482 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 28 
NEW USES FOR AN OLD TOOL. 
Although I have owned and used a 
Planet Jr. seed drill for four years, I find 
that I am only now getting acquainted 
with it. Since I began using it to 
give vegetables “ free lunches,” I have 
been experimenting with it in other 
ways, and find it one of the biggest little 
tools on the place. The plow attachment, 
for instance, I have always looked upon 
as a very pretty but useless tool, too 
small to be of any use on a farm ; but 
wishing to give my strawberries a soak¬ 
ing, and wishing to economize water and 
time, I put on the plow and ran it down 
one side of the rows and up the other. 
This threw up a little ridge of earth that 
prevented the water running down the 
path between the rows, confining it all 
to a space about 18 inches wide, and thor¬ 
oughly soaking the plants with half the 
water that would have been necessary 
for the whole bed. 
The surface has been so dry that it was 
useless to apply the fertilizer lunches on 
top, to cultivate in ; so to get it down to 
where the soil was moist, I first run along 
the row with the plow, throwing the top 
dry soil away from the plants, then fill 
the seed reservoir with fertilizer, shift 
the plow far enough to one side to throw 
the soil back again, and returning over 
the ground leave the fertilizer on the 
moist soil two inches under the surface, 
which has been returned to its original 
place to “ mulch ” the plants. 
The thinning of plants has always 
seemed to be a needless labor ; the doing 
of something just to be undone again. I 
find that by fastening a band of cloth 
around the seed reservoir, immediately 
over the brass band that regulates the 
quantity of seed, the band of cloth having 
holes cut in it so as to let the seed out of 
every other hole, 1 can drop little clus¬ 
ters of seeds about every nine inches, 
and save half my seed. I also find that 
the plants that grow in these little groups 
are better than those grown in a continu¬ 
ous row, having more light and air. The 
labor of cutting out with a hoe is saved, 
and the pulling out of all but the best 
plant in a group is a quick and simple 
matter. In transplanting lettuce, I found 
that by using the little plow with the 
marker, I could set the plants much 
quicker and truer than with the garden 
line and dibber. 
It took me two years to learn to use 
the wheel hoe “ straddle” of the line ; 
that is, hoeing on both sides of the plant 
at once, and I find by inquiry among 
others using them that they are almost 
always used to hoe between the rows 
only. But, until the plants are too large 
to be “ straddled,” this is much the bet¬ 
ter way to work them ; the hoes can be 
run with safety much closer than can be 
done when working between the rows. 
It requires going only once over each 
row, while often when working between 
the rows, the ground must be gone over 
twice owing to differences in the distance 
between the rows. It is well worth 
while when the plants first appear, and 
some time before the horse hoe or culti¬ 
vator can be used, to run over the rows 
this way stirring the soil and killing the 
weeds for about three inches each side of 
the plants. It not only gives the plants 
a better chance, but when the cultivating 
is done, the lines can be followed much 
easier. N. h. egleston, jb. 
LIFE ON A MASSACHUSETTS FARM. 
I have just read Mr. Fred Grundy’s 
article on the farm laborer. Is it ab¬ 
solutely necessary to work 17 hours 
a day ? Of dairying I can say nothing, 
but 1 do believe that in raising truck and 
small fruits, a man will perform more 
actual labor in 12 hours than he will if 
forced to work longer. I was not brought 
up on a farm. My father was a shoe- 
cutttr. At 15 years of age, I went to 
sea. I followed it for a number of years, 
and finally went into the shoe shop. I 
made good wages at piece work, any¬ 
where from $12 to $30 per week. When 
my boy got old enough, he went into the 
shop and we worked from eight to ten 
hours per day. We worked on our 
nerve, get up and get! I finally broke 
down and was obliged to turn my mind 
to something else and sought the Mecca 
of all mechanics, the farm I was told 
that I would have to work if I went to 
farming. Had I not been a worker all 
my life ? 
