702 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
October 21 
Buildings with Land Thrown In. 
D. A K , Waitfield, Vt — On page 620, 
li. B , of Barre, Mass., tells us something 
of his stony land, and asks a few ques¬ 
tions. I would also like to ask a few ques¬ 
tions, (the Yankee way for answering.) 
For what is the land used now ? What 
income does it bring ? What price would 
it bring ? What would be the cost of land 
free from stones, if obtainable in his 
locality ? What would be the probable 
yield of hay on such land after removing 
the stones without using fertilizers ? 
What is the average price of hay ? Would 
not the cost of clearing off the rocks 
more than pay for the transportation of 
hay from some place where land already 
cleared iB to be had for nothing? I hardly 
think that any electric motor, or any 
other machine, would travel around the 
field and smash each stone in its path, 
and if the latter had to be loaded and 
drawn to the machine, why not drop 
them in heaps and save expense ? 
Here, in central Vermont, we have 
some pieces of land that would produce 
large crops if simply drained, but it will 
not pay to do this, except in small spots 
in an otherwise dry field, because the 
land already drained and free from 
stones can be obtained for nothing. I 
mean by this that many farms can now 
be bought for what the buildings and 
fences are worth, and they are not steep, 
rocky hillsides fit for nothing but grow¬ 
ing timber, but fine dairy farms, with 
good buildings, on good roads, only a 
few miles from railroads. Such land in 
parts of Illinois would bring $80 per 
acre, and in western New York $100, and 
30 years ago it was worth that here; now 
it goes for a s< ng, although excellent 
crops are grown on it. There are few 
buyers, and the boys go West or flock to 
the cities. 
Some of the Novelties. 
S. W. P., Lorain County, Ohio. —I did 
no v . buy as many novelties as usual this 
year on account of my lack of success 
with them in the past. The “ Iceberg 
lettuce ” proved to be of superior quality 
and a very ni.*e grower, much better 
than any of the old varieties which I 
grew this season. I tried a small quantity 
of the Early Butter field corn, and al¬ 
though it was given every advantage and 
the best of care, it has failed to prove 
itself of any value. It did not ripen 
within two days as early as my old corn 
and is much inferior in quality, and will 
be thrown out. The Golden Dresden 
radii-li did not prove with me to be any¬ 
thing of extra value, but I shall give it 
another trial, as, on account of bad 
weather, they couid not be given the 
best of care, although the standard varie¬ 
ties raised under the same conditions 
were good. Among the tomatoes sent 
out by The R. N.-Y. I find several varie¬ 
ties. One is about the shape and size of 
the Egg plum and very deep yellow. 
Another is of the same color, but almost 
perfectly round, and very small. Still 
another is of a yellow sort, medium size 
and fair quality, and by far the best of 
the yellow varieties. The best of the lot, 
how ever, was a very deep red one, almost 
perfect shape, and excellent quality, very 
solid and rich flavored, and in my opinion 
will be a good variety for home use, it 
beirg a little small for market. The sea¬ 
son has been very unfavorable all the 
way through. Soon after crops were put 
in it came cn a long, cold spell with 
heavy rains, drowning out nearly all 
crops, so that they had to be planted 
again, thus giving them a very late start. 
Following this came a drought which, 
with the exception of a few showers, 
still continues. It has been almost im¬ 
possible for anything to grow. 
Mice and Tin Cans. 
J. C. A., Kenwood, N. Y.—My method 
of preventing mice from barking young 
trees is to get tin cans, quart and gallon 
sizes, melt the soldering off and wrap 
the tins around the tree. This costs 
nothing but the time, and is a safe pro¬ 
tection. I have left them around two 
trees through the summer with no bad 
effect that I can see at this time. 
Florida Soft Phosphates. 
W. E. H., Oklando, Flobida —As to 
that question about the use of soft phos¬ 
phates for orange groves, while I have 
not used them myself, I have obtained 
facts from those who have done so : Mr. 
Collins, who has charge of the 20-acre 
bearing grove near here, told me that he 
used 40 tons on the 20 acres last year and 
eould not see that it had been of the least 
benefit, trees that had not been trea ed 
with it looking just as well as where it 
had been used at the rate of two tons to 
the acre. Mr. James Jones, of this 
vicinity, put it on his grove two years 
years ago and he says that he received 
no benefit from its use. Mr. L. P. Wes- 
cott, a neighbor of mine, used it at the 
rate of four tons to the acre on an experi¬ 
ment patch of vegetables and tays he 
might just as well have used so much 
white sand. Mr. Collins says that after 
a rain it seemed to form a cement, and 
Mr. Weseott says it makes the soil pack 
and that after a rain he could take up 
cakes of earth a foot square. This phos¬ 
phate was a 60 per cent grade, finely 
ground, soft phosphate. I think if C. L. 
