THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
“ What crops will they produce cheaper than East¬ 
ern farmers ? ” 
“Such crops as grain, hay, meat, potatoes, and dairy 
products. Take the item of hay alone. Here, in 
Columbia County, N. Y., we used to be noted for our 
hay. Our farmers have kept on growing continued 
crops of hay and rye with but little clover. As a result, 
you will notice that our meadows are light and well 
spotted with various weeds. This has hurt the repu¬ 
tation of our hay, and the clean, sweet hay from the 
West will eventually drive it out of the market. At 
present, of course, there is a prejudice in the cities 
against clover hay ; but when stable men realize its 
value, they will want more and more clover, and Tim¬ 
othy will not be ranked so high.” 
“ How about dairy products ? ” 
“ Much the same thing is true of them. Western 
farmers are paying closer attention to clover and the 
newer forage crops. Their grain is cheaper, and they 
are organizing and, as a class, 
paying more attention to the 
study of dairy science. The re¬ 
sult will be a cheaper and more 
uniform product which will work 
into the Eastern market.” 
“ What, then, is the prospect It „ 
before the Eastern dairyman ? ” 
“ No chance for him save in 
making the very finest products. 
Large quantities of the higher- 
priced cheese are now imported. 
These should all lx* made hen;. 
With new and scientific methods, 
it will also be possible to make 
fine butter at a profit. The poorer 
grades are doomed. .Just now, 
the production of milk affords a 
living to many farmers, and it 
has long been thought that there 
could be no Western competition 
in this trade, because milk is too 
perishable to endure long ship¬ 
ments. They thought this in 
England, too; but within the last 
year, frozen milk has been sent 
by steamers for hundreds of 
miles to the London market, 
and has upset all the calcula¬ 
tions of milkmen. If that sys¬ 
tem succeed in this country, 
what is to prevent dairymen as 
far west as Colorado shipping 
chunks of frozen milk, even to 
New York City ? In that case, 
the Eastern milk dairyman would 
at once feel the effect.” 
“ What about oleomargarine ?” 
“ While its competition will 
undoubtedly ruin the trade in 
poor butter, I believe it will 
eventually increase the price of 
a first-class article. The taste 
of the people is becoming finer. 
The more they know about food, 
the closer will they distinguish 
between pure butter fats and 
the cheaper beef and pork fats. 
If this matter be properly agi¬ 
tated, consumers will in time 
place “oleo” where it belongs—as 
a second-class fat, and then they 
will demand fine butter in pref¬ 
erence to it. Organization and 
strict business methods will en¬ 
able the farmer to take advantage 
of this education of taste, and 
sell his first-class product for 
what it is.” 
“As a farmer, then, what 
have you learned from the 
practices and conditions of Western agriculture?” 
“In a word, concentration of work and thought 
upon the best of the farm. We all have too much 
land in this part of the State. We waste millions of 
tons of horse and man power trying to cultivate steep 
and poor hillsides. We would be better off to let the 
rougher parts of the farm grow up to valuable timber, 
and put all our energies on to the few acres of rich 
bottom lands in our valleys. We must learn to make 
each plant and animal produce queility as well as quan¬ 
tity. Above all, we must learn how to fertilize our 
farmer must cut down his area , and work the best 
part of his farm as skillfully as he can.” 
“How have these conclusions changed your own 
practice ?” 
“ I have given up dairying and sheep or steer feed¬ 
ing, and shall put all available land on my farm into 
the finest fruits. For several years, live stock did not 
pay adequate returns for the labor and feed required 
to keep them, but we considered the manure neces¬ 
sary to keep up the fertility in our orchards. Just 
now, we have only work horses, cows for the home 
dairy, and half a dozen brood sows.” 
“ Have you learned how to feed the orchards with¬ 
out live stock ? ” 
“Oh, yes! We have found clover and fertilizer a 
perfect substitute. When we come to look at the 
fruit, I will tell you more about that.” 
“But isn’t your land too stony for fruit culture ? ” 
“My observation shows that the best orchards I 
FRUIT AND OTHER NOTES FROM ILLINOIS. 
