1080 
TShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Home Garden 
Storing the Winter Vegetables 
A groat (leal is being said about can¬ 
ning, di-.ving and preserving fruits and 
vegetables for Winter use, but little seems 
to appear about storing fruit and garden 
stuff in their natural state for Winter. 
There is a place in each home where 
apples, fruits and vegeTables are stored 
for Winter use, namely, ' the cellar. 
Years ago the cellar afforded a very good 
place for such storage, but to-day a veiy 
large percentage of homes are iH^iuiijiK'd 
with heating jdants, and these, even 
when i)artitioned off, have destrcjyed the 
cellar for storage i)urposes, because it 
makes the cadlar too rm. 
Two years ago I built a garage, and in 
the same I built a pit, in which I could 
store my Winter fruits, etc., and could 
also use same during Summer for work 
on the car. The i)it extends across the 
rear of the gai-ag(‘ the full width, 1(5 ft., 
the garage being ](ix2(), and is six feet 
wdde. The sides are concreted and the 
bottom is dirt. The top is covered by 
two-inch planking set down into angles 
left in the concrete. In this jiit I 
stored all my stuff for Winter use, such 
as apples, ])eai’s, celery, cabbage, beets, 
carrots, etc., and they keep in pei-fect 
ccmdition till ('arly ni'xt Summer, n'hc 
last of the apples I u.sed from thi.s pit 
this year on the Fourth of July and they 
Avere in perfect condition. It has la'en 
such a success that this Summer I have 
increased the dejith about two feet, so 
it is now oA-ei' six feet deep. I have also 
improved on the A^entilation. Tlie en¬ 
trance to i)it is by trap doors on each 
end. 
There are hundreds of thousands of 
owners of garages who at a slight ex- 
The Well Sweep 
l)ense can put in a AVinter storage pit 
that Avill be Avann enough to keep'articles 
from freezing, and yt't cool enough to 
keep these articles all AA^'inter, and in 
many cases until thej’’ can be again 
obtained from the garden. Farmers 
whos(> c(dhu-s are too Avarni for storage 
<‘ould erect a storage pit in an 
ouibuilding. sindi as wagonhoAise, barn, 
ell-. ( IIAUI.KS AV. VKA’SST.A. 
Old-fashioned Folks 
Here is a couple ill>istrated Avho cling 
to old-fashioned Avays. They still make 
their oavu dresses, from growing the cot¬ 
ton and carding and spinning it, to weav¬ 
ing the cloth and sewing the garments. 
Their loom stands in the shed half hid¬ 
den by the big ramellia bush. 
No gas or cook stove has ever put its 
foot upon this place Avhere the daily 
meals are still coid^ed in the four-by-six 
chimney pictured. The “oven” in the 
right-hand front corner cooks the brown¬ 
est bread ever seen. Hot coals are heai>ed 
on top of the big iron lid, and placed be- 
tAveen the feet; the results enough to 
make any clief tui n gri'on Avith envy. 
The Councils Avill not even consent to 
having a pump on their place, as they 
prefer the old Avell and the proverbial 
moss-covered bucket. Their beds are in 
harmony Avith the rest, the “springs’’ of 
Avhich are made of flax ropes, the flax 
•also having been groAvn on tbeir place. 
These unique and delightful Avomen live a 
hf*l>Pyj care-fi’ee life. and.their home is 
one of the most inti'resting in Bladen 
County. North ('andina. c. K. 
Report of a Garden Veteran 
[The folloAving sprightly report is from 
a reader in Maine Avho Avas drafted into 
the Rural army. He Avent to the fair 
last year and was induced to try The 
R. N.-Y. AA'hen the subscription ran out 
he Avas ready to stop, but his Avife had 
become interested and made him renew. 
Now we have the sequel.] 
my house every Aveek I ought to be gar- 
den-Avise, and they come to me for expert 
advice. Yesteialay my neighbor came 
over and left Avoi-d for me to come over 
and tell him Avluit Avas the matter with 
his grapevine. l, ,s. 
