922 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 31, 
half feet high and three feet across at the top, looks 
very substantial and permanent. There is only one 
thing I know of that will undermine its constitution, 
and that is—rabbits! One side of our orchard has a 
TWO YEARS’ GROWTH OF ROW. Fig. 430. 
wall of this kind, and it extends out into the pasture 
some rods. One day in the Fall one of our cows did 
not come up with the rest at night, and upon investi¬ 
gation it was found that she had gone through a break 
in this double wall. The wall was torn down for the 
distance of about a rod, the big heavy binders scat¬ 
tered in all directions. What was the cause? Very 
simple—a rabbit in the wall, and some noble, brave 
huntsmen must have him, so they tore the wall to pieces, 
and I am sure I hope they did not get the rabbit. It 
seems to me as if they might at least have repaired the 
wall enough to turn cattle, but that is not the style of 
this class of sportsmen. In two other places on the 
farm the walls have been torn down in the same way 
this year, and it will take two men a good half day 
to repair the damage. For this reason, stone walls are 
rather expensive to keep in repair. If we could have 
caught these men or boys in their destructive work it 
would have been a great satisfaction, for the State im¬ 
poses a fine for such misdemeanors. s. b. r. 
A STORAGE HOUSE FOR CABBAGE . 
How can I best build a house for storing cabbage in such 
a way as to keep several hundred tons and be able to 
handle them in and out, even when .20 degrees below zero, 
loading freight cars direct from the store rooms without 
the use of teams? 
Onarga, Ill. 
I think that we have the best cabbage house that there 
is in the country. We have tried it for two or three 
years, and we have found it a great success. It is 200 
feet long, 60 feet wide, and either 22 or 24 feet high, and 
we have a railroad spur that runs through the center 
of the building, so that we can load or unload cabbage 
under cover at any time and in all kinds of weather. 
We have track scales right in the building, so that we 
can weigh the .empty cars and weigh again when loaded. 
I think the width of the space through the center is IS 
feet where the cars run through, and on each side of 
this track we have bins 18 feet high that run back from 
the middle on each side within two feet of the outer 
wall. These bins for the cabbage are 33 inches wide 
with six inches of space between each one of the bins, 
and each 18-foot section has two floors, so that the cab¬ 
bage is piled in these bins six feet deep on each floor. 
The outside walls are of hrick, with air space, boards 
and paper to make it frostproof. Of course these outer 
walls can be made of anything, but they want to be so 
that they will keep the frost out and carry anything you 
want to put inside. 
These bins in this 200-foot space will hold about 1,500 
tons of cabbage, and we have filled the building full by 
putting some racks in the center where the track is; in 
filling it this way we can get in about 2,000 tons. We 
have about six doors on each side and six windows 
above these doors on each side, and blinds to close them 
up tight. We also have three ventilators on the roof 
of the building. In addition to all this, we have some¬ 
thing that I never saw or knew before of being in a 
building, which is a big 60-inch fan run by an electric 
motor. The out-take to this fan is about 20 inches, and 
we run that on each side over the center of the bins, 
with pipes graded down and openings so that when we 
run this fan it will take every particle of air from the 
building, equally at every point, and blow it out of the 
building. We also have air-ducts at the bottom that 
are run lengthwise of the building right in the center 
under the bins, with openings at the six-inch space be¬ 
tween the bins of cabbage, connected at a number of dif¬ 
ferent places with small air-ducts through the building, 
so when the fan lifts the bad air out of the top and 
blows it out of the doors it leaves a vacuum which will 
be filled by fresh air from the outside right up between) 
the bins of cabbage. We can carry cabbage in there! 
perfectly free from any foul air or gas which comes from; 
the vegetables. We have no difficulty in keeping cab¬ 
bage nicely, because we change the air through the whole 
building within an hour or so at any time, and always 
have it clear and fresh. Such a building as this is quite 
expensive, costing anywhere from $10,000 to $12,000 
without the ground. bahrenburg & beckwith. 
Albion, N. Y. _ 
WINDMILL POWER FOR ELECTRICITY. 
Is it possible to use windmill power for generating elec¬ 
tricity for lighting purposes? 
T have spent considerable time and money experiment¬ 
ing in this line for lighting purposes, and succeeded in 
lighting a room in my factory 30 by 75 feet by electricity 
produced by windmill power for a Christmas dinner 
about eight years ago. I made quite a number of tests 
with the plant in the presence of electrical experts, all 
of whom were very much pleased with the results ob¬ 
tained, and particularly so with my method of producing 
a direct light from dynamo during a good fair wind, but 
this simply proved the excellence of the governing device 
used on my windmill. I proved that I could operate a 
dynamo by windmill without injury to the former caused 
by too high speed, but it was naturally impossible to 
preserve a regular rate of speed as the wind died, which 
happened more frequently than having a very strong and 
steady wind, and consequently it was found absolutely 
A RIPE ANJOU PEAR. Fig. 431. 
