1891 
889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
them might now see how our ‘ ‘ Chemicals 
and Clover ” farmers make first-class 
manure out of sod and chemicals. 
A Modern Marksman. —Much has been 
written about Robin Hood and his great 
skill at archery. One of the best pas¬ 
sages in Ivanhoe is that describing how 
the bold outlaw showed his skill before 
the king. History is filled with the ex¬ 
ploits of the English archers who, by 
reason of their great strength and skill, 
became so expert in shooting the arrow 
that battles between the English and 
French were like those between a modern 
army using breech-loading rifles and 
another with muzzle-loading shot guns. 
The historians are fond of saying that 
the invention of gunpowder, while it de¬ 
stroyed the power of the barons and 
lords, also lessened the power of the indi¬ 
vidual soldier and made him dependent 
upon a power outside of his own strength 
and skill. It is supposed that we have 
no men nowadays who could compete on 
even terms with the old archers. A man 
named Uri Bailey recently died in Penn¬ 
sylvania, who was worthy of a place with 
the old-time soldiers. His skill in throw¬ 
ing stones was said to be marvelous. 
He was mentally deficient, but a giant 
physically. His aim with stones at any 
mark or game was as unerring as that of 
the most skillful handler of the rifle. He 
annually bagged scores of small game, 
pheasants, rabbits, quails and squirrels, 
which he killed with stones. He could 
kill a bird on the wing or a rabbit at full 
speed almost as easily as he could kill 
it at rest. He had a large leather 
pouch attached to one side of his coat, in 
which he on all occasions carried a good 
supply of carefully selected stones. An 
exhibition of his skill which was always 
a favorite with him was to set up a scythe 
blade, edge toward him, and at the dis¬ 
tance of 100 feet cut apples in halves by 
throwing them against the edge of the 
blade. He could almost exactly halve 
two out of every three apples he threw. 
Robin Hood’s great feat of skill was to 
set up a peeled sapling at a considerable 
distance and split it with an arrow. We 
do not see that this is more difficult than 
splitting the apple on the scythe blade. 
Progress in Lighting.— In old times the 
long winter evenings were dreary enough. 
Light, except what came from a roaring 
fireplace, was expensive. Farmers must 
have gone to bed early in those days. 
There are people now living who remem¬ 
ber how, when the fire went out, they 
went hunting about the neighborhood 
for a “ light,” often carrying a burning 
stick or a box of live coals a long distance, 
blowing on them most of the way to keep 
the fire alive. In the old days the whal¬ 
ing cities, like New Bedford and Nan¬ 
tucket, were very important places. 
With the discovery and use of kerosene 
oil a wonderful revolution in lighting 
took place. It is bewildering to imagine 
what the prices of butter and other ani¬ 
mal fats would have been to-day if keio- 
sene had not been produced so abundant¬ 
ly. These fats would all have been more 
useful for light than for food. Gas and 
electricity have still further cheapened 
light and added that much more to the 
world’s comfort and enlightenment. Do 
we realize what progress has already been 
made or what immense possibilities are 
before us ? Electricity tells the following 
stpry of Mr. W. H. Preece, a famous Eng¬ 
lish electrician: 
“ For quite a number of years he has 
carried with him a compact electric light¬ 
ing outfit, consisting of a pocket accumu¬ 
lator and a small incandescent lamp in¬ 
closed in a miniature bull’s-eye lantern. 
Comfortably settled in his seat he attaches 
the lantern to the top button-hole of his 
coat, turns on the current and obtains a 
perfect light on his papers, much to the 
wonder and envy of his less fortunate 
fellow-passengers. ” 
On the English railroads many cars 
and stations are provided with small elec¬ 
tric lamps which operate like the ‘ ‘ penny 
in the slot” weighing machine. “By 
dropping’ a penny into the slot the light 
is set going for 15 minntes, at the end of 
which time the circuit is automatically 
opened and the light extinguished.” One 
may well ask “ what next ?” with a per¬ 
fect faith that there is no limit to the 
possibilities of the future. 
Dynamite Plowing. —Much has been 
said about the old-time methods of 
scratching the ground with shells, sticks 
and stones. Fair crops were grown by 
this process. What a contrast between 
the clam shell and the sulky plow ; and 
the sulky plow is not the most powerful 
pulverizer either. The following news¬ 
paper item may be believed or not, as the 
Back to the Spade. —Fifty years ago 
Henry Colman visited England and de¬ 
scribed the agriculture of that day. He 
spoke particularly of the great advan¬ 
tages of spade culture. Whole farms, he 
said, were spaded over by an army of 
cheap laborers and the spaded ground 
gave far better crops than that which 
was plowed, chiefly because the lower 
part of the stirred soil was pressed down 
and hardened by the plow. Within the 
past 10 years inventors have struggled to 
devise an implement that would enable a 
horse to do the spading. The best horse 
spading device thus far produced is the 
EUREKA PLACE, 
— THE home of the — 
Shropshires! 
