820 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
DEC i4 
ble, until the fall of 1888 when I applied it 
just before the ground closed. I was so 
well pleased with its effects the past sea¬ 
son that I shall endeavor to use it at that 
time each year rather than to wait until 
spring, for the simple reason that in case 
the spring months should be dry, as they 
often are, the fertilizer I applied in the 
fall would be well dissolved and from it I 
should reap immediate benefit, while those 
of my neighbors who waited until spring 
to apply theirs, might not obtain the de¬ 
sired results and might therefore condemn 
the fertilizer. 
Ulster County, N. Y. 
<TIje Poulin) JJan), 
HENS MORE PROFITABLE THAN 
COWS. 
It is said that the profits from 25 hens 
equal the profits from one cow. It may be 
suggested that the truth of this statement 
depends upon the hens. Very true, but 
with equal truth it may be asserted that it 
also depends upon the cow. Taking the 
country at large, and averaging things, as 
it were, I am disposed to cast in my lot 
with the hens, and if any lover of the cow 
with a crumpled horn, or with no horns, is 
disposed to question my conclusions, let 
him take up the gauntlet or ever after give 
the palm to the feathered biped. Both re¬ 
quire shelter. Buildings sufficient to make 
them comfortable will, of course, vary in 
cost as well as in architectural pretensions 
with the location and the taste or financial 
resources of the owner, but I think that 25 
hens can be made snug and comfortable for 
less money than one cow. 
Feed is quite a considerable item, but 
I think the 25 hens will be able to show a 
balance in their favor. I can keep a flock 
of hens, and feed them well for eggs, at an 
average expense of one dollar each per year. 
The outlay will, of course, vary slightly in 
different seasons and different localities, 
being as often under as over this amount. 
This would make the yearly board bill of 
our flock of 25 just $25. Can the cow cham¬ 
pion beat this without starving his cow or 
going so near it as to reduce her milk yield? 
Both hens and cow must have good care, 
but were I desirous of the minimum 
amount of labor, I should prefer to care for 
the hens. It certainly would require less 
labor to gather the product of the hens’ in¬ 
dustry than to milk the cow. The drop¬ 
pings from a flock of hens are usually con¬ 
sidered of sufficient value to pay for the 
care. 
How about the product ? An average 
hen, if decently attentive to business, will 
lay about 10 dozen eggs per annum. My 25 
hens then will produce about 250 dozen. I 
can sell my eggs at an average price for the 
year of 30 to 40 cents per dozen, but this is 
too high for the country at large; 20 cents 
is nearer right. This makes the receipts 
$50 for the flock, or, subtracting one dollar 
per headjor feed, I have a balance of $25. 
The first cost of the hens was probably 50 
to 75 cents each, but calling it one dollar 
each, I have a net profit of 100 per cent. 
Besides this several of the hens have prob¬ 
ably acted as incubators and thus have 
earned something more to be added to the 
credit side of the account. The first cost of 
the hens was less than the first cost of a 
good cow, so the cow must earn still more 
than the hens have done to make a profit of 
100 per cent. Will she do it ? F. H. V. 
Cranford, N. J. 
C»m)xt> Ijor. 
A SUMMER OUTING IN THE NORTH 
CAROLINA MOUNTAINS. 
III. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
Asheville : Southern sanitation; a plant¬ 
er's tales; minerals; mica mines; farm¬ 
ing ; a sylvan railroad. 
As there was no pressing need for us to 
make haste in our journeying, we settled 
ourselves for a week’s sojourn in Asheville, 
for the air was so fresh and delicious that 
it seemed as good a place for one to grow 
well and strong in as higher up in the 
mountains. But after a few days I changed 
my mind on that point, for I did not like 
the water or the sanitary condition of the 
little city, which is the resort of summer 
and winter health-seekers from both North 
and South. The location is charming and 
the drives in every direction, the views 
from many points, the splendid oaks that 
abound and the fine horses, all go to make 
up a really enchanting region, under a most 
lovely sky. The town proper consists 
chiefly of one long street on top of a ridge 
with an electric street railway through it, 
while around on the adjacent hills are 
perched cottages with now and then one 
almost pretentious enough to be called a 
villa. But, as I have before hinted, our 
gracious and easy-going Southern brethren 
live as if utterly unaware of the causes that 
produce zymotic diseases and breed typhoid 
fevers, even in the high, pure air of the 
mountains. 
