1901 
tHE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
/I cnr DAK TUBAS FABMeR. 
Part V. 
It is a great advantage to a farmer to 
know how to use tools. Having learned 
the carriage-making trade in early life, 
I had kept my kit of tools, though it was 
more than 30 years since I had worked 
at it, and now on the farm built my own 
poultry houses, wagon sheds and made 
alterations in the house without being 
obliged to hire a carpenter. I hired the 
cow barn built, and found that the cost 
for labor about equaled the cost of ma¬ 
terial. My first poultry house was lOx 
10 feet on the ground, giving 100 feet of 
floor surface; the front sloped back¬ 
ward three feet; that is, if the front had 
been perpendicular there would have 
been only 70 feet of floor surface. I 
figured that this extra 30 feet only cost 
for lumber 56 cents. I am aware that 
most poultrymen have discarded the 
sloping front houses—probably on ac¬ 
count of rains beating in when windows 
are open in Summer; but I find that the 
sun in Winter strikes the glass as near¬ 
ly a right angle, the whole interior is 
flooded by the life-giving rays, the coops 
are much warmer, and as my windows 
are arranged to slide, I often go and 
slide the windows over the openings 
when I see a shower coming in Summer. 
If left open, what little rain gets in will 
soon dry off in hot weather. I should 
never have any but an earth floor in a 
poultry house. I sunk chestnut boards 
20 inches wide into the ground just in¬ 
side the house, to keep out moisture and 
frost, and there is never a day in Win¬ 
ter that I cannot spade up the ground 
inside any of my poultry houses, and 
the whole floor surface is used by the 
hens for a dust bath. Why chestnut? 
Because pine would rot in one season, 
chestnut will last for years. In a dry 
time late in Summer I cart about two 
wagonloads of sand and sifted loam into 
each house, and as often as the surface 
gets foul it is removed. This dry earth 
is sifted a haif-inch deep on the drop¬ 
pings boards, and the whole cleaned off 
once a week. When a barrel is about 
filled, a little dry earth sifted on top 
will prevent escape of the ammonia. 
I often read in the agricultural papers 
questions as to how best to utilize the 
hen manure, usually answered by tell¬ 
ing the inquirer to dry the manure, 
spread it on the barn floor and beat it 
fine with the back of a shovel. My way 
avoids all that back-breaking job. A 
week before I wish to use the manure I 
pour a pailful of water on top of the 
full barrel; if the manure is very dry, 
use two pails of water; in a few days It 
soaks it all through, the manure heats 
and crumbles, and although mine is half 
earth, it is impossible to see any differ¬ 
ence in it, it becomes one nomogeneous 
mass in perfect condition to scatter in 
a furrow or on the surface. I always 
have excellent results when using it for 
corn, potatoes, onions, beans or any gar¬ 
den crop. Of course, all this was not 
learned that firat year on the farm. 
The question has been asked: “How 
did you live that first Winter? You had 
no crops, had to buy your potatoes and 
everything, didn’t you?” Yes, we did; 
but we had two large hogs; we sold one, 
the other furnished us with lard and 
fresh meat, hams, etc., for a good part 
of the Winter; a barrel of fiour we had 
brought with us, the sale of the butter 
and eggs brought in a little money every 
week, and Mr. Curtis had left a small 
patch of turnips, about 20 feet wide by 
30 feet long, from which we pulled over 
20 bushels; some were nearly as large 
as a man’s head. It was virgin soil, 
that had never been plowed before in a 
pasture lot. As may be imagined I was 
greatly pleased to see the way those tur¬ 
nips heaped up, because it showed what 
the soil of my new farm was capable of 
doing. I sold most of them for 40 cents 
a bushel to a butcher, and took part of 
the pay in meat. So we experienced no 
difficulty in getting along, and when 
f^Pi’ing came started in to see what “city 
folks” could do at farming. 
Two or three years previous Mr. Cur¬ 
tis had plowed a strip 100 feet wide by 
about 250 feet long in a field just north 
of the house, being the highest land on 
the farm, and sloping—as does the 
whole farm—gently to the south, and 
planted potatoes and garden truck. The 
next year it was left untouched, and Mr. 
