1360 
he  split  into  two  simpler  sugars,  but  it  only  slightly 
affects  the  nerves  of  taste  in  the  manner  we  call 
“sweet.”  All  milks  carry  a  sugar,  there  is  quite  a 
bit  more  in  that  of  women  and  mares,  but  there  is 
no  proof  as  yet  that  they  are  exactly  the  same  sugar. 
Sugars,  in  general,  are  rather  difficult  to  study,  be¬ 
cause  they  have  differences  when  they  are  of  the 
same  composition,  just  as  your  two  hands  are,  in 
all  probability,  of  quite  the  same  composition  but 
yet  will  not  tit  in  the  same  glove,  because  they  dif¬ 
fer  in  space.  A  number  of  minute  plants  are  known 
which  can  eat  one  of  two  sugars  differing  in  space 
but  cannot,  or  will  not,  eat  the  other,  and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  body  cells  are  equally  particular  when 
it  comes  to  using  sugar.  At  any  rate,  substitution 
or  addition  of  other  sugar  will  not  change  cow  into 
human  milk,  for  instance. 
Another  thing  which  is  in  the  water  as,  appar¬ 
ently,  a  minor  constituent,  is  about  a  half  per  cent 
of  milk  albumin,  which  seems  to  be  the  same  as  the 
albumin  of  the  blood  and  is  not  far  away  from  the 
“white  of  an  egg.”  Then  we  have,  also  in  true 
solution,  about  three-quarters  of  a  per  cent  of  mixed 
mineral  salts,  and  they  are  very  mixed 
indeed,  since  they  are  all  the  minerals 
the  young  creature  needs.  f.  d.  c. 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
as  celery  can  be  at  this  time  of  the  year.  I  find  that 
one  good  “soaking”  a  week  is  enough ;  then,  as  soon 
as  the  ground  is  dry  enough  to  work,  it  is  thoroughly 
cultivated.  The  best  time  to  start  wetting  is  about 
four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  by  dusk  I  am 
through.  Fig.  002  will  show  how  my  lines  are 
erected  and  the  area  watered. 
(’<  INSTRUCTION  AND  COST. — I  erected  my  pipe, 
bored  the  holes,  and  inserted  the  nipples,  with  the 
help  of  one  man  in  two  days.  The  length  of  each 
run  of  pipe  is  230  ft.,  and  there  are  three  runs.  Each 
run  waters  a  space  of  50x230  ft.  There  is  a  union 
at  the  end  of  each  run  which,  by  pulling  down,  re¬ 
verses  the  entire  length  of  pipe;  so,  after  wetting  25 
ft.  of  space,  by  reversing  the  pipe,  it  waters  25  ft.  on 
the  opposite  side.  The  holes  are  bored  4  ft.  apart 
in  the  pipe  after  it  is  erected,  and  the  nipples 
screwed  in.  A  small  drill  can  be  purchased  ex¬ 
pressly  for  this  purpose.  As  I  had  no  pond  or  brook 
where  I  could  get  water,  I  had  to  dig  a  well  and 
pump  directly  from  that.  Perhaps  one  would  think 
the  water  would  be  too  cold  direct  from  the  well,  but 
the  force  of  the  pump  throws  the  water  at  least  15 
November  3,  It >23 
Engine  and  pump  . . .  $  75.00 
58  ft.  iy2-in.  pipe  for  well .  0.00 
200  ft.  1%-in.  main  pipe .  24.00 
390  ft.  1-in.  pipe .  33  20 
300  ft.  %-in.  pipe .  18.00 
45  cedar  posts,  8  ft .  11.25 
75  nipples  .  3.75 
Total .  $290.10 
This  does  not  include  labor,  and  prices  are  for 
1915,  when  I  erected  my  plant.  The  drill  was  loaned 
to  me.  The  first  130  ft.  of  pipe  line  from  the  main 
pipe  on  each  run  is  1-in.  pipe,  the  last  end  on  each 
line  is  100  ft.  of  %-in.  pipe.  The  cost  of  running  my 
engine  for  four  hours  to  wet  sufficiently  a  space 
50x230  ft.  is  one  quart  of  gasoline.  wm.  perkins. 
Does  it  Pay  to  Irrigate 
SPINACH  AND  LETTUCE.  —  The 
above  question  lias  been  repeatedly 
asked  during  the  past  dry  Summer,  and 
if  “experience  is  the  best  teacher,” 
surely  one  who  has  been  in  the  garden¬ 
ing  business  for  the  past  40  years,  and 
has  grown  vegetables  with  and  without 
it,  should  be  in  a  position  to  state  pos¬ 
itively  whether  it  does  or  does  not. 
