THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
853 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Wood Asttes For Saot)y Soils.—A 
few years ago we had occasion to clear 
a portion of the nursery grounds of the 
growing stock. The trees were apple, 
pear, cherry and plum, as also various 
sorts of ornamental growth. Notwith¬ 
standing the soil was a light sand, the 
stock was thrifty and in first-class con¬ 
dition. We were desirous of utilizing 
the ground for growing garden products 
and thereby learned a lesson by prac¬ 
tical experience that previously we had 
only known by “ear.” The said lesson 
was that however fertile the ground 
might be to start with, a growth of nur¬ 
sery stock, grown to usual age for trans¬ 
planting, would exhaust the soil and put 
it out of profitable business at least un¬ 
til restored. Doubtless stronger soils 
would withstand the same strain with 
less apparent harm, but that soil was 
too tired to grow a respectable crop of 
weeds. Manure was hard to obtain un¬ 
less the cash was in evidence to buy it 
and pay for the hauling, and the cash 
being in the minus quantity restoring 
the soil seemed a sort of forlorn hope. 
The first two seasons attempts were 
made with the lighter kinds of hoed 
crops, as beans, etc., but the yields did 
not pay the expense of production. The 
third season, more favorable conditions 
allowed the application of a light dress¬ 
ing of stable manure. The ground was 
plowed and a portion was top-dressed 
with wood ashes and the entire piece 
was sown to fodder corn. Upon that 
part of the ground receiving the wood 
ashes, the corn was nearly double, both 
as to size and stand, the remainder of 
the ground. The same results were no¬ 
ticeable in after years, and with other 
kinds of crops; which convinced me 
that wood ashes or potash in some other 
form is pretty good food for light sandy 
soils. With present experience I pre¬ 
fer the ashes to other forms of potash, 
as the lime is also of great benefit. 
Ritubaub Roots. —Just now we are 
having all sorts of difficulty in obtaining 
anything like an adequate supply of 
forcing roots, and spite of all efforts to 
the contrary, judging from present pros¬ 
pects, we shall fall far short of what we 
had hoped to obtain. We have a good 
stone cellar from which a building was 
burned, but as the location is undesir¬ 
able for rebuilding we are using it for a 
forcing cellar, shown at Fig. 314, page 
850. A portion of the sills still remain, 
and by replacing the parts burned away 
the roofing is an easy and inexpensive 
matter. The cellar is 16 feet in width, 
and by running a ridge pole through the 
center three feet above the wall, we got 
ample slope to turn the water. The roof 
is of slabs, first course, turned bark-side 
down, and well battened with a second 
course reversed, which we find turns the 
water all right. Over this a covering of 
earth well sodded makes a substantial 
and by no means unsightly roof. Here 
we can force the rhubarb in zero weath¬ 
er with but little artificial heat, and the 
scarcity of roots is our only drawback 
at present. 
A Day’s Doings. —With the remaining 
products all snugly stored for a longer 
or shorter period as weather and mar¬ 
ket conditions may dictate it would seem 
as though a vacation were now in order. 
This might be so, only that the fag ends 
of old jobs as well as full-sized new ones 
keep bobbing up at every turn of the 
load. The doings of to-day (November 
21) are but the counterpart of most days 
now, so five o’clock A. M. was none too 
early for the man-of-all-work to be stir¬ 
ring. The base-burner, after a severe 
shaking, was reminded that it was high 
time to get a move on for the house¬ 
warming. Then a fire had to be kindied 
in the kitchen range and the kettles put 
ready for the breakfast getting. Down 
at the barn a disabled horse must be fed, 
groomed and doctored, and his apart¬ 
ments cleaned and set in order for the 
day. All this time the porkers out in the 
pen have been insisting that it was time 
tor their wants to be supplied. With 
gratifying their wishes and making 
them comfortable until hunger again 
overtakes them, we find it nearly seven 
o’clock before we are ready to take up 
the line of march breakfastward. From 
this time out “thy servant was busy 
here and there” downtown upon various 
errands, back home again, lifting some 
household burden from the wife’s shoul¬ 
ders, out on the plantation with ax, 
pickax or spade ready to strike a deadly 
blow at the first job that showed its 
head, and thus the day was full. When 
night came it was difficult to see that 
anything had been accomplished, yet we 
believe that the day’s round-up will 
show some gain. At the other house 
the early morning duties were essential¬ 
ly the same as those here at home. 
There were horses to care for, pigs and 
chickens to feed and care for, and the 
breakfast duties to perform, after this 
two of the men with old Dandy, the 
faithful market horse, were sent out 
scouring the country for rhubarb roots. 
Frost has put in some lively work of 
late, and the ground is hard to dig, and 
the roots are loath to leave their Win¬ 
ter bed. The fourth man was busy all 
day wrestling with another problem. We 
have a block of peach and quince trees 
that have seen better days, but now 
their usefulness seems to be over. We 
shall grub these out to prepare the 
ground for more useful crops, but de¬ 
cided we could do the work more easily 
by first burning over the ground. So the 
man with the torch has not been idle, 
to-day and to-night the task of grubbing 
out looks much easier. j. ic. morse. 
