1904. 
693 
MARKET NEWS 
Size of Bushel Box. —“Give the correct 
size of an oblong bushel box, same width as 
depth, and twice as long as wide.” m. h. 
Ohio.' 
If the ordinary grain bushel is desired, con¬ 
taining 2,150.41! cubic inches, 10 l /ixl0%x20'/& 
inches, inside measurement, will be approx¬ 
imately correct. In some sections custom re¬ 
quires 2,504 cubic inches for such articles as 
potatoes, turnips etc. A box of the required 
shape holding tin's amount would be about 
10%xl0%x21% inside. Weight is, however, 
a much better plan than measure for handling 
all sorts of produce. If scales are correct, all 
lots of 100 pounds more or less will be uni¬ 
form, but no two struck measures of grain 
will weigh exactly the same. A slight jar 
on the floor or blow on the measure while 
being filled will make a number of ounces 
difference in the Contents of a half bushel 
measure. For handling liquids the measure 
is convenient and correct, but for grains, veg¬ 
etables, etc., there is little reason for using 
it, except where accuracy is not essential. 
The Pinfeather Question. —“I wish you 
would have something to say about how 
chickens are dressed in the New York mar¬ 
kets; that is, their appearance, dry picked. 
Are ail the pinfeathers removed carefully so 
to make a tine smooth looking bird? Mr. 
Mapes said in The It. N.-Y. that he threw a 
broiler into the ice water every six minutes. 
It hardly seems possible to remove so many 
pinfeathers in so short a time and do it thor¬ 
oughly.” f. c. E. 
Maine. 
Theoretically a broiler properly dressed 
ought to look as though he had never worn 
a feather overcoat, but as a rule an occa¬ 
sional pinfeather reminder remains. I have 
picked enough chickens to know that it is a 
big job to get them perfectly clean without 
tearing or bruising. Still with practice the 
work can be hurried up much more than 
would seem possible to a beginner. The 
broilers that bring best prices certainly are 
very handsome, with scarcely a trace of a 
pinfeather, and it will probably pay the man 
who dresses them to come as near to this as 
possible, even though it takes a little more 
time. The breed of chickens makes consid¬ 
erable difference. Some of the big, slow- 
maturing sorts are very pinfeathery at broiler 
size, and are scarcely suitable for this pur¬ 
pose. It is especially difficult to make a 
good job with a chicken with dark-colored 
feathers. White Leghorns arc possibly best 
of all. There are no black specks left after 
picking, and they get a full coat so early that 
many of the pinfeathers are out of the way 
at broiler age. It is about as easy to pick a 
porcupine as a Brahma or Cochin broiler. 
Apples.— Receipts are heavy. Two dollars 
is the top notch, few going anywhere near 
this mark. The highest prices arc had for 
Alexander and Twenty Ounce. A few Fall 
Pippins are seen, but they are hardly ripe 
enough to be first rate. When in good con¬ 
dition this variety ranks pretty near the top 
of the list. It has a peculiar richness pos¬ 
sessed by no other. 
Pears. —The market has weakened, and 
lower prices are the rule for all but top 
grades. As usual, prime Seckel brings most, 
$4 or a little more in some cases. So many 
Pacific coast Bartletts are offered that eastern 
grown suffer by comparison, being as a rule 
smaller and not so fair and well colored. 
Clapp’s Favorite and Flemish Beauty are not 
sold to any great extent. They have the bad 
habit of getting soft at the core while ap¬ 
pearing all right outside. After a few such 
experiences consumers quit buying them, and 
stick to the old reliable Bartlett and Seckel. 
Peaches. —This has been a good season 
for consumers of peaches here. Ever since 
the Georgia crop started there has been an 
abundance, which have sold at moderate 
prices. The peach is now getting to be con¬ 
sidered a staple fruit, rather than a luxury, 
and people of moderate means are using them 
freely. This idea may well be fostered by 
growers and dealers. If satisfied with a fair 
price and some judgment is used In marketing 
the crops of large producing sections, so as 
not to avalanche any one market there will 
be no difficulty in disposing of the fruit of 
even larger plantings than at present. As 
soon as a market is overstocked with perish¬ 
able fruit a good many buyers at once size 
up the situation and hold on., knowing that 
prices must drop. These bargain hunters are 
a quite large class, useful in their way, but 
usually profiting by the misfortunes of others. 
A little closer co-operation by growers in 
large producing sections would often save 
them money. 
