1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
573 
THE PROSPECT. 
Friday, August 30, has been set apart as Grange 
Day at the New York State Fair in Syracuse. Prom¬ 
inent men of the Order will be present to make 
addresses, and thousands of patrons are expected to 
be in attendance. This, in addition to the vast show 
of exhibits and other attractions, will make Grange 
Day a notable affair. 
Q 
We believe there are still left in the country a few 
men who are able to sit down and figure out that the 
American farmer is getting rich, or if he does not col¬ 
lect a fortune, it is his own fault. We wish one of 
these statisticians would take the following state¬ 
ment as a basis, and tell us how many years a man 
must live to get rich at this rate : 
The following are the returns for 33 crates of extra fine apples, 
shipped and sold in New York market, about July 13. The prices 
obtained were fairly good. Who gets the money ? 
33 crates sold for. ^ $17.(50 
Transportation company got. $7.75 
Carting to commission house. 1.50 
Commission. 1.74 
Cost of crates, eight cents each. 2.64 
Picking and crating, three cents each.99 
Carting from orchard to railroad. 1.00 
-$15.62 
Cash to grower. 1 - 08 
Total. $17.60 
Dover, Del. J. w. y. 
We can't see that the railroads have much cause for 
complaint—in fact, all the labor represented here 
was well paid—except the farmer’s. 
O 
Who knows how to feed a hen to the best advan¬ 
tage ? Don’t all speak at once, because each one will 
probably have a different tale to tell. The proper 
feeding of poultry seems to be a science of itself. 
For several good reasons, the general feeding rules 
worked out for other live stock, do not give satisfac¬ 
tory results with poultry. Mr. O. W. Mapes sends 
this note about his latest chick ration : 
I use stale bread that has been kiln-dried, mixed with pot cheese, 
for the first two or three weeks, followed by cracked wheat and 
pot cheese, and later by cracked corn and pot cheese or meat 
scrap. The kiln-dried bread has to be soaked before using. If 
you wish to hear the mother hen call her family with that assur¬ 
ance in her tone that indicates that she has found just what they 
need, throw her down some of this bread and cheese, particularly 
if it is made from a Graham loaf. 
Bread and cheese are good enough for any hen. There 
are lots of eggs in baker’s refuse, but to do their 
best, we think hens should have a certain amount of 
animal food. We wish to secure all possible informa¬ 
tion about poultry rations. Tell us what you feed— 
how much, and what seems to be the effect of clover 
hay, meat, cotton-seed meal, linseed and other grains. 
We want a wide range of information in preparing a 
series of articles on “ A Balanced Ration for Hens.” 
You can help by telling w hat you feed, and the results 
of such feeding. 
0 
All feeders must have noticed the wastefulness of 
feeding long Timothy hay. It is a bulky food, and 
requires a great deal of room for storage. Examina¬ 
tion of average horse manure will quickly show that 
a good share of the hay is passed by the horse undi¬ 
gested—chiefly because it is not chewed properly. 
The small stomach of the horse cannot carry on the 
soaking and grinding that goes on inside the ox or 
cow. By chopping the hay and mixing it with wet 
grain, there is a great improvement in the way it is di¬ 
gested ; but an enterprising miller has now gone 
further than this, and grinds the hay with the grain 
so that a perfect ration for horses can be carried in a 
bag. Mr. Clark Allis, one of our western New York 
readers, sends this note about the process : 
A friend visiting here said he did not want his horse to have 
anything to eat, as he was feeding a combination feed and the 
horse would make itself sick if given Timothy hay and grain. 
He spoke so highly of the “new feed” that I was interested 
enough to visit the mill where it is made at Middleport, N. Y. 
