Sftf RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1009 
Simple Science 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
Tainted Canned Fruit 
Last year we had part of our canned 
peaches and cherries spoiled by the taint 
of the rubbers. Have any others had this 
experience, and what is the remedy? 
Aurora, N. Y. E. D. 
Many have had this trouble; the won¬ 
der is yours were not all spoiled. The 
flavor is harmless, but disgusting. The 
only possible remedy is to buy the very 
best brand of jar rubber you can get, on 
the basis that a can of fruit is worth sev¬ 
eral times what the best rubber costs over 
the ordinary sort. 
Paints for Old Wood 
I have used linseed oil and whiting to 
paint old buildings, and it lasts well. 
How do whiting, Paris white and plaster 
of Paris differ? How would plaster of 
Payis work with kerosene oil? Would it 
soften in rain if used in kerosene_ oil? 
IIow does air-slaked lime work in oil? 
Leonardo, N. J. c. p. l. 
Linseed oil and whiting is a standard 
cheap paint, and there is usually a little 
whiting in paints unless it is kept out by 
specifications. It is not objectionable in 
reasonable amounts if^there is no fraud 
involved, and experience shows that a lit¬ 
tle is a desirable addition. Whiting is 
carbonate of lime, chalk, ground fine, and 
Paris white is a very fine grade of Avhit- 
ing. Plaster of Paris is quite another 
thing; it is sulphate of lime which has 
been heated just enough to remove a part 
of the “water of crystallization.]’ (Do 
not ask what this form of water is, since 
no one knows; it appears as oi-dinai’y 
water when driven off, but is a part of the 
crystal structure in the crystal. For in¬ 
stance, a nice clear crystal of washing 
soda, carbonate of soda, put. in a dry 
place, turns to a white powder as this 
“water of crystallization” evaporates.) 
When plaster of Paris is moistened it 
picks up the needed amount of water and 
goes again to a mass of fine crystals; 
that is, it “sets,” and the water does not 
again go off unless it is heated. But it 
is quite unsuitable for use as a paint, on 
account of this power of taking up water. 
The sulphate of lime with water in it is 
found native as “gypsum,” and i6 the 
source of plaster of Paris. This gypsum 
may be used in paints. But air-slaked 
lime is entirely unfit for use, as it will 
make a lime soap with the oil. 
Telephone Wires and Lightning 
The telephone line runs by my barn so 
close that when they put on cross-arms 
and more wires it will bring the nearest 
wire about 15 in. from the roof. One 
pole is about 5 ft. from the barn now. Is 
the barn in any more danger of being 
Struck by lightuiug, or will the wires help 
to draw it away? E. K. 
Floyd, Pa. 
Lightning is so exceedingly uncertain that 
neither we nor anyone else can tell what 
might happen. Taking the best view of it, 
there is some danger, since the lightning 
may actually strike a mile or so away 
and scoot along the wires till it comes to 
a place where the jumping is good, and 
that place might be your barn. On the 
other hand, the telephone company will 
tell you that they are already provided 
with the best sort of lightning arresters 
(and that will be true; they don’t dare 
do without them), and that there is no 
danger, which will not be true. So it 
will do you little good to complain to 
them. But it will cost you so little, com¬ 
pared with the safety, to rod your barn 
properly, that we advise that. "Light¬ 
ning rod agents” are to be avoided, but 
there are several reliable concerns which 
advertise in The TL N.-Y. who will give 
you, when you buy the rod, exact direc¬ 
tions for putting it up. We do not say 
that a rodded buildiug is never damaged 
by lightning, but it is certain that the 
damage is much less to a rodded building. 
Be sure to dig a good, deep hole, into 
moist ground, for the end of the rod, and 
then you will be as safe as you can be, 
and the nearness of the pole and wires 
need not worry you. 
Oils for Killing Lice 
I have Tead in The It. N.-Y. that raw 
linseed oil will kill lice on cattle. Will it 
do so on horses? I read that benzine will 
also do it. Is this the same as gasolene? 
Is it the same as benzene? d. p. b. 
Bedford, N. Y. 
We think raw linseed oil is as good a 
remedy as any, and better than most. 
Crude petroleum, if you can get it, is 
one of the best cures also. Benzine is a 
heavier gasoline; it lies between gasolene 
and kerosene, and is now mostly called 
naphtha. Benzene is altogether different; 
it is C rt H«, and, under German influence, 
was oftener called benzol. This is now 
being dropped and benzene is the best 
name, since benzine, which is not any one 
thing, but is apt to be mostly heptane, 
is rather going out of the market, 
some of it being cut into gasolene, mostly 
hexane, C„H,«, and the rest into solvent 
naphtha, which is the higher group, oc¬ 
tane, etc. 
