1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
757 
A YANKEE IN OHIO. 
HOW THE STATE I.OOKS TO EASTERN EYES. 
Its Advantages and Disadvantages. 
Part III. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
Hospitably Inclined. —It is almost impossible for 
a visitor to get away from these Ohio farmers. They 
are neighborly and sociable. The roads are good, 
and the driving horses are active and strong. I should 
judge that visiting is common, and now they are fig¬ 
uring on another way of getting together. By the 
side of the road that runs from Aurora station, we 
found a fine-looking young farmer digging holes for 
telephone poles. lie is the president of the Geauga 
County Farmers’ Telephone Co. This company is 
owned and operated entirely by farmers. It has 
already 400 miles of wire in operation, reaches every 
town in the county, and goes to, at least, 250 farm¬ 
houses. The farmers and their hired men do all the 
work but wiring, which is done by experts. The 
company is now working over Portage County. The 
great Bell Company refused the use of its wire at a 
fair rate, and there was the president himself digging 
holes right by the side of the Bell Company’s line. It 
did me good to see this spirit of independence. Too 
many of our farmers seem to be cowed and frightened. 
They give up without a fight, and accept such ser¬ 
vice as the big corporations will provide for them. 
I went to a country mill and talked over this farmers’ 
telephone line with friends who were miles away. 
What a blessing this telephone service will be to 
those who live back on lonely farms—often unable 
to get about. 
A Land of Silos. —That part of the Western Re¬ 
serve which I went through is a dairy country—the 
farmers shipping milk to Cleveland, or taking it to 
the cheese factories which are scattered all over the 
country. There are, probably, more silos to the cow 
population in this region than in any other large 
area in America. After long experience and study, 
farmers now seem to be building a square silo with 
curved corners to prevent the spoiling of ensilage in 
the corner angle. Many of these silos have been put 
in or outside of old-fashioned barns—that is, barns 
built for the storage of hay. I saw one great barn 
built when every cow required 800 cubic feet or more 
to store her Winter’s hay. The man who built it 
said the barn and cellar cost $4,000. Since the silo 
has made it unnecessary to feed great quantities of 
hay, the mows are empty. All the barn is good for now 
is to put cows under. The owner said that, if he had 
known what he does now about ensilage when that 
barn was built, he would be over $6,000 better off to¬ 
day. A long, low building with a silo at one end, 
costing, possibly, $1,000, would have been better and 
handier than the present great barn. With one-quar¬ 
ter of the capital, he could have built a barn of equal 
cow capacity. 
I tried to learn what price was considered a fair 
one for ensilage, but no one ever has any to sell. 
One lot sold at $3.50 a ton, which was considered fair. 
It is estimated to require only one-seventh the space 
occupied by an equal weight of hay. Of course, there 
are some farmers who do not yet see the value of 
ensilage. It seemed to be generally admitted, how¬ 
ever, that farmers who use ensilage and make Winter 
milk, have so cheapened their product that they are 
doing about as well as they did in other days when 
milk brought more. There are many tenant farms in 
this part of Ohio. I want to make a special chapter 
on the tenant and the old farmer when I get to it. It 
is not customary, in this part of the State, to build 
silos on tenant farms. This seems to me to be a mis¬ 
take. I was told that, in other places, silos on such 
farms paid well. 
The Corn Crop. —How these Ohio farmers do brag 
about their corn. We eastern folks do not begin to 
understand what corn means to dairy farmers on these 
rich western soils. Even the silo men had left part 
of their crop in the field after stuffing the silos full. 
We got mixed up in talking about yields, for a bushel 
out there means a basketful of ears. For ensilage, 
they plant mostly a Virginia white corn which makes 
a great stalk but rarely matures the grain. In this 
late season, considerable of the grain has hardened 
For grain, they plant a yellow dent much like our 
Chester County Mammoth. The corn found on dif¬ 
ferent farms varied quite a little, but seemed of much 
the same general type A local miller told me how 
he selected two of the finest ears from the grain of 
each farmer who patronized his mill. These were 
finally sorted out to seven lots or 14 ears. These were 
shelled, the grain well mixed and planted. The fol¬ 
lowing year, the best ears were selected for seed, and 
he is now likely to secure an improved corn well 
adapted to the soil of his neighborhood. 
Corn Fields in Winter. —In this country, the 
usual plan is to follow corn with oats. In the south¬ 
ern and western parts of Ohio, I found the corn fields 
seeded to wheat, but on the Western Reserve, the corn 
fields were bare. Coming from my own little farm 
where every corn field was three inches deep with 
Crimson clover, this seemed to me like a very wasteful 
practice. John Gould’s corn fields were an exception. 
He had sown Canada field peas in combination with 
oats, rye or wheat. Just after the corn was cut, the 
peas were broadcasted over the ground. The grain 
was put in with a seeder on the Cutaway harrow 
which worked the peas under and covered the grain. 
