THE 
RAH. NEW-YORKER. 
of these methods of packing, speak favorably 
of them, and say that well made butter of 
good color so put up, brings from five to 
twenty cents a pound more than when packed 
in tubs ; the latter price only, of course, for 
established brands. It will be seen that Mr. 
Keneraou’s method greatly simplifies the mak¬ 
ing of small prints, or indeed prints of any 
kind. As many stamps are used on each box 
us there are varied inscriptions, or figures, 
on each row of prints. If the same figure, 
letter, or monogram is impressed on every 
print, only one row of stamps is required. 
cfarm (fcttmomji. 
THE HISTORY OF A POOR FARM. 
No. 3. 
HIKED HELP. 
1 succeeded In letting a contract for ditch¬ 
ing the swamp at 25 cents a rod, the ditches to 
be two feet wide at the top, three feet deep and 
one foot wide at the bottom. At this rate a 
good man tvitii good tools will make 75 cents a 
day, at least, digging three to four rods. Six 
feet in leugth ol the ditch will make one cubic 
yard, and I had oilers to dig the ditches 
at ten cents a cubic yard. There never was, 
or will be, any better time to make improve¬ 
ments of this kind than the pres cut, and every 
farmer who has such work to be done, and has 
the money to spare for doing it, should seize 
the opportunity now. There are hundreds of 
industrious men seeking employment, and to 
set sueli men at work is a kindness, as well as 
a just action. *' The world owes every man a 
living.” This is a hackneyed and oftentimes 
an iliased adage ; but it is true in one sense ; 
every man ought to be at work, and there is 
something wrong when honest, industrious 
men cauuot find work to do. The squire of 
the village, Mr. Martin, stood by as I said this 
to Doctor Jones, who had just called on me, 
and who is a noted farmer; “ You are some¬ 
thing of a communist.” said he. 
“ That is not what I understand the so-called 
communism to be,” I replied. “ This is a di¬ 
vision of the results of labor, and the deg¬ 
radation of all men to one common level, so 
that one man should not in auy case have one 
dollar more than auother, however well he 
may have earned it by means of superior skill, 
industry, or mauagemeut. It is to a farmer’s 
interest to employ as much labor as he can 
turu to advantage. Rather than have a field 
lie idle for want of labor, I would have the 
owner set a man to work ou it, If he can make 
the labor return its cost and something be¬ 
sides for the use of the land; and 1 have never 
known a time when he could not do that by 
good manage meat.” 
“ What is wanted,” remarked Dr. Jones, “ is 
a supply of steady labor. A hundred acres of 
laud ought to give work to three men, at least. 
To feed and care for 16 cows require the con¬ 
stant labor of one mau, and 100 acres ought to 
feed at least 40 cows or yield au equivalent 
supply of food products. With a settled class 
of farm laborers we should have frequent 
small hamlets or villages ; every 10 farms or 
1,000 acres would need 10 farm homesteads 
and 30 laborers’ cottages ; and for 10,000 acres, 
or an area of four miles square, there might, 
be a village of 300 or 300 houses for farm la¬ 
borers, besides stores, shops, mechanics’ houses, 
schools, churches and all the other accessories 
of a civilized society.” 
“Not forgeltiug the Doctor’s office,” said 
Mr. Mai tin. 
“ Nor a lawyer or two to encourage litiga¬ 
tion,” rejoined Doctor Jones jestingly. 
“It Is true," said I, “that at present, farm 
labor is oarried on too much by a migratory 
and unsettled class, and that this works much 
mischief, ll would be to the farmer’s iutercst 
to build neat, comfortable cottages for his 
hired men, and encourage the presence of mar¬ 
ried men and families by giving a preference 
to them ; and to each cottage a garden should 
be attached. There would then be a home 
market created for much farm produce, 6ueb 
as milk, butter, vegetables, flour aud meat; aud 
this would help very much to support au extra 
number of laborers, who would iu fact subsist 
themselves out of the extra product of the 
farms, leaving as much as ever to be sold or 
shipped to distaut markets. 
“ The product of oue acre ought to be suffi¬ 
cient to provide for the wauts of oue person, 
so that ten farms of 100 acres each, ought to 
support a home populatiou of 500 peraous and 
yet to ship away half the products to make 
business elsewhere. The nucleus of a popula¬ 
tion will always be the laborers on the land, 
and it Is to the farmer's interest to encourage 
the settlement of laborers, not only because of 
the home market thus provided, but because 
the value of land is in direct ratio to the num¬ 
ber of the udjaceut population. A settled 
class of laborers would soon wish to own their 
houses, aud a demand for small building aud 
garden plots would spring up. When labor¬ 
ers own their own dwellings aud gardens, then 
the employers will have a better and more sat 
isfactory supply of labor; then, too, there 
would not be such a rush to the Far West of 
our best men who are anxious, and properly 
so, to find permanent homes for themselves 
and their families.” 
