“Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
803 
Simple Science 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
Indelible Ink; Water Glass 
1. What is a good fovmnla for indeli¬ 
ble ink? 2 . (Why is “water glass” so 
called? AV. 31. 
Gloucester, Mass. 
1. Indelible inks are of varied composi¬ 
tion according to the use to be made of 
them. For one which will stand wash¬ 
ing and bleaching, take a given weight, 
say an ounce, of coal tar and one-sixth 
ounce of lamp black, and about an equal 
weight of benzole, (not “benzine”), and 
mix till the tar is dissolved and the black 
in suspension. The amount of benzole 
depends on the tar used and cannot be 
given exactly. This has to be well shaken 
each time before use. 
2. Sodium silicate when made is a 
greenish. semi-transparent glass-like 
solid. It is ground and dissolved in hot 
water to make the commercial solution. 
Apparently it is a water-soluble glass, 
hence the name. 
paints, etc., and may give results which 
will please you, though we would prefer 
to spend the same money in true tur¬ 
pentine. But we most seriously advise 
against its use on animals, outside or 
inside, unless you know more about it 
than appears from your description. 
Wood Preservative for Henhouse Floors 
What is the best wood preserver for the 
floors of our brooder and henhouses? 
What do you think of coal tar thinned 
with gasoline? J. P. G. 
Versailles, O. 
The preservers sold under a trade 
name usually have more or less cresote 
and similar bodies which are not in coal 
tar as it reaches you, but thife is not es¬ 
sential for your purpose. The diluted 
coal tar should serve you well, but why 
not use kerosene, which is cheaper and 
safer than gasoline? In any event, air 
the place Avell before use. So much de¬ 
pends on local conditions that we can¬ 
not call anything “best.” while any good 
mixture will tvork if properly put on. 
Artificial Curing of Flour 
• 
What is meant by “aging and curing 
flour by electrical and other processes”? 
Wilkinsburg, I’a. w. S. B. 
Wheat flour has been observed to grow 
slowly whiter during about two mouths 
after it is ground, and in order to cater 
to the demand for a very white flour 
without storing it this long, various 
bleaching processes have been applied. 
There are several patents which describe 
them more or less fully. The use of ox¬ 
ides and other compounds of nitrogen 
has finally been outlawed on account of 
the poisonous character of the reagent, 
but that objection does not seem to lie 
Land Overflowed by Sulphur Water 
What can we do with land which was 
overflowed by sulphur water from a coal 
mine five years ago? F. K. 
New Philadelphia, O. 
The water probably acted like a weak 
sulphuric acid, i-emoving most of the A'al- 
uable part of the soil and altering the 
texture of the rest. Lime, air and hu¬ 
mus are your cure, but it will cost to 
apply them. Lime and deep plowing to 
begin, and then anything that will grow 
raised and turned under. Plants of the 
cabbage and turnip which have a lot of 
organic sulphur in them might be tried 
also, ju.st on a chance. Your own State 
experiment station at Wooster, O., ought 
to help you most, as they must have met 
that problem before. 
Reproduced from New York Evening Telegram 
against the ozone processes. At best, 
the method seems to be a harmless speed¬ 
ing up of natural changes; at worst it 
is an adulteration in the sense that dam¬ 
age or inferiority can be concealed there¬ 
by. 
Tomato Paste 
Fats Used in Explosives 
I read in a paper that quantities of 
butter and other fats have been used by 
the Germans in making explosives. Can 
tins be true? C. W. H. 
New York. 
It is true, since practically all animal 
and vegetable fats and oils, except some 
marine oils, are about 10 per cent 
glycerine. That is. they are the three 
acid salts of glycerine, the acids being 
different in the various fats, butyric, 
oleic, stearic being examples of the sev¬ 
eral hundred acids which are known. 
Beef suet, for instance, cooked with 
caustic soda, gives soap and free 
glycerine, in the water, and it is easy to 
get the latter out. There is not much, 
since each bit of glycerine holds three 
bits of acid, but that same glycerine 
will hold f ree bits of nitric acid, and 
this is nitroglycerine. What the Ger¬ 
mans are doing with their fat acids does 
not appear, but there are several uses 
for the nitroglycerine, since it may not 
only be used directly, or soaked up in 
wood-meal or a sort of clay to make 
dynamite, but can also be used for a 
solvent for nitrated cotton, the resulting 
jelly being the basis of various explo¬ 
sives. 
On page 642 reference is made to 
“boiled-down tomato paste.” I never 
heard of this aidicle before, but it seems 
likely enough that it would take the place 
of tomato jelly, used in similar ways, but 
requiring too much sugar. I w’ould like 
to know how this paste is make. j. 3 i. 
