1214 
Using Wood in Heater 
After reading “Hope Farm Notes” I 
want to tell you how we heat a seven- 
room house with a stove that has been in 
use IS years. We simply close the dam¬ 
per in the bottom and let ashes cover the 
grate three or four inches deep, and use 
the check damper in big door for draft 
damper. We have no trouble to keep fire 
all night; in fact, fire never goes out. 
and, excei)t for dirt, we much prefer it to 
a co.aj fire. 1 inclose a rough diagram. 
Fig. .^8(5, that may help to get the idea. 
.\s we are on a fruit farm we do not al¬ 
ways have the wood, but can burn any¬ 
thing that will go in regardless of length, 
as we nearly always have to stand wood 
on end in the .stove. o. .T, B. 
Barnard, N. Y. 
In “Hope Farm Note.s,” page 1094, you 
ask whether anyone has tried the sheet- 
iron with holes to be placed over the 
grates w'hen burning wood. We have used 
wood exclusively for the past six Win¬ 
ters in our heater with perfect satisfac- 
Oic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
5H6 
A-DOOR TO BO TTOM AND ASH PAN 
B-SHAHER & GRATE 
C&D- DOUBLE DOOR 
E-CHECK DRAFT FOR COAL. OR FORCE 
DRAFT FOR WOOD. 
Burning Wood in Coal Heater. Fig 
tion, by simply covering the grate with 
cobblestones about the size of a man’s 
fist, and as nearly round as possible. 
Bethel, Conn. M. J. T. 
Wood In Coal Furnace 
I.ike many another, I owe The R. 
N.-Y. a good turn and am ready to pass 
on anything that may be of use. You 
mentioned the use of a perforated tin to 
be placed in the bottom of a coal furnace 
in order to use wood. That I have never 
tried, but for yeai-s I have used a much 
simpler device. I cover the bottom of the 
j range or furnace with a layer of coarse 
coal. This prevents the fire from falling 
through, gives plenty of draft and one 
layer of coal will last for some time. 
New York. selaii b. strong. 
I was interested in reading in Hope 
Farm Notes about the use of the open fire¬ 
place and the use of wood in furnaces 
built for coal. As we have had several 
years’ experience in use of wood in fur¬ 
nace, I thought I might offer a suggestion 
or two that would help some one else. 
The tendency is, at the first start in 
burning wood, to close the furnace as one 
does with coal, to nnike it keej) over niglit, 
but this works only a short time, for 
trouble soon comes. The upper part of 
the furnace and that not expo.scd to the 
direct flames, soon covers over with a 
black substance, the furnace smokes and 
trouble is on. Also, the black liquid runs 
down the chimney, even when wood seems 
fairly dry, and the only way w’e have had 
any satisfaction has been in keeping the 
draft open and avoid using anything but 
the hard Avoods. Fine only makes matters 
worse. 
With the draft or circulation open from 
bottom of furnace to top of chimney we 
have had but little trouble, whether wood 
was green or seasoned. To make fire last 
we use large hardwood chunks, packed in 
close together over a good bed of coals, so 
])lacod that the top ones may settle dowui 
without getting caught on the sides, as the 
lower ones burn. A bed of coals under¬ 
neath is a necessity, and open grates as 
for coal will not work. Simply cover 
the grates with sheet iron or anything to 
keep ashes from sifting through, and 
<lnmp occasionally as they got too deep. 
With hot-water furnace, the radiators are 
still warm in the morning, but in very 
cold weather an extra chunk or two dur¬ 
ing the night when one wakes, keeps it 
more uniform. Refuse wood used in 
fireplace saves using much good wood in 
furnace, and during day when fireplace 
is not in use, w'e cover mouth of fireplace 
w’ith piece of sheet iron. A combination 
of open fireplace, backed by hot water 
furnace, is bard to beat. I. c. B. 
them, having in view the excellent gen¬ 
eral health of tho.se who live in lime- 
water districts, are of the opinion that 
hard water does no harm to any moder¬ 
ately healthy person. If you figure it in 
actual weight, the hardest sort of hard 
water puts very little lime into the body 
on the hottest day of the Summer haying. 
But the soap question is really serious. 
