1911. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
lies 
Best “Cooler” for Gasoline Engines. 
G. T. TP., Antrim, N. H .—Will you tell 
me what chemical and how much, to mix 
with the water for cooling gasoline engine? 
The water froze last night and burst the 
cylinder. I am told there is a chemical 
used for mixing in the water which pre¬ 
vents its freezing. 
Ans.— Automobile owners here used 
a 10 per cent mixture of denatured al¬ 
cohol and water in their radiators with 
good results. A saturated salt solu¬ 
tion will not freeze at any ordinary 
temperature, but such a solution wilT 
corrode the metal of cylinder and 
fittings more or less, and most chem¬ 
icals have the same fault. Oil is some¬ 
times used, but oil lets the engine get 
hotter than it is designed to run. From 
my own experience I advise the in¬ 
quirer to put a valve between tank and 
water jacket, so that the cylinder can 
be drained without emptying the tank; 
then for each 10 gallons of water in 
the tank add a gallon of denatured al¬ 
cohol and pour a little cheap machine 
oil over the top of the water. It is 
worth while to build a wooden jacket 
around the tank and to make a close- 
fitting cover, as a further precaution 
against freezing. Be sure to get the 
habit of draining the cylinder just as 
you do shutting the lubricators. If you 
want to use oil as a cooling medium, 
write the makers of your engine, as 
they know what it is adapted to stand 
in the way of heat. W. E. d. 
Ohio. 
Hens and Hogs in Orchards. 
Will you give me what data you have 
regarding the advisability, or otherwise, of 
pasturing hogs and chickens in the orchard ? 
The grass that grows there is always light 
and other crops are poor. It has always 
seemed as though the hogs would do well 
there, and their rooting would be a bene¬ 
fit instead of an injury to the trees. Do 
you know what to give hogs so they will 
not want to plow up the ground? I have 
heard it said that if a hog gets what he 
wants to eat he will not root. C. o. c. 
New York. 
Hens do well in orchards of apple 
or plum. They destroy insects and scat¬ 
ter their droppings evenly. Do not put 
them- in peach orchards. They will 
roost in favorite trees and in this way 
their droppings accumulate so as to 
force such trees into too much growth. 
The peach cannot stand such forcing as 
the apple can. In several apple orchards 
large flocks of well-fed poultry have 
been kept. After a few years the trees 
made an excessive growth of wood, and 
the fruit while large, was soft and light 
colored. This is what we should expect 
from large dressings of hen manure, 
which is rich in nitrogen. In such cases, 
where many hens are kept, you should 
use acid phosphate and muriate of pot¬ 
ash as fertilizer. 
Hogs have good and bad qualities as 
orchard stock. They eat the fallen 
apples and in that way help destroy in¬ 
sects. A light rooting is good, as it is 
like shallow cultivation. When the soil 
is full of white grubs the hogs will 
sometimes dig holes two feet deep. We 
have known them to nearly uproot 
young trees in their hunt for grubs. 
They are worse at this in mulched or¬ 
chards. They also select certain trees 
for scratching themselves, and will rub 
the bark off. Also when not well fed 
they gnaw the bark of young trees ap¬ 
parently after some bitter principle in 
this bark. Such trees should be pro¬ 
tected by driving strong stakes around 
them. A ring in the hog’s nose will 
stop deep rooting, and there should al¬ 
ways be a mixture of wood ashes, char¬ 
coal, salt and sulphur where the hogs 
can help themselves. This will stop 
them from gnawing the trees. Such 
hogs should be fed some grain. 
Late Rains and Potatoes. 
Our potato reports show that the late 
Fall rains were a great help to the crop. 
At the New York State Fair early in Sep¬ 
tember most farmers thought the rain had 
come too late to help the tubers. The water 
would of course make the tops grow, but 
the general opinion was that frost would 
kill them before the tubers were formed. 
The result was surprising, for the yield was 
in many cases twice what the farmers ex¬ 
pected. The same thing happened in Eng¬ 
land, for the Mark Lane Express makes the 
following statement: 
“Six or seven weeks ago experts advised 
potato growers to lift tha crop immediately 
and store it, as the tubers were growing 
out and the new growth would injure the 
keeping qualities of the first one. This has 
been true in past seasons, so most farmers 
and allotment holders proceeded to get up 
their potatoes—a very light yield of small 
tubers in most cases. A few, however, dis¬ 
regarded precedent and advice, and left their 
potatoes, the result being that they now 
have about double the weight and a much 
more marketable sample, and to all appear¬ 
ances they are of sound keeping qualities. 
The experiment was worth trying, as pota¬ 
toes will reach a much better price before 
another crop is obtained than they have in 
recent years, and those who tried both the 
September and November harvesting can 
sell the latter first. The rate at which the 
tubers have grown since the first-named 
month is marvelous, and it proves that the 
soil was like a hotbed, consequently the 
growth was abnormally rapid, much more 
so than it would be during the Autumn 
after an average ' Summer. This goes to 
prove that the farmer’s business is never 
thoroughly learned, as the weather and the 
seasons beat the most experienced.” 