The  greatest  advantage  in  having  an 
irrigation  system  is  that  one  can  sow 
his  seeds  at  the  proper  time,  no  mat¬ 
ter  how  dry  the  season  is,  and  be  rea¬ 
sonably  sure  that  the  seed  will  ger¬ 
minate  and  grow,  and  that  means  very 
often  whether  you  will  have  a  balance 
on  the  right  side  of  your  ledger  at  the 
end  of  the  year.  For  instance,  one  lias 
10,000  lettuce  plants  the  first  of  August 
that  should  be  transplanted,  but  there 
has  been  no  rain  for  weeks,  and  the 
probability  is  that  most  of  the  phyits 
will  die  when  transplanted  unless  they 
are  watered.  Again,  the  time  comes 
to  sow  spinach  seed  in  the  Fall,  but  if 
the  ground  is  dry  and  one  has  no  way 
of  wetting  it,  there  is  no  use  sowing 
the  seed,  and  one  will  have  no  spinach 
to  put  on  the  market  at  the  proper 
time.  I  mention  these  two  crops,  as 
either  one  would  have  paid  for  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  erecting  an  irrigation  system 
in  one  year. 
QUICK  GROWTH  DESIRABLE. — 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  most  vege¬ 
tables  have  to  grow  quickly  to  be  at 
their  best;  especially  is  this  true  of  let¬ 
tuce,.  radishes,  celery  and  spinach,  and  if  the  soil  is 
rich  when  the  needed  moisture  is  supplied  there  is  a 
very  quick  response  to  the  means  used.  Another 
thing  which  is  necessary  to  quick  plant  growth  is 
for  the  plant  or  vegetable  to  assimilate  the  food  pro¬ 
vided  for  it.  and  it  is  unable  to  do  this  unless  there 
is  plenty  of  “drink”  with  it.  The  truth  of  this  state¬ 
ment  was  brought  very  forcibly  to  my  notice  this 
season,  for  in  digging  and  hoeing  where  phosphate 
was  used  and  no  water  applied,  the  phosphate  was 
plainly  visible,  while  where  water  was  applied  no 
trace  of  the  phosphate  could  be  found. 
IRRIGATING  STRAWBERRIES. — The  most  con¬ 
ducing  fact  in  regard  to  irrigation  that  I  have  ever 
seen  was  illustrated  in  the  yield  of  two  strawberry 
rows  this  past  season.  The  rows  were  3  ft.  wide 
and  230  ft.  long,  on  identically  the  same  kind  of 
soil  and  fertilizer  the  same,  and  were  situated  50  ft. 
apart.  One  row  was  irrigated  and  the  other  was  not. 
Up  until  the  20th  of  May  one  could  not  distinguish 
much  difference  in  vine  or  fruit ;  both  gave  promise 
of  an  abundant  crop.  From  that  date  on  through 
the  berry  season  the  unirrigated  row  began  to  dry 
up,  and  at  the  end  of  the  season  the  entire  row 
looked  as  if  a  fire  had  burned  it.  The  entire  row 
yielded  20  quarts  of  very  seedy  berries,  while  the 
row  that  was  irrigated  yielded  300  quarts  of  very 
fine  berries. 
WATERING  THE  CELERY.— On  the  15th  of  July 
I  set  800  celery  plants;  irrigation  was  started  imme¬ 
diately.  and  my  celery  was  put  on  the  market  the 
first  week  in  September,  as  fine  for  looks  and  taste 
A  Pre-Cooling  House 
ON  page  1242  I  note  a  sketch  showing  a  pre-cooler 
for  small  fruit.  A  few  years  ago  I  built  a 
cooler  in  one  end  of  a  large  icehouse  which  kept 
meat  fresh  all  Summer.  Accompanying  sketch,  see 
below’,  shows  the  way  cooler  was  built.  You  will 
note  that  one  partition  extends  to  within  16  in.  of 
the  floor,  and  that  ceiling  is  slanted. 
In  this  way  cold  air  off  ice  chamber 
descends  to  floor  and  gradually  warm¬ 
ing  arises  to  ceiling,  and  following 
slanting  surface  passes  into  upper  por¬ 
tion  and  over  ice  again.  In  this  wray 
a  steady  circulation  is  assured. 
