578 
Beef Future In Northern Illinois. 
W. S. S., Spring Valley, III —I know 
but little personally about tbe cattle busi¬ 
ness of tbe far West; but believe that tbe 
wholesale breeding of range cattle is on 
the decline, and that the dull cattle market 
of the past few years has been partly due 
to the breaking up of many large rarges 
and the closing out of th* ir immense herds 
from them and from the Iudian lands from 
which they are being driven, thus over¬ 
stocking tbe markets with inferior cattle. 
This is the view of the Chicago Drovers’ 
Journal, and 1 believe a more prosperous 
period is likely to be reached in a very few 
years by those who patiently stick to their 
cattle. 
I think the consumption of cattle by the 
Western country will increase now much 
faster than the production. B at at present 
prices it will not pay iarmers of this region 
to feed much 50 cent corn to the grades of 
cattle which are commonly seen here. 
Stock owners must reduce the number and 
improve the quality of their herds. Good 
two year-old steers were brought here for 
grazing through the summer at $16.50 per 
head in May. The Drovers’Journal says, 
truly, that there has been no money in rais¬ 
ing steers of late. Wnat lit'.le money has 
been made was by buying cheap and fat¬ 
tening on grass or as cheaply as possible, 
and then one must be lucky enough to 
strike the market when above an average 
price is obtainable. 
The farmers here will have to keep more 
of tbelr hill lands in pastures aud meadows, 
for one season of dashing rains, like the 
present, on plowed, sloping fields of sandy 
or gravelly clay will cause a -‘amage 
which cannot be repaired in 10 years 
The dairy business is spreading rapidly, 
and thousands of young calves are sent to 
Chicago every week for veal, which will, of 
course, shorten the supply of mature beef. 
The Farmers’ Alliance, etc., should turn 
their attention to tbe injury the breweries 
are doing farmers, and especially cattle 
raisers, in many waysbut principally by 
producing cheap, slop fed beef to compete 
with grassers, and by selling their decoc¬ 
tion of malt and drugs called beer to the 
laboring classes, thus curtailing tbeir 
power of purchasing our meat and grain 
products, which so many of tbeir families 
stand sadly in need of, and which are in 
consequence left a drug on the market. 
It looks as though the probable fuiure of 
the cattle business here for some time at 
least would include more dairying and less 
beef production Creameries which pur¬ 
chase the new milk, run it through sepa¬ 
rators and return the sweet skim-milk, are 
springing up rapidly through these parts, 
and more cows are being kept. Forty cents 
per hundredweight is the price paid at 
present for new milk, the skim-milk being 
returned to one’s door. 
Hay Is Not Hay, 
H. R. F., Tullahoma, Tenn.— In reading 
D. C. S.’s article in a late Rural, in which 
he says hay is poor stuff to depend upon 
the thought came to my mind whether 
everything called hay is hay. I think not. 
I commenced cutting my clover the first 
week in June, when the bloom was atoout 
half brown. I got 10 acres in without rain, 
then the machine I had hired had to be 
taken home (my landlord was to furnish 
the needed machinery, but failed to do so). 
I had three acres j et to cut; but could not 
get a machine again until July 8th. The lot 
first cut is as fine hay as I ever saw and the 
stablemen like it and give as much for it as 
they will for Red Top. The bloom still 
shows red and it smells as s weet as when cut. 
My horses eat it before they touch Timothy 
or Red Top. I think that is hay and will 
do to depend upon every time—there is 
milk and butter in it. The second crop is 
now ready to be cut, the bloom being about 
half brown. I would cut it for seed, but 
there is no huller within 10 miles of my 
place. The crop from three acres I cut last 
looks fair, but the stems and three-fourths 
of the bloom are dead and dry, and it hasn’t 
that sweet smell or bright look the other 
has, and is not fit to be fed to horses or 
milch cows. It is full of seed and doesn’t 
weigh as well as the first. Now this is poor 
stuff to depend upon—in fact it isn’t hay. 
Is not a large share of tne hay crop of the 
country spoiled by letting it get too ripe 
and by faulty handling t This is the case 
here. What little hay is raised is spoiled by 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
AUG. 8 
not handling it right and it is little batter 
than good straw. I have handled my crop 
in the same way for two seasons and have 
had fine, bright hay, but the yield is light 
—only three-quarters to one half a ton per 
acre. 