A gentleman from Jacksonville, Florida, 
after he had walked over the town, said to 
me: “There isn’t a place here that our 
Health Board wouldn’t condemn;” but 
until Jacksonville was scourged with yel¬ 
low fever, it didn’t bother itself about 
drainage and house sanitation any more 
than Asheville was doing. Then, to add to 
the odoriferousness of oozing things in 
general, the ground at that time was cov¬ 
ered with a carpet of 17-year locusts that 
were decaying after the manner of all flesh. 
But despite all this, the gentle breezes 
brought delicious air from the hills, which 
the presence of man had not defiled, and 
although the house-keeping was atrocious 
from the New England standpoint, and 
the variety of hot breads without limit, and 
fried chicken for breakfast, dinner and 
supper, threatened to become monotonous, 
we had a good time. The laddie climbed 
the mountains and brought in wonderful 
new flowers, interviewed our hostess as to 
slavery times and found out that she was 
glad that she no longer had to have the 
care of slaves, prompted the cotton planter 
on the piazza, who came from the .Lower 
Mississippi Valley, to tell him his exper¬ 
iences in the war, and especially during the 
siege of Vicksburg. 
This planter, who was a capital, easy-go* 
ing talker, and evidently a man of unusual 
capacity, had considerable to say of the 
money to be made—and being made—in 
cotton culture. One Northern man had, 
in one year, paid for his plantation, having 
bought it cheap soon after the war. Sugar 
plantations were more expensive and re¬ 
quired more experience in their operations; 
but in cotton there were loads of money 
for almost anybody who had energy and a 
little capital, and he wondered that any one 
should “go West.” He admitted that the 
plantations were often malarious, and he 
might have added that no sane man from 
anywhere would put his health in peril, 
even for the possibility of making money 
rapidly. Some Florida people who were 
going North, said thev had the greatest de¬ 
sire to eat good beef, as their Northern 
friends had assured them that Southern 
people who had never been North, had no 
idea how good beef tasted. There may be 
some truth in this, for during our week in 
Asheville, it was impossible for me to eat 
the beef served at table, which, if good at 
the outset, was spoiled in cooking, as it 
followed the fate of most Southern foods 
in being fried. 
Asheville is 2,250 feet above the sea, and 
from its equable climate, it is an all-the- 
year-round health resort. It has no min¬ 
eral springs, but it has a handsome new 
hotel, beautifully located, and furnished 
with all modern luxuries, and is filled with 
rich Northern parties in winter. Then 
there are numerous smaller hotels, and no 
end of boarding-houses, where one can have 
comfortable rooms and good board—from 
the Southern standpoint—for about $30 a 
month. Two things will suit the most fas¬ 
tidious—the oak trees and the sky. 
From Asheville we continued our journey 
in a south-westerly direction over the West¬ 
ern North Carolina Railroad, which is still 
in a state of construction—a road built at 
great expense because of the mountainous 
region it threads, and a more picturesque 
and sylvan ride cannot elsewhere be found. 
The road skirts the balsam region where 
the conifers are in dark contrast to the 
lighter hues of the deciduous trees. All 
this region abounds both in minerals and 
mineral springs. It is claimed that every 
precious stone but the diamond is found in 
North Carolina. Gold mining is carried on 
to some extent, but the most valuable 
mines are those of mica. An old mica 
miner told me that the best mines in the 
State had been previously worked by a 
race which preceded the Indians, a clever 
and ingenious people of whom the Indians 
still bear legendary testimony. Specimens 
of their carving in stone are occasionally 
found—discoidal stones, and some fine work 
in amethyst. Their tools seemed to be 
inadequate beyond a certain point, and the 
mines were abandoned longi,before being 
exhausted. 