Buckwheat Straw on Strawberries. 
Do you think it advisable to mulch straw¬ 
berries with buckwheat straw? The straw 
crop is so light that I cannot buy the re¬ 
quired amount. J. w. 
Brunswick, O. 
We see no objection to buckwheat straw; 
only wish we had five tons of it for such 
use. What you want is a coarse material 
which will cover the plants without matting 
down over them. 
ONTARIO HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITION. 
_ The fruit show held at Toronto, Canada, 
opened Tuesday. November 14, and was an 
exhibition worth, seeing. This exhibit was 
surprising in that the Ontario apple belt is 
very similar in many ways to the western 
and central New York apple-growing sec¬ 
tions. and while the barrel still continues to 
be the package used for apples, an increas¬ 
ing number of apples are being packed 
each year in boxes. The different counties 
of the Province of Ontario had put up 
county exhibits of from 50 to 800 boxes; 
these were banked usually seven tiers high. 
The Lambton county exhibit was 10x21 boxes 
in size and comprised a whole map of 
said county in green and red composed of 
most beautiful fruit. Norfolk county 
showed about 250 boxes, among which 
were a number of exceptionally fine Grimes 
Golden, the best I have ever seen grown 
so far north. Elgin county showed some 
beautiful fruit, but boxes were rather 
poorly packed. Ontario county. 500 boxes; 
some varieties, especially fine were Kings, 
Greenings, Tolman, Snow and Northern 
Spy. Prince Edward county exhibit had 
been wrecked when I saw it. but was ex¬ 
ceptionally fine in quality and packing. An 
apple there on exhibition called Strawberry 
Pippin was remarkable in color, being mot¬ 
tled like a partially ripe cranberry and 
very attractive. 
Georgian Ray exhibit consisted of 150 
boxes Ribston and Northern Spy. Only 
two varieties, but pack, quality and finish 
was of the best and the solid arrangement 
of varieties was much more attractive than 
the intermixing of boxes of different varie¬ 
ties. Wentworth county had a fine exhibit 
of mixed varieties nice as to quality but 
box packing not of the best. Durham and 
Northumberland showed 700 or 800 boxes 
and a full-sized steamer, lifeboats and all. 
sailing through waves of apples. This 
was exceptionally well done, and was the 
finest exhibition piece I have ever seen, 
made wholly out of apples. The quality 
and pack of apples were fine. 
Baxter, as seen in this exhibit, was an 
attractive looking apple, and two or three 
growers with whom I talked, seemed well 
pleased with it. About 80 barrels of apples 
were entered for prizes upon commercial 
barrel pack of different varieties, and I 
was surprised to see the possibilities of at¬ 
tractiveness in this exhibit, though they 
were certainly not as attractive as the 
boxes entered for similar prizes for which 
the competition was keen. Prizes were 
also offered for best cones of different varie¬ 
ties, using a barrel hoop for the founda¬ 
tion. These made attractive exhibits. One 
feature of the exhibit which I think is 
hardly worth while was the $15 prize of¬ 
fered for best single apple of the principal 
commercial varieties. In looking over the 
awards upon these I came to the conclusion 
that no two apple experts, even the best in 
the world, would agree as to apple to be 
selected as best and most typical. I also 
believe that four boxes high is as high as 
box apples should be tiered for exhibition 
purposes. Because those higher than four 
tier are so far away that defects can not 
be seen. One drawback to the exhibition 
as an educational one was that boxes, cones, 
plates, etc., were not plainly marked with 
varietal name. I heard many people speak 
of this and believe it is a point that 
should always be looked after in all exhi¬ 
bitions. A fine display of canned fruit in 
glass cans was a feature of the exhibit, as 
were the vegetables and flowers which added 
to the attractiveness of the exhibit as a 
whole. 
The question was raised in my mind why 
an exhibition of this kind might not be 
held each Fall in New York City? It 
might have the effect of bringing the pro¬ 
ducer and city consumer in closer touen; 
give the consumer more of an idea what 
the producer receives for his produce and 
the difference between that and what he has 
to pay. Such an exhibit also might put 
many producers in direct touch with the 
retailer, which might cut out the profits 
of two or three middlemen and work out 
to the advantage of both producer, retailer 
and consumer. I believe that many large 
fruit and vegetable growers or local fruit 
or vegetable growers’ associations could 
well afford to rent space, advertise their 
output and have a man on hand to take 
the names of parties interested; take 
orders, _ hand out advertising matter, etc. 
There is a growing movement voiced by 
the slogan “The producer to the consumer” 
as evidenced by the growing importance 
of mail order and catalogue business. 
Would not an exhibition of this kind be 
a good adjunct to our present State Fairs 
at Syracuse, and put the agriculturist in 
close touch with the great consuming pub¬ 
lic, in which he should be most interested? 
