1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
449 
be leveled off, a plate of 3 x 4-inch scantling is firmly 
spiked. The rafters are nailed to this plate, and 
should be cut about six feet long, which will bring 
the ridge in the middle something over three feet 
higher than the plate, thus securing ample pitch to 
the roof. Rafters should not be over four feet apart, 
and may be conveniently cut from 2 x 4-inch stuff. 
The roof may be covered with any material that will 
keep out water and cold. At intervals of 30 feet, it 
is well to insert a hotbed sash, to admit sufficient 
light for getting about, though the mushrooms will 
develop as well in total darkness. The sashes should 
be hinged or fitted to slide down for the purpose of 
ventilation when needed. From the surface of the 
ground to the eaves, outside, the building is best cov¬ 
ered with two thicknesses of rough boards nailed to 
the posts, and then banked to the eaves with earth. 
A tight door at one end completes the building, after 
the opposite gable has been closed in and banked up. 
A house of this height will accommodate three 
tiers of beds on a side ; the lowest on the ground, the 
others above, like berths on a ship. The usual depth 
of mushroom compost is eight inches, on which are 
placed two inches of loam after the beds are spawned. 
This will give an available space of over 20 inches be¬ 
tween the top of the bed when made up and the bot¬ 
tom of the next, if the benches are placed 30 inches 
apart. This will give sufficient room for making up 
beds and gathering the product. The benches are 
built in the usual manner of commercial greenhouse 
benches, of cheap 3 x 4-inch scantling, the bottoms 
being of inch boards, six inches wide, with a 10-inch 
board nailed in front. As the weight of a 10-inch 
layer of loam and manure compost is considerable, 
4 x 4-inch uprights should be placed at four-foot inter¬ 
vals for the support of the double tier of beds. 
While many elaborate plans, all more or less costly, 
of mushroom houses, both in frame and mason work, 
are offered in the treatises on the culture of this de¬ 
sirable esculent, it is doubtful if any are more prac¬ 
tically adapted for the purpose than the cheap and 
simple structure above described. If well built, it 
ought to last eight or ten years, with but slight re¬ 
pairs, and need not cost more than $1 per running 
foot, if built in 50 or 100-foot lengths. 
To grow mushrooms practically, it is necessary to 
maintain an average temperature of about55 degrees. 
To maintain this during cold weather, when mush¬ 
rooms are most appreciated, some heating system will 
be needed ; nothing is better than hot water for this 
purpose. From four to six runs of two-inch pipe, 
according to the rapidity of circulation, will be 
needed. The cost of a heating plant will very much 
exceed that of the mushroom house itself. 
How to Build a Potato Cellar. 
C. E. B., Cambria, Mich. —I wish to make a potato cellar that 
will hold 3,000 bushels, and would like it frost-proof. My plan is 
to dig a cellar 14x50 feet, and about three feet deep; set posts to 
project about four feet above the surface of the ground. Board 
lip on each side of the posts, and pack straw between, and then 
bank up with earth. How can I make a cheap roof that will 
answer the purpose ? How shall I make the ventilators, doors, 
windows, etc. ? 
ANSWERED BY F. H. KING, WISCONSIN EX. STATION. 
Let me state briefly, for the benefit of the many 
readers interested in potato culture, some of the essen¬ 
tial features of rooms in which potatoes are to be 
stored for the winter: First, the room should be 
dark, dry, and so made that the winter temperature 
may be held between 32 and 40 degrees F. Second, 
it should be sufficiently ventilated, and so arranged 
that the potatoes may be inspected during the winter. 
Third, the potatoes should be in bins not in contact 
with the outside walls of the building. Fourth, the 
bins should be easily filled and readily emptied. These 
conditions may be secured in a variety of ways, either 
by separate cellars or buildings, or by basements or 
cellars under tool houses or granaries, or in connec¬ 
tion with basement barns. 
The plan which C. E. B. has in mind, suggests that 
he wishes to build cheaply as a matter of first cost, 
rather than permanently, and I will describe how the 
above conditions may be approximately realized in 
both a cheap, temporary outdoor cellar, and in one 
whose first cost will be more, but which would be 
permanent. 
A Temporary Cellar. —The outdoor cellar may 
best be built on a side-hill or slope, and where the 
soil is of such a character as to stand alone, the cellar 
may be built without walls, as represented in Fig. 146. 
In this case, a pit is dug in the ground, having the 
proper depth and dimensions. In this pit, potato bins 
are constructed by setting posts in the ground far 
enough from the walls to leave an alley not less than 
two feet wide between the bins and the earth walls. 
