1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
7o7 
HOW TO MAKE A FUMIGATION HOUSE 
So as to Distribute the Gas. 
Part I. 
In The R. N.-Y. for January 6 and February 3, 1900, 
appeared two excellent articles by Prof. W. G. John¬ 
son concerning the use of hydrocyanic acid gas for 
the fumigation of nursery stock in fumigation houses, 
and for use in the greenhouse. These articles clearly 
show the value of such fumigation, and the reader is 
referred to them concerning the details of the opera¬ 
tion. The fact that a certain strength of gas (25-100 
gram per cubic foot) will kill the San Jos6 scale upon 
nursery stock in the fumigatorium, rests upon the ob¬ 
servation of various entomologists that at that 
strength it will kill practically all the scales on an 
orchard tree fumigated with that strength under a 
tent. In the fumigation of greenhouses it has fre¬ 
quently been observed by various parties that plants 
here and there are more injured by the gas than 
others of the same kind and character, and it has 
been supposed to be due to the “banking” of the gas 
in certain places, caused by the slow and incomplete 
diffusion of the gas. This has never to my knowledge 
been definitely demonstrated to occur in greenhouses, 
but it seems a plausible explanation of the different 
amount of injury in different pai*ts of a house. If 
such a lack of diffusion occur in a greenhouse It 
would lead one to question whether complete diffu¬ 
sion of fhe gas is ordinarily secured in a fumigation 
house when packed full of trees. During the past 
year the chemist of this station, C. L. Penny, and I 
have made some experiments upon this matter which 
throw some light upon the manner in which the gas 
diffuses, and the necessity for more care in the con¬ 
struction and management of fumigation houses. 
A large room approximately 20x20x11 feet was fu¬ 
migated with 25-100 gram potassium cyanide per 
cubic foot, and after allowing the gas to remain for 
different lengths of time, samples were drawn off 
from various parts of the room. The position of the 
vessel in which the gas was generated was also 
changed to show the difference of diffusion caused by 
its position. Three samples of the gas were drawn off 
at once, one from the ceiling of the room and two 
from points on the fioor. Without going into detail 
concerning the procedure and results, the experiments 
showed the following facts: If the generator were 
placed in one corner of the room it required from 30 
to 60 minutes for the gas to become thoroughly dif¬ 
fused throughout me room. After 20 minutes a sam¬ 
ple taken next to the generator contained but 27 per 
cent of the normal amount of gas, whereas a sample 
taken one foot below the ceiling at the center of the 
room contained 87 per cent, and one taken on the 
floor at the corner opposite the generator 94 per cent. 
At 30 minutes the amount of gas at the last two 
points was about the same, but near the generator 
was found 61 per cent of the normal, or nearly double 
that at 20 minutes. As the gas is generated it is seen 
to rise to the ceiling, and pass toward the opposite 
corner of the room, and the analyses show that this 
is the course of its diffusion, for 10 minutes after the 
gas was generated the amount next to the generator 
was a mere trace, less than one per cent. When the 
generator was moved to the center of the floor, the 
intakes remaining at the same places, after 10 min¬ 
utes there was found 75 and 88 per cent in the two 
corners and 123 per cent in the center of the ceiling, 
which is in general agreement with what was found 
before, the greater part of ihe acid vapor rising to the 
ceiling. At this rate with the generator in the center 
of the room, the gas would probably become com¬ 
pletely diffused in from 20 to 30 minutes. With the 
generator placed in the corner, and taking samples 
from the middle of the room after 20 minutes, one 
sample from the floor, one midway to the ceiling, and 
one at the ceiling, it was found that practically the 
same amount of gas occurred at the ceiling and the 
middle point, but only about one-third as much at 
the floor. 
These facts seemed to indicate that some method 
whereby the gas might be set free from several points 
would greatly aid in its ready and complete diffusion. 
