The Gasoline Hog—Two Stories 
“ Fool Talk About Singeing” 
Fl'EK reading that fool talk about singeing a 
hog with gasoline, it provokes me to ask a 
question. What becomes of the stubs of the bris¬ 
tles? When eating salt pork, in baked beans or in 
a boiled dinner, if well cooked, I like to eat rind 
and all. But I can imagine a peculiar feeling in 
my mouth while eating a piece of a singed hog. If 
a hog is well scalded, or as the old butchers say 
‘•we get a good scald on,” the bristles all come off 
well, roots and all coming out clean; even a black 
fiog like mine, Rerkshires, dressing off good and 
clean. 
It is not such a terrible job after all if one has 
conveniences for it. I can. alone, drive a pig into 
my feed room, string him up by one hind leg, stick 
liim and while bleeding I fill .scalding tub ■with 
water from faucet of hot water barrel, water at 
lG.-( deg. temperature, drop hog into tub, scald, 
.ticniiie. wash, shave, riu.se dmvn with cold water, 
split open and have carcass ready to cut up. and 
110 stubs of bristles to pick out of my teeth after 
dinner. Joseph baker. 
Connecticut. 
Gasoline Hog Scalding Succeeds 
iVe have just tried the gasoline method of hog 
scalding. It Avas a mixture of success and failure. 
We had but one hog. It weighed 540 pounds, a heavy 
animal to .scald, and having but one we did not like 
to go to the trouble of driving two miles for a 
.sc.ilder, waiting around for a lot of water to get 
hot. besides paying the hire of the scalder. The 
hog was driven from the pen to a large apjile tree 
Avliere he was killed and bled. With the aid of 
block and tackle he Avas soon hanging from a limb 
of the tree, suspended on a log chain AA’ith a croAv- 
bar for a gambrel. Next a rpiart of gasoline A\'as 
lioured in a small jian and applied rather sparingly 
Avith a AvhiteAvash brush. A match was applied, 
but instead of a big blaze there was ju.st a little 
fizzle of a blaze tlmt .singed most of the ends of 
the bristles and left that hog rather a horrible 
looking object, and Avith a terrible odor. We de¬ 
cided Ave had used tlie gasoline too sparingly, .so 
one .spot Ave just soaked the bri.stles clear in to the 
skin, tlien struck anotlier match. This blaze Avas 
more like Ave thought it .sliould I)e. and after it liad 
burned out tlie upper skin peeled off and left a nice 
clean spot underneatli ju.st as \A-e haA’e AA'hen AA-e 
get a good scald Avith iiot Avater. 
RelieA'ing Ave had hit on the secret of doing tlie 
thing in tlie right Avay, Ave got a small knapsack 
sprayer, put in two quarts of gasoline (AAdiich AA'as 
all Ave had on hand) and gaA-e that hog a good 
bath. That quantity got over him fairly aa'oII and 
AA'e struck a match again. Tliis time there Avas a 
real blaze, and it got to the root of tho.se liristles so 
Avell that the heat raised many l;irge Ifiisters oA'er 
the hog. When the fire died doAvn these blisters 
and nearly all the thin uiiper skin A\'as sci’aiied 
off just as is done Avith a Imt AA'ater scald. Had Ave 
used three quarts of ga.soline and applied it Avith 
a sprayer in tlie first ]ilace T helieA’e AA'e aa’ouUI 
h.-ive made as good a job of it as anyone could 
Avish. and done it far easier, quicker and cheaper 
than AA'ith AA'ater. As it Avas AA'e had some liristles 
left ai'ound the head and feet as a result of run¬ 
ning short of ga.soline. This Avas no Avorse thougli 
than a bad scald AA'ith oA'er-heated Avater. Altogeth¬ 
er I lielieve this method is one that avIII groAv in 
favor especially Avitli tho.se Avho kill hut tAA'o or 
three hogs. trucker, ,jb. 
