5l2 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
CHEMICALS AND CLOVER. 
WHEN AND WHERE ARE THEY VALUABLE? 
Feeding: a Hungry Soli. 
Mr. Levels is fond of saying: “ I wiil take any farm in 
the country that is reasonably level and has anything in 
the way of ‘foundation,’ no matter how poor it may be, 
and double Us producing capacity at a profit .” 
There are plenty of farmers who will agree to improve 
any naturally strong soli that is “ worn out.” They will 
use sheep or dairy cows, and gradually improve the soil, 
but there will be no money profit while, they are doing it. 
They must look to the improved condition of the soil for 
the returns from their labor. Mr. Lewis proposes to im¬ 
prove the farm and ‘‘make money ” at the same time. He 
will do it by using great doses of high grade fertilizers on 
potatoes, and following with wheat, grass and corn. Right 
in his neighborhood is a farm that he takes pleasure in 
showing as an illustration of his method of “doctoring 
land.” 
It is a “hungry ” farm if there ever was one, though it 
has eaten many a hard day’s work, many a hard earned 
dollar, many a night’s rest and tons of peace of mind and 
health. Its capacity for eating seemed unlimited because 
it was never more than half fed. There are about 60 seres 
of naturally good land. The former owner received it as 
a gift—“fell heir to it.” For years he tried to make a living 
at the old-time methods of farming, keeping poor stock, 
manuring the wheat, and using a little fertilizer. He 
could not make a living, and finally sold the place to its 
present owner, a young man who gave a mortgage for 
the whole value. That was some four years ago. When 
we visited the farm this year good judges said the crops 
were double what they were when the farm was bought. 
The young man is paying off his mortgage, has painted 
and improved his buildings, and is gaining on his debt 
all the time. This year he has 11 acres of corn, seven of 
potatoes, 14 of wheat, 16 of grass, and four in orchard and 
pasture. He keeps five cows and half a dozen sows, and 
“ has all the stock he wants to carry.” This year he used 
eight tons of fertilizer, and in addition seven bags of muri¬ 
ate of potash as, in common with many farmers in that 
section, he thinks his soil needs extra potash. He has not 
yet been through one round of rotation, and yet his farm 
is paying a profit besides growing stronger all the time. 
This young man is “a worker.” But so are thousands of 
others who are struggling in the jaws of a hungry farm 
that seems bent on devouring them. How was this hungry 
mouth closed ? By giving it a full meal—of food that 
went “ right to the spot”—so soluble that the potito roots 
could find it at once. This young man was brought up on 
a fertilizer farm, and taught to believe that the soil about 
him was able to take good care of all the fertilizer that 
could be put in it. The first thing he did, therefore, when 
he came to bis own poor farm was to try to fatten It. 
Men who cannot force themselves to use more than “two 
bags to the acre” will almost shudder at the faith that 
impelled this young farmer to pay over $300 cash for ferti¬ 
lizers and pour them into this hungry farm. $300 ! That 
is more than the value of the entire crop grown by the 
former owner. It was done, however, and the effect was 
the same as that of a full meal on a hungry man. An 
empty stomach means empty courage, nerveless hands, 
faltering purpose—poor work. A lunch is but an exas¬ 
peration. A full meal supports and stiffens every energy 
of mind and body, and great results are possible. When 
this hungry farm received, for the first time in years, a 
“square meal” it shut its mouth and went to work. It 
became a friend instead of a tyrant—a slave instead of a 
master. This young farmer says he could not have gained 
on his mortgage without the use of fertilizers, and the 
only change he would make in starting again would be to 
use “ more fertilizers.” So much for feeding fertilizers to 
a hungry farm. Would it pay to do this everywhere, or is 
fertilizer farming adapted to only a few favored localities? 
(To be continued.) 
NOTES ON THE RURAL OF JUNE 20. 
About blackberry rust once more: I am more and 
more convinced that the conditions for its develop¬ 
ment must always be deteriorated vitality of plants. I 
have two plants in the same hill, one rusted and one not. 
