398 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 10 
Possibilities of a Farm. 
O. S. P., Winslow, Me .—Would not a 
fair exhibit made up as follows be an 
attractive one, and would it not show 
better than anything else the variety of 
fruits, vegetables, etc., to be found in 
profusion on some farmers’ tables dur¬ 
ing the summer ? Let a specimen of 
every product grown be properly pre¬ 
pared at the right time, by drying or 
canning, etc., and be properly labeled, 
with the length of its season, and let 
such fruits as can be kept fresh be shown 
in that way. Such an exhibit would be 
an interesting one for the autumn fair, 
and I think some farmers would be sur¬ 
prised themselves if they had before 
them at one time a good sample of every 
variety of food they raise, and the col¬ 
lection might be made ornamental as 
well as instructive. 
R. N.-Y.—We do not know that this 
has ever been tried in just the way men¬ 
tioned. It would certainly make an in¬ 
structive and unique exhibit. 
“Good Morning!” to Hired Men. 
C. W. J., Oweyo, N. Y.— Carrie T. Meigs 
is decidedly too hard on the poor hired 
man. I have noticed in some people who 
employ labor a tendency to treat their 
men in an overbearing and patronizing 
way which, to an intelligent working¬ 
man, is both irritating and disgusting. 
If one wishes his men to respect him 
he should treat them in a respectful 
manner ; always greet them with a pleas¬ 
ant “Good morning!” even if he doesn’t 
feel like it. If you have a good man pay 
him good wages and he will do you good 
service. If at any time he has done an 
extra heavy week or month’s work, re¬ 
ward him with a little extra pay. Re¬ 
member that familiarity breeds con¬ 
tempt, and if you indulge in story tell¬ 
ing and loose talk, your man will use 
you in a manner that would be very 
humiliating should a stranger appear on 
the scene. 
A Tomato Talk. 
Prof. W. F. Massey .—Lke Prof. At¬ 
wood, I was much amused at the idea 
that manuring in the hill made small 
tomatoes. I have been something of an 
enthusiast in tomato culture for 30 years 
or more, and at one time grew them to 
the extent of 10 to 15 acres annually. I 
have followed up the evolution of the 
tomato from the crooked and hollow 
things we once grew to the smooth, 
solid fruit of to-day, and if a long ex¬ 
perience is worth anything, it may help 
some if I give mine. 
Formerly I entertained the opinion, 
still held by some, that heavy applica¬ 
tions of nitrogenous manures made the 
vines too rank and the fruit more 
crooked; but persistent efforts in im¬ 
proving the character of the fruit and 
the modes of culture have convinced me 
that with a good strain of seed no 
amount of manuring will make it any 
more irregular, while a poor strain will 
be irregular in any event, and that a 
rank growth of vine, induced by heavy 
manuring, simply indicates the need of 
more room for the plant, and a heavier 
cron of big tomatoes and that heavy man¬ 
uring in the hill is the best way to in¬ 
sure a vigorous growth of vine and a 
corresponding vigor and perfection in 
the fruit. I have also learned that 
small fruits grow from seeds of small 
fruits, and vice versa ; that trimming and 
training the plant to a single stem lead 
to a smaller production of blooms, less 
pollen and a smaller crop ; that the 
largest crops are always on plants al¬ 
lowed to take their full natural develop¬ 
ment and grow at their own sweet will 
on the ground ; that healthy tomatoes 
lying on the ground are no more liable 
to rot than those trained off it. 
No fruit iB more rap’dly improved by 
careful selection, and none more rapidly 
deteriorated by carelessness than the 
tomato. Like Indian corn, the tomato is 
best when the seed :s produced in the 
same climate and latitude where the 
crop is to be grown, and it seldom does 
its best the first season when taken far 
north or south of its native locality. 
The improvement of the tomato should 
therefore be carried on in the locality 
where the crop is to be raised. My ex¬ 
perience is that a pirsistent raising of 
tomatoes from cuttings results in more 
solid and meaty fruits with fewer seeds, 
smaller-sized fruits and a smaller crop, 
and while cuttings are necessary tem¬ 
porarily, to fix a variety, seedling plants 
are the best for a crop. I believe there 
is still room for improvement in cross¬ 
fertilization for developing stamina and 
disease-resisting qualities ; but the form 
and quality of our best tomatoes leave 
little to be hoped for in the l’ne of more 
perfect fruit. 
