74o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NOV 9 
for lambs and yearlings as an equivalent of 
grain. Sheep may be taught to eat nearly 
all the cultivated roots. This is done by 
withholding salt from them and then feed¬ 
ing chopped roots a few times, rubbed with 
just sufficient salt to induce them to eat 
the roots to obtain it; but not enough to 
satisfy their appetite for salt before they 
have acquired a taste for the roots. 
Sheep undoubtedly require salt in winter. 
Some salt their hay when it is stored in the 
barn or stack. This is objectionable since 
the appetite of the sheep is much the safest 
guide in the premises. The salt may be 
left accessible to them in the salt-box, as 
in summer ; or an occasional feed of brined 
hay or straw may be given them in the 
warm, thawing weather, when their appe¬ 
tite is poor. This last is an excellent plan, 
and serves a double purpose. With a 
wisp of straw, sprinkle a thin layer of 
straw with brine, then make another layer 
of straw and give another sprinkling and 
so on. Let this lie until the next day, for 
the brine to be absorbed by the straw, and 
then feed it to all the grazing animals on 
the farm, which need salt. 
If flocks be shut up in small inclosures 
during winter, it will be necessary to di¬ 
vide them into flocks of about 100 each, con¬ 
sisting of sheep of about the same size and 
strength; otherwise the stronger will rob 
the weaker, and the latter will rapidly de¬ 
cline. This is not so important where the 
sheep roam at large; but even in that case, 
some division and classification are best. 
It is best, indeed, even in summer. The 
poorer and feebler can in this way receive 
better pasture, or a little more grain and 
better shelter in winter. By those who grow 
wool to any exteut breeding ewes, lambs, 
and wethers are invariably kept in separate 
flocks in winter, and it is best to keep year¬ 
ling sheep by themselves with a few of the 
smallest two-year-olds and any old sheep 
which are kept for their excellence as 
breeders but which caunot maintain them¬ 
selves in the flock of breeding ewes. 
Old and feeble or wounded sheep, late- 
born lambs, etc,, should be placed by 
themselves, even if the number be small, 
as they require better feed, warmer shelter 
and more attention. Unless the sheep are 
of a peculiarly valuable variety, however, 
it is better to sell them oil in the fall at 
any price, or to give them to some poor 
neighbor who has time to nurse them and 
who may thus commence a flock. If any 
one principle in sheep husbandry deserves 
careful attention more than others, it is 
that the utmost regularity must be pre¬ 
served in feeding. d. w. t. 
Homeworth, Ohio. 
£arm (Iramomij. 
MORE ABOUT 
Marketing Crops. 
CONNECTICUT. 
Hartford County, October 14.—My prin¬ 
cipal crop is leaf tobacco, and it is the only 
crop raised in this section the product of 
which exceeds the local demand. Dairy 
products are next in importance. I also 
sell some hay, potatoes, beef, poultry, eggs 
and fruit. Tobacco is sold to buyers who 
come through the country looking for it, 
and the price depends more on the quality 
of the leaf than on the figures in the mar¬ 
ket. Prices last season ranged from 10 to 
25 cents per pound. As an almost invaria¬ 
ble rule, early sales are the best, and the 
season to buy begins as soon as the tobacco 
is gi’own, while it is in the field, and con¬ 
tinues till the next May. As to keeping 
posted on prices, sales of tobacco and the 
prices received are reported in the local 
newspapers. I never hold if I can get a 
fair price ; but it sometimes happens that 
the buyers get afraid of the crop and will 
not buy except at a very low figure ; then 
it is advisable to hold, as there is little to 
lose and possibly something to gain. I sell 
my cream to the creamery company of 
which I am a stockholder, and at present I 
am selling the skim-milk for one cent per 
quart to a peddler who sells it in a neigh¬ 
boring village. Other products are also 
sold in the same village at the market 
prices at the time of selling, which is when¬ 
ever I have time to carry them to market. 
E. P. 
DELAWARE. 
Clayton, Kent County, October 19.—My 
chief crops are peaches, grapes, strawber¬ 
ries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries 
and I have to sell each crop in its season. 
To post myself on the markets, I take the 
R. N.-Y. and a number of other papers and 
during the fruit season I received daily tele¬ 
grams this year. The crops were light and 
poor in quality and prices were low. 
