176 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The next grade is known here as “half blood,” and 
England terms it “50-60.” Some may be found in 
Merino sheep or those carrying a large percentage 
oi Merino blood. Theu we have or in English, 
“48-52,” derived from Southdown, half-blood Meri¬ 
nos, or the finer Shropshires, Dorsets, etc. Then 
“Vi blood" or “42-40” from Shropshires, Dorsets. 
also Oxfords, Ilampshires and similar breeds. Then 
there is “low quarter bloods," “36-40,” a coarser 
fiber, and “braid wools,” more so. 
After these come some which are nearly nonde¬ 
script, and some called “line fleeces” that one hardly 
knows where they belong. At our warehouse they 
are put with the highest grade where we think they 
will pass Grades of wool may be different in all 
breeds. .Tust as even no two grades of wheat are 
alike, each fleece has its individuality. The fibers 
may not be the same in a purebred flock, but may 
be so near that, like wheat, they will go together in 
a class. That is the beauty of wool growing. There 
i-> no monotony about it, and it furnishes basis for 
intelligent thought, and gives unlimited satisfaction 
to the man who magnifies his calling. 
Grades of wool are influ meed by breeding, feed, 
care, physical condition and age of the individuals, 
and by climate. To illustrate: Our Merinos were 
expected to clip 11 lbs. average of Delaine last time, 
but the very mild Winter “tempered" il to 0*4, 
changed over 800 lbs. on the older ewes to “clothing” 
and nearly 300 on the lambs to “half-blood.” There 
are many causes to change the grade, even to "cot- 
ting” wool. Worms around the horns of one of our 
rams last November gave him a fever, and he went 
into Winter bare of wool. 
It is probable that every known grade of American 
wool comes to our warehouse, most of which can go 
to its class quickly, but some takes study before we 
are sure of its place. It is the pleasure of the good 
shepherd to breed as pure as possible, and then care 
for each individual, thereby making a minimum 
number of grades. This much is sure: Wool will 
sell in the class it belongs, same as every other 
commodity. w. w. Reynolds. 
The Farmer and the Fox 
I have been reading the last (wo weeks what you 
have to say about shooting a fox ahead of another man’s 
dog. Here in Virginia any man who would shoot a fox 
ahead of a pack of hounds would be in a serious place; 
the hunters would want to lynch him then and there, 
as foxes are only hunted here for the sport of tin* chase, 
and we think it almost a crime to kill one, even in the 
Summer when preying on domestic poultry, 
Virginia. JOHN C. tatt’m. 
ELD, it makes a difference where you live, 
evidently. The poultrymen in New York and 
New Jersey spend most of their time hunting the 
dollar with which to pay their bills, and instead of 
lynching a man who killed a fox they would treat 
him to a good dinner. All this makes us think of 
the old story of the English farmer and the fox. It 
has been told before. 
Back in tin* good old days an English farmer used 
to see his aristocratic friends riding after the fox. 
They chased the hounds pell-mell over his fields and 
had a great run. The fox usually escaped, and the 
crowd came home at night grumbling and growling 
because the fox got away. The sly old fox made 
for his den in a rocky hill, after throwing the dogs 
(IT the scent. Then he rested awhile and came and 
stole a fat pullet off the farmer's henroost, and thus 
gained the strength for Another run. The farmer 
saw this idle crowd riding home day after day. with¬ 
out the fox, and he grew sorry for them. Of course 
he thought they were as anxious to kill tlie red 
rascal as he was. So one night he loaded his mus¬ 
ket and hid beside tin* henhouse. The fox came for 
his dinner, and the farmer shot him dead. Then he 
took the red thief by the tail and started for the 
big house, where some celebration was going oil. 
The “hunters" were having a dinner and hall in 
honor of tlie fox! The farmer walked in. proud of 
his achievement, for had he not done what all these 
men and women had failed to do? The leader of 
the hunt came to meet him—almost too horrified for 
speech. 
"What is that you have there?” 
“Why, I’ve killed the fox! I’ve seen you hunting 
this thief day after day. but. be always got away 
from you. Now I’ve succeeded in killing him for 
you!” 