In the South particularly our efforts 
should be diverted towards the develop¬ 
ment of sorts more resistent to climatic 
influences by selection from the most re¬ 
sistent plants consistent with good fruit 
—and one of the most important matters 
in this connection is heavy manuring in 
the hill and top-dressing to keep up the 
vigor of the plant. One of the best to¬ 
mato growers I know here is a negro 
porter in a drug house in Raleigh, whose 
little garden is devoted to his favorites 
every summer. He gathers up from 
street sweepings and every other source 
he can all winter a pile of rich compost. 
In setting his plants he gives plenty of 
room and digs a big, deep ho’e, which is 
entirely filled with this compost, in 
which his plants are set. This old negro 
has the largest and smoothest tomatoes 
seen here, and has them all the time. 
So d n’t fear manure in the hill. 
That “ Hired Man.” 
E. A. T., Croton, O.—Carrie T. Meigs 
has certainly been very unfortunate in 
getting the very worst class of “ hired 
help,” for, I assure you, they are not all 
inhuman wretches. Men are not all 
angels by any means, but good men with 
kind dispositions are just as plentiful 
among “ hired help ” as among their em¬ 
ployers. In support of my position, I 
want to mention a few of the many cases 
of ill treatment of stock by the owners 
that have come under my own observa¬ 
tion, and I am quite sure that instances 
of this kind outnumber similar ones by 
“hired help.” I was at a neighbor’s 
last winter wh le he was milking his only 
cow. She was so much afraid of him that 
she fairly trembled. He had knocked 
one horn off some time previous with a 
club, and the first misstep she made he 
bega n kicking, cursing and clubbing her, 
declaring he would knock the other horn 
off if she did not stand still. I saw this 
same man beat a horse on the side with 
a sled stake until the poor animal bled 
quite freely from the nose and mouth. 
The offense committed by the animal was 
that he had stopped because he was over¬ 
loaded. A man living a short distance 
from us worked one of his colts so hard 
that it died in a few hours after it had 
been unhitched. Another man who lives 
in sight of us has lost three horses since 
last September by overdriving. I know 
of a farmer who, while driving a span of 
mules, became angry because they did 
not respond to his demands as quickly as 
he thought they should, cruelly cut the 
corners of their mouths with a knife. 
I do not know of a single instance 
where the “hired man” has been guilty 
of such extreme cruelty as these farmers. 
A man who will ill-treat his stock is very 
apt to misuse his help. These will do 
no better under bad treatment than cows. 
It is very rarely that we hear of a man 
who is noted for his kind treatment of 
his stock who has any trouble with his 
“ hired help.” If you want your man to 
take an interest in your affairs, you must 
take an interest in him and his. If he 
does an extra hard day’s work, let him 
know you appreciate it. If he has had 
a very hard week’s work, give him half a 
day to rest and do as he pleases. You 
will get it all back the next week with 
interest. Some employers would not be 
suited with the best man living, and 
sometimes the best would not be treated 
when about the house as he should. As 
a rule, “ hired help,” both indoors and 
out, expect to be used as one of the fam¬ 
ily, and it is perfectly right that some of 
them should be. Quite frequently it hap¬ 
pens that a farmer cannot find work for 
all his sons and daughters, or he can 
not spare the cash necessary to clothe 
and keep them in spending money. 
Their help being in demand, they hire to 
some neighbor and by so doing they do 
not lower themselves in any way. And 
if they receive the treatment due them, 
and their employer sets a good example, 
they will take just the same interest in 
their work they did at home. The way 
“hired help” conduct themselves depends 
largely upon the way their employers 
handle them. I know of a young man 
who hired for the winter months ; he 
intended to do his best to please his emd 
ployer and I am well enough acquainted 
with him to know that he has push ann- 
energy enough to carry out his intend 
tions to the letter. Having to boa s 
with the family he expected to be treat d 
as an equal. He was not there long 
until he found he had made a wonderful 
mistake. Whenever the family had com 
pany in the evenings or Sunday, he wa- 
given to understand that his place was 
in the kitchen. The result was that he 
soon forgot his good intentions. He per. 
formed all the work assigned to him but 
lacked interest, and the outcome was not 
nearly so pleasant and profitable to all 
concerned as would have been the case 
if the employer had acted wisely. 
