1001 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
257 
A CITY MAM TURNS FARMER. 
Part IV. 
In my last letter I had a good deal to 
say about our horse Ben. Thinking it 
over since, I have been asking myself 
some questions. V^as it a wise thing, 
situated as I was, to buy such a horse? 
Well, no; I don’t think it was. Ben was 
too young—weighing only about 800, 
knew nothing about farm work, and 
owing to the Thoroughbred blood in 
him, was too nervous; the more highly 
organized the more nervous, man or 
animal. 
What did you do it for, then? 
For two reasons, didn’t know any bet¬ 
ter, and loved a good horse. 
What ought you to have done? 
Bought a regular farm-bred horse, 
weight 1,100 or 1,200, trained to farm 
work. As these articles are written with 
the idea that my experience may pos¬ 
sibly be of value to those who are look¬ 
ing forward to a country life as a means 
of livelihood, the above is inserted for 
their benefit. 
Slowly it dawned upon us that our 
hired man was a “dead beat,” and I in¬ 
formed him that “we must dispense with 
his services, as we could not continue to 
pay $8 a month.” His reply was that 
he “had been thinking about that, and 
found it so with our Summer visitors; 
without exception the women always 
consider it a great pleasure to go driv¬ 
ing, and Edith would do almost any¬ 
thing if she could take Ben and go rid¬ 
ing with a girl friend as a reward. 
So far our dozen hens, a mixture of al¬ 
most every variety, had laid fairly well, 
and the seven years we have been on the 
farm, there has never been one day that 
we did not get any eggs; though three 
or four times in that period they only 
laid one egg, just enough to save the 
record. With the advent of Spring the 
farm took on a new aspect; the dark 
brown earth grew warm to the touch; 
robins and blue birds fiew around the 
house and the robins nested in the apple 
trees; the cherry buds swelled to burst¬ 
ing and soon the trees were a mass of 
blossoms. A pair of orioles hung their 
nest from a tree in front of the house, 
and looked like sheets of fiame as they 
darted through the branches. The resur¬ 
rection of nature was at hand. But 
there was little time for dreaming; no 
fear of being “out of a job” on a farm. 
I wanted to increase my fiock of fowls, 
and a new poultry house must be built. 
The small 6x8-foot house which was on 
the farm, had caught fire while being 
fumigated, and the whole inside burned 
to charcoal, but was saved before it was 
A LOST-PEDIGREE GUERNSEY. Fm. 104. 
was just going to offer to work for his 
board the rest of the Winter.” But 
Edith and I had learned how to milk 
and we felt that we could run the farm 
without his assistance, and prudence 
compelled us to discharge him. Edith 
was a rapid and skillful milker, I a poor 
and slow one; and as she liked to do it, 
she gradually took the milking entirely 
upon herself. My wife was immediately 
successful as a buttermaker, though 
without any previous experience. We 
had good grade Jersey cows, and I re¬ 
member what a delight it was to us city 
folks to see the rich cream, as thick al¬ 
most as sole-leather; slipping a knife 
around the margin to free it from the 
pan, we could fold it over twice and 
take the entire cream off in one piece. 
The restaurant man soon ceased to take 
our butter, claiming he could get it 
cheaper, but we easily found private 
customers, and our butter soon acquired 
such a reputation that we could not sup¬ 
ply all that was wanted. We raised the 
price five cents a pound, and did not 
lose a single customer. But oh, the long, 
cold rides in Winter, to the manufac¬ 
turing village where we sold the butter! 
How I came to dread them! Sometimes 
we would get a mile or more on the way 
only to find the road so blocked with 
snow as to oblige us to turn back and 
try another road. Sometimes we would 
“wait till to-morrow,” only to find it 
storm harder when to-morrow came. 
But Edith was always ready, and I have 
known her, when the weather wms so 
bad that I would not go, to get a neigh¬ 
bor’s daughter for company, drive to the 
village, and coming back with rosy 
cheeks and shining eyes, say “Gramp, 
here’s the money, the butter is all de¬ 
livered.” For, strange to say, a woman 
rarely refuses a chance to ride. I have 
burned through to the outside anywhere. 
During the Civil War we had lived in a 
village near New Haven, Conn., and had 
kept fowls for years. One of the lessons 
of my apprenticeship to that business I 
will repeat for the benefit of beginners. 
Noticing how white-faced one of my 
hens was, I caught her and found the 
sides of her head covered with lice and 
nits. Greasing her well with lard, in a 
few days these actually peeled off in 
fiakes. Having about 70 eggs within a 
week of hatching, I greased all the hens 
thoroughly to make sure the young 
chicks would be free from lice, and sat¬ 
isfied that I had done a good thing, 
waited for the eggs to natch. Three 
days after they were due, I began to 
break the eggs and found a two-thirds- 
grown chick in nearly every one. Of 
course the grease had closed the pores 
in the shell, and they had all died for 
lack of air. o. a. c. 
A Lost-Pedigree Guernsey. 
The Herd Register of the American 
Guernsey Cattle Club prints the picture 
shown at Fig. 104. This cow is Butter¬ 
cup, owned by E. R. Strawbridge, Mor¬ 
ristown, N. J. In referring to this very 
fine cow. Secretary W. H. Caldwell says: 
Buttercup is a cow whose pedigree is lost, 
and the breed thereby loses a good deal. 
With her third calf she milked 11,762 pounds 
in a year, 47 pounds a day and no foromg. 
Her food was dry hay in Winter, without 
roots or silage, about 12 pounds of grain, 
at the highest, and that mainly cornmeal 
and bran; in Summer, pasture and nearly 
four pounds of bran, and only milked twice 
a day. Part of the Summer she was 
stabled during the day on account of flies, 
and fed cut green stuff, but did better 
when allowed to graze. Her bull calves 
are in demand to head unregistered herds, 
and her heifers not for sale. 