Corn Fodder For Heaves. 
A. A., Gallia County, Ohio.— A. J C’s 
cut corn fodder—see page 450—certainly 
was not “economical food” for the six 
mules that died, as it would appear, from 
the effects of eating it. Fodder cut on some 
machines is not sufficiently crushed and 
gives horses sore mcuths, so that they can¬ 
not eat; but whole fodder gives me sp .endid 
results. It is not as heating as hay, and 
gives stock a sleek coat of hair. In the 
winter my horses thrive on a moderate feed 
of grain and what fodder they will trim up 
so closely that only a few feet of the butts 
remain. These are removed to the manure 
basin to be rotted, and when covered with 
straw and tramped by stock, are soon re¬ 
duced to fine manure. The handling of it 
provides no occasion for “ cuss words,” as 
Intimated by Prof. Massey. 
I do not find the handling of the dry fod¬ 
der very expensive. It is tied with tarred 
twine when husked, so thatitcan be loaded 
on a wagon with a fork. From fields near 
the barn five or six acres of the fodder can 
be hauled to the mow by two men in a day. 
The feeding value is greatly affected by the 
thickness of the stand on the ground, and 
by the time of cutting. It should be cut 
and put in shocks j as t as soon as the ears 
are ripe enough to keep. If too green, or 
in shocks of over 144 hills, there is danger 
of mold. I find good fodder much superior 
to hay for horses that are thick-winded or 
inclim d to cough. One horse that has been 
affected by heaves seems nearly well since 
a winter’s feeding on fodder. 
Beating the Moles. 
F. H , Climax, Mich.— J. H. B., accord¬ 
ing to his complaints in a recent Rural, 
is bothered with moles and wants to know 
what to do to circumvent them. So do I. 
Not long ago I planted some sweet corn for 
fall use; yesterday I went to look at it 
and found a few hills up nicely, and the 
rest—say three-fourths of it—destroyed by 
these pests. After finding one hill of corn, 
they hunted around till they found an¬ 
other, then followed the row until they 
cleaned it out. I dug into a number of hills 
and could not find a kernel of corn left. 
What became of it ? I begin to think that 
I have learned how to save my peas from 
them, and that is by planting them all as 
early as the ground is fit to work. They 
will get large enough to be out of the way 
before moles commence their spring pere¬ 
grinations. I nave beaten them twice in 
this way; bub by next spring they may 
“catch on” to my little scaeme. 
Some Fruits In Connecticut. 
D. , Nichols, Conn.— Among many other 
things, I have to thank '1 he Rural for 
noticing in the issue of September 1, 1888, 
Burbank and Satsuma Plums. I procured 
graits of bo-h varieties from Luther Bur¬ 
bank, in the spring, 18S9, but only one graft 
of each variety has lived, and both are bear¬ 
ing fruit this year. The Burbank tree is 
under other trees and deeply shaded. The 
Satsuma tree is in a fairly good position 
and made over 30 feet of growth the first 
season aud is now carrying over 300 plums 
of very uniform size, averaging as large as 
the Wild Goose, and has withstood the 
curculio very well. Over two dozen plums 
started to grow on a bud of one year’s 
growth. Marianna, Robinson and Wild 
Goose are also lull of lruit. The trees have 
not been jarred, but have been sprayed 
three times with Paris-green. The Sat¬ 
suma foliage is quite liable to be burned 
with the poison. 
The Parker Earle Strawberry exceeds in 
growth of plant and fruit any other variety 
here, having given over eight quarts of 
fruit from my first 12 plants. The Crandall 
Currant exceeds in fruitfulness any pict¬ 
ure of it that has appeared in any cata¬ 
logue that 1 have seen. The Wlneberry is 
a handsome plant but unproductive. The 
Miss Blanche Ferry sweet pea is a wonder¬ 
ful bloomer, but although called dwarf 
should be brushed, for it is now fully three 
feet high. 
Who Owns The Game? 