Grapes. —The market has been rather slug¬ 
gish, but is now picking up, and for the next 
three weeks trade will no doubt be active, 
with large receipts from the western New 
York grape territory. The early arrivals are 
usually sour, and consumers do not pay much 
attention to them until the middle of Septem¬ 
ber. 'fhe small carrier fad has been carried 
to a ridiculous extent. Some of these six 
basket carriers actually contain only 12 to 15 
pounds of fruit. A three-pound basket is 
small enough, but the worst feature about 
these carriers is that they are not of uniform 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
size, and the buyer constantly thinks he is 
being buncoed, which idea is strengthened 
when he compares two crates and finds that 
one contains a pound or so less than the 
other, although they look about the same size. 
It is probable that both growers and commis¬ 
sion men are about equally responsible for 
this shrinkage in size. Commission men have 
asked for small packages for a certain class 
of trade, and neighboring fruit growers, in¬ 
stead of agreeing on a standard size, have 
eacli tried to outdo the other a trifle in the 
matter of smallness. This is the history of 
some of these small packages as I know it. 
Perhaps some other explanation may account 
for other cases, but it lias certainly injured 
the grower more than anyone else. One man 
in a section where the worst of this cutting 
lias been done uses only standard packages, 
and in five years has made more money than 
any of his neighbors equally well situated. 
His fruit always sells for what it is worth, 
and he has incidentally worked up a reputa¬ 
tion that is worth having. lie sells only 
through commission men who believe in the 
standard full-size package. w. w. H. 
SOME WESTERN WAYS. 
Plowing for Wheat. —As I passed along a 
certain road one August day the farmers were 
busy turning the clover sod or the oat stub¬ 
ble, according to the rotation practiced upon 
that particular farm. Some were plowing 
with two horses, some with three, while one 
man drove four horses to a disk plow, turn¬ 
ing a furrow two feet wicle. In all cases 
the teams seemed equal to their task, and 
with plows adjusted properly and all filth 
turned under with a jointer, the clean straight 
furrows indicated that the first step had 
been taken towards an abundant harvest. 
Returning by a different road a marked con¬ 
trast was noted. The few farmers who were 
in their fields at all were stumbling along 
over clods turned up by worn-out plows, while 
their half-fed horses were taxed to the limit 
of their endurance, and the ragged, crooked 
furrows left many a briar, weed and brush 
protruding above the clods as sentyies over 
the spots where a portion of the coming har¬ 
vest was lost to the careless owner. These 
two kinds of plowing were apparently typical 
of the general methods practiced in the two 
communities, and I shall watch the results 
with interest, for I believe the sequel will be 
told in the harvest. 
The Pasture Field. —Just now there is 
nothing that shows much plainer than the ef¬ 
fects of turning stock upon the pastures very 
early in the season. Yonder is a field that is 
pastured early and late. It should furnish 
excellent pasture for a dozen head of cattle, 
but before the March winds had ceased to 
blow the owner found himself short of feed, 
and (lie hungry stock were turned out to for¬ 
age from morning till night in a vain attempt 
(o pick up from the scattering patches of just 
starting vegetation sufficient nourishment to 
repay them for the energy lost in the search. 
And when warmer weather came no spear of 
grass was allowed to get fairly started in its 
growth until it was cut down by the ever- 
hungry herd. So throughout the Summer 
the grass never got a start, and now the Au¬ 
gust sun and drought have parched this field 
until a single cow could hardly find enough to 
eat outside of the bushes and weeds that have 
taken possession of a good portion of its area. 
In a nearby field that was well set with 
clover and Timothy with considerable Blue 
grass in spots, the grass was allowed to reach 
a height of several inches before it was 
touched by the stock, and although smaller 
than the other field it has furnished abund¬ 
ant pasture for about an equal number of 
stock, and will supply their wants until late 
into the Fall, while the usefulness of the 
first field is practically ended for the season. 
Surely the extra growth that permits the cat¬ 
tle or sheep to eat their fill without roaming 
over the entire field, and that maintains its 
vitality during the Summer and Autumn 
months, will far more than repay the cost of 
feed for a month or two in the Spring, and 
yet the practice of early pasturing is all too 
common. 
Trees Out of Place.—W e hear much about 
the preservation of our forests, and a tree in 
its proper place certainly deserves our high¬ 
est respect, but we should not forget that 
even a tree improperly located may do more 
harm than good. The row of fine young wal¬ 
nuts that may be seen along the highway on 
a well-kept farm presents an attractive ap¬ 
pearance, but when I saw in the adjoining 
cornfield a strip fully three rods wide next to 
these trees, on which there would l>e no corn 
and very little fodder, it occurred to me that 
these trees were nothing more than weeds, 
destroying each year far more than their in¬ 
creased value would repay. If trees must be 
left in such places why not leave a strip 
next to them in grass rather than waste our 
time, seed and fertilizer in a useless attempt 
to grow some other crop. f. j. h. 
