1900 
745 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
SUBSCRIPTION WORK 
During the month of October has rather upset all our previous 
experience and theories in reference to it. Some agents want to work 
by the week. We have several working that way. Some wish to 
work on straight commission. We have some working on that plan. 
For those who work by the week on salary, we are, of course, 
obliged to insist on certain limits of returns in order to guarantee 
salary. The straight commission plan is figured on the same basis 
to us. But we expected our combination commission and Daily and 
Sweepstake Premium plan to attract a wider range of work. While 
the rewards to agents on this plan have been very much better than 
any paper could afford on commission or salary plan, the agents 
working on those plans sent in during October 10 times the number 
of names sent by those who draw premiums. The agents who work 
on salary and those on commission would have received more than 
double their present rewards if they had been working for the 
premiums. Here is the report for last week : 
October 22. C. B. Curtis, New York. Three yearliea; one six months; seven trials. 
October 23. Brace R. Wynkoop, New York Two yearlies; one six months; four trials. 
October 24. None. 
October 25. None. 
October 26. S. S. Thorniley, Ohio. 13 trials. 
October 27. H. A. Wanamaker, Massachusetts. One yearly. 
We have promised to put this plan through to January 15 next. 
We are going to do it. Those $2 premiums are going out every day 
when we receive as much as one trial subscription from a club-raiser 
under this plan of work, and the $100 sweepstake and other 50 cash 
premiums will go out January 15, no matter how small the club. 
That is the situation. If you want any of this money, speak up. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, New York. 
MARKET BRIEFS. 
Picked Up Here and There. 
ORANGES.—The new Florida and Cali¬ 
fornia crops are just beginning to come in. 
This is about a week ahead of the usual 
time. In Florida many new groves are 
coming into bearing, and It is expected 
that the yield will be 30 per cent above 
that of last year. 
VILE CIGARS.—A man who would come 
into a house or office and scatter phos¬ 
phate or asafoetida around the floor, 
would be invited to get out, yet the odor 
of some of the Winnigstadt or Drumhead 
sauerkraut cigars is fully as bad. A man 
who smokes these cabbage-leaf affairs 
ought not to associate with other people, 
and, in the case of constant offenders, a 
renewal of the old "Blue law” forbidding 
anyone to smoke with six miles of a 
house, would be a good thing. Tobacco 
is endurable, but these weeds are not. 
DRIED FRUIT SCARCE.—It is said that 
there has not been such a shortage of 
dried cherries, blackberries and raspberries 
for 15 years. Many farmers in the rasp¬ 
berry section have gone out of the busi¬ 
ness, on account of the low prices for the 
last few years, and the great drought or 
the past season has still further reaucea 
the yield. At present dealers say that it 
is hard to get hold of lots of 10 or 15 bar¬ 
rels, where formerly they handled several 
carloads. The highest prices made are on 
raspberries, which at present bring 18% 
cents wholesale. This scarcity of eastern 
dried fruits will give an Increased boom 
to the California product. 
GRAIN EXPORTS.—The volume of busi¬ 
ness in this line for the past few days has 
been unusual. Part of this has been 
caused by the lower ocean freight rates 
and the drop in the price of wheat, which 
has put it within the reach of exporters. 
For the six days ending October 23, from 
New York and other Atlantic ports, there 
were shipments of 2,046,000 bushels of 
wheat, and 6,400,000 bushels of corn. Since 
July 1 there has been a gradual decline in 
the price of wheat, and December options 
are about 15 cents per bushel lower than 
at that time. Along the Brooklyn water 
front many grain elevators that have been 
idle for a long time are being overhauled, 
so as to be in shape for business, and those 
that are in working order now are busy. 
A BRINY SWINDLE.—An Arkansas 
newspaper tells of the way in which the 
jute bagging used in baling cotton is adul¬ 
terated with salt and water. This fabric 
is sold at eight cents per pound at present, 
and it is said that, in many instances, the 
buyer has been paying for 15 pounds of 
brine in every 100 pounds. One standard 
weight of bagging is supposed to use 100 
pounds of jute to the roll of 50 yards, but 
it is run so light that it actually weighs 
only about 85 pounds as it comes from the 
loom. To make up the difference it is 
soaked in salt water, and thus incidentally 
the customer gets soaked also, figuratively 
speaking. While wet it is rolled up tightly, 
and does not lose any in weight until it is 
opened for use. A Texas man who has 
figured the matter up claims that that 
State has been paying $200,000 per year for 
salt and water. At a test recently made it 
was found that a 100-yard roll lost 40 
pounds after drying three hours. Those 
who started this fraud claim that the 
process renders the bagging fireproof, but 
the fireproof quality disappears as soon 
as it is thoroughly dry. 
