1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
621 
$10 in Prizes 
For the three best subjects for symposiums. We have 
made two announcements of this offer. The follow¬ 
ing letter indicates that it is not fully understood : 
Tour “ srmpotlnm Is a pozer ” to me, and I do not quite understand 
the conditions of “them 'ere prUes." The school teacher says “ It Is 
ambiguous,’’aid that “ the statement and conditions ought to have 
been written In Ualted States farm language.” Now I'm after one of 
those prizes, and don’t want to be handicapped In the race. If It’s 
questions you want, for some other fellow to answer, why I’m a 
Yankee and would like to accommodate the other fellow with the 
questions; especially If I can get the first prize. Please put the con¬ 
ditions a little more clearly and give a sample of what yon want done. 
Tour constant reader, rABMiu well-to-do. 
We want ideas —that’s all. You pick out a subj act that 
you think needs discussion and we will do the rest. 
We expect to send your subject to the dozen or more 
persons within our knowledgfe who are best prepared 
to answer it. A list of questions will only serve to 
make your subject clearer. You need not send them 
unless you think they will give us a better idea of 
what you mean. For example, suppose a man selected 
this subject: 
Under What Circumstances Can Farmers Afford 
to Feed Wheat P 
We would understand that at once, but he might go 
on and analyze the subject with questions that would 
bring out. How to feed it, should it be ground ? How 
much can be fed ? What other foods go with it ? Such 
questions give the subject a wider range and to that 
extent are helpful. The prizes are 
First, $5; Second, $3; Third, $2. 
We expect to have a great job in picking the winners, 
but will do our best to be fair to all. One more point. 
We hope to secure answers to every subject that is sent 
no matter whether it wins a prize or not. So if there 
is anything you need council on—let’s have it. 
THE PROSPECT. 
Some months ago The R. N.-Y. spoke of a proposed 
“Wool Exchange” in this city. The promotors of 
this scheme are going ahead with it now that Con¬ 
gress has given the country free wool. An immense 
building is to be erected where wool may be sorted, 
graded and stored, and held or sold on certificates like 
cotton, petroleum or other products. This is a sample 
of the only new industries likely to be started by the 
new tariff bill. The new “ Exchange ” will handle 
imported wool almost entirely, for it is expected here 
that importations will very largely increase. By making 
preparations to handle this imported wool. New York 
expects to attract a large part of it from Boston and 
Philadelphia. In the meantime the American wool 
grower can hardly be said to be “ in it.” The mutton 
men are, tnongh 1 ^ 
P.BOF. Mobkow’s account of beefmaking in Illinois 
is but another illustration of the changes that are 
forced upon agriculture. By natural and legitimate 
causes, the time came when other States and sections 
could make beef cheaper than it could be made on 
Illinois farms. When Illinois farmers found the price 
of cattle less than the cost of growing them, they gave 
up the business or changed their methods. Years ago 
Ohio went through much the same change. The re¬ 
sult was mixed agriculture. The acres that formerly 
produced one cow and her steer calf were made to pro¬ 
duce a greater value in other products. This change 
is breaking up the great farms which 15 years ago 
seemed to threaten the social and business life of the 
Western farmer. Like those that have gone before it, 
this change offers better opportunities for business 
farmers, because it brings the market for a great 
variety of products nearer to the farm. 
* 
The scene pictured on our first page is a familiar one 
to many of our Eastern readers. The farmer has 
brought out the faithful old farm mare and her colt 
for a picture, ^he scene is typical of many a rocky, 
hillside farm in New York State. Time was when the 
old brood mare was the most important animal on the 
farm. Bred to the local stallion that made the best 
showing for speed and style her colts were treasured 
and eared for and brought in enough each year to pay 
the taxes and other expenses. Nowadays the old 
mare is getting to be a “ back number.” The markets 
are full of Western and Canadian horses—cheaply 
grown on the great plains of the West and Northwest. 
Electricity, cables and bicycles are now doing the 
work that, under old conditions, would have been done 
by horse power. So, with a diminished demand for 
horses and a cheaper supply it is doubtful if the East¬ 
ern farm colt can make any better showing against 
Western competition than the wheat grown on the 
same farm. About the only hope for both wheat and 
eolt lies in quality. The prices for A No. 1, handsome 
and stylish horses are almost as high as ever. Raise 
what people want, not what you think they should 
have. That is the thought in connection with the sire 
of the old mare’s next colt. 
Eastern wheat growers often speak of “ Western 
competition ” and the difficulty of competing with the 
rich, fertile lands of the slope from the Rockies to the 
Mississippi. We hear little said out West about “East¬ 
ern competition,” and yet that is quite a serious thing. 
