1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
493 
THE PROSPECT: 
The progressive farmer who has been in the habit 
of depending upon his bucolic Representative in 
Congress for his supply of garden seeds, is doomed to 
disappointment this year. The Secretary of Agricul¬ 
ture advertised for seeds that “ were rare and uncom¬ 
mon to the country or such as can be made more prof¬ 
itable by frequent changes from one part of our 
own country to another,” and has determined to pur¬ 
chase no others. Six bids have been received, and all 
were rejected because they did not conform to the re¬ 
quirement, and offered simply the usual garden seeds. 
O 
It is reported that seven horses, the property of 
State Senator Grady, of Pennsylvania, were poisoned 
by eating moldy straw with which they had been 
bedded. The case has been thoroughly investigated 
by Secretary of Agriculture Edge, who says that such 
straw is extremely poisonous. In this case, of eight 
horses in a row of stalls similarly bedded, seven were 
in the habit of nibbling at their bedding, and all 
died, while the eighth never known to eat the bed¬ 
ding, is all right. Sound, clean food is as neces¬ 
sary to the health of domestic animals as to that of 
human beings. 
O 
The Connecticut Legislature has distinguished 
itself—in one direction, at least—so far as the woman 
question is concerned. The upper house has defeated 
the bill conferring municipal suffrage upon women, 
and the Senators are probably congratulating them- 
selves that they have put a quietus upon the advanced 
woman in the old Nutmeg State. In the lower house, 
a bill has been passed prohibiting the marriage of 
deaf mutes, imbecile or epileptic persons until after 
the woman is 45 years old. Wonder if the wives of 
any of these legislators ai’e deaf and dumb ! A his¬ 
tory of their matrimonial experiences might be inter¬ 
esting reading. 
O 
A California paper publishes a recipe for a lunch 
for the grasshoppers, the invention of a vineyardist of 
that State. He is said to have been offered a con¬ 
siderable sum of money for the exclusive use of the 
formula, but has given it to the public instead. It 
consists of a mixture of 35 pounds of middlings, 25 
pounds of bran, 25 pounds of arsenic, one gallon of 
water, and three gallons of molasses. These are 
thoroughly mixed, so that every portion of the bran 
and middlings receives a portion of the arsenic. A 
spoonful of the mixture is placed on a boai'd near the 
foot of each vine. The grasshoppers leave the vines 
to eat it, and die in a very few minutes. This would 
seem to be worth trying in places where grasshoppers 
are thick enough to be serious pests. It might be 
effective, also, against other insects. The spirit dis¬ 
played by its inventor in giving it to the public in¬ 
stead of selling it for his personal gain, tends to 
strengthen one’s belief in the better side of human 
nature. 
Q 
Among the industrial revolutions that are slowly 
working out, few promise more agricultural changes 
than the rapid handling of the corn crop by ma¬ 
chinery. The corn crop is of immense importance to 
American agriculture, but the fact that its harvest¬ 
ing depended largely on hand labor, has been the 
cause of much waste, both of time and material. The 
silo gave a new value to the corn plant in some sec¬ 
tions, but in the great corn-growing sections of the 
West, the labor of handling the fodder was so great, 
that grain alone came to be regarded as the legitimate 
product of the corn plant. It was easier to snap off 
the ears and let the cattle waste the fodder. Of late 
years, inventors have been at work devising machines 
for harvesting corn. The sled with a slanting knife 
to slice off the stalks, gave enough satisfaction to 
create a demand for something better. It became 
evident that corn farmers will not be satisfied until 
the corn can be cut by machinery as easily as the 
wheat or oats. That this result is likely to be reached 
is evident from this letter : 
Last year, we had a field cut with a McCormick corn harvester 
This machine cut one row at a time and bound it, dropping the 
bundles on one side like a header for cutting wheat. We let the 
bundles lie on the ground a couple of days, then put them in large 
shocks, allowing them to stand until thoroughly cured, when they 
were hauled to the feed lots and stacked, where it was fed to the 
cattle during the winter. We fed the last of it during the first 
week in June to cattle we were fattening. The fodder kept in good 
condition, and by being bound, it was convenient to handle, and 
there was very little waste. A machine will cut from 8 to 12 acres 
per day, and cuts listed or drilled corn better than when planted 
in hills. a. m. m. 
Davenport, Neb. 
If these machines come into general use on the great 
corn farms of the West, an immense amount of excel¬ 
lent stock food will be saved from waste. What 
effect will that have on the production of meat and 
dairy products, or on the price of hay ? Those are 
big questions for the future to answer. 
