3P6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. ““J" *3 
five pounds Ivondon purple, $1; three boxes lye, 30 
cents; total, $3.16. For San Josd scale use common 
salt in place of copperas in making mixture. 
Liberty, Mo. n. w. e. 
Advantages of Dusting. 
I used the liquid more or less from 1884 to 1900 in¬ 
clusive, and think I know some of its defective points. 
This is my third season with the dust, and I see as yet 
no reason to return to the liquid. I am now going 
over the orchard the second time. Had I been using 
the liquid it would have been almost impossible to do 
the work owing to the soft condition of the ground 
from constant rains. My dust this year contains 
lime, blue vitriol, Paris-green, caustic soda and sul¬ 
phur, and I believe it will be effectual for everything, 
unless it is the scale and the leaf-hoppers. My re¬ 
sult last season on the Maiden Blush apple was a 
failure for some reason. I had a very wormy and 
rough lot of fruit, but Winesaps growing alongside 
of them were as free of worms and scab as any or¬ 
chard in the State. I think this difference was due 
partly to the dust used, for there was a more dilute 
dust used at first. From personal experience I con¬ 
sider the dust has the following points of advantage 
over the liquid: The dust makes no load and no trips 
have to be made to renew a supply before quitting 
time, and that in a wet season, like the present, is a 
big advantage. The same mixture will do for all fruit 
with no danger of burning the leaves of any of them. 
The machine is always ready for work and can be put 
to work on quick notice. There are no nozzles to clog, 
no leaky valves, or broken hose. Two hands will do 
nearly as much in one day with the dust as three can 
with the liquid, and the liquid applied from one side 
only. The water has no value except as a carrier, 
while the lime is a fungicide and is also a benefit to 
the land. I have tried no check trees or 
plots, so can give no positive proof that 
the dust is or is not equal to the liquid, 
but 1 do know for a certainty that the 
dust will destroy the tent-caterpillar, 
canker-worm, leaf-roller, skeletonizer. 
Codling moth and other insects which 
cat the leaves. There are some points 
lor improvement in preparing the dust, 
and much room for improving the ma¬ 
chines. A machine should have a strong 
steady blast with a valve to open or 
shut, quick to regulate the discharge, 
and a good-sized hopper. 
Illinois. A. A. niN KT.E T. 
EVERY MAN HIS OWN HORSE. 
Last Winter David Lubin called 
our attention to a new power device 
for garden cultivation. In the cel¬ 
lar of his New York house he had ar¬ 
ranged a long bed of soil in which 
the implement was tried. The device 
for multiplying man power is shown at Fig. 137. A 
stout frame is arranged so that the bottom is so firm¬ 
ly fixed in the soil that it will not “give.” At the 
upper part of this frame is a small windlass with a 
crank handle at each end, so that a man can turn with 
both hands. A stout rope or light chain coils up on 
the windlass passing down over a small pulley, and 
out so that it may be attached to a cultivator or plow. 
As operated in the cellar this rope was pulled out to 
nearly 20 feet and fastened to a small combination 
harrow and cultivator. I then stood in the position 
of the man shown in the picture with my feet on the 
supports which steady the frame and turned the wind¬ 
lass with both hands. As the rope was wound over 
the windlass it passed over the lower pulley, thus 
making a straight draft upon the cultivator. As a 
result this tool was pulled slowly toward me, tearing 
up the soil in a surprising way. When I attempted to 
pull the cultivator by hauling directly upon the rope 
I found that I could not stir it. I am satisfied that a 
fair-sized horse w’ould be required to do the work I 
did by turning that windlass. This would be quickly 
understood by one who tried to lift a bucket of water 
out of a well by pulling it up hand over hand and then 
lifted the same bucket by winding the rope over a 
windlass. 
