1378 
Zht RURAL NfiW-YORkER 
f or comi 
A PRESIDENT 
Wearer never has 
the “hitchin’-up” habit. 
When he puts his 
trousers on they are 
“there” for keeps. And 
his easy and free body 
makes work easier. 
Made from light, medium 
or extra heavy, Shirley- 
woven elastic webbing— 
for dress, business or 
hard usage. Length to 
suit your height. Metal 
parts are brass and will 
not rust. Guajantee 
Bahd on each pair. Be 
sure the name'—“Presi¬ 
dent”—is on each buckle 
—it stands for comfort. 
Service and Satisfaction. 
ftZZident\ Susbendl'r Canp atu/ 
Shirley, Mass. 
■—and great 
for wear” 
This Smile Says 
i HEAR CLEARLY” 
If you are hard of hearing you have em¬ 
barrassing moments—so do your friends. 
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barrassment can be avoided? 350,000 per¬ 
sons are now bearing clearly by aid of the 
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"It is of great value to me. I should have 
been obliged to give up the practice of 
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this best of all devices for the aid of hear¬ 
ing.” We offer you the 
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For 10 Days FREE TRIAL 
No Deposit—No Expense 
Just write, saying “I am hard of hearing 
and will try the Acousticon.” Give it a fair 
trial amid familiar surroundings—thus you 
can best tell what it will do for you. Re¬ 
member, however, that the Acousticon has 
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periences have been, send for your free 
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Dictograph Products Corporation 
Successor to the General Acoustic Co. 
1350 Candler Building, New York 
Canadian Address: «21 New Birks Bids'.. Montreal 
Two Excellent Vegetable Books 
By R. L Watts 
Vegetable Gardening.$1.75 
Vegetable Forcing.2.00 
Clearly written, practical, convenient for 
reference, covering outdoor and green¬ 
house vegetable work. For sale by 
The Rural New-Yorker 
333 W. 30th St., New York 
FEEDS AND FEEDING, by Henry and 
Morrison. Price, $2.50. The best book on 
this subject. For sale by Rural New-Yorker 
Preventing Rope from Twisting 
Is there any way to stop a rope from 
twisting up when using a new rope in a 
car for drawing up hay? D. D. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. 
Some years ago we had quite a discus¬ 
sion of this matter, and called for prac¬ 
tical experience from our readers. One 
man, a fisherman, who had long experi¬ 
ence with rope, said that he puts the new 
rope into a barrel of water. It stays 
there a week until it is thoroughly wet 
through. Then it is taken out, tied be¬ 
hind a wagon and dragged over the road 
for a mile or two until all the kinks are 
worked out of it. Others tie a weight to 
the end of the rope and hitch the other 
end to a horse, letting him drag the rope 
and weight for about half an hour, pulling 
it around posts, telephone poles or any¬ 
thing else that will hold it. Still others 
tie one end of the rope to a post or tree, 
and let a man stand and hold the other 
end. Then a fork handle or broomstick is 
tank or cesspool. I can install them my-i 
self if I know what to get or the best 
way to construct. j. e. s. 1 
Ontario, Canada. 
1. The best method of caring for the 1 
tin utensils used in making maple sugar 
is to wash them, scald them well and dry 
them thoroughly, and then store them in 
a dry place until wanted. So treated the 
utensils will not be affected by rust, pro¬ 
vided they are well-soldered and arc. 
made of a good quality of plate that is 
tinned by the oil process. If, however, 
the material is a cheap plate, tinned by 
the acid process, and the acid not per- ! 
fectly neutralized, the acid will, in time, 
cause them to rust by corroding them 
from between the plate and the tin cov¬ 
ering, in spite of all that can be done. 
The best preventive is to see to it that 
the. manufacturers use only a high grade 
of oil-tinned plate, even though the ini¬ 
tial cost may he greater. It will be 
cheaper in the end. The next best remedy 
is to paint the utensils, inside and out¬ 
side, with a light coating of some kind 
of oil and, taking all things into consid¬ 
eration, perhaps hot lard will best, answer 
the purpose. This of course must be ro- 
An Old Hearse Turned Into a New Rabbit Hutch. Fig .)A2 
put in with the rope around it in a loop. 
Two men take this stick and walk back 
and forth, the man holding the rope per¬ 
mitting it to twist in his hands. In 
either of these ways the kinks will be 
well taken out of the rope. 
