1807 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
727 
Some New Varieties of Fruit. 
H., Portage County, 0. —In a recent 
R. N.-Y., comment is made upon the 
Eldorado blackberry. Our experience 
has been the same as that of The R. 
N.-Y., in regard to this variety. The 
plant appears to be perfectly hardy, but 
the fruit is only of medium size and 
seems in no way to be an improvement 
over older varieties. The Lawton and 
Kittatinny are still the standard varie¬ 
ties. Call us in to dinner when you find 
something better. 
Of raspberries, the Palmer is grown 
quite extensively as an early Blackcap. 
The Timbrell strawberry has proved a 
failure in this locality. It would be 
better if new varieties were more thor¬ 
oughly tested before introduction. The 
Parker Earle is a handsome fruit, while 
the Rigeway and Portage strawberries 
introduced the past season are quite 
promising. 
Laying Down Berry Plants. 
J. R., Burr Oak, Ia. —In this part of 
the country, it is necessary, to insure a 
crop, to lay down and cover in the fall 
all blackberries and most varieties of 
raspberries. Some hardy varieties of 
raspberries, such as the Ohio and Tur¬ 
ner, will do fairly well without winter 
protection, but they will do better with 
it. I put off laying them down as long 
as I can, but still get them down before 
the ground freezes. I like to have a 
good frost to stop the growth of cane 
and start the leaves to falling before I 
begin to lay them down, for otherwise, 
they are liable to rot. The first thing 
necessary is to cut out the old canes, if 
that has not already been done, and cut 
back the new canes, trimming them into 
suitable shape for the next year’s crop. 
A sharp spade is a very good tool with 
which to cut out the dead canes, and a 
straight corn knife is as good as any¬ 
thing with which to trim the new 
bushes. After they are trimmed, drag 
the brush out with a horse hitched to 
one section of a harrow. The above 
directions will apply to either raspberries 
or blackberries. If there are many to 
lay down, get a four-tined fork, cut out 
the two inside tines, and spread the out¬ 
side ones, making them resemble the 
horns of a Texas steer; a blacksmith will 
soon do this, or any one can do it who 
has a place to heat the tines so they will 
bend. For digging under the side of the 
hill, and also for covering, I prefer a 
round-pointed, long-handled shovel. 
Begin at the end of the patch where 
the ground is the highest, so as to lay 
the plants up-hill. If the land is level, 
then begin at either the north or west 
according as the rows run. Dig under 
the side of the hill, taking out a good 
shovelful of earth. I prefer to treat a 
number of rows in this way before lay¬ 
ing them down. It is necessary to have 
two men to lay them down, and three 
are better—two with shovels and one 
with the prepared fork. Let the one 
with the fork take his position on the 
opposite side of the hill from which the 
earth was taken; gather the canes in 
his fork by placing it against the hill 
near the ground and raising it about 
three feet; then with one foot against 
the crown of the plant close to the 
ground, press from him with both fork 
and foot, bend the canes to the ground, 
and hold them till enough earth is 
thrown upon them to keep them in place. 
If one is short of help, they may be left 
and the covering finished later ; but two 
men with shovels can cover them about 
as fast as one can lay them down. They 
do not need to be covered deep ; but 
after a dozen years’ experience, I prefer, 
for various reasons, to cover them out of 
sight. Three men can lay down an acre 
of blackberries in two days. 
One or^two-year-old plants, especially 
of raspberries, can generally be laid 
down by simply loosening the earth with 
a fork, but older bushes should have the 
earth removed as described; for the 
bending must mostly be done in the 
roots as the canes are quite brittle and 
will not endure much bending. 
The Fall Calf. 
C. L. H., Rosendale, Wis.—A fter 10 
years’ experience, we can confidently 
say that a fall calf is much easier raised 
than one dropped in the spring. If 
dropped September 15 to November 1, 
it is not bothered by flies or heat. We 
feed the calves fresh skim-milk warm 
from the farm separator, about six 
pounds at first, and increase to eight 
pounds, and to 10 pounds at four months 
old at a feed. We early teach them to 
eat oats, by keeping a few clean oats 
before them, and nice, bright clover hay 
completes the ration. A fall calf should 
be kept in the stable most of the time 
except for an hour or two on warm, 
sunny days, when a chance to run will 
do it good. By May 15, the calves are 
ready to be weaned and put on pasture. 
Feeding the Work Horse. 
