May 27, 1922 
Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Simple Science 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
Enamel for Stove Reservoir 
The reservoir in my range, unused for 
a time, rusted, and 1 scoured it bright. 
Now I find that it rusts in a few hours 
after water is put in. Is there any rem¬ 
edy. and •can 1 enamel it? MRS. H. L. M. 
New Preston, Conn. 
It rusted because you cleaned the iron 
and added water, and clean iron rusts 
rapidly in ordinary water. It will con¬ 
tinue to rust. It is possible that a good 
grade of "bathtub enamel," applied when 
it was bone dry and allowed to harden 
well, would protect it for a time, hul, 
after all. these "enamels" are only var¬ 
nish paints, and will nor last indefinitely 
in water, especially warm water. The 
haked-on enamels are quite permanent, 
but cannot he used in this case. A good 
grade of asphaltmn varnish would prob¬ 
ably last ns long ns anything, but any 
such coating must be renewed from time 
to time. 
Sulphuric Acid to Render Cesspool 
Porous 
Would sulphuric acid, poured into an 
old cesspool, open up the interstices in 
the brick work to allow the water to flow 
off. and would it injure the brick work? 
Vineland, N. Y. d. h. c. 
There is not much chance that it would 
do any good. The trouble is the ground 
is saturated. 
Preservative for Shingles 
Around here we have for many years 
used thick petroleum oil. about twice as 
thick as paint, to coat shingles, and, so 
treated, they last indefinitely. Could we 
make a better preservative by adding 
crude creosote to the oil, or a similar 
thinner oil? J.B. 
Berwick, Nova Scotia. 
Tf the shingles last indefinitely, it is 
hard to see what you want of any other 
preservative, unless you want something 
more of a fireproofing nature than crude 
oil. But creosote is not exactly a fire¬ 
proofing agent, either. There are several 
sorts of "creosote" on the market, and 
most of them will mix with crude oil. 
with good stirring, and only a trial will 
tell if the sort at hand Is the kind you 
want to use. You can test this by mix¬ 
ing some, noting the volume used. Cre¬ 
osote can usually be made partly water- 
soluble by adding a little caustic soda or 
ammonia, and the latter, when it evap¬ 
orates, will leave the creosote in the 
wood. But so applied it washes out fast¬ 
er than when the crude creosote is used. 
Coal Tar Paint 
Can you toll me how to make a paint 
from coal tar for painting buggies? 
Hobart, Mich. o. s. 
We do not think that there is any 
chance at all that you can make a paint 
from coni tar which will paint buggies 
and leave them so that anyone would 
want to ride in them. It is not easy to 
make the black enamel paints used in 
Ihis sort of work, and the base is not 
coal tar. but asphaltum, blackened, and 
the medium ft sort of varnish oil, both of 
which need special apparatus to prepare 
in the right manner. 
Frozen Arsenate of Lead 
Some arsenate of lend, in glass jars, 
froze, and the jars broke. Is it still 
good? G * W. D. 
Shelton. Conn. 
It is ns good arsenate of lend as it ever 
was. but vou may find it hard to get it to 
mix right' It is quite a trick to get it 
iust right to mix without settling too 
fast, and the manufacturers send it out 
ground in water to just- the right fine¬ 
ness. The only chatiee is that you will 
have to stir it a long time to get it sus¬ 
pended in the spray mixture. 
Casehardening Steel 
What are the ingredients and what the 
temperature used in easehardening steel i 
New Jersey. j.d.o. 
The old method is to pack in an iron 
box with charcoal and heat in a furnace. 
A later method is to beat to a dull red 
mid fuise cyanide of potash on the s\ir- 
faee, with continued heating. The be¬ 
ginner is pretty sure to fail 5 it takes a 
lot of practice and judgment. If you 
should try the cyanide of potash method, 
mber that ii is poisonous. 
Mica Schist 
I am sending you a piece of stone, or 
ometliing like it. It is shiny. Can you 
ill me wlnit those bits of shiny things 
re? I found it in our field while digging 
n old drain tile. w. B. 
