66 
February 1 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
able market pear. It would be my plan to bud the 
small branches next Summer and convert the trees 
to Bartlett as soon as possible. While Elberta is the 
most popular market peach there are others which 
come a little later that may prove as profitable. Chairs 
is one of this character. It is large, yellow and of 
general good character in orchard and market. Fitz¬ 
gerald is another very good one. Triumph is very 
early but not so good for that season as iSneed and 
Greensboro, according to the opinion of many peach 
growers who have them all. Carman is later and of 
excellent quality. Muir is a famous California drying 
peach, but is not liked for shipping in the fresh state. 
Champion is excellent in quality but very bad to rot. 
Ve'tdh is a good crop for Winter cover in an or¬ 
chard, but what it will do in Colorado I do not know. 
Crimson clover will surely be a failure there, because 
it only flourishes in a moist climate, and where the 
Winters are just the reverse of those in Colorado. 
Oats sown in the early Fall and well irrigated might 
make sufficient growth before cold weather kills it to 
furnish considerable humus. Cow peas in the latter 
part of Summer might be better, h. e. van deman. 
COLD FACTS ABOUT A HOTBED. 
The article on page 5 about hotbeds is very com¬ 
plete, but not altogether up to recent methods in some 
sections. We use 3x6-foot sash holding three rows of 
lOxl'2-inch glass, using one sash bar less than where 
8x10 glass is used, and the breakage is no greater. I 
supposed the old method of puttying in glass had 
been practically abandoned. Instead, after priming 
the sash as there described, we use a mixture about 
half each of white lead and putty and mixed with 
oil thinner than putty is usually used. A light layer 
of this is put along the edge of the sashbar, and the 
glass pressed or bedded into it, leaving none on the 
upper side except what little may work up along the 
edge. I think the glass should not lap to exceed one- 
fourth of an inch, as it soon causes a dark strip to 
shut out the light. Indeed, about half the sash we 
are now using is not lapped at all but butted end to 
end. These are fully as tight, and can be set faster. 
When put in in this manner the end of each light 
should 'be dipped into a thin layer of thick white 
paint, then placed solidly against the light above in 
the sash. The only objection to this method is that 
it is more work to repair a break perfectly. We have 
sash set in this manner which have been in use seven 
years, and are perfectly tight and satisfactory. When 
glass is bedded and partly dried then paint along the 
edge on the upper side with rather thick white paint 
and allow the sash to lie flat till dry. Sash set in 
this manner will long outlast any set with putty, and 
I think no one would putty in glass after one trial. 
While I fully agree with the writer of the article 
mentioned as to the value of cloth in place of glass, 
and use it a good deal, I would not advise anyone at 
present to attempt to prepare it. The cloth already 
prepared can be purchased cheaper. We use a great 
deal upon frames that are just the size of our sash, 
and interchangeable, and often used with the glass 
for shade. The cloth can be procured through most 
seedsmen either by the yard or bolt. We use the me¬ 
dium grade, and on a cold frame it will protect from 
at least five degrees of frost. A cold frame or hotbed 
is unsightly at best, and particularly so when not in 
use. We have a set made to remove and pack away 
each Spring when emptied, till they are needed the 
next year. Our lot is made as follows: Materials 
needed for one frame of four sash, three two-inch 
planks, 1x12 feet, and one inch board 10 inches by 
12 feet, six 10x% inch carriage bolts, one dozen heavy 
1 ^4-inch screws, about one-half pound of No. 8 wire 
nails and one pound No. 20 ditto. Rip a three-inch 
strip from one plank and nail it edgewise on another. 
