1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
561 
Short Stories. 
Western Fertilizers. —I do not be¬ 
lieve that fruit growers in the West 
need fertilizers as much as those in older 
sections of the East; yet the time has 
come when they can use fertilizers to 
advantage. The fertilizer most gen¬ 
erally used is the cow pea or clover; 
these, of course, do not add phosphoric 
acid or potash, yet I believe they make 
them more available, add nitrogen and 
put the soil in a better physical condi¬ 
tion, which is of great importance. I 
know of fruit growers who have used 
ashes and ground bone, and these, I be¬ 
lieve, were obtained at the packing 
houses in Kansas City, but the majority 
of fruit growers use no fertilizers at all; 
perhaps this is because many plant on 
entirely new land. In many orchards 
the stumps can be seen along with the 
first crops of fruit. c. a. chandler. 
Sec. Missouri Valley Hort. Soc. 
Government Grass Seed. —The Michi¬ 
gan Fruit Grower reports a meeting of 
the Grand River Valley Horticultural 
Society. A rich manufacturer told how 
he made a fine lawn: 
He told of his troubles in lawn manage¬ 
ment, and of the constant care needed to 
keep it in good condition, and said that 
one of the greatest sources of trouble he 
had came from a grass grown from a 
package of seed sent him from the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, at Washington. It 
was not only worthless, but it killed out 
the other grasses, and had already cost 
him about $40 to dig it out and get other 
grass started in its place. 
The Department of Agriculture ap¬ 
pears to send many of these seeds out 
“in the interests of science.” It doesn’t 
do us much good, however, after losing 
a season’s work, to find that we have 
merely been experimenting with worth¬ 
less seeds. A young doctor once got the 
writer to experiment with a so-called 
new remedy for kidney troubles. Not 
any more—if you please. 
Quick to Learn. —Most Americans 
have heard of Edward Atkinson, the 
Boston man who wrote pamphlets 
against the war in the Philippines, 
which were thrown out of the mails. 
The papers tell the following story 
about him. Col. William Clapp was 
editor of the Boston Journal: 
One afternoon, when the question of en¬ 
silage as food for cattle was being gener¬ 
ally discussed, Atkinson came to the gen¬ 
eral sanctum and said: William, what Is 
all this talk about ensilage? What Is en¬ 
silage? 
Clapp, who was something of an amateur 
farmer, explained briefly the process of 
preservation and fermentation. Atkinson 
listened intently, and went away remark¬ 
ing that he would look up the subject. Do 
you know, said Colonel Clapp in telling the 
story, within 10 days I read of Atkinson’s 
addressing farmers' institutes on ensilage 
and its uses, and laying down laws of his 
own about it for farmers to follow. 
Ten years ago it might have been pos¬ 
sible for a theorist to do this, but now 
there are too many trained men ready 
to trip him up, and expose him. That 
illustrates the great work that our col¬ 
leges and experiment stations have done. 
They have made science popular. 
“Turning Black.” —The following 
item has been going the rounds of the 
press: 
Pontiac, Mich., June 30.—George Brooks, 
a middle-aged colored man, is the reigning 
sensation in State medical circles. Up to 
last February, Brooks was almost white. 
One bitter cold night in February last he 
took a ride into the country. He did not 
feel any bad effects from the exposure ex¬ 
cept in. his feet, hands and nose. He 
thought no more of his night’s ride until, 
after a warm night several weeks ago, 
he awoke to find himself several shades 
darker. Since that time he has been con¬ 
tinually changing hue, until now his skin 
is nearly the color of ebony. The medical 
profession think the frostbite on the night 
of the ride was the cause of his changing 
color. 
A medical friend says that this man 
has, probably, had one of two diseases— 
Hodgkin’s disease, or Addison’s disease, 
probably the latter. 
The first named is a scrofulous in¬ 
volvement of all the lymphatic glands 
(malignant); the other is a chronic in¬ 
flammation of the supra-renal organs 
(two ductless glands lying very close to 
the kidneys). In both affections, the 
skin becomes dusky, bronzed, etc. Here 
is a quotation from Reynolds’ System of 
Medicine: “The color at the commence¬ 
ment of Addison’s Disease is brown, or 
olive green brown, and becomes darker 
or blacker as the disease advances.” We 
don’t believe that “the medical profes¬ 
sion” think any such thing as frostbite 
is a cause for pigmentation of the entire 
skin! 
A Strawberry Trust. —The Portland 
Oregonian says: 
A quiet little farmers’ trust has been or¬ 
ganized in Portland by the producers of 
Multnomah and Clackamas Counties, who 
have berries to sell during the early morn¬ 
ing hours in the vicinity of Second and 
Salmon Streets. A few mornings ago, a 
man was seen circulating a paper among 
the growers whose loaded wagons, to the 
number of over 100, were standing in the 
locality mentioned. 
