598 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 22 
more than can be avoided. If a merchant finds his 
customers ^oing to others, he knows that the latter 
are underselling him. If the customers that usually 
go to others come to him, he knows that he is under¬ 
selling. _ 
FARMING TO-DAY CONTRASTED WITH TEN 
YEARS AGO. 
1)0 FAKMEBS CHANGE WITH THE TIMES ? 
The R. N.-Y. has begun an investigation based on 
the following questions. We hear much of agricul¬ 
tural depression, and the fact that farming, as a busi¬ 
ness, is no longer profitable. In order to learn some¬ 
thing of the real state of the case, as well as the causes 
that have led to it, these questions were sent at random 
to a number of farmers in New England. The first 
batch of replies comes from the extreme northeast 
corner of the country. We hope to obtain replies from 
all over the land and shall feel obliged to any of our 
readers who will answer the questions without further 
invitation. 
1. Are the receipts from your farm less than for similar years In the 
past—say 10 years ago 7 
2. If the receipts are less, will yon be kind enough to tell us why 7 
What articles bring lower prices, and Is the yield less than formerly 7 
8. If the receipts haye not fallen off as compared with former years, 
please tell us what changes you haye made In your crops and farming 
to supply the deticlency made by lower prices. 
4. Does It cost you more or less to produce a pound or bushel of your 
produce, and why 7 
5. What Is the prospect for the future In your market, and what 
changes haye you In mind 7 
What a New Hampshire Dairyman Says. 
1. No. 2. [Not answered.] 3. My principal business 
for the past few years, has been the production of 
sweet cream for the Boston market. Previous to that, 
it was the sale of milk for the same market. 4. The 
cost is less, owing to the increased fertility of the soil, 
the employment of machinery, and the more modern 
methods employed. I receive $1 per can ot 8 quarts 
of cream shipped sweet and raised by the Cooley pro¬ 
cess, although the separator is being used to some ex¬ 
tent in large dairies. 5. I do not consider the prospect 
for the sale of milk and cream in the future to be so 
good as in the past owing to the increase in the pro¬ 
duction of butter in the West, thereby driving our 
New England dairymen into closer competition with 
us in the production of milk and cream. s. c. h. 
Henniker, N. H. 
Out of Potato Growing. 
1. I get more money than then, with less work and 
less help. 3. Formerly the farm was run as a 
potato farm, taking two or three steady hands, six 
to ten in harvest, and a team the whole season. The 
distance from market, and the lateness of the crop 
compared with Southern crops, caused me to change 
to staging, express and freighting, and, in a small 
way, livery stable. I raise my vegetables, com, oats 
and bay, and raise heifers to take care of the spare 
milk and eat the aftermath and corn fodder. 4. We 
hire very little, our home force doing that which each 
can best do at the time ; this consists of myself and 
wife, two boys of 14 and 12, two girls of 10 and 7, and 
the small boy of three. I am afraid we would shock 
the folks who believe that men and women each have 
a special work, and must, on no account, ever step 
over the line, for I can and do, do housework, and my 
wife can do and does all sorts of outdoor work. There 
is no separate money, though we each and all have 
“ wallets ” of “ our own.” 5. The future looks like 
plenty of work. I mean to have better barns, more 
shed room, and wife intends to have various improve¬ 
ments on and in the house when we can pay for what 
we want when we get it. More small fruit, fiowers, 
and a pony or two for the children. We shall enlarge 
our work as the force grows older, but our motto is 
never to hire what home folks can do, and to keep our 
work within home limits. o. l. M. 
Royalton, Vt. 
A One-Horse Vermont Farmer. 
1. The receipts from my farm are less than for simi¬ 
lar years in the past. 2. The reason is partly because 
I have to hire most of the hard work done, and there¬ 
fore do not endeavor to accomplish anything extra, 
as I have only hired by the day when work needed to 
be done, and partly because most farm produce is 
lower in price than formerly. Butter, maple sugar, 
h-^ney, beef, pork, and eggs are among the articles sold 
which are lower in price, but I do not think the yield 
is any less. 3. Have changed as conditions required. 
4. It costs more to produce a pound or bushel of some 
things, and the natural deterioration of the soil re¬ 
quires more fertilizer each succeeding year. 5. The 
prospects for the future market will probably be about 
the same as in the past. No changes are contem¬ 
plated except such as time brings to all. From the 
foregoing statements, you will doubtless consider me 
not a very enterprising farmer. I live on a rather poor 
side-hill farm. I was never anything but a one-horse 
farmer, and not at all ambitious except to do my work 
well and have things nice and comfortable about my 
home, which has been paid for with the labor of my 
hands. I have good buildings and good stock well 
cared for, all the necessary comforts and many of the 
luxuries of life. A. w. 
