1910. 
THE RUKAIv NEW-YORKER 
371 
SHORT STORIES. 
Rain Water from Tarred Roofs. 
Will rain-water from a tarred roof be in¬ 
jurious to the growth of greenhouse plants? 
s. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
Bain-water from tar-coated roofs is quite 
likely to injure vegetation, especially plants 
as tender as those grown in greenhouses, 
for some months after the roof is laid. The 
danger lessens with time. When the water 
is entirely free from smell and color it may 
not do much harm. We should, however, 
prefer water drained from some other 
surface. 
Mock Orange for Stock Feed. 
Will the mock orange prove hardy and is 
it of any value for feeding stock? l. u. 
Connecticut. 
We are informed that the Osage or mock 
orange has no value as a stock food. It is 
grown extensively in the West and certain 
portions of the Southwest for a hedge plan,;. 
Even as a hedge plant, however, its uso 
is being discontinued owing to its rapid, 
rank growth and the amount of ground It 
occupies and the adverft of barb and other 
wire. It also harbors the San Jos£> scale. 
The fruit is about the size of a large orange, 
has quite a rough exterior and is inedible. 
Poisoning Moles. 
There is no very certain method of 
poisoning moles. They feed almost entirely 
on animal food, such as worms and insects, 
and probably never eat poisoned grain. We 
have always relied on traps and find them 
quite effective if given sufficient attention. 
We are told, however, that moles may be 
successfully poisoned by using ordinary 
smoked herring as bait. Soak the herring 
to remove the excess salt and take small 
flakes of the flesh, into each of which should 
be slipped a small crystal of pure sulphate 
of strychnine, which may be had from the 
druggist. The poisoned bits of fish are 
dropped here and there in the runs, which 
should be disturbed as little as possible, and 
carefully closed with a clod or bit of sod. 
While we cannot guarantee this method it 
is. at least worth trying. 
Problem of a Tamarack Swamp. 
I have a problem in reforestation which 
perhaps some of your readers can help me 
solve. I own a piece of swampland, boggy, 
with water always standing between the 
bogs, which was covered with a heavy 
growth of tamarack trees, which were cut 
off 50 years ago. No tree of any size was 
left. A thick crop of young trees of the 
same kind sprung up and they are now 
GO to 70 feet high. A young cyclone up¬ 
turned an acre of them about 12 years 
ago. When the trees were cut off the 
roots fell back into their beds, leaving the 
stumps the same as they would have been 
if the trees had been chopped down. A 
few alder bushes have come in, but nothing 
else except coarse grasses. We are using 
the timber from the rest of the piece, as 
it is needed on the farm, but it is certain 
that in time it will be of no value unless 
some kind of trees can be grown. Can 
anyone tell what kind of trees will grow 
there, and how to plant or sow the seed? 
No fires have ever run over it, so no 
seeds have been destroyed. The trees now 
standing usually bear a crop of cones. I 
am told that only two crops of tamarack 
trees ever grow on the same land. Does 
any one know? There is no way to drain 
the water off. w. h. landon. 
Wisconsin. 
R. N.-Y.—We submit this problem to 
our readers. Can some one with experi¬ 
ence tell what to do? 
Sawdust as an Absorbent. 
I observe that questions are asked as to 
tiie value of sawdust as an absorbent. Some 
years since I tested it thoroughly, and 
deemed it satisfactory until I noticed that 
on light grass land, there appeared many 
spots in which the grass had dried out. 
On searching for the cause I found that 
where sawdust manure had been used, the 
white grubs had multiplied and made nests 
so that the ground was honeycombed. Since 
discontinuing it I have had no further 
trouble of this kind. 1 have learned by ex¬ 
perience that general statements irrespec¬ 
tive of conditions should always be tem¬ 
pered with caution. I do not think there 
is any absorbent much better than swale or 
low marsh hay or salt meadow hay run 
through a cutter to make it fine. I know 
it adds to the daily labor to do this, but it 
is of no use to put anything into the 
manure heap unless it is in a finely com¬ 
minuted condition. Not only is it a better 
absorbent, but it is more easily and evenly 
distributed. w. w. 
