382 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 3 
A Farmer Frees His Mind. 
Farmer, Lyndonville, N. Y.—J do 
not agree with Carrie T. Meigs in regard 
to hired help. There are some hired men 
that are a detriment to any one, but what 
could be done without them ? I think 
the wr.ter of that article on page 342, or 
her father rather, must he like a few 
farmers we have here who boss their 
hireo help around like so many dogs and 
expect them to wor.c from daylight till 
dark, and sleep in thv barn or some old 
garret not fit for swine. That is one way 
t_ make “contrary” 1 ired help. Sucb 
treatment is enough to mak them so. 
Speaking of the “cussedness” in hired 
help, from my expe ience there is more 
pure cusse lness in some farmers’ wives 
and daughters than I have ever seen in a 
dozen hired men. The hired men in this 
section are just as honest and honorable 
as their bosses. ‘Why, they be.ome 
farmers themselv-s in a few years, and 
as a rule they make the most, enterpris¬ 
ing farmers w have. If there are so 
many farmers * hose help proves ’o be a 
loss to them, why don’t they dispense 
with them at once, and then they may 
become exceedingly rich, their gains will 
be so gieat; but with me, if it were not 
for hired help I could not do one-tenth 
of my work. I never command my men 
to do anything : I always ask them, and 
us a general thing, they always do it 
rightaway and as it should be done 
The time may come, but it has not yet 
with me, when 1 cannct get all the help 
I want. If I we;e a hired man and hired 
out to a man, I would not be bossed by 
his wife and children ; I would look for 
orders to the man to whom I hired out 
and to him alone. A man’s place is in 
the fie ds and the proper place for a 
woman is in the house, and I think there 
would be less trouble between farmers 
and their hired men if the women would 
stay where they belong. 
# Abundance Plum on Peach Stock. 
S. D. Willard, Geneva, N. Y.—Under 
the head of “ Various Fruit Questions ” 
in The Rural of May 13, H. H P., Carson 
City, Mich., asks : “ Does the Abundance 
od peach roots make as good a tree as 
on plum roots ? ” With me it appears to 
do equally well and I think the same 
would be true at Carson City. 
Home-made Nitrate. 
W. A. M., Taylorville, Utah.— If 
those not able to buy nitrate of soda 
would use clover for bedding their stock 
to make manure, they would soon find 
they would have no use for other ni¬ 
trates. We never feed any other hay 
here except Lucern. Last winter I did 
not have any straw so I used the hay for 
bedding, and spread the manure on a 
piece of ground so poor that it would 
not produce beans or strawberries worth 
picking, while melons would not grow 
at all on it. I put this manure on at 
the rate of 70 loads to the acre, and 
plowed it m deep, mixing it well with 
the soil. Then I set it all to strawber¬ 
ries, and between the rows I planted 
some radishes, water-melons and white 
Navy bush beans. The strawberries 
are now very fine large stools, and the 
radishes were as fine as I ever saw. 
Some that I allowed to grow were two 
inches in diameter and 15 inches long. 
The melons fairly covered the ground ; 
I picked 22 from 8 to 14 inches in d am- 
eter from nine vines, but the beans beat 
all in growth ; they were 20 inches high 
and had put out vines three to five feet 
long and were still growing when frost 
came ; but they bore no beans worth 
picking. The same kind planted on 
moderately good soil only grew eight 
incites high; but were full of beans. 
Could any commercial fertilizer make 
more plant 'growth than this manure 
did, and will it not be more lasting in 
its effects ? This manure was very 
cheap, as most of the clover used for 
bedding had been spoiled before it was 
used. If it is run through a straw cut¬ 
ter it will save a great deal of hard work 
in cleaning out the stable and plowing 
it under. 
Pole Beans Without Poles. 
