isst 
445 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
came “stone-cold” several times. After about 
10 days the hen was found dead on her nest— 
it is not known how long she had been dead 
when discovered. Another hen was placed 
on the eg?s and four of them hatched, though 
two of the chick3 were killed by the hen. 
Some good authorities state that a hen should 
not sit too steadily on her eggs, claiming that 
it is better for the eggs to “cool off” each day. 
The R. N.-Y. would like to hear from others 
on this point. 
TO KNOW, BKTTER THAN TO GUESS. 
J. H. A., Randolph, N. Y.—Every farmer 
knows that the profits are made up of little 
items coming from everything he husbands. 
Now, the one who farms well and knows just 
what he is doing allows no guess work,and loses 
the least as a rule, I have been practicing 
this plan very closely of late in regard to the 
care of milk, though I was getting good re¬ 
sults before, but I thought I might perhaps bet¬ 
ter them, and was surprised to find an increase 
of over one-eighth in the yield. Previous to 
the adoption of my present plan I set my 
milk as soon as I could milk two pailfuls 
and go to the milk-room and strain it, think¬ 
ing there would be only a slight fall in the 
temperature; but when I tested it by means 
of the thermometer I found I was all wrong. 
Now each can of my milk is brought to a 
temperature of 100 or even 110°, and there is 
no guess-work. We can’t afford to lose these 
little leakings. Only think of it—that little 
instrument, which costs but a trifle, may save 
a great deal for us. Who can afford to be 
without one in the milk-room? There are, no 
doubt, many who are doing the same as I did 
—going by guess-work—and what I have said 
may cause them to investigate and, as a con¬ 
sequence, largely increase their profits. I am 
fully confident that the more we know and 
the less we guess on our farms the better will 
be the results. 
NEED OF MORE CO-OPERATION AMONG 
FARMERS. 
C. F. O., Darien, Connecticut.—As has 
often been said, “middlemen take all the prof¬ 
its.” 1 see no reason why the day should 
not come when the farmers will buy and sell 
their own goods entirely. In some sections, 
this is largely the case now; but it is only 
because the farmers are united and work to¬ 
gether. This is most noticeable in the co-op. 
erative creameries in New England. The 
farmers now manufacture their butter and 
fix a price on it, instead of, as before, taking 
it to the store and “ trading it out,” at the 
store-keeper’s price. If the farmers can 
manufacture and sell butter in this way, why 
can’t they grow and sell potatoes, and the 
other crops in the same way? I hope to see 
the day when our Western farmers will own 
their own mills, and mako their own flour. 
Allowing these middlemen to “corner” our 
crops, and take our profits are things we will 
have to prevent, either by handling our own 
crops or by making our voice heard in the 
legislatures. This can only be done through 
co-operatiou. We have rights; why not 
stand up for them? 
UTILIZING WIRE NETTING. 
J. H. G., Pearsalls, N. Y.—After com¬ 
pleting my chickeu yard, I had about 15 
feet of wire netting left. It lay around the 
barn for a time, until finally I determined to 
put it to some use. So I put six old posts in 
the form of an octagon, and stretched the 
wire around them, putting a gate between 
two of them. I then moved a chicken coop, 
containing a hen with a brood of little 
chickens, into the inclosure. The next day I 
let the old hen out of the coop, and she has 
been as happy as a lark ever since. The little 
chickens occasionally climb through the 
meshes of the wire, but they never get far 
away from their pleasant home. I wish 1 
had half a dozen of thoso little inclosures. 
MORE ABOUT FEEDING ONIONS. 
W. F. B., Ann Arbor, Michigan.—T wo 
years ago I had a quautity of frozen onions. 
Not having disposed of all my stock before 
the frost came out, those on baud were not 
very salable, some of them being a little soft. 
I commenced feeding them to a couple of two- 
year-old heifers which were only in fair con¬ 
dition—just about holding their own on straw 
aud corn-stalks. One of them ate the onions 
from the first, the other had to be educated 
for a few days. Both became fond of them, 
and though I fed only a small quautity at a 
time, I am sure the animals improved in con¬ 
dition. 