A. s. R. 
Smyrna, Kent County, October 19.—My 
chief crops are peaches, pears and, until the 
last three years, grapes.’ Black rot has de¬ 
stroyed the grape crops of these last three 
years. In marketing I am governed by the 
ripening of the fruit and ship to commis¬ 
sion-men or sell to any one offering satis¬ 
factory terms. Like my neighbors, I am 
informed by telegraph of the condition of 
various markets by commission-men, so we 
are very much at their mercy. I like the 
plan suggested'in a late R. N.-Y. of auction¬ 
ing the fruit and think some such plan 
must soon be adopted. 
Of corn I grow “ Slieep’s-tooth ” or 
“ Southern White ” and sell to a local agent 
who allows 10 cents per bushel above mar¬ 
ket quotations for yellow. I keep 
posted on the markets by reading 
the papers and am somewhat influ¬ 
enced by suggestions on the market, 
as given by the R. N.-Y. This year I tried 
two acres of potatoes planted according to 
the Rural Trench System and raised 488 
bushels. I gave a light dressing of manure 
broadcast and 500 pounds of special fertil¬ 
izer per acre in the trench. This yield is 
one of the best, and as far as I 
know, the best in this section, the yield 
generally being 100 to 150 bushels per acre. 
I want to do better next year on the same 
plan, but with more fertilizers. w. P. c. 
INDIANA. 
Carmel, Hamilton County, October 21.— 
Our chief crops are hogs and wheat. The 
former we are almost compelled to sell 
when they are ready ; but we are governed 
somewhat by the reports of the market in 
the daily papers. Generally we hold our 
wheat till late fall or winter on account of 
the better price after the rush that follows 
thrashing. j. r. c. 
MARYLAND. 
Cambridge, Dorchester County, October 
18.—My chief crops are wheat and corn. 
The sale of these is a lottery. I have tried 
shipping at all seasons and have come to 
the conclusion that an early shipment is, 
in the majority of cases, the best. I aim to 
post myself as far as possible on the state 
of the market by the daily papers and the 
R. N.-Y. I have been holding my grain 
this season on account of the supposed 
shortage in Europe and the decrease of our 
surplus: but I shall now sell. J. c. 
Trappe, Talbot County, October 21.— 
For some years I sold my crops just as soon 
as I could get them in order—the earlier 
the better—but for the last two years (since 
prices have declined to an almost unprofit¬ 
able extent) I have studied the crop reports 
of the R. N.-Y. and those of the Agricultu¬ 
ral Department as to home and foreign 
supplies. If the Western or European 
crops are short I hold, otherwise I ship. I 
held my wheat till June of this year owing 
to reports of short crops and missed it. 
wm. c. 
MICHIGAN. 
Elmir, Sanilac County, October 18.—We 
sell our chief crops in October and Novem¬ 
ber. Clover seed is sold in February. I 
keep myself posted on the markets by 
studying the reports in the li. N.-Y. and 
the Toledo Blade—the two best papers in 
the world. I sell because I want cash. If 
wheat is low, I hold it till May and June. 
When wheat is scarce, the market is high. 
C. L. M. 
OHIO. 
Andover, Ashtabula County, October 
19.—How to get the most money out of what 
we have to sell is a matter deserving the 
careful attention oi every farmer. It takes 
money to lubricate the wheels of domestic 
life, so that it does not matter so much how 
many tons of surplus farm products we 
have to offer for sale as it does how much 
cash we can drop into the bank to be cred¬ 
ited to our account. Some farmers of my 
acquaintance act under the iron-clad rule of 
selling everything “ as soon as it is ready for 
market.” I do not consider this a wise course 
to follow. There are always thousands and 
tens of thousands of farmers who are so 
“ hard up ” that they are forced to sell any¬ 
thing that will bring them a little money. 
