191b. 
1801 
FARM ENGINEERING. 
Valve Igniters for Acetylene Plants. 
I have just had an acetylene lighting 
plant put in with valve igniters. Will 
one wire and the gas pipe give as good 
service as two wires, as to the lasting of 
the batteries, etc.? m. f. s. 
Conesus, N. Y. 
That is the customary way, and is 
better than two wires if the connections 
to the pipe are made carefully. Scrape 
off all dirt and make several wraps of 
the bare copper wire on the pipe, twisting 
up perfectly tight. w. w. D. 
Tar for Tin Roof. 
Will you tell me how to prepare tar 
for tin-plate roof? I don’t want the ex¬ 
pense to put a new roof on, as the old 
one is in a pretty good condition. F. o. 
Glen Head, L. I. 
Usually the tar is simply heated until 
liquid, and then applied with a broom. 
R. P. C. 
Leaky Cistern. 
I have a cistern bpilt outdoors. It is 
covered with concrete, the walls are 
stone two feet thick. It has been in use 
25 years, but now it leaks. I have been 
all over the walls with a heavy coat of 
cement wash about like cream, but it does 
not stop the leak. Can you or your read¬ 
ers tell me what to do? R. L. H. 
Ellenburgh, N. Y. 
After such a long period of use the 
mortar between the stones is probably 
pretty crumbly, and lets the water 
through. The only satisfactory remedy 
is an entire rebuilding of the cistern. 
For a temporary repair a coating of thick 
asphaltum or some similar tar paint is 
the best thing to use. The asphaltum 
dries quickly and makes a fine non-leak¬ 
ing coating, even with a wall in bad 
shape. If you can find out about' where 
the leak is, only the joints in that vicinity 
need be coated. Sometimes water glass 
does a good repair job on cement sur¬ 
faces and probably would be satisfactory 
for leaking joints. The cement wash 
is never a good investment, and will not 
stop any sizable leak in the way the var¬ 
ious viscous coatings will. R. p. c. 
Floats to Destroy Flies. 
In a recent agricultural paper I read 
that raw ground phosphate rock, com¬ 
monly called “floats,” if dusted on stable 
manure, would destroy flies and prevent 
their multiplication, and would at the 
same time increase the fertilizing value of 
the manure. Is this true? g. h. s. 
Is there not some mistake about this? 
It is hard to think of an agricultural 
paper making such claims. Raw ground 
phosphate would not destroy the flies. 
“Acid phosphate” is the raw phosphate 
“cut” or treated with sulphuric acid. 
When this is mixed with horse manure 
the flies will not lay many eggs on it. 
The fly breeds almost entirely in horse 
manure, but the acid phosphate repels 
them. The raw phosphate would dry the 
stable, but would not repel the flies. 
Origin of the Elberta Peach. 
As regards the origin of the Elberta 
peach I can sustain the statement of 
George F. Platt. Accompanied by J. H. 
Hale I visited Samuel Rumph’s planta¬ 
tion in Georgia, and saw a peach tree 
standing near the center of a field which 
I was told was the original Elberta peach 
tree. I was told, as well as Mr. Platt, 
that this large field was planted to seed¬ 
lings, and that Elberta was the only var¬ 
iety considered worth retaining. 
I consider the peach more likely to 
reproduce itself than most other fruits. 
A friend sent me a new variety of peach 
which fruited freely in my poultry yard. 
From the seed of this peach there came 
up nearby three seedling trees which 
fruited this year for the first time. All 
of these seedlings produced large and 
handsome varieties resembling the parent. 
Certain varieties of peach seem to have 
more of a tendency to reproduce them¬ 
selves than the average variety. The 
W agner peach was one of the varieties 
of this class which show a strong tend¬ 
ency to reproduce itself from seed. Craw¬ 
ford’s Early has a strong tendency to 
reproduce itself from seed. Thus we have 
many varieties of peach closely resembling 
the Early Crawford. c. A. green. 
Buying Bee*. 
I have searched your paper each week 
for an advertisement of bees. Where can 
THE RURAL 
I buy them and what do you consider a 
good fair price to pay for them? 
Harriman, N. Y. M. s. E. 
