852 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 1A7 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[ Every query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure 
attention. Before asking a question, please soe 
■whether it is not answered in our advertising 
columns. Ask only a Tew questions at one time. 
Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
Oiling Tools ; Pruning Tomatoes. 
ILL you give me a formula for mak¬ 
ing an oil suitable for using on 
garden tools to prevent rust in the 
Winter? I believe this would pay in the 
longer service the tools would give. Could 
the same oil be used on guns? 2. Do you 
think pruning tomatoes would increase 
their quality to pay for the trouble? If 
so, please give me an idea of how it 
should be done. I want to get quality in 
preference to quantity if I can. H. B. 
Memphis, Tenn. 
I do not know anything better to pre¬ 
serve tools from rust than the ordinary 
coal oil product used for axle grease. 
But for guns you need a finer oil, such 
as is made and sold for sewing machines. 
2. I do not think that pruning toma¬ 
toes increases the crop, in fact it rather 
diminishes it, but increases the quality. 
By training to single stems on stakes, we 
can plant closer and get more fruit of 
good quality from a given area. I plant 
in my garden tomatoes in rows three feet 
apart and two feet in the row, and train 
to a single stem, pinching out all side 
shoots or suckers that appear in the 
axils of the leaves, and stopping the 
plants at about six feet high or some¬ 
times less. Where tomatoes are allowed 
to tumble on the ground it is almost im¬ 
possible to keep them from being smoth¬ 
ered by the crab grass after they cover 
the ground, and training to stakes en¬ 
ables us to keep them clean. I start the 
earliest tomatoes in the greenhouse and 
transfer to cold frames to get strong, and 
as these early plants depreciate in mid¬ 
summer, I sow seed outside in early May 
to give me the late crop of good quality. 
These plants are now only a little over 
two inches high, and will be transplanted 
anytime in June to give us fruit till frost, 
and these can be kept clean of crab grass 
and are let tumble on the ground. 
W. F. MASSEY. 
Constructing a Root Cellar. 
L AYING OUT PLANS.—Where there 
is a hill about the height one wishes 
his root cellar it is a very simple propo¬ 
sition. with lots of hard work. Just dig 
back in the hill the length you want the 
building, wide enough to admit of laying 
up the walls. Having dug out space 
enough build wall of stone, concrete or 
concrete blocks. If twelve feet wide you 
can arch over with concrete for roof. 
To get the form for arch take a one by 
two inch lath, bore a hole in end, put a 
half-inch bolt through, stick in the 
ground on some level place, and 12 feet 
from bolt bore a small hole a lead pencil 
will fit in. Lay boards 12 feet long so 
when moving pencil around it describes 
a part of a circle. Cut on this line and 
you have the form of arch. Put false 
work inside building to support forms, 
which you will make of sufficient num¬ 
ber to support concrete until it gets set 
Cover forms with smooth lumber and 
you. are ready for the concrete. 
Preparing Concrete. —Mix concrete 
well, apply four inches over form, then 
lay strips of woven wire fencing over 
this, and put on four or more inches 
concrete, and in two weeks you can re¬ 
move false work from the inside and later 
cover the whole structure with dirt re¬ 
moved in making the excavation. By 
building wall out at entrance and bank¬ 
ing dirt in front except at door you will 
have a root cellar that will not freeze in 
the severest weather. Of course there are 
to be two doors, close fitting, one inside, 
the other a foot or more out, so enter 
first one, then the other. 
