APRIL 28 
tions, and if the Rural doesn’t change its opin¬ 
ion by October, then I will be very much sur¬ 
prised. For, as a matter of fact, well known 
to the trade, few'plants that are lifted from the 
open ground and transplanted,suffer so much as 
roses by transplanting. Hence the advantage 
of having them “pot-grown.” There are tens, 
perhaps hundreds of thousands of roses sold 
every season in New York, which have been 
lifted from the open ground, and if the result 
could be traced, it would be found that fully 
half of all that are planted never start at all: 
while the balance drag out a half-dead exist¬ 
ence—at least such was my experience for 
many years in the earlier days of my business. 
The so-called “forcing” does no harm to a 
rose or anything else, provided it is put out at 
such a season as not to get chilled—which, of 
course, should not be done. 
MR. MINCH’S :HEAVY POTATO CROP. 
I was much interested in Mr. T. B. Terry’s 
article, on page'237, and the Rural’s remarks 
following the same w’ere read with profit. 
For the benefit of Mr. Terry I will here ex¬ 
plain how I obtained the.’yield claimed,Vhich 
can be verified by many having knowledge of 
the facts. 
In 1885 the two acres named received 1,000 
pounds of pure bone-dust per acre, 500 pounds 
of kainit, 20 two-horse loads of well-rotted 
compost of stable manure, and 800 pounds of 
phosphate to each acre. In 1886 the same re¬ 
ceived 20 two-horse loads of stable manure 
compost and 1,000 pounds each of fine bone- 
dust and kainit. In 1887 there was applied 
the same quantity of compost,.bone and kai¬ 
nit, making in three years, to each acre, 60 
loads of rich stable compost (equal to at least 
120 loads of ordinary raw manure), 3,000 
pounds of bone,2,500 of kainit and 800 of phos¬ 
phate. This, some would say, was an enor¬ 
mous waste of fertilizers, but I wanted to test 
the matter of the economy of the use of so 
large a dressing. The season of 1887 was, in 
South Jersey, a remarkable one for moisture 
and freedom from hot kun and sun-scald. The 
yield was as I have given it. The soil is a 
friable clay loam, of excellent drainage, and 
a very favorable one for the experiment. 
This year I propose again to use on each acre 
20 two-horse loads of stable compost and 1,000 
pounds each of fine bone and kainit. 
The 22 acres alluded to on page'150 had no 
manure applied to them like the two acres 
named, or the yield would have been much 
greater. Mr. Terry is in error in supposing 
that the average of the 22 acres of 312 bushels 
per acre included the first-mentioned plot of 
two acres. The crop of each plot was given 
separately. The large yield obtained w'as 
secured by deep, close planting—not more 
than 10 inches apart in the row, and the rows 
three feet apart. This gives, if there be a 
perfect stand, 16,940 plants per acre, and 
should each plant yield only 2% pounds per 
hill, it would aggregate a yield of over 700 
bushels per acre. Unless the potatoes are 
closely planted, where manure is used so ex¬ 
cessively the growth will run largely to vine, 
and the yield will be comparatively trifling. 
[This depends upon the size of the vines, does 
it not? The Early Ohio, for instance, might 
well be planted 10 inches apart, but we should 
hesitate about planting such varieties as the 
Blush, White Elephant, etc., less than a foot 
or 14 inches apart.— Eds.] Deep planting in 
the soil described allows double setting of the 
tubers: often triple sets are found—one at the 
bottom of the trench, one at the top, and one 
between these. The largest yields can never 
be obtained where there is neglect of any of 
the essentials of success in the culture. I cul¬ 
tivate well before the plants appear, and as 
little as possible afterward. Too much after 
culture is a serious injury to the potato, and 
will largely reduce the product. My purpose 
has been to test the economic part of the 
problem, and so far the heavier use of fertil¬ 
izers has paid best. [That is the R. N.-Y.’s 
experience decidedly.— Eds.] I find that 
fewer acres and more manure, accompanied 
with a careful study of the requirements of 
successful culture, afford better results than 
the cultivation of a larger area with a smaller 
average yield. 
