4889 
THE BUBAL (NEW 
644 
ever have to toil after we had once pocketed 
the proceeds of that potato patch! Oh! how 
those potatoes did grow at first I How with 
honest pride we’d exhibit those massive vines 
to all our friends 1 How threatinglv we did 
look when the first bug appeared, and how we 
captured his many relatives and friends as 
they made their appearance; giving them a 
liberal supply of kerosene and adding a light¬ 
ed match, we would watch them breathe their 
last. Finally the vines became so large that 
we used Paris-green by means of a force- 
pump. Then it began to rain, rain, rain, ud- 
til those potatoes were nearly drowned, and 
to accentuate the climax, the rust settled on 
them too. I guess the potatoes died an early 
death, for decomposition has set in in the re¬ 
mains very badly. When I read Fred 
Grundy’s piece a short time ago, I pitied him 
and his wife; but now I feel that we can ex¬ 
tend a sympathizing hand to them, and say 
we know just how it is, for we’ve been there, 
too. 
KILLING WOODCHUCKS, ETC. 
D. E. G., North Leverett, Mass.— In a 
late Rural I saw the caption “ How to get 
rid of woodchucks.” Here is the way in 
which some get rid of them here. Put in the 
woodchuck’s hole a quarter-pound charge of 
dynamite, with cap and long fuse attached, 
and stop up all the openings, just leaving 
the end of the fuse outside of the one in 
which the dynamite charge was placed. Then 
touch off the fuse and the animal will never 
trouble you again. If dynamite is not at 
hand, fill a small bottle with common blasting 
powder, insert the fuse through the neck of 
the bottle, and fasten it there with a con¬ 
venient stopper. Use and fire in the same 
way as the dynamite charge. Another way 
is to burn a quantity of brimstone, mixed 
with dry sawdust, inside of the woodchuck’s 
hole, stopping up all the openings, and thus 
choking the pest to death. 
Next year try black pepper for striped 
squash bugs. Winter apples are all falling off 
here. 
“the cost of living.” 
E. H. C., Mattsville, Ind.— Here are 
some items from our book account for the 
years 1887 and 1888. The items represent the 
money paid out during each year for the 
various articles. 
1887. 1888. 
Sugar. $12.25 $13.75 
Coffee.. . (5 47 4.48 
Baking Powder. 2.95 2.10 
Tea. 1.00 .75 
Flour. 16.00 17.10 
Total $38.67 $38.18 
The farm furnishes the finest White Clover 
honey in abundance, also maple and sorghum 
sirups, as well as hops, milk, etc., all of which 
are in unlimited quantity, so far as home 
consumption is concerned, and, ot course, 
affects our grocery bill. We have a family 
of four, including two children, and there is 
one hired man on an average about all the 
year, making five in all. 
MORE SILO CROPS. 
J. A. B. f Newberg* Ohio.— I never have 
put in a silo anything but corn, except rye. 
This was a failure. I tried clover this year; 
but did not get good results, because I broke 
my cutter when only a few loads had been 
cut. Before I could get repairs done the clo¬ 
ver was too ripe and what little I had cut, 
not being weighted, was moldy. That clover 
or millet will make good silage I have not 
the least doubt, because others have tried 
them in this section and have bad good results. 
“ W.,” Tyrone, Pa. —Have those who tried 
baling fresh-mowed grass stored their bales 
at once in a silo, or in an out-door stack com¬ 
pressed by screws as seems to be much practiced 
in England for keepiug silage? Obviously 
this is necessary to ke°p the air and germs 
of mold from entering the bales. The advan¬ 
tages of this baling in the field would—if it 
can be made a practical success—be so very 
great that a complete trial should be made by 
those who have the opportunity before the 
idea be relinquished. 
C. H S , Sterling, III.—In the Rural of 
September 15, 188S, speaking of the goose¬ 
berry , mention is made of a foreign variety 
received from H. Summer in 1884. Is not 
this the one I (C. H. Sumnei) sent to the 
Rural from Polo, Illinois, with the statement 
that it had been imported from Ireland? The 
description tallies exactly with my plant, 
which I am still having tested. 
