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677 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKE 
Business. 
HANDLING THE POTATO CROP. 
This Plan “Worth a Year’s Subscription.” 
After many years’ experience in handling potatoes, I And 
the quickest and easiest way to get them from the field to 
the barn is to take my old fertilizer bags in my wagon, and 
when I get to the field straighten them out and hang them 
across the side-board; then beginning at one end of a row, 
I drive along to the farthest end, throwing out the bags at 
intervals of about a rod. I then hitch the team to the 
digger and my men pick the potatoes in half-bushel 
baskets, putting two baskets or one bushel in each bag, 
which does not half fill it. When 50 bags are ready I 
drive the wagon back along the row of bags which the 
men hand up to me. I lay them down flat and fold the top 
ends back over, as the bags are not half full. I turn the 
tops of the last layer of bags back under, as I lay them 
down. I can easily load 50 bushels in 15 minutes on a com¬ 
mon wagon box and none will be lost out of the bags, on 
rough roads. I prefer bags to Mr. Terry’s bushel boxes; 
because, in the first place, I already have them, and, in 
the second, they are lighter and more convenient to handle 
and store. Handled in this way, they don’t have to be 
tied and can be carried on the back into the cellar or any 
other place where they are wanted. I have harvested 
thousands of bushels in this way and can’t think of a 
better. Just try filling the bags half full, and thus 
make the labor lighter and dispense with the tedious tying 
and untying. j. k. rittenhouse. 
Fayette County, Pa. 
With Bag and Shovel. 
Of my 17 acres of potatoes eight have been dug and ship¬ 
ped from the field after having been weighed. Before I 
sow wheat, which will follow the potato crop, I shall bunch 
in one line across the field say 500 bushels which I expect 
to ship from the place. By such an arrangement the picker 
will have easy access to the bunches and the tubers can be 
covered to protect them from the sun and rain. What 
may be stored in the cellar can be handled in bags more 
easily than in any other manner. What I shall store in 
the out-buildings cannot be handled so readily in bags, as 
we must unload the wagons from one end. This we do by 
dumping three full bags from the rear end of the wagon, 
which quickly enables us to use the shovel in clearing 
away the remainder. If all were to be stored in cellars, 
Mr. Rittenhouse’s plan would certainly be the most eco¬ 
nomical mode of handling them. D. c. L. 
Cranbury, N. J. 
A Wisconsin Man Wants Boxes. 
The method described by J. K. Rittenhouse looks better 
on paper than it has proved by experience. To begin with, 
the fertilizer bags he mentions must be at least 200-pound 
bag-, and no sensible man will buy any fertilizer in bags 
of that size if he can procure it in 100-pound bags, as they 
are too heavy to handle and are unhandy even for holding 
potatoes. The best method of handling the latter, that I 
have found is in bushel boxes; and if I were to go into the 
business largely I would use nothing else, and would not 
even have a bln in the cellar, but have boxes enough to 
store the entire crop, as It can then be more easily handled 
and can be packed whenever one wishes to ship, and the 
potatoes keep better in boxes than in bins or barrels. 
Janesville, Wis. L. Ht R> 
“The Bushel Crate Far Ahead.” 
I consider the bushel crates far ahead of sacks in hand¬ 
ling potatoes in the field and from it to the cellar, for the 
following reasons: 1. The fertilizer sacks are not durable 
enough to stand the wear and tear of more than a few 
trips to the field and back before they begin to give out 
and cause a good deal of trouble and lost time. 2. The po¬ 
tatoes must be picked up or at least emptied into the sacks 
by men, while if crates are used the children can do most 
of the picking up. 3. In loading sacks they must be lifted 
into the hind end or over the side by one man, while an¬ 
other loads them, and thus loading requires double the 
help that would be necessary if the potatoes were in crates. 
In loading crates a flat rack Is used and a man drives along 
and sets them on it without lifting them higher than the 
bed of the wagon 4. In carrying potatoes into the cellar 
taking them In sacks is too much like going to the mill 
with the grist in one end of the bag and a stone in the 
other. To sum up, I greatly prefer the crates. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. Webster Edmunds. 
WHEN TO KILL BUSHES IN PASTURES. 
Is there Any “ Best Time?” 
A subscriber in New Hampshire writes: “It takes 
about two-thirds of the income from our New Hampshire 
pastures to keep down the bushes. Is there any time of 
the ye ir when this work can be done to better advantage 
than at others ? ” 
Expensive to Thwart the Original Purpose. 
I have had no experience in the line of exterminating 
bushes from pasture land, and I do not know of any par¬ 
ticular season best adapted to the work. Willow roots, 
like those of Witch Grass, continue to sprout as long as 
they remain in the ground. I am acquainted with large 
tracts of land in New Hampshire which I think the 
Almighty intended should grow timber or bushes, and no 
doubt it is expensive to try to thwart this purpose. 
Vermont. g. l. bass. 
Green Fodder and Bushes for Flies. 
