566 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 29, 
the land must be made very rich to get two full crops 
and then have enough foliage left to sustain the vigor of 
the roots for succeeding years. For three seasons I 
have planted Winter squashes on the edge of the ground 
that had been used early in Spring for raising tomato 
plants and early plants of other kinds under glass. I 
have left the manure of the beds undisturbed, and find 
that the squash roots seem to do well in it, though they 
do not run down into the manure more than a few 
inches. The squash seeds are planted about the 10th of 
June, after the tomato plants are all sold off. It is my 
practice to plant an early variety of sweet corn after the 
berries are picked from the strawberry beds that are two 
years old. Corn planted the first week in July has 
generally paid well for the trouble of preparing the 
ground. At present my cultivation is all done with 
spade and other hand tools. Fertilizer is spread broad¬ 
cast both before inverting the strawberry ground and 
afterwards, as the corn is put in. 
Of late years I have grown quantities of tulips for 
selling the bulbs. These can be dug in ample time for 
planting sweet corn. Then a new planting of tulips can 
go in early in October, after any but the very late crops. 
Many find it difficult to raise good crops of good pota¬ 
toes in old gardens, but I have no difficulty when planted 
the next year after an old strawberry bed has been 
turned under. A heavy growth of strawberry plants is 
as good as a grass sod for making a good home for 
early potatoes. Then when these are harvested the 
ground is in fine condition for planting out strawberries 
again in August. I am aware that land should be 
carrying some kind of crop all the time, and I have 
experimented somewhat with rye, Crimson clover, and 
some other things, but as I have to use a spade in place 
of a plow in my garden I am allowing the land to lie idle 
in some cases for a few weeks in late Summer. 
On the farm, with a herd of cows to provide for and 
a team for doing the cultivation, I could keep the land 
all pretty busy. One year I produced 66 acres of crops on 
26 acres of land. A few acres of grass produced three 
crops annually. This was reclaimed swamp, sown to 
Orchard grass and Kentucky Blue grass. Much of the 
corn was grown after rye had been cut green for soiling 
or for hay. One year, with an early Spring, I cut the 
rye in season to follow with oats, and these being ready 
to harvest for fodder early in July, a crop of barley for 
late feeding in the green state was ofif in season for put¬ 
ting in rye for the next year’s use. As the land was an 
orchard, and I had the apples to pick, the rye was not 
sown, but you see that I had three forage crops of full 
growth besides the apples. I have found an excellent 
mixture of crops is to sow Winter rye and Spring 
barley in September on rich land, using a bushel and a 
half of seed of each to the acre. The barley will make 
some stalk, that keeps the rye from falling down and 
lodging on the ground. I have had pretty heavy crops 
grown in this way for feeding green in November. 1 he 
rye lives over Winter after being mown with the barley, 
and produces a fair crop the following year. But I must 
say again that such cropping will only pay when ferti¬ 
lizer is used freely. I was one of the first in my town 
to practice sowing grass seed in Spring without a grain 
crop to “nurse” it to death the first season if the weather 
proved dry at the time of cutting the grain. I have 
often taken two crops of hay the first year. One year 
I sowed grass and clover the last of July, and had a 
crop to cut that'Fall, the clover being in bloom at the 
t j me A. W. CHEEVER. 
Massachusetts. 
KITCHEN AND BATHROOM CONVENIENCES 
Fig. 237 shows a rough sketch of bathroom and 
kitchen, as re-arranged by myself. Tt has been in use 
four years, and I would make few if any changes were 
it to be done over. The part of my house in which 
these two rooms are located is of wood, while the 
main house is of brick. I bought the house in 1901. 
