852 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
DEC 28 
In this region corn, oats and potatoes 
were an entire failure on account of the 
continuous rain. Early-sowed buckwheat 
was a fair crop. My grass was good. I cut 
nearly two tons to the acre. I do not feed 
my meadows off in the fall or pasture, them 
in the spring. I put my manure on them 
as a top-dressing and it makes a heavy sod. 
Then when the land is ttnder the plow I 
consider it rich enough to produce any 
crop put on it in an ordinary season. 
Whitney’s Point. J. H. K. 
1 think poultry and eggs have paid best, 
according to the money invested. I think 
it about as well to continue the regular 
routine of crops with some stock and young 
horses and about 100 fowls, raising also 
some sheep, pork, dried fruits, etc., etc. 
Some around us are raising from one to 
five or six acres of tobacco and claim it 
pays best and they intend to continue the 
business. H. c. 
Wolcott. 
Mr best crops the past season were 
wheat, oats, hay, seed and pasturage, mak¬ 
ing an increased amount of butter on ac¬ 
count of the abundant pasturage. I attri¬ 
bute the very large hay crop—3>£ tons per 
acre on 12 acres of new meadow and over 
60 tons on 30 acres of older meadow—to 
the abundant rainsln the fore part of the 
season ; but this cause seriously damaged 
corn, beans and potatoes, and also evident¬ 
ly injured the fruit crop. I shall go right 
on with my regular rotation of crops, and 
trust to Providence and good management. 
Johnson’s Creek. J. M. 
Foil the money invested and the labor 
laid out, corn sowed in drills three feet 
apart, and about one foot in the drill, for 
fall and early winter feeding of milch cows 
has paid as well as any, because it has come 
at a time of the year when other feed is 
mostly gone and it produces a good flow of 
rich milk when butter and cheese are bring¬ 
ing better prices than when grass is plenti¬ 
ful. I think it will pay to improve the 
crop both in quantity and quality. 
Sherburne. D. J- P- 
This has been such an exceptional year, 
and one which has caused so many losses 
to farmers, on account of the constant rain, 
that in this vicinity it is hard to speak of 
any crop that has been a paying one. The 
onlv crop I have that pays anything is 
beans, and it pays because only a compara¬ 
tively small acreage has been planted in all 
this section. w. M. N. 
Mt. Morris. 
I CARRY on mixed farming. The principal 
parts of my spring grains, hay, corn-stalks 
and straw are fed out on the farm to differ¬ 
ent kinds of stock. I have for a number of 
years given most of my attention to the 
breeding of American Merino sheep. I 
think this business has, the past season, 
paid as well as anything on my farm, and 
I live in hopes that it will pay much better 
in the near future. C. C. 
Victor. 
In my opinion the wool crop has paid me 
better than anything else the past season, 
because, first,the price of wool has been bet¬ 
ter than for some years past; second, there 
has been no difficulty in disposing of my 
surplus sheep and lambs at good prices; 
and, third, besides enriching the farm, my 
sheep have paid me good interest by des¬ 
troying piles of weeds. I think it will pay 
well to keep as many sheep as a farm can 
carry safely through summer and winter, 
if they can have plenty of good shelter to 
protect them from storms. Barley has been 
a good crop until this season : but over¬ 
production or the “ Brewers’ Trust ” has 
knocked the price of the grain so low that 
we can afford to raise only enough grain to 
keep our land seeded. Farmers in this 
community who depend on their grain to 
pay hired help, taxes, and interest on their 
farms, don’t smile very much when they 
look at the future prospects for their occu¬ 
pation. T. & B. 
Naples. 
Potatoes have paid me better the past 
season than any other crop I have cultivat¬ 
ed. I had only half an acre. I thought 
that would be all I could attend to and do 
them justice. From the half acre I har¬ 
vested 125 bushels, 120 bushels of which 
were good and marketable, there being 
only five bushels of small ones. At harvest 
time potatoes taken from the field brought 
50 cents per bushel. I think that pays well. 
