1901 
rHE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
451 
HOOSIER FARM NOTES. 
fi Defective Stand After Deep Planting- 
CULTIVATORS.—The writer met with a surprise 
lately in learning that the once-popular spring-tooth 
cultivator for corn, either rifling or walking, is clear 
out of date. So sweeping and sudden a change is sel¬ 
dom witnessed. It is claimed after 10 years of popu¬ 
larity that they do not plow deep enough, especially 
in firm soil, such as our clay upland; that in loose 
black land they do well. Do not think for a moment 
that farmers have gone back to the old deep plowing 
which made the Brown cultivator so popular 20 years 
ago. But the fact is that the spring-tooth is too radi¬ 
cal a change. In traveling quite a good deal among 
farmers I am pleased to see that in their line they are 
quite experts. They talk intelligently about methods 
of cultivating and about farm tools. The cultivating 
plow that will live must now have four small shovels 
on a side and they must be set zigzag, that is, not 
in a stair-step row. They must be arranged so as to 
run shallow but do effective work when it is needed. 
The wooden break-pin has also gone to stay and the 
spring-break is the rage. Of course anyone who 
knows anything about modern farming understands 
that everybody buys riding cultivators. One often 
trades in an old “walker” for a song because the rid¬ 
ers are so much better. In fact, they jokingly say 
that a man is a fool that walks in plowed ground 
all day, and ought to be kicked right 
good for having so little sense. 
MANY PLANT TOO DEEP.— This 
is the mosE common fault noticed. 
Nature plants about twice the depth 
of the thickness of the seed. Many 
farmers plant three or four inches 
deep. The plumule depends wholly 
on the starch in the seed to grow 
to the light, after which it grows 
hair roots and takes up nourish¬ 
ment from the soil. If deep the 
plumule is necessarily slender and 
weak, and if the soil is puddled by 
heavy rain it wili often curl up and 
not get out at all. If planted shal¬ 
low it will grow strong and push its 
way out. A few days ago I was 
looking at a field that the farmer 
said he had just finished planting 
over, and it was June 6. The only 
trouble was planting too deep. That 
one mistake had cost him probably 
half the value of his crop. It was 
the more aggravating because it 
was wholly unnecessary. Often one 
loses from causes that he cannot 
control, but this was purely a blun¬ 
der, and a costly one, too. As I 
said a few weeks ago, the roots of 
corn, like other grasses, come to the 
top and his roots were no deeper 
than if planted shallow. He need¬ 
ed a furrow. 
MANY NICE CALVES.—In pass¬ 
ing through several central counties 
lately I noticed from three to 10 
beautiful dark red calves in most 
every barn lot. This is unusual, 
since they commonly go for veal, or 
are picked up by feeders. This year 
the veals are low in price, and the 
calves having been so high lately 
are held. Beef being lower than two years ago there 
is not so much demand in that way. At that time 
there were two men watching every calf, when a baby, 
to snap it up as a feeder. In fact, I knew many calves 
bought last year before they were born. 
PLUNGERS.—It is interesting to see how many 
farmers dash after any new promise. All goes to 
hay, and tools and barns are prepared. Then a bad 
crop or two and the notion changes to potatoes, or to 
hogs and then to rye and Blue grass. But the farm¬ 
ers who make money vary but little and get out be¬ 
fore the crash. They maintain their rotation and 
equilibrium and make a little money each year. It 
is costly to equip oneself for any crop and to change 
violently, and often is ruining. I have in mind a 
farmer who went around to many sales, and went in 
debt for stock. Here he had to bid against those who 
will pay enough more for stuff to equal 20 or 30 per 
cent because off a year without interest. When his 
notes came due sheep and cattle had fallen till he got 
nothing for feeding and little for feed. The hogs 
raised in price and did some good. But he actually 
paid $5 a head for common sheep that the owner had 
bought at the yards a few weeks before at $3. This 
is plunging, and with little judgment, too. Money is 
seldom made and is very often lost in that way. It 
is the steady, careful man, who trades judiciously 
and rotates crops, who makes money on a farm. In 
the Central West the crops are unusually good. A 
half acreage of wheat was sown, on account of recent 
losses of the crop, but it is promising. The grass is 
good and corn a little late, but may make a great 
crop. Farmers are in good spirits and farm homes 
were never more beautiful. e. ii. coleins. 
Indiana. 
GETTING RICH IN A HURRY. 
GUESSING CONTESTS.—We receive letters from 
people who ask about various “guessing contests” ad¬ 
vertised in certain papers. It is hard to believe that 
any great number of country people really believe 
that they can win money in such schemes. The 
rogues appear to think so, however, for this is what 
an advertising journal says: 
lie knows just where to go for sucker.s. Whenever 
a new guessing contest is originated by him, the first 
place it is tried out is in the agricultural papers. His 
latest ad., "Money—You can put dollars in your pocket,” 
is an exclusive offer to farmers. This exclusiveness is 
because the public, in the iarger cities, no longer wastes 
any time on guessing contests. 
Town and city people may have outgrown this par¬ 
ticular swindle, but they have done so only to run 
after worse ones. The plan is to print a number of 
letters and offer prizes in cash to those who can put 
them together so as to make the names of several 
noted cities, vessels or men. It is so easy that thou¬ 
sands of silly people make up the names and expect 
to win the “prize.” In order to “enter” they must 
Seven Thou.sand in my goods will cost you Seven 
Hundred Dollars. 
Eleven Thousand in my goods will cost you One 
'fhousand Dollars. 
