69o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 12 
THE AGE FOR RETIRING. 
As one climbs up or down the fifties, 
the closing- years of life assume a new 
importance, and one looks around occa¬ 
sionally for examples to try to imitate, 
inasmuch as they seem to give happiness 
and usefulness. Some of my acquaint¬ 
ances are trying to find pleasure in doing 
almost nothing after they pass 60, and 
one man with whom I am well acquainted 
(a German), has scarcely done anything 
in the way of productive labor, although 
he has enjoyed excellent health. To sit 
by the fire in winter, and on a shady 
porch in summer, seems to be the height 
of his ambition in the closing years of 
his life. He has a comfortable farm and 
money at interest : so he lets his wife 
and children work, while he rests. 
In sharp contrast to this example, is 
that of another man, who was my friend, 
who died within the month. He was a 
coal operator running, in company with 
partners, a coal bank. Sixty years of 
age found him with family grown up, 
and enough property so that he might 
have imitated the German referred to— 
sit still, and let the hum of industry go 
on around while he looked on like a fly 
on a balance wheel. This course was 
not suited to the disposition of my friend, 
however. His pleasant home overlooked 
a vast swamp of nearly a quarter of a 
section in extent, and as, when a little 
past 60, he contemplated selling his coal 
interests to younger and more active 
partners, his attention was directed to 
this swamp and its reclamation. It was 
grown up to alders and willows, tussocks 
of moss, and hillocks of swamp grass, 
and seemed forbidding enough to deter, 
even a young man ; but nothing daunted, 
he purchased 140 acres at what was con¬ 
sidered a pretty good price by the arable- 
land farmers around, and commenced its 
gradual subjugation. The swamp lay 
upon the divide, some of its waters run¬ 
ning to Lake Erie, and some to the Ohio 
River ; but it was nearly level, and not 
being in the line of any water course, 
had not been leached of its fertility. 
Besides this, it had 40 years before 
been for many years, even back to the 
first settlers, a roost for millions of 
pigeons. Toward evening, for weeks in 
spring and fall, the birds would come in 
clouds that darkened the sky, and roost 
upon the trees and bushes in the swamp 
until the branches would break beneath 
their weight. I can remember when two 
of my neighbors went to this swamp one 
night and returned toward morning, 
with two bushel bags of pigeons which 
they had taken from the alder bushes. 
My friend argued that this old pigeon 
roost must be fertile from the guano de¬ 
posited in the early days, and his success 
afterward demonstrated the correctness 
of his guess. 
Celery was the crop he started out to 
produce, at a time when there was not 
more than a tithe of the present con¬ 
sumption, and the markets of northern 
Ohio were pretty well supplied with the 
Kalamazoo product, and the wholesale 
dealers in Cleveland who handled the 
Michigan celery, were careful to incul 
cate the idea that no celery could be 
grown in the wide world, equal to the 
Michigan article. With many things to 
learn—with all of it to learn in fact—my 
friend, at an age when most men content 
themselves with doing what they have 
learned in earlier years, went at the 
business of the home production of celery 
for a home market. At last, he produced 
a crop, of less than an acre, and had to 
hustle for a market for even this small 
amount. He had not yet got out of his coal 
business, and had a couple of shippers’ 
passes over two railroads. This helped 
him in selling his celery, as he took 
samples to hotels and families, and con¬ 
vinced them by actual trial, that home¬ 
grown celery was as good as that grown 
in another State. Thus, by perseverance 
and good business management, he 
brought nearly the whole swamp under 
careful tilth. He got tenants to grow 
upon shares, he finding the market, 
tools and land, and the tenants doing 
the work, each sharing equally. Early 
in September of this year, he died at the 
age of 74, and the local paper relates 
that he had more than 100 acres of celery, 
and that 11 families were his partners. 
As he usually got men with large families 
of children who could be made available 
in the light work of planting and weed¬ 
ing, the amount of good that this man 
was doing to the community, in incul¬ 
cating habits of industry and self reli¬ 
ance, is almost incalculable. 
Since this experiment was started, the 
consumption of celery has increased 
enormously, and several other large 
swamps are contributing their crops to 
the demand. Just what reward awaits 
such a man in the other world, we do not 
know ; but there are few of us who 
would not rather take our chances upon 
such a record, than upon a life that 
ended in being an idler and a drone. 
My friend died with the harness on, but 
it was not a harness that galled and 
strained, and left unsightly scars ; for he 
had made it himself, and fashioned it 
after the plans of a mind mature in busi¬ 
ness experience. 
The other day, I visited another friend, 
a little past 60, who, in taking me over 
his 200-acre farm, showed me how he 
could, at a cash outlay of about $50, dam 
the narrow outlet of a large ravine, and 
store more than 2,000,000 gallons of 
water, that could be used close by upon 
12 acres of rich land, and just beyond, 
upon 30 acres more. He thought that 
springs in the ravine would supply what 
was lost by seepage and evaporation, 
and that the ravine would easily fill, 
from the hills around, as vast volumes 
of water came from the surrounding 
hills from melting snows and heavy 
rains. As he explained the scheme, he 
remarked that it would do for a young 
man, but at 62 he did not consider it 
worth while. To me, it seemed just the 
contrary. He had abundant means, his 
wife owned a farm in addition to his 
own, and his children were self-support¬ 
ing, and, it seemed to me that he was 
just the man to tackle the problem of 
irrigation, and benefit his fellows by his 
experiments. The fact that his bread 
and butter were not at stake, and that 
he could study the experiment with 
mature experience and coolness, were 
additional reasons why he should under¬ 
take the work. l. b. pierck. 
Summit County, O. 
Live Stock Matters. 
FORKFULS OF FACTS. 