Curtis assured me that without any 
seeding at all clover came in so thick 
that he cut fully three-fourths of a ton 
from that strip. I could see the deep 
potato furrows, all over the piece, and 
a good clover sod on the ground. At the 
upper side of this lot were four large 
peach trees, in a heavy grass sod, one 
Late Crawford, two Early Crawford and 
a most delightful white peach. We had 
so luxuriated on those peaches that I de¬ 
termined to have that clover sod plowed 
and plant more peach trees. I had never 
bougnt a tree or planted one in my life, 
and had no idea whether the roots would 
require a hole as big as a barrel or larg¬ 
er. But so that there should be no de¬ 
lay when itne trees came, 1 dug 35 holes 
three feet in diameter by 18 to 20 inches 
deep. We have laughed about those 
holes many times since, but I didn’t find 
the digging oj. them any laughing mat¬ 
ter. G. A. c. 
Co/or of Belgian Hares. 
Is a dark gray Belgian hare purebred? 
I have one that represented a pedigreed 
stock, and is dark gray. My does are a 
sort of red. The young from the buck are 
the same color. h. h. s. 
Manchester, Iowa. 
It is very common for purebred Bel¬ 
gian hares to sport in color from light 
gray to dark mouse color, and some¬ 
times to pure black. It is the practice 
of some breeders occasionally to use a 
coal black buck on a light doe to retain 
the black tips in the hairs of their pro¬ 
geny. H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
that runs on wheels. 
Sold Everywhero. 
Had* by STANDARD DID CO. 
^$2.50 Cash 
will buy the BEST Dut¬ 
ton Knife Grinder EVER 
MADE. 
J. H. Hale’s Favorite Orchard Tools. 
Clark’.s California Sr. 
Orchard Plow and 
Harrow. Plows a fur¬ 
row 3 feet wide 6 feet 
to the riffht of the pole. 
Clark’s Double-Action 
Cutaway Harrow will 
easily move 15,000 tons 
of earth 1 foot in a day 
Cutaway Harrow Company, 
OF UIGGANUM, CONN., U. S. A. 
fST" Send for Circulars. 
- MAKES- 
Wat*r Wells, any depth; Oil and Gas Wells; 
Tests Wells for all Minerals, Self-Mov¬ 
ing or Portable. Manv Sixes ; 
Used All Over the World. 
Top-Quality. Bottom Prices. ForTS-paKe catalogue ad¬ 
dress Keystone Driller Co., BorlJ, Beaver Falls, Pa. 
«««• 
******* 
BEST IN THE WORLD. 
» 
t Ft. Grant, Arizona, Apr. 10th, 1000. 
Dr. B. J. KeDiinll Co., Gentlemen:—! hav) the honor to 
Inform you that your KendalTe Spavin Cure Is the beet linl* 
tnent, 1 believe, in the world. I have been a Farrier In the 
United States Army for H ve.Tre, and have never ueed any* 
thin^to equal It. I had a horue with hip-joint lameneesp a 
Bpavln, swelled glands and shoulder lameness. I used two bob* 
5 ties of yourSpavio Cure and they are sound and well* 
Yours uery respectfullv. 
SILAS JOHNSON, Farrier. 
5 It Is an absolutely reliable remedy for Sparine. 
■[ Splints,Curbe, UIogbone8,ete. Hemoves the bunch and 
fi leaves no scar. Price, $1; six for |5. As a liniment 
S for family use it has no equal. Ask your druertrlst 
E for KENDALL’S SPAVIN CURE, also “A Treatise on the 
9 Horse,’* tho book free, or adflress 
t DR. B. J. KENDALL CO., ENOSBURQ PALLS, VT. 
- 
TEH CENTS PAYS FOR BOOKLET 
40 pages, Uluitrated. Eighth thousand. Tells how 
to make cement floors, to grow and feed sorghum, 
beets, soy beans, Ac., and gives illustration of hog 
house. Price list of cement and seeds free. 
WALDO F. BROWN. . . . OXFORD. OllIO. 
SCALES 
“Electric”! 
I applied to either | 
Wheels or Wagons 
I is a guarantee of excellence. The pub- I 
I lie appreciates this fact. In 4 years we [ 
I sold .SSU.OOO KlretrieSleel tVhst-ls and 30. 
liMMi Kipetrle Handy Wagon.. Wemakewheela I 
I to (itany wayon. Illustrated Catalog FREK. J 
Electric Wheel Co. Box 88, Quincy, Ills. 
of every description 
Satisfaction guaranteed. 
Write for prices. JK88E MAKDiiN, 
10» 8. Charles St., Baltimore, Mo. 
ao^.PLANTER 
should plant all kinds of fleld seeds. 
Field, Ensilage and Sweet Corn, Peas, 
Beans, Sugar Beets, Stock Beets,etc. 