We shall then have one plank nine inches wide and 
another 15 inches. These are for the front and back 
of the frame. For the ends, cut two pieces from the 
remaining plank 5 feet 10 inches long. From one 
edge of each cut a wedge-shaped piece three inches 
wide at the end and running out at exactly half the 
length of the plank. Reverse this wedge piece and 
nail it on the same edge at the other end of the plank, 
bevel edge up. There will then be a piece 5 feet 10 
inches long, 15 inches wide at one end and nine at the 
other, with a sloping surface the whole length. We 
now have the four pieces for the sides and ends of 
the frame. Take the bolts to a blacksmith, have him 
knock off the heads and flatten out the round part 
till it is nearly an inch wide, being careful not to 
hurt the thread end, or nut; drill two holes in each, 
large enough to hold the two screws. Fasten two of 
these on the wide end of the frame end pieces, and 
one at the other, letting the thread end protrude 
about three inches beyond the end of the plank. Now 
bore half-inch holes two inches from the ends of the 
back and front pieces of the frame to match the bolts, 
put together and with the nuts draw all up solid. For 
the bars upon which to slide the sash cut a piece six 
feet two inches long from the inch board, and rip 
into three three-inch strips. Cut a dovetail shoulder 
at each end, and to stiffen the pieces without taking 
room I nail a two-inch strip edgewise on the under¬ 
side. Then on the top edge of the frames make a 
cut just to fit the shoulder on the end of these bars, 
setting the bars three feet apart. The whole thing 
can be set up or taken down within five minutes. 
Ours are made of dressed lumber and painted and 
will last a lifetime. If the bottoms of the frames are 
set level there will be a six-inch slope to the glass. 
With that slope l never had a sash slide itself, and 
always have it free so they can be pushed up or down. 
We usually set the frames late in the Fall, and 
dig the pit or empty the old one and fill with 
leaves; then it is no trouble to clear out to 
put in the manure as early as needed. With 
the plank we have to bank up on the outside 
but very little, and it is more convenient to work in 
them. The diagrams, Fig. 28, of the parts when fin¬ 
ished may make the description clearer. They are 
drawn on a scale of one-half inch to foot, but only 
half the length of the front and back is shown. No. 
4 also shows by outline the shape of the end piece 
before cutting. A - G - gui/ley. 
Storrs, Conn. ___ 
THE DANGER FROM THE SCALE. 
As one goes in and out among the towns bordering 
upon Lake Ontario, between the Niagara and Gene¬ 
see rivers, one cannot help becoming impressed with 
the fact that this is indeed one of the garden spots of 
New York 'State, and the section is intensely horti¬ 
cultural and agricultural. In no section of New York 
State have I seen the farms look more prosperous. 
Without any question, apple is king along the lake 
shore, and to an extent that very few people outside 
of this district realize, the fruit crop of that section 
being worth about $1,500,000 in 1900, and while the 
past year it was light it mounts up in the hundreds 
/ 
L 
3 
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] 
PARTS OF A HOTBED. Fie. 28. 
of thousands. Here one finds rural delivery making 
headway, an awakening demand for good roads, and 
a live interest in the new things in the different lines 
of agricultural work. Here one can ride through 
acres and acres of orchards, and many farms w. th 
40, 60 and 100 acres devoted to fruit, and many times 
several hundred acres of orchards in almost one solid 
block. One who has studied the San Jos§ scale can¬ 
not help but wonder what the outcome will be if it 
once gets a firm foothold through this territory. Al¬ 
ready it is firmly established along the Niagara 
River and at Lewiston. Some of the best informed 
fruit growers of this section believe that by a careful 
search the San Josd scale could be found in every 
town from Niagara to the Genesee River. Each fruit 
grower should awaken to that fact, and endeavor to 
locate every infestation and clean it out wherever 
possible, and where not possible to exterminate it, 
find some effective way of controlling it. One large 
fruit grower who has come in contact with the San 
jos6 scale said that if it once got a foothold through 
the orchard section, fruit lands would depreciate at 
least $25 per acre in value. 
Already some of the foremost fruit growers are 
making plans for fighting this pest. In apples some 
lean to low-headed trees of early bearing varieties, 
or are trying some system of cultivation or pruning 
whereby the trees could be kept within bounds, so 
that it could be more easily sprayed and fumigated 
if necessary. Many are hesitating about setting new 
orchards of apples and pears, and without any doubt 
the fear of San Jos6 is lessening planting of orchard 
trees to a great extent. One fruit grower told me 
that he would set out 50 acres of apple orchard this 
Spring if it were not for this pest. Cabbage, wheat 
and beans are also staple crops, but the apple is king, 
and here they grow the longest keepers, hardest and 
firmest apples of New York State. Here the buyers 
flock in large numbers, competition is keen and prices 
higher than in the eastern part of the State. The 
railway which carries this produce is often taxed to 
its utmost to furnish cars in which to ship, and buy¬ 
ers have often lost heavily because of this. It seems 
but right that the railroad should be made to share 
in that loss. The ratio that wheat bears to fruit 
growing in this section is one car to 35 or 50. b. 
