THE RURAL HE W-VORKER 
1^7 
1909. 
COOKING OATS FOR POULTRY. 
I notice the answer to J. C. R., page 
r>4, and take the liberty of offering a 
different opinion upon one of his ques¬ 
tions. J. C. R. wishes to know whether 
it is worth while to cook oats for 
fowls. Experience has taught me that 
it is very advantageous. I use oats 
freely, and I always boil or steam 
them. This is not done to increase 
the bulk of the grain, but for the pur¬ 
pose of rendering the oats more palata¬ 
ble and more digestible. A great many 
chickens appear to dislike dry oats and 
will not touch them if they can get 
anything else, but most of these same 
birds will eat greedily oats that have 
been cooked. Anyone who keeps 
chickens may easily find out whether it 
pays to cook oats for them by putting 
before them dry oats and cooked oats 
at the same time, and watching the 
result. The birds will show very 
plainly which sort they prefer. In 
these days of high prices it pays to 
use every method that will help to 
make the cheaper grains more accepta¬ 
ble to the fowls, and more digestible 
after they are eaten, and I am confident 
that a trial will satisfy anyone that 
cooking oats is an economical pro¬ 
cedure. The poultry raiser has no 
grain that is more beneficial than oats 
for growing stock and laying hens. 
Besides its usefulness as a grain food 
it may be sprouted in Winter to sup¬ 
ply an abundance of fresh green food. 
Pennsylvania. william r. fisher. 
Southern Cold Storage Plant. 
J. E. L.j Cohutta, Ga .—Can you get me 
plans and estimates for building a cold 
storage house, or rather a cooling room or 
house, about 40 feet square, to be cooled 
with ice and perhaps salt? Is such a house 
practical with ice costing $4-$5 per ton? 
We have plenty of rough stone, gravel, saw¬ 
dust, etc. The drainage of ice boxes and 
the insulation at the foundation are the 
uncertain points with us. 
Ans. —Without knowing what the 
room is to be used for and goods to 
be cooled only a rough suggestion can 
be made as to arrangement and applica¬ 
tion. Assuming that the room will be 
used for fruit storage and possibly for 
cooling while waiting for carload ship¬ 
ments, and perhaps later on for longer 
period storage, probably the best ar¬ 
rangement of such a plant would be to 
divide into two separate rooms; one to 
be carried at a somewhat higher tem¬ 
perature than the other. Where goods 
are only cooled for shipment a tem¬ 
perature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or 
45 degree Fahrenheit will answer, but 
where they are to be carried for a 
month or perhaps more, a temperature 
of from 30 to 34 degrees Fahrenheit 
will be required. Direct ice cooling 
(placing the ice bunker in the room to 
be cooled), will give a temperature of 
perhaps 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, 
and could be used for temporary stor¬ 
age or cooling for shipment, but the 
gravity brine system, using ice and salt 
for cooling, would be necessary for 
longer period storage, and would be 
more desirable for cooling for ship¬ 
ment, as much quicker work can be 
done, and on the softer varieties of 
fruit like peaches quick cooling is not 
only desirable but very essential. The 
gravity brine system consists of a ser¬ 
ies of piping filled with chloride of cal¬ 
cium brine, one portion located in a 
tank and surrounded with ice and salt, 
and another portion at a lower level 
in the room or space to be cooled. The 
brine circulates automatically or by 
gravity. This svstem has already been 
fully described in these columns. 
With ice costing $4 to $5 per ton it is 
important that a cold storage room or 
building be well built and well insu¬ 
lated. A frame building can be con¬ 
structed and insulated much cheaper 
than a stone or concrete building, but, 
of course, will not be as durable. Saw¬ 
dust is not as good for insulation as 
planer chips or mill shavings, but if 
the sawdust is thoroughly dry it may 
be used. It is necessary to protect any 
insulation by the best grades of insulat¬ 
ing paper to prevent penetration of air 
and moisture. There is no reason why 
a building such as proposed cannot be 
made practicable and very profitable if 
properly built and well handled. A 
good cold storage plant, however, is ex¬ 
pensive in first cost, and it is not advis¬ 
able to build anything but first class. 
