1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
337 
Grist  for  a  Eainy  Day. 
A  BIG  TRADE  IN  OAT  HULLS. 
“  Do  you  know  what  is  in  those  bag’s  ?”  asked  a  mer¬ 
chant  in  our  village,  in  New  Jersey,  as  a  truck  with 
the  name  of  a  milling  firm  in  a  neighboring  town 
passed  by  heavily  loaded  with  sacks. 
“  Oat  hulls,  probably,”  I  replied,  as  certain  rumors 
of  mysterious  proceedings  of  which  I  had  heard  came 
to  my  mind. 
“That’s  just  exactly  what  the  stuff  is,”  said  my 
questioner.  “The  millers  take  those  to  their  mill, 
grind  them  up  with  hominy  feed,  which  is  the  refuse 
of  the  hominy  mills,  containing  nothing  but  the  shells 
of  corn,  and  then  sell  the  mixture  for  pure  corn  and 
oats.  They  don’t  dare  to  have  it  shipped  directly  to 
their  railroad  station,  for  some  one  might  “  get  on  to  ” 
their  little  game,  so  they  have  it  shipped  to  this  place, 
and  then  haul  it  across.” 
I  inquired  at  the  freight  house  and  learned  that  the 
same  firm  frequently  received  similar  consignments, 
and  that  nothing  else  was  ever  received  by  them  at 
that  point.  I  saw  the  name  of  the  consignee  on  the 
agent’s  book,  and  it  corresponded  to  the  name  on  the 
truck.  From  the  freight  agent  I  learned  that  the 
sacks  contained  oat  hulls  and  whence  the  shipments 
had  been  made. 
Now,  what  reason  can  this  firm  have  for  handling 
these  goods  in  this  roundabout  way  ?  Why  do  they 
not  ship  them  directly  to  their  own  station  ?  The  two 
towns  are  about  four  miles  apart,  on  different  rail¬ 
roads,  both  of  which  reach  the  city  whence  the  ship¬ 
ments  had  been  made.  Even  though  there  were  a 
difference  in  freight  rates,  it  would  not  be  enough  to 
pay  for  hauling  four  miles.  If  this  transaction  is  an 
honest,  legitimate  one,  why  do  they  not  have  their 
other  shipments  made  to  the  same  point  ?  The  pro¬ 
ceeding  is  a  confession  of  dishonesty  on  the  face  of  it. 
The  manufacturers  may  claim  that  there  is  nothing 
injurious  in  this  mixture.  They  may  even  mix  a  cer¬ 
tain  portion  of  Simon-pure  corn,  and  genuine,  country- 
grown  oats  with  it,  but  the  product  is  nothing  like 
what  we  used  to  get  when  we  took  our  home-grown 
corn  and  oats  to  the  old  country  mill  and  had  them 
ground  together.  In  fact,  it  is  seldom  that  I  can  find 
in  the  feed  stores  anything  to  equal  that  mixture.  If 
this  mixture  is  sold  for  genuine  corn  and  oats,  it  is  a 
fraud  upon  the  purchaser,  and  the  perpetrator  is  no 
better  than  a  thief — in  fact,  is  a  thief.  Manufacturers 
doing  a  legitimate  business  don’t  have  to  “sneak” 
their  materials  into  the  back  door.  The  whole  busi¬ 
ness  is  a  mean,  contemptible  swindle  ;  a  fraud,  not 
only  upon  the  purchasers,  but  also  upon  the  helpless 
animals  compelled  to  eat  the  worthless  stuff,  for  not 
half  the  purchasers  ever  know  whether  they  are 
getting  what  they  pay  for  or  not.  How  many  other 
mills  are  engaged  in  the  same  or  a  similar  imposition  ? 
This  subject  should  be  thoroughly  ventilated. 
While  on  the  warpath  against  the  millers,  I  recall 
how  I  used  to  be  robbed  by  them  in  New  York  State. 
The  old  water  mills  grinding  wheat  with  stones,  used 
to  take  a  toll  of  one-tenth,  and  we  got  40  pounds  of 
flour  for  each  bushel  of  wheat — good  flour,  too.  When 
the  new  roller  mills  came  into  vogue,  the  millers  no 
longer  ground  each  man’s  wheat,  but  “  exchanged  ” — 
so  many  pounds  of  flour,  bran  and  canaille  for  each  60 
pounds  of  wheat. 
