February 25, 1922 
264 
had to do was to bring brains, energy and honesty 
into the deal, and it was hound to succeed, and suc¬ 
ceed it did. Colwell is an old man now and must 
retire, and he would like to know that other men are 
taking up this great work, for there is nothing more 
practical than helping the hoys to help themselves. 
C. E. RIG X ALL. 
R. N.-Y.—We have before us several of the con¬ 
tracts made with Mr. Colwell. They are the usual 
printed land contract, giving names, dates and de¬ 
scriptions. For instance, in one ease a farm was sold 
for $3,000 on the following terms: 
The first and second years, the interest annually, and 
as much of the principle as the party of the second part 
wishes. Thereafter, interest annually, and $100 and as 
much more as said party may desire, until all shall have 
been paid, and party of the second part agrees to keep 
all of the buildings properly iusured in favor of the 
party of the first part, interest to commence the first of 
November, 1899, and possession to be given at that time. 
Tliis farm was paid for in less than eight years, 
and was so well improved by the buyer that it sold 
two years ago for $11.(XX). It is a plain business 
agreement, under which the owner of the farm is 
made safe, while the buyer has a chance to own a 
farm by capitalizing his character and reputation. 
Mr. Colwell bus sold many farms in this way, and 
the practice has become quite popular in some parts 
of New York State. One of our readers describes 
the system as follows. Why should not such a plan 
be developed elsewhere’/ 
Given an owner of a dairy farm in productive con¬ 
dition, well stocked, good cows, good tools, and who 
wants to sell, hut would rather have his money in a 
safe investment than have the cash. Second, a good, 
able man of good habits and honest, who is not afraid 
of the dairyman’s eight-hour day ; tli t is. eight hours 
before dinner and eight hours afterwards, who wants a 
farm. Then the agreement is something like this: 
'1'he party of the first part turns over the property to 
the party of the second part. The party of the second 
part, gives a mortgage on all personal property and 
agrees not to lot it deteriorate in any way. and to pay 
taxes and insurance on all of the property. The party 
of the first part gives a contract to the party of the sec¬ 
ond part that requires the payment of a monthly install¬ 
ment a little in excess of the interest on the purchase 
price, so at the end of the year the interest, is paid and 
the principal is smaller for the next year. 1 lie monthly 
payments vary from $3 to $5 per each row in the dairy; 
on the farm, depends on location, productiveness, etc. 
Generally the buyer is able to increase the size of the 
dairy, and that makes things easier for him to make Ins 
payments. 
Winter Storage for Cabbage 
A rrangement of house.— on page 7 a 
correspondent asks regarding a Winter storage 
for cabbage. Very recently I had the privilege of 
visiting the cabbage storage house shown in the 
photo (Fig. 107), a description of which is given. 
This storage house is 30x40 ft., and on three sides, 
where the surface of the ground reaches the roof, 
the walls are of cement. The fourth side, or front 
side, is built of wood, lined with building paper, as 
is the roof. One ventilator is shown In the center of 
the roof. The doorway is large enough for either 
a small truck or wagon to back in to the floor, which 
i> about 3 ft. below the entrance level. There tire 
two doors, the inner being raised by a pulley and 
weight; the outer a swing door. When closed there 
is an 8-in. dead-air space between the doors, which 
gives an ideal condition. The bins are arranged on 
either side of the center drive. There are nine on 
a side, each 3 ft. wide, extending from the center 
drive to the side walls. They are very simple, 
being made of rough lumber. Two by fours are 
raised for sides and slats nailed to these. This 
allows for a 4-in. air space between each of the bins. 
The same sized air space is left at the floor and at 
the hack of the bins. Over 50 tons of cabbage can 
be stored in this storage house, and a contractor 
informs me that the total cost of such a house is 
about $250. This means a very small increase per 
ton in the selling price of cabbage will pay for the 
storage house in a single season. 
INSULATION.—Is this an ideal house? No, but 
it is a good practical storage house for a farmer 
who grows cabbage year iu and year out. Iheie 
are several minor improvements that should he con¬ 
sidered when building a new storage house. In the 
first place, using water as a standard, the relative 
insulating power of various building materials used 
is as follows: Water. 1 ; brick, 2; cement, 2.3; 
wood, .14; building paper, .05; dead-air space. .03. 
This means brick conducts heat or cold twice as 
fast as water, and cement over twice as fast. On 
the other hand, wood, building paper and dead-air 
space are all very poor conductors. Therefore, in 
the storage house shown, any place where the 
cement sides came above the ground-line it would 
have been better to replace them with wood. The 
roof supports are two by sixes, covered with build¬ 
ing paper and boards. If boards had been nailed 
on the lower side, a 6-in. dead-air space would huAo 
Vhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
been made and the house protected to a greater 
extent. This is also true of the sides, boards fitting 
tightly together being an improvement over slats 
for the hacks of the bins next to the cement. The 
front side should also have been lined with boards, 
making a dead-air space on this side. The storage 
house shown lias been used for a number of years, 
Scraper Used in Building Root Cellar. Fig. 105 
and when the temperature goes to 39 or 40 degrees 
below zero a chunk stove is set up in the center, 
putting the stovepipe through the ventilator. This 
has kept the frost out satisfactorily. 
A CONCRETE ROOT CELLAR.—Fig. 106 shows 
the entrance to a root cellar which is made entirely 
of concrete, except for the double doors. These 
doors are arranged to swing in opposite directions 
and when closed a 6-in. dead-air space is formed. 