E. H. C., Carmel, Ind. —In feeding the 
working horse, I would feed corn and 
oats, equal parts, either ground or whole, 
and if convenient, change from marsh 
hay to clover. Corn meal should not be 
fed without some diluent. The bran of 
oats is sufficient to prevent it becoming 
a pasty mass in the stomach. If meal 
is not mixed with ground oats or with 
bran, it should be fed with dampened 
cut hay or cut sheaf oats. With a ration 
of corn, oats, and Timothy hay or marsh 
hay, either bran or oil meal or sprouts 
should be added, say six pounds of bran 
a day, or if oil meal, two pounds a day, 
or three to five pounds of sprouts. If 
fed in the ear, corn may be fed three 
times a day, with oats and bran added 
at noon and night with less corn. A 
good day’s feed for a 1,200-pound horse 
is—14 pounds of hay, 10 pounds of corn 
meal, six pounds of oats, and six of 
bran. In place of bran, one may use 
two pounds of oil meal. If he feeds 
clover hay, he does not need either bran 
or oil meal. Corn should never be 
omitted from the ration of a horse at 
hard work, just as meat is essential in 
the food for laboring men. I once knew 
a teamster hauling gravel to say that 10 
ears of corn at a feed 130 ears a day) did 
not keep his horses up. He was told to 
quit counting corn, and feed with a scoop 
shovel. This he did, and stopped losing 
flesh. This was, of course, in the severest 
kind of work long continued. 
Precocious Pullet and Vineless Sweet Potato. 
J. E. C., Valley Lee, Md. —I will tell 
the truth and nothing but the truth, re¬ 
garding a precocious pullet I once owned. 
She was hatched on November 20, under 
the bed of our old “black Mammie”, 
my cook at the time, and was wintered 
in the kitchen, becoming a great pet 
with my hands, who lived therein. At 
the opening of spring, she commenced 
running around among the roosters and, 
as a consequence, found it necessary to 
make herself a nest, which she did among 
the briers and vines of an old dilapidated 
arbor in the garden. In due time, she 
laid 15 eggs and hatched them all when 
she was 5% months old, and strangest of 
all, raised every one of the chickens. 
Ever afterwards, she was known as 
“Fifteen hen”, but I don’t think she 
ever duplicated her first performance, 
though she lived to a good old age. This 
was long before the war, and prior to 
any introduction of blooded chickens in 
this part of the country. This record, 
I think, gets ahead of Mr. Mapes’s young 
hen. 
I bought the Vineless sweet potato last 
summer of Johnson & Stokes, in con¬ 
sequence of your recommendation. I 
got 36 plants, which, being very tender, 
died out to half the number, which have 
not yet been dug, as we do not expect 
much frost here before November. They 
have as fine vines as I ever saw, five or 
six feet long, very large and vigorous. 
I do not question that, in some locali¬ 
ties and soils, this new potato is vine¬ 
less ; but it is a rank misnomer here on 
the bank of the St. Mary’s River. They 
were planted in a very rich part of my 
garden, and they had the option of 
growing five or six feet straight up in 
the air or of running upon the surface 
of the ground. 
The account in The R. N.-Y. of the 
best way to destroy a wasps’ nest, was 
very amusing to me, and I think, to 
most of your readers. If I had one in a 
tree of mine, as big as a barrel head, I 
would take a forked pole some evening 
about dusk, punch the thing out of the 
tree, and then “ git neither would I 
stand on the order of my going. 
Need of Co-operation. 
A. S., Middlesex County, Mass.— I 
am only *a new subscriber to The R. 
N.-Y., being one of the 25-cent ones, but 
I think, now I have got started, that I 
shall keep on. I have been very much 
interested in your articles relating to 
the farmers and the middlemen or con¬ 
tractors. We have just been through the 
same experience here in Massachusetts 
with the milk contractors, and got most 
gloriously beaten. Last winter, the cry 
of the old Milk Union was, No money to 
work with ! We reorganized with 3,600 
members, reelected the old board of offi¬ 
cers (which was very bad), gave them 
$3,600, and now we are in the hole worse 
than ever, and the money is all gone. 
As you say, Why is it that farmers con¬ 
trolling products as they do, will allow 
themselves to be sat upon as they are 
at the present time ? I have talked and 
talked to them, but I might as well orate 
to the “Old Man of the Mountain.” 
Things are growing worse every year. 
Take the matter of surplus milk. I be¬ 
lieve that every can of milk that the con¬ 
tractors accept at the car, should be 
paid for, and I believe that every court 
in the land would uphold that state¬ 
ment. No other business is conducted 
in such a manner, and I know very well 
that the business can be done with a less 
margin than it is at the present time. 
Here in Massachusetts, the daily sur¬ 
plus, as you very well know, is from 
7,000 to 11,000 eight-quart cans per day. 