On  taking  my  grist  home  (which,  by  the  way,  was 
from  plump,  clean  wheat,  weighing  over  60  pounds  to 
the  struck  bushel),  I  was  surprised  at  the  apparently 
small  quantity  of  flour.  So  I  weighed  it  and  found 
that  I  had  received  36  pounds  of  flour,  and  12  pounds 
of  bran,  etc.  for  each  60  pounds  of  wheat.  Naturally 
1  concluded  that  I  had  been  robbed.  The  next  time  I 
went  to  the  village,  I  visited  the  miller  ;  but  thought 
I  would  learn  what  he  had  to  say  before  “  pulverizing  ” 
him.  He  informed  me  that  the  roller  mills  did  not 
make  so  much  flour  per  bushel  of  wheat  as  the  old- 
style  mills,  but  of  course  the  flour  was  of  much  better 
quality.  I  was  glad  that  he  informed  me  of  the  latter 
fact ;  I  might  not  have  discovered  it  otherwise. 
Then  I  reasoned  that,  as  I  got  less  flour,  I  should 
have  more  bran  ;  that  I  had  received  but  48  pounds  in 
all  for  each  60  pounds  of  wheat,  thus  giving  him  a  toll 
of  12  pounds,  or  one-fifth.  His  explanation  was  that 
the  rest  must  have  been  taken  out  by  the  smut 
machine  through  which  they  ran  all  their  wheat  be¬ 
fore  it  was  ground.  To  be  sure,  my  wheat  hadn’t 
been  run  through;  it  was  simply  exchanged  ;  but  that 
was  as  near  as  I  ever  came  to  getting  a  satisfactory 
answer.  I  don’t  know  the  law  on  the  subject,  or 
whether  there  is  any  law,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  one- 
fifth  is  a  pretty  heavy  toll  for  grinding  wheat,  when 
the  old  millers  apparently  did  well  in  grinding  it  for 
one-tenth. 
But  there  are  many  mysteries  about  the  milling 
business  too  deep  for  the  average  farmer’s  mind  to 
fathom.  This  recalls  an  old  story  : 
A  miller  whose  reputation  for  “shrewdness”  was 
well  known,  thinking  to  have  some  sport  with  a  half¬ 
witted  fellow  hanging  around  the  mill,  after  chaffing 
him  awhile,  asked  him  to  tell  him  all  he  knew. 
“  Wall !  ”  was  the  reply  ;  “  I  know  millers’  hogs  are 
always  fat.” 
“That’s  good,”  said  the  miller;  “  now  tell  me  all 
you  don’t  know.” 
“  Wall !  I  don’t  know  whose  corn  fats  ’em,”  was  the 
apt,  if  rather  unexpected  reply. 
Many  a  wiser  man  has  sorely  puzzled  his  brains  over 
similar  questions  without  coming  to  any  more  satis¬ 
factory  conclusions.  f.  h. 
A  Boom  m  Leaf-Tobacco  Growing. 
The  McKinley  Tariff  raised  the  duty  on  Sumatra 
leaf  tobacco  from  75  cents  and  $1  to  $2  and  $2.75  per 
pound.  This  tax  is  virtually  prohibitory,  for  although 
Sumatra  leaf  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  for  cigar 
wrappers,  the  Connecticut  product  approaches  it  so 
closely  in  excellence  when  carefully  raised,  that  little 
of  the  foreign  article  has  been  imported  since  the  new 
tariff  went  into  force,  on  October  6,  1890.  Since  then 
there  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the  production  of 
the  Connecticut  article  ;  but  all  recent  reports  from 
the  Connecticut  Valley  indicate  that  there  will  be  a 
regular  boom  in  the  business  this  year.  The  growers 
have  come  to  feel  that  there  is  no  likelihood  of  a  re¬ 
peal  of  this  feature  of  the  tariff  for  years,  and  now 
that  they  are  freed  from  all  fears  of  competition  with 
tobacco  produced  by  the  cheap  coolie  labor  of  Sumatra, 
they  are  eager  to  invest  heavily  in  leaf  tobacco  growth, 
certain  of  realizing  profitable  prices.  All  through  the 
valley  this  spring,  therefore,  there  are  unusual  signs 
of  activity  on  the  part  of  tobacco  growers,  and  new  or 
partly  completed  structures  for  housing  the  plants  dot 
the  country  on  every  side.  Not  only  are  houses  being 
put  up  by  fresh  adventurers  in  the  business,  but  all 
the  old  growers  are  erecting  new  drying  sheds  or  en¬ 
larging  the  old.  In  the  town  of  Sheffield  alone  about 
$50,000  worth  of  new  buildings  are  under  way,  most  of 
them  tobacco  barns.  Two  Hartfort  builders  have  con¬ 
tracts  for  buildings  for  41  farmers,  to  cost  $30,000. 