UNLAWFUL GAME TRADE.—Shipments 
of game birds consigned to a firm in this 
city have recently been seized in Chicago, 
because of violation of the Lacey law, re¬ 
quiring that all packages of game shipped 
from one State to another shall be plainly 
marked with the name of sender, consignee 
and contents. In this case the birds were 
packed in tubs with butter on the top and 
bottom, and labeled butter. Game is scarce 
on account of the restrictions placed on 
the business. Prime partridges bring $1.50 
to $2 per pair, and hence dealers are will¬ 
ing to run considerable risk to get the 
birds here from States from which the law 
forbids any export. It is understood that 
thus far those convicted have been fined 
only small sums, on their promises not to 
offend any further. When the full penalty 
of $200 each on shipper, receiver and car¬ 
rier is imposed, the business will doubtless 
be squelched. 
FRUIT NOTES.—Most of the pears of¬ 
fered now are Kieffers. In spite of their 
poor quality, large quantities are worked 
off every year at prices which must give 
the producer a fair profit. At present they 
bring as much as good Baldwin apples. 
A good many grapes of all descriptions 
are coming in, from the fancy Delawares, 
Concords and Niagaras, to the crated bulk 
stock, consisting of broken and otherwise 
damaged bunches, 400 bushels of which I 
saw in front of one commission house. 
These bulk grapes are selling at from $25 
to $50 per ton, and at this price they must 
be about as profitable, taking all things 
into consideration, as the medium grades 
that are packed in baskets, for four-pound 
packages of Concords are wholesaling at 
seven to eight cents. Only a few peaches 
are in the market now. Eight-pound bas¬ 
kets of ordinary fruit from the West are 
retailing at 40 cents, and extra fine ones, 
60 cents. Some excellent cranberries are 
being received, and bring high prices, some 
reaching $6.50 per barrel. A grower on 
Long Island takes such unusual care in 
preparing his berries for market that they 
frequently bring as much as $2 or $3 per 
barrel above the top price for other brands. 
Defective one are picked out, and the small 
one are removed by running them over a 
coarse sieve. The prospects for pineapples 
in Florida are said to be favorable. A few 
shipments have been received already, but 
they do not attract much attention on ac¬ 
count of the abundance of other fruits. 
_w. w. H. 
LATE SEEDING OF GRASS. 
The latest date I have been able to sow 
grass seed in the Fall, and obtain a fair 
catch, was November 14, 1899. I was seed¬ 
ing a four-acre field with rye, and having 
more plowed land than I wanted, I put 
Timothy in along with the rye in the old 
style. Before I got the field rolled, and 
stones all picked off, it froze so hard that 
I had to leave about one-fourth acre rough. 
There was no appearance of grass or grain 
till Spring, when both came up as nicely 
as though newly seeded, and the rye was 
the finest I ever raised. At one end of the 
field, where the grain did not come within 
three feet of a wire fence, the grass now 
is a thick heavy sod, even though burned 
brown with the long drought. I do not 
expect to cut five tons per acre from the 
above lot, as the rye killed at least half to 
two-thirds of the grass. Still I do not 
have to travel far to see worse-looking 
grass fields, which were seeded two months 
earlier. I got caught this Fall through 
drought, and having a great deal of im¬ 
provements in the way of removing old 
stone-rows, grading and fencing, also silos 
to fill, etc., so only got last of grass seed 
sown October 20, and I am hopeful of hav¬ 
ing a four or five-ton crop next July. I 
would not be afraid to sow grass seed as 
long or rather as late as I could get the 
land in good condition to seed and roll 
after a thorough harrowing. 
Rockland Co., N. Y. a. mackellar. 
We have seeded late in the Fall, when 
sudden change of weather brought freez¬ 
ing and snow, and had a very good catch. 
