822 
November L8, 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
are ready to be planted out in the beds prepared for 
them. Both solid beds mid benches are used for Win¬ 
ter culture, the benches containing about six inches of 
light soil well enriched with stable manure, and the 
plants are trained up to wires attached to the roof of 
the house, so that they may have the full benefit of the 
sun. In the New England cucumber districts this crop 
follows lettuce in beds on the ground; the cucumber 
seed is sown about December 1, and the plants are set 
out in the beds early in January, as soon as the second 
crop of lettuce is off. Although the soil is then very 
rich, trenches are dug the length of the house, packed 
with 10 inches of fermenting manure, with eight inches 
of soil over this, and the cucumbers set upon this hot¬ 
bed, 3^2 feet apart, and trained upon trellises. This in¬ 
duces rapid growth and early fruiting. A hive of bees 
is sometimes placed in the cucumber house to do the 
work of pollinating the flowers, but this method some¬ 
times fails in the Winter and then hand pollination must 
be resorted to. As to the chance of success, so much 
depends upon the grower and also upon the distance 
from a good market that it is hard to prophesy, but 
there are numerous growers in different parts of the 
country from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Boston, who have 
made this crop a success, notwithstanding the fact that 
the Winter crop of cucumbers under glass will not 
average more than one-half the quantity that may be 
gathered from a Spring crop under the same conditions. 
_ w. H. TAPLIN. 
CONCRETE BLOCKS FOR BUILDING. 
Do They Make Damp Houses? 
I am about to build a modern dwelling, and am consider¬ 
ing the use of cement blocks for that purpose, but I am 
told by a brickmaker here that buildings built of cement 
blocks are always damp; that the moisture gathers on the 
inside wall of a building made of them; and that the water 
will almost drip or run down, and dampen the floors in 
all buildings erected of this material. This man also says 
that where cement block buildings have been in use for a 
number of years the owners are now tearing them down 
and building of brick and other material, owing he says, 
to the dampness of the cement block buildings. c. t. l. 
Missouri. 
We have been using these blocks for the past year in 
both house and factory construction. For the larger 
houses we have furred out the walls, as is usual in brick 
buildings, but for the smaller house and factory build¬ 
ing we put the plaster directly on the walls. We have 
had no moisture in either case, and as some of the 
buildings have been standing more than a year we do 
not expect any trouble of this kind. We are careful to 
have all the blocks hollow, including the corner and 
half blocks, and in most cases arrange for the ventilation 
from the cellar to the attic of the building, either from 
the inside or from the outside. 
HOLLISTER REAL ESTATE CO. 
The moisture does not gather on the inside wall of a 
building made of cement blocks, provided cement blocks 
are made of right material. Of course there are a great 
many different kinds of cement blocks, and a great many 
contractors who find that cement is much cheaper than 
sand, and therefore do not use the proper proportion, 
but with a good cement block made of proportions three 
to one of good sand and good cement, the statement that 
moisture will gather on the inside of the blocks is not 
true. In the case of a poorly-made block I do not doubt 
that the moisture will gather there. I have studied the 
cement block business for the last 10 years or more, and 
I do not know of a single person, nor ever heard of one, 
who is tearing away cement block buildings and using 
brick or other material instead. 
FROST CONCRETE STONE CO. 
We are not surprised at the brick men making the 
statement that they have, as this material is certainly 
displacing brick to a large extent in a great many local¬ 
ities, and will continue to do so, as it has come to stay. 
The cement block industry is growing every day. We 
have never heard of such a thing as a cement block 
building being tom down. However, we do not advo¬ 
cate plastering on hollow blocks, or blocks that have a 
solid connection. You would also get a wet wall in a 
brick building if same were plastered without lathing, 
just the same as you would on concrete stone. They are 
no more susceptible to dampness than any other mate¬ 
rial, such as brick or stone. The board of health of 
Jackson, Mich., is getting out specifications for a deten¬ 
tion hospital to be built of concrete blocks. This build¬ 
ing will be 40 x 60, three stories high, with the hollow 
or split wall. brady cement stone machine co. 
From four years’ experience we feel sure of our state¬ 
ment when we claim that concrete is drier than brick. 
