THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
545 
1893 
THE PROSPECT. 
Owing to the great stringency of the money market, 
the new wheat crop is likely to move unusually slowly 
to market. The country banks are willing to lend 
only a fraction of the amount of money they were 
ready to advance in former seasons, and various plans 
have been suggested to obviate the effects of the finan 
cial condition. One that is giving satisfaction in 
southern Minnesota and which is likely to be widely 
adopted elsewhere, appears to offer a practical solu¬ 
tion of the problem. It is that the grain men should 
issue their checks for grain purchased of the farmers, 
payable 15 days after date, which would allow for the 
collection of drafts against consignments. At some 
points the banks refuse to advance money on such 
drafts, but will only enter them for collection. This 
plan proposes a division of the burthen which, it is 
believed, farmers will admit to be fair. Even with 
such an arrangement, crops must move slowly ; and 
not a few farmers in need of ready cash are likely to 
be considerably nconvenieneed. 
X X X 
Eight hundred and tkn delegates from 42 States 
and Territories have just been assembled at Chicago 
as representatives of the American Bimetallic League 
—or the silver interests of the country. We can by 
no means agree with the papers that stigmatize the 
convention as an assemblage of fanatics, cranks and 
demagogues. We have abundant faith in the patriot¬ 
ism ai.d honesty of the great West, which is most 
numerously represented. With us there is no doubt 
that a great majority of the convention are patriotic 
citizens earnestly desirous of promoting the welfare of 
the country. Whether opposed to or in favor of the 
free coinage of the white metal, we recognize the 
absolute right of American freemen to proclaim their 
opinions without hindrance, molestation or vilification. 
In our own columns and outside we welcome a free 
and full discussion of all the conditions of the financial 
situation and of all other subjects of interest or import¬ 
ance to American citizens, and especially to American 
farmers. We do not believe that there is in the 
Eastern or Middle States any sentiment hostile to the 
interests of the West and South. What Eastern man 
can regard the production or sale of silver as a crime ? 
There are differences of opinion among honest and 
intelligent people all over the country as to the policy 
of the free coinage of the white metal at the present 
ratio ; but nowhere is there any desire to degrade it 
or make its production unprofitable. Away with the 
notion that there is any real antagonism between the 
East and West! Neither can prosper without the aid 
of the other. Both have hitherto thriven splendidly, 
and will continue to do so after the present flurry has 
passed. The East is suffering from this just as much 
as the West. If Western mines are shutting down, are 
not Eastern mills, factories and workshops closing ? 
For every thousand Western workers who begin to 
feel the pressure of hard times, five thousand Eastern 
toilers are in the same plight. Of the same ancestry, 
speaking the same language, inspired by the same 
flag, knit together by myriad ties of kindred and com¬ 
merce, the interests of all sections of the country are 
inseparable, and moderation in speech and action 
should characterize the conduct of each towards the 
others. I | j; 
As American society has changed, the potato crop 
has become more and more necessary, and the methods 
of producing it have been greatly developed. In old 
times potato fields were small. The product was 
so bulky that transportation by the means then in use 
was too costly. Now, with cheaper methods of trans¬ 
portation, potatoes are becoming a profitable crop in 
sections where formerly they could not have grown 
with profit. Vast fields are now given to the crop, 
and this wholesale production has demanded machin¬ 
ery for simplifying the original methods of planting, 
hoeing and digging by hand. 
X X X 
This demand has been met by our inventors. The 
potato planter does the work of 10 good men dropping 
by hand. Any of the good sulky cultivators or light 
harrows will enable a farmer to sit on a comfortable 
seat and let his horses do the hoeing for him. Thou¬ 
sands of farmers remember the loss and trouble of the 
first year the potato bugs put in an appearance. They 
seemed then powerless against the peits, yet now we 
have machines that will throw poisoned water on six 
rows at a time as fast as a good team can walk. At 
every point invention has met the farmer’s difficulty 
with a suitable machine. The hardest problem has 
been to produce a digger. 
X X X 
This is because digging is the hardest and most 
complicated part of potato growing—weeds, stones, 
vines and hard-packed soil have all to be overcome in 
digging potatoes. The actual force of throwing the 
tubers out of the soil is but a part of the process— 
they must be screened or sifted from the earth as well. 