Indiana. __________ 
Soft Soap Paint. — I read in The It. N.-Y. 
last Spring that "everybody knew how hard 
it is to wash off soft soap when it was dried 
on.” 1 did not know. That, set me think¬ 
ing. I got a disli of soft soap, stirred milk 
into it until it was nearly as thin as linseed 
oil: then stirred in air-slaked lime until it 
was thick paint, and painted my fruit trees 
witli it to keep out the borers. That paint 
is on the trees yet. The remedy is effectual. 
Oklahoma. A. D, H. 
Starting Rose Cuttings. 
D. N. D., Milton, Out ,.,—How can I strike 
cuttings from an everblooming hardy rose? 
I do not know the name of it. It came from 
Glasgow, Scotland, and seems perfectly hardy 
here and blooms from June until September ; 
has very large and beautiffil flowers, but 
throws out no suckers whatever. Is it best 
to start outside or in greenhouse; kind of 
wood to cut off? 
Ans. —Roses are best propagated from 
cuttings in a greenhouse or other pro 
tected places, but they may sometimes he 
rooted under favorable conditions out oi 
doors. Take plump new wood just after 
the blooms fade, cut with a sharp knife 
to three buds or three-eye lengths, cut¬ 
ting the lower end just beneath a plump 
hud. Trim off the two lower leaves, 
leaving one well-developed leaf and bud 
at the top. Plant firmly in a box or pot 
of wet sand, firmly compacted, setting the 
cutting down to the leaf remaining at the 
top. Keep in a somewhat shaded place, 
and protect from winds or strong air cur¬ 
rents. Thoroughly wet or soak the sand 
every day, and see that it never dries out. 
If the exposed leaves wilt to any degree 
they may be freshened by spraying with 
cool water and shaded with a piece of 
paper placed over the pot. Under favor¬ 
able conditions, and in Summer tempera¬ 
ture, the cuttings should root in five or 
six weeks, when they may be carefully 
taken out of the sand and planted firmly 
in pots, using a compost of good garden 
soil and fine manure, equal parts of each. 
Some varieties may be rooted by making 
cuttings a foot or more long, stripping 
them of all but the two top leaves and 
planting firmly in a shaded part of the 
garden, covering with an inverted fruit 
can or glass jar, watering profusely about 
the jar every day until new growth 
starts. 
The Mammoth and the Mosquito 
What has come to pass in thousands «f 
wears seems hardly credible. Primitive 
luan, a weakling in comparison to modern 
man, was able to conquer the huge mon¬ 
sters of thousands of years ago, such as 
the Mammoth, and to-day they are dead 
forever: yet the mosquito and fly have 
never been conquered. It is now time 
for the scientist to devise methods for kill¬ 
ing the mosquito and fly, so that they will 
go to join the mammoth and the monster 
lizards. The mosquitoes and flies are dan¬ 
gerous enemies of man because they spread 
contagion. The mosquito often carries the 
germ of malaria with his bite. The house¬ 
fly spreads ge'ms of disease over our food. 
These bacterial germs, ever hunting for 
the weak spot, find a place in our blood, 
and then we suffer from grip, catarrh, corn* 
sumption, or malaria. 
Dr. R. V. Pierce, chief consulting physi¬ 
cian to the Invalids’ Hotel and Surgical 
Institute, at Buffalo, N. Y.,says: "There 
would be no grip epidemics, the germs of 
consumption, or malaria would find no 
place in the human economy, if the blood 
were pure, if the lungs, heart and other 
srgans were fed on good blood. Poisons 
should not be allowed to accumulate in the 
body; to be safe it is best to take a gentla 
laxative at least once a week.” Such a 
vegetable laxative as Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant 
Pellets contains nothing which could harm 
the system. 
For putting the blood in order, and as a 
tissue-builder and tonic for those weakened 
by coughs, colds, catarrh, grip, nothing will 
build one up quicker than Dr. Pierce’s 
Golden Medical Discovery. This is a med¬ 
icine made entirely of roots and he.bs, 
without the use of alcohol. 
Dr. Pierce’s Medical Adviser is sent free, 
on receipt of stamps to pay expanse of' 
mailing only. Send 21 one-cent stamps 
for paper covered, or 31 stamps for clot]# 
binding, to Dr. R. V. Pierce, Buffalo, N. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
I f. N.-Y'. and you will get a quick reply and 
"a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8 . 
Learn Telegraphy and R, R. Accounting. 
SOU to $100 per month salary. Endorsed by all rail¬ 
roads. Write for catalog. Morse School of Tele¬ 
graphy, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Elmira, N. Y. 
HAY FEVER 
and ASTHMA cured to stay CURED 
BOOK 6tF. Faaa. P. Harold Hayes, Buffalo N. Y 
Cj| A perfect steel rrame silo with guar- 
011V/O anteed workmanship and material. 
