1910. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1073 
THE EDISON CONCRETE HOUSE. 
Last year wo gave an account of the 
solid concrete house which Thomas E. 
Edison expects to make at low cost. A 
frame of hollow tubes is set up in the ex¬ 
act shape of the proposed house. xiien 
a liquid concrete is poured into this hol¬ 
low frame so as to fill it completely. When 
the concrete lias had time to harden the 
frame is removed and the house stands 
complete except for doors and windows— 
chimney, mantels and all are there. Sev¬ 
eral of our people have asked if these 
houses are really being made. We under¬ 
stand that several small houses have 
been made. The condition of the large 
houses is described in the following : 
The moulds for this work are com¬ 
pleted up to and including the second 
story, and work is still progressing on 
the third floor and roof. The work, 
however, has gone very slowly this sea¬ 
son, owing to the fact that Mr. Edison 
and our other men at his laboratory, 
have been so very busy upon the new 
storage battery proposition, both in the 
design and manufacture of special ma¬ 
chinery for producing the batteries, and 
the street car and omnibus problems, 
that the balance of all work there has 
been very secondary. Experiments 
however, which have been tried with 
sections of the forms, lead us to believe 
that Mr. Edison will successfully ac¬ 
complish the work which he has started 
out to do, but it is very doubtful whether 
he will attempt to pour a house until 
some time next year. w. s. mallory. 
Fertilizing Value of Sawdust. 
C. E. 8., Setinsf/rove, Pa .—I have a lot 
100x150 feet. Half of this is in asparagus 
and the other half I put out in vegetables— 
corn, tomatoes, beans, cabbage, etc. The 
asparagus I have had plowed shallow and 
cultivated the other half. I put on stable 
manure and had it plowed and sown with 
rye a couple of weeks ago. This 1 intend to 
turn under in the Spring, and thought I 
would need no other fertilizer for this part. 
Just now I have had offered me 10 or 12 
one-horse loads of partly decayed oak saw¬ 
dust, having been used in an icehouse for 
a number of years, some fresh being added 
occasionally. They offer it for $1 if I have 
it hauled away. Would you advise putting 
it on the land? If so, how thick and on 
which part, the asparagus or the rye? 
Ans. —No. From our own experience 
we would not spread this sawdust di¬ 
rectly on the rye. We would gladly take 
it at the price and use it in any of the 
following ways: In the stalls and back 
of the stock to absorb the liquids; mixed 
through the manure piles; put in piles by 
itself with lime scattered through it as 
piled up; used as a mulch around apple 
trees with lime scattered over it. As it 
is wc think the sawdust will sour the 
garden soil. It should first be sweetened 
by mixing with manure or liming. 
Ventilation for Sweet Potato House. 
G. ,1. M., Vineland, N. ,J .—Proper ventil¬ 
ation of sweet potato storage houses is an 
important matter here. A large amount of 
moisture is given off from the sweet pota¬ 
toes when they are first put in the bin 
after harvesting. It is important that this 
moisture be removed as rapidly as possible 
in order to avoid the spread of black rot 
disease germs. I am enclosing a descrip¬ 
tion of a sweet potato storage house which 
was used last year, but moisture condensed 
on the ceiling. Ventilation was effected by 
opening the windows and by a small hole 
in the peak of the gable end. It has been 
suggested that the King system of ventila¬ 
tion would be the proper method for sweet 
potato houses. We keep the temperature 
at 90 or 100 degrees during the iirst few 
days. Will you kindly send this to Pro¬ 
fessor King or some other physicist and 
ask how large a ventilation shaft should be 
used, where it should open and how the 
windows and doors should be managed. 
Ans. —We are unable to give as defi¬ 
nite instructions for the ventilation of 
such a storage house, without knowing 
the temperature conditions which are re¬ 
quired after the first few days of the 
sweating period are passed. If but lit¬ 
tle ventilation is required after the 
sweating period is passed, two 10-inch 
galvanized iron outtake flues, rising 
through the ridge of the roof and ter¬ 
minating just below the ceiling of each 
storage room (as I understand the draw¬ 
ing, there are two of these, one in the 
basement and one in the main part). 
These flues should be provided with a 
damper to regulate the amount of out¬ 
flow if there is danger of the air being 
too dry. There must also be provided 
openings for fresh-air intakes to supply 
a sufficient amount of air to take the 
place of that carried out by the out- 
take flues. These may be placed, say 
two on each side of the building, at 
the floor levels where the fresh air may 
enter directly upon the hot air pipes. 
The aggregate capacity of the intake 
openings should equal that of the out- 
take flues for each chamber ventilated, 
and provision should be made, probably, 
for closing them when rapid ventilation 
is not desired. f. h. king. 
shoujd be all that is necessary. In case 1 
this is done, however, all dirt must be 
removed from the roof by mixing up one 
part of commercial muriatic acid and 
four parts water, using a whitewash 
brush to paint this on the concrete, and 
immediately after rinse the same thor¬ 
oughly with water, then apply the ce¬ 
ment wash. Another very good way of 
repairing the roof and stopping its leak¬ 
ing is to give two coats of liquid paraffin, 
driving each coat in with a painter’s 
torch. If the cracks, however, are large 
they should first be filled in with a mix¬ 
ture of sand and cement. 