Although  last  year  the  increase  in  the  production  of 
tobacco  in  Poquonock,  Windsor,  East  Hartford,  Glas¬ 
tonbury  and  Bloomfield  was  20  per  cent  over  the  crop 
of  1890,  the  outlook  at  present  is  that  the  increase  in 
the  current  year  will  be  proportionately  still  greater. 
Not  only  is  the  boom  helpful  to  the  farmers,  but  also 
to  skilled  hired  men.  Capable  men  who  were  content 
with  $20  to  $24  per  month  and  board  last  year,  are  now 
in  strong  demand  at  $28  to  $30.  The  spacious  and  sub¬ 
stantial  character  of  the  new  buildings  for  housing  the 
tobacco  along  the  valley  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  assur¬ 
ance  of  the  farmers  in  the  success  of  their  business. 
In  Bloomfield  alone  about  18  buildings  are  in  process 
of  erection,  capable  of  sheltering  eight  acres  of  tobacco 
each,  and  costing  from  $400  to  $1,200  apiece.  Shrewd 
Yankees  would  not  invest  so  heavily  in  immovable  im¬ 
provements  were  they  not  morally  certain  of  success. 
A  Tool  Talk. 
I  agree  with  T.  J.  S. ,  page  134,  that  we  must  make 
use  of  the  most  improved  methods  and  the  best  labor- 
saving  machinery  in  the  production  of  our  crops.  A 
person  should  use  the  Keystone  hay  loader  at  least  one 
season,  and  get  used  to  working  it,  before  he  condemns 
it.  It  is,  in  my  opinion,  as  great  a  labor  saver  as  the 
other  haying  tools  made  use  of.  Hay  should  be  raked 
in  a  different  way  for  loading  to  the  best  advantage  by 
means  of  the  Keystone  loader,  from  the  way  in  which 
many  rake  it  for  hand  pitching,  although  I  have  oc¬ 
casionally  put  on  with  mine  hay  that  had  been  heaped 
for  handwork.  If  one’s  land  is  very  rocky  and  uneven 
I  should  not  advise  the  use  of  the  loader,  and  we  can¬ 
not  expect  as  good  work  from  any  machine  on  such 
ground. 
I  am  not  fully  satisfied  as  to  the  best  way  to  keep 
the  potato  beetles  in  check.  I  find  hand  work  slow, 
expensive  and  hard.  I  think  the  application  of  Paris- 
green  water  by  means  of  a  force  pump  the  best  way. 
I  should  be  glad  to  learn  of  a  cheaper  and  better  way 
of  applying  the  poison,  for  even  this  requires  hard 
work.  I  make  use  of  the  Aspinwall  planter,  Breed’s 
weeder  and  the  Hoover  digger  and  find  them  nearly 
perfect  for  the  uses  for  which  they  are  intended. 
