1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
6o3 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
LIQUID AIK. 
What It Is.—No doubt, many readers saw in 
the June Cosmopolitan, the account by Mr. C. E. 
Tripler of his experiments with liquid air. The 
Hope Farm folks were greatly interested in it, so 
much so that I went up and had a talk with Mr. 
Tripler at his New York office. I think some, at 
least, of our friends will care to know what this 
liquid air is. This will be more interesting than 
anything we can say about the weeds at Hope 
Farm this week. 
As we all know, air is a gas, or rather a mix¬ 
ture of gases—chiefly two, oxygen and nitrogen, 
in about the proportion of oue part of oxygen to 
four parts of nitrogen. Some of us have seen a 
locomotive pulling a heavy train up a steep 
grade on a still, frosty morning. The white 
clouds of steam rise in great bulk over the en¬ 
gine, and are seen for many feet behind. I have 
often wondered that the water in the engine’s 
boiler could increase so wonderfully in bulk 
when driven by heat into steam. This is a good 
illustration of the difference between a liquid 
and a gas, only, in the case of the liquid air, it is 
a case of contraction—that is, the natural air is 
like the steam—expanded. This expansion of 
the air is natural from the sun’s heat, while 
great artificial heat is required to make the 
liquid water expand into steam. On the other 
hand, steam condenses naturally into water 
when the heat is removed, while a great pressure 
is necess.ary to force the air into the form of a 
liquid. Mr. Tripler tells me that a cubic foot of 
liquid air represents 800 cubic feet of ordinary 
air such as we breathe. In other words, he 
presses or crushes the air in a room 10 feet 
square by 8 feet high into a space of one cubic 
foot, or about three pecks. 
How It Is Done.—It is done chiefly by a pc wer- 
ful pressure. Mr. Tripler has devised a compli¬ 
cated machine of coils, copper pipes and valves 
into which the ordinary air is forced by strong 
steam power. It would be difficult to describe 
this machine so as to make it clear. It is not so 
many years ago that many books on chemistry 
stated that liquid air was impossible. In later 
years, chemists have frequently liquefied air iu 
a small way in their laboratories, but at such a 
cost that it had no commercial importance. Mr. 
Tripler has simply devised a process or a ma¬ 
chine by means of which he expects to produce 
the liquid air so cheaply that it may become a 
commercial product. That is hardly a fair state¬ 
ment either, for .it is doubtful whether this air 
can ever be carried about or stored like ice. Mr. 
Tripler expects and hopes that his machine can 
be located at hotels, creameries, on shipboard, 
and wherever the air can be used. I say 
“ hopes,” because the practical aspect of liquid 
air has not yet bee* fully worked out. For ex¬ 
ample, Mr. Tripler told me that he could not fully 
explain yet where all the heat goes to when the 
air passes through his machine. In 15 minutes 
from the time the first air is forced into oue end 
of the machine, ( it drops away as liquid at the 
other end. Wheu you understand that the liquid 
air has a temperature of 312 degrees F. below 
zero, you will understand how much heat is taken 
from it. We may say that the air we breathe is 
liquid air heated to the form of a gas by the heat 
of the sun. When you pump up your bicycle 
tire, you notice how hot the hand pump becomes. 
Under a far more powerful pressure, so much 
heat is taken from the air that it reaches the 
awful temperature of 312 degrees below zero (lad 
remaim a liquid. It would seem as though such 
an amount of heat would melt any machine. 
Part of the heat is taken away by water which 
Hows over some of the pipes, but not all. You 
will see, therefore, that there is yet much to be 
learned about this liquid air. Here are some 
things known about it. 
How It Behaves.—The air looks like pure 
water with a slightly bluish cast. Of course, 
when 800 cubic feet of air are crushed into one, 
the tendency of it is to expand. There is no great 
rush or explosion, however, as is the case with 
steam or, on a smaller scale, with a pop-gun. 
The liquid air is kept iu an open can like a 40- 
quart milk can—surrounded by thick felt. The 
top must be left open so that the air can pass off 
freely. There would be a big explosion if it were 
conHued, but if the top of the can be left open or 
Hlled with felt, it slowly bubbles or boils away. 
Mr. Tripler has kept it for 3(5 hours iu this way. 