L C. M., Westfield, N. J.—Just try toads 
as a remedy for Flea beetles. They are worth 
paying 10 cents apiece for to be put in a gar¬ 
den or potato patch. “But they will hop 
away!” O, no; they like bugs too well, and 
they will find them in the best regulated 
gardens. 
R. N.-Y. Wo have vines over 18 inches 
high that are covered >vilh Flea-beotles. Will 
the toads jump up and eat them ? Much has 
been said about the fondness toads have for 
potato bugs. The writer tried one the other 
day. The toad had fallen into an old drain 
where he had spent several days. It may be 
readily believed therefore that he must have 
been hungry. He was put in a tin can with 
three potato beetles. Twelve hours later the 
toad was found at the bottom of the can with 
two of the potato beetles perched on his back 
and the other by his side. Toads may eat the 
beetles—some of them at least may do so—but 
this particular toad surely proved a sad fail¬ 
ure as an insect killer. 
C. K., Belleville, N. J.—Can the Rural 
assist me in the selection of a two-horse culti¬ 
vator? I wish to obtain one which is easily 
handled, works with little waste of land in 
turning and can be adjusted for narrow or 
wide rows, and for deep or shallow (two inch) 
plowing. Are walking cultivators easier to 
handlo than riding ones; (riding being no 
object) and are the former mostly tongueless? 
I have obtained circulars from different mak¬ 
ers, but none gives the needed information. 
H. A. M., Greene, N. Y.—With regard to 
the size of clusters of various kinds of grapes, 
spoken of in a late Rural, J. J. Thomas 
describes a cluster of Black Hamburgs that 
weighed 17 pounds. 
m0mm 
The Strawsonizer. A distinguished party 
of agriculturists and representatives of the 
press recently visited the Queen of England’s 
Farm, at Windsor, in order to witness a trial 
of Strawson’s improved distributor, now 
styled the “Strawsonizer.” 
Our excellent contemporary, the Agricul¬ 
tural Gazette, says that the machines were 
ready for trial, one fitted for distributing liq¬ 
uids, and the other for sjlids. The same ma¬ 
chine will do all kinds of work, and the only 
reason for using two was to save the time 
that would otherwise have been occupied in 
changing the fittings. The machine is a light 
one for one horse, being constructed in 
great part of wood, mounted on two iron 
wheels. The distributing power is obtained 
by a blast of air produced by a revolving fan, 
worked by the traveling wheels of the ma¬ 
chine. As the material falls from the hopper, 
it is caught by a blast of air, and spread from 
the back of the machine. For solids a metal 
sprealer is fixed, while liquids are sent through 
nozzles placed in different positions for 
various purposes. 
Next, the other machine was set to work to 
sow barley, broadcast, at the rate of three 
bushels to the acre. The grain was distributed 
with wonderful regularity over a track 18 feet 
wide. A greater width could be covered, but 
the width named is considered most effective, 
and, as at this rate 30 to 40 acres can be got 
over in a day, the width is sufficient. 
Another trial was an illustration of the 
sprinkling of a hop garden, special nozzles 
having been fixed for directing the liquid 
properly. In this case a dense and fine spray 
was sent out from the level of the ground up 
to a hight of about 20 feet on either side of 
the machine, and all present agreed that If 
the operation had been carried on between 
two rows of the tallest hops, the biue would 
infallibly have been sprinkled all over from 
top to bottom. 
All the trials were deemed remarkably sat 
isfactory, and it was the general opinion of 
those present that there is a great future in 
store for this wonderful invention. As a 
broad-oast sower for corn, seeds, manures, 
insecticides, sand (in the streets), or sanitary 
appliances, the Strawsonizer is certainly su¬ 
perior to any machine hitherto introduced. 
Small hand-power machines are made for 
gardens, fruit plantations, coffee or tea plan¬ 
tations, and other purposes, as well as horse¬ 
power machines for farms. Special distrib¬ 
utors are made for use in vineyards, for 
which purpose they are already iu great de¬ 
mand. Indeed, the demand for the machine 
for all purposes,the Gazette says.is at present 
much greater than the supply. It would 
seem that this Strawsonizer is just what is 
needed, and sadly needed too, in this country. 