NeAv ,Jersey. 
Control of Peach Leaf-cur! 
EACH leaf-curl is a fungus disease of the peach 
AA'hich attacks tlie foliage as soon as the leaf 
buds begin to expand in early .Spring. As the leaves 
develop they liecome mucli thickened, distorted, and 
curled, and take on a Avliltish green or reddish ap¬ 
pearance. Tlie young groAving shoots may also be 
distorted by the disease. The affected leaA'es fin¬ 
ally turn lu'OAvn and fall from the trees. When the 
disease is seriou.s, it results in a loss of a large 
amount of foliage, which may cau.se the fruit to 
drop from the trees. Most of the defoliation as .a 
result of leaf-curl Avill have taken jilace by the 
end of .Tune in the Eastern Atlantic State.s. IIoaa'- 
eA'er, the AA'riter lias occasionally found single leaA'es 
infested Avith curl as late as August. The trees 
put out neAA' foliage to replace that destroyed by the 
leaf curl in early Summer. Nevertheless the trees 
lose vigor from the attacks of the di.sease. 
It is fortunate that this is an ea.sy fungus dis¬ 
ease to control. Any of our common fungicides are 
effective against it, if applied at the proper time. 
ioha RURAL NEW-YORKER 
It is only a comparatively feAv years'ago that the 
critical factor in the control of this disea.se by 
spraying became knoAvn. Peach groAvers coniiilained 
that Avhile they controlled the disease successfully 
one year, they failed to do so the next year Avitli 
the same kind of .spray applied at about the .same 
season, by the .same outfit. Study and investiga¬ 
tion reA'ealed the fact that the spores of the di.s- 
Leaf Buds Started. Too Late to Control Leaf-curl. Fig. 75 
ea.se attacked the dcA'cloping lca\'es just as soon 
as they ;ipi»eared la*yoml the protecting broAvn bud 
scales. Hiiring mild periods of AA'oather in Tate 
Winter, the leaf buds sometimes niiide groAA'th be¬ 
fore groAvers had the opportunity to spray their 
trees Avith lime-sulphur, and as a result di.sease 
Avas already estalilished inside the leaves before 
the spray nuxture Avas applied, and it then had 
Peach Twig Affected With Leaf-curl. Fig. 76 
little or no effect in checking the development of 
the disease. 
Either Bordeaux mixture or lime-sulphur at 
standard Winter strength Avill control this disease. 
IIoAvever. it is more economical to u.se the latter 
mixture since it is also a remedy for the San Jose 
scale. 
It is i»wt generally knoAvn that peach leaf-curl 
may occasionally attack the fruit, but such is the 
225 
case. At harA'esting time occasional specimens of 
peaches may be found blemished Avitli a peculiar 
spot of puri)lish red. This spot is frequently fan 
.shaped and the edges are finely etched. The pe¬ 
culiar color markings caused by the disease are 
vei'y striking and distinct from the normal coloring 
AA'hich occurs upon peaches. I’each groAvers should 
obtain a supply of lime-sulphur AA'ell in advance 
of the .spraying sea.son, and make sure that their 
spraying equipment is in perfect Avorking order, so 
that they may get their orchards si)rayed before 
AA'arm Aveather cau.ses the le.-if buds to push out 
beyond the protecting hud scale.s. m. a. blake. 