PRACTICAL WAY OF NURSING CHICKS. 
My chicks were hatched in an incubator and were 
placed in an ordinary indoor brooder. For every 50 
kept together I bought one box of Pettijohn’s Break¬ 
fast Food, which is simply selected rolled wheat, and 
which chicks prefer two to one to rolled oats. Be¬ 
sides, for wee chicks the particles break finer with 
picking—not so with rolled oats. This is sprinkled 
before them as often as they will eat it up clean, 
and at all times sweet skim-milk and a flower-pot 
saucer full of granulated cornmeal is kept before 
them. No water is given. I consider that skim-milk 
and cornmeal in themselves make a balanced ration, 
and the wheat is given for relish and variety, not 
less essential. When old enough, they are put in 
out-door brooders, described later, and fed sweet 
skim-milk and cornmeal only; no water, and this un¬ 
til they are old enough to eat whole or cracked grain. 
Healthier, heartier, more disease-free chickens could 
not be found. Why then should one muss with 
mashes, which are an abomination? The out-door 
brooder was made of a hotbed frame. It is of good 
depth, and took three sashes 3x6, or was 6x9, and, of 
course, higher at one end and sloping toward the 
south. The earth was dug up before placing the 
chicks in the frame, and every little while after—the 
oftener the better, though once a week is enough. 
Sashes were hooked at night tightly on to the frame 
with screw hooks and eyes; also on cold, cloudy 
days. As the sashes slid down for ventilation, they 
exposed fine strong wire meshing for a distance of 18 
inches. iSashes could then be hooked on to frame 
with another set of hooks on the frames. A ther¬ 
mometer was kept inside, but was not absolutely 
necessary, being merely a convenience. 
It was surprising what an amount of heat the chicks 
would stand, and enjoy it! On indication of ap¬ 
proaching cold, or night, sashes were closed and firm¬ 
ly hooked, to prevent any wind from raising them, 
though I found it took a very strong wind to move 
them. The stored-up heat in the ground floor from 
radiation of the sun would keep the little fellows 
warm until time to go to bed, when they would go 
into the lower section of a flour or sugar barrel, the 
barrel being cut in two and turned bottom up. One 
or two holes were made for entrances by cutting out 
a section of the barrel staves. When within they 
would collect around a stone jar filled with hot water 
and placed in the middle of the barrel on the earth. 
The circular form of this brooder prevented any 
crowding. This was a perfect success. It should be 
stated here that boards were sunk six inches below 
the surface of the frame and nailed on to it to pre¬ 
vent entrance of any digging animal. Not one chick 
died out of three lots put in, after I adopted the cir¬ 
cular night brooder and eliminated corners. The 
cost of such a frame for out-doors would be simply 
the cost of the three sashes, as the frame can be 
made of any rough boarding if all cracks are bat¬ 
tened. Glass of sash should be put in lapping or 
shingled perfectly to shed water. c. d. b. 
Essex Co., N. J. 
LONG-LIVED CEMENT FLOORS. 
I have been much interested in the articles in two 
of your recent issues on cement floors; not that I ex¬ 
pect any material benefit from them, as probably I 
have laid all of such floors I shall; but I wish to com¬ 
mend their usefulness, cheapness and durability. It 
is expected that these floors are to be on the ground 
or on a stone-filled foundation. Where there is room, 
I like plenty of small stones, as this affords an ex¬ 
cellent drainage if such should be in a basement. 
Here was my first experience: With a plank floor 
close to the ground and no circulation of air, the life 
of a hemlock or elm plank was only about five years, 
or even less; and this afforded one of the host rat 
harbors you need imagine. With broken floors and 
plenty of the rodents at hand, I decided on a change 
for better or for worse. Getting some instructions 
from a mason experienced in cements and water lime, 
I procured a helper and went at it. Mr. Cook, in his 
articles, has given very full details of his method. 
Mine varying somewhat, I will give it. I first ob¬ 
tained my grade by use of small stones; then with 
material close at hand, mixed six parts sharp, coarse 
sand to one of Akron cement (Portland was not 
much used then), mixing thoroughly before wetting, 
“tempering” to about soft stone mortar. I used a 
2x4 strip flatwise as a guide for thickness. As my 
helper shoveled on the cement, I hoed in and down 
