1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
535 
But children are but one product of the farm, al¬ 
ways the most important, ofttimes the most neglected. 
But little feet will wear out shoes, and little mouths 
must be fed ; and they, with the mother and father, 
have a right to the daintiest of the land. How to get 
it is the question in hand. Sell all the surplus and 
pay all the debts. VVe will suppose that there are 
land and fixtures left. If not, we shall have to ask 
again, for that is a deeper question. In Tennessee 
and Kentucky, there must be left not less than 10 or 
more than 100 acres of land. 
The first thing needed is a tenant family to take 
charge of the team, and work crops mainly on shares ; 
a good worker with intelligence enough to let the 
owner manage the business of both. He now needs 
the best tools that are made—not the highest priced. 
Neither owner nor tenant, nor team, can aiford to 
work with poor tools. He should sell the old or in¬ 
different tools ; provide the best seed, not necessarily 
the highest priced ; borrow $100 and put it in the 
hands of the grocer. The owner doesn’t need it, but 
he can afford to pay interest on that, and whenever 
the balance gets below $100 it should be replenished. 
He should not borrow from the bank and leave the 
money there ; the grocer will do more for him in the 
course of the year, for the use of the little surplus, 
than will the bank. When the owner gets a consider¬ 
able sum on hand, more than he cares to use in his 
business, or to improve his property, or that he needs 
for the profit or pleasure of his family, he should buy 
a small run-down farm distinct from the home place ; 
put a carefully trained tenant on it, and let the rent 
go to improve the place. He should not loan his 
money at eight per cent to a poor neighbor to ruin 
him, and not leave it in the bank to foster monopolies 
injurious to the country. He should always have a 
little money that he can put his hand on, but let the 
necessity be dire, indeed, before he exhausts it. He 
should pay as he goes; let all trades be on a cash 
basis ; give his attention to little things ; raise a little 
of a hundred different things on which to feed his 
family, and a surplus of a dozen things for money. 
He should select a grocer in town to whom to sell 
his surplus ; make it better and cheaper than any¬ 
body else can do, and it will sell itself. Post himself 
in regard to the market, and know for himself what 
he ought to get for what he sells, and what the grocer 
paid for what he is buying from him. Select a few 
special money crops to raise, and ship to a commission- 
man in the city. The R. N.-Y. will furnish an up-to- 
date manual on almost any crop for which he may 
have a fancy. He should study carefully erery phase 
of economy, not to stint his family ; live on the best 
and have plenty of it, but waste nothing. Use com¬ 
mercial fertilizers. Double crop the land, and double 
the crops on the land. Remember that money prop¬ 
erly used is the greatest labor-saving thing ever in¬ 
vented by man ; when in subjection the suavest ser¬ 
vant, an ever present friend ; but when it gets the up¬ 
per hand, the most relentless enemy and cruel tyrant. 
If he thinks that he must raise cotton and corn, 
tobacco and potatoes, and such things on which he 
can in no way figure out a profit after expenses are 
paid, let the tenant and team do that on some system 
of shares. He can get some profit out of it in that 
way, and it gives him his own time and thought to 
“ fool with little things.” But he would better put 
his tenant at something that will make both a profit, 
and at the same time improve the land. Try a crop 
of clover and rye, and sorghum, and wheat and oats, 
and artichokes, and pigs. Let the sows and pigs har¬ 
vest the crops on the ground, except the corn, which 
should be fed mainly to them sparingly in the winter 
and early spring. Sell pigs and furnish the grocer 
with nice pig pork and bacon during fall, winter and 
spring. The tenant can do all this if he be given 
half, and furnished with the know-how. I have been 
40 years learning how to “ fool with little things.” 
What 1 know about a sweet potato plant has 
cost me $1,000. What I know about a strawberry 
plant has cost me more. I am still at school. 
