4oo 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
MAY 2 
be cultivated with the fork and not with the plow. The 
same Is generally true of plums and cherries. When 
Prof. Meehan first urged this plan on culturists It was 
strenuously objected to, but It has much In Its favor. 
If proper pruning Is carried on severe cutting can clearly 
be dispensed with, as a rule. But when old trees must be 
cut the chief mistake is in running them up and out, so 
that the bearing surface Is altogether on the outside of 
the tree. This plan is almost sure to be followed by pro¬ 
fessionals. It is a good plan if the purpose is to grow 
trunk and wood ; but not for fruit. I have seen some of 
the finest orchards in central New York ruined in this 
manner. 
I have worked much with very old apple trees, having 
now in my possession the oldest ever planted by white 
men west of Albany. I find the very best one can do with 
such trees is to keep suckers from eating out the vitality 
of old limbs; and let the trees otherwise alone. By care¬ 
fully watching suckers, an apple tree may do good service 
for at least a century. Mine were planted by Dominie 
Kirkland, missionary to the Oneida Indians, in the year 
1791 or 1792. Several of the trees are yet in good order. I 
believe nearly all would have been so but for neglect of 
sucker pruning fora few years. Unwise pruning or neg¬ 
lect of pruning is responsible for an enormous loss in fruit 
production. E. P. powkll. 
Oneida Co , N. Y_ 
FOUR FARM NOTES. 
Clover and Wheat In Talbot County, Md. 
H. S Hall (p 365), says : “ In the old slave times, a spear 
of clover was as scarce in Talbot as hen’s teeth, and eight 
to ten bushels of wheat was a good crop.” Mr. Hall 
knows very little of Talbot County in times past it is very 
evident. Clover has been grown in Talbot, as a field crop, 
as long as anywhere in the United States, and in the “old 
slave times” Talbot was famous for grand wheat crops 
long before artificial fertilizers were used. About 40 years 
ago Mr. Matthew Goldsborough raised in Talbot County, 
on a su Timer fallowed clover ley, 64% bushels of wheat per 
acre on part of a field, by actual survey and weight, and on 
the whole field 54% bushels per acre. In fact, “ in the old 
slavery times” there was as good farming done in Talbot 
County, Md., as anywhere in this country. Mr. Golds- 
borough’s crop was made from the old famous Blue Stem 
white wheat, now no longer grown, which was in its day 
the finest wheat in America. The writer was a boy in 
Talbot 40 years ago, and knows that Mr. Hall is misrep¬ 
resenting one of the finest wheat counties in the country. 
Wake Co., N. C. w. F. masset. 
Burning Stable Manure. 
The question mooted by Mr. Glover in a late Rural 
comes home to us in California as well, since we also have 
a somewhat dry climate and soil unless we wet up the 
latter with irrigation water. This solves the problem at 
once both for the soil and for the manure. But if enough 
water for irrigating the soil is not available in Mr. Glover’s 
region, surely enough can be had to keep a manure pile 
from either “ flre-fanglng” or drying out Well cured 
manure will be worih quite twice as much as the ash 
alone, in the best case, assuming that no great degree of 
heat has been obtained in burning ttie manure ; while if a 
good wind should fan the fire, the ash may oe worth little 
more than the clinkers from a straw-burning eng ne To 
prevent drying out and enable one to do with as little 
water as possible in keeping the manure properly moisten¬ 
ed for curing, it should be put in a pen made with boards, 
or in a water tight pit. If at all convenient, the horse 
manure should be mixed with the cow manure, as this 
makes it easier to prevent fire-fanglng, and le.-s watering 
is required. The total loss of the most costly portion of 
the manure—the nitrogen or ammonia—and the material 
diminution of the efficiency of the mineral ingredients, 
should restrict manure burning to the few cases in which 
no other method is reasonably or practically possitde. 
California Experiment Station. [PROF.] K. w. HILGAUD. 
Depth of Covering for Grass Seed. 