A smoothing harrow or roller would make the job 
complete. At the time of my visit, both peas and 
grain were well out of the ground. 
Mr. Gould said that he had tried oats, wheat and 
rye as a matter of experiment but was best pleased 
with oats. One reason was that, after making a good 
growth, the oats die down so that the land can be 
quickly worked with the Cutaway, which gave ample 
preparation for oats in the Spring. In a late, wet 
Spring, the rye and wheat gave too large a growth, so 
that plowing is needed to put it under. Crimson clover 
is good enough for me. I can sow it cheaper and easier 
than I could oats and peas, and I think it does the soil 
more good. It’s a sin, though, to let those great corn 
fields lie bare through the Winter ! The only man I 
met who had used cow peas was F. A. Derthick. He 
raised a crop of Whippoorwill peas, und plowed them 
under for wheat. I would rather use Early Black, but 
if these peas do not show themselves in the crops for 
four years, I shall be much surprised. I have certainly 
seen more wonderful results from cow peas on the 
light lands of Delaware and Maryland than clover can 
show on this naturally fertile soil. 
Fertilizers on Wheat. —In this section, as in 
most others that I visited, the small amount of fer¬ 
tilizer that is used goes on the wheat. Usually 
clover is plowed under, and 200 pounds or so of a fer¬ 
tilizer low in nitrogen but high in phosphoric acid, 
are used. Eastern farmers sometimes wonder why 
western writers still make use of the word “ phos¬ 
phate ”. These wheat fertilizers seem to be chiefly 
dissolved phosphate rock with a smell of tankage and 
a taste of kainit. Farmers generally believe that the 
clover provides about all the nitrogen the wheat re¬ 
quires, and that their best soils are not deficient in 
potash. One reason for using the fertilizer on the 
wheat was that it helped give the plant a better root. 
The freezes and thaws of Winter are strong enough 
“ to pull out fence posts”, and will lift wheat unless 
well anchored. As with us, the manure seems to be 
used mostly on the corn. It is well enough for a man 
to stand off out of sight, and say that these farmers 
do not use fertilizers economically; but one who ac¬ 
tually sees some of the crops of potatoes and grain 
that are produced with clover alone, can have but 
little to say. I saw one field where manure had been 
used on one-half, and potash and dissolved rock on the 
other for growing clover. A man would need a micro¬ 
scope to tell where the manure beat the chemicals. 
That is the sort of thing that appeals to an Ohio 
farmer. You must show him something that equals 
manure for feeding clover. 
There can be no doubt that the output of wheat on 
the Western Reserve has greatly increased of late 
years ; several things are, evidently, responsible for 
this. Farmers understand the culture of clover bet¬ 
ter than they did. I think, too, that the use of phos¬ 
phoric acid has had a good effect. The silo, by great¬ 
ly reducing the acreage needed to support the dairy 
stock, has shortened the rotation and left more land 
free for clover and wheat. These farmers have not 
yet come to the eastern and southern plan of feeding 
the phosphoric acid and potash to the clover crop. 
Their clover may be good enough to suit them, but I 
saw better in southern Ohio. It seems to me that the 
outcome for this section is a great increase in the 
number of tenant farmers. I should say that even¬ 
tually too many of these farms will be called upon 
to carry double—to support the worker and, also, part¬ 
ly support the owner. In that case, there will be an 
increased use of fertilizers, or agricultural history in 
the East is not a good guide. h. w. c. 
AMONG THE MARKETMEN. 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
Careless Grape Packers. —Not long ago one of 
The R. N.-Y. family bought a basket of grapes from 
the Lake Keuka grape district. The cover of the bas¬ 
ket was decorated with a very fancy lithograph which 
also stated the fact that that basket of fruit was 
packed by a certain number ; the basket was also ac¬ 
companied by a request that, should the fruit not 
prove entirely satisfactory, the firm packing the 
grapes should be notified of that fact. As the grapes 
were inexcusably small, this was done, and the firm 
replied that the packer having this number had here¬ 
tofore been known as one of the best in that locality, 
but excused the poor quality of this basket of grapes 
by saying that it is possible that some of his packers 
had been a little careless about putting in some of the 
smaller grapes. They stated, also, that they have 
had very little trouble of this kind this year ; the 
fruit has been very fine, and the berries have grown 
to a large size. It seems that this firm of packers has 
arrangements with the different growers, and that 
each grower has a number of his own so that any 
trouble of this kind can be traced directly to the 
responsible party. Nowif each grower would only 
number each of the packers, they would have the 
system about complete. 
