734 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 29 
be all I shall give uDtil after I have picked the fruit.” 
“You have noticed, perhaps, what some of our read¬ 
ers are saying about the best variety for shipping. 
What has been your experience? ” 
“Our best shippers last season were Saunders, 
Wolverton and Enormous. Tubbs is, also, an excel¬ 
lent shipper, although only medium in size. It is 
hardly fair, however, to make this comparison, as 
these berries were from plant beds that were left 
over.” 
“ Where do you ship your strawberries ?” 
“ I ship all my berries to Boston, and have found 
that I can do as well with them there as any where 
else, or even a little better. We used 60 and 48-quart 
crates, picked when dry, as soon as ripe, and not be¬ 
fore, for people do not eat green berries if they can 
get any other, neither do they want them overripe 
and rotten.” 
“ What advice can you give about picking such 
fruit ? ” 
“ The best I can do is to show you the rules for 
berry pickers which I have printed and hand to my 
pickers the first time they go into the patch. If these 
rules are disobeyed, such people do not pick any more. 
I like to pick every day, have the berries handled 
carefully, and picked so that they have short stems 
left on the fruit.” 
RULES FOR BERRY PICKERS. 
1. No children under 10 years old allowed in the patch. 
2. No person must take more than one row of strawberries at 
a time. 
3. In picking blackberries, two persons must pick one row, one 
on each side. 
4. You must bring your berries up as soon as your tray is filled. 
5. When berries are picked too green, or rotten berries put in, 
or kept in the patch until sunscalded or cooked, 
punched tickets will be given and these redeemed 
at half price only. 
0. No playing allowed in the patch. 
7. No profane or indecent language allowed on 
the premises, in the berry patches or out, and 
those indulging in same will be promptly dis¬ 
charged. 
8. Quarreling and fussing between the pickers 
positively forbidden. 
9. Every person is expected to attend to his own 
business, except that parents must see that their 
children observe the above rules. 
10. All persons not willing to abide by the above 
rules will please not begin picking at all, as they 
are for your own good as well as mine. 
W. F. ALLEN, JR. 
“ Do you advise filling the baskets 
full ? ” 
“ Certainly, the baskets should always 
be well filled, as they carry better in that 
condition, and the berries are not rolled 
about from side to side in the basket 
when the crates are handled. No con¬ 
sumer wants to buy a basket of berries 
for a quart, when it contains a pint. It 
costs no more for crates, no more to pick 
or for cartage to have them full, but it 
does cost more for commission to sell them, because 
they bring less when half full. One thing more, and 
that is, I would advise growers to find a reliable com¬ 
mission man, watch him carefully, and ship him all 
that they send to his city. They will make a mistake 
if they ship to two houses in the same city at one time.” 
WESTERN STOCK FEEDERS AND GRAIN. 
DO THEY RAISE ALL THEY NEED ? 
Do the large western feeders buy grain, or do they grow all 
they need ? If they buy, what grain is iisually bought ? Is it 
customary to exchange corn for bran, oil meal or other by¬ 
products ? 
A Kansas Man’s Experience. 
The most successful stock farmer of Kansas regu¬ 
lates his stock to the amount of grain he raises. In 
order to do this, he must carry one year’s crop in the 
granary all the time, or at least part of a crop, to pro¬ 
tect himself against a failure, or partial failure, of 
crop. We have a great many farmers that raise 200 
to 500 acres of corn, and then buy largely besides, 
feeding it all to cattle and hogs. But if you will fol¬ 
low the history of most of this class of farmers in 
Kar sas for 20 years, you will find that a great majority 
of them have failed, losing all their money, and in 
many instances, some of the money they have bor¬ 
rowed, to buy cattle to feed. 
The average farmer that has about 160 acres of 
land, generally speaking aims to feed up about what 
grain he raises ; if he is milking cows to sell milk to 
the creamery, he finds it profitable to sell some corn 
and buy some bran and shorts, or at any rate, to buy 
bran and shorts to mix with corn for his cows. It is 
always profitable, we find, to buy shorts for pigs, 
until they are four months old, at least. In feeding a 
bunch of cattle, I think it always pays to buy bran if 
it can be got for $9 per ton. When corn is selling for 
20 to 25 cents per bushel, about 50 pounds of linseed 
meal fed to each steer for the last 30 or 40 days of the 
feed, has always proved profitable, as it gives the hair 
a smooth, sleek appearance, and makes the animal 
look much better. I think, if linseed meal can be 
bought for $18 per ton, it could be profitably fed all 
through the feed, giving about 1% pound per day to 
each animal, with other grain food. 
