THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
821 
i89i 
Business. 
HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR COMMISSION 
MERCHANT ?— We have numerous inquiries from 
our subscribers for the names of reliable commission 
merchants , to which inquiries ive are always glad 
to reply to the best of our knowledge and belief. 
For our further information concerning these useful 
gentlemen we would be glad to have any of our read¬ 
ers give us the names of commission men whose 
dealings they have found satisfactory in any of the 
following , or other large trade centers: New York, 
Philadelphia , Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, St. 
Louis, Cincinnati, etc. The readers of The Rural 
New-Yorker cover the continent, and we would 
like to get a list of the commission men who have 
proved satisfactory to them. 
WORK THAT LAZY DOG! 
THE VALUE OF A DOG POWER. 
1. What do you use your dog power for? 2. What breed 
of dog is best for work, and how do you train him? 3. What 
other small animals, besides dogs, will work in these 
powers? 4. How much work can a dog perform as com¬ 
pared with a horse? 
A Good Collie worth his Weight In Gold. 
Weusethedog power for churning only; but It is equally 
good for pumping, or elevating water, turning a grind 
stone, etc. We use both the Scotch collie and New¬ 
foundland—the latter being preferred on account of 
being larger and having greater power of endurance. The 
collie seems to consider running the power its especial 
charge, and does not require much training. We tie a 
“ green dog ” on the power, start it by hand and he has 
only to get his hind feet pinched once or twice to under¬ 
stand what we want him to do. A young bull is best 
next to the dog. It seems impossible to “ tire him out.” 
Sheep are also good. A large dog can do the churning for 
20 cows. A dog should have rest every 10 minutes. I don’t 
know how to estimate the power of these animals in com¬ 
parison with that of a horse. I do know, however, that a 
good collie is worth his weight in gold on the farm. 
Warren County, N. J. edmund h. carhart. 
How to Make a Dog a Worker. 
1. I run a Reid 65-gallon churn by means of a 60 pound 
shepherd dog to perfection. I consider dogs of this breed 
the best on account of their superior intelligence. 2. In 
training a dog for the work, use kindness, stay with him 
until his fears are quieted, then hitch him so that in pull¬ 
ing back, his hind feet will drop off the power ; when he 
attempts to get back, take hold of the churn or power 
and keep it moving; don’t say anything to the dog, but 
keep right on running the machine. When he climbs 
upon the power, let him run it, and after he has become 
certain that it will go whether he wants it to do so or not, 
take everything off and turn him on the power, and you 
have a first class churner. 3. I have also used sheep 
and goats for this work, but prefer a dog. 4. I don’t 
know how much work a dog can do, as I have never 
used my power for any purpose except churning. I 
would estimate the work performed by a dog, as com¬ 
pared with that of a horse, in this way: 500 pounds 
of dog on a dog power would produce about the same 
amount of power as 1,000 pounds of horse on a horse 
power. I have never used my dog continuously for a longer 
time than an hour, but see no reason why a dog should not 
be able to work on a power as long a time as a man would 
be able to walk up a hill of the same elevation. In churn¬ 
ing I never allow him to stop until the churning is done. 
Eminence, N. Y. p. a. s. 
Why Not Work the Dog? 
1. Dogs are best suited for churning, pumping water, 
etc., though they will also run small feed cutters. I have 
used mine only for churning, but it will run any light ma¬ 
chinery. 2. I have a large sized bird dog at present; the 
larger the dog the better. I believe that a Newfoundland 
or St. Bernard is the best. By putting him on the machine 
and standing by him for a few times to encourage him, 
two or three attempts will generally be all that are needed 
to teach him how to do the work properly. 3. Sheep com¬ 
pare very favorably with dogs for churning, as they are 
heavier and hence can do more work, or rather give 
greater power; but they are not so cleanly, nor can they 
endure heat so well. 4. A good-sized dog properly cared 
for, can do a great deal of work, but I have never experi¬ 
mented to discover how much. My dog churns for two 
families every day, and often twice a day, and that amount 
of work does not exhaust his powers of endurance. The 
time he should remain at work depends upon the tempera¬ 
ture ; in cool weather he can easily trudge from two to 
three hours. M. o. L. 
East Troy, Pa. 
One Dog Churns for 25 Cows. 
1. I think a dog best adapted for churning, but have 
never tried one for any other purpose. 2. I have a shep¬ 
herd dog, but almost any breed that is large enough is good 
enough. Most dogs learn the work easily by merely put¬ 
ting them on and using them kindly. 3. I never have used 
any animal except a dog, which is the handiest and cleanest. 
4. A dog can churn for 25 or 30 cows without resting, if 
butter comes in due time, and the weather Is not too warm. 
West Burlington, Pa. A. c. B. 
A Sheep Does the work Here. 
I have the Enterprise power, manufactured by Minard 
Harder, Cobleskill, N. Y., and it gives perfect satisfaction. 
I have used it for churning only, and employ a sheep 
weighing about 125 pounds. I churn from six to eight 
gallons of cream at a time in a crank churn. The power is 
elevated at an angle of about seven degrees, and runs quite 
strongly enough. In one corner of it I placed a small box 
containing a little bran, and in a short time the sheep went 
in without any trouble. A sheep works from one to two 
hours without much fatigue. I would not sell the power 
for four times its cost, if I could not get another. I think 
the Enterprise the best power made, as there are fewer 
bearings and less friction, etc. w. A. d. 
Ashly Falls, Mass. 
FRUIT BUSINESS IN OSWEGO COUNTY, N. Y. 
