502 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
July  80 
Odds  and  Ends. 
Fighting  Ants. — In  Texas  they  have  a 
species  of  leaf-cutting'  ants  that  do  con¬ 
siderable  damage  in  gardens  and  vine¬ 
yards.  Dr.  C.  V.  Riley,  in  Insect  Life, 
tells  this  story  of  one  successful  battle 
with  them  : 
The  vineyard  of  Mr.  Kessler  is  sur¬ 
rounded  by  extensive  and  very  dense 
shrubbery,  which  was  full  of  the  ants. 
At  fir*t  these  did  great  injury,  but,  owing 
to  the  nature  of  the  grounds,  their  nests 
could  not  be  discovered.  Mr.  Kessler 
finally  fought  them  in  the  following  way: 
Armed  with  a  lantern  and  a  large  bottle 
containing  a  solution  of  cyanide  of  potas¬ 
sium  in  water,  he  made,  every  evening, 
the  circuit  of  his  vineyard.  The  columns 
of  ants  moving  from  the  woods  toward 
the  vines  could  thus  readily  be  found, 
and  across  each  of  their  pathways  a 
strip  of  about  three  inches  in  width  and 
five  inches  in  length  was  moistened  with 
the  cyanide  solution.  The  ants  never 
went  around  the  poisoned  spot,  but 
always  attempted  to  cross  it,  when  they 
were  at  once  killed  by  the  poisonous 
fumes.  This  performance  was  repeated 
night  after  night,  except  in  very  rainy 
weather,  and  the  vineyard  was  effectually 
protected. 
Picking  Growing  Potatoes. — In  the 
Experiment  Station  Record  we  find  the 
following  translation  from  a  German 
publication : 
In  the  vicinity  of  European  cities, 
where  there  is  a  demand  for  early  pota¬ 
toes,  farmers  follow  the  practice  of  dig¬ 
ging  into  the  hills  before  the  tubers  are 
all  ripe  and  removing  such  as  are  large 
enough  for  cooking.  The  soil  is  then  re¬ 
placed  and  the  others  allowed  to  grow. 
This  may  be  repeated  two  or  three  times 
during  the  development  of  the  plant. 
Since  it  has  been  claimed  that  by  this 
means  the  yield  is  increased,  the  effect 
of  this  practice  on  the  total  yield  of  pota¬ 
toes  was  made  the  subject  of  investiga¬ 
tion.  In  1888,  1889,  1890,  and  1891  a 
large  number  of  different  varieties  of 
potatoes,  including  both  early  and  late, 
were  grown  for  the  test.  The  large 
tubers  were  removed  from  some  of  the 
plants  of  each  variety  once  before  the 
final  harvest,  from  others  twice  and  three 
times,  and  on  still  others  they  remained 
undisturbed  until  all  were  dug.  In  every 
case  from  20  to  30  plants  received  the 
same  treatment.  The  conclusions  from 
the  results  are  that  the  total  yield  of 
tubers  where  they  were  removed  once  or 
oftener  during  the  growing  season  was 
larger  in  number  but  less  in  weight  than 
where  the  plants  remained  undisturbed 
until  ripe  In  general  the  disadvan¬ 
tageous  influence  of  fractional  harvest¬ 
ing  on  the  weight  of  the  total  yield  was 
more  noticeable  the  earlier  and  the 
oftener  the  tubers  were  removed. 
Some  horticultural  writers  have  as¬ 
cribed  pear  blight  (sometimes  called  “fire 
blight”)  to  a  fungous  growth;  but  J. 
W.  Ingham,  in  the  Practical  Farmer, 
thinks  that  the  blight  is  caused  by  sun- 
scald.  The  tree  being  thrifty,  the  limbs 
full  of  sap,  and  the  bark  thin,  the  heat 
of  the  sun  scalds  the  sap,  causing  it  to 
ferment  and  change  its  nature  from  a 
wholesome  nourishment  for  the  tree  and 
fruit  to  a  poisonous  substance  which  pro¬ 
duces  death  to  the  parts  affected.  It  is 
the  blood  poisoning  of  pear  trees.  If  the 
heat  of  fire  will  kill  the  hardy  forest 
trees,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  hot 
sunshine  at  a  particular  season  will  kill 
tender  pear  trees.  Youth  is  the  critical 
period  with  the  pear  trees.  If  we  could 
get  them  safely  past  the  dangers  incident 
to  this  period,  then  their  prospect  for 
long  life  and  usefulness  would  be  greater 
than  that  of  apple  trees.  He  would 
shade  young,  thrifty  growing  pear  trees 
with  canvas,  or  long  pine  or  hemlock 
limbs,  during  the  hot  weather  in  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  summer. 