I make farm dairy butter of the finest 
quality. I use the old-fashioned, shallow, 
eight-quart pans for setting the milk. I do 
not allow it to get sour before the cream 
is taken off. I supply some of the dairy¬ 
men with butter, and send the rest of what 
I make to the city. Last summer I sent 
my butter to New York City and was get¬ 
ting from 22 cents to 23 cents per pound 
when the factory farmers were getting only 
16 cents per pound. My butter this season 
will net me 23 cents per pound. Why ? Be¬ 
cause I make fine, fresh butter, not grease. 
In my opinion the farmer is most to blame 
if he gets low figures for his product. It is 
not because it is farm dairy butter that the 
price is low; but because its quality is 
poor. If the farmer would take a little 
time to think how he should care for 
his milk and cream, he could get as much 
for his butter as the creameries can for 
theirs. I have no trouble in getting the 
highest price for my butter, because it is of 
fine quality. w. H. P. 
Columbus. 
MASSACHUSETTS MATTERS. 
Onions have paid me decidedly the best; 
and this in spite of the fact that the mag¬ 
gots, at a low estimate took 40 per cent, 
of the crop. Why ? On account of a large 
demand in this vicinity for them, while 
there were comparatively few producers. 
Next year I shall increase the area devoted 
to the crop, having prepared the ground 
this fall as far as such work can be done at 
this season. w. H. B. 
Leominster. 
MAINE MONEY MATERIALIZES. 
Sweet corn for the canning factory has 
been my best paying crop for this season. 
Strawberries usually pay me well, but the 
crop was a partial failure this year on ac¬ 
count of the ground being bare so much 
last winter. I think it will pay me well to 
increase the crop by using more fertilizer 
and better cultivation. D. B. 
East Baldwin. 
Grass and hay are ahead among farmers 
in this section. We break up a few acres, 
sow with oats, then the next year plant 
with sweet corn ; next year the land is 
seeded to grass with wheat or oats, so our 
farmers’ leading crop is sweet corn. I can 
hear the whistles from four canning factor¬ 
ies at my place. Most of the farms that 
are not forsaken, are little old New England 
farms. E. F, N. 
West Farmington. 
PENNSYLVANIA, PASTURE, POTATOES. 
It seems clear to me that farmers cannot 
make any profit out of oats and corn by 
selling them off the farm at present prices 
■—20 cents for the former and 30 cents for 
the latter. It takes 25 per cent, of the 
value of a bushel of corn to ship it to our 
nearest market, Philadelphia, only 125 
miles distant. I think farmers would do 
much better by feeding all their oats and 
corn on the farm to sheep, hogs and colts. 
About the market price can be obtained 
for corn by feeding it to steers, but there is 
no profit in it at the market price. There 
is no market for milk. No milk is sold 
within a radius of 3>£ miles of our railroad 
station. The surplus butter is mostly sold 
to the country stores. It is, of course, not 
of uniform character and is often sold very 
low, sometimes as low as eight cents per 
pound. At present it is worth 20 cents. If 
there is any profit in a butter dairy this 
ought to be a good location, as there are 
500 cows within three miles of our station. 
I believe that a profit could be made out of 
oats and corn if fed to good cows, if we had 
a dairy to work up the milk. Our farmers 
are conservative—are slow to make 
changes. They have followed the five-year 
rotation so long, and have heretofore done 
so with such advantage, that they dislike 
to adopt new methods. But the continual 
depression in their business necessitates a 
new departure and I think that it should 
be by keeping more and better cows and by 
making butter. Our county—Cumberland 
—lies within the region mentioned by Hugh 
McCulloch, ex-Secretary of the U. S. Treas¬ 
ury, when he said that the only good farm¬ 
ing found in the United States, was in¬ 
cluded within a radius of 50 miles of 
Harrisburg. Much of the land in the sec¬ 
tion mentioned is of the best quality of 
limestone. Many of the buildings are 
large, handsome and expensive, and this is 
particularly true of the barns. By follow¬ 
ing the five-year rotation, plowing down a 
clover and Timothy sod for corn, the corn 
being followed by oats, then wheat, and 
then two years in grass, the fertility of 
the soil has not only been maintained, but 
has in many cases been greatly increased. 