Alaine. 
Pennsylvania Sauerkraut 
Can you tell m»* hoAv the Pennsylvania 
farmers make their saAierkraut’f This 
year, Avith our abundant cabbage crop, I 
believe it Avould be Avell for some of us in 
NeAv England to learn hoAV to lay doAvn 
Old-fashioned South Carolina Kitchen 
I think I have Avritten you before of 
my troubles on account of my being in¬ 
duced by your representative to take a 
trial subscription to your paper, and 
hoAv, to keep peace in the family, I had 
to tiike a yearly subscription, and noAv it 
looks like a life sentence. I have a lot of 
land, large enough for a couple of houses, 
from Avhi’ch I have blasted about 2,0(X) 
yards of rock. On part of the lot I IniA’e 
imilt a tAA'o-family hmise, the loAver .stoi’y 
of Avhich is built of the stone I blasted 
out of the cellar. 
This Spring 1 Avas having a little re- 
sjiite f]-om the building business, and 
might have Inul a much-needed rest, had 
it not bomi for the compulsory inspira¬ 
tion, or inspirational compulsion of my 
Avife and your paper, Avhich drove me 
into making a garden. This might not 
have been so bad if I did not have first 
to make the land before I m.ade the gar¬ 
den. 
The earth that I remoA'ed from the 
ledge, in order to get at it to blast it, Avas 
l)iled in a huge mound of loam and chij) 
I’ock. This I christened A’imy Ridge; 
and it certainly reipiired all the \mlor of 
the Ciuiadian soldii'r to tackle it. How¬ 
ever, it h:id to be done; so Avith i)ick and 
shovel and a 2-in. nu'sh senam. I'ake and 
AvheelbarroAV, I bravely made the as.sault 
and after a hard-fought battle of many 
days A’imy Ridge Avas conquenal, and (50 
per cent, of it Avas loam. aa'cH fertilized 
Avitli coAV manui'c and fish olTal and -JO 
per cent, of it Avas a pile of chip rock. 
I leveled up the ledge Avlth <-hip rock 
and then sj)read a foot of loam over that. 
Aly groceryman complaims that Ave are 
not buying anything noAV, and my Avife 
replies, “AVhat do Ave Avant to buy Avheu 
Ave have potatoes, beans, peas, cucum¬ 
bers, beets, SAveet corn and all other 
kinds of vegetables’? Aly Kentucky 
AVondei's are surely Avonderful. I pl.-uited 
them early, and for some time I Avas 
AA’ondering if they Avould come Tip, and 
Avhen I planted tall i)ine poles for them 
to climb on, my neighbors AA'ondered if I 
intended to r.-iise pine lumber for the 
building busim^ss. Aft<'r they climbed to 
the top of th(‘ poh‘s and Avere still going 
I pieci'd them out Avith four-foot laths, 
:ind noAV I am wondering if they Avill 
ever stois or Avill 1 liaA^e to buy an aero¬ 
plane to jiick them Aip yonder. 
The conqueror of A’imy Ridgi^ is rest¬ 
ing upon his laurels and Avondering if 
.•inyone eAcr hiid MaytloAver or Golden 
Bantam green <-orn nr string be.-ins that 
tasted half as sAA'cet as his. Another 
embarrassment your paper has gotten 
me into is tluit my neighbors simmii P) 
tliink that becau.si' your j):iper comes into 
this valuable food, euxa iieavitt tryox. 
Gut cabbage as fiir cabbage slaAv, then 
put a layer of cabbage and a layer of 
Siilt in a stone jar or barrel and stamp 
Avith a wooden potato masher or eqiuA’- 
alent till a little liquid forms, then add 
another layer of each and stamp, and 
continue till A’cssel is ftill, Avhen it should 
be stamjied real hard, so as to form plen¬ 
ty of liipiid to keep the cabbage covered. 