Except in small numbers used as nuclei 
for building up colonies, bees do not lend 
themselves i-eadily to long shipments, and 
you will not be apt to find them adver¬ 
tised for sale unless by some one desir¬ 
ing to go out of the business. The best 
way to procure them is to buy new 
swarms, or colonies already housed, from 
some bee-keeper near by. This can be 
done in almost any neighborhood, and if 
only black bees can be obtained, and 
Italians are desired, it is a simple matter 
to introduce an Italian queen which can 
be purchased by mail from any one of 
scores of breeders. Colonies in good 
movable frame hives may usually be pur¬ 
chased at from $5 to $10 each, depend¬ 
ing upon the kind of bees, the weight of 
the colony, the value of the hive, and 
the season of the year. m. b. d. 
Another Poison-Ivy Cure. 
As soon as the poison ivy is discov¬ 
ered, take the stems of burdocks, pound 
them up, and extract the juice by squeez¬ 
ing the pulp through a cloth. Bathe the 
inflamed parts with this liquid, and make 
a compress of the burdock stems, to keep 
the skin moist. The severe itching will 
cease in a few moments, and the irrita¬ 
tion will disappear in a day or two. It 
is cheap, almost always at hand on a 
New' England farm, and so simple that 
any barefoot boy can use it. This is 
something the same as raising corn with¬ 
out cultivation, but worth the trial. 
Michigan. l. p. h. 
Shot-hole Borer. 
I enclose sample of bark cut from a 
four-year-old cherry tree, which you will 
note has been punctured by the shot-hole 
borer. All of my trees have been sprayed 
with lime-sulphur during the dormant 1 
season, which has protected all varieties 
from scale, but I am unable to control 
the shot-hole borer. Can you give me auy 
information on how to control this pest? 
North Baltimore, O. n. e. d. 
As a rule the shot-hole borer only at¬ 
tacks trees that have already been weak¬ 
ened by some other cause. To control it, 
remove and burn dead or dying trees in 
which the insect is breeding in large 
numbers, as they w T ill spread from these 
to others that are not vigorous in growth. 
Where trees are only moderately at¬ 
tacked, trim them back and fertilize. Give 
a coat of thick carbolated whitewash in 
.Tune, and again in August, using one pint 
of crude carbolic acid to 10 gallons of 
whitewash. 
Cover Crops in Kansas. 
On page 1206 Edward Taylor of Kan¬ 
sas argued in favor of Fall plowing, and 
opposed the “cover crop” plan. A recent 
item from the Kansas Agricultural Col¬ 
lege contains the following: 
“Farmers in the I.in wood community 
in Leavenworth County have the practice 
of sowing turnips after the potato crop 
has been harvested, and turning them un¬ 
der for green manure. Owing to the high 
price of vegetables this year, the farmers 
are disposing of them at good prices. One 
farmer sold his turnips at 15 cents a 
bushel on the ground, and another sold 
his for $12 an acre. It is stipulated in 
the contracts that the tops must be left 
on the ground.” 
This may mean a combination of cover 
crop and Fall plowing. The potatoes are 
dug early and the turnips may be taken 
off in time to plow' the laud or sow rye, 
as desired. We consider a good crop of 
turnips worth more than $12 as plant 
food. _ 
Protecting Water Pipe. —W. R. G., 
Richmond, Mass., might try plaster of 
Paris. I will give you my experience. 
Several years ago I laid %-ineh pipe 
from spring to barn. I had to cross a 
water ditch 10 feet wide, 10 feet deep. 
Made a box and laid pipe in it over top 
of ditch, and filled box with plaster of 
paris on all sides of pipe. It never froze. 
Connecticut. j. j. d. 
Rust Preventive.— The Colorado Ex¬ 
periment Station gives the following ad¬ 
vice : "All steel articles can be perfectly 
preserved from rust, by putting a lump 
of freshly-burned lime in the drawer or 
case in which they are kept. If the 
things are to be moved, as a' gun in its 
case, put the lime in a muslin bag. To 
keep tools from rusting, take one-half 
ounce of camphor, dissolve in one pound 
melted lardtake off scum and mix in 
as much fine black lead (graphite) as will 
give it an iron color. Clean tools and 
smear with this mixture. After 24 hours 
rub clean with a soft linen cloth.” 
NEV/-YORKER 
For the Greatest Strength, Toughness and 
Wear, Insist on “Elephant Head” 
Rubber Boots 
Albig 1 strong, honest and tough 
boot, you will find its wear-resist¬ 
ing qualities unequalled for all 
work where a rubber boot is 
needed. 
