9 
JULY 12 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
441 
Freight Injustices. —At a recent meeting 
of the Farmers’ Alliance, as reported in the 
Rural Home, railroad monopolies wore talked 
about. One member said he did not believe 
there would be sufficient resistance to railroad 
oppression till it had fairly strangled the peo¬ 
ple. Another added : “ Shall we control the 
railroads, or shall the railroads control us? 
Vanderbilt has control of all the railroads 
Raving Chicago, and running through this 
State. The chartered corporations have the 
statutory rights, and we are told that there is 
no other way but for the people to submit. Is 
that so ? There are the people on one side 
and the corporations on the other, and the 
people can beat, if they will it." 
Upland Cranberries. —A year or two ago 
there was a great ado made about the cultiva¬ 
tion of Cranberries without the assistance of 
marshes or water, says the Germantown Tele¬ 
graph. Very careful directions were given 
how it was all to be done ; how it would avoid 
the insects, diseases, etc., to which the bog 
Cranberries were subjected, and so on. Of 
course there was money to be made in this. 
There were plants to be sold, and we suppose 1 
that a good sale was made; for by the time 
the fraud could be discovered there were no 
more offered to be sold. At least we do not 
notice that such was the fact. Cultivating 
Cranberries on upland and Whortleberries in 
gardeus are about on a par. 
Strawberries. —The Indiana Farmer gives 
a report of the proceedings of the Montgomery 
County (Ohio) Society. Dr. John A. Warder 
said he raised berries to eat, not to sell, and 
he preferred the Burr New Pine above all 
others. It may not till the eye, or have good 
market qualities, but it is ^arly, and fully an 
inch in diameter, large enough for anybody of 
ordinary-sized mouth. “ For u Strawberry for 
home consumption, give me Burr’s New Pine." 
Mr. Ohmer called the Crescent Seedling “ The 
Lazy Man’s Strawberry.” lie sayB it is “ an 
easy grower, needing little culture." 
Potato Water. —The Scientific American 
says that an immediate and effective remedy 
for lice on cows and other cattle, also for ticks 
on pigs, is to wash the affected parts with po¬ 
tato water—water in which potatoes have been 
boiled. 
-- 
CATALOGUES, Ac., RECEIVED. 
Our readers know of Mr. J. T. Lovett, the 
enthusiastic and reliable small-fruit cultivator. 
He has favored the Rural with a number of 
articles upon various small fruits, which have 
sliowu how carefully he observes and records 
the new facts which in this pleasant occupa¬ 
tion are ever presenting themselves. We speak 
of Mr. Lovett at this time merely to say that 
he is uow sole proprietor of “ Monmouth Nur¬ 
series ’’ (Little Silver, New Jersey), to which, 
we understand, he proposes to give his undi¬ 
vided attention. 
$ottltrj) fjari), 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Some farmers think it does not pay them to 
keep poultry. Their hens do not lay, and they 
are wauderiug all over the farm, scratching 
up corn, tangling the oats and wheat, destroy¬ 
ing the garden, etc. Of course this does not 
pay him. But let us take a look at his barn¬ 
yard. In one corner stands his poultry house— 
if such you could call it—which consists of a 
little shanty fi by 8 feet square and about 3 feet 
high on one side and 4^ feet on the other. He 
keeps about 100 heus, with oue rooster, which 
must either be huddled together in this small 
pen or roost out-of-doors on the coldest nights 
we have. The manure is two feet deep under¬ 
neath one or two cross-pieces for the hens to 
roost on. The roof is rotten, and part of it 
fallen in. Here and there lies a dead hen, which 
died either from some disease, from exposure 
to the weather, or from starvation, as he never 
feeds his hens anything—“it don't pay," you 
know. What water his hens get they drink 
out of a hole iu the barnyard, which contains 
liquid manure, which is going to waste the 
same as many < Iher things on his farm. This 
much you ci uld have guessed, as any man 
that will not takj proper care of his chickens 
is slack iu his other work. There are no 
places in which the hens could lay, even if 
they would under the circumstances. I am 
sure of one thing, that is, that poultry does pay 
here at “Cherry Dale" farm, and I think they 
would on any farm if managed the same as 
here. Our chickens are supplied with water 
the year around, and fed night and morning. 