Our farmers aim to keep stock cattle enough to eat 
up all their rough feed, corn st iks, straw, hay, etc. 
As a rule, when crops are good, we could not afford to 
put up hay to sell, that is, it would not more than pay 
expenses, good hay selling for from $1 to S3 per ton, 
in stack. Stalk fields sell at 10 cents to 25 cents 
per acre, wheat straw from nothing to 50 cents 
per load, oat straw from 50 cents to SI per load, 
Alfalfa and millet hay at from SI.50 to S 3 per ton, cane 
from SI to $2 per ton. I think it much more profitable 
to bujf stock cattle and feed them the cheap, rough 
feed, than to buy heavy feeders and grain-feed them ; 
in fact, 1 have always found this profitable. Many 
times I have found grain-feeding unprofitable ; it has 
lost me money so many times that I have entirely quit 
corn-feeding cattle for the market, c. A. stannard. 
Hope, Kansas. 
“Ohio Will Consume Her Corn.” 
The average farmer usually raises all the feed con¬ 
sumed. Stock raisers usually limit their stock to the 
amount of home-raised feed or what can be secured in 
the immediate neighborhood. When they are com¬ 
pelled to buy grain, it is almost entirely bran. They 
do not replace corn, when sold from the place, by any 
grain, as it is usually the money they need. In the 
northern part of the State, dairies are more numerous. 
Considerable feed -is bought, such as bran, linseed 
meal, oats and corn. In the southern part, mixed 
farming is mostly practiced, and the farmers raise 
most of the food. They depend mostly on stock for 
cash. In the southwest part, in the valleys, corn and 
wheat are mostly raised, but Ohio, as a rule, will con¬ 
sume her corn. w. B. smith & son. 
Columbus, O. 
Feeding Cattle in Iowa. 
Feeding here is done with grains grown on our 
farms. Some buying is done by larger feeders, from 
their neighbors. Corn is our principal feeding grain, 
and is used in different ways, from shocked corn to 
ensilage, but is mostly fed out of shock, or snapped 
off with the husk. Crushed corn is used by many 
feeders, in finishing stock for market. Some buy a 
little oil cake to finish with, but this is practiced 
only on fancy beeves, as a rule. Farmers in this 
locality have plenty of grain to fatten what stock they 
have. Considerable grain is shipped to eastern mar¬ 
kets, such as oats, corn, wheat, rye and barley. Hay, 
also, is plentiful and is being shipped East and South. 
Oar farmers are taking more to cutting up their corn 
for fodder than they did several years ago, and they 
are cutting more and more every year. l. brodsky. 
Plover, la. 
Nebraska Methods. 
The average western farmer, as a rule, produces all 
his grain food on his farm, and usually has a portion 
of his corn, oats, barley and rye, if any is raised, for 
sale. To be sure, he uses a small amount of bran and 
shorts which he buys at the local mills, or has it com¬ 
ing to him from the exchange of his wheat for flour. 
This, of course, does not apply to the feeders and 
shippers who buy their feed. The stock feeders buy 
a great deal of grain, but as a rule, procure it from 
local farmers and tenants. Homegrown grain is al¬ 
ways obtainable. Corn is the grain used in feeding 
for fattening together with some oats ; bran, and oil 
meal are used in connection for condition. Some mill¬ 
ing companies use a great deal of bran and shorts for 
fattening cattle and hogs for the market. Farmers do 
not sell corn to buy any substitute for it to any ex¬ 
tent. The farmer, as a rule, feeds oats and a little 
bran and shorts to his young stock, colts, calves and 
pigs and breeding stock on the farm. Straw, hay, 
millet, stalks, Alfalfa, etc., are the principal Winter 
supply for stockers, and during Spring, Summer and 
Fall, Alfalfa, clover, Timothy, Blue grass, rye and 
wild grass are the principal dependence for all 
stockers, dairy and growing stock. Stock fatten on 
our pastures here in Summer, and can be kept fat or 
in good condition on our roughness during Winter 
with very little grain. j. s. Harris. 
