114 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 18 
early, but it is rather poor in quality; otherwise it 
is a good variety. 
Peaches and Butternuts. 
1. Is there any antipathy between the peach and butternut 
tree? I have read that many young peach trees died in a 
piece of ground where a large butternut grew. I contem¬ 
plate setting a peach orchard on a mountain foothill covered 
witn sumach, butternut and sassafras growth. I always 
supposed, and have frequently read that sassafras land is 
the very best for peaches. Where sassafras grows on light 
loamy chestnut soil, we generally find the butternut growing. 
2. Was there ever a high-class weekly publication devoted ex¬ 
clusively to horticultural interests, published in this country, 
and successfully maintained for a number of years? Is there 
not an ample field for such a paper? d. l. p. 
Pittsburg, Pa. 
1. In Ohio, where I was reared, we had many butter¬ 
nut trees and Black walnuts, too, and nothing that we 
ever tried would grow well near those that were left grow¬ 
ing in the fields. We used to think there was something 
poisonous to other vegetation about them, but I never 
believed it; neither do I now. The reason things did not 
grow was, as I believe, that the walnuts are greedy feed¬ 
ers, and leave little moisture for any smaller vegetation 
that may be near them. Perhaps I may be wrong. 
Sumach and walnut grow on good land nearly always, 
but sassafras is often found on poor land in some cases. 
If the land under discussion is cleared thoroughly and 
planted to peaches, it is probable that the trees will do 
well; but the sassafras is about the most determined 
thing to sprout that I ever had to fight, and will need 
persistent and continued work to kill it out. 2. I never 
knew of a weekly paper devoted exclusively to horticul¬ 
ture that was a financial success. Even monthlies of 
this sort are difficult to maintain, and several good om s 
have failed for lack of proper support. 
Setting a Chestnut Orchard. 
1. Do you think It a good business proposition to set a 
chestnut orchard? If so, what varieties would you set for 
market? 2. Where can good trees be got of reliable nursery¬ 
men? 3. Do the Paragon, Numbo and other Spanish and 
Japan varieties grow to be large trees? I am interested to 
the extent that I think of setting out a peach orchard, and 
filling in with chestnuts every other row. w. s. l. 
Deckertown, N. J. 
1. Yes, I believe it would be profitable to plant a chest¬ 
nut orchard in the hill country of New Jersey. The 
growth of the native chestnut there is evidence of the 
suitability of the improved kinds. If the Europeans can 
afford to grow the chestnuts and send them over here, 
paying a duty, we can surely afford to grow them at 
home, unless there is some serious drawback. There 
are some difficulties in the way, but nothing too serious 
to be profitably overcome, as I believe from what I have 
observed and tried. A light, porous, well-drained soil 
should be chosen for the orchard. The best varieties are 
Paragon, Alpha, Coe, Parry. Killen and Kent. Perhaps 
there are no varieties of the European type that have 
been well tested that can, at this time, be as safely 
planted as Paragon. It is sufficiently hardy, very pro¬ 
lific, of good size and quality, and has the rather unique 
habit of ripening nearly all its nuts at one time. It 
unites fairly well upon native stocks, but is better to be 
grafted upon seedlings of the European type. The 
others are all of the Japan type, and have not been 
tested so extensively as the Paragon and others of that 
type; but they bear exceedingly early, are early to ripen; 
some of them the earliest known kinds and others the 
largest. This class unites better with the American 
seedlings than does the European. 
2. Grafted trees can be bought of some of the adver¬ 
tisers in The R. N.-Y., but the trees will come high. It 
is costly to produce grafted and budded nut trees of any 
kind, because many of the grafts fail. One of the most 
reliable nurserymen in the country told me not long 
since that he had given up offering to sell grafted nut 
trees, because his customers were rarely satisfied with 
the trade. They wanted big trees, so they would seem 
to get plenty for their money, and the bigger the trees 
the more danger of their dying. When they died, the 
customers were not satisfied, and often wanted them re¬ 
placed. This he had sometimes done, but it was at a 
loss to him, and without his fault. If the customer 
would get small trees, they would cost less and be worth 
more. This i« emphatically so in nut trees. After the 
trees are once well established in the orchard, they are 
very tenacious of life. It might be best, in some cases, 
to grow the trees from tuts on the farm, and graft them 
there. The whole matter should be thoroughly can¬ 
vassed before undertaking to plant a chestnut orchard. 
