1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
555 
THE MILLIONAIRE STRAWBERRY. 
How Henry Jerolaman Grows It. 
Five years ago Henry jerolaman, the New jersey 
Strawberry man, produced a seedling, specimen fruit of 
which, hi natural size, is shown at Fig. 26th When the 
increase of the first plant had made a row eight feet 
iotlg Air* Jerolaman on going away one day told the 
boy left in charge that no berries were to be sold from 
those plants for less than $1 per quart, thinking that 
Would be prohibitive. On his return the boy handed 
him $4, a customer having taken four quarts, all that 
were ready at the time. Next day the same man re¬ 
turned and got three quarts more. This was running 
into money so fast that Millionaire seemed an appro¬ 
priate name for the berry. This year the finest of 
the crop has wholesaled at 40 cents in New York. 
The fruit illustrated was two inches in diameter and 
about as large as any seen. Many run from 1*4 to 
inch. The shape is uniform, no coxcombing being 
noted; color bright red, with a fine gloss; quality 
good, above the average to my taste. Its season is 
long and nearly every berry is matured. Foliage is 
strong and abundant, the plants standing from 10 to 15 
inches high by actual measurement. Air. Jerolaman has 
the variety scattered all about his place, here and there 
part of a row, in order to test it beside such standards 
as Wm. Belt, Glen Mary, Bubach, etc., and it appeared 
to stand the blistering heat of the past trying week best 
of all. From the above description it might seem all 
known good qualities are claimed for this berry, and, 
indeed, as shown by Air. Jerolaman, it is 
on the top notch. Just what it will do in 
other localities and under other conditions 
can be learned only by careful test. It is 
not in commerce and Air. Jerolaman has 
no plants for sale at present. 
“Hilton and Irvington” strawberries are 
known for excellence in the New York 
and Philadelphia markets and the fame 
of the expert growers in this section has 
spread to many other parts of the coun¬ 
try. There is a friendly, wholesome ri¬ 
valry among these neighbors and a 
worthy pride in the successful work that 
is being done. 
Mr. Jerolaman’s methods of culture are 
those practiced by most of the growers 
in that section. Points considered essen¬ 
tial are: Careful selection to get varie¬ 
ties best adapted to the soil and condi¬ 
tions and a further and even more critical 
selection of individual plants for propa¬ 
gation, plants that have shown vigor and 
productiveness; plenty of well-rotted and 
thoroughly fined and worked over stable 
manure (he uses practically no chem¬ 
icals), clean culture, which means that 
the weeds have no chance for their life, 
and enough of the manure worked into 
the soil to give the roots ample food; a 
mulch of marsh hay free from weeds, 
put on after the ground is frozen, cover¬ 
ing the crowns of the plants not more 
than one inch. This mulch is readjusted in 
Springandbefore fruiting it is put on so as 
to form a heavy mat between the rows and 
close to the plants. This keeps the berries 
clean and the ground moist. There are no mud-spat¬ 
tered berries as the result of heavy showers, which often 
cause great damage to unmulched plantations. 
_ w. w. H. 
WONDERS OF A HEN’S EGG. 
