552 
TIIF. RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 17 
stances, it is dangerous to use it in that manner. 
Feeding Gkeen Bone. —In reply to the inquiry, on 
page 518, Iiow much green bone for one dozen hens? 
the rule is one pound to 16 hens, once a day. It may 
be fed in the morning (no other food), and the hen 
will then work and scratch They should never be 
given a full meal in the morning. If preferred, the 
bone may be omitted every other day, and cut clover 
allowed, as much as they will eat. At night, give a 
full meal of wheat, corn and oats. No fixed quantity 
can be suggested, as hens differ in size and in the 
quantity of food eaten ; simply give them as much as 
they will eat up clean. In summer, if on a range, 
they need no food at all, though if fed, they should 
receive a pound of lean meat, or liver, for 20 hens, 
giving no grain at all, as the hens may become over¬ 
fat, and cease to lay. p. h. .Jacobs. 
How Much Green Hone ?—One ounce by weight to 
each grown fowl. If the fowls are not accustomed to 
the food, it would be better to begin with, say, half 
that quantity, and gradually increase to the limit. 
The better way to feed it is, probably, with the soft 
food, mixing thoroughly so that all will get their 
share. b. holmes jb. 
"HARD TIMES” IN THE FAR WEST 
I think very few Eastern readers of The It. N.-Y. 
can have any idea of the business conditions of this 
part of Washington. Wheat is the great staple crop ; 
in fact, we can raise only the smaller cereals here. 
Corn will not do here, as the summers are too dry, 
and on account of the high altitude (some 2,000 feet 
above sea level) the nights are too cold for it to thrive 
well. We can raise fine garden truck, and small fruits, 
aud probably as fine apples as grow on this con¬ 
tinent. In 1891 Whitman County shipped between 
5,000,000 and 6,000,000 bushels of wheat alone, the 
farmers getting an average price of 50 cents per 
bushel. 
This country, like all other new, quickly-settled 
countries, largely owes its development to borrowed 
capital, and that means mortgages on the farms. It 
is safe to say that to-day this county is mortgaged 
for a good deal more than it is worth. I know of 
several cases, in which farmers have offered deeds of 
their land, to the mortgagees, without foreclosure 
proceedings ; in these cases, the deeds have been re¬ 
fused. The reason is obvious : If the farmers could 
make nothing out of the land, the loan companies 
and bankers could not. The causes of this state of 
affairs are, 1st. In 1893, we had a wet summer, and 
more than half of the grain rotted in the stacks. 2nd. 
The past season, the low price of grain; I sold 2,316 
bushels of fine wheat, A1 quality, for 22 cents per 
bushel, in the month of November last. 3d. The in¬ 
satiable greed of the transportation companies. 4tli. 
The exorbitant price of grain sacks. I have figured 
it myself, and I have talked with a great many farm¬ 
ers, and as near as I can get at it, wheat costs between 
30 and 40 cents per bushel from the thrashing machine. 
Portland is our nearest shipping point, distant about 
340 miles ; the railroad company charges 14 % cents 
per bushel to haul it there. The railroads control our 
State Legislature, and we homemakers must simply 
get up aud leave. Perhaps other farmers will keep 
the railroad companies going. 
It may interest some of The It. N.-Y. readers to read 
a brief sketch of these Western railroads. A good 
many years ago, Congress gave the Northern Pacific 
Company every alternate section of land within 20 
miles of each side of the track, with a clause inserted 
to the effect, that the company should not sell more 
than 360 acres to any one person, and not charge more 
than $2.50 per acre for the land. To evade this last 
clause, the railroad company sold part of their charter 
to the Oregon Improvement Company, and they sold 
this land for from $3 to $30 per acre—a sum sufficient 
to duplicate the line twice over. 
1 have before me, a way bill of the railroad com¬ 
pany, for 12 boxes of apples that I shipped last fall. 
The fruit went by the car-load to Hutte, Mont., the 
adjoining State. The weight of the apples was 480 
pounds—the freight charged was $4.26. We have a 
fruit association here, and what that car-load netted 
the railroad company, I leave the reader to figure. 
The rates are entirely prohibitory to ship produce 
from here to the Middle or Western States, and nearly 
all of the clothing, etc., we buy here, costs us twice 
or three times the price of the same article in the city 
of New York. I occasionally read in The R. N.-Y. of 
hard times; surely times in the East are no worse than 
here in the West; at all events I am willing to change 
places. 
