1914. 
THK RURAL NBVY-VORKbR 
1147 
“SOIL SANITATION” ON A LARGE SCALE. 
Experiments in North Dakota. 
A FEW weeks ago, on page 102">, we printed the 
facts about the new proposition of “soil sani¬ 
tation.” Our scientific men now fully under¬ 
stand that many of our wheat lands are well filled 
with disease germs, so that seed put into them, ex¬ 
cept under the best of conditions, w 11 he obliged to 
run the gauntlet, with the chances of being seriously 
injured. Since this article was printed we have had 
many letters from people who want to know if it is 
not possible to disinfect the soil by the use of chem¬ 
icals, so as to kill these disease germs out. As is 
well known, market gardeners frequently sterilize 
the soil of their hotbed or glass houses, either baking 
it or treating it with live steam. The object of this 
is to destroy disease germs in that soil, so that their 
young plants will receive a fair start. 
The farmers who burn a pile of brush, 
or build a bonfire on land where they 
are to plant their cabbage or tobacco 
seed, have the same purpose in mind. 
It is possible to sterilize these small 
tracts of land. Now we have a class 
of people who think it may be possible 
to handle acres of wheat land so as to 
sterilize it fully. One man proposes to 
have a tank attachment on the plow. 
This tank is to be filled with a solution 
of formalin, so that as the land is 
turned over this solution is sprayed 
upon the soil. This man asked us to 
find out for him, if possible, whether 
such a plan would he useful and prac¬ 
tical. We wrote to Prof. II. L. Bolley 
of the North Dakota Experiment Sta¬ 
tion about this. Prof. Bolley probably 
knows more about it than any other 
man in the country, and his reply, which follows, 
does not give much encouragement for the scheme: 
“I can very definitely say to you that it is entirely 
too expensive a process. I have for a number of 
years been using formaldehyde as a disinfectant, and 
have been using it consistently and persistently year 
after year on the same soil for the purpose of find¬ 
ing out if it is possible by any sort of disinfecting 
means to control the organisms which destroy the 
roots of flax, potatoes and wheat, particularly tlax 
and wheat. On a piece of wheat-sick soil and a 
piece of flax-sick soil I have used as high as -10 
pounds of formaldehyde per year during the last 10 
years, applying at the same time nine barrels of 
water, to have the soil thoroughly touched with the 
formaldehyde. This is a very strong strength, and 
as you will see. the cost would he entirely beyond 
that which any farmer 
could make use of. It 
does not control or pre¬ 
vent the development of 
the disease known as 
tlax wilt. The crop will 
make a good growth on 
such land for a period 
of five or six weeks, hut 
then immediately the 
fungus spreads from the 
deeper lying regions and 
occupies the land. This 
is also true of wheat.” 
dry. More efficient and lower-priced power washing 
machines were exhibited than at any previous fair. 
At least two machines with power equipment, move- 
able and reversible power wringer, and long stand 
carrying two galvanized tubs were shown for $35. 
Several other machines for power were shown at 
lower and higher prices. The self-heating flat-iron, 
inexpensive, and costing but $3.50 or $4, heated by 
gasoline, will relieve Ihe farmer’s wife of many hard 
days of slavery to a red-hot stove in a stuffy kitchen. 
The little iron is heated with gasoline, is generated 
similar to the gasoline stove, is safe, and a penny or 
two will go a long way in doing the ironing. 
Lighting and heat have been matters which have 
interested farmers. Accidents which have formerly 
occurred when these devices were in earlier stages 
of development, occasioned the disfavor in which the 
acetylene plant has been held. These plants were 
BUSY DAYS AT GRAPE PICKING. Fig. 41)4. 
exhibited at the State Fair, and although not abso¬ 
lutely fool-proof, when a plant is established out¬ 
side the building they are considered unquestionably 
safe. The old wood stove, the soft coal heater and 
even the hard coal burner are giving way to the hot¬ 
air furnace, the steam and hot-water heat, and these 
require little more expense in maintenance than 
does the hard coal burner. They do away with the 
dread of early rising on cold Winter mornings, have 
the house warm, the temperature even, and are more 
healthful than the old methods of heating the home. 
The kitchen cabinet is an efficiency system applied 
to the home. The popular cabinet exhibited at the 
fair was made of steel, enameled perfectly white, 
and with compartments so arranged that the house¬ 
wife could perform the larger part of her duties 
without leaving the cabinet, and could also be seated 
the pressure tank was installed on the farm. Their 
installation, she declared, cost in the vicinity of 
$200, water was piped to the barn, to the bathroom, 
and to the kitchen, the farmer doing his own plumb¬ 
ing, the power was supplied by a small horse-power 
engine, and the satisfaction and convenience in hav¬ 
ing the equipment had paid for itself in a year, and 
five times its cost would not remove it from the 
home. 