The photograph shown in Fig. 272 was taken last Fall 
and was a snap shot taken as I was weighing one of my 
White Wyandotte pullets. I do not remember now what 
the weight was, but anyone can see by the length of 
her body—nearly one-third of a man’s height—that she 
was no under-sized bird. I remember that the cockerels 
of the same brood weighed 8, 8.'4 and 8*4 pounds when 
less than seven months old and were the finest Wyan- 
dottes I ever raised. It doesn’t seem possible that this 
great creature was inside of an egg only a few months 
before. The potentiality of an egg does not depend upon 
its size at all, for a three-pound Leghorn hen lays a much 
larger egg than an eight or nine pound Buff Cochin, for 
instance; also she lays more than three times as many of 
them. That the small brown egg of the Cochin should 
contain within it the possibility of a fowl three times 
the size of that within the larger egg of the 
Leghorn is one of the wonders of nature. One of my 
customers this Summer wrote me that out of the hundred 
eggs sent him there were a half dozen so small he 
should not set them. It was the first complaint of the 
kind I had ever received. I immediately wrote him to 
set those eggs under a hen as a favor to me and mark 
the chicks to see if they were any smaller than the 
others when full grown. I suppose every breeder of 
large numbers of fowls finds there are times when the 
eggs seem to run smaller than usual and I think bins ts 
apt to occur after the hens have been laying extra well 
for some time, and I have noticed that a scant supply 
of meat in their food will also have a tendency to reduce 
the size of the egg. Part of the time this Spring I was 
bothered with eggs too large; had more of them than 
we could use in the family, could not get them in the 
egg crates, as they stuck up above the paper “fillers,” 
and they became quite a bother for a while, until we 
thought of reserving them to fill the top layers, which 
were sufficiently lower than the edge of the crates to 
allow of the eggs projecting above the fillers without 
liability of undue breakage. GEO* A. CosgSoVE, 
A CEMENT STORAGE TANK. 
An Ohio reader, page 509, wishes directions for mak¬ 
ing a cement storage tank that will hold 100 barrels, the 
most desirable shape for such tank, how to attach pipes, 
etc. First, we will talk about the square tank. Make 
the dimensions 7J4 feet square, 8 feet high, 100 barrels, 
5 gallons and a fraction. The inquirer did not say any¬ 
thing about his location, but we will suppose that the 
lay of the land is such that lie will locate the tank half 
under ground and half above. This will put the pipes 
four feet in the ground and drain the tank to the bot¬ 
tom. For this size of tank the walls should be five 
inches thick under ground and six inches thick above 
ground. Dig the pit eight feet four inches square, four 
feet deep, with slope enough to the bottom to drain all 
to one side, where the pipe goes out. Dig some ditch 
for the pine (one length is enough now) ; this ditch 
must be five inches shallower than the pit. Lay in two 
pipes and tamp them firmly, so that they will not move 
by settling dirt after cement work is completed, as it 
might cause a leak around the pipes. We want the out¬ 
going pipe placed so as to entirely drain the tank and 
then, too, in this position all sediment is carried out and 
there will be no occasion to clean the tank. The in¬ 
going pipe I would put 10 inches from the other, so 
there would be plenty of room to work around them 
with the mortar, and around the pipes would have the 
wall double thick, to insure no leakage. The in-going 
pipe should be high enough from the bottom so that 
an elbow could be screwed on after mason work is 
completed, for we want the in-going pipe extended a 
little higher than we expect to have the water stand in 
the tank. At the outer ends of these pipes would put 
on elbows and make a square turn in the ditch ; then 
when you attach more pipe you will not loosen the pipe 
where it goes through the wall of the tank. 
Now we have the pipes in place we are ready for the 
forms to hold the mortar in place till it hardens; if 2x4 
studding are used they should be eighteen inches apart. 
Get the frame ready before the mortar is commenced, 
for the bottom has to be put in before the frame is put 
in. It is better to put the frame together with the 
plates on outside, then when the mortar is put in the 
bottom and fixed set the frame in, put a fence board 
under the studding for a sill and the frame will not sink 
in the mortar to do any harm. The mortar for the bot¬ 
tom should be rather stiff. I would not nail the boards; 
they can be put in as the walls are filled up and then 
they are easier got out. The mortar for the sides I 
would use a little thinner; then it will fill in nicely and 
make a tight job. When you are above ground you 
will have to put up forms to hold the outside of the 
walls. I would make a two-sided roof, as it is easier 
done; leave a manhole in one end or in the roof. Take 
a large barrel, saw it in two a little to one side of the 
middle; this will make a good form for the manhole. 
When making the structure from the ground up the 
corners should be reinforced by some pieces of wire 
about two feet long bent and laid in the mortar at the 
corner, and it is a good idea to put in a rod across at 
the eaves with a head or burr on each end; put it in 
when the walls are being made. 