The mica is found in blocks, usually, if 
not always, in a tilted position, and after 
being separated from the rock, by blasting 
and other processes, it is split into sheets, 
with a knife, and the edges are trimmed 
with a pair of shears, when it is ready to 
be packed for market. The extreme thin¬ 
ness to 'which the mica may be split is sur¬ 
prising. It is often as clear as glass, and, 
as every one knows, it is indestructible by 
fire, as illustrated in the isinglass in coal 
stoves. Latterly, the importation of mica 
from Southern Asia—India—has greatly 
diminished the profits from these North 
Carolina mines, the rough blocks of mica 
sometimes coming in the ships as ballast. 
But I was more interested in the farming 
of this region, than in the mining, and some 
of it was of the most extraordinary char¬ 
acter. Hills so steep had been plowed 
and planted with corn, as to make one won¬ 
der how it was ever managed without the 
whole outfit of man and mules tumb¬ 
ling head over heels into the valleys below. 
Now and then there were rich bottom lands 
in which oats, wheat, and corn throve 
“ mightily,” and the land was valued at 
from $50 to $100 per acre. The farm houses 
had a thrifty look, being often painted 
white; the streams were as clear as crystal, 
and although the land was wild and moun¬ 
tainous, there seemed to be unmistakable 
evidences that one could actually thrive 
there by tilling the soil, if he could manage 
occasionally to stand on his head I 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
New York. 
Forestville, Chautauqua County, No¬ 
vember 27.—The weather for October and 
the forepart of this month has been ex¬ 
tremely fine and the farmers have improved 
it, too. A great deal of plowing has been 
done, and a majority of the farmers have 
things in good shape for the winter. Of 
course, there are some who are never pre¬ 
pared for the winter, spring, or anything 
else that requires work and forethought. 
The grape crop of this county has been the 
finest ever gathered, being of good quality 
and bringing good prices—25 and 30 cents 
per nine-pound basket. It is estimated 
that the grape-growers of this county will 
receive $1,500,000 for this fall’s pick. Our 
other fruits were nearly a failure. We had 
a few pears, no apples of good quality and 
only a few of the poor ones. Some potato- 
growers report success and some failure; 
take it all in all there is probably an average 
crop. Potatoes are selling at present at 
from 45 to 50 cents, and some for 55 cents 
per bushel. Newly seeded meadow and 
pasture lauds are in excellent condition. 
The prospects are good for a fine cut of hay 
the coming season. Hay is being bought 
and pressed.in the bam for $9 per ton; straw 
for $6 per ton. 
I have tried the Japanese Buckwheat and 
found it to be a good yielder, but 1 cannot 
sell it to millers. They say it does not 
make good flour and does not yield as much 
per bushel as the other kinds. How is it 
with my brother farmers ? I would like to 
hear from those who have tried this variety. 
C. H. F. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
| [fEvery query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure atten¬ 
tion. Before asking a question, please see if it 
is not answered in our advertising columns. 
Ask only a few questions at one time. Put 
questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
ARE FARMERS’ INSTITUTES ABOVE CRITI¬ 
CISM? 
Several Subscribers. —Most of the reports 
of farmers’ institutes are quite en¬ 
thusiastic in praise of these meetings. Is it 
possible that the meetings are above criti¬ 
cism ? What do practical farmers think 
about them ? Is there any way of finding 
out ? 
Ans.—Y es, there is a way of finding out. 
In answering such questions the R. N.-Y. 
goes straight to headquarters. We have a 
list of farmeis who attended the institutes 
in New York State last winter. To a num¬ 
ber of these farmers—names selected at 
random— we sent the following note. “ 1. 
On the whole, did you get enough good out 
of the farmers’ institutes you attended to 
pay you for going ? 2. What topics were 
you most interested in and if you were to 
go to another meeting what subjects would 
you like to have discussed ? 3. What was 
there about the institutes that you did not 
like and what can you criticise ? We shall 
be glad to have you tell us, frankly, what 
you can about these meetings.” 