Concrete stone will, during the first three and even six 
months, absorb a great deal of moisture. After this time 
the stone becomes about the same as common brick as 
regards the suction. The advantage that the hollow con¬ 
crete stone has over the brick is that the wall is almost 
entirely hollow, and there is circulation of the air both 
vertically and horizontally. This horizontal circulation 
of the air has a tendency to keep the ends or cross ties 
of the blocks dry; however, when there is a three days’ 
driving rain they will show moisture on the inside un¬ 
less furred and lathed the same as is done with brick 
walls. These ends of the blocks or cross ties in the wall 
will soon dry out again. It has the advantage of the 
air space, which makes the building warm in Winter and 
cool in Summer. The brick wall, being solid, is more 
apt to be moist on the inside, and where plastered 
directly on the brick shows dampness continually. 
Should neither wall be furred nor lathed the concrete 
stone would have the advantage of drying out more 
quickly than the brick. We think that the brick men 
who take the stand against concrete stone are in about 
A LOAD OP ORLEANS COUNTY APPLES. Fig. 350. 
the same position that an owner of a stage line would 
be trying to discourage the progress of the railroads. 
the cement working machinery co. 
Different brands of cement present different charac¬ 
teristics, and not only the grade of cement, but also the 
quantity used makes a large difference in the quality of 
the stone. Fine grinding is the first requisite, and sand 
cement containing, as it does, very fine grains of sand 
intimately mixed with cement particles of extreme fine¬ 
ness, is admirably adapted to such uses. When made 
the mixture should be neither very wet nor very dry, 
and when you have tamped the mold full, moisture 
should glisten on the surface. Another important item 
is to see that the sand is of a variety of sizes, as this 
has a great deal to do with filling the voids. By heed¬ 
ing the above precautions and making the face of your 
stone of a mixture of a rich material (two parts sand 
and one part cement) and tamping directly upon the 
design, you make the face of the block very close and 
hard, making a stone as near watertight as can be pro¬ 
cured without resorting to chemical process. In proof 
of this we refer you to the numerous cement stone water 
tanks, large reservoirs, and sea walls which are built in 
many sections of the country. These have a very rich 
facing to make them impervious. The cement stone 
block grows more impervious to moisture as it increases 
with age, and if made with a rich facing material, we 
guarantee after being cured for 15 days to be far more 
impervious to moisture than either brick or stone. 
atlas cement machinery co. 
Concrete blocks are made of sand and cement, and as 
the cement is expensive and the sand usually costs almost 
nothing, there is a very strong temptation for manufac¬ 
turers to use too little cement, especially when competi¬ 
tion is very keen, and as a general rule this has been 
the trouble where concrete blocks have proven unsatis¬ 
factory. It is also a new occupation, comparatively 
speaking, and there are a larger number of persons en¬ 
gaged in the business who have had no previous expe¬ 
rience, either with concrete blocks or with the handling 
of cement, but who have been following out their own 
ideas in the manner of mixing, tamping and curing, in- 
RIGGING FOR APPLE WAGON. Fig. 351. 
stead of following the directions given to them by peo¬ 
ple who have had years of experience. It is only to be 
expected that their product would be unsatisfactory until 
they have learned by experience the correct way of 
handling the material. 
When properly made, concrete blocks are the most 
durable and satisfactory building material that we have 
to-day, being frostproof, fireproof, handsome in appear¬ 
ance and increasing in strength and hardness as they 
get older. It is true that all forms of masonry, such 
as brick, natural stone or concrete blocks, are somewhat 
subject to dampness, but the concrete block has the ad¬ 
vantage over the other materials mentioned in that it 
improves in this respect as it gets older, and also for the 
reason that at a very small additional cost chemicals 
can be mixed in with the material which will render the 
blocks absolutely waterproof. One mistake that is some¬ 
times made is with the mason, in which he attempts to 
spread mortar on or “butter” the edges of the blocks, 
and in doing so he is very liable to skip places here and 
there, or the mortar will drop off before the blocks are 
buttered together, which leaves openings in the walls. 
THE PETTYJOHN COMPANY. 
MORE ABOUT WOOLLY PEACHES. 
1 think there is little evidence to prove that woolly 
peaches are more free from rot than smooth ones. We 
have just passed one of the worst seasons for handling 
peaches ever known here, and all early varieties, whether 
woolly or not, decayed very badly on account of almost 
constant rains and humid atmosphere. I believe the 
sweet varieties are less rot-resisting than the more tart, 
and little profit was realized from varieties ripening be¬ 
fore Elberta. The peaches this year seemed to lack the 
peculiar rich flavor that only goes with plenty of sun¬ 
shine. Many growers here are discarding the early 
varieties on account of rot and reaching market with 
the late southern stock, and these early varieties are 
seldom safe to ship outside the State, as they soon rot 
down even in iced cars. The fact has also been em¬ 
phasized that it is not best to depend too much on one 
variety. The Elberta had been a failure here for sev¬ 
eral years until this year they were fine (like a nice 
Ben Davis apple), while Chili was a complete failure. 