3. The European chestnut makes a large tree, and 
lives to a very old age. There are trees now standing 
near Wilmington. Del. that are about 100 years old; yet 
in a vigorous condition. They should be planted so as to 
be 50 feet apart at maturity, but may have others set 
between them to be cut out as their room is needed. The 
Japan type has not been long tested in America, but the 
earlier age at which the trees begin to bear would indi¬ 
cate that they may not live so long. Twenty-five feet 
would be about right to set them for permanent stand¬ 
ing, but half that distance is enough for the first few 
years. They are so early to bear that they will pay for 
their room, and more too, before they are 10 years old. 
I would fear to plant peach trees between those of the 
chestnut, lest they rob the latter, for the peach is a very 
rapid and greedy grower for the first few years, while 
the chestnut is qu.te the reverse. Possibly the plan 
might work. 
SANITARY DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD 
WASTES. 
Wastes in City and Country. —The city dwell¬ 
er has no anxiety as to the disposal of his household 
wastes; liquid matter is removed by waste pipes con¬ 
necting with the sewer, while solids are taken away by 
the scavengers. It is true, however, that leaky pipes and 
improperly constructed traps may poison him with sewer 
gas, while, in one of the largest and most progressive 
cities in the country, we have seen overflowing garbage 
boxes festering in the sun for days at a time; still, the 
city is supposed to care for these matters. In the coun¬ 
try, however, each man is a law unto himself in this 
respect, and there is no more important matter, as far 
as health is concerned, than the disposal of these wastes. 
We are shocked when an epidemic of smallpox sweeps 
over a district, yet it is doubtful whether this disease 
claims as many victims in our rural communities a6 do 
polluted wells and streams. 
Surface Absorption. —The ideas presented in 
Figs. 38, 39 and 40, reproduced from the Medical Rec¬ 
ord, are in accordance with the views of modern sani¬ 
tarians. While soddened ground or open ditches constant¬ 
ly wet would be a source of danger, this danger is re¬ 
moved when liquid wastes are distributed over an area 
SUPPORT FOR PAPER REFUSE SACK. Fig. 39. 
of loose, friable ground, which is constantly stirred. 
Sun and air are enemies to all disease germs. The prin¬ 
ciple is the same in Figs. 38 and 40. The pipes from sink 
and bath communicate with an open gutter, extending 
over a patch of clear ground, which is constantly stirred. 
Holes are pierced at intervals along the gutter for the 
liquid to escape. Exposure to the sun and air deodor¬ 
izes the earth, and there is no danger whatever of un¬ 
sanitary conditions. This principle is now urged by 
many eminent sanitarians, and is certainly peculiarly 
applicable to rural conditions. 
DRAINS CONNECTED WITH KITCHEN SINK AND 
BATH. Fig. 40. 
Solid Wastes. —Fig. 39 sliow6 a simple contrivance 
for holding a large paper flour sack, in which refuse 
may be placed, both sack and refuse being burned. A 
wooden receptacle for garbage soon becomes offensive 
and a danger to health, and should never be used. Iron 
or zinc vessels are excellent if kept clean, but it is 
both difficult and disagreeable to cleanse them properly, 
hence the advantage of the paper. Ashes should never 
be mixed with the garbage. City regulations forbid 
this, and in the country the value of the ashes in making 
roads and paths about the farm should prevent one from 
mixing them with waste matter. 
HOW TO BUILD A CHILL-ROOM. 
Its Value to Fruit Growers. 
Air Tight and Dry .—In building any room for- 
maintaining a uniformly low temperature, there are cer¬ 
tain indispensable requirements. The room must be 
made air-tight, and the floor, walls and ceiling insulated 
so that outside temperature will affect that within as lit¬ 
tle as possible. In planning for a chill-room, every one 
must consider his requirements as to size of room, kind 
of fruit to be held, his available location, and adapt his 
plan to these environments. It will be apparent that, 
when the temperature has been reduced to a minimum, 
the room should be opened only when absolutely neces¬ 
sary, and that fruit to be put in should be partially 
cooled outside and not taken directly from the field in a 
clear, hot day, and placed in the chill-room. It is better 
to leave it over night in a room that can be opened and 
cooled by the night air, and take it from there to the 
chill-room early the next morning. 