In fact this sifting has proved the worst obstacle in 
the path of the inventor. It was easy enough to de¬ 
vise a strong plow that could pass under the tubers 
and throw them out with dirt, stones and vines, but a 
good portion of the potatoes were more or less cov¬ 
ered and hidden from sight. The problem then was 
to devise an attachment for shaking out the dirt and 
stones, and leaving the tubers on the top of the 
ground. Two distinct methods have been worked up 
by inventors. One is represented by a large, heavy 
complicated machine with cog wheels, shakers, chains 
and many parts. This is to scoop up vines, dirt and 
tubers, shake out the former and pass the latter out 
behind on the surface of the ground. These compli¬ 
cated machines do good work, the objections to them 
being that they are of very heavy draft, expensive in 
price, and so complicated, that the average cost of 
repairs is quite a large item. 
X t X 
The other plan was to devise a plow with a simple 
screening attachment without expensive fixtures or 
heavy weight. The argument in this case was that 
the average farmer did not want a complicated or ex¬ 
pensive machine, but one that his single team could 
easily handle and which would not demand annual in¬ 
vestments for repairs. Beginning with the shovel 
plow with spikes or fingers ranged about it, this idea 
has been developed until we have the arrangement 
shown at Fig. 186, which, we think, is the best simple 
device yet produced. This is the Improved tlallock 
digger, made by H. W. Doughton, of Moorestown, N. J. 
We give space to it here simply because it seems to be 
a distinct advance in diggers and the nearest approach 
to the correct principle of ungeared machines that we 
have seen. In most of these diggers the screens are 
claced behind the plow. This left the tubers in the 
furrow, to be stepped on by the workman, and also 
left many covered at the sides where there was no way 
of screening off the dirt. In this machine the potatoes 
do not fall behind at all. They are simply plowed to 
right and left, falling upon the long screens which 
run lightly and easily over the ground almost exactly 
as one would dig in the soil with his fingers. The 
writer saw this digger used last week under very un¬ 
favorable circumstances. The ground was hard and 
dry. The rows were somewhat hilled up, the vines 
were green and strong, and great, stout weeds stood— 
some of them three feet high. A team of mules easily 
pulled the digger through the rows. I hunted carefully 
for hidden potatoes, but all were more or less ex¬ 
posed. It was a hard test, as any one who has tried 
to dig in hard and weedy soil well knows, but the 
potatoes all came out. Quite likely such a digger will 
not g ve satisfaction in all places. There are different 
makes of mowers, rakes and other machinery. All 
have special champions who can give facts to show 
their value. I can understand how this can be when 
I realize what a difference there is in soils, crops and 
locations. No machine can give absolute satisfaction 
everywhere. There are potato fields of all sorts and 
kinds—stony, hilly, weedy, wet, hard, soft. One could 
hardly expect a digger made specially for work on a 
level prairie, free from stones, to do first-class work 
on a st^ny New England hillside. Tnis digger that I 
speak of may not excel everywhere, but it seems to 
me that its principle of screening or shaking at the 
side is the true one, while its simplicity and strength 
are all in its favor. I should certainly advise potato 
growers to try to see it work. 
BIDDING ON BANANAS. 
THE FIRST AUCTION SALK OF THIS FRUIT IN AMERICA. 
‘ Gentlemen, if you w .11 give me your attention, I will 
begin the sale. This cargo of bananas is to be sold at 
auction as fast as it is loaded on the trucks. I think 
this is a very important event in the banana trade in 
this city, and that it will inaugurate a system whose 
results will be gratifying to all. It is the only way to 
sell fruit, because it gives to every buyer just what he 
should have, an equal chance. This sale is not by sam¬ 
ple, but every buyer can see just what the fruit is as 
it is loaded on the trucks. The terms of the sale you 
will find on the back of the catalogues.” Thus spoke 
Mr. E. L. Goodsell, the great apostl a of the fruit auc¬ 
tion system, in beginning the first auction sale of 
a cargo of bananas in this country. 
About four years ago The R. N.-Y. fully described 
the auction system of selling California fruits as in¬ 
augurated by Mr. Goodsell. It is the only Eastern 
agricultural paper that has ever described or advo¬ 
cated that method of disposing of agricultural prod¬ 
ucts. Yet the sales of California fruits have increased 
with each succeec ing year, and this year are likely to 
exceed all others. Meanwhile, many other products 
have been sold at auction, usually with good results. 
Still there are difficulties in the way of the complete 
success of the system when applied to the Eastern 
products, difficulties which the Californians have par¬ 
tially or completely overcome, and are in consequence 
reaping the reward. 
The banana is a strong competitor of our native 
fruits. It is always with us. It comes mostly from 
the Central American States and the West Indies. 