The Louisiana Sugar Planter, to illustrate how low 
prices have forced economies in sugar production, 
quotes this statement of affairs in the iron trade at 
Chattanooga, Tenn. : 
All the iron men of the country are delighted with the prices 
they get for their products; and the same prices would have 
bankrupted every iron and steel plant in the cotintry 15 years 
ago—yes, 10 years ago—in 30 days ! 
Iron that sold for $35 per ton 25 years ago, has re¬ 
cently been selling for $10. We wonder, sometimes, 
whether the low prices and close competition in agri¬ 
culture have induced many farmers to find ways of 
cutting down the cost of producing their crops. Cer¬ 
tainly no man can truthfully say that he knows he has 
reached the very bottom cost on a bushel of wheat or 
potatoes, or a pound of butter or cheese. No manu¬ 
facturer would dare say that of his product. Why is 
it any more true of farm products ? Rut what of 
those who have been driven by economy to reduce 
the cost of their products ? When times improve and 
prices recover somewhat, will they still keep down 
the cost, or will it rise with prices ? How many can 
stand prosperity anyway ? 
O 
We recently spoke of the “horseless” carriage now 
getting quite common in France. These carriages are 
propelled by gas, steam, petroleum or electricity, and 
make excellent speed. That they are considered fully 
practical is shown by the fact that a bill was recently 
presented in the English Parliament to make their 
use on English roads possible. In England to-day 
there is a law which was passed to apply to traction 
engines on the road. The speed is limited to four 
miles per hour and each engine must have three men 
one to drive it and one each behind and before it to 
give warning to teams. The object is to avoid fright¬ 
ening horses. Now these light “horseless” carriages 
present a new condition of affairs. They are designed 
for speed, and it is folly to limit them to four miles 
an hour, or to make men walk behind and in front of 
them. Yet, according to the present English law, 
this must be done. It is proposed to change the law 
so as to exempt these light carriages. The opposition 
to the use of these carriages comes mostly from farm¬ 
ers. Openly, this objection is based on the fact that 
horses will be greatly frightened by the new vehicles, 
but really farmers, and especially breeders, see in this 
new departure another serious blow at the driving 
horse—more serious even than the use of the bicycle. 
In this country, we are not likely to see much of these 
“horseless” carriages until we have better roads. 
MORE ABOUT THOSE MULCHED POTATOES. 
It is a mistake to suppose that the detailed method 
I gave to The It. N.-Y. of growing potatoes under a 
mulch of horse manure, straw, chaff or any like 
substance, is simply “ to conserve and retain soil 
moisture ” against drought, as may be inferred from 
editorial comments on page 460 of The R. N.-Y. No 
doubt that feature is of very great value, and in itself 
sufficient to commend the process to potato growers 
all over the country in these seasons of excessive 
drought. Rut I claim these additional advantages : 
1. Making the drills only fourteen inches apart, 
and planting the seed in them only eight inches from 
each other, probably makes it possible to grow more 
plants, and have larger products on a given piece of 
land than in any other known way. 
2. As there is no disturbance of the ground from 
the time of planting to the time of digging, all the 
expense of cultivation is dispensed with, and the 
labor and time required for it by the usual way of 
growing potatoes, are gladly applied to other crops 
in that season. 
3. This entire absence of cultivation insures the 
life and efficient action of myriads of feeding roots 
that cultivation destroys or prevents, and they make 
the enormous yield that I think is sure to follow if 
the method be fairly and intelligently conducted. 
4. Potatoes thus grown are uniformly smooth and 
shapely, because the moist, soft ground allows them 
to expand equally in all directions. 
5. The covering of the ground by the mulch of 
manure or other substance, and, additionally, by the 
very excessive growth of the plants, greatly enriches 
and otherwise improves the land, so that the next 
year it is in an unusually fine chemical and mechan¬ 
ical condition, and free from the seeds of the weeds 
that have been most effectually smothered. 
I claim, too, that the natural fertility of the soil, 
by this covering of dead and living vegetable matter, 
is made available to the growing crop, and to the 
subsequent condition of the ground, just as Nature 
in the forests supports and builds up the structure of 
her prodigious products by root systems formed under 
cover of fallen leaves, and the shade of overhanging 
leaves and branches. It is certain that Nature fur¬ 
nishes to the trees in the woods all the mineral and 
vegetable elements needed for their growth, for the 
hundreds of years of their continuance, and yearly 
lays by a surplus ; for wp find after removing the 
trees, not an exhausted, but a virgin soil, for out¬ 
crops, where they have grown. 