I have always advoc ited the covering of grass and clover 
seeds with a harrow since I discovered, nearly 20 years ago, 
that the seeds accidentally covered in by a second harrow¬ 
ing after oats bad been sown and harrowed in came up as 
soon as the oats, and, in spite of a long dry spell, grew 
along without auy check or loss. Then I studied the thing 
out and coceluded that the deep rooting of the young 
plants secured them against the danger and loss to which 
surface-sown seeds are subject. 
Some experimenters have given rules for the covering of 
seeds on a regular scale to a depth of about three or four 
times their diameter. This is most absurd and impractic¬ 
able, for it would give less than a quarter of an inch for 
wheat, half an inch for corn and practically no covering at 
all for grass seeds. I have just now an interesting object- 
lesson in this respect in a hot-bed which I made to grow 
onions for transplanting on Mr. Greiner’s plan. The man¬ 
ure was taken from the horse stalls where it is suffered to 
gather with the leaves used for litter until it is a foot 
deep. The hay fed was Timothy and Pea-vine Clover, cut 
when the clover contained a large quantity of seed, The 
manure was so full of seed that I hesitated to use it, but 
finally put it in and covered it with four inches of clean 
garden soil free from weed seeds, hoping the clover would 
not grow. Very soon the young clover appeared all over 
the bed, with stems growing from seed in the manure, 
four inches down, and so long were they that they broke 
off and could not be pulled up by the roots. On digging 
under, the soil was found to be filled with the stems of 
clover forcing their way through the four inches of soil. 
i have a field of oats which is now seeded with clover and 
Timothy. The ground was harrowed after both the seeds 
had been sown with an Acme harrow which certainly 
covered the seed two inches deep. The oats came up in a 
week; the next week (April 25) the clover appeared and 
very soon afterwards the Timothy, and as a peck of each 
seed was sown to the acre (my usual quantity) the ground 
is well covered with the young grass and clover. We have 
hsd a whole week of hot sun and drying winds, which 
would have entirely de-troyed this young grass had the 
seed been sown on the surface. Bub I am not anxious 
about it, although the dry spell promises to last some time 
longer, knowing that the roots have a safe hold on the 
moist soil below the surface. H. stewart. 
Macon County, N. C. 
Teaching by Object Lessons. The Burled “ Hard- 
Head” and The Plow Boy. 
The R. N.-Y. is right in advising parents to use the 
occurrences of every-day life as means to instruct their 
children and direct their attention to the natural sciences. 
The seeds of knowledge should be planted early while the 
minds of the young are bright and retentive. Good seed 
sown in good soil with careful cultivation is likely to 
produce a bountiful harvest. When the boy’s plow has 
struck an old hard-head, and brought the team up stand¬ 
ing with the plow bandies jammed into his ribs, it may 
comfort him to know, and be a salve to his bruises to hear 
that the bowlder is a “ lost rock” which was transported 
by a glacier, or an iceberg, perhaps hundreds of miles from 
its native ledge, and that the gravel and cobble stones he 
plows through had their angles worn off by being driven 
about from place to place by water during the drift period. 
So, too, by calling the attention of boys and girls to the 
curious things to be learned about familiar objects, weeds, 
plants, flowers, insect pests, birds, animals, and worms 
that prey upon the crops, you may succeed in getting 
them interested in geology, mineralogy and natural his¬ 
tory, which is right and proper, but you will be more 
likely to make them geologists, botanists, entomologists, 
and ornithologists than good farmers. We should give 
our children all the education we can afford, but we must 
not expect it will be any more likely to make them 
farmers, and so far as my observation extends the ten¬ 
dency of higher education is rather away from the farm. 
The boy whose mind has become filled with the poetry and 
philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome, who dreams of the 
heroes of Homer, the siege of Troy, and the voyages of 
Ulysses, who reads Plato and wrestles with the problems 
of Euclid, does not enjoy the tussle with the plow handles 
among the old “ hard-heads ” nor take kindly to the cow 
stable. The boys are not all needed on the farm. It is 
better that there should be a division of labor. There 
must be mechanics, merchants and professional men, 
lawyers, doctors, preachers aud teachers, to say nothing 
about editors. It is a wise arrangement of Providence 
that children are born with a natural inclination for dif¬ 
ferent pursuits in life, and our aim should be to find the 
natural bent or aptitude of the child’s mind and assist it 
in the direction it wants to go, instead of endeavoring to 
restrain it. The twig can be bent to grow towards the 
ground, or to grow crooked ; but the wise orchardist cul¬ 
tivates his trees aud trains them in the direction they 
want to go, which is the way nature intended. 