There are fruit vessels, mostly steamers, plying con¬ 
stantly between New York and these southern ports, 
bringing the fruit to us in its green state. It is put 
into storage here ; if wanted for speedy use, into 
warm rooms ; if wished for keeping or shipping, into 
cooler ones. Thus it is not forced on the market as 
most of our perishable fruits are. Moreover, it is the 
cheapest fruit at retail that is sold in our markets, 
and is apparently within the reach of all. As a con¬ 
sequence, large quantities are consumed. 
“ How many bunches are there on board of this 
vessel ?” I asked Mr. Goodsell. 
“ About 12,000.” 
“ And will you sell them all at auction ?” 
“ Yes, every bunch.” 
“ It will be a pretty big job, won’t it ?” 
“Oh, yes ; it will take all day. But we shall have 
another hatch opened, and another platform built, so 
that we can load two sets of trucks at once. Then it 
will go faster.” 
On the dock, extending from the steamer’s side, was 
a platform, and three trucks were backed up to this, 
one for each of the three grades into which the 
bananas were divided. Down in the hold men were 
handing them up from the regular tiers into which 
they had been piled until the hold was filled. From 
h-ind to hand the bunches were passed, until the in¬ 
spector on the platform decided the grade, and passed 
them to the truck containing that grade. By each 
wagon stood a man having a numbering machine sus¬ 
pended from his neck, and, as a bunch was placed in his 
wagon, it was registered. The trucks containing first 
grade received 75 bunches, the second 100, and the 
third 125. The larger number classed as second 
grade, more in fact than of both the other grades, 
consequently a truck containing this grade was filled 
first. 
“ Now, gentlemen, lot first contains 100 bunches of 
No. 2’s. What do I hear to start them ? One dollar 
is that right ? Ninety-five cents ? Ninety cents ?” 
Finally 75 cents was bid, and this was raised 2 % 
cents at a time until 90 cents was reached, and at this 
price the load was struck off. The next load of No. 
2’s brought $1. The first load of No. 3’s started at 50 
cents and sold for 70. The No. l’s sold for $1 27% to 
$1,50. The day of this sale Jamaicas No. 2 were quoted 
in the regular market reports at 75 to 80 cents. 
“ This is the way to sell fruit,” said Mr. Goodsell 
enthusiastically. “ The Jersey farmers are losing 
thousands of dollars every year by not combining and 
adopting this system ? ” There are advantages in the 
auction system. There are also disadvantages, as I 
before intimated, but they are in the ma : n such as can 
be overcome. The commission men very naturally op¬ 
pose thissys’em. Some who have had produce sold by 
it are not satisfied. But its extension in the sale of 
California, Florida and foreign fruits would seem to 
indicate that it has come to stay. f. u. v. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
A. B. Farquhau & Co., York, Pa., have matter of interest for cider 
makers, large and small. You can have It for ^he asking. 
Du. II. Van Waoenen, Darlington, Wls., says he Is 78 years old and 
feels like a boy. He also says that he drinks Hires’ root beer exces¬ 
sively in a way to Imply that the drink is responsible for his juvenile 
sensations. As a matter of fact, this Is a refreshing and healthful 
drink, and very cheap. 
WE And that others who use the Sherwood harness are as well 
pleased with it as ourselves. Mr. R Messenger, of Waller. Pa., writes 
that he ordered it on three days'trial, and sent his check promptly 
to pay for It, saying that It gave entire satisfaction. It Is made by 
the Sherwood Harness Co , Auburn, N. Y. 
Few people have an Idea of the amount of lumber used In this 
country lor manufacturing tanks. A steamer load of this lumber 
arrived In Chicago from the Lake Superior region a few days ago con¬ 
signed to the United States Wind Engine and Pump Co., Batavia, Ill. 
It requited an entire train of 31 cars loaded to their full capacity to 
transport It to Its destination. An Idea of the magnitude of the busi¬ 
ness of this concern may be gained from the fact that this Is only one 
of live similar shipments fequlred to complete Us order for tank 
lumoer to be used exclusively in the manufacture of tanks for this 
season only. 
IN regard to that account of Mr. Cory's wheat growing In Ohio, on 
page 540, by figuring at 85 certs a bushel for his wheat, he shows a 
fair profit With wheat at! s present price, the profit will not be in 
sight with an ordinary yield. Figure It at 50 cents, and see what profit 
there Is In It. You see that the only way of paying expenses Is to get 
the largest possible yield for the labor employed. There is absolutely 
nothing In a light yield. Lots of farmers will be tempted to use no 
fertilizer this year, and thus save the cost. This Is a mistaken policy. 
Don't do It. The only hope for you is to Increase the yield and obtain 
all you can at a minimum of labor. The old, reliable Arm of I. P. 
Thomas & Co., Philadelphia, can furnish good fertilizers. 