A few varieties, such as Engle, Mammoth and Kala¬ 
mazoo, seem to bear a fair crop nearly every year, but 
do not bring quite as much on the market as the more 
highly colored varieties. None of the later varieties 
troubled much about rotting here, but quality was not 
as good as common. l. j. post. 
Kent Co., Mich. 
HISTORY OF THE McMAHAN APPLE. 
I have just read the article on the first page of the 
October 14 issue of The R. N.-Y., and while I have no 
suggestions or facts to offer regarding the scion contro¬ 
versy I do protest in the name of Wisconsin horticul¬ 
turists against the McMahan being classed as a Russian. 
I enclose herewith extract from our last annual report, 
giving a history of the McMahan apple as represented 
by C. A. Hatch, who is more familiar with its history 
than anyone else living. It is a Wisconsin apple from 
start to finish, and holds a place in Chicago and other 
western markets as an attractive and good selling apple 
of fair quality. You. will also note from Mr. Hatch’s 
article that the spelling given in The R. N.-Y. is incor¬ 
rect. Both the compilers of the fruit list of the Amer¬ 
ican Pomological Society, as well as Mr. Ragan of 
Washington, have fallen into this error. 
The seed that produced this beautiful apple, and its twin, 
the McMahan Bloom, was planted by Mrs. Isaac McMahan 
in her garden, in 1860, the seed being obtained from a large 
red apple coming from Ohio, presumably an Alexander. The 
McMahans lived in the town of Bloom, Richland County, 
one mile from what was then known as West Branch P. O. 
on the West Branch of Pine River. In the Fall of 1860, 
McMahan exhibited the two apples at the Richland County 
Fair, held in Richland Center. The fruit was so large and 
fine many could not believe it was a seedling, but A. L. 
Hatch, brother of the writer, visited the farm during the 
following Winter, and was so sure of the trees being seed¬ 
lings he cut all the scions and sprouts from the roots, and 
it was through these scions the varieties were introduced 
to the public through the Richland County Nursery, carried 
on by the late S. I. Freeborn and A. L. Hatch, now of 
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. In the year 1870, the Richland 
County Horticultural Society, at the request of Freeborn 
and Hatch, named the white apple McMahan’s White and the 
red one McMahan’s Bloom. The Bloom proved to lie undesir¬ 
able on account of blighting so freely, and Is no longer prop¬ 
agated, although aside from this weakness a very desirable 
kind. The McMahan’s White proved so satisfactory that it 
Is one of the leading varieties In this part of the State. 
The foregoing is ancient history. How about McMahan 
up to date? It is one of the most popular varieties for 
market purposes grown in our country, for the following rea¬ 
sons : As to the tree it is almost ideal, broad, spreading, 
making it low, therefore easy to pick, prune and spray, 
strong and vigorous of growth, consequently Having size, 
so necessary to carry large crops; every fork is strong and 
well grown together with no inturning bark, foliage large, 
broad and vigorous. As a tree it has one fault only, not 
being blight-proof, having this weakness, which is common 
to all strong growers. But in my own orchard containing 
over 30 varieties, it stands about fourth in resisting power. 
Alexander I would put as the weakest, although there Is 
not much difference between that and Yellow Transparent, 
Yellow Transparent, second, McMahan’s Bloom, third, and 
McMahan’s White, fourth. Being a low-topped and spread¬ 
ing tree it requires much room, therefore should not be set 
closer than 30 feet from any other tree, nor headed lower 
than three and one-half to four feet. It stands pruning 
well; in my experience I have removed limbs three inches 
in diameter, two at one time, from one tree with no in¬ 
convenience as far as could be seen, work which would have 
ruined a Golden Russet ..nd sent a Tetofsky to the rubbish 
pile. 
In conclusion, I must express surprise that horticul¬ 
turists from six States in discussing this question should 
assume that the McMahan is of Russian origin. 
Secy. Wis. Hort. Society. Frederic cranefield. 