“You’ll drop half your load at our place 
before you cross the bridge, won’t you?” 
the man with the paper asked, and the 
usual reply was “Yes.” 
One of the farmers, on being questioned, 
admitted that half the berries were to be 
left at an East Side cannery, where be¬ 
tween two and three cents a box was to be 
paid for them, while city consumers are to 
be charged four to five cents for the re¬ 
mainder. The appearance of the half- 
emptied wagons would go to show how 
scarce the berries were, and the city buyer 
would, therefore, pay the advance rate 
without question. 
Seeding From Cultivator. — Two 
weeks ago a reader called for a small 
seeder which could be attached to a sin¬ 
gle cultivator, so as to drop clover seed 
or grain ahead of it. There, seems to be 
nothing on the market that just fills the 
bill, but it appears that a number of 
farmers have homemade contrivances 
that answer quite well. Mr. W. W. 
Cornwall, of Erie County, N. Y., fixed 
up such a device on the Planet Jr. cul¬ 
tivator. He says he took two pieces of 
old buggy tire, and ran them from the 
wheel bolt to cultivator handles. Then 
he took a box 5x5 inches, and 15 inches 
long, ana bolted it to the irons so that 
it stood just back of the cultivator 
wheel. He bored holes in this box on 
the back side to let the seed run out. A 
small tin apron may be tacked on to 
the bottom of the box under the holes so 
as to scatter the seed better, and the mo¬ 
tion of the cultivator shakes out the 
seed. It is well scattered across the row, 
and worked in by the cultivator teeth. 
Mr. Cornwall used this device for sow¬ 
ing Crimson clover seed, and he says it 
worked first-rate in every way. 
Practical Farm Experiments. — 
There has always been something of a 
question as to whether the theories 
taught at our agricultural colleges are 
really practical; only the other day, a 
well-known man said that he did not 
believe the average student at an agri¬ 
cultural college could go to an average 
farm with the capital of the average 
farmer, and make a living on it. We 
notice in Farming, a Canadian agricul¬ 
tural paper, a discussion as to what 
constitute the basic principles of success¬ 
ful farming. Prof. Robertson and Prof. 
Saunders, of the Agricultural College, 
have given their views regarding the 
matter, and now Mr. D. M. McPherson 
comes to the front with the following 
proposition: 
Let the Dominion or Provincial Govern¬ 
ments, one or either, select three 100- 
acre farms owned by three average 
Canadian farmers, the owners being known 
for their honesty, integrity and industry, 
and all three farmers and farms to be se¬ 
lected under average conditions, known and 
proved to be similar in all details possible 
to obtain. I propose that Prof. Robertson 
undertake to direct one. Dr. Saunders di¬ 
rect another, and 1 will undertake to di¬ 
rect the third, the Government advancing 
such means to carry on the three farms as 
each one reasonably calls for. This contest 
is to continue tor hve years, or as long after 
this period as it may be desirable to con¬ 
tinue the good or bad work. The director of 
each farm shall put into excution the theo¬ 
ries that each submits to the public at the 
present time. A careful record of results, 
financial and others, shall be minutely kept 
in systematic, business-like form. A care¬ 
ful inventory shall be made out at the 
start, as well as a balance sheet struck off 
each six months, also a fertility account 
shall be minutely kept of all debits and 
credits in such account. All these three 
farms shall be under the supervision of the 
Minister of Agriculture, and through him 
a determination made out each year as to 
the record of results. 
This would certainly be a practical 
scheme for testing the matter, and why 
would not such a plan do more for agri¬ 
culture than the same amount of money 
and time put upon the experiments so 
common at our experiment stations? 
AGRICULTURAL SCIENTISTS MEET. 
Experiment Station and Agricultural 
College Workers Confer. 
The Association of American Agricul¬ 
tural Colleges and Experiment Stations 
held its thirteenth annual convention in 
San Francisco, July 5 to 7. There was 
a good attendance of workers from the 
colleges and the experiment stations, a 
goodly proportion of them from the 
East. There were many good addresses 
and papers on the different phases of 
experiment work, and allied topics. The 
address by President Armsby abounded 
in valuable suggestions. He said the 
real problem of the experiment station 
is not to put a mass of information, 
however valuable, into the hands of the 
farmer, but its object is to strengthen 
his grasp upon the principles and his 
ability to apply them. The station 
worker must have a thorough scientific 
training, for the power it imparts. The 
central idea of the station is research; 
that of the college, education. 
Prof. Kedzie, of the Michigan Agricul¬ 
tural College, spoke of the late improve¬ 
ments in chemistry since the day, not 
50 years ago, when Liebig took oc¬ 
casion to point out the folly of at¬ 
tempting to make sugar from beets, and 
illuminating gas from coal. He referred 
to the many frauds and adulterants now 
in the market. He spoke of the fact 
that, in North Carolina, they are grind¬ 
ing rock, and selling it to be mixed with 
flour. 