I found that one thing that made 
farm work distasteful was long hours. 
Why not cut them down, have an hour 
nooning, etc.? I went to a man who was 
engaged in raising small fruits, and had 
about 20 acres under cultivation, mostly 
blackcaps, raspberries and blackberries. 
“ Can I get a living raising small 
fruits ?” I asked. 
“ You can, and a good one, if you don’t 
get discouraged at the outset.” 
For about two years I was looking for 
a place to locate. I thought that I must 
find a market where I was acquainted, 
but could not find a place to suit, and 
finally located 20 miles from the town 
where I had been residing. People said 
I was foolish and would be back in less 
than a year. I knew nothing about 
farming. I told them I knew nothing 
about finishing shoes until I learned. 
The fall of 1891 I bought a 50-acre farm 
near the shore, about 15 being tillable, 
the rest pasture, woodland and salt 
meadow. I had about five acres plowed 
the next spring, and I moved and com¬ 
menced farming. 
I have but one regret—that I did not 
commence 20 years ago. I enjoy ex¬ 
cellent health now. I rise at 5 A. m., 
build the fire, put on the teakettle, feed 
the animals, get back to the house, find 
the kettle boiling, make a cup of coffee 
(learned that habit at sea) call my wife 
and son (he does the milking) and take 
a look with the dog at the crops. I have 
about two acres in peas and beans and 
am troubled some with woodchucks. I 
find now that the dog keeps them at a 
distance. At 6:30 we breakfast, at 7 we 
go to Wi. rk. At 12 we have dinner and 
1 o’clock go to work. At 5 we com¬ 
mence to do the chores. In the summer, 
this is varied three days in the week by 
my going to market 12 miles distant. I 
rise an hour earlier. I have my regular 
customers and as a general rule, I am all 
sold out by 11 A. m., bait my horses and 
get home early in the afternoon. My 
neighbors say that they don’t see how I 
can take care of so much stuff. I tell 
them by having a system and working 
short hours. 
In starting in, I made the mistake that 
a great many make. I said, “ I believe 
I can raise the stuff, but I can’t peddle 
so I raised the crops and sold to peddlers, 
but I could not depend on their coming. 
At one time, I had quite a load of sweet 
corn for a man ; he did not show up, so 
I hitched up and peddled it out. As a 
peddler, I found that I was a complete 
success. The only trouble I now have is 
in taking new customers every time I 
go to town. “ Mrs. So-and-So, on such a 
street wants you to supply her.” This 
is my third summer on the farm. I 
would not give up the freedom I now 
enjoy for any sum I might be offered in 
the shop. G. A. D. 
Marshfield Hills, Mass. 
A RIDE OVER A NEW ENGLAND RANCH. 
We often hear of Western people riding 
about over their ranches, and the illus¬ 
tration of a gentleman and lady in a 
carriage drawn by a fine pair of horses 
over a level prairie, inspecting their acres 
of wheat and corn, or herds of stock, is 
a familiar one. They may be a mile from 
home, yet there is no house but their 
own in sight, and their range of vision 
is bounded only by the horizon. But we 
seldom hear of farmers at the East rid¬ 
ing about over the farm, and in many 
cases the farm, aside from the few acres 
immediately surrounding the house, is an 
unknown country to many of the wives 
and daughters. These may have a hazy 
idea or memory of the back lots, the old 
pasture, the north wood lot, or the pine 
or maple grove ; but not once a year do 
they visit them, and sometimes not for 
several years together. Years ago, when 
it was customary to fence off our New 
England farms into small lots by stone 
walls and high rail fences, with bars five 
or six rails high between, a ride over the 
farm was neither practical nor pleasur¬ 
able, as there had to be a continual tak¬ 
ing down and putting up of bars. Now 
that our farmers have made the discovery 
that a 10-acre field of corn will not quar¬ 
rel with five acres of potatoes, even 
though there is not a fence six feet high 
between, and an orchard need not neces¬ 
sarily be separated from the meadow by 
a strong stone wall, they are doing away 
with many fences and bars, which were 
only an expense of lumber and labor not 
worth the ground they stood on. The sur¬ 
plus stone walls are being built under¬ 
ground as drains rather than above ground 
as walls. To be sure, it is still necessary to 
fence our pastures, but it is becoming 
customary to take down the fences be¬ 
tween them, allowing the stock to have 
the run of all rather than to confine them 
within a small enclosure for a few weeks 
at a time. They have a better chance of 
obtaining a good supply of food and 
water, and enjoy their freedom to roam 
about so well that they rarely attempt 
to jump over or tear down a fence. 