It was quite evident from the first that Mr. Lubin 
has devised a simple arrangement of great power. The 
plan he proposed was for a man to fasten the frame 
into the ground and then pull plow or cultivator up 
to him. Then quickly to pull out the frame, carry it 
out to the length of the rope, drive the ends into the 
ground as he would a spade and again pull it on. Thus 
traveling back and forth over the field one man could 
slowly work up the ground or, more rapidly, cultivate 
several rows at a time. There was no question in my 
mind but that with this tool one man of fair size can 
do the work of a small horse or of three men with 
ordinary tools in preparing the soil for seeding. As 
for cultivating among growing crops with the ordi¬ 
nary small cultivators I fear that without a guide the 
implement would tear up too many plants, shy at 
hidden stones and act as many humans unfortunately 
do when sent along without a rudder. To overcome 
these objections Mr. Lubin has, as I understand him, 
given up the idea of using the small cultivators now 
in use, and devised the special tool shown in the pic¬ 
ture. This is arranged with weights in an ingenious 
way so that it wdll very nearly guide itself. This has 
been tried in practical outside work. 
There is no question about the tremendous power 
which a fair-sized man can develop with this ma¬ 
chine. In a larger way the device can be used for 
heavier work. For example, a two-horse gasoline en¬ 
gine could be mounted on a stone boat with one of 
these frames at the back and with spurs to hold it 
fast in the ground. One good horse could haul this 
outfit for 150 feet, and then the engine could haul a 
heavy gang plow or harrow up to it. Thus with one 
horse a farmer could do the work of four. I believe 
that sometliing of this sort will be found quite prac¬ 
tical in the future, and while Mr. Lubin thoroughly 
believes that Vis tools will revolutionize the ciiUivatioti 
of growing garden crops, it seems to me that their 
best work will be done in preparing the seed bed. 
_ H. W. C. 
MAIL BOXES FOR FREE RURAL DELIVERY 
There ha.s been some complaint and much discussion 
over an order from the Post Ottice Department requiring 
farmers who receive mail on a rural delivery route to 
try certain specified mail boxes. The following letter 
from the First Assistant Postmaster-General seems to 
settle the matter: 
The Department insists that persons desiring to 
avail themselves of the rural free delivery service on 
routes established since October 1, 1902 (the date when 
the Postmaster General’s Order No. 739 went into ef¬ 
fect), must erect boxes which conform to the terms of 
that order, and which have been approved in the man¬ 
ner provided for by it. Parties refusing to erect such 
approved boxes on routes established since the Post¬ 
master General’s order became effective, are consid¬ 
ered as not desiring the rural mail service, and it is 
consequently withheld from them. Boxes, approved in 
conformity to Order No. 739, are covered and pro¬ 
tected by the United States Statutes, which provide 
as follows: 
Whoever shall willfully or maliciously injure, tear 
down, or destroy any letter box or other receptacle es¬ 
tablished by order of the Postmaster-General, or ap¬ 
proved or designated by him, for the receipts or delivery 
of mail matter on any rural free delivery route, star 
route or other mall route, or shall break open the same, 
or willfully or maliciously injure, deface or destroy any 
mail matter deposited therein, or shall willfully take 
or steal such matter from or out of such letter box or 
other receptacle, or shall willfully aid or assist in any 
of tlie aforementioned offenses, shall for every such of¬ 
fense be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, or 
by imprisonment for not more than three years. 
Before the rural free delivery became a permanent 
part of the postal service, its patrons were permitted 
to erect boxes of varying styles and descriptions, many 
of which are still in existence and do not conform in 
materia] or construction to Order No. 739, and in deal¬ 
ing with such boxes the method of the Department is 
set forth in the following paragraph, which is taken 
from that order: 
In all service heretofore established, and wherein in¬ 
appropriate, unsafe, and unsuitable boxes are in use, the 
Department will expect that patrons of rural free de¬ 
livery (now aecepted as a permanent feature of the postal 
service) will conform as promptly as possible to the fore- 
goin.g requirements, if they desire the continuance of 
i-ural free delivery. Those charged with the administra¬ 
tion of the service will put this order into effect with 
firmness, but without undue haste or harshness. 
