102 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
A Handy Seed Sower for Small Gardens. 
BY WILL W. TRACY, SUPERINTENDENT D. M. FERRY & 
CO.'S TEST GARDENS, DETROIT, MICH. 
The necessity of planting and keeping en¬ 
tirely distinct and unmixed a few feet of drill 
of over one thousand samples of vegetable 
seeds, developed a simple arrangement, cost¬ 
ing but 50 cents, which did the work of sowing 
so nicely and proved so convenient, that it 
seems to me admirably adapted for use in 
small gardens and for sowing such seeds as 
salsify, carrot, and soaked seed, 
which are not easily sown by the 
hand drills. The Sower consists of 
a funnel, a, some 6 inches in diam¬ 
eter, to one side of which is solder¬ 
ed a box, b, B inches deep and 6 
inches wide and long. At right 
angles to the box, and running 
parallel with one side of the fun¬ 
nel, is securely fastened a handle 
c, some 18 inches long, and having 
a stiff wire inn along each side and 
over the top in a 
loop. The tube, d, 
of the funnel, some 
30 inches long, % of 
an inch in diameter, 
is also parallel with 
the same side, so that the handle 
one side and the tube, form one 
straight line. In using the Sow¬ 
er, the ground having been mark¬ 
ed out, the seed is placed in the 
box, and the end of the handle & 
pressed into the left armpit, the 
end of the tube being kept over 
the drill with the left hand, while 
the right takes the seed out of 
the box and distributes it through 
the funnel and tube. With this 
instrument we were able, after a 
few hours’ practice, to sow as 
rapidly as with an ordinary hand 
drill; but, of course, not cover¬ 
ing as they do. If desired, a cov- 
erer like that of the hand drill 
could be attached to rings e at the 
end of the tube. I do not present 
this as entirely new, a funnel and 
tube having been used for seed 
sowing for many years ; but I have never seen 
one arranged as described, and which I lind in 
use to be better than any other I have seen. 
Tim Bunker on Selling Earin Produce. 
I met Jake Frink to-day on Hookertown 
Street, in the role of curb-stone merchant, 
lie was disposing of his late hatch of turkeys, 
about fifty birds, in his old wagon. The horse, 
wagon, and driver were all in their declining 
years, and bore marks of hard service. The 
harness had not been oiled for several years. 
It had been mended in several places with 
stout twine, and one of the traces was gone 
and its place supplied with a piece of rope. 
The half-starved horse was cribbing away at 
a wooden post as the trade went on. 
“ Don’t s’pose you want to buy enny tur¬ 
keys to-day, neow du ye, Squire Hunter ?” 
Frank Hunter kept a market, did his own 
butchering, bought of the neighboring farm¬ 
ers when he could buy to advantage, and had 
a large circle of village customers. He is 
one of five butchers who dispense meat in 
Hookertown, and knows the market value of 
all farm products as well as any man in town. 
A SEED 
SOWER. 
“You have brought coals to Newcastle, this 
morning, Mr. Frink,” said Hunter. “ Ye see, 
we have been stuffed with turkeys and geese 
and other poultry all the fall and winter, 
until eveiy woman that keeps a boarding¬ 
house is sick of the sight of a turkey, and the 
boarders are a good deal sicker than she is.” 
“Du tell, Squire, if that is so? I kinder 
thought folks had got over Christmas and New 
Year’s by this time, and I should be in luck 
for once in my life. Jest my luck—exactly !” 
“ Why didn’t ye bring some veal? Every¬ 
body is aider veal cutlet,” remarked Hunter. 
“Veal,man! Why, my keows haint calved 
yet. That’s reason enuff ! ” Jake exclaimed. 
“ I don’t think I could handle any more 
turkeys at present,” said Hunter, turning to 
go into his market. The ink was hardly dry 
upon his blotter where he had sold two tur¬ 
keys to a customer at twenty cents a pound. 
“Hold on,” said Jake, “ I want you to look 
at my turkeys. They are corn-fed, some that 
Polly has fattened, and they are just as good 
as any sold for Thanksgiving. Make us an of¬ 
fer for ’em, I’ve got to raise money for taxes.” 