We all know how air with much less pressure 
will pop or bang when released; yet this liquid 
air, under far greater pressure, will simply boil 
or bubble away. Wet a wad of cotton waste, first 
with turpentine and then with liquid air, and 
touch a spark to it, and it will explode with a 
force greater than that of nitroglycerin. Think 
of a shell loaded with such horrible stuff! 
These things only show some of the new forces 
contained in this liquid air, which are to be har¬ 
nessed and made to do the useful work of the 
future. One can readily see that, if this awful ex¬ 
plosive force can be harnessed and made to turn 
machinery, it may supersede steam, electricity 
or gas, for the great free gift of the air is cheaper 
and handier than the fuel on the surface of the 
earth or beneath it. When you come to think of 
it, our fuel represents the heat of the sun, stored 
up in wood or coal or gas. Remember that the 
sun has heated the air, also. Wheu Mr. Tripler 
takes the heat out of the air, he may obtain re¬ 
sults in work similar to those obtained by the 
engineer who takes the heat from coal and with 
it forces steam to do his bidding. I speak only 
of jiossibilities here, just asone might have spoken 
of electricity 25 years ago, or of the use of chemi¬ 
cal fertilizers or of moderu dairying half a cen¬ 
tury back. 
Colder Than Ice.—Imagine, if you can, a 
liquid at 312 degrees below zero. Spray this air 
over an onion, and It will freeze solid at once. 
Raw beefsteak put in this air can be frozen so 
hard and solid that it will ring, when struck, like 
metal. Mercury and alcohol are readily frozen in 
it. The liquid is dipped out of the can with an 
ordinary tin dipper. Drop the dipper, and it 
would shatter like thin glass. This fearful cold 
makes iron and steel so brittle that they can be 
readily crushed or broken with the hands. Rub¬ 
ber, next to liquid air, becomes friable, but 
leather is not affected. Mr. Tripler gives, among 
other things, two remarkable experiments to 
show the wonderful properties of this liquid air: 
In one, he pours some of the air into a glass 
tumbler. By dipping the bottom of this tumbler 
into water again and again, he obtains an ice 
tumbler, for the liquid air freezes the water 
around the glass, which is finally taken out. This 
ice-cup is partly filled with oxygen which, as we 
all know, burns readily. A steel wire with a 
lighted match attached to it is dipped into the 
oxygen. The metal burns like a fuse. It melts, 
and you will find beads and lumps of it in the 
ice-cup. Thus we have ice so fearfully cold that 
steel can be melted on it without its thawing. 
When the liquid air is put into a teakettle and 
placed over a burner, it boils vigorously— ivhile 
a sheet of ice gathers on the bottom of the kettle 
directly over the blaze. Mr. Tripler explains this 
by saying that this ice is really produced by the 
flame. The water vapor and carbonic acid gas 
resulting from the combustion are congealed by 
the intense cold of the liquid air. Even the heat 
of the flame cannot overcome this freezing— 
which goes on, as we may say, right under its 
nose. Pour water into this kettle of liquid air 
and it freezes into a lump at once, while the ait- 
keeps on boiling. 
Its Agricultural Value.—A good farmer will 
naturally want to know what direct benefit agri¬ 
culture will receive from all this. Inventions in 
machinery and methods of applying force have 
helped us to a certain extent, but to a greater 
extent, we have been obliged to be satisfied with 
an indirect benefit. Most of the world’s mechani¬ 
cal advances have helped manufacturers and 
miners first of all. Mr. Tripler speaks of several 
possibilities. Absolutely pure air may be ob¬ 
tained by this process, with more or less oxygen 
as desired. What a boon that would be for the 
sick! The temperature of sick rooms or of pri¬ 
vate houses could be reduced to almost any de¬ 
sired temperature by spraying this air into the 
room or house. We might have zero weather in 
Cuba! Its high explosive power may, perhaps, 
be used not only for blasting or in warfare, but 
as a motive power, especially on ships, which 
would thus be spared the necessity of carrying 
great cargoes of coal. 
But What for the Farmer ?—Mr. Tripler tells 
me that he expects to be able to arrange a smaller 
machine which would be suitable for cooling a 
creamery or cold-storage house. There would 
not be much gaiu in that, however. What else ? 
There are two gases in the air, oxygen and nitro¬ 
gen. We eastern farmers recognize the latter 
whenever it is named, for we are called on to pay 
all the way from 12 to 17 cents a pound for it 
when we buy it in our fertilizers and manure. It 
represents nearly 75 per cent of the bulk of the 
air. We know that clover and cow peas get some 
of it for us, but they don’t get it half fast enough. 