RURAL LIFE NOTES. 
giant’s task, and should not expect a boy to 
do a man’s work. Let us teach them to love 
garden work, and half of ours is done. Get 
tools light and adapted to their strength, and 
give them a little piece of ground where some¬ 
thing will grow, and not insure discourage¬ 
ment by giving them some shaded corner or 
barren spot that a champion gardener could 
get no satisfaction from, as many guardians 
do, unless we wish to disgust them with gar¬ 
dens and plants and drive them to truer 
friends and better places than they find with 
us, and to seek pleasure in some other way. 
We must show them again and again the 
things they ought to know, and remember 
that example is the most potent factor in the 
education of a child. We must give them 
help to dig the stubborn soil, and tell them 
why some things are likely to flourish in this 
particular ground ana others not. Advise 
them about getting their plants and seeds, 
which perhaps are more valued if of their 
own selection, and obtained with some effort 
on their part... 
Mr. C. L. Allen says, in the above journ¬ 
al, that the gladiolus in our climate will not 
perfect itself in hot weather, and the only 
way to secure its full measure of beauty is to 
plant from the 1st to the loth of July. Re¬ 
member that, Rural readers; Mr. Allen knows 
what he is talking about when he speaks of 
the gladiolus. We bought our first corms of 
him over 20 years ago. The writer well re¬ 
members that a set of 12 imported from 
France cost him $23, a rather large sum for 
a slender purse. But we enjoyed them more 
than tbe cost. Mr. Allen has done more to 
popularize the gladiolus and lily in this 
country than, we were about to say,all others 
put together—but we will say, more than any 
other person. 
Professor Budd says that Acer ginnala 
is perfectly at home on the bleakest prairies 
of the Northwest. Tne objection to this tree 
in the R. G. is that it fruits too freely.. 
Professor Fernali* states (see Trans¬ 
actions of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society,page 113)that Paris-green proves to be 
“a most effectual remedy" for the rose beetle.’’ 
We tried it thoroughly, as was thought, both 
on grape-vines and rose-bushes years ago to 
find that the rose-beetles did not seem to be 
hurt by it at all. He also recommends 
pyrethrum.. 
The Maine Farmer some time ago put the 
searching question: “Can a ton of butter, 
of like quality, be produced at a less cost with 
a herd of Holsteins, than with the dairy stock 
we now have?' 1 . 
Governor Hoard wishes some of the 42 
State experiment stations would make them¬ 
selves useful in that direction. 
The London Agricultural Gazette makes 
the gloomy remark that men who rely entire¬ 
ly upon farming as a means of maintaining 
and educating their families, are truly to be 
pitied. 
It offers the soothing suggestion that it be¬ 
hooves young men who cherish a violent love 
for farming, aud there are many such, to try 
if possible to combine their testes for country 
life with some other more profitable oecupa 
tion, aud they may then enjoy their rural 
pleasures without fearing a monetary collapse. 
farm against every kind of corporate aggres¬ 
sion, in the form of rings, trusts and all other 
aggressive monopolies. In the matter of illus¬ 
trations it is easily at the head.” 
-N. Y. Times: “Farmers who use plaster 
on their corn or clover may be gratified, in 
either case, to know that this popular fertil¬ 
izer is taxed at the rate of 50 per cent, on the 
cost of the unground material. We have 
bought the Nova Scotia plaster, which is a 
perfectly pure sulphate of lime, for $4 per ton 
at the port of importation, so that the import 
duty is 50 per cent, of the market value. No 
other country in the world is so well supplied 
with this mineral as the United States, vast 
beds of it being found in New York, Michi¬ 
gan, Illinois, Louisiana, West Virginia, Kan¬ 
sas, Nebraska, and some other States. Con 
sequently this industry, considering the cost 
of freight,cannot fear injury from the compe¬ 
tition of Nova Scotia ana other parts of Can¬ 
ada. This tax is paid by the farmers beyond 
a doubt or question, and is a proof that, as 
with all other similar taxes, the farmer pays, 
out of his hardly earned income, a bonus to 
the gypsum quarriers for their personal ben 
efit.” 
