1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
497 
Short Stories. 
Costly Meat. —The California Fruit 
Grower says: 
A dreaming employee in the San Joaquin 
Valley recently by mistake killed a Belgian 
hare valued at $100, which was served up 
at a dinner. Just how the roast would 
compare with the scrub rabbit that was 
intended has not been learned from the 
fancier, but the atmosphere was very sul¬ 
phurous when the error was discovered. 
The Belgian hare business seems to 
have settled in southern California, 
where great prices are Obtained for 
choice animals. We are still unable to 
learn whether this hare is profitable for 
the everyday farmer. Will the Belgian 
hare trim some of the hairs off the farm 
mortgage? 
War Pensions. —The Chicago Record 
says: 
There are many sad-eyed women with 
long black veils around the corridors of 
the capitol these days. Most of them are 
widows of the Spanish War, left almost 
penniless, and are seeking an increase of 
pension from Congress. They tell pitiful 
stories of large families, empty purses, 
mortgaged properties, invalid parents and 
hopeless destitution, and ask how the 
widow of a soldier can support an aged 
mother and five little children on a pension 
of $30 a month. 
Many widows of the Civil War were 
left in destitute circumstances with a 
pension of $12 per month. They lived 
and educated their families on this small 
pittance. It is true that the war widow 
of 35 years ago had a stronger hold on 
public sympathy than her daughter of 
to-day, because the cause for which her 
husband died was considered a holier 
one. 
Sorrows of a Borrower. —The Kan¬ 
sas City Journal tells of a man who was 
too economical to take a paper, so he 
sent his little boy to borrow a copy: 
In his haste the boy ran over a $1 stand 
of bees, and in 10 minutes looked like a 
warty Summer squash. His cries reached 
his father, who ran to his assistance and, 
failing to notice a barbed wire fence, ran 
into that, breaking it down, cutting a 
handful of flesh from his anatomy and 
ruining a $4 pair of pants. The old cow 
took advantage of the gap In the fence 
and got into the cornfield and killed her¬ 
self eating green corn. Hearing the racket, 
the wife ran, upset a four-gallon ‘churn 
full of rich cream into a basket of kittens, 
drowning the whole flock. In the hurry 
she dropped a $7 set of false teeth. The 
baby, left alone, crawled through the 
spilled milk and into the parlor, ruining a 
brand-new $20 carpet. During the excite¬ 
ment the oldest daughter ran away with 
the hired man, the dog broke up 11 setting 
hens, and the calves got out and chewed 
the tails off four fine shirts. 
“0. K.” Is Legal. —Every American 
understands what O. K. means. No one 
seems to know where the expression 
Started. Some people credit it to Presi¬ 
dent Andrew Jackson, but it has now 
secured a standard place in law. The 
National Frovisioner says: 
A high court in this country has in a case 
before it involving that matter, decided 
that “O. K.” on a bill initialed by the 
proper person placing it there, is a legal 
audit of the bill, note, item or what not. 
This is the first instance in which a court 
of competent jurisdiction has passed upon 
this symbol, which has crept into our com¬ 
mercial life. There is not an American 
business man who does not understand the 
meaning of “O. K.” when it is seen upon 
a piece of paper or upon an account. Very 
few foreigners—except those here or having 
their commercial schooling in this country 
—know its significance or its meaning. 
Now that the courts have decided that it 
is legal, “O. K.” goes, and the trade wag 
who first passed an item as “Orl Kor- 
rest,” of which “O. K.” is an abbreviation, 
would now feel a sense of satisfaction at 
the judicial acceptance of his innovation. 
“O. K.” is now “Orl Korrect” in a legal 
sense. 
Old Time Thoughts. —The Practical 
Farmer quotes from the old American 
Farmer, established 81 years ago at 
Baltimore. Referring to a farmer’s 
horse, it says: 
Traveller was being used on the farm as 
a plow horse, but on one occasion he ran 
off with the plow, leaped a gate and carried 
the plow over clear. His owner determined 
that a stallion that could do this would 
make a runner, and he was put on the 
track and made a great record* as a run¬ 
ning horse. 
Sometimes a farmer thinks that when 
his boy jumps over the farm boundary 
and into the town high school or col¬ 
lege, he will surely make a statesman: 
Not always! Speaking of old-time farm¬ 
ing in Maryland and Virginia, the Prac¬ 
tical Farmer says: 
There was better farming done in those 
States 60 years or more ago than was done 
anywhere else in the country. Maryland 
and Virginia farmers were growing clover 
in rotation and making great wheat crops 
when a large part of New York State was 
in wild forest. 
Yet last year the hay crop alone in 
New York State was worth $36,911,906, 
against $9,400,436 for the two other 
States combined. 
A TALK ABOUT STRAWBERRIES. 
Mr. W. F. Allen, of Salisbury, Md., has 
an enormpus trade in strawberry plants. 