The Rural is doing a good work, and will 
come out successful in the potato contest. 
Should this coming season be favorable, I 
will invite Mr. Terry to see a few potatoes. 
Should there be failure from any cause, I will 
cheerfully chronicle my defeat. eli minch. 
DEVICE FOR HANGING HOGS. 
I have seen four or five men at butchering 
time trying to hang up the carcass of a heavy 
hog, puffing and struggling, with clothes 
smeared with grease and blood, and fingers 
slipping, and after all their exertion, the hog 
would perhaps fall into the filth at last. How 
much better would it have been to have some 
contrivance to relieve them of the strain put 
forth at such disadvantage. For some years 
past I have had a rig which may be a new 
thing in some sections, although it is quite 
common in others. It consists of a stout post 
set firmly in the ground with two hard-wood 
bars run through it, forming arms about six 
feet above the surface. The post extends two 
feet above the bars and has a round iron pin 
in the top on which a three-by-four-inch hard¬ 
wood scantling turns. The arms are each 
two feet nine inches long from the post out¬ 
ward, and the top bar is long enough to extend 
out four inches more at each end than the 
arms. A pulley wheel turns in a slot in one 
end of the top bar, and a rope runs over it, 
then down to a pulley block, then up again 
through a hole in the bar where it is fastened 
by a knot. A rope or chain at the further end 
of the bar secures it to the arm below 
and prevents it from swinging around until 
desired. The hook on the block hitches to 
the gambrel, the hog is raised by pulling on 
the free end of the rope; the gambrel is swung 
onto the arm. The whole thing is shown at 
Fig. 110. f. w. CORBIN. 
Sullivan Co., Iud. 
DEVICE FOR DRIVING PLANKS. 
We saw some workmen in the city the 
other day using the device shown at Fig. Ill 
with excellent success. They were driving 
some long planks into the side of a drain to 
keep back the loose soil from the pipes. The 
ground was hard and to try to drive the 
planks with the ordinary mallet would have 
smashed the tops. A little wooden box or 
trough cut out of a solid piece of wood was 
placed at the top of the plank, as shown in 
the cut, and the mallet was pounded upon 
this. Thus the plank was driven securely to 
its place and the top was comparatively 
uninjured. This worked well. 
Caro. 
“Every Man is presumed to know the Law; 
Nine-tenths of all Litigation arises from Ig¬ 
norance of Law." _ 
ROADSIDE TREES. 
J W. W., Hedgesville, N. F—How far 
from the line does the law allow me to set 
roadside trees? If I set out trees along the 
roadside is anything allowed me on my road 
tax? How far apart should the trees be plant¬ 
ed? 
Ans —The New York laws say: “Any per¬ 
son liable to highway tax who shall transplant 
by the side of the public highway any forest 
shade-trees or fruit trees of suitable size, shall 
be allowed by the overseers of the highway, 
in abatement of his highway tax, one dollar 
for every four trees so set out, but no row of 
elms shall be nearer than 70 feet, no row of 
maples or other forest trees nearer than 50 
feet, except locusts, which may be set 30 feet 
apart. Fruit trees must be set at least 50 
feet apart, and no allowance shall be made 
unless such trees have been set out the year 
previous to the demand for the abatement of 
the tax, and unless they are well protected 
from animals at the time of such demand. 
Not more than one-fourth of any person’s tax 
can be abated. When the road is three rods 
wide, the trees should be six feet from the 
fence. If the road is wider, the trees may be 
one-fifth of the width of the road, provided 
such distance does not exceed 11 feet.” 
PENALTY FOR OPENING ANOTHER PERSON’S 
LETTER. 
T. M. L., Avena, N. F—What is the pen¬ 
alty for opening another person’s letters deliv¬ 
ered by mail? 