1 am afraid that some of those who are trying this 
new method this summer will have “soggy ” potatoes 
unless they counteract a condition, that from their 
description of excessive growth and color of the 
vines, seems to exist. Where fresh horse manure has 
been used, there is probably too much nitrogen washed 
down to the roots by recent rains, and where too 
much nitrogen is present, there ought to be made an 
immediate sufficient application of phosphoi-ic acid, 
in some form that will not be so strong as to injure 
the foliage, such as finely-ground bone or rotten bone, 
if it can be obtained. The small amount of nitrogen 
it contains will be tolerated in consideration of the 
phosphoric acid in mild form. I am treating ray own 
vines in that way, and also with unleached wood 
ashes, so as to make a complete manure as nearly as 
I can construct it from indications of growth. Wood 
ashes have never given me scabby potatoes. I do not 
have them. It must be remembered that the feeding 
roots under this mulch are largely just below the sur¬ 
face of the ground, and, indeed, in the mulch itself, 
so that they get the fertilizer when broadcasted over 
the top, as soon as the next rain falls. 
I do not think that The R. N.-Y. should say that 
there is nothing new about this, because hundreds of 
its readers “ raise their potatoes by simply covering 
them with straw.” Electricity is not new, but there 
are certainly many new and valuable applications of 
it. I am confident that I have formulated and dis¬ 
closed the details and possibilities of a method that 
will take a very large place, and prove very profit¬ 
able and satisfactory in the future growing of this 
crop, although it is quite likely that others will add 
improvements to it. 
Rut the application of these ideas does not stop with 
potato growing. Whoever tries the surface applica¬ 
tion of manure to any crop, will find that it will do 
much more good there than when plowed under, and 
there is a stage in the growth of very many products 
when cultivation may cease and the ground be covered 
with manure, or other vegetable matter in proper 
condition. There are also many other things besides 
potatoes that may be planted, covered at once, and 
left untouched till gathered, with very great improve¬ 
ment over prevailing lines of treatment ; and I think 
I know something of value about this from original 
thought and experience. One may not be looking for 
recognition as an original discoverer, yet be quite 
willing not to be told there is nothing new in what 
he offers for publication. Even if that be so, it may 
still be new and helpful to many readers, and the .end 
sought thus is fully gained. Rut to volunteer to tell 
the reader that there is nothing new in a process that 
appears reasonable, but has not been put into general 
practice, seems to many equivalent to saying that, if 
it were really valuable, it would long ago have been 
more generally adopted, although not intended to 
convey that idea. woodrhidge strong. 
New Rrunswick, N. J. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Moore Bros., Albany, N. Y., are skillful and reliable veterinarles, 
and are good people to consult when needed. We have found their 
professional services very satisfactory in our own stable. 
Tuose who have sprinkling, spraying, or distribution of liquid 
manures to do, should know about the “ Little Gem ” sprinkler. 
Studebaker Bros. Mfg. Co., South Bend, Ind., will tell you all 
about it. 
Notice the advertisement in this week’s R. N.-Y. of a New 
York man who wishes to buy hay and feed direct from producers. 
This may be the man you want to deal with. Address Responsi¬ 
ble, care of The R. N.-Y. 
The Edward F. Dibble Seed Co., Honeoye Falls, N. Y., write that 
they have a good supply of Northern-grown Crimson clover seed, 
and also a good stock of their Gold Coin wheat and Mammoth 
winter rye, ready for customers. 
G. A. Crounse, Altamont, N. Y., writes to the Lawrence-Wil- 
liams Co., Cleveland, O. : “I have used your Gombault’s Caustic 
Bulsam for four cases of ringbone and one of spavin, and found 
it to be successful in every case, and would recommend it to all 
dealers in horses.” It’s a good liniment. 
J. A. Evekitt, the Indianapolis, Ind., seedsman, has prepared a 
pamphlet on Crimson clover, in which he answers almost any 
question that is liable to be asked about this now popular plant. 
He has a quantity of Indiana grown seed which he sends out in 
sealed bags, and guarantees all his seed to be American grown. 
There are certainly some advantages in a low-down grain drill 
which every farmer who has used a drill will appreciate. The 
improved low-down Pennsylvania drill, has a phosphate attach¬ 
ment, and is also made without the attachment. A. B. Farquhar, 
York, Pa., the manufacturer, will send particulars. You are 
always sure of good goods from this house. 
In this day of progress and economy, many manufacturers in 
various lines of trade have found it expedient and profitable to 
sell their produce direct to the consumers through the medium of 
the press, and a handsome illustrated catalogue and price list. 
This plan saves many a good big dollar for the cash buyer. The 
Miami Manufacturing Co., Cincinnati, O., have just issued their 
sixth annual catalogue. They not only save you money on the 
purchase, but pay the freight and allow the job to be examined 
before paying for it. The catalogue is sent free on application. 