—N. Y. Tribune: “The Rev. Wilbur F. 
Crafts mentions a prudent farmer, who, be¬ 
lieving in having two strings to his bow, set 
up this garden sign: ‘Boys, Don’t Touch These 
Melons, for They are Green, and God Sees 
You.’” 
“ Chicago, May 31, ’89. 
—Gentlemen: Herewith we hand you our 
check in settlement of bill for advertising as 
per contract. It gives us pleasure to state that 
your paper has given us more business than 
all others we have used this spring combined; 
one feature that wo did not expect was that 
It brought us orders from points near us. 
THOMPSON & EDWARDS FERTILIZER CO.” 
—N. Y. Herald: “Many men lead double 
lives, but reference to only one of them is 
made on their tombstones.” 
Horsford’s Acid Phosphate. 
For Sunstroke. 
It relieves the puo»tratiou and nervous* de- 
rantiemeut.— Adx. 
PijsirfnattToujS 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
This successful medicine is a carefully-prepared 
extract of the best remedies of the vegetable 
kingdom known to medical science as Alteratives, 
Blood Purifiers, Diuretics, and Tonics, such aa 
Sarsaparilla, Yellow Dock, Stillingia, Dandelion, 
Juniper Berries, Mandrake, Wild Cherry Bark 
and other selected roots, barks and herbs. A 
medicine, like anything else, can be fairly judged 
only by its results. We point with satisfaction to 
the glorious record Hood’s Sarsaparilla has en¬ 
tered for itself upon the hearts of thousands of 
people who have personally or indirectly been 
relieved of terrible suffering which all other 
remedies failed to reach. Sold by all druggists. 
SI; six for $5. Made only by C. I. HOOD & CO.. 
Apothecaries, Lowell, Mass. 
IOO Doses One Dollar 
DIRECT. 
Let us not forget the children’s gardens 
at home, says the American Garden; neither 
must we forget that the children are of a 
younger growth than we Their ambition ex¬ 
ceeds their knowledge. Their efforts are per¬ 
sistent if not untiring. We cannot perform a 
-W. F. Brown in New York Tribune: 
“Don’t go security.” 
-“Eight to 10 per cent, of corn-starch or 
arrow-root mixed with thoroughly dried table 
salt will, ‘The Medical aud Surgical Journal’ 
says, prevent the packing of the latter in 
cruets,even in the most humid atmosphere (as 
on the sea coast), while a much smaller pro¬ 
portion is enough for inland points.” 
-American Garden: “To teach love of 
plant life by text books, adding more to the 
already too long list for children, will, if prac¬ 
ticed in our rural communities, be about as 
valuable as is usually the study of grammar. 
Some of the patient but erring teachers will 
learn their text books as they have their 
grammars; they can parse and analyze any¬ 
thing in the English language, but their let¬ 
ters are atrocious." 
-New England Farmer: “The Hale 
Brothers of South Glastonbury, Conn., expect 
to harvest this season the largest crop of 
poaches ever grown in New Euglaud upon any 
single farm. All their trees of bearing age 
give promise of a full crop. ” 
-Vermont Watchman: “At the metrop¬ 
olis there is no agricultural journal to rival the 
long-established R. New-Yorker. It has the 
metropolitan spirit—a wiae universality—but 
it never reflects the engrossing, selfish spirit of 
the great city. On the contrary, it is the 
strongest of all newspapers of any ciass iu 
bolding up every right and interest of the 
For Internal and External Use. 
Stops Pain, Cramps, Inflammation in body or limb, 
like magic. Cures Croup. Asthma, Colds, Catarrh, Chol¬ 
era Morbus, Diarrhrea, Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Ume- 
biu-k. Stiff .lointsaml Strains. Full particulars free. Prica 
56 eta post-paid. L S. JOHNSON & CO., Boston. Mass. 
Bercham’s Pills cure bilious and nervous Ills. 
7 MALLEABLE 
HAYING 
TOOLS. 
Write for CIRCULARS 
ami PRICES. 
MAK1«\. OHIO. 
Keystone 
7000 
Keystone JT|fq,(o sta-uniins. 
McNTl ON THIS.PAP&fJ, 