Ans. —After the letter has been delivered to 
the person addressed, the general government 
has nothing more to do with it. But any per¬ 
son who takes from the post-office or from a 
carrier, a letter, postal card or packet before 
it has been delivered to the person to whom it 
was directed, with a design to obstruct the 
correspondence or to pry into the business 
secrets of another, is liable to a fine not ex¬ 
ceeding 8500 and to imprisonment at hard 
labor for not over one year. If a letter has 
been left at an address, and if any person in¬ 
tentionally opens it before it reaches the 
party to whom it is addressed, the offender is 
liable to the same penalty. After the letter 
has been delivered to the proper person, any 
meddling with it comes under the State law. 
In this State it is a misdemeanor for any per¬ 
son willfully and without authority, either 
to open or read or to cause to be opened or 
read a sealed letter or telegram, and the pen¬ 
alty for such an offense is the same as that 
provided by the United States laws. 
POWER OF ATTORNEY. 
E. S. L., Homer, Wis.— My son, aged 24, 
not married, has lost both arms by an acci¬ 
dent. There is need that he should have me 
to represent him in his business. What steps, 
if any, must I take to make me his legal re¬ 
presentative and authorized guardian of his 
interests? 
Ans. —Obtain from him a power of attor¬ 
ney, which is a written instrument by which 
one person is empowered to act for another. 
A person so acting is called “an attorney in 
fact.” The power of attorney should be under 
seal, executed, attested and acknowledged the 
same as a deed. Here is a short form of it: 
Know all men that I, John Smith, of the 
town of Homer, county of La Crosse, in the 
State of Wisconsin, do hereby make, consti¬ 
tute and appoint James Brown, of the town 
of Brownville, in the county of Brown, in the 
State of Wisconsin, my true and lawful at¬ 
torney for me and in my name to (here insert 
what the attorney is authorized to do) and to 
do and perform all acts or things in the exe¬ 
cution of the aforesaid business as fully and 
completely as I might do were I present. 
In witness whereof, I have.hereunto set my 
hand and seal this 20th day of April, 1888. 
[Signed by the person granting the power.] 
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of 
[Signatures of witnesses.] 
If tne grantor is unable to write, as in the 
present case, he makes his mark, as, for ex- 
his 
ample, John X Smith, 
mark. 
The mark can be made with a pen held in 
the mouth, or in any other way. 
WEED CUTTING ON FARMS. 
S. T., Newark, Ohio— My right-hand neigh¬ 
bor is a thoroughly slipshod farmer, who every 
year allows a lot of weeds to mature along 
our line fence, thus doing a great deal of in¬ 
jury to my land. Have 1 any remedy ? 
A N s—T he laws of Ohio require that the 
owners of land adjacent to a line fence, when 
the land is improved on both sides thereof, 
must keep all brush, briars, thistles and other 
injurious weeds cut in the fence corners or 
along the line of such fence. Each owner 
must look after his own side of the fence. If 
the owner or tenant on one side neglects or 
refuses to cut such nuisances the owner or oc¬ 
cupant on the other side, who may be ag¬ 
grieved thereby, may, after giving the offend¬ 
er notice of this intention for not less than 30 
days, notify the trustees of the township in 
which the land is situated, and, if there is a just 
ground of complaint, these shall cause the 
weeds,.briars, thistles, etc., to be cut in what¬ 
ever way they may think best, either by let¬ 
ting the work to the lowest bidder, or by pri¬ 
vate contract, and the cost shall be certified 
to the county treasurer and collected with 
the taxes on the land on which the work has 
been done. 
T. H. R., Perry, N. Y. —A four-year-old 
child had $300 left to him, by will, an uncle 
being appointed his guardian, and getting 
the $300; can the guardian use the $300 for 
the support of his ward or only the interest on 
it? 
Ans. —A guardian can charge his ward’s 
estate with the real cost of necessary articles. 
