1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
523 
FARMERS’ CLUB DISCUSSION. 
(CONTINUED.) 
Where six or more men are employed, a 
boarding-house separate from the fam¬ 
ily, is the most economical, and far the 
most satisfactory. With two or three 
men, 1 prefer married men with fam¬ 
ilies, and let them board themselves; 
they are more steady than single men. 
1, however, like to have one man to 
board, that he may be on hand to do any 
errands required at odd times. 
1 make written contracts with men, 
hiring by the calendar month, and in 
hiring for the summer months, stipulate 
a certain price for the months of March, 
April and May, and a larger price for 
June and July, so that there is no induce¬ 
ment to quit just at the time when they 
are most wanted, and day wages are 
higher for a short time. During the 
rest of the summer, help can be hired at 
any time, and the same price for each 
month is stipulated. For instance, if I 
were to pay a man $18 per month for the 
summer, 1 would make it $16 for April 
and May, $20 for June and July and $18 
per month thereafter. I also provide a 
forfeit for lost time, a little greater than 
the average daily price paid. In paying 
a man good wages, it is well to state 
that he is hired as a first-class farm hand, 
capable and willing to do all such duties 
as are usually performed by such labor¬ 
ers. 1 would stipulate that they have 
their washing and ironing done outside 
the family. Another important point 1 
have found, is the caring for the teams 
and stock on Sunday. 1 make a provis¬ 
ion that they are not to be expected to 
do any work on Sunday, except their 
regular chores in caring for stock, and 
expect that they will care for stock as 
well on Sunday as any other days. 
I believe in treating them as gentle¬ 
men if they are such, being sociable 
with them, in fact, doing by them as I 
would have them do by me. The hiring 
of a man is a very important business 
deal for the farmer. Hiring men the 
faithful performance of whose duties so 
largely determines the profits of the 
year's work, I believe should be handled 
in a business way. 
Clearing an Alder Swamp. 
B. P., Haverhill, Mass. —If.the alders 
are large, a team of oxen or horses, 
chains, axes, and digging tools, will be 
required to remove them. Hitch the 
chain around a clump of alders, let the 
team pull, and at the same time let the 
men cut the roots. The land will be 
ready for the plow as soon as the alders 
are burned or removed from the land. 
Plow deep with a large plow, raise pota¬ 
toes, and after the next year’s plowing, 
the land will be smooth. 
Another method is to cut the alders 
close to the ground at any time between 
September 1 and January 1 ; if cut then 
they will not sprout to any extent. If 
cut toward spring, they will sprout 
badly, Burn the brush early before the 
ground dries, or the fire is liable to get 
into the ground and stay there. Examine 
the ground where the brush was burned, 
with the back of the hand. If any heat 
is felt, make several holes a foot deep 
and six inches apart, with an iron bar, 
and fill them with water. 
EFFECTS OF THE CYCLONE AT THE 
RURAL GROUNDS. 
On July 13, at 2:30 o’clock, it began to 
rain in torrents at the Rural Grounds, 
the wind coming from the southeast. 
At about 3:15, this storm was met by a 
cyclone coming from the northwest. The 
storms met just over and somewhat to 
the north of this place, and swept over 
the country to the southeast, covering a 
strip or belt of country not over three- 
fourths of a mile in width. 
The Rural home and barn were spared, 
save that many glasses were broken and 
the barn moved to the southeast about 
two inches. Some of the hailstones 
were three inches in diameter, while 
the ground was covered with them from 
one to two inches in diameter. The 
grapevines—not less than 60 different 
varieties—were blown about in all direc¬ 
tions, the leaves torn in shreds, the 
grapes destroyed, those still clinging to 
the vines being cracked and bruised. 
See Fig. 165. Not a plum was left on the 
Abundance tree which, 15 minutes pre¬ 
viously, was for the fourth year laden 
with plums. Only protected pear or 
apple trees will bear any crop. The 
Abundance tree would have been blown 
down but for the fact that it had been 
carefully propped up, and all the main 
branches supported by thick cords. 
The following trees were uprooted: 
An apple tree 40 years old (See Fig. 164); 
a Scotch pine 22 years old and over 2)4 
feet in diameter ; a White pine 22 years 
old ; a Laurel-leaf willow 2% feet in 
diameter; a Russian mulberry 12 years 
old ; Magnolia macrophylla, M. Soulan- 
geana, about 20 years old. Other trees 
were more or less injured. 
Across the road, about 50 Norway 
spruces—not less than 30 years old—were 
destroyed, some of them torn up by the 
roots, some snapped in two as though 
they had been reeds. These surrounded 
our tennis grounds, and were from 40 to 
50 feet in height 
Our field experiments have been car¬ 
ried on for some years in a three-acre 
field called “ Einwood,” directly south¬ 
east of the home grounds, and about one- 
eighth mile distant. It was so named 
because of a charming little grove upon 
the property covering about one acre. 
