486 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 16, 
any more than lie would all sand. This may be one 
of the cases where poverty is a blessing. I believe the 
time is at hand for us to call a halt in the building 
of high-priced macadam roads. If we can afford to 
spend six to ten thousand dollars on a mile of road, let 
us build a steel wheel track. It can be done at little or 
no more cost, and will be so much more satisfactory 
that we shall be inclined to kick ourselves, and wonder 
why we were born so soon. “Steel upon steel” is the 
ideal method of transportation, until we get aerial navi¬ 
gation. WJiat would the great railroad traffic of the 
world do if it had to depend on steel upon dirt or 
stone? o. w. m apes. 
GREENHOUSE FOR LETTUCE. 
In my article, page 146, you refer to Fig. 59, where I 
spoke of tying and bracing the purlin posts, Fig. 61 
shows that, but that you may understand it better I 
send you a rough draft of the way the building is 
braced. Fig. 59 is my plant house to be covered with 
cloth when in use. I am keeping a record of what I 
am doing with it and when 1 can tell with authority I 
will tell about raising plants under cloth. For grow¬ 
ing lettuce the house as it is now is doing better than 
any other 1 ever had. So far I see that I commenced 
setting lettuce the last week in September, commenced 
marketing it the first week in November; commenced 
setting the second crop the second week in November. 
I commenced marketing the second crop the first week 
in February and the second week in February was 
setting the third crop. 'This third crop will be ready 
for the market in about 10 days when I shall take that 
off and set the fourth crop. The fourth crop was 
ready for market the latter part of April. I could grow 
another crop in May if the market is such as to war¬ 
rant growing it. 1 planted cucumbers the first of April 
and they will get into bearing in June. If I were build¬ 
ing again I would use some larger glass, but I would- 
make the building on the same plan as this, I do not 
see where I could improve unless it was to make it 
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longer. You will notice I have three paths running 
lengthwise, the old houses were so planned that 1 could 
not change it very well. If I should build another I 
would have only two paths in it, making the outside 
beds about 13 feet wide and the middle bed 30 feet 
wide; this would save the room of one path, 300 square 
feet, which is quite an item. If I were to put in a heat¬ 
ing plant I would put all the pipes above the ground. 
My experience has been that whenever the atmosphere 
in the house is warm enough the lettuce will grow, and 
it will not grow spindling as when there is bottom 
heat. I shall be glad to answer any questions at any 
time. Others have helped me and I want to help 
others; this is what I am living for. dexter field. 
CULTIVATING THE CORN CROP. 
For corn, I plow where possible in Fall, and replow 
in Spring; then harrow not less than four times; as 
much more as possible. Planting is done three feet each 
way in check row. As soon as rows can be seen I start 
with a 14-tooth cultivator. I never figure on any num¬ 
ber of times, but go over as often as possible, and keep 
it up as long as I can get through the corn, going both 
more shallow and narrower as the corn gets larger. 
In addition to this I have harrowed it twice over this 
year after corn was planted, and it came up nicely and 
clean. The wet weather never bothers here, the ground 
being fit to work 24 hours after a hard rain. I never 
hill up corn, but keep it as nearly level as possible. One 
year, when the ground was so hard and full of quack 
that the cultivator would slide over the surface, I 
plowed away from my corn, then followed with culti¬ 
vator same way. In this way I cleaned it out and had 
a good crop. I do not think the kind of work one does 
in corn is as essential as the amount, and I would do 
as much as possible before the crop is planted. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. w. H. 
BUILDING A TANK OF CONCRETE. 
To build a tank of concrete that will hold water is 
rather difficult, as concrete made with cement and sand 
must necessarily be more or less porous, and if built 
above the ground the walls would have to be made 
heavy, or the pressure of the water will break it. If I 
should build a tank of field stone and cement T would 
sink it in the ground on an elevation, dig pit of the re¬ 
quired dimensions and lay up stone wall inside anywhere 
from six to 12 inches thick, depending on the size of the 
stone. Make the wall as smooth as possible on the in¬ 
side, bed all the stones thoroughly in mortar composed 
of Portland cement one part and clean sharp grit sand 
four parts. Before the cement or mortar becomes set 
plaster the inner surface of the wall with the same mor¬ 
tar, so as to cover the stones; then plaster again before 
the mortar is set with Portland cement two parts to sand 
three parts. This latter coat need not be more than 
one-quarter of an inch thick. In this way the bank 
will hold the wall from cracking from the pressure of 
the water, and the final coat will be almost impervious 
to water. The bottom should be covered about 2 y' 2 
inches thick with a mixture of Portland cement one part, 
sand four parts, and gravel screenings five parts, and 
A FAMILY MELON CUT. Fig. 196. 
cover again one-half inch thick with cement two parts 
and sand three parts. In putting the finishing coat on 
the bottom turn it up on the sides about four to six 
inches, so as to unite the whole in a homogeneous mass. 
It would be well to ram the earth in the bottom good 
and hard before putting down the concrete, to prevent 
settling and cracking. The plastering of the bottom 
should be done as soon as possible after the side walls 
are done, so that sides and bottom will become one mass, 
as it were. In using the word “set’ 1 do not mean that 
the mortar should be soft, but the water should not be 
allowed to evaporate from the mortar. n. h. 
Paterson, N. J. _ 
TREATMENT OF “HIRED HELP.” 