II. N. B., Angelica, N. Y.—I plant 
two rows about 30 inches apart and about 
100 feet in length; between these I 
stretch a wire on the top of two stakes 
that I place in the ground about 1% foot 
farther out than the rows extend. The 
two rows are planted zig-zagging, four 
feet apart. I then take a ball of sheep 
twice and tie the end to the stake where 
the wire is fastened. Then I run the 
twine down to the hill where I have 
placed a wire hook, and hook the twine 
on this, then carry it up and over the 
wire and down to the hill on the other 
side of the wire, placing it under the 
hook and so on until all is done. The 
cost is only about one-half of what 
it is to set poles. Then, too, the vines 
never fall back: they stick to 'the twine 
until they are taken off in the fall. The 
wire is the size of a fence wire; the hooks 
may be of the same size, 10 inches long 
and pressed into the ground in or 
close to every hill. After the twine is 
strung I press the hook down close to the 
ground. Now. the twine will stretch 
and sag; but in order to take-up the s’ack 
I use edgings I get at the saw mill, cut 
somewhat longer than the distance from 
the ground up to the wire; then I drive 
a nail through them and clinch like the 
figure X. These I place under the wire 
at intervals of 10 to 12 feet. When the 
twine stretches, as it will, the legs of 
these supports may be drawn closer to¬ 
gether, thus taking up all the sag. I 
have used thiswiyof poling beans for 
three years past and I like it very much 
better than setting a pole at every hill. 
Four years ago we planted a pecan nut 
received from a friend in the South, 
Louisiana we think. The tree is now 
about eight feet high. Not a bud was 
killed by the past severe winter. 
The reminder is now timely to our 
readers to save the seeds of their finest 
strawberries—those of the highest flavor 
and borne by the most prolific plants. 
Sow the seeds at once in well-prepared 
loamy soil in drills. They will soon ger¬ 
minate and the seedlings may be trans¬ 
planted next spring. They will bear the 
next year. 
Many years ago we would have given 
a good deal to have known just what 
vines would prove hardy and thrifty in 
shady places—places shaded even from 
morning till night. The Climbing 
Hydrangea was not known then in this 
country. But it is known now, and it 
has proved itself to be exceedingly hardy 
and to love the shade. It will cling to 
wood or stoDe work just as does the so- 
called Boston Ivy—Ampelopsis Vietchii— 
and blooms in late May, the flowers re¬ 
sembling those of Hydrangea quercifolia. 
The ample foliage is of a glossy green 
color. It is a grand vine and our readers 
one and all should have at least a trial 
vine. 
Speaking of vines that thrive in the 
shade, the Clematis may be mentioned. 
So, too, Akebia quinata and Aristoloeliia 
Sipho do very well. 
\Ye want to commend to our readers a 
carpet bed of plants that we have never 
seen used for the purpose, viz., vincas. 
Ellwanger & Barry were kind enough to 
send us for this purpose the following 
varieties : Vinca coerulea minor, V. ele- 
gantissima alba, V. major variegata, and 
V. purpurea pleno (double-flowered). 
These have all been.planted in one bed. 
They soon take possession of the entire 
soil and bloom in great profusion during 
the spring while, being nearly ever¬ 
green, the beds are beautiful the year 
round. Vincas may safely be trans¬ 
planted now or at any time. 
Much has been said under Ruralisms 
as to the relative hardiness of plants. 
There are some plants that seem hardy 
in all situations and seasons. The 
Northern banana, as we should like to 
call it, seems one of them, We allude to 
Asimina triloba—the Custard apple or 
Pawpaw. Our specimen, taken from the 
woods 20 years ago, is growing near a 
macadamized path in wretchedly poor 
soil. It bears an immense crop of ba¬ 
nanas every fall. Not a bud of this tree 
has been killed by the cold of the past 
winter (20 degrees below zero). It is 
now (May 20) in full bloom. The flowers 
are as pretty as those of the much- 
praised hardy vine Akebia quinata ; the 
fruit is liked by many ; the tree assumes 
a symmetrical pyramidal shape ; the 
leaves are large and droop peculiarly. 
It is a handsome little tree. And yet how 
many cultivate the Northern banana? 
