1326 
water contained in the .shavings. During acidulation 
of the generator, no dcveloimient of ferment will 
lake jdace, hut it will increase with astonishing rap¬ 
idity as .soon as supplied with nutriment (alcoholic 
cidei- or udnej .suitable for its gi'owth. A speciai 
wa<h for the first charge of an acidulated generator 
may he made as follows; Dse a oO-gallon vat or tub 
(or one suitable to the size of the generator), into 
which pour the vinegar ferment prepared as per di- 
(•(‘ctions given above. Add to the culture about one 
(|uart of t)() i)er cent ethyl alcadiol and till the tub 
with the l>(‘st f(M-niented cider you have on hand, in¬ 
tended for vinegar making. Jtun this mi.Kture 
through the generator slowl.v. at the same time ad¬ 
mitting a large volume of .-lir. If the temperature of 
the geiKu-ator room is s() or lit) degrees Fahrenheit, 
the filling of the generator will be heavily .set with 
ferment in a very short time. (Quicker results will 
he obtained from the generator if this method of im- 
idanting in the generator a vig(»rous ferment is fol- 
hnved, than by running f(‘rment<'d cider into the 
g('nei'ator. in whieh the develoi)m<mt of viiu'gar fer- 
.ment has not taken plac(‘. 
TF.M I’Mlt.V'rr RFS.—When the gemu ator has at- 
taiiKMl the ]ir(tper working state the alcoholic wash 
run into it should be c(»mpletely conv(>rted into vine¬ 
gar; that is, the perccmtage of acetic acid in* the vine¬ 
gar should ecpial tlu' ]tercentago of alcohol in the 
'wash. If foi‘ any cau.se the action of the generator is 
I'ciarded. (lie ]»('rc('nfage of acetic acid will decrea.se, 
wdiich 'indicates unconverted alcohol is jiassing 
through the genei'ator. If the tempei'atnre of the 
generator is about .st; degrees Fahrenheit, incomplete 
convm'sion of tlu' alcohol ma.v be remedie(l by de¬ 
creasing the (inantity of wash run into llie generator. 
Mxperience has shown that this temperature in the 
interior of the genei-ator produces tin* most .satisf.ac- 
tor.v results. If the tcunperature runs altove s(; de¬ 
grees there is ;in nnnecc'ssary loss by (‘va])oration. 
and if it droi)S much below' that figure there is in- 
(•oiiiplete conversion of alcohol, i-esulting in loss of 
time and possibly mat(‘rial. Ventilating jdugs at the' 
base of the generatoi' will .allow maniiailation of the 
inside tempei'atnre. 
FREQUENT 'rES'r.'< for alcohol .and acetic acid 
will indicate to tin* oiierator the itro])<M' (a)urse. 
Ever.v vinegar jilant should he ecpiipped with a com- 
jdete set of testing instruments, consisting of a 
hydrometer for determining the sugar content of 
cider, a distifling aiijiaratus for determining the per¬ 
centage of alcohol in cider, and a vinegar te.ster for 
ascertaining tin' acid content of vinegar. Fre<iuent 
l(-sts should be made and recorded to enable the 
oiierator to ch(-*ck his results and coiaa'Ct his error.s. 
In the generator lies the distinction between the 
(piick ju'ocess of the large commercial factories and 
the old-time methods of the past. Ry the present 
method the oiierator onl.y asks 24 hours in which to 
produce legal vinegar, standard anywhere in the 
country. a. ii. i’I’i.vkh. 
(''ontimied Next Wec'k) 
The Production of American Potash 
Found in Nebraska Lake Water 
Part II. 
\' A P () R A TIX (i T11E R RI .\ E.—■ A1 .-1 n u fa ct u ri ug” 
this Nebraska ])otash consists siniidy of laimp- 
ing the water to some central ])lace and evaporating 
it. In some cases the heat of the sun is used to con- 
(•(Miti'iite the brine, while artiticial In^at is rcspiired to 
lini.sh the pi'oce.ss. As we have .seen, average sea 
watei' contains .‘>’4 ])er cent of solids and only .04 ])er 
cent of iiotash. The wafer of .Tesse Lake, Nebraska, 
has showm 1!) per cents of'solids and 5.t)0 ])er cent of 
ftotash. Among the .solids in this water are carhon- 
.•.t(*, )ii-carbonate. suljdiate and chloride of potash, 
carbon.iie. bi-carbonate, sulplnite and chloride of 
sod.-i. carbonate and sulphate of lime and snljihate of 
magne. ia. There is usmilly about (spial (piantities 
of jiota'-h and soda. The bidne is simpl.v pumped 
out of the lakes or from the soil bene.ath them and 
evaporat(>d. Roth sun and artificial heat are used 
for this ])uri)ose. 