We  fear  Mr.  Ingham’s  theory  will  not 
stand.  Fire  blight  sometimes  makes 
its  appearance  in  the  large  limbs  and 
sometimes  on  the  trunk,  when  the  ends 
of  the  limbs  are  perfectly  healthy,  so  far 
as  can  be  seen,  and  my  observation  leads 
me  to  believe  that  old  trees  are  as  liable 
to  death  from  this  pest  as  are  young  ones. 
In  fact,  I  have  seen  whole  orchards 
killed,  where  the  trees  had  trunks  from 
eight  to  ten  inches  in  diameter.  f. 
Another  Bunko  Game. — One  of  our 
subscribers  in  Indiana  sends  us  an  ac¬ 
count  of  the  way  in  which  his  neighbor, 
a  shrewd  and  well-to-do  farmer,  was 
caught  by  an  old-time  swindle.  A  scamp 
calling  himself  Hudnut,  the  name  of  a 
well-known  business  man,  called  on 
Farmer  Brown  and  told  a  nice  story  about 
wanting  a  farm.  They  started  off  to  look 
at  farms : 
On  the  way  they  met  a  man  who  looked  like  a 
tramp,  who  said:  “Hello,  Yanks,  can  you  tell  me  the 
way  to  Bloomlngrlale  ?  ”  The  tramp  said  that  he  had 
been  up  to  Tanglers  to  see  his  sister,  and  found  that 
she  was  dead  and  that  her  husband  had  moved  out 
to  Oklahoma,  that  he  had  started  to  ride  back,  but 
the  farmer’s  wagon  on  which  he  was  riding  had 
broken  down.  The  man  then  started  on,  but  In  a 
minute  he  hailed  them  and  came  back,  and,  patting 
his  breast,  said  that  he  bad  some  “chicken  feed’’ 
and  “  toad  skin  ”  he  would  like  to  get  rid  of,  and  laid 
down  three  cards,  two  black  and  one  red  one.  The 
man  representing  himself  as  Mr.  Hudnut  Immedi¬ 
ately  took  the  trump  up,  and  drew  one  of  the  cards 
and  won  $100,  which  the  tramp  paid  from  a  large 
roll  of  bills  which  he  took  from  his  breast.  They 
drew  several  more  times,  and  every  time  the  sup¬ 
posed  Mr.  Hudnut  won.  Finally  Mr.  Hudnut  de¬ 
clared  that  he  would  play  no  more,  and  suggested  to 
Mr.  Brown  that  he  draw  a  card.  Mr.  Brown  refused. 
Mr.  Hudnut  then  told  Mr.  Brown  to  draw  for  him, 
which  Mr.  Brown  did,  and  he  won  $1,000,  which  was 
paid  over  to  Mr.  Hudnut. 
Finally  the  tramp  offered  to  bet  $10,000, 
and  Brown  and  Hudnut  went  to  town, 
where  Brown  drew  $6,000  out  of  a  bank. 
They  went  back,  bet  and  won.  Then 
Mr.  Hudnut  took  the  $10,000  and  put  it  In  a  tin  box 
and  handed  It  to  Mr.  Brown.  He  told  Mr.  Brown  that 
he  had  better  get  out  of  the  buggy  and  wait  while  he 
drove  the  tramp  to  a  shady  place  up  the  road.  Mr. 
Brown  agreed  to  this,  and  started  to  get  out  of  the 
buggy.  Mr.  Hudnut  suggested  to  Mr.  Brown  that  he 
had  better  let  him  hold  the  box  while  he  was  getting 
out.  Mr.  Brown  let  him  take  the  box.  which  he 
placed  under  the  seat.  When  Mr.  Brown  was  out, 
Mr.  Hudnut  took  a  tin  box  just  like  the  one  he  had 
the  bills  In  and  handed  it  to  Mr.  Brown.  Then  Mr. 
Hudnut  and  the  tramp  drove  off.  Mr.  Brown  stood 
waiting  with  his  tin  box  for  Mr  Hudnut  to  return, 
but  he  did  not  come,  and  he  grew  suspicious  and 
started  home.  When  he  got  to  his  barn  he  took  a 
chisel  and  knocked  the  hinges  off  the  box.  In  it  were 
a  piece  of  ribbon,  some  grass,  some  chips  and  a  few 
other  small  articles,  but  no  $10,000.  They  had  given 
him  the  wrong  box.  Mr.  Brown,  at  police  headquar¬ 
ters  yesterday,  said  that  his  wife  and  children  were 
almost  tickled  to  death  to  think  that  he  had  gotten 
off  so  easily.  He  thought  that  a  guardian  ought  to 
be  appointed  to  take  care  of  him.  He  offers  a  reward 
of  $2,000  for  the  delivery  of  the  two  men  to  the  Sheriff 
of  Farke  County.  Brown  admitted  yesterday  that 
the  alleged  Hudnut  had  promised  to  give  him  half 
of  the  winnings  in  the  gambling  game.  That  was  the 
bait  that  caught  the  sucker. 