Putnamsville, Vt. 
An Old Man Starts Farming. 
I spent the best part of my life working at the car¬ 
penter’s trade. A few years ago—I am now 76—I 
bought a farm of 100 acres, badly run down, and paid 
$2,300 for it. I could keep but four cows and a horse 
through the year, so I had to lay out all I could make 
in improvements. I have built a cow barn 42x80 feet, 
with basement and cistern for liquid manure. I have 
also a horse barn 24x46, with basement; have re¬ 
paired the house and built a silo in the barn. I can 
now keep 15 head of cattle and the team the year 
’round. I hope to raise 800 bushels of potatoes this 
year. Our money crops in this section are cheese and 
potatoes. Potatoes vary here from 25 to 75 cents. 
Cheese varies hardly so much—from 9 to 12 cents. 
From my point of observation, I think farmers are 
doing as well as for several years past, but the profits 
in farming are small. Farmers must pay from $20 to 
$25 per month for good help, which leaves a small 
margin for the former after paying taxes, insurance 
and necessary expenses. It costs twice as much to 
raise a bushel of potatoes as formerly, on account of 
bugs and blight, and the use of commercial fertilizers. 
But few farms are for sale in this section. Farmers 
would rather have five per cent in a farm than 10 per 
cent in Western securities. m. c. 
Pawlet, Vt. 
Some Notes From Maine. 
1. The receipts are no less, but, owing to the in¬ 
creased cost of production, the profits are less. 2. 
Here in Aroostook County, the money crop is pota¬ 
toes, and on the older farms the land will not produce 
so much as formerly without the aid of fertilizers 
which add largely to the expense of the crop ; it also 
costs more to subdue the bugs than formerly. 3. The 
principal change is in using more improved machinery. 
Machine fob Tbimming Stbawbebbies. Fig. 156. 
4. More for reasons above stated. 5. The prospect for 
the future is better than ever before. The Bangor 
and Aroostook Railroad brings Boston nearer to us, 
and that is our market. No changes at present. We 
shall keep right on raising potatoes. j. c. h. 
Fort Fairfield, Me. 
1. The receipts from our farm are double, or nearly 
so, what they were 10 years ago. 2. While all produce 
sells for lower prices, increased production brings 
more income. 3. I have changed from old methods of 
general farming to dairy farming and truck raising. 
4. By newer methods and increased facilities, I can 
produce crops for less than 10 years ago. 5. There 
is no prospect of much change in our market in the 
near future. In regard to changes, I shall continue the 
present policy with the exception of changing from 
vegetables to small fruits. f. m. p. 
Belfast, Me. 
1. Our clearings are growing larger, and the receipts 
are increasing. 2. Hay is cheaper than it was 10 
years ago, and we raise more hay than we used to. 
3. Our clearings are getting smoother and we can 
handle larger crops with improved machinery, which 
also means less work in the houses. 4. Improved 
methods and machinery mean a pound or bushel at 
less expense. b. c. 
Caribou, Me. _ 
BONE AND POTASH IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN. 
As you are fully aware of the necessity of using pot¬ 
ash in connection with growing clover, it will not be 
necessary to say why I have been induced to use pot¬ 
ash. You are also aware of the deficiency in potash 
in these light soils. In reading the experience of The 
R. N.-Y., I have been induced to experiment with fer¬ 
tilizers and have, after such experiments, found that 
bone furnishes the nitrogen and phosphoric acid, and 
the potash is furnished by using muriate or sulphate 
as the price may warrant. The clover furnishes the 
humus as well as a considerable amount of nitrogen. 
