626 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 29 
PRIMER SCIENCE WANTED. 
The BuceesBful farmer must use the 
greatest care, in order not to commit 
errors in the treatment of his soils. He 
must seek to produce the greatest possi¬ 
ble crop at the least possible expense, 
having in view, not the result for one 
year only, but the effect of this year’s 
treatment of his soil upon future crops. 
Like the manufacturer, he must know 
what materials he has, what others he 
needs to purchase, how to use those ma¬ 
terials with the least possible waste, and 
by careful computation, what the fiaished 
product has cost him, before he can 
know, except in a general way, whether 
his business is profitable or not. Few 
farmers are properly equipped with the 
necessary knowledge to do this ; still 
fewer of those who are successful can tell 
whcoher or not they might have in¬ 
creased their profits by obtaining and 
applying a wider knowledge of the proc¬ 
esses of manufacture by which their 
crops are produced. I believe farming is 
the only business in which men engage, 
with little or no knowledge of the process 
by which their goods are made. I am 
sure, also, that if they were better in¬ 
formed in regard to the growth of plant 
life, and its various needs, many who 
have failed might have been successful. 
The R. N.-Y.’s mission, as teacher, is, 
therefore, a high one, and I hope it may 
continue. I have been told that The 
Rural was too scientific ; but the fact 
is that the farmers themselves are not 
scientific enough. A neighbor said to 
me recently : “ I long to know more of 
the science of farming. I have had no 
chance to learn until recently; and now 
I find that I cannot understand the 
knowledge that the experiment stations, 
and such papers as The Rural, hold out 
to me. I feel as if the teacher had put 
me into the fourth reader before I have 
been through the primer. Now, as you 
know, I am a dairyman. I want to know 
how to compound a balanced ration for 
my cows, out of the food I can grow or 
that I can buy in the markets, and at the 
same time get it at the least possible 
cost, regardless of the variableness of 
the market. That is, if I get a well-bal¬ 
anced ration that enables me to produce 
good butter at the least possible cost, 
with corn meal, bran, gluten and other 
foods, at certain figures, I want to know 
how to change that ration when the mar¬ 
ket for any of the feeds changes, so that 
I can still produce my butter at the laast 
cost. Now I read about abuminoids and 
non-albuminoids and proteins, and all 
that sort of things, but it’s all Greek to 
me. Please ask The Rural to pat it in 
English for ignorant fellows like me.” 
His criticism of the usual articles from 
the pens of our scientific experts, is not 
wholly unjust. I think there should be 
a primer on the subjects of cattle and 
soil feeding, and The Rural can do an 
immense amount of good by giving us a 
lesson each week on the rudiments of 
scientific agriculture. Prof. George 
Mitchell, of the Experiment Station is 
greatly interested in the plan of univer¬ 
sity extension, and in order to introduce 
it in the Granges of the State, he last 
winter delivered, in any Grange where 
they would pay his traveling expenses, 
a free lecture on nitrogen. I followed 
him in several instances, speaking on 
various topics, but frequently on the 
Problems of New Eugland Agriculture. 
In these talks I tried to interest my hear¬ 
ers in the subject of farm chemistry, not 
from the chemist’s, but the farmer’s 
standpoint. I found that very few un¬ 
derstood what Prof. Mitchell had been 
talking about, but that many desired to 
learn, and readily understood when the 
subject was brought out in a way suited 
to their requirements. Old gray-headed 
men came to me, and deluged me with 
questions, showing as much eagerness to 
learn as the younger members. I recom¬ 
mended Greiner’s Practical Farm Chem¬ 
istry to them as the best text book for 
beginners I was acquainted with. One 
man told me they “had paid freight” oe 
Prof. Mitchell “to hear a lot of stuff I 
couldn’t make head or tail of.” I have 
amplified this subject because I realize 
the importance of it, and I am sure The 
Rural’s usefulness can be increased by 
giving more attention to this fertile field. 
CHAS. PIERSON AUGUR. 
R. N.-Y.—The above letter is right in 
line with what we have often said. The 
great majority of farmers do not fully 
understand what the scientists are talk¬ 
ing about. At the same time they realize 
that they ought to know more about the 
elements and methods that lie at the 
basis of their business. The R. N.-Y. 
will try the plan suggested and make an 
effort to put some of this agricultural 
science into “ English.” If our readers 
will favor us with questions showing just 
what they want to know, we will estab¬ 
lish a department of “Primer Science” 
and try to make the discussions as clear 
and simple as possible. Now let us have 
the questions—we care not how element¬ 
ary they may be. 
Killing Milkweed, —In The R N.-Y. 
of September 1.5, I notice an inquiry in 
regard to the eradication of milkweed. 
One portion of the place I have was over¬ 
run with it, and I find the best way to 
get rid of it is to pull it carefully away 
from the point of juncture with the root, 
after it has grown about a foot high, as 
the stalk then has substance enough to 
stand considerable strain I do not think 
summer fallowing will check it perma¬ 
nently, unless the roots are close to the 
surface, and when thrown out by the 
plow, gathered and destroyed. Subsoil¬ 
ing will not do it where the roots are 
deep, as the subsoiler cuts the roots into 
smaller pieces, so giving more pieces to 
sprout. Hy pulling with a slow, straight 
pull, I have drawn as much as 12 to 15 
inches of the stalk alone from below the 
surface of the ground, and find by this 
practice that the roots gradually decay 
and the ground soon becomes clean of 
sprouts I think that the only way to 
get rid of it is to starve the roots when 
growing deeply, or to throw them out 
of the ground when shallow ; and I find 
that every piece left, if only a few inches 
long, will sprout. d. s k. 