Bradford Co., Pa._ j. w. INGHAM. 
Farm Fohtics. 
Here it is proposed to discuss with freedom and fairness, ques¬ 
tions of National or State policy that particularly concern farm¬ 
ers. The editors disclaim responsibility for the opinions of cor¬ 
respondents. The object is to develop a true and fair oasis for 
organization among farmers. L,et us thins out just what we want 
and then strive for it. 
“ONE MORE F4RM!” 
When our political newspaper editors diagnose the pres¬ 
ent depression of agriculture, they seldom refer to one of the 
prime causes—“ too much land.”—Buying more land than 
we can pay for ; owning more than we can work profitably, 
and farming without available cash surplus. The decline 
in farm values during the past 25 years has been a cause 
of bitter experience to many unfortunate, short-sighted 
farmers, and is still felt throughout the country, esps 
daily In the States west of the great water. In eastern Ohio 
this class of debtors have about all settled with the courts 
and are beginning life over again or have gone down into 
their graves under a sea of trouble. Still there are always 
a few reckless, enthusiastic men who nuke this blunder. 
These are the men who curse our money lenders and 
especially our National banks ; while they are architects 
of their own misfortune nine times in ten. This class of 
men maintain the high rate of interest, unsettle farm 
values, and cast the great pursuit of agriculture into dis¬ 
repute. 
What does it cost ? All the capital you invested and the 
money you received during the struggle; the amenities of 
life, such as books, magazines, newspapers and art, farm 
improvements and conveniences in and around house and 
barns; and a broken home—the boys utterly disgusted 
with farm life and the daughters handicapped by lack of 
education and culture, and the mother—poor soul! we 
pity you in your old age ! Count the cost before you risk 
so much for one more farm. 
Again, some men make many of these killing sacrifices 
yet succeed in paying for their farms. They buy a farm for 
each boy, yet the drudgery, toil and disagreeable circum¬ 
stances and experiences of those boys in helping to pay for 
the places, drive them to spurn the coveted possession ere 
they hold it and they leave it, and their well meaning and 
unwise father with more acres than he can work in his old 
age. We see such cases everywhere. The other day I was 
talking to a man who owns about 300 acres of good land, yet 
does not realize as much cash or comfort from it as some 
men do from 50 acres. He began life poor, and in his old 
age he is ending it poor in the comforts and pleasures 
which should rest on one with so much capital. His chil¬ 
dren are uneducated; even to-day his literature consists of 
the county newspaper and a 50 cent semi-monthly sheet- 
all these for one more farm. Again, the folly of farming 
without an available cash surplus, means not having cash 
to pay for whatever you may buy in running your farm ; 
doing without a much needed piece of machinery or bay¬ 
ing without any discount; buying groceries, etc., at re¬ 
tail ; not making some necessary improvement on the 
farm ; or failing to start the sons and daughters off to 
college when they should go; or denying yourself and 
wife a pleasure trip to some resort, or being unable to visit 
friends. All these go by, as the cash “ goes into that note.” 
By having available cash, you can buy a note or a horse or 
a flock of sheep at a bargain, or pay for a new book or 
journal that will brighten the home circle. All happiness 
does not consist in having one more farm. 
If you must have more land work what you have thor¬ 
oughly, making it more productive every day, and then, 
after you have a surplus, you can bay with profit Put 
some of your profits in bank stock and safe and paying 
securities ; keep up a good library and subscribe for good 
journals and buy good machinery for the boys, and art 
work for the daughters, with a good education of course 
for each; give with a liberal hand to your church and its 
work, and clear judgment and a loyal discharge of your 
duties toward your State; then when farmers do all this 
our great industry will not be handicapped, but rank as 
the most poetic of husbandries. j. r. s 
Smithville, Ohio._ 
GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF RAILROADS. 
