293 
February  19,  191G. 
Xjhe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Jack  the  Weed-Killer 
The  Argonauts  Towed  by  a  Donkey 
Despite  dismal  predictions  fr<»tn  the  ex- 
perieiiei'd.  and  tlm  old  adage  “Fools  rush 
in  where  angels  fear  to  tread."  quoted  by 
conservative  friends,  we  were  as  care¬ 
free  a  crew  of  Argonauts  as  ever  sailed 
for  the  Golden  Fleece.  Eleven  acres  so 
close  to  town,  and  a  steady  job.  besides; 
Jack  on  the  Cultivator 
it  could  hardly  be  called  commuting,  but 
surely  the  back-to-the-laud  bug  bad  bit- 
tea  us  severely.  Simultaneously  with  ac¬ 
quiring  the  11  acres,  five  of  whioh  we 
planned  to  work  the  iirst  year,  we  real¬ 
ized  the  need  of  power.  A  stern  concrete 
fact,  bat  of  shadowy  vagueness  to  one 
who  bad  never  harnessed  or  cared  for  a 
horse;  you  might  almost  say.  had  licvi  r 
driven  one.  One  listened  fearfully  at  the 
invariable  topics  when  horse-owners 
meet:  spavins,  ringbones,  colic,  strains, 
etc.,  cheerful  and  inspiring  to  the  timor¬ 
ous  hack-to-the-lander  with  a  few  re¬ 
maining  dollars  on  one  hand  ami  a  couple 
of  acres  of  bush  fruits,  potatoes,  field 
corn,  etc.,  clamoring  for  cultivation  on 
the  other.  The  risk  of  losing  a  horse 
this  ignorance  probably  threw  the  bal¬ 
ance  in  favor  of  answering  the  news¬ 
paper  advertisement,  “A  small  stout 
donkey  for  sale  cheap.” 
Investigation  disclosed  a  chunky,  gray 
donkey,  much  dispirited  by  a  restricted 
city  life  and  diet,  hut  well  protected  by 
a  rough,  matted  coat  of  fur  that  called 
for  a  minimum  amount  of  grooming. 
Needing  no  shoes  when  away  from  pave¬ 
ments,  llis  little  hard  hoofs  will  plod 
steadily  along  all  day,  not  fast,  but  de¬ 
pendable.  A  good  roll  on  cinders  or  ash¬ 
es  preferred:  hut  lie  will  not  turn  down 
Donkey  Power  in  Winter 
his  ears  at  a  mud-hole,  if  nothing  better 
oilers.  Afterward,  a  daintily  picked 
meal  of  weeds  and  thistles  or  corn  fodder, 
topped  off  by  a  dessert  of  browse  from 
underbrush  and  orchard  trimmings,  will 
cause  him  to  sing  picans  of  praise. 
With  a  heavy  work  harness,  second¬ 
hand  from  a  former  pony  owner,  a  light 
seven-inch  plow,  half  of  a  lever  spring- 
tooth  harrow  and  half  of  an  old-fash¬ 
ioned  wooden,  spike-tooth  harrow.  Ju<  k 
and  I  put  tin-  bush  fruits  into  shape.  A 
hired  team  did  the  heavy  plowing.  Drag¬ 
ging  and  marking  the  furrows  for  potato 
planting  fell  to  Jack  and  me,  and  after 
his  experience  (and  mine  also)  in  the 
berry  rows,  he  drew  as  straight  a  furrow 
as  many  a  shorter-eared  competitor. 
Eater,  a  swap  of  Indian  Runner  duck 
eggs  for  a  light,  adjustable  spike-tooth 
cultivator  gave  us  an  ideal  tool  for 
Jack’s  capacity,  and  one  suited  to  the 
Hat  cultivation  now  so  much  advocated. 
This,  with  a  small,  homemade  stone 
boat, ’was  the  total  tillage  equipment, 
and,  with  but  six  available  working  hours 
rneh  day.  Jack  certainly  held  up  bis  end 
of  the  work  of  cultivating  the  berries, 
held  corn  and  potatoes,  besides  raking 
two  acres  of  clover  meadow  with  a  stand¬ 
ard  size  dump  rake.  A  small  wagon  an¬ 
swered  for  light  hauls,  holding  a  half 
dozen  crates  of  berries  or  three  to  MTg 
barrels  of  bagged  potatoes  or  apples. 
Answering  an  advertisement  in  Tut:  U. 
N.-Y..  we  obtained  a  low,  two-wheeled 
dump  cart,  the  manufacturers  consent¬ 
ing  to  alter  the  shafts  to  fit  Jack,  We 
added  a  homemade  skeleton  platform  with 
end  racks,  and  a  slight  rearrangement 
of  the  box  gave  us  a  low.  stout,  service¬ 
able  wagon  for  the  rough,  heavier  tasks 
about  the  place.  Iiy  removing  racks  and 
box.  the  tilting  platform  enabled  me  to 
load,  single  handed.  (>xS  feet  colony  coops 
and  heavy  stones,  and  to  stack  on  crates 
of  potatoes,  carrots,  etc.  Replacing  tin- 
box  gave  us  a  most  convenient  manure 
cart,  low  enough  to  he  unloaded  front 
the  ground,  or  to  be  dumped  bodily. 