It should plant In hills, drills or chock at the will of 
the operator. It should at the same time drop or 
drill all kinds of commercial fertilizers, wet, dry 
or lumpy, pulverized hen manure and other 
homo made fertilizers, evenly in any quantity 
per acre. 
EASILY ADJUSTED. EASY TD HANDLE. 
WEIGHS 150 LBS. 
The Eclipse 
Corn Ptantof and 
FantUIxer Distfibuter 
does all this In tlie most perfect manner. Drops 
seed from 6 to 45 inches apart. Will distriliuto from 
50 to 4501bs. of fertilizer per acre. They arestrongly 
built of good material and will last indeltiiltely. 
Write for free catalogue, circulars, etc. 
THE BELCHER & TAYLOR A. T. CO. 
Box 7g, Chicopee Fallsi Mass. 
mm 
JONES HE PAYS THE FREIGHT. 
JONES OF BINGHAMTON. N. Y. 
UfCI I DRILLIN6 
It ELL Machines 
Over 70 sizes and styles, for drilling either deep or 
shallow wells In any kind of soil or rook. Mounted 
on wheels or on sills. With engines or horse powers. 
Strong, simple and durable. Any mechanla can 
operate them easily. Send for catalog. 
WILLIAMS BBOS., Itliaoa, M. V. 
Bp 
Shar 
SHARPLES DAIRY CREAM SEPARATORS, 
-A-Ij-WAYS THU BUST. ^ 
Business Dairying,’* a very valuable book and Catalogue No. us free. 
Sharpies Co.. Chicago, Ills. P. M. Sharpies, West Chester, Pa. 
Another Stone Added to the 
United States Triumphal Arch 
by it.s great victory at the Union Dairy Institute held at the 
Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass., March 2 o, 
1901. This was a union meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, 
the Hampshire Agricultural Society and the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College, at which there was an exhibit of l)Utter and 
a test of Cream Separators. 
In the Butter Kxhibit, which was scored l)y Mr. Driu Douglas, 
the veteran butter judge, 
The Improved U. S. Scooped tt Prizes 
1st, $25.00; 2d, $15.00; 3d, $10.00. 
The Five Highest Scores Went to Its Product, as follows: 
A. A. CROUCH, Shrewsbury, - _ _ Qej-u 
H. G. RICHARDSON, West Acton, - 96 
T. F. HUNT, Weston, _ _ _ _ 95 
W. A. HARLOW, Cummington, - - 94-1^3 
L. B. SMITH, Groton, _ _ _ _ 94>^ 
THE U. S. SCORED ANOTHER VICTORY 
in the test of Separators, as will he seen by tlie following report; 
MACHINE CREAM TEST SKIMMILK TEST 
United States, 40 per cent. .0 15 
Sharpies, 40 “ .03 
Empire, .06 
The DeLaval Separator was run, hut the skimmilk was not 
allowed to he tested. “ Wonder wliy,” “ wcjuder why.” Those 
wlio have had experience with its skimming j)owers can perliajis 
guess why. 
The above is another of the many instances wliere the 
IMPROVED UNITED STATES SEPARATOR 
has demonstrated its right to he known as the 
STANDARD SEPARATOR OF THE WORLD. 
FOR FURTHKR INFORMATION WRITE 
THE VERMONT FARM MACHINECO., Bellows Falls,Vt. 
REBUILT 
?IACH| 
^UY1lll^ 
lUBBEl 
lELTINGl 
UNLIMITED SUPPLIES 
of BARGAIN PRICED 
Bought at Sheriffs’ Sale— 5,000 squares 
BRAND NEW STEEL ROOFING. Sheets come 
in assorted sizes only. We sell it either Flat, 
Corrugated or “V” Crimped, complete with 
paint and nails. Per 100 Square Feet tft | ^ C 
We have higher grades also. 
ROPE OF ALL KINDS, 
Wire, Manila, Flax, Tow, 
Sisal, Ac. Write for pricee. 
IRON PIPE in all aizee at 
a sa-ing of 60 per cent. 
A million feet of Brand New and Second 
Hand RUBBER. LEATHER and COTTON 
STITCHED BELTING, bought at various 
Sales. We guarantee to save you from 26 to 
.50 j)er cent. We have a job in 
ENDLESS THRASHER BELTS. 
A6K rOB FRU IUU6TRATED OrAljlXiUC N9 57 
CHICACOHOUjEWRECKlNCGO. 
WEST 3515 A IRON STS.. CrOCACO. 
df» R 