The new and beautiful varieties of the 
lilac are of slow appreciation, because, 
it may be assumed, most people regard 
lilacs as merely lilacs and pass them over 
accordingly. But the finest sorts of to¬ 
day are as different from the old Com¬ 
mon and Persian lilacs (Syringa vul¬ 
garis and Persica) as are the new sorts 
of Tuberous-rooted begonias from the 
old. President Grf:vy, for example, bears 
large panicles, the individual flowers of 
which are double, fully half an inch in 
diameter and of a delicate blue color. 
Then there are Michael Buchner, a dwarf 
plant with double pale lilac flowers; 
Ludwig Spaeth, with large single, dark 
red flowers; Frau Dammann with im¬ 
mense trusses of pure white flowers 
and many others of similar beauty and 
variety. 
(Continued on next page.) 
^dwrti#in0< 
IN writing to advertisers please always mention 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
e Eyesight 
SAVED. 
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Fever when 4 years old, 
leaving him very weak 
and with bloqd pois¬ 
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His eyes became in¬ 
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were intense, and for 7 
weeks he could not even 
open his eyes. I began 
Clifford 15 lack in-in giving him HOODS 
nxackman. g a RS A PARIES. A, 
which soon cured him. I know it khvoI his 
sight, if not his very life.” Abbie F. Black¬ 
man, 2888 Washington St., Boston, Mass. 
HOOD’S PlLLS are the best after-dinner Pills, 
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accurately described and 
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Novelty Catalogue which 
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to 
Pitcher & Manoa, 
United States Nurseries, 
SHORT HILLS, N.J. 
Lawn Mowers, 
GARDEN ROLLERS, 
LAWN RAKES, 
CULTIVATORS, 
HORSE HOES, 
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and a full line of tools for farm and garden use 
Send for Special Circular to the 
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Genuine PHILADELPHIA 
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350,000 
IN THE FIELD. 
Hand-Sizes, 
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ENGINES, 
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Threshing Machines. 
Best Machinery at Lowest Prices. 
Dissolution Probable. 
The old firm of Contraction & Expansion, long en¬ 
gaged In demolishing wire fences, have had a falling 
out. Being unable to make any Impression on our 
Coiled Spring Fence, Expansion got HOT and his 
partner has displayed an unmistakable coolness 
toward him ever since. Those who UBe Page fence 
are not Interested. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., 
Adrian, Mich. 
The Page Wire Fence Company of Ontario, Ltd., 
Walke.-ville, Ontario. 
MAKE MONEY 
While You 
STAHL’S 
EXCELSIOR 
FRUIT DRIER 
Evaporate? Fruit DAY 
and NIGHT. Catalogue 
free upon application. 
Add res? 
WILLIAM STAHL 
EVAPORATOR COMP’Y, 
QUINCY* ILL. 
ATTENTION! 
ASK FOR THIS AXE. 
USE NO OTHER. 
Wood-choppers, try the 
Kelly Perfect flxe 
It will cut more wood 
than any other axe. 
The scoop in the blade 
keeps it from sticking in 
the wood, and makes it 
cut deeper than any other 
axe. Ask your dealer for 
it. Send us his name if 
he don’t keep it. It is the 
Anti-Trust Axe. 
Kelly Axe Mfg.Co. 
LOUISVILLE, KY. 
LIQUID AND POWDER SPRAYERS. 
On GRAPE VINES. GARDENS. FIELD CROPS, 
Etc. ONE TO THREE ACHES PER HOUR. $1.00 to 
f 1.00 each. These articles carry first prize in all State 
airs where shown. Recommended by all State Agri¬ 
cultural Colleges, all stamped The Woodason and 
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—Sbent per cent parties are sending out bogus ar¬ 
ticles of this description. Seethatyou get Tiik Wood¬ 
ason stamped on, and W. on head of tacks. Catalogues 
Free, THQS. WOODASON, 2900-02 D St., Philad’a., Pa. 
