1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
8i9 
A TWO-STORY ROOT CELLAR. 
IIow can I build a potato cellar half above ground and in¬ 
stead of covering it with earth have a second story for tools, 
and still have it frost-proof, but built of stone and grout? 
The floor for the tools is what bothers me, to have it frost¬ 
proof. The walls I can build double with air-chamber be¬ 
tween. o. s. B. 
If half of the wall must be entirely out of the 
ground it would be a difficult matter to make the cellar 
absolutely frost-proof because, with seven-foot walls 
and half out of the ground, there would be only 3J4 
feet of earth against the side walls and, as frost often 
penetrates to this depth, there would be only the heat 
from the bottom to maintain the temperature above 
freezing. Potato cellars are often built on level 
ground, and yet made frost-proof by covering en¬ 
tirely with earth, but in these cases the bottom of the 
cellar is usually 2(4 to three feet below the ground 
level, and reached by an inclined runway, the dirt 
thrown out being used immediately against the walls 
to raise the ground surface. If there is any way of 
accomplishing the results an effort should be made 
to bank the walls of the cellar at least to within 18 
inches or a foot of the top, even if it is necessary to 
enter the cellar by something of an incline to accom¬ 
plish this. If as much as 18 inches of wall must be 
entirely out of ground the hollow space between the 
two walls of the cellar above ground should be not 
less than 8 to 10 inches, and this space 
should be filled with some non-conducting 
material not likely to decay, and the best 
material to use for this filling would be 
airdry, rather fibrous peat, as this would 
be an excellent non-conductor, and would 
not be likely to decay under those condi¬ 
tions. Two masonry walls simply sepa¬ 
rated by an air space would allow the in¬ 
ner wall to cool very rapidly, both by radia¬ 
tion to the outer wall and by the free con¬ 
vection of air currents in the air chamber, 
so that some non-conducting medium to 
stop radiation and convection currents 
would be necessary to avoid this loss of 
heat. 
To make the ceiling frost-proof it would 
be necessary to use joists not less than 10 
inches wide, and 12 inches would be safer. 
I liese should be ceiled on tile under side 
with matched seven-eighths flooring, and 
if dry peat is available the whole space, to 
flush with the top of the joists between 
them, should be filled with it, the outer 
portion of the stone wall being carried up 
also to flush with the top of the joists. 
If peat is not available for the filling be¬ 
tween the joists sawdust or wood shavings 
may be used, and if the sawdust is not 
available cut straw could be used, or cut 
marsh hay, provided it is tightly rammed 
between the ceiling and the floor as the 
laying of the upper floor progresses. The 
upper floor should be either of two-inch 
stuff, or else two thicknesses of seven- 
eighths stuff. 
We have taken for granted that it would 
be desirable to be able to enter the cellar 
with a wagon from one end. If this is the 
case, the end having the entrance-way 
should be provided vvith a barrier wall so 
set as to leave a space of at least two feet 
which may be filled with earth to prevent 
the penetration of frost at this exposed 
end, and make it possible to have a pair of storm 
doors forming a vestibule between the two pairs 
of doors. 1 he simplest way to accomplish this is to 
make the outer wall of the cellar enough longer than 
the desired inside cellar to set the barrier wall referred 
to on the inside, as this arrangement would bring 
both pairs of doors under the building. 
It would be necessary to provide ventilation for 
this cellar so that it may be continuously dry to pre¬ 
vent decay of the ceiling and joists. This may be ac¬ 
complished by extending a 10 or 12-inch galvanized 
iron flue, made of No. 28 iron, from near the bottom 
of the cellar at some convenient place, up and out 
through the ridge of the roof of the superstructure. 
'1 here must also be provision for air to enter the cel¬ 
lar from the outside, otherwise there could be no cir¬ 
culation. This may be provided for by inserting, at 
convenient places in the ceiling, three six-inch pipes 
leading up through the floor and extending far enough 
below the ceiling so that dampers may be provided. 
J hese will allow the air to enter as the suction of the 
ventilator forces it. If windows are desired in this 
cellar, they would have to be double, and the sashes 
made to fit tightly. p. jj. king. 
THIS “WATER WITCH” FAILED: 
Experience of a Northern New York Man. 
I have taken much interest in the discussion of the 
subject of “water witching,” and as the question seems 
to be no nearer a solution than on the start, I venture 
to relate the experience of a former neighbor of ours, 
in hopes that it may interest some of your readers, 
thirty odd years ago the owner of the farm adjoining 
that of my father, decided to sink a well on his poorly 
watered but otherwise desirable farm. And he being, 
like many other old-timers in the vicinity, a firm be¬ 
liever in the efficacy of the crotched-stick, naturally 
secured the services of one of the most gifted “witches” 
in this part of the country to locate the “vein.” This 
man was assisted at this work by at least two others 
of local reputation, and I recall that they agreed pretty 
well as to location, but this one claimed to be able to 
give the depth at which the water would be found, so 
he was the one engaged. This man readily located 
water at four different points upon the 150 acre farm, 
and at depths varying from five to 24 feet. But un¬ 
fortunately the latter point was the one nearest the 
farm buildings, and from its location was the one de¬ 
cided upon for the test. A three-inch hole was drilled 
to the depth of 28 feet, or four feet below the witch’s 
“vein” (I recall that this vein was to be a “crotch” or 
junction of two or more veins), but no water. The 
THE COST OF RAISING A BOY. 
The Mother Side of It. 
I am interested in the discussion on cost of rearing 
a boy. We have raised and educated one, and I think 
it may help some one to know of our experience. I 
think up to 12 years of age the cost is about $1,000, 
counting food $1 per week and clothes at $25 per year. 
