1908. 
891 
the water and have to be primed. This is a nuisance 
and easily prevented by a new leather for the lowei 
valve. These can be got cut the right size and are 
easily put in. Put them rough side down as the} 
are more likely to be tight than smooth side down 
But be careful that no particles of iron or grit get 
under the leather, as any such will become imbedded 
in it and cause a leak in the valve. Sometimes a 
valve will leak around the screw which holds tilt 
little iron weight to the leather. But screwing it up 
tight will usually prevent this. If the upper valve 
holds tight and the lower one does not the handle 
will be drawn up to a horizontal position after the 
pump has been used. 
A half-inch service pipe to the sink is usually 
better than a $4, because it does not hold so much, 
water to stand and get cold. The tools needed art 
a pipe cutter, vise, reamer stock and dies and wrench 
The whole outfit would cost five or six dollars, less, 
probably, than your plumber would charge to put in 
the fixtures, and if one has these tools there are man) 
things he can do for pumps, sprayers, etc., ver> 
cheaply. In threading pipe to screw into elbows, etc., 
cut the thread up on to the pipe the full thickness oi 
the die. Then it can be screwed in far enough tt 
protect all the thread on the elbow from rust. Other 
wise rust will eat into it fast. It is well to put 
the pipe in the vise and screw on the fittings and work 
back and forward a little until they go easily so therfc 
will be no difficulty when they are screwed up in the 
stove. Use white lead or grease when they are 
screwed together to make the joints tighter, and pre 
vent their rusting together so they cannot be un¬ 
screwed. 
The system described has been in use five or six 
years. In the Winter water frequently freezes in the 
kitchen, as wood is the fuel used and the fire goes out 
at night. The water sometimes freezes in the service 
pipe to sink and possibly in the other pipes, but none 
has ever burst. The cold, however, in this section is 
not extreme, the lowest being about 15 below zero 
We ought, though, always in very cold weather to 
fill the cook stove with hard wood just before going 
to bed. Just a little fire will keep the water circulat 
ing. Or it would be better yet to have some coal oft 
hand and on very cold nights fill the stove with that 
At the lowest part of the system of pipes, that is 
where the lower pipe leaves the stove, I put a tfce 
instead of an elbow, and in one end of it put a plug 
A faucet would be better. Then the quart or two oi 
water left in the circulating pipes after the tank has 
been emptied by the service pipe can be drawn oft. 
One good point of this system is the ease with which 
any upstairs room can be heated from the kitchen 
stove. But if the barrel or tank is not nearly over 
the cistern pump the most convenient way to get 
water to it would probably be by a force pump at 
the sink. If a gasoline barrel is used the steam from 
it will smell of gasoline for some time. 
Connecticut. henry h. keeler. 
GRAPES IN SMALL PACKAGES. 
I want to ask you about a fact that I notice about. 
New York City. I like the Concord grape, also the other 
native grapes, better than I do the foreign or the Cali¬ 
fornia. I do not keep house, but live in restaurants, and 
I patronize the fruit stands. At most of the fruit stands 
one can buy five cents' worth of grapes, that is the three 
kinds from California—the white, red and black—and 
the Spanish Almeria, but on none of them can you buy 
the Concord or any other, kind of New York grapes. At 
some stands in Vesey, Barclay, Liberty and other streets 
leading to the railroads leaving the city, you can buy a 
basket of the Chautauqua or Erie or Keuka for 15 cents, 
25 cents and up, but not a five cents’ worth on any of 
them. The fruit stands in New York do an enormous 
business, and it seems to me that for some reason un¬ 
known to me a regular boycott is established by the fruit 
stands and push cart men. I think something should be 
done by the grape growers of New York to force the sale 
of New York grapes in New York City. One stand at the 
Battery sold 25 barrels Almeria grapes in lots of five 
and 10 cents’ worth last week, besides 20 crates of the 
California grapes, and taking the amount the push cart 
men sell, you see the sale is enormous. w. d. 
At some places along West Street, and occasionally 
on the push carts, Concord grapes are sold in five-cent 
lots. The fruit dealers handle what they can sell to 
best advantage, one important point being durability. 
Concord and similar varieties of fox grape parentage 
are so soft and break from the stems so readily that 
they are not suitable for selling in small lots. In an 
eight-pound basket, at this season of the year, from 
one-third to one-half would rattle off in handling, 
and no one would take these loose grapes except at 
a discount. Almeria and California grapes cling to 
the stem, and the large bunches can be cut into small 
pieces without loss. But in addition to the con¬ 
venience in handling, .both to seller and consumer, 
many people like the flavor and meaty texture of 
California and other Vinifera grapes better than 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Concord and those of that type grown in New York 
State. It is possible that the fruit-stand trade in 
Concords could be increased by crating some of the 
best in berry boxes. This would add to the expense, 
so that they would have to retail at 10 cents per 
quart at least, and this price would seem excessive 
when a four-pound handle basket can be had for 
12 or 15 cents. There is no “boycott” on New York 
grapes, but for reasons given above the small dealers 
can handle the tougher California grapes with less 
loss. 
GRAIN ON THE DELAWARE PENINSULA. 
Wheat growing can be made very profitable in tide¬ 
water Virginia, also in the Piedmont section, by the 
use of leguminous ciops. One way that some of our 
CROSS-BRED POLE BEANS, NATURAL SIZE. 