To accomplish this a tin hood with a pipe leading 
from either side was placed over the generator. The 
generator was placed two feet from the middle of the 
south wall, and the tubes reached three-fifths of the 
length of that side of the room. The tube was open 
at each end and was punctured by two holes equidis¬ 
tant from the ends and each other, thus giving four 
apertures for the escape of the gas, at equal dis¬ 
tances along one side of tne room. With this arrange¬ 
ment the gas was perfectly diffused in 10 minutes— 
possibly sooner than that, for that was tue soonest 
samples were taken. The more perfect diffusion with 
such a distributing apparatus was strikingly shown 
by the difference in the effect of the gas upon guinea 
pigs. With the generator placed in the southeast 
corner a guinea was placed on the floor about the 
middle of the east wall. The animal did not die until 
37 minutes after the generation of the gas, which 
showed very clearly the imperfect diffusion of the 
gas. When the generator was placed at one side of 
the room and covered with the hood and distributing 
tube as described above, a guinea pig was placed in 
a cage in the northeast corner of the room, and about 
seven feet above the floor. This animal commenced 
to feel the gas about two minutes after the generation 
and died 15 or 20 seconds later. At the same time a 
guinea pig and a rabbit were placed near the middle 
of the east wall (the generator being at the middle 
of the south wall). The guinea pig lay on its side 
for five minutes and was dead 10 minutes after gen¬ 
eration, while the rabbit was unconscious in 30 sec¬ 
onds and died four minutes later—the difference in 
time being due to the physiology of the animals. 
Delaware Exp. Station. e. dwiout sanderson. 
BUGS AND BLIGHT ON LONG ISLAND. 
F. A. Sirrine, entomologist at the Jamaica, L. I., 
branch of the New York State Experiment Station, 
recently gave a R. N.-Y. representative the following 
facts from his observation of insects and plant dis¬ 
eases during the present season: 
ASPARAGUS CONDITIONS.—The rust has not 
been so bad as usual this year on the cutting fields. 
It started in on newly-set beds in June, and in most 
cases it has continued, but on the cutting beds condi¬ 
tions were such that it did not get started, and they 
remainfd green until the latter half of September. 
This is probably due to the excessive rains just after 
V_«oKirt> C»vv^ orn T'coo'tv 
Hi IN » T*!-* 
APPARATUS FOR FUMIGATING WITH HYDROCYANIC 
-ACID GAS. Fia. :H9. 
the cutting season, which prevented the spores of 
this disease from getting a hold on the foliage of 
these beds. Damp and foggy weather are favorable 
for the spread of rust, but by its mechanical effect 
heavy rain washes off the spores. The old, exhausted 
beds are not going to recover very much, but seedling 
and newly-set beds that escaped the rust last Spring 
are making a vigorous growth. The fields at Matti- 
tuck in which for two seasons alternate rows were 
sprayed and left unsprayed show a slight difference 
in the foliage. The yield on the sprayed rows was 
double that on the unsprayed, although the product 
of the whole field was less than formerly, on account 
of the decrease in the unsprayed rows. A farmer 
near Mattituck, by careful cultivation and spraying 
for two years in succession with resin Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture, harvested the present year from one acre 2,000 
bunches, bringing him about $450 in excess of cost of 
fertilizer. Nearly all asparagus growers on the Isl¬ 
and who spray use the resin Bordeaux. 
CABBAGE WORMS have not thus far done so much 
damage as usual in the cauliflower section. They ap¬ 
peared in the latter part of August, and quite a num¬ 
ber have been spraying with arsenicals, most of them 
using the dry-powder gun. I have noticed that in a 
section where Cabbage worms are so thick that the 
growers lose nearly all their late cabbage, this section 
may be comparatively free the next year, while on 
the margins and in adjoining districts the worms are 
very destructive. This is because where the worms 
are thickest the parasite enemies are most numerous, 
and the scattered worms on the margins are those 
that escape and produce next year’s crop. The Fall 
web-worm has done considerable damage at the west¬ 
ern end of the Island this year, but the parasites are 
active, and the English sparrow is also getting after 
them rapidly as they leave the webs. These sparrows 
are great consumers of the Pea louse. 
CAULIFLOWER ROT BLIGHT.—We have not suc¬ 
ceeded in finding any effective treatment for this 
troublesome disease. It shows first on the edges of 
the leaves in a papery appearance, especially around 
holes that have been bitten by worms. It works from 
the leaves to the shank, after which it spreads up¬ 
ward into the center of the head, and frequently is 
not seen until the head is cut open anu the black 
spots are found inside. This is a bacterial germ, and 
the treatments we have tried have been spraying, 
and picking and destroying the diseased leaves. 