We have experienced the worst failures 
when sown early enough to come up with¬ 
out getting firmly rooted. In my judg¬ 
ment there is only one way to be sure of 
Fall seeding, and that is to sow as soon 
after September 1, or even better, August 
20 , as the ground is sufficiently wet to in¬ 
sure quick germination and rapid growth. 
I would never sow small seeds or Fall 
grains when the ground is hot and dry, 
neither would I sow grass seed upon stub¬ 
ble ground, expecting satisfactory returns. 
While at times a growth will follow my 
observation and experience have been that 
small seeds need a well-prepared surface 
soil and seeds covered either with a 
smoothing harrow or a weeder, or when 
sown with a grain drill should be dropped 
ahead of the grain. I do not think it a 
safe practice to roll in the grass and clover 
seed. To make a direct answer to your 
question, if I had delayed until this late 
date I should sow it now. h. e. cook. 
Lewis Co., N. Y. 
SCRAPS. 
An exchange says that there are so many 
new mistakes to make that it Is foolish to 
repeat old ones. 
A course in Sing Sing would be quite 
appropriate for the composers of some 
modern songs. 
Woodchucks and Snakes.— I heard a 
new and novel way to get the woodchuck. 
He went into his hole, and the man after 
him, instead of trying to get him out by 
the old and laborious way of digging, 
looked round and found a snake, and put 
him in the hole, when Mr. Woodchuck 
came out flying, and was dispatched in 
quick order . g. b. 
Nashua, N. H. 
R. N.-Y.—The trouble with this remedy 
is that snakes are not always on hand 
when wanted. 
Corn Husking.— Corn is all husked by 
hand in this neighborhood. We begin 
husking any time when the other work is 
out of the way. There is very little corn 
husked at this date, October 22. Corn is 
hauled directly to the crib as husked; 
about one-third is drawn to the barn and 
husked any time during the Fall and Win¬ 
ter. Stalks are usually drawn to the barn 
as fast as the corn is husked. From 25 
to 30 bushels is considered a fair day’s 
work for the average man. There are no 
marchines for husking and shredding corn 
in this part of the country; if there were 
I think three-fourths of the farmers would 
use them this Fall, as most farmers want 
to get all the feed out of the stalks they 
can. J. w. s. 
Greigsville, N. Y. 
California Lemons. —The business in 
California oranges and lemons is gaining 
rapidly. The coming crop is estimated at 
nearly 25,000 carloads, with the heaviest 
gain in lemons. It will require an average 
of 100 cars a day for 200 days to handle the 
crop, and with only two railroads leaving 
for the East this will mean an enormous 
problem; for the fruit must be properly 
ventilated and protected from frost and 
heat, over a 3,000-mile journey, on which 
the temperature varies nearly 100 degrees. 
One railroad has secured 500 new refrigera¬ 
tor cars to handle the crop. Efforts will 
be made to pick the fruit and rush it to 
market as soon as possible, for a light 
frost would ruin it. There is now no place 
in the United States where frosts are not 
possible, and where Citrus fruits are ab¬ 
solutely safe. 
Michigan Farming.— The wheat crop was 
a failure on account of the fly. I am 
getting ready for potatoes next year. This 
may seem rather early, but it is not. Take 
that old pasture field, scrape up the manure 
that has accumulated around the cow and 
horse stable during the Summer, draw it 
out and scatter evenly on the knolls and 
light spots. Then turn under the old sod, 
rolling as soon as plowed; if the land is 
heavy use a Cutaway, if loamy the spring- 
tooth harrow set to a good depth will do 
the business, and you will have a good 
seed-bed. Sow 1% bushel rye per acre, har¬ 
rowing in. In one week’s time it will be 
up and growing nicely. You say this is 
too much work, the pasture on that piece 
will more than repay the extra work, as 
rye makes a splendid Fall pasture, and 
when you turn that rye under next June 
you may be sure of having a piece of 
potato ground that will stand the dry 
weather, and make a crop if there is any 
grown. This is no experiment, but my plan 
for years. yr. e. b. 
Mecosta Co., Mich. 
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Dr. PIERCE’S] 
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PRICE i 2-oz. box, 
| a-oz. box, 
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50c. 
Includes expensive 1901 Almanac and Manual of 
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Invaluable for a lifetime. Not a 
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all kinds of jrreen ami dry fodder 
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