Sec Ruralisms, Page 026. 
necessary to use storage batteries to provide for occa¬ 
sional calms. The number of batteries required, their 
cost and maintenance, duration of usefulness in the 
hands of an ordinary man who would have charge of 
a country place, which made it short lived, proved be¬ 
yond any doubt that storage batteries connected with 
windmills would not be a commercial success. In fact, 
the necessary batteries cost more than the windmill, 
supporting tower and the dynamo, and when it is con¬ 
sidered that a fair-sized windmill must be used in order 
to develop sufficient power to work the dynamo during 
light winds, the price of the outfit as a whole is such 
that I doubt whether anyone but a man of means who 
buys what he desires without regard to cost would care 
to invest in a plant of the kind. Under such conditions 
I have concluded to cease experimenting any further 
until Mr. Edison or some one else produces a simpler 
and cheaper battery. Very much has been written and 
a great many advertisements printed based upon claims 
as to what can be done, but I have proved what cannot 
be done. _ A. j. corcoran. 
IS KAINIT INJURIOUS TO HOGS ? 
If I should use kainit in the stable how much should he 
used? The manure is thrown into a covered shed, where 
the pigs spend much of their time; would the kainit in¬ 
jure them? 
I have had over 20 years of experience in feeding, 
breeding and showing swine, and know the large amount 
of litter swine will consume when they have access to the 
litter and droppings from well-fed horses and cattle. As 
you no doubt know, kainit is a native double-sulphate 
of potassium and magnesium, associated with magne¬ 
sium chloride and possibly some potassium chloride. 
As it is quite soluble the litter will take it up as moisture, 
and the chances are that the average person would use 
10 times the amount he should. As the litter is picked 
up and eaten by the hogs, quite a lot will get into the 
animal, as it is easily absorbed through the intestines 
into the system, and on account of its purgative and 
poisonous effects I should call it an undesirable sub¬ 
stance for hogs to eat with their food. While mag¬ 
nesium sulphate is a purgative, potassium sulphate is the 
most irritant of the potash salts, while the action of 
potassium chloride and magnesium chloride, no doubt 
are about the same as common salt, sodium chloride. 
It is well known that a small amount of salt fed to 
pigs is of much value, but it must be fed with good 
judgment. In the Veterinarian of 1862-7 Finlay Dun 
says cases are recorded of pigs eating about four and 
a half ounces, repeated during several days. They suf¬ 
fered from flatulence, diarrhoea, vertigo, convulsions 
and paralysis, and died in eight to 24 hours. The 
mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels was found 
after death highly injected and inflamed. Another re¬ 
port is of the poisoning of 31 pigs conveyed by rail in 
a salt truck from the sides of which they had licked 
the salt. For many hours they had been deprived of 
water. They appeared in a state of asphyxia; emetics 
and subsequently stimulants were ordered, and 11 recov¬ 
ered. The carcasses of those that died exhibited signs 
of gastro-intestinal inflammation and the brain was 
greatly congested. m. d. williams, d. v. s. 
Kainit and Acid Phosphate in the Stable . 
Do you know of any cases where the use of kainit or 
acid phosphate in the stable has proved injurious to the 
feet of stock? AVe have been told that such cases of in- 
jury have resulted, and that these substances are not safe 
to use in this way. 
I have never used kainit or acid phosphate on an ex¬ 
tensive scale. I used some one Winter at the Indiana 
Experiment Station in our cow stable with no injurious 
effect. c. s. PLUMB. 
Ohio. 
I am not sure that my experience or observation 
covers exactly this point, because, while I have knowl¬ 
edge of the use of kainit and acid phosphate in stables, 
on a large scale, it has been strewn in the gutter where 
the cattle neither walk nor stand, and so there has 
been little, if any, opportunity for injury in the feet. I 
have never known these substances to do harm. I be¬ 
lieve that there is now a difference of opinion among 
chemists as to the value of these substances as fixing 
agents for ammonia. Leonard pearson. 
Pennsylvania. 
We have made considerable use of kainit in our cow 
stables, but have not noted any injurious effects to the 
feet. I have seen the statement that if used too abund¬ 
antly, especially if in lumpy condition, and so scattered 
that the animals must stand in it, it is likely to produce 
irritation and sores between the claws of the feet of 
animals with bifid hoofs. We have not used acid phos¬ 
phate, but provided it is used in moderate amounts, and 
is free ffom lumps, and is scattered only in the gutters 
behind the animals, I should not anticipate any ill effects. 
Massachusetts. wm. p. brooks. 
No cases have come to my personal knowledge where 
the use of kainit or acid phosphate in the stable has 
proved injurious to'the feet of stock. This is perhaps 
rather for the reason that these materials have seldom 
been used in this State for such a purpose than that 
such injury does not result. It would seem to me quite 
possible, in case considerable quantities of acid phos¬ 
phate were used, which contains an excess of sulphuric 
acid, that it may prove injurious, yet the acidity ought 
to be reduced very soon by the ammonia of the manure. 
R. I. Exp. Station. h. j. wheeler. 
I do not know of any instance in which the use of 
either kainit or acid phosphate has injured the feet of 
stock, when these materials have been employed as 
manure preservatives in the stable. We have not used 
kainit here, but have at times employed the acid phos¬ 
phate. The preservative was strewn in the drops at 
the rear of the stalls. The animals frequently stand 
SECOND SEASON’S GROWTH OF TREE. Fig. 432. 
with their hind feet in the troughs or drops, but we 
have never observed any sensitiveness of hoof to result. 
In conversation with others who have used these mate¬ 
rials, I have never heard any expression of objection 
because of such injury. I, therefore, do not believe that 
any considerable disadvantage in this respect can attend 
the careful use of these preservatives. 
Penna. Exp. Station. 
WM. FREAR. 