I saw an article in The R. N.-Y. from Long Island 
about cutting grain for hay. Here we use nothing 
but wheat or rj 7 e for hay; as we have no natural grass, 
thousands of tons must be cut here yearly of wheat 
for winter feed. It is never cut before there is plenty 
of grain in the heads, as we find that our stock do so 
jnuch better on it, especially work horses, 
I have over a thousand fruit trees set out, and the 
rabbits are numerous in the winter. The following 
wash beats wire screens on that number of trees : 
Lime, one-half bushel ; glue, one pound ; copperas, 
one pound. This will last three or four months, 
Whitman County, Wash. h. f. 
WHEN AND HOW TO TRANSPLANT ROSES. 
Roses may be lifted with safety between November 
and May. In digging them, I would be careful to get 
all the roots possible without bruising them ; shorten 
with a sharp knife all large roots, but preserve care¬ 
fully the fibers. In making a new bed, I would select 
a good, deep loam if possible, without either sand or 
gravel, on land that is drained, naturally or otherwise, 
where any surplus moisture will quickly disappear. 
The bed should be thoroughly dug up to a depth of 12 
inches or more, and a generous quantity of decayed 
cow dung thoroughly incorporated with it. In this 
prepared bed plant the roses. I prefer roses on their 
own roots, and to do the planting in April; but it may 
be done in the fall. The roots should be spread out 
naturally, and the bushes planted a little deeper than 
they were before. The soil should be carefully 
pressed firm with the feet. After planting they 
should receive a good soaking with water ; they will 
then need no more until spriug. If the planting be 
done in the fall, it is a good plan to prune them par¬ 
tially, to within about 10 inches above ground. Just 
before frost, they may be protected by being earthed 
up with soil, and then covered with coarse manure or 
leaves. As soon as it is safe to do so, uncover in 
spring and prune all branches back to about three 
good eyes. As soon as the foliage appears, they 
would be benefited by being sprayed daily during dry 
weather, and during drought, they should be occa¬ 
sionally given a thorough good soaking of water. It 
will now be time to look out for any insects that may 
appear, and when the foliage is wet, I would fre¬ 
quently dust with hellebore and tobacco dust alter¬ 
nately, and would use a small insect powder bellows 
in ease the regular garden bellows are not at hand. 
The above directions do not apply to climbing ro es 
or those grown in greenhouses for winter flowering. 
Oakwoods, R. I. w. m. e. 
WHAT SAY? 
What are the Birds? —The birds are almost de¬ 
vouring some of our apples ? What kind are the 
depredators? We have plenty of turtle doves, but never 
suspected them ; others think otherwise. Some say 
thrush, blackbirds, and cat birds, robins, and several 
other kinds. Last year they made the same havoc. 
The seasons are very hot and dry, and the drought 
may be a cause of their work. A. m. e. 
Moonlight, Kan. 
How’s Your Bean Pull? —On page 458, G. G. D. 
says, “ When it was necessary to pull beans by hand.” 
I would ask whether it is not yet necessary to pull by 
hand, or own a machine for planting and pulling? 
Or, perhaps, he has some way of his own, which he 
would be willing to tell, for the sake of back-aching 
humanity. If so, our name is legion, as we have not 
yet, got beyond the hand-pulling era. e. j. 
North East, Pa. 
R. N.-Y.—How do you eliminate the back ache from 
your bean patch ? Let’s hear about your pull. 
Winter Apples Wanted.—I wish to plant from 75 
to 100 apple trees this fall, of not over six varieties of 
winter fruit. I shall plant some Baldwins, but desire 
to have, at least, two thirds of the number of longer 
keeping varieties than the Baldwin is here, whose 
season usually ends about March. I would like to have 
advice through The R. N.-Y. from growers, as to 
strong, free-growing varieties, suitable for south west¬ 
ern Pennsylvania. Who have had experience with such 
varieties as Lawver, Mann, Pewaukee, Scott’s Winter, 
Stark, Lankford, Sutton Beauty and Wolf River? 
Washington County, Pa. w. w. h. 
City Man and Farm. —We occasionally see in The 
R. N.-Y. a question like this : “I have$500 and a little 
experience in farming ; I can buy a farm of 60 acres 
for $300 down and $100 yearly. Would you advise me 
to do it ? ” Of course the advice given is, “ Wait until 
you have more money and experience.” But the ques¬ 
tion which comes to me is, “ Where is the limit ?” Here 
is a man, about 30 years old ; not very strong ; with 
a wife and three children, who has never had any ex¬ 
perience in farming except in a garden, but has a 
liking for farm work. He can pay for his farm, and 
have a surplus of $4,000 or $5,000 ; he has taken The 
R. N.-Y. and other agricultural papers for a long time. 
Can this man go on a farm, but moderately productive, 
hire his heavy work done, and with the aid of The 
R. N.-Y., close attention to business, using modern 
machinery and methods, make a living and a fair 
profit ? His business pays him about $700 a year, net, 
but he needs a change. Will you kindly give him 
your advice ? an old subscriber. 