The following was printed some time 
ago and is now repeated: 
The Italian tomato paste is made as 
follows: I’ut tomatoes, ripe and sound, 
in an earthen or agate kettle, and cook 
slowly until the skin cracks and peels off. 
Then put in a hair sieve over a large 
bowl; the first very thin liquid that runs 
from them should be thrown away. 1 ‘ress 
juice and pulp through the sieve, and put 
in preserving kettle; to each pound of 
fruit add one teaspoonful of mixed spices, 
and salt. Do not salt too much, or it 
will be too salty Avhen boiled down. Cook 
slowly until it is quite thick, then put in 
Avide-mouthed bottles. Stand the bottle.s 
in a kettle containing Avater enough to 
come half AA-ay up their sides, and boil as 
you Avould canned fruit; then remove 
from kettle, let go cold, and then seal 
tight, using paraffin over the corks. Less 
spice may be used if liked. Some cooks 
use a little onion or garlic and bay leaf 
as flavoring. This paste, being concen¬ 
trated, is very convenient to use in cook¬ 
ing, and as it may be kept in any wide¬ 
mouthed bottles one has, such as pickles 
and olives are purchased in, it saves 
preserve jars, which are noAV increasing 
in price. 
“ Brazilian Turpentine” 
The local hardware store is now sell¬ 
ing Avhat they call “Brazilian turpen¬ 
tine” in place of ordinary turpentine on 
account of the high price of the latter. 
They tell me that it is entirely vegetable 
in origin and contains no mineral oil. 
As I have never heard of this product 
before. I should like to knoAV if it can 
be substituted for ordinary turpentine 
in thinning paint, varnish, etc., and give 
equally good results. Also whether it is 
safe to substitute it for ordinary turpen¬ 
tine in the treatment of animal ailments, 
either externally or internally. 
Massachusetts. p. t. c. 
_ Never having seen “Brazilian” turpen¬ 
tine, we can not tell you what it is, but 
we think without a doubt that it is one 
of the many turpentine substitutes noAV 
upon the market, most of which consist 
merely of a little true turpentine diluted 
with various light oils. As to its “vege¬ 
table” origin, it is also true that anthra¬ 
cite poal is of vegetable origin, that means 
nothing at all. It is intended for use in 
Substitutes for Flour to Reduce Cost 
Many authorities recommend the use 
of coarse bran to make bulk in the food, 
and to help eliminate the Avaste of the 
body. Noav is a good time to substitute 
bran or shorts for a part of the flour 
in making bread, cake.s, both corn and 
Avheat cake.s. and the i)eople will be bet¬ 
ter off and Avill not need to be taking all 
kinds of medicines to eliminate the Avaste. 
At the same time it will cut doAvn the 
cost and make what Avheat there is in 
the country go further or help make it 
cheaper. Bran is also good cooked as 
oats or cream of wheat are and served 
with cream, or it may be eaten Avithout 
cooking, AA’ith cream. People buy great 
quantities of corn flakes, wheat prepara¬ 
tions, etc., at high co.st compared AV'ith 
the pure grains, and the Avhole Avheat can 
be used fresh on the farm Avithout such 
treatment and extra cost, and be just as 
nutritious. The coarse part of Avheat is 
separated from the flour in manufactui’- 
ing noAV, and the body needs it, and noAV 
is a good time to come back to the Avhole 
wheat flour. r. x. cox. 
Ohio. 
SV-l 
.9® 
CONCRETE FOR PERMANENCE 
Full value from manure 
Si*-., 1 
1 
Concrete manure pit 
Commercial fertilizer is 
scarce and costly. Noav is the 
time to save barnyard manure 
and thus contribute tOAvard 
larger crops at loAver costs. 
Farmers Bulletin 481 , U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, 
says; “One load of manure 
from a ^concrete pit is Avorth 
I to 2 loads as usually 
stored.” 
You can easily build a con¬ 
crete manure pit with ordinary 
tools and one helper. A pit 
10 by 20 feet with walls 3 
feet deep and 6 inches thick 
will require 35 bags of Atlas Cement, 70 cubic feet of sand and 
140 cubic feet of crushed stone or gravel. 
How to build a concrete manure pit 
Excavate an area a little larger than On this floor erect Avail forms 
the pit and to depth desired. Pack the of inch boards, 3 feet high, braced 
base thoroughly. Lay the floor first, Avith 2 - by 4 -inch studs every 3 feet. 
4 inches thick and mix in proper- Make the walls 6 inches thick of 
tion of I part Atlas Cement, 2 parts concrete mi.xed in same proportion 
sand and 4 parts crushed stone or gravel. as the floor. 
Get the Atlas Farm Book and read the full directions there. 