Rhode Island. 
Bark Bursting of Trees. 
On page 139 you have a question from A. 
B., I.igonier, Ind., regarding cause of bark 
bursting on fruit trees. Is it possible that 
the cause may be due to A. B. over-stimulat¬ 
ing his fruit trees by high, intensive cultiva¬ 
tion with heavy manuring in October and 
November; causing excessive, prolonged 
growth preceding the cold storm, leaving 
tree full of sap instead of tho normal pre¬ 
paration for cold weather? I can readily 
understand that a tree full of sap, under 
cold stress, should have the water (sap) 
freeze, and in the freezing follow the natural 
course of expansion in freezing and in this 
way causing the bark and tree to separate 
its continuity, instead of shrinking and 
contraction cause this tree destruction. I 
have frequently seen my peach tree, in the 
Spring, in a warm February expand its 
buds and fill its branches with sap, suffer 
thus, bark and tree bursting after a severe 
zero temperature. I simply present these 
views as a logical deduction from Mr. Van 
Deman's observations. Of course I may be 
in error, but feel that it may be correct to 
attribute this result to the general law, 
that water, in freezing, expands and if of 
sufficient intensity, will burst things. In 
other things, cold contracts and heat ex¬ 
pands, but do not think it applies to any¬ 
thing but metals. b. n. D. 
Pennsylvania. 
Note by Mr. Van Deman.—This may be 
the solution of the question, but I have seen 
trees burst their bark when there was no 
over-stimulation or very late growth. 
Philadelphia Milk Market. 
The condition of the Philadelphia milk 
market to-day is different from any other 
time in its history. There is an abundant 
supply of milk, the major part of which 
is delivered to the retailer at a price below 
the cost of production, and the dairyman 
has so far been unable to protect himself. 
To understand the reason for this surplus 
at a time when the elements of cost which 
enter into its production have doubled in 
a few years and are still advancing, we 
must look at events as they happened a 
few years ago. Not long since some of the 
wisest dealers, realizing the need of a 
supply of milk largely under their own 
control, went to the outlying districts and 
erected milk shipping plants, where they 
receive milk and prepare it for shipment. 
The result has been that small dairies, and 
dairies not prepared or Inclined to ship to 
city buyers, have here found a convenient 
market, and, until recently, at a price 
which returned a fair profit, with the re¬ 
sult that the market has thrown upon it a 
product which otherwise would never have 
reached the city in that form. Now that 
the dealers have accomplished their pur¬ 
pose of an abundant supply comes the 
crash in prices, which seems to* be arousing 
dairymen as they have never been aroused 
before in my recollection. The price to 
them has been reduced to four cents, or an 
average of 3% cent& net when freight is 
paid. In other words, the dealer gets 120 
per cent of the gross proceeds, a percentage 
of profit for delivery unknown to me in 
any other business. Of course, the rule of 
supply and demand will regulate this in 
time, but the producers are not willing 
that this should take place through the 
financial ruin of many of their number, and 
plans are on foot whereby it is hoped and 
expected that they will come by their own. 
They are gathering in mass meetings in 
all parts of the district supplying Phila¬ 
delphia with milk, and laying plans for 
turning their product into other channels 
until the price is satisfactory. In the Phil¬ 
adelphia Milk Shippers’ Union they already 
have an organization to regulate their 
movements. 
When pressed for higher prices, the deal¬ 
ers complain that they are selling retail 
at the same price that has prevailed for 
years (eight cents), whereas the cost of 
delivery, by reason of restrictions imposed 
by the Board of Health and public educa¬ 
tion, has nearly doubled. Granted that this 
is true, and there seems no good reason to 
doubt it, in the judgment of the producer 
the remedy lies in their hands. They can 
raise the retail price considerably above its 
present figure, without fear of proof that 
they have placed it proportionately above 
the cost of other foods. It is difficult for 
the dairyman to see why they hesitate to 
make this advance, unless it be fear of 
threatened prosecution or boycott. The 
immediate effect of tho uprising among the 
dairymen cannot be forecast to a certainty, 
but it seems that ultimately it must give 
them greater control of the situation and 
thus better prices. w. b. r. 