Ought  to  be  Prosecuted. — A  young 
woman  just  returned  from  a  year’s  stay 
in  Alabama  said,  taking  apiece  of  bread, 
“  That’s  the  first  piece  of  ‘  light  bread  ’  I 
have  eaten  in  six  months.  We  have 
baking-powder  biscuits  entirely.” 
“  Have  you  had  any  roasted  meats  ?” 
“No,  nothing  but  fried.  Bacon  and 
salt  pork  almost  entirely.  It  was  all 
bought  too — none  of  it  raised.” 
“  Any  oat  meal  or  other  cereal  prepa¬ 
rations  ?” 
“Why  no!  They  are  not  ‘filling’ 
enough.  People  who  work  hard  need 
meat !” 
“  What  did  the  children  eat  ?” 
“  The  same  as  the  rest,  of  course.  The 
baby,  six  months  old,  eats  string  beans, 
cabbage,  pot  liquor  and  anything  soft ! 
The  baby  that  can  eat  such  things  first 
is  the  smartest !” 
What  is  the  matter  with  such  people 
anyway  ? 
Is  it  their  deliberate  intention  to 
cripple  their  children  and  make  them 
face  the  world  with  weakened  constitu¬ 
tions — unable  to  digest  and  assimilate 
the  nourishment  they  need  to  do  good 
work  ?  Of  course  not !  Yet  that  is  just 
what  tliejr  are  doing.  If  they  kept  pull¬ 
ing  a  little  child's  arm  until  the  muscles 
almost  gave  way,  that  arm  would  be  next 
to  useless.  Here  they  are  overloading 
and  ruining  the  whole  digestive  system — 
the  most  important  function  of  the  whole 
body.  They  deserve  to  be  prosecuted  if 
ever  people  did.  We  hear  about  people 
“  digging  their  graves  with  their  teeth” 
—thousands  of  poor  little  children  have 
living  graves  dug  for  them  before  they 
have  any  teeth  at  all.  With  all  the 
horrors  of  intemperate  drinking  before 
us  it  is  an  open  question  whether  intem¬ 
perate  eating  is  not  a  greater  curse. 
“Don’t  Tobacco  Spit  Your  Life  Aivay” 
Is  the  startling,  truthful  title  of  a  little  book  just  re¬ 
ceived,  telling  ull  about  Notobac,  the  wonderful,  harm¬ 
less,  economical,  guaranteed  cure  for  the  tobacco  habit 
in  every  form.  Tobacco  users  who  want  to  quit  and 
can’t,  by  mentioning  The  Rchai.  New-Yokker 
can  get  the  book  mailed  free.  Address  THE  STER¬ 
LING  REMEDY  CO.,  Box  179,  Indiana  Mineral 
Springs,  Ind.— Adv. 
One  Year’s  Subscription,  $2.00  /  Together  for  only 
One  Fine  Pocket  Knife,  $1.00^ 
So  many  knives  are  called  for  by  subscribers 
that  we  have  made  a  careful  search 
and  believe  that  we  have  found  as 
good  a  farmer’s  knife  as  there 
is  made.  It  is  so  good 
that  we  have  named  it 
the  “  Rural  New- 
Yorker”  knife. 
It  is  brass- 
lined,  with 
German 
silver  bol¬ 
ster,  han¬ 
dle  buck- 
horn,  made 
of  fine  ra¬ 
zor  steel.  Price  of  knife  alone,  prepaid,  $1.  With  one  year’s  subscription  to  The 
Rural  New-Yorker  only  $2.25.  If  your  subscription  is  already  paid  for  1892,  the 
paper  may  be  sent  to  a  new  name.  Given  as  a  premium  for  three  new  sub¬ 
scriptions  from  receipt  to  January,  1893,  and  $2.50. 
The  Bay  State  Hammock,  “  Perfection,”  has  a  woven  body,  and  is  the  hand¬ 
somest  and  most  durable  of  any  that  we  have  examined.  It  does  not  pull  the 
buttons  from  the  clothing,  and  is  still  open  enough  to  allow  the  air  to  pass  through 
and  keep  the  body  cool.  There  is  a  curved  spreader  at  one  end.  We  offer  the  No. 