R. N.-Y.—Our own opinion is that such a man will 
be happier, and just as well off financially, on a farm— 
provided he use the same business judgment on the 
farm that he does in his present place. It depends 
largely on the man himself, so, of course, only general 
advice could be given. 
WANTED ! AN IMPROVED HAYRAKE. 
Why does not some genius invent, and some wide¬ 
awake company manufacture, a better horse liayrake? 
The ones now made are the most back-aching, leg- 
wearing, arm-jerking, nerve-torturing implements in 
general use. While at the World’s Fair two years ago, I 
made a special study of the different makes of hay- 
rakes on exhibition, and came to the conclusion that 
there had been less advance and improvement made 
in that implement than in any other used upon the 
farm. There was only one radical departure from 
the old rake, and that was one that pushed the hay to 
one side of the rake, leaving it in a continuous wind¬ 
row. This may or may not be an improvement, but 
all the rest, and there were dozens of them, differed 
but little except in name and a few minor and unim¬ 
portant details. 
I have just come in from raking a field of heavy 
Alfalfa. My rake is the best I could obtain, made by 
a prominent manufacturer of farm implements, and 
sold as one of the best made. Now, in detail, let me 
tell you what is wrong with it. First, the seat is so 
placed on the rake that one cannot sit therein ; but 
by firmly bracing the feet, it serves very well to lean 
against. Then the foot lever is so far away that the 
longest stretch of the longest legs is required. The 
hand lever has so great a throw, that one must reach 
forward to the greatest capacity of the back and arms 
to reach it. then pull back and straighten up, bend 
over backwards, and with the arm reach out far be¬ 
hind to make a satisfactory dump—all to be done 
while trying to balance on, or, rather, against a teet¬ 
ering seat, the rake meanwhile wobbling and clatter¬ 
ing over rough ground and irrigating ditches. This 
series of movements repeated every 10 seconds while 
raking a large field of heavy grass, will not serve to 
give the operator an exaggerated opinion of the 
ability of our inventors, or of the progressive spirit 
of the manufacturers of farm implements. 
Then the levers and locking devices are so cleverly 
arranged that, if one relaxes his firm hold of the lever 
for an instant while pulling a heavy load, back it 
comes, swift as a cannon ball, just grazing the arm, 
side and shoulder, and if the arm happens to be a 
little akimbo, striking the elbow and driving the 
upper arm up through the shoulder blade in a man¬ 
ner utterly to demoralize the man, physically and 
morally. Just then would be a very poor time for 
the maker or seller of that rake to come into the field. 
Now wdiy cannot all this be remedied ? There are fame 
and money for the man who will invent and put upon 
the market a rake that will be a credit to our people, 
and a source of satisfaction to the owner and user. 
Como, Mont. w. B. h. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name aud address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.l 
Crimson Clover in Young Peach Ochards. 
G. A. M., Trenton , N. J .—Will not a crop of Crimson clover and 
potash plowed in on a young peach orchard, produce too late a 
growth of young wood ? 
ANSWERED BY E. H. BANCROFT. 
This seeding comes at about the proper time for the 
last working, and would simply provide for the pro¬ 
duction of a crop, valuable as a nitrogen gatherer, a 
winter mulch, and as a green manure for spring turn¬ 
ing or an early forage supply, instead of the crop of 
weeds otherwise expected, or the naked soil, leach- 
iug or deteriorating through the idle months. In my 
bearing orchards, not set with the clover, early spring 
tillage starts growth a little more promptly and 
rapidly ; but when we plow down the clover or remove 
it for forage, as soon as in bloom, and then plow, 
growth pushes rapidly and the season’s result in 
growth is better than in the orchards without clover. 
I never fail to sow it in all my orchards. The spring 
following, if there be fruit, plow down the clover at 
early maturity, for pears, or early apples, or peaches. 
For late fruit, if the soil is good, and a little rock and 
potash be supplied, the crop may be removed and used 
as forage. If there is no crop on the trees, plowing is 
sometimes deferred until June, when seed is ripe ; but 