In the early days of the service, patrons were not 
restricted to any great extent, were allowed to erect 
for the reception of their mail almost any kind of box, 
and in consequence, many of them put up undignified 
and disreputable affairs such as old boot legs, bird 
cages, drain pipes, hobby horses, stove pipes, sardine 
boxes, tin cans, and boxes of all sizes, shapes and con¬ 
structions, which it would be manifestly absurd to 
class with those covered by the United States Statute 
quoted. Inasmuch as a rural carrier is required to 
travel daily a route of approximately 25 miles, serv¬ 
ing 100 boxes, more or less, it is obvious that mail 
boxes he serves should be of such shape and construc¬ 
tion as will most facilitate a rapid delivery and col¬ 
lection of mail by the carrier. They should not only 
present a respectable appearance, but should be manu¬ 
factured of such material as will best protect the mail 
deposited therein from vandalism and from the ele¬ 
ments. For these and similar reasons the restric¬ 
tions set forth in Order No. 739 have been put in 
force, and are esteemed to be necessary for the wel¬ 
fare of the patrons and for the good of the service. 
Rural free delivery boxes, erected by patrons previous 
to October 1, 1902, as well as all others, are inspected 
by authorized and direct representative.s 
of the Department, and if found abso¬ 
lutely insecure, not weather-proof, or 
totally unfit for the reception of mail, 
they are condemned and the patrons 
owning them are notified, and if such 
patrons, after a reasonable time elapses, 
neglect to take the necessary steps to 
replace the condemned boxes with those 
which have been approved under Order 
No. 739 the Department will direct the 
postmaster to withhold rural service 
from such persons and retain their mail 
in the postotfice to be called for, until 
such time as approved boxes are erected. 
Under the present rules, rural carriers 
are not permitted to deliver mail or leave 
same in exposed places, where it is likely 
to be lost or destroyed, even though the 
addressee requests such disposition to be 
made and offers to assume the risk. It 
is considered that this rule applies to 
boxes which have been condemned by 
a representative of the Department for 
being insecure, not weather-proof, or totally unfit 
receptacles for United States mail, consequently ser¬ 
vice is withdrawn from such boxes, after a reason¬ 
able time has been given to the owners thereof to 
replace them with approved boxes. 
First Ass’t Postmaster General. k. j. -wynne. 
FEEDING WITH WILD ORUSS PASTURE. 
How shall I feed a Ihree-year-old cow pasturing on 
wild grass, mostly in the woods? T wish to get as much 
milk as possihD without injuring the cow for future u.se. 
'I'Ve cow is half Jersey, half Durham, good size. 
So. Pulteney, N. Y. H. h. Q. 
This wild grass is not a palatable food, that is. a 
grass growing in low land undrained, and there is no 
combination or single food that she would consume 
and then eat this wild grass readily. If you fed her 
enough for maintenance and for milk production she 
would be satisfied and keep away from the pasture. 
The nearest approach to success will be to feed very 
concentrated food, cornmeal and cotton-seed meal, 
equal parts, and no bulky food. She will thus have a 
craving for fibrous food and eat enough of the wild 
grass to satisfy this demand. Cows will eat straw 
with relish if no more palatable food is at hand, when 
bein.g fed heavily upon grain food if it contains a 
large per cent of protein. It is nature’s effort to pro¬ 
tect itself and supply every demand. If on the other 
hand this is well drained land and some natural grass 
is growing in the woods, if not too shady, animals 
will take very kindly to it. I have in mind a farm 
where in very dry weather the only obtainable pasture 
food is in the wmods, but it is a sweet, nutritious 
grass as evidenced by the fondness for it and the milk 
flow. In such a case there may be a variety of foods 
giving good results, depending upon their cost. Mill 
feed, gluten, distillery grains, cornmeal, cotton-seed 
meal for the concentrates, and if the pasture is short 
any of the forage plants that grow best for you will 
suffice. Give her salt once a day, and if she has grain 
twice a day feed salt twice. Salt is stimulating to di¬ 
gestion, and that is necessary for full flow. The fu¬ 
ture usefulness of the cow will not be impaired by 
full feed if her wants are all supplied. More cows are 
injured by improper food than by full feed of well- 
ordered rations. h. e. cook. 
A NEW DEVICE FOR MULTIPLYING MAN POWER. Fig. 137. 