“ But how,” inquired Mr. Martin, “ are farm¬ 
ers to pay for such help ? For a hired mau to 
he able to support a family, much less to buy 
and own a house, would require higher wages 
than farmers can afford in these times, when 
everything a farmer has to sell is lower than it 
has been for thirty years." 
“ Labor is to lie valued according to its quali¬ 
ty,” said I. " A good man is worth two or 
three poor men ; and the more efficient a labor¬ 
er is, the more money he can earn and the more 
profit his employer can realize from his work. 
As with all other things so with labor, the best 
Is the cheapest. Here is an instance; one man 
at work iu this swamp can dig five rods of ditch 
in a day aud make a neater and better job than 
another who only digs three rods or less. The 
one earns $1.25 a day and the other 75 cents. 
I can hire both at $35 a month each, but should 
lose money at that price by one, aud could well 
afford to pay the other $30 a month. It is so 
with all other work, and the better trained and 
steadier farmers’ hired men become, the more 
profitable will be their work to their employers. 
Besides, we can always hire a man for a year 
for about as much as would be paid for nine 
mouths’ irregular work. If a man works but 
half the time, lie must earu enough to keep 
him all the time, and farmers ought to learn this 
lesson, and try to keep their men busy the year 
round.” 
“ How can they do that ?’’ asked Mr. Martin, 
“ there are stormy days, aud iu the winter how 
can employment be found for hired men ?" 
“Make work for them," replied Doctor 
Jones. 
“Precisely,” I remarked; “iu the stormy 
days there are tools to be sharpened, imple¬ 
ments and harness to be repaired, and a farmer 
will find one of the best investments he can 
make will be for a workshop and tools; and 
oue of the best things he can do, is to learn to 
use them himself and teach his men to use 
them. In the winter time there Is much to be 
done to prepare for the spring and summer work, 
and it w ill be more profitable to keep the men at 
work if it is only to card the cows, clean the 
barn, or scrape the trees in the orchard, than 
to pay a whole year’s wages for nine months’ 
work. Farmers ought to make more of a study 
ol this part ol their business, for in time the 
farmer who does not employ laborers steadily 
will be but a laborer himself aud earn only a 
laborer’s wages.” 
--- 
WORK FOR FEBRUARY. 
Head Wore, —On the farm at all times, 
this kind of work pays the best returns for the 
time given to it. Head work is too much 
neglected, considering the sure, and large 
profits which are certain to follow its em¬ 
ployment. February is the mouth of all others 
for study. The accounts and inventory of the 
previous year are fixed up. The grange or farm¬ 
ers' club is in full blast, uud very likely doing its 
best. This Is the time of year for meetings of 
pomological societies, for farmers Institutes, for 
meetings of men especially interested in 
bees, swine, sheep, cattle, horses or any par¬ 
ticular breed of domestic animals. These con¬ 
ventions are of more value to those w'ho at¬ 
tend them than to those who remain at home. 
Some farmers act as if they were ignorant of 
this self-evident truth. The advantages are 
numerous uud important. Men engaged in a 
common interest or specialty learn from each 
other. They get acquainted; they pick up 
new ideas; they gather enthusiasm ; they go to 
work again with a better understanding of 
their business. No matter whether you are 
an officer or not, you are always a welcome 
listener, at auy rate, in any of the above gath¬ 
erings. 
Books and Papers. —The farmer has se¬ 
lected his list of agricultural papers, aud they 
are uow coming regularly with all of their im¬ 
provements. lie has added to his library a 
few of the best and moat recent hooka ou his 
specialties. We hear less of bookriarmiug than 
formerly. Books ou agriculture are better 
than they were. People never expect to use 
all the advice given ou any topic even by the 
most practical aud successful mau, but this 
is no reason why they should not consult the 
best meu who are engaged iu the same busi¬ 
ness with themselves. The same rule may be 
applied to books. We should bo able to pick 
out from books some valuable liiuts applica¬ 
ble to our owu wauts. Ouc book has a pic¬ 
ture of a wheat stack ubout two-thirds done. 
The stack is cylindrical aud fiat or dishing at 
the top. That is uo way to build a stack, aud 
every farmer knows it; hut after all every 
farmer might read the book with profit. 
