1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
75 
telephones save life and property. 
Help at a Massachusetts Fire. 
About a year ago a neighbor’s barn caught fire from 
the steam engine used in cutting silage. A telephone 
across the way gave the alarm. In an incredibly short 
time the townspeople were coming from every direction. 
An onlooker said: “How could these people from all 
parts of the town learn so soon of the fire?” The large 
force of men brought together so promptly was able to 
secure not only all the stock, farming tools, wagons and 
carriages, but saved dairy, henhouse and other small 
buildings by drawing them out into the fields, away 
from the burning barn. h. e. w. 
Granby, Mass. 
What Was Saved in Ohio. 
There was an anniversary party at our village that 
night, and my next neighbor went, taking his wife and 
two older girls, and leaving at home seven small chil¬ 
dren, the oldest a boy of 13. About midnight one of 
the children was awakened by the smell of smoke, and 
getting up to investigate found that the sitting room 
was full of smoke, and so hot that she could not go in. 
She got the rest of the little ones up, and carrying the 
baby they started in the bitter cold and through the 
deep snow for their nearest neighbor’s house, some 60 
rods distant, clad in their nightclothes. They reached 
shelter nearly frozen, and told of the smoke and fire 
at home. The neighbor sent word to me and asked me 
to ’phone to the village. T called up “central” and asked 
her to get word to the party, and to tell them to get the 
village fire engine. One of the men at the party had his 
team hitched to a large sleigh and, loading it with men 
from the party and hitching the engine on behind, was 
soon at the fire. In the meantime several neighbors 
had arrived, also the distracted parents, who finding the 
children safe, were much relieved. It was impossible 
to get into the rooms where the fire was on account of 
the great heat and the explosion of the gasoline in a 
gasoline lamp, and we were helpless until the engine ar¬ 
rived. After getting the engine connected with the 
cistern we soon had a stream of water playing on the 
fire, and finally succeeded in putting it out. Had it not 
been for the telephone the house would have been a 
total loss. My neighbors now have ’phones in their 
homes and don’t leave their small children alone nights 
when they go to parties. 
In another case a farmer friend who had a telephone 
in his house rented his farm to a thrifty German. The 
German thought he could not afford to pay $18 a year 
for the use of a telephone, but my friend advised him to 
leave it in for a while and try it. I here 
is a small plum orchard on the place, and 
in due time the plums began to ripen. 
The man was very busy, and did not see 
how he could find time to ship them. 
Some one in a nearby village called him 
up and asked him if he had plums to sell. 
He replied that lie had. A bargain was 
made, and he sold over $100 worth from 
the little orchard, delivering them after 
the regular farm work for the day was 
over, or sending them by his children if 
all his horses were not busy during the 
day. This is only one instance. He still 
has the telephone. 
In our own business we find the tele¬ 
phone a great help. If we have fruit 
ready to pick we find the most profitable 
market by calling up the commission men 
to whom we ship in the larger cities. 
Often what we gain on one shipment will 
pay for the use of the telephone for a 
long time. We ship a good deal to gro¬ 
cers in nearby towns. The orders are 
taken over the telephone and then shipped 
to their destination over one of our two 
electric railroads. This is a most satis¬ 
factory way of disposing of fruit. We 
also get many private orders, which are 
filled in the same way. When loading cars we find it 
a great saving of time to order them by telephone and 
find when they are on track ready to load. In fact, the 
frequent use we make of the telephone is a constant 
surprise. s. L. H. 
House Saved in Vermont. 
The middle of last March we had a short rainstorm 
with severe thunder and lightning. The horse barn 
of a farmer, living about two miles from this village, 
was struck. Another farmer living about \ l /> mile farther 
on, who has telephone connections, saw the flash and im¬ 
mediately telephoned the facts to the village. In about 20 
minutes nearly 200 men and boys were on the spot, and 
by hard work and free use of chemical fire extinguishers, 
the house and wood shed, which were connected with the 
barn, were saved, with no damage except from smoke. 
Stowe, Vt. a. c. o. 
A number of clergymen were camping in this vicinity, 
«Uid while preparing fuel one of the party was severely 
cut with an ax. It was only because the telephone was 
available that the physicians were enabled to arrive in 
season to save his life. f. c. c. 
Maine. 
CEMENT FOR A TIN ROOF. 
Dry Slowly and Finish with Paint. 
On page 924 E. E. H., Chester, N. J., asks if cement 
mortar three-fourths inch thick is a good covering for a 
flat tin roof. Our objection to a roof of that kind is 
the probability of improper application. For cement 
to do its best it must be kept wet till it sets, say 10 days 
to two weeks. If it gets dry before it sets thoroughly it 
will never get very hard, while if it is kept wet for 
about two weeks it will then continue to get harder, and 
makes its greatest gain in about three months. For a 
roof the best way to apply it would be first to cover the 
‘•THEY LOOK LIKE FATHER!” Fig. 35. 
roof with metal lath—expanded metal—and then apply 
the mortar mixed about three parts of good clean sand 
to one part of cement. This mixture will not be im¬ 
pervious to water, but it will be less liable to crack than 
if mixed richer. Keep the mortar wet for two weeks 
by spreading cloths of some kind over it and sprinkling 
with a hose or any convenient way, but remember it 
must not get dry until thoroughly set. Then let it dry 
and paint to fill the pores. The pores must be closed 
to prevent moisture from getting underneath. If very 
much moisture gets through the mortar the first freeze 
will chip it off. Painting will prevent this. Metal lath 
is quite expensive, but cement mortar without it would 
be quite apt to crack. The roof can be fixed this way, 
but I think a much better and cheaper way would be to 
put on more tin. People are constantly getting im¬ 
provements on old methods, but there has been no im¬ 
provement on shingles and sheet metal for ordinary 
roofs. Good paint should always be used. 
