3i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 19 
fARHERS’^GLUP 
DISCUSSIONS 
A Tramp Plnm Tree. 
n. H., Kingston, N. Y.—I have an 
erratic Mariana plum tree in my garden 
which will not bear fruit. It grows with 
the vigor of a noxious weed, and blooms 
in the greatest abundance every year, but 
that is all. There seems to be no fertiliza¬ 
tion of the blossom, or if there is any it is 
too imperfect for success. A dozen or two 
specimens are about all I have had of the 
fruit since the tree was planted some 
three years ago, and the thing is 
getting a trifle monotonous. Within 15 
or 20 feet of the tree, I have plums of 
the Green Gage species fruiting fairly 
well. Now, of course I know that intel¬ 
ligent fruit men will promptly advise me 
to graft the tree. “ What do you want 
of the Mariana anyway?” But the 
trouble with that advice is that I do want 
Mariana plums. They are beautiful to 
look at and, when thoroughly ripe, very 
good to eat. Such a vigorous, beautiful 
tree seems built for business, and I 
would like to make it do its duty. But 
if it is working under improper con¬ 
ditions perhaps I ought not to condemn 
it absolutely. Where shall I send the 
bees and the friendly insects for the 
necessary pollen ? I have already grafted 
a portion of the tree with the Satsuma, 
but only last season, and hence it is yet 
too early for fruit. The soil is low, rich 
and somewhat heavy. Again, this spring, 
as before, the entire tree is t hickly studded 
with blossom buds. Is this a peculiarity 
of the Mariana ? If so, it is an annoying 
feature which is not easily provided for 
in private gardens. But, of course, we 
have other varieties of this family, some 
of which are almost as handsome, and 
much better in quality and more valuable 
to grow. I can readily see that the 
Mariana is a good stock for grafting be¬ 
cause of its hardiness and vigor of 
growth. But we cannot afford to use it 
if there is any tendency to impart this 
apparent impotency. 
Silo Instr action. 
D. P. A., West Rockrokt, Me.—T hat 
Canada man should build, for his eight 
acres of Northern flint or sweet corn, a 
silo 12x12, by 18 feet high. Take 2xG 
timber for sills, girts and plates; lap the 
corners and drive and clinch two wire 
nails in each lap. Use 2x4 studding 
18 feet long inside, 18 inches apart. 
Board the inside with planed hemlock 
boards, and put on sheathing or tarred 
paper. Next put on another inch board¬ 
ing, lapping cracks on the outside boards. 
For a door, leave space on the handy 
side between the studding, after it is 
boarded up seven feet. When filling, 
tack boards and paper across the open 
spaces, to hold them in place until filled. 
W hen feeding out, knock off the boards 
and save them for the next filling. Ce¬ 
ment the bottom, or clay; it makes it 
more perfect. Slit a 4x4 coruerwise and 
nail in each corner inside; this covers 
imperfect joints. Two men can build 
one in less than two days. If built in a 
barn, use the barn frame to stud up in. 
I have used a 10x12 space in my barn for 
nine years, built on this plan. In this 
climate, an outdoor silo would have to be 
boarded outside to prevent freezing. I 
have had my ensilage freeze once or 
twice in my barn silo. I fill with whole 
corn and cut for feed with a broadax. I 
commence in the center of the silo, and 
cut down the depth of the ax. Then I 
cut in slices about three inches' thick 
and fill into a basket; this length is 
short enough for animals to get the large 
stalks into their mouths. A cow cannot 
eat large stalks because she cannot with 
her tongue pull the glassy surfaces be¬ 
tween her teeth. 
Managrlacr Raspberries. 
Fkeij Ghundy, I el.—I have just read 
the article on growing, trimming and 
tying raspberries (page 261), and am 
again reminded that it is well to “go 
slow and hold fast to that which is good.” 
I well remember the time when I was 
“ Shaffer struck.” When I read the 
glowing accounts of the Shaffer, what a 
grand grower it was, and what great 
loads of immense berries it bore, I fiew 
about like a cat on hot bricks until I got 
an order for a lot of plants into the mail. 
