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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Business. 
BUSINESS IN OHIO FARM LAND. 
Two Counties Compared. 
Quite a strong contrast is observable in the price of land 
in the two adjoining counties of Darke and Scioto, Ohio. 
The average price in Darke is nearly $100 per acre, while 
here it will not exceed $10 to $30. ’Tis true that some 
land in this county is worth $125 per acre, but the greater 
part is worth considerably less than that, and a great deal 
is of no practical value whatever. To non-residents it 
won Id seem incredible that we have thousands of acres of 
land here that can be bought for from 50 cents to $1 per 
acre. The low price gives occasion for swindlers to reap 
a harvest by trading it to unsuspecting and uninformed 
farmers in the West. At the present time a party of land 
sharks are traveling over Kansas and selling or trading 
worthless lots hereabouts. These men purchased a knoll 
about four miles from the city of Portsmouth and sub¬ 
divided it (on paper) into about 1,500 lots, and named the 
sub-division “ Scioto Heights Addition.” The plat of 
these lots is artistically drawn, and the title is perfect, but 
the lots themselves are on the top of a hill, away out in 
the woods, and are worth nothing at all. In fact, they cost 
the movers of the swindle not more than six cents each. 
By showing the farmer the plot so beautifully drawn and 
a complete chain of title, the sharper will risk a trade of 
a horse or a cow for one of these corner lots, and his dupe 
finds too late that he has been swindled out of his 
horse. It would be a blessing to the poor men of the West 
if The Rural were able to expose to them the true plan 
of this outlandish fraud before honest men have been de¬ 
ceived thereby. J. S. D. 
Scioto Co., Ohio. 
LITTLE STEAM ENGINES. 
We have had frequent letters from farmers asking who 
make steam engines of one horse power or less. Such 
men have only light work to do, such as churning, run¬ 
ning a fanning mill, etc., and do not care to buy the lar¬ 
ger engines easily found on the market. Does any one 
make an engine of one horse power or less ? Is such a 
small engine serviceable ? How much cheaper than the 
larger ones would it be ? We have submitted the ques¬ 
tions to leading manufacturers of engines. The following 
replies state all that we can learn : 
James Leffkl & Co.—A three horsepower engine is the 
smallest we build. We have experimented with some of 
less power, but find them impractical for actual work, 
the boiler capacity being so limited as to require the con¬ 
stant attention of the operator, whereas users of small 
powers usually desire to give most of their time to other 
work.—Springfield, Ohto. 
Richmond Machine Works.— It is hardly practicable 
to build so small an outfit as a one horse power engine. 
The difference in cost would rather be increased than di¬ 
minished to make it reliable and serviceable, and the quan¬ 
tity of water the boiler would contain would be so small 
that it would require very close v atching. If a firm had 
orders to justify “fixing” to make such engines they 
could be made of the size of half a horse power, but they 
would not be of much service.—Richmond, Ind. 
Shipman Engine Company.— The smallest engine we 
build is one horse power, either stationary or marine. A 
one horse power engine Is as small as we would care to 
build; for should we build a one-half a horse power the 
expense of manufacture would be tae same with the ex¬ 
ception of the weight of the stock, and the price for one only 
one-half a horse power would have to be too near the price 
of a one horse power.—Boston. 
The Paige Manufacturing Company.— There is no 
reason why an engine that would be perfectly safe and 
give good service, should not be, or could not be made as 
small as one horse power. One difficulty wou.d be that the 
parts would have to be so small, even if it were not made 
clumsily, that they would not stand long usage and the 
general care that farm tools receive is not the best indica¬ 
tion that they would have as good care as would be neces¬ 
sary to keep them in good condition for a reasonable length 
of time. We estimate that an engine of.that power could 
be made in good shape with a good line of fittings, the 
engine mounted on the boiler, for from $60 to $75, but we 
can make a good three horse power engine and boiler that 
we can sell for $175, and the results are so much more 
satisfactory that we have never considered it advisable to 
make a smaller one.—Mansfield, Ohio. 