These are practically all the elements of plant food ; 
shallow and constant cultivation will do the rest. To 
illustrate: This year I put in 20 acres of corn and 10 
acres of potatoes. These crops were put in on clover 
sod, well manured with barnyard manure. After the 
crops were planted, we sowed broadcast on the corn, 
200 pounds per acre of bone dust, and 50 pounds of 
muriate of potash per acre. On the potatoes we sowed 
500 pounds of bone dust and 100 pounds per acre of 
potash salts (black salts) from our potash factory 
here. Then we kept a team with a Pounder fiexible 
harrow at work till the corn and potatoes were too 
large ; then we put on a two-horse cultivator and have 
just discontinued them. The potatoes were planted 
40 inches apart each way. The result is that in a sea¬ 
son extremely drv, the driest in 20 years, my potatoes 
and corn are the only good crops in this county. I 
have used the corrosive sublimate treatment on the 
potatoes and have no scab. I am of the opinion that 
it increases the yield; this is, however, only an im¬ 
pression. I have the Rural No. 2, Early and Late 
Rose, Carman and Early Norther potatoes in the same 
field, and all have had the same treatment, but the 
Rural No. 2 is the potato for dry weather ; its tubers 
are larger and there are more merchantable potatoes 
to the hill, than any I have. For all crops but pota¬ 
toes, I use 200 pounds of bone dust and 50 pounds of 
potash, usually muriate, per acre ; this, with clover, 
has made my farms richer each year. Where I form¬ 
erly run them at a loss, they now pay a handsome 
profit, and The Rubai, is largely responsible for it. I 
feel that it is so important in my farming, that when 
I last renewed my subscription I renewed for five 
years. D. E. mcintybe. 
Cadillac, Mich. _ 
TO TRIM STRAWBERRY RUNNERS. 
Some years ago, I made the machine shown at Fig. 
156, to cut strawberry runners. It is made wheel¬ 
barrow fashion. Break off the teeth of two old wood 
saws and grind the edges sharp. Have a long thread 
on the axle so as to adjust the width of cut as desired. 
Fasten each saw with two nuts, fill the box with 
stones so as to press the saws down. This machine 
will cut and not tear. m. n. 
Menominee, Mich. 
SOME GOOD STRAWBERRY NOTES. 
On page 551, Fred Grundy says: “This sort of 
drought [the white grub] is the invariable result of 
manuring with stable manure.” This is misleading 
and contrary to fact. My garden has never been 
manured with anything else, yet potatoes and straw¬ 
berries are never injured by the grub there. A piece 
of strawberries set last spring, serves to set forth the 
facts of the case. Part was given stable manure and 
a special strawberry manure was applied to the whole. 
On the manured portion, not one plant in five hundred 
has been destroyed by the grub, while the unmanured 
portion has suffered severely. The explanation is 
that one part had been under cultivation the preced¬ 
ing two years, and young sod was turned under, while 
the other part had been used as a hen park for several 
years, and had a heavy sod which had become infested. 
It is entirely safe to use stable manure for straw¬ 
berries upon soil not already infested by them. Fifteen 
years’ use of it proves this. I intend to use clover and 
fertilizers in the future, not because of danger from 
stable manure, but because I believe that I can pro¬ 
duce them cheaper, owing to greater freedom from 
weeds. Lovett was most profitable this year, closely 
followed by Swindle, and Eureka third. Parker Earle 
was very fine last year, but was nearly a failure this. 
A few plants of Timbrell gave me the best berries this 
year, and it promises to be very valuable here. 
I have had a little experience in irrigation this year, 
and think that any one having water so situated that 
it must be pumped before gravity can be used, will 
find it cheaper and more satisfactory in most cases, 
if not in all, to use steam power with pump, etc., of 
sufficient capacity, than to build an additional reser¬ 
voir to be supplied by a windmill. T. C. Kevitt cer¬ 
tainly had a wonderful yield from those potted plants 
of Parker Earle. Just as good plants, or better, may 
be obtained much cheaper in the following manner: 
As soon as the runners begin to show signs of roots, 
bed them slightly in the soil, putting enough on the 
runner (a small stone or lump of earth will do) to hold 
it firmly in p’ace. This can be done much faster than 
potting. The first rain will root them well, or they 
will root without rain if the soil is not too dry. Take 
up when the ground is moist, allowing as much earth to 
adhere as possible. One thus gets a much greater root 
growth that is not disturbed in transplanting than 
can be contained in a small pot, and the plants grow 
just as readily. 1893, A to B: “ G” (who had used fer¬ 
tilizer, sprayed and cultivated his potatoes more times 
than necessary (?) ) “won’t get pay for all the work 
he is doing on his potatoes this year.” 1894, advice of 
Rubal followed and crop sold for $150 per acre. 
B: “G has sold his potatoes pretty well.” 
A: “He did not sail them at all.” 
B: “Well he has got rid of the potatoes and has quite 
a lot of money, anyway.” 
A: “Ha did not sell them at all. It was that Rubal. 
New-Yobkeb that sold them.” g. a. paecell. 
PennsylvapiB, 