There are but two such mills in the world ; the first one built in 
Vermont, and this one at Middleport. The hay, all No. 1 Timothy, 
is in a large barn 100 feet from the mill, and is brought by an end¬ 
less carrier under cover and dropped in front of the cutting 
machine, connected with which is a dust collector that takes the 
dust, through a pipe, to the race. After cutting, a sifter returns 
all hay not cut fine enough to be cut over again. It is then 
elevated and is drawn to the mill as wanted. As many combina¬ 
tions can be made as in “phosphate,” but the one they were mak¬ 
ing consisted of 25 pounds of corn, 25 pounds of oats and 50 
pounds of hay ; both kinds of grain No. 1. It is ground very fine 
and is the color of bright hay. The bags hold 100 pounds, and all 
have a guarantee of what that particular bag contains. They 
were using 50 horse-power, so I do not think many farmers will 
have a mill to run by hand. Rats will eat the feed in preference to 
anything else in the mill. The hay is old hay bought last spring 
when shippers were not buying; it was a good thing for farmers, 
as they paid more than market price, and the way hay has gone 
up, it has proved a good investment. The feed is $20 per ton, 
wholesale, at the mill. At that price it is the cheapest feed on the 
market when one has to buy hay and grain, as there is no waste 
or trouble in cutting, etc., and with that “alarm clock” described 
in a recent Rubal, a man may lie abed until noon. 
It seems to us that this is a good thing. At $.20 per 
ton it is a cheap horse feed—the writer has paid $22 
per ton for Timothy hay alone. It will be a great 
convenience for those who have little stable room, 
and the whole feed will be more completely digested. 
Here is a remedy or scientific treatment for wind- 
broken horses Does it give enough bulk to distend 
the stomach properly ? There is enough “organic 
matter” in it, but some feeders claim that the coarse 
hay is useful because of its great bulk—preventing 
any compacting of food in the stomach. Possibly 
there might be some little trouble with this at first, 
but after getting used to it we think horses would 
thrive on this ground hay. The tendency among 
most feeders is to feed less and less long hay. We 
would like to see some experiments tried with grind¬ 
ing dried cornstalks in the same way for cow feed. 
What the cow tries to do with a tough stalk is 
to grind it and soak it into a tine powder. The fodder 
cutter helps her in this work to a certain extent, but 
there is no good reason why the grinder should not 
go further and powder the stalks so that the cow can 
utilize them. 
O 
So much has been said about diseases of plants, that 
any new symptom of trouble in potato vines is likely 
to be called at once a “ blight.” One of our subscribers 
in Missouri, who is new to potato growing, thus writes 
about the condition of his field : 
For about five weeks, there was a dry spell, then in June It 
began to rain, and has been raining about twice a week ever 
since. On July 4, the tops being large and luxuriant, I noticed 
the leaves of many vines of Dutton’s Seedling curling up like 
peach tree leaves. I never saw any potato blight in my life, but 
at once feared that it had come. Since then, on two-thirds of the 
Dutton vines, the leaves have curled, and the vines fell. Then the 
American Wonder was attacked; its vines were naturally ranker 
and darker. Perhaps one-half of them showed more or less 
blight. The Orphan and St. Patrick were the last to succumb, 
but they are withstanding it the best. On my last examination, I 
noticed a change. The stricken vines show some signs of reviv¬ 
ing. Often one branch of the top is green, and many of the main 
stems are putting out green shoots near the ground. It is still 
rainy. Nowand then a vine will be found that seems entirely 
dead, but not often.” 
The Cornell people say they are unable to diagnose 
this potato disease. They cannot say from the descrip¬ 
tion given that these vines are dying from either of 
the three forms of “blight” which affect the potatoes. 
As a rule, potato vines do not recover from an attack 
of any disease, especially during wet weather. Prof. 
Slingerland thinks that there may be some insect 
causing the trouble—perhaps grubs of some kind in 
the stalks. 
