1D14. 
’HE KUKAL NEW-YORKER 
1441 
Construction and Repairs 
Birch for Rustic Work. 
INTEND' to build a rustic fence, also 
a Hummer house. I have some birch 
trees growing here which I intend to 
use. Would you tell me when and how 
I should cut these birch trees so the 
timber will be ready for use, also what 
seasoning is necessary? e. k. 
Botsford, Conn. 
Material for rustic work should be cut 
when dormant, as it is not likely to be 
damaged by bark worms. If cut when 
the sap is up, it is invariably attacked 
by borers, and in many instances the 
small wood will be literally eaten up in 
a year or two. This is particularly true 
with woods that contain rather a sweet 
sap, such as hickory, birch, etc. The 
material requires no seasoning before us¬ 
ing; it may be used immediately. In fact 
it is a distinct advantage to do so, as it 
is much more easily worked while green 
and not quite so likely to be split by 
nails at the joinings. If it is not con¬ 
venient to use the material while green, 
it should be stored under cover until 
needed. k. 
How to Lay Roofing. 
B EGIN at the top. and strip down the 
old shingles about three feet, pull 
the nails and sweep. Measure down the 
desired distance and lay a straight edge; 
unroll the roofing inside down. Start 
straight and tack the upper corner of 
roofing, and work across. Nail the up¬ 
per edge according to directions found in 
roll. Move down the staging, strip down 
as before, and relay the straight edge, 
letting the upper edge of the roofing lap 
on the first layer until across, then raise 
the edges, letting the one fall under the 
other, working back to the beginning. 
Before moving the staging, nail on the 
saddle board. In ripping off the old 
shingles as above, not much dirt gets 
through the roof, as the roof is covered 
about all the time. There should be 
a double course of shingles at the eaves, 
or one can shingle higher. By using the 
straight edge, the roofing is kept from 
sagging. If the roofing bothers in laying 
it is because the rolls have leaned in¬ 
stead of standing on end; therefore the 
roofing will not lie as well nor last as 
long. J. 13. BRYANT. 
near top. We placed at corners %-inch 
round rods bent at angle about 10 and 12 
inches apart, and several lighter rods 
along side, allowing ends to overlap a foot 
or more. We did not use any vertical 
rods. If your cistern can be banked up 
solid to top and your soil is firm you do 
not need any reinforcing whatever. 
The picture shows casing for cistern. 
After bottom has become slightly solid, 
place timbers 3x4 inches, a. a. b., c. c. d., 
in position indicated on each of four 
sides. The boards 12 inches wide can 
then be set into place as concrete is filled 
in on sides. These boards require no 
nailing as the concrete holds them in 
place. Be careful to make the frame¬ 
work strong, as sloppy stone and sand 
concrete exerts a very strong pressure 
on forms. elmer j. weaver. 
Repairing a Leaky Cistern. 
S OME of your 'readers* may have a 
leaky cistern, and I will tell how we 
repaired ours that had given us trou¬ 
ble for 35 years. Several attempts were 
made to stop the leak during that time. 
The water came in at one side right at 
the bottom, two or three pails daily in 
a dry time. The cistern had a good, 
solid dish-shaped bottom, which we cov¬ 
ered with stones about three inches in 
diameter leveling them up with smaller 
ones and coarse gravel. 
Put a piece of pipe eight inches long 
between the stones just off the old bot¬ 
tom ; this should be threaded on upper 
,end and large. enough to take suction 
pipe of pump inside and a little space 
to spare. Connect the pump with suc¬ 
tion inside. Now put on a good heavy 
coat of cement over the new bottom, 
made of two parts sand to one part ce¬ 
ment. mixed quite thick so it will not 
run into the spaces between the stones, 
as these should be kept open for air and 
water. The space between the large pipe 
and the suction pipe will let the air 
out as the water comes in. and if the 
pump is used occasionally there will be 
no pressure against the cement while it 
is hardening, and therefore no air or 
water will be forced through the cement 
before it hardens to perpetuate the leak. 
After the cement is hard, take out the 
suction pipe, screw a cap on the pipe 
bedded in the bottom, cut off the suc¬ 
tion pipe to correspond to the dimin¬ 
ished depth, and the job is done. Of 
course the first water will be affected by 
the cement. If the cistern leaked at the 
side I would bore down on the outside 
where the water came in. as deep as 
cistern, and chip a small hole through 
wall to lead the water to the bottom and 
proceed as before after repairing the 
old leak. george creiiore. 
Ohio. 