M. would substitute beggar-weed for 
cow-peas with about a ton of tobacco 
stems to the acre he would not need soft 
phosphate or any other form of phos¬ 
phoric acid as nearly all Florida soils are 
well supplied with phosphates. 
A Model Corn Crib. 
R. W. N., Ronkonkoma, N. Y.—I have 
a corn crib 12x16 feet, seven-foot posts, 
hallway three feet wide with a door on 
each end, slatted at the sides and bottom, 
setting up on locust posts three feet from 
the ground with a common tin milk pan 
bottom up on the top of each post to 
keep out mice and rats. I commenced 
husking corn last year September 18, 
just as soon as I was done cutting. I 
wanted to sow wheat and grass where 
my corn was and commenced husking 
earlier than I otherwise would. My 
neighbors said my corn would spoil in 
the crib, but I put in from 100 to 150 
bushels a day till my crib was full, and I 
never had corn keep better. I have 
never had a rat or mouse in my crib. 
A Cattle Feed Rotation. 
W. T. S., Chester Cwunty, Pa.—W e 
rotate with rye for spring feeding, and 
corn for fall feeding. We usually begin 
to use the corn in August, and as soon as 
we clear a strip, we sow rye directly cn 
the stubble, and harrow it in with a 
single Planet cultivator, following with 
a heavy but well spread coat of coarse 
horse manure, and so continue till the 
whole plot is cleaned and seeded. In 
the spring when the rye is fed off (usually 
by the 1st of June), we manure, plow 
and thoroughly cultivate the ground, and 
drill the corn with a grain drill, 32 inches 
apart, but pretty thick in the rows. 
This never fails to make a heavy growth, 
and though thick makes quite good- 
sized nubbins, often six or eight inches 
long. Rye seems to do best on surface 
cultivated soil. The heaviest crop we ever 
raised (35 bushels per acre on five acres), 
was on a pretty rough hillside of corn 
stubble, cultivated two ways with a two- 
horse, spring-tooth, wheel-harrow, and 
drilled in with commercial fertilizers. 
In the spring the ground was rolled 
smooth and gave us no trouble at cutting. 
The Blow That Killed Wheat. 
E. L. S., North Truro, Mass —Who 
struck the blow that caused wheat’s 
black eye ? Mistaken diagnosis. It was 
blood-letting caused by a stab in the 
back (currency contraction). The first 
thrust was given in 1869, and continued 
twisting of the knife has kept the blood 
trickling ever since. Cheap as peaches 
are, our family of six has enjoyed only 
one-half bushel, and one-half of those 
are carefully preserved for the future. 
Why ? We have not money to buy what 
we need; poverty of would-be consumers 
is a more potent influence than quality 
of fruit. Your gibes at anarchy are 
contemptible—can only be accredited to 
ignorance of the subject. 
R. N.-Y.—If our friend could see the 
great machines on the Dakota and Cali¬ 
fornia wheat Sells, harvesting, thrash¬ 
ing and cleaning wheat all at one oper¬ 
ation, and the still greater implements 
for plowing and seeding, he might see 
that industrial changes have had some¬ 
thing to do with it. Another thing is 
the fact that people are eating more of 
other foods. In the writer’s family less 
bread than ever is eaten, although flour 
never was cheaper, because we eat more 
of the various cereal preparations. The 
use of potato flour in France alone makes 
a vast difference in the demand for 
wheat. 
Idaho Pear In Connecticut. 
A. J. C., Meriden, Conn. —I note your 
question in last week’s issue as to whether 
any of your readers has fruited the 
Idaho pear. I grafted several large trees 
and had ^ruit last year and this. My ob¬ 
servations, so far, lead to these conclu¬ 
sions: The tree is vigorous, hardy, and 
productive. The fruit is about the size 
of Sheldon, which it somewhat resem¬ 
bles in shape; hangs well on the tree, 
and keeps well. It does not compare 
favorably with the Sheldon in flavor or ap¬ 
pearance, suffering from attacks of scab 
fungus and curculio. In flavor it might 
rank with an average Bartlett, but is less 
juicy than that variety, and has none of 
its muskiness. 