The matter was treated here but a few 
weeks ago at some length. You know the 
water is hard, so there is no need of wast¬ 
ing time to be told that by a chemist. 
Put a half ounce of ammonia water and 
a half ounce of ammonia carbonate in a 
pint bottle, fill with water and .shake. 
Now take a gallon of the water that is 
troubling you and add, say, 10 drops of 
the mixture. If the water is really hard, 
it will cloud a little. Stir and let it set¬ 
tle, put in a good light and add a drop or 
so more. If there is again a cloud, add 
10 drops more. Repeat till you know the 
number of drops a gallon needs to throw 
out the lime, and use that amount there¬ 
after to .soften the water. The chemicals 
are very cheap and if you get in too much 
they are harmle.ss, and the regular soap 
will work all the better. f, d. c. 
Sulphur Taste in Well 
Would it benefit my well water to put 
some lime into it? It is 36 ft. deep, and 
stoned up, and at present there is about 
12 ft. of water in it. It tastes sulphury, 
and I do not like this. What is your 
advice about this? J. A..T. 
Cold Water, N. Y. 
I know of no method of removing the 
objectionable sulphur taste that some 
waters acquire by percolation through 
rocks containing sulphur compounds. If 
this taste is constant, showing the pres¬ 
ence of this mineral in the area from 
which the water is drawn, I can suggest 
no remedy other than finding another 
source of supply. To many people this 
taste of sulphur becomes agreeable and 
an evidence of medicinal properties. 
M. B. D. 
To Remove a Splinter 
On page 944, a simple method of re¬ 
moving a .splinter from the hand is de¬ 
scribed. A much more effective method 
is to saturate a small piece of cloth with 
kerosene, drop it into a large, long necked 
bottle. Light a match and drop it in 
also, so as to set the cloth on fire. Pre.ss 
the part in which the splinter is located 
over the mouth of the bottle. The burn¬ 
ing cloth will consume the oxygen in the 
bottle, thus creating a partial vacuum, 
and the pressure of the outside air will 
usually remove the splinter. A little 
paper, burned in the bottle, will answer 
nearly as well, and is frequently more con¬ 
venient. If the flesh, or outside .skin, 
however, has healed over the splinter, it 
will be nece.ssary to make an opening to 
the splinter, as the pressure will not be 
suflicient to force it through the fle.sh. 
C. O. OKMSBEE. 
Acorns for Poultry 
Some years ago I noticed that my Gray 
Fall ducks would swallow acorns whole. 
I had a half barrel picked up by one of 
the boys on the place, but not drying 
them properly they mildewed. The Au¬ 
gust number of National Geographic 
Magazine has a long account of Indians 
and acorns, and as I am trying to make a 
cheap food for my poultry, I have gath¬ 
ered some, cut them in half, picked out 
the kernels, put them through the vege¬ 
table grinder, moistened with sour milk, 
and to three quarts put a pint of wdiole 
rye flour, and the poultry think that mix¬ 
ture fine. We have many bushels of 
acorns, and our house roof is flat so they 
can be dried, and lo! our poultry food 
<]uestion is solved—the cost cut to one- 
tenth that of corn and wheat diet! 
iSIaryland. ei.bert avakeman. 
Philadelphia. Good tomatoes, 6.oc per %- 
bu. b.skt.; Lima beans, $1.75 per %-bu. 
bskt.; sweet corn, $1.50 per 100 ears. 
These prices are delivered in Philadelphia 
markets. The corn crop is very short this 
year. Farmers are sowing a large quan¬ 
tity of wheat. The fruit crop is also 
short. Farm labor is very scarce and 
high. G. s. p. 
Bucks Co., Pa. 
September was a hard month for far¬ 
mers to do their seeding; of 15 days, 14 
of them were rainy. Nearly half of the 
Avheat remained to be sown in October. 
Farmers are behind with their work and 
help is very scarce and hard to get. The 
fore part of the month we had an unusu¬ 
ally hard freeze, which ruined a good 
many fields of corn and beans. Very few 
pieces of corn will be fit for seed. Cab¬ 
bage seems to be good in this section this 
Fall; the price has fallen to $12 per ton. 