Shoes are the most expensive article. This is the actual 
cost of our boy. At six weeks of age, $60; at three 
months he had attained 21 pounds weight, and was put 
on to cow s milk at a cost of 60 cents a week, making 
a total of $83.40. The second year food cost $1 per 
week, and clothes $12; total $64. After that the clothes 
cost about $25 and board $1.50 per week—about $80 per 
year. At eight years of age his father bought a farm. 
He did many errands and chores, a saving of men’s 
time; at 12 he was earning his board and clothes and 
attending school every day when in session. At 15 
years he weighed .150 pounds. He entered the State 
College when 16. The first year’s expenses were $198; 
this included board, room rent, books and clothes, car¬ 
fare; his laundry was done at home. The second year 
he received a broken leg at football at an extra cost 
of $30, making the year’s total $308.53. The third year 
cost $270.40; the senior year, many extras included, 
$292.93. Two months after graduation he received a 
State apnoiutment in the Far West, closely connected 
with its State College, at a good living salary. 
The sum totals about $2,200. We have an¬ 
other boy following along the same way; he 
has passed his sixteenth birthday. Of course 
we live the simple life, but we arc all busy, 
contented, well fed, comfortably and neatly 
clothed. 1 lie children each have a bicycle 
and camera and enjoy them. In my mind 
it would be impossible to spend $1,000 per 
year on a child for necessities. Luxuries 
are a different article, and must be paid for 
accordingly. dairyman's wife. 
Massachusetts. 
HYBRID CHINQUAPIN AND PARENT NUTS. Fig. 407 
See Ruralisms, Page 824. 
In a race between poor head and good soil against good 
head and poor soil we back the latter. 
BUR AND NUTS OF HYBRID CHINQUAPIN. 
See Ruralisms, Page 824. 
plum-stick man was again called in, and after carefully 
going over the ground once more, decided that the 
drill had missed the vein by a distance of 18 inches, 
so another hole was drilled, at a point indicated by the 
witch 18 inches away from the first and to the same 
depth, with a like result. Nothing daunted, the medi¬ 
cine man was again called in (and this time a council 
of physicians was held) and decided that “Uncle 
Billy” had “straddled” the vein, as they termed it, so 
a third drill hole was sunk at a point on a line drawn 
half way between the first and second holes, and at 
a distance of 18 inches from either, or the third corner 
of a triangle, with identically the same result. But this 
neighbor of ours was gritty, and so he set to work to 
blast a six-foot hole down to the very bottom of his 
three drill holes, and except for the occasional surface 
water which drains in, the well (?) has been empty 
ever since. The other three locations received atten¬ 
tion at convenient times, and they, like the first, were 
all dismal failures. I have drawn from memories of 
boyhood days for these facts. Dear old “Uncle Bil¬ 
ly” is dead these 20 years, but the empty wells remain 
to bear mute witness to one man’s faith. I am still 
living on the “Old Homestead,” within a stone’s throw 
of the scene of my story, and somehow have never been 
able to get interested in “water-witching” since. 
Jefferson Co., N. Y. f. howland. 
What does it cost to raise a boy? It 
should depend on what his father and 
mother can afford. From the age of 15 
the boy should provide most of his clothes, 
school books and other expenses, unless his 
family are independently rich, and that is 
a standpoint from which a very large part 
of us Americans cannot speak from experi¬ 
ence. Most of the legal voters and suc¬ 
cessful men will say the family purse has 
been depleted of less than $200 after the 
boy reaches the age of earning for himself. 
It is only because these $25,000 boys are 
before the public in tragedies and divorce 
courts and such things that we hear from 
them and think that they arc common. 
Most men are self-made, whether it’s up or 
down. This family has graduated from its 
classes a boy who from the time he was 14 or 
15 earned all he had, outside of his board, 
and was never very strong or well. His 
work was mowing lawns, running errands, 
weeding gardens, and when he was old 
enough, handling a team, working on a 
farm, cooking in a public institution, and 
to-day he is earning $30 a month on an Iowa 
farm. I here are four more coming on, 
three of them earning what they can be 
Fig. 408. spared to from their father’s small fruit 
farm. They pick fruit and vegetables for 
cannery, drive town cows to pasture, and in 
such ways, get a little here and a little there. The 
father is lamenting that his rich, indulgent father 
fostered habits of spending and not saving, spend¬ 
ing and not earning, giving him a good home and 
not preparing him for tile stern realities of life (with 
a trade or some skilled work). Surely we must live to 
learn, and the father who expends $25,000 on a boy 
will probably live to see his son a moral and physical 
wreck, of little worth to himself or his generation. 
Garfield’s college president said: “James A. Garfield 
came to college. There’s a difference between the boy 
who comes and the boy who is sent.” 
A MI CHIGAN WOMAN. 
SEEDLING PEACHES.—It would greatly surprise you to 
note the difference among n lot of seedlings, mostly Elberta 
and Bell crosses. They begin ripening (some of them) a 
few days before Elberta, and extend over two full months. 
Both parents are freestone, and yellow, yet full half of 
them are clings. They bore a fine crop, season of 1906. 
Among about 80 there are only about one-half dozen poor 
stuff. All the rest classes fairly good, while perhaps half 
a dozen may even prove superior in some respects. Every 
single one of them is yellow. Both parents have medium 
blossoms, yet quite a number of these seedlings have large 
blossoms, indicating the Chinese blood in the Elberta. The 
Bell is an improvement on Salway and is undoubtedly of the 
Persian strain or class. Several of those with large blooms 
ripen ahead of Elberta,iand if they prove to be prolific 
(they are all right as to color and size),, they will be heard 
from later. j. w. stubbneaoch. 
Texas. 
