478 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 12 
breaking of skin or serious defacement of surface. 
The grading shall be practically uniform throughout 
the package. 
Section 3. A grade of apples, to be known as prime, 
shall contain apples, not less than 2% inches in diam¬ 
eter, of normal form and color for the variety, except 
that slight discolorations known as russet may not be 
a cause of rejection. They shall be hand picked, prac¬ 
tically free from the action of worms, from breaking 
of skin, or serious defacement of surface. The grading 
shall be practically uniform throughout the package. 
Section 6. A slight variation, not exceeuing five per 
cent for grade known as select, or 10 per cent for 
grades known as standard and prime, from the stand¬ 
ard of grading defined in the foregoing sections shall 
not be construed as evidence of fraud. 
Section 7. Fruit packed in standard or legal pack¬ 
ages and graded in accordance with the foregoing re¬ 
quirements may be marked with the words, “New 
York State Standard,” with the name of the grade, 
with the name of the variety, and with the name and 
address of the grower, or of the person under whose 
authority the fruit was packed. 
Section 8. Whenever the words, “New York State 
Standard,” and the names of grades, herein defined, 
or either of them, are placed upon a package of fruit 
not of the standard or legal size, or not graded in ac¬ 
cordance with the foregoing requirements, the person 
or persons so using them shall be subject to a penalty 
of not more than the value of a package of the fruit 
of the grade so designated, or of $1 if such value is 
not known, for each package so marked. 
Section 9. Any person or persons using the marks 
named in the foregoing section upon fruit not pro¬ 
duced in the State of New York shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor and be liable to a penalty of 
$5 for each offence. 
M A P ES, THE HEN MAN. 
CANNING STRAWBERRIES.—Maple Dale Farm 
recipe for canning raspberries was published last 
week. We use the same recipe for all small fruits ex¬ 
cept strawberries. Blackberries canned in this way 
are especially fine. The juice from such a can of 
blackberries, diluted with water, makes a drink that 
a temperance man may offer his guests with pride. 
It is unfermented wine in its perfection. It is a little 
late for canning strawberries, but if the Hope Farm 
folks will cut out this recipe and use it next year they 
will have no occasion to “jar” the ear with bad words 
on account of the bacteria in those big strawberries 
which the Hope Farm man raises. Our women folks 
use dry sugar, instead of syrup, for the strawberries. 
The syrup does not make them sweet enough. Since 
using this recipe, we have no trouble with recooking 
the berries, and they do not fade in the cans as form¬ 
erly, but retain their rich red color. Fill the cans 
with clean ripe strawberries, sifting dry sugar among 
them as the can is filled, using about IV 2 cupful of 
sugar (14 ounces) to each quart can. Place covers on 
the cans, without rubber rings, set in cold water, and 
gradually bring to boiling point, allowing them to 
boil until well cooked, which will require 10 to 15 
minutes. Remove from fire, and take one or more of 
the cans of cooked berries with which to fill the rest 
of the cans brim full. Seal while hot, and move the 
cans occasionally until all the sugar is dissolved. 
There will be some undissolved sugar in the bottom 
of the cans at first, but do not be alarmed at that. It 
will all be dissolved before you eat your Thanksgiv¬ 
ing dinner, and the bacteria will have slim chance to 
thrive. 
PICKING BROILERS.—We made our first picking 
of broilers June 26. They were about 12 weeks old 
and weighed from 1% to two pounds each. The trade 
to which we ship wants them dry-picked, and it is 
quite a tedious job to pick 50 broilers nicely, without 
tearing the skin. In picking squab broilers it is more 
difficult still. I stepped into a store on Columbus 
Avenue, New York, a couple of years ago, where game 
and poultry are made a specialty, to look at some 
squab broilers 1 saw hanging in the window. The 
proprietor told me that all his poultry must be dry- 
picked, as the eye of his customers had to be pleased 
as well as the palate. This was in December, and I 
happened to have a lot of chicks at home about the 
right size. He named a price per pair which amount¬ 
ed to about 60 cents per pound, if I would dress them 
as nicely as the ones he showed me. One of our local 
butchers pretends to be an expert, having worked at 
it in the West, and he promised to help me out. I 
took him down a few, but he tore them so badly that 
he soon gave up in disgust. Nothing daunted, I took 
them home again, and we pegged away at it our¬ 
selves. If those who are looking for profitable em¬ 
ployment in Winter for the farm help, can succeed in 
raising a lot of broilers to be picked in Winter, there 
will be no lack of employment. We do not pretend to 
know how to do it quickly yet, but we can do it nice¬ 
ly, and sell them for top quotations or more. We are 
open for suggestions from those who know how to do 
it quickly. The first thing of course is to have good, 
plump birds. They should have yellow skin and legs. 
