December 30 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
898 
on the south side to allow all the sunshine possible 
to get in. No roosting-poles have been put in the 
shed, and it is expected to have considerable litter, 
as buckwheat hulls, cut straw, or something of the 
kind, on the floor, and to scatter some small grain, 
such as millet seed, and make the hens hunt for it. 
thus compelling them to exercise. At night, or be¬ 
fore, they will return to the main building to roost. 
The roosting room is warm. It is double-boarded, 
with paper between, outside, and is also boarded in¬ 
side and buckwheat hulls turned between the board¬ 
ings. The walls under the building are partly banked 
with earth, and partly pointed with cement. If Biddy 
cannot lay in such a place it cannot be because the 
room isn’t warm enough, nor that she hasn’t a place 
for exercise and fresh air. It must be something in 
the care that is lacking. We shall see. 
HOW MADE; THE COST.—I am able to give only 
very meager information regarding the construction 
and cost of most of the buildings. As before stated, 
old buildings have oftentimes been utilized, and the 
work is frequently done either by the owner or by 
changing works with a neighbor who is handy with 
tools. The material, too, is frequently found on the 
farm, and the exact worth not ascertained. The 
building with the scratcliing-shed was built over a 
year ago, and 200 hens were bought and put in. 
About 25 cents each was paid for the larger portion of 
them. The cost of the fowls and expense out for the 
building has been paid by the hens during the year. 
Had it been necessary to purchase the material and 
hire the labor, the cost of the building could not have 
been much under $125, while the actual money out 
was less than $50. The long one-story building cost 
more than was necessary, because it was built for a 
stable, but it has been paid for by the fowls. Can 
anyone do as well with any other kind of farming? 
Bainbridge, N. Y. h. h. l. 
THE FREEZING OF IVA TER TANKS. 
How to Prevent It. 
A SATISFACTORY EXPERIENCE.—Referring to 
the question of M. Garrahan in Hope Farm Notes, 
“Then, when you get that windmill at work, please 
tell us how you keep the tank from freezing,’’ I can 
assure you that there will he no trouble from the 
tank freezing, in the very coldest weather, providing 
it has some little capacity, and that you keep it well 
supplied with water. I have two tanks in my wind¬ 
mill derrick, one above the other—20 and 40-barrel 
capacity—and in many years’ use I have never been 
troubled as far as freezing is concerned. Last Feb¬ 
ruary we had the coldest weather ever experienced 
here—40 below zero—and the tanks kept open. I 
believe the theory of the non-freezing is that, if the 
water in the tank is frozen over, when water is 
drawn a space of warmer air is formed than the out¬ 
side temperature; then, when you set the windmill to 
work, the temperature of the freshly pumped water is 
such as soon to thaw out the ice covering. 
Pennsylvania. david robertson. 
KEEP THE MILL WORKING.—I see on page 855 
some inquiries from M. Garrahan, of Pennsylvania. 
I coincide entirely with your views in regard to the 
advantage of a two-horse cultivator where thorough 
cultivation is insisted upon. I have had considerable 
experience with water tanks, as I now have two mills 
running on my farm. The first was put up in the 
Fall of 1879, a Stover, and is doing as good work to¬ 
day as it did the day it started. This mill was put 
up for the purpose of furnishing water for my Winter 
stock, and also to supply the wants of my house from 
cellar to the second floor of the house. Of course my 
storage tank would have to be elevated higher than 
the second floor in order to give sufficient pressure. 