A  neighbor  wanted  to  keep  some 
Wealthy  apples  this  Fall,  and  as  he 
had  a  cellar  with  cement  walls  he 
hit  upon  the  idea  of  lowering  the  tem¬ 
perature  as  follows :  Six  galvanized 
pipes  10-in.  diameter  were  made  about 
6  ft.  long.  They  were  stood  upright 
in  large  pans,  and  after  being  packed 
full  of  chopped  ice  and  salt  reduced 
the  temperature  around  10  degrees. 
Vermont.  wt  a.  stalker. 
Apples  and  Thanksgiving 
A 
Spinach  Under  Irrigation.  Fig.  002. 
ft.  in  the  air,  and  by  the  time  it  descends  the  tem¬ 
perature  is  considerably  higher;  at  least  I  have 
never  seen  any  ill  effects  from  using  it.  I  have  only 
a  one-horse  gasoline  engine,  so  have  only  force 
enough  to  run  one  pipe  line  at  a  time,  which  answers 
my  purpose. 
COST 
Digging  58-ft.  well . . .  $120.00 
FTEIt  a  day  out  in  the  “bright 
blue  October  sunshine”  and  a 
good  supper  I  have  kept  off  drowsi¬ 
ness  by  reading  The  R.  N.-Y.  and  eat¬ 
ing  a  Ram-bo,  a  Wealthy  and  a  Non¬ 
pareil.  October  always  sets  me  back 
to  boyhood.  It  makes  a  freckled-faced 
chap  with  nothing  on  but  a  calico  shirt 
and  pants  cut  down  from  father’s  and 
the  remains  of  a  straw  hat.  I  see  my¬ 
self  going  after  the  horses  or  cows, 
often  when  the  grass  was  white  as 
snow  with  frost,  running,  then  stop¬ 
ping  suddenly  with  one  foot  where  it 
last  lit,  and  the  other  up  against  the 
back  of  my  leg,  then  hopping  the  warm 
foot  into  the  track  it  had  melted. 
Again,  I  am  in  the  apple  orchard, 
anybody’s,  gorging  on  the  mellowest, 
or  on  my  way  out  with  the  belt  of 
my  pants  tightened,  and  shirt  full  of 
apples,  after  I  had  surveyed  them  for 
yellow  jackets.  All  of  a  city  boy's  days  do  not 
equal  one  for  a  country  boy  when  the  apples  and 
hiekorynuts  are  fit.  and  the  sun  shines  in  "October’s 
opal  weather.” 
I  was  in  our  orchard  today.  They  are  picked  in¬ 
stead  of  smiling  with  tlieir  red  and  yellow  cheeks. 
That  poor  orchard  seemed  like  a  cemetery.  All  my 
pleasant  friends  had  departed.  There  is  a  story  of 
an  old  banker  who  came  in  every  day,  went  into 
the  vault  for  a  sack  of  gold  coin,  emptied  it  on  a 
marble  top,  counted  it  back,  tied  it  again,  and  re¬ 
turned  it.  One  day  a  clerk  stood  near,  and  he 
turned  and  asked,  “Were  you  wanting  me?”  and 
the  clerk  replied,  “Yes,  when  you  get  through  with 
your  worship.”  That  story  often  comes  to  me  when 
looking  at  the  things  we  produce.  I  worship.  When 
one  sets  a  tree  in  the  cold  ground,  or  sticks  in  a 
graft,  and  cares  for  them  until  they  blossom  and 
fruit,  he  in  partnership  with  the  Almighty  is  a 
miracle  worker.  His  pride  and  joy  are  warranted. 
None  but  others  who  have  done  the  same  can  un¬ 
derstand  it.  This  also  holds  good  from  a  straw¬ 
berry  bed  to  the  live  stock  he  has  brought  into 
the  world  and  cherished.  Am  I  sorry  I  chose  to  be 
a  farmer  and  stockman?  Hardly. 
Thanksgiving  Day  comes  shortly.  Are  we  ready 
for  it?  There  were  some  discouragements  as  usual, 
but  there  are  a  multitude  of  cans  and  crocks  in  the 
cellar  beneath  me,  enough  vegetables  and  six  va¬ 
rieties  of  choice  apples  without  a  worm  or  a  hollow 
place  except  at  the  ends.  Then  the  live  stock  is 
(Continued  on  Page  1363) 