SPECIAL PRICES on rams for the next thirty days 
to make room for a 
NEW IMPORTATION. 
A very fine stock still unbroken to select from. 
Send for 
75-PAGE CATALOGUE. 
also for prices. Ask for prices on ewes. 
F. M. COLLIN, Benton Center, N. Y„ Is our Eastern 
representative 
J. S. & W. C. CROSBY, 
GREENVILLE, MICH. 
TTT VHTTT? POTJTC! do not give much milk and 
*•* iUUIv wJWO you wish to Increase the 
>iuantlty one-third and always have plenty, address, 
enclosing 20 cents, CHAS. BURK, Farlana, Fayette 
County, Ill. 
Planting Fish.” A Special Car. Fig. 328. 
reader’s imagination is weak or strong : 
“ Subsoil plowing with dymamite is one 
of the new methods in the South, and is 
said to be equal to the process of trench¬ 
ing used by market gardeners to loosen 
the earth to a depth of two or three feet, 
and allow the absorption of a good deal 
of water for sustaining vegetation during 
a drought. The inventor drills holes two 
or three feet deep and five feet apart, 
making 1,600 to the acre. In each he puts 
an explosive, and, after tamping, dis¬ 
charges it, the whole number being con¬ 
nected with a wire leading to a battery. 
In a recent experiment the explosive 
used was one-fourth of a small-sized 
dynamite cartridge, with about an ounce 
of Judson powder. The surface of the 
ground appeared to be lifted two or 
three feet, a few small clods being thrown 
up to the height of a house. It was 
broken to the depth of 30 inches at the 
points of explosion and sidewise for a 
part of the distance between the holes.’ 
Fish Planting. —We are still planting 
fish in this year 1891; not as the old Pil¬ 
grims planted it as a fertilizer for corn, 
but in the hope of growing a good crop 
of food. Nobody dreamed three cen¬ 
turies ago that it would ever be neces¬ 
sary to breed and cultivate fish, yet it is 
being done to-day. Last week we gave 
an account of the work being done by the 
New York State Fish Commissioners, and 
this week we show at Fig. 328 a picture 
of the special car described last week. It 
is provided with tanks and other appara¬ 
tus for carrying the young fish to their 
breeding grounds. It is strange to think 
that the lakes and streams where once 
the Indian fished with his rude tackle 
are now to be turned into food factories. 
The Baldwin Apple. —It has been 
supposed that this fruit was originated 
in Woburn, Mass. In a history of Med¬ 
ford published in 1855, we are told: “The 
first tree producing this delicious fruit, 
grew on a hillside within two rods of the 
Woburn line. It was on the farm occu 
pied by Mr. Thompson. In 1813 the tree 
was old and partially decayed, but bore 
fruit. Because of five or six circles about 
the trunk, drilled by woodpeckers, the 
apples were called “ Woodpecker’s 
Apples.” This name was soon shortened 
to Peckers. Young Baldwin of Woburn, 
was an intimate friend of young Thomp¬ 
son, afterward Count Rumford. These 
young men attended Prof. Winthrop’s 
lectures in natural philosophy at Har¬ 
vard College, walking from their homes 
in Woburn. One day young Baldwin 
took several scions of the “ Woodpecker 
Apple ” tree to a public nursery, and from 
this circumstance the apple took his 
name. In the gale of September 1815, 
this parent tree fell. 
Morgan Spading Harrow. This “ fingers” 
and fumbles the soil into a perfect seed 
bed, while two horses draw it easily. 
For Sale—75 Poland Chinas! 
April, May and July I’lgs of 1891. Palra and trios 
not akin. Four stock boars from one to four years 
old, all eligible to record In O. P. C. R. For particu¬ 
lars and prices address E. S. GILLETT, Ravenna, O. 
BEST HERD IN AMERICA 
Of DAIRY SHORT HORNS. Never beaten In public 
tests, S. SPENCER & SON, Klantone, N. Y. 
COT8WOLD, OXFORD DOWH, 
SHROPSHIRE and MERINO SHEEP and 
LAMBS of the ry best blood obtainable- An extra 
good lot of Lambs of all breeds: also a few good 
Yearlings, some of which are prize winners. Write 
at once for prices and full particulars. 
W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Philadelphia, Pa. 
So Prevalent and so Fatal has Consumption 
become, that It is now everywhere dreaded as the 
great scourge of humanity; and yet, In their forma¬ 
tive stages, all Pulmonary Complaints may be read¬ 
ily relieved and controlled by resorting promptly to 
Dr. Jayne’s Expectorant, a curative specially 
adapted to soothe and strengthen the Bronchial 
tubes, allay inflammation, and loosen and remove 
all obstructions. It Is a certain remedy for Asthma 
and also for Coughs and Colds.— Adv. 