That New Hampshire correspondent is about right. One 
can travel New Hampshire over without finding more 
than from one to three farms in each town, on an average, 
where the bushes are kept down. I know of only two 
farmers in our town who keep them so by cutting every 
year. These pastures look cleaner than a few years ago, but 
in my opinion there is no time of year when one can kill 
the roots by one or two cuttings. It looks reasonable that 
to cut them at any time after, say, July, when they have 
nearly or quite got their growth, and before the leaves fall, 
is the best time. I have had good success in waiting until 
the ground was frozen quite hard ; then with the back of 
an axe I pounded them off close to the ground. It Is easily 
done, and with me those treated in this way do not sprout 
so easily as when they are cut off in August. The only 
way by which I can keep them down around the walls in 
my fields is by pulling them up by the roots, and if our 
New Hampshire farmers would do this in their pastures 
a few years, and sow a little grass seed where the ground 
Is loosened up, they would have better pastures, and in 
the end it would be cheaper than cutting every year. I 
would rather let them go if full grown, and raise fodder 
for the cows, and keep these in the barn part of the time, 
and when they are out those bushes will help to keep the 
flies off. P, c. 
Milford, N. H. 
A Sharp Axe In August. 
I have had not a little experience in cutting hushes in 
newly cleared fields and bush pastures. I have found de¬ 
cidedly better results by cutting them in August, than in 
any other month, and next in September. Eirlyin the 
spring is the worst time of all. Catting them with a sharp 
axe, grub hoe or bush scythe in August or September 
close to the ground, has about finished them with me. 
Scottsville, N. Y. I b. 
Work for the Boys Before Corn Cutting. 
Father thinks the best time to cat bushes from pas¬ 
ture fields is when one has a “ notion ” for that kind of 
work. Then he will be sure to do a more thorough and 
better job than at any other time. Father seldom gets in 
the notion for this kind of work himself, but at this time of 
year he always stirs up the boys and has them out with a 
heavy brush scythe and mattock and war is made on the 
brush and briers until corn cutting time. Weeds that are 
cut now will have sprouted again by the time frost comes 
and the frost will again cut them down, and then in the 
spring, when they sprout again, the cattle and sheep will 
finish the killing process by eating the tender sprouts. 
Scioto, O. farmer’s girl. 
Hang up the Brush Scythe; Try Sheep. 
I think we exhaust the vitality of the roots most by 
cutting off the tops when growth for the season has neirly 
or quite stopped, but before the new wood growth has 
fully hardened or matured. Probably August is about 
the right time to do this. I believe it very necessary to cut 
the top close to the ground, and then (if the growth is 
thick) burn or remove it, if we wish for the best results 
from the work. On rough, stony land it is difficult to get 
the brush cut close enough to kill or seriously injure its 
vitality by one cutting. We have in New England much 
land that is too rough to plow, and we must keep it 
clear by other means, or else let it grow up to wood, as 
much of it is doing. I have no doubt we can keep the past¬ 
ures tolerably clear by going over them every year with 
a scythe, and each time at a reduced cost, and yet on land 
worth from 18 to $15 per acre (if I could say it had any 
market value) it Is quite a tax to do so. 
I have swung the bush scythe more or less since I was 12 
years old and I find that if I stop going over such land it 
will soon grow up to bushes again in spite of its appearing 
nearly subdued. I find it difficult always to cut brush 
just when the job should be done, and then about all the 
goo i it does to cut is to keep the growth down to oaeyear. 
I am heartily sick of trying to keep this kind of land clear 
by cutting alone. I do not believe it is profitable for me to 
use my own time and that of my men cutting brush when 
I must, in order to do much good. It is too costly a way of 
keeping the land clear, even if the chances were not that it 
would get left in the press of other work. I am now try¬ 
ing another way—what the result will be the future will 
show. I make fire and sheep the principal agents, and the 
bush scythe and muscular effort secondary. In spring I 
burn over the pasture, then overstock it with sheep which 
pasture it closely; then I remove the sheep for a short 
time to another lot, until growth starts up fresh and ten¬ 
der. I grain the sheep, if necessary, to make them do well. 
In this way many kinds of brush will be kept down close 
and, not having any chance to grow, will die. Then I go 
in with the scythe and axe at spare intervals and finish 
the job. I reason that after a little I should be able to dis¬ 
pense with the burning over in spring and also feed off the 
flush of the feed with other stock if I wish. In short, I use 
fire to kill previous growth, as being cheaper than hand 
labor. Then as new growth starts up, I overstock with 
sheep, feeding grain to make good the shortage. I look at 
this question in much the same light as some others re¬ 
lating to profitable farming. We must dispense with hand 
labor when possible, substituting some other agency that 
is less costly. We must learn to produce more cheaply, for 
food for the people is, for an average of years, bound to be 
low priced, and it is right I suppose that it should be. 
New Haven County, Conn. j. N . B> 
In The Old of the August Moon. 