4,  which  is  11  feet  long  ;  body  six  feet ;  and  36  inches  wide  ;  will  safely  hold  a  man 
of  300  pounds’  weight.  Price,  by  express,  $1.00.  With  a  subscription  to  The  R’  N.- 
Y.  from  receipt  to  January,  1893,  for  only  $1.50.  Given  as  a  premium  for  three 
new  trial  subscriptions  to  January,  1893,  accompanied  by  $2.25.  We  prepay  the 
charges  for  25  cents  additional. 
The  Hammock  Chair,  made  of  the  same  material  as  the  above,  suspending  ropes 
included.  Price  75  cents,  prepaid.  Given  to  any  old  subscriber  sending  one  new 
subscription  to  January,  1893,  and  $1.25. 
ACHROMATIC  TELESCOPE.  PRUNING  SHEARS. 
Few  things  are  more  interesting  or 
useful  in  both  leisure  and  busy  moments 
in  the  country  than  a  good  telescope,  or 
harder  to  find.  We 
believe  that  we  have 
in  this  a  thoroughly 
good  telescope  that 
we  can  offer  to  our 
subscribers  in  confi¬ 
dence  that  it  will  give 
satisfaction.  W  hen 
extended  it  is  over  16 
inches,  and,  when 
closed,  6  %  inches  in 
length.  On  a  clear 
day  you  can  distinctly 
see  time  on  a  tower 
three  miles  away. 
The  moons  of  Jupiter 
can  be  seen  with  it. 
The  telescope  tubes 
are  made  from  heavy 
polished  brass ;  the 
body  is  covered  with 
morocco,  making  a 
thoroughly  substan¬ 
tial  instrument.  It  is 
achromatic  ;  that  is, 
does  not  blur  the 
vision  by  a  confusion 
of  colors.  Retail 
price,  $4.50.  Price  to 
our  subscribers,  sent 
prepaid,  $3.  Or,  for  $3.50  we  will  send 
the  telescope  and  extend  your  own  sub¬ 
scription  for  one  year.  Special  offer  : 
Given  as  premium  to  any  old  subscriber 
who  will  send  us  three  new  subscriptions 
to  date  from  receipt  to  January,  1893, 
and  $4.  We  test  each  one  before  sending 
it  out.  The  user  must  remember  that 
the  tubes  should  be  pulled  out  full  length, 
and  the  adjustment  to  the  eye  made  only 
with  the  section  nearest  the  eye  piece 
moving  it  out  and  in  as  necessary. 
Every  person  who  grows  fruit  wants  a 
pair  of  these  shears.  You  can  go  to  the 
store  and  pay  $1  for  a  pair,  or  you  can 
get  your  neighbor  to  take  The  Rural, 
and  thu6  get  a  pair  for  nothing.  These 
shears  are,  like  The  Rural — “  all  right !” 
Price,  $1,  postpaid.  With  a  subscription 
for  balance  of  this  year,  only  $1.50. 
MILKING  TUBES. 
For  Sore  and  Obstructed  Teats  and  Hard  - 
Milking  Cows. 
Directions. — The  long,  rounded  end  of 
the  tube  is  inserted  in  the  orifice  of  teat, 
when  the  milk  will  flow  without  the  use 
of  the  hands.  Wet  the  tube  with  a  drop 
of  milk  or  water  before  using.  Remove 
tube  when  milk  ceases  to  flow.  For  the 
use  of  Veterinary  Surgeons  and  Special 
Cases  longer  sizes  are  made.  The  tubes 
are  made  of  Coin  Silver.  These  tubes 
PILLING’S  PATENT. 
SOLID  COIN  SILVER. 
have  been  extensively  used  by  veterinary 
surgeons,  practical  dairymen  and  breed¬ 
ers,  and  found  to  be  efficient  and  often¬ 
times  highly  valuable  in  preserving  the 
usefulness,  sometimes  even  the  lives  of 
valuable  cows. 
Price,  each,  50  cents ;  per  set  of  four, 
$2;  by  mail  postpaid.  We  give  it,  to¬ 
gether  with  a  year’s  subscription,  for  £2; 
or  the  set  of  four  with  subscription,  for 
$2.25.  If  your  own  subscription  is  paid 
for  1892,  you  can  sell  the  subscription  to 
a  neighbor. 
THE  RURAL  PUBLISHING  CO.,  Times  Building,  New  York. 