The Iron-pan Ice Makers. 
T HE Kansas Agricultural College re¬ 
views the old plan of making ice in 
an iron pan : 
Maine. 
Cistern Construction. 
O X page 1237 E. .T. W. has an article 
on a water-proof cistern. Will he 
state how he arranged the reinforcing 
bars and give the size? I understand by 
his article that he added the hydrated 
lime, but I have a letter from a cement 
company advising 12 per cent, to re¬ 
place the same proportion of cement. 
Maine. f. c. c. 
F. C. C. inquires regarding several 
omitted features in cistern construction, 
and states that an authority writes him 
that 12 per cent, hydrate lime should be 
used to replace that quantity of cement. 
I wrote, as previously mentioned, a large 
Earth 
bank 
3x4 in 
Upright 
tohold 
boards 
inplace 
r ^3x4tn Timber to 
' keep Uprights in place 
Earth. 
bank 
Boards 
for 
casing 
Concrete 
4in.<vide 
3x-4in. across bottom 
“The ice plant is made of galvanized 
iron and consists of a double tank with 
an inner tank about 10 feet long, two 
feet wide, and 12 inches deep. The top 
of the tank should be slightly wider than 
the bottom. The inner tank should be 
divided into six compartments by means 
of galvanized iron strips. This double 
tank should be placed near an outdoor 
pump where the compartments can be 
easily filled with water. Being exposed 
on all sides, the water will freeze in 
from one to three hours. A bucketful of 
hot water poured into the space between 
the • two tanks will loosen the cakes so 
that they may be removed. One freez¬ 
ing will give five cakes of ice. each weigh¬ 
ing 120 pounds. Fourteen freezings will 
yield four tons of pure ice, or enough 
to last an average family for a year. 
The cakes of ice can be packed away in 
sawdust in the icehouse or cellar as they 
are frozen.” 
During the past 25 years we have had 
many letters about this plan of ice mak¬ 
ing. It is possible to freeze the cakes 
of ice in such a device and where there 
is no pond it may prove satisfactory. 
Most of our correspondents seem to re¬ 
gard it as more or less of a plaything. 
Saving Wastes in California. 
cement company, and their engineer rec¬ 
ommended 10 pounds hydrate lime added 
to each batch of concrete containing one 
bag cement. This adds so slightly to the 
cost of the mixture that it is almost neg¬ 
ligible, and in our case it certainly pro¬ 
duced the results we were after, as cistern 
is three years in use now. No inside fin¬ 
ish of any kind has ever been necessary, 
and absolutely no water ever seeps 
through. Our soil is very heavy, and sub¬ 
soil is a heavy clay, so we did not find 
any necessity for using reinforcing rods. 
If soil is sandy or very light and porous 
in texture reinforcing may be necessary, 
or at least a heavier wall should be used 
even up to eight inches if cistern is 10 to 
12 feet or more in depth. On two sides 
our concrete extended two feet above 
ground, but was afterwards banked up to 
A FEW years ago California was re¬ 
garded as the land of large ideas. 
Californians would not have thought 
of trying to save what Eastern people 
considered waste. Times are changing, 
however, and in California as well as 
elsewhere the little things must be saved 
and the corners must be cut. For a great 
many years the piles of sheep manure 
which accumulated around the old sheep 
ranches were left untouched, as it did not 
seem worth while to remove this plant 
food. There came a time when the price 
of plant food in the East rose to a point 
where it paid to grind and ship this sheep 
manure just as clearly as it paid to mine 
and ship nitrate of soda from the west 
coast of South America: thus the waste 
product took on value. Again, when irri¬ 
gation was first started in California, 
there was water enough for all. and few 
people have heeded to its waste. When the 
water began ro be scarce efforts were 
made to save it. and whole lines of irri¬ 
gating ditches are now lined with pitch, 
clay or concrete to- save the waste of 
water by seepage. One after another of 
these waste products was utilized. Now 
comes Bulletin No. 244 of the California 
Experiment Station on the “Utilization of 
Waste Oranges.” Travelers come back 
from the west coast and tell us of seeing 
the ground under the orange trees covered 
thick with fruit, only a small proportion 
of the superior fruit being boxed and sent 
to the market. Now. a chemist has been 
at work devising a use for this waste 
fruit, turning it into orange juice, orange 
wine and orange vinegar, and in this way 
adding to the value of the fruit crop by 
making the waste product available. The 
bulletin gives a very good description of 
the way these products are handled in 
order to fit them for the market. This 
same thing seems to be going on, and vast 
quantities of food products formerly wast¬ 
ed because they could not be sold in their 
natural form, are now being worked over 
and developed so as to give them value. 