With  the  rack,  Jack  sturdily  hauled  in 
the  entire  crop  of  hay  and  corn  fodder. 
()1‘  course,  in  order  to  haul  a  creditable 
load  on  this  type  of  curt,  with  but  450 
pounds  of  motive  power,  the  driver  must 
not  expect  to  do  much  riding.  The  in¬ 
tensive  producer  on  a  small  scale  can, 
with  the  cartooned  and  much  misunder¬ 
stood  donkey,  strike  a  happy  medium  be¬ 
tween  back-breaking  hand  work  and  the 
use  of  an  expensive  horse.  lie  will  have 
power  enough  to  handle  the  light-weight 
horse  implements. 
Our  Jack  has  earned  honorable  men¬ 
tion.  Ilis  menu  during  the  first  Winter, 
shared  with  a  pair  of  milcli  goats,  was 
bushels  of  oats,  fodder  from  one  acre 
of  field  corn — the  uneaten  stalks  were 
used  for  his  bedding;  gouts  dislike  bed¬ 
ding — and  two  bales  of  a  rather  poor 
grade  of  hay.  On  pleasant  days,  they 
wore  turned  loose  and  allowed  to  browse 
upon  the  trimmings  of  a  dozen  apple 
trees.  I  helieve  that  our  people  are  too 
much  impressed  by  American  cartoonists 
and  humorists,  and  do  not  study  the 
methods  followed  by  economical  foreign 
workers  who  follow  precedents  estab¬ 
lished,  in  some  eases,  in  Scriptural  days. 
These  workers  still  obtain  power  from 
what  would  he  entirely  wasted  in  this 
country,  and,  by  adding  goats  to  their 
equipment,  they  obtain  a  goodly  part  of 
their  food,  drink  and  leather. 
,T.  C.  BROWN. 
Chautauqua  Co..  N.  Y. 
Home  Soap-Making 
I  noticed  some  time  ago  a  letter  in 
regard  to  using  naphtha  in  soap-making. 
I  have  used  it  and  also  in  Summer 
when  washing  out  of  doors  have  added 
one-half  ‘cup  naphtha  or  gasoline  to  a 
tub  of  warm  (not  hot)  soapsuds,  lotting 
the  clothes  soak  onc-half  to  one  hour. 
In  making  soap  get  a  can  of  lye  or 
potash,  and  full  directions  will  he  found 
with  it  for  making  soap  in  different 
ways.  Fse  the  directions  that  call  for 
His  Best  Girl 
the  soap  grease  to  be  melted  (also  strain 
it  through  a  cloth)  and  add  the  dissolved 
lye,  stirring  constantly.  Fse  one-lialf 
uound  more  grease  than  the  recipe  calls 
for  and  then  when  the  soap  is  still  warm, 
so  you  can  stir  it,  add  a  litth-  gasoline 
at  a  time  and  stir  well  before  adding 
more,  until  you  have  used  one  pint  (do 
this  out  of  doors).  Then  pour  the  soap 
into  molds  to  dry.  The  waxed  paper 
cracker  boxes  are  line.  When  the  soap 
is  hard  tear  away  the  box.  In  cutting 
it  lip  try  putting  a  strong  piece  of  string 
around  it,  and  then  pull  on  both  ends 
so  as  to  draw  the  string  tight  around  tin- 
soap;  it  will  cut  it  much  easier  and 
smoother  than  a  knife  will.  As  we  have 
hard  water  I  add  one  pound  of  powdered 
borax  to  the  melted  grease  before  adding 
the  lye.  This  helps  soften  the  water, 
whitens  the  clothes  and  helps  to  keep 
hands  from  roughening  from  washing.  An 
ounce  of  oil  of  bergamot  added  to  the 
soap  just  before  pouring  put  will  (by 
leaving  out  the  naphtha)  make  it  the 
nicest  kind  of  scented  soap.  It  should 
lie  firm  and  white,  if  the  grease  is 
clean  and  Strained,  and  we  like  it  bet¬ 
tor  than  “bough ten”  soap  for  washing 
hands,  as  the  borax  tends  to  soften  and 
removes  stains,  such  as  paint  or  wheel 
grease.  My  soap  made  in  this  way  is 
nearly  as  white  as  the  white  soaps  on 
the  market  and  “it  floats.” 
MRS.  CORA  II AMII. TO  X . 
Gingerbreap  Pudding. — Grate  finely 
six  ounces  of  stale  bread  and  mix  it  with 
six  ounces  of  finely  shred  suet,  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  ground  ginger  and  two  ounces 
of  flour;  now  mix  it  well  with  half  a 
pound  of  golden  syrup,  put  it  into  a 
buttered  mold  and  boil  for  at  least  two 
hours. 
Retailers’ 
30c  Quality 
Direct  from  Wholesaler. 
COFFEE 
Fresh  off  the  Roaster 
LBS.  FOR  $ 
Bean  or  Ground. 