If the old farms east of Indiana were now producing 
simp’y the wheat that could be grown on the natural 
soil, there would be little surplus, and grain growing 
in the far West would be profitable. In other words, 
if there were no fertilizers to be had besides barnyard 
manure, green crops and wood ashes, there would be 
but few grain fields from Maine to the Alleghenies. 
The wheat grower of the far West has a strong com¬ 
petitor in the fertilizer bag, which has enabled sections 
like the Genesee Valley, in New York State, to pro¬ 
duce more wheat on fewer acres than when the land 
was new. 
« 
A year ago we spoke of a proposed plan for adding 
to Holland’s cultivated land by draining the Zuyder 
Zee: 
A Royal Commission has Just reported to the Dutch Government In 
favor of the lonq-dlsoussed project of draining the Zuyder Zee, 21 
members out of 20 voting In the atlirmatlve. The surface to be 
drained Is about 72,782 acres, and the total expense Is placed at 1100,- 
000,000. The reclaimed land will be wortn $130,000,000. 
It is an admirable quality which the Dutch possess, 
this willingness to stay at home and develop the re¬ 
sources of their own country. Perseverance possesses 
all the virtue that has been awarded to it, but it is too 
rare among Americans. Great fortunes have been 
accumulated very rapidly in our country, but many of 
them are of the kind that can be lost just as quickly. 
If the farmer but realized it. Mother Nature is the 
best and surest paymaster. Her resources are unlim¬ 
ited, the demand for her products will continue, and 
when man understands his part in the contract with 
her, there will be no cause to complain. 
* 
The fairs of olden times depended on “corn and 
pumpkins,” stock, and things which interested the 
farmers. Great crowds attended them, and they were 
educational in purpose. The children were enthused 
with a desire to excel. As the exhibits became more 
varied, and the old-time simplicity gave way to adver¬ 
tising dodges, fakirs, skin games and pool selling, the 
farming element began to stay away. The managers, 
not seeing the true reason, are making greater efforts 
to get something that will “ draw.” The latest is the 
placing of a man indicted for highway robbery in a 
tent, guarded by police, and charging 10 cents for 
admission. The man was handcuffed and returned 
each night to the jail. Another instance is the ex¬ 
hibition of a maniac j ast captured in the woods near 
by. At some fairs it has gone to that length that the 
games of chance outnumber the legitimate exhibits. 
The old fair would not recognize itself in the modern 
“ moral killer.” It would be a good plan for a man 
to keep his children away from such places, and stay 
at home himself. 
The sugar planters of Louisiana mean business of 
the sternest sort. They have evidently left the Demo¬ 
cratic Party for good on the question of the tariff. 
The best statement of their case is made in this reso¬ 
lution passed at their convention : 
litsolvtdf That the people of Louisiana never asked for a bounty on 
sugar. It was granted by Congress against our protest, but after it 
was enacted Into a law which declared mat It should last until 1905, 
we accepted it as a solemn pledge of the Government of the United 
States, which we did not believe any Congress controlled by any party 
would repudiate. In accordance with that belief, and relying upon 
the honor of our Government, we expended enormous sums of 
money and mortgaged our property for immense loans in order to 
meet the expectation of the country and increase the production of 
sugar, which, In point of fact, we have doubted In three years under 
the McKinley act. That Indebtedness is still unpaid, and the Wilson 
Bill has made It Impossible tor us to meet our obligations. Bankruptcy 
stares us In the face. We declare that no honest Government can 
afford to break Its lalth with Its own people or ruin Us own citizens. 
That is their side of the story. Our readers are famil¬ 
iar with the arguments advanced against a bounty. 
We have never been able to find a planter who will 
claim that the Louisiana sugar industry can compete 
with Cuba without Government aid in some form. If 
the facts set forth in this resolution are true, the tak¬ 
ing away of the bounty is a far greater wrong than its 
imposition. The latter injured no person severely, 
while the loss of the expected bounty cripples or 
destroys a whole industry. 
* 
Prof. Richard T. Ely says it is an extreme absurd¬ 
ity to teach every American youth that he can be 
President of the United States if he wishes. Perhaps 
this teaching has been overdone, for the prize can 
only bo gained by about fiye men in a generation. 
When a boy finds himself grubbing in a soddy corn¬ 
field, or digging potatoes where "the weed crop pre¬ 
dominates, mindful of this high possibility, he begins 
dreaming his way through the country store or law¬ 
yer’s office to the most honorable place in the land. 