Hdien cov(‘r Avith cabbage leaA'es and put 
a Aveight on. I’se a B) and five cent sack 
of .salt to the barrel. paxiel h. herk. 
Take (he outside leaves off the cab¬ 
bage until you come to clean le.-ivcs; 
then cut on a shiAV cutter or regular 
sauerkraut cutter, if you have one, same 
a.s AA'hen making cold slaAV, excciiting do 
not cut the cabbage as fine; some peojAlo 
prefer it quite coarse. Use ti large stone 
crock or Avooden stand to place the cut 
cabbage in, mixing Avith each dishpan of 
cabbage a handful of salt and jAre.ss it 
Avith a AviAoden potato masher if made 
on a small scale. If a regular kraut 
cutter is used they generally have a large 
.stumper m.ule round, about five or si.x 
inches in diamet<‘r, and a broom handle 
placed in it for coiiA'cnience in handling, 
for .stumping the cabb.-ige. After a fcAV 
l.'iyers of cabbage have been j)laced in 
and pressed or stumped each time, a salt 
brine should come to the .surface of the 
i'iibbage. If a brine is not .secured, use a 
little more salt; if the kraut is too salty 
AA'hen used. Avash it oft’ Avith Avater before 
cooking. AVhen the cabbage is all cut 
and in crock or stand, pl.-u-e clean cab¬ 
bage leaves or cloth over the cut cabbag*', 
jdace a round Avooden lid that nearly fits 
Gie crock or stand on the cloth; i)lace a 
clean stone or other AA'eight on lid of suf- 
licient Avcight to keep the cabbage under 
the liquid or salt brine. If there is not 
suflicient brine to cover the cabbage you 
c.-.n make some Avith Avater and salt iind 
))our over, as the cabbage must be cov- 
er(‘d Avith the liquid to keep it. Finally, 
place it cloth over the top to keep out the 
flies, and in tlu'ce or four Aveeks it sliould 
be ready for u.><e, deitending on season it is 
made; Avhen cooler it will take a little 
longer. Ahvays rei)ljice the coverings on 
the kraut after t:ikiug any out for u.se. 
I’, s. heidlaue. 
After the outside le.aA'es are taken from 
the cabbage. remoA'e the heart and cut 
Avith a coarse cabbage knife into a Avooden 
vessed or crock. To two gallons of cut 
cabbage add one tables^poonful of salt; 
then stamp until a brine comes over the 
c:ibb.age. ('over the cabbage Avith a clean 
cloth, after Avhich a Avooden lid and 
weight is put on to keep the cabbage un¬ 
der the brine. Should the brine sink bo- 
loAV the top of the cabbage in a day or 
tAvo after the weight is placed on, add a 
Aveak solution of salt water. The sauer¬ 
kraut will then be ready for use in about 
three or four weeks. This should be 
kept in a cool place. Av.At. ii. avetoner. 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
This is August 24, and the Nanticoke 
b ackbernes are still furnishing us an 
abundance, and promise to hold out till 
September. Thetir habit of ripening is 
a good one for the family garden. The 
fruit groAA'S in clu.ster.s, and we find .a 
cluster with perfectly green berries and 
.some red ones and one or tAVO perfectly 
ripe. In this Avay the hearing season 
IS very greatly prolonged. 
The Atlantic deAvberry, with its finely 
cut leave.s, reminds me of the old time 
parsley-lea.ved! blackberrv, Avbicli aa’rs 
also a trailer. The fruit of the Atlantic is 
not so large as the old variety, which 
seems to have disappeared, unless the 
Himalaya is it under n nenv name. There 
must be tA\m vaneties called Himalaya, 
for some people find them Avonderfu'lly 
fine, Avhile those tested here by Mr. Allen 
were found of no value. 