Delivered  free  within  300  miles. 
lO  Lbs.  DELIVERED  FREE  1  OOO  Miles 
Beyond  loot)  miles  write  f«r  paitii-uliii-- 
.SittisfHCticm  triMTanti  ed  or  money  refunded 
GILLIES  COFFEE  CO. 
235-237  Washington  Street  New  York 
ESTABLISHED  78  YEARS 
The 
smallest 
stream,  with  a 
few  feet  (all,  has 
power  to  pump  water 
tor  the  house  an  l  barn, 
Fitz  Steel  Water  Wheel 
mates  Electricity  lor 
lights,  runs  the  sepuru- 
i  tor,  feed  ostler,  pumpt. 
A  No  cost  fur  open’ I- in.  lit¬ 
tle  nt  tent  ion  heeded. 
Write  for  this  tree 
book  —  it  telle  how 
to  measure  the  pow¬ 
er  of  your  stream 
Mahers  of  all  kinds 
of  wafer  wheels. 
RTZ  WATER  WHER  CO, 
103  Seorge  St.,Hanon)r,Pa. 
WANTFn^0^7,  EHERGETIC  MEN 
II  Hll  I  L  U  in  every  fount)  to  sell  onrT-ig 
lino  of  giiods'ilim-ttofnrmers, 
KXPEkl KNCE  NUT  NK.t'ESs ,\  |<y.  We  fully 
in-: nict  you.  Many  of  tliti  salesmen  of  this 
company  aro  making 
$1,000  TO  $3,000  A  YEAR 
lutfulUng  ouv  blir  sellers  KxvIuhv.  ii-wltory  iriv**n. 
\\V  rumMi  you  the  oapltni.  you  furnish  t lit*  u*Kint<» 
Dai  ry  tbt*  £fo od&t  votir  ow  ri  bov<  in  u  pl.  usiint, 
permanent  a.inl  proflnibh*  Writ*'  u  once 
for  lull  pitrlioulnrs,  giving  a^v  and  occupation* 
moroim  4  0. 
01rc«f 
From 
The 
Well. 
Dont  Drink 
{Stored  Water! 
i  Water  kept  in  a  stor¬ 
age  tank  soon  be- 
comesstale. foul  and 
unfit  to  drink.  The 
Milwaukee  Air  Power 
Water  System  furnish¬ 
es  a  constant  supply  of 
Clean,  swec-t  water —  ‘di¬ 
rect  rromthe  welt"— with¬ 
out  the  tt-.e  of  a  storage 
tank  or  other  unsanitary 
container.  C  o  not  f  rod's. 
Easy  to  install.  Costs  but  little.  Write  for 
illustrated  catalog  today. 
MILWAUKEE  AIR  POWER  PUMP  CO. 
SI  7  Third  Street  Milwaukee,  IV ts. 
Stelle'srSapSnouts 
More  Money 
there  ib tl scientific  :  ••Jibuti fur  it. 
explained  in  our  Frse  CatsluQ.  Write  luday 
C.  C.  STELLE,  75  Fifth  Aye.  BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 
See  Them!  Try  Them! 
Tit**/,  ini;  <»Jnl  drying  lip  ]A»Yented 
consnm  flow.  niilhjTin  Id  tin's, 
tmiiriv^-niy,  no  Irak  or 
hi  Turin:;  Simple*  and  price  fist  for  the  asking. 
They  Oho 
„  More  Sap 
tttmp'y  write  a  poital  today.  Wo  will  sendyou  abso¬ 
lutely  free  thea-;  1SS  beautiful  fuU-eolor  tnmplt  cards 
of  pmnta  for  all  purposes— residence ,  barns.  Poors, 
walla,  varnlnhea.cnaine'a  and  eo  on— and  will  quote 
you  positively  the  lowest  prices  ever  made  on  .ach 
fine  quality,  cuay-apreadlng,  foug  hurting  puiiitr. 
Suva  one-half  on  paint 
Cut  your  point  cost  in  two. 
Our  iJisr  Famt  Book  teaches 
you  bow.  Kveroote  Ready 
Mixed  Barn  Hal  it,  guaoiirteed 
not  to  Winter  or  chalk  .from  6Si*h 
gslloo;  floor-paint,  guaranteed 
not  to  show  hoot  prints.  $1.06 
per  gallon.  Equal  savings  oft 
all  kinds.  Send  today. 
(jpHestftaiinrn  Rfawftf 
8621  Stores  Bldg.,  Hew  York 
!,o> 
GARDEN  AND  FARM  BOOKS 
Vegetable  Gardening,  Watts  . $1.75 
Productive  Vegetable  Growing,  Lloyd  1.50 
Garden  Farming,  Corbett  . 2.00 
Manures  and  Fertilizers,  Wheeler...  1.60 
Farm  Manures,  Thorne  . 1.50 
Farm  Management,  Warren  .  1.75 
Irrigation  and  Drainage,  King  .  1.50 
For  sale  by  THE  RURAL  NEW-  I 
YORKER.  333  W.  30th  St.,  New  York. 