We always try to keep egg shells for our chick¬ 
ens to eat. We have a good, roomy, and clean 
poultry house, and always have plenty of nests 
filled with eleun, bright straw. We find our 
heus lay a great deal better when they have a 
change of food every week. As soon as we 
find a hen that wauts to sit, uuless we waut 
her for that purpose, we shut her up in a small 
coop, water and feed her regularly, and in a 
few days she will come out and go to laying, 
Sandusky Co., Ohio. C. T. Tinnet. 
novel balance valve, which seems to be almost 
entirely free of friction, and the whole of the 
running parts lie very low upon the truck, so 
that the engineer can have a full view of the 
entire engine at all times, and can have ready 
access to all the parts requiring his attention. 
Westinghouse & Co., of Schenectady, N. Y., 
the manufacturers of this new engine, are also 
preparing to manufacture their Combined 
Clover and Grain Thrasher, on a larger scale 
than heretofore. The long-continued monop¬ 
oly which has controlled the production of 
clover machines having two cylinders, which 
has been the source of so much vexation and 
litigation during the past eight years, seems 
likely to come to an eud with the expiration of 
the patent. 
-♦ » » 
THE SYRACUSE CHILLED PLOW. 
Report from the Rural Experiment 
Farm. —Last March we received from the 
Syracuse Chilled Plow Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., 
one of their full-rigged, two-horse plows, with 
a request to thoroughly test and report our 
opinion of it. In onr locality the farmers are 
very conservative, and have held steadfastly to 
the common, cheap plow, so that the advent of 
the “Syracuse" excited quite an amouut of 
curiosity which culminated in its traveling 
about the neighborhood and being extensively 
used. It has made warm friends and converts. 
Its performances have demonstrated its supe¬ 
riority, and shown that it is in every respect a 
cheaper plow for sixteen dollars, than a dozen 
of the old-fashioned concerns at a quarter the 
price. 
The thoroughness ot the work performed, 
the ease of draft and handling and solid con¬ 
struction are the merits that are most appar¬ 
ent. We put it into a pasture that had been in 
grass nine years. The sod was very tough, 
but the plow went through it handsomely, cut- 
tiug a clean furrow slice, and turning the fur¬ 
row so thoroughly that all the grass was plow¬ 
ed under perfectly. Again it waB put into sod 
that was overgrown with grass and daisies 
nearly a foot high, but this growth was com¬ 
pletely turned under and covered. Corn was 
planted on this plot, and now that the growing 
crop requires working, it is found that only 
the hoe need be used. The plowing left the 
ground in such an excellent, perfectly pulver¬ 
ized condition, that it is uncommonly friable 
and free from grass or weeds. We particular¬ 
ize these instances as wc consider they make 
an admirable record for the “Syracuse.” We 
have expended nothing for repairs. 
-♦ » » ■ - 
THE BIRDSALL ENGINE. 
THE BIRDSALL ENGINE. 
probably invisible, but is nevertheless ample 
in quantity to permeate the stratum of culti¬ 
vated soil, where (especially at night) meeting 
a cooler temperature, it is partly condensed, 
just enough to act as a solvent to the constitu¬ 
ents of the soil, and thus serve to prepare 
plant-food. Changes of temperature in the 
atmosphere serve to accelerate or retard this 
the work required. The boiler of this engine 
will naturully be classed as an upright, but its 
interior construction is different from the ver¬ 
tical boilers. The tubes, instead of being ver¬ 
tical, are horizontal, and so arranged that 
the water circulates through them, and thereby 
present a large heating surface acting upon a 
small quantity of water. The engine has a 
The very excellent illustration of the engine 
made by E. M. Birdsall & Co., of Penn-Yan, 
N. Y., showB some decided departures from the 
usual manuerof construction. The cylinder is 
reversed, throwing the crank-shaft and bal¬ 
ance-wheel near the middle of the boiler. The 
heater is directly under the smoke-box end of 
the boiler, and is arranged to permit the drain¬ 
age of every pipe, elbow connection and bend 
in the feed, in cold weather. Being near the 
cylinder, too, it receives the exhaust by a short 
couueetion aud discharges directly into the 
smoke-stack. It also serves to make a sub¬ 
stantial attachment to the front axle and sup¬ 
ports the boiler saddle-wise. The boiler is of 
locomotive pattern, but differs somewhat from 
the ordinary portable farm engine. 
The fire-box eud is what is known in loco¬ 
motive practice as the wagon-top form, being 
made with the sheet which forms the shell of 
the fire box several inches higher on top 
than the tube-shell, connecting with the 
latter by a taper waist, and surmounted 
by a steam-dome, which together form a 
large steam and water space. The fire¬ 
box is provided with rolling grates, 
which are actuated by a lever outside 
for cloauiug the ashes. The ash-pan is 
provided with a draft-door at either end, 
in order that adverse winds may be guard¬ 
ed against. 