B. D. V. B. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Hobb Residence , Fryeburg, Me. 
Looks Like Stained Shingles ~ 
Why don’t you roof your J — 1 
•—- house with modern roofing ma- 
i—-, terial? It is more than a sub- * 
■— stitute for shingles because it 
:—- resists fire. ^ 
| [vJEponseTI 
- PROSLATE ROOFING E 
^ The Real Rival of Best Shingles L 
—„ Which Adds Fire Protection '—* 
“*“3 It is reddish brown—is laid in laps— ZZZ 
" attractive as stained shingles. Widely —~ 
ZZ used in country and city because it 
makes the ideal roof for houses. **~* 
NEP DN SET Proslate meets the present-day < 
need of a permanent-wear, fire-resisting roof “““• 
at an economical price. It lasts longer than 
__ the best shingles you can buy and costs less. 
"** Write for NEP0NSET book giving all the 
- facts. i—. 
—• NEPDNSETParoid for barns: NEPONSET ZZ 
- 1 Red Rope for low cost construction. _ 
- 1 Write ua if you do not know 
——< a NEP0NSET dealer. ' 
—J F. W. BIRD & SON in 
; ' (Established 1795) _ 
- 138 Neponset St., E. Walpole, Mass. — 
Now York Chicago Washington Portland, Ora r M 
San Franciflco 
Canadian Plant , Hamilton , 
Ont. 
Get the big prices on 
the early market 
The two layers of glass let 
your plants have all the light 
all the time. 
iThis causes them to mature earlier— 
I become hardier—sturdier. When the 
k plants grown under single class sash 
(that must be covered) are still 
—* small and weak, your plants under 
Sunlight Sash will be ready for the field. 
The resulting crops will get the bie 
prices. 
Start now for early Spring Plant*. Get some Sunlight 
Sash ana have your cabbage, cauliflower, tomato and other 
plants, etc., ready to set out as soon as the weather permits. 
Send for these hooks. One is our free catalog- the 
other is a book on hot-beds and cold-frames by Professor 
Massey, It is authoritative and of 
vital interest to all growers, florists 
and gardeners. 4 c in stamps will 
bring Professor Massey’s book in 
addition to the catalog. 
Sunlight Double 
Glass Sash Co. 
024 E. Broadway, Louisville, Ky, 
Wonderful Sewing Awl 
A perfect stitcher. Makes re- 
_ pairs neat and quick. Mends har- 
1 $100 ness, shoes, awnings, canvas, 
straps, pulley belts. Sew or 
Prepaid. mend anything, heavy or 
| Agts.wanted^^ light. Sells on sight. 
C. A. Myers Co., 6328 Lexington Avo., Chicago Ut. 
SAVE HALF THE LABOR 
In sawing wood. You can do 
this and at the same time, 
cut more wood in a given 
time than in any other way 
by using 
rolls, moves 
down instead of 
against the operator as in old style ma¬ 
chines. Must be seen to be appreciated. We also 
manufacture Drag Saws, Saw and Shingle Mills. 
Cet our prices 00 Cnnvns Belting; they will surprise jrou. 
Send for prices and full Information. “Ask about Holsts.” 
Ireland Machine & Foundry Co.,14State St.,Norwich,N.Y. 
Pulls Stumps 
Seven Feet Thick 
M 0 NARCH 5 TEELSTUMP PuLLE 
The mighty Monarch ia made of highest grade 
Bessemer Steel in our own big factory. Outwears 
three ordinary pullers. Guaranteed 700 h. p. and 
against breakage. Only stump puller in the world 
equipped with genuine ’’Hercules” Red Strand steel 
wire rope, the kind used by U. S. Government. 
Clears 1 to 6 acres a day. Used in all parts of world. 
-Write today for Catalog and special proposition 
ZIMMERMAN STEELJIO.^_Dopt RYD Lone Tree. Ia. 
Increased 
Fertility 
means many good thing's. One of them is the 
fact that the farmer can do without a hired man 
if he makes one acre produce as much as now 
comes from two, or he can afford to employ the 
best labor there is and all he needs, if he doub¬ 
les the crops on all his acres. 
Why take half a crop when a whole one is possi¬ 
ble? It is largely a matter cf fertility; and the best 
part of it is that the more fertilizer used the easier 
it is to pay for it; the extra crop takes care of that, 
but the right fertilizer should be used. 
Wherever you live, we can reach you with the right 
fertilizer, the right service, and the right price. 
Write today for copy of “Plant Food’’, a practical 
hand book on fertility. No advertising in it; sent 
without cost. 
Agents wanted in unoccupied territory. Liberal 
terms and goods that sell. It pays to sell our fertiliz¬ 
ers as well as use them. Ask for agency proposition. 
The American Agricultural Chemical Co., 
Makers of brands with fifty years 
of quality and results behind them. 
129 Lewis Street, Buffalo, New York. 