It would be interesting to know how 
the pedigree of such an animal came to 
be lost. She is a fine specimen of the 
breed, and her milk record is a good 
one. Certainly her daughters ought to 
be too good to sell at average prices for 
milkers. 
Cheaper than Darkness. 
The first cost of our Lamps is not high, and they 
burn kerosene (coal oil) which is cheap and good. 
Our No. 3 Street Lamp should be in every 
farm yard. 
Out Search Lights will enable you to do your 
work in barn, stable or cow shed comfortably 
in the light at a trifling expense. 
We offer special prices on these Lamps to in¬ 
troduce. Catalogue Free. 
R. E. DIETZ CO., 
Laight Street, Ne<w York. 
(Established 1840.) 
(POC t-A (TCf) Per Week.—That's what agents , 
lU ^pdu can makeseUing the Iwan Pat 
Improved Post Hole and Well Augers. A man ' 
can do thrice the work 
, with an“lwan’'than with 
any others. Price, each, 
4 to 9 in., $2.50; 10 in., $3; 
Users value them at 125. Consult your hard- ; 
ware dealer, or write to WEAVER, PALMER] 
& RICHMOND. Rochester, N. Y. 
STANDARD HORSE-CARTS. 
Twelve tj t y 1 e s—2 and 4 
Wheel —Wide and Narrow 
Tires—SteelAxles. Low rates 
of freight from our Works— 
Tatamy,Fa.—to aU points. 
Adopted by farmers, con¬ 
tractors, miners, irardeners, 
cemetery authorities, etc., 
wherever the best is wanted. 
HOBSON & CO., Manufrs . 19 State St., New York 
Barns 
of Plank save timber and cash. Best, 
cheapest, strongest. 4,000 in use. Book 
for stamp. 8HAWVBR BROS., Bellefontaine, Ohio 
LAWNS, PARKS, CEMETERIES 
CYCLONE FENCE 
gives a fanner more fence for . 
put up quicker and easier than any 
other. Large Btecl cables and heaviest 
cross wires. W’ire and all fence supplies ' 
at wholesale prices. Crimped and Spiral ^ 
Pickets. Ornamental Fence and Gates' 
and Farm Gates. . 
CYl'XONK FKNCB CO., Holly, Mleh. 
Branches, Cleveland, O.; Waukegan, IIU ' 
THE PRACTICAL LI EE 
of any fence is the life of its weakest parts. Nos. 12 
to 14 soft tie wires will not stand the elements more 
than three or four years Our catalogue will tell you 
of a fence that will last a lifetime. 
THE FROST WIRE FENCE CO., Cleveland, Ohio. 
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ftud allencloeures aro both protected aad beautified by ualngthlt 
HARTMAN STEEL ROD LAWN FENCE. 
Stronfc. aervlcable and la-ta Indefinitely. Catalotriie mailed free, 
HARTMAN M'F’Q CO., BOX 19, ELLWOOD CITY, PA. 
Or Room 70, 809 Broadway, New York City. 
—L -.L- J-2—-J-1— 
^^PAGE 
Toothache nor Grip 
do not cause half as much swearing as poor wire 
fences. Use Page Fence and avoid blasphemy. 
l‘A(iK \VOVK.> WIUi; KK.N( K CO.. ADR! AX, MICH. 
100 Uses 
for the 
FARMERS HANDY WAGON 
can be found on every farm. Suits any kind of soli. 
Carries the heaviest loads without sinking in. 
Special introductory prices in new territory. Book 
about it, free. Good agents are in demand. We 
also sell metal wheels to fit any wagon. 
FARMERS’ HANDY WAGON CO., Saginaw, Midi. 
You get the Profits 
Under onr plan of selling carriages, haggles and harness, 
you get the profits. The Jobber and retailer are cut out. 
By dealing direct with our factory, you pay only the cost of 
making with a moderate profit added; and you take 
your choice from the biggest stock and fullest aasort- 
menL Our plan of 
Selling Carriages Direct 
insnres satisfaction — your money back if yoa are 
dissatisfied. Opr complete Illustrated catalogue,' 
showing many styles of high grade vehicles, harness, robes, blankets 
and horse equipments, with detailed descriptions of each, mailed free. 
TBS COLDUCS CABBUei and HABNK8S CO., P. O. Box 778, CalnbM, •. 
Just About Spokes. 
The weakest point in a spoke is at the shoul¬ 
der, just where the spoke enters the hub. This 
is specially true of the old style square tenon 
spoke. We don’t have any w’eak point in our 
spoke for w’e use the Famous Studebaker 
Slope=ShouIder Spokes which are heavy and 
doubly strong at the point of greatest strain. The cut 
we show herewith explains this better than words. The spoke marked with an X 
is the common square shoulder spoke used on other wagons. All the others are 
the slope shoulder spokes used on Studebaker Wagons only. You can see 
at a glance why “Studebaker” spokes do not break at the shoulder and why 
“Studebaker” wheels outwear all others. Then, too, our spokes are made of 
best selected Indiana white oak, thoroughly seasoueil in the shade. They are 
driven into the hubs thoroughly glued, with a powerful driver. The effect is to 
make a union of spoke and hub like a w'eld of iron. This same superiority and 
careful construction enters into every part of tlie Studebaker Wagon. Ask 
your nearest dealer for them. If not there, write iis direct and we will inform 
you where you can get them in your locality. 
STVDEBAKER BROS. MFC. CO., South Bend, Ind.,V.S.A. 