Prof. W. M. Liggett, of the Minnesota 
Agricultural College, read a paper on 
Agricultural Education. He is very 
hopeful for the future. He says that our 
agricultural work is being clearly di¬ 
vided into two classes. The principal 
work is teaching large numbers of young 
men and young women how to be better 
farmers and farm-home makers, and 
intelligent citizens in a country of high 
civilization. The second part of the 
work—that of educating agricultural 
scientists—is necessary that we may 
succeed in the first, and that we may 
have a science of agriculture which shall 
be disseminated by all available means 
to farmers who cannot attend an agri¬ 
cultural school. It is not to be expected, 
neither is it desirable, that all the grad¬ 
uates of these schools should stay on the 
farm. Some are unfitted for farmers. 
What schools of agriculture can do to 
check the tendency cityward, is to pre¬ 
sent the attractions of the country in 
new and favorable lights, so that the 
substantial advantages of rural life will 
not suffer by comparison with the more 
brilliant but illusive attractions of the 
city. 
A paper on Seed Testing, by A. J. 
Pieters, of Washington, D. C., who is in 
charge of the pure seed investigations 
of the Department of Agriculture, was 
very interesting and suggestive. Farm- 
For the land’s sake — use Bowker’s 
Fertilizer.— Adv. 
ers are urged not to sacrifice quality to 
cheapness in seeds. Illustrations were 
given of the results of tests made with 
samples of Kentucky Blue grass, in 
which five per cent only of the seed was 
of any value, while another sample cost¬ 
ing three times as much contained 85 
per cent of real value. Though seeds¬ 
men cannot guarantee a crop, they can 
guarantee the quality of the seed. Thus, 
every honest seedsman can furnish hon¬ 
est seed. The tricks for the adulteration 
of seed are manifold. The only remedy 
for bad seeds is to demand from dealers 
a guarantee of germination, and the pay¬ 
ment of a fair price for such quality of 
seeds. Cheap seeds are poor bargains, 
but there is a demand for them that 
forces dealers to keep them. 
Prof. C. D. Smith, of Michigan, treated 
of the possibilities of developing a high- 
class dairy from grade stock of the 
range type. He does not claim that 
scrub cows can be made to produce milk 
and butter equal in amount to purebred 
dairy stock; but he does claim that per¬ 
sistent, constant and scientific feeding 
will tend greatly to augment the useful¬ 
ness of grade stock. Experiments at the 
Michigan Station bore him out in this. 
The list of officers elected was given on 
page 549 of last week’s R. N.-Y. 
Winter Crops 
perish when they lack nourish¬ 
ment. Liberal fertilization 
insures the vigor necessary to 
resist winter killing. 
Potash 
Phosphoric Acid and Nitrogen 
in well-balanced proportions, 
are what they need. 
Send /or our books telling all abou 
composition of fertilizers best adapted 
/or all crops. They cost you nothing. 
GER/IAN KALI WORKS, 
73 Nassau Street, New York. 
Profits of Farming 
GARDENING AND FRTJIT CULTURE. 
depend npon Good Crops and they In 
turn upon Good Fertilizers. The 
uniformly best fertilizer for all Crops 
and all Boils Is made by 
The Cleveland Dryer Co., Cleveland, O. 
Materials Supplied, /or “ Home Mixing." 
V VVVWV V VWVVW VWVVVVVVVVWVWa > 
:Jadoo Fibre and Jadoo Liquid 
Will give you Early Crops and Large Crops 
of Vegetables or Fruit. Send for Catalogues 
and be convinced of the merits of these 
new Fertilizers. 
# THE AMERICAN JADOO CO., 
815 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 
POISON 
Is not used In my Killer of Cab¬ 
bage Worms. By mall, 25 and 50c. 
EDW. SWA RTS. Bloekton. Ia. 
I 
-\ 
“A MOLE 
on tha Mock, 
Money 
by the Peck.'* 
but there is no money In hav¬ 
ing a mole In your garden or I 
on your lawn. Don’t have I 
them. Catch them with the | 
“OUT-O-SIGHT” 
Mole Trap. 
Every trap has our guarantee to catch.i 
Sample trap 85c. by mall 
or, hare your dealer order for you. 
ANIMAL TRAP CO. 
10 flee* St., Abingdon, III. 
WE SAVE FARMERS 40 PER CENT . FE°RriuZERS 
We sell you direct—Actually pay you salesman’s expenses and agent’s profit. Write for 
free sample and book. THE SCIENTIFIC FERTILIZER CO., PITTSBURG, PA. 