Like everything else, garden seeds h.aA'e 
soari'd to high prices. Gnly a few years 
ago one could buy all the spniach* .seed 
need<‘d for 20 cents a pound. This Sum¬ 
mer I p.-iid .$1.25 for a pound to .soav in 
my garden. There is not enough spin¬ 
ach seed groAvn in this country to supply 
the demand, though Long Island and 
California do groAv some, and the seed.s- 
men h.ave had to depend very largely 
on IIolland-groAvn seofl, and Avhile there 
seems to be plenty in Holland there has 
been great difficulty in getting it. As 
there are probably one hundred thousand 
pounds of spinach seed usually soAvn in 
the Norfolk trucking section of Vaginia, 
this means a heavy outlay for seeds, and 
probably a reduction of the area planted, 
and perhaps more profit to the groAvi'rs. 
Peaches seems to be in excess of the 
demand, at least on the local market. 
The country wagons are peddling them 
around at 40 cents for a three-pei-k 
hamper, and surely everyone has the 
chance to can an abundance. I have a 
curiosity in the shape of a peach tree 
planti'd seven years ago, and this Sum¬ 
mer producing its first peaches, and .-i 
small crop at that. It has made a 
.splendid groAvth and is })erfectly healthy, 
in fact h.as probably groAvn too fast to 
make fruit. 
The Avet f'Ummer has been great for 
egg-plants, for they disl'ke drought more 
than anything else. I have some of the 
Black Beauty and the Ncav York side 
by side. Both are bearing Avell, but the 
Black Beauty is ahead in production 
and came in first. Just uoav avo are 
preparing for canning them, for cutting 
a dozen or more at once is rather a sur¬ 
plus for a family of three. Our folks 
c.anned some a fcAV years ago and they 
turned out fine. They w'ere made out 
into c.'ikes from the jars and fried .-md 
tasted just like the fresh ones. 
There is one great advantage in the 
Avet season, and that is there is no diffi¬ 
culty in getting seeds to germinate. Some¬ 
times lettuce seed soavu in August is 
hard to get up unless the bed is covered 
AA-fith gunny sacks, but this month the 
seed soAvn foi the Fall crop of lettuce 
has germinated Avcnderfully, and there 
is no troAible in getting a good stand of 
spinach. 
The tomato crop for the canners is in 
larger area than usual, but the crop is 
not large. Fcav of the groAvers contracted 
this year, as the majority thought that 
the general market Avould be good. So 
far this has ))roven correct, for Avhile 
the canners offered and contracted Avith 
some at .$L’5 a ton, they are selling 
at .nO cents a basket. In my own garden 
Avbile the early ton.atoes Avere fine and 
abundant, the late ones are not as pro¬ 
ductive as usual. 
The cantaloupe season has been fairly 
lArofitable, and is about done, Avith the 
exception of the later Honey Dcav melons. 
These have not yet been shippd, and I 
have betui curious to taste one. I planted 
some but failed to get any to groAV. They 
are much larger than the Rocky Ford 
netted melons, and look more like a round 
AvhitcA sipiash than a cantaloupe. Will 
I'eport of these later. av. E. massea'. 
Virginia Creeper on Tree 
Does it injure a tree, a full-groAvu 
maple, to allow Virginia creeper to 
groAA' up the trunk? I hav'e a handsome 
maple in front of my house, some Vir¬ 
ginia creeper has groAvu on it, Avhich 
I Avas told Avould choke the tree. Is 
this .so, and is it be.st to take the plant 
doAvn? I,. E. s. 
-Sharon, Conn. 
I do not think the Arapelop.sis Avil! 
injure the tree in the least, Avhile I di> 
not recall ever seeing this species of 
Ampelopsisj occupying cultivated trees. 
I have seen hundreds of forest trees in 
Western Pennsylvania .supporting this 
vine, in greater or lesser profusion. 
Ayithout any apparent injurious alTect. 
I should imt feel the least bit tineas,\ 
Expert Hand Spinners 