I placed a 45-barrel tank in the top of my barn and 
pumped all water into this, using only one pipe to 
do this work, as a check valve is near the pump in 
the well, and ball faucets in the drinking tanks used 
about the barn. So you can readily see that all water 
goes directly from the well to the tank in the top of 
the barn, excepting when a pailful is drawn at the 
house while the mill is pumping, as in that case it 
would discharge at the lowest level. In that early 
day of windmills, I feared, as Mr. Garrahan does, that 
the tank would freeze, and thinking an ounce of pre¬ 
vention was worth a pound of cure, I packed the 
bottom of the tank at least one foot high with saw¬ 
dust, and wound the remainder with the best felt 
paper. The result was that my tank did not freeze, 
but began to leak in three years’ time, so much so, 
that I replaced it with a 60-barrel tank without any 
protection whatever, and have had no trouble from 
freezing. The secret of its not freezing is pumping 
directly from the well into the tank, causing agita¬ 
tion, and a constant change is taking place with the 
water. The cause of the first tank decaying was the 
dampness confined just enough to cause a mold, and 
not enough air could get in to dry it out. 
The greatest danger with freezing would be in the 
pipes from the pump to the tank. Of course a certain 
amount of pipe must need protection, as the water 
will stand still, in all probability, in the coldest of 
weather, as in many instances there will be a dead 
calm at this time. I have been very successful in 
this also, never being troubled in the least with any 
of my piping after the first year. I first put my pipes 
down according to direction, four feet deep. They 
caught and stopped a short time. I took them all up 
and lowered them all five feet deep, and from the 
ground up through the barn to the tank, I first made 
a tin casing around the pipe, making an air space 
from the ground to the tank. Then I wound the out¬ 
side of this tin casing with building paper, several 
thicknesses; after this being thoroughly done I packed 
with dry sawdust at least six inches all around the 
HENHOUSE WITH SCRATCHING SHED. Fig. 330. 
pipe, in a box for this purpose. All this great con¬ 
venience needs now is to throw the wheel into the 
wind and keep the supply of water good. Of course 
I look over every Fall to see that all is in proper 
shape with the sawdust, as that will settle a little 
every year, and by filling in at the top keeps all right. 
My second windmill is of the same kind as the 
first, and is used for stock in the Summer. Undoubt¬ 
edly there are more improved mills than the ones l 
now use, but I doubt whether there are many now in 
use that have done the service, and are in a better 
state of repair than my 20-year-old mill. I used this 
mill several years for grinding, but did not give en¬ 
tire satisfaction in this respect. J. w. w. 
Woodside, N. Y. 
WINTER MUSKMELONS FROM TURKESTAN. 
We are likely to think that we already have growing 
in the gardens and fields of America muskmelons of 
as good quality and as wide range of season as are 
likely to be found. Within the past 50 years we have 
made some progress in the way of originating im¬ 
proved varieties, especially those of the small, round 
type, some of which are much sweeter than any that 
VIEW OF THE SCRATCHING SHED. Fig. 331. 
I can remember tasting when a child. But there is 
a new race of muskmelons now being introduced. It 
was found in Turkestan and the regions beyond the 
Caucasus, by Prof. E. N. Hansen, in 1897, and the 
seeds forwarded so as to be planted in America in 
1898. A large number of varieties were selected from 
the best melons that could be found in the markets 
and gardens throughout the Provinces of Khiva, Amu 
Daira and Old and New Bokhara. These have all been 
under test in this country for two years past, and 
although very little has got into the public press 
about their behavior, there have been some very in¬ 
teresting facts developed. 
The varieties of these Turkestan muskmelons are 
very peculiar in size, shape, color, flavor and keeping 
quality. During a recent visit to Washington, D. C., I 
had the pleasure of carefully examining and tasting 
a number of them in the storage rooms of the Office 
of Plant Introduction of the United States Department 
of Agriculture. There were more than 100 of them 
there, and mostly of hut two varieties, all of them 
having been brought from Utah, where they seem to 
grow in great perfection. At first sight they looked 
like squashes, as they are very large, being from 10 
to 15 or more inches in length, and eight or 10 inches 
in transverse diameter. I think some of them would 
weigh fully 20 pounds, and it is said that 36 pounds is 
sometimes reached in their native country. Their 
shape is oval, with blunt, pointed ends, a little like 
the old-faShioned muskmelons of our forefathers. 