X X X 
Fruit-Flavored Butter. —A shipping firm in a 
western city has recently commenced a suit against a 
cold-storage company, for damage to a lot of butter, 
which they claim occurred while the butter was in 
cold storage. In the same room, were stored a lot of 
oranges and lemons, and the claim is made that these 
communicated their fruity flavor to the butter, injur¬ 
ing it thereby. The defendants claim that the butter 
was tainted before it was stored, and the settlement 
of the suit is likely to involve a very nice question as 
to flavors. It is claimed in this market that refriger¬ 
ator eggs recently received have been tinged with a 
strong fruity flavor, which injures them materially. 
The only safe way seems to be to have entirely separ¬ 
ate compartments for the storage of such products. 
t t X 
Selling Game Dfrectly to the Consumer.— 
The Philadelphia Record tells about a game dealer of 
that city who did not find trade exactly satisfactory, 
and who tried a very original plan of improving mat¬ 
ters. He procured a regular sportsman’s outfit—suit, 
game-bag, high-topped boots, gun and everything— 
and loaded up the game bag with a miscellaneous as¬ 
sortment of game. Then he started out on the street 
looking for customers. He told a story about the 
dealers no longer being willing to pay the poor hunt¬ 
ers living prices for their game, so he had come to the 
conclusion to sell dirpctly to the consumers. He is 
reported to have secuud a pretty good trade, but how 
long he can keep it up under these conditions, is a 
question. It reminds one of the stories we sometimes 
hear about fishermen who have had poor luck, and 
who, to keep up their reputation, buy a string of fish 
to carry home. 
t X X 
Shipping Frozen Poultry. —For several years, 
some of the great beef-packing concerns have been 
shipping poultry, as a sort of side issue to their dressed 
beef trade, and The R. N.-Y. told, several years ago, 
how one of them handled the business in the West. 
This business is said to be increasing to a large ex¬ 
tent, and the transactions have become so important 
that they are affecting the market to a remarkable 
degree. It is now reported that branch houses will 
be located at different points in the West, and that a 
large packing plant is to be erected at Salina, Kans. 
Mr. II. E. Finney, of the Armour Packing Co., Kansas 
City, says that the report was probably started by the 
fact that the packers, Armour & Co., of Chicago, 
Armour Packing Co., of Kansas City, and Swift & Co., 
Kansas City and Chicago, have gone very extensively 
into the butter, egg and poultry business and prac¬ 
tically already control the western market on these 
products. The export business is in its infancy, but 
sample shipments have been made to test its practica¬ 
bility as to the safe arrival of the goods and revenue 
as well; it would seem, from the experimental ship¬ 
ments, that the business is capable of considerable 
development, and it is not at all unlikely that, in the 
next few years, there will be a heavy increase in ex¬ 
porting fowls and turkeys. Turkeys in particular 
seem to be in demand across the water; and while 
they get very fine turkeys from Italy, there is a good 
healthy demand for the American product, which has 
never been supplied. It is safe to say that the ex¬ 
port poultry business will create an increased demand 
for American poultry, and that the poultry raisers 
should appreciate this fact and prepare themselves 
accordingly, particularly with turkeys and fat fowls. 
One effect which has resulted from the meat-packing 
firms engaging in this trade, has been the raising of a 
much better grade of poultry throughout the districts 
from which they gather their supplies, and this has 
been a great benefit, not only to dealers and con¬ 
sumers, but also to the producers of the poultry, for 
the better grades have brought them much better 
prices. _ f. h. v. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Tue principal .feature of the Thanksgiving Number of The 
Youth’s Companion will be Mary E. Wilkins’s sketch of A New 
England Girl Seventy Years Ago. In this retrospect, she pre¬ 
sents the portrait of a girl who, in primitive times, with no lux¬ 
uries and few comforts, found the means of abundant happiness. 
Those who subscribe now for The Companion for next year, will 
get the remaining numbers of this year free. The price for it and 
The R. N.-Y., both one year, is 12.50 if sent to us. 
Most of the separators manufactured by responsible houses 
get practically all the cream out of the milk. They are an im¬ 
provement on the old style of dairying. They are even an im¬ 
provement on the early separators. There are advantages, how¬ 
ever, in power, size of bowl, and convenience of cleaning and 
keeping in order that should be taken into consideration. The 
U. S. Butter Extractor Co., Newark, N. J., want to send particu¬ 
lars about their Empire cream separator to those who are inter¬ 
ested in dairy mattex-s. 
A great deal of the cotton-seed meal that comes from the 
South, especially from Memphis, Tenn., is low in percentage of 
ammonia, and much of it is adultei-ated with cotton hulls. In 
buying cotton-seed meal, it will be well to insist on a plain state¬ 
ment of analysis. The American Cotton Oil Company, 46 Cedar 
Street, New York, make a plain guarantee of the analysis which 
appeal-son the tag attached to every bag. They make careful 
analyses themselves, and let nothing into the meal that shows 
a lower analysis than their standard guarantee. 