FINE BLOODED CATTLE, SHEEP, HOGS, 
Poultry. Sporting Dogs for sale. Catalogues 
with 150 engravings, free. 
N. P. BOYER, Coatesvllle, Pa. 
TO DAIRYMEN AND CATTLE 
OWNERS IN GENERAL! 
I Co Dundee, 
Maple Brook Herd of Duroc-Jersoy Swine. 
Our herd husbeen bred from the b*>st strains of Ohio 
and Illinois. Herd headed by Red Cloud 2487, assisted 
bv Hoosler Boy 2899 and other sires. Stock In fine 
condition. Prices reasonable Write for wants. We 
can please you. (Will give a year’s subscription to 
The Rural New-Yorker to each purchaser.) 
JAS. D. KIGER «fe SON 
Box 120, Charlestown, Ind. 
The Secret of Success! ®“ OT 
in cattle feeding, mailed free to any 
address. Address 
THE EMPIRE DAIRY FEED CO., 
OFFICE : 48 and 49, No. 170 Broadway, New York. 
WORKS : 045 to 051 West 40th Street, New York. 
riur ori ouri I O for Poultry Feed. One 100-lb. 
NHL Otfl OiIlLLo Bag, 5()C.: 20 Bags, $8. Sample 
5c. SEA SHELL COMPANY, Guilford, Conn. 
M DDnnnnrDQ have nee<l ° f hill’s 
rnUUUuLnO MILK AERATOR. The 
Standard Mechanical Device for purifying milk 
fresh from the cow of animal or other odors, without 
use of Ice or Water. Mention this paper. Cata¬ 
logues on application to 
E. L. HILL, West Upton, Mass. 
P BRCHERON MARES FOR S\LE.-Pair 
Yearling Mares, registered, from imported sire 
and dams. Brilliant and Romulus blood. 
J. M. HAM. Lynfeld Farm. 
Washington Hollow, N. Y. 
B UCKSKIN GLOVE CO. Gloversvllle. N. Y. 
make this Wp-elal Offer for December: 1 pair 
Unlnied Working Gloves, 60c.; 1 pr. Fleece-lined Gloves. 
7 ; c ; 1 pr. Fleece lined Driving Gloves or Mittens, wlih 
knit tops, *1. 1 pr. Wool Mttts with Buckskin palms, 
45c. Best Buckskin Purse made Ttwo apartments] 25c.; 
Buckskin Specie Bag, 15c. Tooacco Pouch, 10c. Price 
llstFree. Stamps taken. 
THEY’LL DO THE REST. 
Rapid HARNESS t\BHD ER5. 
WILL MEND 
Any Harness, Halter or Strap In less time, 
ind <lo the work better than any Harness 
i maker can, AND 
' C05TS ONLY HALF A CENT 
Sold by Grocers and Hardware Dealers. Cost 
only 25 c per box of one gross (three sizes.) 
I £<,:%£? I H 
BUFFALO SPECIALTY MFG. CO., 
I BUFFALO, N. Y. 
SPRING CURRY COMB 
Patented In United 
States, July 16, 1889, and 
™ in Ten Foreign Countries. 
A comb that combines the strength of metal with th< 
elasticity of a brush. Efficient, humane, convenfeni 
and durable. Descriptive circulars on application 
Bend for sample by mail, if not sold by your dealei^ 
SPRING CURRY COMB CO. South Bend. Ind 
CLEVELAND BAYS 
Oar 1891 importation gives as a large stable of the best Coach Horses, we can either 
Import or raise These are the best general parpose horses, and average best profits. 
We guarantee every horse sound, reliable breeders. See our list of winnings at the 
great Shows. We have the best. 
Send for Catalogue and particulars. 
CLEVELAND BAY HORSE COMPANY, PAW PAW, MICH. 
HORSES Lakeside Stock Farm, 
SMITHS & POWELL. SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
FRENCH COACH .—The evenest, best colored, finest bred of any importation yet. 
TROTTING BRED HORSES. —Fine representatives of several of the most noted trotting strains 
including descendants of “ Electioneer,” ” George Wilkes,” “ Alcazar,” “ Whips,” “ Administrator.” etc. 
CLYDESDALES. —The largest and most noted stud in the Eastern States. 
PERCHERONS.-A fine stock of the various ages. 
xiso the Celebrated Herd of Milk and Butter Producing Holstein-Friesians. 
BERKSHIRE AND CHESHIRE SWINE. 
Separate Catalogues of Horses and Cattle sent on application. Mention this paper whenlwritlng. 