The Aultman & Taylor Co.—Of course it is possible 
to make an engine of almost any size, but we do not 
think that one of only one horse power can be made so as 
to be satisfactory ; that is, the people who would want it 
would want it at a very low price, and to build it for that 
price, it would have to be cheaply constructed, and conse¬ 
quently not very durable It would be perfectly safe to 
build an engine of any size, and if one would pay for a 
small engine properly built, there is no question but what 
it could be furnished. The greatest difficulty would be 
that in building one so small the cost of labor in handling 
the small parts would be greater in proportion than in 
building a larger engine. Tne smallest one we make is 3% 
horse power, and this is, we think, really as small a size 
as is practical for any farmer’s use. Tbe list price of this 
size is $300. That includes boiler and everything.—Mans¬ 
field, Ohio. 
T. M. Nagle.—T he smallest engine I make is four horse 
power. It might be practicable to make a smaller engine, 
but it would require so many to the bushel that there 
wouldn’t be much money or service in it.—Erie, Pa. 
NOTES ON THIS SEASON’S BERRY BUSINESS. 
The past season has been remarkable for the develop¬ 
ment of a new quality of strawberries never noticed before. 
Old marketmen who have handled berries for many years 
tell us they never saw anything like it. Scientists are 
greatly puzzled, as it seems to upset the laws of nature, 
that have been regarded as fixed and immutable. It is 
quite probable that many of our readers have noticed the 
strange phenomena that we are about to describe. We 
shall be pleased to hear from those who have studied the 
matter, as we are desirous of learning the cause of the 
trouble. Our experiment stations may well take hold of 
the matter and sift it to the bottom. 
Here are the fac s. On June 15 we bought at a stall near 
Washington Market, New York, a box of strawberries, an 
Fig. 1 83. 
This Is the box of berries rare, 
“ All of a size,” and big and fair! 
accurate drawing of which Is shown at Fig. 188. The man 
who sold the berries stated, in the most solemn manner, 
that they were positively “ all of the same size, growing 
larger towards the bottom.” He even rolled them out into 
his hand, so rapidly and neatly that they certainly all 
looked large and fine. On arriving home one hour later 
they were found exactly as shown at Fig. 189. There were 
Fig. 189. 
. This Is the box of berries rare, 
How do the small ones work down there ? 
perhaps a dozen large ones, while the others were small 
and soft. The writer will affirm that they had not been 
tampered with between the fruit stand and his home, and 
the market man will testify that he never sold a box of 
berries that were not “the same size’way down.” The 
fruit grower, too, we understand, “never sold an inferior 
berry in his life.” 
Again, in passing a well-known restaurant a strawberry 
short cake—exact picture at Fig. 190—was noticed. It was 
Fig. 1 90. 
This Is strawbery cream short cake, 
Just like your mother used to make. 
marked “short-cake like your mother used to make!” 
The writer has a distinct recollection of the short-cakes his 
mother made. There was more strawberry than cake 
about them and the best berries were between the cakes. 
A piece of this cake, however, showed the curious phe¬ 
nomenon noticed at Fig. 191. The berries on the top pre¬ 
served their vigor fairly well, but those in the center had 
Fig. 19 1. 
This Is the strawberry cake you buy, 
Most of the berries are “ In your eye.” 
almost disappeared, losing size and substance. The “cake,” 
too, had suddenly doubled in thickness. 
The above facts are submitted for the consideration of 
our scientific men. If they can explain them we shall be 
very grateful. By actual weight a single top berry was 
found to weigh six times as much as one of the lower 
ones. How then did it work to the top, upsetting the old 
law of gravity? Are we to understand that nature is 
“ giving out ” ? If these big berries can rise to the top in 
this manner, there is no reason why when we raise a foot 
to walk some day we may be unable to put it down again, 
but find it kicking over our head. Again, how did these 
berries suddenly shrink to one fifth their natural size ? 
What new power has come Into nature? Where will it 
break out next ? There is danger In the future, for we 
cannot tell what this shrinkage will select for its next 
victim. Is it due to the dry season, the need of more 
money, the McKinley Bill or what ? Science to the rescue! 
IMPLEMENT NOTES. 
The New Ensilage Cutter.— There has been consider¬ 
able discussion of the ensilage corn cutting machine illus¬ 
trated in The R. N.-Y. of June 20. The general opinion 
seems to be that it will certainly do the work, but that it 
is too large and expensive for the average farmer to use. 
In many districts where ensilage is popular there are 
men who go about from farm to farm with power and 
cutter and put the ensilage into the silo just as the 
thrashers convey grain from the stack to the bin. All 
such outfits will need one of these cutting machines. It 
will greatly cheapen the cost of ensilage. 