Tecumseh, Neb. 
CUTTING AND HAULING CORN IN KANSAS. 
WHY DO IT BY nAND ? 
Objections to Machines. —As soon as the corn¬ 
cutting machines were invented, they were put out 
here to try. These machines all do good work and 
are all they are represented to be ; but I think I have 
had my last corn cut and bound by a machine, and I 
am determined to have it all cut by hand in the fu¬ 
ture. Here are my reasons : We had such a wet Spring 
that the weeds got a large start, all of the corn was 
very weedy, especially in the corn-row, and the twine 
binders cut and bind the weeds with the corn, a seu- 
ous objection where the fodder is to be cut by ma¬ 
chinery, shredded or thrashed. Twine costs 12 to 14 
cents per pound here this year, and the binders use 
exactly 50 cents’ worth per acre. As the machine 
owners all charge 50 cents per acre for cutting, and it 
is worth 25 cents per acre to shock it, this makes a 
total cost of $1.25 per acre. Bound corn fodder han¬ 
dles better than unbound fodder, but the twine is 
very objectionable to the stock. Last Winter, I no¬ 
ticed large wads of the chewed-up twine that had 
been thrown out by the horses and other 
stock, and one sheep cut her mouth very 
severely with the twine that got caught 
in her teeth. I cannot say that the 
twine has injured any stock seriously, 
but I have seen enough of it not to want 
any more twine in my fodder. 
Cutting By Hand .—As for hand cut¬ 
ting, drilled corn costs one cent more per 
shock to cut, than hilled corn. Drilled 
corn is cut here for five cents per shock 
of 14x14 hills square, or 80 cents per 
acre, as there are 16 shocks, 14 x 14 hills, 
in an acre, if the corn is planted the 
standard width of three feet eight inches. 
A good hand will cut 30 to 35 shocks per 
day. 1 paid six cents per shock this 
year, and could have got 100 men, as a 
very poor hand could make $1.20 to $2 
per day. At six cents per shock, of 14 x 14 
hills, the cost is 96 cents per acre, 25 
cents per acre cheaper than the twine 
binder will do it, and no weeds are cut 
with the corn. I had my shocks started 
without any “saddle”, and they can be lifted up 
bodily and slung on to a wagon. 
How To Haul.—I use a Farmers’ nandy wagon, 
and I have a tilting pole or lever mounted on a plat¬ 
form on four corn-planter wheels that I hitch on be¬ 
hind the wagon. A looped rope is put around the 
shock, a steel pin is driven through it to prevent the 
rope slipping, and the end of the pole is pulled down 
and hooked into the rope ; then the other end is pulled 
down by a dangling rope, and the shock is swung over 
on to the flat wagon bed. Four or six shocks make a 
load when stood upright. The derrick cart is then 
cast loose, and the load taken to the thrasher. If the 
corn is stored, it is pulled off behind the wagon by a 
rope that is put around the load, the end being fastened 
to something permanent, when' the horses are started 
and the shocks are pulled off behind and left standing 
up in the shock yard. With this rig, one man with a 
Farmers’ Handy wagon can haul in one day as much 
fodder as two men and a team can in six days in the 
old way. J. clarence Norton. 
Kansas. 
POSTSCRIPTS. 
A Chinese gentleman, who ought to know what he 
is talking about, recommends a diet of rats as a hair 
restorer. He says that no horseman can explain why 
it is that linseed meal or carrots improve the hair on 
a horse. He cannot, either, explain why rat steak 
will prevent the falling out of hair and make the 
locks soft, silky and beautiful; yet, he says, it will 
do all these things. We can say for ourselves that we 
consider it no crime to be bald. 
Lectures and demonstrations on bee-keeping are 
given at agricultural and floral fairs in England by 
county bee-keepers’ associations, and they do much to 
awaken and sustain interest. A bee expert will hive 
a swarm within a gauze-covered inclosure, exhibiting 
the queen, and explaining the process in a practical 
talk. Such demonstrations tend to interest buyers in 
bee products, and also awaken an interest in bee¬ 
keeping among small producers of the working class 
THE RASPBERRY PICKERS AT WORK. Fig. 333. See First Page. 