Insist upon “Elephant Head” Brand Rubber Boots. 
Made of the Best Grade of Fine Para 
Rubber. 
—made of extra strong duck. I 
—reinforced at every point. 
All the best dealers carry “Eleohant 
Head” Brand Rubber Boots in all 
lengths and you can depend on them 
to carry the best of everything. 
WOONSOCKET 
RUBBER CO. 
Woonsocket, R. I. 
The best engine for any purpose; Water 
Systems, Pumps, Hoists, Sprayers, Saws, 
Concrete Mixers, Stone Crushers, Electric 
Light Outfits, etc. 
Portable, Semi-Portable, and Stationary Types 
Made up to the Fairbanks standard and 
backed by the Fairbanks Guarantee. 
Bulletin No. 28-R describes them. Copy 
upon request. 
FAIRBANKS “BULL DOG” ENGINES 
Wnte for Prices and Terms “Bull Dog” Engines 1to 1 6 H. P. 
Vertical Engines 8 to 60 H. P. 
GAS, GASOLENE, or KEROSENE 
Equipped with Batteries or Magneto 
Albany. N. Y. 
Balt imore, Md. 
Boston, Mass. 
Buffalo, N. Y. 
THE FAIRBANKS COMPANY 
Hartford, Conn. 
New Orleans, La. 
Paterson, N. J, 
Philac elp'iia, Pa, 
NEW YORK 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Providence. R. I. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
Washington, D. C. 
London, England 
Glasgow, Scotland 
Hamburg Germany 
Paris, France 
Send 
for 
Free 
Booklet 
GasoQine-Kerosene 
Engines 
One of our types of engines is 
bound to be just what you need, 
Mr. Farmer. One of our newest 
operates on either gasoline or 
kerosene. You realize what ail 
advantage that is, for kerosene’s 
most always on hand. Nc matter 
what job you want to do, the 
Jacobson engine simply walks 
away with the work. Jacobson 
Portable Gasoline Engines are 
approved and labeled by the 
Underwriters. Material and 
workmanship faultless. 
jAcoasoN Machine 
Mfg. Co. 
Dept. D 
Warren, Pa. 
Fop Farm or Factory 
EASY 
TERMS 
TO 
RELIABLE 
PEOPLE 
STA 770AM R Y 
Wood Sawing Outfits, Three Styles , All Sizes 
MAKE MORE MONEY—DO LESS WORK 
-V»i» JWUA Iuiill 11^111 iIVVY UHC Ol w_ __ 
gines. They make money and save work. Take them 
wherever the work is.^ They are strong, durable, and reliable. 
n l* ar . e workers and never quit. Don't sleef 
J 1 * 8 "* till >' ou have sent for information that mean* 
P,9Vt ARS , FOR you. Tell US SIZE FARM YOL 
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R. CONSOLIDATED GASOLINE ENGINE CO. 
202 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK CITY 
YOURS 
—For Greatest 
Power Profits! 
Rend in your name on postal! Don't buy 
a power outfit o Cany kmd till you get our 
a facts, figures and proof. You don't 
) ealtze the economy, reliability and 
superiority ot the famous 
STEAM 
ENGINES 
LEFFEL. 
i hey are replacing all other power 
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reasons. Buy your last engine 
a^id save big money. Leffel 
runs aiiy machine, does man v 
things gasoline can't do. 
Burns anything for fuel. 
Don’t wait! Write us now! 
James Leffel & Company 
287* Springfield, Ohio 
^ 13 Cents Per Rod 
■ . , Strongest, heaviest wire. Double £ 
vanized. Outlasts others nearly 2 to 1. Low pri 
>ct trom factory. Over 150 styles for everv purpc: 
....... sheep, poultry, rabbit, horse, cattle. Also h 
yfonca a ndgatea ot ail styles.. Mail postal for catalog i 
f sample to test and compare with others. Addresa 
. ^ BROWN fence & WIRE CO. 
D.partm.nt jj Cleveland, C 
FARM FENCE 
41 INCHES HIGH 
ICO other styles of 
Farm, Poultry and 
Lawn Fencing direct 
from factory at save-the- 
dealer’s-profit-prices. Our 
large catalog is free. 
BITS ELMAN BEOS. Box 230 Mancie, Ind 
21 
CENTS 
A ROD 