ME(’tIANl('.\L PROFE.^SE.S,—It has been found 
that the ground water under the.se lakes is often 
strong in potash. In order to obtain this brine, 
wells are sunk through the bed of the lake and ca.sed 
in. These run dowui below the lake bed and the 
water it ])umped out, as shown at Fig. (129. The 
picture sho'vvs the system of pipes and wells stretch¬ 
ing out over the hike bed. Tliese pipes ai-e from 
2)4 to si.x inches in diameter, and are msually made 
of wood. There are many miles of pipes connecting 
the lakes with some central point where the brine 
is evaporated. A State law compels the potash men 
to Iniry the.se pijies 20 inches under ground. Some of 
the factories are very simple affairs—like the one 
V/>c RURAL NEW-YORKER 
shown at Fig. (i2.s. In this case the Indue is pumped 
direct from the small lake, concentrated in open pans 
and finished liy steam heat. In the larger plants all 
sorts of devices are tided to cheajien the cost of con¬ 
centrating the Indue. In .some of the deejier lakes 
me water is not strong enough for jn-oduction. Such 
water is pumjied into large shallow lakes called 
“Summer lakes.” Here the water is spread out thin 
and on exposure to the sun evaporates so that a 
strong brine Is jirodnced. In Winter, when ice forms 
n iiilcr l‘iiiin j/ '!'() UaHiiherrics. Fi<j. G .24 
on thes lakes, the i»ol;ish concinitr;iles in (he water 
below. This makes a stronger brine at the bottom 
of the lak(‘. All such plans are resorted to in order 
to ch(*apcn (In' cost of concentr;iting the brine, since 
all fuel must be haub'd in from the oil and coal fields 
in W.voniing. ' 
4T1E FIXRSllEI) RRDDFU'r.—4'he thick brine is 
finally liried in open ii.-ins or in rotary disks. 'I'hese 
draw off (he remaining water and leave the (fry 
•solids. This, of course, is not inii'e iiotash. but also 
ci'-ntains common salt, lime, soda and magnesia. 
King Red Rai^phcnios After Winter Rroteelion 
Fig. 
These dry .solids are ground and sold as fertilizer. 
Later, as the business develops, the potash will no 
doubt be refined and the salt, soda and magnesia 
separated. Thus far practically all of this pota.sli 
has been used for fertilizing imriioses. 
FUTURE PR().Sl>E('T.''t._There is no accuniti* e.s- 
timate as to the amount of potash obtainable from 
these lake.s. The (piaiitity is large and the future of 
the business will dejtend upon the way Uerman pot- 
a.sh is distributed after the war. There ai-e un¬ 
doubtedly other lake deposita of potash, though it 
November 40, lOlS. 
( 10^*8 not follow that all alkali lakes contain pa.ving 
•piantities of this element. The brine of (Ireat .Salt 
Lake contains 20 ])er cent of dissolved .solids, but less 
than one-half of one per cent of .solid.s. There are 
several lakes in C’alifornia said to be strong enough 
in potash to re])ay woi'king. At any rate this Ne- 
liraska business shows .something of the undreamed 
expect that the future will reveal dejioslts of nitrate 
of wealth lying in the .soil of America, and we fully 
of soda which, with the potash ;tnd jdiosphate already 
discovered, will give us an .\merican comiilete fer¬ 
tilizer. II. \y c. 
A Business in Fuel Wood 
I own ;i larm four miles from a gtiod town and 17 
miles from Newark. N. .1.; have good roads nearly all 
the wa.v. riieia* is about 40 acres •>! woodland, some 
dead ch(“slniit. but niostl.v live oak, estimated between 
2,0(K) to 2..(00 cords all told. I am not a farmer (office 
worker). .“I yeai-s »dd. Iiave a wife and one small child 
Cl./’j years). I Imve .$1,000 in cash, a fr<‘e and cleiir 
larm, 0.> acre.s, partiall.v run down, old hou.si', no im¬ 
provements. lint iidmbitable, bOO ajiple trees, •Stayman. 
