i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
353 
Business. 
THE COST OF THE TURN. 
A man started out from his barn to do some plowing. 
He had four fields of exactly the same size and placed at 
right angles. He proposed to plant four crops, one in each 
field, and he wished to know the exact cost, in time and 
labor, of the four crops. Looking at his watch he found 
it took 10 minutes to go from the barn to the first field. 
Here was a total loss of time and labor for both himself 
and the horse. This he called the non-paying labor. 
Arriving at the first field he plowed it round and round 
till he reached the center. At each corner he was obliged 
to turn, and this was non-paving work. When the work 
was done he found he bad made 29 turns and each turn 
took one minute, or a loss o f 29 minutes. He then trans¬ 
ferred the horse and plow to the next field, this also being 
non paying work, costing 10 minutes’ time. At each of the 
remaining fields there was this transfer and a restarting 
of the work, costing 10 minutes each. When all was done 
he lost 10 minutes more in returning to the barn. Now, the 
really useful work was the plowing, \ hs stops, starts, turns, 
transfers and journeys to and from the barn all being a 
loss that should be charged to the cost of the four crope. 
When the work was done the man arranged these losses in 
two columns, thus: 
Pieces of non-paying work. 
Start tr„m barn. 1 
Turns In plowing four fields.118 
Transfers to next field. 3 
Return to barn. 1 
Time lost, minutes. 
10 
116 
3d 
10 
Total.121 166 
Late in the season he cultivated the crops three times by 
crossing each field to and fro from east to west. Again he 
counted the pieces of useless or non paying work as fol¬ 
lows :— 
Pieces of non paying work. Time lost, minutes. 
Journey from bam. 1 10 
Turns In cultivating. 52 52 
Transfers . 3 30 
Return to barn. 1 10 
Total. 
51 
102 
The crops were cultivated three times, so the total work 
and time lost to be charged to the crops were as follows:— 
Pieces of useless work, 292; total time lost, 7 hours and 46 
minutes. 
The next year the farmer tore down the division fences 
and threw the four small fields into one large, square one. 
Again he made careful notes of the time and labor lost in 
the journeys to and fro from the field and the turns in plow¬ 
ing There were no transfers from field to field, for he be¬ 
gan at one corner of the big field and plowed round and 
round continuously until it was all plowed. He then had 
merely to cross half the field and return to the barn, His 
note-book showed the following result:— 
Pieces of non-paying work. 
Journey from barn. 
Turns In plowing. 
... 1 
Time lost, minutes 
10 
... :7 
57 
Crossing half of fields. 
... 1 
5 
He urn to barn. 
. 1 
10 
Total. 
....60 
82 
In cultivating farm crops he drove his team straight 
across from east to west and from crop to crop, the crops 
being arranged in long parallel rows. The lost time and 
labor were as follows :— 
Pieces of non-paying work. 
Journey from barn . 
Turns. 
... 1 
Time lost, minutes, 
10 
... 28 
28 
Return to barn. 
... 1 
10 
Total. 
....SO 
43 
The cost of plowing and cultivating the four crops was 
now reduced as follows: Total pieces of work, 150 ; total 
time lost, 3 hours and 46 minutes. Comparing the four 
small fields with the one large field, he found that with 
four fields he did 292 pieces of non paying work and lost 
7 hours and 46 minutes. In one large field he did 
only 150 pieces of non pajiug work and lost only 3 
hours and 46 minutes. The above account is wholly 
imaginary, and yet does it not give the key to many a 
discouraging farm account book ? The Eastern man who 
must stop his plow and lose time and labor every 500 feet 
must pay more for his crops than the Dakota farmer, who 
can plow straight ahead without stop or turn for two 
miles. 
How big are your fields ? Have you any useless division 
fences f Can you plow straight ahead the entire length of 
your place ? 
Think it over. Charles barnard. 
An Idaho Fence-post Farm. 
My farm is an experimental one, so to speak. No cash 
sales have been made excepting for hay, which I have never 
sold for less than $10 per ton on^he ranch. The farm con¬ 
sists of 175 acres purchased directly from the government: 
75 acres are under fence and 100 acres pastural land. My 
thousands of young trees for timber are exceptionally fine. 
At first I tried several kinds specially recommended to en¬ 
dure hot, dry, weather continuing for from 60 to 100 days. 
The Black Locust is far ahead of anything thus far tested. 
These trees are easily grown and I shall use them for fence 
posts. Pitch Pine and Red Fir, our principal mountain 
timber, when used as posts, rot down in from two to four 
years. This makes fencing and repairing a very heavy tax. 
I know that many farmers do not seriously consider this 
matter and therefore go on repeating their work of fencing 
and rebuilding over and over without ever stopping to 
reason with themselves as to possible improvements. The 
trees that I am growing have a value, as I figure it, equal 
to $40 per year per acre, until they are 8 to 10 years old, 
when they will be from four to six inches in diameter. 
Shallow cultivation must not be neglected under any cir¬ 
cumstances: one's success depends upon it. Black Wal¬ 
nuts do not do well without an abundance of water. Box 
Elder is next to the Black Locust in enduring drought. 