Building Above Ground. —Where one 
must build above ground it is a harder 
and more costly proposition. I will en¬ 
deavor to describe one 12 by 20 feet in¬ 
side, seven feet high. Digging a trench 
below frost line start foundation of con¬ 
crete 20-inch wall to within eight inches 
of surface; four-inch hollow to surface, 
set 2x4x0 feet in hollow, two feet center 
to center. Board up with rough lumber 
seven feet six inches inside, eight feet 
outside, both sides covered with tar pa¬ 
per, strips running up and down, set 2x6x 
7 feet six inches inside boarded up with 
sliiplap, 2x6, spiked acioss top to center 
studding, gaining in boarding to let down 
to seven feet in clear. Sawdust is now 
packed and tamped between 2x6, putting 
in a little at a time, dampen a little, 
tamp thoroughly. Put board floor over 
top, cover six inches with sawdust, set 
2x6xS feet six inches outside, board up 
with rough lumber and fill with sawdust 
as before. Spike two 2x4 on top of each 
other for plates. Spike 2x6 across build¬ 
ing under plates. Lay on another floor 
and cover with sawdust, both floors; 
cover with tar paper before putting on 
sawdust. Proceed to put on roof, using 
close sheathing and galvanized iron. Put 
pressed steel brick siding on, and for win¬ 
dow two 20x24 sash, gain in. on opposite 
side of sash set in another glass, one sash 
on inside of frame, other on outside of 
frame. Put door of good matched lum¬ 
ber on inside of frame, door of double 
thickness on outside of frame. A ventil¬ 
ator was put in center of roof, which 
could be closed in severe weather. If 
the work is well done it will stand the 
severest weather without freezing. The 
important point is to have the hollow 
wall, sides and top, for no solid wall, 
though it be two feet thick, will keep 
out frost. Care must be taken to pack 
the sawdust well, especially around win¬ 
dow and door frame, or it will settle in 
time, and leave vacancies for the cold 
to get through, and the sashes with glass 
on either side are quite necessary in 
severe climates, using two sashes in the 
one frame, and the fewer windows the 
better. jacob siiull. 
Wisconsin. 
Rules of the Road. 
F an automobile comes up behind me 
have I got to turn to the right or left 
or can I stay in the wagon track, pro¬ 
vided there is room enough to pass with¬ 
out getting his automobile in any out of 
the way place? 2. IIow many days is 
a child obliged to go to school between 
the ages of 12 and 14 and again l>etween 
14 and 16, and what grades must he pass 
before he is permitted to stay out of 
school and do labor? j. F. F. 
New Y r ork. 
1. You must turn to the right. You 
cannot stay in the middle of the road; 
you must give him half. The laws pro¬ 
vide that a motor vehicle meeting any 
vehicle shall seasonably turn the car to 
the right of the center of such highway 
and that on overtaking any such vehicle, 
the automobile shall pass to the left side 
and the driver of the vehicle shall turn to 
the right so as to allow free passage on 
the left. It also provides that the driver 
of an automobile must give reasonable 
warning of its approach and to use every 
reasonable precaution to insure the safe¬ 
ty of the person using the highway, and 
that the motor vehicle or motor cycle 
must, on request or on signal by putting 
up the hand from a person riding, lead¬ 
ing or driving a restive horse or other 
animals, bring their machine to a stop 
and remain stationary as long as may be 
reasonable to allow' such animals to pass 
and must also stop their engine when 
necessary. 
2. Every child between eight and 14 
years of age in proper and physical con¬ 
dition to attend school shall do so dur¬ 
ing the entire time that the school in the 
district shall be in session and so must 
each child between 14 and 16 years of 
age, not regularly and lawfully engaged 
in any useful employment or service. A 
pupil between the ages of 14 and 16, if 
he wishes to w'ork, must have a school 
record certificate certifying that he has 
attended school regularly during the pre¬ 
ceding year and that he is able to read 
and write, etc., and has completed the 
work prescribed for the first six years 
of the public elementary school. M. D. 
Sea Crystals. 
HAT are the chemicals used to com¬ 
pose the “sea crystals” sold for 
use in open fires of logs? When 
thrown on the fire the crystals give va¬ 
rious brilliant colors to the flames, such 
as are produced by a fire of driftw’ood. 
E. IL 
The colors which are noticed in the 
flames of burning driftwood are due to 
the presence in the wood of the sea salt. 
This salt is not pure sodium chloride, 
but contains also small amounts of cal¬ 
cium salts and potassium salts. The so¬ 
dium salts give the yellow' color, the cal¬ 
cium salts orange, and the potassium 
salts a sort of violet. Then most ships 
have much copper work about them, 
which is acted upon by the sea, forming 
copper salts, which impregnate the w-ood 
to some extent. These salts blaze with a 
grenish or bluish flame. These colors of 
flames are distinctive and used in chem¬ 
ical analysis to distinguish the presence 
of the various substances. Any “sea 
crystals” which give these various flames 
must be a mixture of the various sub¬ 
stances named above. If you purchase 
any substances containing calcium, sodi¬ 
um. potassium and copper salts and mix 
them together you will get the fancied 
effect. The carbonates are the least de¬ 
sirable. for they do not show up as well 
in flames of low temperature. Throw’ a 
little table salt upon the flames and you 
will get the yellow’ color, and possibly, 
if it is not pure, some of the other colors. 