As a rule, they fill the market immediately 
after harvest with their wheat, corn or po¬ 
tatoes, and the farmers who hold off for 
a while until the “ glut ” xipon the market 
caused in this way has been worked off are, 
as a rule, the men who obtain the top 
pi’ices. I would not be understood as ad¬ 
vising farmers always to hold their crops 
for higher prices. It very often happens 
that the earliest in market take the cream 
of the prices. I usually ti'y to know what 
the future prices are likely to be. My com¬ 
mission-men keep me informed as to prices 
and supply and demand by sending me their 
weekly quotations. The State and National 
Agricultural Departments furnish full in¬ 
formation in regard to the yield of various 
farm crops. If the yield of a certain per¬ 
ishable crop—like potatoes—is below the 
average, as reports this year indicate, the 
probabilities are that the price of that par¬ 
ticular farm product will advance. If we 
take the subject of grain under considera¬ 
tion, the crop of a single year is not all we 
have to consider We must inquire further 
and learn how inixch surplus carried over 
from former years we have to add to the 
amount produced. We must know some¬ 
thing of the demands of the world for our 
wheat, corn, oats or barley and inquire if 
other nations have a deficiency, how much 
of our surplus will be demanded to feed 
their inhabitants. I often obtain valu¬ 
able hints from the doings of the gam¬ 
blers in the grain markets of New York 
and Chicago. The members of the Board 
are pretty well inforxned upon this subject. 
If their bids upon wheat for delivery three 
or four months hence indicate a consider- 
able advance or decline, I take the hint, or, 
as the boys express it, “ catch on.” In 
short, I avail myself of all the information 
within my l’each and then act upon my own 
judgment. c. T. L. 
Bellaire, Belmont County, October 18. 
—So far as selling is concerned we have 
to depend entirely on our local mai'ket. 
Our cereals, berries, garden produce and 
fat stock are sold in Bellaire. We raise 
fruits of almost all kinds and find a ready, 
if not a very remunerative market for 
them in the same place. In an apple year, 
we sell our apples to a dealer who ships 
them to other markets, and we can tell 
about what he makes by leading the agri¬ 
cultural and other papers that give mar¬ 
ket reports, and I find that our local mar¬ 
kets are about as good as those at any other 
point. I have been taking the Ohio 
Farmer for many years, and am taking the 
R. N.-Y. this year, and I find in them about 
all the information that one needs about the 
markets, and in fact sometimes more than 
will give satisfaction—when, for instance, 
apples are bringing a good round price, and 
a man has none to sell. Last year they 
were a drug on the market; this year there 
are none. Farmers who have any are sell¬ 
ing them for 81 to shippers and for 81.25 to 
$1.50 in our local mai’ket. This is because 
a shipper makes a clean sweep of all and 
the farmer gets his money in a lump; 
whei’eas if he hauls them to town, he loses 
a day, and expenses besides. So he doesn’t 
gain much by the higher price. I was look¬ 
ing for potatoes to command a better price, 
but have failed to find the expected figures. 
Reports seemed to indicate a shortage that 
might cause a brisk demand and better 
prices, but they are as low as last year (40 
cents) and there are no signs of any ad¬ 
vance. I. H. D. 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
Brookland, Potter County, October 23. 
—We have a local market for our produce 
in the lumber district just south of us here. 
Our principal crops are hay, oats and buck¬ 
wheat, in theoi’der given. Pi-ices are regu¬ 
lated by the Buffalo or Western pi’ices in 
cai’-lots delivered at the nearest railroad 
shipping points, plus cartage into the coun- 
try, for thei’e is generally a deficiency in 
this section. For the last two or three 
years, however, we have raised rather more 
hay and buckwheat than we used, and 
those nearest the x'ailroads have shipped 
some to city markets; but we do not raise 
more than half the oats, and almost none 
of the corn used for ground feed. Pi’ices at 
present are about as follows; hay, $10 to $ 12 , 
loose, per ton; oats, 33 to 35 cents per bushel; 
buckwheat flour, $2.50 per 100 pounds. 
Prices vary a little, according to expense of 
delivery. w. D. 
Baden, Beaver County, October 10 .—A 
few years ago we left a farm in Ohio, which 
was five miles from a railroad. Here we 
are 21 miles from Pittsburgh and five to 
nine miles from other and smaller manu¬ 
facturing towns, and a railroad runs 
through the farm. It has taken me a few 
years and perhaps more than a few blund¬ 
ers to learn several things. One should not 
try to garden and farm at the same time 
unless he has plenty of help, as one or both 
occupations are likely to be neglected. 
Better lay out only enough work for a wet 
season ; then if you are favored with a dry 
season in which to do the stint, all right. 