The probable expense of a complete cold 
storage plant 40x40 feet and one story, 
'say 12 feet, high, which would give a 
capacity of about 15,000 cubic feet, 
would hardly be less than $3,500 to 
$4,000. The expense of a smaller build¬ 
ing would be somewhat more in pro¬ 
portion. If the cold storage space 
could be built on two floors the expense 
would be less. If the cold storage plant 
could be installed in a building already 
constructed which was well adapted the 
cost would not be more than two-thirds 
the above.| The maximum quantity of 
goods to be cooled per day would also 
have an influence on the capacity of 
the equipment, which would have an 
important bearing on the cost of this 
part of the work. madison cooper. 
Galvanized Iron Silos; Field-Cured Fodder. 
Hamilton. N. Y .—Can you give us 
anyone’s experience with galvanized iron 
silos, their durability and keeping qualities 
of silage? Also, can you give anyone’s 
experience in cutting field-cured fodder, or 
shredding it, and putting it in heaps or 
bins and sweating it down? 
Ans. —Bulletin 100 of the Iowa Ex¬ 
periment Station mentions a steel silo— 
the only one found in Iowa. It is not 
considered equal to wood, stone or con¬ 
crete. We have had a few reports from 
metal silos—mostly unfavorable. We 
would like experience from those who 
have cut up stalks and left them to 
“sweat.” We have cut the stalks into 
barrels or tanks, put on boiling water 
and covered. The steaming makes a 
good substitute for silage. 
These shoes of st-eel, 
with leather uppers, 
are the most won¬ 
derful working 
shoes in exist¬ 
ence. 
So economical 
that one pair 
will outlast 
Pat Dec. 
4 , 190S 
Others pending 
FREE 
Write to-day for 
Book, “ The Sole 
of Steel," or order 
three to six pairs . a pair of Steel Shoe*, 
of all-leather shoes—saving $o to $IU of your shoe 
money in a year. 
So absolutely waterproof that you can work in 
mud and slush without getting wet feet and con¬ 
sequent colds and rheumatism. 
So hght and restful that your feet never ache or 
blister or swell. So shapely they cannot cause 
corns. And they cost less than leather bhoesl 
How Steel Shoe* are Made 
The soles and an inch above the solesare stamped 
out of a special light, thin, rust-resisting steel. One 
piece of steel from toe to heel! The soles are protected 
from wear by adjustable steel rivets, which give a 
firm footing. Rivets can easily be replaced when 
partly worn off. Fifty extra rivets cost only HO cents, 
and will keep your shoes in good repair for at least 
two years. No other repairs are ever necessary. 
The uppers are made of the very best quality of 
soft, pliable, waterproof leather, riveted to the steel 
and reinforced where wear is greatest. 
Steel Shoes never go to the shop for repairs! 
The rigid steel soles prevent the shoes from 
warping and twisting out of shape. 
Steel Shoes have thick, springy. Hair Insoles, 
which add to ease of walking—absorb perspiration 
and odors. Insoles easily removed, cleaned and 
dried each night, 
Wear “ Steels”—Save Doctor’s Bills 
All classes of workingmen can avoid colds, rheumatism, 
stitrness, blistered, sore and aching feet by wearing Steel 
Shoes. They keep the feet dry, warm and comfortable 
under all circumstance*. The saving in medicine and doc¬ 
tors’ bills will pay for Steel Shoes many times over. 
Water cannot saturate “ Steels.” 
Steel Shoes Give Most for the Money 
Sizes 5 to 12—6 in., 9 in., 12 in. and 16 in. high 
Steel Shoes, 6 inches high. $2.50 a pair, are better than 
the best all-leather $3.50 shoes. 
Steel Shoes, ti inches high, extra grade oi leather. $3.00, 
excel any $4.50 all-leather shoes. 
Steel Shoes, 0 inches high. $3.50 a pair, are better than 
the best all-leather $5.00 shoes. 
Steel Shoes, 12 inches high, $5.00 a pair, are better than 
the best all-leather SO.00 shoes. 
Steel Shoes, 10 inches high, $0.00 a pair, are better than 
the best all-leather shoes regardless of cost. 