In  fact,  I  believe  that  no  market  grower  of  potatoes 
can  long  put  his  product  in  market  and  sell  at  a  profit 
by  the  old  methods  of  cultivation  in  competition  with 
a  section  where  these  labor-saving  machines  are  largely 
used.  Of  course,  a  piece  of  ground  or  a  crop  may 
have  to  be  in  a  certain  condition  to  enable  a  machine 
to  do  its  best  work,  but  I  do  not  object  at  all  to  de¬ 
parting  from  the  “old  rut  ”  when  it  is  for  my  advan¬ 
tage  to  do  so.  In  this  portion  of  New  England — New 
Haven  County,  Conn. — not  enough  potatoes  are  grown 
to  fully  supply  our  local  markets.  I  believe  one’s 
chances  for  success  are  greater  in  producing  and  sell¬ 
ing  any  crop  at  a  profit,  by  keeping  the  cost  price 
low,  rather  than  by  getting  an  extreme  price.  J.  M.  b. 
Nitrate  of  Soda  for  Strawberries. 
Few  farmers  or  fruit  growers  appreciate  the  benefits 
of  special  manuring.  There  is  no  question  but  that  all 
of  the  elements  necessary  to  the  growth  of  plants 
should  be  in  sufficient  excess  in  the  soil  if  we  expect  to 
get  maximum  crops ;  still  it  does  not  follow  that  they 
should  all  be  applied  at  the  same  time.  Many  farmers 
know  that  grain  and  grass  may  be  wonderfully  bene¬ 
fited  by  light  applications  of  soluble  nitrogen  early  in 
the  season,  yet  they  fear  that,  some  how  or  other,  such 
applications  may  prove  disastrous  in  the  long  run  and 
hence  continue  to  go  on  in  the  old  way — without  inves¬ 
tigating  the  matter.  The  old  cry  that  stimulation  of 
present  crops  will  injure  the  land  for  future  crops  is 
still  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  many.  A  little 
experiment  with  nitrate  of  soda  upon  strawberries 
shows  the  benefits  of  applying  the  right  kind  of  food  at 
the  right  time.  The  experiment  was  carried  out  by  Mr. 
J.  M.  White  on  his  farm  near  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
The  land  is  a  sandy  loam ;  plants  of  the  Sharpless 
variety  were  set  in  1889  and  manured  at  the  time  of 
setting  with  1,500  pounds  per  acre  of  a  mixture  of 
kainit  and  precipitated  phosphate,  which  furnished  125 
pounds  of  actual  potash  and  150  pounds  of  available 
phosphoric  acid.  In  the  spring  of  1891  nitrate  of  soda 
finely  ground  and  at  the  rate  of  200  pounds  per  acre 
was  broadcasted  over  the  rows  after  the  foliage  was 
well  started,  but  before  any  bloom  had  appeared  ; 
care  was  taken  to  make  the  application  when  the 
leaves  were  dry.  The  plots — one  treated  with  nitrate 
and  one  untreated — were  one-eighth  of  an  acre  in  area, 
and  contained  four  rows  each  about  450  feet  long. 
Very  soon  after  the  application  a  decided  difference 
was  noticed  in  the  appearance  of  the  plants  on  the  two 
plots  ;  those  on  the  nitrated  plot  showing  a  deeper 
color,  larger  leaves  and  a  much  stronger  bloom.  The 
berries  were  carefully  measured  at  each  picking  and 
resulted  as  follows :  With  nitrate,  213  quarts  per 
plot  ;  without  nitrate,  163  quarts  per  plot — a  gain 
from  the  use  of  nitrate  of  51  quarts,  or  31  per  cent. 
This  was  due  mainly  to  the  increased  size  of  the  fruit; 
the  number  of  berries  was  apparently  but  little  in¬ 
creased. 
The  selling  price  of  the  berries  averaged  10%  cents 
per  quart.  There  was  therefore  a  gain  of  $5.54  per 
plot,  equivalent  to  $44.32  per  acre.  The  nitrate  cost 
$45  per  ton,  which  made  the  cost  of  the  amount  used 
$4.50  per  acre,  in  reality  a  return  of  10  cents  for  every 
cent  invested  in  the  nitrate.  There  is  no  doubt  but 
that  this  increase  in  yield  from  nitrate  alone  was  made 
possible  by  the  presence  in  the  soil  of  considerable 
amounts  of  the  mineral  elements  supplied  by  the 
dressing  of  phosphate  and  potash  made  in  1889,  though 
it  forcibly  illustrates  the  profits  that  may  be  derived 
from  special  manuring.  k.  b.  voorhees. 
Business  Bits. 