Mr. Tripler says that, when air is liquefied, there 
are two distinct fluids present—liquid nitrogen 
and liquid oxygen. These liquids form at differ¬ 
ent temperatures, too, so that it would be pos¬ 
sible to separate the liquid nitrogen by itself. 
Now why cannot this liquid be combined with 
something that will hold it until we want it for 
use on our soils ? Take nitrate of soda or stable 
manure! There we have the nitrogen safely held 
by other substances. It was once away from 
them. Now it has united with them, and they 
hold it fast. We know how rapidly nitrogen will 
run away from liquid manures or hen manure. 
We put plaster with these substances, and that 
nitrogen is held securely. Now if we can, in like 
manner, hold that liquid nitrogen in some fixed 
and portable form, think of the immense possi¬ 
bilities that open before farming. The science 
of fertilizing would be completely overturned. 
Is It Possible ?—I asked Mr. Tripler about it. 
“ I do not know of any way,” he said, “ in 
which this liquid nitrogen may be cheaply saved. 
It has been tried before, though not in this way. 
I do not know what could be used to catch and 
hold this nitrogen. The fact is that almost every 
man comes here with some new idea or sug¬ 
gestion about the uses to which the liquid air 
can be put. One man wanted to separate and 
save the oxygen—for use in treatment of con¬ 
sumption, asthma, etc. The fact is that no one 
can see the future of this thing. It has great 
possibilities, and for myself, I consider that it is 
destined to become more serviceable to mankind 
than electricity.” 1 have been writing to some 
of our agricultural chemists about the possibili¬ 
ties of saving the nitrogen. Here is a character¬ 
istic note from Prof. S. W. Johnson, of the Con¬ 
necticut Station—the veteran among our Ameri¬ 
can scientists: 
A “ Trade Secret ” of Legumes. 
“When ‘the silent electrical discharge’ goes 
on through common air at ordinary temperatures, 
nitrogen and oxygen slowly unite chemically 
and form nitrogen peroxide (N0 2 ). If the air is 
highly compressed, the rapidity of this action is 
said to be greatly increased. It may be that 
liquefied air will facilitate this combination, and 
thus since nitrogen peroxide is easily convertible 
into nitric acid, cheapen the artificial synthesis 
of nitrates. I have heard of do experiments with 
liquefied air bearing on this suggestion. All 
other ways, in which, hitherto, so far as I know, 
the free nitrogen of common air has been made 
to combine chemically with oxygen, hydrogen, 
carbon or other elements, require either a high 
temperature or the intervention of a plant organ¬ 
ism and are accordingly, totally incompatible 
with the very low temperature—about 300 degrees 
F. below zero, I believe—which belongs to liquid 
air. The only economical working process for 
converting free atmospheric nitrogen into plant 
food now available to intensive agriculture, is 
that which is held as a trade secret by the bac- 
teroids that operate in the root-nodules of legu¬ 
minous plants, and by some other of the simpler 
vegetable organisms.” 
That is about all that can be said now. It is 
possible that the future may have great surprises 
in store for us. I wonder sometimes whether 
these great discoveries and changes do not come 
upon the world too rapidly for our good. It is well 
that man cannot create. He can only harness 
and apply force._ h. w. c. 
What Makes Success ? 
It is a tmiversally 
acknowledged fact 
that the Little Giant 
is the most popular 
dairy machine ever put 
on the market. Its 
points of excellence 
are economy in run¬ 
ning, a superior qual¬ 
ity of cream, the 
cleanest of clean skim¬ 
ming and a bowl that 
does not clog up and 
which is easy to wash. 
Send for circulars giving full informa¬ 
tion. 
P. M. SHARPLES, 
Branches: West Chester, Pa. 
Elgin, Ill. 
Omaha, Neb. 
Dubuque, Iowa. 
Vetch as a Forage Crop. —In some of the 
European countries vetch is quite largely grown 
as a forage crop. In this country, it has been 
recommended for growing with oats for feeding 
green or for making into hay, but the area grown 
does not seem to be on the increase. There 
seems to be difliculty in obtaining the seed ex¬ 
cept at very high prices. In the experiments 
with soiling crops by the Storrs Station, we have 
found a mixture of oats and Canada field peas to 
be preferable to oats and vetch. The peas will 
give a much heavier yield than vetch, and seem 
to be equally well eaten by milch cows except 
when allowed to ripen seed, in which case they 
become somewhat woody. If hay is to be made, 
the peas require more drying than vetch, but 
oats and peas cut while the oats are in bloom 
make excellent hay. Oats and peas constitute 
one of our best crops for soiling during July, and 
any surplus not needed for feeding should be 
made into hay. c s. puelps. 
