294 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAY 42 
rection are recorded ; but to American inventors 
must be accorded the palm of success, aH they 
have attained these ends almost perfectly, and 
by the simplest rneauB. 
Our readers will understand from the above 
remarks, that our own faith in windmills is 
strong; and although orators, politicians, town 
gossips, book agents, patent agents, and many 
others consume, to little useful purpose, vast 
areas of the forco which impels the mills, there is 
still enough left for all the requirements of the 
farmers of the land, and we trust they will care¬ 
fully consider the manifold benefits to be derived 
from its application to the purposes of the farm. 
THE NEW IRON TURBINE WINDMILL. 
Windmills have been iu use ever since the 
Eleventh century, and were quite common in the 
Twelfth. In the Twelfth century, the Pope de¬ 
cided that windmills should be taxed. In the 
Fourteenth century, the Trior of the monastery 
of Augustlnes, at Windsbdm, in the province of 
Overyessol, was desirous of erecting a windmill; 
when the Lord of Woerft heard of this he for¬ 
bade it, on tho ground that “ the wind Of Zea¬ 
land belonged to him.” An appeal was taken to 
the Bishop of Utrecht, who flew into a violent 
passion, and declared that no one had power over 
the wind withiu his diocese but himself and the 
church at Utrotcht. However, he granted letters 
patent and the mill was erected. 
Windmills have been in use ever since in near¬ 
ly all parts of tho world. Holland is said to have 
over 12,000 windmills in operation, averaging 8 
horse power each. But in this country, where 
air is free, it lias been reserved for the presont 
age—this boasted age of progress and invention 
—to so perfect tho windmill as to make it prac¬ 
tical for farm and domestic puiqHiseB. Many 
good mills are in use which aro no longer experi¬ 
ments. Then why should wo not summon tho 
free air, “ the Idle wind,” and hid it serve us, 
that our labors may be less aud our pleasures 
more. 
We would not disparage other mills, for there 
are many good ones ; but our attention has been 
called to what is known as tho “ Iron Turbine," 
which certainly has many superior points of 
merit. This mill is constructed entirely of iron, 
thus differing from others in tho market, there 
being no slats or reeds. Tho wheel is made of 
heavy Bhoot iron, constructed on the turbine 
principle. Its construction is simplo, having 
but few parts, aud these well put together. There 
are but low Joints, and they easily oiled. The 
turn-table works easily and freely. It lias a rear 
or tail vane, w hich holds the wheel facing the 
wind, except when operated upon by the gover¬ 
nor, which regulates it automatically. The reg¬ 
ulating vane, which is a part of the governor, 
standB upright over the wheel and is held iu po¬ 
sition by the adjustable weight on the lever, and 
can he regulated to suit the power required. The 
vane is turned dowuward with a vory strong 
wind, and serves to turn the wheel more or less 
out of the wind and during storms or violent winds 
throws it entirely out, turning the wheel edge- 
wiso to tho wind, so that the mill is at rest until 
the'storm ceases, when it will quietly resume its 
work. 
The “Iron Turbine" is manufactured by Mast, 
Foos & Co., of Springfield, Ohio. It was form¬ 
erly made by Daniel Wvsewandeu, of the same 
place. The mill has been introduced iu Ohio, 
parts of Indiana and Illinois, and is not an ex¬ 
periment, but has been thoroughly tested. Mast, 
Foos & Co,, seeing its superior merit, and having 
large facilities for its manufacture, have recently 
made arrangements by which they control tho 
right to manufacture for all the United States. 
Mr. Mast has had over twenty years’ experience 
aB a manufacturer, being also connected with 
P. P. Mast & Co. of the same place, manufac¬ 
turers of the Buckeye Drill a, Buckeye Seeders, 
Buckeye Riding or Walking Cultivators, Buck- 
eye Plow Sulkies and Buckeye Cider Milts, so fa¬ 
vorably known all over the land. His experience 
and reputation as a manufacturer iB a guarantee 
that the “ Iron Turbine" is a success. Mast, 
Foos & Co. also manufacture different Btyles of 
pumps suited to be used with wind engines. 
They have also made arrangements to manufac¬ 
ture the Buckeye Lawn Mower, which lh6y will 
introduce this season, Messrs. Mast, Foos & 
Co., whoso large factory is in Springfield, Ohio, 
will furnish any further information concerning 
the subjects of this notice. 
<»♦ 
AMATEUR FARMING. 
Having heard a great deal about small farms, 
well-tilled, being better than large farms, eithor 
tilled badly or not at all, I give you my experi¬ 
ence in the matter. I am not a practical farmer, 
except in the way of sowing grains of wisdom in 
the brains of our juvenile population. 
My farm is in two parts—oue 13x40, and the 
other 13x25 feet. The former is in the front of 
the house, and is dovoted to experimental land¬ 
scape gardening. On the first of February I 
had the sod removed from one-fourth of this. 