Matawan, N. ,T. 
It is a bit of "mica schist’’; that is, n 
lixture of mica and grains of sand, very 
much weathered. The mica, which is a 
silicate, which sometimes has quite a lit¬ 
tle potash (unfortunately unavailable un¬ 
less the mica is ground very fine indeed), 
is the shiny stuff; the rest is sand, quartz, 
tinted pink by iron oxide. The dark stuff 
is feldspar, probably. The rock is well 
on its way to become soil; that is. the 
weather has broken it down till it is noth¬ 
ing hut solid (sand. In the long run 
mica furnishes some plant food, but it is 
nearly insoluble, even when very fine. 
Varnish Remover 
Several paint concerns put up a com¬ 
mercial varnish remover. Could you sup¬ 
ply me with information for making 
enough for my own use? The varnish 
remover on sale is of a watery consist¬ 
ency, forming a crystalline substance on 
top like small particles of ice freshly 
broken. T. F. M. 
Keesville, N. Y. 
Most of the varnish removers on the 
market are covered by patents, but you 
can do fairly well with a mixture of equal 
parts denatured alcohol and benzine, to 
which is added about five per cent of 
beeswax. A little of this is spread on 
the varnished surface and allowed to 
stand, then the surface is scraped. Strong 
ammonia or weak soda lye will also work 
very well if not allowed on too long. 
Zinc Scraps for Cleaning Out Soot 
Why do zinc clippings clean out soot? 
New York. O. .t. w. 
Do they? The fact, is often printed, but 
it may be in the class of that idea of put¬ 
ting saltpeter in a hole in a stump and 
then burning it.—an absolute fake. But 
there seems to be quite a little evidence 
that, zinc on the fire will help some sorts 
of soot, since soot is not one thing, by 
any means. When they do w< rk. it. is 
because the zinc oxide, the white fumes, 
collect on the hot soot, and there act as a 
carrier of the oxygen of the air. If they 
work at all. they will probably burn out 
the chimney also, if you keep up a hot 
fire for a time. 
Wooden Pipe for Carrying Water 
Having been a reader of The ft. N.-Y. 
all my life, my father being a subscriber 
before me. and now having reached the 
allotted threescore and ten, it may be a 
little late in life to begin a correspond¬ 
ence for the press, but. being a constant 
render and a farmer of long experience, if 
this experience is worth anything to 
readers, they are welcome to it. 
I have noticed that much has been said 
about water pipe for conveying water 
from spring to buildings, and the dissat¬ 
isfaction with galvanised iron pipe or 
even lead pipe, the latter on account of 
its expense. At one of my farmhouses 
we have a spring that furnishes the 
water. When this farm was purchased, 
about 40 years ago, the water was con¬ 
veyed through pump logs. These were 
hand bored from small growth hemlock 
or pine, and connected together by a cast- 
iron tube, tapering at the ends, and being 
driven into the logs as they were laid. 
These logs served the purpose splendidly 
until the iron connections rusted out. 
The wood logs, still mostly being sound, 
these old logs were torn up and iron pipe 
was laid. At that time pipe was very 
cheap, about four or five cents per foot 
for %-in. pipe, which we used. This 
pipe, however, soon tilled with rust, so 
that it had to he replaced, which was 
doue with galvanized iron pipe, costing 
about 10r per foot, This did not last but 
a few years. Upon inquiry I found a 
firm in Elmira, N. Y„ who made a 
wood pipe, treated with a preparation to 
prevent decay, and so tapered at the ends 
as to drive together without metal con¬ 
nections. This nipe was only about two- 
thirds the price of iron galvanized pipe. 
This wood pipe was laid in place of iron 
pipe, and has given splendid satisfaction 
since—10 or 12 years, Probably as wood 
has advanced in price during the last few 
years, the pipe would now cost as much 
as or more than iron. Yet it is far more 
durable and satisfactory, and will last 
much longer. F. w. oodfkey. 
New York. 
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For All Seasons 
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And remember you get these closed 
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The Coach stays in condition. It 
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See This Important 
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