E. P. R., Sidney, Ohio.— I see an article 
going the rounds of the agricultural press, 
credited to The Rural New-Yorker, ad¬ 
vocating that all game be made the prop¬ 
erty of the owner of the land on which it 
may exist. The writer could not have given 
the idea a second thought, or its absurdity 
would have been apparent. As well claim 
ownership of all birds flying over as of 
game temporarily on a farm. What kind 
of ownership of a wild rabbit would it be 
that would be transferred to another when 
the rabbit crossed a line fence ? Should 
such ownership be established by law, laws 
to protect game during the breeding sea¬ 
son would be of no effect, for the laDd 
owner would have the same right to kill 
game that he has to kill his poultry 365 
days each year, or he could grant the right 
to others. If the object is to exterminate 
game in America, I believe it would b8 
practicable by adopting this policy. 
R. N.-Y —If this writer had given the 
matter a single reading, he would have 
understood that we referred to the right to 
kill game during the lawful season. At 
present, during every shooting season our 
farms are overrun with city “sportsmen,” 
who not only take off game that has fat¬ 
tened on our crops, but who tear down 
walls and fences, set fire to woods, and do 
damage generally. We want to keep them 
off. They have no business there; they are 
mere trespassers. They have no more moral 
right to kill game on our farms than they 
have to steal our apples or grapes, and they 
should have no more legal right. We would 
prevent the injustice by giving ownership 
of the game—making it a breach of the 
law to kill it without authority. 
EVERYBODY WHO BUYS [ONE BON: 
OK RAPID 
HARNESS MENDERS 
•WANTS ANOTHER, SO DO YOU. 
They do the work Quickly, are 
Strong- and Cheap, if you break 
your Harness when at work in 
the field you can mend it in half 
a minute and 
IT ONLY COSTS HALF A CENT, 
ANII it is done better 
than any harness maker 
CAN DO IT 
Just Drive ’Ein In aiil CLINCH ’Em, 
THEY’LL DO THE REST, 
SHOWS HOW IT IS DONE. 
For Sale by Grocer and Hardware Dealer. 
Price, }J5c per box of one gross, containing 
three sizes or sent to the Patentees and 
Manufacturers. 
Little and Big Farms. 
W. F , Wake County, N. C.—This dis¬ 
cussion of large V8. small farms Is 
largely bosh. It is a matt r of men, not 
faims. There are plenty of men who are 
not fitted for tbe administration of large 
business matters, but who have plenty of 
personal industry and skill In mere manual 
labor, who ought always to cultivate small 
farms. There are other men of administra¬ 
tive capacity who would be merely 
“cribbed, cabined and confined” under 
such circumstances. A man with means 
and executive ability to managp a large 
farm would be foolish tocramp his energies 
on a little tract. On a little farm of ICO 
acres or less the master must be simply tbe 
leading “ hand,” and money is seldom made 
fast on one’s own labor. The profit comes 
from an intelligent use of hired labor. A 
large farm with the proper man at its head 
and with means to carry out well-planned 
methods will always be a greater busi¬ 
ness success than a little farm. Of 
course there are plenty of men who can 
do well, as I have said, on a little 
farm, who could never do well on a large 
one. So it simply resolves itself into a ques¬ 
tion of men, and not farms. 
Another Mole Trap. 
B. F. C., Highland Creek, N. Y.— On 
page 512 J. H. Brown asks for a scheme to 
circumvent moles. By the following plan 
I completely rid my garden of the pests in 
tw. days. I sank several tin vessels half 
full of water two or three inches belov 
their runs. During their underground 
rambles they fell Into the water and were 
drowned. 
gjHijerfUattfauiSi 
Advertisers treat all correspondents 
well if they mention The Rural New- 
Yorker. 
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■-THE-- 
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Trade Mark. 
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PATENTED OCT. 15, 1889. 
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16 gauge on ends on back edge. 
19 gauge at center on back edge. 
PRICE, WITHOUT HANDLES, 75 CTS. PER FOOT. 
ATKINSVYRCX 
ESPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR LUMBERMEN’S USE. 
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Ask your hardware dealer for the Atkins Rex Saw and take 
no other. If the dealer will not order it for yon, remit amount 
with order direct to us. Q. AtklnS &C<). 
Indianapolis, Ind. Memphis, Tenn. 
Minneapolis, Minn. Chattanooga, Tenn. 
%l£FENCINC 
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’WIRE ROPE SELVAGE the BEST. 
PRICES REDUCED. Sold by dealers. FREIGHT PAID. 
MeMULLEN’S POULTRY NETTING. Nrwthin,. 
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t or Information apply to 
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