Apples are a good crop in most of the 
orchards; the price is much lower than 
last year. Some farmers are hauling 
sweet corn to the canning factory for 
$17.50 per ton. e. t. b. 
Ontario Co., N. T. 
This is a general farming country in 
the heart of the Alleghenys; we have 
pretty bad hills. Some rye, wheat, oats, 
buckwheat and corn raised, and this main¬ 
ly marketed through live stock, except 
that a good deal of buckwheat is sold. 
We have no prices yet on buckwheat, as 
work is somoAvhat behind and farmers arc 
not ready to sell and there will be less 
than usual. I think for our section the 
outlook is good, for trucks are coming 
here from Greenburg, which is 60 miles 
by Lincoln Highway; also from Johns¬ 
town, and it is raising prices for us. We 
need it, for it requires hard work and 
close figuring to keep ahead on these ever¬ 
lasting hills. We get from hucksters Avho 
go through here regularly, 44c for butter; 
eggs, 44e ; young chickens, 28c; old, 22c; 
hogs, live, 20c; steers, 8 to SYoC. Not 
much hay sold at this time. Fallen ap¬ 
ples have sold here for 50c per bn.; plums, 
$1; pears, $1.; tomatoes, $1; peaches, .$1 
per bu. Onions. $1.25 per bu. Potatoes, 
$1.50 per bu.; lambs, 16c. S. L. L. 
Somer-set Co., Pa. 
Wheat, $1.85 per bu., with no one sell¬ 
ing; oats, 60c per bu.; corn, old, .$1.65; 
rye, $1..50. Potatoes retailing at $1.7.5 
to $2. Eggs, 46e; butter, 46c per lb.; 
lard, 30c per lb.; bacon, 30c; shoulder, 
SOc; ham, .32c per lb. The crops are only 
ordinary. There is no extra good crop 
of anything. Wheat very thin on ground 
but thrashing well; corn and oats only 
ordinary. With the scarcity of labor and 
the increasing high price of everything 
for farmers, the price of products is not 
enough to encourage a large acreage. 
The farmers cannot do it. R. D. B. 
.Tuniata Co., Pa. 
Crops and Farm News 
Softening Hard Water 
1 would like to knoAv Avhere I can get 
Avater analyzed, as I Avould like to knoAV 
how much lime there is in it, as it may 
be injurious for drinking. It is very 
hard and turns milky as soon as you put 
soap in it. E. R. F. 
The nearest good analyst is the man 
for your water if you must have it 
.analysed, but how can Ave tell you where 
he is when you do not give us your post 
ofiice and name as well? Your letter 
ought to have gone in the waste basket, 
but it is of general interest, since hard 
Avpters are common, so it gets a few lines. 
There are some physicians who are 
against drinking hard AA’ater, but most of 
In a recent issue you asked for infor¬ 
mation as to Spring wheat yields. Here 
in Northern Minnesota Ave have the best 
crop ever harvested here since the country 
was settled. One hears of many such 
yields as noted in enclosed clii)ping, for 
Red River Valley runs .30 to .50 bushels 
per acre. Thousands of acres of Early 
Ohio potatoes are groAvn in this part of 
the Red River Valley, yield fair, brisk 
demand, 90 cents to $1 per bushel, f. o. b. 
railroad. First killing frost, September 17. 
“The square mile of wheat on section 
15, purchased last year by Eugene Grant 
for $55 per acre, has been thrashed just 
this Aveek and the total yield is close to 
30 bushels. At the present price Mr. 
Grant will net the price of the land and 
have some margin to spare. It is once 
in a Avhile that instances of this kind 
occur in Clay County.” c. G. Vincent. 
Clay Co., Minn. 
Corn, $1.75; oats, 75c; Avheat, $2.25 
bu.; potatoes, .$2. Chickens, 40 to 50e 
lb.; eggs, 50e doz. Hay, $16 to $20 ton. 
Corn light crop; oats good; potatoes half 
crop. M heat fair. Hay good; farm 
Avages very high here; help scarce. 
Chester Co., Pa. i. w. M. 