A ride over such a farm of 75, 100 or 
150 acres is very pleasant, and especially 
so to grandma and the small children, 
because they are unable to walk so far, 
and seldom visit such interesting places 
as the orchards, pasture or wood lots. 
With very little trouble, a drive may be 
made over which the whole family may 
ride without any jolting. Such a road 
will soon be utilizea to draw hay, grain 
and corn fodder over, too, and thus pay 
for any extra trouble taken in building 
it. Then the ride out through the woods 
on to the highway, is very enjoyable; 
across the brook where the cowslips 
grow in the spring, where the cattle 
stand knee deep in water in the heat of 
the summer day, to the place where the 
wild grape vines drape the tall trees 
with fragrant blossoms which will later 
on be transformed into fragrant and 
luscious fruit, to the cluster of tall chest¬ 
nut trees where the early frosts rattle 
down the golden brown nuts and the 
shy little squirrels dispute your right to 
them. A ride over a level prairie ranch 
is not to be compared with a ride over 
our Eastern farms, as you will find when 
you have tried it, and it will make farm 
life more interesting to all. 
ALICE E. PINNEY. 
Blood 
Builder 
50c. 
per 1>ox 
9 for $2.50. 
.WILLIAMS' 
MEDICINE CO., 
Schenectady,N.Y. 
and Brockville.Ont. 
Nerve 
Tonic 
CANCER CURED. 
POSITIVELY NO PAIN. Knife or Plaster. 
A purely veRetable treatment which removes cancer, 
tumor, and scrofula. For particulars and circulars, 
address tl. U. Mason, M. IJ., Chatham, N. v . 
to 7R o“r ^9 N»tur»l Finleh Baby Carrian 
ip A • I W complete with plated tteel wheel., aale, 
I tpriogt, and one piece ateam bent h»ndle. Made of beet mate* 
nal.flMWSoUbcd.reliable.aadcMraoteed for 3 jeara. Shipped 
onlOdaja'triaU FKEIOUT PAlDj&o moDer roquireaia 
adyanoe. 76,(XX) in uae. We are the oldeat and beet known 
eonoern of our kind, reliablo and reaponaible. RefereDoe 
Xfurnishod atany time. Make and aell nothing but what we 
Luarantee tobe asrepresentedyaoid %% the loweat factory 
' prices. WRITE TO-DAT for our large FREE iiluairaud 
catalogue of latest deeigna andatyles published. 
OXFORD MFG. CO., 340 Wabash Ave., Chicago, III. 
CUT THIS OU I" and send It to us with your name 
and address, and we will send you this elegant watch 
by express for examination. You examine it and If you 
consider it a bargain pay the express agent our sample 
price, $1.88, and it is yours. Fine gold plate Ch.la 
•nd Charm KRKK with ea<rh watch, also our written Buar* 
antre for & yrars. Write toKlsy, this may not appear again. 
THE NATIONAL MFC.* IMPORTING CO., 
334 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III. 
AGENTS $75 A. 
using or selliug PRACTICAL 
PLATING DYNAMO .Themo'i 
ern method, used iu all factories 
to plate new goods. Plates gold, 
silver, nickel, etc , on watches, 
, table-ware, bicycles and 
all metal goods; tine outfits for 
agents; different sizes; always 
no battery; no toy; no 
; no limit ro plating 
; a great m-'iiey inak- r. 
