% 
JAN f M 
the work of some fungoid growth less viru¬ 
lent than that which attacks the wood. In 
the latter ease the leaf i« not the first thing 
attacked, but the wood and the leaf catch the 
virus gradually, and the latter blackens and 
hangs in its place; whereas in the leaf blight 
simply the foliage show's different grades and 
characters of the seme ailment, as if it had 
several different sources. The leaves of some 
trees aff3cted by it never drop, but all over 
are covered with a livid greenish dust; others 
are marked with black spots, as if from some 
insect’s sting; while in others the black blight 
beginning on the edges, soon covers all the 
leaves of the tree, and they fall, leaving the 
fruit to stand its hand alone 
There is a great difference in the resistance 
of trees to this leaf blight, whatever it may 
be. The Hericart, the Bartlett, the Belle 
Lucrative, Clapp’s Favorite, and many other 
trees rarely suffer an attack, w hile some suffer 
every year, and others average good crops. 
Now, would not sulphur dusted over pear 
leaves work the same cure for their fungoid 
blights as it has for the oidium, which for so 
many years made the grape an uncertain crop? 
farm (Topics. 
RURAL- PRIZE -SERIES, 
PROFITABLE FARMING FOR 
A POOR MAN. 
PIxtST PRIZE. 
CLEM AULDON. 
[The above Is the title of a series of essays, for the 
best of which premiums were offered by the Rural 
JCw-Vorker last year, the obj.ct being to assist 
those farmers who have limited means or those hav- 
ing a small capital, about to engage In farming. They 
are for the most part written by those who have 
passed through the trials of an Impoverished begin¬ 
ning to real success.] 
I. 
My experience end observation have been 
confined entirely to the West. The conclu¬ 
sions which maybe drawn from this com¬ 
munication, are applicable to the western 
farmer 6nd the western way of doing things, 
and these remarks are calculated more par¬ 
ticularly for that younger generation of 
farmers who are disposed to pursue “ The 
Star of Empire.” 
The United States allows "every person, 
being the head of a family, or widow, or sin 
gle person over twenty-one, who is a citizen 
of the Unitfd States,” end every naturalized 
foreigner [Yes, and any person who has filed 
his declaration of intention to become such.— 
Eds ], a Pre-emption and Homestead of 160 
acrep, each ; also, in certain districts of tim¬ 
ber, a TreeClaimof the same size, making, in 
all, 480 acres of land. The Homestead is a gift 
from the Government .upon condition of a five- 
years’ occupation and improvement of the 
land ; the Pi e emption costs $l 25 an acre for 
single minimum land (land outside of railroad 
limits), and $2 DO an acre for double minimum 
land—t e., laud lying within railroad limits 
wherever any road has a land grant; and the 
Tree Claim is obtained by plauung and culti¬ 
vating t»n acres of timber for fight years. 
(This is according to the Timber Culture 
laws of 1878; am not pasted on the law since 
1880). [No changes in the law have since 
been made as regards the conditions stated.— 
Eds ] There are certain limits and restric¬ 
tions prescribtd by the Department which 
any one may learn by applying to the local 
Land Office, or to most land lawyers and 
agents. 
It is in the New West almost exclusively 
that these offers are open; and it is. therefore, 
safe to say, that one of the best ways for an 
energetic poor man to get a start in life, is to 
select some good location where Government 
land is obtainable, and take up a Homestead. 
There are many instances where it would not 
be advisable for a man with a large family 
to do so—in many cases it is extremely fool¬ 
ish—but for the man who is full of energy and 
enterprise, and especially the young man 
who has his life before him and wants to 
follow farming for a business, one of the 
best avenues to independence is that to the 
Western Homestead. But if the man was born 
and raised in Ihe Eastern or Middle Btates, 
and ha3 never bean away from home, let him 
weigh this matter deliberately before making 
the change. Let him remember that he is 
going among strangers and new surroundings, 
and that he will be met on every hand by 
change and novelty. Oftentimes it may be 
better for him to farm on shares where he 
is acquainted, and where he can rent to good 
advantage—for a year or two, at least. One 
of the drawbacks to all new countries is the 
poverty of the immigrants, and frequently 
the great stumbling-block to the settler is lack 
of means. These things must all be considered. 
We will suppose, however, that he has made 
up his mind to go West. He may be a man 
with a small family, or simply a wife, or be 
may be a single man. Right here, by way of 
parenthesis, let me drop a warning note: 
Whoever you are, or wherever you may in¬ 
tend to settle, do not take a step in the dark. 