Of course this rascal lies when he talks about his 
“son” or any personal knowledge of your affairs. The 
letter is a printed circular sent to addresses which 
these rascals obtain from newspapers or directories. 
They have no money to sell. The whole thing is a 
game of bluff. Those who are foolish enough to come 
here with good money are sure to run up against 
shrewd and desperate scoundrels. One would think 
that no one but a fool or a knave would try to buy 
these “green goods,” yet it is a fact that persons who 
are supposed to be highly moral and respectable at 
home sneak to this great city after this “money”— 
and generally sneak home sadder and wiser men. 
SPIRHIA LANCEOLATA. DOUBLE-FLOWERING]FORM. Fig. 190. 
See Rukalisms, Page 4.54. 
send a small amount of money as a year’s subscrip¬ 
tion to a worthless paper! It is sad to think that 
sane people cannot see through this evident trap. It 
would seem as though country people above all oth¬ 
ers ought to realize that life’s prizes are seldom dis¬ 
tributed as guess-work. A farmer sees the slow, 
steady growth of Nature’s handiwork. The evidences 
are all about him. It is strange that he can be driven 
into schemes for securing sudden wealth without 
work or great skill. 
“GREEN GOODS.”—Readers are often shocked at 
receiving typewritten letters marked “confidential” 
containing the following proposition: 
Your name was sent to me by my son, who is my 
traveling representative. He tells me he has learned 
that you are a man who has got a still tongue and a 
reliable and trustworthy man to do business with, and 
I therefore take the liberty of proposing a scheme to you 
that 99 out of a hundred up-to-date business men would 
gladly grasp if they could personally examine the work, 
thereby convincing themselves of the absolute safety of 
my offer. I am an expert engraver, having for 23 years 
been employed in the Bureau of Engraving in Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., and for 12 years was superintendent of 
one of the largest bank note companies in this country. 
During my leisure hours I took up as a side issue the 
duplication of Ones, Fives and Tens, and as they were 
the original denominations I had worked' upon, you 
can believe me when I say they are perfect. I sell them 
at the following prices: 
Four Thousand Dollars In my goods will cost you 
Five Hundred Dollars. 
EVERYBODY’S GARDEN. 
KOHL RABI.—This vegetable is grown by many 
market gardeners at a fair profit, and is desirable 
even in the small garden. The seed may be sown up 
to the middle of June, or even later, in drills, the 
same as turnips. They will be found a valuable ac¬ 
quisition to the table supply, and any surplus above 
home or market use may be fed to stock with good 
results. They are cooked the same as turnips, and 
considered by many superior to that vegetable, and 
as a drought-reslster are more hardy. 
CABBAGE WORMS AND LICE.- 
These pests cause cabbage growers 
no end of heartaches; but still the 
cabbage growing industry goes on. 
Fortunately there are many reme¬ 
dies at hand, and some of them 
may usually be relied upon to hold 
their ravages in check. For the 
Cabbage worm, in small areas, 
where the use of arsenites may oe 
undesirable, wood ashes, air-slaked 
lime, tobacco dust or salt are usual¬ 
ly effective. They should be ap¬ 
plied in the early morning, while 
the plants are damp with dew. Salt 
used in the latter stages of growth 
is not only sure death to the 
worms, but assists very materially 
in developing and hardening of the 
heads. In the larger operations, 
Paris-green is freely used, and with¬ 
out the least danger, until the cab¬ 
bage is two-thirds grown or more. 
One-fourth pound to 35 gallons of 
water is a safe proportion, an(i may 
be used as often as necessary. Green 
lice often become very troublesome, 
but are usually themselves held in 
check by parasitic enemies, which 
prey upon them. Lack of vigor in 
the plants is thought to be a favor¬ 
able condition for their develop¬ 
ment, and in this case, thorough 
cultivation, with the application of 
some active fertilizer, as nitrate ol 
soda, will help to overcome the dif¬ 
ficulty. Doubtless weather condi¬ 
tions have most to do with their de¬ 
velopment, and cool, damp weather 
is thought to be most favorable for 
their onslaught. For this reason 
they should never be planted in 
shaded ground, but where the sun¬ 
light has as much play as possible. The remedies are 
pyrethrum dusted on, or sprayed on in solution in the 
proportion of a tablespoonful to two gallons of water. 
Kerosene emulsion, air-slaked lime or tobacco dust are 
also used; but whatever the remedy, care must be 
caken to get it to the undersides of the leaves, as 
that is where the insects work, and hence the diffi¬ 
culty in reaching them with any of the remedies. 
CAULIFLOWER.—The general culture of the cauli¬ 
flower is essentially the same as for cabbage, both 
requiring rich soil and constant cultivation. This late 
in the season it is preferable to buy the plants for 
setting, rather than to grow them from the seed. 
Blanching is done the same as endive, requiring but 
a few days of time. Select stock always finds a ready 
market, especially the late-grown, and at very satis¬ 
factory prices. With the addition of beets, carrots, 
beans, etc., for which there is still ample time, a 
very satisfactory garden may still be grown this 
y^3.r. j. E. morse. 
Michigan. 
Big Melons.— In the issue of June 1.5, on page 420, I 
saw an inquiry from T. W. F.. South Bend, Neb., about 
raising large watermelons. He says he plants them live 
feet apart each way, and complains about their growing 
small. In southern New Jersey we always plant water¬ 
melons nine feet apart each way and thin to one plant 
in each hill, and we always have large melons if we plant 
a large-growing variety. u. e. 
Erma, N. J. 