10x20 silo $78.37. Special terms to Farmer’s Clubs 
fc Granges. The International Silo Co., Jefferson, O. 
ADDI P DADDCI Q —Buy now and save money 
Hr ILL DHnnLLOl Robt. Gillies, Medina, N. Y. 
EUREKA INDESTRUCTIBLE FENCE FUSTS. 
Cheap as cedar. Made where nsed. No freight to 
pay. Great inducements to Agents to work territory. 
For terms, etc., address, with stamp, 
j. W. WYNKOOP, R. R. No. 4, Erie, Pa. 
UNION LOCK POULTRY FENCE. 
is strongest and best by every test. Our low prices 
will surprise you. We ship from mills In Conn., 111., 
Calif., and guarantee prompt delivery. Write to-day 
for FREE catalogue of Farm, Lawn and Poultry Fence 
Case Bros., 13-18 Main St., Colchester. Conn. 
HORSE POWERS, 
THRASHERS Wood 
and CLEANERS Saws 
One & two-horse Thrashing Outfits. Level pilTTCDP 
Tread,PerfectGovernor,Feed&Ensilage UUl I LUO 
Write for eatalogue. 
ELLIS KEYSTONE AGR’LWORKS, Pottstown, Pa 
The Clipper Mills 
are Kuaranteeil to be the beat 
GRAIN and SKKD CLEANERS 
made. We uae them in our 
warehouse (power aizea) for 
recleaninK Clover, Timothy, 
Wheat, Rye, Hungarian, Mil¬ 
let, Buckwheat ami other farm 
seeds. Write for Mill Circular 
and Field Seed Price List, Free 
THE IIENKY PHILIPPS SEED 
AND IMPLEMENT CO., 115 
and 117 St. Clair St., Toledo, O. 
Cider Machinery—Send for Catalogue to Boomer & 
Boschert Press Co , 118 West Water St., Syracuse,N Y. 
CIDER 
PRESSES. 
Investigate the ■* Monarch* 
Hydraulic Press before 
buying. Special Con¬ 
struction, Added Con¬ 
veniences, Maximum 
Capacity and liesults. 
Catalogue free. 
MONARCH MACHINERY COMPANY, 
41 Cortlandt Street. New York. 
GASOLINE 
ENGINES 
for pumping or commercial pur¬ 
poses, from % to -Si horse power. 
Also Steam Boilers and Engines,Saw 
Mills, Feed Mills, Cider Presses and 
supplies. Machinery guaranteed. 
Catalogues free. 
HYDRAULIC PRESS MFG. CO., 
39 Cortlandt St„ New York City. 
GASOLINE ENGINES 
Tr.ree Horse Power, SlOO 
Five Horse Power, St 1 50 
Saws wood: cuts feed. Does all 
kinds of farm work. Runs spray 
pump. Catalogue free. 
PALMER BROS., 
Cos Ccb, Conn. 
THE AIR-COOLED 
GASOLINE ENGINE. 
Weight350 pounds. Has jump 
spark. This engine requires 
no water forcooling purposes. 
No water jacket-pipe or tank 
to freeze in cold weather. % A 
fan on the exhaust side of 
engine cools it better than 
water. Also used for operat¬ 
ing spraying pumps; Is better 
than wind mills for pumping 
purposes, and can be used for 
light farm work also. 20 years 
of experience in manufactur¬ 
ing gas engines. No experi¬ 
ment. Absolutely guaranteed. 
K. U. DEYO A CO., Binghamton, N. Y. 
THE MASTER GASOLINE ENGINE. 
An economical 4 H. P., 4 Cycle, dependable, thoroughly well maae, and absolutely guaranteed engine. At 
the price we offer this engine, you cannot afford to buy elsewhere. Write fo r pa rticulars. 
THE MASTER ENG-INTE CO., 
704 Main Street, Willimantio, Conn. 
A Never Failing Water Supply, 
with absolute safety, at small cost may be had by using the 
Improved Rider Hot Air Pumping Engine and 
Improved Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine. 
Built by us for more than 30 years and sold in every country in the world. Exclu¬ 
sively intended for pumping water May be run by any ignorant boy or woman. 
So well built that their durability is yet to be determined, engines which were sold 
30 years ago being still in active service. 
Send stamp for “04 ’ Catalogue to nearest office- 
RIDER-ERICSSON ENGINE CO., 
35 Watren St., New York. 239 Franklin St., Boston 
<0 Dearborn St., Chicago. 692 Craig St., Montreal, P. 
to North Hh St., Philadelphia. 22 Pitt St., Sydney, N. S. W. 
Tenieute-Bey 71, Havana, Cuba. 