Instead of offering a lottery ticket, therefore, shall 
we not give these stirring youths objects of ambition 
capable of being reached by all ? Go out into the 
soddy cornfield to the desponding boy, and explain to 
him the modern plow and modern cultivation, and 
modern systems of cropping. Go into the weedy 
potato lot and tell him that the farmer who has fun 
farming, and raises big crops of potatoes and makes a 
pocketful of money, doesn’t let a weed show its third 
leaf if he can help it. Touch the boy’s ambition to be 
a better farmer, not to be better than a farmer. 
w 
Homemade Corn Tie. —Last year I used a device for 
binding corn in shocks which I found to be much 
quicker and better than to use stalks. Take old elm 
barrel staves, cut them into four or five-inch lengths 
and split them 1}^ inch wide. With a circular saw 
cut them diagonally near each end one-half or three- 
quarters of an inch. These fasteners can be made very 
fast as no guide is needed. To use them, put a quan¬ 
tity of them in a half-bushel basket, a ball of bind¬ 
ing twine and a knife. Wind the end of the twine 
once around the fastener in the notch, pass around 
the shock and draw it as hard as necessary, wind 
the twine once around through the notch and cut 
it off. It is advisable to wear a glove on the right 
hand, as the twine will make it tender after a day or 
so. A man can bind a shock in this way much tighter, 
and quicker than he can select the stalks for a band. 
Then, if the corn is drawn in the barn for husking, 
unwind one end, draw up the twine andcthe shock is 
again snug and tight and can be husked without 
unbinding if desired. These pieces could be ripped 
from the edge of any tough 13^-inch lumber and made 
for a L ifle at any shop ; but any one having a foot- 
power saw can make enough in two hours for 10 acres 
of corn. When the stalks are fed it is very easy to 
save the ties for another year. N. n. w. 
Stow, N. Y. 
Six Cows Too Few for a Silo ?—The man who said 
they were, did not know what he was talking about. 
I know a man who has only two cows who has a silo, 
and he has had such good success that another man 
near him, who keeps two cows, is building one. If I 
had only one cow, I should want a silo. The only 
trouble that I have ever heard of in connection with 
such small silos, is that as the corn is whole, it cannot 
be fed off from the top fast enough to keep it from 
spoiling some. It is now pretty generally admitted that 
good ensilage can be made from uncut corn. One rule 
must be observed in packing: Keep the middle the 
highest. Then when the ensilage settles, it will press 
toward the sides. How can a man rightly estimate 
the value of the silo who has never tried it ? The one 
to criticise the faults of the silo, is he who has tried 
the old and the new. But I notice that the ones who 
find fault with silos, are those who have no experience 
with them. A few years ago, I fed hay, corn fodder, 
corn stover, and for grain, corn and cob meal, bran, 
fine feed, and cotton seed. Last winter I fed hay and 
ensilage with cotton-seed meal. The man who handles 
the most of my butter, using it in his own family, 
spent his vacation here, and he said to us, “ There has 
been a great change for the better in your butter since 
you began to feed ensilage. It is almost as good in 
the winter as in early summer.” Now that testimony 
proves the value of ensilage. Then, it saves me about 
^10 per cow in grain bills. Seven years ago, there were 
only a few silos in this town. Every year more are 
built; more this year than ever before. The men who 
build them are shrewd, wide-awake farmers who watch 
their neighbors’ experience with ensilage, become con¬ 
vinced of its value, and decide to use it. Critics of the 
silo would have hard work to convince me that ensilage 
doesn’t pay. j. newton. 
Lamoille County, Vt. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Garner & Co., 32 Little 12th St., New York, In addition to choice 
butter, cheese and eg«B. want first-class poultry, as they announce tn 
another co umn. Their references are A No. 1. 
There is a market at Scranton, Pa., for potatoes, cabbages and 
rutabagas In car-load lots. Also for all kinds of farm produce In 
broken lots. Address A. Brune, G16 Beech St., Scranton. Pa. 
A SAWMILL which works successfully with small power is Just what 
many farmers want. The De Loach Mill Mfg. Co., 317 Highland Are., 
Atlanta, Ga., make a mill of this kind. Catalogue and prices will be 
sent on application. 
William Parry, Parry, N. J., sends a catalogue of small and large 
fruits, nut bearlcg and ornamental shrubs and trees. A specialty Is 
made of Japan chestnuts, of the Seneca, Lincoln Coreless and Japan 
Golden Russet pears. Star apple, Japan quince Columbia, Japan apri¬ 
cots, Japan plums, Loudon raspberry and others.. 
A BEAiiTiKUL catalogue of bulbs, plants and seeds that ought to 
be planted now, as well as a splendid list of plants for house culture, 
has been received from Peter Henderson & Co., 35 and 37 Cortlandt 
St., Now York. The caution Is timely that hyacinths, tulips, narcissus 
and the like must be planted now usfore the ground freezes. Cycla¬ 
mens, Irises, psBonles, lilies palms, roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, 
fucnsias are offered in great variety. The grand Bermuda Easter 
Illy Is made a specialty. A succession of bloom can be kept up from 
November to May by a proper treatment of the bulbs. The list also 
comprises many hardy shrnbs, grape vines and small fruits. 