W. P. HARRISON & CO., Clerk No. 16, Columbus. Ohio. 
FREE 
A 6ne Nk gold pla- 
itch to evvry 
reader of this paper. 
Cut this out and send it to ns nub 
your full name and address, and we 
will send you one of these elegant, 
richly jeweled, gold finished watches 
by express for ezauiinatioii, and if 
you think it is equal in appearance to 
any $‘25.00 gold watch pa\ our sample 
price, $3.5(1, and itis yours, Weseiid 
with the watch our guarantee that 
you can return it at any time within 
one year if not satisfactory, ami if 
you sell or cause the sale of six we 
will give you One Free. Write at 
once, as we shall send out samples 
for 60 days only. Address 
THE NATIONAL M’F’G 
& IMPORTING CO.. 
334 fiaiTborn St.. Cbicaro. IlL 
Money-Saving Combinations. 
W E have secured special rates for the papers mentioned below, and will give 
our readers tbe benefit of these low prices in combination with The Rural 
New-Yorkeb. We have selected papers that stand at the head of their class, and 
those that we can recommend to our own subscribers. When more than one paper 
of this list is required, subtract $1 from the combination price and the remainder 
will be our price for the extra paper. At least one subscription for The Rural 
New Yorker must accompany every order. 
The N. Y. Weekly World. 
This Is the leading Democratic paper In New 
York. Gives In full the news from all over the 
world every week. Regular price. $1. 
In combination with Thk U. N.-Y., $1 65. 
Atlanta Constitution. 
This Is tbe great progressive Democratic weekly 
of the South. It Is a strong advocate of South¬ 
ern Interests, and Is a reliable authority on 
Southern enterprises and development. Regu¬ 
lar price, tl. 
In combination with The R. N.-Y. tl.50. 
Detroit Free Press. 
There are few people In the United States who 
have not laughed over the jokes and humor of 
the Detroit Free Press, either direct from Its 
own columns or In clippings from It In other 
papers. It Is a great family paper. Regular 
price, tl. 
In combination with The R. N.-Y., tl.’O 
The Practical Dairyman. 
The only dairy and creamery journal published 
In the Bast. K. C. Powell, Edllorlal Writer; 
B C. Bliss, Editor Creamery Department; Geo. 
B. Newell. Editor Cheese Department. Best 
dairy writers In America contribute. Regular 
price, 50 cents. 
In combination with The R. N.-T., $1.35. 
The Ladies’ Home Companion. 
This Is a monthly paper full of good things for 
the ladles, young and old, ccntalnlng stories 
from the best writers, helpful household hints 
and fancy and decorative work Uegu'ar price, 
50 cents. 
In combination with The H N.-Y , $1.20. 
California Orchard and Farm. 
This is a monthly paper devoted to Paclllc 
Coast Rural Industry, with nalr: lDg, Orchard¬ 
ing and Poultry-raising Departments. Regular 
price, 50 cents. 
In combination with The It. N.-Y., $1.25. 
The Elgin Dairy Report. 
The dairy market paper. Published every Mon¬ 
day Immediately after the close of tbe Elgin 
Board of Trade. Complete and reliable market 
Information. Regular price. $1. 
In combination with The R. N.-Y., $1.70. 
The Queen of Fashion. 
Most valuable Ladles' Fashion Journal pub¬ 
lished for the money In the world. Handsome 
Illustrations each month of all the latest cele¬ 
brated McCall Bazar QIove-Flttlng Patterns, 
besides general news of Interest to any family. 
Patterns and styles always reliable and strictly 
np-to-date. A Free Pattern to each new sub¬ 
scriber. Regular price. 50 cents. 
In combination with The B. N.-Y., $1.30. 