It was then filled up with good soil, and top- 
dresBed with manure, to await tho several Bnows 
that came afterward. The first week in April I 
Bubsoiled it, 16 inches deep, with a carving- 
knife. During the operation I found several 
million weeds just starting. To get rid of these 
I resorted to heroic treatment. Last year, be¬ 
fore the prairie was fenced in, every goose, 
gander, and gosling in Southwestern St. Louis 
made foraging raids upon every Bpoar of grass 
that ventured to Bbow itself in my domain, until 
I Baited it down. Then 1 was repaid, for poison¬ 
ing the anseres , by having the finest grass-plot 
I ever Baw. Just now my flower-garden is in a 
pickle with abundant salt, dissolved by three 
days' rain : but in about a fortnight it will he 
ready for setting out plants. 
Of the farm beyond the kitchen door not more 
than nine square yards will this year be under cul¬ 
tivation. This was so well manured, last July, 
that not a fiower would grow there. 1 began by 
hiring a man to spade the ground, as I could 
myself earn more in a single day than the wages 
of a man for two days would come to. r lost 
patience, however, on seeing my laborer spend 
half the time sitting placidly on a wheelbarrow, 
chewing tobacco or smoking. I dismissed him, 
therforo, and spaded the kitchen-garden with 
my own hands, philosophically meditating, the 
while, on the adage, “ The gods help those who 
help themselves.” I had the satisfaction of do¬ 
ing more work In two hours than than tho tobac- 
co-uBer would have done in eight. 
I have planted corn aud potatoes, and sowed 
radish, beets and tomatoes. The crop ought to 
he a good one, for in addition to my industrious 
toils, I have levied upou Hovey, BlisB, and Jor¬ 
dan for plants and seeds. If good luck attends 
my efforts, I shall be independent of the huck¬ 
sters who go about our streets vending decayed 
vegetables. The result, howovor. cannot with 
certaiuty lie predicted; but, be this w hat it may, 
1 shall have the advantage of knowing, next, 
year, more about farming than I did when I 
started in the business. 
Perhaps it might enlighten others if I gave 
here my methods of planting. The peas were 
sot singly, two inchos deep, in a high ridge ; the 
beets were planted in a drill, on the summit of a 
ridge four inches high. My potatoes w r ere cut, 
rolled in gypsum, and put into hills. Of these 
there were as many as four. I have also four 
bills of Triumph sweet-corn on a ridge of light 
soil. I hope tho Grangers will not bo arrogant 
enough to criticise my amateur farming so se¬ 
verely as to discourage my laudable experiments. 
Hhould the results prove eminently satisfactory, 
I will let you know. Sylvia Bbown. 
Jfatm Orionomi). 
ON THE FARM IN SPRING. 
To come in like a roaring lion and to go out 
lik e a meek and lowly lamb, is a w idely known 
and Beldom varied characteristic of the rough 
month of March, especially the lion part. Dur¬ 
ing tho first half, it is exceedingly difficult to tell 
which will gain the ascendancy—gruff and selfish 
winter, who. through three long months, has 
held the reins of government and driven rough¬ 
shod over all who were not comfortably and 
warmly clothed, or aspiring spring, who comes, 
like a promissory note—payable in sixty days. 
But after a little, the rising brooks and slush 
and rubber boots give evidence of warmer weath¬ 
er, till finally, the cattle and sheep leave their 
fodder to pick the tiny loaves of grass that begin 
to look green from under the edges of the snow 
banks or on the south side of the stone wall. 
There are few mourners at the funeral of old 
Mr. Winter, aud he passes to his long rest with 
hardly a regret. Nevertheless, the crowd that 
gathered around his festive board and drank bis 
wine of joy, and sang the loud, hilarious songs, 
was a large and a merry one. Yet many felt his 
grip of iron aud appreciated the fact that coal 
went up as the mercury went down, aud shivered 
over a small lire, wrapped in their little all, hop¬ 
ing and longing for better times aud warmer 
days. Editors belong to this class. It is just 
possible that editors of agricultural papers are 
exempt, but we have our doubts. 
The cut in the farmers’ almanac over the ca¬ 
lender for the month of March, exhibits two 
men devoid of hats and coats, digging poBt-holes 
and making a fence. They must live in a differ¬ 
ent locality from that in which we were brought 
up ; but it won't do to dispute this good book, 
for it announces itself as devoted particularly to 
the interests of this, iny native county. We 
don’t dig many post-holes during March in this 
section, but there is plenty of wood at the back 
door to be chopped and piled for next winter’s 
consumption. The Boy is big enough to do that, 
however, ho w r e improve our mind by reading the 
magazines for April to Dimmer, and dilate on 
what we are going to do when the season fairly 
opens. The fertilizing products of the stable 
must be earned out on the planting ground—but 
the Boy oan do this also. 