In this locality, we are in the midst of the most dis¬ 
astrous drought I have ever known. It is the most 
disastrous because it prevails at a time when plants 
are forming fruits or seeds. Wheat and oats will not 
be over half a crop. Timothy—the chief reliance for 
hay—will be too short to cut when headed out. Clover 
made a growth of about 13 inches and bloomed. Mine 
made the finest hay imaginable, though the yield was 
light. Corn is making a fair growth, but looks some¬ 
what weak. I have noticed that continuous cultiva¬ 
tion does this plant more harm than good in a season 
like this. If the surface is mellow to the depth of 
about three inches, and no weeds 
best to let it alone 
low running 
immediately, 
come crusted over 
are growing, it is 
; when a light shower falls, a shal- 
cultivator must be run over the ground 
The surface must not be allowed to be- 
in the least, or every particle of 
moisture will disappear from the subsoil in short 
order. Corn will stand a gi'eat deal 
of dry weather until the stalks 
begin to form joints, then it must 
have moisture to make a crop. 
In passing between a patch of 
rye, just cut, and a field of corn 
to-day, I noticed that the entire 
surface of the ground appeared 
to be moving. Close inspection 
revealed the fact that the moving 
mass was chinch bugs on their 
way from the rye stubble to the 
corn ; so the field of corn is 
doomed. Nothing but continuous 
wet weather for five or six weeks 
will save it. 
Among my plum trees, I have 
two Burbanks, set three years, 
and they were so full of plums 
this season that I was obliged to 
remove three-fourths of them 
to save the trees. Those remain¬ 
ed ing are looking well, and if the 
drought does not cause them to 
drop, I shall feast on Burbanks. 
The intense cold of last winter 
killed every peach bud on my 
trees, so it seems that the Bur¬ 
bank is hardier than the peach. 
I have the Abundance and Sat- 
suma, besides several of our best 
natives, but they are yet too 
young to bear. Despite the 
drought, both they and the 
Keiffer and Howell pears are 
making a wonderful growth—13 
to 38 inches to J une 15. 
In the discussion of frostproof 
J strawberries, page 407, I notice 
that some people st'll seem to 
believe that smoke will protect 
fruit from frost. I have tried it, 
and then wished I could kick the 
party who led me into such fool- 
13 ishness. If the air is perfectly 
still a dense cloud of smoke might 
possibly prevent frost from in- 
I juring fruit; but the air is not 
perfectly still one time in a thou¬ 
sand when the temperature goes 
d o w n to the freezing point. 
There is only one perfectly safe 
way to save a crop of straw¬ 
berries from frost, and I have 
used it over 15 years without a 
failure. In the autumn, I place 
a mulch of about three inches of 
straw between the rows, and an 
inch or so over the plants. That 
over the plants is removed early 
in the spring. Then an additional 
mulch, in all about eight inches, is placed between the 
rows. If there are indications of frost when the plants 
are in bloom, the mulch is lifted with a fork and 
placed over the plants. One man can cover a large 
patch in a very short time. If the following morning 
be bright and sunny, as it usually is, the straw is 
lifted off and returned to its place between the rows. 
If, however, it should be cloudy and cold, the straw 
covering is allowed to remain over the plants. I have 
found it best to lift the covering if the sun is likely to 
shine or the bees fly, or there are certain to be some 
imperfect berries owing to lack of proper polleniza- 
tion. It is discouraging to lose a crop after it is more 
than half grown, and there is no necessity for it if the 
grower will adopt the simple plan given above. 
My grapes were budded out nicely when the freeze 
came, and it utterly ruined every bunch. They have 
put out new laterals, and are going to try it again, 
being now well set with a new crop of buds. This 
new crop will be too late to ripen and I think it will 
THE CREAM ROOM AT THE FRANKLIN COUNTY CREAMERY. Fifl. 139. 
SEPARATOR ROOM AT FRANKLIN COUNTY CREAMERY. Fig. 140, 
A “SEPARATOR STATION” IN THE COUNTRY. Fig. 141 