The infested plant is weak and withered. When it is pos¬ 
sible to save it, it can best be done by drainage, trimming, 
etc. 
I like Michigander’s “ land loan” and special legislation 
notes. I too want some special legislation against the 
Hudson River grapes that get Into Utica market a few 
days ahead of mine. A tariff for Oneida County to protect 
a few of my Infant industries would suit me. 
I have lost nearly my whole crop of strawberries from 
the extraordinary drought. Now my next bed will go on 
a slope below my barn so that I can carry water in pipes 
for irrigation. It is silly to work hard for nothing. We 
of the East must learn how to provide for irrigating the 
crops most easily damaged by dry weather. 
About the editorial strawberry questions : I do not be¬ 
lieve any inherent quality good or bad can be attached to 
any one of the points specified. A berry that is large is 
better than a small one because more easily handled The 
white tip of some berries, like Sharpless, improves the 
looks but not the quality. No berry in my grounds is 
better flavored than the Sharpless. The ideal form to my 
eye is that of the Summit; but it is so slow to ripen and so 
poor a grower that it must be mostly given up. Cumber¬ 
land is not a bright berry, but It Is excellent. Let me now 
ask the question : why cannot we get an ideal berry ? 
Suppose all the growers of strawberries send in a vote to 
The Rural, each person restricted to one vote. 
Every one of us is heartily with The Rural New- 
Yorker in its fight against buncombe. It is of course 
fraud to misrepresent knowingly the nature of a plant. 
The wonderful First Season Strawberry I ran across in 
Utica, where a man who should have known better was 
producing the great novelty. Of course I tried to explain 
to him that any strawberry will fruit the first season—but 
that it ought not to. 
Are not all our plant pests conditioned by wbat we can 
as a rale get at and modify ? Aphides are generally scaven¬ 
gers attacking sick plants. Get up the vitality of your 
plants and they will fight for themselves. E. P. P. 
A LISTENER’S NOTES. 
Some Things That Are Talked About. 
The Garden Hour.— My farm work takes so much of 
my time and attention that it is difficult to keep up the 
garden as It should be. My practice is to devote an hour 
or two, before or after supper, to garden work, unless we 
are at some special farm work, that needs rushing until 
completed. So much is said about the average farmer’s 
garden, and so much fun is made of it, that it has even 
ceased to be “ an old story.” But, in traveling through 
this portion of the country, one can see many fine farm 
gardens on every side. We plant everything in rows and 
work with a horse. The beets, onion°, radishes, etc., very 
seldom need any hand weeding, as the wheel hoe takes out 
nearly everything in the shape of a weed, between and 
around the hills. Our greatest trouble is with the moles. 
They destroyed my peas last year so completely that we 
had only one small mess to eat. I have tried, iu many 
ways, to outwit them, but with comparatively little suc¬ 
cess. If any of the readers of The R N.-Y. can give us a 
scheme to circumvent them, and make them repent the 
error of their ways, let us have it, “ quick.” Hundreds of 
The R. N.-Y. subscribers would be glad to see something 
on this subject, In the columns of their favorite farm 
paper. J. H. RROWN. 
Kalamazoo Co., Mich. 
Southern Calls For Bread.— Volumes have been 
written about the folly of the one crop idea of Southern 
farmers. They sell cotton and buy corn, and seldom get 
enough from one crop to buy the other. The Agricultural 
Commissioner of Georgia in his last report, makes the fol¬ 
lowing statement which, considering its source, is about 
the hardest hit the one crop theory has received : 
Our prosperity and happiaess demand that we change 
our entire system. Picture our helpless condition should 
the European countries using our cotton become involved 
in war. The staple which now plays such an important 
part in the commerce of nations would scarcely bring the 
price of the bagging in which it is wrapped, and a large 
maj >rity of our farmers would be forced into abject want. 
Stop the trains from the North and West just one month, 
and the cries for meat aud bread, which would go up from 
the cotton-producing section, would excite the surprise if 
not the sympathy of toe civilized world I understand 
aud appreciate all the oifliculties which come up whenever 
we attempt any work out of tne regular line. 
