1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
837 
A YANKEE IN OHIO. 
HOW THE STATE LOOKS TO EASTERN EYES. 
Its Advantages and Disadvantages. 
Part VIII. 
I EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. | 
Farther West. —Newark, 0., is a lively place with 
a large railroad population. It provides a good mar¬ 
ket for all sorts of farm produce, especially when the 
railroad business is good and railroad men are busy. 
In such times, people are eager to buy fruit, eggs and 
such things ; but when trade is slack, these are about 
the first to be given up. That is one peculiar thing 
about a railroad town—its local trade is a pretty fair 
indication of the general state of trade throughout 
the country. 
I remember when at Ithaca, N. Y., noticing the 
great number of milk wagons running about the 
streets. There seemed to be almost as many in New¬ 
ark, 0., and in one short ride through the city, we 
saw four of them driven by women. I was told that 
it is very common in that place for women to deliver 
the milk. There was one widow whose husband died 
and left a dairy farm. She kept the business going, 
and literally took up the reins when she drove the 
wagon. Others were farmers’ wives and daughters 
who were glad and willing to drive, thus leaving the 
men folks free to do the heavier work. People at 
Newark regarded the woman “ milkman ” as a regular 
institution, and a good one, too. The western woman 
of sense and enterprise is certainly get¬ 
ting into new lines of work. At one town 
when I asked for a place where I could 
be shaved, a man said in all seriousness : 
“ Which would you prefer—a man or a 
woman barber ? ” It seems to me that a 
woman is entirely out of place behind a 
barber’s chair. In the East, the woman 
barber is a curiosity—not very popular, 
but now and then one sees a woman in a 
milk wagon. 
More Like New York. —Parts of 
Licking County seemed to me much like 
central New York. The country back 
from the railroad was rough and hilly, 
and the valleys were well watered by 
springs and small streams. One could see 
how, originally, the location of a good 
spring decided where the settler should 
build his house. Ilere we found people 
tracing back to Maryland and Kentucky. 
The farms are mostly comparatively small 
for Ohio—from 50 to 100 acres—and here 
again farming is undergoing a change. 
The hill farms were once sheep pastures, 
and the Blue grass comes crowding in here 
wherever a chance offers. Some farmers 
are working into fruit, and some of the 
smaller farms seemed like the farms back 
from the railroad in New York State, 
where the small orchard, the small dairy, 
the two or three brood sows, and the reg¬ 
ular wheat and corn crops are expected to pay bills 
and taxes and fill the cellar. The wheat is seeded in 
the corn almost entirely. The corn seemed to be cut 
higher than in other sections I visited. When the 
ground is frozen, they go on with the roller and break 
down the stubs, which might otherwise clog the knives 
on the reaper. 
Blood and Food in Horses.— At Newark, I met 
F. H. Ballou, whose fruit articles are familiar to our 
readers. He met me with the famous little gray mare 
that has hauled his loads of fruit to market for so 
many years. We drove eight miles back among the 
hills, and the fat little mare needed only a word to 
send her jogging. I knew before I asked that they 
would tell me she was of southern blood. These 
Virginia and Kentucky horses do have a spirit and 
courage of their own. Mr. Ballou said that he fed 
her on Timothy hay and corn. She was as fat as a 
seal, yet in spite of her years, she held up her head 
and kept trotting. Some of our scientific men ought to 
tell us why a ration which they call ideal for a beef 
steer cannot take the go and pluck out of a horse with 
those qualities bred into him. Fat feeding has lazed 
many a man, though it usually takes two generations 
with a Y ankee; but a well-bred dairy cow or horse 
will hang closely to the breed characteristics. I 
have a big western corn-fed horse, bred and fed to 
make a strong beast of burden. A bushel of oats a 
day would not change his nature. They tell me that 
the Poland-China hog never could have been developed 
in a dairy country, but only where corn and clover are 
fed directly to hogs. 
A Corner of the Farm. —Mr. Ballou is but a 
small fruit farmer, doing most of his own work, yet 
there was nothing on the trip that seemed to me so 
helpful, in one sense, as this young man’s experience. 
I saw one old man of nearly 90 years who, starting 
with nothing, now owns over 1,200 acres of good land. 
Yet this man had not gained as much as the farmer’s 
boy who had made a home for himself in one corner 
of the old farm. It is a rough farm lying in a deep 
valley surrounded by steep, high hills. Mr. Ballou is 
an only child. At young manhood, the question of a 
life-work came to him as it does to many others. 
Thousands had gone over the high hills to the town 
or city seeking keener excitement or larger oppor¬ 
tunity than the old farm seemed to offer. For years, 
the country has been sending the very cream of its 
young manhood to be worked up in the town and city 
creamery. You know how it is—the old men, with 
youth and trouble behind them, say, “ Stay on the 
farm ! ” The younger men, with lives untried, are 
eager to be away. 
Mr. Ballou says that he loved the farm, and was 
content with country life. He loved fruit growing, 
and had read and studied about it until he saw possi¬ 
bilities in the old soil that were a blank to those who 
looked only through the eyes of pigs, cattle or grain. 
The more he studied, the stronger grew his convic¬ 
tions that, right here, in his childhood’s home, on the 
old soil that had nourished and protected the family 
so long, was the place for him. He was rooted deep 
in the old farm—would that more farmers’ boys could 
feel as he did ! So he took a hillside corner of the 
farm, near the road, and started in to make a home. 
A Fruit-Basket Home. —When I started for 
Ohio, I determined not to describe any individual 
farm, but to look for general conditions. As I went 
over Mr. Ballou’s little place, and saw what he had 
done in his farm corner, I felt that here was a rare 
object lesson. I met richer farmers, saw stronger 
land, and observed methods that were newer and 
more strange ; yet somehow, it seemed to me that the 
life problem that was being worked out back in this 
little Ohio valley, was the truest and best of all. 