O 
Tiie horse-power corn harvester, and the machine 
husker, bid fair to solve the problem of utilizing the 
stalks in the great Western corn fields. In former 
years, millions of tons of this valuable fodder were 
wasted as stock food. The feeding of these vast 
stores of food will, of course, mean thousands of tons 
of beef or butter shipped to our markets. As we have 
often pointed out, these developments in the utilizing 
of waste products, seem to more than make up for 
the decreased yields caused by the loss of soil fer¬ 
tility. There is no danger of a food famine in sight 
of this generation. Science is continually discovering 
new methods of saving, for human food, what was 
formerly thrown away. The Louisiana sugar planters 
are struggling with the question of what to do with 
25,000,000 gallons of molasses. Part of it can be burned 
or fed to stock, but vast quantities yet remain. They 
have dumped it into the smaller ponds and streams 
until its decay has rendered such waters unhealthful. 
Barrels and cooperage cost so much that it does not 
pay to ship it. What is greatly needed is some process 
of forming it into blocks or rolls of solid, hard con¬ 
crete such as is used in shipping glucose. If this 
could be done, the molasses could be shipped like cot¬ 
ton or cord wood, and could be sold at ridiculously 
low prices as food for humans or for stock. Here is a 
chance for some scientist to make himself famous 
and provide cheaper sweets for the poor. 
o 
Time was when the farm boys alone went off to col¬ 
lege in the fall. Now, especially out Webt, it is gen¬ 
erally recognized that the girls have just as much 
right to an education as the boys. Thousands of 
bright and earnest girls start out from the farmhouses 
every fall to attend the best universities in the West. 
Many of them work their way through the college 
course with even greater enthusiasm and patience 
than their brothers. The idea of exclusive colleges 
for girls has not found much favor in the West. The 
women’s colleges at the East are well patronized, but 
west of the Alleghanies the prevailing idea seems to 
be that the sexes should be educated together. Of 
course there are many who shake their heads in doubt 
at the policy of sending young women off alone or 
with only girl companions to a college town ; but the 
facts appear to be that coeducation, on the whole, 
gives the average woman a better idea of the duties 
of practical life than the narrower atmosphere of a 
woman's college. The most serious problem before 
the country girl student is what to do after gradua¬ 
tion. Will there be room for her in the old home V 
She may marry and form a home of her own, but will 
her education be of real service to her there—that is, 
will she be able to gratify the ambitions of her college 
course ? Of course she can teach, but in what other 
way can she make full use of her education? We 
know that the idea of the limitations of woman’s 
sphere for usefulness sometimes decides enterprising 
girls not to try to educate themselves. It would be 
interesting if older women graduates would tell us 
something of their experience. Is a college education 
worth what it costs to the woman on the farm ? 
Q 
French horticulturists report success in keeping 
grapes free from rot or mold by means of the vapors 
of alcohol. The fruit is placed in a brick room, 
cemented inside and closed as nearly air-tight as pos¬ 
sible, by a common wooden door. The grapes were 
laid on wood stiavings, and an open bottle containing 
alcohol placed near them. Grapes fresh from the 
vine were placed in this room on October 31, and were 
kept in good condition until December 24. One thing 
is sure, this process is simple and easy, and any one 
who has an air-tight, cool place, can test it. 
O 
The Mark Lane Express has made a careful estimate 
of the condition of the crops in Great Britain, and finds 
little to encourage the English farmer. The follow¬ 
ing table shows how the various crops stand as com 
pared wiih two former years : 
August, 1895. August, 1894. August, 1893. 
.-Her cent.-, 
Wheat. 78.5 100.5 84.7 
Barley. 84.9 10^.1 78.2 
Oats. 78.6 100.1 79.3 
Beaus. 72 95.5 58.9 
Peas. 75.9 95.7 72.7 
Potatoes. 86.7 92.1 90.7 
Roots. 71.9 95.7 80.8 
Grass anil hay.... 66 111.8 58.3 
Hops. 71.5 90.6 75 
In commenting on this statement, the paper mentioned 
goes on to say : 
An improvement will doubtless occur in the position with re 
gard to roots and grass, but beyond this no change of importance 
can take place, and we are constrained to admit tiiat, taken alto¬ 
gether, the year 1895 is really worse than 1893. The black cloud 
which has so long darkened the horizon still hangs over the 
British farmer, and the prospect is, if anything, more dishearten¬ 
ing. The troubles he has to encounter at home by reason of 
weather adversities are bad ; but they are made a hundred times 
worse by foreign competition, which is fast driving farming out 
from among the industries of this country. 
