498 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 4 
A DAY ON THE WAGON. 
DIARY OF A PKDDLKR. 
“ Don’t work too hard,” said a familiar 
voice one morninff. I was picking peas. 
I looked around and, behold, my old shop- 
mate and near neighbor, J., stood at my 
elbow. We shook hands warmly. I had 
not seen him for two years. I had heard 
that he had been obliged to leave the 
shop on account of poor health. 
“ My wife is out with the strawberry 
pickers,” I said. “ I am getting a load 
ready for R., and you are just in time to 
go with me tomorrow morning. You 
have said that a farmer should peddle 
his own produce, and get all there is.” 
“Your wife tells me that your straw¬ 
berry crop is very light,” says J. 
“ Yes, I don’t think I shall have more 
than one-sixth of a crop ; the spring 
frosts took most of the first blossoms, 
and the drought has damaged me a great 
deal. Old beds not worth picking. 
Plants that I set last August, are about 
the only ones worth picking. I shall 
give up the matted row, and grow them 
in the narrow row, as I used to do when 
I lived in B.” 
At the dinner table, my son said : “I 
saw Mr. R. of Rockland. He wishes you 
to bring him a crate of berries as his 
wife wishes to do them up.” 
“ I do not know him,” I said. “ He is 
not one of my customers.” 
“ He has eaten some of your berries at 
Mr. S’s. He is a jeweler ; here is one 
of his cards so that you can find him 
readily.” So an extra crate was put in 
for Mr. R. 
The next morning at daybreak I called 
J. When he came down, a cup of hot 
coffee awaited him I said: “You 
know I am an old sailor, used to rough¬ 
ing it. My wife leaves the grub on the 
table, covered over. I have something 
to warm over, so she can lie an hour later 
in the morning.” 
The horse having eaten his breakfast, 
we were soon on our way to R The 
morning was cool, and we chatted of old 
times We arrived at R. at 6:30. I stopped 
at my first customer’s. “ Good morning, 
Mrs. T. ! ” 
“Good morning, Mr. D. ! What have 
you ? ” 
I named over what I had. “ Very we’l; 
bring me iu. two boxes of strawberries, 
and one-half peck of peas.” 
At the next house, a little girl came to 
the door. “ Nothing to-day,” she said. 
I went to the next house, served her 
with what she wished. When coming 
out, the lady who had wanted nothing, 
raised the window and said : “I did not 
know it was you. I want two boxes of 
strawberries.” 
At the next house, I named over what 
I had. Well, she did not know what she 
wanted, but she would have a box of 
berries. I carried them in, and she 
guessed she would have another box. I 
carried them in. Then she wanted one- 
half peck of peas and a bunch of onions. 
They were carried in. She had changed 
her mind ; she would not want the 
onions, but would take a bunch of beets 
and a bunch of turnips. Finally she got 
what she wanted. As 1 took my seat on 
the wagon, J. said: “ What a fund of 
patience you possess!” 
“ No,” I said ; “ if I had my way, I 
believe I would be tempted to perform a 
war dance on some of my customers. 
But, of course, this woman is an excep¬ 
tion.” 
In going over my route, I said to a 
lady: “ I have a crate of berries for Mr. 
R ” She looked at me with an amused 
smile, and said: “ Get your money for 
them.” “ Is he not all right?” I asked. 
“ Oh, yes ! He is all right,” emphasized 
in a manner that I did not think all 
right. I found that he lived some little 
distance off my route. I determined to 
go there at once. I found the house 
and saw a man standing outside. I 
asked, “Is this Mr. R. ?” 
“ It is,” was the reply. 
“ I have a crate of strawberries for 
you.” 
“ I have not ordered any.” 
“But you gave my son your card, and 
said that you wanted a crate to-day.” 
It is needless to dwell on the talk we 
had. I found that the man was a beat. 
He intended that I should sell him the 
berries at a reduced rate, tell me he 
would pay the next time, etc.; I tumbled. 
I was a long distance from my regular 
route, and about an hour behind time. 
When I did get back to my route, I found 
that quite a number of my customers had 
already been served by other peddlers. 
“You are always on time, and so 
prompt,” they said, “ we were afraid 
you were not coming. We are sorry, 
but will patronize you next time.” 
When the whistle blew at 12, I still 
had the crate of berries. “ Well! ” I 
said to J., “ the horse is hungry, so am I. 
Now I have been over my route, we will 
go to Mr. G.’s market and feed the 
horse.” While the horse was eating his 
oats, I said to Mr. G.: “ How many ber¬ 
ries have you ? ” 
“ Chock full.” 
“I have a crate I brought to Mr. R., 
but did not leave them.” 
“ One of his little tricks,” he said. 
“ What do you ask for your berries ? ” 
“83 00.” 
“ Very well! Take your pay in corned 
beef at four cents per pound ? ” 
I was paying eight cents at home, one- 
half cash, I said. “ Very well I ” 
“ Bring them in.” So I sold my load. 
On my way home, I said to J., “ You 
have advocated the farmer peddling his 
own stuff ; what do you think of it ? ” 
“ I would rather work in the shop,” he 
said, “ and you ? ” 
“ I have no desire to return to the shop; 
all trips are not like this.” G. A d. 
SHADING THE SOIL. 
SOME NUTS TO CRACK. 
Will some one explain to me a few 
things I do not understand ? Why does 
grain grow so vigorously on a meadow 
where brush has been piled since the 
hay crop was gathered, while all around 
the brush no growth has been made ? 