At present 400 bushels of potatoes are being stored 
Entrance to Root Cellar. Fig. 100 
in this pit. The total cost was $90. not including 
labor. As the pit was dug in a steep side hill, the 
scraper shown in Fig. 105 was a very useful imple¬ 
ment. \Ye simply plowed down hill, then scraped 
the dirt down, and very little handwork was neces¬ 
sary to straighten the sides. A form was made for 
the inside, leaving the dirt itself as the outside of 
the Avail. After pouring the <ide Avails a reinforced 
Cabbage Storage House. Fig. 107 
roof was put on. We expect to build another pit 
of the same dimensions (20x10 ft.) during the com¬ 
ing season. t. h. toavnsend. 
The Better New York Hill Soil 
W M. M. KLING sends us the picture shown at 
Fig. 108. It was taken on a typical bill farm 
in northeastern Otsego Co., N. Y. In front is an acre 
of Rural Russet potatoes. Behind the two hoys is 
a field of buckwheat that averaged 46 bushels of 
grain per acre. < Hie object in seeding this buck- 
Avheat was to smother out a growth of mustard and 
quack grass. A thick seeding of buckwheat Avill 
often do that, for this grain makes such a thick and 
rank groAvth that no low-groAving crop can compete 
with it. The buckwheat practically cleared out the 
quack, and then went under for strawberries. Upon 
these high hills there is little danger of late frosts. 
While the crops are later than those iu the valley, 
they come at a good time. For example, strawber¬ 
ries in these hills come into market after the usual 
crop has been disposed of, while such varieties of 
apples as McIntosh become Winter apples. Not all 
the hill farms in New York are productive. Some 
of them are of such soil that they are practically 
worthless for fanning. Better let them go back to 
timber. No man should buy one of these farms 
without knowing the character of the soil. 
Why Not Make a Will? 
I am a farmer’s wife, and my husband owns a big 
dairy of cows, four horses, and all are paid for. includ¬ 
ing all wagons, farming implements ami household fur¬ 
niture. lie rents a farm, which he hopes to purchase 
in time. He does not cave to make a will. In the event 
of his death, would I become sole heiress, there being 
no children? I have a child from a former marriage. 
Should I take legal steps to change her name to my 
husband's? Would she then be entitled to a share in 
his estate, he being willing to give her his name? Also, 
would wo have to go to court to do so? I am saving 
money for my child to have in later years. It is in 
trust for child in her name (and mine as trustee). In 
case of my demise liow could she secure money from 
bank? Should I appoint a guardian while I am living? 
M.v husband's wish is for me to receive everything, both 
real and personal, upon his death. Could his mother, 
father and sister claim anything if there is no will? 
L. 
I N the event of the death of your husband without 
leaving a will, leaving no child, but letiA’ing a 
father or mother, you Avould only receive one-lialf 
of the personal property. In case of his leaving a 
brother or sister, but no father or mother and no 
child, you Avould receive one-half of the personal 
property and the whole of the remainder if it Avould 
not exceed $2,000. Tf the residue exceeded tlie sum 
of $2,000 you Avould take $2,000 in addition to your 
one-half. Your child by a former marriage Avill not 
share in your husband's estate unless it is legally 
adopted. In order to legally adopt a child it is nec¬ 
essary to go into surrogate’s court. In case of your 
death the court would appoint a guardian for the 
child. 
All of this worry over your husband’s property 
and of the future of your child could be done away 
Avitli by each of yon drawing a will. We Avrite re¬ 
peatedly of the advisability of leaving a will, of the 
benefit, of the Avill to those left behind, and of the 
simplicity by which a Avill is admitted to probate, 
after the death of the testator, but it seems that we 
have not made any impression on the minds of the 
readers, for very often some one comes Avitli this 
statement: “We do not wish to make a Avill.’’ There 
are very few cases where one, having any property 
at. all. dies, without leaving a will, that it is not 
necessary that an administrator he appointed. There 
are either some Liberty bonds to lie transferred, a 
mortgage to he satisfied, or something of the kind 
that requires a representative. This representative 
is required to give bond, A Avill Avould take care <>1 
this. By will one can designate the guardian of 
minor children, provide as to the maintenance ot 
their last resting place and, in fact, take care of 
most any business which they could lawfully take 
care of in their lifetime. Why then refrain from 
drawing a simple instrument that Avill express your 
Avishes for years following your death? n. t. 
The Art of Advertising 
The art of writing a good advertisement ought to 
be developed among country people. In the future 
they are likely to do more advertising tlmn ever— 
either in local papers or in circulars. Some of them 
Avill patronize the magazines or daily papers. It is 
lino art to say just the right thing in the right Avay 
as to appeal to the imagination. For that, is AA’hat 
advertisement should be—an attempt to reach the 
cketbook through the imagination. One of our 
>w Jersey readers sends us the following. Aihicli 
pea red ill a local paper. Such an appeal to town 
opie would be far more compelling than a Tlry 
itement that baked apples were being offered, 
id vet for other goods or other markets, such a 
rm of advertising might not attract any attention. 
ie point is that a good advertiser Avill study his 
arket and his possible clients, and Avrite his appeal 
as to strike them right If avo are going “to do 
An Egyptian Queen Enjoyed Gold- 
j Covered j 
: BAKED APPLES 
Two or three thousand years ago an : 
: Egyptian Queen had her baked apples served : 
• in a thin casing of pure gold. : 
Today such extravagance is unheard ot, 
; but the' same kind of apples, baked to a do- : 
lieions golden-brown in oodles of sugar, may 
j be had at Ilildebrecht’s Cafeteria (or Res- : 
: taurant). ; 