“Why, you ignorant clown! We never wanted to 
kill that fox! Our occupation is chasing him. Now 
that you have killed him, our occupation is </<»)< !'’ 
Perhaps a little application will fit in here. Since 
this republic was started thousands of men have 
gone to Washington to represent the people. After 
a short time most, of them come to bo much like 
these hunters. They may talk loudly and wave their 
arms over the evils of public life, but they rarely 
kill them. Chasing after the “interests” or the 
rogues comes to he their occupation, and when, now 
and then, the farmer takes his shotgun and kills off 
a few of the foxes these hunters do not thank him— 
their occupation is to chase the fox—not to kill him. 
An Experience with Quack Grass 
I AM glad to offer my experience with quack grass. 
I had great success in getting rid of it. Of 
course, it means hard work and a great deal of it. 
May 18, about five years ago, I bought 4 '/■> acres of 
land in two lots, one containing about two acres. 
1 started plowing the next, day, and plowed the en¬ 
tire field. The quack roots were so heavy matted 
in places that it was almost impossible to plow it. 
T harrowed the host I could, and finished planting 
potatoes May 30. I marked the ground east and 
west, as it sloped toward the south, and covered the 
potatoes with a shovel plow. About one week after 
planting I started the cultivator out and back in 
tlie same row. This I always do, as it cuts both 
ways, and I did this several times. There was plenty 
of grass that j ear, so bad that I mowed part of it 
with a mowing machine, and plowed roots out 
Where Quack Grass Was Killed 
and harrowed the ground. Then I plowed the 
ground 10 in. deep, harrowed well, and sowed rye, 
also harrowing this well, using a lever harrow, and 
cleaning at each end. The next May I turned the 
rye under, plowing up and down the hill, harrowed 
well, and sowed the field both ways, and covered 
with a shovel plow, I bought a weed or before 
this, and it was ready for work. This I started 
in about three days. This was about May 
15. I tried to go over the field three times a week, 
and as soon as the potatoes showed, I started the 
cultivator twice in the row, and crossed it. with the 
weoder. In about three days I would go 1 lie other 
way with the cultivator, and cross it with the 
wceder, and when about three or four incites high, 
both ways with cultivator and followed with the 
weoder as soon as possible, and kept this up until 
• about one foot high: then shovel-plowed both ways 
twice in each row about one week apart. The po¬ 
tatoes were just a fair crop that year, but no grass. 
I do not think there were four quarts in all. I 
planted potatoes on this same field four years; in 
1020 I seeded the field with oats, and they grew 
about four feet. Tjist year the grass was cut the 
first week in July, and I think about, five tons. In 
September T made ^another cutting of about two 
tons; clover about 18 in., in blossom; Timothy, about 
four feet, and in blossom. T do not think there are 
any quack roots in I lie field. 
I am sending a photo of my two children and 
myself standing in the second crop of grass. This is 
a very poor photo of grass at this place. T. c. o. 
New York. 
Wax for Vermin Injury 
AVING noticed in recent issues of The It. N.-Y. 
some experiences with the damage done to 
young fruit trees by mice and rabbits during the 
February 11, 1922 
Winter, and the failure of most methods of con¬ 
trolling these pests, 1 would like to tell other readers 
the result of experience with following method: 
Make a wax as follows: ITeat 2 lbs. of rosin until 
thoroughly dissolved. Cool for 15 to 20 minutes. To 
tell when it is cool enough test with wood alcohol, 
if the rosin rejects or “spits out” the alcohol, it is 
not cool enough. As soon as the alcohol will mix 
add one quart to the rosin and mix thoroughly. This 
wax is applied to the trees with a small paint brush. 
We paint two opposite sides of the free, covering 
about half of the surface from the ground for 18 
in. up. In sections where there are likely to be deep 
snows it would probably he better to paint the trees 
higher up. Two pounds of the rosin with the alcohol 
added will make enough of the wax to go over about 
10 acres of young trees. It should be applied only 
when the tree is perfectly dry. If Hie wax becomes 
too stiff to paint on, warm it and add enough more 
alcohol to restore it to its original consistency. 