The sea salt sold for bathing purposes 
will give brilliant results. b. p. c. 
Reducing Lumpy Fertilizer. 
AM using about four tons nitrate of 
soda and three tons sulphate of pot¬ 
ash yearly and find the breaking up 
of the lumps quite a problem. These I 
now sift out with a moulder’s riddle, one- 
quarter inch mesh, throw on mixing floor 
and scuff out with a pair of heavy shoes. 
Am looking for an easier and quicker way. 
Is there any hand-mill on the market 
which will do this work satisfactory, or 
some better way? d. a. b. 
Florence, Mass. 
We have frequently advertised an out¬ 
fit of mills for crushing chemicals, soft 
bones and dried hen manure. Such a 
mill can be made very useful on the farm. 
The Letter on the Dime. 
HAT is the significance of a small 
letter, on some dimes, placed close 
to the milled edge under the 
words “One Dime?” What letters are 
so placed on these coins? e. h. 
Glenarm, Md. 
Hundreds of letters are received each 
year by the Treasury Department asking 
this question. There are so many that 
a printed slip has been prepared by the 
U. S. Treasurer: 
Coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint 
have no mint mark; those struck at all 
other mints of the United States are dis¬ 
tinguishable by a small letter near the 
bottom of the coin. These letters are 
“C” for Charlotte. N. C., discontinued in 
1861; “CC” for Carson City. Nev., dis¬ 
continued in 1893; “D” for Dahlonega, 
Ga., discontinued in 1861. and Denver, 
Colo., since 1906; “O” for New Orleans, 
La., discontinued July 1, 1911; and “S” 
for San Francisco, Cal. 
A Letter From Mexico. 
E are still alive and feel safe (my¬ 
self and mother). We had a good 
surprise about three weeks ago. 
I had not been going to the post office 
for some time, and the postmaster stopped 
me on the street and told me there was 
a big bundle of mail for me. In the lot 
were two R. N.-Y.’s; one was only a 
week old and the other was November, 
1913. It was just like hearing from 
home to get The R. N.-Y. once more. 
Since then I have been getting three and 
four copies a week, some late and some 
old, but all good to read. 
One thing about the paper was that 
it was not filled up with hair-raising 
yarns telling of the terrible things that 
were taking place here, as some of the 
daily papers were doing that were 
brought in by the automobiles carrying 
in guns. etc. We live about two miles 
out of Victoria and were there through 
the two-days’ battle when the rebels took 
the town. We were bothered but very 
little. The rebel soldiers were coming 
and going from the house all the time, 
some for something to eat and some for 
water. All were very nice, all willing 
to pay for meals that we gave them. 
Since the fight every week or two some¬ 
one comes in to see how we are getting 
along and to let the governor know if 
we are molested in any way. Things 
have been very dull here, but the last two 
weeks lots of the Mexican residents are 
coming back again. Business houses are 
being fixed up getting ready for business 
again. mark v. Johnson. 
Want to Know. 
NION SETS.—Will you kindly sub¬ 
mit to the readers of your paper the 
following inquiries? I wish to 
plant onions for onion sets, and should 
like to hear from some of the readers the 
methods employed in planting, care and 
harvesting. Yellow Strasburg has been 
suggested as a good variety. R. G. c. 
“For the Laud’s Sake, use Bowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those who till it.”— Adv. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Do You Know 
About Nitrogen ? 
Of courso you know that It Is the plant 
food that is hardest to keep in the soil— 
and a food plants can’t do without. That's 
why you use nitrates. But do you know that 
there is now a better, surer, less expensive 
way than using nitrates? Do you know 
that all the Nitrogen in the air can bo used 
for food for your legumes if you inoculate 
the seed with 
Ferguson’s 
NITROGEN 
BACTERIA 
Very simple and easy to use. and the re¬ 
sults are wonderful, as we can prove to 
you by hundreds of letters. The Bacteria, 
gathering Nitrogen from the air and stor¬ 
ing it on the plant roots, not only produce 
stands of remarkable size and quality but 
enrich the soil for future cropB. The same 
bottle of Ferguson’s Bacteria contains all 
the varieties necessary to inoculate the 
seeds of Alfalfa, Peas, Beans, Clover, 
V ,tch, any legume. 