The color of the skin varies from solid green to a dull 
yellow. The characteristic color of the variety, which 
as yet goes under the serial number 114, is green, with 
longitudinal chains of yellow dots and splashes. This 
one and No. 118 seem to be the best of the lot, so far 
as they have been tested. When cut open the thickness 
of the flesh seems remarkable. I am sure that, in 
some cases, it was fully three inches. Its color was 
greenish-white. While it was very juicy, it was about 
as firm as our Emerald Gem or other firm-fleshed 
muskmelons. The flavor I liked exceedingly, as it was 
sweet, aromatic, and quite different from that of any 
of our own. 
The most remarkable feature of this new class of 
muskmelons is their keeping qualities. Although 
these specimens had been transported by rail from 
Utah, about 2,000 miles, and it was about December 1 
when I saw them, they were mostly in sound condi¬ 
tion. One discouraging fact about them is that, so 
far, there have been no good reports from any seeds 
that have been planted east of the arid but irrigated 
regions. In California, and other places having a 
long, hot season, and wherever abundant water was 
available, they did well. While it may be that these 
muskmelons may not succeed all over the country, 
those living in the extreme West may feel sure that 
they have within their reach a new and valuable ad¬ 
dition to their list of garden products. If they will 
not succeed in the Eastern States, it may be possible 
to cross them with our own muskmelons, and thus ob¬ 
tain new varieties which will have excellent qualities. 
One 'happy fact is that the distribution of the seeds 
of this and many other recent introductions is directly 
and solely under the control of the Secretary of Agri¬ 
culture, and not included in the promiscuous distri¬ 
bution of cheap seeds by Members of Congress. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
THE MILK SITUATION IN BALTIMORE. 
The daily papers recently mentioned a combination of 
dairymen and milk shippers in Maryland and southern 
Pennsylvania, which had been organized to “fight the 
milk trust” at Baltimore. The following note gives the 
facts as we understand them: 
We do not know of any attempt on the part of 
dairymen and milk shippers “to fight the milk trust 
recently formed in Baltimore.” Certainly, that was 
not the avowed object of organization, and we do 
not believe that any intelligent dairyman thinks that 
a combination of the distributors of milk in Baltimore 
would be of disadvantage to him. The milk trust, as 
it is termed, has not yet become a fact, and no one 
can affirm that it will do so. For the last few years, 
the competition among distributors has been so great 
that milk has often been delivered by the single quart 
as low as five cents. Now, it is absolutely certain 
that no dairy can maintain horses, wagons and driv¬ 
ers in a large city, and deliver milk for five cents per 
quart, without robbing somebody. That such is the 
result can readily be demonstrated by consulting any 
number of farmers who have been accustomed to ship 
milk to Baltimore for a few years. Almost all of 
them will testify that they have lost dollars upon 
dollars by shipping to these low-priced deliverers and 
promising high-priced buyers. The promises never 
materialize, and tens of thousands of dollars have 
been lost by confiding shippers, while legitimate 
dealers have been almost or quite ruined in meeting 
such competition. 
We believe that the majority of farmers would wel¬ 
come a combination backed by sufficient capital 
promptly to pay all obligations, and we do not un¬ 
derstand that tne “United Dairyman’s Association” is 
at all hostile to such a “trust.” We understand that 
it means simply to protect the farmers’ interests, and 
not to fight anybody or to engage in distribution. No 
one can tell the number of companies engaged in the 
delivery of milk in Baltimore, but their names are 
almost legion, and 12 to 15 wagons have been counted 
serving in the same block. Some people have con¬ 
ceived the idea that the savings from such a system 
would make a small fortune; hence the attempt at 
combination, or formation of a “trust,” as the poli¬ 
ticians think best to call it. It is still in embryo, 
however, and no one can tell whether or not the 
process of incubation will bring forth anything. 
I*.a.. HOLME & CO. 