The object of the alley is to keep the potatoes away 
from the damp, cold walls, to make easy access to the 
potatoes at any time, and to secure the necessary ven¬ 
tilation. The posts should be set close enough so 
that two-inch battens may be used for the sides of the 
bins, placing them so as to leave an opening between 
each two three-fourths inch wide. This open wall 
structure facilitates the needed ventilation, and les¬ 
sens the amount of lumber used. 
The roof of the cellar may be made as shown in 
Fig. 146, with a loose or tight ceiling, and with the space 
between the posts and roof filled with cut straw or cut 
corn stalks. The two chutes shown are used to intro¬ 
duce the potatoes into the bins, and one or more of 
them may be used for ventilators when needed. If a 
still cheaper roof is desired than the one shown, then 
it will be practicable to cover with straw or hay. 
In order that the damp air produced by the heating 
and sweating of the potatoes may be quickly removed, 
it is necessary that fresh air may enter to take the 
place of that which it is desired to remove, and pro¬ 
vision is made for this through one or more ducts 
made of six-inch drain tile extending, as shown in Fig. 
146, from the surface at one corner down to and below 
the level of the cellar bottom, coming up at or Dear an 
adjacent corner. The object of carrying the air in in 
this way, is to warm the outside air by coming in con¬ 
tact with the ground below frost level, before it is 
allowed to enter the cellar. If the doorway to the 
A POTATO CELLAR WITHOUT STONE WALLS. Fig. 146. 
cellar is on a level with the cellar bottom, the cellar 
should be set back far enough into the hill so that a 
narrow hallway not less than four feet long, and 
more than three to four feet wide, leads to the cellar 
and is closed by two doors. 
Cellar With Stone Walls. —If a better and more 
permanent cellar is desired, the same general plan 
may be followed, but using stone in the walls as 
shown in Fig. 147. In this case, the potato bins are 
represented as having a slat bottom, and the potatoes 
are thus raised entirely off from the ground in such 
a way that the air may easily rise through the whole 
bin, and keep the potatoes dry. The filling chutes 
may be closed in winter, except one or two needed 
for ventilation, by filling them with straw or other 
suitable packing. It will readily be seen that the 
fundamental plan of construction may be altered in 
detail in many ways to suit local and individual needs 
and conditions. 
Why the Fertilizers Failed. 
W. E. T., Evergreen, Ala. —About March 1, or about the time 
the first blooms appeared, I barred off a few rows of my straw¬ 
berries, and sowed cotton-seed meal at the rate of about 600 
pounds per acre; in a few other rows, blood and bone guano, and 
in a few others, I sowed on top of the plants, nitrate of soda at 
the rate of about 400 pounds per acre. The result was that all 
the plants thus treated soon began to turn a dark green, and 
began to grow very rapidly, so that one would notice the differ¬ 
ence at quite a distance. Now the plants are much larger and 
more thrifty than those not treated; the weeds and grass in 
those rows are much larger and darker than elsewhere. But I 
have not been able to see any difference in the fruit. The berries on 
those rows were no larger, and there seemed to be no more of 
them, than where no fertilizer was applied. Why did not the fer¬ 
tilizers increase the growth of the berries as well as the leaves ? 
Ans. —This experiment brings out very clearly the 
A POTATO CELLAR WITH STONE WALLS. Fig. 147. 
fundamental principle of feeding plants. There are 
three elements of fertility that are called essential— 
that is, absolutely necessary to plant growth. These 
elements are called nitrogen, phosphoric acid and 
potash. The nitrogen stimulates the growth of tree 
or vine, phosphoric acid favors the formation of the 
seed or the frame of fruit or grain, while the potash 
largely determines the color, shape and size of the 
fruit. The cotton-seed meal contained nitrogen and 
small quantities each of potash and phosphoric acid ; 
the blood and bone guano contained nitrogen and phos¬ 
phoric acid, but no potash, and the nitrate of soda 
provided nitrogen only. Of the different rows that 
were fertilized, we feel sure that those which received 
the cotton-seed meal were the best, as they were the 
only ones that received both potash and phosphoric 
acid. As a whole, the results were just what one 
might expect from the use of fertilizers very strong 
in nitrogen, viz.: a heavy, rank growth of vine, but a 
poor formation of fruit. On land of only average fer¬ 
tility, you cannot expect to obtain extra fruit by the 
use of nitrogen alone. If you had mixed the cotton¬ 
seed meal, the blood and bone, and added enough cot¬ 
ton-hull ashes or muriate of potash to give eight per 
cent or more of potash, you would have had a fer¬ 
tilizer that would have surely increased the crop. A 
man cannot do good work unless he is supplied with 
abundance of food, water and fresh air ; and no two 
of these things can possibly take the place of all three. 