Madison. N. J. 
Grinding a Sickle. —J. W. Sanborn in 
the Mirror and Parmer tells how they 
grind knives for the mowing machine on 
his farm. “ From a grindstone on the 
place he chipped each side off, leaving operator to press the sickle against the 
the center untouched. The sides were grindstone or withdraw it at pleasure, 
then smoothed, so that when the mowing One man operates it and grinds the 
machine sections were placed against it, sickle in half the time required by the 
one side of each adjoining section was usual method, thus making a four-fold 
ground at once ; in other words, the sur- saving. It is ground on a true bevel, 
face of the grindstone was made atriangle The mowing machine is kept running all 
exactly fitting between the sections of day, and the sickle is kept ground for it, 
the sickle. A treadle was arranged after so that in 10 hours something like 10 or 
the usual manner, that the grindstone 12 acres are daily mown with a six foot 
might be run with the foot power. A sickle.” Put on one of those bicycle 
holder for the sickle was then adjusted treadles described in The R N. Y and 
to a movable frame that enabled the it would be easier yet. 
^T^HE best investment in real-estate is to 
I keep buildings well painted. Paint protects the house and 
saves repairs. You sometimes want to sell—many a good 
house has remained unsold for want of paint. The rule should 
be though, “the best paint or none.” That means 
Strictly Pure hite Lead 
You cannot afford to use cheap paints. To be sure of getting 
Strictly Pure White Lead, look at the brand; any of these are safe: 
“ A^'ICHOR ” (Cincinnati). “JEWETT “ (New York). 
“ARMSTRONG & McKELVY ” (Pittsburgh). “ KENTUCKY ” (Louisville). 
“ ATLANTIC” (New York). “JOHN T.LEWIS & BROS. CO.” (Phila.) 
“ BEYMER-BAUMAN ” (Pittsburgh). “ MORLEY ” (Cleveland). 
“ BRADLEY ” (New York). “ MISSOURI ” (St Louis). 
“ BROOKLYN ” (New York). “ RED SEAL ” (St Louis). 
“COLLIER ” (St. Louis). “SALEM ” (Salem, Mass.) 
“ CORNELL ” (Buffalo). “ SHIPMAN ” (Chicago). 
“DAVIS-CH AMBERS” (Pittsburgh). “SOUTHERN ”(St Louis and Chicago). 
“ ECKSTEIN ” (Cincinnati). “ ULSTER ” (New York). 
“ FAHNESTOCK ” (Pittsburgh). “ UNION ” (New York). 
For Colors.— National Lead Co.’s Pure White Lead Tinting Colors, 
These colors are sold in one-pound cans, each can being sufficient to tint 25 pounds of Strictly 
Pure White Lead the desired shade ; they are in no sense ready-mixed paints, but a combination of 
perfectly pure colors in the handiest form to tint Strictly Pure White Lead. 
A good many thousand dollars have been saved property-owners by having our book on 
pahiting and color-card. Send us a postal card and get both free. 
NATIONAL LEAD CO., New York. 
ft Our largo 2i-page catalogue of Or- 
H gaiis, also our uew and elegant caU 
y aloguo of I'ianos, containing 16 pp. 
O We have the largest manufactory 
in the world, from which we sell 
direct to the consumer at whole¬ 
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of the dealer and the commissions i 
of the agents. We furnish a first- 1 
class Organ, war- „ r-z-k 
ranted 20 years, ^ ^ 5 (J 
with stool and T/A ^ / •• 
book, for only A 
ho money required until Instru- , 
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your own house. Sold on instal- [ 
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We positively gvxiranJtce every S 
Organ and I’lano twenty years. 
Send for catalogue at once if you want 
offered on earth. Write your navw aa 
■ As an advertisement, we m 00 Stool, B(Wk and Cover 
will sell the first Pi.ano of ^ 
our make in a place lor only ^ RAO Regular price, #3 j0.00. 
Beethoven Piano Organ Co., 
P. O. Box 626 Washington, N. J, 
^TEM 
The Love Story 
of a Country Minister 
I HAitw I Ht-u SET 
CUT THIS OUT and send it to us with your name 
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price. $1.98. and It is yours. line gold plate tbmln 
and Charm FIIKK with each watch, also our written Guar¬ 
antee Giro rears. Write to-day, this mav not appear again. 
THE NATIONAL MFC.& IMPORTINC CO., 
334 Dearborn Street. Chicago, III. 
Who is called from a quiet rural parish to become the 
pastor of one of the most fashionable churclies in New 
York, will begin, under the title of “A Minister of the 
World,’’ in next month’s issue of 
The Ladies’ 
Home Journal 
TTT A TVyrT^ women and a man; 
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There will also commence 
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OTIS RIFORD, West Randolph, VL 
Annals of Horticulture in 
North America. 
The Journal can now 
Year for 25 Cents 
A WITNESS OF PASSING EVENTS AND A 
RECORD OF PROGRESS. 
By Prof. L. H. BAILEY. 
Bright. New. Clean and Fresh. The only records 
of the progress In hortisulture. Exhaustive lists of 
all the plants introduced In 1892, with descriptions, 
directories, full accounts of ail new iflscoverles, new 
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landscape gardeners, comprise Its contents. Illus¬ 
trated. Cloth, $1.00. 
The stock of this volume Is limited, and money 
will be returned after present supply Is exhausted. 
Sent postpaid on receipt of price while stock lasts. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Cor. ChamberB and Pearl Sts.. New York. 
Which will include the two great Holiday Issues, beau¬ 
tifully illustrated by the foremost artists, and containing 
stories, poems, articles, and original music by the most 
famous pens in the world. 
Send 25 Cents to 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 