The small horse-power gasoline engine was shown 
at the fair. Many farm women are afraid of the 
engine. The little gasoline engine is absolutely safe, 
far more safe than the gasoline stove: it is quite 
easily started. One woman upwards of GO years of 
age starts and stops a iy> horse-power engine, and 
experiences no difficulty. The adjustments are sim¬ 
ple and the husband or the hired man can keep the 
machine in proper running order. Stopping the en¬ 
gine is as easy a matter as turning the 
dampers on the kitchen stove. Some of 
the engines are mounted on small 
trucks and can he hauled about. These 
engines, however, can be established in 
the cellar or some convenient place. 
The odor is not displeasing after one 
has become familiar with one, and the 
exhaust may be piped outside the 
building. The little engines are 
muffled, but the noise Is but partly sub¬ 
dued, yet when they are doing the duty 
of a hired woman or man about the 
farm at comparatively no cost, the 
noise is forgotten. These engines cost 
from $30 to $50, and may be purchased 
for even less than $30. w. j. 
R. N.-Y.—This brings to mind the 
combination of water system and light¬ 
ing we referred to last year, where a 
gasoline engine operated a compressed 
air system that forced fresh well water over the 
house, at the same time storing electricity for light¬ 
ing. 
HOUSEHOLD CON- 
VENIENCES AT THE 
STATE FAIR. 
W HILE many far¬ 
mers were study¬ 
ing exhibits of 
harvesters, riding plows, 
milking machinery and 
tractors, the house¬ 
wives were investigating 
GRAPE PICKING IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 
T HE picture at Fig. 404 is taken from a com¬ 
mercial vineyard in Western New York at the 
time of picking. When the grapes are ri-e 
there is nothing to do but get them off, and all 
through the vineyard sections there is a great de¬ 
mand for help. Women and girls are especially use 
ful at work of this kind. They are naturally neat 
and clean, and show good judgment in the selection 
of clusters. As a result they are much esteemed os 
pickers, and find ready employment in the vineyards. 
Some of them are very expert, and can make ex¬ 
cellent wages at picking. At any event it is a clean 
and healthy occupation, 
and in the grape re¬ 
gions, at least, one that 
commands respect. 
T 
EXACT SIZE OF CARMAN PEACH GROWN AT HOPE FARM. Fig. 195. 
equipment which will eliminate the word drudgery 
from the farm woman’s every-day task. “Mamma, 
it is so easy, I can do it myself,” was the remark of 
a little girl as she operated a dishwasher by a to- 
and-fro movement of a handle. Three dishwashing 
machines were exhibited, and the machines shown 
were adapted to hand and electrical power. One 
dealer declared the gasoline engine could be attached 
to his machine. The dishwasher with hand power 
equipped is priced between $20 and $25. The ma¬ 
chine is simple in construction and operation. A 
wire basket holds the plates and cups, and the sil¬ 
verware is stood in a smaller wire basket in the cen¬ 
ter. Water is dashed through the dishes by a fan- 
shaped device, after which it may he removed from 
an opening in the bottom of the washer. Rinsing 
water may then be dashed in the machine, and the 
dishes may be removed to the cupboard or allowed to 
while engaged in her work. This cabinet does away 
with the trip to the pantry, another to the cupboard, 
another to the flour sack, and another to the spice 
boxes. Flour, spices, utensils, knives and groceries 
are all within reach, and for $25 or $30 the house¬ 
wife can cut in two much of the labor required in 
preparing the meal. 
Running water piped from the spring may be very 
handy in the house, yet but few people are blessed 
with the convenience. However, for from $00 to 
several hundred dollars a hand or power outfit may 
he installed. The small gasoline engine will operate 
the pressure tank, water can be forced to any part 
of the house, and even the barn may be supplied 
from the same tank. One farmer's wife who had 
water convenience in the form of a cistern in voicing 
her appreciation of such equipment declared that she 
knew nothing of convenience in water supply until 
THE GOOD OLD 
CARMAN PEACH. 
IIE picture at Fig. 
495 shows a fair 
sample of the 
Carman peach grown 
this year at Hope Farm. 
This peach is familiar 
enough to most fruit 
growers, yet every year 
we have many calls for 
a description of it. As 
is well known, the Car¬ 
man ranks as a white 
peach, with a very 
high-colored, brick red 
cheek when ripe and 
properly grown. The 
majority of people seem 
to regard it as a “cling.” 
When perfectly ripe with us, it breaks quite freely 
from the pit. although when green it is hard to sep¬ 
arate. Its reputation as a “cling” may have come 
from the fact that many Carmans grown in the 
South are picked when quite green, and left to ripen 
as best they can during the shipment. In our own 
case the Carmans are sold to a nearby trade, so 
that they may be picked when fully ripe and ready 
for eating. It therefore ranks with us as a “free¬ 
stone.” We began picking the peach in Northern 
New Jersey this year the first week in August. On 
the 15th of September we found a few Carman 
peaches in a shady place just ready to pick. It 
would not be safe to say, however, that this long- 
continued season is characteristic of the variety, as 
only a few specimens will ever be found after two 
or three weeks from the beginning of picking. We 
(Continued ou next page.) 