Go and look the land over Bnd know what 
you are doing before it is irretrievably too 
late. Do not spend all you have in getting 
there, and then perhaps find thatyour destina¬ 
tion is exactly the reverse of your expecta¬ 
tions. Do not lie misled by immigration 
pamphlets and smooth-tongued agents or 
glowing newspaper descriptions written by 
some paid reporter. Ail of these things you 
are expected to guard against, but you must 
go still further; even the honest enthusiasm 
of the people in their new homes is misleading. 
The peculiar advantages of their own little 
town and their own county become a sort of 
mania. The newspaper man weaves it into 
bis editorials, the merchant aud the lawyer 
and the doctor talk it in their business, and 
the minister unconsciously incorporates it in 
bis sermon and breathes it in his prayer. But 
we pass over all this and get on to the ground. 
If an observing man ware traveling through 
the West for thefirst time, say in newly settled 
portions of Iowa, Minnesota or Dakota, he 
would doubtless be impressed with the vast 
amount of farm machinery owned by men 
who have no improvements, and exposed to 
the weather the year round. The opportuni 
ties for running in debt in new countries are 
generally excellent, and most persons seem 
disposed to improve the opportunities. These 
machines are nearly all sold on time, mostly 
on chattel security with notes drawing from 
six to eight aud ten per cent, interest, and the 
implements are purchased by men who could 
ill afford to buy them even if they had the 
cash, and a barn to house them in. Still less 
is it policy for a poor man to run in debt for 
a reaper and pay ten per cent interest on an 
investment that depreciates 30 percent, every 
year. This is what might be called "poor 
farming by a poor man.” The farmer realizes 
that it is what he saves that makes him rich, 
and this applies not only to a judicious ex¬ 
penditure of money but also to reasonable 
treatment and care of the thing purchased. 
We will start out with a supposition:—Say 
the man, to begin with, has a small family, a 
team, some cows, enough money to build 
some kind of a house and stable, with six 
months’ provisions and $500 to *1,000 of capi 
tal. The amount of money actually necessary 
will depend largely upon the energy and 
capabilities of the man; but, unless he has 
the team, provisions and some money, he had 
better work ior wages or work with some 
one who has more means. It is poor policy 
to try to farm with nothing. Two or three 
families that are acquainted, or single men 
with limited means, who are opening up new 
farms may find it profitable to live near each 
other and work together the first year or 
two. This plan, however, is liable to prove 
unpleasant unless the parties know each other 
well and have a thorough understanding. 
The first requirements will be a well of good 
water, a dwelling house and shelter for the 
stork. The building of the house will be 
governed greatly by circumstances, and a 
great many points will suggest themselves 
according to the means and experience of the 
parties. Time is a great consideration to 
farmers in a new country, and frequently 
both time and money may be economized 
by utiliziig some of the material provided 
by nature. If in a timbered country, trees 
may be used for a log house; on the vast 
prairies of Iowa, Minnesota, or Dakota, the 
surface of the grass land may be used for a 
" sod-house,” and in many parts of Colorado, 
New Mexico and Arizona an adobe (collo¬ 
quially pronounced " doby”) home may bo 
built out of the common soil. This is some 
what similar to the concrete or "grant” 
house in some parts of the East. Any of 
these make comfortable houses for either 
Summer or Whiter, though there is nothing 
elegant about them. But if it is a home aud 
has no mortgage hanging over it, taste and 
ingenuity will devise many ways of making 
it pleasant and attracti.e. Ali know how 
"bome-l ke ’the old-fashioned log-house may be 
made to appear. The sod houses can be lathed 
and plastered on tbe inside, and the "dobys” 
when plastered inside and cemented and 
“ pointed ” on the outside to imitate masonry, 
present a fine appearance, and would scarcely 
suggest the idea of being made from mud. 
And if you economize $100 in the construc¬ 
tion of a house aud then put that $100 into 
cows, you have an investment that is not 
wearing out every year, and it may afford 
ready money some day when you need it. 
The first point to be decided by the new¬ 
comer is, what kind of farming shall en¬ 
gage his attention. He wishes to employ his 
time and invest his money in a manner that 
will bring him the largest returns, aud the 
natural tendency is to float with the tide. If 
wheat is the staple crop the stranger seems to 
have an idea that nothing but wheat will pay. 
If everybody raises corn, then it’s corn for 
him. If there is nothing in the country but 
sheep, then he must invest his money in mut¬ 
ton and wool. Now, I should say, right here 
lies the pitfall for the small farmer or poor man. 