We did not know the parties to whom the 
letters were sent; we simply took them to 
be fair representatives of the farmers who 
made up the audiences. The following re¬ 
plies give the substance of the matter. 
■ FROM D. W. MOORE. 
1. Yes, I think I did, I only had 24 miles 
to go. 2. I have not kept a list of the top¬ 
ics and cannot well answer. I was very 
much interested in “ bee culture” and “ the 
fattening of hogs.” Were I to go to another 
I would like to learn, first, how to make 
farming pay; second, how can we afford to 
hire help at the present wages and the pres¬ 
ent prices of farm products; and thii’d 
whether the prices of farms and farm pro* 
ducts are likely to go up or down within the 
next few years. 3. I have nothing to criti¬ 
cise. 
Niagara County, N. Y. 
FROM S. B. HARLOW JR. 
1. Yes. 2. Stock breeding and feeding 
and any subject bearing on practical farm 
management. 8. I desire to criticise some 
of the speakers for giving beautiful essays 
on “ The Home” and kindred topics ; for 
bandying small jokes between themselves, 
giving the impression that they were hav¬ 
ing a very pleasant outing; for evading 
questions which they did not appear to be 
able to answer instead of saying “ I do not 
know,” and for exhibiting an unwilling¬ 
ness to answer direct questions. To be 
more particular, I will express my own 
opinion of some of the speakers I have 
heard. Secretary Woodward is full of solid 
meat and uses much wisdom in conducting 
the institutes. Seth Fenner I heard read a 
very good paper on road-making, but in a 
discussion on the topic he showed a love of 
jokes and repartee very much out of keep¬ 
ing in a school. F. D. Curtis is no doubt 
well posted on his subjects and is a very 
fluent talker. He was much displeased at 
being questioned and was rather sarcastic 
and funny by turns. He has a much 
greater amount of assurance than some of 
the farmers, who have experimented on 
some of his theories, would give him 
credit for. Charles A. Green might have 
told how to grow fruits; but, instead, he 
gave us an illustration of how farmers’ 
wives get dinner for 10 men and care for 
babies when it is hot weather and Mr. 
Green makes an unexpected visit. 
I heard Professor Bailey tell what he 
knew in his speciality in a way that could 
not fail to instruct. Prof. Roberts never 
says a foolish thing ; he certainly is an in¬ 
structor in the largest sense of the word. 
A Mr. Ives, from the western part of the 
State, spoke on horse - breeding; but 
his knowledge) seemed to be all in¬ 
corporated in his paper. Col. Wood¬ 
ward, of Pennsylvania, is a good speaker 
and a man of much practical sense. Mr. 
Powell, of Canada, isan instructive speaker 
and, better yet, is an excellent man to an¬ 
swer questions. The ladies I should not 
miss if they were dropped from the lists. 
Cayuga County, N. Y. 
FROM THOS. HUNTER. 
I attended only one of the meetings and 
was present at that only a part of the time, 
so that I am not a great authority on the 
matter from my own experience; but I 
talked with a great many farmers who had 
attended the institutes and I found them, 
almost to a man, highly gratified with the 
information they received. I am certainly 
in favor of keeping them up. I would 
recommend as one topic for thorough dis¬ 
cussion “ the breeding of good stock in 
place of scrubs.” 
Cayuga County, N. Y. 
FROM CnAS. E. SHAFER. 
I enjoyed the institute held at Brock- 
port very much, and was well paid for at¬ 
tending every session. I was very much 
interested in the subjects of dairying, stock¬ 
feeding, ensilage and potato-growing, and 
in fact in all. I would like to hear dis¬ 
cussed, first, what shall farmers do to pro¬ 
tect themselves from the great syndicates 
that are devouring them; second, what 
can we do to avoid the yellows in peach 
trees. 
Niagara County, N. Y. 