Developing a Market Day. 
W E farmers of this town are talking 
of getting up a market day, which 
we hope will give us a chance to 
dispose of our farm produce and live 
stock at a fair profit. At the present 
time, we have very poor success trying 
to dispose of our stock and produce, hav¬ 
ing no market. The nearest towns are 
North Adams. Mass., and Brattleboro, 
Yt., each town being 20 miles away and 
mountainous roads. We have a railroad 
26 miles long, ending in this town; it 
starts from Iloosac tunnel on Boston and 
Maine R. R. and the express and freight 
rates are enormously high, so it is almost 
impossible to ship goods and make a 
profit. Can you give us a little informa¬ 
tion on the farmers’ market day.. as I 
understand it has been tried very suc¬ 
cessfully in other places? The town of 
Wilmington. Vermont, has a population 
of 1400 and the village about 300. We 
depend on our dairy cows and maple 
syrup for our cash returns and we are 
trying to raise apples for market, also 
with rather poor success so far. This 
Fall we are feeding our apples to stock 
as we cannot sell them at any price. 
Vermont. g. t. c. 
R. N.-Y.—This is a case for general 
discussion and experience. There is no 
set rule for developing a market day— 
the conditions and circumstances of the 
locality must be considered. Here is a 
section off the main railroad lines and in 
a country community. There are prob¬ 
ably readers of The R. N.-Y. who have 
helped develop just such a situation. 
Will they tell us how they did it? 
Smokehouse Advice Wanted. —I am 
about to build a new smokehouse, and 
am in the market for ideas along that 
line. We kill about 20 or 30 hogs. 
Spring and Fall, and smoke the hams, ba¬ 
cons and shoulders. I have lots of stone 
and brick on the place. 
Maryland. w. w. Bradley. 
“English mutton chops.” read the man 
with the menu. “German fried potatoes, 
Russian caviar. French peas. Hum! 
Waiter. I want to be strictly neutral.” 
“Yessir.” “Give me a Spanish omelet.”— 
Louisville Courier-Journal. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
THE warmth and 
easyfitof Hansen’s 
your hands cosy and blood circulat¬ 
ing, and the strong horsehide pro¬ 
tects perfectly. 
Gloves 
With or Without Lining 
This glove has plenty of 
style, with fit and the soft 
smoothness of the et</seam. 
Write for Free 
Glove Book 
Describes many of the 500 
styles—mittens too—for 
every occupation. All 
giving most value for least 
cost. GetHansen’sGloves 
from your dealer. If he 
isnot supplied, write us. 
Anyway.write for book. 
0. C. Hansen Mfg. Co. 
136K. Detroit St. 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
LET US TAN 
YOUR HIDE. 
Cattle or Horse hide. Calf, Dog, Deer 
or any kind of skin with hair or fur on. 
We tan and finish them right ; make 
them into coats (for men and women), 
robes, rugs or gloves when ordered. 
Your fur goods will cost you less than 
to buy them, and be worth more. Our 
illustrated catalog gives a lot of in¬ 
formation which every stock raiser 
should have, but we never send out this 
valuable book except upon request. 
It tells how to take off and care for 
hides; how and when wo pay the freight 
both ways ; about our safe dyeing pro¬ 
cess which is a tremendous ad vantage 
to the customer, especially on horse 
hides and calf skins ; about the fur 
goods and game trophies we sell, taxi¬ 
dermy, etc. If you want a copy send us 
your correct address. 
The Crosby Frisian Fur Company, 
571 Lyell Ave., Rochester. N. Y. 
RAW FURS 
G. I. FOX, 27* 
Seventh Ave. 
N. Y. A square 
deal, liberal as¬ 
sortment, tup 
prices Write 
for price ILtt 
M 
Buy These Rubber Boots and Be Sure— 
ist. Be sure of long wear. Elephant Head Rubber Boots are 
made of pure, high grade rubber and tough selected duck 
reinforced at every seam and joint. 
2nd. Be sure of comfort. Elephant Head Rubber Boots are 
lined with soft wool net and are made to fit comfortably. 
3rd. Be sure of square treatment in the store where you buy your 
footwear. Only the best dealers are permitted to sell them. 
All the better dealers sell Elephant Head Rubber Boots. 
You can depend on anything you buy in the stores that have 
them. 
WOONSOCKET RUBBER CO., Woonsocket, R. T. 