Give a man all he wants to eat and drink, but keep 
him shut in a close, ill-smelling place, and he cannot 
do good work. Put him on the great plains with 
thousands of acres for breathing space, and all the 
food he can carry, and he will die of thirst. So it is 
with a plant. It must have abundant supplies of 
nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid, or it will not 
thrive. That fact is the basis of the science of plant¬ 
feeding. After that, comes the art of making proper 
combinations of plant food, and knowing how differ¬ 
ent manurial substances act in the soil. 
Estimating Butter by Babcock Test. 
T. C ../., Watertown, Wis. —If the yield of butter is determined 
by adding one-sixth to the test, should creainerymen give, on an 
average, the same yield to the patrons? If not, why not? All 
machinery is supposed to be of the latest improved. 
Ans. —The amount of fat required to make a pound 
of butter, depends upon the amount of water, curd, 
etc., contained in the butter, and also upon the 
amount of fat lost during the process of manufacture. 
In determining a constant for estimating the yield of 
butter from the amount of fat secreted by the cow, 
the latter element was ignored, because it was con¬ 
sidered that the cow should not be charged with lack 
of skill in the buttermaker, or losses due to imperfect 
machinery. The results of the dairy test at the 
World’s Columbian Exposition, showed between 85 
and 86 per cent of fat in the butter. If, then, one- 
sixth be added to the amount of fat secreted, it will 
require the butter to contain 85.7 per cent (nearly) of 
fat, and this factor was, therefore, adopted at the last 
convention of the Association of American Agricul¬ 
tural Colleges and Experiment Stations, because of 
its convenience, and its very close approximation to 
average results already determined. In factory work, 
it will be found that this factor is slightly too large, 
because of the losses of fat already alluded to. The 
addition of one-sixth to the fat is equivalent to an 
“over run” of 16% per cent, or a yield of 116% pounds 
of butter from 100 pounds of fat. Factories that are 
well managed, should show an over-run of 12 or 15 
per cent. Occasionally, with very careful manage¬ 
ment, and where the butter is made to carry all th.e 
water possible, 16% per cent may be reached or even 
exceeded. If a less per cent is reported, there is 
some unnecessary loss of fat in some part of the pro¬ 
cess of manufacture. h. h. wing. 
Duck Notes from a Western Farm. 
G. A. D. B., Hartford, Wis. —I have read with much interest, 
“A Western Duck Farm,” page 394. What breed of ducks has 
Mr. Moss? What make of incubator does he use ? How does he 
regulate the heat in different parts of the machine? What kind 
of fencing does he use, if any, both for young and old ducks ? 
Ans. —I breed the Mammoth Pekin ducks. I have 
crossed two of the best strains in existence, and the 
result has exceeded my expectations. It seems to have 
imparted more vigor, and to have developed the de¬ 
sirable qualities requisite in birds whose final desti¬ 
nation is the table—breadth and depth of breast, with 
the ability to consume and assimilate large quantities 
of food. My theory is that the more food I can get 
them to consume and assimilate over and above what 
is requisite to sustain life, the more profitable they 
become. They should weigh 10 pounds per pair when 
nine weeks old ; I have some that exceed this. 
I use the Reliable incubator. I use six machines 
with a capacity of 1,500 eggs. My experience with it 
has been very unfavorable, and it has ruined a num¬ 
ber of hundreds of eggs for me. I soon discovered, by 
placing four thermometers in each tray, that while 
one read 103, the others read from 101 to 106, the end 
nearest the lamp being the hottest. As the makers 
insisted that this could not be possible, and could 
offer no suggestion to overcome it, I undertook the 
experiment, and it has resulted in an even tempera¬ 
ture in all parts of the egg chamber. I removed the 
water pan which is suspended over the eggs at the 
lamp end, and put a shelf of one-half inch boards 
between the eggs and the heat pipes ; this breaks the 
direct heat, and carries it to the opposite end before 
it descends. I also reverse the tray every time I turn 
the eggs ; this helps to overcome any slight variation. 
Perhaps nine-tenths of the buyers and users of incu¬ 
bators place one thermometer—the one that comes 
with each machine—in it, regulate their heat by it, 
and when the hatch fails, they are unable to account 
for it. Several machines are made that do absolutely 
good work, so far as even temperature in all parts of 
the egg chamber is concerned, and if supplied with 
fresh, fertile eggs, and the proper amount of mois¬ 
ture, will hatch 85 or even 95 per cent. 
For fencing, I use 18-inch No. 19 galvanized wire 
netting, two-inch mesh for old ducks, and those over 
four weeks old in the brooder house, and one-inch 
mesh around the pens of ducklings under four weeks 
old. Drive lx2-inch stakes about 10 feet apart, and 
fasten with staples. Don’t use No. 20 wire, as it will 
not hold its shape or position. h. e. moss. 