1 read some time ago of a farmer who said that 
American help almost drove him crazy, and he intended 
to get foreign labor from this on. I pity that man, for 
I believe he will land in the asylum. If we have an 
ailment we call in our physician, and he locates the 
cause of our trouble and soon has us going again. If 
farmers cannot get help they too should look for the 
cause, and if possible remedy it. We have a neighbor 
A BIT OF EVERYDAY BEAUTY. Fig. 197. 
who is always wanting help, and when he gets a man 
this is the way he uses him: He gets him out to work 
as soon as he can in the morning and keeps him going 
as long as he can at night. For example, we have 
supper at five; one evening after supper he told one 
of his men to take a team and go three miles away and 
get a load of lumber and take it three miles in the other 
direction. What time do you suppose he got through 
with his day’s work? Another time, when we were 
husking corn until 10 o’clock in the evening, some one 
said: “Let’s quit.” His son spoke up and said: “Oh, let 
us husk another shock anyway.” His aim was to get 
the last bit of vitality out of a man that was in him. 
He used men as slaves or tools to do his work. 
We have another neighbor who never has any trouble 
getting help. . He is a very prominent man, and when 
he secs a good man he “spots” him, and when in need 
of help he offers inducements enough so that he almost 
always get him, and he then treats the man like a man 
and not a slave. 'He is satisfied with a day’s work; 
when you do it in his home he treats you as a friend. 
The result is he has an intelligent lot of men about him. 
When he goes away from home they do their work just 
the same as if he was there, and they are men he can 
trust in his home among his children, or any place. He 
has applications from men for work all the time. Any¬ 
one will work for him, and everybody likes to work for 
him. So I am convinced that the farmer who uses his 
men like men can get good help, or it is so in our com¬ 
munity. Young Americans (as well as old) are too in¬ 
dependent to be abused on a farm, when the cities offer 
the inducements they do, if the work is not as pleasant. 
Pennsylvania. _ s. d. h. 
THE VALUE OF OLD PLASTERING. 
Near my farm there is a large Summer hoarding house, 
accommodations for 300 people. This wooden building is be¬ 
ing wrecked. In the wrecking of it there will be 25 to 30 
tons or even more of very good clean plaster from lath work, 
on the walls and ceilings. This was made from the best 
of strong stone lime and good sand about 35 years ago. I 
think this waste mortar can be had for the trouble of 
hauling. As lime is beneficial to some soils, and very few 
of us common farmers know just when to try to lime our 
soils, I ask this question : Will this old mortar clean from 
this wrecked building be of any benefit to poor land, very 
fertile land, old pastures or to use about stables? Does the 
lime still contain its quality of fertility? F. k. g. 
Middetown Springs, Vt. 
Such old plastering has a value for agricultural pur¬ 
poses. It is not equal to fine lime, as much of it will 
be found in coarse chunks, which cannot economically 
be powdered. The plaster contains some plain lime, 
some gypsum or land plaster, and a small quantity of 
nitrate of lime, which comes from the decay of the hair 
used in the plastering. This nitrate of lime is often 
formed on walls in damp seasons. We have used such 
plastering around trees with very good results. It evi¬ 
dently helped the trees both as a mulch to keep the soil 
cool and moist, to keep down grass and weeds, and to 
supply some needed plant food. That is the best use 
we have found for it. We must remember that one 
great value of air-slaked lime is the fact that it is in a 
powdered form, so that it can be evenly spread and 
worked all through the soil. The plastering being 
coarse would not be of so much use. Generally speak¬ 
ing, we should prefer to use the plastering on soil that 
is to be plowed. We would rather turn it under than 
use it as a top-dressing. We should use it on light land, 
or on old pasture plowed under. We have not found 
such plaster useful or convenient as an absorbent in sta¬ 
bles. Lime helps both poor and rich soils, because its 
action is not so much to supply plant food as to act 
upon the soil. Many light soils are unproductive be¬ 
cause they are sour. Air-slaked lime well worked into 
such soils will neutralize the acid and thus make them 
more agreeable to crops. As we have explained, the 
coarse plaster cannot do this as thoroughly as the fine 
lime. Lime, on the light soils, also binds the particles 
together, so that they hold moisture better. On heavy 
soils lime not only “sweetens” or neutralizes the acid, 
but opens the soil, thus giving better drainage. Of 
course you will not make the mistake of thinking that 
the old plaster will fully take the place of manure or 
fertilizers. The general need of lime is shown in vari¬ 
ous ways. When very heavy soils remain hard and 
cloddy lime will help break them up; also, when light 
soils crumble too much and dry out with a crust in a 
short time. Some soils do not respond as they should 
to a fair use of manure or fertilizers. They will usually 
be found sour. To make a test of this buy at a drug 
store strips of blue litmus paper. This is a form of 
blotting paper colored by litmus dye, which is obtained 
from a form of moss or lichen which grows on rocks. 
The peculiarity of this color is that it is very sensitive 
to acid. When put into an acid the b’ue color changes 
to red, and if it is.then put into an alkaline it changes 
back to blue. To test a soil take a fair sample of it, 
going several inches deep, and put it in a glass or cup 
with enough water to make it firm. Put a thin knife 
down into the soil, and into this hole put a piece of the 
blue litmus paper, pressing the soil up around it. Let: 
it stand half an hour or more and then pull it out. If 
the soil is not sour enough to do harm the paper, when 
dry, will retain its blue color. If it is sour it will be 
found red. the deeper and more distinct the red the 
more acid, and the greater the need of lime. 
QUICK-GROWING VINES.—The cheerful baby in 
Fig. 197 shows up well against a verdant background 
of quick-growing vines. The wild cucumber, whose 
star-cut leaves apparently form the main greenery, is 
very useful for covering rough fences, old stumps, or 
any unsightly object. The fresh green of the foliage 
is quite refreshing in early Summer, but grows shabby 
later in the season, and the fruits become something of 
a nuisance, as they fall or are knocked off and shattered 
about. For this reason we only recommend its tempo¬ 
rary use, in default of something better. 