This trade extends all over the country, 
and gives him a good opportunity to 
learn of the behavior of different varie¬ 
ties. We recently had a chance to ask 
hi/m some questions about various new 
and old plants. 
“What do you think about Glad¬ 
stone?” 
“You must make allowance for the 
fact that we had the worst drought we 
ever experienced in May, and this cut 
down our strawberry crop both tin qual¬ 
ity and quantity. From its performance 
this year I regard Gladstone as promis¬ 
ing. It is very large, very productive, 
and will, I think, make a good shipping 
berry, considering its size. It is disap¬ 
pointing in one thing, however, and that 
is its earliness. Instead of being a very 
early berry, as was claimed, I find it to 
be about mid-season, not so late as the 
Sharpless, but several days behind 
Michel. It is very much superior to 
Sharpless in productiveness, especially 
on light soils. I think, taking it all in 
all, that it is a very good variety.” 
“What about Timbrell? We have not 
heard about that for a long time.” 
“I consider it one of the greatest fail¬ 
ures that has ever been put on the mar¬ 
ket. The quality is very good, but with 
me it never matured onedPurth of a 
crop, and not one in a hundred, so far as I 
know, has even a good word for it. I have 
not sold a plant of it for two or three 
years; in fact, I have not a plant left, 
even if a. were wanted. It seems to me 
/that most of our good berries force their 
own way on the market, without very 
much backing by nurserymen or other 
interested parties.” 
“What experience can you give in sup¬ 
port of that statement?” 
“I might name Haverland, Saunders 
and Clyde. It is true that the Clyde was 
boomed after it became known, but 
when first put on the market by Mr. 
Stayman, there was not very much said 
about it, and the sale was very small the 
first year.” 
“Do you find that the old Gandy still 
retains its popularity?” 
“No doubt about it. The Gandy is the 
standard late berry in this country to¬ 
day. All late varieties are compared 
with Gandy. I believe there are more 
acres of this variety growing now than 
of all other late varieties combined. Its 
only drawback is that it does not do 
well on light soil. The Gandy sells well 
everywhere. We sell it in Maine and in 
Florida, and from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. Brandywine, however, seems to 
take its place to a great extent on the 
Pacific coast, and is also quite a favorite 
in Florida.” 
“What other late varieties seem to be 
gaining ground?” 
“Glen Mary is being planted very ex¬ 
tensively as a late variety. It begins to 
ripen several days in advance of Gandy, 
but holds on late, and bears a much 
larger crop. The Glen Mary, however, 
rusts in some sections. Where this is 
the case, I have been criticised sharply 
for sending it out. In other sections, 
where the rust does not affect it, and 
there are many such, no berry is more 
highly complimented. Nick Ohmer had 
a large sale last season as a late berry. 
I do not think this is quite as late as 
the Gandy, although not far in advance 
of it. From what I have seen of it, it is 
a berry that will surely give satisfac¬ 
tion.” 
SCRAPS. 
Rural, Life says that Time, tide and 
haying waits for no man. 
Texas Farm and Ranch says that that 
State has enough uncultivated arable land 
to make 1 , 000.000 lUU-acre farms. 
According to the National Provisioner 
the butchers of New York and Brooklyn 
lose annually $600,000 in bad debts. 
Farmers’ Gazette, of Ireland, recom¬ 
mends ground oats and barley meal made 
into a paste with sour milk, as the best 
food for cramming fattening fowls. 
Texas Stockman remarks that, if any 
section wish free rural mail delivery, it 
should remember that the first requirement 
on behalf of the Government is good roads. 
According to the California Fruit Grower 
dried apricot pits are selling in that State 
for $y per ton. Their products are prussic 
acid and an oil much resembling that ex¬ 
tracted from almonus. 
There’s No Waste 
either in knocked off earn or from Hour, musty 
and mouldy corn fodder when using this 
CORN. 
HARVESTER 
scat for 
operator. 
Safety ahnfts 
_ for horee. 
Costs lit¬ 
tle. 
Saves 
more 
Ornt 
season. 
Cuts corn at 
any height 
either in hills or drills. 
Being strong and well made of good material it will lost. 
Eovery farmer can afford one. Send for catalogue. It. 
THE FOOS MFC. CO., Springfield, Ohio. 
NIGHTY HANDY 
for general farm work, handling pota¬ 
toes, beets, coal, lime, manure. Is the 
DIAMOND 
SCOOP FORK. 
Does not bruise vegetables. Screens 
out dirt. Last indettnltely. 10 or 12 
tines with Hat points, made of one 
piece of steel. Ask dealers for the 
Diamond. Send for catalogue ol 
farm tools, it l» free. 
ASHTABULA TOOL CO., 
Ashtabula, Ohio. 
Farmer’s Guide remarks that some peo¬ 
ple Lake Scripture so literally that, when 
mey read “The meek shall inherit the 
earth,” they meekly sit down and wait for 
some near, rich relative lo die, so that 
they may inherit his portion. 