Visit Friends and Take Notes.— Every en¬ 
terprising farmer who intends to progress is 
keeping accounts with various departments of 
his business. Each of his fields is charged with 
the work, seed and part of the manure put on 
it, aud credited with w hat comes off. He keeps 
a diary, not writing for the sake of w'riting, 
but to make note of any new idea w’hich he 
w ishes to use during the next year. He sees a 
new gate latch, a sheep rack, a mauger, some¬ 
thing desirable about some farm implement, 
and he makes a note of everything of the kind 
by word or drawiug. These uotes are looked 
over every little while during the year. There 
are many advantages in visitiug good farmers. 
Look about you for men who raise superior 
wheat, corn, potatoes and other crops, and live 
stock. If they are ahead of you, buy some of 
the extra seed or stock aud enter into a healthy 
competition with the best of them. 
Get ur Wood; Repair Implements. —Dur¬ 
ing the sleighing time the farmer is getting up 
wood, drawing logs to mill, marketing pro¬ 
duce, visitiug friouds, etc, The drag teeth are 
sharpened, the plows repaired, the mower put 
lu order, the wagon aud buggy taken to town 
to be painted aud put lu first-rate order. He 
will not neglect to store ice for the summer. 
Exercise for Stock. —All kinds of stock 
will be the better for moderate exercise. This 
advice applies especially to animals which are 
kept iu stables. Cows and horses should be let 
out for a part of each day, unless the weather 
is exceedingly severe or stormy. 
Manure. —If you are near towu, it may be 
best to buy aud draw rnauure during the win¬ 
ter. Take care of what is made ou the farm. 
Look out for tire-fang in horse rnauure. Turn 
it, or mix it with rnauure of hogs and cattle. 
Economy. — Save as much us possible of 
everythiug useful if it does uot cost too much 
labor. Time is money. Labor is money. It 
is poor economy to buy old stock at auy price, 
to feed for profit. Young, thrifty stock pay 
much the best returns lor feed eousumed. 
Weigh them often, and when they cease to give 
returns for feed and trouble, dispose of them. 
Contrive in every w f ay to do the chores with as 
little labor as possible, without neglecting any¬ 
thing. Try to save steps. We kuow of instan¬ 
ces where two meu lake better care of the 
stock ou a large farm than three or four do on 
a smaller farm. It Is not economy to feed 
straw aloue to any animal. It is not com¬ 
posed ol the right materials for profitable 
feed. Oil cake, corn meal, or shorts will 
supply what the straw lacks. In this way. 
straw may be fed with profit to many animals. 
As profits are small at best, all these details of 
labor, age of animal, food etc. must be at¬ 
tended to. 
FARM EXPERIMENTS SUGGESTED. 
Practical knowledge is only to be acquired 
by actual experiment, and is the only kind of 
any real value. If all soils were exactly alike, 
having the same exposure and protection, sub¬ 
ject to the same climate, and the same amount 
of rainfall at exactly the Bauie dates, farming 
would at once rise to the dignity of au exact 
science. One set of experiments anywhere 
would be the foundation lor all farm opera¬ 
tions of the same kind everywhere. The vast 
body of farmers, 90 far as concerned their owu 
avocation, would become mere machines, or 
even less In the social scale. Brains would be 
of uo value, aud the fool of the family would 
do as well as the genius ou the farm. 
Fortunately, however, the soil is various aud 
must be treated with braius or it fails to pro¬ 
duce. Business men never trust auy one uutil 
inquiries have been made into his stand¬ 
ing and his ability to fulfill his promises. 
Farmers, however, never think of Inquiring 
into the character of the land they are going 
to trust their seed to. They say to themselves, 
" That’s laud, aud this is seed, let’s try them 
together.” 
It has been asserted that fertilizers are all 
washed down into the subsoil by rains, and 
are lost—if so, why is the subsoil always poor ? 
An experiment, easily made, would settle this 
question for ever. It is the practice with 
many to put ou too much lime, hoping to cre¬ 
ate plenty of plant food. But they create too 
mueh, and the crop gees to stems aud leaves 
at the expense of the grain. Experiment 
would teach a valuable lessou here. The 
question of deep or shallow plowing and cul¬ 
tivation is yet a debatable one; why not ex¬ 
periment, prove that which is good and hold 
fast to it? Light and heavy seeding; early 
aud late sowiug : home-growu or iorelgu- 
grown seed; seed grown north or south of us.- 
seed gathered when half-ripe or when wholly 
mature : subsoiling, and even whether it pays 
to feed starving fields as well us to keep stock 
always growing, are all open questions. 
Why is thiB so? Why have six tbousaud 
years of ceaseless tillage taught us nothing? 
And are we to go od six thousand years more 
iu tbo same style As every farm is. Iu a mea¬ 
sure, xui gt-urri*, so must every farmer be its 
genius loci. Dou’t trust a man till you know 
him. Don’t trust your land till you know it. 