Turnip Seeding.— The comment on turnips, in the issue 
of June 20, reminds one that it is nearly time to prepare 
ground for these roots. Many years’ experience in raising 
turnips shows conclusively that a solid seed bed is de¬ 
manded by this crop. The ground should be broken a 
month before seeding time, and weil pulverized and packed 
with roller and drag. Nothing solidifies ground better than 
rain, and it should be made ready in time to get at least 
one good shower before seeding time. After rain the har¬ 
row should be used to break theermt, kill weeds and make 
the ground retain moisture. Wnen seeding time comes— 
which is about August 5 in southern Ohio—the seed should 
be sown just as soon after a good raiu as the soil can be 
stirred with the harrow, and it should be dragged in. Seed¬ 
ing immediately before a rain is a common cause of failure, 
as a crust forms and either prevents the plants from com¬ 
ing up, or allows the moisture to escape so freely that a 
little drought stunts the plants before they are well 
rooted. 
Turnips are worth much more for feeding stock than 
their analysis would indicate. I find no difficulty in get¬ 
ting cattle and some horaes to eat them whole, and have 
never had a case of choking, although feeding large quan¬ 
tities during the winter. Fattening cattle seem to thrive 
much better when given turnips every day, and they can 
be fed in limited quantities to milch cows. Last winter I 
boiled several hundred bushels for the pigs that were car¬ 
ried over to run on clover, and when seasoned with cob 
and hard-wood ashes, the turnips made a very good, 
although very unscientific, feed. The pigs grew, and the 
high-priced feeding stuffs were saved. A. a. 
Gallia Co., O. 
Are “Good Times” Coming ?—There has been quite a 
little discussion between the “authorities” of late con¬ 
cerning future prices for farm crops. Some enthusiasts 
claim that we are rapidly reaching a time when the de¬ 
mand for food will so greatly exceed the annual product 
that we shall be forced to go to Canada or South America 
for wheat. On the other hand, there are those who ridi¬ 
cule such statements and claim that hundreds of thous¬ 
ands of acres of at present idle land will be put into wheat 
or corn as soon as prices reach a certain point, so that a 
serious shortage is practically impossible. Mr. Dodge 
of the Department of Agriculture, takes a middle ground, 
but decides that all indications point to a high degree of 
prosperity among farmers. It is Interesting to know what 
Euglish farmers think of this statement. The London 
Agricultural Gazette reviews Mr. Dodge’s statements 
stating that “ American farmers cannot have better times 
without British farmers sharing in the advantage.” As 
to corn and oats the Gazette does not see much chance for 
a crop shortage, because southern Europe and South 
America are increasing their acreage. As to wheat, it says: 
JULY ii 
The evidence derived from statistics justifies the antici¬ 
pation of a higher level of value for a year or two at least, 
until exhausted stocks can be replenished. Further, it 
may fairly b“ concluded that producers were sick of grow¬ 
ing wheat at euch prices as prevailed for several years, 
ending with 1890, and that the suDnly will not keep up to 
the growing demand except under the stimulus of higher 
values than those which proved unremunerative. There 
is, therefore, fair reason to expect better times for wheat- 
growers than the very bad times which prevailed recently. 
Speaking of cattle it says : 
This, at any rate, may be said, that it will take two or 
three years at least to bring about such a glut in the 
American supplies as caused the collapse of the ranch and 
range indmtrv of that country, and in the meantime mod¬ 
erate prices may be expected. 
It concludes that a greater proportion of American cattle 
will be needed for the American trade and that conse¬ 
quently exports will be lighter. This is the opinion of the 
people who are to handle our surplus—the small portion 
of the crop which largely determines the value of the 
whole. 