Good Apple Wood Wanted 
Gage Tool Co., Vineland, N. J. —The 
severe winds and tornadoes of the pres¬ 
ent and past years have devastated many 
of the best apple and pear orchards in 
the country. If, instead of allowing 
this wood to rot or De taken to the wood 
pile, the farmers would carefully collect 
it, have it sawed and piled under cover 
ready for marketing, they would save 
many dollars that now go to waste. In 
our own business we use apple wood for 
plane stocks. It is difficult to get good 
sound wood of the kind. Trees that are 
taken out because they are dead are of 
no account, and very few tear out an 
apple or pear tree when it is healthy 
and in bearing condition, but the cy¬ 
clones are not so discriminating as good 
farmers. 
IN writing to advertisers please always mention 
Thk Rural Niw-Tobk*r 
A Veteran 
Mr. Joseph Ilein- 
mcrich, 529 E. 14Gth 
St., N. Y. City, in 18G2, 
at the battle of Fair 
Oaks, was stricken with 
Typhoid Fever, and 
after a long struggle in 
hospitals, was discharg¬ 
ed as incurable with 
Consumption. lie has 
lately taken Hood’s Sar¬ 
saparilla, is in good health, and cordially rcc- 
omnends IlOOU’S SABSAPABILLA 
as a general blood purifier and tonic medi- 
-.1.11., tlio A 1J 
Jos. Hemmericli. 
HOOD’S PlLLS are hand made, and are per¬ 
fect in composition, proportion and appearance. 
Farmers YOUR Produce 
To V. I. SAGE St SON, 183 Reade St., N. Y., 
Receivers of all kinds of Country Produck, in¬ 
cluding Game, Live and Dressed Poultry and Dressed 
Calves. Specialties —Berries, Grapes, Apples, Pears, 
Honey, Onions aud Potatoes. Correspomdence and 
Consignments solicited. Stencils furnished. Ref¬ 
erence: Dun’s or Bradskreet’s Commercial Reports, 
to be found at any bank. 
Made in 
10, 12,14, 16 
and 18 inch 
cut. Most Re¬ 
liable Mower in 
use. Easy to work. 
Strong and Durable. 
8 " $25 
12 " $50 
16 " $100 
AERMOTORS 
ALL STEEL 
GALVANIZED 
PUMPING OR GEARED SAME PRICE. 
For the benefit of the public, the Aermotor 
Company declares a dividend and makes the 
above prices as _ a means of dis¬ 
tributing it. These prices 
very^small profit on a very 
great number of outfits has 
given the Aer- motor Company 
4 acres of land in ^l!JI»> the best manufac¬ 
turing center of Mt| Chicago,with many, 
very many, acres Iri'H of floor space and 
the best equip- BTfi mentof machinery, 
for the purpose, ■a/fl in existence. The 
Aermotor Co. IvKMl feels, in this crown¬ 
ing Columbian year, that it can afford to he 
generous. We will ship from Chicago to any 
one anywhere at the above prices. 
THE AERMOTOR COMPANY, 
12th and Rockwell Sts., CHICAGO. 
WHY YOU WANT 
-A- 
SWINGING STACKER, 
Band Cutter and Self-Feeder, 
HORSE POWER, 
Tread Power and Saw Frame, 
SAW MILL 
• • AND . . 
MADE BY 
J. 1. CASE T. M. CO., 
RACINE, WIS. 
Because they have no Equal. 
CATALOGUE FREE. 
LIQUID AND POWDER SPRAYERS. 
9n GRAPE VINES. GARDENS, FIELD CROPS, 
«. ONE TO THREE ACRES PER HOUR. §1.00 to 
,00 each. These articles carry first prize in all State 
firs where shown. Recommended by all State Agri- 
Itural Colleges, all stamped The Woodason and 
’arranted Sold by first-class Seedsmen. CAUTION 
Shent per cent parties are sending out bogus ar- 
;les of this description. See that you get Thk Wood- 
jon stamped o-n, and W. on head of tacks. Catalogues 
ENGINES. 
SAW 
MILLS, 
Threshing Machines. 
Best Machinery at Lowest Prices. 
A B. FARQUHAR CO., York, Pa. 
WEL 
I Ml P LTV An * !nat ' Water, Oaa, Oil, 
y in All (1 ! tuning, Ditching, Pumping, 
■ wild and Steami Heating Boilers, Ao. Will 
mmpay you to tend S6o. for Encyclopedia, of 
1600 Engravings. The American Well Works, Aurora, Ill. 
also, Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Tex.; Sydney, N. S. W. 