It lias been our experience that this preparation 
will also stop the work of the apple-tree borer. At 
least we have not been troubled with the borers 
where the wax was applied. Whether it prevents 
the moth from laj mg the eggs or not, I do not 
know. WILLIAM WALTERS. 
The Cost of Pulverizing Limestone 
Can you give me any information as to the value of 
limestone for commercial use on the farm, as to the 
cost of getting it out, ground and ready for use? The 
quarry is about four miles from a shipping point. What 
kind of machinery is needed, and how costly? The farm 
I have in mind has unlimited supply of lime rock, that 
was once used for unslaked lime. The rock was burned 
with big wood lire. A. N. s. 
O DEBATING A CRUSHER.—You are asking the 
same question that many are asking who have 
a supply of limestone accessible to their farms, and 
whose fields are already showing signs of acidity. 
During the past year I have observed two machines 
in Now York State, both of them operating for the 
personal use of farmers, but both of them attempted 
to he operated at a time when their operation con¬ 
flicted with important farm work. T think the eco¬ 
nomical thing for us to assume at the outset is that a 
small farm-owned crusher will be operated at a slack 
time of year and the material will ho ready for use. 
ESTIMATED COSTS.—There is no better source 
of information than the accurate figures secured on 
the use of a small crusher on the farm of E. L. Wor- 
tlion in Pennsylvania a few years ago. By substitut¬ 
ing presen I prices, I think that you can arrive at a 
fair estimate of what you may expect it to cost you. 
Mr. Worthen used a small type machine. This ma¬ 
chine had a capacity of from one to two tons an 
hour. Mr. Worthen tried both steam and kerosene 
tractors on this machine, and the quantity of the 
product varied somewhat with the skill of the man 
feeding the machine. Below is a table of expendi¬ 
tures for grinding with a steam engine. In this 
table, man labor was figured at. 20c, and horse labor 
at 10c per hour. This wits the actual rate paid at 
the time of grinding. The engineer’s time was 
charged at 30c an hour, and 80c an hour was paid 
for the use of the tractor. The cost of the use of the 
pulverizer was estimated at 10c an hour. An expen. 
diture of $00.12 produced 50 tons of ground lime¬ 
stone. This brings the cost down to $1.80 per ton. 
Mr. Glazier, of Huntington C'o., Pa., some time ago 
published an article in which he stated that he was 
able to produce ground limestone for 75c per ton. I 
am not able to state, however, whether his method of 
figuring was the same as Mr. Wortlien’s. 
Itemized expenditures for grinding with steam en¬ 
gine : 
Man Horse Machine 
_ K __A_ _ A . 
r \ f \ r \ 
Operation Mrs. Cost Hrs. Cost Hrs. Cost 
Quarrying stone and 
hauling . 01 $12.20 15 $1.50 . 
Grinding (one man and 
engine) . 50 15.00 . 50 $15.00 
Grinding (pulverizing). 50 5.00 
Jlolting uud feeding 
pulverizer. 50 10.00 . 
Hauling water . 20 4.00 34 3.40 . 
Hauling etnil .. 5*,^ 1.10 14 1.40 . 
Coni. 5,000 lbs. tit 28c. 
Meals, Id at 25c. 
Dynamite, fuse and eaps. 
Total 
Cost 
$13.70 
30.00 
5.00 
10.00 
7.40 
2.50 
10.52 
4.00 
1.00 
total 
$90.12 
VARIATION IN FINENESS.—You will note that 
there will be a variation in the home-ground ma¬ 
terial from the standpoint of fineness. The larger 
part of it. however, will pass through 60, SO and 100 
mesh screen. That would mean that most of it 
would lie immediately available. The balance would 
take somewhat longer to become available, but that 
has a distinct advantage in a long-time program of 
farming. I will not attempt, to tell you I he price of 
various machines because they are changing so rap¬ 
idly that a price issued two months ago may not be 
correct today. You can get definite information from 
the manufacturers. E. a. f. 