Why ? Because it shows the possibilities of the old 
farm in this age, for the boy without capital, with 
only a common-school education, and a true love for 
the soil. It is a beautiful thing to see how this old 
Ohio farm is providing homes for four generations; 
from Mr. Ballou’s little children to his parents and 
grandparents. 
“ Yes,” said Mr. Ballou, “ of course I couldn’t have 
done this if my father had not given me a start and, 
what is better, a good example, in character and 
habits of industry.” 
I’ll guarantee there are farmers all the way from 
Cape Cod to California, who would give half their 
farms if their sons would say that, and prove it by 
staying at home. Perhaps I cannot do better than to 
show here (Fig. 382), without further comment, a 
photograph taken by Mr. Ballou. His little girl is 
surrounded by some of the products of Dale View. 
The Fruit Business.— Mr. Ballou started with 
strawberries and raspberries, but is now getting into 
peaches and larger fruits. He still likes the Gregg 
raspberry, though with us it is too dry and seedy for 
our best trade. For the last year or two, Newark has 
been flooded with fruit, and Mr. Ballou has but a 
small area in strawberries now. He says that these 
gluts of fruit will cure themselves. They are usually 
produced by farmers who see some one doing well 
with fruit, and so they buy plants and rush them in 
with but little idea of the skill and care required to 
secure a fair crop. They only spoil the market with 
inferior fruit, and finally get out disgusted and leave 
the field for those who stick and study. Mr. Ballou 
hauls his fruit eight miles to market, and peddles 
most of it himself. The gray mare and the green 
crates from Dale View are familiar objects on the 
street during the berry season. This experience shows 
that it is not always necessary for the small-fruit 
grower to get close up to his market, for every shingle 
on Mr. Ballou’s little house represents berries that 
were hauled eight miles ! rr. w. c. 
AMONG THE MARKETMEN. 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
Hothouse Oranges. — I saw a market basketful 
of these a few days ago. They were cut with several 
inches of the stems and leaves attached to the fruit. 
They didn’t differ much in appearance from the ordi¬ 
nary oranges. They are said to be very good. The 
price is somewhat higher than California or Florida 
fruit. 
X X X 
Sweated Tomatoes.— The last week in November, 
I saw several boxes of tomatoes which were said to 
have been ripened on straw in frames under glass. 
They didn’t have as bright and attractive an appear¬ 
ance as those ripened naturally, and it isn’t likely 
that the quality is as good. Still, many prolong the 
tomato season by picking the fruits that are mature 
but still green, and ripening them in the sun or in a 
warm place. Some pull up the vines, and 
hang^them in the cellar with all the toma¬ 
toes adhering.LThese tomatoes prove very 
acceptable, but don’t have the flavor of 
those ripened in the hot sun on the vines. 
It takes the sun to bring out the flavor. 
X X X 
Egg Supplies. —One egg receiver told 
me that he is getting large quantities of 
fresh eggs from Maryland, a section for¬ 
merly sending few at this season. This is 
just the time when supplies of nearby 
fresh-laid run lightest, and a supply from 
this source helps out greatly. Of course, 
they do not fill the place of the nearby 
fancy eggs, but they are satisfactory to a 
large trade, especially as they sell for 
lower prices than the nearby. Price means 
much to some buyers. This is what helps 
the sale of the limed and refrigerator eggs. 
X X X 
Tlie Home Market.— The R. N.-Y. 
has repeatedly and constantly urged the 
importance of selling in the home market. 
This is often neglected while the farm 
products are sent to the larger and distant 
city markets, consigned to the tender 
mercies of the railroads and commission 
merchants. The other day, a commission 
merchant who does an extensive business 
said to me, “Of course, I am here to do 
business, and to make all I can for my shippers and 
for myself; but many of them make a great mistake 
in shipping so much to the city markets. Within the 
past year or two, there has been a great increase in the 
number of irresponsible commission merchants who 
undersell the regular responsible dealers, often fail 
to make returns, but knock down prices and demora¬ 
lize trade generally. This is one of the reasons why 
we have lower prices for so many lines of goods. In¬ 
stead of running so many risks, farmers would often 
do much better to sell their stuff at home.” I am glad 
to have this indorsement from a man who makes his 
money from those who don’t heed his advice. It is 
worthy of careful consideration. Of course, in the 
case of the great Georgia peach orchards, the apple 
orchards of western New York, the immense duck 
farms of Long Island, and other similar ventures, the 
home market is out of the question. But large quan¬ 
tities of the stuff sent to the city markets, never 
should have left the home town. f. h. y. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
California has many attractions in the way of fertile land and 
mild climate. These conditions have prolonged lives that could 
not stand the varying conditions of an eastern climate, and made 
fortunes for those whose lives were thus spared. The Maywood 
Colony is said to have a choice location. Foster & Woodson, 1135 
Broadway, New York City, have issued a publication giving de¬ 
tailed information about it. They will send it on application. 
Those interested may then investigate further. 
Tins week, several subscribers have sent us letters which they 
received from a New York concern offering them employment at 
home embroidering goods. These are printed letters and, of 
course, all read just alike, but have the subscriber’s name put in 
with a typewriter to give them a personal character. As usual, 
the first condition is that the correspondent send them $1 for what 
they call an embroidery machine. This is simply one of the 
numerous fakes that we have so often referred to. It makes no 
difference whether it is an artist fake, a painting fake or an em¬ 
broidery fake, or any of the other fakes that emanate from the 
fertile brains of individuals who seek a living at the expense of 
others, the object is all the same. Once more we say, Keep your 
money! 
CHOICE PRODUCTS OF F. H. BALLOU’S FRUIT FARM. Fig. 382. 