Mr. J. Heagerty, or “ Jerry,” as he is familiarly called, 
is a well known gentleman in the fruit trade of Oswego, 
N. Y., and his business connections have made him known 
in most of the larger cities east of the Rocky Mountains. 
He conducts a large retail store in the city of Oswego, 
where he sells great quantities of fruits and vegetables. 
In addition to this, he has three other establishments de¬ 
voted to cold storage and the wholesale packing and ship¬ 
ping trade. Of late years he has added fruit growing to 
his business, owning a fruit farm of 50 acres at Fruit Val- 
Come Jack! Try your Luck In this “ Power.”j| 
ley, about 2.^ miles out of the city. He has done much to 
develop the fruit business of Oswego County, by furnish¬ 
ing a market where the grower could always dispose of 
his stock. Beginning about 15 years ago, the county has 
ever since been steadily increasing her strawberry crop, the 
bulk of which is shipped to New York. Mr. Heagerty’s 
statistics show that last season no less than 175 car-loads 
were thus shipped and, barring untoward weather, the 
number will be swelled the coming season to not less than 
250 car-loads. Growers begin to ship about the middle of 
June, when the supply in New York is getting light, and 
the season lasts until about July 10. 
In answer to my inquiries as to the favorite varieties, Mr. 
Heagerty spoke as follows: 
"Formerly we grew the Wilson almost exclusively and 
still grow it largely, though it generally does not do so 
well as formerly. The Crescent has been practically aban¬ 
doned. Burt’s Seedling seems to do very well here—it is a 
good-looking fruit and very productive. The plant has one 
rather serious drawback, however: the fruit stems are 
longer than the leaves and stand out over them. This 
leaves the blossoms exposed to cold winds, late frosts, and 
in excessively hot weather, renders them liable to sun 
scald. Still, they average very well indeed and are being 
quite largely planted.” 
“ Do your grow many raspberries ?” 
“ We are just getting into that part of fruit growing. 
Our farmers’ institutes have been of very great assistance 
in that direction. They have set farmers to thinking, and 
have furnished them the practical knowledge needed. We 
grow Cuthbert principally for red, and Gregg and Souhegan 
or Tyler for black. I think the Industry bids fair to be¬ 
come an important one in this county.” 
"What about grapes ?” 
“ Well, we are getting into grapes somewhat, though I 
do not think this section is so well adapted to this branch 
of fruit as many other parts of the State. Worden and 
Niagara, so far, have been most largely planted. I think 
very highly of the Worden ; but do not like the Niagara. 
Its quality is against it and it will never become a lasting 
public favorite, in my opinion. I have discouraged its 
planting here whenever my advice has been asked.” 
" What will you grow on your own farm In the fruit 
line ?” 
“ I shall devote it largely to pears, plums and apples.” 
" What varieties of pears would you recommend for 
Oswego County, for profit ?” 
"In the order of value, I would recommend Bartlett, 
Seckel, Anjou, Clairgeau, Bose, Howell, Duchess and Shel¬ 
don. I put Sheldon at the tail of the list, not because of 
its quality, for it is a better pear than many of those 
named, but because it requires a long time to come into 
bearing, the fruit has a tendency to drop badly, and it is 
never a handsome market fruit. In plums, I think highly 
of the prune family and would plant them largely.” 
“ What fruits do you buy most largely at this season ? ” 
“ Apples and pears. I have been paying $1 25 per barrel 
The Brain is Mightier than the Back. 
for apples for some time. These I buy picked and packed. 
Pears I buy in bushel crates. I broke up the practice .fol¬ 
lowed by farmers in packing them by paying, for a num¬ 
ber of years, more for fruit in bushel crates than when it 
was packed. This year I gave notice in due time that I 
would buy no packed pears, and I think both sides are 
better pleased with the new method. The crates are 
emptied on tables where my employees assort them into 
grades. They are then carefully packed in kegs or bar¬ 
rels and shipped, or detained in cold storage, as the mar¬ 
ket may indicate. I handle more pears than any one 
shipper on this side of California. I have shipped this 
season already 53 car-loads of pears and apples, princi¬ 
pally the former.” 
" Where do you market them ? ” 
" My largest market this season has been Philadelphia ; 
next in order came Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, New 
York and Newark, N. J.” 
" Have you any idea of how many apples you will buy 
this season ? ” 
" Well, not less than 15,000 barrels.” 
Mr. Heagerty was at the date of this visit buying onions 
very extensively at 50 cents per bushel, and potatoes at 50 
cents in large lots. F> 
A Folding Saw.— The catalogue of the Folding Sawing 
Machine Co., of Chicago, Ill,, describes a sawing maehine 
with which one man can cut timber which is usually re¬ 
served for two men with a cross-cut saw. We have never 
used this machine, but it seems that many others have 
done so, and their verdict appears to have been practically 
unanimous that it is an excellent thing. It looks right 
and ought to work well. Certainly a machine of this sort 
is needed and will be a great boon to many farmers who 
have timber to cut and no hired man to help them to run 
a cross-cut saw. 
Utilizing A Waste. —In these days business seems to 
grow and progress through discoveries of new methods of 
utilizing waste products. Rice culture is a case in point. 
Rice bran and rice polish are two by-products that were 
formerly thrown away; now they are quoted at $16 to $24 
per ton for stock feeding. Now we are told by the Louisi¬ 
ana Planter that a rice grower named Meyer has just sold 
200 tons of baled rice straw at $6.50 per ton. It is used for 
packing and bedding, and is particularly desirable for 
fruit packing, as It is freer from dust and softer than other 
straw or hay. 