One agricultural editor informs me by 
letter that it comes from fertility washed 
from the brush by rains. As the brush 
was dry apple limbs, as hard as wood 
ever gets, and as they have not been wet, 
this solution does not strike me as prob¬ 
able. The shade furnished by the brush 
is not sufficient to account for the result, 
as the glass grows with more vigor than 
it would on the same ground under the 
most favorable conditions of weather. 
Dr. Hoskins has noticed the same con¬ 
ditions, and I hope he has studied out a 
correct solution. If he has I have an¬ 
other for him. Last year I grew a four- 
acre field of corn. It was cut and 
shocked during October, in shocks of 
36 hills each, averaging about 125 
stalks of corn in a shock. These 
shocks were left about four weeks, 
and were then removed. This year, the 
field has been left untilled until recently, 
and is now sown with Hungarian grass. 
Wherever a shock of corn stood, the 
weeds averaged from 18 to 24 inches in 
height; elsewhere, they did not exceed 
three or four inches as the season has 
been a very dry one here. “ Why is this 
thus?” If the rains leached fertility 
from the corn stalks, how could the 
center of these circular plots covered by 
the shocks become benefiied, as no 
water ever moistened the interior of those 
shocks that stood upright ? 8ome 40 of 
them were blown over by high winds, 
about two weeks after being put up ; 
most of these were removed at once, yet 
the places where they stood show the 
same, or nearly the same, rank growth 
of weeds. A few were left lying at full 
length on the ground, yet the spots bene¬ 
fited beneath them are circular and not 
elongated, showing that the effect was 
produced while they remained upright. 
The stalks, after husking, were tied in 
bundles and placed in stacks of some 60 
to 75 bundles in a stack, and remained 
on the ground until snow fell. No bene¬ 
fit from these stacks is apparent. I be¬ 
lieve there is room for intelligent inves¬ 
tigation into the effects of shading from 
sunlight or heat, upon our soils, not only 
shown by the cases I have stated, but by 
the growth of grass beneath single trees 
in our meadows and by many other ex¬ 
amples of p.ant growth under similar 
conditions. 
I have cut Timothy this year four feet 
high, and good for at least three tons of 
hay per acre, under apple trees standing 
singly in a meadow, where outside the 
shaded space there was no Timothy left 
whatever; and of course, the feeding 
roots of the tree would tend to diminish 
the supply of food tor the grass. Where 
anumber ol trees adjoining were grouped 
together, though the Timothy was pres¬ 
ent, the growth was weak and spindling 
—a sort of tenement house condition. 
In connection with the statement about 
the corn field, I will add that where a 
few shocks were set up on a strip of 
meadow adjoining in which there was a 
preponderance of Ox-eye daisies, the 
daisies were entirely killed so far as the 
shocks covered, not a blossom or a leaf 
showing. There was no perceptible dif¬ 
ference in the growth of grass, c. r. a. 
A FARMER BOY'S OPINION. 
To get the boys off the farm, is easy ; 
how to keep them on it, is the problem. 
At least, it is difficult if you don’t know 
how. The boy considers life humdrum, 
and longs to plunge into the swift and 
exciting stream of city life. He does not 
like to hoe potatoes, and finds the hay 
field too monotonous. It is mainly true, 
because his mind has not food for thought. 
Agriculture could and should be made an 
occupation attractive as well as profit¬ 
able ; because it has not been made so, 
generally, is the principal cause for the 
evil in question. 
Another reason is that farmers’ sons 
do not fully understand the relations ex¬ 
isting between city and country life, and 
they learn the salaries paid in the city, 
but cannot realize the difference between 
the expenses in the two places ; or that 
the city man is much more closely occu¬ 
pied and driven than the farmer can 
possibly be. If farmers wish their sons 
to regard farming as honorable, profit¬ 
able and attractive, they should make it 
all this. Then no further inducement 
will be necessary to keep the boys out of 
the cities. Some have left the farm be¬ 
cause their tastes forced them to choose 
a different kind of employment; this is 
all right. When a person has a strong, 
marked talent in any particular direc¬ 
tion, he should follow it. 
Give the boys stock of their own, 
and let them have the proceeds when it 
is sold. G ve them also the use of a small 
portion of land, and encourage them to 
make experiments Explain to them the 
reasons for the results attained, and en¬ 
courage the inquiring mind. The boys 
of the farm should be as well educated as 
other men’s sons. Instructive reading is 
one of the most important elements of 
home life. 
Farmers, teach and train your sons 
and daughters in such a manner as to 
develop to the highest extent the ele¬ 
ments of true manhood and womanhood. 
Do not grind them down too hard. If 
they work all through the week, do not 
grumble if they want the horses on Sun¬ 
day. Let them go to parties and other 
entertainments. Urge your daughters 
to take part in social life, so that the 
boys may have a good time now and 
then, without going to town for it; it 
will not cost as much in the long run. 
There is another cable which will bind 
the boys to the ancestral acres; this is 
the farmer’s winsome daughters ; there¬ 
fore if you want to keep the boy on the 
farm, see to it that he gets interested in 
some good farmer’s daughter. 
Boys, if you are seeking happiness, re¬ 
member it is to be found within your own 
heart; you can be just as happy on the 
farm as elsewhere. If anxious to plunge 
into the struggle of city life, think twice 
before you do it. Isaac d. williams .ir. 
Westchester County, N. Y. 
IHiiSrfUnttiCoujsi 
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THE NATIONAL MFO. A 
IMPORTING GO., 
334 SearbOTS St., Cblcagc, Ill. 
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