Almost  numberless  devices  for  doing  the  work  of  Breed's  weeder 
are  being  patented.  One  of  the  most  promising  has  been  Invented  by 
one  of  our  subscribers,  Mr.  Vreeland.  We  shall  have  a  picture  of  It 
soon. 
Actual  work  with  Breed’s  hand  weeder,  the  new  tool  pictured  on 
page  200,  proves  It  to  be  a  tlrst-rate  device  for  work  among  small 
plants.  A  scratcher  Is  better  than  a  digger  for  plant  babies. 
Here  in  Indlanola,  Ill.,  I  have  known  farmers  for  the  past  eight 
years  to  paint  young  fruit  trees  with  white  lead  and  oil,  or  oil  paint  of 
any  color,  with  good  results  as  a  guard  against  rabbits.  But  I  don't 
want  my  trees  painted  under  any  consideration.  Lane. 
The  Ontario  &  Western  Railway  will  sell  special  excursion  tickets 
from  New  York  to  all  points  on  Its  line,  on  Saturday,  May  28,  Sunday 
May  29,  and  Monday  May  30, 1892,  available  to  return  up  to  and  Includ¬ 
ing  May  31,  1892,  at  one  fare  for  the  round  trip,  to  enable  patrons  of 
the  line  residing  In  New  York  and  vicinity  to  select  boardinghouses 
for  their  families  for  the  coming  summer.  Tickets  can  be  procured  at 
the  ticket  ollices  at  323  Broadway,  the  foot  of  Jay  Street,  and  West  42nd 
St,  New  York. 
“  The  wagon  of  the  future,”  Illustrated  and  described  on  page  233, 
was  Invented  and  patented  by  Mr.  P.  H.  Monroe,  of  Plalnfleld,  Ill.,  who, 
having  thoroughly  tested  It,  llnds  It  perfectly  adapted  to  any  use  to 
which  a  farm  or  road  vehicle  can  be  put.  Several  of  the  agricultural 
papers  say  that  this  wagon  ought  to  be  on  the  market  so  that  all 
farmers  could  use  It.  That  is  so.  Some  manufacturer  should  take  it 
In  hand. 
Hay  Slings  for  Ensilage.— In  “Business  Bits,”  page  305,  w.  F.  H. 
asks  If  hay  slings  can  be  used  to  advantage  In  unloading  ensilage  corn. 
I  much  prefer  them  to  any  other  means  of  unloading.  Our  cutter 
stands  on  the  second  floor.  In  which  Is  a  large  opening;  the  sling  Is  laid 
across  the  wagon  and  encircles  half  a  ton  of  enBilage.  The  wagon  is 
driven  Into  the  barn  on  the  flrst  floor,  stopping  at  the  opening  in  the 
floor  overhead;  the  draft  rope  to  the  hay  carrier  Is  hooked  to  the  rear 
axle  of  the  wagon,  the  sling  Is  adjusted  to  the  trip  hook,  the  wagon 
driven  forward  through  the  barn;  the  load,  rising  through  the  opening, 
is  carried  over  the  large  table  of  the  cutter  and  deposited  thereon  In 
just  the  right  position  for  easy  feeding  Into  the  cutter  by  simply  pull¬ 
ing  the  trip  cord;  the  driver  unhooks  the  draft  rope  and  goes  to  the 
Held  for  another  load  if  nearby;  if  distant,  two  slings  are  used,  each 
holding  about  one-half  ton,  and  the  driver  goes  around  and  Into  the 
barn  again,  unloading  the  second  as  he  did  the  flrst  draft.  I  would 
prefer  unloading  In  this  way  with  the  cutter  on  the  flrst  floor,  for  no 
heavy  lifting  is  Involved.  The  advantage  of  having  the  cutter  on  the 
second  floor  Is  considerable:  the  team  can  place  the  ensilage  on  the 
table  just  as  well,  and  during  the  winter  the  opening  In  the  floor  being 
closed,  we  can  cut  the  dry  stalks  and  straw,  etc.,  without  littering  the 
lower  floors,  and  gain  floor  space  and  save  distance  in  elevating  the 
cut  ensilage  and  fodder.  p.  h.  munroe. 