Deprive of food at least 12 hours before killing, so 
that crop will be empty. Hang the bird up by both 
feet, and bleed by opening mouth and cutting main 
artery of neck, at base of tongue. It is important 
to draw all the blood, or it is liable to settle under 
the skin where each feather is pulled, discoloring the 
skin. Pull large wing and tail feathers first, then 
smaller feathers, and finally the pinfeathers. There 
are spots on each wing, and on the breast, where the 
skin tears very easily. Great care must be exercised 
at these points. Aside from this, it seems to be sim¬ 
ply a case where nimble fingers count. Our best pick- 
THE GONZALES PLUM. Fie. 190. See Page 483. 
ers still require from 15 to 18 minutes for either a 
squab broiler or a two-pound broiler. Immerse in 
ice water just as quickly as feathers can be removed. 
This removes animal heat quickly, and prevents dis¬ 
coloration of abdomen. When ready for shipment, 
remove from ice water, and pack in pounded ice. We 
wrap the heads of our S. C. White Leghorn cockerels 
in a neat paper before packing. This adds to the at¬ 
tractive appearance of the shipment. The squab broil¬ 
ers should weigh 12 to 14 ounces each. There is not 
much demand for them at this season. They are used 
by the wealthy buyers, and demanded just at the time 
when they are hardest to produce. If eggs that are 
laid in November and December can be successfully 
converted into chickens, they are sure to sell for big 
prices. 
INCUBATOR TALK.—This is only our second 
year’s experience with incubators, and our success has 
not been phenomenal, unless it can be called phenom¬ 
enally poor. Our first few hatches did reasonably 
well, but the later hatches have died by wholesale. 
They act weak and “tired,” and simply fall over and 
die. Of our last three hatches, just about 50 per cent 
have died, and they are still at it. Some will prob¬ 
ably say that it is because I did not turn the eggs 
twice a day while hatching, as the incubator manu¬ 
facturers recommend. Others will say it is because 
my breeding stock was fed on soft feed exclusively, 
instead of whole grain. Others again will say that 
the chicks should be fed on dry seeds, cracked grains, 
! 
OLD TIMES IN OKLAHOMA. Fie. 191. 
etc., instead of wet mash. This occurred to me, so I 
sent for a bag of Fidelity Chick Food, and tried that, 
making them scratch for all they get. Truth to say, 
those have turned out the most dead chicks of the 
whole lot, although I do not attribute it to the feed. 
Others again will lay it to roup. Many of them have 
sores at the corners of the mouth, and get blind before 
they die. Others will say lice. My eyes are pretty 
good but I have failed to find them. What do I say? 
1 say that I do not know. 
HEN BROODERS.—I have set a few hens, and pro¬ 
pose to put about 20 chicks in each brooder, in care 
of a motherly White Wyandotte instead of a lamp. 
They will be kept confined to the brooder house and 
runs, and given the same care as the incubator hatch¬ 
ed chicks, as nearly as possible, except that they will 
be hatched and reared by natural heat instead of by 
artificial heat. This may give me a little light on the 
cause of the trouble, as an entering wedge. A good 
laying hen should lay enough eggs in the months of 
October and November, when eggs are scarce and 
high, to pay her feed bill for a year. The surest way 
I know of to induce them to do it is to use them for 
incubators and brooders, from July 1 to September 15, 
as I propose to use these White Wyandottes. I shall 
expect them to be ready for business at the egg basket 
by October 1, after their three months’ rest. How 
many R. N.-Y. readers have a few hens to test in this 
way? From past experience and observation, I believe 
the eggs will be forthcoming. o. w. mapes. 
“OLD TIMES" IN A NEW COUNTRY. 
The picture shown at Fig. 191 was taken in Okla¬ 
homa. The reader who sends it says: “It brings to 
mind the sociability of people in a new country. Here 
they are, young and old, gathered together with their 
musical instruments, having a joyous time. The old 
log house has long since been abandoned, and the 
family is occupying a nice commodious farmhouse.” 
Oklahoma seems to most eastern people like a pretty 
young country to talk about its “old times,” yet we 
must remember that history is made at a rapid pace 
on the prairies. The “good times” and social gather¬ 
ings of the pioneers, serve to hold society together. 
