264 
February 16, 1924 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
_ • JP *W& r +-’ — _ 
Light in weight but 
long on mileage 
Rubber boots made by hand 
to withstand hard usage 
pVERY pair of Top Notch 
Buddy Boots—like all rub¬ 
ber footwear bearing the Top 
Notch Cross—is made by hand 
as carefully as fine leather 
custom-built shoes. 
From start to finish, skilled work¬ 
ers build these boots by hand, layer 
by layer of rubber and lining, every 
bit of material having special tested 
qualities for toughness and elasticity. 
And every vital point of wear is 
strongly reinforced. 
straw. Only a light covering will be 
needed, but it should extend for a dis¬ 
tance of six or eight feet from the alight¬ 
ing board. The bees may rest on the 
hay or straw without getting chilled and 
will return to the hives after their flight 
unharmed. This is a simple but effective 
way to keep the colonies from being un¬ 
duly weakened at this season. Although 
many bee-keepers find it worth while to 
pack their colonies carefully in the Fall, 
not a few busy farmers winter their bees 
with a fair amount of success year after 
year with only a covering of hay and 
pine boughs. There is much warmth in 
hay, and when it is used freely under, 
over and between the hives it gives no 
little protection. More hay held in place 
with evergreen branches may be mounded 
up against the hives of the north side to 
break the cold winds. I find that this 
method gives very good results, but I also 
but on the contrary will be more com¬ 
fortable than in a closed house where 
moisture forms on the walls. Neverthe¬ 
less, the litter will become wet and matted 
from the entrance of rain and snow, a 
condition which does not make for the 
well-being of the fowls. Most poultry- 
men have become disgusted with muslin 
because they cannot keep it clean, and 
when it is covered with dust it shuts out 
almost as much air as glass. Some of 
them have found that they get the best 
results when they return to glass win¬ 
dows. but have the sash pivoted in the 
middle. When this plan is followed the 
glass can be tilted in such a way that 
plenty of fresh air will enter but rain 
and snow be kept out. Then if a driving 
storm comes up, the windows can be 
closed temporarily. Glass is expensive 
and on my place has a way of getting 
broken frequently. For that reason I 
Antiques For Sale 
like to use chaff-filled frames in place of 
the regular frames on each side of the 
hives. 
The Antique Trade —Some weeks ago 
a farmer’s wife living not far from my 
place was almost obliged to engage in a 
fight to prevent a pedlar from carrying 
away an old-fashioned table which he saw 
in her kitchen. The high prices which 
are being paid for colonial furniture have 
built up a curious trade. There are many 
men who do nothing but hunt out this 
furniture, buy it for as low a price as 
possible and sell it at a great advance to 
city dealers. These men seem to think 
they have a genuine grievance if a farmer 
declines to part with some family heir¬ 
loom which catches their eye, and often 
become insulting if they cannot get the 
have been testing a new glass substitute 
which is very satisfactory. It is made of 
wire netting, the openings of which, have 
been filled with some kind of transparent, 
glutinous material. It is very easy to 
handle, lets in the sunlight and may be 
tacked to any frame like mosquito netting. 
It was designed for use on hotbeds, cold 
frames and greenhouses. I never heard 
of anyone else using it in a henhouse, but 
no doubt others have found that it has 
a variety of uses. 
E. i. farringto'N. 
Road Making in Oregon 
In “Notes from the Ox-team Express,” 
The extra thick soles and heels 
add to their durability. The mus¬ 
cles of tough, live rubber give 
strength to the tops and prevent 
cracking. Buddy Boots are not 
heavy or clumsy, but because of 
their careful workmanship they 
withstand the hardest knocks. 
You cannot buy a better boot for 
farm, garage or general use. While 
they outwear the ordinary kind, they 
cost no more. 
Always look for the Top Notch 
Cross before you buy any rubber 
footwear—boots, rubbers or arctics. 
That is your guarantee of satisfac¬ 
tory service. You can find in your 
vicinity a dealer who carries the 
Top Notch line. 
BEACON FALLS RUBBER SHOE COMPANY 
Makers of Top Notch Rubber Footwear 
BEACON FALLS, CONN. 
Beehives Protected With Hay 
highboy or lowboy or the old-fashioned 
clock which they covet. Only a few years 
ago it was possible to purchase valuable 
old pieces for a song in the more remote 
sections, but there is wider knowledge 
now of the value in which such posses¬ 
sions are held. Occasionally, however, a 
man or a woman will almost give away a 
mahogany table or chair which collectors 
value highly. Dealers are always on the 
watch for such bargains. In some towns 
and villages old houses have been fur¬ 
nished in colonial style and opened as 
antique shops. While driving through 
New England last Summer I found sev¬ 
eral places where antiques were grouped 
on the lawn with the hope of making 
sales to tourists. Th<-re are many tricks 
in the antique furniture business, but it 
has brought considerable money to some 
country people. 
Ventilating Poultry Houses —There 
are many poultry-keepers who make no 
attempt to close in the openings at the 
front of the poultry houses, no matter 
what the season. If the houses are 12 
or 14 ft. deep and tight on the sides and 
back the hens will not suffer from the cold. 
page 131, regarding roads in Oregon, .1. 
C. Berrang wonders why they mix lime¬ 
stone and clay in Oregon to repair a 
worn place in the highway, and down 
East the same material won’t make a 
good road. I lived in Washington and 
Oregon a year and a half, and think it is 
due to the rainfall. In those West Coast 
States it rains nine months in the year, 
and three months it does not rain at all, 
but in 12 months there is not as much 
rainfall as in Ohio. Out there it only 
mists and drizzles when it rains, and 
never rains hard like here in Ohio. In 
Oregon I have seen very steep hillsides 
farmed, and there is no washing away of 
the soil. Here in Ohio when it rains it 
rains fast and hard, and good-by to hill¬ 
side farms. However, when Mr. Ber¬ 
rang gets down in the Willamette Val¬ 
ley he will see improved roads very much 
like those back East. WILL. R. peters. 
Ohio. 