Lincoln County, Ky. j. a. mckee. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
The Farmer and His Accounts. —Many farmers 
of my acquaintance have no knowledge of the profit 
in any particular crop, or whether any certain field 
pays the cost of working. If they were asked as to 
the income of the entire farm, the answer would be 
prefaced with, “I guess.” The only way in which 
some farmers can tell whether they have made a liv¬ 
ing from the farm, is to think back a year, and see 
whether they owe any more now than they did a year 
ago. I have never seen a man adopt a system of ac¬ 
counts and carry it out, that it did not result m im¬ 
proving his system of farming ; he is not long in 
learning where the leaks are, and how to stop them ; 
or what pays and how to make it pay better. He 
learns the difference between an expense and an in¬ 
vestment, and also that he oan getoalong without 
some things that he never knew he spent money for 
until he sees it on paper ; he learns business 
principles and business methods. I have long main¬ 
tained that, to make a success of farming, it is neces¬ 
sary to use the same common sense and business 
principles that bring success in any business. A 
mariner may as well put to sea without chart or com¬ 
pass, as for a business man to launch out upon the 
sea of commerce without keeping accounts or records 
of his business. What is necessary to a business man 
certainly must be advantageous to the business 
farmer. 
Why the indifference of farmers in regard to keeping 
accounts? Speaking from experience, I believe the 
chief reason to be that they do not fully appreciate 
the advantages, or necessity of it. Then there are 
those who sometimes think of it, and would like to 
begin, but think that it will take too much time, not 
knowing that, if pursued carefully and with regular¬ 
ity, it would not take five minutes each day. There 
is no system of bookkeeping taught in the schools that 
is adapted to farm work, and after taking some time 
and trouble to investigate the various farm account 
books, 1 am unable to find one that is comprehensive 
and practical for the average farmer. But I am con¬ 
fident that some practical farmer who is a practical 
accountant as well, will arise and overcome this last 
objection, for it is not too strong to be overcome by 
Yankee genius. chas. w. smith. 
Mount Morris, N. Y. 
A Bicycle Grindstone. —Two years ago, The R. 
N.-Y. visited the farm of Isaac Hicks, of Long Island, 
and took a ride on his bicycle grindstone. The ma- 
A BICYCLE GRINDSTONE. Fig. 170. 
chine worked so well, and was such an improvement 
over the old back-breaking hand stone, that a picture 
was made of it Now we find it illustrated as a 
“ valuable new device” recently exhibited at an Eng¬ 
lish agricultural show. Fig. 170 shows the way the 
Englishmen use it. The boy sits astride of the wheel 
and works with both feet. It is a great improvement 
on the old system. It is one of the improvements that 
any farmer’s boy ought to be able to make for himself. 
GARDENING UNDER GLASS. 
A VISIT TO THE “CARNATION BELT.” 
(Concluded.) 
How Tomatoes and Cucumbers Are Grown. 
“Why do you limit the vegetables to the tomato? 
Has not the cucumber proved equally profitable ? and 
why do you not grow mushrooms and force rhubarb 
and such stuff under the benches ? ” 
“ Cucumbers require rather more roomy houses, and 
should be established in the benches as early as Octo¬ 
ber, being chargeable with the entire winter’s care and 
coal bill. I do not see how they can be profitably 
grown for less than $1.50 to $2 per dozen during the 
early months of the year, and they have not realized 
that amount of late. The other products you men¬ 
tion are somewhat uncertain, and do not pay well for 
the space occupied ; besides, in my trade, I Deed 
considerable storage room for bulbous and dormant 
plants. Several houses about here are exclusively de¬ 
voted to vegetables ; but their owners do not claim to 
be amassing wealth rapidly.” 
“ How are the tomatoes treated in your rotation, 
and what varieties are preferred for the purpose ? ” 
“As you know, I begin with the carnation. Cut¬ 
tings from the desired varieties are placed in sand in 
the propagating bench from December to March, pot¬ 
ted off when rooted, and transferred to cold frames in 
April, to be hardened off before planting out in the 
field, which is done as soon as danger of severe frosts 
is over. The carnations are given clean, careful cul¬ 
ture, until the middle of September, when they are 
taken up and planted in the greenhouse benches, in a 
compost of rotted sods, with a little bone dust, and 
about one-quarter old cow manure. 