The February birds the bluebirds and robins 
—try to make us know that they are glad they 
came north so early; and perhaps they are, for 
they are reinforced by a delegation of March 
birds, and like the Anglo-Saxon, are delighted in 
being first on the ground. The morning glee 
club is not fully organized yet. but the busy 
chirping of the mate selectors may be beard all 
day. One of the sweetest of spring sounds comeB 
from the swamps, and is supposed, by ignorant 
folks and children, to emanate from frogs ; but 
we scientific people know better, in this advanced 
age. Just what it does emanate from, wo are 
not prepared to state at present, but are positive 
it isn’t frogs. Frogs might do for our fathers, 
bnt not for us. The whole family gather just 
outside the door at nightfall and listen, with de¬ 
light, to tho first, concert by the “peepers.” 
Were it. not wrong to murmur against the dis¬ 
pensations of T’rovidence, we should ho disposed 
so to do, for freezing up the “ peepers” three 
times. Why it should be so wc don’t know, but 
have we not bad the assurance that it is so hand¬ 
ed down for generations ? 
The snow lias almost all disappeared, although 
a few banks are to be seen yet along by the 
fences. Two or three warm days and the arbu¬ 
tus will be in bud, though if wc want the little 
pink blossoms in quantity, we must wait till 
April. The melting snow has raised the brook, 
aud tho brook is raising the meadow. Two or 
three hundred ton6 of soil have already been car¬ 
ried down stream, to be left where it cannot do 
us any good. I wish it had been mortgaged ; 
perhaps it would have stayed by us then. The 
sheep are getting restless, and wander up and 
down the valley, content on everybody's farm 
but ours. They do no particular harm, except 
keeping the Boy from chopping wood with that 
assiduousness that is necessary to finish it in time 
for plowing. 
Of nil the animals on the farm whoso lofty as¬ 
pirations carry them beyond the limits of all re¬ 
straint at this time, of year, the swine go so far 
ahead that all others sink into utter insignifi¬ 
cance. There are not attainable boardH enough 
to make a pen sufficiently high and strong to 
keep them in it. Like some radical politicians, 
it is impossible to keep them within bounds. 
They will go out through an aperture hardly 
large enough to admit of an arm ; but in order 
to get them back, the pen must be leveled to the 
ground and throe or four bushels of corn thrown 
temptingly within. And the trouble increases 
in proportion to the number. There is some sat¬ 
isfaction in driving one pig, for he will go in 
some direction, although it may be directly be¬ 
tween your legs—but two pigs always separate 
and go in several directions at once. Most em¬ 
phatically is this true of tho Bwine of the mascu¬ 
line gender. He perambulates slowly but firmly 
through the garden with his nose a foot below 
the surface of tho asparagus aud lettuce beds. 
Stones and clubs aro showered on him till at last 
he rushes through the choice grape vineB with 
the dog clinging to his e&r. 
If it were not for sausages (which we like) and 
the lard (we are fond of pie) and cold shoulder 
(very good at times), and several other parts of 
the awful animal, we would abolish him entirely 
from our premises. True, wo might buy all we 
want for about half what it costs to raise it, hut 
there is nothing like growing one’s own food. 
We once saw a Chineso hog exhibited in a me¬ 
nagerie. I wish they had ours in China on exhi¬ 
bition. The Boy sings one or two verses about 
“ Johnny Btole a ham,” and “ Root hog, or the 
but aside from these, I know of no poetry about 
that fiendish beast. There they are all out again 
—the Boy noeds some assistance to get them 
back ; but here is a man who wants to see me. 
Oh ! it is only a tree agent. I will help the Boy. 
Even this is to be preferred to conversing with a 
tree agent. 
After all, I don’t object to agents—at a dis¬ 
tance. Some malicious person has said that they 
are good to break watch-dogs on. My experience 
with them has been that they come with so much 
assurance, that the dog Is awed into fawning 
subservience, and submits quietly to their dep¬ 
redations. Any kind of an agent is preferable 
to a lightning-rod man. There was a good rod 
on the house, which had answered the purpose 
for twenty years or more, but one of these fiends 
came along last summer, and put up another in 
spite of our protestations; at least he half put 
it up, promising to return in a few days and finish 
the job. He never returned, however, and we 
ho pe he never will, for since he was here we have 
never ceased to dread the lightning, for tho rea¬ 
son that be seemed to be on such familiar terms 
with it. and talked as if it was an old acquaint¬ 
ance of his in the infernal regions. 
It would be very interesting to know why it is 
that cattle, sheep and horses always act as if pos¬ 
sessed by the Evil One whenever it rains hard or 
is particularly unpleasant. We always feel sorry 
for the Boy on such occasions, for they invariably 
lead him Buch a lively chase from one end of the 
farm to the other. What would we do without 
that Boy ? George Monroe. 