Fig. 416. See Ruralisms, Page 896. 
farmers do is thoroughly to break the land in August, 
harrow it thoroughly up until seeding time, say once a 
week, (I prefer the double-action Cutaway harrow), 
until just before seeding; then use the spike-tooth 
harrow and roller to make the land as firm as possible. 
Seed at least 1J4 bushel wheat (Fulcaster seems best) 
per acre, with 300 pounds 14 per cent acid phosphate 
and 50 pounds muriate of potash per acre. Cut the 
wheat in June; if the land is very dry plow it, but if 
not put the spading harrow on it and thoroughly disk 
it three ways so as to get a good seed bed and sow to 
cow peas. If the growth is very heavy plow the crop 
down; if not, disk it several times and get a fine seed 
bed and seed to wheat again as the previous year. 
The crop will increase each year for several years. 
You are raising your nitrogen (or ammonia) and 
supply the phosphoric acid and potash, which are the 
cheapest ingredients in fertilizer. But I cannot say 
that I am in favor of that method, as our southern 
soils have been impoverished by the single-crop 
method and one-mule plow. The only successful way 
to really improve your soil and pocket-book at the 
same time is to pick out a regular rotation, break your 
land deep, and thoroughly work the crop before it is 
planted, and just enough afterwards to kill the weeds, 
and make a dust mulch to preserve the moisture. 
Then you will be successful and see your neighbors 
following your example more and more each year. 
My land is not well suited to wheat as it is in tide¬ 
water Virginia, where the land is rather too sandy, but 
I grow Winter oats instead. I sow oats in September, 
cut them in June, plow or disk the land thoroughly, 
sow to peas or Soy beans, cut them for hay Septem¬ 
ber 1, disk thoroughly, seed to Herd’s grass, Timothy, 
White and Sapling clover, 25 pounds to the acre; 
cut two crops of hay off the next year, one in June, 
the other about August 1. The second year I only- 
cut one crop, then graze the stubble, plow the land the 
following Spring for corn, sow Crimson clover the 
last working of the corn, plow it down after grazing 
it lightly; the next Spring sow to peas or beans, cut 
them for hay, then back to oats, and my farm has im¬ 
proved very fast, even having it rented. That rota¬ 
tion is rather a long one, but I think it the best when 
my land is rented and nearly everything sold off it. 
I use 300 pounds of acid phosphate each year per acre 
on all except the old sod and corn, and add 50 pounds 
potash with the phosphate on my oats; 600 pounds of 
ground lime should be used per acre once in five or 
six years, but if you are growing wheat each year by 
plowing down peas it should be limed once in three 
years, as a crop of peas will sour land quicker than 
clover, as the weather is hotter at that season. 
Laurel, Md. r. m. j. 
BOILING LIME-SULPHUR MIXTURE. 
The “ordinary iron kettle” is all right for boiling 
the lime and sulphur. When I first began to use it 
in small quantities I employed an ordinary “potash” 
kettle, and there was never any injury to it. Several 
neighbors with small orchards have been using such 
kettles for several years, and they are as good as 
ever. Of course this necessitates rehandling the stuff, 
and an extra amount of water must be used to replace 
that which boils away. A small steam boiler is vnucn 
more convenient and satisfactory where any quantity 
is to be used; but the kettle will do the business in 
good shape. In this connection a word or two aside 
from the above answer to the question may be help¬ 
ful. First, in most localities there are steam engines 
used by thrashers which are idle in the Spring. These 
can usually be hired for a moderate sum, and with a 
steam hose attached to the boiler and run into an 
ordinary kerosene barrel or two will cook the mate¬ 
rial in fine shape. The barrels can be placed on an 
elevated platform, so that the material can be drawn 
into the spray barrel without dipping. The writer has 
used such for several years. It is not necessary or 
even desirable to cook more than one-third of the 
water with the lime and sulphur. The remainder can 
be added of cold water in the spray tank or barrel, 
and if thoroughly mixed will be just as effective ana 
much pleasanter to handle, as well as requiring less 
space and heat to cook. 1 here is no particular virtue 
in the stuff being hot when applied. The object of 
the cooking is to combine by heat at least an equal 
amount of lime with the sulphur, which produces a 
different compound, viz., a double sulphide of lime, 
which will kill the scale. Neither of the ingredients 
alone will do it, or the two simply mixed together. 
In this neighborhood this season there is a great 
difference in results obtained from the sprayings. My 
next neighbor, whose trees were badly affected last 
year obtained practically perfect results from the lime 
and sulphur wash; this season after an even more 
thorough application he has quantities of apples af¬ 
fected by the scale, while in my own orchard adjoin¬ 
ing, with the material put on at the same time and no 
more thoroughly—both of us used power sprayers 
and bought our sulphur at the same place—I had no 
scaly fruit, except in a few trees in the henyards, 
only half of which could be sprayed. What made the 
difference? I had wood-burned lime from Hagers¬ 
town, Md., which so thoroughly went into solution 
that we had no sediment. He had an ordinary lime 
and quantities that did not dissolve left in the cooling 
barrels. Hence he did not obtain the chemical com¬ 
pound above referred to and did not kill the scale. 
EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE. 