Repairing A Concrete Roof. 
J. B., London, III .—My concrete roof has 
cracked so that it leaks. What can I do 
to repair it? 
Ans. —The repairing of cracks in a 
roof depend altogether upon the size 
of the cracks. If large cracks they 
should certainly be filled in with a mix¬ 
ture of cement and sand, but if the 
cracks are small a cement wash on the 
outside with a mixture of one part ce¬ 
ment to one of sand, mixed very thin, 
Want to Know. 
Surface Cisterns.—I would be glad to 
have the experience of your readers with 
surface-made cisterns. The object is to 
procure water for a dairy and stock barn 
by pipes leading from cistern to barn. The 
well and pump are already located and 
in working order near milk and dwelling 
house. The elevation of the pump is per¬ 
haps four feet above feed or water troughs 
of dairy barn. About 600 feet from barn 
there is an elevation or hill higher than 
barn roof top. The ouestion arises, should 
the cistern be put under ground on this 
hill, or a surface cistern made near well and 
pump. c. a. h. 
Ohio. 
If your work, carries 
you out-doors—little 
or much — and you 
want to be free from 
colds, coughs and 
dangers of damp and 
wintry weather, and 
you want to be free 
from weighty over¬ 
coat and muffler try 
WRIGHT’S 
Health 
Underwear 
Outside it is perfect in finish and 
workmanship—inside it is the fleece 
ofcomfortthat makes itdifferent from 
all other"health” garments—a weaving 
of loops on loops that keeps the body 
warm,takes up the perspiration, allows 
perfect ventilation, without chill. 
Wright’s costs no more than any 
other underwear worth having. 
Ask your dealer. If he don’t carry 
it, write us. 
Book "Dressing forHealth,” 
Sent Free 
WRIGHT'S 
HEALTH UNDERWEAR CO. 
75 Franklin St., New York 
Jckaffib. 
tittufaUlCOK 
Always look for th* woven 
i label Trademark 
Licensed under Selden patent 
Protecting the 
Overland Fame 
When you think for a moment what we have at stake, you will be 
utterly sure that each Overland car is as good as man can make it. 
The Overland today is the leading car—the most 
successful ear that was ever created. It has 20,000 
delighted owners, though the car is not three years 
old. And dealers have already paid deposits on more 
than 18,000 of the new-season models. 
The five Overland factories have a daily capacity 
of 140 cars, and $8,000,000 has been invested in the 
highest type of modern equipment. 
All this is at stake on making cars as good as cars 
can be, regardless of price. 
Our Extreme Care 
Every material used in any Overland chassis is as 
good as any price can buy. Every feature, regardless 
of cost, is made to accord with the best engineering 
practice. 
The materials and parts in every car are subjected 
to more than a thousand inspections. We are told 
that no other car in the world is inspected so well -as 
the Overland. 
Each crank shaft is turned 6,000 times in its bear¬ 
ings before being attached to the engine. Every 
engine is run for 4S hours before it is put in the car. 
Then every chassis, before the body is added, is given 
at least two severe road tests. We have too much at 
stake to take any chances on an Overland car being 
right. 
t 
How We Saved 28 Per Cent 
Yet, despite this care, we have cut the cost of Over¬ 
lands 2S per cent in the past two years. That means, 
on the average, $200 per car. 
We have done this by equipping our plants with 
modern automatic machinery. We have acres upon 
acres of wonderful machines, each of which has re¬ 
duced the cost of some part. The investment required 
has exceeded $3,000,000. 
As a result, the Overland sells cars of the highest 
grade for less than any other maker. 
22 Attractive Models 
The Overland line for 1911 includes 22 models— 
from 20 to 85-horsepower—from $775 to $1,675. All 
are 4-cylinder cars. 
You can meet any idea about size, style or power 
at a lower cost than in any other line. 
These models include all the latest designs—three 
torpedo roadsters, one torpedo touring car, and sev¬ 
eral styles of fore-door bodies. 
On several models you are offered the option of 
fore doors or open front. And the fore-door models, 
if you select them, cost no extra price. Note that 
other makers tax you extra for these new designs. 
Prices for 1911 
We are making a 4-cylinder roadster—20-horse- 
power—96-inch wheel base—for $775. It is easily 
capable of 45 miles an hour. 
Our 25-horsepower touring car sells this year for 
$1,000. That’s nine per cent less than last year. Your 
choice of five styles of bodies. 
Our 30-horsepower models, with fore doors or with¬ 
out, sell for $1,250. The wheel base is 110 inches. 
All of these prices include five lamps and magneto. 
We are making both the pedal control and the sliding 
gear transmission. 
Please send us this coupon for our 1911 Book, 
showing all the styles and giving all specifications. 
It shows everything that's new in automobiles. There 
is an Overland dealer in nearly every locality. 
The Willys-Overland Company 
(Licensed Under Selden patent) 
Toledo, Ohio 
Please mail the 1911 bool( to 
(088) 
