but  had 
to  fight  for  his  patent  rights  until  18.14, 
when  he  was  declared  the  inventor  of  the 
principle  which  has  governed  in  all  sew¬ 
ing  machine  building  since.  Much  of  this 
is  not  horticultural  but  as  you  have  many 
thousand  readers  who  are  otherwise  in¬ 
terested.  these  notes  of  a  period  which 
was  the  beginning  of  America’s  most 
phenomenal  development  may  not  bo  un¬ 
interesting,  especially  as  they  carry  sug¬ 
gestions  as  to  checking  up  and  making 
solid  one’s  supposed  knowledge. 
In  conclusion.  I  am  wondering  how 
many  years  Mr.  I’roctor  will  be  able  to 
practice  horse  cultivation  in  that  4‘_’-incli 
space  next  to  his  trees.  Also.  I  think  a 
man  makes  a  mistake  in  undertaking  the 
purely  academic  mission  of  experiment¬ 
ing  with  varieties  when  lie  expects  to. 
butter  bis  bread  therefrom  and  possesses 
only  an  acre  of  farm.  Front  a  business 
point  of  view  it  would  seem  better  to  as¬ 
certain  what  the  market  demanded  and 
what  varieties  did  the  best  in  that  vicin¬ 
ity,  aud  plant  accordingly. 
Ohio.  L.  B.  pierce. 
for  three  years  in  order  to  cover  an  ex¬ 
periment  in  breeding.  During  the  second 
year  the  owner  of  the  pen  is  permitted  to 
semi  a  cockerel  of  his  own  selection  to  put 
with  the  liens.  This  cockerel  is  to  remain 
during  the  breeding  season,  and  is  then 
returned  to  the  owner  about  June  1st, 
males  being  placed  in  the  pen  not  later 
than  Fell.  15,  BUS,  After  this  cockerel 
is  placed  in  the  pen  100  eggs  will  be  in¬ 
cubated  from  each  pen  so  far  as  possible, 
10  eggs  from  each  hen  being  set.  All 
chicks  will  he  pedigree  hatched  and  per¬ 
manently  handed.  After  15  weeks  20  of 
the  best  pullets,  two  from  each  hen.  if 
possible,  will  be  selected  and  reared  to 
maturity.  On  October  31,  BUS,  10  of 
these  pullets,  one  from  each  hen,  will  be 
placed  in  the.  pen  occupied  hy  their  pa¬ 
rents  for  a  year’s  test,  while  the  yearling 
hens  will  be  returned  to  the  owner  after 
two  years’  work. 
A  breeder  may  enter  10  pullets  this 
Fall  of  1010.  These  birds  will  be  trap- 
nested  and  a  full  record  kept  each  year. 
Then  beginning  with  November  1,  1017. 
the  same  10  hens  will  be  given  another 
full  year’s  record.  During  this  year’s 
record  the  male  bird  will  he  used,  and  so 
far  as  possible  ope  pullet  from  each  hen 
will  be  selected  for  a  third  years’  record 
beginning  November  1,  1018.  Thus  each 
one  who  enters  this  contest  will  have  a 
year’s  record  for  birds  as  pullets;  another 
year's  record  for  them  as  yearling  hens, 
and  a  third  year’s  record  of  their  own 
daughters  from  such  breeding  as  he  may 
propose. 
It  is  certainly  an  ambitious  scheme 
and  a  most  interesting  one.  if  if  can  he 
carried  through,  and  we  believe  it  will 
attract  great  attention,  and  lead  to  some 
interesting  comparisons  in  relation  to 
this  matter  of  pedigree  breeding.  The 
entrance  fee  for  the  three  years  will  he 
$50  for  each  pen,  both  pullets  and  the 
yearling  hens  to  he  returned  to  the  own¬ 
er.  All  the  details  are  carefully  given  in 
the  bulletin  mentioned,  which  may  be  ob¬ 
tained  from  tin*  Experiment  Station,  New 
Brunswick.  N.  .7  The  contest  is  open  to 
the  world.  Only  purebred  birds  are  to  be 
used  and  of  course  the  managers  will  re¬ 
serve  the  right  to  reject  any  or  all  birds 
which  show  disease  or  inferiority.  A  pic¬ 
ture  of  the  houses  to  he.  used  in  the  con¬ 
test  is  shown  ut  Fig.  377.  It  is  10x12 
feet,  aud  will  hold  10  hens.  There  will 
be  100  houses  like  this  in  the  content. 
The  inspector  was  examining  a  school 
and  all  the  class  had  been  specially  told 
beforehand  by  its  teacher,  “Don’t  an¬ 
swer  unless  you  are  almost  certain  your 
answer  is  correct.”  The  subject  was' his¬ 
tory.  “Who,”  asked  the  inspector,  “was 
the  mother  of  the  greatest  Scottish  hero 
and  king,  Robert  Bruce?”  He  pointed 
to  the  boy  in  front  of  him  and  then 
round  the  class.  There  was  no  answer. 
Then,  at  last,  the  heart  of  the  teacher 
leaped  with  joy.  The  boy  who  was 
standing  at  the  very  foot  indicated  that 
he  knew.  “Well,  my  hoy,”  continued 
the  inspector,  “who  was  she?”  “Mrs. 
Bruce,”  said  the  lad. — Chicago  Journal. 