Parcel Post and Egg Shipments 
W IT.L you giA'e your readers an opportunity to 
state their experiences Avith the parcel pdst 
as a factor in .securing better prices for poultry, 
eggs and farm ])roducts? I huA'e been trying for 
OA’er tAvo years to build up a mail order trade iii 
fresh eggs, and have no trouble in securing the 
customers and the A'ery best of prices for my eggs, 
hut the sei’vice I get from the Post Office I)ei)art- 
nient is had. Eggs are broken, although packed in 
a steel-crated carrier, Avhich Avas exhibited by and 
recommended by the Painesville post ofIic*e at the 
Lake County fail’ tAA'o yoirs ago. The carriers, 
them.selA'es, are returned to me broken, and in some 
iust.'inces totally desti’oyf'd, a loss of .50 cents each, 
and the delay of ordering iicav ones Avith 10c post¬ 
age to get them bene 
Smaller piickages holding 1 Vi and two dozen egg.s, 
.■ilthough each egg is Avr:ipped thickly Avith paper, 
box packed so that IVi dozen AA’eighs fi\'e and sis 
pound.s, cannot go the short distance from Mentor to 
Cleveland Avithout being smashed so that over half 
of eggs are destroyed. Irately a 10-dozen crate AA'a.s 
stolen outright betAveeu inj’ hou.se and CleA’eland 
and I have had no report from local postmaster, 
and AA'hen after a month’s Avaiting I Avrote my com¬ 
plaint to Washington I received a reply to the effect 
that my “alleged loss of eggs AA’ould be investigated 
at their coiiA’enience.” I am out besides 10 dozen 
eggs at 50c per dozen, a 50-cent crate and 25 cents 
postage. If I insure these cases, it does not guar¬ 
antee any better handling and I cannot claim any 
indemnity for breakage, as the eggs cannot be each 
Avrapped in excelsior or paper as required by postal 
regulations. 
Customers Avill not bother to make claims for 
damage, they Avill just deduct from bill or drop me 
entirely. .Sometimes they go through all right and 
again they are damaged, and the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment does not .seem to locate the offenders, al- 
thougli it is only a matter of about 2S miles from 
Mentor to ClcA'eland, AAhere I ship most of my eggs, 
I can send as cheaply and never a Avord of com¬ 
plaint, and in a case I Avould not tru.st—nor Avould 
Ihe i)ost office carry—by Electric Packiige Agency, 
AA'hich u.ses the trolley cars for transportation, but 
I IniA'e to driA'e six miles to Painesville and six 
back and cannot make such a trip more than once 
or tAvice a Aveek, and Avith eight or 10 customers. 
I cjinnot arrange to have all crates hack at once. 
I haA'e about 10T) dozen eggs i)er Aveek and my 
local nijirket Avill not Avarrant the outlay I haA’e 
m.-ide in coops and equii)ment, nor can I sell to com¬ 
mission houses at the prices they itay (or perhap.s, 
ncv<v AA’ould pay) Avhen the price of feeds has ad- 
A'anced so in the pa.st six month.s. I .am uoav pay¬ 
ing ,$17 more per ton for scr.itch feed than I did in 
August, so I have to get retail prices for my egg.s 
to make anything; 500 or 000 hens eat a lot of 
such feed, .-ind to make them pay I cannot .sell 
AA'hole.sale. If I send Iavo dozen eggs it costs nine 
cents for the postage, six cents for return of box, 
10 cents for the box and thrvo cents for insunince 
to licri> them from heimj stolen after paj/iiiff for 
transportation on them. This makes too much of 
a charge for the consumer to pay after paying 50 
or 00 cents per dozen, nor can I add the nine cents 
extra per dozen to the .50 or 00 cents, Avhich Avould 
make m,A’ price higher than the retail pi-ice in 
CleA’eland. I’lease ask your readers for tlieir ex¬ 
periences in. this matter. Perhaiis the post office 
authorities may improve the .service through this 
means. mrs. f. a. smith. 
Ohio. 
R. N.-Y.—We Avent all over this some time ago 
and found many dissatisfied shippers. There Avex’e 
many complaints of breakage and loss. Noav is a 
good time to start up again and put it up to the 
I’ost Office Department. Who Avill give testimony? 
We Avant the facts—good or bad—just as they are. 
From the beginning Ave have neA’cr been enthusiastic 
about shipping eggs by mail from rural routes. If 
it is being done at reasonable cost for the package, 
tell us hoAv. 