This grove was one of the prides of the 
family, being always delightfully cool , 
and breezy, even in the hottest of ^ 
weather, and a favorite resort both of , 
the family and the friends visiting it. 
This grove was completely destroyed, 
being now one entangled mass of trees I 
torn out by the roots, shattered and j 
split in every conceivable way. Upon | 
the tilled portion, were our trials of new j 
varieties of potatoes, sweet corn, toma¬ 
toes, beans, peas, melons, etc. The leaves 
of corn were torn into threads and rib- j 
bons by the gale and hailstones, the 
stalks broken and scattered everywhere j 
among the shingles, laths, boards, and 
the like, strewn over the field by the 
fierce wind. Possibly a few of our dif¬ 
ferent hybrid tomatoes and trial potatoes ; 
may survive. All else was utterly ruined. 
We haven’t a vegetable of any kind left. 
We do not mind the loss of vegetables, 
as such, very seriously. We can buy 
them as needed, but we do mourn over 
the collapse of our many experiments 
and trials, some of which were all that 
remained as the evidence of years of 
patient work. 
Directly opposite the Rural Grounds, 
lived a hard-working, honest, intelligent 
man, his wife and seven children, the 
oldest being but 15 years of age. He was 
our chief assistant for 10 years before 
his marriage. He purchased about 12 
acres of land, built a house and barn, and 
engaged in market gardening. The 
cyclone left but one mass of mingled 
bricks, beams, mortar, broken crockery 
and crushed furniture, straw, hay, cloth¬ 
ing, stoves, pictures, the accumulations 
of 11 years of earnest work. See Fig. 
163. Beams, boards, and parts of ma¬ 
chines were carried and strewn a quarter 
of a mile away. We found the solid iron 
fly wheel ol a bone mill 400 feet away 
from where the barn stood in which the 
mill was kept. 
A section of the trunk of a Norway 
spruce 11 feet long and about one foot 
in diameter, had been hurled through 
the air from the parent tree at least 800 
feet away. A thousand Lima bean poles 
which had been stuck with due care, 
singularly enough remained quite up¬ 
right. The vines had reached the tops, 
and had been securely tied. The leafless 
vines alone remained. The owner of 
this little farm was in the barn with one 
of his children—a boy of six—when the 
cyclone struck it. He seized the little 
fellow around the body, and the two 
were hurled through the air a distance 
of 35 feet, landing, without serious in¬ 
jury, in a loamy field. The cyclone 
struck a village (Cherry Hill), less than 
two miles distant, to the southeast, raz¬ 
ing many buildings, and killing or maim¬ 
ing upwards of 20 people. The crops of 
all kinds in the direct path of the cyclone, 
were utterly ruined, and this ruin was 
effected in less than two minutes. And 
then the clouds broke, the sun shone 
forth as bright as ever, not a leaf stirred 
upon bush or tree—a dead calm—and 
Nature seemed quite unaware of the 
misery and desolation that two minutes 
of her fury had caused. 
ttttttttttt 
#1 
and 
Hay is Plenty 
Corn is Husked 
where the corn crop 
handled by the 
•Keystone Corn Husker 
t and Fodder Shredder. 
$ Send for free book, 
^ “The Great Leak on the Farm.” 
• KEYSTONE MFG. C0„ STE ,r G 
Wl j or Columbus, Ohio, Council Bluffs, la. 
Kansas Cit^, Mo., St. Louis, Ho. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
# 
HMfftHII 
# 
Corn Fodder 
this year. Cut It quick and cheaply with 
The Scientific 
Dorn Harvester 
Safety 
Seats 
Adjustable 
Hinged 
Wings 
Best on 
Earth 
Because It Is 
EASIEST to HANDLE, 
SAFEST to OPERATE, 
HANDIEST to STORE AWAY. 
Will savo many times cost In one season. Wo 
have several styies, prices just right. Send for cata. 
THE FOOS MFC. CO., Springfield,O. 
Force Feed, Grain, Grass and 
Phosphate Drill. 
Built either with or without Phosphate Attachment 
Agents wanted in unoccupied territory. 
A. B. FARQUHAR CO., YORK, PA 
Prices lower than the lowest. 
“Eli” Baling Presses 
38 Styles & Sizes for Horse and Steam Power 
P Power Leverage 64 to 1 ’W STEEL 
Send for 64 page Illustrated catalogue. 
COLLINS PLOW CO., 1111 Hampshire St., Quincy, III. 
POTATO! 
DIGGER.! 
ASK YOUR ; 
DEALER.; 
If he can’t show it,. 
Send Direct! 
to us. ' 
SUCCESS JR. 
1 Large Sales 
in 1893 and 
1894. 
GREATLY 
IMPROVED 
FOR 
! I 895. 