There had formerly been an aqueduct and running 
water from a spring, located about 700 feet from the 
house, with a fall of about 60 feet. When I took pos¬ 
session of the place the water supply came from a well, 
near the house, by an ordinary hand pump. Having 
never been accustomed to such an arrangement I 
resolved to better the condition of things. The old 
pipe, which was too small for my purpose, was replaced 
by a new and larger one. In the diagram of kitchen 
the dotted line indicates the pipe, which is of galvanized 
iron, After entering the house it passes up from the 
floor to ceiling, and across and up through the floor 
into the bathroom; empties into a tank there, from 
which it is distributed to the bathtub and lavatory in 
the second story, and down into the hot water tank 
connected with the range; also to the sink, as indi¬ 
cated, and on the two set tubs, and lastly to the lava¬ 
tory, with a cock below where water may be drawn out 
of the pipe when shut off from the tank above. This 
disposes of the cold water pipe. After being heated by 
the range, hot water and steam run up in to the bath¬ 
room lavatory and tub; also to the sink below and the 
set tubs and lavatory in the kitchen. In addition there 
is a pipe for cold water for domestic use, coming to the 
sink direct from outside the house or from the spring, 
being outside the shut-off cock at the sill of the house. 
This makes three cocks at the sink, with two at each 
of the set tubs and lavatories, with a double way valve 
at the bathtub. In each case the left-hand cock con¬ 
nects with hot water, the right-hand one with cold. 
All the plumbing is exposed and thus easily attended 
to and cleanly. A water closet is connected with the 
tank in the bathroom as indicated. It is ventilated into 
the chimney direct from the bowl, and of course all the 
different pla.es, as indicated, are trapped separately into 
the sewer pipe, which extends up through the roof for 
safety. The bathroom is heated by a register directly 
over the kitchen range, and is always warm and com¬ 
fortable. There have been a few times when outside 
temperature was 15 to 20 degrees below zero, but so 
far I have not been incommoded by frost in the pipes. 
The water runs constantly at my barn, which is about 
50 feet from the house towards the spring. As to the 
expense connected with this convenience, there are 
some items which in another locality would vary from 
mine, but in the main there are only a few which would 
need correcting for any location. The items of tank 
and connection with range, the set tubs, water-closet 
and two lavatories with necessary pipes, traps, and stop 
EAST 
cocks were contracted for by a local plumber at $110. 
The work of fitting and some few extras cost $50 more, 
making a total of $160 as cost of the inside work. As 
to the pipe to the spring, which is of lead. ^4-inch, 745 
feet, one pound to the foot at six cents is $44.70, an 
allowance of $12 being made for the old pipe, which 
I delivered at the pipe factory eight miles away at the 
time I went for the new pipe. There were no express 
or freight charges in my case. The digging of trench for 
pipe was through soil free from all rocks and stones, and 
was done at odd spells by cheap help. The estimated 
cost of digging and filling was $7.50. If I were asked 
what it would be possible to leave out of the plant T 
would say that the cost might be reduced by omitting 
the lavatory in the bathroom, thus saving about $12. 
Still, that is very convenient and desirable. The con¬ 
stant supply of hot water for all purposes at all times 
of day or night is alone worth all the cost. The set 
tubs are always ready for use, and with a loose covet 
on one of them supply a convenient table for draining 
dishes or a separator. Mine is used twice a day for 
washing and scalding the separator parts and drying the 
same. On the whole I am sure the money pays a good 
interest in every way. and no one can afford to live on 
in the old way when conditions similar to mine exist for 
introducing more modern methods at so little cost. In 
this case no serious difficulty existed in finding room 
for the several improvements in the house without 
building any ^additions or making any expense in any 
way. The new and larger pipe was necessary, not for 
the house, but for the stock at the barn; a J^-inch pipe 
was needed, whereas the old pipe was scarcely l4-inch. 
Hampshire Co., Mass. d. e. h. 
CARE OF HORSE IN HOT WEATHER. 