Basement of Barn. —In our own case, a barn 
with a basement was taken. The ground floor in the 
basement was trued up with cement grout. Then 3x4 
joists were laid about two feet apart, the spaces filled 
with sawdust, covered with building paper, and a tight 
spruce floor laid. Next to the side walls, upright stud¬ 
ding was placed, these covered with building paper and 
dressed ceiling boards, leaving a three-inch air space 
next the walls. Then upright studding w T as again used, 
papered and ceiled as before, and the space filled with 
sawdust. The door was made of a frame with beveled 
edges, so as to wedge tight when closed, and filled in 
with building paper, half-inch air spaces between each of 
the sheets. The sides of the door and ceiling boards 
were closely fitted. 
Ice and Ventilation.— The ice is placed in a 
room over the chill-room, and is about half its length and 
of the same width. The floor of this is planked and cov¬ 
ered with sheet iron, the joints made water-tight by 
soldering. This floor slopes to a gutter at one side, where 
the water from the melted ice is collected in a pipe, and 
escapes through a Y trap to the outside of the building. 
The side walls and ceiling of the ice-room are insulated 
by air space and sawdust placed in the same manner as 
described for the chill-room. Across the end of the chill- 
room under the ice, a two-foot space is left open in the 
ceiling to the ice-room above. At the edge of this open¬ 
ing in the ice-room, a slatted partition is put up to keep 
the ice in place, and allow the air to pass freely from 
over the ice to the chill-room below. At the opposite end 
of the chill-room are two open spaces, one in each cor¬ 
ner, about two feet by twelve inches, opening in the ceil¬ 
ing to the insulated floor above. Also, in the central 
part of the chill-room at each side, are two chimneys 
6 x 24 inches in size, that lead nearly to the top of the 
ice-room. Connecting with the first-named openings, or 
■wells, are open spaces about 4 x 12 inches, leading be¬ 
tween the ceiling of the chill-room and the floor of the 
room adjoining the ice-room to the chimneys at the side 
of the ice-room. These flues are to lead the warmed air 
from the chill-room to the top of the ice-room, thus caus¬ 
ing a continuous circulation of air, the cold air from the 
ice down the open space by the slatted partition through 
the chill-room to the sides and opposite end, through the 
wells, flues and chimneys to the top of the ice-room. 
Capacity and Temperature. -Our building is 36 x 
18 feet, with posts 14 feet long. The chill-room is about 
28 x 14 y 2 feet, with a height of about 8^ feet. It will 
hold nearly 400 barrels of apples. At the entrance of the 
chill-room is an outside room similarly insulated for part¬ 
ly cooling fruit when brought from the orchard before it 
is placed in the chill-room. This outside room is 5 x 14M> 
feet. The ice-room will hold about 25 tons of ice. This 
is filled from an ice house as often as necessary. The 
supply will usually last three or four weeks. For in¬ 
specting the thermometer, a window between the outer 
room and the chill-room with four sashes and three air 
spaces, is useful, for the thermometer hung close to the 
glass may be seen without opening the room. 
The temperature of our chill-room is easily kept at 
from 40° to 42°. This will hold peaches in good condi¬ 
tion and with little waste from eight to ten days. Most 
Winter apples will keep to April. 
« 
Its Value.— Recently coolers for using salt and ice 
in upright iron pipes eight or nine inches in diameter 
have been used. They require daily attention and filling. 
The temperature may be kept at 34° to 36°, or even low¬ 
er. Perishable fruits like peaches are said to keep three 
weeks without waste if held at a uniform temperature of 
36°. With the details of construction and management, 
I am not familiar. All chill-rooms should be kept scrup¬ 
ulously clean. Decayed fruit and packages that have 
held it should be removed, and the room disinfected be¬ 
fore using, by sprinkling with a solution of copper sul¬ 
phate or some other germicide. Fruit to be placed in it 
should be handled with care to prevent bruising, and all 
overripe and specked specimens rejected. If any of the 
requirements outlined in this article be neglected, the re¬ 
sult will not be satisfactory. But a well-made chill-room 
properly cared for will enable the fruit-grower to hold 
most of his more perishable products a few days with 