Bringing Water From a Distance. 
G. W. McC., Champaign, III.—If the 
man who asks about getting water from 
a spring 15 feet below and 100 to 150 feet 
away from the house, will put in a gas- 
pipe 134 or 1 % inch in diameter, from the 
spring to the house, deep enough to be 
out of the way of frost, he can put on a 
pump at the house and it will work about 
as satisfactorily as if lie were pumping 
from a weil 15 feet deep. I think it 
would be best to use an iron force pump 
on account of convenience in making 
connections. 
What the Commission Man Might Have Done. 
C. W. G., Waynesboro, Pa.—I noticed 
the article, “Another Side to the Com¬ 
mission Business.” Does it not strike the 
ordinary reader that F. I. Sage & Son 
did not use ordinary and reasonable 
efforts and diligence to discover who was 
the shipper of the goods, or who were 
the shippers of all the goods or consign¬ 
ments that they mention in their side of 
the question ? Any one can see where 
the error was made and which party bad 
the opportunity to correct the error pro¬ 
viding they wanted to do so. 
(Continued on next page ) 
In writing to advertisers, please always mention 
The Rural New-Yoiikeh. 
iy Wife and I 
j Believe that an ounce of 
(prevention is worth a 
[ pound of cure. We had 
dull heavy hradachei, a 
little exertion tired us 
greatly, and my appe¬ 
tite was very poor. So 
we began to take Hood’s 
Sarsaparilla and the ef¬ 
fect was like magic, re- 
s t o r i n g us to perfect 
health and preventing se¬ 
vere si ’kness and doctor’s bills.” J. II. Toles, 
145 12th St., San Francisco. Hood’s Cures 
Hood’s Pills cure constipation. Try a box. 
Tin: 
COIL SPRING SHAFT SUPPORT! 
AND ANTI-RATTLER- c 
* - 3 
Fa«t selling; al„a?< gi.es satisfaction. No" 
weight on horse. Worth twioe the ooet for oonven-G 
ience in hitching up. Agents wanted. Circulars free. ; 
Order sample. Prioe, 11.60. State righto for sale. 5 
THE DECATUR SHAFT SUPPORT CO." 
Decatur. III. 
Getting 
Thin 
is often equivalent to 
getting ill. If loss of flesh 
can be arrested and dis¬ 
ease baffled the “ weak 
spots ” in the system are 
eradicated. 
Scott's Emulsion 
is an absolute corrective 
of “ weak spots.” It is a 
builder of worn out failing 
tissue —nature s food that 
stops waste and creates 
healthy flesh.. 
Prepared by Scott <fc Bowne, Chemists, 
New York. Sold by druggists everywhere. 
jA 
A CHANCE FOR A 
HOME 
RESERVATION LENDS 
IN THE 
INDIAN 
TERRITORY 
You want to know all about this district, 
and how you can secure a quarter or half sec¬ 
tion of land on the 
GREAT 
ROCK ISLAND 
ROUTE 
Write at once to me and state your wants, 
and I will send you full particulars, Including 
map of that district. Will send the ‘‘Western 
Settler” for one year FREE ON APPLICATION 
JNO. SEBASTIAN, 
General Ticket and Passenger Agent 
CHICAGO, U. 8. A. 
H EEBNER’S 
With SPEED REGULATOR. 
For 1,2 and 3 Horses. 
Patent LEVEL-TREAD 
Horse-Power. 
LITTLE GIANT Threshing Machine._ 
Threshes Grain, Rice, Flax, Millet and Grass Seed. Fully 
Warranted. Feed and Ensilage Gutters,Feed Grinders,4o 
H.EEBNJSII & SOStS, Eansdale, Ba.fU.ii. ^1. 
BALING 
BESSES 
ALL KINDS. 
HORSE and 
STEAM POWER. 
Address Manuf’rs 
PLOW CO 
QUINCY, ILL 
ATTENTION! 
ASK FOR THIS AXE. 
USE NO OTHER. 
Wood-choppers, try the 
Kelly Perfect Hxe 
It will cut more wood 
than any other axe. 
The scoop in the blade 
keeps it from sticking in 
the wood, and make? 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. 
ENGINES. 
Threshing Machines. 
Best Machinery at Lowest Pbioes. 
A. B. FARQUHAR CO., York, Pa. 