If the ward is poor the guardian isn’t bound 
to support him like a parent. In dealing with 
his ward’s real or personal property the safest 
way for the guardian in all cases is to consult 
the Orphans’, Surrogate or Probate Court 
which has appointed him. 
G. W. R., Leicester, N. Y. —1. A wills a 
farm to B, his daughter, for her use during her 
life-time, and then it is to go to her heirs. B 
had one child, a son, who died before his 
mother, leaving two children. Who are the 
legal heirsjto the property, B having brothers 
aud>isters? 2. A and B own farms on the 
opposite.sides of the Genesee River. A’s stock 
crosses the river and destroys B’s crops; is A 
liable for damages, there being no fences 
along the river? 
Ans.— 1. The children of B’s dead son. 2. 
If the^Genesee had been considered a sufficient 
barrier, by both parties, A is not responsible. 
F. C. McG., Beech Grove, Ind. —A and his 
wife convey and warrant real property to B 
during her natural life and to the children of 
her body, for the sum of $1 and in considera¬ 
tion of love and affection, subject to life es¬ 
tate of A A is still living but has given pos¬ 
session of the property to B. B pays taxes 
and collects rents. All of B’s children are not 
of age. Could B sell and make a good deed? 
Ans.—N o. 
S. L., Waterloo, N. Y.— If the road is mud¬ 
dy, is one allowed, in this State, to drive on 
the sidewalk? 
Ans. —No. It is a misdemeanor, with a fine 
of not less than two dollars, or more than $5, 
to drive a horse or team on the sidewalk, ex¬ 
cept for legitimate crossing. One-half the 
fine is to go to the owner or occupant of the 
adjoining land. 
The following abstracts of decisions of the 
Court on matters particularly affecting farm¬ 
ers, culled from various sources, but chiefly 
from Bradstreet’s, are likely to be of interest 
to our readers: 
Preference for Wives.— According to the 
decision of the Supreme Court of Indiana, in 
the recent case of Cornell vs. Gibson, a hus¬ 
band who is indebted to his wife may prefer 
her to other creditors, and where he purchases 
a lot and causes it to fee conveyed to his wife 
and makes valuable improvements thereon 
with his own funds, all in payment of his in¬ 
debtedness to her, the preference thus given is 
neither fraudulent nor illegal as to other 
creditors, and the property cannot be reached 
by the latter and subjected to the payment of 
their claims. 
Loan Commissions—Usury— Some time 
ago, as stated here at the time, Judge Speer, of 
the United States Circuit Court for the South¬ 
ern District of Georgia, rendered a decision 
holding that the practice followed by certain 
companies of withholding from 15 to 20 per 
cent, of the amount loaned, under the device 
of negotiating the loan, was usurious and ille¬ 
gal, and that where the money lender who 
dealt through loan companies was shown to 
have carried on a settled business where these 
rates, in addition to regular interest, were 
charged, he was presumed to understand the 
nature of the contracts the loan companies 
were making. In the absence of satisfactory 
evidence to rebut this presumption the court 
held he could recover only the amount received 
by the borrower and legal interest, and not 
commissions, which were included in the 
amount stated in the note or mortgage. A 
different view has lately been taken by the 
Supreme Court of Georgia on a not very dis¬ 
similar state of facts. According to this deci¬ 
sion, where the lender of money neither takes 
nor contracts to take anything beyond lawful 
interest, the loan is not rendered usurious by 
what the borrower does in procuring the loan 
and using its proceeds, and the fact that the 
borrower contracts with one engaged in the 
intermediary business of procuring loans to 
pay him out of the loan for his services, and 
does so pay him, will not infect the loan with 
usury where the lender has no interest in such 
intermediary business or its proceeds. Some 
of those who are interested in loan companies 
in the South are of opinion that the two deci¬ 
sions are conflicting, and it is probable that tne 
question will be brought untimately before 
the Supreme Court at Washington. 