If the inquirer wishes a round tank the same general 
principles given above will apply to it; to hold 100 bar¬ 
rels the inside measurements should be: Diameter, 
eight feet; height, eight feet four and one-half inches. 
The round pit can be easily dug, but to make the round 
form to hoid the wall in place till it hardens will take 
some time, and as the structure is to be well covered 
with dirt the apparent beauty of the curved lines over 
the square are hidden from view, so I confined my atten¬ 
tion chiefly to the square structure. Some put wood 
roofs on these structures, but they arc more susceptible 
to heat or cold and will not last so long. The inquirer 
also asks how I would make a tank of this kind. 
I should put in a brick wall laid in cement mortar, 
then plaster about two coats inside with the same kind 
of mortar; when we come to count the cost there would 
be little difference in either case, and then we would not 
be bothered with much lumber. We might want a little 
to make a platform to stand on some of 
the time. In making the round tank take 
pains to have the hole round; then when 
laying the wall crowd brick tight against 
the dirt and above ground use plenty of 
dirt around it. The top could be finished 
same as any cistern top. Any farmer 
ought to be able to do this kind of work if 
he had time. A trowel would be all that 
would be needed aside from tools usually 
found on the farm. If the pump and tank 
are close together then connect the pump 
and pipe with a piece of hose, otherwise 
the vibration of the pump may loosen the 
pipe at the tank after a time, but if the 
well and tank are not far apart I should 
pump in over the top, running the pipe 
perpendicular at side of the pump till it 
was high enough so the water would run 
to tank or high enough so the pipe would 
not be in the way. l. c. greene. 
Cedar County, Iowa. 
APPLYING OIL PAINT WITH A 
PUMP. 
There is but one answer to the inquiry 
in your “Want to Know” column, page 
509, in regard to the use of a spray pump 
for applying oil paint, and that is: Don’t 
try it! The writer happened to be one of 
the pioneers in the introduction of the 
force pump for painting large surfaces 
and speaks from experience. A pump 
capable of maintaining a pressure of from 
150 to 200 pounds may be used very suc¬ 
cessfully in applying cold water paint or 
whitewash to rough surfaces, such as brick or stonewalls 
or unplaned lumber, but even on such surfaces oil paint 
has' never, to my knowledge, been so applied with un¬ 
qualified success, although I have known of instances 
where an expert operator has produced fairly good re¬ 
sults. Oil paint dries so slowly and must be so thin to flow 
freely and produce a fine spray that a smooth job is next 
to impossible. All openings and trim must be carefully 
protected by covering with building paper or other suit¬ 
able material and unless one is very expert in handling 
the nozzle a mottled job is sure to be the result. It is 
safe to say that it will require at least twice as much 
stock to spray a given surface as when applied with a 
brush, and oil paint so applied, even under high pres¬ 
sure, has a decided tendency to pull off. Perhaps your 
correspondent has never noticed that the spots about a 
paint shop when brushes are cleaned never peel, even 
after hundreds f coats of paint have been applied. It’s 
the brushing out that makes paint stick, provided the 
material used is of the right quality. j. d. 
Traverse City, Mich. 
NOTES FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA.—At present all 
imported plants go to the coast for inspection, which causes 
considerable delay. There Is considerable complaint about 
this, and we may set an inspector appointed locally. This 
past Winter has been fatal to many peach trees. Spitzen- 
berg and Kins apples, Bartlett pears, and some kinds of 
cherries have also suffered. Roses have also felt the 
Winter too much, and many are killed outright. Around 
Okanagan Lake, however, things are different as the large, 
deep body of water (70 miles long) tempers the climate, 
and while the thermometer dropped to 25 degrees (Fah.) 
below zero around Vernon, it only reached 10 degrees below 
at Shorts Point, which, is 15 miles south on the lakeside. 
Vernon, B. C. A. B. 
A SINGLE BERRY OF DIXON STRAWBERRY. EXACT SIZE. Fig. 273. 