Horseshoe Bend, Idaho. A. L. r. 
A Long Island Stump Farm. 
My farm is on Long Island and contains 21 acres, about 
17 of which I cultivate, and but four acres are as yet clear 
of stumps. Cash sales are as follows: 
Poultry, eggs, etc. $83.99 
Butter ana milk . 228.18 
Fruit and vegetables. 516.60 
Labor. . 57.52 
Miscellaneous .. ” 12 83 
Cattle, hogs, etc.45‘s7 
Grain, hay, etc. 2.50 
Total. $1 022.19 
I paid for farm help $86 24; for grain, $136.28, and fer¬ 
tilizer, $138 90. I keep four cows. The fruits and vege¬ 
tables consisted of strawberries, potatoes and turnips with 
some garden truck. The soil is increasing in fertility 
and productiveness, and I believe it capable of doubling 
the above amount, and I shall endeavor to induce it to do so. 
Terryville, N. Y. p. k. t. 
From the Depths of the North Woods. 
About 12 years ago I bought 150 acres of land in the 
woods ; not a foot of it was cleared. Now I have about 35 
acres cleared up and under cultivation ; about 10 acres are 
in pasture, 8 acres in crops and the remaining 17 in grass. 
I cut 35 tons of hay by measurement in one mow and one 
scaffold. I have raised 400 bushels of potatoes, 80 bushels 
of oats, 60 bushels of buckwheat, and 100 bushels of ruta¬ 
bagas. The oats were very poor last summer. I have a 
nice young orchard of 140 trees which are just beginning 
to bear—all choice fruit. Not a cent has been paid out for 
labor. I and my boys have done it all ourselves, and the 
boys work out occasionally, but I let them have all the 
money they earn, which keeps them in pocket money. I 
have a barn 35 by 45 feet, with 18-foot posts. It is built 
on a little hill-side, which gives me a bay 35 feet deep and 
20 by 35 feet. I am carrying three young horses, three 
cows and four heifers, which will be cows this spring. 
There are also six calves, ten sheep and three hogs. The 
following statement is correct to the best of my know¬ 
ledge : 
Butter and milk.. 
. $34.66 
172 bushels potatoes. 
Two tom of hay. 
hlght bushels buckwheat and flour... 
Eggs. 
Wool. 
One cow for beef. 
Two sheep and one lamb .*. . 
. 18 CO 
Team work when not on farm. 
700 pounds maple sugar. 
10 gallons maple syrup. 
Garden truck. 
117 cords of wood, 18 Inches long, at 
cord. . 
14 shilling’ per 
53 cords at 8shillings per cord. 
Square timber_ 
. 28.9) 
Logs delivered on Hudson River. 
Total.. 
These figures are from the first of February, 1890, to the 
first of February, 1891. The team work was drawing gar¬ 
net from the mines to the depot. The 117 cords of wood 
were drawn from two to eight miles to market; the 58 
were sold on the place. My assessment is $300. 
Warren Co., N. Y. r. h. turner. 
SOME MORE FARM FIGURES. 
From a Wisconsin Farmer’s Books. 
This farm is in Outagamie County, Wis. The present 
owner settled on it in 1856, the land at that time being 
covered with a heavy growth of hard wood timber. The 
quarter section (160 acres) was bought from Uncle Sam 
in 1849. Our crops have been wheat, oats, hay, corn, pota¬ 
toes, etc. Besides the annual crops produced on the farm, 
wife and I have raised a family of seven boys and girls. 
The farm is the home for all of them yet. I have always 
kept an account of sales and expenses : here are the figures 
for the last year. There are about 50 acres under the 
plow, 70 in meadow and pasture and 40 in woodland. 
SALES. 
Grain and hay.$221.00 
Calves and pigs. 43.00 
Sheep and wool.... . 66.10 
Fork and meat. 126.00 
Butter and cheese. 210.00 
Maple sugar and syrup.. ’ 122.50 
Timber and wood. 55.00 
Sorghum syruD.’ 10.75 
Fruit trees and plants . 12.75 
Fruit, app es. grapes and berries. 142.00 
Vegetables. 39.00 
Eggs. 4.09 
Total... 
Besides enough to 
surplus for sale. 
Hay. 
oats. 
Pop-corn. 
.$1,042.00 
carry me through the year, I have 
$50.00 
90.00 
30.00 
a 
Total.$170.0) 
Tolal cash.$1,212.00 
Receipts from farm in 1890. E. nye. 
CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS VS. WEEDS AND 
INSECTS. 
It is evident that there can be no weed seeds in chemical 
fertilizers. Some readers who have had little experience 
with these fertilizers want to know if it is a fact that they 
“kill insects.” The following note from Dr. Hoskins 
answers this question: 
“For a long, long time every market gardener, and, in 
fact, many private gardeners as well, maintained that 
stable manure,—well rotted stable manure in unlimited 
quantity,—was the only fit application for the garden. 