But if you lay out work for a dry season 
(as I did this year), and get a wet one 
(like the spring and summer of 1889, for 
instance), take care. My aim now is to 
feed all the hay, oats, corn and fodder I 
can raise on the farm. The straw I use for 
bedding. If we have more wheat than we 
can use, I have it ground at a good roller 
mill and sell the flour to families in some 
of the neighboring towns, keeping the 
bran and middlings to feed to my cows or 
hogs. Hogs I try to have ready for the 
butcher early. Our first markets in the 
fall for hogs appear to be as good as any. 
My hogs run in the orchard through the 
summer where they are kept in good con¬ 
dition, and do not require much corn to get 
fat if the fattening is done early, before 
severe weather begins. If potatoes or ap¬ 
ples bring fair to good prices in the fall, I 
think it better to sell them then than to 
hold them over-winter and run the risk of 
their freezing or rotting and of bad roads 
for hauling them away, and possibly lower 
prices. I learned a few things about selling 
butter here. Each store-keeper appeared 
to have his own price which was sometimes 
as much as six cents per pound more or less 
than that offered by the next one, perhaps 
only a few rods away and very easily over¬ 
stocked. I now have regular customers for 
my butter, and am trying to make more of 
it. Calves I generally sell for veal when 
they are four to six weeks old. j. w. D. 
Knox, Clarion County, October 12. —First 
I sell my chief crops as soon as I get them 
ready for market, if the price suits, and the 
price always suits on arise. I do not try to 
get the highest market possible, but I avoid 
the lowest, which often follows holding too 
long. One “step I take,” to keep posted is 
to subscribe for the Rural New-Yorker; 
further I study the condition of the mar¬ 
kets of the world, as given through reli¬ 
able sources. I “ determine ” as to “ selling 
or holding,” as the girl did about getting 
married. She said : “ I read in the Bible 
that they that get married do well ; while 
they who remain single do better; but 
I am satisfied to do well ” so am I with re¬ 
gard to selling my crops. Hereabout w r e 
raise our chief crops from a deep sandy soil 
known as the “third sand,” wdiich on my 
farm lies at a depth of about 1,100 feet, and 
is richest at the bottom. We use a plow- 
point weighing about 3,500 pounds reaching 
to the bottom of the soil from the surface, 
but we never turn up this deep soil ; nor do 
we ever sow; though we do sometimes 
plant a torpedo in it. We experience no 
difficulty in cultivating our deep soil. We 
raise the crop by means of a sort of beau 
pole, known here as a sucker rod. I need 
hardly add that mine is an oil farm. 
M. E. II 
VERMONT. 
I do not sell a great deal. I have a small 
farm of about 75 acres. I keep from thref. 
to five cows and one horse. I make butter 
and linve eggs and pork which I sell here 
at home or I exchange for flour and sugar 
and other things that are wanted in the 
family. I sell all the maple sugar that I 
can make amongst my neighbors. Pota¬ 
toes are very good this year; corn too is 
sound and good. j. q. a. 
Cavendish. 
Most of our produce is sold to local buy¬ 
ers, although quite a number of our dairy¬ 
men are sending their butter to commis¬ 
sion-men in Boston and other cities in Mas¬ 
sachusetts. The ruling price here the past 
season for good butter has been 14 cents per 
pound; while those that have shipped 
their butter have received from Hi to 
18 cents. All the grain we raise is fed 
on our farms and a large amount of West¬ 
ern corn is yearly bought and fed. Farmers 
here are feeling the effects of low prices for 
their produce while paying high prices for 
farm labor : $20 per month is the price paid 
this season and the chief question asked 
among farmers is how are we going to 
pay our family bills, our taxes, our help 
and the interest on our mortgaged farms, 
and the question is a serious one. Here are 
the prices now offered for what we have to 
sell: wool, 25 cents ; butter, 15 cents : po- 
taoes, 35 cents ; oats, 35 cents : hogs, fat, 
four cents per pound; beef cattle, $3 per 
100 pounds: store cattle, calves, $4; year¬ 
lings, $8 ; 2 -year-olds, $ 12 ; cows $15. 11 ow 
are these for prices in old Vermont ? 
Lowell. f. H. s. 