The prices that we farmers are getting 
are, for No. 1 loose hay, $1.70 per cwt.; 
No. 2, $1.50 per CAvt. Wheat, .$2.20 per 
bu. for the best. Potatoes, $2.25 to $2.50 
per bu. Milk, 9c per qt., delivered in 
DOMESTIC.—Two hundred and forty- 
three American lives are believed to have 
been lost wdien a German super-submarine, 
carrying eight-inch guns, shelled and sank 
the American freight transport Ticon- 
deroga 1,700 miles off the Atlantic coa.st 
Oct. 5. 
A. Mitchell Palmer, Alien Property 
Custodian, announced Oct. 10 that he 
had taken over 19.009 of the 20,000 shares 
of c.apital stock of the Bridgeport Projec¬ 
tile Company, Bridgeport, Conn., and that 
this concern had reported to him property 
of the approximate value of $500,000 held 
by it for and in behalf of Germany. This 
company Avas foriiArd by German interests 
for the purpose of hampering American 
munition manufacture.s. The plan was to 
have the Bridgeport Projectile Company 
buy up all the available supplies of pow¬ 
der, antimony, hydraulic presses and other 
supplies and equipment e.s.sential to the 
making of munitions. The plan involved 
also the negotiation of contracts Avith the 
allied governments to supjdy the Allies 
Avith material of Avar on a large scale. 
These contracts A\-ould have been veritable 
Teutonic scraps of pap(‘r, for there never 
AAmuld have been the least intention to 
observe them, the scheme being merely to 
delay, obstruct and deceiA’e the Allies as 
to the exp<‘ctatiou of necessary supplies. 
’Pwo oflicers lost their lives and six 
(.tilers Avere badly burned Oct. 10 Avhen 
fire destroyed the oflicer.s’ quarters at 
Huitecl States Army Base Hospital No. .3, 
Colonia. N. .1. 3'lie hospital proper was 
not touched and no patient Avas in peril. 
’Twenty-one towns wei-e destroyed, prob¬ 
ably 1,000 lives lo.st and vast quantities of 
timber and crops swept away by the forest 
fires in Northeastern Minnesota Oct. 12- 
13. ’The towns totally or partly destroyed 
arc Cloquet, Moo.se Lake, Kettle River, 
l.aAvler, Adolph, IMunger, Five Corners, 
Harney. Grand Lake, Maple Grove, Twig, 
Barnum, MathcAVS. Atkinson. French 
River. Clifton, Carleton, Brookston, 
Brevator. Pike Lake and I’ine Hill. 
Many refugees stood for hours in the icy 
water of small lakes, others were drowned 
while seeking refuge, and it is feared that 
inany more casualties occurred in rural 
districts. Rural residents, refugees say, 
were given but a moment’s warning be¬ 
fore the fiery hurricane SAvept down upon 
them. A pall of smoke had hung over 
the^ countryside for hours, and a majority 
believed the holocau.st to be merely the 
“Fall fires” Avhich are annual occurrences. 
When the danger became apparent they 
rushed into radlars or hudclled together 
wherever a slight depres.sion in ground 
seemed to promise protection. Officials in 
October 26, 1018 
charge of relief w'ork still are unable to 
make an accurate e.stimate of the material 
damage resulting from the fire. It was 
said, however, that in this district alone 
fifty square miles has been stripped clean 
of timber, crop.s, live stock and human 
habitation. 
One hundred and fifty lives were lost in 
the earthquake Oct. 11 in Porto Rico, it 
was e.stimated by Gov. Yager. Almost 
every town in the island reports damage 
of property and scattering fatalities. The 
greatest loss of life was at Mayaguez and 
Aguadilla, west coast cities, and in the 
intervening territory. 
. The transport America'sank at her pier 
Hoboken Oct. 15, within a few hours 
1 sailing with troops. It was said 
J-,2tK) men were on board, but the missing 
are put^ at three sailors and two soldiers. 
It IS said the sinking was due to seacocks 
or portholes being left open through care- 
lessness. The sinking was like that of 
the fet. Paul a few months ago. The 
America was formerly the Amerika of 
the llamburg-American line, and can 
carry 8,000 soldiers. 