This book also tells hoAV to build concrete floors, foundations, 
walks, feeding floors, troughs and other permanent improvements 
for the farm. Ask your Atlas dealer for a copy — or send the 
coupon beloAv. 
The Atlas Portland Cement Co.mpany 
Me^nbers 0 / the Portland Cement A ssociation 
New York Chicago Phila. Boston St. Louis Minneapolis Des Moines Dayton Savannah 
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The Atlas Portland Cement Co., 30 Broad Street, New York, or Corn Exchange Bank Building, Chicago. 
Send free Atlas farm book. I expect to build a- 
Name and Address- - 
Money Saving Prices Now 
on HEAVIDUTIENCINES 
KEROSENE or GASOLINE 
DITCHED 
andTerraces 
AIpo grade roads, build 
dykes, levees with 
MONEY SAVING PRICES NOW. YOU will never 
have a chance to get the big money saving bargains 
as you will right now, we have a big stock of engines 
made up of material bought before the big advance 
in i)rices took place. If you buy while this stock 
lasts you get the benefit. You can own the AVON- 
DERFUL HEAVI DUTI KEROSENE ENOINB that 
uses Gasoline or Kerosene just as you prefer, and at 
POPUh.(AR PRICES there is bound to be a big ad¬ 
vance on all engines. The early bird catches the 
worm, and you can be the bird in this case if you 
act Quickly. Send today for catalog that tells you 
about this all purpose engine. This time and labor 
saver uses cheap fuel; runs it for half, and it’s simple 
too. AA’rite for information today. Just say I saw it 
in The Rural New-Yorker. 
R. CONSOLIDATED GASOLINE ENGINE CO., 
202 Fulton Street New York City 
PROIKIHfflr 
Our hay caps save hay and al¬ 
falfa from rain and mildew. 
Prevent sun bleaching. Allow 
hay to cure properly without 
too much drying. Made of cotton canvass 
-~8hed heaviest rains—dew-proof. Pay 
back cost many times. Our location 
makes possible low prices. Also 
covers—tarpaulins — tents at 
money-saving prices. 
Prompt shipment—satisfac¬ 
tion guaranteed. Write 
. for prices and catalog. 
Atlanta Tent & 
* Awning Co. 
Box 2-c Atlanta, Ga, 
HAY CAPS 
Stack, wagon and implement covers; 
waterproof or plain canvas. Plant bed 
cloth, tents, etc. Circulars, samples. 
HENRY DERBY 
453 Y St. Paul’s Ave., Jersey City, N. J. 
Farm Ditcher 
and Grader 
Works in any noil. Makes V- 
Bhaped ditch or cleans ditches 
up to i feet deep. Does labor ot 
100 men. All Steel. Reversible, 
Adjustablo. Write for free book 
and our proposition. 
Owenshtrs Ditcher & Grader 1^ Boa 2340weBsboro, Ky. 
Build Your Own Mixer 
> yoa can hny tha eompleta niacbina of ag. Sara big 
.money either way. Prices S11.60 op* We furnish free 
\ plans alonir with our iron parts so you ean build your own 
\ mixer at small cost. Sheldon Batch Mixers save their 
1 coston a einKle job. Ideal for farm use. Made by a far* 
I mer for farmers. Mix 2 l*2cubic feetaminute. Keep 
lto6 men busy. Do work equal to $400 mixers. 
Get Free Catalog; and Special Offer 
t ShowaourfulTlinQofmixers which are sold 
^dire^ to you on strons eruarantee. 30 dava 
trial.Tenmen wanted in every county risht 
now to acceptour special offer which will 
help you securo a machine at little or no 
cost. Big: chance to make $10 to $20 a day 
eoncretinflrin your section. Write today, 
SHELDON MFQ.CO. 
Box 1275 Wehawka, Neb. 
i.^MixYour Own Concrete 
AY COCK COVERS 
Special prices until present stock 
of raw material is exhausted. 40" 
X 42" S oz. duck caps at $37 per 
100 without ropes;$38 with ropes. 
Other sizes and stack covers at 
Send SO cents In correspondingly low prices, 
stamps tor sample 
and catalog. Come Oft Cow^Blankete. 
Fond da Lac Awning & Tent Co. FwJdu Lac, wis. 
HAY CAPS AND 
CANVAS COVERS 
Waterproof wagon covers, stack 
covei-s, etc. State size required. 
WILLIAM STANLEY 
SO Church Street. New York. N. Y. 
PARSONS"""" 
MILK WAGONS 
are designed to 
stand the most 
severe service. 
Expert service 
and selected m<a- 
terials ensure 
them. 
AVrite at once 
for catalog D and 
photos. 
THE PARSONS WAGON CO.. Eariville. New York 