A Hearse as a Rabbit House 
This war has shaken up conditions so 
that we may expect almost anything in 
the way of violent changes. Even our old 
friend the hearse is taking on new life and 
showing off its paces in new business. A 
country undertaker, in order to be up 
with the times, discarded his old hearse, 
which had long been drawn by two slow 
black horses. lie invested in a “gasoline 
hearse,” or motor vehicle. Not long after 
the citizens who might expect the service 
of an undertaker later on were edified by 
the sight of a race on the road between 
the new hearse and the neighbor’s car. 
The hearse came out ahead. No one 
would think, perhaps, of using the hearse 
as a cradle, yet the picture at Fig. 432 
shows some sort of an approach to that iu 
making the hearse into a home for young 
rabbits. This hearse ended its usefulness 
in the old business. It was then taken off 
the wheels and one side panel of glass re¬ 
moved, and in its place was put a screen 
of chicken wire. Then it was turned into 
a rabbit pen, and the little fellows were 
certainly well satisfied with their new 
home. There are no doubt other uses to 
which an old hearse may be put. We 
heard of oue being made over into a sort 
of hotbed. This is a lively and practical 
age, and evidently nothing of value is go¬ 
ing to get away from the experts. 
Care of Sap Buckets; Water System for 
Home 
1. Will you give me the best way to 
care for sap buckets aud tiuware of 
evaporator? I have over 300 buckets, 
and they seem hard to keep from rusting 
during unused period. Is there any prep¬ 
aration of any kind I can put on them? 
2. I want to put in a water pressure 
system ip my house. I have heard of 
some with tank in cellar, but have not 
seen any; also the best way for disposal 
of waste from sink and bathroom, septic 
moved before the buckets are put into 
use. 
2. There is, or was, some years ago, a 
water system widely advertised, the prin¬ 
cipal feature of which was that the water 
was forced to all parts of the building 
by means of the pressure of the water in 
a tank located iu the cellar. But the 
system was worthless, inasmuch as it re¬ 
quired a tank of water located higher 
than the points of discharge in order to 
supply the pressure for the tank in the 
cellar, and w'hen the upper tank was in¬ 
stalled the cellar tank became useless. 
In any water system the water must 
originate above the point of discharge, 
or some power must be applied to force 
it there, and the question does not go 
into details sufficiently to enable anyone 
to give definite advice. Whether to use 
a cesspool or a septic tank in order to 
dispose of the water from the sink aud 
toilet depends wholly upon local condi¬ 
tions, aud chiefly those of the surround¬ 
ings aud the slope of the land, and with¬ 
out some knowledge, or at least a de¬ 
scription of these, no one can give any 
competent advice as to which should be 
installed. c. o. ormsree. 
“The Hired Man” 
The exchange of views on the hired 
man problem have been very interesting 
and I think instructive, as is generally 
the case with the discussion of any sub¬ 
ject. Some years ago I journeyed to 
Illinois and hired out on a farm, my first 
and last experience. The family con¬ 
sisted of an old couple, a single daughter 
at home and married sons and daughters 
ou nearby farms. I was taken on trial 
for a couple of days, aud as I was youug 
and active and understood general farm¬ 
ing I made good and became one of tin' 
family, was given clean, comfortable quar¬ 
ters and made to feel at home. The food 
was plain, but a variety of substantial 
stuff calculated to appeal to the appetite 
of any man working loug hours on a 
farm. The women folks kept my clothes 
and bedding immaculate, and I was asked 
what I would like for the next meal, and 
what I liked particularly. If I had busi¬ 
ness in town I had the use of a horse aud 
buggy (though it was only one mile) and 
asked if I needed money. If members of 
the family went, I was asked if I needed 
tobacco or socks. The first Sunday I was 
not asked to do any chores, hut insisted 
on helping. I did my best to please these 
good people and save the old folks extra 
stops, and in exchange I got an increase 
in wages and the best treatment any hired 
man ever got. After dinner the daughter 
took me to the parlor and played for me, 
finally wo sang together, then played the 
September 20, 1010 
talkitig machine; In the afternoon T met 
some of the married sons and daughters, 
and made friends with the grandchildren. 
We made cider and had a great time. 
During the course of a conversation I 
mentioned'being fond of rice pudding, and 
1 got,it often after that. 
The. next. Sunday there was a family 
reunion, and I was apparently the guest 
of honor. A married daughter brought 
over a big rice pudding (like mother used 
to cook), a special gift for me, and there 
was a big pan of macaroni and cheese, 
my favorite of all dishes. I had indiges¬ 
tion and bad dreams all night,, but it was 
a red letter day for a “hired man.” 