The cut gives a very clear illustration 
of the manner in which the cylinder aud 
frame are attached to the boiler. The 
design of the frame is of the truss pat¬ 
tern, giving rigidity and strength, to¬ 
gether with symmetry and beauty of pri> 
portion. It is all cast iu one piece, com¬ 
prising the cylinder, steam-chest, elbow- 
-pipe connections, guides, crauk-shafi 
box, valve-stem guide, and bracket sup¬ 
ports. It is attached to the boiler by 
broad, heavy brackets, the oue at the 
- cylinder end being secured to that part 
of the sheet which forms the smoke-box. 
and hence is not liable to cause leaks in 
the tube-sheet by the bolls working loose. 
The various parts of the engine are con¬ 
veniently accessible, and it is seldom that wc 
are called upon to inspect a piece of mechanism 
that has been so carefully worked out in detail 
with a view to eucompassing worth, strength, 
economy aud finish. The circulars sent on 
application are fully explanatory and well il¬ 
lustrated, giving the reader a very clear con¬ 
ception of the engine. 
ncittifk autr Sstful. 
CIRCULATION OF MOISTURE IN THE 
EARTH. 
8. RUFUS MASON. 
Heat and cold are the two principal agents 
producing the phenomena of life, not only of 
animal life, but also of vegetable life, as well 
as that pre-existing condition of the elements 
which induces animation in creation. Water 
is an extremely sensitive fluid, never for an 
instant in a state of rest, and so easily affected 
by heat or its absence that it rises and falls, 
ebbs and flows in the soil almost as promptly 
as the atmosphere does upon a fitful summer’s 
day. The ill effects of stagnant water— bo- 
called—are well known ; it poisons the air, the 
soil it lies upon, the vegetation near it, and 
the very animals compelled to breathe the 
vitiated atmosphere about it or drink its fetid 
nastiness. But it is not slagnaut in the true 
meaning of the word; it still rises by day and 
falls at night, although it does not ebb and 
flow. It has really become dead water—in 
goutradistinctiou to living water—because it 
has no motion over its bed, which tends to 
refresh it by constant mixing with the atmo¬ 
sphere. We have here the secret of pure 
water, as water deprived of constant accessions 
of fresh air, becomes foul and decays. Al¬ 
though water in the soil seems, at first thought, 
to be too far removed from the atmosphere to 
feel its influence, yet it will be found extreme¬ 
ly sensitive to it, and under proper conditions 
more will readily mix with air, than when in 
large bodies on the surface. 
The internal heat of the earth tends to ex¬ 
pand the water in it, which thus by its heat 
and its consequent loss of gravity, rises toward 
the surface. This vapor, mist or exhalation is 
action, and between the earth’s internal heat, 
and the sun’s heat applied to the soil external¬ 
ly, well cultivated soil can never become aour. 
The only mode by which soils can become 
sour, is to so ueglect thorn that circulation is 
checked or totally stopped. When the exhala¬ 
tion arising from Internal heat is so great that 
it cannot all be condensed in the soil, but a 
part rises into the air, it is then caught by a 
cooler atmosphere and is at once condensed 
into water, which collecting on herbage and 
objects lying near the surface, forms dew. 
This is a consequence of cold, and iu oppo¬ 
sition to heat, drives down whatever heat forces 
up. Heat acts always iu opposition to gravi¬ 
ty ; cold always in favor of it, and these two 
powere incessautly iu action, maintain a con¬ 
stant circulation of water, moisture, vapor or 
exhalation in the soil, according to their re¬ 
spective thermometrical differences. 
Dodge Co., Neb. 
fnhstral fmplcumits. 
THE WESTINGHOUSE ENGINE. 
This Engine is comparatively new in many 
of its features. It is capable of driving the 
largest grain thrasher, and its actual weight 
is not more than 3,S00 pounds. This of itself 
shonld attract attention, because it is many 
times a very anxiou8 question how to move 
large machinery, especially in hilly sections of 
the country or when roads are in bad condi¬ 
tion. To make one of so light a weight as that 
mentioned herein, there must needs have been 
some modification of the customary methods 
of construction, aud these modifications con¬ 
sist of, first, a naturally reduced weight in the 
boiler, which from its peculiar construction 
retains abundant strength and has an ample 
area of heating surface; next, a quick-moving 
engine, having all its proportions adapted to 