We do not advise these volatile bodies 
alone to be used directly on the animals, 
since they are more or lees irritating, and 
are apt to cause suffering and nervousness 
if the skin is tender, which is the case 
when lice are present. The advantage in 
using them is that they penetrate the 
shells of the eggs, nits, of the lice and kill 
them as well as the adult lice. You can 
get this effect, without much irritation, 
either from the crude petroleum, as men¬ 
tioned, or by adding a couple of ounces 
of gasoline or benzine or naphtha, or 
even benzene if you chance to have it. 
to each pint of the linseed oil. You can 
use other fatty oils if you wish, but lin¬ 
seed is the best, because it “dries” on the 
lice and nits and smothers them. In any 
case, and no matter what you use, there 
should be a second and third treatment, 
to get the ones you are sure to miss the 
first time. And do not fail to clean and 
disinfect the stables very well indeed. 
Luminous Paint 
How is the luminous paint made which 
is used on clock faces? H. L.F. 
Boston, Mass. 
Certain substances, chief of which is 
radium, seem to be flying into bits all the 
time, and when these particles strike cer¬ 
tain other substances, among which are 
certain salts of zinc, light is given out. 
So a paste is made of these salts and just 
a little radium or similar body, and the 
watch or clock dial painted with it. It 
will continue to give out light till the 
active body is all gone, but, on account of 
the price, they are figured to last about 
two years. 
Sugar in Homemade Wine 
I am told that it is absolutely necessary 
to add sugar to tbe grape juice for home¬ 
made wine. Is this so? C. R. 
Point Pleasant, N. J. 
The object in adding sugar is to get so 
much alcohol that your wine will not turn 
into vinegar while you are making it, but 
just how much is to be added depends on 
the kind of grape juice. 
Acid in Tomatoes 
One book on health says tomatoes have 
a poisonous acid, oxalic, in them, which 
acts on the liver, and another says they 
do not contain any harmful chemical sub¬ 
stance. I have seen many food tables, 
but none of them mentions a poison in 
tomatoes. What are the bottom facts? 
West Medway, Mass. E. A. A. 
If you are ill. call in the best physician 
you can get, but if you are well, which 
we hope is the case, go to some nice wide 
stream and see how far you can throw 
the book that tells you that tomatoes are 
a violent enemy of the liver. It will help 
some if the rest of the “health books” 
follow that one. It is true that tomatoes 
ax*e, botanically. members of the same 
family that includes potatoes and egg¬ 
plants, as well as some less known and, 
so far as we now know, useless plants. 
All of them, in their wild state, produce 
in self defense a substance which has 
been named “solanin.” and it is a poison. 
For many years tomatoes were raised as 
ornamental plants and no effort made to 
improve the fruit, but for about a hun¬ 
dred years the food value of the fruit has 
been recognized, and there is no solanin 
to signify in the tomato today. If there 
is a trace of oxalic acid it will not hurt 
you, and the best sorts of tomatoes are 
almost free from acid. Neither will the 
rhubarb stalks do you harm ; the leaves 
might, but we are not yet so hard up for 
greens as to have to use them in this 
country. 
Keeping Maple Syrup 
I have some maple syrup in cans which 
started to mold. Is there any way that 
this can be put in glass fruit jars, so 
that it will keep until next Winter? 
A. S. T. 
What does the housewife do when she 
finds that her pi'eserves are beginning to 
“work”? She simply reboils them and 
repacks them in freshly sterilized jars. 
And that is essentially the method to be 
followed with maple syrup, if for any 
reason it begins to ferment or mold. In 
the present instance all particles of mold 
should be removed. Then boiling water 
should be added in about the proportion 
of half a pint of water to a gallon of 
syrup, and, if thei’e is a “biting” or 
“smarty” taste to the syrup in additiou 
to the musty flavor, a little soda should 
also be added. The mixture should be 
brought to a boil, strained and re-boiled 
until its temperature is seven degrees 
higher than that of boiling water at the 
same elevation and tested with the same 
thermometer. It should then be poured 
into the glass jars, the rubbers placed in 
position and the caps tightly fastened in 
place. So treated the syrup may be kept 
indefinitely. The syrup will be darkened 
somewhat iu color, will regain its sweet¬ 
ness and lose its musty flavor, but 
whether it will regain its delicate maple 
flavor or not will depend upon tjie ex¬ 
tent to which the mold or fermentation 
has been allowed to proceed. 
C. O. OKMSBEE. 
I 
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A gallon of gasoline will last from 5 to 10 hours. 
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