Those people treated me so well that 
I refused more money from one of the 
neighbors, and when I was called home 
to look after my own affairs the “old 
man” offered me new inducements to 
stay, and said I was the best man he had 
Bail in his 50 years of farming; the “old 
lady” cried, and the daughter said she 
would miss my companionship and help. 
They got the best there was in me, and 
they appreciated it. I got the best they 
could give, not just food and money, but 
real lore , which after all is the only last¬ 
ing reward. If that dear old couple still 
live may their last days be sweet and 
peaceful, and if they have crossed that 
great divide that separates this world of 
love, joy, sorrow and pain from a haven 
of rest and peace, may their reward be 
great for the goodness of their hearts. 
.So. Mr. “Hired Man,” try to do your 
best, be faithful and courteous to the best 
of your ability, and if you do not get jus¬ 
tice or proper pay and food, hunt a new 
job. Now. Mr. Farmer, take this matter 
to heart, talk to your wife about it, don't 
be .afraid to feed your hired man, if he 
works long hours he won't have gout or 
insomnia. If he is the type of man you 
cannot, have in your home, get rid of him. 
If you have social ideals or scruples that 
will not permit you to take a decent, 
faithful hired man into your family cir- 
ele,‘ you are a misfit, and have no business 
•»n a farm. 
Make your farm a co-operative institu¬ 
tion. and if you find your hired man your 
inferior mentally and socially, give him 
a helping hand and a boost up the ladder 
of life, and thereby render a valuable serv¬ 
ice to him, yourself aud the nation. 
LOUIE ASPINWALL. 
The Practical and the Poetry 
The farmer’s wife arose two hours 
earlier than she would have chosen to 
arise, for today she must dry sweet corn 
for the Winter’s use. She knew the exact 
programme of the day’s work, and the 
prospect was not. pleasing. She must go 
out into the cold, wet, muddy cornfield, 
where every stalk would deluge her with 
dew, and her wet clothing would cling 
in a most uncomfortably affectionate man¬ 
ner. With every move a spider web would 
plaster itself across her eyes or nose, and 
the heavy basket of corn would be almost 
more than she could carry. Then the 
corn must be busked and silked, and tlm 
husks fed to over-greedy cattle. She must 
boil it, score it and cut the corn from the 
cobs, and during the process probably eat 
more of (lie corn herself than was de¬ 
sirable. After spreading the corn oil 
plates and drying it gradually and care¬ 
fully in ail intensely hot kitchen, behold 
at 5 p. m. the result of a day’s hard work 
—-the very choicest of her corn would 
probably be scorched. 
But then she turned the rose-colored 
light of optimism on the scene and saw 
herself rising early while the world was 
still mysterious and misty, and going out 
into the cool green cornfield where fairies 
had flung millions of diamond dewdrops 
the night before, and where spiders had 
spun the daintiest of laces on every corn¬ 
stalk, and every thread was strung with 
liny pearls. She would bring in immense 
baskets of crisp, fresh ears of corn, and 
feed the husks to the cattle who would 
so richly repay her for their feast. In 
preparing it she would save the very 
choicest ears to eat with lots of butter. 
After drying it carefully at 5 p. m. she 
would have great dishes of lovely golden 
brown corn, and heaps of pleasure stored 
up for the coming Winter. 
A FARMER’S WIFE. 
Destroying Ants with Olive Oil 
For the benefit of inquirers I will give 
experience in exterminating red ants. 
Y “ eu L found my pantry overrun with 
these minute pests, following directions 
read in a magazine some years previous, 
I placed a small plate containing olive 
oil on the floor, where they caine iu. Tt, 
evidently was to their liking; thousands 
died on the plate. It took three Summers 
entirely to exterminate them, hut so long 
as there was a supply of oil they never 
once strayed from that plate. Twice 
when I neglected it and the oil was ex¬ 
hausted they sought fresh pastures. 
MRS. G. s. T. 
There were two Browns in the village, 
both fishermen. One lost his wife and tin* 
other his boat at about the same time. 
The vicar's wife called, as she supposed, 
on the widower, but really upon the 
Brown whose boat had gone down. “I 
am sorry to hear of your great losw.” sin* 
said. “Oh, it ain’t much matter,” was 
the philosophical reply; “she wasn’t up 
to much.” “Indeed!” said the surprised 
lady. “Yes,” continued Brown, “she was 
a rickety old thing. I offered her to my 
mate, but he wouldn’t have her. I’ve hud 
my eye on another for some time.” And 
then the outraged lady fled/—London 
Farm aud Home. 
