HOUSE AND GARDEN 
November, 1914 
Forcing Rhubarb in the Cellar 
HUBARB pie in January is a lux¬ 
ury which need be denied nobody 
who has a fairly warm cellar. Large, 
strong plants, preferably three years old, 
should be dug from the garden late in the 
fall and allowed to freeze solid. Forcing 
clumps may be bought of seedsmen if the 
garden is without rhubarb. To force them 
into growth it is necessary only to bury 
them in a box or tub in a basement or cel¬ 
lar where the temperature is from 50 to 
65 degrees and to protect them from 
strong light. Commonly, they are simply 
covered an inch or two with sand, but the 
results will be quicker if a layer of fresh 
horse manure is placed under the roots and 
covered with two inches of loam. Water 
must be given freely, but it is well to have 
holes in the bottom of the box so that ex¬ 
cess moisture will escape. From one to 
three months will elapse before the rhu¬ 
barb will be ready for use, and then the 
stalks will be nicely blanched instead of 
being green or red, as when grown in the 
garden, and there will be very much less 
leaf growth. 
Asparagus may be forced in much the 
same manner, except that it should not be 
frozen, and if a few roots are started at a 
time the season will be extended to last 
several months. The first yield should be 
secured at the end of six weeks. Sea kale 
is another vegetable easily forced, and in 
flavor much resembles celery. The crown 
should be set in good soil, with the eye 
just above the surface, and if kept warm 
and moist, growth will be rapid. Although 
sea kale is not often found in the garden 
in this country, the seedsmen sell forcing 
crowns. 
A New Outside Meter 
CLEVER device being used in many 
of the houses now building provides 
for gas and electric meters in a new and 
very advantageous way. Under the new 
arrangement, meters are set in the ex¬ 
terior wall of the house, face outward; 
when the meter is to be read by the pub¬ 
lic-service company’s employee he has no 
occasion to come inside the house or make 
his presence known in any way; he reads 
the meter from the outside and goes his 
way. 
The time-saving, trouble-saving features 
of this method are instantly apparent, and 
are not counterbalanced by disadvantages 
of any sort. The cost is low — $6 to $10 
for each meter so housed, if boxes are 
built in when the house is erected. 
Meter men are not only an annoyance to 
the housewife, but, in the case of many 
timid women, are regarded as dangerous in 
providing imposters easy access to the 
house. The meter boxes do away entirely 
with these conditions, and at the same time 
save basement space the meters would 
occupy, and protect the meters against ac¬ 
cident that might have troublesome re¬ 
sults. The manufacturers say that these 
advantages impress householders so 
strongly that installations are often made 
in houses already built—the owners being 
willing to incur extra trouble and some 
labor expense in order to do away with 
the nuisances which accompany meters 
placed in the basement. Certainly, con¬ 
veniences of this character add greatly to 
ultimate comfort and security. 
After three months the stalks are blanched, and the 
leaf growth small 
The Necessity for Humidity 
EW people realize the true condition 
of the atmosphere in our living 
rooms, during the period when the furnace 
is in operation. Many people know in a 
general way that the air is excessively dry, 
but it is only beginning to be generally 
understood the injurious results of this 
dry air on health and comfort. The 
average humidity at Yuma, Arizona, is 
about 42 0 ; at Santa Fe, New Mexico, 
about 44 0 ; in the Desert of Sahara, about 
33°. The avarage relative humidity in 
the home during the winter months ranges 
from 20 to 28°. These facts in them¬ 
selves are of the utmost significance, and 
this condition of the atmosphere explains 
the reason why colds, throat and glandular 
troubles are so prevalent in winter, and it 
explains why furniture and woodwork- 
crack and break, musical instruments get 
out of tune and plants fail to thrive in the 
home during the cold weather. 
A satisfactory heating of the home is, 
of course, necessary. A proper amount 
of pure air is also recognized as being re¬ 
quired. The leading health experts are 
to-day demanding that, in addition to 
proper heat and ventilation, the atmos¬ 
phere must contain a sufficient amount of 
moisture to be healthful. Attention must, 
3°5 I 
therefore, be given to the subject of ob¬ 
taining humidity in the home during the 
winter months. No heating system in and 
of itself adds any moisture. As tempera¬ 
tures are raised, moisture must be added 
or else relative humidity decreases, and, 
consequently, means for furnishing this 
necessary moisture must be provided inde¬ 
pendent of, but working in connection 
with, the heating plant. 
A simple and economical device that 
supplies the necessary moisture working 
in conjunction with the heating plant con¬ 
sists of two porous silica plates installed 
vertically inside the furnace casing. The 
principle of the moistener is based upon 
the capillary power of these plates. They 
take up water and become completely sat¬ 
urated as quickly as a lump of sugar. The 
surface of the plates, therefore, becomes 
immediately an evaporating surface, in di¬ 
rect contact with the heated air, and this 
evaporation continues as long as the water 
is supplied to the plates. As the plates are 
always installed at the point of greatest 
heat, and since evaporation is dependent 
upon heat and ore, water vapor is thrown 
off rapidly. The detail of installation, of 
course, varies a little with different types 
of heating plants, but in most cases it 
simply means cutting an opening through 
the furnace casing. The smallest moistener 
manufactured has, it is stated, an evapo¬ 
rating area of over 300 square inches. 
They can be installed quickly in any fur¬ 
nace, or any steam or hot-water system. 
Iron Rust on Stucco 
FIERE the ironwork on a stucco 
house has rusted and the rust dis¬ 
colored the stucco, there are two ways of 
treating it. If these stains are purely of 
surface discoloration it should be possible 
to remove them with a wire brush; if, on 
the contrary, the entire thickness of the 
stucco has become stained, it will be neces¬ 
sary to put on a cement wash to cover the 
spots, or to cut out the stained portions 
and put on new stucco. 
A solution of hydrochloric acid and 
stannous acid will remove iron rust from 
concrete, and will not injure the concrete 
if the treatment is administered rapidly 
and the face immediately washed with 
clean water. The solution mentioned has 
an affinity for carbonate of lime, conse¬ 
quently it should not he used where hy¬ 
drated lime has been incorporated in the 
mixture. Rough finished cement stucco 
should be treated by spraying with the 
above solution, as the result will be more 
thorough and the work more rapid than, by 
the use of a brush. 
Very satisfactory results may also be 
obtained by diluting one of the commercial 
cement paints until it is thin enough to use 
in a spray pump, and painting the surface 
of the stucco by spraying the diluted paint 
upon it. 