Of course we have no abandoned farms, but 
farms are hard to dispose of. Sales of 
limestone farms have been made this fall 
at from $60 to $20 per acre. J. P. 
Greason. 
My potato crop has paid me as well as 
any of my other farm crops this year. 
Though the conditions of the past season, 
agricultm'ally speaking, were adverse, this 
crop was fair. On one acre of Early 
Beauty of Hebron, and Early Rose, I dug 
165 bushels of marketable potatoes. They 
were raised on dry red-shell land with 
about 600 pounds of Clark’s Cove potato 
manure applied to the hill. I sold my crop 
at an average price of 85 cents per bushel. 
I shall double my acreage of potatoes next 
season. w. s. G. 
Tompkinsville. 
MINNESOTA MENTIONS MANY MERCIES. 
Flax has been our best paying crop the 
past season. It is a favorite owing to its 
ability to rot “new breaking” and dry out 
wet land, also the length of time during 
which it can be sowed, as it does equally 
well sown in April or June, and it there¬ 
fore lengthens our seed-time and harvest; 
and moreover, it is gathered without the 
necessity for twine. It will surely pay to 
try to increase the yield by growing 
clover on alternate seasons. Our next crop 
is Timothy seed, of which for 10 square 
miles hereabouts there are thousands of 
acres. Our crop the past season amounted 
to 2,200 bushels. Oats, barley, wheat, and 
corn come next. Butter and pork are also 
important products, as grasses of all kinds 
do well. What we most need is more farm¬ 
ers who want to make homes for them¬ 
selves. Land is worth from $6.25 to $25 per 
acre. f. p. s. 
Grand Meadow. 
Here is a list of the crops raised here and 
their value per acre in our market: Wheat, 
yield, 28 bushels at 65 cents, $18.20 ; oats, 50 
bushels at 15 cents, $7.50; barley, 35 bushels 
at 40 cents, $14.00 ; Timothy seed, 6K bush¬ 
els at one dollar, $6.50; corn, 40 bushels at 
20 cents, $8 ; hay $5 per acre. Wheat gives 
the most money per acre, owing to the fact 
that we raise more than an average yield ; 
but we can’t risk much in it, as it has failed 
too many times. The grain and hay raised 
are mostly all fed out to cows, hogs, and 
horses. We sell some wheat and barley. 
Cows pay best. Good horses also pay 
pretty well. The man who tries to farm in 
Southern Minnesota must keep good stock 
or “get left.” R. E. M. 
St. Charles. 
MARYLAND MUST MUSTER MORE MEANS. 
Raising corn and tomatoes for canning 
has been the leading business hereabouts, 
but the low prices for these goods have put 
nearly every one in despair. Our great 
misfortune is due to the large size of our 
(Continued on Page 858.) 
mature well. The yield is light, and the 
quality very poor. Not more than 60 per 
cent, of the crop is marketable at 25 cents. 
Once more with a light corn crop, hoi,s and 
pigs were fattened early; again, too, it oc¬ 
curs that as they are just ready for market 
prices have gone down. Farmers were re¬ 
luctant to sell at $3.25 The pressure of a 
small corn crop is compulsory, and the 
market is lively. p. w. H. 
Maine. 
Bridgton, Cumberland County, Decem¬ 
ber 14.—Sweet corn and hay are our two 
best paying crops. Farmers have aban¬ 
doned the planting of yellow corn for the 
reason of low-priced Western corn. Sugar 
corn is substituted, as it pays fairly well 
and brings money soon after delivery to 
packers. Hay is fed in winter largely for 
butter, as silage is a thing of “ the future ” 
with us. Cheap cattle ! This is one of the 
most serious conditions which confronts 
us. It will, no doubt, in the near future 
affect the price of our hay. p. L. C. 