“ The tomato seed is planted inside about November 
1, and the plants put in small pots as soon as they 
can be handled. I usually plant the Lorillard, a 
variety especially adapted for forcing, as it is early, 
smooth, bright red in color, of good flavor, and, most 
important of all, it has very light foliage, so that it 
may be planted closely without over-shading the 
fruit. The Mayflower is very useful on account of its 
very early fruiting, but has the disadvantage of heavy 
foliage, and is less used than formerly. The plants 
are kept rather cool and backward in an average tem¬ 
perature of 50 degrees, and kept near the glass in 
order to make them as stocky as possible. They are 
shifted as they grow until established in a four-inch 
pot, and in February I plant them out in the benches 
among the blooming carnations, placing them about 
2x2 feet apart. They do not grow rapidly in the tem¬ 
perature of 55 degrees at which I aim to keep the car¬ 
nation houses also, but root well and toughen up. I 
do not want them to interfere seriously with the car¬ 
nations until after Easter, when the demand for cut 
blooms suddenly decreases. I then increase the tem¬ 
perature gradually to an average of 70 degrees, root 
out the carnations, top-dress and stimulate the soil, 
and, in short, transform the houses into a tomato 
forcing place. I time the planting out of the tomatoes 
in accordance with the date of Easter, as I cannot 
afford to lose the flower trade of that period. The 
tomatoes being well established, of course, grow rap¬ 
idly, and are trained up to ropes suspended from the 
sash bars, directly above the plants, as they then 
take less room, and make little shade. The tomato 
blooms are pollenized by hand, using a brush or bit of 
rabbit fur tied on a stick ; also by jarring the plants 
sharply during sunshine. Some of the earliest fruits 
are set soon after planting out, and ripen quickly 
after the temperature is raised, bringing a good 
price. I continue selling forced tomatoes through 
May and June, or until the price drops too low from 
the influx of Southern vegetables. I do not realize 
anything like the price per pound for the tomatoes 
ripened at this season as for those sold during mid¬ 
winter ; but the increased product and lessened ex¬ 
pense of this method, yield us a greater profit. I feel 
that I can only charge five or six weeks’ firing and 
exclusive labor to the tomatoes, the previous coal 
bill being paid by the carnations.” 
“ What prices do you realize for the tomatoes ? Is 
the demand for forced tomatoes increasing ? ” 
“ From 5 cents to 20 cents per pound, according to 
season and quality. I estimate that it costs nearly 
25 cents per pound to ripen tomatoes in January in 
houses exclusively used for the purpose. Of course 
the selling price is high enough at that time, but the 
demand is very limited, as they are entirely out of the 
reach of persons of moderate means. The demand 
for forced tomatoes in the spring is certainly on the 
increase, as they are much preferred to the Florida 
article, which is from necessity picked green, and is 
very deficient in flavor after its long journey and un¬ 
natural ripening. The local consumption in this 
small town cuts quite a figure, as the people have 
learned to know a good thing.” 
“ How do you sell your products ? ” 
“ Our cut blooms and tomatoes are sold almost en¬ 
tirely wholesale, chiefly through reliable commission 
men. They are usually shipped to Philadelphia, but 
carnations go as far as Boston and Chicago, if the 
state of the market seems to warrant the shipment.” 
“Do you find your farming land of much advantage 
in your line of business ? ” 
“ Certainly, of the greatest benefit. It supports 
our animals, gives us an opportunity to raise food for 
family consumption, and affords us manure, fresh 
soil and sods, which are indispensable for our green¬ 
house Work.” FAIRFAX. 
SOME THINGS HABIT DOES. 
About Thirsty Horses. —It is habit that makes a 
man think it is right to deprive a horse of water from 
7 a. m. till noon, and from 1 p. m. till (5 in the evening, 
or even later, no matter how hot the day may be, or 
how hard the labor. Feed is scarce this year, and 1 
came to the conclusion that thrift and humanity 
w r ould work double to a nicety by watering the work 
teams at 10 a. m. and 3 p. m. ; the results are very 
satisfactory. As it happens, we have water within a 
reasonable distance of each plowed field this season, 
and can drop the traces, go to water and return in 10 
or 12 minutes’ time, or even less. When the day is 
hot, how the water is relished at 10 o’clock in the 
morning ! The team goes back to work refreshed, 
and there is not the usual gaunting by noon. When 
work is stopped at noon, the horses do not want any 
great quantity of water, and the stomach is in good 
shape for its dinner. The same is true at night. 
But two objections will be made to this extra water- 