Instinct of The Blind — A writer in the London Live 
Stock Journal has this interesting note: 
The way in which blind horsps can go about without 
getting into more difficulties than they ordinarily do is 
very remarkable. They rarely, if ever, hit their heads 
against a fence or stone wall. They will sidle off when 
they come near on°. It appears, from careful observation 
I have made, that it is neither shade nor shelter which 
warnp them of the danger. On an absolutely sunless and 
windless dav their behavior is the same. Their olfactory 
nerves douttle^s become very sensitive, for when driving 
them they will poke their beads downwards in search of 
water 60 yards before they come to a stream crossing the 
roadway. It cannot be an abnormally developed sense of 
hearing which leads them to do this, for they will aut alike 
though the water be a stagnant pool. Men who have been 
blind for any great length of time, develop somewhat sim¬ 
ilar instincts to blind hor-e3. 
We have noticed a difference with blind horses in this 
respect. As a rule the more naturally Intelligent and 
spirited the horse, the less apt it was to hurt itself. There is 
also considerable difference between a horse that is born 
blind and one that is deprived of sight by an accident or 
disease. Blind men tell us of a peculiar sensation of the 
skin whenever they come near any projecting object that 
is liable to hurt them. A helpless man was once attacked 
by a drunkard with an axe. The victim saw the axe swing 
over his head and apparently descend directly upon him. 
The drunkard stumbled, however, and the axe passed to 
one side. But while it was in the air the helpless man’s 
head felt “as though a red hot iron had been drawn over 
it. ” It came through fear of the axe, and a blind man’s 
skin seems to give a similar, though milder form of 
warning. 
The Double-Flowering Cherry.— Nothing could be 
more beautiful than our fine specimen of this tree. It is 
just like other cherry trees in vigor, manner of growth 
and size, and only differs from its plebeian sisters in its ex¬ 
quisite double flowers, which rival the Polyantha Roses in 
beauty, and the total absence of fruit. Uiility is wholly 
sacrificed to beauty, but where the beauty is of so high an 
order, one does not feel like complaining. The tree blos¬ 
soms very freely, and in cool seasons, like the present, the 
blossoms last for several days. It may be grafted upon 
cherry stock very easily, so that it is by no means difficult 
to secure the trees. There is a double-flowering apple, 
also, which is equally beautiful, and either will be found 
to be a great aquisition to the lover of flowering trees. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. s. A. little. 
Among the Trees and Shrubs—Now is the time to 
prune shrubs that flower on the preceding year’s wood- 
such as Mock Oranges and deutzlas. But lilacs and spiraeas 
may be cut into shape at any time. A good deal of careful 
cutting is needful on a shrubbery lawn, especially to keep 
out too much suckering and very old wood. But by no 
means undertake formal shapes. Nature’s incessant 
struggle is for variety of form. If you have ever allowed 
some professional to shear your evergreens into formal 
shape, let Nature correct his work at once. Note the ele¬ 
gant forms she will give to new growth. The real horti¬ 
culturist is an artist. He works with Nature; but does 
not defy her. Start out with this idea, that every bush 
and tree has by Nature its own specific style, and its 
beauty depends on being allowed to develop itself, that is, 
its own idea. E. p. p. 
Farm Politics. 
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 basis for 
organization among farmers. Let us think out just what we want 
and then strive for it. 
THE “SUB TREASURY BILL” CONSIDERED. 
Destroying the Rental Value of Money. 
PROF. J. W. SANBORN. 
The Farmers’ Alliance’s plan of securing abundant money 
at cheap rates is not a commendable one. Govern¬ 
ments are constituted by mankind to secure to each mem¬ 
ber of organized society equitable conditions in the pur 
suit of those conditions and things that promote his hap¬ 
piness and advancement. There is derived from neither 
the government, experience, nature nor God the right of any 
one man or fraction of society to seize upon the slightest 
special privilege from the common government, and es¬ 
pecially so if it is to be secured at the expense of any one 
individual or number of individuals. Tne Farmers’Alli¬ 
ance in one breath cry, “down with special privileges to the 
favor* d,” and in another ask the extraordinary special privi¬ 
lege that money should be loaned to them as a class and at 
a specially low rate of interest; that is, they desire to ob¬ 
tain money at two per cent or less, while the laborer, me- 