It is not likely that the American farmer will benefit 
much by this shortage of English crops. Other coun¬ 
tries like Argentine, Australia, Egypt, India and 
Russia are prepared to pour in vast quantities of grain 
and meat to supply the lack in the English harvest. 
In many of these countries, too, the silver question cuts 
a good-sized figure in prices—always to the disadvan¬ 
tage of our own farmers. 
o 
BUSINESS BITS. 
A keadkk would like to buy a second-hand tread power cheap; 
one-horse preferred. Send price and particulars to The R. N.-Y. 
The reader who, on page 566, gives an account of his success 
with winter oats, bought his original seed of T. W. Wood & Sou, of 
Richmond, Va. 
Readeiis of The R. N.-Y. will remember the Farmers’ Seed Com¬ 
pany, Faribault, Minn., as being formerly at Chicago. This com¬ 
pany have large seed farms at Faribault, and make a specialty of 
Timothy, clover and mixed grasses. 
Don’t go on breeding from scrub sheep while thoroughbred 
rams are so cheap. Write those breeders who are advertising on 
page 579, and get a good, vigorous ram. The extra quality of 
lambs next season will pay for the ram. 
A catalogue from Henry A. Dreer, 714 Chestnut St., Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., gives a list of strawberry plants, pot-grown and layer ; 
foreign grape vines ; celery and cabbage plants; vegetable seeds 
for summer and fall sowing; German millet, Japan buckwheat, 
Crimson clover, etc.; flower seeds, palms, ferns, etc. 
Kitsklman Bhob., Ridgeville, Ind., say their fence costs only 
from 13 to 20 cents a rod, and is bull-strong and chicken-tight. 
We have never made any of this fence ourselves, but this is a good 
firm, and we believe their fence is just what they claim for it. If 
you write for full particulars, they will be sent you free. 
When buying a hay press, it is well to see that the greatest 
weight of hay can be put into small space. This enables you to 
put more tons into a car and reduce transportation charges. S. 
B. Hendricks, Kingston, N. Y., make a press that fills this bill. 
There are many excellent points about this press that can be 
learned by addressing the manufacturer for descriptive circulars. 
Last year, in The R. N.-Y.’b symposium on portable feed mills, 
the Peerless feed grinder was mentioned by several who are using 
it with great satisfaction. For our own part, we can’t see why 
farmers should spend more time carting grain to mill through 
mud or snow banks, than would be required to grind it at home, 
and then pay for grinding it. For full description of the Peerless, 
write the Joliet Strowbridge Company, Joliet, Ill. 
We believe that rough fodder will be utilized more carefully 
this year than for many years past, on account of the short hay 
crop. Corn stalks and straw will be cut and fed with ground 
grain. These dry fodders will be improved il steamed, or at least 
wet with hot water before being mixed with other feed. Of course, 
a good feed cutter will be needed. The S. Freeman & Sons Mfg. 
Co., 176 Bridge Street, Racine, Wis., can furnish one, and will 
send catalogue on application. 
The New York game laws have now been so amended that game 
may be sold here the year around if shipped from a point not less 
than 300 miles distant from the State. In this State, deer, wood¬ 
cock, grouse, and partridges, are now in season, and black and 
gray squirrels, hares, rabbits, plover, snipe and similar birds, 
will be after September 1. A condensation of the new game laws 
has been prepared by Win. H. Cohen & Co., 229 Washington 
Street, New York, and will be sent to all applicants who mention 
The R. N.-Y. They are in a position to get the best prices for 
game, furs, etc. Write them. 