Michigan. _ 
“SPORTSMEN" ARE ON TOP. 
I have just read the excellent editorial 
on page 824 about the log cabin exhibit 
with which the Maine “commissioners” 
intend to represent that State at St. 
Louis. It shows to what absurd lengths 
the sportsmen and their associations 
have run in the matter of game and 
game protection. The idea of represent¬ 
ing a great agricultural and horticultural 
State like Maine with a show of that 
kind! Probably California will build a 
cactus enclosure, and fill it with taran¬ 
tulas, horned toads and jack-rabbits to 
represent her at the Fair! Is it any won¬ 
der if the Pacific States can excel us in 
raising and marketing fruits if our legis¬ 
lation is run entirely in the Interests of 
bear and deer hunters? In many sec¬ 
tions the animals and birds have been 
protected to such an extent that the 
farmer and fruit raiser have been obliged 
to take what was left of their crops, after 
fattening a lot of deer, rabbits, etc., for 
the “sportsmen” to come out and kill in 
the Fall. There is even a desire now 
among a few misguided people to limit, 
by means of a license, the number of cats 
kept so that these troublesome birds and 
animals can increase still more rapidly. 
Would it not be well for the Grange, 
farmers’ clubs and also the agricultural 
press to look after these matters when 
the law-makers assemble this Winter? 
Portchester, N. Y. o. o. w. 
Burning Over Land. 
J. K. O. Hertnon, Ill.—l have a piece of 
land in Wisconsin that is known as burned 
over land. There are numberless logs and 
trunks of trees lying on the ground in 
various stages of preservation and de¬ 
terioration, some completely decayed or 
rotten. Tht general practice is to put the 
down wood in piles and bum it, which 
seems to me to be very wasteful. I have 
thought that some simple machine could 
be contrived to desiccate the semi-decayed 
or dozy logs of wood a spiked cylinder or 
something that would tear it in fragments 
13 fine any way as shredded corn stover, 
and that in that condition it would be 
useful as humus. Do you think it would 
be practical? 
Ans.—I do not think the scheme would 
be at all practical. Land that has pro¬ 
duced “numberless logs and tree trunks” 
and has not been cropped contains more 
humus than will be consumed by many 
crops. Better reduce the logs to ashes. 
Wisconsin. o* 
That Wind-Break.— It seems to me that 
if the inquirer on page 837 would put up 
a snow fence similar to those put up by 
the railroads in the northern sections, he 
would have little or no trouble. The fence 
should be put back in the field from 100 
to 150 feet, and parallel with the road, or 
at right angles with the prevailing winds, 
which I assume to be from the west. 
This fence should be open, so that the 
wind and snow will pass between the 
boards and fall just beyond it. A line of 
brush would do much good, but of course 
would not be so satisfactory as the fence. 
F. a. TICE. 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— Adv. 
-lUiuiMmsi 
mCC TDIIII 
FREE TRIAL 
10 days In your own home. S34. 
worth of maohlnery for$8.50 Spe« 
--clal for Farmers. Return at our 
expense if not satisfied. The 
Bi-Pedal 1 
Sickle and Tool g 
Grinder js 
I Is 4 machines i n one: Sickle Grinder j 
I Ed^e Tool Grinder, 
iPolishin^ Machine. 
^ Ithe new world-famous : 
Carborundum, gfrinds20timesasiusto: 
sandstone. Doesnotdrawthetemper. 
Beautiful sample and booklet free. > 
Agents wanted. ^ 
^^^*R»LutherBros.Company. 
h'prtb MUwaukoe, Wlfl. 
22 P«nnSt. 
WATER TANKS 
MADE OF 
ARE THE 
RALPH H. CARTKKCO., 26 Cortlandt St., N.Y 
SPRAY ar 
^PERFECT AGITATORS witli Automatic Brush I 
for strainer. No leather or rubber TaWes. AU styles of Spray | 
Pumps. Book free. *<No8w{Ddle<! feellnglf you use our pumps. *' 
Field Force Pump Co. 2 11th St. Elmira, N.Y. I 
MAPLE SUGAR MAKERS r 
I move uo Bark from the Troo 
A»8iimlnB that 400 treca with antl- 
qnatod apoutH produre 800 Jxmnda of 
auKar. Similar toiulitloiia 
with the Qrimm Spout pro- 
ducea lOSO pounda. What 
la the value of 200 pounda 
•f augar and the coat of 400 
Grimm Sponta? The gain la guaran¬ 
teed. Freight paid on all ordcra of 600 
or more. Agents wanted. Samples freo. 
G. H. GKIMM, Rutland, Vt. 
^LEAKY SHINGLEROOFSr ^ 
‘ the weather side of buildings, wooden floors,' 
etc., are made permanently waterproof by ' ; 
S. vR. F’. CARBOL-HMEUrwI. 
IT Gives A HANDSOME BROWN COLOR. 