R. N.-Y.—Yes it is the same. 
J. H. B., British Columbia.— Will some 
one conversant with the subject tell us in the 
columns of the Rural New-Yorker the 
best season of the year to trim ithiu out the 
tops) of fruit trees—apples, pears, plums cher¬ 
ries—and give such general directions as 
shall be of benefit to those who know little or 
nothing about it. 
MULTUM IN PARVO. 
It may be seen by our advertising columns 
that the promising novelty, the Idaho Pear, is 
now, for the first time, offered for sale. The 
R. N.-Y. was the first journal to describe and 
illustrate this remarkable fruit—remarkable 
in form, quality and fewness ot seeds. We 
hope it will be tried in every part of the coun¬ 
try . 
Since the “Short’s Method” of determining 
fat in milk was published, the Vermont Ex¬ 
periment Station has made many trials with 
it and in the main the results have agreed 
fairly well with the ordinary laboratory 
method. The only change it has found neces¬ 
sary to make in the method of using it, was to 
heat considerably longer than the instructions 
call for. It seems necessary, however, to call 
the attention of those who intend to make use 
of this method to the liability of getting 
tubes which are not properly made and hence 
worse than useless. The Station has bought 
sets of tubes from three large firms whose 
names are each considered a guarantee of 
good work and only one of the firms sent reli¬ 
able tubes. This was a wholly unexpected dan¬ 
ger and one that, unless immediately avoid¬ 
ed, must quicklv bring the Short’s Method 
into disrepute. There is reason to believe that 
each of the firms that sent out incorrect tubes 
has since made a new supply of correct outs, 
but it is probable that there are already in the 
hands of farmers and creamery-men a large 
number of worthless tubes that it is desirable 
should be found out and thrown away. The 
Vermont Station will test free of charge any 
tubes that are sent in by express prepaid and 
will return the same as soon as tested. 
Put in a few currant and gooseberry cut¬ 
tings.. 
Cultivate the asparagus bed and destroy 
all the weeds. 
Planting Deciduous Trees in Septem¬ 
ber.— Joseph Meehan says, in Garden and 
Forest, that August is undoubtedly one of the 
best months in the year for transplanting 
evergreen trees, and, he adds that deciduous 
trees can be planted to advantage much earli¬ 
er than tney usually aro in autumn. There is 
no need of waiting for the fall of the leaf. If 
transplanted in September such trees would 
not only do well, but, in very many cases, 
they would do better than if removed later. 
A transplanted tree bears some analogy to a 
cutting. The propagator, in a green house, 
knows, when he puts in a cutting, that the 
sand in which he inserts it should be warmer 
than the air, and so he gives bottom heat. 
When a deciduous tree is transplanted in Sep¬ 
tember, the earth and the air are in much the 
same relative condition as is desired for the 
green-house cuttings. The warm ground 
forces out fibers at once, and when cold 
weather sets in the tree is well established, 
having an abundance of roots to help it 
through the winter. This is not a matter of 
conjecture, but something that Mr. Meehan 
has tested many times. If any reader, for ex¬ 
periment's sake, will transplant a small tree in 
early September, and dig it up again ia Octo¬ 
ber, the number of now fibers which have 
been formed will probably surprise him. If 
trees are planted before the leaves have fallen, 
these should be pulled or cut off. 
It is true says Judge T. C Jones, in the Ohio 
Farmer, that we are passing through a long 
period of depression in prices, but, it must! e 
observed that this depression affects the prod¬ 
ucts of nearly all other industries, and the in¬ 
come of all sorts of investments. And it is 
believed that this depression is not more se¬ 
verely felt by agriculturists than by people 
engaged in other branches of business. In¬ 
deed, the small farmers, a class which, more 
than any other, aims to produce whac they 
consume, are obviously less affected by de¬ 
pressions aud fluctuations in prices than any 
other class. ... . 
Let us suppose an intelligent aud industri¬ 
ous man with a capital of $1,000 to $8,000 to 
be seekiug to invest it in some busiuess in a 
town or city that will, with proper attention, 
yield a profit sufficient to support his family. 