April 23. 
SCARECROWS. 
About this time farmers will begin to think 
about protecting their corn against crows, and 
the following hint on the subject, from the 
Scientific American, may prove bettor than pow¬ 
der and shot so frequently used for this purpose: 
The first and the best is a suponded looking- 
glass. Take two small, cheap mirrors, fasten 
them back to back, attach a cord to one angle, 
and bang them to an elastic pole. When the 
glass swings in the aim's rays, they are reflected all 
over the field, even if it be a large one, and even 
the oldest and bravest of crows will depart pre¬ 
cipitately should one of its lightning (lashes fall 
on him. The second plan, although a terror to 
crows, is especially well suited to fields subject 
to tho inroads of small birds and even chickens. 
It involves an artificial hawk, inode from a big 
potato and long gooae and turkey feathers. 
The maker can exercise his imitative skill in 
sticking tho feathers into the potato so that they 
resemble the spread wings and tail cf the hawk. 
It is astonishing what a ferocious-looking bird of 
prey can be constructed from the above simplo 
materials. It only remains to hang the object 
from a tall, bent pole, and the wind will do the 
rest. The bird will make swoops aud dashes in 
tin; most headlong and threatening manner. 
Evou the most inquisitive of venerable hens 
have been known to hurry rapidly from its 
dangerous vicinity, while to small birds it carric s 
unmixed dismay. 
-- ♦ ♦ ♦ - 
STABLE DUNG A PERFECT MANURE. 
When the world was made, its Creator de¬ 
signed that the land should be kept in a good 
state of fertility by Btablu manure alone, conse¬ 
quently it was given all the elements of fertility 
that crops require. A writer on tho compara¬ 
tive value of stable and commercial mauurea 
says: 
“ Average stable manure is held to contain 0.3 
to 0.6 per cent, of nitrogen, 0.4 to 0.0>£ per cent, 
of potash, and 0.2 to 0.3 per cent, of phosphoric 
acid. This is a fair proportion of tho essential 
plautrfood ingredients, and confirms the state¬ 
ment, often made, that barnyard manure is a 
complete manure.” So it is, as all practice 
shows, and when produced on tho farm it is the 
most economical. But the above figures show 
that, at 15 cents per pound for nitrogen, 7K 
centB per pound for potash, and 6 cents per 
pound for phosphoric acid—the price these sub¬ 
stances are worth in stable manure in comparison 
with them in more available forms"in commercial 
manures—the value of a cord of stable manure, 
weighing tons, is about fcfi.SO,” t. b. m. 
Hainj Ijuslrankj. 
OLEOMARGARINE AGAIN. 
We recently alluded to the Senate bill before 
the New York Legislature for the protection of 
dairymen, and to prevent deception and secure 
fair dealing in sales of butter and cheese. 
The bill. &b originally printed, and as was 
stated in the Rural, contemplated not only the 
branding of Oleomargarine butter, but that Oleo¬ 
margarine cheese and skim-milk cheese, when 
made at factories and creameries, should also 
be brandod. 
Very strong objections were urged agaiust the 
cheese clause iu the bill by those interested in 
the manufacture and sale of skimmed cheeBe, 
and as the leading cheese and butter merchants 
opposed such branding of cheese as an injury to 
the trade, the Senate committee having the bill 
iu charge concluded to strike out all that portion 
referring to Oleomargarine cheese or skimmed 
cheese, and confine the bill simply to butter. 
The chief reason for this course was that oppor¬ 
tunity now could be given for the matter to be 
fully discussed before the dairymen's conven¬ 
tions in the State, and by this means an expres¬ 
sion from the whole dairy interest of the Btate 
would he reached. The bill, then, as modified, 
reads substantially as follows: 
“ 1. Every person who shall manufacture for 
gale, or who shall offer or expose for sale any 
article or substance in semblance of butter not 
the legitimate product of the dairy, and not 
made exclusively of milk or cream, but into 
winch the oil of fat of animals not produced 
from milk, enters as a component part, or into 
which melted butter, or any oil thereof has been 
introduced to take the place of cream, shall dis¬ 
tinctly aud durably Btamp, brand, or mark upon 
every tub. firldn, box, or package of such article 
or substance tho word • Oleomargarine.’ Aud iu 
case of retail sale of such article or substance, 
iu detached parcels taken from such tub, firkin, 
box, or larger package, the seller shall, in all 
eases, deliver therewith to the purchaser a print¬ 
ed label bearing the plainly written or printed 
word ‘ Oleomargarine; ’ and every sale of such 
article or substanoo not bo stamped, branded, 
marked, or labeled, is declared to be unlawful, 