Experiment, dig, pry and inquire at every pos¬ 
sible opportunity don’t quarrel with a family 
you are uot acquainted with, and, above all 
things, don’t bury money In a hole without a 
bottom. S. Rufus Mason. 
Dodge Co., Neb. 
Jxclii (Cro$s. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATO SEED. 
Having heard much said about the differ¬ 
ence in the crops produced by the seed taken 
from the different parts of the potato and 
from seed of different sizes, I determined 
last spring to make a series of experiments for 
my individual satisfaction, and I now relate 
them for the benefit or satisfaction of others. 
I selected for my experiments seven leading 
varieties of potatoes, as follows : Early Rose, 
Peerless. Compton’s Surprise, Victor, aud 
Snowflake from seed grown ou my farm, and 
Late Rose and Eureka from seed grown In 
Illinois, taking of each variety oue and a half 
bushels of large and small potatoes as they 
had come from the field the previous Autumn. 
I first sorted out the small potatoes—those 
the size of a walnut aud less—aud cut them for 
planting to single eyes, as far as practicable. 
I then cut the large-sized ones to single eyes, 
keeping the seed from the eye, or seed end, 
separate from that nearer the stem, dividing 
the seed into two equal portions, as near as 
might be. 
They were all planted on new land, in the 
same field, being the soeond crop on the laud 
since it had been cleared of timber, a portion 
of the field having been planted to corn and a 
portion to potatoes the previous year. They 
were planted May 15th to 30th in rows three 
feet apart and the hills about two feet apart 
iu the rows, three pieces, or eyes put in a hill. 
No manure whatever was ever applied to 
the ground. After they were well up, I 
harrowed them with a light one-horse harrow, 
following soon after with the hoe and hoeing 
up the sorrel, which is always very plentiful 
on new grouud iu this section ; and about the 
time they were lu blossom, Immediately after 
a soaking rain, I cultivated with a shovel- 
plow, and billed them up with the hoe. Upon 
inspecting the growing vines, I found iu every 
variety the poorest stands in those rowsplanted 
with seed from the stem end of the large potatoes, 
and the best stands of the Peerless, Early 
Rose, Victor aud Eureka were in the rows 
plauted with seed from the seed end, while the 
best stauds of late Rose, Snowflake and Comp- 
tou’s Surprise were iu the rows planted with 
the small potatoes. In every variety the vines 
from the small potatoes were more puny and 
spindling than the others, and the most stocky 
aud vigorous vines were found in every in¬ 
stance in those rows planted with seeds from 
the eye or seed end. Iu some cases the dif¬ 
ference was so slight as to be discernible only 
upon most careful observation and compari¬ 
son, yet the rule held good with every variety. 
I am of opiulon that the harrowing aug¬ 
mented the difference-lu the stand in favor of 
the more stocky vines from the seed end of 
the large potatoes, by tearing out a greater 
proportion of the more puny ones. The rows 
planted with seed from the stem end were a 
little later thau the others, otherwise there 
was no perceptible difference In the season of 
ripeniug. From every variety I harvested the 
largest amount aud the largest potatoes from 
those rows planted with the seed end ol the 
potato. The next in amount was harvested 
from those plauted with small potatoes; yet 
the rows planted with seed from the stein 
end produced tubers of a more even size, but 
smaller lu amount, there being iu these rows 
uo potatoes of the largest size and very few 
small ones. My conclusions, therefore, from 
these experiments are, that it is best with 
these varieties at least to select seed from the 
eye, or seed, end of the largest potatoes. 
As to the comparative productiveness of the 
several varieties, I find the Peerless largely 
exceeds any of the others, Victor and Late 
Rose ranking next, then Early Rose, Eureka, 
Snowflake and Compton’s Surprise, in the 
order named. I also found that the yield was 
nearly double on the grouud where potatoes 
hud been raised the previous year. 
It was my intention to weigh the product 
of each variety and those from the several 
divisions of the seed separately aud by rows ; 
but the potato crop in this section was nearly 
an entire failure and families iu the village 
were unable to obtain any at any price. So t 
as my field was the only one where any w ere 
grovviug, the pressure to dig and sell the dif¬ 
ferent Yurieties as they ripened was too great 
for me to withstand. I intend to repeat the ex¬ 
periments next season with these and several 
other varieties upon a small scale on two experi¬ 
mental plots, one of clayey loam, and the 
other a sandy ridge with but little loam. If 
other reuders of the Rural have experimented 
in this direction, I should bo pleased to hear 
from them. George Pinney. 
Door County, Wls. 
-- , - 
EXPERIENCE WITH PRICKLY COMFREY. 
As this new forage plant is attracting some 
attention, and as various opinions have been 
expressed about it, I will give to the readers of 
the Rural my experieuce, as tending to throw 
light on the subject. 