One Pair of “ Steels ” Will Outwear 3 to 6 
Pairs of Leather Shoes 
The comfort of Steel Shoes is remarkable. Their 
economy is simply astounding! Practically all the wear 
comes on the rivets in the bottoms and the rivets can bo 
replaced very easily. Don’t sweat your feet in rubber 
boots or torture them in rough, hard, twisted, shapeless 
leather shoes. Order Steel Shoes to-day. Sizes, 5 to 12. 
Steel Shoe Satisfaction or Money Back 
We strongly recommend the 6-inch high at $3 per pair, 
or 9-inch tit $3.50, as they give the best satisfaction for 
general service. 
In ordering, state size shoe you wear. Enclose $3.00 foi¬ 
e-inch size, and the best and most comfortable working 
shoes you ever wore will promptly be shipped to you. 
Your money refunded without delay if you are not de¬ 
lighted when you see the Steel Shoes. Send to-day! 
STEEL SHOE CO., Dept. 73, Racine, Wis. 
Canadian Branch, 
TORONTO, CANADA 
A; 
. •• 
Handsome Book! 
Free 
* 
Every farmer and gar¬ 
dener who wants to save 
money and get better crops 
with less labor must not fail 
to send for our new illustrated 
1909 Planet Jr.catalogue—free. 
It contains 56 pages brimful of labor-saving devices to fill every 
farm and garden need from planting to harvesting. 
It thoroughly describes 45 kinds of Planet 
Jr. farm and garden tools, including com¬ 
bination hand-seeders, wheel hoes, culti¬ 
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Planet Jr. Implements were in¬ 
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Get our complete catalogue. It costs you nothing 
and may be the means of putting money in your 
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V* 
A 
S. L. 
Box 1107-V, 
ALLEN & CO. 
Philadelphia, Pa« 
c\ v ; 
.A 
A° 
«■* 
Not only increase of quantity, but also im¬ 
provement in quality, is the result of applying 
Potash to 
POTATOES 
The use of about to per cent, of Potash 
in your commercial fertilizer produces sturdy 
vines and smooth, solid tubers that bring top 
prices in the market. 
POTASH IS PROFIT 
Valuable Literature, Free, on fertilizing POTATOES 
and all other crops. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, 93 Nassau Street, New York 
Chicago—Mooadcock Block. Atlaota, Ga.—1224 Candler Bldg. 
The EmpiroFarmers’Handy Wagon 
with “Good-Roads” Steel W lieels 
will outlast two ordinary wagons. , 
Our steel wheels are the best con¬ 
struction possible. The spokes and 
tire are tho best wrought steel. Let¬ 
ters from thousands of buyers tell 
of constant use for twenty years 
without a loose spoke or any repair 
expense whutever. We use plenty 
of spokes in these wheels. Tires 
will not bendbetween spoke heads 
when striking a 6tone. Spokes 
won’t break in coldest weather. 
The hubs will never wear out. 
A set of these wheels will make a new 
wagon out of your old one. Any size you 
want—any width tire, plain or grooved. 
Send for i'RKK Wheel arid Wagou Hook. 
“ ‘Uood.Uoada’ Steel Wheels Hake AU 
Roads Good.” Address 
Empire M ig. Co.,Box818• Quincy, Ill. 
MAKE YOUR OWN 
REPAIRS 
Tke Awl 
For All 
Save the money 
you pay the harness man 
bv using Myers’ Lock 
Stitch Awl. It stitches both 
sides like a sewing machine and 
mends harness, saddles, shoes, fur coats, 
robes, canvas, gloves, carpets, etc., perfectly. 
Something constantly needed, always ready for use and 
costs only $1.00 prepaid. If your dealer hasn’t it write 
us direct. Better still, secure the agency and make money. 
Agents wanted. Booklet N free. 
C.A. MYERS GO.,’ 6537 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago 
Ask 
for the 
“Clean” 
your friend. A comb 
ways clean. Perfect auto¬ 
matic action. Easy on the horse. 
Saves time and labor. Pa vs 
for itself over and over. Worth 
a dozen ordinary combs. 
give you a Comb 
if you’ll pay the postage (15c stamps 
or silver) and send full address of your | 
dealer. This offer is good only till 
your dealer has them. Send today. 
CLEAN COMB MEG. CO. 
Dept. 45, Racine, Wis. 