Cost* little—Far les* than the 
best commercial Fertilizer 
Qu»rter-aore quantity, 50c; 1 acre, $ 2 ; 5 acrea, *9. 
T.ct ns explain wh> you need Nitrogen bacteria and why 
Ferguson's Is best. Write for special booklet N—free. 
HOMEWOOD NITROGEN CO.. 51 Liberty Street, New York City 
We xvant ayents—a very liberal offer 
CRIMSON CLOVER 
The great soil improver and valuable for early 
green food, grazing and hay crop. Special 
circular free, also sample and price of seed 
8ent on request. 
Alfalfa 
High-grade American grown seed. Write for 
sample and price of seed also a copy of our 
Alfalfa Leaflet, free. If in need of Farm Seeds 
of any kind, please write to us for prices. 
HENRY A. DREER 
-- PHILADELPHIA. PA. 
SWEETCLOVER SEED.,S r .i "Si'S*, 
and circular how to 
grow it. sent on request. E. Barton, Box 29, Falmouth, Ky. 
VEGETABLE PLANTS 
PLANTS. Special Prices on Large Lots. Catalogue 
Free. HAKK\ L. SQUIRES, Remsenburg, N. Y. 
TOMATO PLANT^- thouaB,lds and thousands 
1 ™ a!a rLM11 * of Tomato Plants ® $1 por 
L000. 10,000 or more, 90c. per 1,000. Also Cabbage, 
if iat Dutch Sureltead, Dani*h Ballhend, $1 per 1 000- 
10,000 or more, 90c. per 1000. Celery, very best—Gold¬ 
en self-blanching. Also White Plume. Wo can fill 
your orders quick. ROMANCE SEED ANI) 
PLANT FARM, Caleb Boons 4 Son, Cheswold, Delaware 
Tomato, Cabbage, Pepper & Celery Plants 
Good quality at lowest prices. C. E FIELD, Sewell, N. J. 
, . x Million Plants 
ready to plant out. DANISH BALL HEAD, FLAT DUTCH ALL 
SEAS&N, ALL HEAD SAVOY, and others-*! per l.OOO; 
$8.50 for 10,000. CELERY PLANTS —all leading kinds, 
*1 Per 1.000. CAULIFLOWER PLANTS-$2 50 per l.OOO! 
J. C. SCHMIDT - . Bristol, Pa. 
oauua&c ridiiij| ( „, 0i 30c . r) oo'. 8 'i. postpaid 
catalog free. GLICK'S PLANT FARMS, Smoket 
_Plant 
Smoketown, Pa. 
PLlHTllW™ per l.OOO-CAULI- 
, ,™ 1 # FLOWER, $2 per 1,000. CABBAGE. SI per 1.000 
List free. W. S. FORD & SON, Hartly, Delaware 
S ™ no a oA’f T r °.- ™ M a™ • CELERY. EGG, PEPPER and 
Q CABBAGE PLANTS. List I’ree. C. BECKER, Vineland. N.J. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
For July. Auoust, September Planting, Runner and Pot- 
Grown. Catalog Free. Harry L. Squires, Remsenburo. N.Y. 
BINDER TWINE 
85jc lb. Want fanner agents, 
Circular and sample free. 
Thoo. Hurt A Sons, Un-Inn-,Ohio 
Apple Barrels 
- Car lots or lesi. Prompt 
shipment. UOliKKT 
GILLIES, Medina. H.Y. 
FRUIT 
AND VEGETABLE 
BASKETS 
OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS 
Write for froo catalogne ntid price list. Buy direct 
from the Manufacturer and save mouey. 
WEBSTER BASKET CO. 
Box 14 • - . Webster, Monroe Co., N. Y. 
WILL YOU TAKE ORDERS? 
Many earn iJtRO to weekly demonstratingour New 
Steel Automatic liumll-Tool. A Combination 
Jack, Fence Streioher, Splicer and Mender, Pont and 
rStuuip Puller, Tiro Tighteuer, Cable Maker, Press, 
Vise, Hoist, Wreuch, etc. Saves cost of 16 tools Wt. 
_ *25 lbs. Capacity 3 tous and up. Life jfnuraritee* 
Sold by agentsonly on 30day trial. Experience not required. Per* 
xnaucutor spare time work. Samples loaned. Credit given. Write 
tor factory agency offer. (’ll AS. E. BKNEEIEL CO.* Inc# 
Industrial Hldg., IndlunupollH, lud* / 