Would it be au easy matter for him iu these 
times to find such a business and a location 
where a comfortable living would be assured 1 
On the contrary, is it not true that failures 
iu those vocations of “ business ” and trade, 
even where there has been no bad manage¬ 
ment, no neglect of proper attention, aud no 
extravagance iu expenditure, are quite com¬ 
mon, while among the class of farmers that 
Judge Jones alludes to such failures are ex¬ 
ceedingly rare?...* 
In doing legitimate business it must be re¬ 
membered that only a very small number suc¬ 
ceed in accumulating wealth; the great ma¬ 
jority of even the industrious and frugal class 
acquire no more than a comfortable main¬ 
tenance with a good education for their chil¬ 
dren, and it may be confidently asserted that 
the farmers of our country more generally 
possess this competence with the inestimable 
blessings of frugality, morality, and godly 
living, than is found to be the case with peo¬ 
ple engaged in any other industry or business. 
The Philadelphia Weekly Press knows 
of a farm where two teams of horses do the 
work, driven by men who get the same 
amount of wages per month. Not long ago 
one of the drivers was ill for a few days and 
the “ boss ■’ took his place behind the plow. 
Much to his surprise and enlightenment he 
found that even with persistent nagging the 
team he was working could make but two 
“ bouts,” while the other team made three at 
their natural gait and without any urging. 
Here was 50 per cent, more work done in 
the same time with greater apparent eas a . 
The wear and tear seemed to be the same in 
both cases. The horses were all fed alike, and 
were in equally good condition. The team 
the boss drove was good, but the other was a 
good deal better. It didn’t take very long to 
settle in that farmer’s mind which team was 
the more profitable for him. This is a true 
story, and its counterpart could be proven on 
many another farm . 
It is encouraging to note that people are 
waking up to the fact that our civilization de 
rnands fast-walking as well as fast trotting 
horses. A good many fair associations that 
never thought of doing so before are offering 
premiums this season for fast walking horses. 
This is a move in the right direction. There 
is utility in a rapid walk. All horses need 
not trot, but all must walk. As the Arabs 
say: “The walk is the gallop of always.” 
The R. N.-Y. secured, through Robert 
Douglas & Son, of Illinois, six or eight 
Russian Mulberry trees, and it was therefore 
enabled to offer an early report to its readers 
that this mulberry is quite inferior as to its 
fruit. Several firms were then bo ming the 
Russian Mulberry so that the R. N.-Y. came 
in for its usual share of reproach on such oc¬ 
casions. It pays to be right in one’s con¬ 
demnations—in the long run. 
The Maine Farmer says that Dr. T. H. 
Hoskins of Vermont, although somewhat ad¬ 
vanced in years, has the pluck that would 
honor even a young man. He has purchased 
a $2,400 farm and proposes to pay the pur¬ 
chase money, with interest, from the farm in 
five years; and he'll do it. He has 12 acres 
of potatoes, two of corn and 20 of beans, all 
nicely taken care of by two men with two 
horses. As his home farm gives him a living 
and much more, he seems to be doing this to 
show to others what can be done when a man 
knows how and has the courage to go at it. 
All honor to so worthy an example. 
To the above Dr. Hoskins replies: 
“ Our Maine friend is right when he says 
that personal gain is not our first object in 
this experiment, though we shall not be sorry 
to make a little money out of it. What we 
chiefly seek to do is to prove by actual demon¬ 
stration that these cheap farms in Vermont 
are worth a great deal more than they are 
selling for. If we succeed in this, we hope it 
will be an encouragement to many others, 
and indirectly a benefit to the whole State.”.. 
It would seem from the Maine Station ex¬ 
periments, and from others as well, that there 
is little profit in grinding corn for pigs. 
The N ational Stockman and Farmer says 
that any one reading the glowing crop re¬ 
ports in the sensational metropolitan press, 
would suppose that Nature was piling up 
wealth around the farmer in such a way as 
almost to choke him. It instances a Cana¬ 
dian exchange, descanting on the fine harvest 
promise of the Dominion, which says in flam¬ 
ing headlines that “ rivers of gold are pour¬ 
ing into the pockets of farmers.” This kind of 
stuff makes people of common-sense tired. 