Pennsylvania. 
Library, Allegheny County, December 
12.—With us, hay has been rather the most 
profitable of our farm crops this season, be¬ 
cause there was a heavy crop and it 
was for the most part harvested in good 
time and in good condition for market. A 
great deal of the hay shipped here is not in 
good condition and in our market, Pitts¬ 
burgh, dealers do not like to change from 
the home product as long as such change 
can be avoided without considerable sacri¬ 
fice. It would not pay to increase the 
acreage here because we rely entirely on 
our home market and the best customers 
have, heretofore, been the street-car com¬ 
panies and these are doing away with 
horse power and the demand for home¬ 
grown hay is not increasing, but rather 
decreasing. 
I am convinced that the raising of hay 
and grain in this section must soon cease 
to be relied on as a means of making 
money. Our farms are becoming cut up 
into too small areas and competition with 
our Western friends is too sharp to allow 
us much of a margin of profit. 
Farm laud in this section is worth from 
$125 to $200 per acre and 100 acres are con¬ 
sidered quite a good-sized farm. I think 
the crops to increase are fruits and vege¬ 
tables for our home market. Almost every¬ 
thing of this kind does well here and the 
demand is constantly increasing, and the 
margin of profit is much wider than in hay 
and grain. Farmers are conservative and 
it is hard to make the change, but they 
must come to it, or “go west.” In the 
coming day of small things, I think I see 
the day of greater profits. j. c. B. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Indiana. 
AMILTON COUNTY, 
DECEMBER 7.—Corn 
gathering is mostly done 
and farmers are about 
ready to begin prepar¬ 
ing their year’s wood. 
We have had but one 
light snow this winter, 
and it went away almost 
as soon as it fell. We 
have had very mild 
weather here so far; 
there has been a considerable amount of 
mud and the ground has scarcely been 
frozen enough to bear a person’s weight. 
We have had as nice a time this last fall 
for preparing for winter as I ever witnessed. 
Wheat is doing well so far; if it would only 
look as green on April 1, how pleased the 
farmers would be. But we do not depend 
very largely on wheat in this section. Of 
couise, a failure in wheat injures us, but it 
doesn’t injure us like a failure in corn does. 
Corn and hogs are the products that bring 
us our money. When we have plenty of 
corn and plenty of hogs we have plenty of 
cash. There was almost any amount of 
corn here this fall that was chaffy and oth¬ 
erwise damaged so that it was rendered un¬ 
fit for sale ; but it was fed to hogs and the 
farmers realized a fair profit from it. I 
think it will pay me to increase my facili 
ties for raising hogs. M. M. H. 
Pendleton, Madison County, December 
6.—Wet weather has continued through 
the fall till date, so that corn did not 
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SEEDING OATS AND GRASS. 
J. XV. T., Staunton, Va. 
OME five years ago I bought a 
" farm of 160 acres, and have 
since lived upon it. Being a 
merchant in Staunton, one 
mile away, I cannot work 
or superintend the work of 
the farm; but living on it, I am there morn¬ 
ing and evening, and can plan and direct. 
Never having lived on a farm before, my 
whole experience in this regard is confined 
to the last five years. I do not, therefore, 
pretend to be much of a farmer, being not 
even a “ book ” farmer, but rather a “paper” 
farmer, as my knowledge of farming has 
beeu derived from agricultural papers and 
journals. Neighbors tell me my farm has 
greatly improved in these years, and I cheer¬ 
fully give the credit to the papers. There 
are two things I wish the Rural to advise 
me about. 
1. I have 25 acres in wheat. The grouud 
was put in good condition, the wheat was 
seeded nicely, and is now looking well. 
With the wheat was sown Timothy Eted— 