When they arrived, I had a piece of land 
fixed in the highest style of the garden¬ 
er’s art for them, and they were planted 
and cared for as tenderly as though they 
were rare orchids. I thought “ only wait 
till these begin to bear and I’ll have this 
market by the tail, sure enough ! ” Well, 
in due course of time they began to bear. 
The first crop was light—very light, but 
the plants were youthful and not used to 
bearing. “Next year they’ll astonish 
the natives hereabout,” thought I, glee¬ 
fully ; “and then I’ll sell a million 
plants ! ” As the raspberry season came 
on and glided gently by, my high hopes 
and anticipations went down until zaro 
was away up yonder. Then I discovered 
that 1 was Shaffer stuck ! I kept them 
another year and then, with many ex¬ 
ecrations, tore them out, root and branch. 
A neighbor tried the variety, and obtained 
two small crops, then discarded it as 
worthless. It appears to do well in some 
localities, and in such is probably a good 
berry to grow for market, but I would 
advise everybody to touch it lightly until 
it proves itself. 
I have trained raspberries to a wire 
fastened to large posts set at the ends of 
the rows, with stakes one rod apart, but 
I never could induce the end posts to re¬ 
main upright two years, though I set 
them four feet deep. The best plan for 
this section is to cut back early in the 
spring to three feet, and the canes will, 
if well grown, bear a good crop and hold 
it up. I trim before growth commences, 
for the reason that if I waited until the 
buds were well started, thousands of 
them would be broken off in cutting out 
and removing the surplus canes and old 
wood. 
The best method of cultivating rasp¬ 
berries is to skim the surface about an 
inch deep with a very sharp plow. The 
roots fill the soil between the rows like 
corn, and if any implement is run deeper 
than two inches, thousands of them will 
be cut and mangled, to the great detri¬ 
ment of the plants. Keep the surface 
level, skim frequently with a, sharp plow, 
and follow with a slanting-tooth light 
harrow. All suckers coming up in the 
rows are best cut off with a sharp hoe, 
and it should be done often enough to 
keep them down—four or five times a 
year. I have tried almost everything in 
the red raspberry line that has been 
offered during the past 15 years, and 
have found nothing that excelled the 
old Turner and Cuthbert. When well 
grown, they are good enough for any¬ 
body. My experience with the blacks 
has been very unsatisfactory, though I 
have grown some large crops of Souhe- 
gan, Gregg and Ohio. Prices have ranged 
from 4 to 15 cents per quart, delivered. 
IN writing to adyertlBors please always mention 
PHI Bubal. 
Truly Wonderful 
“I Buffeted from cstarrb for more than a dozen 
years, and oiten lelt as though I was doomed lor the 
graye. I concluded to try Uood’s Sarsaparilla I 
Hood’s 
Cures 
have taken over sn hottles and am now perfectly 
free from catarrh.” .Ia.mes C. Pchimkl, 4tiG2 Ed¬ 
mond St., Frankford Station, Philadelphia. 
Uood'8 I’ills cure all liver ills. 25 cents. 
and the cost of picking is two cents per 
quart. I quit growing them for market 
three years ago. 
Silver Considered. 
A. T. T., New York. —The vital ques¬ 
tion which concerns the farmer and 
therefore the future of agriculture in 
this country it seems to me is quite 
beyond the tariff bill. Our market quota¬ 
tions for the great staples of export are 
made in London and Liverpool, not here. 
A great famine or shortage in the coun¬ 
tries of our competitors, would then tem¬ 
porarily result in the price being made 
in this country, but under ordinary cir¬ 
cumstances of normal yields and normal 
surplus for export, London establishes 
the figures. England is the greatest 
buyer and France-next. To them, 
America, Russia, Argentina and the 
Indies send their surplus breadstuffs, 
meats and cotton, each competing with 
the other in the matter of cheapness of 
delivery to the buyer. Right here is 
where the question of the fate of profit¬ 
able revenue to the farmer of this country 
most seriously develops itself. 
America receives about 73 cents per 
bushel in gold in the English market for 
wheat, and Russia, India and South 
America about 3^1.10 per bushel. For 
America, exchange is on a gold basis and 
for the other countries on a silver basis. 
