“A PRIZE WINNER.” 
THE MAN WHO WON THE PIANO. 
A Specimen of Connecticut Farming. 
We take pleasure this week in giving- a picture of 
Mr. G. H. Pearson and family. In the subscription 
contest, which ended May 1, Mr. Pearson stood at the 
head—having secured the largest club of subscrip¬ 
tions. IPs first choice was the fine Emerson piano, 
and the instrument was promptly sent him. It arrived 
May 11, and this is what he says about it: 
“The piano is a beauty. It is better than The 
R. N.-Y. promised—with all modern improvements— 
not one Dote out of tune or injured in transit. I have 
seen several ‘ Emerson pianos ’ this last few days, but 
none I like so well. We are all delighted with it, and 
it goes to prove that The R. N.-Y. is not only giving 
value for money, but more. 
The instruction to the 
farmers of the country 
every week is often worth 
more than the dollar for a 
year’s subscription. The 
Crimson clover, for in¬ 
stance, where successful, 
will save big fertilizer bills. 
What we sowed August 15 
is now over 12 inches high. 
What we sowed one month 
later, is a full crop, but 
smaller. The R. N.-Y.’s 
recommendation of the 
Paris-green gun is worth 
$25 to any man who grows 
potatoes in quantity.” 
During the latter part of 
the subscription canvass 
Mr. Pearson says that he 
worked almost day and 
night. Coming home one 
muddy day, he found an 
amateur photographer on 
hand, so the whole family 
got before the camera, and 
the result is a good picture 
of the members of a Con¬ 
necticut family. Here are 
the folks who will make 
music with that new piano. 
We trust that Mrs. Pear¬ 
son will preside at the 
instrument, with a quar¬ 
tette made up as follows : 
G. Ii. Pearson Sr., bass; 
G. H. Pearson Jr., tenor; 
and the two young ladies 
alto and soprano ! In order 
to have that complete, we 
should have a song about The R. N.-Y. set to orig¬ 
inal music by one of our musical friends. 
The same energy and pluck that carried Mr. Pearson 
through the mud and snow to the enjoyment of that 
music, has given him success as a farmer or fruit 
grower. It was a singularly hard-hearted man that 
escaped being put on his list of subscribers, and it is 
terrible soil that will not yield a paying crop if he 
once starts at it. Some of our Western readers may 
be interested to learn how farming may be done in 
■Connecticut, and Mr. Pearson’s experience is certainly 
interesting. 
While working in a hat shop, he conceived the idea 
of buying a small place, so that he might have a home 
and a place to work when trade was slack in the shop. 
Good farming land was too expensive near the town, 
but there were quantities of waste land—considered 
too poor to grow a crop, and consequently cheap in 
price. Mr. Pearson bought some of this poor land, 
and began growing fruits and vegetables, using noth¬ 
ing but fertilizers to start them. You may judge of 
his success when you know that with part of the 
money obtained from an acre in blackberries, he was 
able to buy 10 acres more of the land, which, with the 
same treatment, will be made very productive. Thus, 
by his skillful use of fertilizers, Mr. Pearson is able to 
make this waste land not only pay for itself, but add 
to the farm. Here is what Mr. Pearson says about his 
land and crops : 
“The 10 acres which I bought from one acre of 
blackberries, was only one item that I bought that 
summer. I also purchased a $200 family carriage, and 
had several hundred dollars besides with which- to go 
into winter quarters. The first land with which I 
commenced, was two acres of mountain bogs; it 
proved to be extra deep and good soil. It had been 
run with buckwheat, and left to Nature for about 28 
years. It cost me $28 to plow the two acres. One 
man tried to plow with one yoke of oxen, and nearly 
used them up. It took two yokes of oxen three more 
days to finish. The next spring I tried to harrow, 
but the teeth made no impx-ession. I planted corn, 
but the sod was^too tough for it to grow very large. 
“Last spring I plowed and planted potatoes ; the 
ground was in very fair condition. I used 1,800 pounds 
of potato manure to the acre, cut the ground very fine 
with a Morgan spading harrow, planted in trenches, 
and had the promise of a very large crop. The con¬ 
tinued dry weather cut them short. We had no rain 
during the growing season, and got about 150 bushels 
to the acre : 100 marketable, 25 seconds, and 25 small. 
The variety was New Queen. I cultivated and hoed 
every 10 days, till the vines were too large. This 
spring the land is in excellent condition; I planted 
one acre of blackberries and one acre of peach trees, 
with potatoes between. I broke up two more acres 
two years ago in the summer. I used barnyard 
manure and fertilizers, sowed cabbage seed in hills, 
and had an excellent crop. In the same field, on land 
adjoining, I used 1,500 pounds of fertilizer to the 
acre, and had an excellent crop of turnips. 
“ One year ago, on the same land, I set three-fourths 
acre of strawberry plants, and sowed one-half acre of 
onions ; but the dry weather and, perhaps, using too 
much fei'tilizer at one time, injured them so that the 
tops of the onions dried up. I used five barrels of 
wood ashes, which revived them, and I finally had 75 
bushels of extra onions and a great many scallions. 
“ This spring I spread seven barrels of hen manure 
on the same ground. The onions are up and looking 
well. I used 100 pounds nitrate of soda before a rain. 
After the first weeding I shall use three barrels of 
wood ashes. I purpose to 
sow Crimson clover when 
the onions are nearly ripe, 
and if it make a good 
growth, shall plow it in 
before winter, so as to 
furnish humus, and enable 
me to work the ground 
early in the spring. I 
think that I can get rid of 
weeds and insects in that 
way, and grow onions in¬ 
definitely on the same 
ground. 
“Another four acres I 
plowed a year ago, and 
during the winter hauled 
about 80 loads of stable 
manure on 31^ acres. I 
planted one acre of early 
cabbage, and two of late, 
which gave me more money 
than anything else. The 
other three-fourths of an 
acre (one-fourth was very 
wet ground and corn did 
not do well) I planted to 
corn, used 1,300 pounds of 
Mapes’s corn manure, and 
got 120 bushels of ears ; 
variety, Longfellow. Sweet 
corn did well with the 
same fertilizer. The corn 
ground is full of Timothy, 
and some Crimson clover; 
I sowed Crimson clover, 
but could not cultivate; 
the corn was too large, and 
the weather dry, so that it 
could not sprout. The 
ground was the poorest in 
the lot. On the same ground this spring, I shall plant 
three acres of potatoes, and one acre of strawberries. 
“We bought 20 acres in front of the house. On 
that, a year ago, I planted three-fourths acre of 
asparagus, one-half acre of raspberries, and two acres 
of potatoes. This spring I set 2)4 acres of raspberry 
plants, and planted potatoes between. I have had 
one-half acre of cabbages planted five weeks. I have 
one acre of strawberries coming into bearing next 
month, and hope to get straightened out and make 
some money this year.” 
R. N.-Y.—Here, you see, is a new use for Crimson 
clover, that does not depend on the severity of the 
winters. It is to be sowed early, and plowed under 
before winter sets in. In this way, it will crowd out the 
weeds, make use of the nitrogen in the soil which 
might otherwise be lost, and provide humus for the 
next crop of onions. With some system of irrigation, 
this would be a well-nigh perfect, arrangement. 
THE QUINTETTE THAT WILL SING TO THE R. N.-Y. PRIZE PIANO ! Fig. 117. 