Probably the particular kind of farming is 
of much less importance than the precise man 
nsr in which the thing is done—tbe exercise 
of judgment and the general management, and 
perhaps the man must be governed largely by 
his location and his markets; but I have ob¬ 
served, almost universally, that where a sin¬ 
gle crop becomes the staple product, there is 
generally some opening for a man with small 
means that will enable him to catch the dimes 
a little faster than his conservative neigh bor 
who follows in the 1 eaten path. 
For instance, take Minnesota. Tin's State 
has a reputation as a great wheat country. 
Every one has heard of Minnesota flour and 
of the wonderful ease, with which a farmer 
grows a big crop of fine No. 1 wheat. The 
farmer from the East comes out with the idea 
of making a speedy fortune in wheat farmitig, 
He can’t be persuaded that it is not the big 
geet thing in the country, and he cannot be in¬ 
duced to try anything else for several years. 
Now, what are the facts? I suppose that the 
boy who has been kicked by a mule is always 
afraid of anything that has four legs and a 
pair of long ears; and I have seen so much of 
this wheat raising by poor farmers that I may 
be unduly prejudiced, but I believe the facts 
will bear me out in my assertion. I am aware 
that when a man says anything against 
wheat raising, be is treading on dangerous 
ground, for he is liable to have the whole com¬ 
munity “ by the ears,” But let us theorize a 
little. I prefer to deal in generalities rather 
than figures; for, although they will not lie, 
yet figures, like lovers, are sometimes very 
disappointing. 
But if we cannot figure auy, still we may 
do a little guessing. Say we are somewhere 
in the region of Southwestern Minne¬ 
sota, Northern Iowa or Eastern Da¬ 
kota. You " guess ” that you will go 
into the wheat business and raise 20 bush¬ 
els to the acre. I "guess” you are surer of 13 
than 30 on an average, taking one year with 
another. You may get $1 per bushel for 
your wheat if you can hold it until Spring, 
and yon may be forced to sell it in the Fall for 
60 cents. Say the } ield is 18 bushels and the 
price 75 cents, that is $13,50 au acre. Now, 
suppose you raise corn instead of wheat. If 
you can get 40 bushels to the acre and sell for 
25 ceutB, that is $10 an acre; but if you only 
get 30 bushels and have to sell for 15 cents, 
that’s "a horse of another color,” But there 
iB more to the story. You have only oneway 
to dispose of your wheat; that is, to load it 
into the wagon and haul it to town. You can 
do the same with the corn, or you can put it 
into a bog or a steer and drive it to town. 
You do not have to rush it off on a certain 
day, you can take more than ooe load at a 
time, you ought at least to get three cents per 
pound for your hog, and that is 30 cents per 
bushel for your corn Everything connected 
with the production of wheat is expensive. It 
requires good machinery to put it into the 
ground, it take9 costly machinery to harvest 
it, and it is expensive work thrashing it. 
Wheat at its best is not a very big thing for 
the ordinary farmer, and when it’s au "off” 
year, he is fortunate if he does not run be¬ 
hind. The man with small means must dis¬ 
pose of his crop as soon as harvested, and at 
that time of the year it nsualiy sell* at a price 
very little above the cost of production. 
Where everybody raises wheat it must neces¬ 
sarily be cheap. Then again, nearly every 
mau that puts in 40 acres of wheat seems to 
believe that it is necessary for him to buy a 
harvester and all the other machinery used in 
the business. If he has no money, then he 
buys on time and pays interest on plows, har¬ 
rows, seed-drill aud harvester. This is no 
small item, and it becomes still more serious 
when all this machinery has to stand out and 
take tbe weather. 