They admitted the evil of weed seeds and of insects, espe¬ 
cially cut-worms and white grubs, attracted by the pres¬ 
ence of the dung in the soil. These are unquestionably a 
great annoyance, and the cause of much loss In garden 
or field, do what we may to exterminate them. 
“They at one time became such a nuisance to me among 
my cabbages and lettuce, beans, peas and strawberries, 
cucumbers, melons and squashes, that the pleasure and 
profit of gardening were fast turning to loss and disgust. 
About that time I was beginning to use a little commer¬ 
cial fertilizer on my farm for field crops, corn in particular, 
and worked gradually into it for sweet corn in the garden, 
until now I have used the Bradley fertilizers chiefly for 
nearly a quarter of a century with entire satisfaction. To 
those accustomed to use dung alone in the garden, with its 
inevitable accompaniments of weeds and innumerable and 
destructive grubs, the free use of fertilizers in its place will 
come with wonderful relief. The cost of the fertilizer is a 
bugbear to some, but it will be found that when everything 
is counted, the fertilizer is the cheaper every time. The 
saving in labor of the most disagreeable kind, and the 
freedom from dung loving maggots, which must have our 
young plants as a dessert, far more than compensate for 
any extra cost. 
“ I shall have to call attention, however, to the fact that 
the fertilizer does not exterminate insects; it simply does 
not attract them. They do not all disappear at once, or 
perhaps wholly disappear at any time ; bat in numbers 
they are so reduced as to cease to be a serious consider¬ 
ation. I may add that I still use some dry, unleached 
ashes to scatter freely along the rows of my onions, finding 
this’ reduces the activity of the white maggots. A like 
result is seen from a free use of the same upon radishes 
and turnips.” 
OLD APPLES RUNNING OUT ; RUSSIANS. 
H. H., CatskillStation, N. Y.—l. Why is it our old kinds 
of apples, such as Greenings, Northern Spys and Bald¬ 
wins, are about entirely running out ? The two former 
will hardly pay to put In the cellar for winter. Last 
fall I selected some extra fair and nice, barreled them 
and put them in my cellar. About January 15 I opened 
the barrels with the expectation of having something 
nice; much to my surprise I found them almost as bad 
as Russets and hardly fit to eat. Northern Spys were 
almost as bad, while the Baldwins kept fairly well. 2. 
Are any of the new Russian Apples a success in this 
country or latitude, such as Tetofsky, Yellow Transparent, 
Alexander, Haas, Duchessof Oldenburg, Red Bletigheimer, 
Stump, Jacob’s Sweet, Longfleld, Mann, McIntosh Red, 
Pewaukee, Red Canada, Stark, Sutton’s Beauty, 
Wealthy ? If so, which are the best suited to this part of 
New York State ? 
Ans.— Is this fact established ? Are all the orchardists 
about Catskill Station having the same experience, 
every year, or frequently ? It should be remembered 
that last year was an exceptionally bad one for apples. 
When apples are few, insects injure them much more 
than when plentiful, and consequently their keeping 
quality is impaired. Fungous disease is much more harm¬ 
ful in an unfavorable season. If this correspondent had 
any “extra fair and nice” apples to put away last year, 
he was very fortunate. Their not keeping right may have 
been due to not putting them into a cellar sooner, if 
they were kept in a changing temperature, which always 
tends to cause decay. 2. None of the Russian or other 
Iron-clad apples is better in quality than the well-known 
sortp, and the number of such that would be long keepers 
in southern New York is very small. Where there is a 
market for early sorts, Yellow Transparent, Red Bietig- 
heimer, Red Astrachan and Oldenburg are very market¬ 
able fruits. If I were to test a new winter kind for that 
locality it would be Belle de Boskoop, highly praised by 
Charles Downing. T. H. HOSKINS. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Divided Screen Door.— Fig. 119 shows a divided screen 
door. The lower part opens independently of the upper, 
and Is used by the little children of the family. It keeps 
out swarms of flies that would otherwise come in near the 
Divided Screen Door. Fig. 1 1 9. 
top. A., is a strip nailed to the lower door, lapping on to the 
upper one so that when the latter is opened by a grown 
person the other will open too. The spring, 13, is attached 
to the lower door. A c c 
What about those paper berry baskets ? Mr. Proctor, 
two weeks ago, said he had found them excellent. Another 
man in Illinois says : ‘ Do not advise any one to use paper 
berry boxes. I used them and lost $100. I had to buy 
other boxes before the season was half over.” What do 
you say about it ? Let us hear from those who have tried 
them. 
Spraying Fruit Trees. — a catalogue from P. C. Lewis, 
Catskill, N. Y., gives a good deal of valuable information 
about spraying trees for the codling moth and other 
insects. The pamphlet tells not only how to kill the 
insects, but where to obtain suitable tools for doing the 
work. The spraying outfit made by Mr. Lewis will be 
found just as represented. The Rip Van Winkle chair is 
another article sold by Mr. Lewis. As it has over 200 
changes of position, the most tired man in the world 
ought to be able to find one to suit him. 