Senator. I>elicious, five years old. What do you think 
ot going into the wood bu.siness as a starter (cord 
wood) ! It will co^<t .$.'! jier cord to cut same, and I can 
get one or two men. I am sure, at that jirice. I am in 
go'id health, but not used to heavy work. ir. f. s. 
ihciG is ]U'acticall.v no di^mand foi* dead che.stnut. 
ns dealers are jn-e.iudiced a.gain.st that timber as fuel. 
W(> understand that thousands of cords of dead 
chestnut have been offei-ed. with no bu.vers. If the 
'\\'inter is vei'.v severe some of this che.stnut will lie 
usi'd, but the demand is foi- harder timber. Refore 
you stai-t make sure of youi- I'narket. and. if possible, 
.get a contract to supidy a definite number vf cords. 
(>o to the nearliy (owns and .see if you can liml 
someone to Ind]) start a wood yard. Co and see the 
wood dealers in N('w York, .Jersey City and Newark, 
find ont what they want and what they will pay. 
Do not giv(‘ up youi* iii-e.sent .job without some def¬ 
inite idea about how much wood can be sold and how 
much you ai'e to get for it. There ought to be a fair 
chance with this fuel bi .get part of youi- farm chaired 
at a profit, but b(> .sure of your market before you 
.start. 
Reseeding Old Pasture 
i liuve read scviu'al article about impi’oviug pa.s- 
tiires by working and setaling with lime, manure and 
: ierti ize-rs. I'liere are many such pasturi's wlii<4i can- 
iK't be plowed or jiroperly worked, and many farmers 
who cannot sjiend tin* tinu' ju'eih'd for idowing. Ls it 
not iiossible to do this without expensive working? 
Will not a good harrowing answer? .i. k. 
Connecticut. 
it is imjiossible to jilow rou,gh land. 
VV due to being too st(‘ep, or too stony, we have 
had good success with the disk harj-ow being fol¬ 
lowed by the sin-ing-tooth harrow and then leveled 
olf v\ith the spiki'-tooth. ('ondition.s sometimes 
warrant the use of only one of these, while at other 
times we are able to use all Ihi'ei*. Where ground i.s 
too I'ougli and too rocky to mse either the disk har¬ 
row' or'th(> spring-tooth harrow, .von can often tear 
up the surface .suHiciently to cover grass seed by 
wei.ghting down heavily the spike-tooth harrow'. On 
such fields 1 would not advise jdowin.g, but rather 
wmking over a number of times with the harrows: 
.Inst befoi-e the last harrowing with the .spike-tooth 
broadcast your seeds and this will cover them fairly 
satisfactorily by the last working. 
I would not think it advisable to plow under lime, 
fertilizm- and seed.s at any time. Where the ground 
is jdowed make your apidications of lime and fer- 
tilizei* aftei' the .gi’ound has hetm worked over once 
after jilowing. The additional harrowing w'ill mix 
this thoroughly with the soil, and tliis does not put 
it down so far that the gra.ss roots will not make 
use of it. Where harrowing ground bTdone I would 
advise the lime and fertilizer applied following the 
tirst culti\ation. 
We feel that the pasture work is as important a 
piece of propa,ganda as can be started. We have 
been developing this greatly in this countj'. A 
report gotten out by the United .States Department 
of Agriculture in R)17 .show's that there are some¬ 
thing like .2()0,()()0,()00 acres of .so-called pasture land 
in the T’nit('«l States. At the same time it was 
reported that we had apiiroxiraately 100,0(X),00<) head 
ot live stock, including individual hor.ses, cattle, 
sheep and swine and goats, etc., as one animal. In 
the broad .sense this would mean that we have three 
acri's of pasture land for each animal produc-ed. In 
reality, counting out the animals In the cities and 
those upon farms that do not see pa.sture, we would 
find that the ratio would be much larger than the 
above. Taking the country over, I should think 
that our pasture land .should be made productive 
enough to carry double the amount of .stock that it 
is doing at the present time. balph Q. .smith. 
Allegany Co., N. Y., Farm Uureau. 