Your paper -s more than worth the sub¬ 
scription. 1 want Lo thank you for the 
article on grafting, by Prof. Van Deman. 
1 never saw any grafting done, but 1 fol¬ 
lowed the directions and grafted some 
apple and pear trees (both whip and cleft), 
and every scion is leafed out and growing. 
The trees were four years Old. f. p. b. 
Fitchburg, Mass. 
Mark Lane Express states that between 
2,uuo and 3,UUU acres of land have been re¬ 
claimed from the Wash, an inlet of the 
sea on the coast of England. The sea 
really does the work, as more or less de¬ 
posit is brought up with every tide. This 
is retained by having ditches about 60 feet 
apart, through which the water is conduct¬ 
ed back Lo the sea without running over 
the entire marsh. 
Texas Farm and Ranch says that every¬ 
thing is nothing nowadays, unless it is 
minus something. We have horseless car¬ 
riages, hornless cattle, cowless butter, 
seedless fruit and thornless roses. Bird¬ 
less bonnets and bugless orchards ought, 
also, to be the order of the day, and would 
be but for heartless women, who ought to 
be hatless and lawless legislators who de¬ 
serve to be voteless. 
A correspondent of a European agricul¬ 
tural paper gives the following somewhat 
startling recipe for getting rid of rats and 
mice: Catch two rats, alive and uninjured, 
or get one and keep him until another is 
caught. Put them in a cage or some¬ 
where where they cannot get out, and 
give them nothing to eat. Before long 
there will be a mortal combat, and the 
survivor will not only kill but eat his vic¬ 
tim. As soon as there is nothing left of 
the dead rat, and the live one is again be¬ 
coming hungry, give him his liberty. Can¬ 
nibalism makes him such a savage, uncon¬ 
querable fiend that his fellow species flee 
in terror before him. He never again 
thinks of eating anything else but his 
companions. The same may be done with 
mice. 
Bulletin 65, of the Experiment Station 
at Orono, Me., gives the results of the 
analysis of eight of the best-known coffee 
substitutes on the market, composed of 
various cereals. No harmful ingredients 
was found in any one. The largest per 
cent of soluble solids in any was 51.2, while 
another variety had only 22.4. Most of 
these preparations were represented to be 
highly nutritious; but the one taken as a 
fair average, when prepared according to 
directions, contained only one-eighteenth as 
much protein (nitrogenous matter) as is 
found in one quart of that thin beverage, 
skim-milk. The natural conclusion is that 
these coffee substitutes, while probably 
more healthful tnan pure coffee, depend for 
their nutritive quality more upon the sugar 
and cream used than upon their own solids. 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— AcLv. 
! IT SOWS JUST | 
Get. the grain drill that wins in competition 
with all others, the only one that sows fertil¬ 
izer surely all the time, even when it’s in bad 
condition, lumpy and full of trash. Get the 
IMPROVED LOW DOWN PENNSYLVANIA 
Force Feed Fertilizer Grain Drill 
Made with Hoes or Discs 
Cannot clog and will not bunch. Force feed in fact as 
well aa in name. Simplest, most accurate and liKhtest 
running. Drill sows all kinds of grain, corn and peas 
with absolute regularity. Our new corn planter attach¬ 
ment furnished if desired without extra cost. 
Send tor complete Illustrated catalogue 
of farm Implements and machinery. 
A. It. FARQCHAR CO., Ltd., York, Pa. 
For 20 years the acknowledged leading 
BEAN HARVESTER 
of the world. Catalogue and price on application. 
LE ROY PLOW CO., Successors to F. W. Miller 
Mfg. Co., 01 Lake St., Le Roy, N. Y. 
The Mystic- 
SPRAYER; 
a-f 
One quart of Killer and a Sprayer furnished 
on receipt of $1.00. Will free cattle of flies. 
Is sure to give satisfaction. 
LEGGETT & BRO., 301 Pearl St.. NEW YORK. 
A POTATO BUG 
is most useful when he Is dead. Kill him 
with “ItOXAL,” and prevent blight by 
the same operation. $1 buys 10 pounds. 
BOWKER CHEMICAL CO . Boston. 
it 
FUMA 
M 1 kills Prairie Dogs, 
' ' Woodchucks, Gophers 
and Grain Insects.“The 
wheels of the Gods 
grind slow but exceed¬ 
ing small.’' 8o the weevil, but you can stop their 
£u n h “ Fuma Carbon Bisulphide ,,as a^om* 
EDWARD R. TAYLOR, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
FERTILIZERS. 
WE SELL YOU UlUECT. NO AGENT’S PROFITS 
NO SALESMAN’S EXPENSES. 
VALUABLE PREMIUMS GIVEN FREE. 
For premium list, prices, samples and book, write 
TIIK SCIRNTIFIC FERTILIZER COMPANY, llerr's Island. PITTSBURG, PA._ 