They lighten the hard conditions, make the homesick¬ 
ness easier to bear, and help the people to endure un¬ 
til brighter days are in sight. 
FARMING IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY. 
Cultivation of Crops. 
Part IX. 
Potatoes and corn are the only cultivated crops 
grown on the farm. Several years ago we experi¬ 
mented, seeding wheat in rows and cultivating, but 
the results were not satisfactory enough to continue. 
Wheat fields are sometimes cultivated by harrowing 
with a light harrow, and in a dry year this plan will 
destroy many weeds and benefit the crop wonderfully. 
We harrow our potatoes the first time about 10 days 
after planting, and once a week thereafter until they 
are from three to four Inches high. Those which 
were planted first on the flax and corn ground, .were 
harrowed with the steel harrow the first time, as the 
ground was rather hard, owing to heavy rains. The 
remainder of the ground was harrowed with a wood- 
frame smoothing harrow having eight teeth to the 
foot. The teeth in this harrow are made of round 
iron, and this makes it much better to use than the 
common diamond-tooth harrow, as plants are not so 
liable to be cut off. It is necessary in harrowing po¬ 
tatoes to have a harrow with teeth close together in 
order to take out all the small weeds in the rows. The 
smoothing harrow we now use is not manufactured 
at the present time, and we are on the lookout for a 
light steel or wood frame harrow either with levers 
or reversible teeth. The common steel harrow is too 
heavy, and the sections too large to do good work. 
After three or four harrowings, if necessary, the rows 
are perfectly clean between the plants, and whatever 
weeds remain between the rows are taken out with 
the cultivators. Whenever we can we prefer to har¬ 
row our potatoes across the rows the first time, as it 
levels the ridges down much more. Our main object 
in harrowing potatoes as much as possible is because 
it costs only one-fourth as much as to cultivate them, 
the harrow taking four rows, and keeps the rows 
free from weeds between the plants better than a cul¬ 
tivator. 
Cultivation begins when the plants are from two to 
three inches high. The first time through the inner 
teeth are run within six inches of the plants, so that 
at least two inches of soil will be thrown on the row. 
We do not hesitate to cover the young plants an inch 
or so for a few days. Each cultivator is equipped with 
six shovel teeth and a pair of hillers. The earth is 
thrown in toward the potatoes from the first till the 
last cultivation. Four cultivators are used; they are 
known as pivot wheel or “bicycle” riding cultivators, 
and for close, accurate and thorough work they are 
much ahead of the common corn cultivators where the 
operator has to steer the gangs with his feet. Early 
potatoes will be cultivated three or four times, or un¬ 
til the vines are so large that it will be impossible to 
get through the rows with a team. When cultivating 
the second and third time, the gangs are set farther 
from the row each time, and the inner teeth raised 
so as to disturb the potato roots as little as pos¬ 
sible. We never run the cultivators through twice in 
succession without changing the position of the gangs 
or the teeth, so as to cut over any ground that might 
have been missed the previous time. 
The weeder follows within three or four days after 
the first cultivation. It uncovers any plants that may 
have been covered, sifts the dirt in around the plants, 
and best of all, keeps the rows clean. Our main ob¬ 
ject in all our harrowing and weeding is to keep the 
potato rows entirely free from weeds between the 
plants. All weeds between the rows are easily taken 
care of, but if allowed to get a start in the rows a hoe 
is about the only tool to get them out with, and it is 
out of the question for us to use hoes or any other 
hand machines with as large an acreage as we have. 
On low, fiat land we prefer to hill our potatoes as 
much as possible with the cultivators, three or four 
inches above the level at the least, but on well- 
drained land they are hilled very little unless planted 
shallow. Absolutely no narrowing, cultivating or 
weeding is carried on when the ground is wet. We 
have found by experience that in harrowing and weed¬ 
ing especially, more harm is done than good. This 
is perhaps due to the sticky nature of our soil. Corn 
is handled in much the same way as potatoes. It is 
harrowed soon after drilling in order to level the 
ground before coming up. After well out of the 
ground the weeder is used on It until about five inches 
high, and then again after each cultivation. When 
cultivated the second and third time it is hilled about 
three inches, the same as for potatoes, and then left 
for the year. Perhaps the most useful and cheapest 
tool to use we have on the farm is the weeder. One 
horse and a man or boy can cover 30 acres a day, 
and do work that a harrow or cultivator cannot do. 
Wolverton, Minn. J. x>. b. 