"Well,” somebody says, "what are we to 
do if we go to a wheat-raising country and 
cannot raise wheat?” That is a difficult ques 
tiou to answer definitely. But this much may 
be said; if 1 were going to begin with a few 
hundred dollars I should, above all things, 
keep out of debt. Invest no money in expen 
Bive farm machinery, and letsome one else raise 
the wheat. If 1 had not money enough to 
buy a plow and harrow, tiien I should only 
buy the plow; if not enough to buy the plow 
and pay cash, then I should go without. Hire 
your machinery of some one and pay cash for 
the use of it until you can buy without run¬ 
ning in debt. But to the matter of crops:— 
Begin by investing something in stock of some 
kind. If you have not the money to buy 
cows, thou buy a few calves. They are grow¬ 
ing night anu day, Winter and Summer. The 
grasshoppers may come and take your neigh¬ 
bor’s wheat, but they will leave the calves 
and leave the grass to feed them on. The 
calves will soon grow into cows and the cows 
will soon have calves. If you have nothing 
to feed them on, they can pick their living in 
the Summer and you can put up hay to feed 
them through tbe Winter. In most parts of 
the West there is an abundance of wold grass, 
and if you have no land that will cut hay, 
and no straw-stack or corn-stalks, then sow 
some barley or oats or almost auy kind of 
small grain, and cut it while it is in the milk, 
just before it turns, and cure it the same as 
hay. This will take the place of grain and 
hay and save the expense of thrashing oals 
for your horses. Iu Tucson, Arizona, you 
will see barley in this shape shipped in by the 
car-load from California. It is cut in a green 
State, cured and baled with the common hay 
press, and this is the kind of hay yon find at 
the corrals and feed stables. Whether you 
are near town or away out in the country 
you can have calves. If you haven’t tbe 
money to get many, get a few. If you can’t 
buy one, trade for it. Get something. Get a 
colt, or a pig, or a sheep. The younger they 
are the less they cost, and as tbe seasons 
slip around they have grown into matured 
creatures while you have sown aud harvested 
two or three crops of wheat and are trying 
to figure out the profits on it. Next to tbe 
“almighty dollar,” the young animal is the 
poor man’s best friend. 
If you do not wish to have anything to do 
with stock or market gardening, or small 
fruits, but prefer to confine yourself ex¬ 
clusively to grain raising, don’t stake every¬ 
thing on a wheat crop. Try some corn and 
oats. If wheat is cheap that year, or the crop 
chances to be a poor one, you may hit it in 
the corn or the oats. In many portions of the 
West flax is a much better crop than wheat, 
though it is said to be very hard on the land. 
(Continued next week.) 
LAND PLASTER OR GYPSUM. 
I know a farmer who generally mauages to 
be spreading plaster on his land when his 
neighbors are drawing out manure. He once 
told me that his reason for so doing was to 
draw and fix the ammonia that was floating 
in tbe air. Gypsum is a sulphate of lime, 
and composed of sulphuric acid, lime and 
water. Its merits are often under and some¬ 
times over-estimated, but there is no doubt it 
is of great value in growing coi n, potatoes, 
and other green crops On grass land, too, 
its marked improvement is often plainly ob¬ 
servable. By experiment, a piece of the field 
being left without the plaster, application 
will show a line of difference, the rich, dark- 
green being wbere the plaster was applied. 
One thing must be kept in mind—that when 
applied to peas, it has the power to make 
them hard, and it is impossible to boil them 
soft, as 1 have learned by experience. But 
it high tens the color of many flowering 
plants, if liberally applied on certniu soils. 
Annie L. Jack. 
Gypsum scattered in the stable is a power¬ 
ful absorbentof ammonia, thus preventing a 
great waste of this valuable fertilizer. For 
the same purpose it is useful when sprinkled 
in privies aud on compost heaps. Where its 
good effects are not at once apparent, it is 
waste of money to continue applying it. H. 
fkli) Crojis. 
THE RURAL PRIZE 00RU REPORTS. 
How the Crops were Raised, etc. 
Medina, Orleans Co , N. Y .—I planted the 
Rnrul Thoroughbred Flint Corn May 30 on a 
plot 38 feet sq iare; soil a clay loam. Quack 
sod. May 10 I applied two loads of niauure 
from a black-smith’s shop (horse manure and 
hoof parings) and plowed and harrowed well 
the same day. May 30 harrowed again. 
Marked in rows, four feet one way and about 
twenty two inches the other, and dropped 
one kernel at each crossing of the rows and 
covered with a hoe. There were 171 kernels 
but only 100 germinated, the weather beiug 
cold and wet at the time. The corn grew 
nicely and on July 30 I removed 700 suckers 
and left about 300, many of which bore fine 
ears. The corn was cultivated once and 
hoed three times. Flat cultivation. The 
first ears were ripe September 20. Corn was 
harvested October 4th, husked Oct. 10 
and weighed Nov. 1st; number of ear’s was 
360. Ears weighed 851 pounds; shelled 155 
pounds. The higbt of stalks averaged ten 
feet. Many stalks had two or three good 
ears of corn. Many of the ears weighed more 
thun one pound each and were from thirteen 
to fifteen inches long. The corn generally 
was eight-rowed, but 1 found four ears with 
twelve rows. Wm. H. Chamberlain. 
[This yield is at the rate of 150.5 bushels 
shelled corn per acre.—E db.] 