I D. Y. HALLOCK & SONS, YORK, PA. 
wwaa<«a r^itraatmwimrwir> 
FARMERS 
use, and make money by selling Holdfast 
Corn Binders Used on every shock. 
^Pull and it’s fast. Ties itself. Costs less 
i than string. Never wears out. Thous¬ 
ands easily sold in a town. Good profits. 
L Get your town agency now. Outfit 5c. 
JIE CO., Box 72, Unadilla, N. Y. 
New York State Fair, 
SYRACUSE, AUGUST 26-31, 1895. 
New Buildings. Grounds Improved. Uailroad Facil¬ 
ities Unsurpassed. Daily Dairy Institutes 
Grand Trotting and Bicycle ltaces. 
Great Attractions 
$25,000 IN PREMIUMS. 
For Prize List and other information, address 
JAS. B. I>OC 1 IAKTY, Sec’y, Albany, N Y. 
HORSE POWERS 
Machines for THRESH ING A CLEANING 
Grain, and SAWING WOOD with Circulaf 
- »» and Croww-Cut Drug Saws. 
Highest award 
World’s 
Fair, 
p.uir.AGn 
Draft, Dura- 
of work. 60-pago 
iddreSB A ■ W ■ GRAY’S SONS, 
Patentees and Sou: Manufacturers, 
P. O. Box HO MIDDLETOWN SPBINGS. Vt. 
THE “SMALLEY” 
_ FAMILY OF 
“FEED SAVERS” 
Ensilage Fodder Cutters, for hand and power. 
Root Cutters *fcVeg’tble Slicers, hand A power. 
Farm Feed Mills, for gear or pulley drive. Ear 
Corn Grinders, oc Shellerfe. 
t&~ “How to Beat a Drouth,” our ’515 hand hook 
for Stock Feeders and Price List mailed fret. 
SMALLEY 1>IFG. CO., Manitowoc, Win. 
I|A SAW MILL. 4 II. P. and 
^ larger. Corn and Feed Mills 
•• Hay Presses A Waterwheels 
DeLOACH MILL MFG. CO.. Box 367, Atlanta, Ga. 
CHAMPION*" 
CIDER, and FRUIT JELLIES. Has 
a corrjjated pan over firebox, doubling 
boiling capacity; small interchange¬ 
able syrup pans (connected by 
siphons), easily handled 
for cleansing and 
storing; and a per¬ 
fect automatic 
regulator. The 
Champion is as 
great an improve. . 
ment over the IfaBiXP Catalogue 
Cook pan as the 
latter was over the 
old iion kettle hung on a fence 
Free. 
THE G. H. GRIMM MFG. CO., 
HUDSON, Ohio, <to MONTREAL, Quebec. 
CIDER 
MACHINERY 
Tlydranlic, Knuckle Joint and Screw 
cresses Graters, Elevators, Pumps, 
etc. Send for Catalogue. sv. ' ■■ 
BOOMER & BOSCHERT 
, PRESS CO., 
1 W.Water St„.SYRACUSE, N. 
CIDER PRESS fl 
The only press awarded meda 
and diploma at World’s Fair. 
HYDRAULIC 
Send for free catalogue 
and full particulars. 
HYDRAULIC PRESS 
MFG.CO. No.4 Main St. 
Mt. Qiiead, Ohio. 
FRUIT EVAPORATOR 
11 THE GRANGER” * or fainily use - ea vtgnn the 
EASTERN MFG. CO., 257 S. 5th St., Phlla., Pa 
CANNING 
MACHINERY and SUPPLIES. 
D. G. TRENCH CO., Chicago, 111, 
and Farnham N, Y. Mention this paper 
Practical Farm Chemistry. 
T. Greiner. This is intended for the prac¬ 
tical farmer who is not a chemist, and is writ¬ 
ten in terms that he can understand, although 
all its statements are based upon true scien¬ 
tific principles. It treats of the raw materials 
of plant food, both organic and mineral; the 
available sources of supply of both manures 
and chemical fertilizers; and gives the prin¬ 
ciples of economical application, as well as 
discussing clover and other plants used as 
fertilizers. It is condensed, yet comprehensive, 
and easily understood. Cloth, $1, postpaid. 
SPRAYING CROPS: Why, 
When and How to Do It —By Prof. Clar¬ 
ence M. Weed. Illustrated. 
This little book tells in plain, understandable 
English, just what the ordinary farmer and fruit 
grower most needs to know. It describes all the 
insecticides and fungicides used in spraying; all 
the principal appliances used ; tells when to 
spray; what precautions to observe ; describes 
the insects and fungi against which it is neces¬ 
sary to guard; in fact, is a complete, condensed, 
convenient handbook on the whole subject. Price, 
in stiff paper covers, is but 25 cents, postpaid. 
THE RURAL NKW-YOUKKR. 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York 