Value op Barnyard Manure.— The Ohio Ex¬ 
periment Station has been testing cow manure 
taken directly from the stable to the field in 
Spring, and similar manure left in an open yard 
during Winter. The plan of the experiment is to 
apply both kinds of manure to land intended for 
corn, plow under at a shallow depth, and follow 
the corn with wheat and clover, without any 
further manuring. At the rate of eight tons per 
acre were used. The result thus far is that the 
corn of 1897 gave an increase of 13 bushels per 
acre from the yard manure against 16 bushels 
from the stall manure, and the wheat crop follow¬ 
ing has given an increase of 10 bushels per acre 
for the yard manure against 11 bushels from the 
stall manure. Valuing the corn at 33 cents, and 
the wheat at 80 cents per bushel, and the straw 
and stover at 13 per ton, the increase from the 
yard manure in the two crops has amounted to 
$15 per acre, and from the stall manure to $17, an 
average of $2 per ton for the stall manure, with 
further effect probable on succeeding ciops. 
CREAM SEPARATORS. 
De Laval “ Alpha ” and “ Baby ” Separators. 
First—Best—Cheapest. All Styles—Sizes 
Prices, $50 to $800. 
Save $10 per cow per year. Send for Catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO., 
Randolph and Canal Streets. I 74 Cortlandt Street, 
CHICAGO. | NEW YORK. 
Top Price Butter. 
The kind that a fancy private 
trade demands, is colored with 
Thatcher's Orange Butter Color — 
the color that does not contain 
any poison. Send for a sample. 
THATCHER MFG. CO., Potsdam, N.Y. 
TRUE DAIRY SUPPLY C0„ 
CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS Of 
Butter and Cheese Factories, 
ANJ) MANUFACTURERS OF 
Machinery, Apparatus ami Supplies for 
Cheese and Butter Factories, 
Creameries and Dairies. 
303,305,307 and 309 Lock St., Syracuse, N.). 
References: First Nat. Bankof Syracuse; State Bank 
of Syracuse: R. G. Dun A Co.'s Mercantile Agency; 
The Bradstreet Co.’s Mercantile Agency, orany Bank 
or Business House in Syracuse and adjacent towns. 
Silo Machinery 
Sweep 
and Tread 
Horse Powers 
For 
Operating 
- __ 
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goes with first order. I M»nitow»o, wu. 
NO MUDDY WATER! 
hall 
and consequent filth and 
disease can exist where 
Hull Steel Tanka are 
used. Pure milk and high 
flavored butter can only bo produced with pure water. 
Healthy, wholesome beef and pork cannot be made 
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for anything in the tank line; we will give you 
estimate, t-tf* Circulars and Prices Free. 
The HALL STEEL TANK CO. 63 N. Ashland Av. Chicago, 111. 
STOCK FEEDERS 
listen to this an<l think before 
buying a feed grinder. There 
are aa Ann Peerless 
over tU|UUU Mills 
now in use. Grinds ear corn 
ami all grains line or coarse. 
Make lamily meal or feed. 
AGENTS WANTED. Prices,*15, 
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TANDARD SCALES 
Full Descriptive Catalogue FREE 
OSGOOD SCALE CO., "gStVSST 
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Double Value 
is obtained from cut feed forts' 
all live stock. 
THE ROSS 
ENSILAGE AND FODDER CUTTER IL- 
prepares it in tlio best form, 
quickest time and with least 
power. Send forcatalogue No. 18. 
The E. W. Ross Co., Springfield. 0. €£ 
WOOD SAWS. 
One* two-horsoThrashingOutfits. Level fMITTEQQ 
Tread, Pat.Governor, Feed and Ensilage Utl I I LI10 
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F. L. MAINE, General Agent, Willet, N. Y. 
F. H. BENEDICT, General Agent, McLean, N.Y. 
The Model Mill 
A hand mill for grindinggrain, 
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Agents in all dairy sections. 
Send for latest Illustrated catalogues. 
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