Fire in the Gra.sselli Chemical Com¬ 
pany .s sulphuric acid plant at Cleveland, 
O., Oct. 1,5, caused a loss of $175,000. 
hiremen AAuth water-soaked handkerchiefs 
tied over their mouths and noses fought 
th(i flames in dense clouds of smoke 
In a statement to the American Meat 
I ackers Association, holding its thir- 
teenth annual convention at Chicago Oct 
15, Herbert C. Hoover, Federal Food Ad- 
ministri^or, .said that during the year 
must ship 
-,000,000 tons of meats and fats for con¬ 
sumption by our OAvn soldiers, the Allies 
Belgium and neutrals. Other figures pre- 
sented showed it wdll be necessary to in- 
crease bread.stuff shipments 3.600.000 tons 
over last year, sugar 330,000 tons and 
fee(l grains <50,(X)0 tons during the .same 
pei'Kid. Bonele.ss beef, it was announced 
by the packers, is to be a big item here¬ 
after in shipments to Europe. A method 
proposed by the government for removing 
bones from dressed beef has been adopted. 
Eaving nearly one-half in cargo space. 
WASIIINGTjpN.—The daylight saving 
Jaw would remain in effect until rescinded 
by Congre.ss under a bill passed Oct. 10 
by the Senate. The measure, which was 
indor.se(l by Chairman Baruch of the War 
Industries Board in the interest of fuel 
economy, now goes to the House. Under 
the present law the clocks would be 
turned back an hour on Oct. 27. 
The Food ^Iministration is preparing 
to control coffee prices in the United 
states and te bring about a curtailment 
in consumption through voluntary co¬ 
operation of the people. Coffee control is 
taJ^en by the War 
regulation,s 
providing that permits for importing cof¬ 
fee Avould be issued only to the Sugar 
L(1ual]zation Board. The board will dis¬ 
tribute^ the coffee through the usual chan¬ 
nels of trade, but, having control of all 
supplies, will be in a position to exercise 
price control and stop speculation. Ali 
outstanding licenses for importations of 
shipments 
aftei Oct. 18. Ihe Food Administration 
IS (losirous that every one economize in 
the con.suniption of coffee in order to free 
as much tonnage as po.ssible for transpor¬ 
tation of the Army. Imports of coffee 
exceed 50,000 tons each year. 
Readjustment of the wages of 150 000 
mine Avorkers in the anthracite fields with 
an incri^ase along lines that will be agreeil 
on by the mine owners and mine workers 
has been approved by Fuel Administrator 
Garfield. 
A campaign has been started by the 
itailroad Administration to make all loco¬ 
motives not only safe but efficient. As a 
result of the discovery by the Interstate 
Commerce ( ommission inspectors of loco- 
motives in operation in such condition 
that their use aauis considered in viola- 
safety Iuavs, respon- 
.sihility tor locomotives found on the road 
111 unsafe or unsatisfactory condition has 
been put up to supervisory officers of the 
rajlrOtids under orders just issued* 
Coming Farmer Meetings 
International Soil Products Exposition, 
Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 16-26. 
National and Northern Nut Grower.s’ 
Associations, joint meeting, Albany, Ga., 
vJet. 1. 
TV Horticultural Exposition, 
Des Moines, loAva, Nov. 5-8. 
Second Patriotic Sheep Meeting, exhi¬ 
bition and sale, Ncav York State Agricul¬ 
tural Society, Albany Chamber of Com¬ 
merce State Department of Farms and 
Markets and State Food Commission, Al- 
bany, N. Y., Nov. 12-14. 
National Grange, annual meeting, Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y., Nov. 13. 
American Royal Live.stock Show, Kan¬ 
sas City, Mo., Nov. 16-23. 
Ncav Jersey State Horticultural So¬ 
ciety, annual meeting, Atlantic City, N. .7 
Dec. 2-4. 
Fifth Annual National Farmers’ Ex¬ 
position and Ohio State Apple Show, 'To¬ 
ledo, O., Dec. 6-14. 
Ohio State Horticultural Society, an¬ 
nual meeting, Toledo, O., Dee. 6. 
Western New York Horticultural So¬ 
ciety and NeAV York State Fruit Grow- 
er,s’ A.ssociation, joint meeting, Rochester,' 
N. Y., Jan. 12, 1919. 