Westtown, Pa. 
Tiie Wachusett Blackberry. — I note on 
page 197 an inquiry for a thornless black¬ 
berry, and the reply of E. S. Black. My 
experience with the Wachusett thornless 
blackberry is so different from his that 1 
venture to give it to your readers. For 
size, flavor and texture, we never grew any 
that has given such satisfaction. The only 
objection I had to it was its inclination to 
rust, but for all that I have kept it in 
fruit for 15 years, and, while the patch 
only got ordinary care, we always had an 
abundance of large, sweet, meaty fine 
berries, and I am sure that with proper 
care and treatment they would be a profit¬ 
able and satisfactory berry to raise, cer¬ 
tainly in this neighborhood. I have had 
other kinds that are more prolific, but for 
all that we like the Wachusett. t. r. c. 
Groton, Mass. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
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KRESO-DIP 
FOR 
SPRING DIPPING 
AND 
Hand Dressing All Stock. 
COST OF ROOFING. 
All the Facts Prove Sea Green and Purple 
Slate to be the least Expensive. 
Because it is used so generously on the 
finest homes in this country, and on the 
pitched roofs of the best buildings, churches, 
museums, libraries, etc., everywhere in 
fact, where the roof must fittingly finish 
with a chaste uniformity the construction 
of the building beneath, Slate has the 
reputation of being an expensive luxury. 
Its many excellencies, its proof against fire, 
its cleanliness, its orderliness, its smart, 
high-class and prosperous look, have gained 
it many an admirer who has, however, 
never given it consideration on his own 
buildings because be thought it too costly. 
True, to put on a roof of Sea Green and 
Purple Slate (the most durable of all vari¬ 
eties) does cost a little more than one of 
tin, iron or shingles—on the average only 
a few cents a square foot more—but once 
on it begins instantly to cost less. For 
while tin costs 27 cents, shingles 35 cents, 
and iron 57 cents to maintain 100 square 
feet a year, the same area of slate costs 
3 y 2 cents only—or less. 
John Black, Editor of the Carpenter and 
Builder, says: “The value of a roofing is 
determined by a variety of considerations, 
among which the most important are, first 
cost, durability, appearance, resistance of 
fire, and expense of maintenance and re¬ 
pairs. We think it is safe to say that 
nothing equals Sea Green and Purple Slate. 
Properly put on, it requires no further at¬ 
tention—it is practically permanent and 
requires comparatively no repairs.” 
Because of this utter absence of repair 
expense, a Sea Green and Purple Slate 
roof becomes cheaper even than wood shin¬ 
gles after only six years. The rich man 
who covers his mansion with aristocratic 
slate is, therefore, not extravagant nor 
arrogant, but sensible. Slate costs him 
less than anything else—eventually: and 
not such a very long “eventually" either. 
Furthermore, while it is saving him money 
every year after the first, it is giving him 
appearance, safety from fire, freedom from 
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So long as the building of which it forms 
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The day that building comes down, the 
slate develops into an investment. Slate, 
especially Sea Green and Purple Slate, 
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it will come off the building practically 
as good as ever—hence salable. Length of 
service as a roof destroys the market value 
of every other kind of material. It affects 
Sea Green and Purple Slate roof practically 
not at all. For example, in 1805 some 
slate quarried in 1800 was used to roof 
a church near Delta, Pa. In 1893 the 
church had to be demolished, becoming 
mere debris; all except the slate, which 
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In reality a good slate roof is an asset 
rather than an expense. It actually in¬ 
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DETROIT, MICHIGAN. 
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Roofing Slato to this address: 
Name ... . 
Address.,, ..... 
Town . State . 
Style Roof .. 
Approximate Size . 
■■■■■■■■■■•iiuaiiMaiHti mm ■■ nmmmu 