Somehow these " rivers of gold ” get down to 
wonderfully small rills before they reach the 
aforesaid pockets. Farmers are of course 
glad and thankful to have good crops, but in 
these days they find no occasion for indulging 
in extravaganzas of gush over this or any¬ 
thing just now falling iu their way. 
Manager Brown of the California State 
Board of Trade has in use a most excellent 
method for the preservation of the color and 
beauty of green fruits, says the Pacific Rural 
Press. Liverpool salt is dissolved in clear 
water until the brine is strong enough to float 
the fruit. Let this stand over-night, and theu 
strain through a cloth until the liquid is per¬ 
fectly clear. Place the fruit to be preserved 
in thoroughly clean, wide-mouthed jars; till 
to the brim with the brine and then close 
tightly. While this method for a long time 
perfectly preserves the bloom and color of the 
fruit, it. of course, unfits it for eating. Twigs 
with the fruit and foliage attached, when pre¬ 
served in this way, are exceedingly attractive 
for exhibition purposes. 
DIRECT. 
-T. B. Terry’s Lecture: “Make the 
motto push to hang over your barn door. 
Wbat’s the use of living if you can’t im¬ 
prove a little?” 
-“ The farmer is very apt to blame the 
middlemen, the tariff, and what not for his 
failures, when he need not go beyond his 
own door to find the fault. Governor Hoard 
of Wisconsin interviewed 100 farmers con¬ 
cerning their success or lack of success, in 
1886, and not one of the many failures was 
laid at the door of the farmer himself.” 
-Farm, Stock and Home: “ We believe 
that the happiest angel in Heaven is the one 
whose business it is to record man’s kindness 
to the dumb animals.” 
“ How exasperating it is for a farmer to be 
told by the monopolistic thief who has robbed 
him:] You must raise bigger crops and econ¬ 
omize.’ ” 
-Harper's Weekly: 
“City Boarder: ‘Bridget, is this last 
night’s milk ?’ 
Biddy O’Galway: ‘ It’s the cow’s, sir.’ 
City Boarder: ‘Ah, indeed! Well, it is 
sour. How did that happen ?’ 
Biddy O’Galway: ‘An’ vhat ilse would 
yer be expectin', sir ? There’s the poor bastes 
standin’ in the bilen sun the whole live long 
day, an’ aten sorrel an’ green apples. Sure, 
I’m wonderin’ they don’t give bonny-clabber 
or buttermilk.’ ” 
Ptettllattwuisi 
Dyspepsia’s Victims are numbered by thou'- 
ands Do not continue in misery, but give Hood's Sar¬ 
saparilla a trial. The many remarkable cures it has ef¬ 
fected warrant us in urging it upon your attention if 
you suffer from indigestion, sick-headache. biliousness 
or other stomach disorders. Be sure to get Hood’s. 
)o 1 «| N OON E , 
CONDITION POWDER 
Highly concentrated. Dose small. Iu quantity costa 
less than one-tenth cent a day per hen. Prevents and 
cures all diseases. If you can’t get it, we send by mail 
r ost-paid. One pack. 25c. Five $l. 2 1-1 lb. can SI.20 ; 
cans $5. Express ’ ’ * ' ' 
cash. Fanners’ 
orders or more. 
Th© Strongest, Host Parable. Handsomest, Easiest Running 
and in etery war TI1K REST FEED ITTTER made. All Sites, 
for Hand or Power. Carriers any length. For Low Prices and 
Rest Discounts, -end tor Illustrated Catalogue - - K. ” Valuable 
“Ensilage Encyclopedia” free to alt who mention this paper. 
Also Manufacturers of the Celebrated Centennial Fannlmr Mill. 
S. Freemans Sons Mfg. Co., Racine, Wis. 
WANTED 
H igbest i*rice paid for good dry apple 
wood: also second growth white hickory. 
SOUTH BOliO TOOL CO., 
Southboro, Mass. 