ASK FOR PROOFS. 
BRUNO GROSCHE & CO., 108 Greenwich Si., New York. . 
BLIZZARD AND HORSE ICE CALKS. 
Sharpen your own horse. No waiting at the smith's. 
X.lberal prices to agents. 8. W. Kent,CazenovIa,N.Y. 
ICE PLOWS 
»12.00. Also Ice Tools. 
Write for Discounts. 
H. PKAY, No. Clove, N. Y. 
WE LEAD THE WORLD 
"We are the largest manufac¬ 
turers of Grooved and Plain 
Tire Steel Farm Wagon 
Wheels in America. We 
guarantee our patent 
Grooved Tire Wheels to 
be the best made by anybody 
anywhere. Write us. 
HAVANA METAL WHEEL CO. 
HAVANA. ILL 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-T. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
J^ON’T you need a good reliable 
scale of some kind? Say the 
word and OsgOOd’S Silcnt 
Traveler will appear at 
your door. The most beau¬ 
tifully Illustrated scale book ever produced 
—shows all kinds. Our booklet Hints for 
Scale Buyers” also Free. Give us a nod on 
a postal. State your business and what you 
need a scale for 
OSGOOD SCALE CO., 
103 Central St., 
^Binghamton, N Y. 
IF YOU ARE TIRED 
TROST, 
[BEST* 
_^ICHEAPEST 
of buying flimsy woven wire fence, that lasts from .1 
to 5 years, buy the Frost Fence that will I^st a lire 
time- The Frost contains the weight, strength ana 
durability to give entire satisfaction. Catalogues free. 
THE FUOST WIKE FENCE CO.', Cleveland, 0. 
THE MAN WHO KNOWS ,, , 
wlmt a PTOOfi foni'e Is, will shvo mone*y In tli« end by selecting oiir 
\V(?nOK SrUINa STKKT* WIKK FKNCK. Sumplo Lock free. 
rLBVELANI) ANCHOU FENCE CO., Cleveland, O. 
UNION LOCK Poultry 
Fencing 
has been fullytested 
and found superior 
to all others. 
Has Fine Mesh at 
Bottom for .Small 
Chicks. 
This feature adds greatly to the value of the 
fence, and places it in a class by itself. 
Kvery I'art Stretches Ferfectly ; 
does not sag between posts, and will fit uneven 
ground without cutting. 
UNION LOCK TOUUTKY FENCING 
Is made at mills in Connecticut, Illinois and Cali¬ 
fornia. We pay freight, and allow 30 days free 
trial. Send for FREE catalogue of Farm, Lawn 
and Poult ry Fencing Do 11 to-day. 
CASE 15KOS., COLCHESTER, CONN^^ 
IF IT’S PAGE STOCK FENCE, 
.w. J .8 .0 £ ... ...W A.. 4 8%*%^ A V* o 
the TOP WIBB Is 3-16 inch In diameter, and « 
double-strength wire at that. So much stronger. 
PA(1K WOVKN WIRE FENCE CO., Adrian, Mich, 
GASOLINE ENGINES 
Three Horse Power, SI00 
Five Horse I’ower, ®160 
Saws wood; ents feed. Does all 
kinds of farm work, Huns spray 
pump Catalogue freo. 
PALMER BROS., 
Cos Cob, Conn. 
CHARIER 
Gasoline Engine. 
For Grinding, Shelling, Fodder Cutting, 
I Threshing, Pumping, Sawing, etc. 
STATIONARIES. PORTABLES, SAWING 
' .AND PUMPING OUTFITS, ETC. 
Send for Blnst’d Catalog & Testimonials. 
State Yow Power Meettmm 
CHARTER GAS ENGINE C0.» BOI 26 STERLING, ILL 
Straight Straw, Rye and Wheat Thrasher 
Combined with Spike-Tooth Oat 
and Wheat Thrasher. 
Onr Machine will 
thrash Kye or Wheal 
without bruising or 
breaking the straw, and 
tie It again In perfect 
, bundles.Can be changed 
in fifteen minutes to a 
spike-tooth Oat, Wheat, 
Buckwheat, Barley and Corn Thrasher with stacker 
attached. Will thrash more grain with less power 
than any Thrasher built. Send for catalogue. B to 
the GKANT-FEUBIS COMPANY, Troy, N. Y. 
DO YOU SHIP APPLES? 
If SO, use The South Side Third Barrel California Apple Box. Send for prices. 
ViOUTH SIDE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, PETERSBURG, VA. 
SAMSON 
Bridging Telephones 
Don’t Cost Much. 
Write for the Green 
Catalogue. 
KEYSTONE ELECTRIC TELEPHONE 
THE NEW 
SPEED SPECIAL 
Lightning Arresters 
ARE THE ONLY 
Sure Protection. 
CO., PITTSBURG, PA. 