Shall this take place ? I should say most emphatically 
yes to a certain extent. Thfe government should not own 
the roads by any means or have the immediate control of 
them or, more properly speaking, the working control of 
them. My plan would be this: let the government take 
hold and control the freight and passenger rates on every 
railroad in this country, that is, let it make a uniform 
rate—so much per mile; for passengers say 1% cent no 
matter whether it be for five miles or for 500, aud let it do 
the same with regard to freight. Of course the rate for 
the latter would have to be classified to suit the different 
kinds of freight without allowing any favors to large 
shippers. Here is a vital point; all the large shippers get 
rebates in some shape. What does our Inter-State Com¬ 
merce Commission amount to ? Not much so far as I can 
see. Some may say that it regulates the freight and pas 
senger rates between different States, and does not allow 
the railroads to charge more for short than for long hauls. 
That is all correct; but if the Commissioners will take the 
trouble to look into the matter and compare some of the 
short-haul charges with the long haul I think they will 
find quite a difference in the proportionate charges. In¬ 
deed I know it. All railroads carry freight for 500 miles 
for figures nearly as low as those they charge for 100 
miles ; that is to say, the charges on the 500-mile haul are 
nothing like five times as much as on a 100 mile haul, and 
the same is the case with passenger rates. Now here lies 
much of the trouble, and it can be removed, but not so 
long as our railroads control our State and National law¬ 
making ; but the time is coming and not far off when there 
will be a change in this matter and the sooner it get* here 
the better. It makes no difference whether Republicans 
or Democrats have the controlling voice, the people are 
going to be heard on this question as well as on others 
of vital importance to the agricultural interests of the 
nation. J J. MITCHELL. 
Morris Co., N. J _ 
“THE REPUBLICAN DINNER DISSECTED.” 
Agreeably to The R. N.-Y.’sdesire expressed in its issue 
of May 9, to hear all sides of the politicil agitation, I con¬ 
cluded to add my mite of experience also. There shall be 
no celebration about this, however. I shall only endeavor 
to sprinkle the McKinley dinner, with farmers’ common 
sense, so that it may be the more easily digested. 
I find high tariff on manufactured goods both a fraud 
and a humbug; because if I purchase a coat containing 
two dollars’ worth of wool, I am obliged to pay from $20 
to $22, for no other reason than the fraudulent high-protec¬ 
tion on American labor. 
[Where do you have to pay that money for a coat ? The 
writer bought an entire suit for $17, which he has worn 
continuously for six months ! We can buy good suits for 
$12 and $14. Again, why is the tariff any more responsible 
for “shoddy” goods than it is for the sale of oleomar¬ 
garine ? Be fair in argument. Nothing is gained by mis¬ 
representation. There are plenty of sound arguments 
against a high tariff without resorting to such figures.— 
Eds.] 
The question naturally arises, does the American spinner, 
weaver, cutter and maker of this coat realize the profit 
arising from $16 to $18, and if not. who does ? This is a 
question to be seriously considered by this class of Ameri¬ 
can laborers. 
A little experience with our tinker will more fully 
illustrate this point. Before the McKinley Bill was a law, 
I had some spouting put up at eight cents per foot, com¬ 
plete. Now, under the McKinley protection I had a simi¬ 
lar job done, and was compelled to pay 10 cents per foot, 
besides the wages of an extra hand. This shows plainly 
that for every cent of tariff the manufacturer adds 10 cents 
for profits, and the laborer gets nothing. 
[Do you not know that the duty imposed by the McKiD- 
ley Bill on block tin does not go into force until July 1, 
1893 ?—Eds.] 
Why not levy a high tariff on imported pauper labor in¬ 
stead of on imported pauper manufactures ? 
Another little experience or rather incident, of which I 
was an eye-witness happened in Allentown only a few 
days ago. A contract made by the Allentown Electric 
Railroad with certain parties, who agreed to construct 
it during the season, caused the disturbance. Instead of 
engaging and employing American labor at living prices, 