It’s all out of reason. I hope that the 
farm papers will keep hammering on 
this subject, and perhaps, in the very 
far future, some good may come out of it. 
Thin in flesh? Perhaps it’s 
natural. 
If perfectly well, this is 
probably the case. 
But many are suffering 
from frequent colds, nervous 
debility, pallor, and a hun¬ 
dred aches and pains, simply 
because they are not fleshy 
enough. 
Scott’s Emulsion of Cod- 
liver Oil with Hypophos- 
phites strengthens the diges¬ 
tion, gives new force to the 
nerves, and makes rich, red 
blood. It is a food in itself. 
50c. and $1.00, all druggists. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, Chemists, New York. 
THE RECORDS SHOW CURES OF 
Rheumatism 
BY THE USE OF ST. JACOBS OIL OF CHRONIC CRIPPLES AND OF BED-RIDDEN 
INFLAMMATORY CASES. THERE'S NO DENYING, IT CURES. 
Nitrate of Soda 
is the best and cheapest form 
in whichyou can buy nitrogen 
(or ammonia). It is also the 
most soluble and available 
form in which nitrogen can 
be applied as food for plants. 
You can mix it yourself with 
other materials in just the 
correct proportion for the 
particular crop to which you 
wish to apply it. You cannot 
raise good crops without nit¬ 
rogen in some form. Why 
not use the best—Nitrate ? 
A dO-pa^e book, “Food for Plants.” 
J ICC Tells all about mixing 1 and using 
fertilizers. Please ask for it. 
S. M. HARRIS. MORETON FARM (p. O.) N. Y. 
“Eli” Baling Presses 
88 Style* A Sizes for Horse and Steam Power. 
Hey or 
Straw 
Be!3 
46 Inch 
Feed Opening 
__ 1 Power Leverage 64 to 1) ^^STEEI 
Largest line in the world. Send for Catalog. 
COLLINS PLOW CO., 1111 Hampshire St., Quincy,III. 
FAST 
WORKING 
HAY PRESS] 
Will turn out from 4 to 6 tons more per day 
than any press made. 12 to 16 tons per, 
day Is the ACTUAL CAPACITY of the. 
SOUTHWICK 
1 Write for catalog. * price list. 
I SANDWICH MFG. CO. 119 Main St. Sandwich,Ill. 
—i— 
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— 
— 7 ” 
— 4 - 
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: 
CU-t 
“ Not a Theory, But a Condition.” 
Time was when land and timber were plentiful 
and cheap. Then wisdom built the old "worm" 
fence. Now, it is different; and t he wise man looks 
for the best substitute for rails, or plank. A great 
many are asking us about it. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., Adrian. Mich. 
ADAM 
THE FENCE MAN 
Make. Woven Wire 
Fenoethat “Stands 
Up.” Cannot Sag-. 
Get hlj new catalogue. It 
telli all about the JBeat 
Farm Feme® Made. 
Alio Steel Lawn and Oemeter^Tmces! 
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ aPaTi 1 ^ Joliet, IUlnplg. 
i . O O for a 
MACHINE 
to weaveyourownfenceof 
Coiled Hard Steel 
Spring Wire, 
52 inches high, at 
25 Cts. per Rod. 
#20 buys wire for IOO 
rod fenee. Agent* 
Wanted. Catalogue Free. 
CARTER 
Wire I'enreMaeh.Co. 
Box 3Q Mt.Sterling.O. 
For Sale or Exchange 
for New York State prop- 
farm in a college town of southern Oregon. Railroad 
station within sight. Healthful climate. Address 
N. E. WIGHTMAN, Parish, N. Y. 
PRIZE JUMBLE PUZZLE. 
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full of interesting Beenes and information about the 
West, all for 25c. 
This Is what you must do: In the following the letters 
of each word are jumbled up, and you must straighten ’em 
out and find out what the word is. For instance, what is 
this word—suohe? Why. when you get the letters straight¬ 
ened out it spells house, doesn’t it? That’s the idea. 
1 —The outline of ;t State. Which one is it? 
These are its principal products. What are they? 
2-0 CNR 7—E R Y 
3 C OSH 8—L E T T A C 
4- T E W A H 9—R E B L A Y 
5- ROSES H lO-P E S H E 
6 SOT A 11— CUSRA TEEBS 
What does a man get there? 12— C H R I 
Now, to every one who sends us a correct solution of 
this puzzle within the next sixty days, together with 25c 
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United States wall maps, and also “ The Corn Belt” for 
one year. Address The Cora Belt, 209 Adams St., Chicago 