“ The turkeys are good enough,” said Hun¬ 
ter, looking over the lot, “but nobody hank¬ 
ers arter that kind of flesh. Should have to 
sell at a discount”—which statement, he 
knew, required a large discount from the 
truth. “The best offer I could make you is 
sixteen cents a lb.” At which figure the bar¬ 
gain was closed. Caterers for the Boston and 
Providence markets were buying turkeys the 
same day for eighteen cents, but Jake Frink 
does not take the papers, and did not know 
that. All the butchers in Hookertown were 
retailing turkeys at twenty cents a pound, but 
Jake Frink does not buy butcher’s meat much, 
and did not know that. Jake could have 
told to a cent the price of whiskey by the pint 
or gallon, for he was much better versed in 
liquors than in poultry. If he had spent 
the same amount of time in peddling around 
at the houses that he spent in the saloons, 
he might have got twenty cents for his birds, 
and carried the money home with him. The 
real transaction that morning was 550 lbs. of 
turkeys sold at 16 cents a pound—$88.00. The 
trade possible to him, was to sell at whole¬ 
sale to the speculator for 18 cents, making 
$99.00 for his turkeys, or to peddle at the 
houses and make $110.00 for his birds. He 
might have done this in about the same time 
that he wasted at the saloon, drinking poison¬ 
ous whiskey ; and Polly Frink, his wife, who 
raised and fattened the turkeys, would have 
had a much better reward for her labors. 
This little transaction, at the curb-stone 
market in Hookertown, illustrates in a forci¬ 
ble jray the great loss to farmers that occurs 
all over the country by bad marketing. Rais¬ 
ing farm produce is one thing : selling it to 
advantage is quite another. Some men seem 
to have a knack at trade, and never find any 
difficulty in selling produce at the highest 
market price. They raise finished products. 
If it is veal, pigs, or poultry that they put off, 
it is well fattened. If it is exposed for sale, 
the fat is kept in sight. They have a keen 
appreciation of its qualities, and an unction 
in their speech that heightens the charms of 
nature. They see, and make their customers 
see every good quality in the article. If there 
is one better market than another within two 
hours’ ride of the farm, they are quite sure to 
find it otrt. They understand the economy of 
bringing producer and consumer close to¬ 
gether, and if they can get in between the 
meat market and its customers, they do not 
fail to do it. There is not much surplus of 
vegetable or animal products that lies idle 
upon their hands when it is once ready for 
market. It is sold for cash, and goes into the 
bank account. There is another class of farm¬ 
ers with just as good natural abilities, who 
understand cultivation quite as well, that do 
not study the principles of economy, do not 
know the cost of production, and do not know 
half the time whether they gain or lose in the' 
sale of their products. They are the prey of 
middlemen, who study prices and not only 
sell their own farm products but speculate 
largely in the products of their neighbors. 
The slack farmers are always behind hand in 
their business and in their accounts, always 
in debt, and are tempted by the greenbacks of 
the middleman to part with anything they 
have to sell at the middleman’s price. He 
emphasizes trade, calculates to make more 
money in speculating than in working his 
farm, and does it. I drop a few hints for the 
benefit of Jake Frink and his fellow sufferers. 
In the first place, Jake works the wrong 
organs. I admit there is a fair show of mus¬ 
cular action. He follows the plow and the 
cultivator fairly, and, start him on the road 
toward the Hookertown saloons, there is great 
alacrity in his footsteps. Once there, he cul¬ 
tivates his stomach rather than his brains, 
and goes home very stupid. We have alto¬ 
gether too little brain work upon the farm. 
We want not less muscle, perhaps, but much 
more mind applied to the business. It is quite 
as necessary as in any other business. No 
other pursuit can tolerate so much stupidity 
without ruin. In the second place, Jake Frink 
and his companions in tribulation do not take 
the papers. It is far within bounds to say 
that one-third of our farmers take no agri¬ 
cultural paper, and read little or nothing about 
the theory or practice of their business. Any 
well-established journal of agriculture would 
stimulate the spirit of inquiiy, and set them 
to thinking about the economies of their busi¬ 
ness, the value of better stock, better seeds, 
and better implements of husbandly. A 
paper would be especially helpful in the mat¬ 
ter of marketing, for it gives the prices of all 
farm products in the large markets of the 
country. The farmer, who reads and thinks, 
knows what his produce is worth, and what 
he can reasonably expect to get for it. He 
would also see the great advantage of dealing 
directly with the consumer in many cases. 
With good local markets, the farmer may as 
well supply families directly, as to sell to a 
middleman. Most f amilies in a village would 
prefer to engage their butter for the season, 
and have it brought to them weekly, or twice 
a week, than to buy at the grocers. Many buy, 
in the same way, their poultry, eggs, lamb, 
veal, fruits, and many of their vegetables. 
A thrifty farmer, who goes to market once 
or twice a week with one thing, may as well 
carry a variety, and carry a fair load for his 
wagon. It makes a good deal of difference 
in his annual profits, whether his weekly sales 
are three dollars for nine pounds of butter, 
or thirty dollars for a variety of products 
usually consumed in a family. The Jake 
Frink style of marketing is not a success. 
HooTcertown , CL, I Yours to command, 
Feb. 1,1S81. i Timothy Bunker, Esq. 
Breeding Tenns.-A recent conversa¬ 
tion with a cattle breeder again reminded us 
of the prevailing looseness in the use of the 