On page 492, in speaking of the “extra precautions 
for the team in hot weather,” your ideas arc right ex¬ 
cept that you recommend a wet sponge on the horse’s 
head. As a great lover of horses, and the owner of 
a number of very busy ones, I am sure that a wet 
sponge so placed is much worse than nothing at all, 
because when left on the head for a very few minutes 
the cool, wet sp.onge becomes a warm poultice to the 
brain, and hastens the trouble that we would avoid. In 
hot weather each of our horses wears a hat, and each 
driver is furnished with a stout, good-sized, unbleached 
sponge, with orders to sponge the mouth and nostrils 
of his horse whenever he can, and then thoroughly to 
souse water between the hind legs of the horse when the 
friction and heat are very great. I look for TheR. N.-Y. 
every week and want it to be right, but the wet sponge 
idea on the head is vitally wrong, and should be re¬ 
membered with the surgical axiom that “if you want 
to put an eye out, just poultice it.” r. p. n. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—Our experience differs somewhat from 
the above, as we have found the sponge of service both 
to men and horses. Under very trying conditions a 
fair-sized wet sponge worn inside a man’s hat has given 
real relief, and it also appeared to refresh the horses. 
The sponge should not be very large, and of course the 
water ought to be renewed whenever convenient. Being 
fastened loosely to the headstall, the sponge bobs up 
and down more or less, instead of resting heavily on 
the head. 
CLOVER SILAGE FOR LITTLE PIGS. 
At how early an age will weaned pigs be able to do well 
on clover silage? Here there are very few silos, while in 
Iowa, my old home, the silage is made of corn. I am very 
anxious to raise October and November pigs, carrying them 
through the Winter on silage and middlings, and turning on 
rye and clover in March, selling in June. On Fall pigs, win¬ 
tered on boiled small potatoes and middlings, and not fed 
after March, I made a profit of $5 a head over cost of 
potatoes and middlings, hut I have only a few potatoes. If 
I could supplement the potatoes with clover silage I could 
raise 200 pigs, but am not sure they would eat enough to do 
well at eight or 10 weeks old. Of course hogs will do well 
on clqver, but will a 30 or 40-pound weaned pig do well on 
clover silage—all he wants—supplemented by four pounds 
of boiled potatoes, and one-half to three-fourths pound of 
muUlHriflr© ? W. IT. K. 
Washington. 
I have had no experience with clover silage, but have 
fed Fall pigs over Winter on clover leaves put in the 
trough dry, middlings put on them, then water enough 
put on to dampen the whole mass. Sometimes I would 
mix it, and other times I would let the pigs mix it 
while eating. I always fed this clover leaf ration in the 
morning, so if it was cold weather they would clean it 
up during the day, and not allow any of it to freeze 
in the trough. If fed in the evening, they might not 
stay at the trough long enough to clean up. What they 
would leave would freeze during the night. If pigs 
will eat clover this way, there can be no doubt about 
their thriving on clover silage. I think they would 
relish it more. After weaning time, when they get a 
little older and larger, they will thrive better on mid¬ 
dlings, silage and a few potatoes than they will on the 
potatoes and middlings without the silage. The clover 
silage is rich in protein, while potatoes are seriously 
lacking in this important element, so necessary for grow¬ 
ing animals. 
What a hog will eat readily, and thrive on, I am neve v 
afraid but that a pig will take to it. But the pig will 
require a high per cent of protein, which in this case 
need not be thought of. as there is an abundance of the 
protein in the clover silage. john m. jamison. 
Ohio. 
R. N.-Y.—We have sent this question to 10 good pig 
feeders, but have not been able to find one who has 
really fed the clover silage. Can any of our readers 
help us? 
DEFECTIVE VENTILATION.—I wish to call your 
attention to the sketch and article on plumbing by 
Joseph Pennell on page 502. The ventilating pipe of the 
soil pipe leading into the flue is very bad. When there 
is no fire in the furnace and the kitchen fire is low, with 
the wind blowing against the mouth of the sewer, and 
atmospheric conditions right, the gas (and lots of it) 
would go directly into the cellar, and .then through the 
house, which would cause the family to feel dull and 
without ambition, and in bad cases would cause sick¬ 
ness. In first and second-class cities in Pennsylvania 
the plumbing laws are very exacting, and no vent pipes 
are allowed to enter any chimney, but must go out 
through the roof, and extend above any dormer win¬ 
dow. With city people seeking fresh air, it seems too 
bad that a little mistake on the part of the plumbing 
should foul the house in the country, in the midst of 
fresh air. n. t. 
Scranton, Pa, 