Is the money paid to one in gold any 
more or any better than the money paid 
to the other in silver ? Let us see. The 
73 cents paid for American wheat pays 
73 cents worth of debt in America, while 
$1.10 paid for wheat of the other coun¬ 
tries, pays $1.10 worth of debt in those 
countries. Each silver $1.10 therefore, 
is a legal tender in its own country as 
much as the 73 cents gold is tbe only 
practically legal tender in this country. 
In other words, a bushel of wheat pays 
$1.10 of debt in those silver countries 
while a bushel of wheat pays only 
73 cents of debt in this country, the 
bushel of wheat being in this case the 
real unit of value for all. We are thus 
confronted with a producer who can pay 
$1.10 of debt every time our own producer 
A New Broom Sweeps Glean. 
Any kind of wire fence looks nicely when 
first put u]), and it will usually turn stock 
while new and tight. Whether it will con¬ 
tinue to look well and do good service for any 
length of time, depends almost wholly on its 
(‘lasticity. The P.VOH is practically the 
only elastic fence on the market, the only 
maNtcr of contraction and expansion, there¬ 
fore the safest to buy aud use. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., Adrian, Mich 
A Natural Food. 
Conditions o f 
the system arise 
when ordinary 
foods cease to 
build flesh— 
there is urgent 
need of arrest¬ 
ing waste—assistance must 
come quickly, from natural 
food source. 
Scott's Emutsion 
is a condensation of the life 
.of all foods —it is cod-liver 
oil reinforced, made easy of 
digestion, and almost as 
palatable as milk. 
Prepared by Scott A Bowne, N. Y. All drn(r(?iKtR. 
CIDER 
MACHINERY 
Hydr&nlio, Knnckle Joint and Screw 
ProBsee, GraterB, Elevators, Pumps, 
etc. Send for Catalof^e. i 
BOOMER & DOSGHERT 
PRESS CO., ■ -Lt—-JS.H 
1J8 W. Water St.. SYRACUSE, N.Y^ 
CANNING 
Farnham, N. Y. 
MACH INKKY and «UFI’LIK8. 
I>. G. Trench Go., Chicago, Ill , and 
Mention this paper. 
/HWPINC HORSt CARTS. JtJl. GREAT, 
VARIETY 
wTnRCAf' 
SPRINKimS 
woe a NARROW TIRtS 2 a 4 WMCtlS. 
NEWYORK office: HARDWOOD.STEELAXLE&BEST&CHEAPEST. 
N9 4 STONE ST HD BSDN 8t C0.,TatBmy. Pa. 
Agents AVautefl. THE COMMON 8EN8E 
WAGON RACK! 
Best combination Way and 
Stock Back ever invented. 
Durable, strong, cheap. Cir¬ 
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TKCUiMSEU RACK CO., Tecumseh, MIeli. 
Send Us Your Address, 
and we will mall you our 11 ustrated Catalogue with 
Price List of FJxNE SUKKEkS, BUGGIES and 
Kt>AI) WAGONS. We sell direct to the Con¬ 
sumer, giving them the beneut of the Oealera’ 
Fronts. NO DEALERS DANDLE OUR CAR¬ 
RIAGES. We sell by Correspondence Only. 
KALAMAZOO BUCKBOARD CO., 
Kalamazoo, Mleli. 
BEFORE BUYING A NEW HARNESS 
Send 2c stamp for 
Catalogue of 
Oak Hand Made 
suit everybody and 
approvaf. 1 1 costs 
know where you 
h)ur money. 
80 page Illustrated 
dillei'eiitstyles I'ure 
Harness. Prices to 
shipped subject to 
but a 2c stamp to 
get best Value tor 
KING <& CO. Mfks. 10, Church St. Onego, K* I* 
BUY DIRECT AND SAVE DEALER’S 
AND AGENT’S PROFITS, 
vltbny our Oxford Boss Bicycle,suit¬ 
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free. OXF-Olirk AIl^O. OO. 
888 Wabasli Avenue, - CHICAGO, XXiL. 
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New Angle Steel Post 
Plain Wire Fence. 
will not burn, blow or rot down, and the price has 
been put down from ijiil to 65 cents per rod, 
complete with wire stay. Our tightener will tighten 
your old wire fences. Call on your dealer or order 
direct. Write for circulars. Agents wanted. 
HOMER STEEL FENCE CO., Homer, Mick 