In the summer of 18611 bought two acres adjoining my 
place. The land was covered with tag alder and water 
beech. I cut them in June and had no trouble with their 
sprouting. This is the only piece I ever cut at that season 
of the year. My father cleared a farm in my boyhood and 
had lots that came up to briers and bushes, and we boys, 
in “ the old of the moon ” in August (I don’t know that 
the moon had anything to do with it), had to take the bush 
scythes and mow them down. We never had to mow more 
than twice. Since I have arrived at manhood and owned 
land I have followed in the footsteps of my father in 
this respect, and cut bushes that I wanted to kill about 
“ the old of moon” In August. I find that I do not 
have to cut them more than twice. Our timber is prin- 
R. 
cipally beech, hazel and soft maple, birch, cherry and pop¬ 
lar. Almost all of these sprout when we cut and get our 
wood out for the winter, and after the wood is off and we 
clear the land sprouts will start. I have no trouble in kill¬ 
ing them by cutting in August. c. M. L. 
Center Lisle, N. Y. 
Stand over them with a Scythe. 
I am in about the same position as our New Hampshire 
friend, and am not sure when to cut bashes so that they 
will “stay cut.” When I came here six years ago my 
pasture was well covered with juniper, sweet fern and 
sheep laurel or withy bushes. The juniper is easily killed 
by burning it about the first of May. The branches will 
not all burn; but by the next year they will be so decayed 
that they can be broken off easily, or they can be cue at 
any time without burning, and that is the end of them. 
I have tried burning sweet fern and withy ; it did not help 
me much, and sweet ferns came up thicker than ever. 
Mowing them in August has done some good, but I have 
about decided that if one wants to kill them by cutting, 
he must almost stand over them with a scythe, w. E. R. 
Dover, N. H. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
A Hay Windrower. —Since the introduction of hay 
loaders the ingenuity of inventors has been taxed to de¬ 
vise machines that will most easily throw the hay into 
such shape that the loader can take it quickly and per¬ 
fectly. This work calls not for a rake, but for a “ wind- 
rower.” The latest attempt to perfect this is shown in 
A Hay Windrower. Fig. 245. 
Fig. 245. The principle Involves a series of small revolv¬ 
ing rakes which push the hay towards the center from 
both sides. By means of proper mechanism the rakes when 
they reach the side nearest the windrow, are made to rise 
and pass over the hay, dropping again in front and again 
swinging around with more hay. 
Swing Stanchions —F. G. Parsons & Co., of Attica, N. 
Y., inform us that there are about 40,000 of their self ad- 
justing swing stanchions in use, and that the number of 
orders Is increasing from year to year. They think this 
increase Indicates an increase of care and attention to 
their stock on the part of breeders and farmers generally. 
This stanchion gives the animal the most perfect freedom 
and has the further merit of being absolutely a safe 
fastening. It Is made of good hard wood material and 
oiled. Send for a descriptive catalogue. 
First Class Saws.— One good way to divide your profits 
and doable your work is to try to cut wood with a poor 
saw. Lots of people do it, which is one reason why “ farm¬ 
in’ don’t pay.” E C. Atkins & Co., of Indianapolis, Ind.. 
make good saws—circular, band, gang or cross-cut. Their 
reputation is high and we believe their saws are so good 
that they will not saw this reputation off. Branch houses 
are at Memphis and Chattanooga, Tenn., and at Minne¬ 
apolis, Minn. 
Carter’s Butter Packages.— Mr. John S. Carter, of 
the well-known dairy supply house of Syracuse, N. Y., is 
manufacturing a small butter package that has been need¬ 
ed for some time. The packages are of four sizes—two, 
three, five and ten pound—and are sold at prices that will 
have a tendency to popularize this small and convenient 
arrangement. The trouble heretofore has been that pack¬ 
ages of this size have been too expensive for popular use. 
Mr. Carter uses a new material, binds and covers them 
carefully so as to make them air-tight, and paraffines them 
so as to make them perfectly tasteless and odorless. They 
are put up in crates to carry 60 pounds of butter, and will 
make very attractive shipping packages. He also manu¬ 
factures a tin can in two small sizes, but it comes a little 
high, and is consequently-not so likely to become popular 
with average shippers. His tin lined large butter pack¬ 
ages have many points of superiority over other tin pack¬ 
ages. First, they are stronger, and again, they have an 
air space between the tin and wood that protects the but¬ 
ter from atmospheric changes. 
“ Timb Tried and Fire Tested.”— Eaton, N. Y. is 
the great dairy center of Madison County, and'in this 
modest little hamlet, we believe, was made the first en¬ 
gine ever used for thrashing purposes. It was sent to 
Oakland County, Mich. Messrs. Wood, Tabor and Morse 
were the manufacturers, and are still in the business. In 
the last 40 years they have probably sold over 4 000 en 
gines. Their “ad ” in The R. N.-Y. 35 years ago, sold the 
first engine they sent into the Pennsylvania oil country 
and a most liberal trade followed. 
Patent on Spading Machines. —The English patent on 
a steam spading machine has been extended to 21 years. 
This is generally characterized as a just recognition of the 
merits of an excellent machine and the difficulty exper¬ 
ienced in making it popular. In England the steam 
spader is considered far superior to the steam plow It 
leaves the ground in better condition, works faster and 
easier and can be used in ground where the plow would 
not do satisfactory work. 