Washington. k. j. Hermans, c. e. 
CHESTNUT GROWING IN VIRGINIA 
We have found it practically impossible successfully 
to transplant chestnut trees from the nursery to the 
orchard. So far as our experience is worth anything, we 
have demonstrated that chestnuts will not grow except 
on soils naturally adapted to the tree; that is, on what 
we call chestnut soil, and our only success has been 
in clearing up such a piece of ground as had chestnut 
trees already growing on it and then grafting the im¬ 
proved stock on the young sprouts, which always come 
up in abundance. Even with this method it is ex¬ 
tremely difficult to secure a stand of growing trees; 
usually not more than half the grafts will “take,” and 
if extra care is not taken many of the young trees will 
blow or break off after two years’ growth. We have 
seen chestnut grafts grow 25 to 39 feet in a season, and 
as the wood is very brittle the young trees arc quite 
liable to break off in a high wind, usually at the point 
of inserting the graft. The young trees should begin 
to bear at four years, and there is never any difficulty 
in selling the nuts at $3.50 to $4 per bushel. We have 
not observed any special insect enemies except the ordi¬ 
nary Chestnut worm and the usual small boy. Expos¬ 
ing the nuts, as soon as gathered, to the fumes of 
bisulphide of carbon will prevent any serious damage 
from worms, and we think exposing the small boy to the 
same treatment might be effective, although we have 
not, as yet, tried it. As a side issue, and on land not 
suited to other purposes, chestnut culture may afford 
fairly good returns, and lots of fun, but as a commer¬ 
cial proposition along the lines suggested by your cor¬ 
respondent “we hae oor doots.” s. l. luiton. 
Virginia. 
QUESTIONS ABOUT ONIONS ANSWERED. 
What is the best soil for onions? 
We think there is no soil that will produce a better 
crop with less labor than the muck lands that will be 
found throughout the States of New York and Pennsyl¬ 
vania; such a soil we have here, and have had far better 
success raising onions on it than on any other land we 
ever tried. But it must be remembered mat before such 
soil is fit for onions or any like crop, it must be thor¬ 
oughly subdued to get it clear of weeds, and there arc 
vast areas of this land just waiting to be turned into a 
garden by some of the laboring men who find it hard 
work to make a living in their present places. 
What crop should onions follow? 
It is desirable to grow onions on the same ground pro¬ 
vided it can be kept clear of weeds, for the reason that it 
would then become firmer, and the firmer it becomes, pro¬ 
vided it does not bake, the better crop it will raise. This 
might not apply to any other soil than ours or the muck 
soils. However, we have had excellent success growing 
onions after celery, as the celery leaves the ground free 
from weeds, and the onions can be cared for with less 
labor. The ground should be plowed in the Fall and lev¬ 
eled down, as then it can be worked and sown much 
earlier in the Spring. If left to plow in the Spring it 
might make a week or two difference in getting the crop 
in, and this is important, as onions should be sown as 
soon as the frost is out. 
What varieties are best? 
We think that the two main crop varieties are the 
Yellow Globe Danvers an.d the Southport Red Globe, but 
the Southport Yellow Globe may do as well with some as 
the Danvers. But the crop must depend on the markets, 
as the southern markets want the yellow 
varieties, while the northern markets do 
not care so much about them, and will take 
red as well. Some arc tempted by the 
high price of white onions to grow them, 
but usually find that they have very few 
that will command the high price. A 
neighbor sent a few as samples to a New 
York firm and asked him if he could get 
the high price then quoted. They picked 
out two of the medium sized and whitest 
ones, and sent them back, telling him that 
if he could ship them some like that he 
could get the price. Of course he had 
only a few like them. 
What fertilisers arc used? 
While wood ashes are good on most 
soils they are not sufficient to produce the 
best crop. We use the best complete fer¬ 
tilizer we can buy, and think it pays. We 
use on our land from one to \ l / 2 ton of a 
fertilizer that is about one to two of nitro¬ 
gen, seven to eight of acid and eight to 10 
of potash, but this would be varied as the 
needs of the soil required. We think it is 
a mistake of some in using too small 
amount of fertilizer and expecting a full 
crop. Experience is the only way to find 
out how much can be used with profit. 
Care should be taken to get the fertilizer even on 
the ground or the onions will be spotted, and hand 
sowing of the fertilizer is not always satisfactory on this 
account. A fair yield we should consider not less than 
500 bushels to the acre; on our soil here 600 to 800 are 
frequently raised. We had a piece that went at the rate 
of 700 bushels this year outside of where they were dam¬ 
aged by water, and a neighbor has taken 8,500 crates 
from nine acres, but these would be considered extremes, 
and all conditions must be favorable. We have never 
had experience with the Onion maggot but once, and 
then they got into the onions before we knew what was 
the matter. We went on and sowed ashes on the row in 
a rainstorm. While it might have checked those that 
had not hatched, we do not think there is much that can 
be done after the maggots once get into the onion. 
We fit our ground down thoroughly with a float made 
of plank, going over the ground until it is very smooth 
and level. This also crushes all lumps, and leaves the 
ground in fine condition for the drill. We sow six 
pounds of seed to the acre. On some soils this would be 
too much, but on the muck it is not. As soon as the 
onions are up so we can see them we work between the 
row with a shove hoe, the best tool we have ever found 
for the purpose. to. l. dungaN & son. 
AN INDIANA BARN BL’ILT OK HOLLOW CEMENT BLOCKS. FlU. 36. 