MELON BLIGHT.—I heard the other day from 
Holmes Bros., of Ypsilanti, Mich. They sprayed their 
plants this year before transplanting, and continued 
to spray every week after transplanting. They have 
had but little blight, and report that even the last 
settings of melons are maturing properly. The musk- 
melon crop on Long Island was an entire failure on 
account of blight. From the study of the disease in 
this section I am convinced that the so-called Alter- 
naria is not the cause of the blight here, but a secon¬ 
dary disease which occurs on leaves which have be¬ 
come weakened from other causes. The destructive 
disease which cuts the plants down so rapidly is the 
Downy mildew of the cucumber. Spraying with Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture is the only means of prevention that 
we know of. 
SAN JOSE SCALE.—We have made numerous ex¬ 
periments in spraying with crude petroleum, but the 
results have not been generally satisfactory. In one 
test of crude oil on pear trees sprayed in April before 
the buds showed signs of swelling, both fruit and leaf 
buds were killed, and the trees had to develop latent 
buds. This was true where both the 25 and 50 per 
cent mechanical mixture of oil and water were used. 
In case of the 25-per-cent application a few flower and 
leaf buds survived the treatment. We find it diflicult 
to hit all of the scale, particularly under the edges 
of the buds. A peach tree sprayed with a 25-per-cent 
mixture in December was killed outright, while an¬ 
other sprayed in the same manner in April was not 
hurt. Probably the reason for this is the fact that, 
when the tree is dormant in Winter, the wood ab¬ 
sorbs the oil, while, when the sap is flowing freely in 
Spring, the wood is resistant to the oil. 
CO-OPERATIVE LAUNDRIES FOR FARMERS. 
In many ways customs and conditions pertaining 
to the farm home have revolutionized the past quar¬ 
ter of a century. Important changes for the better 
have been made along many lines. As regards the 
household wash, however, but small progress has ob¬ 
tained. About the same unpleasant conditions pre¬ 
vail as did 30 years ago. True, nearly every home 
has numerous machines of various designs intended 
for affording help, but in the main, they are all dis¬ 
carded and the bulk of this important work Is done 
in the old disagreeable way. 
Is any remedy possible? We think so in many in¬ 
stances. Many rural districts have cooperative 
creameries. These with their power and conveni¬ 
ences do, on a grand scale, a work that was very dis¬ 
agreeable to do, on the individual farm. So done, 
such work is exalted, dignified as a business enter¬ 
prise, and ceases to be disagreeable. Why not add a 
laundry department and apply business principles to 
raise another important work from the drudgery it 
now entails? The creamery and laundry plants pos¬ 
sess many essentials in common, viz.,—steam power, 
water supply, drainage and a system of collection and 
distribution of product. Provide each creamery 
wagon with an elevated (omnibus) deck, for the long, 
narrow, deep, household laundry baskets, and but lit¬ 
tle extra expense will ensue for distribution. That 
every creamery add a laundry department is not es¬ 
sential. Where a township or neighborhood has sev¬ 
eral, a laundry at one, centrally located, will prob¬ 
ably suffice. The neighboring ones can act as dis¬ 
tributing stations for the laundry output to advan¬ 
tage. For obvious reasons it may be well that as 
many of the patrons of the laundry as possible own 
stock In it. An important aim is to do enough busi¬ 
ness at each laundry established to reduce cost of 
work to the minimum. The solution of this ques¬ 
tion will aid materially in solving another serious 
problem that pertains to rural households, viz.,—the 
hired girl question (the city servant girl is the “hired 
girl” in the country). By eliminating laundry work 
from the household the equilibrium between supply 
and demand, regarding such help, will be restored in 
two ways. Many households that now require girl 
help can then dispense with it, and girls who now 
object to such service will have less cause for ob¬ 
jection. 
As to the practicability of such an undertaking as 
here outlined the future must determine. Personally, 
we are not familiar with the detail work of the steam 
laundry, basing our opinion wholly on the principle 
that work is more economically done with proper 
facilities, and on a large, rather than a small scale. 
That some attempt along these lines will be made in 
the near future we feel reasonably certain. No doubt, 
some localities are more favorably conditioned for 
starting such work than others. Success will depend 
largely upon the farmers themselves, their willing¬ 
ness to unite In cooperation and skill in organizing 
on a proper scale. fred. j. frost. 
Portage Co., Wls. 