Potato Tools.— I raise about five acres of potatoes. In 
the field are a few “ blind rocks ” and some small stones, 
and I am in need of tools for digging and sorting. I plant 
with the Aspinwall planter, and after one or two harrow- 
ings, cultivate with the Breed’s weeder and Planet Jr. 
cultivator. I don’t believe these implements can be beaten. 
Potatoes in the neighborhood all look well. The Colo¬ 
rado beetle is present, but might be worse. w. K. s. 
Parkersburg, Pa. 
R. N.-Y.—You should have a sprayer to fight the beetles. 
A good barrel sprayer saves time, temper and Paris-green. 
A good one is made by Thomas Pepler, Hlghtstown, N. J. 
Apple Sorter.— Cannot some successful machine be 
devised for picking and sorting apples ? Such a machine 
is needed for our vast fruit crop3. The sorters used In 
California are really “sizers ”—about all they can do is to 
drop out the small fruits. 
Horse Power. —The appetite of the horse does not leave 
him In winter. He calls for food with startling regularity. 
This food represents the farmer’s hard work and the horse 
swallows it without any thought of pay. Winter is a lazy 
time for the horses. Make them work for their living. 
They can do your sawing, cutting, grinding or thrashing, 
or turn a lathe or grindstone. The St. Albans Foundry 
Co., St. Albans, Vermont, makes a horse power that will 
take the laziness out of your horse and turn it into money. 
It also makes a small thrasher and cleaner—the smallest 
we have seen on the market. 
Cooperation with Tools.— J. H. Griffith, in the Coun¬ 
try Gentleman, has this to say about farm operations in a 
Rhode Island town: “ In our town, until this year, pota¬ 
toes have always been planted in the most primitive way 
by hand. This year a young man purchased an Aspinwall 
planter, and was kept busy all the early spring planting 
his own and his neighbors’ potatoes. Tbe result is a large 
increase in the acreage; they were planted earlier and 
more uniformly, and a better prospect for a big crop than 
ever before. The same young man, encouraged by his suc¬ 
cess with the planter, is getting other machines, and is 
becoming expert in their use.” Country communities need 
more of such men. There can be no doubt about the value 
of such work with improved tools, vlany farmers dislike 
to give up hand labor after many years of it. They will 
be obliged to do it, sooner or later, however. 
NOVELTIES AND STAPLES. 
From The Catalogues. 
Feed Mills and Wind Mills.— C it alogues from The 
Stover Manufacturing Company, Freeport, Ill. This com¬ 
pany is an old and reliable concern, having done an honor¬ 
able business for many ytars. They have a full line of 
goods and those of our readers who want such articles will 
find them here as good as the best. 
“ Insects and Insecticides ” by Clarence M. Weed, 
of the New Hampshire Experiment Station. A book of 275 
pages printed on good paper, in large, clear type aud well 
illustrated. The main value of this book is in furnishing 
the farmer, fruit grower and floriculturist with a plain ac¬ 
count of the ordinary insect pests which they have to fight. 
As such it is precisely the book needed at this time. The 
most successful insecticides and the best and simplest 
methods of application as approved by our first entomolo¬ 
gists, are presented in a concise way, while all unnecessary 
technical terms have been omitted. It is what it purports 
to be “a practical manual concerning noxious insects and 
the methods of preventing their injuries ” and as such we 
commend it to our readers. For sale at this office. Price, 
$1.25. 
Buhach, the pyrethrum powder manufactured in Cali¬ 
fornia, is more effective than the foreign article known as 
Dalmatian Insect Powder and by various other names. It 
is more effective because less variable and not subject to 
the weakening effects of a long ocean voyage. The R. 
N.-Y. has used the California product ever since it has 
been offered for sale—a period of 10 years or thereabouts. 
In fact, it was among the first, if not the first to experi¬ 
ment with it under the direction of the manufacturers. So 
it happened that we were the first to announce its effect 
upon the rose-chafer. Buhach has advantages over most 
of the insecticides now offered in that it is absolutely 
harmless to plants and animals. Kept In tight tin cans in 
a dry air, it will retain its peculiar virtues for years. The 
sale of Buhach in the East hitherto has been retarded by 
the fact that the product was Insufficient for the demand. 
Now, however, through enlarged facilities, the manufac¬ 
turers have been enabled to establish an Eastern wholesale 
agency, through which all seedsmen and druggists will be 
supplied. The firm is Thurston & Braidich, 132 William 
Street, New York. 