Cotton-Seed Meal. —What is a safe 
ration of cotton-seed meal for a Jersey 
cow when feeding on dry feed ? w. J. 
Camden, Del. 
R. N.-Y.—As a rule, we do not advise 
the use of cotton-seed meal with dry 
feed. We would use it only with ensi¬ 
lage, or on pasture. In your case, we 
would not give over one pound a day. 
Jersey and Alderney. —Will you give 
me a few pointers so that I can distin¬ 
guish a Jersey cow from an Alderney ? 
Is there a thoroughbred Alderney cow ? 
Kingston, N. Y. w. p. 
R. N.-Y.—There is really no differ¬ 
ence between a Jersey and an “ Alder¬ 
ney.” The latter came from a small 
island near Jersey. For a time, we be¬ 
lieve that the Alderneys were registered 
in a sort of annex to the Jersey Herd 
Book. As we understand it, the Alder¬ 
neys were mostly solid fawn color, and 
somewhat heavier than the Jerseys. 
Cotton-Seed Meal for Hogs. —This 
food is comparatively cheap. Many 
farmers get good returns from it when 
fed to cattle at pasture, or with ensilage. 
They are, therefore, tempted to feed it 
to hogs. This is a mistake. The Iowa 
Experiment Station has been trying 
some experiments with this meal. In 
Iowa, many cattle are pastured to be 
sold for beef in the fall. At the station, 
some of these pastured cattle were fed 
four to seven pounds of cotton-seed meal 
svmtvs 
STANDARD 
ROOnNG 
* ' - • . . V i 
TRACE MARK. 
per day, and hogs were put on the field 
to follow and eat the meal passed indi¬ 
gested in the manure. The report on 
this experiment is : 
The hoys following the cotton-seed-meal-fed 
cattle, were continued there until July 6, main¬ 
tained about their average gain until the close, 
and gave no evidence of any evil effects from 
that kind of treatment. The trial with this lot 
covered a period of 17 weeks in all, and the indi¬ 
cations are that hogs may safely follow cattle fed 
on cotton-seed meal, as fed here, for a period of 
four or five months, at least. The hogs were 
practically confined to the droppings, as they had 
but very little other grain feed during this time, 
and were also fed a little cotton-seed meal in 
addition, as shown in the table. This was during 
a time when new cattle were being put in, and 
not much cotton-seed meal was being fed. 
Other lots of hogs were fed heavier ra¬ 
tions of fresh cotton-seed meal. Some 
of them died, and others did fairly well. 
The station concludes : 
Attention is called to the preceding results 
only to indicate the efficiency of cotton-seed meal 
as a factor in producing economical gains when 
fed moderately within certain limits; yet we have 
the apparently corfflicting evidence that its use 
is practically certain to prove fatal in a majority 
of cases. 
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SOLE MANUFACTURERS, 
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’ft Send for Samples and Prices. 
Can be applied by 
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LOW PRICE! 
DORABLE! 
FIREPROOF! 
If you are going to 
build or have leaky 
shingle or tin roofs, 
send for sample 
and circular. 
A. F. SWAN, 
38 Dev Street. N. Y, 
The fact that 25 or 30 pounds of cotton¬ 
seed meal, even when fed in the most careful 
is sufficient 
to kill shotes weighing 
manner, 
100 pounds or over, is abundant reason for using 
cotton-seed meal with extreme caution, if it is 
used at all, in feeding hogs. While investigators 
have thus far failed to discover the exact reason 
why cotton-seed meal kills hogs, yet the fact that 
it does kill them, is reason for guarding against 
the general use of the feed for this purpose. 
The safest plan is to keep cotton-seed 
meal away from the hogs, though they 
are not likely to be injured by it when 
following cattle at pasture. 
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I< or all classes of buildings, easily applied, cheaper 
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fire and lightning proof. Reduces your insurance 
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Hog-Feeding Notes. —I have about 
80 hogs at present, and keep a Chester 
White hoar. The most common com¬ 
plaint among farmers here, is that their 
hogs get too small. We scoot a whole 
herd of sows out if w T e can’t easily make 
the stock weigh 250 to 275 pounds, and 
if a year old, 300 pounds. This small 
bone seems to come from the male, as 
the tendency of scrub hogs and, there¬ 
fore, of the impure pax-t of the grades, 
is to be rough, hardy and large. It seems 
to me that breeders with orders waiting 
at a good figure, do not use the knife 
freely enough, and we notice that we 
occasionally get a boar that gets small, 
We can’t tell any- 
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ISf Look for this ad. every other week. 
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farm worth three times amount loaned, write to 
Willis A. White. 239 First Ave. N., Minneapolis. Minn 
Salesmen Wanted. 
$100 to $126 per month and expenses. Staple line. 
Position permanent, pleasant and desirable. Address, 
with stamp, KING MFG. CO., G. 51. Chicago. 
irregular broods, 
thing about him till we see his get. This 
last statement is so common a sentiment, 
that we prefer that a boar shall be in 
(Continued on next page). 
CREAMERY WANTED 
We want to lease or purchase a Creamery in a good 
airy region. Give particulars. 
SIMPLEX DAIRY COMPANY, 
812 Bennett Building. New York. 
%Ui£«Hauc0Ujs: gUvntisinfl, 
In writing to advertisers, please always mention 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
MORE MILK 
and healthier cattle if your cows 
are well protected. Use in the 
construction of all out-buildings 
DO YOU WANT IT ? 
We have seen other papers offering cheap 
watches to their subscribers, and often looked 
them up to see if we too could not offer them to 
our readers; but in every case, we found the 
watches to be so worthless that we would have 
nothing to do with them. 
We had about given up 
the idea of finding a satisfactory cheap watch. 
We mentioned our experience in this direction to 
imm 
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